Life is Beautiful

Life in Salt Lake is beautiful. I know I'm enjoying this phase of life very much. Sometimes I have an itch to move somewhere new and have new experiences, but I'm quickly reminded how much good is here in my hometown. The move will eventually happen but for now I'm going to take in as much family, pug, mountains, friends as I can.

I know that both Elliott and I have missed being in school and look forward to eventually throwing ourselves back in, but this time without it, I must admit, is nice. It leaves time for things like going to dinner, watching movies, re-watching all seasons of Mad Men, taking dogs to the park, going on trips to Disneyland, and spending time with the fam.

By the time I get around to blogging, all of my pictures have made their way around Instagram so they're probably old news for some of you who look at this blog. I just can't keep up, so that's the way it's going to be.

Part 1: Disneyland/Santa Monica/Magic Mountain

This trip was short and sweet. My brother and his girlfriend flew out from New York for the four day trip. We all revisited our childhood first at Disneyland, riding the same rides, getting the same treats, hearing the same music. It was great.

Sunday we drove to Santa Monica, the former city of my grandparents and our old stomping grounds when we were kids. The weather was beautiful. I even got a sunburn. We ate lunches, shopped, admired the ocean and it's calming waves, and sat by the pool. 

Monday we split parties and Elliott, dad, Nick, and I all took on Magic Mountain. I haven't been to roller coaster heaven for almost 8 years and enjoyed getting turned and flip every which way over and over again. Surprisingly (week of spring break), lines were short and the weather was perfect. We ended the day with the coaster X2, the best coaster we've ever ridden, agreed upon by all four parties. It takes you up backwards and facing the sky, and then it flips you in ways you've never flipped before. I didn't even know what was going on half the time I was laughing so hard. 

Tuesday was spent enjoying our last California hours, and then we flew home.

Part II: The transition back into normal life was made easier by our weekend plans. On Thursday we finally turned in our tickets for the live show Radiolab: In the Dark, which we had been waiting to see for months. Jad and Robert (the two hosts of the show) did what they do best and took us into different worlds with the aid of amazingly creative visuals and music. They handed out a makeshift flashlight to everyone to add visual to one part of the story. It was everything we thought it would be. Why are they so cool?

We also indulged in waffles from Bruges in downtown SLC and I have been very much enjoying all of the tree blossoms around town. They are right outside my work window and I sometimes sneak over to look at them when I have a minute.

Also, we of course went to the Real game, which they won 2-0.

Part III: Easter came and went and left us with church, dyed hard boiled eggs which promptly were turned into deviled eggs, a delicious dinner with roasted chicken, salad with every kind of veggie you could want, rosemary bread, homemade salted caramel ice cream, Easter baskets, candy, and one giant blow up T-Rex.

 It's been a great few weeks. The weather is shifting into spring mode which means more time spent outside and time to shave the legs more than once a week (good thing we just bought a gym pass which we've used once). Wishful thinking.

And probably the most exciting news of these past few weeks: Elliott aired his first radio show on the radio on Saturday! I listened at home and enjoyed it very much.It's been months in the making. Check it out:

Music and Jobs!

I lifted this music video from my sister in law's blog (she's got such good taste). I think it's so awesome. Ironically, it goes along so well with Elliott's new radio show. He just might use it. Watch it, you won't regret it....



I got a new job! I started yesterday. It's through the same company I was working with before, but instead of having to go down to West Jordan (30 minutes away), I get to walk a block and half to work. I'm really going to miss the other clinic. The people there are awesome, but I do get more hours and convenience with this job. Horray!

Episode 1 and New Pillows

Elliott's radio show, The Story Ark, is officially up and running! This first episode is more of a short really and is about the mortuary business (the family business on his side). It's only 10 minutes so check it out.

The Story Ark Shorts - "Six Feet Misunderstood" by The Story Ark

He's working on his new episode, Running Away, as I write and you read this post.

I just threw some new pillows in my Etsy shop. Take a look if you're interested.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/MFGood

The Story Ark/Christmas/Elliott Talk

If you know Elliott, you know how much he loves radio shows.  He is actually working on starting one on his own. It is called the Story Ark (http://thestoryark.wordpress.com/) and he will be broadcasting on KUTE, the local university radio station. If he can figure it out, he will create a podcast too so anyone can listen. He just finished his first short about the mortuary business and will hopefully post it on his blog soon. Meanwhile, he's looking for good stories to possibly have on the show, so if you have one (and I know everybody has at least one), then go to the Facebook page here, give it the thumbs up, and post it on his wall. It can be one you heard from a friend, funny, sad, anything! The person who posts the best story wins a free American Apparel t-shirt.

It's super comfy and if you don't like this one, Elliott will send you one with a unicorn or your choice of mythical creature.

We are totally behind on Christmas this year. We haven't decorated and still have a lot of shopping to do. To add to the lack of Christmas feeling, it still has not snowing here in SLC. We usually have plenty of snow by now. I'll be happy as long as we get it by the 25th and for months after for good skiing.

Elliott and I had a nice conversation in his sleep the other night:

Elliott: "whisper...whisper..whisper" (he said this in a whisper, of course)
Me: What?
Elliott: "How many whispers do you have?"
Me: "What do you mean?"
Elliott: "Like, do you have a place mat full?" (accompanied by his hands showing me how big a place mat is)
Me: "I have six."
Elliott: Long pause. "That's enough."

Here's some news: I didn't get accepted to any of the graduate programs I applied to this year so it looks like we'll be in SLC for another year! This is good and bad, but overall it's just fine. I'll be building up my resume while Elliott possibly looks into an internship for next year. Meanwhile, we will be here in SLC enjoying
skiing, family, friends, and hopefully learning some new things (like lead climbing).