Show Time!

Quick plug: thanks to my husband who not only funded my adventures this past weekend, but spent Friday night at a cousins house gaming, and Saturday night driving home alone while I got to do some VERY fun things without him. 


This past weekend was probably one of the most anticipated weekends I've had in a very long time.
Several months back, my sweet husband allowed me to purchase tickets to see Brad Paisley in concert. A few weeks later, some of my family bought tickets to see a comedian named Brian Reagan. Ironically, the shows were the same weekend. For strategic purposes of course, we decided the only logical thing to do was rent a hotel room in the area and stay there over night.

This past week of work was pretty busy and a little stressful. And to add to it all, starting Tuesday I had a persistent headache that went into Wednesday. By Wednesday night, it had started to go away but then through Friday I went through waves of chills and feverish feelings. By Friday I was sick of not feeling like my self. Mark texted me later in the morning "just a few more hours till Paisley!" I replied back with "Yes, but it will probably be the longest 6 hours of my life." An hour later, he surprised me by coming home for lunch with a few treats to get me through those last few hours. I guess this is the part where I confess my love/minor addiction to soda...specifically coke zero. I blame it on my field facilitator in Romania who introduced it to me. (Thanks Rachel!)

I drank the already-cold 20 ounce bottle Friday. We'll see if these last through the week....

Thanks to mass traffic we missed the first opening act, but got to our seats just as The Band Perry started playing. I was actually very impressed. Sometimes you go to live performances wondering if you'll leave thinking less of the artist. But The Band Perry sounds just as good live as they do on cd/radio.
The past few weeks the radio had been rumoring that this concert was supposed to be one of the most technologically advanced concerts ever. Now, only having been to an outdoor John Mayer concert, I may not know, but I was pretty impressed with the black screen used for 3D imaging, the overall graphics with each song, and the video display of Carrie Underwood for "Remind Me" that almost looked as if she were there at the center. You can see a little bit of the 3d earth here in the picture.

The seats were as high as you can go, but we were still right over the main stage it was pretty cool!

After returning Mark's cousin Emily to her husband in exchange for my husband who spent the night playing games with her husband, we got to our hotel by about 1am. After a hunt for the store when I realized I forgot some things (contact solution and hair stuff), we finally crawled into our king size bed at the Hampton Inn around 2am ready to sleep. However, that was not quite how the night went...
For our 7 hours of sleep, we both woke up about a million times to the heater. It made super loud clanking noises turning on and off almost all night, what seemed like every 20 minutes. I had slept so bad, I woke up at 7 with a nasty headache in which I could hear/feel my head pulsing on the pillow. Apparently we must have gotten the same room the guy on the review website had when he complained about a "noisy heater". What are the odds in the entire hotel room we get the nearly broken one? Or maybe everyone else that stayed there was hard of hearing and didn't notice....thank goodness for an "off" button I finally pushed and slept soundly for another hour.

We spent the morning doing some browsing in the local mall in Sandy where I finally found the "resting spoon" I had been searching for. Yes...it's red.

We spent the afternoon in Salt Lake meeting up with 2 of my roommates from freshman year at BYU-Idaho. Both are such awesome girls, it was fun to get together after nearly 4 years apart. We ate lunch at the Nauvoo cafe at temple square, and then checked out some exhibits at the visitor centers.

Finally, the afternoon turned into evening and we met up with some of my family at Red Rock Brewery for dinner. I'll be honest....I was a little disappointed. I would have been happy with a cheaper fast food joint. But the company was great at least!

Afterwards, we took the chilly 2 block walk from the restaurant to the hall to get our seats. The show was great. The opening act comedian was not only funny, but clean which is always a plus. I think my favorite part was when Brian Reagan talked about marching bands and how whoever came up with the idea to march around a field while playing instruments and making random shapes HAD to have been a flute player. Understandably, I was crying by the end as he continued on this idea and his opinion in the matter. Although I admit not everything was funny, it was a great show. The hall itself also provided some...abstract art.

Talk about abstract art. As my dad said "Maybe I'm just not cultured enough to appreciate it...or even understand what it is..."

We decided to grab some dessert. We all ordered the same dessert (weird brownie name with ice cream and toppings). The desserts were probably of a size of which all of us should have shared. But of course, we all ordered are own 5" diameter brownie and made more of a ruckus in the Little America restaurant than we should have.

We're looking forward to getting together with family again next week. This time however, concerts and comedians will be replaced by a 3 1/2 hour road trip to Vernal and a baptism. Luckily, still all the awesome family and then some!

Our Newest Appliance

A long time ago (okay, 4 years ago) I purchased a cute little blender as I prepared to live in a college apartment for the first time. Being a college student, working 2 jobs and trying to save as much as possible over the precious 4 1/2 month break, I purchased this cute little blender for about $25 off of e-bay.

Plastic, lightweight, and probably doomed to not last long. It had it's vicarious moments, making random smoothie concoctions, and was selected to help make various virgin-style cocktails for my friend Melissa's 21st birthday. Through the years, 4 moves, and other wear and tear, the motor slowly started to sound weak. When we got married, we decided to keep it since it still worked. But as malts, smoothies and shakes were made, the brave little blender got weaker and weaker. I decided last weekend when it seemed to be struggling mixing ice cream and milk it was time to perhaps think seriously about purchasing a nice one.

This past weekend I happened to stumble across a recipe for Brazilian lemonade. Knowing my little plastic blender probably couldn't handle much more ice crushing, we headed to the store to look...for probably the millionth time. This time, we actually bought one! (After standing in front of the blender aisle for 10-15 minutes...I don't even think we stressed that much about buying our car last fall!) Crazy to think this is our last appliance purchase most likely until the day comes when we buy a fridge or stove.

Although my sweet husband offered to buy me the $99 Kitchen-Aid, I couldn't bring myself to pay that much, especially for one that would "kill" my red appliance theme. While I'm sure I could find a refurbished one for slightly cheaper, my "want it now" mindset gave in for the 12-speed Oster for $39 ($10 off the normal price). It's actually the same brand as the toaster my grandparents got us, so the "reds" match perfectly.

The lemonade was a yummy treat. (If you want the recipe, just search for Brazilian lemonade on allrecipes.com) Mark wants to buy those plastic martini glasses just for fun. Maybe some umbrellas too! 

For those who generally like to read about our small adventures and life events, please forgive me for posting a more personal post. I felt that this was a good outlet for me to process some of my thoughts..... 

Most who are friends with my family on facebook know about our sister's loss that took place last week.

My sweet sister lost her baby at 22 weeks over the Christmas holiday. I was grateful that we were able to help their family and watch their 4 kids over night. It was a heartbreaking experience to see my niece and nephew process it all. Realizing that the little sister they were getting excited for, would not be coming home. My niece is 9 and I think was able to understand it pretty clearly. Despite the many tears that were shed Friday night, I felt that we kept things together pretty well. By the next morning, the kids were much better and were more stable. It was easier to put on a smile, and resume somewhat normal lives for the kids. I suppose it was hard for them to complain when they got to stay up later watching a movie, playing with other cousins and even got banana pancakes for breakfast. 

Processing this event for myself personally has been a unique experience. In my last few experiences with death, I have been placed "in charge" or felt "in charge" of someone or multiple persons (in this case, 4 children). I confess that often, and especially in this case, I try to ignore my emotions and eventually, I do break down. Usually it's once things have subsided and the craziness has partially ended and normal activities like church have begun to happen. Having such an emotionally stable husband sometimes makes me convince myself that crying is unnecessary. (Not healthy, I know). I doubt this will ever change, but I at least acknowledge that this habit is not healthy....  

By Sunday, I "labeled" my confused feelings as ambiguous loss- that is, a loss when there's no verification, or certainty that a person will come back or be the way it used to be. Although my parents showed me pictures of the sweet 10 ounce baby, almost lost in a white blanket, my mind still felt confused. How could I feel so much sorrow for a life that had never been lived, and a little girl I had never met? Much of my feelings I'm sure can attribute to the closeness I have with my sisters. When one hurts, we all hurt for that one sister. I believe that I also empathize more for her now than I would when I was younger. Understanding more of the miracle of life, and how much I look forward to bringing a child into this world one day, it sits deeper for me. Imagining the heartbreak when everything seems so wonderful, and suddenly your world is turned upside down and you have to accept and trust that Heavenly Father is all-knowing and that this trial is all part of His plan for you. And though the there is a little part of your heart that never heals, you have to find ways each day to heal and move on with life. That part is easier said that done. I think of my sister each day, and the roller coaster it must be for her. To watch her place a pink rose on her daughter's coffin, just a few feet away from where she burried her first husband 7 years ago just seems so unfair. While she says she would never wish this trial on anyone, a part of me wishes one of us could have been dealt that card so she wouldn't have to. 

How grateful I am for the plan of salvation, and the knowledge and blessing of eternal families. I have found myself listening to classical music and hymns lately. How grateful I am for the healing power of music, especially the words of the hymns like this that bring peace to our souls:  

I know that my Redeemer lives!

He lives to wipe away my tears....

He lives to calm my troubled heart....

Oh Sweet, the joy this sentence gives:

I know that my redeemer lives. 

Merry Christmas!

This Christmas was our first "just us" Christmas. We spent a majority of the day with my family, but the stockings, breakfast and gifts were just us this year. Although we missed Mark's family who all had a rendezvous in Las Vegas, we thoroughly enjoyed 12 days of (almost) no work for both of us.
Christmas Eve started around 8am. I met up with my Dad to help him keep his age-old tradition of going out in the morning for a few last minute things for my mom. We met at McDonald's at 8 for some McMuffins. Then we went to Kmart (thrilling), another store, and then ended up at the Hallmark Store where I helped my dad pick out some cool nick-knacks for my mom. To reward Mark for letting me go, I picked him up a Egg McMuffin on the way home.
That evening, my local family and I enjoyed our traditional Christmas Eve burger. We used to get McDonald's hamburgers every Christmas Eve when we lived in California. We'd pick up a bunch and bring them to my Grandma's house in Van Nuys (CA). Since we didn't get to eat out much when we were little, it was a real treat. We never did much at Grandma Franzoni's house, but we all have fond memories of just being together and visiting my dad's family. A few of the brother in laws came along. Something about meat and a bun I guess is why they are willing to go out on Christmas Eve for this.

After In N Out, we spent an hour or two watching random Christmas shows and 20/20 specials. We set out some cookies and a letter for Santa and went to bed.

The next morning, I got up and started making cinnamon rolls. Growing up, we always had Pillsbury ones for Christmas morning. But after tasting some delectable homemade ones from our friends, I decided to make them from scratch. The jury is still out of it's worth the wait since we didn't eat until "breakfast" until almost noon. The cream cheese frosting was perfect and the rolls turned out to be pretty amazing if I do say so myself. 

So we didn't open our stockings or unwrap gifts until noon. Very odd for Mark, but completely normal in my family. On Christmas day, we had to be up and dressed before we could have breakfast. And with 7 of us, that took quite a while usually until 11). Last year was different for me opening presents in jammies and done with everything by 10am! 

 I got Mark the giant holiday rubber duck. My stocking has the angry bird. =)

 After we finished we headed out to my parents' house. It was fun to be with family. I also got to skype with a friend who is in the Peace Corps. I have to say for skyping from Utah to Honduras, the connection wasn't too bad. She spent several holidays with my crazy family so it felt appropriate to skype with her on such an occasion. 

After dinner, two of my sisters and I combined forces and built a Christmas rice krispy tree. We had a little leftover so the squares are supposed to be gifts, and the guy in the corner is supposed to be a snowman. (We used a carrot shaving for aesthetic appeal). He kind of has a "wink" going on. 

  I love my family. It can be overwhelming and useless to get a word in edgewise with so many girls. But I'm grateful my husband was so willing to spend multiple days with them over the Christmas break.