I Loved this Weekend

This weekend was great. It was the perfect mixture of good weather, good company, stuff to do and getting things done. Saturday I woke up at 10 a.m., made breakfast and basked in the fact that I had cleaned my room on Thursday, so there wasn't anything for me to do. I pulled out a book, read a bit and then Melissa texted me and told me to come walking with her.

So we went for a lovely stroll around Carterville park and enjoyed the perfect fall weather with Megan and James. I ran small bits of it, making me feel like I was doing some good exercise and enjoying the day. Even though I was told by a trainer at Gold's Gym that I shouldn't be running, I decided a little bit wouldn't hurt me. When did I start enjoy running? Never. I hate it. A lot. But there is something about running that makes you feel like you've actually done something productive and now that I've been told that I'm "not allowed", it has made me want to all the more. Plus, running in the fall is the best time to do it.

Melissa and I came home and read dumb magazines until it was time to get spruced up for our play. My friend Meghan had bought tickets to see My Fair Lady at the Hale Center Theatre, but couldn't use them and didn't want them to go to waste. So she passed them on to me, and I invited Melissa to see it with me. I thought initially that we were going to see Mary Poppins, but this was MUCH better!

We decided to stop and get something to eat before the show. Originally, I was going to go to Cheesecake Factory, but that's on the other side of Salt Lake, so we opted to go to La Hacienda, a favorite Mexican place of mine, but! we were worried about time, so we opted for a place called the Saigoon Noodle House. I didn't know what to order and ended up with Vietnamese crepes, which were more like flaky omelets with weird meat and shrimp and bean sprouts. I think I was supposed to eat part of it wrapped in the lettuce leaves, but I'm not entirely sure. So I dipped the meat and the shrimp in the spicy red chili sauce and enjoyed it. Melissa was pretty sure that the server was laughing at me, but that's fine.

We made it to the Hale Center Theatre, only two blocks away, after sitting in a line of cars for half an hour. Which was fine; we still had plenty of time, and even had to wait before they opened the auditorium for us. We had great seats, though, I think nearly every seat in the place would be good. It was a circular theater, which I have never been to before, which made it all the more exciting.

I love My Fair Lady. Of course, I have seen the movie with Audrey Hepburn. I loved it ever since I watched it in elementary school for music class, or when we watched it in Latin. I love the story of it, and that it's based on the mythological story Pygmalion (so is Pretty Woman). The play is better, even though it was done almost exactly like the movie. The music was so great, and the only thing that would have made it better was to have Becca sitting next to me -- seeing as how we often sing and dance to two of the main songs from this play, it would seem fitting to have her there as well.

The actors all did a great job in their respective characters. The only thing that I would complain about is that Henry Higgins, supposed master of the English language used the word "hung" instead of "hanged" where he was supposed to. I don't know if that was the actor's folly or the script. And Mrs. Higgins, Henry's mother, was a little.... less English aristocratic than I would envision. I didn't like the way the actress played her at all. However, Alfie Doolittle's character was brilliantly done. Normally I do not like his side story at all, but the man who played Doolittle was great.

There was also technical difficulties after the ball and they had to raise the lights and no one really knew what was going on. But that was hardly a problem. The show was great and I am grateful I had the opportunity to go.

After the show, we made it out and headed towards home. I hate driving back from Salt Lake any time after 10:00 p.m., because the traffic is always beastly. I headed towards home, knowing that I didn't need to take the exit to Las Vegas, because if I kept going, I should still end up on southbound I-15. Only, instead of hitting I-15, we were magically driving around Sandy. How did we get from West Valley to Sandy without knowing it? It took us a while to figure out. We could have sworn we teleported. That is, until we remembered that we had been on I-215 instead of I-80, which has totally different consequences. After we got our McDonald's treats, we located the freeway and drove happily home. No traffic, at all. It was really quite amazing.

So today we made it to church and afterward, I had a meeting for my calling. I like actually sitting in alongside the leadership of the ward and listening to everyone as we try to figure out ways to become more unified and better serve each other. The meeting went long, but it was almost fun and I have some really good ideas on how to improve my calling on the Spiritual Living Council. I headed home and Melissa and I decided to take a walk.

It was HOT! Which is such a good thing. The weather was absolutely lovely, and we walked for well over an hour and enjoyed every minute of it. We did not, however, get any good pictures. After the walk, we stopped by "The Boys'" where they re-hydrated us, and then my visiting teacher came over and then I went over to Megan's for dinner. After dinner, I spoke to my mom. Had Dustin come over to watch Kid History. Headed to Ward Prayer....

and then found out that Dustin had hacked my Facebook account.

Over all, it was an absolutely perfect weekend!

Utah Autumn

Click for a bigger view. Trust me, you want to!

Have I mentioned how much I love this season in Utah? I keep getting reports that it is freezing and rainy in Ohio, and I've been dealing with beautiful, warm summer-like days and cool, lovely autumn-like evenings and nights. It's perfect sleeping weather.

Utah is the prettiest in the fall. The leaves on the mountains start turning red just one day, and the next day, the mountainside is aflame with orange and red leaves mixed with the green of the leaves that haven't changed, the blue of the sky... it's so breathtaking.

Last Sunday we went for a walk in the Canyon. I have lived in Provo for seven years, and I've never taken the bath path to Bridal Veil Falls. So we did. And we walked right past the falls and ended up at Vivienne Park then turned around and came back. It was perfect (hot) weather and beautiful scenery the whole way there and back. (Except the power lines strung along the side of the mountains. Those are complete eyesores.)

Aside from the view and the weather, I love fall because I love harvest time. I love the food. Pumpkin bread and cookies and pie. Apple crisp. Squash. Soups! Chilis! Fall is just so delicious! You read about the disaster with the healthy soup, but I'm happy to say that my cheesy broccoli soup turned out to be "uber delicious". Yum. Next up, chili in a bag. (Actually, next up are the fish tacos that I bought stuff for, but I haven't yet attempted to make them. Hopefully everything doesn't go bad before I get a chance to do that, or I'll be upset.)

Now I just need to go to the store and buy more boots, more cardigans and more jackets! Then I will be perfectly wardrobed for fall!

Praying for Moisture

The year before I left for BYU, I remember attending graduation parties in Ohio, trekking through lawns that were saturated, grass sticking to my flip-flop-clad feet.

"Once I go to Utah, I will never had to walk through wet grass again!" I declared. "Utah is a desert. They are in a drought. I will never see rain or wet again."

I mean, look at this map! The really, really wet parts are at the top of mountains. Utahns pray for moisture all. the. time. And they are grateful for the rain! Because water is such a precious resource, I heard before I moved here that they stipulate when you can water your lawn, and how long your showers can be!

Anyway, I was convinced that Utah was a desert and I'd never see another cloudy day. Turns out, I was wrong. Also turns out, that the drought ended that year. (I might take some of the credit for that.)

I remember it raining so much that fall. I would have to walk to campus and would be soaked before finding a chair in my classroom, and then I would shiver during the whole of class as I dried off.

People would get up at church and either thank God for the moisture, or pray for more! Can you believe that? Why would you pray for rainy days?? I happened to like the blue skies, bright sun and DRY weather. And in the WINTER! Why would you pray for snow??? Ugh, I hated that. Sometimes I refused to say "AMEN" at the end of the prayer.

I don't think we've had people praying for moisture much anymore. It feels like it has been a very wet couple of years.

Especially this year. I've lived in Provo for seven years and I have not experienced the amount of moisture, thunderstorms and humidity as we have this year! It's like living in Ohio, with mountains. It's sort of crazy. I will admit, though, that I don't much mind walking through the wet grass. And I really do love thunderstorms.

The past two days have brought two pretty awesome thunderstorms right at the end of the afternoon. The streets will flood... and then a few hours later, there is hardly any evidence of the storm at all. Oh, except the debris blown into the pool. And the cooler weather. Whenever it rains, it feels like the temperature drops about 20 degrees.

The sidewalks had to supplement the canals. The water was just pouring down the street, it was crazy.

I guess I can't really complain that Utah isn't green this year. And I guess this could be a testament that God answers prayers.