Demented and sad, but social

I am so sorry. If there is anyone out there who actually still checks my blog. The past month or so has been BEYOND busy. It was only this past Saturday that I actually sat down on the couch- for the first time in a month or so, I think- and thought to myself... I can relax. There has been something going every moment of every day, it seems.

It all started in the middle of July when we found our house and decided to move. Thus began the packing, sorting, organizing, etc. We were able to move somewhat stress-free (is that an oxymoron?) with the help of some WONDERFUL friends- mainly Kaylyn and Rich- but also many others who helped to load the truck. It was such a blessing.

Arriving at the new place meant lots of unpacking, sorting, folding, hanging, setting up, etc. The girls' room was the easiest to put together. Their new duvet covers (remember that post where I asked your opinions? I went with the owls) look so cute and they LOVE them. The other rooms are slowly coming. I am so impatient, I want everything to look perfect and put together immediately... yet that's not how it happens. I am still figuring out what should go where, etc. Our master bedroom is so big our furniture looks tiny. We need a whole new bedroom suite with an armoire and maybe a small couch in the corner by the window. Ha, good luck.

Much of June and July consisted of me exercising my wrists whilst holding this HUGE book, the longest novel in the English language, A Suitable Boy. I finally finished it a few days after my bookclub... but I did finish. I want a medal. It was like a marathon of words. Can't I at least get a t-shirt? Seriously. 1474 pages I think it was. Thank you Heidi for suggesting it b/c I never, ever, ever would have ever, ever thought I could ever, ever read this book. You helped me to accomplish something noteworthy.

One of the best things about the book is that it takes place in India. So I got to make some Indian food for our get together. I love, love, love Indian food. Possibly more than Thai- it's a hard call. I made Chicken Tikka Masala, Cauliflower Spinach Dahl, Jasmine Rice, and Roasted Vegetable Couscous. Also naan bread, of course. We all pigged out. The dessert I had planned, Om Ali, from Nigella's Domestic Goddess cookbook was a huge failure b/c I accidentally bought Puff Pastry instead of Phyllo. Ugh! Luckily I discovered that before I put it all together. Unfortunately, it was after I had poured the cream and 4 cups of milk into the saucepan to boil. I was excited to make it too. Oh well, I pulled out the BC brownie mix at the last minute and topped it with ice cream and strawberries. I think it was ok.

We all enjoyed talking about the book and I was SOOO impressed by how many of us had finished or very nearly finished. When "nearly finished" entails over 1000 pages, we're talking dedication people. Serious dedication.

I love these girls!!!

Our niece from South Africa was here visiting- she just left Monday. We took her to BYU, up to Park City, drove the Alpine Loop, etc. Here she is baking a "pudding," aka cake, with the kids.

In July, my mission friend Mary Jane came to visit from Thailand. She took time off from her busy, glamorous lifestyle as a Thai celebrity to come to Utah. Her husband is Thai and they are both very musically gifted. It was fun to meet her 3 children. I haven't seen her since we first got back from Thailand 10 years ago!!

We all met at Lindy's house and it was so fun to see all of our kids, we each have 3, lined up on the couch. Who would've thought? It seems like just yesterday the 3 of us were just sitting at zone conference in Bangkok eating McDonald's or Pizza Hut.

I have been training for the St. George Marathon- it's only about 6 weeks away now, I can't believe it! I've worked up to my long runs and it's taking a lot out of me. This past Saturday was my first 20 mile run (you're supposed to do three 20-milers before the marathon) and the weather was really crappy. I started out at the top of Tibble Fork in AF Canyon (see photo below). Be forgiving, this was taken at 6:15 am. It was a great run all the way down the canyon, about 8 miles. Then I ran down past our house, towards PG, across to AF and turned to go past AF hospital when a wind gust of like 50 mph hit me head on. I could barely move. So I kind of walked 1/2 mile to the next 4 way stop and turned right to avoid it. That was better but when I hit Canyon Rd I had to turn into the wind again and by then the sky was black and it was raining. Ugh. The last few miles were not fun. I hope my next long run goes much better. The Saturday before I did 18.5 and it was great, so I am hoping it was just a bad week.

I love this photo of Austin and I in Park City this past weekend. On Friday evening we drove up and walked around Main Street, ate dinner, etc. It was such a nice evening. The weather could not have been more perfect. We had a fun night as a family. Jessica, our niece, just loved Park City. I knew that she would love it there- she's got that granola girl thing going on. She will be spending the next 6 months in Montana doing an exchange from her university in Cape Town.

We've been a little better about FHE now that we're settled in the new place. This photo was taken at our last FHE. We were talking about talents and the girls were dancing around. The next thing I knew, we all decided to make a pyramid. Ashley was so gung ho to jump right on top- she is such a daredevil. We laughed and laughed as we fell over then tried again. It was fun.

I finally gave up on the piano thing- I just wasn't winning that battle. I gave in and bought a keyboard. The kids have LOVED it. They totally want to practice all the time now. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing after all. They have a recital coming up on Sept 5th and I can't wait. The only thing that makes me sad is Olivia has decided not to do singing lessons anymore. She had been doing 1/2 piano and 1/2 voice with this teacher we have (who is great) but I think the recital thing scared her, so she backed out and all of the sudden only wants to do piano. She had been practicing "Love Story" by Taylor Swift and she was so ready. She knew all the words. She has a gift for singing (don't ask me where she got it) and can really pick out a tune and sing on key. Oh well, maybe she'll change her mind later. For now, piano is okay. Austin does really well at piano and has passed through the beginning books so he'll be getting new ones soon.

I hope this long catch-up was worth the wait. Ok, no, it's not. I am sorry. I don't have exciting things to write about and I am not really an entertaining writer. But last night at bookclub (my other one- we discussed Julie & Julia) we were talking about blogging and journaling and how it's important to record/document your life so I'm trying to do that. In my own pathetic sad sort of way... which reminds me of a John Hughes movie, which we also talked about last night. "Demented and sad, but social". That's me.