The three tasks....and a VERY merry Christmas!!!!

I realize that Christmas has come and gone, but I wanted to share some of the fun I've had over the holidays with friends and family.  The holidays seem to fly right by, but I've definitely been able to make the most of my time between parties, traditions, and simply spending time at home with my family.  Christmas isn't Christmas without the decorations I've seen all my life - a gorgeous Christmas tree downstairs, the stockings over the fireplace in the peach room knit by my Aunt Karen,  and of course, the jazz players with their Santa hats.  Classic!  If I can figure out how to upload videos, I'm hoping to include some movies from our family party when we had a special visit from Mr. Claus.  It was so much fun watching my cousins' children as he had them sit on his knee.  The best part, however, was watching members of my family try to blow up balloon animals just like Santa did.  Oh man - this was HILARIOUS!!!!  And another video which I hope to include stars the amazing Ann Marshall singing some family favorites for Lindsay, me, and my dad.  She's amazing!  So much so that my dad suggested at the end of her performance that we should open a bar - 'cuz hey, a girl's gotta get through school and the tips would be fabulous... 

          Another part of the season that I love is putting together puzzles.  We've got a billion of them, and after this week I feel like I've put that many together!  The pics below show a few that we've completed thus far.  And the topic of puzzles brings me to the title of this post - the three tasks.  My dear sister Lindsay gave me a graduation present last week accompanying a book about personal finance.  She told me that the book was meant to keep the other gift from happening.  Let me explain.  The other gift was a kilogram brick of shredded money from the U.S. Federal Reserve.  Hahahaha!!!!  It totally cracked me up when I opened it.  I wasn't sure what to do with it actually, but then found out that it creates a great filler in gifts.  Anyway, my dad happened to be present while I was opening this gift and after 24 years of secrecy, he revealed one of the "three tasks!"  Unbelievable!  He guards those secret tasks well, and it cracked me up to think that the second task consists of a certain person putting the shredded bills back together - the ultimate puzzle if you will.  Tiny pieces of paper of the same color and basically the same texture.  Great.  Makes me wonder what the other two tasks will be.  I guess I'll just have to wait and find out.  

           I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas season this year filled with much joy and happiness.  My association with each of you is a wonderful part of my life and I'm grateful for your friendship.  Wishing you all the best for a happy New Year filled with many incredible experiences!!!!

Barely escaped the tragedy of not putting up the tree this year, but CinC Christmas won her case against Mr. Scrooge.  hehehe.....
A personal favorite - love the paints, love the markers, love the chalk - love it, love it, LOVE IT!!!
Cheese, cheese, and more cheese...reminds me of Paris.  All we need now is a baguette!
Pretty ornaments....very shiny and sparkly
Ummm.....I honestly wanted to eat those cookies, they looked so real!
Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus, right down Santa Claus lane!!!!!
T'was a blast watching the kids interact with Mr. Claus as he made them balloon animals and gave them gifts to tide them over until Christmas Day
The holiday season isn't complete without a trip to Temple Square to see the lights.  Loved the company, but was seriously distraught to discover that my favorite tree was left undecorated this year!!!  It's the one on the southeast corner of the temple that is ALWAYS decked out in brilliant red lights.  A real tragedy...  However, as this picture attests, there were plenty of other trees to keep us entertained with a camera on a frigid December night.  =)

P.S. I tried really hard to upload the videos, but alas, my patience wore thin and it didn't work out.  Another time perhaps...

My Own "Tale of Two Cities"

Wow!  What a whirlwind of a month December has been!  Christmas is less than a week away and I feel like I've just barely been able to start enjoying the season.  It's hard to believe that after 6 years - yes, that's right - six years, I have finally completed my education at Brigham Young University.  My visiting teacher told me yesterday that she thinks Art History is an "elegant" major.  Haha!  I laughed out loud when she said that.  Elegant?  I've never heard it characterized in such a manner, but I'll vouch for that.  Anyway, I survived the week and couldn't be happier now that it's all over - that includes finals, the GRE, organizing grad school applications (another post entirely...don't worry, it'll come later), finishing up work at the Gap at University Mall, and moving home to good 'ole Bountiful.

I'm a little sad to be leaving Provo, but that's mostly because of the people.  There are some incredible people there that I will really miss seeing on a regular basis (regular being every week at church for some, and once every month for others).  Other than the people, it's the opportunities that I will miss now that I'm no longer a student.  I'm not sure how I managed to have so many amazing experiences jam-packed into those six years, including two years on the Spring Performing Arts Company, two study abroad programs to Vienna and Jerusalem, a mission to Texas, opening a flower business, discovering the joys of painting, etc. etc. etc. but somehow I did - and I've loved every minute of it.  I truly can look back and say that I have no regrets.  Amazing.

So, the tale of Provo has come to an end, and a new tale in Bountiful is beginning to take shape.  I'll let the pictures do the talking to explain why I'm so excited to be living in my hometown once again:

I get to read WHATEVER I want, WHENEVER I want!!!!  No more textbooks taking up all my time!  I'm way more excited about this than I probably should be, but I can't help it.  I can read for pleasure instead of reading for a grade, and it's definitely less expensive.  First book on my list...."Expecting Adam" by Martha Beck.  Though, I should probably finish "John Adams" before starting a different book.  I haven't managed to read a little bit at a time from many books like some people I know...

I get to volunteer to my little heart's content at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.  Probably a good idea to figure out if museum work is really what I love and want to do full-time, eh?  I thought so too.

Alta is much closer to Bountiful than Provo.  Thank heavens for that.  I am SOOOOO excited to go skiing!!!  Sadly, my dad just busted his knee and is out for three months - the whole ski season practically - so, if you're up for a day of skiing, let me know.  =)

Ummm....this one is pretty self-explanatory.  Steve, occasionally referred to as my "weekend boyfriend" can now become my weekday AND weekend boyfriend.  Lucky me!!!  Though, I have to admit, I'll kinda miss the title, "girl from Provo."  =) 

And there you have it, my very own tale of two cities.  Provo has been great, and I'm sure Bountiful will be even greater.  Stay tuned for upcoming adventures....life is sure to get even more crazy and exciting as time goes on!

Last day of school!!!!

The title of this post pretty much sums up my day, but I'll elaborate.  I have to preface this whole thing by saying up front - I'm not done yet.  I don't officially graduate until December 19th.  Technically, I have some scheduled appointments with my professors next week where they will try to freak me out with incredibly long, and multi-faceted essay questions intended to make me recall every tiny fact that they, personally, found relevant over this last semester.  Wonderful.  Not that I expected to experience anything very different today just because it was my last day of class at BYU, but I wasn't really sure how I'd feel.  It turned out to be a really great roller coaster ride (I love those!!!).  It started when I left my apartment this morning.  For some reason I felt giddy.  So much so that I started to skip.  Yes, my friends, I skipped to class today in the freezing cold weather.  Apparently I was pretty excited to be done.  

My first class was Italian Renaissance history.  Loved it!  We discussed Machiavelli's "The Prince," which I had serious issues with for the first 40 pages until finally getting to the good stuff.  After my peers spouted lots of opinions, and tried to incorporate gospel principles into the discussion -  because that's what we like to do here at BYU (hahaha!!! that usually turns out to be thoroughly entertaining, and often incredibly ridiculous depending on the subject) - my professor had us take the test, "How Machiavellian are you?"  According to the findings, I'm way too idealistic and therefore, people will walk all over me.  Good to know.  I missed the next tier by two points.  I'm demanding a recount.  I didn't understand one of the questions, and therefore, could not have possibly answered it as I should have.  And with that, the bell rang and the Italian Renaissance came to an end.

       Between that class and my LDS temples class I was studying in the JFSB building near the spiral staircase.  Excellent timing!  The Russian club was singing at the bottom of the staircase and the music reverberated beautifully to the upper floors.  I quite enjoyed the carols as well as classical pieces by Rachmaninoff.  I'll miss stuff like this - random moments when the world stands still so I can enjoy the talents/skills/hobbies of others and completely forget that I had a final to take 20 minutes later.  

       My last class was Roman History, which let out early, so I took my time walking home.  As I was nearing the South edge of campus by the Widtsoe building (which I was well acquainted with when I worked in the cancer lab there...back in the day when I still preferred science over art....seems so distant now) I got really sad that I wasn't going to randomly run into friends I have made in Vienna, or Jerusalem, or during my time on the folk dance team anymore.  Sure, I know I'll see them again somewhere, but finishing school lessens the frequency of such encounters.  After about 10 seconds of feeling sad, who should I see walking to class but my dear Jeru roomie, Katie Rencher!!!  What a pleasant surprise and what perfect timing!  After a quick update on both sides, she headed off to class, and I headed for home.  I didn't skip this time, but I definitely had a big smile on my face.  =)

       Looks like I have nothing to worry about after all.  Life goes on and good things are in store.  After I take my finals, of course...