Camping and Spencer's Fencing Tournament

Over this last weekend Evelyn spent a few days with her Mochan (my mom, who doesn't like being called "grandma") and Spencer and I got to spend some time alone on a road trip! We went up to a campground near Idaho City, about 37 miles East of Boise. Spencer is a member of the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) which is a group that essentially does Renaissance reenactments. I'm considering joining myself. He does rapier/fencing and I want to get into weaving. We spent Thursday-Sunday up in Idaho and had a wonderful time. We participated in so many wonderful activities and met so many wonderful people. We made lots of new friends that we'll get to see again soon at other events (can't wait). It was a lovely vacation and so restful and the drive was beautiful and quiet. At the event itself Spencer participating in a fencing tournament (SO much fun to watch!), there was an arts and crafts display (with embroidery, weaving, pewter casting, wood carving, homemade liquors, and a bunch of other stuff), a bardic (big bonfire after dark with drinking and singing), archery, throwing weapons, and heavy fighting competitions, and a potluck bbq. I can't wait for the next event!

Utah Arts Festival

Yesterday the whole family geared up, covered ourselves in sunscreen, and braved the crowds to go to the Utah Arts Festival. It was so much fun. We go every year, but we absolutely HAD to go this year because I heard that Robert Hall was going to be there. He's a photographer who specializes in lithography who is my favorite artist and has been a huge inspiration to me since I started my journey in the world of photography. I met him at a gallery opening in January and he's been in my thoughts ever since. He works strictly with film (a brave thing to do in the age of digital and post-production editing capabilities) and not only did he REMEMBER me from the gallery opening, he told me to get a few more classes under my belt at school, and then to come talk to him and he said we'd see what we could work out in terms of a mentorship! SQUEEEE! To have someone you respect and admire and who inspires you offer to work with you on such an intimate level...I almost started crying right then and there. It was wonderful. And of course I couldn't leave without buying three of his prints.

Me and Robert Hall


Ok I'll stop gushing now

We also saw Justin Hillgrove, who's art is called Imps and Monsters. We considered buying a bunch of his art when we were thinking of doing Evie's room in a monsters theme. His monsters are quite cute. But lately he's been branching into more commercial-themed things, which happened to include some studio Ghibli characters, so we picked up this adorable print for Evie's room (Which, you may recall, is Totoro-themed).

I also found an artist whose use of colors just drew me in...so rich and vibrant. I found a piece called "Baile!" and it's a Flamenco dancer. It really appealed to be because I'm a quarter Spanish. It made me think not of the person I am, but of the person I want to be: confident, beautiful, powerful, passionate.

All in all I'd say it was a wonderful day. :)

Walking on Sunshine

Lately my mom, Evelyn and I have been going for walks during the day. There are a couple motives here; to get Evelyn tired out so she naps better (it's working) to build her confidence in walking, and to get her used to the idea of holding my hand when we're out someplace. She's doing great! We have been walking to the end of the block and back without her showing signs of getting tired and she holds my hand the whole time. She's such a good girl. I love her so much.

Memorial Day and Father's Day

Memorial Day was a lot of fun. My sister's family joined us at the Miller's so it was one huge get-together! Well, not huge by Utah standards, but huge for me. There about 12 of us there, which for me is a lot of people! Lana really enjoyed having kids around so she could get some grandmothering out of her system, and my sister enjoyed letting her kids get some energy out of theirs! Evelyn wore an adorable little patriotic romper that I got on sale at The Children's Place and as usual I was just overwhelmed by how beautiful she is. I just can't get over how blessed I am to be her mother.

Father's Day was wonderful. I got Spencer his gifts early so he could enjoy them: a fencing mask and gorget he can use in SCA. We're going up to Idaho in July and now that he has his own gear he can get registered and actually participate in the tournament. I'm excited for a road trip. It will be fun to go camping for a couple days. Anyway, that's kind of off topic. The friday before Father's Day was my dad's birthday, and he had a BBQ to celebrate both, so Spence, Evie and I went over to his place to celebrate with him and his girlfriend. We had a great time and a great meal and really enjoyed the company. Evelyn was very well behaved...until we gave her a cupcake. Even though she had a bath earlier in the day she insisted on rubbing frosting in her hair (what toddlers do) and had to have another bath before we could take her home. She even wore the cupcake wrapper on her head like a hat for awhile. Silly girl. It was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate my father, who has sacrificed so much for me, and my husband, who works so hard to give our daughter the life we feel she deserves.

Setbacks in School

Well this is just lovely. Lately I've really been excited for school. I've been really feeling like I'm on the right path and I've been just thrilled about the opportunity to be back in school and looking forward so much to fall semester. But life has placed a bit of a bump in the road as far as school goes. Last semester I had a really hard time and ended up having to medically withdraw from my classes and petition for a refund. I didn't realize that petitioning for a refund would mess with my student loans completely. My petition was approved, so the school had to pay back the federal government for my student loans. Now the school wants me to pay them back for my student loans. And they've placed a hold on my school account until I do it. I'm prevented from registering for classes for Fall semester until I pay the school over $1600. I am completely devastated. It's obviously going to be really difficult to manage. But the idea of anything standing between me and school is just crushing.

Run

Evelyn was sitting on Spencer's lap the other day and she leaned over and pulled a book off the bookshelf. The book she had chosen is called Run: 26.2 stories of Bilsters and Bliss. It was given to Spencer as a birthday gift by his brother Jeremy who runs marathons and ultra marathons (50 miles and longer). It's a book about running and at the same time not; overcoming challenges in general and the satisfaction that brings. What was significant was that when Evelyn opened it Spencer noticed for the first time that not only was it signed by the author, but it was made out TO Spencer with the inscription "Never be afraid to give up good to go for great."

Those words have been stuck in my head for days. It also makes me think of something I read on Pinterest the other day: You can't spell 'challenge' without 'change'" Those two sayings combined make me think of a trapeze artist. She must let go of the first bar and for a split second hang free in the air, and experience the fear of falling, before she can grab on to the next one. I feel like I'm at a point in my life where I've just let go of that first bar. For a minute I thought I was going to fall. But that second bar is in sight. I'm flying through the air but I'm in prime position to grab on tight.

Mother's Day

Our Mother's Day celebration was really more of a Mother's Weekend. Lots of mom's in our family! On Saturday, I took my mom out to lunch at Buca di Beppo. We had a reservation at the chef's table. Mom had saltimboca and I had the prosciutto-stuffed chicken. And we both had a lot of tiramisu! That afternoon Spence took me on a little mini shopping spree to Sephora so I could get some new make up. So much fun! On Sunday Spencer, Evelyn and I went out to breakfast with my dad and his girlfriend Sue. The restaurant was busy but it was a lovely breakfast. Then we came home and a nice quiet afternoon. That evening we went over to Spencer's parents house for a buffet-style dinner and lots of desserts! Kevin (Spencer's dad) is completely wrapped around Evie's finger and loves playing wither her. They had so much fun together.


Monday was my big day though. We couldn't get dinner reservations anywhere on sunday so we agreed to go out on monday instead. We got all dressed up and Spence took me out to dinner and I didn't know where we were going until we got there: Flemings Steakhouse! I LOVE Flemings! It was incredible. They gave us parmesan garlic bread with a chardonnay-infused feta cheese spread. Then to start Spencer had fried pork belly with cherry compote and goat cheese grits (I tried it, it was delish!) and I had a roast beet salad with whipped chèvre and arugula with a pistachio vinaigrette. Then came the main course. I was so excited I don't even remember what Spencer ordered! I got a mango mojito (Since Spencer was driving) and a tea and orange infused filet mignon. YUM! oh it was just superb! and for dessert we shared a chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream. Simple, but stunning. After dinner we went on a drive and ended up at Sugarhouse park. We parked on top of the hill just in time to watch the sun go down. It was an incredible sunset. Just for us. I felt so loved and so appreciated. It was wonderful.