Quilt

Here are the (almost) finished pictures of the quilt I've been working on this winter. I have to sew on a terry cloth duck to the front but aside from that, it is all ready to go...

Amazed at Vocal Point

I have been dying to see Vocal Point in concert ever since I transferred to BYU 2.5 years ago and heard about the group. Finally, they were performing in Salt Lake City last night and so I bought tickets in the fall to go. Little did we know that they are now performing in Provo next month but oh well. We made it a date by also going to Olive Garden before the concert. I could not have been happier with the concert. It was absolutely amazing and I was smiling the entire concert! It was about and hour and a half long so well worth the money for tickets. All 9 of the men are very talented and have used their talents for the good. They sang a wide variety of songs from Elvis to Rascal Flatts to God Bless the USA to some hymns even. For those who don't have the opportunity to know who Vocal Point is or what they sound like, here are some youtube links. All the noises you hear are from the guys, not a CD, which makes even more amazing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziOINDmzSxo
Here's their peercussionist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QViRtuivIQY

Desperate for Help

So I've realized that eventually my life will get busier with who knows what... but I am positive one day I will wake up and regret not taking advantage of these years where I don't have much to stress about other than making sure my socks match. With that, I want to create a list of things to do during the next few years or perhaps a Bucket List before Joseph starts working/graduate school in a few years. Joe and I've talked about a cruise for a while and we will hopefully go this summer. And then we're taking our trip to California next spring but I want more ideas. Here's my preliminary list. PLEASE help me think of more!!!

- Go Whitewater rafting in Utah
- Go to Bear Lake in Logan, UT
- Go on a cruise
- Hike Mt. Timp with Joseph
- Learn to knit
- Read some books (don't know which ones...)
- More sewing projects

Those of you who have lived in Utah a lot, what are fun excursions to do?

Thanks for your help!

Winter Wonderland

I've been lazy and haven't uploaded our Christmas pictures onto my computer. Go to Facebook to see the highlights.

It appears that Winter missed its debut as we have little snow on the grass and temperatures in the mid-40s continuously. As a recreational therapist intern, we had all these grand plans of taking the kids sledding, skiing (downhill and cross-country), and snow-shoeing; instead we are taking dogs on walks outside and enjoying not wearing a jacket most of the time. My internship is going great and I'm almost done with my second week! We've done a lot and I've learned a lot so far. We did get to go downhill skiing at Sundance yesterday, which was a blast. I haven't been on snow skis in quite a while so it was nice to be back.

Joseph started classes again and he is liking them. He's taking a reservoir engineering class as well a computer programming class (for fun!). His books, as usual, cost an arm and a leg but he keeps reminding me that a chemical engineer will make more money than what his books cost. I have a hard time believing him sometimes. He also started playing Church Ball this month and his team won last week I guess. He likes it and even scored some points!

That's our exciting lives in a nutshell! Sorry for the lame post!

Celebration!

Joseph and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary this weekend and it was wonderful! We had a packed weekend of fun things to do. After a strenuous week of finals, we looked forward to the weekend so much! Here's what we did:

I surprised Joseph with tickets to the BYU Basketball game against Baylor. We thought that BYU would get destroyed by Baylor but alas, BYU stuck it through. Although we lost by 3 points, we were ahead most of the game and we gave the team a run for their money. Here are some pictures. This is BYU's cool entrance shin-dig. They made it really cool and very dramatic. Here's the team running in.
I wanted to take pictures to prove that BYU was ahead by a lot at various points of the game.

After the game, we went out to eat at Chili's. We don't go out to eat very much; in fact, I can count on one hand the number of times Joseph and I have gone out in the last year and a half. But we went to Chili's to celebrate and it was very tasty.

Then, Joseph and I went to Color-Me-Mine. It is a painting/pottery place in Provo that we've talked about going to but never got around to it yet. We painted a fish platter and get to pick it up after Christmas! Here's a picture.Now, we're off to Wisconsin tomorrow! I can't wait to spend time with them and my husband!

Drum Roll Please

Joseph is interning with... (keep reading to find out)

This past week has been quite exciting for Joseph and I. Joseph got an email over a week ago from Dow Chemical Company saying "Congratulations, you have passed the initial screen. We will be contacting you shortly to schedule an interview." Joseph thought for sure this was a computer glitch because DOW came to BYU in late September and did not interview Joseph. He emailed the recruiter back expressing his concern about the glitch. The next morning we woke up to an excellent email. Evidently, DOW decided a few weeks ago to expand their internship program and after reviewing the resumes from the various schools, chose to interview Joseph.

Monday morning, Joseph had his phone interview with DOW. Going into the interview, he thought he had a small chance at an internship. We knew DOW was his last opportunity for an internship and had already started planning to stay in Provo next summer. He finished the interview, felt it went well and said, "We'll see what happens." DOW told him they would let him know in a few weeks.

That afternoon, Joseph was taking a test and I waited for him after work. He came out of his test listening to a voicemail message: it was DOW. They offered him an internship the very same day! It was all very much a shock and we went out to eat to celebrate. We haven't gone out to eat in a long time! He starts in May sometime. We find out where he'll be working in March or so. But it most likely will be Texas. While it will be hot, they provide an air-conditioned apartment for us so it's okay. So Joseph will be interning with DOW Chemical! We couldn't be more happy! They are a great company and hopefully will give Joseph a great experience in the field.

Thanksgiving

During this holiday season, I am reminded of the many things to be grateful for. I am grateful for the Church to which I belong, my husband, my family, friends, the opportunity to attend BYU and gain an education, to not have any disease or disability, and to have a roof over my head, food on the table, and clothes on my back.

This Thanksgiving, we celebrated with Joseph's family in St. George. It was a lot of fun, especially since some relatives flew in from Texas to visit! We enjoyed the warmer weather and the yummy food. Here are some pictures.Our nephew and his parents flew in from Texas so we were able to visit with them again. Caleb is getting so big! He loved saying 'Cheese" for all the pictures.
This is the view from a peak in St. George. The mountains in the picture are Nevada mountains. Directly to the south of us, we could see mountains from Arizona too. It was really neat. My brother-in-law showed me the road that if you take it, you end up at the Grand Canyon.
Joseph and I enjoying the wonderful hike together in St. George. It was beautiful weather and a wonderful break from school. We just have three weeks left and then Christmas!