Date Night

Friday night I had one of the most fun date nights that I've had in a while. Kristilyn and Mark took us out to celebrate our graduation as well as our upcoming birthdays. They took us to Tepanyaki for dinner. Neither of us had ever eaten there before and it's one of those restaurants where the chef comes to cook the food right in front of you. We all ordered something different and shared it with each other. It was so much fun and the food was all so good!!! I generally consider myself a seafood hater, but I must admit, that it can be really good when it's fresh and cooked right. I tried fresh shrimp for the first time and actually thought it was pretty good. Jason's salmon was also really yummy.

After dinner we went over to Barnes and Noble and talked while we cleared some room in our tummies for dessert. After a while we went to Maggie Moo's ice cream. I have never had Maggie Moo ice cream before either, but it's kind of like a Cold Stone. Sometimes I have a hard time deciding what to get since I don't know what to mix together, but I tried strawberry and pina colada ice cream with a raspberry mix-in. It was YUMMY! Well worth the shivering to experience the delicious taste! We went back to Mark and Kristilyn's to eat our ice cream. We always have so much fun talking to them and I usually end up laughing a lot. Thanks for such a fun night Mark and Kristilyn!

When I got home from our date, I found that the wireless card in my computer was broken. I wasn't too happy about that because I just replaced it four months ago. I took it back to the repair place and the man was so nice about it. I was there for an hour, but even though the wireless card was only warrantied for 90 days, he still replaced it for free and also gave me a new top plate (laptop keyboard) since he saw that it was starting to break and Apple apparently covers that repair for free too. I'm grateful that my internet is working again.

Work has been pretty stressful the last few days. I have a delivery of 9 courses on Friday which means its likely I'll be working long days all week. At least it's due the day before my birthday so at least I can enjoy my weekend.

Welcome to 2011!

It's still a little surprising that we're already in the year 2011. I'm finally getting used to the idea, but I remember being in elementary school and thinking that the year 2000 seemed far away!

After Christmas break I think I got the January blues for several days when I realized that the next work holiday I had isn't until May. My work is still going well for the most part. I like being an instructional designer, but I think I would like it more if I did it less. Fortunately, I do enjoy the content I'm working with and I feel that I'm contributing to something worthwhile and meaningful and helpful for families.

Basically I'm in the thick of scripting and deadlines for this project until May. Because we're doing so many courses there are two contractors that are helping out with this project. One of these contractors happens to be a girl in my ward. She was looking for a job a few months ago and I mentioned my company was looking for contractors. She applied, was interviewed, and then hired for the beginning of the January. She was assigned to my project so I'm now working on the tricky balance of being both friend and supervisor. The nice benefit of her being hired is that we started carpooling to work and that is saving time and gas money, so I'm grateful for that arrangement.

To help me have something to look forward to, Jason and I planned this year's vacations. I don't get a lot of time off for work during the year, but I'm trying to get what I can out of the days that I have. So, we're taking two trips. The end of May we'll spend a week in New York City with Jason's brother and his family, and then we'll fly to Buffalo to see my sister and her family for a weekend before we fly back. The other trip is a big family reunion in San Antonio for a week during July. A week ago we spent several days shopping for plane tickets to get the best price possible and I think we did pretty well. May seems far away right now, but hopefully it will come quickly. I'm excited for both of our trips! I know they will both be so fun and I'm looking forward to see our out-of-state family.

Jason's last day of seminary was on Friday. He was kind of sad to say good-bye to his students. He doesn't regret the decision of choosing another career, but change is still hard and not knowing what comes next is difficult. He'll be looking for a job as well as checking out graduate schools full time now and I don't envy him at all--job hunting is one of my least favorite things to do. We're grateful for everyone's prayers and advice.

Things have been pretty low-key since Christmas. We're doing a free month trial of Netflix so we've been watching a movie every weekend for the last several weeks. We've seen Toy Story 3, How to Train a Dragon, and Inception. Toy Story 3 was our favorite of the three. I actually didn't make it all the way through Inception. It was a little too intense for me, so I just had Jason give me the detailed version of the second half of the movie. He did a good job so I felt like I watched the whole thing. What a complex and complicated movie!

In the last couple of weeks we've also played games a couple times--once with my parents and once with our friends the Gurrels. We enjoyed learning a new game called Citadels. It was so fun that I hope to play it again soon.

A Few Fun December Events

New pots and pans for Christmas (Thanks to Mom and Dad, Gr+Gr B, and Gr+Gr Richards)













A few games of air hockey New Year's Eve.
















Playing Settlers of Catan (Thanks to the Carter Family)












Jason grows a beard over Christmas break



















Christmas Eve get-together














Baking sugar cookies for the neighbors













First Presidency Christmas Devotional with Marilee and Devin












Playing Hide-n-seek with my nieces


A few other fun things . . .

1. Enjoying the cool snow storms (not quite as cool while stuck in traffic on I-15)
2. Speaking in Sacrament Meeting the day after Christmas
3. Singing Christmas music with the ward choir
4. Filling in as a last second Mary for our family retelling of Luke 2
5. Watching my nephews James and Grants "rip" their presents and enjoying the delicious breakfast afterward.
6. Being Santa Claus for my parents this year
7. Attending a BYU basketball game
8. Seeing Hale Center Theater's production of "A Christmas Carol" with family
9. Going to Temple Square 3 times! --- to see my parents sing in their missionary choir, the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, and David Archuleta with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
10. Having days off of work to spend time talking, eating, and playing with family.
11. Ringing in the new year with ping pong and air hockey.

Merry Christmas!

Wow, it's hard to believe that Christmas is already over. It has been such a wonderful month full of Christmas music, concerts, plays, family get-togethers, and holiday treats. I've enjoyed a few extra days off work and have completely enjoyed it. Unfortunately I've enjoyed it so much that I'm sad that I have to go back to work tomorrow for another few days before New Years. At least the break is not completely over, but working seems a rude interruption to an otherwise lovely holiday break. I think it's extra hard since this is the first time I've had to work during the "holiday break" in the last 6 years. I definitely enjoyed that perk of being a student or working on the academic schedule. Hopefully I've survive and still find time to actually write more about what I've been up to this month.

But if I write nothing else this Christmas season, I definitely want to express my gratitude for a knowledge of Jesus Christ. There's really not a better reason to celebrate than to honor his sacrifice and gift to the world. Life doesn't always go as perfectly as I would like, but it has gone much more "perfectly" overall as a result of his tender care and mercies in my behalf. I really feel sad that the world in general is losing touch with this the greatest source of peace and happiness. Anything and everything can be made better, stronger, wiser, and kinder through his loving and healing influence. My hope is that I can be more Christ-like in the coming year and spread more joy and peace to those around me. That is the best gift that I can give back to the Giver of all good gifts.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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.

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.

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.

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. :)