Spring? Already?

I guess we've neglected the ol' blog for a while, sorry about the lack of updates... We've been busy, I promise!

Today is the 2nd official day of outdoor cleanup and maintenance. The first mow job of the season was fun, I think I emptied the bag about a dozen times. We had a nice little work day out in the rain on Easter, raking the debris that had collected over the winter. The side of our house is like a wind tunnel that blows all the leafs, garbage, etc. from the neighborhood into our fence. It's crazy all the stuff that collects. I found this business card in a leaf pile.

Front:


Back (click for larger size):


'57? has this been in a leaf pile for 50 years? Where could it have possibly come from?

Doing yard work in the rain is a surprisingly pleasant and cleansing experience. Why do we need to sit in a building to celebrate Easter? Rebirth? Renewal? Return-to-life? Yard work does it for me.

A Few Reasons Why I Love My Job

I mentioned being busy during November and December -- here are a few highlights, including recital pictures from our after school program, Dance Renaissance, and from The Nutcracker student matinee, when nearly 2,000 kids came to see the ballet for the first time, and the dancers were good enough to come out at Intermission and visit.

White Knuckles and Swedish Fish

If you had told us six years ago that this weekend we would don our black hoodies, grab some black coffee, load up the black Jeep and drive to Utah in January, we probably would have thought that, six years later, we would somehow have achieved wealth enough to catch the airing of some tragic Indie flick at Sundance.

Alas, we are not as cool as we once were. However, neither are we as quintessentially metro and hipster as the typical masse frequenting IKEA. We aren't skinny enough. :)

We made it safely across the arctic tundra that is Wyoming and Utah to scenic Sandy (Draper) and back. Neither snow nor ice, bitter cold nor gale-force winds (enough to wrap a semi around an overpass) could deter us from remedying our plight of kitchenlessness.

All that to say we got some cabinets (3), among other things. And are home, happy and safe.



Props to Miles for feeding Chevy.

Post-Holiday Recap (Recoup)

What an eventful couple of months!

We had a wonderful time catching up with Chris and Julie and meeting Ada:



Who spent the majority of her time rocking back and forth on hands and knees and exclaiming, "WOW! WOW! WOW!"

We spent Thanksgiving at Aunt Cherri's house, and for the following five weeks my life was entirely dominated by The Nutcracker. More on that to come.

We did manage to put up our modest little tree. In the old apartment, it took up half our living room.



A sleepy present:



And we hung stockings on the [window] with care...



For Anne, Bren, and Chevy.

Also, we finished tiling the kitchen, and Bren grouted the whole thing.

He also scored us the most amazing range! A discontinued model that had been on display. It was originally $2,000, and we got it for $650 (That's less than the price of the lower-end oven we were saving to buy with Bren's discount). And it sings a little song when it's done preheating and cooking.



ALSO, I decided the whole renovation thing wasn't enough work, and started making a quilt for our bed, and bought silk for curtains in the living, dining, and master bedrooms. Pictures to follow soon.

Christmas came and went really fast, but it was great. Thanks, everybody!

Now, Bren and I are trekking to the nearest IKEA (Draper, UT) on Saturday in the hopes of purchasing some kitchen cabinets. We can't afford to get them all, but it will be a good start. Hopefully the weather will cooperate!

Happy New Year!