Thanksgiving, The Second

After eating our weight in delicious food with Tim's family last Sunday, we went up to my parents' house on the actual Thanksgiving to celebrate all over again! Everyone contributed part of the meal, which was fun and a little strange - I'm still getting used to being a grown up and having my siblings be grown ups too. The table was beautiful, the dinner delicious, and all the relaxing and lounging absolutely perfect.






I am always grateful for my family, but spending lots of time with them reminds me how very lucky I am. I'm so in love with my wonderful husband and so aware of how blessed with are to be housed, employed, healthy, comfortable, and together. My life is so full of good things! Happy happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving, The First

I've learned a lot about hosting Thanksgiving Dinner since two years ago when we hosted Tim's family's Thanksgiving in our little apartment the first time. This year, we had our first Thanksgiving dinner with Tim's family yesterday (the Sunday before Thanksgiving) while his parents were in town and I think things went much more smoothly this time around, particularly because other people brought some of the food. And really helped clean up. And it was just the one evening, so there was a limit to how crazy we could get. I really do love having everyone over and getting to spend time with the whole family, though. It's always hard to get so many people in one place at the same time, but it's so much fun when we pull it off!





This time I learned that no matter how you try to entertain toddlers, nothing will be as appealing as what they can't have. (Okay, so I learned that before, but it was reinforced.) I learned that 11 adults and 2 babies can fit in our living room, but it's still as crowded as when there were 15 adults (like last time). And I learned and am still learning how to let go of control when that many people are around. It's not a bad thing to have tons of family over, especially when that family is so considerate and conscientious about helping tidy up, but if I can relax, worry less, and remember that everything can be cleaned, it's a much better experience for all.

Birthday (Murder) Madness

I've said it before and I'll say it again: we throw the best birthday parties. I didn't have much to do with the planning or execution of this particular party, but it was awesome.

There were Werewolves...


Humans...


Mages...


Faeries...


and Vampires.


In short, it was a Murder Mystery game of epic proportions. It was very different from any other Murder Mystery game I've ever played but it was also a ton of fun! People were killed:




We had a very menacing ghost policing the activities:


And there was cake:



What more could you ask for?

Happy birthday Christian! I hope you had as much fun as we did!

Four week challenge

So sometimes I do random things just because I can. I'm very silly like that. Or maybe I just like a challenge. In either case, for the last four weeks, I challenged myself to wear a different pair of shoes every day. I have way too many shoes, but most of them serve a specific purpose so I just can't get rid of them. I thought that if I had to wear them all, it might help me discover if there were any that could go. There weren't, but it was still fun and very hard to wear a different pair every day! I mostly ran into trouble with the heels, but I only blistered my feet once so all in all, pretty good.

The night I met Emma Lou Thayne

I wish I could have taken all of my friends, sisters, and cousins to Salt Lake with me tonight. I wish they could have listened to the passionate, educated, informed women who shared their insights and opinions in such articulate and moving ways. I wish they could have felt as empowered, enriched, and inspired as I did when I left Salt Lake feeling motived to do more, be more, write more.

Tonight the Mormon Women Project hosted their second annual Salon ("salon" in the old fashioned sense of intellectuals meeting to discuss and exchange ideas, not a place to get your hair done) in Salt Lake and I registered for it kind of on a whim. I found out about it through the Segullah blog and was intrigued by the promise of enlightening conversation and Emma Lou Thayne as the keynote speaker. (Emma Lou Thayne wrote the words to the LDS hymn "Where Can I Turn for Peace?" as well as fourteen books of prose and poetry.) My mom has instilled a love of Emma Lou Thayne in me since I was old enough to hero-worship someone, so I invited her to come with me. We were both blown away by the openness of the dialogue and the depth of thought and feeling. The Salon was something between a seminar and a women's conference, a blend of the spiritual, intellectual, and practical. We were all there as Mormon women striving to live fuller, richer lives and that's what it was all about - how to do that.

Emma Lou Thayne's keynote address was witty, moving, wonderful, and gave me all kinds of thoughts to ponder. During a break in the evening while everyone was getting food, my mom saw Emma Lou standing by herself for a moment. "Do you want to meet her?" she asked, grabbing my hand.

"Well, yeah..." I said, reluctant to put myself forward, but my mom was already pulling me across the room. Mom had met Emma Lou Thayne more than once so she didn't hesitate to ask if she remembered her and begin a conversation.

"This is my daughter," my mom introduced me. "She's going to be a writer."

"Oh, really?" Emma Lou asked, genuinely interested in this information.

"I am a writer, Mom," I smilingly corrected, a little embarrassed at giving myself a title I don't know if I've earned when I was standing next to someone who had fourteen published books.

But Emma Lou, gracious and kind, didn't miss a beat. "Oh, it's a wonderful life," she told me. "You get to travel and meet so many interesting people."

I nodded, the excitement of meeting her making my head bounce a little too much.

"Write," Emma Lou said to me, her eyes looking straight into mine. "Just write. Don't let anything stop you."

The conversation continued as my mom and Emma Lou remembered shared experiences and women's retreats of years past. I listened, in love with the moment and repeating to myself Emma Lou's words. Write. Just write. I took them into my heart and felt the possibility of my talents toss their heads, paw at the ground, and stand a little taller. Don't let anything stop you.

It was an incredible evening, but I think that moment with Emma Lou Thayne was the highlight. It wasn't just the excitement of meeting someone I admire artistically, but meeting someone I admire who was also so accessible. There was nothing pretentious or pretended about her; she was completely herself, totally authentic. It was only a few minutes and I mostly just listened to her talk to my mom, but in that one moment, she managed to focus on me and not only encourage me to write, but make me feel like my words are worth writing. I haven't felt that in a long time, and I walked away from that moment in a haze of glorious aspirations.

More than anything, I wish that I could give some of Emma Lou's self-assured yet totally unassuming confidence to all the women in my life, including (and maybe especially) myself. That kind of gift would be absolutely priceless. Everyone, mark your calendars for next year; we're all going to go be inspired together.

New office

The last two weeks have been kinda crazy at work. Well, more than two weeks, and more than kinda. We moved offices which doesn't sound like a big deal, but then you take into consideration all the coordinating it takes to get the heat turned on and the phones hooked up and the internet working and power outlets for all the computers that need them, and it gets a little overwhelming. And in the meantime, I was trying to get some actual work done (didn't really happen).

But we are settled now and I like my little cubicle space. I definitely miss my office with a window, but it's very well lit in these new offices which is a HUGE plus. And now that the heat's on, I'm much warmer than I was sitting next to a large window. We're still adjusting to the different set up and I still can't send emails from my work email (we switched servers...don't even get me started), but I think I'm going to like it here.

Some pictures:

My desk


My desk, the door to the photography studio, and Jen's desk


The submissions room - gotta admit, I'm glad I don't share an office with all of this anymore!