a few more notes from summer (or the end of summer vacay...sad!)

So I'm starting this post with the last thing I did while I was in Utah. We had a family picnic in Payson Canyon at Black Hawk. I think this is one of my favorite places on earth. It is so so so so so so beautiful. I love it! We ate tinfoil dinners - a favorite of mine, made s'mores and roasted Starbursts.

Jess, Cora and Peyton. Peyton loves his girls!

My gorgeous sister-in-law and her adorable son Peyton.
I think this is one of my favorite pictures. Jess and Maren running with Cricket. The look on Jess's face makes me laugh. I think it says everything there is to say about Jessica!
My beautiful sister-in-law Carol and her cutie - Emmitt.
Maren - or Mar-Bear - running at full speed...so adorable!

My brother Travis and my mom...awe!!! Trav wouldn't be a good subject and refused to smile or look at the camera!

Some of the scenery. And one of the things that makes me homesick. Seriously!

My cute grandpa and grumpy brother...

A whole bunch of deer in a meadow together.

Me, Maren and Peyton roasting Starbursts and making s'mores. So YUMMY!

Peyton and Jess. Another favorite picture. It is so sweet how much he loves his cousins!

And now to wrap up my summer vacation series...

After getting back from Vegas/California, I was super excited to see my brother Josh, his wife Carol, and their four adorable children. I have to brag and say that I have the CUTEST nieces and nephews on the planet!!! We had fun hanging out. We went to the Ochre Mountain Temple open house. So nice! The chandeliers were my favorite part. Bernie and I went to a couple of movies together The Proposal - very funny, and Carol joined us for Julie and Julia - which was so good! I love movies. We also went to HP and the Half Blood Prince with Travis, my mom, Tyler and Peyton. I don't think Travis or Ty loved it. But I've seen it twice more since then. Obviously I'm a fan.

I also got to see several friends for "book club." I don't think we discuss books much when we get together, but it was so good to see people and to catch up. I'm the luckiest girl because I have such great friends. Dawn and I went to the temple one day and spent about five hours or so doing everything. It was fabulous. I have to brag and say that I think Dawn might be the strongest woman alive. She's been through so much this year, and yet her testimony and her love for the gospel have not waivered. She's my hero!!!

Carol and I agreed to do a half-marathon together, so we started our mornings jogging/walking. I have to give her props and say that she trained MUCH harder than me and kicked my trash! We had to get up so early on race day, and I must admit that because I am NOT a morning person, I was far less than enthusiastic. Then we got to the top of the mountain and it was FREEZING!!! Like 40-ish degrees. I'm not going to lie - Carol and I cuddled while sitting on a plastic garbage bag. It was miserably cold. But as the sun came up and we started the race, I was so glad I signed up. It was hard and I didn't have the best finishing time in the world, but I don't care. It was so stunningly beautiful up there. I don't know if I've every appreciated just how pretty Provo Canyon is. I wish I had taken my camera. Thanks for doing that with me Carol!!! I'm hoping to do it again next year if I can be in Utah at that time. And in the mean time, I'm looking doing a little research to find another half-marathon in this area.

So that about does it! Next time I hope to spend more time with my dad. He was working so hard that I didn't get to see him enough. I did spend one evening with him while he fed the animals. It's a regular Green Acres at the Fish's place! Horses, chickens, lambs...even cows (I think!). And a garden, thanks to Aunt Cindy, to boot!

I miss you guys!

Vegas, Baby, Vegas (or How I Spent My Summer Part II)

So I promised I'd post again soon, and here I am writing a new post! Aren't you all proud of me???

So I went to Utah for a month. It was great! I had such a great time with the family and friends. Here are some highlights from the first leg of the trip. And sorry...no pictures. I'm the worst when it comes to taking pictures!

• Weds. July 15: Mom and Peyton pick me up from the airport, and right away, Peyton is ready to go swimming. Never mind my fatigue! How can I say no to him??? So we went swimming!
• Thurs. July 16: Tyler wanted to go shopping for some new shoes, and he asked me to go with him! I didn't want to embarrass him by getting super excited, but on the inside, I was so happy and flattered he asked. Of course, I ended up buying shirts, but Ty didn't buy anything. We even went to Cafe Rio after. YUM!
  
• I spent the next week or so working on a project for Professor Denbeaux. Not so fun. But at least most of it is complete! What a relief.
  
• Sat. July 25: Went to my high school reunion. I admit that I had to be talked into it. But I had a great time! Thanks to Jamie, the great social planner, and all the married couples from our graduating class, for putting it all together.
  
• Sun. July 26: Headed to Vegas to see Lauren and Jamie. I spent the night at Lauren's (my old place). We talked until about midnight. It was great to catch up. I've missed her!
• Mon. July 27: Headed to see Jamie. We took off for California and good times in Disneyland!!! I LOVE DISNEYLAND!!! We laughed and laughed on the way down. I cannot believe how much we talked. Hardly a moment of silence. I love having such great girlfriends who will take off and go to Disneyland on the spur of the moment! When we to there, we got some yummy food and watched the Bachelorette (no shame here!).
  
• Tues. July 28: On to Disney. I had so much fun. I think my favorite was the Tower of Terror. But old school Disney is still the best. Peter Pan, Pirates of the Caribbean, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, The Haunted House and It's a Small World. LOVED IT!!!! We were so worn out by the time it was over. Totally worth it.
• Wed. July 29: Headed back to Vegas. We listed to great music and again laughed and talked. We even stopped at the state line to ride the roller coaster at Buffalo Bills. Love the roller coasters! Then back to Lauren's place. More great conversation and a little So You Think You Can Dance! How can you not enjoy that??? I had some In and Out Burger! YUM!
  
• Thurs. July 30: Lauren and I went to Capriotti's - the yummiest sandwich shop ever - for some lunch. And then I was off again to Utah.

I'll post more later. But thanks to my dear mother for letting me take off in her car for five days. And thanks to Lauren and Jamie for being such great friends and wanting to hang out with me! I may not love Vegas - but I love and miss you girls so much!!!

Bloggers Who Don't Blog (or How I Spent My Summer Vacay Part I)

Yep! I've become that blogger...a blogger who does not blog. Sorry folks. I know it's been over three months. No excuses. Just haven't felt much like blogging these days.

So, I thought maybe I should talk about my summer a bit. My last final was on May 16th. After that, I made a beeline for the Newark Public Library. Thanks to a great tip from a fellow classmate, Adam, I discovered one thing I love about Newark. The library here is AWESOME. It's housed in a beautiful old building near a park. I walk over there about once a week. I can check out all sorts of goodies, including new movies. I think I'm done w/my subscription to Netflix. Why pay when you can get movies for free?!?! :).

But of course my favorite part about the library is that the stacks feel sort of old and musty - like a library should feel. I'm so nerdy. And of course, I've been reading like a mad woman. I've rediscovered how much I love books, so I think I've read about fifteen books this summer. LOVE LOVE LOVE to read. I can't believe how much I've missed reading. I won't give you all the titles, but here are a few faves.

• Time Traveler's Wife (Audrey Niffenegger) - AMAZING! Not for conservative readers, however.
  
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Mary Ann Shaffer) - EXCELLENT!
  
• The Thirteenth Tale (Diane Setterfield) - throw back to the Gothic romance - really fun.
  
• The Peacegiver (James L. Ferrell) - inspiring and uplifiting.
  
• Oh, and I really liked Revelation (CJ Sansom) - part of my renewed obsession with the Henry VIII time period.

Here are a few things I've been reading/plan on reading. Just finished Fairest. It was definitely for young readers. I think I might have enjoyed it when I was eight. But I didn't love it. Devlin Diary just looked interesting. I haven't started it yet. Friends recommended Memoirs of a Geisha. And Something Wicked This Way Comes is mine. I've wanted to read it for a long time.

Movies: Brideshead Revisited was okay. Not nearly as good as Atonement. I've seen Breach before, but I loved it, so I wanted to rewatch it. And I rented the Tudors - a tv series on Showtime. I have to fast forward a lot. But I'm sort of obsessed with Henry VIII, so I really like it. So much intrigue and double dealing. I would have hated to be a woman in that time period.

I'll post some more highlights soon! PROMISE!!!

Books and paper

I'm really tired tonight... tired of outlining and thinking and thinking and thinking. Then I took a look around my apartment and realized that I was surrounded. By books and paper. At first, it sort of frustrated me.  People who know me, know that I like things neat and orderly. As finals start, the piles grow; fortunately, as finals go on, one by one, the piles will be cleared, and the house will be clean again. 

And more importantly, it occurs to me that this mess represents the amount of work I've put in, and that is just for one semester. And it doesn't represent everything i've done this semester. I imagine these piles, times four...four semesters worth of this. that is what my life has been like for two years. At times, I get weighed down under the workload.  But when I look at these pictures, I think about all that I've accomplished.  It is a lot. So...I'm proud of my messy apartment!

This is a stack of work that I haven't yet completed.  Work to do over the summer for the archives project I'm working on.

This is my study headquarters. I've been finishing my outline for administrative law over the past few days. 

My desk, and my computer. I have a close relationship with my computer.

The book, in its almost final form. Now that represents hours upon hours of work!

My recycle pile. It will be much, much larger by the end of the semester!

Contrasts

First of all, I have to say that they don't call New Jersey the Garden State for nothing.  It is a really beautiful state, even if Newark is not its shining crown jewel.  A few of you have commented that Newark is prettier than they thought it would be.  And I admit, the pictures I posted show a different side of Newark.  My hope is that someday, this is the side of Newark everyone will see.  It has a lot of potential because of its past.  There are many amazing buildings.  Still, I think you should see the contrast.  

A picture of a tree I passed by on my way to Branch Brook Park - I think it sits on the Rutgers campus in Newark.

Again, the beautiful cathedral - I believe it's called Sacred Heart

And what I ran into on my walk there.  SAD!!!  And this is what people think of when they think of Newark.

Cherry Blossoms in Newark

So this picture isn't of cherry blossoms - it's a cathedral in Newark...near the park I walked to where I got to see the lovely cherry blossoms.  

I'm really impressed with this cathedral.  The grounds are immaculate and the church is really amazing, inside and out.

Okay, so here are the cherry blossoms....



I didn't get to go to my beloved D.C. to see the cherry blossoms this Spring.  But, I'd heard that Branch Brook park in Newark had some nice trees, so I decided to check it out.  Not the same as D.C. - because the monuments really are something else with all those cherry blossoms.  But, I can't complain.  I guess Newark isn't SO bad! 

a tragedy

I discovered this old Victorian mansion in the neighborhood where I go for my doctor's appointments. I was shocked when I first saw it. I had heard rumors of Newark in her glory days, but I had no idea. This is tragic. I realized just how far Newark had fallen. I wish I could have seen it when it was inhabited. I also wish I had loads of money to fix it up. It would make a nice office, restaurant, design studio...or all of the above. It is massive.