Quick Garden Trip

Because today was unusually warm for this time of year, I took a break away from the chore of moving to meet Brigham and Janette at the Garden. We looked at the Christmas Trains display and then headed outside for a nice autumn stroll. While I was out, Nick continued to work on packing up our kitchen. He's worked so hard these past few days to be ready for the movers in the morning. By tomorrow at noon, we should have virtually all of our possessions at the new apartment. Hopefully I'll have the old apartment all clean by the late afternoon. The new place will be worth it, but moving is a lot of work. Also, they haven't installed a mailbox at the new place so we're not sure how we're going to get the mail. In the coming days, we'll post pictures of the new apartment, and get caught up on blogging the Christmas part of Christmas break.

Moving Update

We've been too busy moving to tell you about the great Christmas we had. Here's a brief look at our progress. Most of our stuff is now at the end of the block in our new apartment. The movers are coming in the morning to take the furniture, but we're moving all of our boxes. Our friends Brigham & Janette and Chad and Angelina came over last night to help us. Angelina was a trooper in getting the new kitchen clean- the standard post-construction clean-up had not taken place. Since all three of the women were with child, we left the heavy lifting to our strong, capable husbands.

It looks like we still have a lot of stuff, but almost everything here the movers will take care of in about an hour or so tomorrow. I'm glad when we'll be settled in down the block.

Nativity Done Right

The nativity scene posted yesterday was noted for its unbelievably awful nature. Today I'm posting something that is equally exceptional, it's just on the other end of the spectrum. We went to Temple Square with Nick's siblings and spouse the day after Christmas. Although it was freezing cold, we had a wonderful time walking around the square enjoying the lights.

I think this nativity scene is the most beautiful I could imagine. How could the backdrop be any more magnificent than the Salt Lake Temple, where Nick and I were married five years ago? The evening was filled with the Christmas spirit and I loved it.

Of course after wandering around in the frigid cold for about an hour, we had to get some hot chocolate at the Maverick to wrap up the evening.

Greatest Nativity Scene Ever

By greatest nativity scene ever, I mean that it's awesomely bad. Unbelievably bad. I toyed with the idea that vandals had actually changed the nativity scene overnight. We drove past this on the main street in Lehi on Christmas day. I made Nick turn around in snowy conditions so we could drive by again to take a picture.

This is the nativity scene outside a mortuary in Lehi. I think instead Mary laying a babe in a manger, she's laying him in a coffin. I don't know if it was just a convenient place to store an extra miniature coffin, or if the organizers wanted to imply that baby Jesus died. It is simply too bizarre for words.

Ogden road conditions

Oh Christmas Tree

We put up our Christmas tree last night, complete with presents. When we have the light on in the office at night, it makes the tree light up for all those passing by on the freeway.

Touched by a Clydesdale

Early this morning, just before my last chemistry exam ever, Janette, lil' A, and I went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens to meet with their very special guest, Scott the Budweiser Clydesdale. You can see the horses while you tour the brewery or visit Grant's Farm, but today we got to pet him. He was beautiful and had a very gentle temperament.

A photographer from the Post-Dispatch took A's picture, so we'll have to check out the paper tomorrow to see if she made the cut. Janette REALLY loves horses, and it was nice to watch her light up when she interacted with this one.

I've been made fun of for this coat by my mother and husband, but "that parka" as they call it was totally justified this week. It kept me from freezing to death each of the times I've had to chisel the ice off the car. More freezing rain is expected in the next few hours. Wish me luck!

Out of Place

Nick and I just returned form McDonald's. We went to take a Redbox movie back. When we went inside, I instantly noticed a group of three women as being out of place. It was like running into my mom and two others like her. At a McDonald's in Bountiful, there would be nothing interesting about them. At the McDonald's on Jefferson Ave at 9:00 PM, they definitely don't belong.

Nick noticed a car in the parking lot with a flat tire and Oklahoma license plates as we started to pull out. This McDonald's happens to be the closest place to pull over from the freeway off-ramp. Putting two and two together, we offered to help them change their tire.

Fortunately, AAA was on their way so they were all taken care of. I feel we get the blessings of being willing to serve without having to do any of the hard work. That work would be particularly unpleasant right now as it is 16 degrees, with windchill it's 4.

And for our Fifth Anniversary

For our fifth anniversary, we going to do something exciting. It's something we've always wanted to do. We're going to live on a ground floor. We've lived in a basement (it will probably be another decade before we live somewhere so nice again), a third story, and we're currently in a second story unit. At the end of the month we're moving, but not too far away. In fact, we're staying on the same block.

With the expected arrival of Baby Johnson in March, we decided we needed a little more room. We do have a small closet-like room in our current apartment that is big enough for a crib (barely), but with babies come Grandmas, and where would we put those? Also, our stairs are steeper than is currently standard. Kate calls our stairs "the ladder." I would be a little afraid of carrying a baby up and down them. And then there's the whole issue of trying to keep crawling babies from falling down those too steep stairs.

So, we're moving to the end of the same block, same side of the street. I'm sure it will still be a painful process. Our new place looks much like the current one. It was just finished being remodeled by the same company, so it has the same wall colors, wood floor, tile, and kitchen appliances. It just happens to be closer to the ground and with an additional bedroom.

And Nick, the traditional Fifth Anniversary gift is wood, but they don't make wood jewelry, so know that I can be flexible.

The Ice Storms Cometh

We had our first ice storm of the year last night. Actually, there was one we missed while we were in Utah for Thanksgiving. When we got back, three of our four car doors were frozen shut.

Last night's storm was not as bad as it had been predicted to be, but any ice is troublesome. Nick intentionally left later than usual for his clinic so that the roads would be clear and salted. The freeway I watch from my window seems to be moving along just fine, but there were lots of reports of accidents this morning. We may be getting more ice later this week, but only time will tell.

Update: Again, the car doors were frozen shut on the Taurus. I had to climb over to the driver's seat from the passenger side. Nick said he gloried in the garage as he drove the unfrozen, clear of ice Honda past everyone digging their cars out and using hot wet towels to thaw their door open.

Christmas Card Pictures

Yesterday, Nick had a surprise day off. The doctor's office he's doing his clinic work in right now canceled all their appointments and closed for the day. One doctor was on vacation and the other was with her husband after surgery, and needed an additional day out of the office. We had asked Janette to take our picture for Christmas cards, but hadn't found a good time to actually take the pictures.

Nick's surprise day off created the perfect opportunity. The weather was nice, (a high of fifty for December doesn't come along every day), Janette was willing and available, and Nick was home during daylight hours (which end about 5:00 these days.) We had a lovely walk through the Botanical Gardens, and Janette took some great pictures. I don't want to spoil the surprise (in case I actually follow through with sending cards) so I've posted a picture I like, but not the picture we'll use.

Thanks Janette!

Brave, Brave People

Brigham and Janette have been working on redoing their bathroom this last week. They knew the window in their shower had created a water problem, so they expected some difficulty with the project. Even so, they've experienced more setbacks than they anticipated. This picture is Brigham installing glass brick in the window. It looks beautiful.

Their experience has taught me I really don't want to be involved in heavy-duty home improvement projects. Sure, I'm willing to paint a room, but when it comes to something structural, I'm calling a professional who will have it done in a fraction of the time.

Brigham and Janette are the rare home-improvers who actually take the time to have the quality of their work rival a professional. The people they bought their home from were not, which has caused quite a few problems. For example, their ceiling started to reveal leaks in the roof. Further investigation revealed a whole in the roof had been patched with silicone. Not Cool!

Tree Update

We went to the Festival of Trees auction last night, but we didn't stick around until bidding closed. We know that our tree and the Wheadon's tree both sold, but we don't know for how much. We should be able to find out who bought them, but I don't have that information yet.

Festival of Trees

I extended my stay in Utah to be a part of the Festival of Trees, paying tribute to our friend Rebekah who passed away suddenly in March. The trees are decorated, viewed by thousands of people, and then auctioned off with the proceeds benefiting the Children's hospital.

We started with a pre-lit tree, and hundreds of bulbs. It took more work than you would think, and the festival has a lot of requirements that you have to meet, designed so that the tree can be moved in one piece and survive. We were there for nearly seven hours.

Great Aunt Norma helped entertain a couple of her great-grandchildren. It was a party with Wheadons- they set up their tree in the stall next to us. They've participated for several years and helped us learn the ropes.

Jewel came and her artistic touch added to the tree- she arranged the embellishments and star at the top to cap the tree off with just the right flourish. There were moments of tears as we thought of Rebekah, but we really had a lot of fun too. This tree also comes with a beautiful canvas print of Bouguereau's "Song of the Angels."