San Antonio Stroll

Yesterday Adam and I flew from Provo to Dallas.  Dallas wasn't our exact destination, but we could fly from Provo!  It feels worth it to drive a little on the other side.

Us in the Provo airport.

We rented a car and stopped at two Buccee's and were going to stop in Waco and go to The Silos again, but chose to press on.  

Adam and I decided what we could compare Buccee's to.

Buccee's has a:

• Country/Christian/home decor section like Cracker Barrel
• Hunting/outdoor apparel like Cabella's
• Licensed merch like the Disney store
• Their own brand of food/snacks like Trader Joe's
• Brisket and pulled pork and sides/desserts like a BBQ restaurant
• Big like Costco
• Good snacks and drinks like Maverik
• A lot of bathroom stalls like a big airport
• More gas pumps than anywhere else

(We had time to draw all the comparisons.)

We ended up in San Antonio.  Adam used an upgrade (a perk of all the traveling that guy does) and we landed in a posh room that is about twice the size of our apartment 30 years ago.  We were splashing out for the big 30th anniversary!

This was the beautiful lobby:

The hotel room has a living room, dining room, bedroom, and 1 1/2 bathrooms!

Adam took some phone calls and I did some of my online yearly training (protecting student data and blood borne pathogens--ask me anything!).  

We were a couple of blocks from the Alamo.  Adam sent this to our kids:

I thought how disorienting it would be for Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie if they knew there was a Ripley's Believe it or Not, a wax museum and the neon signs of a Mirror Maze across the street from the Alamo.  

People are weird.

We went to the river walk and it was so lovely!  People are also pretty awesome to build something like that.

After that, we went to a Mediterranean restaurant and had dinner with one of Adam's employees and his wife.  They had chosen the restaurant and it was such a good choice!  We loved it.  Where have barberries been all my life?!? We spent a few hours visiting with them and even took the conversation over dessert at a nearby baklava place.

Today we have more meetings for Adam and back to school online training (yay....) for me as well as more exploring in San Antonio.  We'll head back to Austin tonight.

I feel very fortunate to have this time with Adam.  I feel very fortunate to be married to him.  What a blessing eternity is.

Our knight

 Yesterday Emma attempted to get to Savannah to visit Clarissa.

Attempted.

It all started with a big de-icing delay.

She was supposed to stop in Chicago and then go to Charleston, then take a train to Savannah.

She said she learned her lesson that she should have sprung for the extra $100 ticket and flown directly to Savannah!

She missed her Chicago connection.

Adam texted this to the group chat:

Later, he texted me this:

Emma got as far as Charleston.  This morning she had to take a 5:00 AM train to Savannah.  That's 3:00 AM here.  In the three o'clock hour, Adam was on his phone.  "I'm checking if Emma made it to the train." 

(She did.)

Emma's one of the most independent people I know, but that is partly because Adam always has her back.

I appreciate having an Adam in my life!

Weekend

 Friday (besides Pi day, yes, there was pie in the faculty room at lunch time), we celebrated Mr. D Day.  We were commemorating the day two years ago that we met him and found out he would be our principal.

I work with people who celebrate things!

Someone made a lanyard for every single student with Matt's ID card on it and we surprised him by having the kids dress like him. It was hilarious and happy.  I took a picture of my class, but cropped it to only a few.  You get the idea.

After school and after Adam got home from work, we headed to Nevada.  We listened to a BYU devotional with Coach Sitake (highly recommend!) and started a new podcast.  

We would hit pause and talk about what we were listening to.

I love roadtrips with Adam.

We stayed in Wells at a hotel because it was such a quick trip.

Saturday morning I communicated with Olivia about what time to be at the church, where the baby shower was being held. Adam and I went to the church at the appointed time and of course Marianne and Liberty were already there, setting up chairs. 

Olivia did the food and created a game and I did the decorations and it was a good time.

I would do just about anything with these two:

Since Parley, the baby, likes tigers, according to his dad, I went with the theme.

Here's the spread of delicious food Olivia made:

The tiger quilt in the background was made by Marianne.

The game Olivia had us play was nursery rhyme charades.  Olivia has this way of getting people to do things they wouldn't normally do.

Here's Olivia's group (including Desi and Liberty and a lady in the ward, Melinda) acting out This Little Piggy.

Here's I'm a Little Teapot (I'm related to everyone in this picture):

Jack and Jill (did they know they'd be rolling on the floor of the Relief Society room when they got up that morning?):

Then my mom and aunts' group did Humpty Dumpty.  Aunt Olivia (who is in her 70s I may add) was Humpty.  She sat on the back of the chair and fell from there!

I know from stories about their childhood and her altercations with my dad that she's always been pretty bronco.

Liberty opened her gifts, which were very nice and I love the convivial atmosphere of a shower, especially when everyone survives the charades.

Olivia, Liberty, me, Lili, Marianne, Desi and my mom.  I love these women.

After we cleaned up, Liliana (newly engaged and we're all happy about it because we love Josh) had a fitting for her wedding dress in the Relief Society room.  Desi is a master seamstress and used to work at a bridal store altering dresses.  We all weighed in on the fitting and admired how beautiful Liliana looked.  I rode to Starr Valley with Olivia and our mom and Lili.  Adam had already gone.  He'd done a little bit at our house, but mostly visited with my dad.

When we got there, my dad said they'd solved all the problems of the world.

I guess we should have had those two on the case earlier.

Marianne and Robert came over and we visited some more.  It was getting to be late afternoon, so Adam and I left.  We stopped by our house and I measured a wall where I'm contemplating a picture and we both felt a little sad that we weren't staying.  We are planning to be there for several days during spring break.

Adam and I drove home with more podcast and music listening and a stop at Maverik in Wendover because we can't not do that.

Sunday was a nice day.  Church was good and Marie Louise and I did a little family history in the afternoon.  After looking at my own family history, I am getting a bee in my bonnet to go to Sussex and Wiltshire while we're in England this summer.  I presented my idea to Adam and I'm pretty confident if it is possible, he can figure out how to fit it in.

Emma and Mark came over for dinner.  We ate and had a Come Follow Me discussion, then played codenames.  It was old against young and Emma's and Mark's mind align in ways that Adam's and mine do not.

That is all.

It's cold and I have traffic duty and my classroom was very cold on Friday so I'm mustering all my courage to go to school today.

Weekend

Saturday afternoon, Adam and I were chipping away at our to do lists.  I went downstairs and he said, "I wish there was a lake or river we could go swim in."

Then he asked, "Are you looking for something to do?"

I replied that I was going to go water the plants on the front porch.  I rarely need to look for things to do.  They find me.

He said, "I want to go do something fun."

I said, "I'm going to go water the plants."

And that is our marriage in two sentences.

As I filled up the watering can, I thought, we should go do something fun. Why not?

I told Adam, "Let's go!  Except I don't know what we could do.  I'm not very fun. "

He said, "I am."

I got my sandals and water bottle (after I watered the plants).  I asked, "Where are we going?"

Adam said, "I don't know.  Somewhere."

Another two sentences that pretty much sum us up.

We asked Mark if he wanted to go do something fun with us and he said his friends were already on their way over.

Adam wanted to follow the American Fork river.  It is usually a calm little stream rather than a river, but lately it's rushing with a lot of water.  Adam weaved around streets, finding the places where it went under the road.  We chatted and enjoyed the early evening.  We followed the river down a road towards the lake and there were big signs and a barrier across the road.  ROAD CLOSED.

Adam said, "Do you think we should just keep going?  Other cars are."

I said, "No.  It's closed."

We are yin and yang, I tell you.

He said, "I'm going to do it." Then, "No, I'd better listen to my wife."

We went to the Provo river.  (There was a riparian theme.)

I wanted to walk along the shaded trail where we like to go along the river but Adam was exploring.  He drove to another trail head, closer to the lake and we started to walk along it.  It is in a place where the river is diverted and the trail goes along the old river.  There is still water there, but it's mostly stagnate.  There was a lot of cotton from the trees.  It was pretty quiet and empty and it felt eerie.

It made think of Miss Havisham's room in Great Expectations.

We drove to downtown Provo and whenever we do that, we declare how much we love downtown Provo and that we should sell our house and buy one of the old houses on its tree lined streets, but then we remember that Adam works in Salt Lake City.

We went to JJs for dinner.  It is a little burger place with inexplicable black and white pictures of Marilyn Monroe on the walls with a few Audrey Hepburn pictures as well.  They have nothing to do with a little burger place in Provo, but we like it there.  It was hopping with families with loud little kids.  (It's a good family place because the burgers are $3.). There was a TV showing a Cornhole competition and while we were waiting for our food, I noticed that several people were entranced by the TV.  In a surprise to no one, Adam soon became entranced as well.  He quickly figured out the scoring and pretty soon I was interested as well.

Who wakes up one morning and decides to be a Cornhole competitor? They had sponsors and a TV announcer who was riveted to the action.

As we were leaving, a guy was sitting at a table, watching the TV.  Adam said to him, "It's addicting isn't it?"

The man replied, "I didn't even know about this game!"

Cornhole.  Bringing people together.

When we got home, Adam read online about the Provo River being diverted.  He found out all about the project and why it was being done and when it was set to be completed.

He has more curiosity in his little finger than I do in my whole body.

But that guy knows a lot of stuff as a result.  And I have fun with him even when it is just following rivers.

Pretend decorator

When I left the movie theater on Tuesday, I had a missed call from Adam.  I texted him and he texted back, "I was calling for decorating advice."  No further explanation.

You just never know with that guy.

Facilities fall under the umbrella of his job and when he was at the office of WGU in Columbus, OH, he decided the facilities needed a little help.  He had gone to IKEA and purchased some things and later he FaceTimed me and asked my advice on placement while he was there with another guy assembling furniture.

I said, "Let me see it with the plants there, now there."

He said, "Should I put two chairs there and two chairs there?"

I said, "No.  Make a conversation area."

I don't really know what I'm talking about, but I pretend and I'm always ready with an opinion.

Later he texted me pictures.

Later still I talked to Adam when he was back at his hotel.  He said, "I did what you taught me.  I bought three plants.  I made sure they were different, but about the same size."

I don't remember ever having a lesson about "buy three plants," but three was the right choice.  

He knows that you should buy three and I know what a designated hitter is in baseball (I for sure didn't used to know that).  In marriage you just rub off on each other I guess.

Dads

Did you ever read The Luckiest Girl by Beverly Cleary?  It's about a teenage girl who spends a year in California and feels out of place but then dazzles everyone with her knowledge of donut holes.  Everything Beverly Cleary touches is magic.

I digress.

I very often feel like the luckiest girl (minus the donut holes, but I do like donut holes).

We didn't really do much to celebrate Father's Day. (Although Mark got the little bag of chocolates and caramels the YW handed out after sacrament meeting.  Gluten free!  It was an everybody gets a trophy situation because they had every male over 18 stand up to get one.) Adam was on the road for work.

I did talk to my dad on the phone a little.  I'll never not love that he's my dad.  No one (except maybe my mom) has as much confidence in me.  For example, the excavator...  My whole life, if I've ever told my dad I can't do something, he has said, "Sure you can."

He is an example of goodness, has blessed our family with his priesthood power and authority, can fix anything (seriously), is very witty and generous and kind.  

The luckiest girl.

Marrying Adam is the best thing I've ever done.  He is a gift to me and to our kids.  He has a masters degree in International Relations that he doesn't use specifically in his profession (besides he's a smarty pants thinker and writer which are skills he honed with his education), but he said one time that maybe he got the degree for Braeden.

Braeden is studying political science and from very early in his life, he and Adam have talked about politics and governments and current events.  Adam would never let Braeden get away with an opinion if he couldn't back it up.  

Adam and Emma have a bond that I just love.  He has always been able to convince her of things I had no chance with.  Probably she could convince him of things I had no chance with too.  They are a lot alike and dive deep into topics.  They enjoy their time together and understand each other on a cellular level.  (I think Emma is also maybe the luckiest girl.)

Braeden is immediately easy for me to understand and Emma is immediately easy for Adam to understand and Mark is...Mark.

Adam has invested time to be close to Mark.  He listens carefully when Mark explain his interests.  He persists and asks questions until he understands.  (Sometimes it sounds like the adults in a Charlie Brown cartoon and I back away slowly.)

I appreciate the way Adam works hard to be a good dad.  He has always provided the necessities of life but also spontaneous fun and opportunities to see more of the world.  You can't be Adam's child and not know how to swim in a river, argue a point, read with expression, or road trip like a champion.

I appreciate the way Adam is the best possible partner in parenting for me.  He helps me chill out (which I need, often).  He understands how I feel and I 100% know that he cares about them as much as I do.  That is a gift all its own.

Another dad who is ever present even when he isn't is Adam's dad, Linn.  We miss him.  We are still blessed by him.  I know Adam strives to be like him and that makes me happy.  At the recent funeral for Shane, Adam was asked to give the family prayer.  In a different decade, Linn would have been asked to give the family prayer.  I love that Adam is like his dad.

Speaking of which, Adam rarely posts on his blog, but when he does, it is always so very good.  He wrote this about his dad.

I'm the luckiest girl.

Fifty with Adam: a list

1.   Adam, Robbie, Erin, Rachel and I had dinner together at the Cannon Center almost every night of our freshman year at BYU.  The boys’ goal in life was to make us laugh so hard we would “spew” or they aggravated us with a game called snaps. (Seriously, it was months and months of us trying to figure out the game.)
2. Adam sat through biology class twice in a row, one time he listened, one time he talked to me. (I didn't know he went twice and thought he was so smart to get such good grades when he clearly wasn't listening.)
3. As my home teacher, he made me pop a balloon (a futile attempt to make me unafraid of balloons) and taught me how to drive in a city.
4. We wrote lots and lots of letters to each other while he was a missionary in Finland.  We’d trace an outline of our hands on the letters and I don’t even know how that started.
5.   I have every letter he wrote me.
6.  We started dating after his mission and it felt very natural because we were very good friends.
7. Except we broke up, and then got back together.
8. He almost didn’t ask me to marry him the night he did because I was cranky.
9. We wrote letters every day to each other when we were engaged and separated in Nevada and Washington; we called each other twice a week.
10.  We were married on an incredibly hot August day.  It was still a great day.
11. He forgot his suit and had to borrow clothes from my dad for our reception in Nevada.
12. We went to Vancouver for our honeymoon.  I was terrible at navigating and he impressed me with his metric system prowess.
13. Our first apartment was in a basement and sprouted mushrooms through the carpet.
14.  We moved to the third floor when I was pregnant with Braeden and blamed the basement apartment for my morning sickness.
15.  Braeden was born in a snowstorm and Adam has never driven as slowly as he did the night we brought our baby boy home from the hospital.
16.  We moved to Connecticut for him to attend Yale for graduate school.
17. We got over the culture shock of weird shaped butter and weird colored cheese and ended up loving it.  Especially the pizza.
18.  Adam carried me to the hospital bed when I was in labor with Emma because I was in a panic and irrationally wouldn’t move.
19.  He went to playgroup with Braeden the next day and had his own labor and delivery story to share.
20.  We made lifelong friends.
21. We became brief Mets fans and one night I sent updates of the Mets’ games to him on a pager while he was at the stake center working as an assistant stake clerk.
22. He interviewed for a job in Boston and called to tell me that we were moving to San Francisco in 3 weeks.  I immediately started making a list.
23. We drove across the country in our Saturn with our two babies and Melody Time on VHS, which got stuck in the tiny TV/VCR situation we had wedged between the seats.  We bought a set of screwdrivers and took apart the VCR in a parking lot somewhere in the Midwest to salvage the TV/VCR for the rest of the trip.
24. We moved to Pittsburg, which we didn’t even know existed until Adam found a cheap-ish apartment there for us.
25. Adam took the kids swimming on Christmas Eve and we loved the balmy weather and proximity to Safeway.
26. When Adam lost his job, we moved to Washington and lived with his parents.  Braeden prayed that Adam wouldn’t get a job so he could live with Grandma and Grandpa.
27.  After many months and angst, he finally found another job and we moved to a tiny charming old house near the Snohomish River.
28.  Mark was born in the same hospital as Adam.  He outgrew newborn diapers before we left the hospital.
29. Adam’s company went under so we were again without a job and we moved to a little (kind of gross) rental in a beautiful spot on the Stillaguamish River.  Adam and the kids swam a lot.
30. Adam started working for another company but then was offered a good job at Amazon. He told me halfway through dinner in the same casual way you would tell someone you had gone grocery shopping.
31.  It meant we could buy a house.  We moved to Pinehurst and made more lifelong friends and lots more memories.
32.  Adam traveled to London, a lot.
33.  I went with him twice to London; we took Braeden and Emma with us one time. London was not ready for a 5 year old Mark so he stayed home with his grandparents.
34. We did the whole YMCA sports, cub scouts, swim lessons, swim team, suburban thing.  We were happy.
35.  We lost Adam’s dad and it left a giant hole in all of our lives. 
36.  Our kids got older and went to public school and we became the parents of drama kids and our lives suddenly revolved around their schedules.
37. For about a year, one of Adam’s former coworkers periodically tried to convince Adam to move to Utah.  
38. We finally prayed about it and decided to go.
39.  Many, many times we wondered what on earth we had done to our perfectly good lives.
40.  Adam changed companies a few times.  Once, when he had been let go from a job under really unfair circumstances, he put a reminder on his phone to not be bitter.  It popped up every day to remind him.
41. Braeden served a mission, which blessed our lives in many ways.  But we missed him.
42.  Challenging circumstances continued to rock our lives, but they drew us closer. And we discovered we love National Parks. 
43. Adam landed at WGU and is very happy about it.
44. I started working full time, teaching 3^rd grade, and Adam has been my #1 cheerleader and supporter.
45.  Mark was diagnosed with not one, but two autoimmune diseases and we are figuring it out.
46. Braeden married Anna and we couldn’t be happier to have her in our family.
47. Braeden and Emma graduated from BYU and we have actual grown up children.
48. We purchased my grandparents’ house in Nevada, which has felt wonderful and like we’re out of our depth at the same time.
49.  We became grandparents.  It really is 100% as great as everyone always says.  We don’t know how one little person could make us that happy by just...existing.
50. Today we are 50.  It feels old and like we should have more things accomplished, but also like our life together is a gift and I’m glad I get to share it with him.

Serendipity with Adam

Yesterday we went to the venue where the WGU graduation was happening.  We were right there almost exactly when the jazz band marched out, leading the graduates.  We could not have timed it better.  We were by the bus, which is a hot spot for photographs and I saw so many tearful graduates hugging people that it made me a little tearful.  I just felt such joy and pride for these people I didn't even know.  Adam pointed out that without any affirmative action, it was an extremely diverse group of graduates.  "There is a lot of advertising though," he said.

I texted Mark and Emma, whose jobs are to help people pay for college, that for everyone who yells at them (because there are some), there are these jubilant graduates, posing for pictures.  

Working in education can be a grind, but it also feels like the most worthwhile thing I can do.

Adam loaded Cameron and Kaden and Brandon and a guy I never found out the name of (and Adam didn't introduce me because he wasn't sure) into the van and drove us to a sort of shady part of town to eat po boys at a place where they make the "original" po boys.  Adam dives deep into things and that is all.

I mentioned something about it to the boys (who are grown men, but it felt like a carload of teenage boys) and they said, "Yeah.  Just wait until he starts talking about the supreme court."

I am aware.

We pulled up to the restaurant and I said, "Are we really eating there?!?"

We were.  And it wasn't as sketchy as I thought and it was really good food.  

After lunch, we dropped them off and went exploring.  Besides diving deep into topics that interest him, Adam is also one for spontaneity.  We had no plan.

Adam said that New Orleans looks like it's been through something and I think that's pretty true.

We drove through some kind of rough places and then stopped at a gas station to use the bathroom.  Adam noticed on the map that we were near a National Cemetery and then he realized it was the site of the Battle of New Orleans.

And yes, I played the Johnny Horton song on my phone while we drove there.

It set the mood.

We went to the visitors center and talked to the guide and watched the videos and read all the things like we do.  It's nice that we're so compatible and want to find out about the same kinds of things.

We walked around the battlefield.  It was beautiful and serene.

But still had the ramparts and some cannons to remind you that it wasn't always so serene.

It was a pretty amazing battle.  2,000 British troops either died, were injured or surrendered and there were 20 American casualties.  

We walked up the levee to the river.  There was a staircase and it was 26 steps (I counted). Here's the view from the levee:

This house was built after the battle. The original house was burned by the troops so the British couldn't get it.  I wonder about the conversation with the homeowners.  

The view on the other side of the levee:

Bordered the battleground, there was a National Cemetery.  There were a few soldiers from the Battle of New Orleans and many many Union soldiers from the Civil War.  There were veterans buried there from World War I and II and Vietnam too.

I love a cemetery.

It's the only cemetery we've seen that isn't above ground.  

After that, we went to City Park.  The serendipity continued.  The weather was perfect and the park was pretty amazing.  There was a children's museum, art museum, sculpture park, little amusement park, sport fields, playgrounds, people picnicking and strolling.  I loved it!

We took a walk and looked at the sculpture park.  It was lovely.

We worked up an appetite to go to the Cafe Du Monde they had at the park.  We split an order of beignets.  I think the park may be my favorite part of the city.

If all I'd seen of New Orleans was the French Quarter, I would have missed out on a lot!

Today is a travel day.  We are off to Alabama.

Grateful Friday

I am grateful today to be spending extra time with Adam in a new and interesting place.  Also it is warm and humid and my cracked fingers have healed and I haven't used lotion once.  It's amazing.

Here was our day yesterday:

After a very chaotic breakfast situation at the hotel, we finally figured it out.  Confusion won't reign so supremely next time.

We went for a walk around the French Quarter.  Everything is picturesque, so pardon the photo dump.

Like New Orleans Square at Disneyland except not as clean and no Pirates of the Caribbean

This was inside a shop where they make these gas burning lanterns.  I can't imagine the amount of propane we could go through at Pleasant Hill!

This church borders Jackson Square, where the Louisiana Purchase took place (that's Jackson Square in the foreground).

I love a good cathedral...

especially if there's a statue of my girl, Joan of Arc!

I met some of Adam's co-workers.  One woman remembered me from a Salt Lake Bees game (and I remembered her--super recognizers unite).  Another woman told me she adored Adam.  I said I did too.  A guy he works with said, "I think Adam's...OK."

We went to a deli we heard about on Somebody Feed Phil, making that Netflix subscription pay for itself.  It was the kind of place Adam loves.  And the sandwiches were good too.  

We walked a bit around the Garden District, and drove around it a bit more.  We saw some amazingly opulent houses and the Mississippi River, which feels strange being higher than the city.  We saw a lot of schools, but each one was associated with a huge church.

I loved watching the tugboats churn along.

It started raining really hard and then minutes later the sky was blue.

It's a lot of water for a girl from the high desert.

Since Mardi Gras was last week, there were still platforms along parade routes.  A lot of houses were decorated with beads.

And the trees had beads and these ribbons/confetti/I don't know what in them.

Adam had to be in a virtual meeting, so we came back to our hotel room and he did that and I did my own thing, including but not limited to reading the notes from a meeting Janelle went to in my stead.  Things they are a changing in the Alpine School District so I called her to get the skinny.  She said that she couldn't believe I was thinking about work while I was on vacation.  I can't help it; I am a thinker of all the things.  She gave me a report on my sub and it seems like things are going OK.

Adam and I went to Lake Pontchartrain. I already knew the city is below sea level, but it is so striking.  We walked up this berm to get to the lake.

The lake was pretty in the dusky light.

From there, we met up with three guys that are on Adam's team for dinner.  He said he needed to take them to dinner at least once while we are here.  I said, "Doesn't the company pay for dinner anyway?"  He said yes.  I don't know.  I guess I need to just stay in my lane. 

They said that I should feel right at home with them since I teach 3rd grade.  One of them served his mission in New Orleans about ten years ago.  So I had questions.  One of them is so earnest it was endearing to me.  I asked Adam later how old he is and Adam didn't know.  He's young.  It's hard to know how old people are.  Just young.

I first googled it to see what it even was, then I ordered stuffed mirliton.  I also asked the waiter how to pronounce it.

Mirliton is, according to google, the unofficial squash of New Orleans.  Do other cities have unofficial (or even official) squashes?

It was stuffed with shrimp and crab and I think cornbread.  It was good.

I am loving my trip so far.  I don't love this picture of me, but I love this guy.  

He's funny and pleasant and up for anything and amazing with directions.  Those are great qualities to have in a travel companion.

I have not had a beignet yet, but I keep reminding Adam of that, so I'm hopeful.