Butterflies

This week has gone by so slow. I just want 10:30 Saturday morning to be here already. The last couple of days I have been plagued by spontaneous flouts of butterflies in my stomach. Not the type that comes just before a kiss. The type that makes you feel sick with nervousness. This morning I woke up every 10 minutes to check the clock. My dreams played tricks on me as I would wake up in a panic thinking I was going to be late. I doubt I'll get much sleep tonight.

Another Adventure

I'm just finally getting around to uploading my pictures to the computer so I can now tell you about our latest adventure. A few weeks ago we decided to go pay a Sunday visit to our friends Matt and Sandee. They are another couple that met in Jerusalem and got married the day before us. Needless to say, we have been friends ever since.

Anyway, they mentioned to us this incredible deal to go on a mediterranean cruise--the catch was that it was in just a couple weeks. We discussed how neat it would be to go but decided to sleep on the idea since Mitch and I know we have a natural disposition to say yes to going anywhere exciting without really thinking it through. Well, it turns out everything fell into place for us to be able to go on this trip, so we took advantage of the opportune moment.

Here is how the trip went:

About 3 days in Rome. That city is unreal--every way you look, there is something cool to see. That city is so rich with history, I was not disappointed. 

Then a day at Pompei and a night in Napoli. Pompei was nice because you get a true feel for how a city would have been 2,000 ears ago. Its not just a few old ruins, its an entire town.

Then we got on the cruise ship. Our first port was Messina, Sicily. The cannoli there was A-mazing!

And we had pizza as much as possible in Italy. Napoli wins out for having the best pizza.

We enjoyed Athens, especially the gyros!

And we LOVED Ephesus. Turkey is one of my favorite countries I have decided.

Our last port was Crete. Crete is the largest island off of Greece, and our port town was Chania. It is a beautiful venetian port city and we happened to be there right as the olympic torch was coming through!

It was a lovely trip, and I loved every bit.

13.1

I ran the Thanksgiving Point half-marathon with my mother, and my two sisters Karren and Megan on Saturday. It was a tough course (a lot of little steep hills and tight turns) but it was beautiful scenery. I am so glad I decided to do it with them too. We all did quite well and I am really pleased--especially since it was my mom's, Karren's, and my first half marathon race.

Karren dominated us all coming in at 1:48.
I came in next at 1:52--(wahoo thats faster than what I was expecting)
Megan came in at 1:55
and my mom came in at 2:22. She is such a champ and I am so proud of her for doing this with us.

Thank you to family for supporting us and coming to see us race!

Next up: The full marathon on June 9th. (Wish me luck--especially since I'll be out of town for the next couple weeks and my training will seriously decline.)

Portland

Last weekend I got to go with my parents and Karren to Portland to see my dear cousin Kelli get married. Despite the pouring rain it was an AMAZING wedding. Aunt Wendy never disappoints.

About a month ago we had a bridal shower for Kelli in Logan. The best part was making a dress out of paper and making Kelli model it. (pictured below). You see, when my Grandmother got married her friends made her a dress out of paper and that is the only wedding picture I think I have seen of her's. I don't even know what her real dress looked like but I know what her paper gown looked like. I think we did a pretty good job on our attempt. (Kelli looked much more beautiful in her real dress though.)

Love you Kelli!

Magic

To the Jesse Hunsaker Family, Disneyland IS magic. I know it can get too crowded in the parks sometimes, but thats why you don't go during peak season. Even with the long lines, there is something about the music, the detail in every building, the decorations that make your wait more enjoyable as you anticpate Indiana Jones, etc. that makes you feel like you are in a magical place. The workers must be routinely trained on how to be nice because, seriously, you won't find nicer employees at any amusement park. And they keep those parks so CLEAN. Anytime I saw someone spill popcorn on the ground, there seemed to be someone right behind them sweeping it up.

Anyway, enough of why I think Disneyland is great. Mitch had a week of school in February so the 2L's and 3L's could go get interviews. The 1L's still had to finish a huge brief, but Mitch decided to work extra hard and get his done early so we could take the weekend off and head to Disneyland. Since the next 2 years he probably won't be able to do anything during that week off in Febrauary, we really needed to take advantage of this opportunity. We went with another couple from Law school, and they were fabulous company.

I don't know what it is, but I feel like a little kid again when I go to Disneyland. It is so fun to see all the characters.

Thunder Mountain Railroad--I don't know who thought that 3 men would fit just fine in one spot, but it made for good entertainment watching them squirm with every jolt or turn.





And yes, we wore ponchos on Splash Mountain. Normally I wouldn't, but we went first thing in the morning while there were no lines and it was still chilly.

We had a wonderful weekend, even if it was super short! (Just 2 days at the park and then we came home) My favorite parts of the trip: Finally eating at the Blue Bayou, the new Star Tours (if this wasn't so crowded, I would go on it again and again to see as many of the story lines as I could), and the World of Color show.

FFO

Growing up in a big family, I got to go on many family outings. Some of them were "forced family outings", others were simply "fun family outings", and my favorties were the "fantastic family outings." Looking back I think I consider them all fantastic because I now appreciate any family time. But as a pre-teen sometimes I didn't have that sense of gratitude and maturity.

Anyway, I never blogged about an FFO that we had during Christmas break. My sister Megan was playing in the Transiberian Orchestra concert and my parents were so generous to take us all to see it.

Dinner beforehand. So yummy.

I had to add this picture because these two are simply the best.


The beautiful cellist. She is the reason we got to have such a great time.

The concert was rocking. It was super loud and intense but I loved it. The light show was complete with flames and lasers. For those of who you aren't familiar with the Transiberian Orchestra--don't be decieved. Its nothing like an orchestra concert. The orchestra part is tiny (there were two cellists, one was my sister; 2 violists; and 4 violinists.) The main part is 4 electric guitars--it is a total rock concert with all the long-haired guitarists banging their heads, back-up dancers, and more black leather than there was in the show Grease. It was a total hoot and I'm proud of my mom for watching it.

One a random side note--I never realized that Crabs have TEETH really similar to ours on their legs. Totally freaked me out when I realized it. What do you think?

Noah

My sister Katie had her baby early early Monday morning. I freaked out when I woke up and heard the news because he was 3 weeks early so no one was expecting it. He was still 7 pounds though and is just the cutest thing. I will be so impressed if my kids come out with as much hair as he did.

Welcome Noah! We love you!