Sleepover

We did our New Year's Eve festivities a day early this year. Sye and Jake came to sleep over. We played games and had a good time. I am not very patient with games that take as long as Monopoly or Risk and I gave prior warning. Instead, I created my mission to take over where I would want to live which lead me on the adventure of taking over the northern portion of Middle Earth. Once statisfied that the Shire was fully secured from bothersome trolls and orcs, I was done.

What Are You Doing New Years Eve?

I don't know what JD and I are doing yet, but this made me start wondering.....

Primos

We had a cousins outing that was so fantastically wonderful. I have the best cousins ever and we had a grand time galavanting around down town Salt Lake enjoying the lights, Crown Burger, a really strange sing a long, and catching up with what everyone is doing. We went swimming at the Little America afterwards. All in all it was a relaxing and fun evening. Hopefully another such gathering happens sooner rather than later.

Merry Christmas

We had a very merry and busy Christmas this year which involved going to three family gatherings and two gatherings on Christmas Eve. It was fun being with those families though and enjoying the food and presents as well. Some events included me getting a new camera, JD playing 4 Way Chess with his family, playing Christmas Deal or No Deal, Christmas at my home ward with my whole family, and various meals at different locations. We hope you had a happy day too!

Personal Summaries

The craziness has begun. My family has had the tradition of adding to a personal summary book since I was just little. This involves a few pages summarizing the year in pictures and written word. Some questions we answer are our favorite movie and book of the year, what we are doing at home, work, school, and church, the best and worst things of the year, and goals for the coming year. The first Christmas we were married our gift to JD's parents was starting this tradition with them. While I love the summaries, I now have to do one for my mom/grandparents Clarke/grandparents Hewlett, the Speth family, and my personal book. I am solely an annual scrapbooker for this tradition, so this time of year the living room is a mess and it is not surprising to find scraps of paper everywhere or to step on a brad that escaped its container. Thus far the Hewlett pages are done, just two more sets to go.

Legos

My sisters and I watch two shows over the Christmas break every year: Little Women and Anne of Green Gables. These aren't exactly Christmas shows but for some reason we have always watched them this time of year. JD isn't exactly in love with Little Women night so a new tradition was started: while I am with the girls, JD goes over to his house to build Lego structures with his brothers. I may not get Legos and he may not get Little Women, but it makes for a fun night with our siblings for each of us.

Christmas Spirit

What a crazy week JD and I have had, between work parties, work, wrapping up stuff for Christmas, and other activities it has gone by in a whirlwind. The culmination of all the crazy was Sunday. We woke up early and went down to the Motab Christmas Concert. Martin was nice enough to register for tickets down in San Antonio and he not only received and hand delivered them at Thanksgiving, but the tickets were amazing we were on the floor at the very front right next to where President Monson came in. The program was great and we ended up seeing the whole concert minus 3 songs, can't complain about that.
It was also caroling tonight with friends from high school. We had almost everyone there, and those we were in far away lands were definately missed. Tara was nice enough to open up her home and accompany all of the songs. Doing the math, I believe that this was year number 8 for this tradition.
We gave our last lesson to the kids in our primary class today which was kind of sad, they have been a great class and a lot of fun too. We watched the Nativity and had treats and talked about remembering Christ this time of year.
All of these things have helped to make it really feel like Christmas. It feels like we have been caught up in work and school and applications and big decisions so doing things that focus on family, friends, and the Savior has been wonderful....and exhausting.

Individulality

We taught a lesson in primary about taking care of your things and people's things (not stealing, return things you borrow etc). Part of the lesson involved making something that you prize with salt dough. JD and I were absolutely amazed by what one of our kids was able to do. While the others made such things as a blanket and a taco (she really likes tacos-so she says), Ammon was constructing a work of art.

To put things into perspective: he is not the neatest or most peaceful of colorers. Usually the first thing he does with a coloring page is scribble all over the people in black or grey. One day he was actually coloring, to our great surprise, however it turned out he was adding cuts and bruises to the already battered traveler in a Good Samaritan picture.

This time it was different: he had indivdual legs, and was done before even the blanket maker was, so while he was waiting he proceded to add toes and scales. The other kids were impressed too.

It just goes to show that everyone has very different talents and you will never know what they are capable of until you give them a try.

The House of the Lord

JD and I finally made it to the Provo Temple today! We tried going there this time last year and for no apparent reason, it was closed: no sign, no notice on the website, nothing; it was very sad.
What makes this temple trip particularly exciting is the fact that we have now been to every temple in Utah that is open and operating: Logan, 'Old' Ogden, Bountiful, Salt Lake, Jordan River, Oquirrh Mountain, Draper, Mount Timpanogos, Provo, Manti, Vernal, St. George, and Monticello. We look forward to Brigham City, Payson, Provo II, and 'New' Ogden when they open, but today was a great day.

We are grateful for the blessings that come from the temple, the peace that is felt there, and the opportunity to focus on the Savior, Jesus Christ. The fact that we are sealed in marriage forever has been a great blessing and comfort to us. We feel so blessed to have so many temples near us. JD served his mission in India where members tend to hang pictures of the Hong Kong temple in their homes, this is the closest temple to them and it involves an expensive plane ride and several years of saving before being able to attend and do their work. Many members in India are unable to receive the blessings of the temple while alive.

To learn more about temples you can go to this link: http://lds.org/church/temples?lang=eng

Trim the Tree

Here is my annual wrapping job for the year 2011 at the pharmacy. I love my favorite day of work, the day after Thanksgiving, the day on which all of this takes place. This year the door decorating has spread to the whole clinic so now it looks super cute and festive too.

Silver and Gold

I love decorating for fall and Christmas. All of our decorations are up and we are ready for the holidays. I had to relight our Christmas tree this year, it took forever and I have a bazillion tiny scratches all over my fingers, hands, and arms, but I would say it was worth it.

Temple Square

It is fun having both of our finals taken care of so that we have time during the week to do things! Last night we went to Temple Square. We walked around to see the lights before doing a session at the temple. Last year we didn't come to the lights in Salt Lake, but we did go to the lights at the Los Angeles temple, it is a fun contrast between palm trees and pine trees.

Music and the Spoken Word

My family attended Music and the Spoken word with my grandma this morning to celebrate her 70th birthday. It was fun going down the Conference Center and enjoying the program that consisted of all Christmas music. After the program we had brunch and cupcakes at the grandma's house to celebrate. I am grateful for all of the opportunities we have around us to enjoy so many different things such as the Motab Broadcast. We will be back down there in two weeks for the Christmas concert.

Santa Claus is Coming To Town

Erin and I went out to lunch this afternoon and drove past Santa riding the Buffalo on top of Buffalo Bill's Tire Center. He was waving to all of the good boys and girls.....I guess.....people of Ogden: better watch out and better not cry because Santa Claus is in town.

Mahna Mahna

Upon arriving home JD asked me, are you going to blog about what we just saw? I answered yes.

We went to the new Muppet Movie, and I LOVED IT. It was super cute and very true to the Muppets. I loved the cameos, story line, the songs-particularly Am I a Man or a Muppet?-it was just fun. I laughed a lot as did all of the other adults that came to the movie. Seriously I think there was one kid total present the rest were older people, and we did all laugh.

Grinch

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "Doesn't come from a store." "Maybe Christmas....perhaps...means a little bit more!"

A Family that Works Together......

While I am used to working with JD or Sye on occasion, usually Sye since he is based at Herefordshire with me...I can say that never before have 3 Speths been working at the same place at the same time before. It took several extraneous events to cause such a collision of family technicians to work together, but it did happen and the picture is proof. I have to admit it was kind of fun for the short time that this overlap occurred, though Deb was feeling a little left out being and Omer and not a Speth. :)

Santa's Helper

I talked JD into being a Santa's Helper with me for the Santa 5K in Ogden yesterday. We were assigned to the finish line which turned out to be quite fun, though a little cold. I would take off runner's tags at the finish as JD was helping to string all of the tags from the people coming down the shute. It was a random, fun activity for the evening.

Turkey Day

Thanksgiving was fun this year. I started out the day at Ogden Regional Medical Center for the Thanksgiving Day run with Aimee, and Lara, Sam, and Andrew. It was a fun event that hundreds of people come to every year. This was the 26th annual run, admission is nonperishable food items that you place directly into Salvation Army trucks. JD and I went to both families this year. My grandpa came to the Hewlett feast where we learned all kinds of Thanksgiving trivia such as: turkeys can run up to 55 miles per hour if threatened, turkeys pardoned by the President live out the rest of their days in the happiest place on earth: Disneyland, Thanksgiving was started in 1863 by president Abraham Lincoln, and the largest pumpkin pie ever made weighed 2,020 pounds. We then went to the Miner Thanksgiving. With the family being so large, they set up tables in a church and passed the different food items around the table. It was kind of fun waving to people across the gym. We finished out the day at both of our families houses once more, this time for pie and watching a movie. It was a fun, but busy day. It is weird to think that we probably won't be here next year.

Here Fishy Fishy Fishy

I got a tour of the Barker Fish Farm yesterday and it was SO cool! I felt like a little kid on a field trip. It was fascinating to see him gather the eggs, process them, and to see the result in all of his tanks. Fish farmers now have to sterilize their fish, to do so they take the eggs they have collected and stick them in a hollow tube. Pressure equal to two full size cars is then applied to the eggs changing their chromosomes so that they are trisometric=can not breed. He said the containers in the top right picture contain about 50,000 of these eggs each, so can kind of see them in the clear containers, but the black ones have them too. If you ever have the opportunity to have a tour of a fish farm, I highly recommend it.

Oregonian

Yet another interview completed for JD. This time he headed up to Portland Oregon. He loved it up there and really likes the program so we will see what happens with this school. A bonus of this trip was JD did not have to come home the same day as his interview and stayed with one of his fellow Indian missionaries. Ben has been a great friend and recently moved up to Portland for work. In anticipation of JD's arrival, Ben dressed up in a traditional Indian dhoti and made a special sign. In India, they don't have the "th" sound so JD went by Elder Spet the whole time. They had a fun time, he loved the school, and he likes Oregon. And now.....one more interview left to go this year.

Las Manzanas

I have had a thing for apples lately. I love going to Winco and buying one or two of every kind of apple they have. I have learned all kinds of new apples the picture includes: Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Gala, Fugi, Sonya, Sweet Tango, Granny Smith, Braeburn, Jonagold, Pink Lady, and one I can't remember and the sticker fell off. I get bemused looks from the checkers when the multiple bags of apples come along, but I don't care it has been my funness the past couple of weeks.

Florida

JD is back from LECOM in Florida, another very quick trip down. I dropped him off on Wednesday at the airport and picked him up Thursday night. One more to go this week...as in we will be heading back to the airport today after his lab final. :) The weather was 80 degrees and he got to see drive across the Gulf of Mexico on the Sunshine Highway Bridge which I think is pretty cool.

A little bit of cheese

Ok, advanced notice, this is going to be cheesy, and I don't care. You can stop reading now and wait for the next post, or you can just deal with a little bit of cheese every once in a while. So you have been warned.
I miss JD, I know it is lame and everything, but I do miss him. This is the first time since we got married that we haven't been together and simply put, I do not like it, not one bit. Thankfully, we will hopefully be at the end of this craziness by the end of the month. The end.

Running on Ice

We went to Disney on Ice last night. I have to admit that the first number that consisted of a 'running on ice' warm up for everyone with the Incredibles had me questioning if even the WSU discount tickets were worth coming, but it turned out to be pretty cool. They did parts from several movies including: Alice in Wonderland, Snow White, Tangled, Aladdin, Lion King, Little Mermaid, Frog Princess, and Peter Pan. I loved watching and listening to all the kids; the biggest screams of delight came for Lion King and Tangled. It was a fun, random night.

One Down, Three to Go

JD is back from Arizona, he drove the 11 1/2 hours there Thursday, interviewed Friday, and drove the 11 1/2 hours back right after his interview, getting home about 2:30 AM. That is a lot of driving, most of it was in the dark. With Midwestern down, he just has three more places to go this month, two of which this upcoming week! -I liked the Christmas light covered cacti pictures he took, one of which is featured in this picture if you look close.

Kindred Spirits

Today was Erin's birthday and while she had SO much fun in the morning with dental work, I think the evening may have been just a little bit better. It was so fun hanging out with Erin and her family as we celebrated her turning 25. We have been friends forever, that is, since my first day of 1st grade at Lomond View Elementary in 1991 when Erin invited me to play with her at recess, we weren't even in the same class and I was the new kid. We have had many adventures, hikes, road trips, concerts in rain and snow, who knows how many pictures we have taken together, many letters back and forth during her mission to the Land of Anne, late night chats, plans and schemes, baking, running, dreaming, crafting, sewing, jumping, cleaning, moving, singing, and the list goes on and on. I am so grateful to have had a kindred spirit in my life all of this time, and I look forward to many more adventures that lay in store for the next 20 years. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIN!!!!

Interviews, Planes, Hotels, Cars, Friends, Family

So the past couple weeks have been nothing short of insane when it comes to our future. JD has received 4 interview requests over the past 3 weeks (including one today) and seeing as they are all over the country, it has been a little stressful keeping everything straight, between flight times, prices, hotels and their location in relation to the schools, car rental details, maps from airports to hotels, contacting friends and family to find a place to sleep or ride from the airport, and the list goes on. The main summary is this: Midwestern University, Phoenix Arizona, November 10th; LECOM Bradenton Florida, November 17th; Pacific University, Portland Oregon, November 19th; and LECOM Erie Pennsylvania, November 29th. This equals a lot of stress and a lot of money. Not to say we aren't grateful, hopefully we will get accepted at a good school and will know as early as Christmas where and what we will be doing and when, that is a nice thought indeed.

First Dam 5K

Imagine a dark, brisk, chilly, morning. There is fresh snow on the ground and small flurries all around you. A layer of ice hugs your car windows as you try to scrape it off. Your breath hangs on the air. Despite several layers of clothing the cold is biting. You are experiencing this for the sole purpose of running around the mouth of an icy cold canyon. Joy.

While I was quite doubtful prior to running, the First Dam 5k turned out to be a pretty fun experience, and while running the temperature was just fine. Aimee and Kariel did wonderful on their 10K and I had fun doing the 5k. Indian food afterwards was fun too.

Perfection

JD's grandparents gave us tickets to attend the Utah Symphony Orchestra with them last night. They had a guest violinst, James Ehnes, and he was amazing. Every once in a while you have moments where you are witnessing what is near perfection examples include: U2, after 20+ years of practice can throw an amazing concert, the Olympians have dedicated most of their lives to their sport of choice and you get to see the near perfects take the gold every 2 years, and last night I can add James Ehnes to that list. It was fascinating to watch him play and amazing to hear what was coming out of that 1715 Marsick Stradivarius of his (as in a real Stradivarius, worth well over $1,000,000). That's right, I watched a Master Violinist play his Stradivarius-no big deal.

The Arts

Megan, Spencer, and I attended the Eccles Art Center in Ogden today. It was an interesting experience. We wanted to do something different and new and this definately fit in that category. The artwork on display was neat, mostly landscape with a focus animal of some kind: moose, beers, pheasants, etc. Though to be honest, I think we were more fascinated by the Eccles mansion itself. Considering when it was built, it is a very impressive house. It had opening windows on pulley systems, gas heaters in every room, we counted about 6 bathrooms, and we aren't sure how many bedrooms, Spencer was a fan of all the mirrors and the baby looking back at him in each of them as well. It was a fun, random, free activity if you are looking for something to do.

The Last Cookie

JD's mom makes cookies for friends and family every Halloween and we are one of the lucky recipients, well kind of this year. JD told me he was on his way home and took a little longer than usual. He walked in the door and related his sad story: The cookies had been forgotten on the car roof upon his starting to drive home, they fell off the car and went all over the road. JD seeing this went back, and picked up all of the mess off the road and was able to retrieve one survior. He too has now perished.

Goodbye October

October 31st is a fun holiday. Halloween is just crazy if you think about it, people dressing up, knocking on strangers' doors, and asking/demanding candy, and if you don't comply it is implied that you will be sorry. As fun as this holiday is and as fun as decorationsand such are, I have to say Halloween is kind of a sad day for me because it marks the end of October.
It certainly has been a wonderful one this year: fall leaves, hiking Waterfall Canyon, Big Cottonwood Canyon, (snowballs one week, hike up Donut Falls the next), Moab, River Walkway, Alpine Loop, General Conference, peaches galore off of Jeff's trees, Arches, birthday celebrations, crafting, zombie 5k, the opera, family parties, fall break, and so much more. All in all it was just wonderful. So long October, it's been great.

We Thank Thee O God For a Prophet

We had Regional Stake Conference today and it was wonderful. There were a lot of good messages and things to take from it and I have to say it is always nice to hear from the prophet. The main message from both Elder Andersen and President Monson was the need to look outside of ourselves and go to the rescue of those around us be they the widowed, lonely, from fractured families, neighbors, friends, strangers....to help those who need it or to find a way to serve those around us. I think it can be easy to get wrapped up in our busy lives, and trials and not look outside of our narrow point of view and see those around us in need of a smile, hug, listening ear, plate of cookies, visit, phone call, dinner, because we are all dealing with something. President Monson's remarks on battalions and loss of war in connection with loving those around us made me think of a quote that I love from Sister Marjorie Pay Hinckley (wife of President Hinckley): "Be kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." Note on the picture: some may think this a weird choice, but the last time I heard President Monson speak at the Dee Events Center it was at my graduation, which I think is pretty neat.

Dumb Student.

I have had to get my blood drawn weekly since probably June 2010 when my body got really really angry. While the test may change the steps don't. I know where all of my good veins are, as well as the scarred ones from over use. I usually know the people's names and personal information such as kids, car troubles, ex-troubles, etc due to the frequency I get to visit. That said, I had a student today. I understand that we all start somewhere, but this students was a complete idiot. Here is my case as it unfolded: #1 Feels for vein in the wrong spot #2 I inform student that is not a vein but a tendon-big difference #3 Student ignores me and shoves a butterfly needle into my tendon and into a nerve-yes a butterfly needle used for shallow veins as in on the surface nowhere near my precious nerves #4 I begin crying and am not sure why #5 notice student is still fishing for a vein within my tendon but I am unable to feel anything....at all, but my body obviously does or I wouldn't be crying right? RIGHT? #6 Nurse comes around corner and exclaims "WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING TO HER!?!?" and shoves student out of way-yay! she removes needle and asks me to pinch fingers which I can do if I am looking but can't feel it and can't if I am not watching my hand #7 nurse has to go through the top of my hand due to my arm being destroyed on the oppostie side #8 stupid student asks if I am just senstive-I gave a not so nice reply along the lines of being insensitive to people who don't listen to their patients especially when they have blood drawn as frequently as I do #9 leave with three areas wrapped in brightly colored coflex and still unable to feel arm, grasp, write, open pens, hold cassettes, type, etc #10 15 minutes later I am going to throw up, I am sick, dizzy, and nautious, our nurse notices and figures I am having a sympathetic reaction to having my nerve poked and twirled around #11 3 hours later tingling in the fingers, I can pick up a paper #12 4 hours later feeling starts coming back #13 evening pain is so intense in my arm that has been dead since 11:00 AM I am forced to take pain medication to get any relief #14 I don't like students, especially dumb ones. #15 never again

Bookstore Ban

Fairly certain that JD and I should be banned from all bookstores until further notice, as in until we have completely finished pharmacy school, paid off student loans that will come from pharmacy school, and pay off our future home that we don't even know what state it will be in. Why? Because we go into bookstores and we can't come out and when we finally do, we have huge lists of books we would like to have on our shelves that are already packed full. Outside of that, between applications and a daunting thesis, when do we read.....for fun at least?

Free Run Foliage

I took my camera with me for a quick jog by the river today. Wow it is pretty. I love this time of year!