Rambling...

I've been having a bit of bloggers block lately, and haven't been able to come up with anything good to blog about. I can only blog about how much I love my job so many times in a row before it starts to get monotonous, you know? And other than our new jobs, David and I don't do a whole lot. Mostly, we go to work for 10+ hours every day and then come home and grade/lesson plan at night. (Well... I grade/lesson plan - David watches basketball and helps me run through lesson ideas.)  Not much else is going on.

I've been thinking about maybe doing a wedding blog post challenge that I saw, where you take a couple of weeks and write several posts about your wedding. How you met your husband, what your wedding dress looked like etc... I think that it is fun, and I would love to get some of that stuff on our blog. Plus, I love reading about other people's wedding's and looking at their pictures and things. So maybe I will do that... but I haven't decided yet. What do you think?

Tonight, I asked David what I should blog about - and he told me that I should blog about Nertz. Nertz is a game that we have really been loving lately, and basically play it with anyone that we can con into it. Pretty much any time we are at David's house in West Jordan, or my house in Morgan, we force people to play with us. Luckily for us - it really is a fun game and we don't have to work too hard to find at least a couple of people to play with us. We have also been lucky enough to have a couple of visits from my sister Jenna, and David's sister Amy, and we have made it clear that they weren't allowed to leave until they played at least one game with us.  We go through phases with games. Before Nertz, we were really into "Buy" - and before that we played Canasta pretty much any time there were at least four people. If you have any other good card games - let me know. As much as I love Nertz... I suspect that we will be switching games in the near future. However, until that point, if any of you want to challenge us to a game of Nertz... count us in!

We "love" playing Nertz.

Okay... I have a confession. I went shopping yesterday with Wendy and Amy and bought another trench coat. Yes. That brings my total up to 4. Remember this post? Yes. Well - If not ... let me refresh your memory. I bought a red trench coat a couple of months ago - in preparation for the early spring that we are experiencing in Lehi (early by Logan standards I guess). I saw it and fell in love with it. Then because I loved it so much, I convinced David to take me back to the store and buy two more - a blue one and a black one. (They are all the same coat- but the colors make it look so different. I just love them all.) Then when I was in the store I saw this coat:

(Well... one very similar to this. I couldn't find the exact one online. Mine is a little more tan-ish.)

It was beautiful and 60% off. I texted David and told him that I may or may not be thinking about buying another trench coat. After I got his very supportive reply, I walked away with it for $21.00. It was too good to pass up. I'll be honest - I wear one of these coats EVERY day. They have already been such a great investment. The thing is... I'm a grown up now and am expected to dress like one. I can't really show up to work in a sweatshirt, and my winter coat is just a tad bit much for this spring weather. Moral of the story: I love these coats and am SO excited to add this tan beauty to my collection. Addicted? Maybe. Happy? Definitely.

Well... David just challenged me to a game of Speed (Which is similar to Nertz... but for two players) so I should probably wind this rambling post down. Wish me luck!

{half birthday}

Today is my half birthday. I am 21 & 1/2 - er... I mean 23 1/2.

I love to celebrate life - and half birthdays are a great way to celebrate! Luckily for me, I am surrounded by people who love me and celebrate with me. This morning I found a card on our coffee table from my sweet husband wishing me a happy birthday. Then a little bit later I got a text from my sweet sister Jenna wishing me a "Happy Half Birthday!" It makes me so happy. I really am surrounded by the greatest people out there. 

Picture from here.

So, for all of you who need a reason to celebrate today - celebrate with me and go out and buy yourself an ice cream cone or other delectable treat. 

After all, half-birthdays only come once a year!

Update: My sweet sister Jenna and her friend Shaylee showed up on our doorstep today with a half-bowl of half-cookies for my half-birthday. She is the greatest! We played Nertz, ate loads of popcorn, and had even more fun. Happy March 15th!  

The Carl Bloch Exhibit

I didn't have work today. It was wonderful! I lounged about this morning and worked on lesson plans (hooray!) and then I was able to go to the Carl Bloch exhibit at BYU with Sam, Wendy, and their kids. It was really cool. Carl Bloch is an amazing artist, and it was really interesting to learn more about him and his paintings.

Carl Bloch was born in Denmark in 1834. He painted several paintings that are considered the foremost artistic expression of the Savior's ministry. It was amazing to see his rendition of Christ and his life.

I loved the description about this picture. It talked about how the curve of the fountain bends so as to include the viewer in the painting, as if we were there with the savior as he healed the sick, suggesting that we too may have come to the fountain to be healed. Amazing.

I think that the kids very favorite part was an interactive exhibit that we found in the basement after we were done with the Carl Bloch exhibit. It was called "Healing 1" and it uses algorithms to create a glowing pool of organic patterns projected on the floor. These patterns tear and rebuild themselves as viewers walk across the projection, mirroring the healing process as a scar develops over a wound and reflecting the memory that those scars may hold. Mostly, the kids just loved running, jumping, and rolling over it and then watching it change. I'm not going to lie, it was pretty cool.

My favorite part of the exhibit was when we learned about how Bloch received a prestigious commission to paint a series of paintings for the Frederiksborg Castle in Denmark. The paintings were for the "Kings Oratory." He worked on these paintings for fourteen years. The twenty-three masterworks he produced present the story of Jesus Christ from the Annunciation to the Resurrection. It was amazing. They had a movie of the Kings Oratory room, and it was breathtaking. You have to realize that I am really into the whole "Interior Design/Architecture" thing, but honestly... the art surrounded by all of the amazing architectural features was stunning. I found a panorama of the room and really want you to go look at it. Just click on this link: Kings Oratory. Please do it!

I was happy to be able to spend a couple of hours with Wendy and her sweet family. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful sister-in-law!

Here are some more pictures from the day: 

If you get a chance to go, I would highly recommend it! There is the option to rent an iPad and take a virtual tour with it. Have any of you been already? I've heard of a lot of people who have gone.