Warming up to the idea?

Zipsie was born in Las Vegas. When I picked her up in February, it was at least 60 degrees down there. We came home to frost on the ground, but last winter was definitely a mild one. When we'd get rain or snow, Zipsie would pull backward on her leash, refusing to go outside. When I would finally get her outside, she'd tip-toe around (as much as dogs can tip-toe) and then run back inside as quickly as she could.

Last night we got a TON of snow. A good old-fashioned Utah winter. This morning, you would have thought I had a completely different dog. She charged right into the snow to do her business, started galloping around (yes, galloping), and then began digging tunnels. I finally had to drag her inside to avoid being late to work.

At least one of us is excited about the snow.

No fun

It was officially a depressing weekend. One of the worst I can recall. I guess that just goes to show I live a pretty cushy life. But still, I'm depressed.

Last Second Miracles

Ever heard of Last Second Miracles?

Jen and I went to Greg Wrubell and Johnny Harline's book signing at the Macey's in West Jordan, Saturday morning. It was fun to meet Harline and Wrubell and even more fun to see Jen's starstruck reaction when talking to Wrubell about his "best call ever" (referring to the subject of the book, of course--Johnny Harline's game-winning catch in the 2006 chapter of the Rivalry). We were also able to grab some game treats in appropriate colors. Lots of fun!

Happy Thanksgiving

The extent of my "cooking" for Turkey Day.

I hope you enjoyed a relaxing holiday with your family. We all have so much to be thankful for, and this time of year brings so many great reminders to express that gratitude. Like so many people, I'm grateful for a loving family and accepting friends. I'm lucky to have a steady job, a roof over my head, and shoes on my feet.

But additionally, I'm grateful for hot chocolate from co-workers, rivalry jokes, a puppy that eats couch cushions for breakfast but licks my face when I cry, Veronica Mars, cardigans, 'N Sync's Home for Christmas CD, multi-colored pens, the Jazz, purses, Twitter, parents' extra cars, online shopping, Jenny's pumpkin rolls, a family whose conversations are comprised of movie quotes, my health insurance, books, Adiel being home, eyeliner, a mechanic I trust, and sweatpants...just to name a few.

Let it Snow!

I had such an incredible weekend. Sometimes you don't even realize it, but you just need a break. I guess that's where I was, because today I feel more optimistic and pleasant than I have for awhile. Maybe it's the official start of Rivalry Week or the change in the weather making it feel more like the Holidays, but I think it's more likely thanks to two of my favorite people, Ashley and her little girl, Sam. On Saturday we started out our day going to Gardner Village. I needed to do some Christmas shopping that I wanted Ashley's opinion on, and as a bonus we got to see all their fun decorations. I didn't realize they'd already be decorated for Christmas, but I was glad they were.

Sam particularly enjoyed the little elves we saw all over. I think she liked that they were her same size. She doesn't look too happy in this picture, but trust me--she liked them. :)

We made our way up to Heber City. It was Sam's naptime, and Ashley thought it'd be good if we could find a movie to watch while she fell asleep. Well, Heber City has two movie theaters. Don't be too impressed--they only show one movie a piece. There was a showing of Mega Mind 3D starting soon, so we decided to hit it up, even though neither Ashley nor myself had ever heard of the movie and we both don't care for 3D. But it was such a hoot! And the 3D wasn't bad at all.

Kate was kind enough to take care of Zipsie for the weekend. While she dealt with this:

I got to enjoy this:

This is a pic of Sam waiting for the "North Pole Express" on the Heber Valley Railroad. It was so fun!

As we headed out of town, the snow started coming down. We decided to spend the night in Park City rather than continue down the mountain. Even though it's dark, this is the view from our hotel room just minutes after we checked in:

Ash and I were each in one of the beds, so I think Sam thought this was her spot:

What a cutie!

I'm sure you all know that I love my nieces and nephews. I try my best to make sure that I spend time with each of them every week or so. But sometimes it's hard. So when I get the chance to really spend time with one of them, I feel so grateful. I have three nieces that were born within five months of each other. They're all so close in age that it's sometimes easy to lump them together as "the babies." But it's incredible how truly unique they each are, even at such a young age. I'm glad I got to spend time with Sam this weekend and get to know her better for who she is, separate from her cousins.

And I can't really believe I'm saying this, but I'm glad it snowed. :)

Things you might want to know

I haven't blogged forever, so rather than try and do posts for everything I've failed to talk about, I'm just going to give you the highlights.

1. My "new" job at work continues to go well. I'm continually getting new duties assigned to my position, which I really like. I enjoy being the one to pick up odd jobs that need done.

2. On October 9th I took the LSAT (again). Last time I took it, in October of 2008, I got a 158. That's not a terrible score, but it's not good enough to get me into law school. So I took it again, this time cracking open a few prep books the week before the test. Despite my efforts, I felt like the test went horribly.

3. Also on October 9th, my family went to the BYU homecoming game against SDSU. The Utah fans behaved themselves, and we had a great time. The win helped :)

4. On October 28th, Dad, David, and I left for Pennsylvania. We had a great time visiting relatives and watching JoePa get his 399th win against Michigan. It was an incredible experience and a great weekend.

5. October 29 brought a pleasant surprise in the form of my LSAT score. I miraculously did much better than I expected. I'm now in the process of applying wherever I think I might have a shot of getting in.

6. November 5 I attended the Mae concert at Avalon Theater. For those of you who don't know, Mae's my favorite band, and this happens to be their farewell tour. I was feeling melancholy prior to the show, knowing it was the last concert. But it ended up being an incredible night. They played for two hours, including a thirty-minute encore. Probably the best concert I've ever been to.

7. I attended my nephew's closing night of Once Upon a Mattress on November 8. I sometimes feel old when I look at my nieces and nephews growing up. But having a nephew play the lead role in a junior high musical is too much. I swear just yesterday I was dancing in Joseph with Jess and Adiel. Regardless, my nephew did such a great job, and I had so much fun seeing him perform.

8. Kate and I are finally getting internet. Through some issues we had with Comcast, they decided to comp our DVR service. So we're going to put the money we save monthly on that toward internet service. The equipment came this last weekend. Now I just have to set it up.

9. I'm going back to school. Not law school, either. Turns out, I was confused on a few course requirements at BYU, and so after two and a half years I'm going back to Provo to finish my degree for real. Classes start January 4. Yikes.

10. It's my favorite week of the year...RIVALRY WEEK! Send me your best jokes (whether you're a BYU or Utah fan--I appreciate them both) and LET'S GO COUGS!