August o'plenty to do

This is a really busy month. Let's look at weekends.

August 2nd

Not only has Breaking Dawn just come out last night (automatically my weekend is booked), but we have the reception of a good friend in eastern Utah. He's actually been married for 2 weeks, but this is their "Utah" reception. So the groom wants to have a campout with friends afterward, which is an excellent idea. It does make for a late night, though.

August 8th

Michael and I have our biennial Opening Ceremonies party. This year's party included an Olympics trivia game with Gold, Silver, Bronze, and runner-up prizes. We also had a delightful gathering of international foods: chips & salsa (Mexico), éclairs (France), egg rolls (China), pizza bagel bites (Italy), and pretzels (Germany).

August 16th

The Gilroy family has booked a cabin hidden away in Heber from Wednesday to Sunday this weekend. Our plans include several trips to and from the cabin and work, but the majority of Saturday and Sunday we were able to spend away from it all (I don't know if you can classify close proximity with 12 children under 12 "away from it all," but I'm not sure what would be more appropriate. Maybe "into it all"?). At any rate, it was really fun and on Saturday night we even got to have a fancy dinner (adults only) to celebrate my mom's birthday (the 14th).

August 23rd
This weekend has an explosion of places-to-be and things-to-do. Friday night my sister is getting sealed in the temple, then Saturday is the (giant) birthday party of my two nieces, a yearly staff party for the library, and another birthday celebration for my sister-in-law. Naturally, this is on top of 12 hours of work (for Breanne) spread over Friday and Saturday. Family trumps staff parties, so I won't be going to that affair, but everything else is a go.

August 30th
Woe of woes, I had to cancel my plans to have wisdom teeth removed this weekend, due to my sister's wedding reception happening on Saturday. I don't know about you, but I like to be coherent and not drooling for these important family functions, as well as able to chew the steak at her lovely reception restaurant choice.

Don't be dismayed, my dental plans will be rescheduled for September, along with all of the other things we weren't able to cover on the weekends this month.

Now, everyone wants a re-cap of the cabin trip, right?
Here we go!

Look at this little cutie waving goodbye. You know, some kids aren't down with the canoe. This girl was totally stoked. She called, "Bye, Mom!!" and then ignored us.

There they go.

Ahh, roughing it. There's nothing like getting out into the wilderness and getting in touch with nature. Very zen.

Okay, to give these kids some credit, they did partake in some roughing of it. This is after their long hike. They'll start smiling once they're done with those sandwiches.

Ahh, Nikki, thank you for this. Now I can add it to the other one in my collection:

And the piece de resistance:

I don't even remember why you were doing this. But thank you.

Pioneer Day

I'm so glad that as a culture we've decided to celebrate the Pioneers' incredible sacrifice with explosives. We got to hang out with Carrie and Dennis and Chris and Camille and Ian on Pioneer Day. I asked Chris to take some sparklers and make cool shapes in front of the camera. But I realized as I was photographing all this, that it was kind of hilarious watching him waving his arms around like a ribbon dancer. So I secretly took some videos. Some hilarious videos.

Happy Birthday!

Michael's birthday was on Monday. Here's how it went:
Michael came home from work in the morning, and instead of going to bed, decided that he wanted to take care of some things, so he got to bed around noon. But he also really wanted to see Batman. I was sick with a cold that I didn't know was turning into bronchitis, so we decided that if we did anything, it would have to be low-key. Michael woke up at 3:30, and we saw the movie around 5, which gave us a little time to come home and eat before he had to leave for work again around 8:30.

With him only on 3 1/2 hours of sleep, and me on the verge of the plague, the movie was totally awesome but a little strenuous. So we will have to re-celebrate this weekend with family. I did manage to get a piece of yummy chocolate cake for him (did you know Walmart sells cake by the slice?), so we had some semblance of a birthday.

When faced with temptation...

The other day I walked into the bedroom and saw Michael's feet sticking out from the covers. I had to take a picture. It's hilarious. You'd think the bedcovers weren't big enough to cover all of him at once.

By the way, I am not a nice wife and don't lovingly pull the covers over his feet. I tickle them, one at a time, and in his sleepiness he pulls one under the covers, and I move to the other foot, which he pulls under the covers while putting the other one back out, which I start to tickle again... it goes on like this.

He works hard for the money

Michael got a job with the Provo City Police Department! Yay!

It's full time and has benefits, so we're pretty stoked. He's going to be doing clerical work (not arresting bad guys). The catch is that he is working graveyard shifts from Thursday to Sunday night, though it's actually a good thing because he'll have time to finish his last classes in the fall (don't worry, they're in the evenings so he should have time to sleep in the mornings/afternoons).

He trains on Monday and Tuesday, and he starts his graveyards next Thursday night! I am relieved and happy and grateful!

Maui, June 2008

I just spent a lot of time on a big post about our vacation in Maui. It's on my personal blog, though, so you can see it here. Aloha.
(By the way, it's very long, so if you just want to look at the pictures, that's okay)

Meant for Each Other

Michael brought home a bunch of photos of himself when he was little. I love them! He is adorable. I found this one of him in second grade, and he's got the goofiest silliest smile that I had to run and find my second grade photo and put it with his. Who knew that we would end up with each other? If I was in Michael's classes, I would have definitely had a crush on him.

Does Anybody Read This Thing?

Sometimes I wonder as I post on here - is anybody out there?

Well we are doing good. We went to dinner on Saturday night with Carrie and Dennis and Nile (and Ben - Shari's boyfriend?)- it was great! I was amazed at that restaurant... I ordered an enchilada and some rice and it was just $4.50. Good price!

We are anxious to go to Hawaii (June 3rd - it is getting closer..... I can almost feel it now). I went shopping on Friday to try to find a new swim suit and some good clothes for the heat... and it was a bit depressing. So: I'm making more of an effort to eat healthier and less. I'm reading a book called In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto and basically the motto is: Eat Food, Not a Lot, Mostly Plants. And I totally agree. In my family especially, there seems to be a whirlwind of speculation and extrapolation on what is good to eat (these opinions seem to change from time to time and lessen my faith in their dependability). But essentially, I think that motto is a good one. So I'm trying to eat smaller portions and meals that mostly grew out of the ground.

My sister is basically of the same mind and has made me a wonderful little cookbook of recipes that are just that (low in or not including any flour, dairy, or meat, as she is allergic to flour and dairy and triest to eat as little meat as possible). It's great! Last night was our first dinner: beans and franks, yum! Michael and I are lucky to have married each other - our tastes are very similar (though I still consider it a bit tragic that he doesn't like Tuna... it narrows our dinner options). We both love beans and franks though, and they were fantastic in Jacque's tangy recipe! I'll post it later if anyone wants it (if anyone reads this hehe).

I don't think I'll look much better in time for Maui, but I'm glad I'm starting to do something! We bought groceries on Saturday night, and the lady at the check-out stand was telling me that she lost 200lbs! I asked her how long it took her, and she said 4 years. How amazing! And what patience she must have had. I think that's a big part of it: to take it slow and go down naturally. Michael is really cool about everything and very supportive. It's great to have someone cheering me on, but in an un-pushy way.

Wish me luck!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mothers Day to all of the mothers in our lives out there!

This week Breanne was hoping to get her wisdom teeth out (for free) for a research study, but unfortunately at the last minute her heart was sending out electrical impulses slightly too fast. It's not a health problem, they told me it could happen from a short night of sleep or stress. So... too bad. We'll see what other opportunities are down the road.

Michael is doing good at school and work. On Friday we got to see Speed Racer which Michael thought was really fun! We are loving the summer movies.

It snowed last night - Welcome to May in Utah

Can you believe it? The first day of May and it's freezing outside. My tulips perked up when the sun hit them, though (they were droopy when I first looked out the window).

Well, I'm not getting the Museum job that I've been waiting to hear about for months, so that's a bummer. Now we've got to move on with other plans. I'm considering working full-time at my brother's office, but they just hired a full-time someone, so I've got to bide my time and wait for another opportunity. Working at the library is okay, but it's starting to wear on me. I don't think I could do it as a permanent career choice.

Michael started his new semester in school (Spring term), and surprise! His class got canceled the day before it was supposed to start. So he had to scramble and change his schedule so that he could get a new class at the last minute. So after this class, he has three classes left, which he'll do in the Fall and then he'll be done in December. Yay!