I know this is late for anyone following my blog, but better late than never. It's already after 10:00 and I should go to bed, but I know if I don't write this soon, I never will.
I had a nice, relaxing Thanksgiving. I got two days off of work and they let me go home early on Wednesday. Those were my first days off of work since Labor Day and it was really nice to have a break! We ate Thanksgiving dinner with Jason's family this year. We met at his brother Jeff's home in Provo. The food was delicious, but my favorite part was holding Jeff and Sally's 3-day old son. James is definitely a cutie even though he didn't do much the whole time I was there except sleep. :)
That evening we went over to my parents house and watched a Hallmark Christmas flick. Perhaps a little ironic since it was Thanksgiving, but I really liked it anyway. We got it at Redbox. It's called "Mrs. Miracle" for anyone else who wants to watch a cheesy feel-good movie.
Friday we put up our Christmas tree and decorated for the holidays. We went over to my brother Keith's house in the afternoon for some pizza, ping pong, and hide-n-seek with my nieces. Then we hurried home and changed just in time to be picked up to go to the "Savior of the World," a musical/play performed at the Conference Center, with Jason's parents, Chelsey, and Mike. It was really good. That was the second time I had seen it, but it's worth seeing more than once. It's a great thing to do to start off the Christmas season. We stopped at Red Robbin for dessert afterward and I enjoyed a yummy strawberry shake.
Saturday afternoon we went over to Jason's parents' house to watch the BYU vs. U of U football game. It was pretty intense the entire time and kept us nervously waiting until the last few seconds when Utah blocked a field goal and BYU lost the game. I won't mention that we (BYU) were ahead pretty much the entire game and should have won if it weren't for some poor calls by the refs, but that's football!
After the game we rushed home to make dinner for company. My brother Keith, Kim, Talisa, and Kira all came over for some dinner and games. The dinner turned out pretty well and the kids were well behaved enough so we could teach Jason how to play Settlers of Catan. He liked it so much that we've played it 4 times since then. I love being around Kira (1 1/2) who is so happy and full of smiles that she's puts a smile on my face when I see her.
Sunday was a good day to stay at home because it snowed all day and all night. Jason and I enjoyed a quiet day at home and sang in our ward choir for a stake activity that night. We were glad we didn't have to go any further than the stake center that night and it took me over an hour to get to work the next morning because of the snow and ice. It's weird to have so much snow so early in the season, but it definitely puts me more in the Christmas mood.
Even though I won't take the time to write my list of "thankfuls" right now. I do want to mention that I am so incredibly blessed and have so much to be grateful for. Although my life right now isn't exactly as I pictured it would be several years ago, I have no complaints. Jason is the best husband and friend anyone could ask for. I never get tired of talking to him or spending time with him. I thank the Lord every day that I'm married and sealed to such a good man. I'm also very grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I couldn't be happy without it. It blesses my life every day. I think it's only appropriate that we have a day of Thanksgiving as we enter the Christmas season so that we can focus more on our many blessings made possible by our Savior Jesus Christ. He truly is the reason for the season.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
A New Calling and a New Plan
This has been a good week with a few news updates. First, I was sustained as a Relief Society chorister today in church. I joke with Jason that they called me as chorister because I am one of the very few sisters that is consistently there on time for the opening hymn. We have RS first in our schedule and currently it starts at 8:30am.
Second, Jason made a final decision about seminary and has decided that it's not the career path for him. He has enjoyed it at times, and has learned a lot about himself and about teaching. We both feel like the experience has been a blessing for him in many ways, but it just isn't going to work out long term. So the question is, now what? Well, that's a good question. Jason plans to teach to the end of the semester which will end the middle of January, but then the sky is the limit. If anyone has any ideas of what we can do with our lives, let us know. We're open to suggestions. :)
We enjoyed our weekend. Friday we had some friends over for dinner and games. They taught us a new game called Manila. It was a lot of fun and we enjoyed talking to them until late.
Saturday I cut Jason's hair and then we drove to the Provo Temple to do some temple work before the BYU football game. Grandpa Richards was kind enough to offer us their tickets on the 50 yd line for the game against New Mexico since they couldn't go. We thought it was going to rain on us, but the weather held up through the whole game. It was fun to watch the game again after only having heard the games on the radio for the whole season. And for anyone who didn't watch it, the Cougs won 40-7.
After the game we went out to dinner at Sam Hawk, our favorite Korean restaurant. It was delicious!!! I really like a good pork bulgogi. Thanks Sara, for introducing this yummy meal to me. On our way home rain quickly turned to snow and by the time we woke up this morning, there was a good 6 inches of snow outside. It was beautiful. A lot of it melted during the day, but there's more in the weather forecast for the next couple of days.
Second, Jason made a final decision about seminary and has decided that it's not the career path for him. He has enjoyed it at times, and has learned a lot about himself and about teaching. We both feel like the experience has been a blessing for him in many ways, but it just isn't going to work out long term. So the question is, now what? Well, that's a good question. Jason plans to teach to the end of the semester which will end the middle of January, but then the sky is the limit. If anyone has any ideas of what we can do with our lives, let us know. We're open to suggestions. :)
We enjoyed our weekend. Friday we had some friends over for dinner and games. They taught us a new game called Manila. It was a lot of fun and we enjoyed talking to them until late.
Saturday I cut Jason's hair and then we drove to the Provo Temple to do some temple work before the BYU football game. Grandpa Richards was kind enough to offer us their tickets on the 50 yd line for the game against New Mexico since they couldn't go. We thought it was going to rain on us, but the weather held up through the whole game. It was fun to watch the game again after only having heard the games on the radio for the whole season. And for anyone who didn't watch it, the Cougs won 40-7.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Work and Weekends
I haven't written for a couple weeks which means this post will be a collection of random thoughts and happenings.
Work has been pretty stressful and busy the last week and a half. I've put in some extra time at work, but I'm trying to keep it to a minimum. We delivered a script review for the first module of the parenting skills training that I'm working on. There was a miscommunication about the expectations of how far along the project should be and my project manager started looking through the course about 6 hrs. before I was ready. Then she got concerned it wouldn't be done on time because she had scheduled a Quality Control check a day early and the whole thing got blown out of proportion. I ended up getting it done in time for the QC and we were two hours early on the delivery and I thought that would be the end of it. Unfortunately, even though the course script was well done, it wasn't good enough for the client who ended up nit-picking it and causing a lot more stress and grief. Fortunately the project manager was on my side for that, but trying to make the corrections and meet the demands of their mixed messages is difficult. It undermines my confidence of designing because I worry that nothing I do will be good enough for them. Anyway, that's a simplified version of a complicated mess, but I'm hoping that everything will at least smooth itself over since I'll be designing about 28 more modules for this client in the coming six months.
It's been a little strange to have the sun go down so early now. I used to drive to work at sunrise, and now I drive homeat sunset. It makes me tired earlier in the evening so sometimes I go to bed at about 9:30 or 10:00 when Jason goes to bed. We usually go to bed about the same time, but then he gets up three hours before me! The latest news with seminary is that Jason is less and less keen on the idea of doing this for the rest of his life. He still won't give a final answer on the subject but he has started looking into other job options if that means anything.
Work has been pretty stressful and busy the last week and a half. I've put in some extra time at work, but I'm trying to keep it to a minimum. We delivered a script review for the first module of the parenting skills training that I'm working on. There was a miscommunication about the expectations of how far along the project should be and my project manager started looking through the course about 6 hrs. before I was ready. Then she got concerned it wouldn't be done on time because she had scheduled a Quality Control check a day early and the whole thing got blown out of proportion. I ended up getting it done in time for the QC and we were two hours early on the delivery and I thought that would be the end of it. Unfortunately, even though the course script was well done, it wasn't good enough for the client who ended up nit-picking it and causing a lot more stress and grief. Fortunately the project manager was on my side for that, but trying to make the corrections and meet the demands of their mixed messages is difficult. It undermines my confidence of designing because I worry that nothing I do will be good enough for them. Anyway, that's a simplified version of a complicated mess, but I'm hoping that everything will at least smooth itself over since I'll be designing about 28 more modules for this client in the coming six months.
It's been a little strange to have the sun go down so early now. I used to drive to work at sunrise, and now I drive homeat sunset. It makes me tired earlier in the evening so sometimes I go to bed at about 9:30 or 10:00 when Jason goes to bed. We usually go to bed about the same time, but then he gets up three hours before me! The latest news with seminary is that Jason is less and less keen on the idea of doing this for the rest of his life. He still won't give a final answer on the subject but he has started looking into other job options if that means anything.
Speaking of seminary though, Jason and I went to the Lehi Junior High production of Peter Pan on Friday night. We went with low expectations for a junior high play but were both surprised by a really great rendition of the play. The music was fun, the acting was impressive for the age group, the scenery was really well done, and the whole production went really smoothly and not too long. Overall we both really enjoyed it and Jason had fun seeing many of his seminary students both in the play and in the audience. It's funny because the 9th graders get really excited to see "Brother Burningham" and come up to say hi, but then they get embarrassed or shy and don't know what to say next.
Last weekend we also went to a really nice Holiday Seminary dinner at UVU. They had a meeting with the Utah County North area at the institute building where they highlighted a really cool talk byElder Maxwell called "In Him All Things Hold Together" and then we went to the ballroom afterward for a nice dinner.
This weekend was also our Stake Conference. The meetings were both good, but unfortunately it seems like they should have been better attended. For the adult session last night, we filled up the sacrament room area put three rows into the overflow. Maybe that's normal, but we would have twice that many in the BYU student stakes at least. For this morning's session we sat by our friends the Simmons. Brandon is the Elder Quorum President and Jason home teaches their family. I actually went with him last time since his companion couldn't go and they are a really nice family. They have three really cute daughters and I have apparently become best friends with the middle daughter Lynaea who is 5 yrs. old. She sat on my lap for about 1 1/2 hrs. or the 2 hr. meeting and was really well behaved. She was really cuddly and it was fun to have her sit with me. At one point she randomly said, "I like being with you." I loved it!
The funniest part of Stake Conference was watching an assisted living center bus drive a load of elderly members literally across the street back to the center. I can see why it would be necessary, but it was still kind of funny. The name of the center is the South Towne Ranch where Grandpa Rasband lived for about a year. I didn't know that I moved into his old stake.
After the adult session of Stake Conference last night I think I went a little stir crazy and ended up starting a pillow fight with Jason that night and then convincing him to play Hide and Seek in the dark. It was actually pretty fun, and then we got distracted trying to fit into small places in our apartment, like under our computer desk and under the bathroom sink. Jason didn't think it was possible tofit under the sink, but I provedhim wrong, and then ofcourse he had to try it too. :)
Last weekend we also went to a really nice Holiday Seminary dinner at UVU. They had a meeting with the Utah County North area at the institute building where they highlighted a really cool talk byElder Maxwell called "In Him All Things Hold Together" and then we went to the ballroom afterward for a nice dinner.
This weekend was also our Stake Conference. The meetings were both good, but unfortunately it seems like they should have been better attended. For the adult session last night, we filled up the sacrament room area put three rows into the overflow. Maybe that's normal, but we would have twice that many in the BYU student stakes at least. For this morning's session we sat by our friends the Simmons. Brandon is the Elder Quorum President and Jason home teaches their family. I actually went with him last time since his companion couldn't go and they are a really nice family. They have three really cute daughters and I have apparently become best friends with the middle daughter Lynaea who is 5 yrs. old. She sat on my lap for about 1 1/2 hrs. or the 2 hr. meeting and was really well behaved. She was really cuddly and it was fun to have her sit with me. At one point she randomly said, "I like being with you." I loved it!
The funniest part of Stake Conference was watching an assisted living center bus drive a load of elderly members literally across the street back to the center. I can see why it would be necessary, but it was still kind of funny. The name of the center is the South Towne Ranch where Grandpa Rasband lived for about a year. I didn't know that I moved into his old stake.
After the adult session of Stake Conference last night I think I went a little stir crazy and ended up starting a pillow fight with Jason that night and then convincing him to play Hide and Seek in the dark. It was actually pretty fun, and then we got distracted trying to fit into small places in our apartment, like under our computer desk and under the bathroom sink. Jason didn't think it was possible tofit under the sink, but I provedhim wrong, and then ofcourse he had to try it too. :)
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