Brad & Mary

The Remodel

2012-02-03T20:26:00.000-08:00

Before when you walked into our condo you saw this

It was a cute kitchen but old...

I did love my GE refrigerator and wall oven though,

And now after a lot of this

We are happy to have a new kitchen and bathroom. Wow what a January!

Thank you family and friends who gave us a place to stay for 4 weeks while our water was off, and helped us paint, and fed us meals. Thank you neighbors who provided us with water while we painted our home. Thank you to our cheerful efficient hard working contractor. Thank you to all the good people at Home Depot, Lowes, and Ikea who patiently worked with our novice abilities and helped us learn new skills. A lot of stress and hard work was worth it in the end.

Brad's Memories of January 2012- Breaking down the wall, 2 trips to Lowes in West Valley and whoops there goes the Vanity top" the HeMan moment", reverting back to college with Josh as a roommate, Foosball tournaments, watching Jazz games with Josh and Dad, learning how to "paint"

Mary's Memories of January 2012- Too many trips to IKEA, Home Depot, and Lowes after work, Crazy busy schedule and then oh sure I will accept that new calling in the YW presidency not realizing that life could get more insanely busy- ha ha , a very special blessing, learning more than I ever wanted to know about countertops, cabinets. vanities, ect, "Am I being neurotic?"- Yes", Curse Pars- how do you accidentally ship a vanity top to Portland, walking into Lowes and saying " I need a 60 inch vanity tonight- thankyou Dennis from Lowes, Angie telling me remodeling stages are similar to the grief cycle- then realizing I went through every single one.

Christmas 2011

2012-01-02T08:04:00.000-08:00

A change is needed in our lives... so- crazy as we might be- we are joining the pull your hair out stressed group of home remodelers. Starting January our lives will be flipped upside down as well as our home. It's funny when you pack up your entire home (well most of it) and your life is in disarray you realize the things that matter most- loving Brad and laughing with friends and family. I'm grateful for the calming peace and joy the Christmas season brings. We look forward to 2012 and the adventures it will bring.

November 2011

2011-12-04T14:34:00.000-08:00

Is November really over? It seems like it just flies by. We will remember November as the emotional roller coaster month of 2011. After 3 1/2 years of marriage there is bound to be an emotional roller coaster month. Lessons continue to be learned, plans we've made are thrown out the window and people are brought into our lives to help us grow. We are liking more and more this time and place in our lives and look forward to a future of all sorts of people to love and experiences to have.

November, Mom and I practiced and performed the Messiah with the Holiday Interfaith Choir. It was an experience of unity and faith I will never forget.

We spent time with the Dennis family over Thanksgiving, Syd and I sang Christmas songs, the boys and I made pizzas with playdough, and we played too many games of Rook.

We enjoyed the lights and cultural nativity(s) at Temple Square with our friends Kenny & Karla. Brad found Arabic and Turkish Nativity paper lanterns- his two languages.

And when we put up Christmas this year my favorite addition was my Nativity... I love it!

Foo Fighters, Witchfest, Costumes, & Donuts

2011-11-06T08:18:00.000-08:00

October has been a fun month. It started out with the best concert we have ever been to- Foo Fighters! They played for 3 hours, every song we knew and more. Brad told me I'm the "coolest wife ever." I'm realizing now he says this whenever we go to a rock concert and I suppose it does reinforce the habit. We left with scratchy voices and a slight ringing in our ears-the good kind.

Mom, me and Angie put on our Witch attire and did a photo shoot and Witches Night Out

For Halloween we dressed up as Lucy & Charlie Brown. And the girls at work and I led the Halloween Parade as Beauty Queens- Miss Behave, Miss Take, Miss Hap, and Miss Alaneous

Halloween night we celebrated with Mom and Dad J making home made donuts and watching Hocus Pocus. It was our first time making home made donuts, they turned out great and were lots easier than anticipated. And we made them with Soy Milk so Brad could eat as much as he wanted. The only problem was they were do delicious we ate too much.

September is for...

2011-10-02T12:51:00.000-07:00

Camping

the Jefferson Family explored Moon Lake for a family vacation with two welcome additions- Josh and Forrest. We hiked, played on the beach, discovered Horse Shoes, played a rowdy game of scum, made delicious food, and found out Angie and Mary are secret pyromaniacs.

Festivals

We took our annual drive down to Spanish Fork for the Hari Krishna India Fest celebrating our 1st date anniversary with our friends Kenny & Karla. This year we also went up the mountains and explored Oktoberfest for the first time. We discovered a new love for German food and waltzed to Edelweiss.

Harvesting
salsa and peaches

Football
Brad & Josh cheered for BYU & U of U. Mary cheered for BYU. Poor Mary, maybe next year BYU

Hiking Timp

2011-08-29T16:48:00.000-07:00

This weekend the boys hiked Timp. I was invited but declined after a week of literally running around 3 school with no air conditioning. That would be 100 degree weather most days. Everyone was getting sick and I too got a little sick, so no Timp this year for me. The boys left Salt Lake at 5:30, called me at 12:00 when they reached the summit, and got home exhausted at 5:00. Wow a long hike but very beautiful. It was so crowded they had to park a mile away from the trail head. Good job guys!

Professor Brad Dennis

2011-08-21T17:26:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Brad's 1st day of teaching at the University of Utah. He will be teaching Political Thought in Islam and has been scrambling to finish his syllabus. I won't be at home to take a picture of him like a good wife, as I will be getting heat exhaustion in our 100 degree no air-conditioned utah elementary schools, but I imagine he will look something like this guy minus the hair and mustache. A vest and purple tie would make him the coolest prof. Good luck with the first day of class Brad and remember to go to the right class and professor is spelled with two s's. - Don't pull a Moseby. Love you

Welcome Home Josh

2011-08-16T16:17:00.001-07:00

The first hug was moms

meeting Forrest

He brought comfy slippers and hats from Chile

Just a little taller

We missed you "little one"
You have served a worthy mission
Welcome Home

July 2011

2011-08-07T10:18:00.000-07:00

Summers are for...

Hanging out at the SLC Art Festival

Summer concerts in the park

Eating hot dogs at the Bee's games

Mountain Biking, Hiking, and Running

Climbing Trees

Snow cones at the city festivals

4th of July Jefferson breakfast

4th of July with the Dennis family

Sugarhouse fireworks

Pool parties

Parades

Funnel cakes

Projects projects projects, Tightwad tuesdays for dollar movies, Making our blog into a book, Perfecting mercimek corbasi (lentil soup), graduating to being a family with a Costco membership, actually having annuals survive the hot summer, deciding perrenials are the way to go in the future, Mary's vacation to Hogwarts and the end of an era with the last Harry Potter movie, Brad preparing for teaching classes at the U, holding our new nephew baby Forrest, and taking our older niece and nephews for ice cream and hiking.

What a fun and productive summer!

The Lovely Month of June

2011-06-26T11:31:00.001-07:00

We have been having a "Walden" movement this month and trying to better enjoy nature and little things like feeding ducks, bike rides, walks, and visiting with friends. Walking around our beautiful Holladay neighborhood has been our favorite, it reminds us of how much we would walk in Istanbul though the scenery is much different. A walk or bike ride after dinner is now what is needed to complete a lovely summer day.

My roses were another favorite of this month. I just love putting together a bouquet and enjoying them all week.

We put up our lights and planted some pretty flowers in our patio. We've enjoyed dinner parties and otterpop hangouts back here all month. Knock on wood- the bees have not found us yet this year.

I have to document a scary event. While taking the dogs to Tanner park this little Odin went too close to the water and FELL IN! I was watching Link and looking the other way when I heard a splash. Adrenaline kicked in and I assessed the situation in 1 second, realized the current would take him down the creek and to his death in a few moments so I jumped in and swam after him. Happily a few minutes later he was in my arms. Scary!!!!! Thank goodness and what a blessing. I love that little dog.

The best news of all this month came June 24th as this little bundle of love- Forrest Jefferson, son of Jon and Laura Jefferson, entered our family.

We love you little guy. Welcome to our family.

Celebrating 3 years of our love

2011-05-30T15:25:00.000-07:00

May 27 2011 marks our 3rd wedding anniversary. We celebrated in style with dinner downtown and a Broadway show. My favorite book is Les Miserables and I have waited and waited until Les Mis came back on broadway to see the famous production. Brad gave me tickets for my birthday in February and I started to re-read my favorite book. So incredibly powerful and still my favorite book. The broadway production was incredible but the book was more meaningful. However, I will never forget the tear jerking solos of On My Own and Who am I and the beautiful duet A Little Fall of Rain. I think in writing this story Hugo, among many other lessons, reminds us all that the thing that matters most in life is having god in your life and love. I feel so blessed to have both with my testimony and my sweet Brad. I hope we both reflect on that every anniversary.

The Annual Jefferson Service Project

2011-05-22T18:42:00.000-07:00

This year instead of doing our family service project during the Christmas season where everyone has crazy schedules and too much going on, we decided to do it in the less chaotic springtime. We cut strips into I don't know how many fleece blankets for an elementary school I work at to do a service project later in the year. The kids will tie the fleece blankets and then donate them to a homeless shelter for families. We enjoyed the sunshine to spread out and had some yummy wheat waffles afterwards.

The sun also came out for us to enjoy the Living Traditions Festival. We were so excited to find the secret ingredient in the Thai Curry we love so much. We waited all year for that!

Happy Birthday Brad

2011-05-15T16:12:00.000-07:00

This week we celebrated Brad's 31st birthday. I made a dark chocolate cake with vanilla frosting all from scratch that many of us enjoyed all week. It's nice to live so close to family to have the excuse for more celebrations. Brad enjoyed lots of birthday lunches and dinners, his favorite being Braza with Ryan. Thanks Ryan!

Fiesta!

2011-05-10T17:11:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Cinco de Mayo a few days later with our friends Kenny & Karla. Karla is Mexican and made some authentic food. A dish called mole (pronounced mol-ay). It was delicious.

AlterBridge Concert

2011-05-01T21:07:00.000-07:00

Brad's favorite band (currently together) is AlterBridge. He found tickets for a concert at SaltAir this week and it just happens to be around his birthday. So this was his early birthday present from me. We had a great time. One of my favorite songs they sing is Black Bird, and Rise today. I actually left with a sorish throat because I was singing so loud and cheering so much. Brad was happy as can be with a great view and they played most of his favorites. Brad's favorite was Black Bird as well. When we drove out there the sky looked like it was on fire with the colors in the sunset. I've never seen it so vibrant- Brad said it was because AlterBridge was coming. Happy early birthday love!

Spring Break 2011

2011-04-24T20:02:00.000-07:00

This year for Spring Break my good friend Erica and I went on a cruise to Mexico in order to take advantage of our first full week of spring break working for the school district. Brad isn't a fan of cruises so I figured this was my chance to go on one. Instead he took off a few days earlier to present his dissertation research in a NYC conference. Woohoo for Brad! Erica and I had a blast on our road trip and cruise. It was relaxing and just what I needed.

Lunch + Shopping=

2011-04-10T18:25:00.000-07:00

the perfect girl time with mom!

As a post birthday lunch mom and I went out this snowy April saturday to enjoy a fun old time Hollywood cafe lunch at the new Sunset Boulevard Cafe in Holladay. This place was perfect for two girls who love grilled cheese and old movies. They had 7 different Gourmet Grilled Cheese sandwiches and pictures of the old time movie stars all around the walls. They even had a big screen projecting clips from An Affair to Remember. On each table they had famous movie lines so mom and I took turns guessing the movies. It was the perfect fun for a snowy saturday afternoon.

After our fun lunch we perused the boutique shops in the area. A few fun gifts were bought and we ended the afternoon with a cookie from The Sweet Tooth Fairy. I never knew there were so many fun local shops in the area. We were in SLC but it felt like a NYC afternoon minus all of the traffic and throngs of people.

Laura's Baby Shower

2011-04-03T16:21:00.001-07:00

Thanks to all of our family for making Laura's shower a lovely event. We are so excited for "Baby J" to join our family in just a few months!

Happy Birthday Mom

2011-03-27T20:35:00.000-07:00

Dear Mom,

Thank you for teaching me to live each day with passion. Thanks for all of the cultural enriching experiences you provided for us growing up. They made life fun and happen to be some of my favorite memories. Thank you for always believing in me and my march to the beat of a different drum. You are always there to support me even when I feel alone in my challenges. Thank you for raising me on old movies and musicals they brought the joy of music into my life at a young age. Thank you for trying to probe when I sound distant, it's nice to know you care about all of the happenings in my life. Thank you for going out of your way to support and think of my husband, we both greatly appreciate it. Thank you for setting an example of a woman of faith and service, I try to live up to it. Have a happy birthday Mom. I love you.

mary

Oscar Night with the Jeffersons

2011-03-23T19:44:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we enjoyed Oscar Night with Mom and Dad, Jon and Laura, and Angie and Ryan. This is the new age Gold & Green Ball of the Canyon Rim Stake. Brad and I learned and have committed to practice the 4 new dances we learned. Even with our height difference we look pretty smooth. Maybe we will try out the MAC sometime and compare our beginner skills with the skillful elderly.

The 2011 St. Patricks Day Parade

2011-03-13T19:11:00.000-07:00

We love festivals and one of the first festivals of the year is the St. Patricks day parade in downtown Salt Lake. Everyone was in green, even the dogs were dressed up much to their dismay. The bagpipes were our favorite part of the parade. At the Siamsa we sat by a group of older Irish Catholics who could hold their drink and were quite amusing company. For lunch we shared the Irish Stew, Corn Beef and Cabbage, Apple Beer, and Irish Soda Bread. Yum Yum! The Irish know how to have a good time.

Sometimes you just feel like being a kid...

2011-03-06T20:38:00.000-08:00

and making sugar cookies, snacking on the frosting and breaking a cookie just so it's not good enough to give away and you get to eat it.

Happy St. Patricks Day

Happy Birthday Mary

2011-02-27T15:26:00.000-08:00

Keys on Main was the perfect spot to celebrate!

Valentines Day 2011

2011-02-21T12:30:00.000-08:00

Flowers, Delivering Homemade Cookies, Dinner at the Bombay House
Mmmmmm.... We like this day!

Happy Birthday Link and Odin

2011-02-13T19:54:00.000-08:00

Link and Odin are no longer puppies. We celebrated there 1st birthday- because I convinced Angie it was a momentous occasion. They liked their doggy birthday treats but didn't quite understand their Kong toy yet. The tissue paper capes seem to be their favorite. And Brad has requested that as they are one year old now, I can not refer to them as puppies anymore. I just love these little dogs. Happy Birthday boys!

Just a bunch of CheeseHeads

2011-02-06T19:43:00.001-08:00

After being sick all week it was good to have a Super Bowl party and have our team win.
Great job Packers!

If you want to live hard core...

2011-01-30T20:21:00.000-08:00

YOU HAVE TO ROCK HARD CORE!

This past weekend we went to our first rock concert together. Slash and Miles Kennedy at The Depot. Brad leaned over to me after the concert of all the greatest Guns & Roses hits and said "you are the greatest wife ever." I am :)

Millionare Dinner

2011-01-23T18:09:00.000-08:00

This year for Christmas Dad gave all of the kids a gift certificate to Outback Steakhouse. We doubled with Angie and Ryan and had a ritzy night out with appetizers and smoothies and whatever looked good to us on the menu. Because we are not millionares our dining experiences are usually not this way. Thanks dad, it was a great night and we had a grand time.

The next day I attempted another apple pie and worried about it the whole time! I even called mom Dennis to make sure my crust edges wouldn't burn. I was delighted when it came out looking like this and even more delighted when it tasted delicious. I'm still going to practice the art of pie making this year until I feel absolutely confident in my pie making abilities. (Brad is thrilled that I have taken up perfecting my baking abilities!)

Goodbye to our good Friends

2011-01-17T21:09:00.000-08:00

The modern way to read a children's story book -on the ipod

Our good friends The Beus' will be leaving to have an adventure in Guam for the next 4 years. They visited us this past weekend to say Goodbye. Brad gave a mini concert, we watched a funny movie, I got to cuddle with two cute little boys, we made cookies and just had a good time. They left us an open invitation to visit them in Guam so maybe we will have another international adventure in the next 4 years. We will miss you guys! Take care!

Lane and Me

Palmer and me

A New Daily Dennis Tradition...

2011-01-09T19:19:00.001-08:00

So far this year we are loving our daily dose of Banangrams from
Mom and Dad Dennis. It has become an after dinner tradition.
We try to be the first to solve the daily puzzle though on some we do
take turns and try to be good sports:)

Christmas 2010

2011-01-02T20:39:00.000-08:00

Twas the week before Christmas

2010-12-19T13:09:00.000-08:00

Twas the week before Christmas and the Dennis's are....

Making baklava and toffee (a Christmas tradition)

Rejoicing that the Christmas cards have been sent and gifts have been bought!

Reflecting on the lovely music from the Tab Choir concert (thanks mom & dad D.)

and the family dinner and A Christmas Carol with the Jefferson gang.

Remembering the words and music we sang in the ward choir today

and how they made us feel.

Anticipating a week full of visiting friends, family gatherings, yummy food,

games, gift giving, and being filled with the Christmas spirit.

Brad's Moment to Shine

2010-12-05T18:26:00.000-08:00

Brad was asked to sing in our ward's Christmas Party. He made an arrangement of Silent Night and did a fabulous job. Everyone including me thought it sounded like a Spanish guitar arrangement. I was especially proud because my high school choir director taught me how to critique and improve musical performance, so one night I was Brad's coach and afterward it sounded so polished. Of course people are over generous in their complements but after his performance he received complements such as "where do I buy the CD," "are you a professional" " seriously you never took lessons" and "you have a gift from God we hope you stay in our ward forever and ever."

"Hallelujah"

2010-11-29T18:35:00.000-08:00

I've always wanted to sing the Messiah with a choir. There is so much intensity in Handel's music and the words of Isaiah are so moving. This year I was able to sing the Messiah (complete with a full orchestra, choir, and soloists) with the Holladay Interfaith Community Choir . It was a special experience. I will never forget the feeling I had singing the Hallelujah Chorus at the Holladay United Church of Christ. Though we have different religions we come together with in a beautiful union with our faith in Jesus Christ. What a perfect way to welcome in Christmas this year.

Happiness is...

2010-11-21T17:39:00.000-08:00

A Grateful Heart

It's that special time of year to remember family, friends, and all of the blessings we have. It's been a busy week for the Dennis's. So besides the usual family, friends, the gospel, and health which we are very grateful for, here are a few of this past weeks things to be grateful for.

Mary:

1- Gianni (forgetting about confidentiality for a moment) has been placed in a Special Education Unit after 2 years of testing, interventions, and more. Though I will miss the child and his obsession with dinosaur sounds, I'm very happy to know that his whole life will now be different because of my work these past 2 years.

2- I have recently discovered pumpkin pie. I'm not sure why it took so many years to try it and like it, but I have and I do enjoy especially Ryan's classic recipe.

3- Only one more set of Parent Teacher Conferences this school year.

4- The Clam Chowder Discovery (see previous post)

5-Cheese Fries and Coke for the weeks of Parent Teacher Conferences

6- Relaxing with my favorite Jane Austen

7- Working out my voice like never before by singing the Messiah with our Community Choir

Brad: (written from his own hand)

1-That Mary is the one writing the blog (and not me)

2-Finding another Paul Krugman fan in my ward

3-Performing my new rendition of "Summertime" on the guitar for friends

4-Reading Paul Davidson's "The Keynes Solution"

5-That Mary is such a fan of Jane Austin (even being a female and all)

6-Smoked turkey for pre-Thanksgiving

7-Getting to number 7

The Soup Compromise

2010-11-14T12:55:00.000-08:00

Nothing warms you up more on a cold day like a bowl of home made soup. Soup is in fact one of my favorite things about winter. I remember coming home to the smell of mom's homemade soups and the smell just warming up my day. One soup that I love is Clam Chowder- my mom's recipe! But ever since Brad has developed severe lactose intolerance I have stopped making creamy soups and creamy everything else. I never realized how many comfort foods contain lactose and though I have experimented with all types of lactose free milk bases the only thing he can really have is soy milk which does not make the greatest substitute. So the other day after a lajor craving I decided I would make my yummy clam chowder and invite over some family because it makes a ton and for the first time in our married life I left Brad to fend for himself. After realizing fending for himself meant a can of tomato soup I started to feel bad and did some research. It turns out we could make with the same ingredients Manhattan Clam Chowder which has a tomato base so he could enjoy too. So we made two soups with the same amount of work and they were both delicious! This little discovery, silly as it is, has made my weekend! This means at least this creamy soup is back in my life without any sense of guilt for Brad missing out.

The Fridge Fiasco

2010-11-07T15:37:00.000-08:00

This week brought some interesting events. Sunday morning (Halloween mind you) our freezer stopped working. We happen to have a pink "vintage" 1960s GE Refrigerator with roll out freezer so we figured this would happen sometime. After dealing with the immediate crisis and getting the frozen food safely to my parents freezer we began the ordeal of trying to find a new refrigerator that fit our space. Why refrigerators are so huge now is beyond me but after a day of looking at dozens of refrigerators in a few different stores we found 1- that's right only 1 that would work. It didn't even entirely fit our criteria but sacrifices had to be made. After a slight emotional breakdown because of all of the favorite aspects of our fridge that would now be lost, I succombed to logical reality and decided the new but boring Frigidaire refrigerator would have to do. But then our freezer started working again!!!!!! Miracle!!!! And has continued working and though we realize it may go out again and soon we are standing by the notion- "if it's not broke don't fix it."So we will see how long our vintage refrigerator will take us, in the meantime I realize that my retro-modern kitchen is one of my favorite aspects about our condo and it's not very likely to have the same fun kitchen and appliances in our future homes. So for now I'm happy to have the time to be Betty Crocker with my matching pink GE 1960's appliances.

A Butter Conditioner- can't find that in a small fridge

I don't even know if any shelves swing out any more.

A turntable crisper is so much more fun then regular drawers.

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T20:38:00.000-07:00

A princess

Plus a Dred Pirate

Makes "The Princess Bride"

We had a great Halloween this year. Angie and Ryan had
a party and everyone dressed up.

Laura & Jon

Angie & Ryan

Link

& Odin

These treats look like the real thing.

And my princess costume substituted for Glenda
the Good Witch as well for our School Parade

This year we also went to a Murder Mystery Dinner Theater.
We had so much fun! We think it will become a tradition.
Happy Halloween!

The 2010 Dennis "Bumper Crop" of Apples

2010-10-24T18:53:00.001-07:00

We will always remember peeling a bushel of apples the old fashioned way!

Yeah for Fall Break

2010-10-17T15:56:00.000-07:00

So this year we did a "staycation" and I enjoyed lunch with a good friend

and a picnic with Wendy and Ava in a cemetery due to the huge line
at Gardner Village

Then we ventured up the canyon for some scenic tourism

We had a ritzy ski resort lunch with a view that we pretended was the Alps
and food from a Swiss restaurant

We took the tram up the mountain to a beautiful view

And in the spirit of Halloween Brad carved an evil looking pumpkin and
I sorted the messy seeds and then toasted them for a treat- my mom did this last
year and they were tasty, otherwise I would have never been so daring.

Ode to the Barbeque

2010-10-10T17:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Barbeque,

During the summer months you have cooked our dinners and kept our house cool. Because of you we have had many needed barbeque parties and hours of conversations around you with good friends and family. We have discovered the worlds best lemonade and excellent potato salad to compliment you. We have tried all kinds of recipes for meat and veggies on you and found some real winners. We now have come to an end of this seasons barbeque parties. We will use you every now and then in the fall and winter, but put you away until next spring and summer when we will reinstate barbeque friday. We now return to our fall and winter cozy comforts of baking and cider and puzzles and books. See you next spring.

Boys will be boys

2010-10-03T18:31:00.000-07:00

We took our nephews hiking this weekend.

First we had a yummy Subway lunch

Then we headed up the Alpine Loop to Stuart Falls
The leaves were turning and it was Beautiful!

The boys (including Brad) loved to run as fast as they could down the slopes,
swing on trees, throw rocks as far as they could, play in the water, find every possible stick,
climb as high as they could which scared me a little, and just play.

Boys will be boys, and I love em.

Just Peachy

2010-10-03T18:22:00.000-07:00

This past week we bottled peaches and made peach jam with mom Dennis.
Thanks mom, we had a good time. The peach jam is delicious.

Hari Krishna Temple 1st Date Anniversary

2010-09-26T14:01:00.000-07:00

This past week Brad and I happily celebrated our 1st Date Anniversary for the 4th time. I'm excited to bring our kids to this fun event and tell them about our 1st date. This year I took a few pictures of our favorite things about the festival

The Temple

The talking "halo" parrots

The yummiest vegetarian food- 3 years ago I didn't like it but now we both crave it!

The spiritual love story between Ram and Sita

And the Hari Krisna rock out party and fireworks after the play.

If anyone wants to see the excitement next year, give us a call.
For as long as we are in Utah during September we will be there.

1,2,3 salsa

2010-09-12T12:43:00.000-07:00

First we picked

Then we chopped

Then we washed & dried

And voila Salsa!

Thanks mom for teaching us how to
make and bottle salsa.

Happy 80th B-day Grandma

2010-09-05T19:18:00.000-07:00

This weekend we celebrated Grandma Hebdon's 80th birthday. She has lived so much life in the past 80 years and is still such a vibrant part of our lives. I almost cried a couple of times during her birthday program when she talked about Grandpa and her eternal love for him. I remember when Grandpa was sick and I was visiting, Grandma gently cared for him at his bedside and as she was getting up he grabbed onto her and gave her the sweetest hug. I remember at that time thinking I wanted to find a love like that someday- and then came my Brad. Other than getting teary eyed it was a lovely evening with so many cousins, aunts, uncles, and good food. Mom, Dad and I spent the better part of the morning making home-made peach ice cream just like Grandma Bradshaw used to do it. We even made Brad some lemon sorbet and mom's house was smelling like a gelateria:)

p.s Thanks Angie for putting all of Grandma's words into a lovely book, it is a treasure.

All because two people fell in love...

2010-08-22T14:37:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we celebrated my parents 30th anniversary.
They have gone through a lot in the past 30 years
and it was fun to see them happy and holding hands and in love.
We gave them a "then and now" picture frame
And Laura and Jon took them for a photo shoot for a "now"
picture while Angie, Brad, and I prepared a nice dinner.

We had a lovely dinner with mom's china.

Angie made this pretty card.

And Laura topped it all off with a Pineapple Upside Down cake!
Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad

Summers are for Campfires

2010-08-15T17:24:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we took advantage of how close we are to the mountains and loaded up some marshmellows, wood, lighter fluid (Brad's favorite thing) and all of our personal documents needing to be shredded over the past year and headed up the canyon for a Campfire night. This was a lot more fun than shredding paper after paper and going through a couple shredders while we are at it. The scenery was beautiful and burning documents has a romantic appeal that doesn't make sense until you try it. I think we have found another Dennis family tradition.

Fun with music

2010-08-08T14:26:00.000-07:00

This summer we have had lot's of fun with music. Brad loves his guitar and I am enjoying the piano and singing. We have been asked lots of times if we do duets and we found one that fits us well- though it is a little cheesey. Hopefully it will come up.

Conquering Mount Olympus

2010-07-31T15:32:00.000-07:00

We wanted to go on a big hike this summer and had planned on Timpanogus but due to crazy thunderstorm warnings we decided last minute to conquer Mt. Olympus. One of our friends put it this way- hiking Mt. Olympus is like being on a stair master for 4 hours. We did it, and it was a fairly nice hike until we had to come down because our legs had been worked to the max climbing this thing- no trail just rock climbing to the top.

At the top we wrote our victory statement in the old mailbox so our children's children will know we were once at the top of Mt. Olympus.

Pioneer Day 2010

2010-07-25T16:24:00.000-07:00

Since we have not been in Utah the past couple of summers we wanted to do Pioneer Day right this year with the parade, games, festivals, parking fiascos, lazying around, swimming, barbecues, fireworks and all. We started the day getting up early to get a good spot for the parade. Luckily our Ashcraft cousins had gotten up even earlier and secured a prime location for the parade in the shade. Thank you! We had fun playing games with them until the parade started and the rest of the group showed up.
This was mine and Brad's 1st parade experience since we have been married. I liked the marching bands and he liked the shade and the antique cars. We both were a little tired by the end because of getting up early but it was a fun time.
After the parade we went with mom to Liberty park for the Native American festival where we really just went for the food- mmm delicious Navajo Taco's then after some down time at home we went to the Annual Hebdon 24th of July party (normally in the canyon, but this time at Uncle Bruce's). Brad played full contact water basketball, while I sat in the shade holding cute baby Claire and visiting. After a delicious dinner and more visiting we went with mom and dad to see the Liberty Park fireworks.

The best thing about living in Utah is having two 4th of July like holidays in a month. I missed this!

A day with Tanner and Lindsey

2010-07-18T19:23:00.000-07:00

This week we got to spend a day with Tanner and Lindsey our cute nephew and niece. We don't get to see them too often because they live in Switzerland so it was very fun to bond. We started out with Lunch at Wendy's

and then hit the pool- Tanner and Brad loved the diving board, Lindsay and I loved the big slide.

We got some snow cones to cool off from the pool and our 90ish degree weather

Lindsey is Miss photogenic

Then we went to see "How to train your dragon"- It was a hit

And to end a perfect day we invited Stacy up for a barbecue. Brad made us yummy shishkabobs and we enjoyed the evening laughing on our lovely patio

While we sat and talked Lindsay creatively took two donut boxes and some paper and glue and created this. What a creative little artist.

Puppysitting

2010-07-11T21:01:00.001-07:00

Odin looks freaked out in this picture!

This week Brad and I came closer to joint parental roles than ever before with puppysitting. Strange that we have never done any babysitting together. Brad has never had a moment of babysitting in his entire life! Well this was a good start, though at the end he said "this was fun for a while but now I'm done." Maybe if it was a baby he would have an entirely different response???? Anyhow it was fun and we did grab some cute pictures of our adorable puppy nephews.

Odin would not sit still long enough for a picture!

Link loved hiding in the the tall tall grass

Dennis Family Reunion & the 4th

2010-07-04T18:37:00.000-07:00

We had a great time at the Dennis Family reunion. We stayed in the luxury master bedroom suite-what a treat, and played lots of games and just had a great time hanging out with the Dennis Family (2 parents, 6 kids, 5 spouses, and 11 grandchildren- a growing family!) We went to Deer Creek for a day of boating and playing thanks to Brett & Kathryn. Sadly I forgot my camera for this day but we will never forget Staci falling in, the Monsoon in the afternoon, the water trampoline floating away, "Brad be a hero" or not, shoving everything into a box and in the car as fast as possible trying not to get too wet. What a day that was! Poor Brad was coming down with a cold that lasted the rest of the reunion and 4th of July weekend, but he was still able to give the kids a little concert. The weekend ended with a date with my cute nephew Tanner to the Stadium of Fire to see Carrie Underwood- what a treat!

A day out with the girls

2010-06-27T19:50:00.000-07:00

We love our burnt almond fudge ice cream

Mom, me and Angie went to Deseret Village and had some quality bonding time for her Mormon Youth reunion lunch. I hadn't been to Deseret Village in quite a while, and though it has not made my top 20 places I want to spend my day list, it was a fun day out with the girls.

Mom and me and the pioneers

"Miss Independent"

Hat friends

The Kidney Ordeal

2010-06-20T16:04:00.000-07:00

Brad has been cursed with a Kidney Stone!

The past couple days off and on his face looks like this...

(he picked out this pic)

Oh the pain! Those women who experience kidney stones and child birth say the pain of a kidney stone is about equal if not greater. So thus far in our married life Brad has come closer to the pain of child birth (sans epidural) than I. And after rushing him to the ER, hearing his moans and groans, expressions such as "run the light!", and witnessing his agony I don't know why but my excitement for child birth has faded. It's easy to laugh about it now when the pain has gone away, but poor Brad! I hate standing by just watching him suffer knowing all I can do is rub his back and make sure he has his pain killers. I hope this passes soon! I feel so blessed that I was calm at the time of crisis- it was my first time taking someone to the ER, and that our friends happened to mention to us about having a preferred hospital for your insurance. I hope this health care reform does something about that! Seriously doesn't it make sense that all hospitals accept your insurance. But thankfully we were keyed in about this stupid rule before the crisis. His doctor and nurses were great and the only grumpy person of the day was the pharmacist at the drug store. We are both so happy we were not out on some traveling adventure when this happened, and are grateful for all the support of our family.

Mary Dennis- NCSP School Psychologist

2010-06-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

So another school year has come to a close and I look back on now 4 years of my profession as a School Psychologist. I am learning and learning and learning more and more each year. I still feel this is more of a calling than a "job." I've been able to see the hand of the Lord in so many ways and I've felt my prayers answered in behalf of sweet children and more fully begin to understand how the atonement can give us hope, and in situations where that is all that can be clung to- it can be enough. I've seen tears and heard stories that make me hurt and it's amazing for most of all those I've seen the hope and simple faith of childhood that things are going to be okay. As it seems there is opposition truly in all things, along with these sweet memories, I have been in the heat of many professional battles advocating for children. Some have not been pretty and I have learned that even adults have tantrums. Professionalism isn't always found in the field of education and I have been faced with some ugly situations, but I've held firm to my professional conduct and have received many compliments from those in my field about how I handle these people and situations. I think most importantly though, at the end of the day what I'm happy about and how I know I have made a difference is looking back on the relationships I have built with students and the progress (sometimes just millimeters) they make. I remember being faced with the decision of graduate school or a mission. I felt and still feel my choice was inspired and that in some form or another this profession and the direction it takes me will always be apart of my life.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

2010-05-30T14:14:00.001-07:00

2 Years and Loving it!

Living Traditions Festival- A culinary experience

2010-05-23T13:04:00.000-07:00

Last year Angie and Ryan invited us to Salt Lake's Living Traditions Festival and it turned out to be one of our favorite events all year. We went this year and made it a culinary experience by having a little food from each country represented until we got too full to continue. We started off with Thai Red Curry (now I understand the obsession some people have with Thai food) and cleaned our palets with Basque churros (for those of you who don't know like me- Basque is a country by Spain

Then we had some Tibetan food which turned out to be a mix of Indian and Chinese food.

No, we did not stop there. Brad saw a sign for Mango Sticky Rice which he raved was the best dessert ever. We got that from the Cambodian booth.

Finally very full but thirsty we had a refreshing Mango drink from the Tongan booth
Happily full we enjoyed some of the performances, one of which was a band made up of refugees from Sierra Leone which was formed in the refugee camp during the war. Music brought them hope and soothed their pain when everything they had was destroyed.
Did I mention this festival is free- what a great way for people to becomes more
multiculturally sensitive and try some yummy foods.

Happy 30th Birthday Brad!

2010-05-13T17:33:00.000-07:00

For Brad's 30th birthday we took a road trip to Portland. After spending countless hours trapped in a car with this boy I can attest that he may be 30 years in age but is still a little boy at heart-sometimes much to my chagrin. We stayed with Travis and Rozzie and Lynn and Janson and their fun families. Thanks guys it was a great trip. Happy Birthday Brad!

I Love these pups

2010-05-02T17:49:00.000-07:00

Link & Odin make me happy:)

mary mary how does your garden grow

2010-04-26T17:26:00.001-07:00

with pansies:)

Last Tuesday night we skipped Institute because a storm was heading in and we wanted to plant the flowers before (actually I not we). So thus sparked some "spontaneous gardening" as Brad calls it and we (actually "I" again) went to work ("we" came out when I needed strength and height). Thank goodness we have patio light because the flowers were all planted and done by 10:00 and got plenty of water the next few days.

Brad is to Basketball as mary is to

2010-04-19T19:01:00.000-07:00

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
I don't know

As a side note, there are some perks to being a school psychologist- one of them being giving boring IQ tests week after week and in order to not fall asleep (yes that has happened) I take the test with the student. After years (literally) of exposure to various cognitive tests if I took one now I would probably come out genius range not due to spontaneous intellect but rather mastering the answers in advance. This being the case I am beginning to see life as a series of analogies. One of which being the title of this post.

Brad has many hobbies:

learning new languages
( yes at night when I open my novel he opens a Turkish dictionary!)

Basketball

Political News Junkee
(world wide news in fact which leads to quite interesting dinner conversation as I, knowing I am right try to solve world wide problems from a social perspective and he from a political perspective)

His best friend the Guitar

mary loses interests in hobbies:

reading

piano

choir

and yes I have tried cooking, crocheting, gardening, scrapbooking
boring boring boring!

What I do seem to like is planning, organizing, and crossing off something on my to do list. Can that be a hobby? I can just hear my mom saying "if you don't use it, you lose it" and yes my music skills and vocabulary have weakened since losing interest in my past hobbies, but you can't force interest. Maybe this spring/summer will be the quest for a new interest in past and possible hobbies.

The past few months...

2010-04-12T18:18:00.000-07:00

have FLOWN by! Couples who are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary always tell you it flies by. It's hard to believe that Brad and I have been married almost 2 years. It's hard to believe that I have been a School Psychologist nearly 4 years. Brad and I have been on so many adventures and yet what do I have to remember the past few months? I wanted our blog to be the story of our life and so I need to tell it with or without pictures. So I'm making a goal to post something new on our blog each week. The past few months brought

- My Birthday celebrated with Cafe Rio and bowling where we tied:)

- St. Patricks Day parade and a plan for a trip with mom and dad to Ireland

- Link and Odin my favorite puppies. And yes they love me much!

- Watching Seinfeld episodes, quoting Seinfeld episodes, and creating Dennis family Seinfeld moments.

- Brad's 1st Jazz Game- what an excellent Valentines gift!

- Experimenting with wheat and realizing bulger(what we had in Turkey a lot and enjoyed) is simply Wheat! No wonder the people in the middle east are so healthy.

- Attending all the free Utah Gymnastics meets possible with friends in the ward

- Getting sick over Spring Break and naming my sickness "Andrew" for that special kid at work

- Discovering Brad is very good with assisting in "mary projects"

- Ripping out old ugly astroturf and welcoming in spring with a better looking back patio

- Another conference for Brad where he presented his dissertation research

- Strawberry Jam- with an awesome strawberry buy- I get it from the Hebdons

-Discovering my old favorite video game Bubsy and getting to level 4 on my 2nd try (thanks Ryan for hacking this game your place is now my favorite with the puppies and all!)

A day to Remember

2010-02-19T15:52:00.000-08:00

Usually I don't post things about work, I guess I try to keep boundaries with work and our personal blog. But the other day was nothing but a personal great experience I will always remember. It all started 4 months ago when the relief society in my ward took on a great project to make 100 quilts for refugee families. After we presented them to the state representative and I started thinking about the many refugee students I work with in my schools. I went up to talk to this lady after the program and discussed how the church and school districts can better work together to provide support for these families. My thought was, though I'm not a missionary called to serve these families I can provide a lot of services, support, and influence. She gave me her contact information and I went home thinking how great it would be to do a service project with my entire school and community to make quilts to benefit refugee families. The next day at work with all of the commotion and drama that usually accompanies a work day I was ready to put off the entire idea. How would we come up with the money, who would volunteer, and how would I find the time in my already crazy busy schedule. But the spirit kept prompting and I realized with the position I am in I am blessed to influence and make things happen in a system that not a lot of people can influence, and in essence- with great privilege comes great responsibility. I had the opportunity to serve the lord and his children in a special way, I was going to try. Once I put forth the effort I was amazed how things began falling into place. I pitched the idea to the PTA and Principal who said they would be all for it if I could come up with the money. At first I was going to call businesses in the area to see if they would donate materials and if worse came to worse I would use my own legislative money. But then I was informed of a grant through the state for Community of Caring but we had already missed the deadline. I wrote the grant and sent it anyway. I was immediately called and informed it was a great project and the grant would be funded. But there was a catch involving some sort of learning component for the entire school about refugee's. How do you teach about refugees to young children? I searched the internet and found a children's book called Brothers in Hope, The story of the Lost Boys of Sudan, that would work for the younger kids. But I really wanted the older kids to have a more meaningful learning experience. I called over to Newcomer Academy (the school for refugee students in high school) and pitched my idea to the social worker. She loved it and agreed to come out with 3 of their student to tell their stories. We set a date, and I prayed I wouldn't get sick. Everyone came through and my mom was even their for support. Though I was entirely exhausted by the end of the day after trying to manage the logistics of 32 class presentations, 4 quilts tied, 4 fleece blankets finished by the younger kids, tracking 20 plus volunteers, and all of the crowd control, it was amazing to see the community volunteer, the students learn about refugees, and everyone's desire to serve. The kids loved the quilting and listened attentively and sympathetically to the stories and advice from the refugees. At the end of the week I realized how blessed I was to help this project happen. I was simply a tool in someone else's hand who wanted to bless his children and when I look at my job and my life this way I am so grateful I have the opportunity to do this.

Happy Valentines

2010-02-15T19:34:00.001-08:00

I just love Valentines Day. Maybe because it is the holiday right before my birthday, maybe because I always associated it with candy and pink hearts but mostly I think because every year growing up my mom read us the story of St. Valentine and the first Valentine cards. News flash for many bitter Valentines Day haters, Valentines day was not started by Hallmark, Valentines day was not created for lovers. The first Valentines were given from children to a priest who was their friend. I look at Valentines Day as a day to do something kind for the people I care about in my life, and despite what Hallmark tells you, a homemade valentine is much more meaningful and appreciated. So this year I had a lovely Valentines week of making cookies for my coworkers, making homemade valentines, making Brad a special valentine, giving my counseling groups a valentine and treat, and having our parents over for dinner. Brad surprised me with a special date to Mazza- the Lebanese restaurant where we had our 2nd official date and where he first held my hand. Then he took me to our wards Sweetheart ball where I got to show off my electric slide and have chocolate covered strawberries. It was a perfect Valentines date.

Welcoming in 2010

2010-01-03T13:20:00.000-08:00

Memories of December: Christmas concerts, Natalie Cole with The Tab Choir singing The Holly and the Ivy, Peter Breinholt deja vu, A very sick girl and 10 below for a week equals a school in crisis, A few trips to "my friends in provo," "That's Ibsen!-no it my "friends" cat," a "pagan" nativity (no sacriligeousness intended), Organizing & hosting parties, mmm Baklava, caroling with a guitar, shopping for the Road Home, An English & Welsh Christmas Eve, The Welsh Love spoon, singing "christmas is coming...." without knowing the words, Caroling Jefferson style with a Ryan Meeks and Brad Dennis comic twist, Plum pudding does not contain plums, Yorkshire Pudding is good, Lady fingers make a great trifle, Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without ham and mustard for Brad, If you happen to be losing at Mr. Mouth just knock off the Mouth and shoot away, vacations equal sleeping in, "I hate talking down Christmas"-Brad, new years with the Bjarnsons. Happy 2010!

A Musical Thanksgiving

2009-11-30T20:15:00.000-08:00

This year we enjoyed our Thanksgiving with the Dennis family. We were so happy to see Cam and Babette and their family who came from California, Stacy who came from Switzerland, and the rest of the Utah Dennis family. Mom Dennis took all of us girls out to lunch the day before Thanksgiving to the Provo favorite-Brick Oven. Having gone to BYU I knew the Brick Oven was famous for it's Pizza. So surprisingly, Babbette and I (the two in laws) were the only ones that got pizza. The Dennis girls all raved about the salad bar. We giggled the afternoon away as we told our husbands funny stories- I don't know if they would think they are so funny. While I was down there they all helped me with a special present for Brad. I will post a picture of it when I am done. I just love these ladies and how they have welcomed me into the family.

On Thanksgiving we had the special job of making the potatoes- though I just peeled. Here is Brad madly mashing.

We played lots of games including a few new ones- Mastermind (too advanced for me) and Rook- with bids and all. Here is Syd out masterminding her dad!

Brad taught "The Rogue" some chords on the guitar. "The Rogue" impressed us with his knowledge of 80s music. Brad-loving this era- then played 80s songs we yelled out.

Syd made some fun and yummy place settings.

Stacy (who somehow avoided the camera yet again) made a fun and tasty 7 layer jello salad. Here is Fightin Cassius Clay holding up 7 fingers by it.

We had a delicous meal complete with apple, pumpkin, and banana cream pie

And then ended the evening with some musical entertainment. Brad rocked out his new Christmas arrangement

Cam played his arrangement to What Child is This while Mom Dennis sang

And Babette accompanied Hayden, Syd, and Clay while they sang and acted The Latter day Prophets song. Since when can a 4 year old name all of the the latter day prophets!

Afterward Clay entertained us with interpretive dance we will never forget. What fun!

The next day we put up Christmas. We have few but precious decorations. This one reminds me of my great grandparents.

Our home is so cozy with a Christmas Tree decorated

and all lit up.

What a perfect time of year!

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T14:52:00.001-07:00

This year Brad got to choose our costumes and he decided "80s Rockers"

He loved his tattoos:)
And it worked perfect for work because the girls wanted to dress up as 80s Rockers too!
Happy Halloween

Our first Camp-out

2009-10-19T19:07:00.000-07:00

Due to our adventurous summers since we have been married Brad and I have missed the simple joys of camp-outs. So while in Istanbul's incessant humidity we planned a fall camping trip to Lake Powell. We wanted it to be somewhat warm and I had never been to Lake Powell (and yes I have lived in Utah my whole life). So we packed up our brand new tent from our wedding and sparse camping gear and set out for an adventure. We stayed with Kendra & Russ in Price and took a tour down memory lane as we toured CEU (my alma mater) including my old dorm "Sessions" which has still not been updated!!! We surprised cousin Ben with our impromptu visit. We then headed out to Lake Powell stopping for some hiking around Goblin Valley and Little Wild Horse Canyon (slot canyons are so fun!). Lake Powell was a lovely 75 degrees and breathtaking-from a first timers viewpoint. Brad impressed me with his ability to make a fire and put up a tent- probably not extremely difficult but I have lost all previous skills from girls camps. Without a boat we were somewhat limited in our activities but I enjoyed soaking up the sun and Brad found enjoyment in first chucking rocks as far as he could and then breaking huge rocks- seriously neanderthal behavior?????? We then took the scenic route home through Escalante and lots of national parks & forests. Unfortunately a quarter of the way through this scenic drive I found myself with food sickness-not fun!!! But we stopped in a little town called Torrey and Brad nursed me back to health. It was a trip to remember.

Superhero moms

2009-10-07T16:37:00.000-07:00

We had a fun visit from my good friend Rozzie and her two little boys. I realized a few things while we adjusted our adult lifestyle about the superhero job and experience it is to be a mother.
Lesson 1
Rozzie and I went to dinner with our other friend from college and during this Sizzler outing I learned that mom's with kids under 2 don't get to eat warm food.
Lesson 2
After an outing with mom to Red Butte gardens and trying to hold a baby and steer a stroller I learned moms have to be super strong to go anywhere alone with 2 kids.
Lesson 3
We made brownies for a family shower and I learned if you ask a 2 year old to put chocolate bars on top don't be surprised if some end up in his mouth.
Lesson 4
Kids are fascinated with musical instruments, and Brad looked cuter than ever playing the guitar for these little boys.
Lesson 5
When you lay out a fun blanket, get in your PJs and pop some popcorn a regular movie then becomes a Party.
Lesson 6
Everyday bugs can be very interesting.
Lesson7
There is nothing quite like rocking a baby to sleep.
Lesson 8
When you come home from work and you don't here "hiiiiiiiiMawy" or "hiiiiBwad" followed by a running hug you miss it.

Festivals & Fun

2009-09-16T20:24:00.000-07:00

Brad and I are now back home living our generally typical life in our cozy condo. He is working hard on his dissertation and looking into future job opportunities while I am running around elementary schools trying to help everyone with their problems. It's quite nice to get back into our routines but we have still found time to play. One of the many things we missed about utah during our summer abroad was hiking. So we have been venturing out saturday mornings to take advantage of this free recreation. Here we are at my lake (Lake Mary)

Another thing we missed this summer was all of the festivals and parties (4th, 24th, Lagoon, ect) so we have been trying to hit up as many festivals as we can in our crazy schedules this time of year.

We literally stumbled upon Swiss Days in Midway and sinfully enjoyed two huge scones with honey and jam.
One of our traditions is to celebrat our first date anniversary each year which was at the India Festival at the Harri Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork. We enjoyed delicious indian food, interpretative dancing, the parrots and llamas, and the traditional play taken from Bhagavad Gita. This was our third time going to this festival together.

We found out about the Brazilian Festival just in time to meet up with Angie and Ryan for some great food and some amazing capoeira.

Goodbye Istanbul...

2009-08-10T09:57:00.000-07:00

Who would of thought from Day 1 in Istanbul where I was a fish out of water that this crazy city would become such a fun adventure. For my last week in Istanbul we enjoyed all my favorite foods- one last fish sandwich under the bridge, one last iskender kebab, one last apple tea and desserts- one last waffle, one last magnum, one last ice cream. It has been a delicious summer. We took a boat tour around the Bosphorus, had a rabbit tell my fortune, watched the whirling dervishes, checked out the spice bazar, took pictures of the kitties, met some famous people at a news station, and of course did that "I really want to buy this but I'm not going to until I break down the last week I'm here shopping." What a bunch of crazy memories we have of this summer spending every day every moment with eachother- a few tears and breakdowns, lots of laughter, new places, new foods, making new friends, and through it all growing closer together.

Istanbul Memories

"Swimming upstream"... cat counting game... "fish, fish!", "negative 2 points"... "sidewalk issues"... "a wandering Mary"... "I insist"... Brad's favorite cornerstore nicknamed "my guy"... Brad's pink towel... channel surfing 400 channels - "Please let it be in English! Please let it be in English - No!"... watching Italian movies like we really know what they are talking about... "heat issues"... filling up the water bottles... the Bonjour Guy... "Is that the call to prayer?" - "no, some guy selling something" - "Is that the call to prayer" - "no, another guy selling something"... John the Irish man... John the Irish man hiding from the cleaning lady in our apartment... our Boston friends... Greed... "Hit the deck with a 4" - "Ha, penalty, penalty" - card fight... visit to a news station - "blah, blah, project, job, blah" - "What was that?" - "I have no idea"... Brad's sharing issues... mmm, the chocolate shop... signing advertisements - "la, la, la duru," "Aycam" - "I wonder if they ever going insane listening to that all day"... shopping, shopping, shopping... Frog Juice, "you always get that card! Aargh!"... "I don't know how you do it - but you play uno and hearts dirty" - "Well you play backgammon dirty"... "I can't have that spaghetti anymore, not after Italy"... "Something is gonna get thrown down!" - the hairspray fight... "Every cat that fights should have a bucket of water dumped on them"... "It seems like new stores are here each day"... mmm, Ciya... mmm, Mado's chocolate raspberry gateau... mmm Magnums... mmm, waffles... Brad's theory of the traveling noisy kids... No Hulu, no YouTube - The Daily Show and Media Matters our only entertainment... Best priced restaurant with great atmosphere nicknamed "our place"... "The guy who invented air conditioning was a genius, seriously he should have been given the Nobel Prize"... "Sharing is overrated!" - "No, sharing is romantic, you're overrated"... "There's no punching!"... "no fixing"... "use your Mary leap"... "we're having a sink crisis"... "Hold on let's get rid of some crap change"... the SkipBo game that eliminated the word weiner from Brad's vocabulary.

We will laugh and laugh!

Italy

2009-07-29T05:14:00.000-07:00

Italy was a dream come true. Each city had it's own flavor and excitement. We took 10 days and saw Cinque Terre, Pisa, Florence, Siena, Rome, Tivoli, Venice, and Milan. We had a couple goals:
1- Try a regional food of each area.
2- See as many of Michelangelo's works that we can.
3- Try a different flavor of gellato each day.
It was an unforgettable 10 days!

Cinque Terre

We arrived late at night from Istanbul to Milan and got up early the next day to catch the first train to Cinque Terre. We found long train rides are survived with suckers and card games. 5 and a half hours later we arrived to the most beautiful Cinque Terre (5 villages connected by hiking trails on the Italian Riviera). We stayed in a nearby city, La Spetzia, and set out for a day of hiking, swimming, and exploring the Cinque Terre. A simple hike turned into a vigorous workout as we climbed higher and higher in the mountains. Our favorite of the 5 villages was Cornelia- a small sleepy village with acres of vineyards. We relaxed from our hiking in the layed back atmosphere of Vernazza where we enjoyed people watching in the Piattza. Mary's thoughts were- Italian men are very comfortable with their bodies (no matter the figure:0), and Elderly Italian women love to gossip. This region is famous for their pesto and a walnut sauce pasta dish- we tried both and gave the food 5 stars.

Pisa

We stopped off by Pisa in the morning and like true backpackers carried all of our luggage (in backpacks) through the city. We had a breakfast of Italian pastries and checked out a few sights- Santa Maria de la Spina, Views of the Arno river, The Leaning Tower of Pisa, and Pisa's Duomo. We though Pisa was a quieter Tuscan city with locals of all ages riding bikes with bells and baskets.

Florence

Florence was a busier city but like the books say the capital of the rennaisance. We found lots more tourists here (surprise surprise) and we preferred the atmosphere of smaller Pisa but the art was unforgettable. We saw all of Michelangelo's works in Florence except for two of his earliest which were not open. The David's magnitude can not be captured by a picture and shouts of the nobility of man to have courage to conquer adversity. My favorite of Michelangelo's works turned out to be his last unfinished Pieta- it was so tender. We hiked up to Piattza Michelangelo and watched the sunset over Florence. Tuscanny is famous for their Tortellini, and Spaghetti alla Bologna. Both were delicious.

Siena

On our way to Rome we stopped by Siena and found it to be more like a medieval city with lots of gothic architecture but very beautiful. Like Pisa we liked the smaller size and ambiance of the city. We were impressed with the huge Duomo of this city- though unfinished due to the black plaque it was more gothic style than Pisa's or Florence's. We tried the famous Sienese cookies- Panforte. Brad loved them- I prefer my sweeter gellato:)

Rome

Rome was a huge city and had the unfortunate big city atmosphere which takes away from the romanticized Rome you see in the movies. We really liked Vatican city- we climbed 500+ stairs to the cupola in St. Peters. The Sistine ceiling is stunning- and you wouldn't believe it unless you saw it but the Jonah on the ceiling looks just like my dad (grey hair facial expressions and all)! We enjoyed the watching the sunsett on the Spanish Steps and at the Fountain of Trevi where we threw our coins in the fountain so we will one day come back to Rome. We went, as Brad calls it, church hopping and saw all of Michelangelo's works in Rome. My favorite was his first Pieta he did when he was 23 years old now in St. Peters. We found the most amazing Gellateria in Rome and I found my all time favorite flavor to be Black Passion, and Brad found his to be Watermelon. Our last night I found my favorite church in Piazza Navona, the smaller St Agnes of the Agony- the marble sculpture is amazing in this church. In Rome we enjoyed Spaghettia alla Carbonara and Gnocchi alla Roma- delicious!

Tivoli

We were happy to follow my mom's reccomendation and escape the heat and city atmosphere and take a train to Tivoli. A smaller city in the suburbs of Rome. We headed straight for Villa d'Este where we enjoyed a picnic in the beautiful ancient Roman gardens.

Venice

We took a night train from Rome to Venice- an experience we will never forget- and arrived in Venice at 6:30 a.m. exhausted and unable to checkin to our hotel room until noon. In Rome we found church's offered good resting points and so we found a church that was open and sat down and we actually both fell asleep! We woke up to Mass starting, we didn't want to leave and look like we were just using the church as a resting spot so we stayed for Mass and participated kneeling on the uncomfortble wooden slat and all. I came away with indents on my legs. But what a memorable experience for my first Mass. After we checked into the hotel and rested we found Venice to be just what we needed after our fast paced lots of walking touring. Venice was more sleepy and relaxed. I loved that you did not hear any sound of cars! Venice was beautiful and so romanatic- the perfect romantic getaway. We toured around on a boat, took a Gondola ride, got lost in the maze of the city, tried authentic Polenta and Tiramisu, and just enjoyed this slow paced city.

Milan

We didn't have too much time in Milan but we did walk a bit of the city and we were able to see the Duomo of Milan and took at tour on it's roof. For our last night in Italy we had a picnic in the Piazza Duomo of an assortment of delicious pastries and our last gellato in Italy. We found Milan to be more chic aand modern. I especially was impressed with the shoes the women wore- so chic. We were pretty happy to have made it through our trip with out any catasraphes however we weren't out of Italy yet and as it turned out our plane had a mechanical problem so we were delayed in the Malepensa airport for 6 and a half hours! We did make some friends though with some American guys from Boston who we have now nicknamed the wino's. After hours of playing uno and stress and laughter and standing in the longest passport check line ever and then a 45 minute Taxi ride we made it back safe and sound. We loved Italy!

Life as a Sultan & Istanbul's Portobello Road

2009-07-18T02:52:00.000-07:00

So this week I discovered the luxurious life of a sultan...

Topkapi Palace

The oldest in the Ottoman Empire, Topkapi palace strikes you as an old fairy tale. Elaborate sculptured architecture with gold accents, and the famous blue Ottoman tile is a work of art. The best part of this palace could not be photographed- the treasury. Wow! I've only heard of so much gold, diamonds, and other precious jewels- especially from the 15th century. The Ottoman empire was very wealthy. The place is divided into 4 courts and then the Harem, getting more private and richly elaborate from court to court. From the 4th court (only the Sultan could be in this court) the views of the Bosphorus and Istanbul are amazing.

Dolmabahce Palace

After standing in line for an hour and then walking in with an Arabic group, having someone discover I don't speak Arabic, and then having to wait another 20 minutes for an English group I was able to see the famous Dolmabahce palace. This palace was more recent and modern in its style but just as if not more luxurious for its time. Picture taking inside the palace was Forbidden so I was not able to take pictures of the exquisitely decorated gold ceilings and crystal piano, and detailed architectual sculpuring. The grand ball room will blow anyone away- so incredibly beautiful. A guy in my group, who had been touring Europe, said it was the most amazing palace he has seen in all of Europe. The palace had lovely gardens and was built right on the coast of the Bosphorus. The most memorable part of this day was the huge rain storm that hit while I was leaving. I searched for cover and saw some people running towards the phone booths. I ran after them and found a booth for me which I stood in for the next 20 minutes remembering a conversation with Brad about how an umbrella would not be necessary in Istanbul because it never rains- ha!

Portobello Road

While Brad was schmoozing with some academics they led us to this road full of used bookstores and imediately reminded me of Portobello road as seen in Bedknobs and Broomsticks. The best part was that there were cats everywhere laying on books and in boxes of pictures. I looked for a magic book but no luck:) But I did haggle for a used book that looks interesting despite what Angie has written about it Tess of the D'ubervilles. I seem to like books with strong villanous women. By the way the academics Brad was schmoozing with introduced him (via phone) to all of there high ranking government friends in the middle east and then proposed a TV interview and talked publishing. They told me we might have to come back to Turkey because Brad will be famous (hmmmm I don't know about that.)

A few more dinners with friends.

All of our friends here seem to be vegetarian so we've enjoyed some good vegetarian meals with our Irish neighbor -Jon who has the best Dubblin accent, and our friends from Harvard. The power went out while we were dining once and the owners brought us out a candle to have some light. What a memory.

Harvard Friends, Princes Island, The Blue Mosque, and Aya Sophia

2009-07-12T10:54:00.000-07:00

Harvard Friends

Our LDS branch helped us meet two young couples in our same boat (husbands dragging their wives across the world for purposes of academic research). We quickly made friends and plans for the week. We met for dinner and after Brad and I raved about Ciya the group decided to make the "trek" for the best food in Istanbul. The "trek" (catching 2 subways and 1 ferry to make our way from Europe to Asia) provided us ample time to talk with our new friends and for me especially to be grateful we don't have to make the "academic" sacrifices that they have. They also raved about the food at Ciya.

Princes Island

In order to escape the hot summers in the city, many of the Istanbul families have summer homes/villas on the Princes Island. We also wished to escape the heat and had an island outing with our Harvard friends. We rented bikes to explore the island and went to a beach resort. On the way to the resort I had my first Magnum ( oh heavenly treat where have you been all my life). We played in the Marmara sea and played a dice game called Greed which Brad won- surprise surprise the greediest of us all.

The Blue Mosque & Aya Sophia

Once again I resumed my role as the solo tourist- Brad has been to all of the tourist sites in Istanbul numerous times. I started with The Blue Mosque and was amazed with the ornate structure. Tourists can go inside as long as they are veiled and modest so they dressed me up modestly so I could enter. Inside the Blue Mosque I read some pamplets about Islam- fascinating religion. Across the garden was the enormous truly amazing Aya Sophia- built by the Romans 1000 years before the Blue Mosque as the "greatest church in Christendom" until Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks who then converted the Aya Sophia into a Mosque. The Sultan had the frescos painted over and now more than 1500 years later thanks to artistic restoration the the frescos are being restored. The romans were truly amazing daring architects. I do believe the Aya Sophia is one of the 7 wonders of the world.

Lazy Summer Days

Though Brad is working hard in the archives we have alot of down time which lately we fill hanging out in our favorite park- Brad dozing, me reading, finding new dessert shops (I think I had the best chocolate rasberry cake ever made!), and like the Turks playing backgammon.

Top Ten Things that Must Stay

2009-07-10T09:01:00.000-07:00

(in Istanbul)

1. Fresh orange juice stands on the street

2. Fresh bread every morning at corner markets

3. Corner markets and small local stores - five seconds around the corner and you got a Magnum ice cream bar, pretty nice!

4. Magnum - Imagine an ice cream stick dipped in dark chocolate, then dipped in raspberry sauce, or caramel, or almonds, etc., then dipped again in more chocolate and frozen (heaven!)

5. Plentiful and inexpensive cucumbers and tomatoes

6. People walking (everywhere!)

7. Great public transportation

8. Views of the Bosphorus

9. Affordable restaurant prices

10. Huge gardens with tall, tall trees

Top 10 Things that Must Go

2009-07-09T10:07:00.000-07:00

Things that must Go ( in Istanbul)

1. Mosquitos
2. Heat + Humidity
3. Cars & Motorcycles-especially Taxis (yes all cars speed, take no notice of pedestrians. I have probably come close to being hit 3 times! I've never felt more like flipping a driver off more in my life- though I have not done it yet)
4. Litter
5. Smoking cigarettes in restaurants
6. Bartering & Haggling (list your price! and no separate prices for tourists just because you look foreign you automatically look like you have a lot of money to spend)
7. Lack of Variety in Feminine Hygeine Products
8. Cat Fights at night
9. Brad not asking for directions
10. The call to prayer or a hundred squaking birds waking you up at 4 am!

The things you stumble upon...

2009-07-06T09:40:00.000-07:00

The thing I have noticed about Istanbul is you never count on the same dull drum day. There is always something going on in this city, and new places you find just walking around. And walking around we do!

#1 A huge beautiful park!

While walking around (lost) trying to find the place where they moved the Ottoman Archives we stumbled upon this beautiful park. Probably 3 miles of a pathway bordered by colorful flowers and TALL TALL trees, soft grass, and three relaxing fountains- a mirage for the city dweller. I was happy to find that this lovely park is right down the street from the Archives, so while Brad does research in the afternoon I spend my time sitting on a bench with my ice cream cone or on my back gazing up at these trees with a good book. A relaxing summer it is.

#2 Brad's Favorite Restaurant

Across the Bosphorus on the Asian side of Istanbul Brad discovered his favorite restaurant. A romantic ferry ride and small walk and you are there. The food was surprising- you load your plate from this salad bar type thing and then they weigh your plate for the price- hmmm? So I thought that was weird but then you taste the food and wow- that chef is brilliant. Everything on my plate was delicious and I don't know if I've ever tasted better bread. We highly reccomend Ciya.

#3 A Parade? On the 4th of July?

So we were kind of down on the 4th due to missing out on barbaques, parades, and fireworks in the states. We looked up the address for the U.S Consulate but found they were closed and no mention of a celebration. So we decided to see a movie in English with Turkish subtitles. The only available was Angels and Demons. We had a bit of time to wait after we got our tickets and heard some commotion going on Istiklal Caddesi- a parade? It turned out to be a huge parade for the International Dance Festival. Dancers were dressed in there countries traditional dancing apparell. Most all countries were represented but no USA. But the parade was much fun. After our movie we wanted a taste from home so we went to Pizza Hut. The crust was good the cheese and pizza sauce were good but the toppings- not authentic. Pepperoni was not pepperoni. Note to self stay clear of American chains outside of the U.S. We ended the night with a scrabble game where Brad reclaimed his champion status but I still hold the highest scoring record.

Ankara, Bosphorus University, & The Grand Bazzar

2009-07-01T08:34:00.000-07:00

Weekend in Ankara

It has been a busy past week! Last Thursday we headed out of the city on a bus to Ankara (the capital of Turkey) for Brad's research conference. Getting out of the city was alot more of a hassle then you might think because there are only three ways over to the Asian side of Istanbul- two bridges and by ferry. With 17million people plus tourists going back and forth every day it was quite busy but quite organized. We took the ferry which was idyllic because of the breeze and great pictures of the city and sites. Once we got to Asia we got tickets for a luxury bus to Ankara complete with air conditioning, icecream, treats and beverages. 8.5 hours after we left our apartment we arrived at the Deiderman Hotel where the conference put us up. It was my first time in a 5 star hotel and I suppose I expected alot more- but then I had the food and I understood- Yumm! So Brad took off to his conference the next day and left me a lone wife to chill in the hotel and explore Ankara. After taking advantage of the fitness center and watching Rachel Ray in Turkish I ventured out to downtown Ankara. Having no map or ablitity to say anything in Turkish besides hello, I was in search of a beauty salon where I could get a pedicure (I'm really not this pampered girl who gets pedicures all of the time but when you travel you can't be caring around your personal pedicure set). So I wandered about and just when I was about to hate the Turkish for their lack of salons- I found a sign for a manikur and pedikur. Yeah! it was my own personal miracle and a customer even spoke English inside to help me set up an appointment. I had a bit until my appointment so I decided to get lunch. I found a quaint outdoor restaurant and ordered something I had never had before Iskender Kabob- recommended by my quide book. When it came out I thought- what did I order- but then I thought of what people must think when they first get American food. So I tried it with and open mind and....it was very good. So I was very proud of myself ordering food and a pedicure all by myself without speaking a bit of Turkish. The next day I attended the conference with Brad and got to see him present- he was so elequent and did a great job. I now understand more of his research and the importance it has on this region. Other professors liked his presentation too and quoted his research as the conference continued. After the conference we were treated to a 4 course most amazing meal at the 5 star restaurant and spent the rest of the afternoon in utter content. The next day the conference hosted a tour of the historic city starting with a tour of the Mosoleum of Attaturk (their George Washington) who overthrew the Ottoman empire and set up a democracy in 1923. The architecture of his memorial was much like the Lincoln Memorial. From there we went to Old Ankara and dined in a Historic hourse converted Museum and Restaurant. Then we checked out the Ankara Museum of Ancient Civilization and saw really cool old things. Our final stop was a Mosque built in the 1200s and then afternoon tea and drinks in an idyllic cafe. We left the next morning already missing the hotels continentel breakfast as soon as we left. It took 9 hours to get all the way back to our apartment- yuck- but on the way I did find a Mavi Jeans store (best jeans ever) and got some for an incredibly great deal. At home we decided we were both done with Turkish food for the time being and happily found a fun pizza restaraunt that tasted American- yum.

Bosphorus University

So after walking around for hours (literally!) and trying to figure out where we pay our water and electric bill we decided to go to Bosphorus University. And awe what a haven it was. Up in the luciously green hills with all of the city sounds, and sweltering heat far below. Brad said this was the most beautiful University Campus, and yes I do agree. I don't know anywhere that can compare to walking to school with amazing views of the Bosphorus. Wow. I think this may be my favorite spot in Istanbul. While we were enjoying the views we met a very kind Turk who gave me a good luck charm- I'm pointing to it on my shirt, to ward off the evil eye, and told us about his Istanbul. When we reached campus I was so happy to see grass! The kind of grass that says "kick off your shoes and take a nap on this cool carpet." It was a site for sore eyes of being in a huge city and seeing only concrete each day. We even played some card games. A lovely afternoon.

The Grand Bazzar

So today after a walk to the Archives and doing some research, Brad treated me to a visit to the Grand Bazzar. This is the famous location of peddling and bargaining that Istanbul has been the home of since the Silk Road. Famously old, huge, and full of merchandise that is undescribable as well as sales men with determination, it is a huge tourist attraction. Unfortunately I found it too big with too much of a selection and too hot. I much prefer a smaller store with 50 purses to choose from instead of 500. How can you enjoy shopping when you are overwhelmed with choices. Doesn't work for me. But Brad gets the award as the sweetest husband as he followed me from shoe store to purse store to shoe store probably bored out of his mind, tired, and hot. What a sweet guy.

If I were a rich man...

2009-06-24T14:46:00.000-07:00

It's hard not to want to have a lot of frivolous money and spend that money shopping after a few hours cruising Istiklal Caddesi (Brad luckily stayed home to work on his paper for Friday's conference). Yet with the up bring Brad and I have been blessed with the realization of need vs. want runs through my head thankfully settling my shopaholic impulses and grounding me to our budget. Regardless I do enjoy window shopping especially when it comes to shoes. I'm debating between these in particular- I need some black dress sandals that I can wear to work so no stilletos. My others just broke after a good ten years of wear so I guess that abides with moms phrase drilled in my head "use it up, wear it out, fix it up, or do without." Angie also requested pictures of the shops. My favorites were two I've never heard of before Coquet (a darling 2 story accessory shop and Mango. They may be in the states but I don't go to the mall to much so they were new to me. What shoes do you vote for?

2 of 30 in an LDS branch

2009-06-21T13:43:00.000-07:00

Here are our first weeks pictures. The apartment pics didn't turn out so well on the slide show so I will post them separately. So today we set out for church a 40 minute walk and on the seventh floor of an old building which you get to on an elevator that would make anyone feel claustraphobic and we found a multicultural group of saints. Some Turks, some Ethiopians, Some Fillipinos, some Americans and some Norweigan people all gathering for an LDS church service. However due to the language barriers and few translators most of us just tried to feel the spirit and it only lasted 2 hours instead of the regular 3 hour block. The branch president who is Turkish spoke in sacrement meeting and it was very moving. What would that be like to love the people of your country but not be able to share the gospel or have your church legally recognised. The pain was on his face and also the hope of when the day will come that he can share his joy in the gospel with his people freely. It was very moving. There was even a senior missionary couple that just got here from Bountiful, UT doing a humanitarian mission. The sister missionary agreed with me about the change in environment from back home- especially all of the walking we do here. I made friends with a Turkish girl who is investigating the church. She does not speak English very well but she did understand my invitation of going shopping together and then Brad translated the details for both of us. We might have to bring Brad along on our shopping excursion as a translator- I'm sure he would love that:) Tonight in the spirit of keeping the sabbath day holy we made dinner from scratch! Well at least the sauce- onions, tomatoes, olive oil, and tyme with a bit of sugar, salt, and pepper made a delicious spaghetti sauce. And I have to write about Brad's victory tonight with Frog Juice. After dozens of times of me taking the win and Brad getting frustrated (we are a very competitive couple when it comes to trivial games) he finally won tonight and went to bed proud- and I really didn't LET him win (or did I...).

Here are some pictures of our apartment

Turkish Baklava vs. Bad's Baklava

2009-06-20T12:43:00.000-07:00

So today we took it easy and hung out at our apartment most of the day. I figured out how to do laundry in a Turkish washing machine and found it takes quadruple the time of the washing machine I have at home. And instead of a dryer we have a huge rack that takes up most of the space. It would have been kind of fun to have a line outside connecting to the next building like most of the locals. It would probably dry faster too. I am discovering the joy of fresh baked bread every day- sometimes even a couple times every day. A loaf cost about 25 cents and is delicious with fresh fruit and veggies. Apparently tomatoes and cucumbers grow like weeds over here and so you eat them a lot because they are so cheep. We put together a Greek salad complete with olive oil and feta type (sharp!) cheese. Brad has been working on a paper he presents next week and I have been planning out the sites I want to see as well as studying the latest research in my field- I was told once in a conference "Professionals never stop educating themselves." Anyhow I think I am getting more used to Istanbul including the time change! and am really coming to enjoy the food and nightlife. I tried a new pasta cheese dish for dinner and discovered dark chocolate/nutella filled borek (a filo pastry)-Angie you would love this! Then we cruised Istiklal with the rest of the Turks and tourists and discovered a dessert bar. Just looking in the windows made your mouth water. I tried the Turkish baklava but was somewhat dissapointed as it was made with Pistachios instead of almonds or walnuts. Brad's baklava is still my favorite.

The Joy of Jet Lag -Day 3

2009-06-19T12:55:00.000-07:00

So it is now almost 12:00 in Istanbul and thanks to my 4 hour afternoon nap, because my body could just not move anymore without sleep, I am wide awake listening to Jason Mraz while Brad is sleeping. I've been exploring more of the area and reading up on the history of Turkey which helps me understand a lot of the sites and culture. I even had a vigorous conversation with Brad about the concept of nationalism in the middle east which is something he has studied for the past 3 years and I have studied for 2 days. I think that is pretty good. He got his info from PhD classes and lots of work while I got my info from a quick read in The Lonely Planet Guide Book. Well studying the guide book has made me more excited about our apartment location- as we are right by Istiklal Caddesi "the heart of modern Turkey." Seriously this is the street/shop/restaurant hangout of the whole city. Great location!

Well as it does life happened and I guess on the plane due to a sleeping pill/makeup issue I got something lodged in my eye creating a minor eye infection. So yesterday afternoon we walked to a Hospital and I saw an eye doctor where I was told to wear my glasses and use drops for five days. What an experience- I'm sure glad Brad knows how to take care of situations like this. After the doctors visit we cruised the street like the rest of the Turks and tourists and found the most charming restaurant where we dined outside with a view of a huge famous old tower- called Galato and has something to do with the Galation people.

Today we treked to the Archives (probably a 4 mile walk up and down cobblestone streets). When we finally got there we we were told it has been moved. So we walked some more blocks and found it amongst a bunch of gated governement buildings guarded by a soldier carrying a machine gun. This was somewhat a shock - you are used to officers carrying hand guns but a machine gun was alot more intimidating. Brad got his new ID badge at the Archives and then we headed back to the apartment - this time on the Metro. Istanbul has a very well developed Metro system and my brother Jon would be truly impressed with the huge pulley that gets the metro up those steep hills. Waking back to the apartment we stopped at a cafe for borek a most delicious pastry filled with cheese or meet -somewhat like a sausage roll. Back at the apartment - exhausted I took a 4-5 hour nap- which would have been 1 am Salt Lake time while Brad worked. The weather has been just lovely, mostly because we are located by the sea with a nice cross breeze. For dinner we checked out the corner market and I was pleased to find some familiar vegetables and cooking ingredients. We got these cookies called Biscotti (short bread cookies filled with rich dark chocolate). I will have to bring some home for people to try. They were just delicious. With the help of the guidebook I am now making a list of all the things I want to see and do here in Istanbul seeing a "football" game and shopping are on the list, while I am also trying to have an adventuresome view of trying new foods. We will see what tomorrow brings.

Welcome to Istanbul Day 1 & 2

2009-06-18T01:24:00.000-07:00

Warning: Long post with Lots of Details
We left Salt Lake City 2 pm June 16 and arrived in Istanbul June 17th 6pm. That included a 9 hour time difference (So in Salt Lake it would have been June 18th 3am) and 2 layovers in Calgary and Amsterdam. The flight was long but went as planned except for a small lighting storm in Calgary. On the flight from Amsterdam to Istanbul Brad and I had separate seats and I sat next to a Turkish man who had been living in Texas the past while and was now returning home. When we landed in Turkey he gave me his contact information and said his family would be pleased to offer us a Turkish meal during our stay. Brad commented, "that's Turkish hospitality for you." We hopped on the metro (which is above ground) and made 1 transfer and then arrived an hour later at the stop "right by" our hotel. All the while I was looking out of the window like a fish out of water. My first impressions of Istanbul were a mixture of NYC, San Francisco (bay area), and pictures I have seen of Greece. The stop "right by" our hotel translated to a half our hike up a huge bustling hill with bikes, cars, and kids playing soccer (yes on the hill) zooming up and down and out of side streets. We checked into our hotel and happily I washed off all of the traveling while Brad made arrangements to meet with our possible landlord. So we were off again walking to meet our contact and culture shock hit me as I started asking Brad "why are there so many people?" "why are there cats everywhere?" and "how do all these little shops stay in business?" At this point we came across the steepest hill ever and another city came into mind to describe Istanbul- Jerusalem or at least what I have heard of it. For all of you Salt Lakers this was literally like hiking Ensign peak. Steep!! So to sum up the evening from there- we met our contact, saw the apartment, and arranged to move in the next day. Our landlord then took us on a short tour of the area. At this point the best I could compare it to was Soho in Manhattan- shops everywhere, outside restaurants everywhere, clubs everywhere, Taxis in traffic jams everywhere, and people walking everywhere. During this tour the realization of living here for two months hit me and I experienced these feelings in order: overwhelmed, afraid, homesick, shocked, and then lucky for Brad, while he was working out the rent agreement I saw a makeup shop and looked up and saw the familiar label MAC. It was my makeup shop just the same as found in a Nordstroms at home. Only this wasn't just a kiosk but a huge store- imagine Sephora. Funny how the MAC brought me back to reality but seeing something familiar gave me a sense of relief and then excitement as I looked around with a sense of wonder instead of fear. With more hope in my eyes and heart we tried to find our way back to our hotel and then once again hiked up the steepest hill ever to get something to eat. We stopped at a soup cafe which was just delicious and then walked back to the hotel where we crashed. I don't think I've been more mentally or physically exhausted since pioneer trek. 4:30 am we awoke (mostly because of jet lag) to people talking outside our window, birds yaking, and then this siren of something like "Yah sha ra la ma la...." going off. Brad said this happens five times a day. It is the Islam call to prayer. I heard it the night before also but despite the stereotype of everyone dropping and praying towards Mecca, most people ignored it and kept about there bustling. Thankfully we fell back asleep for a few more hours. Our hotel served a traditional Turkish breakfast of watermelon, feta cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, real olives and fresh bread. We packed up hiked up the steepest hill ever this time with some of our luggage and moved into the apartment. I am now sitting in our nice air-conditioned apartment writing this blog while Brad hikes back down to the hotel and hikes back with the rest of the luggage. What a sweet husband! I will post pictures of the apartment later but it is a chic furnished one bedroom apartment that even has a washer-no dryer. This will work out just great. And the air conditioning and wireless internet is probably the greatest part.

A Summer Adventure...

2009-06-12T17:50:00.000-07:00

The past 3 months have zoomed by and here we are no longer newly weds but going on our second year of marriage. What an adventure is has been and continues to be. In March we doubled with my parents at the Gold and Green Ball (any chance to dance is worth it). My parents danced circles around us. I told Brad we need some practice since the was the first time dancing since our wedding! We had a blast dancing the night away to 80s music.
In April we enjoyed the rain and Brad worked hard studying for his Comprehensive Exams (12 hours of writing and then oraly defending his resonses in front of a group of Professors) In May we celebrated Brad's 29th birthday, the passing of his Comprehensive exams, and...

then our 1st Anniversary May 27 2009
which we will really CELEBRATE this summer in...

Istanbul (mainly for dissertation research) and then...
10 days in ITALY!!!!!
What an amazing husband I have to make one of my childhood dreams come true.
We fly out June 16th and I get back Aug 11th just in time for work on the 12th.
Arrivaderci Utah, Hello Europe!

Birthday Memories

2009-03-06T19:44:00.000-08:00

We have had a lot of fun since Christmas and not so much fun as you can tell by the picture of the grease fire which as turned out to be just fine and a good growing experience for our marriage. January flew by all too fast and February brought my favorite holiday Valentines day. I'm not sure why but this has always been my favorite holiday- probably because it precedes my birthday. Seriously ever since I was a kid I've loved making valentines boxes for school and passing out Valentines. However, I must say I do not like all the commercialism of Valentines and prefer simple acts of showing friends and family you love them. Needless to say it was a lovely Valentines for us newlyweds. Then came my Birthday, and I guess I'm one of those people who believe more in a birthday week than a day and that in your week you are granted to do, eat, and enjoy all of the things that you love. So to celebrate my golden birthday (I turned 26 on the 26th) we went on a road trip to Vegas. We stayed with my friend Marci in Toquerville and then cousin Maisy and Blair in Vegas. What a fun trip I got to do so many things I loved and be with people I love. By the way I now have been in 3 out of the 8 or so Margaritaville's and plan on visiting all 8 in my life. I guess that makes me a true Parrothead. If you haven't been yet, what are you waiting for.

Christmas 2008 Memories

2009-01-05T20:54:00.000-08:00

Laughs, Inside jokes, spending time with family, Good Food (mmmm roladins, ham, turkey, baklava, toffee, fudge, mud pie) Caroling, Singing, Cooking & Baking, Movies, Shopping, Visiting family in town, and out of town, Rediscovering the guitar after losing the last pick, Celebrating for 2 weeks straight no work and finishing the semester, Jon and Laura's wedding (mmmm cake and soup), organizing the office (all of brad's papers are in a file!), driving here and there safely in some terrible storms- What a great Christmas 2008!

Christmas Trees and Decorations

2008-12-13T17:27:00.000-08:00

So this is our first Christmas married. Last Christmas we got our Christmas tree (yes a fake) together- well I bought it and Brad carried it. My mom said she knew he really loved me when he got up at 4:30 the day after Thanksgiving to carry my Christmas Tree. So it's our little joke that our Christmas tree symbolizes our love. This was the first year we decorated it and other parts of our condo with our few Christmas decorations. We had hot chocolate and listened to Christmas music while we decorated. What a fun tradition to start. Our Christmas tree is biased with my ornaments. When I asked Brad about having any he looked at me incredulously and said "Do I look like the kind of guy that would have ornaments." So as another tradition to start this year we will pick out our first ornament together and it will probably be a star for the top of our tree. What fun memories for our first Christmas!

Thanksgiving Memories

2008-12-06T19:23:00.000-08:00

A good book

2008-12-03T15:32:00.000-08:00

I've always wanted to write book reviews after I finish my books like my cousin Lynn and sister Angie. They however have majored in English and so this will be somewhat amateur but alas here are my thoughts on East of Eden. The concept of duality in man, or man versus self, is quite common in literature. Hugo, Dostoevsky, Dickens, and I'm sure lots others have explored this. However, in this book Steinbeck has been the first to personalize the idea to me and all people for that matter. The protagonists are painted as colorful characters with evil and good in them. The antagonists are painted more one sided with black and white type thinking all selfish and evil or all pure and good. The entire book is centered around the word "Timshalt " and whoever reads this book will never forget it ( though they might forget the correct spelling). I honestly did not realize I liked this book so much until the last page. Their are painful moments in this book where the protagonists disappoint you and you wonder who are you really cheering for. Yet in the end the magnanimity of man shines through with the strength and power to choose his character and destiny. I reccomend this book to all those who like books that make them think (this is not a light novel) and if you start to read it push yourself through the painful parts because in the end it will not dissapoint.

2008-11-12T20:28:00.000-08:00

I have a new favorite musical. In my weekly venture to the library I thought of asking if they have any piano music. They did and I got The Best of Broadway. Lately I go through spurts of playing the piano and singing all the time and then rarely at all. Well when I found music I was interested in I hit the other end of my spurt. I was playing some of the music when I found a selection of music from Jekyll & Hyde. Everyone knows "This is The Moment" from the musical but there is so much moving music in this show. Most of the songs are written for a mezzo soprano which is my current voice range. I got Brad to sing "This is the Moment" and after I convinced him not use his pop voice (my choir teacher is still influencing me) he sounded amazing. I just love music that gives you tingles.

Election Day

2008-11-05T20:21:00.000-08:00

"Election day should be a holiday," declared Brad on election eve, "It's like christmas eve." What? Well to Brad anyway. Every day since the primaries (seriously) I have been updated about candidates, who's doing well or not in the polls, and other election news. I don't think I would have a clue about the candidates or news if not for my funny husband. Good thing I like to be informed but don't like the homework. Anyhow Election Day was like a holiday for us and we went to a party to watch the results. I was impressed with both McCain's honorable speech and Obama's moving speech. It was fun to be so involved and apart of a historical night. Now dinner conversations might be a little boring, what will we talk about? Oh just kidding there is always political news.

Happy Halloween

2008-11-01T12:21:00.000-07:00

What a night. Brad and I with the help of my wonderful mom created our costumes from scratch this year (well relatively speaking). I'm not exactly sure how I got the idea of Barney and Betty but it was early in October due to the fact that I work at an Elementary and kids start asking what you are going to be for Halloween in September. I've never made my own costume so it was a first for both of us. We went party hopping with Jon (the football player) and Laura (his cheerleader), sang the Flinstones Theme song on Ryan's green screen (Well I sang the right one, Brad unexpectedly sang the Homer Simpson Flinstone Theme Song). It was a hit! At another party we found a Fred but he didn't have a Wilma. We danced and sang karaoke all night. I told Brad he gets to pick out our costumes next year- he's threatened Homer and Marge so we'll see:)

Going South

2008-10-25T21:16:00.000-07:00

For fall break we worked really hard and got a lot of stuff done Thursday and Friday and then we took our vacation on Saturday. We left 8AM and headed to Manti. We barely made the 11:30 session. And both of our phones thought Manti was a different time zone so we were very confused and thought it was daylight savings time. Weird. The temple was beautiful! We went to lunch in Manti where they had the best Motzarella sticks I've ever had. Mmmm. And we got some candy at the cute candy shop on Main. After lunch and dessert we headed to a little town called Salina to see Grandpa Dennis and Aunt Rochelle. Grandpa Dennis told us story after story from his 95 years of life. He seemed to me like quite the rogue when he was young. Aunt Rochelle loved her surprise visit and had cookies all ready for us. We met up with some friends in Springville for dinner and stopped by Mom and Dad Dennis's for apple pie and rolls to take home. What a busy but fun day!

Oly Homecoming

2008-10-10T21:32:00.000-07:00

Earlier this evening Brad and I returned to high school years. Our ward had a tailgate party and it just so happened right after was the homecoming game at Olympus High. So I dragged Brad and for the first time since 2001 I returned to a sports event at Olympus. We decided high school sport events can be much more entertaining than college due to the more unsportsmanlike conduct of player and spectator. We sat with the families and moms and dads sure get into there kids games. I think the family section cheered more than the students. I was fascinated observing the social adolescent zoo (it's hard to believe I was a part of that not too long ago). It's amazing what a couple years in college and grad school can do for your perspective on high school. It was also freezing cold and after the game was complete the students rushed the field BEFORE the game was over. Oops. Brad and I couldn't stop the laughter. What a night!

Active versus Content

2008-10-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about our DC vacation was all of our active routines. Running, Biking, Hiking, Walks, and just working out. I feel my very best when I am Active. It brings me back to my years in ballet when I was in tip top condition and felt I could conquer anything. When we returned to Utah and thus reality I vowed I would not fall back into my content routine of laziness, but alas life overcame me and I returned to bad habits. The other day I was driving somewhere doing another errand and I saw a lady out jogging pushing her baby in a stroller. She was probably in her mid 30s and at least had one baby. I was inspired by her effort to be active, though she could easily find other things needing to be done. I was reminded of a quote "We are the architects of our lives." And so I am making the goal of doing something Active (despite the business of life) at least 3 times a week. As long as I can I want to be an Active woman and I will start now.

1st Date Anniverasary

2008-09-26T09:19:00.000-07:00

So I have the day off thanks to Parent Teacher Conferences and I thought I would report about our first ever anniversary. On Sep. 15th 2007 Brad asked me out on our 1st ever date. At the time I was annoyed with dating (after a really bad date previously in the week) and was set on taking a break from dating after this date with this kid Brad who moved into my ward. Well I ended up having the best first date in my life. He took me to the Krishna Temple Festival of India in Spanish Fork. It was so much fun and started our love story. So this year after being married almost 4 months on Sep 13 we ventured out to the same festival and re-lived our first date. A few slight changes occured. For some reason unknown to me but to Brad's delight I now like curry. Last year I did not. And during the production there was more "physical contact" last year there was only "leaning":) Our friends from DC met up with us and we had a great time. We decided we will always celebrate the anniversary of our first date this same way (well as long as we are in utah). So if you want to have a new cultural experience and some yummy curry set your calendar next year for the middle of september. Oh and did I mention the shopping! I got this beautiful salmon colored shawl handmade in India for not much money at all.

A new twist on Cannon

2008-09-22T19:36:00.000-07:00

So Brad and I have enjoyed a new past time. Duets with me on the piano and him on the guitar. It all started with Canon in D which I was playing and he got out his guitar and we rocked. Tonight we repeated the experience but with his electric guitar, this time it was a hard core rocking experience. He just loves his guitar and gets all these facial expressions and moves to "feel" the music. I love it. But we are louder then the average condo owner in our complex, our poor neighbors...

A free moment

2008-09-17T17:27:00.000-07:00

Well blog access is quite limited now that I am working for granite district and unlike jordan they block gmail, blogspot and sites like that. I also don't know what to write about now that I'm back in the day to day life. We had amazing steak last night. It was Brad's first time grilling steaks and we used a marinade recipe from Mom Dennis. Yum, we both thought mmmmm restaurant quality. So I am wanting to take a poll. Do you (whoever reads this) have difficulty waking up in the morning- especially in the winter months? I am conducting a personal research study to find better ways to rise and shine. I consider myself a morning person once I am up and showered but it is the getting up that is difficult. Just 10 more minutes mentality aided by the snooze button is difficult to resist. But 10 minutes late in the morning sets back my whole day. Does anyone else have this problem and what do suggest for intervention.