We Have A Piano!

It is a new-to-us but very old piano.



I am really happy to finally have a piano in our home. I've already been playing on it. It is really out of tune, but I am just happy to have a piano after many years of wanting one.

A friend of a friend gave it to us for free. She said that she just wanted it to go to a good home where it would be played and loved.

I am happy.

Trans Siberian Orchestra Concert

We went to the Trans Siberian Orchestra (TSO) concert two weekends ago. I am not much of a rocker and my rock concerts have pretty much just consisted of a Hootie and the Blowfish concert when I was 15 and Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band concerts at college. Love Ryan Shupe. I wasn't familiar with Hootie and kept wondering why it smelled so funny there.

We won tickets from a friend's raffle. Our seats were in a suite! I have never been in a suite, it was so sweet. The best part was that we had our own personal toilet. Here is the order of awesome things about being in a suite.

1. Personal toilet
2. Having water to drink the whole time.
3. Having a place to set your food and water on in front of you.
4. Feeling like a queen and referring to all the other people as "the peasants" for the whole night.
5. Comfy seats.
6. Being with 16 people you know because everyone from your ward won tickets.
7. Parking right across the street for FREE!

Me in the suite.

Our personal toilet.

There is horrible lighting in the suites, but there we are.

As you can tell, being in the suite was pretty cool.

The concert was fun, too. I wasn't sure what to expect as I was only family with TSO's Christmas songs. They played some Christmas songs, then had a Christmas story/music thing, played more Christmas songs, and then played other songs.












This man who was a rock singer and had Thor hair.


Electric violin power!



Andrew and I are so dumb at rock and roll. The lead guitarist said that his best friend Paul was there and he got the group together. Everyone was screaming. We were like, "YAY!" but didn't know why everyone was freaking out. And then later on the drive home when we talked with Shannon did we realize that it was Paul McCartney! ooooff! So that was pretty cool in retrospect.

The lights were amazing, it was really loud and I did put in earplugs, the music was great and fun. I really am not much of a rocker, but we had a great time. I am glad we won the tickets and I think we should go to more rock concerts in the future. As long as we balance those with symphonies because that is what I love.


In front of the Space Needle.

Here is a funny thing. Yesterday, a TSO song came on our Pandora, and it was one where they all flipped their hair like crazy. I started flipping my hair/head banging and I gave myself whiplash. My neck hurts so bad. Rock stars must have very strong necks so they don't get brain damage or whiplash after every concert. Also, they have amazing conditioner to keep their hair so smooth and shiny despite their rocking.

Graduation Gift?

I have decided I want a piano, so I've done a search on KSL.com for a piano.

Dream piano: Steinway Louis XV Grand Piano in East Indian Rosewood

$59,000

Step down from the dream piano: Yamaha P660 45" Upright

$5,000

Realistic piano: Arion Grand Upright 1920s, needs to be refinished

$150 

I guess I like brown pianos? And I would love a Steinway (since that is what I played on through my adolescence) but I am really not that good.

So if you want to buy one of these for getting my Master's degree, I would be very happy (especially if you got the Steinway for me).

I'm An Aunt to A...

NEPHEW!!!

So that means that Frances (as I've been calling the baby) is actually Francis, the male spelling. And, Andrew and I decided we needed to call him a new name, so here is my tribute to the great Francises in the world.

Francis Fryer--the man, the legend. Here he is, singing "A Heart Full of Honey" to the men at the bar. The owner thought Francis Fryer was a woman, so had the poor guy dress up. I love this song.

Francis the Older Brother--this is Malcolm's older brother, from Malcolm in the Middle. He is at military school and had to sing this song.

In all actuality, I don't want my nephew to run around singing silly songs and dressing like a woman, but these are the only Francises I know of. So there is my tribute.

Dear Francis the Boy Fetus, may your life be filled with song and happiness. I'll see you in April and I will spoil you rotten until you pee in my face!

Happy Randoms

I am quite happy today. And that is really nice. Not that I've been unhappy, but I've been quite stressed. You know, reading three academic books a week, plus trying to write a master's thesis, be healthy, and give your husband some attention can get a girl down. But today I am happy. And I have several thoughts.

So---I live in Logan, Utah. Usually it snows in September. There is a light powdering on the mountains, but it hasn't snowed here. Crazy. Not once. And it is November. It is barely getting cold. The trees are starting to drop their leaves. Some of the trees still have green leaves. The people I talk to think I'm crazy for wanting snow, but seriously? I've lived in this town for six years, and I know that the longer the weather is nice, the worse and more cold and bitter the real winter will be. If you want a mild winter, pray that Logan doesn't throw an Indian summer at you. But I am still happy. I love the way the mountains look when they just have a little snow on their tips. I also love crunching leaves. And I love walking through the trees as the leaves fall around me and hit the ground with a little ptt sound. I remain optimistic that I will live through the bitter winter and I will be prepared and everyone will complain and I will say, "I told you so."

I'm also rocking a new hair-do: The side bun. It is way cute, and it's a change from the normal lazy bun right in the back. As one who isn't much for doing my hair, and one who doesn't have much time to do my hair, this was a great way to feel somewhat stylish. Granted, feeling stylish has never been a priority for me.

Rockin' the side bun.

We had six trick-or-treaters that we know and four trick-or-treaters that we don't know come to our apartment on Halloween. Awesome. We have never had them come before. Little kids in costumes are so cute.

Andrew got a job offer from Boeing! We will move there in the spring. I will move there probably in May. We are so blessed to have a job offer, especially since so many people are looking for jobs. So, let me know if you want to visit us, cuz we would love to see your beautiful faces.

I gave blood today. I love to donate blood (what is wrong with me?). I have O+ blood, and I wish I had the problem my mom has, which is being O-, cuz then people would beg me to give blood. Anyway, I love giving blood. I went in, they poked my finger and my iron was good! This is often a problem for me, I guess I should eat more steak. Then I didn't have to wait cuz I was one of the first people there. I sit in the chair, the vampire iodines my arm, and the vampire sticks the needle in me and gets the vein right away (yay!). I go go go, as per my father's blood donation motto: "Five-minute bags." And I did so. The vampire was surprised I was so fast, and she took the needle out and put on my bandage. She made a cute little bow to match my outfit. Awesome! I'm really glad that I donate quickly and rarely get dizzy. The girl in the chair next to me started before I did and she finished way after me and then she was still sitting in the chair looking unwell when I left after eating my treats. I love donating blood. I love feeling good about helping others. I love that I don't get dizzy. I love the bow the vampire made for my bandage.

My bow on my bandage! I love it!

Did you know that adults have about ten pints of blood in their bodies? So then we donate one pint. It takes four weeks to replenish your fluids and eight weeks to replenish your iron levels. Now you know more about blood. (fact from http://www.americasblood.org/go.cfm?do=page.view&pid=12)

I am going to be an aunt! My little sister is having a baby and she is due April 15. I call my new niece or nephew Frances the Fetus. Frances is a good name cuz it could be a boy's or a girl's name. I am the best aunt already because I bought Melanie prenatal vitamins and milk to drink.

This is amazing. Watch the video. Listen to the music. Love the cello. And remember the families and soldiers who are out serving us. It's John Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nielson being awesome.

And another happy thing is that I got my dress for my cousin Alison's wedding! I love it! Here is a bad picture on my web cam of the dress. It is so beautiful and I think I am hot in it. She is getting married on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and I am her maid of honor.

My dress!

So with all of these happy things, you should be happy to. If you aren't, you can just go sit out in the freezing cold until you think of something to be happy about.

Wir kommen von der Bergen - Leavenworth, WA

We decided to spend our Saturday in Leavenworth. It is a little German town in the American Alps (aka the Cascades), see also Washington vs. Switzerland.


We saw a cherry stand! So we had to, of course, stop and buy some.

And they were so so good.

Don't you just want some fresh Washington cherries?


Welcome to Leavenworth! It was so festive.


Even the gas station was in German script.


The Alpen Folk playing music and yodeling! This is why I told Andrew we HAD to go. Yes, we bought the CD.

A delicious pretzel and amazingly delicious mustard. (Today was funny face day for me, FYI).


Pizza und Brats - Das ist Gut Ja? Andrew had a brat and sauerkraut--both of which he said were OK (he is really spoiled when it comes to German food) and I had a delicious hot dog (I don't like brats).


Bienenstich! This is my absolute FAVORITE German dessert, which I have loved since I first tried it at one of Andrew's family parties. It means Bee Sting Cake. It has almonds and a toffee-like thing on the top, then a light cake, some creamy filling, and more light cake. I LOVE IT SO MUCH!! And I'm so glad we bought this.


Me making a Barbara Streisand pose in front of the Hello Dolly Doll Shop.


The nutcracker store.



Andrew looking smooth and sophisticated and European in front of a painted landscape.



The human and dog drinking fountain. Humans on the upper two, and dogs at the lower one.


We really should have bought this apron for Andrew to wear. Sehr Sexy, Ja?


We went on a hike near Leavenworth, called Eight-Mile Lake. It was three miles to the first lake and one more to the second lake, so the total mileage for the round trip was eight.

The mountains.


The pretty purple wildflowers. :)



Me amongst the purple wildflowers, sticking out my tongue.


The second lake.

The first lake.


The raging river of snowmelt.


Me and this tree were the same height.


Can you see me? My shirt matches the flowers!


And we were starving so went back in to Leavenworth for a German dinner.
Andrew eating Schnitzel with noodles (spaetzla). The Brot (bread) was also very good. The Sauerkraut and Rotkohl were not very good. I'm not the biggest Sauerkraut fan but I do like Rotkohl, and it was disappointing. Andrew realized how truly truly spoiled he has been growing up as a little German boy eating delicious German food.

We then got gelato and mocked the people who just bought ice cream. They had no idea what they were missing. :D