Playing Hard

Life flies when you're having fun. Things certainly have been busy around here. Here's a rundown on the past couple of weeks. Warning, it's been busy. And apologies, it's been rather busy for pictures. I'll try to get a video of our remodeling job posted soon.

Friday May 1 - Wicked!
My friend Tiffany got tickets to the Broadway production Wicked in Salt Lake from connections at work. I felt incredibly spoiled going, especially since they sold out three hours after they went on sale. Oh, it was amazing. I loved every minute of it. The production is fantastic and the performers were amazing. The costumes alone were incredible (and if someone knows if there's significance behind the guys frequently wearing skirts let me know). I tried taking a picture of the stage only to find out it's copyrighted, but everything was, well, certainly worth seeing. Thank you, thank you, thank you Tiff.

May 4 and 5 - Finals
After spending the previous week grading 40+ 4-8 page research papers, I gave my students a pretty basic final. It was nice to see that they got something out of the class and learned along the way. Ending a semester is always bitter sweet. I get to know my students and get to quite like several of them in each class. I rarely see someone after the class is over, so ending the semester is a bit sad. But endings and new beginnings can be very nice, too.

May 7, 8, and 9th - Remodeling
Nick's parents came to visit and help remodel. Wow, did Nick and his dad get a lot done. They hung our new front door, laid laminant for my entryway, hung bead board in my kitchen, and laid new carpet upstairs. My house is looking like my own home. I'm loving it. All that's left for the upstairs is painting my kitchen (and hopefully my cabinets), painting Ashlyn's room, remodeling one bathroom, and doing the floor in the other bathroom. Hmm. That still sounds like a ton. But if you had seen this place a year ago, you'd be amazed at all the work Nick has put into this place. I'm so grateful for a do-it yourselfer husband. Also, I'm grateful for a mother-in-law who watched my kids so much. I ended up babysitting and coming down with a migrane while everything was going on, so she had my girls a lot. Thank you, Carolyn.

May 13, 14, and 15 - Babysitting
My brother took his wife back to his mission for thier 15th anniversary. The fact that he served in Belgium means that they made it a good trip and are gone for 12 days. I watched their five kids for the first three days they were gone. It was supposed to be four, but my little sister came and helped out so I could go to the temple with Nick. Thanks, Reb. To be honest, I was terrified of having seven kids to myself for that long. But everything went better than expected. Getting my kids to bed at night was the hardest part. Of course, the two little boys had a cold while we were there which slowed them down a ton. That also means we brought it home with us and Emma is feeling horrible, but we did survive the babysitting. It was good cousin time, and I really do love my neices and nephews. They're great kids.

May 16 - Retaining Wall/Garden Spot
Nick surprised me Saturday by purchasing retaining wall blocks. I've really been wanting a garden spot. Really, really, been wanting a garden spot. We have a place on our hillside where we pulled out a huge bush and we're building it into a terraced garden. I had no idea how much work it was to build a retaining wall. We finished the first level and will be doing the next level as we can. Once again, Nick's amazing.

So, there we have it. Life has been busy, but good. Now I just need to get my Emma feeling well and keep Ashlyn from getting it. My summer class begins in the morning, so I'll have to figure out something for babysitting a sick 4-year-old. Yikes. Wish me luck.