At Last, Shakespeare

We hemmed and hawed all summer long, made arrangements, changed our minds, canceled, rescheduled, yada, yada, yada. Finally, we made it to the Shakespearean Festival - on closing weekend. And it was worth it!


We took in a hysterical performance of Comedy of Errors (by William Shakespeare), a unique rendition of The Secret Garden (by Marsha Norman), and a riotous presentation of Private Lives (by Noel Coward).

We're planning (and setting in stone) to go back next year during the second or third week of August. You are all invited!

Back to School

I tried to forget all summer long that I had to go back to school this semester but the day has come. Today I officially started two online classes at SLCC as part of my teaching license renewal.


I know that someday I'll look back and be grateful I kept this thing current but for now I'm not so excited about being a student once again.

Happy Birthday, to Me!

Okay, so maybe I milked it for all it was worth, but truly, 4 days of birthday celebrations did help ease over the fact that I have left a decade behind.

1. One day celebrating by myself at the mall.
2. One day, the day of, celebrating with my husband, away from all responsibilities at the office.
3. One day celebrating with the in-laws.
4. And one day celebrating with my family

Now, finally, after all the parties, birthday cake (which I made for myself), and ice cream, I am ready to be 30. Bring it on!

picture credits

Thank You, UTA

For permanently re-routing bus 460 to drive down my street. It has been a stressful couple of weeks getting to work through all the construction on I-15. Today, I hopped on the bus, pulled out some reading material, and enjoyed a quiet, stress-free ride while Mr. Bus Driver dealt with the construction.

Thank you for making my life so much easier.

Happenings Book Dates, Episode 2

Jason's Deli (C55) & Ben's Cookies (D138) at the Gateway, Salt Lake City
Dave met me downtown and we rode Trax from my office to the Gateway to take in dinner, dessert, and some window shopping. We both had a pasta dish at Jason's Deli. Talk about good meatballs! I highly recommend anything that comes with their meatballs. Then we stopped at Ben's Cookies for some gourmet treats. The worker there clued us in that we would get the best deal for our money if we did their Buy 5, Get 2 Free special. We ended up with 7 of the greatest cookies in town and later shared a couple with the full-time missionaries we met on the return Trax trip. This was a very good date night!



Teryaki Stix (D14), Layton
I've eaten at this Japanese grill fast-food joint many times through the years. It's okay -- nothing overly special about my rice bowl with chicken and vegetables. I appreciated that this particular location was a lot cleaner than most I've been to.

Happenings Book Dates, Episode 1

Miniature Golf at Cherry Hill (E18), Kaysville
This was a fun Family Home Evening activity that Dave planned all by himself. The miniature golf course needs some updating but it was still a very wonderful FHE and we loved watching the other families in front and behind us. Sadly, Dave won me by a lot.



MacCool's Public House (C8), South Jordan
Dave and I stopped here on our way to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House. The food was very good and the atmosphere fun. When you go, be sure to get a dish that comes with their secret BBQ sauce. Our server said that the owner comes in once a week to make the sauce and doesn't trust anyone else to make it or even watch him. Believe me, it is good!



Firehouse Pizzeria (C13), Centerville
I have been wanting to go to this restaurant for a couple of years now and this was my first opportunity. Sadly, I wasn't that impressed. Dave and I both had the Cordon Bleu pasta dish. It was okay but not great. Any recommendations as to what I should have ordered instead?

Happenings Book Dates

The time is fast approaching when the 2009 Happenings Book will become obsolete. Dave and I have committed to save money, to try new places, to use a coupon!

Tune in for regular updates as I chronicle our adventures using the Happenings Book!



P.S. If you would like to purchase a money-saving Happenings Book for yourself, speak with your local school-age neighborhood kid or click here.

A Kindly Reminder

That my big, milestone birthday is in just one week on August 21st. My husband is keeping a list of gifts I would like if you need some ideas.

Thank you.

image credits

She Makes Me Laugh

Mmmm, Good!

Lagoon - it's what FUN is!

Dave and I relieved our junior high years (at least that's what Dan & Megan said we did) by going to Lagoon on Saturday.



I specifically picked out the frog as Dave's mount on the carousel and I got the white horse.


Poor thing just doesn't have the stomach for these rides like he once used to.


But we still had a great day!

(Can you believe that we have had such a super busy summer this is the first full day we have spent together, just the two of us with no work or family around, since our honeymoon. Glad to find out that we still really like each other!)

LDS Open Auditions

A couple of weeks ago I had an event at the Conference Center Theater that got a lot of media attention: the LDS Open Auditions.



* Hundreds of Church members applied for the chance to sing the national anthem during "Mormon Night" at Dodger Stadium, which occured last night.
** The top 50 came to the Conference Center to give it their all in a live audition in front of a judging panel.
*** And from there it was narrowed down to 6 finalists.
**** The Dodgers chose the top 2 who performed "The Star Spangled Banner" and "God Bless America" and witnessed Elder Ballard throw out the first pitch of the game.

Congratulations to the audition winners and to the Dodgers who pulled out a 5-4 win against the Braves!

Tempting Offer

Is it bad that I spent almost 3 hours yesterday between two different stores buying a lot of things we need but a lot of things we don't really need? Even if, in the end, I bought over $270 in products and only spent $93?

That's what happens when you have DOUBLE COUPONS at Smiths and a BUY $30 GET $15 OFF deal at Albertsons. And the problem is only aggravated when you have really good coupons that are just itching to be used.



What would you say if I told you I plan to go back one more time this evening? Want to join me? It's FUN!!!

A Fishless Outing

Dave and I went to a work party over the weekend at the beautiful home of one of our guest service missionaries. It is nestled in the hills of Mountain Green and boasts a large, well-stocked private fish pond.

We took Jamison with us, who at 4 years old, already LOVES to fish and is pretty good at it. He brought his 7-foot fishing rod and hurriedly ate just enough dinner to gain permission to get out on the water. For two hours he tried, I tried, and Dave tried but we never caught a fish, while others were catching whoppers all around us. Bad Luck!




I think the boy would have stayed out all night trying if our hosts would have let him and if his stomach hadn't started groaning with hunger. We'll have to try again another day.