Life Goes On - Utah Trip 8.09 Part 1

Spent last week in Utah - Maebe's 2nd birthday, Keileigh back to Utah State, Luke's Concert at the Park, Carter Family Reunion and more. Pictures are worth a thousand words, so here goes...

On Wednesday Keileigh and I left sunny SoCal. We spent the night in St George and got into SLC Thursday afternoon, in time for Keileigh's reunion with Luke. (Two weeks away-what a stretch, haha!)

On Friday Keileigh & I went to the Blaine Avenue house to retrieve some items from the garage. It is weird going to a place you lived in for twenty years and being a visitor. After dropping off some items and picking up college stuff for Keileigh we left with a quick phone call to Eric confirming the need for his gifted outdoor skills to put the yard back into tip-top shape, a task he undertook later that week. Finally after months of waiting we went to the Smith's home where I finally got a new look from Amy. I had wanted to go short since January, but each time I went to a new hair stylist and expressed an interest or showed them a picture, they waffled and that made me nervous. So, I waited for the touch of a master. She asked what I was looking for and I said short, she asked if I liked her daughter Rileigh's hair cut and despite the fact that she had major bedhead I said yes and voila - three hours later I looked liked one of the Smith kids!

Later that night there was dinner with the Wojciechowskis - grilled brats, fruit, chips and ice cream. An evening with Verl, Leeanne, Brandon and Martie wouldn't be complete without a Disney movie (for Maebe) and Wii bowling (courtesy of Brandon):

On Saturday Keileigh, Noelle & I did some traditional back to school shopping at Target and then took lunch to Grandma Hazel's for a visit. After dropping the girls off for their respective Saturday night pursuits the night was still young so I ran errands - the DI to drop off items, Sears for Maebe shoes. I decided to visit Meredith Watson since she said I never let her know when I'm in town, but I didn't find her at home so I visited with Erin Carson for updates on the neighborhood scene and then ended up at Shopko where I scored on a darling dress for Maebe.

While there I ran into my cousin Karen Carter who filled me in on life in her world and then I got a phone call from Luke & Keileigh inviting me to join them for dinner at Cafe Rio (thanks Luke for treating!) We had a lovely visit and when we finished it was a perfect time to head back to Joe's.

On Sunday morning I was privileged to attend Sacrament services at Primary Children's Medical Center where Drew serves in the Branch Presidency and Noelle is Primary President and chorister in Sacrament meeting. An outpouring of the Spirit makes attendance sweet. It is during times of challenge and affliction that we turn more dependently to our loving Heavenly Father.

After church I drove through the avenues to look at the old Primary Children's Hospital where I had eye surgery in my seventh or eighth year. I remember being afraid and alone although I'm sure my Mom was there as much as allowed. It was interesting going back and remembering that experience. I continued my drive through Memory Grove/City Creek and up to the Capitol where I used to work for the Governor's office. To my surprise there were lots of motorcycles lining the building. I parked and walked around and found out there were over 3000 bikers in attendance that were honoring officers slain in the line of duty.

Following that, with more time to kill before services started in the old Wilson Ward, I went to Liberty Park where I found a car show taking place. It was Eric's dream day but I was the recipient!

I had a great reunion experience at the old home ward. It was wonderful catching up with so many of our neighborhood friends.

Luke was invited to participate in the inaugural Northwest Riverfest Community Celebration in Rose Park. Family and friends joined to support his concert appearance. He did several solo pieces and was joined on stage by Julia Meacham, Jacob Kahn, and Alice, Simon and Clay Williams. He is very talented and a CD will be available for purchase soon. Here are a few visual images from the event.

After the concert we went to the Kremer's for a yummy Navajo taco dinner. Jaclyn showed us the cool new scooter she bought with her summer savings! Grandpa & Sage tried to figure out what was causing the chain to not engage the back wheel but were unsuccessful. Hopefully her neighbor can figure it out for her.

Each evening I spent with Joe we had the chance to visit, play or relax with a TV program. On Sunday he recorded the World Track & Field Events and we enjoyed them late that night when I got home! It's great to have that one-on-one time.

On Monday I had lunch with Meredith Watson at Moochi's, a local eatery owned by friend & neighbor Joanna Rendi & husband Don McDonald and featured in this clip from Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Meredith is a talented soul with much to offer. I've enjoyed her musical and creative offerings throughout the years I've known her. After that I went to the University of Utah to talk with the Family and Community Studies academic adviser as well as an admissions adviser. I am hopeful that I will be able to work things out and complete my degree at the U over the next few semesters. I was then able to meet Noelle at her office at the University of Utah Medical Center where she works in the Neurosurgery Clinic. It was fun to see her work environment and meet her colleagues. Noelle works with a woman named Kim Rasmussen. They were comparing musical tastes one day and found out that we were longtime Yankee Clipper/TenPenny fans, the band her husband Paul plays in with Mark Jardine. Next time I'm in town I definitely want to enjoy the music of these gifted local artists. They play most Thursdays at McCool's in Foothill Village and on the 17th of each month they play in honor of St Patrick's day. Although I wanted to attend that night (it was the 17th), it's hard to fit everything in and instead we enjoyed dinner at Grandpa Joe's home where he prepared his traditional feast of roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob and more for the family and his friend Darlene.

While the women cleaned up, Maebe decided she needed to sculpt her abs on Gpa's workout equipment before the strawberry shortcake!

On Tuesday the sisters-in-law celebrated Vali's 50th birthday with lunch at Tres Hombres. It was great to spend some grownup time with these treasured friends. We really need to follow through with that girlfriend getaway!

The cousins spent some fun time bonding as well. The coeds are sharing the Corelle dishes with Mary taking half to BYU and the other half going to Utah State with Keileigh. They are already used to being starving students as they scarfed down the leftovers from their mom's lunch!

Rachel has a clothing line that is sold in a great little boutique in Layton called The General Store. The store has antiques and hand crafted merchandise and everything is very reasonably priced. It's worth the drive I found as we took up her latest batch of consigned items. You can check out her designs and purchase these unique, one-of-a-kind items online at Parisol Clothing.

We loved Joe & Annie Post's wedding reception. It was beautifully presented and they were gracious to all. The photo booth was great fun and the marriage heritage photo collection was a tribute to their family values. Their photographer had some gorgeous shots from the Salt Flats and we ran into lots of old friends and enjoyed the evening immensely.

So Close & Yet So Far

Our new home is less than .82 miles from our soon to be old home. Three minutes according to MapQuest. It will be interesting to continue our three to five year adventure/mission to 'explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go'...ok, I'm sure there have been plenty of people who have gone before us but the Trekkies all get it...

Our new home lends itself to 60's kitsch;)

Our New Home!

After several weeks of research, studying it out, faith and prayers, Eric and I have found a new home!

For those who missed our previous Lost The Lease post, we were informed by our landlord Leonard that he needed to move his mother into our unit because of health concerns. We have felt calm that we would be ok, but had to go through the process of finding the right place for us to reside during the next phase of our lives.

We went through all of the questions: Should we stay or go? home to Utah or how about Texas? Do we downsize and save money? What are our priorities?

We made a list of things that we 'needed' with open minds that 'needs' can be relative to a situation. We wanted to stay in the Dana Point area, preferably in the Capistrano 1st Ward. We wanted to be where we should be, where we can be a blessing in the lives of others and where our light can shine. We wanted a two bedroom/two bath location in a townhouse setting rather than a large apartment complex, although the benefits of a pool, spa and workout room added value to a new experience. We were hoping for a two car garage and washer/dryer hookups. We wanted to save money on rent to pay down our mortgages so we could retire earlier. We hoped we could find a view that would bring us happiness - a peek-a-boo ocean view and palm trees and the moon out the window. Light and bright floor plans sounded good. Basically we wanted everything we have here on Copper Lantern only better and for less. Throw in a great landlord too who would appreciate us and never raise the rent and quiet neighbors. We realize how wonderful life has been for us!

Crazy huh?

Well, Heavenly Father has a way of helping us learn and develop higher ways. We spent these last few weeks reading The Weekender, The Pennysaver and driving around looking for Rent or Lease signs. Finally I discovered DanaPointRentals.com. I found MLS listings and tons of available properties. We enlisted the aid of our good friend and Realtor Gretchen Donahoo. She set up a day of house hunting and we fell in love with a place. It is really funky! Totally '70's kitsch with avocado tile in the kitchen, tile in the entry and chandeliers from a few decades ago. You can tell that it was tres chic in it's time. If it was up to date now we could Never afford it! The view is SPECTACULAR! There is a three car garage, a spiral staircase, a sunroom, formal dining room, fireplace, washer dryer hookups, plenty of storage space and two bedrooms. It's only drawback is one bathroom, although it is separated with the shower and toilet in one area and tub and sinks in another.

I think these cell phone pictures fail to capture the true wonder of the view we will have but here they are for now. We will be moving mid-July and will post better pictures then.

Heavenly Father answers prayers!
He didn't give us everything we wanted but he gave us those things that would help us grow.
The door is still open for visitors! Of course you may be asked to pack, clean, haul or unload boxes! We know who our friends are!
GOOGLE MAP BACK
GOOGLE MAP FRONT

John Houghtaling and his Magic Fingers

Eric informed me in hushed and somber tones that he had waited until after my concert to give me some bad news. He was fumbling with his cell phone as I turned to look at him and he proceeded to show me the online news account. The obituary in this LA Times Article spells it out.

Eric & I were married in September 1979 in the Salt Lake City Temple. We enjoyed a lovely reception at Eric's parent's new home in Park Meadows and then spent the first night of our honeymoon at The Yarrow in Park City followed by two days hiking and camping in Zion National Park. We then continued to California to enjoy an open house with all of my California friends and family. We left late in the afternoon after a full day of hiking and playing and by the time we hit Victorville we were pretty tired. Knowing that we would have to sleep on the sofa sleeper that night at my parent's apartment because our hotel reservations started the following night in Orange, we decided to stop at the Victorville Motel 6.

It was late, we were tired. As we began to settle in to the accomodations my eye was drawn to the coin box on the bed and naively wondered what 'Relaxation Service' meant. My new husband immediately snickered. But the story as Eric tells it, embellished over the years for maximum affect, was that I inserted a quarter in the machine and loved the full body shakedown it offered. He says that I made him get dressed and go searching for more quarters to enjoy the Magic Fingers treatment all night long.

I can't remember the details so I'll take his storytelling word for it. And the thoughts of a vibrating bed sounds pretty good even now. As long as it's not from an earthquake!

p.s.-found another person's similar story at Retro Thing and the link to the official Magic Fingers System site. For just $79.99 I may have to order one for old times sake! It's the perfect gift for our 30th Anniversary coming up in just three months!

OCMCO Newsroom

OCMCO has launched an online newsroom with great musical clips of past concert performances. Check it out here: OCMCO. Popcorn Popping is so fun and That Easter Morn has a great moment when the orchestra drops out leaving the choir's note suspended in the concert hall. I'm glad that I can now share this musical experience with friends and family far and wide.

Lost Our Lease!

Last night we had the missionaries over for dinner. I had made a homemade German Chocolate Cake (yum!) with delicious coconut-walnut frosting to celebrate Keileigh's birthday but waited until we had company to help us eat it. Our landlord Leonard moved in next door and I had mentioned to him that I would be sending some cake over for him and his roommate Ray. After dinner I cut some slices for the elders to take home with them and then asked if they wanted to take slices to the neighbor. They went with Eric to deliver them but came back moments later still laden with chocolate delight, saying that there was no answer. Right then the phone rang and it was Leonard on the line. We thought 'Wow that's wierd, does he have ESP or a camera on the door or what?' He asked to speak to Eric who took the call in the back room while I visited with the missionaries. When Eric came back out he said that Leonard's Mom would be moving in. I said 'Oh really, is Ray moving out?' and Eric said 'No, into our unit. We have 90 days, through the end of summer, to find a new place.'

We numbly listened to the Elder's message then saw them on their way, after which Eric & I sat in shock and began to plot our future. Eric said Leonard was very apologetic, but with a Mom in her 70's who just retired and is struggling, he had to make a hard decision. He assured us that we were the best tenants he'd ever had. Eric reassured him and said we sympathized since we have parents and concerns of our own. We got in the car and drove down to Selva Beach to walk, talk and soak in the ambiance we moved to California for three and a half years ago. We passed two For Rent signs - and called both. We have been doing lots of soul searching, long range forecasting and short term decision making.

We feel OK with things - we know that when a door closes, a window opens. We have been richly blessed in this home. We hate change and probably wouldn't have ever left without a catalyst, so we'll roll with this and work to create the future we want to have.

In the meantime - this may be the last summer we can host company in Dana Point, so book your trip early! There's a limited number of sunny days in our corner of paradise...