Culture and Class

Dallas has culture to offer. We were so lucky to join Bill and Barb to the Dallas Opera last night. I love an opportunity to get dolled up. After raiding my friend Tracey's closet (for the dress), getting some patent leather pumps at Ann Taylor, and a few hours with the curling iron, I think I looked the part of an opera attendee.

Don Giovanni is a womanizing murderer. The sets were amazing. My favorite scene was when Zerlina is begging Masetto for forgiveness. The humor surprised me. It never occurred to me that Mozart might try to make his audience laugh.

I'm so grateful to Bill and Barb for introducing us to the art of the Opera!

Visiting the Sidwells

Stephen Sidwell is one of Joe's good friends from BYU. They worked at Outdoors Unlimited

(the BYU bike shop) together, and did a lot of mountain biking together. After they both got married, life has pulled them to different states, but they still keep in contact. These last few

days we had to opportunity to make the trek to Fort Collins Colorado for a visit. Stephen is a dentist, and graciously offered to give us some much needed dental care (the kids don't have

insurance, and our insurance is pretty crappy). So Thursday we spent all morning at

the dentist office.Friday and Saturday we were able to play. The kids really wanted to see the "snowy

mountains". We did an amazing 4 mile hike along several mountain lakes.

Photo by Krista

Joe carried Winter when she got tired (Photo by Krista)

Krista was my photography buddy

Final destination: Emerald Lake (photo by Krista)

Saturday morning Joe and Stephen went mountain biking. After that, we all headed to the pumpkin patch.

In the afternoon, the Sidwells had a cubscout meeting, so we took our family on a fun bike ride along the river.

We finished the day off strong, with dinner and PF Changs. Why do fun times like these have to end?

Our love for Colorado

Joe and I love Colorado. We've loved it ever since we first vacationed there in 2001. Still in college, we had some extra time one weekend (or maybe it was at the end of summer break). We rounded up a few friends, and drove down to Durango in Joe's 1976 Jeep Wagoneer. The Colorado Trail was our destination. The Colorado Trail (CT) is broken up in 20 mile sections. Joe and his brother Mark were going to ride a section, and then my friend Jessica and I were going to walk the next section.

The first day, while Joe and Mark were riding, the rest of us (Jessica, and maybe Soquel too) drove the Jeep 14 miles up a 4x4 trail. At least..... that's what I think happened. But at the same time I think maybe Joe helped set up camp first, and then we dropped them off to ride. Anyways..... As Jessica and I were waiting, and waiting, and waiting... we were getting kind of nervous. It gets quite cold at night at 14,000 feet altitude! Finally, after dark, Joe arrived, alone. Mark was having a hard time, and they were both getting hungry and cold, so Joe rode ahead to get some supplies. After assuring us he would be extra careful, Joe drove back down the trail to find Mark. Mark had wandered off the trail a little, and was huddling against the cold, but luckily they had CV radios. It wasn't until about 11pm that they finally made it back to camp.

The next day, we were supposed to move camp, to the next section. However, when Jessica and I had been trying to get a hold of Joe and Mark with the CV radio, we had somehow "broken" the Wagoneer. Being stuck at 14,000 feet with a broken truck, we did the only thing we could think of: hitch hike. We were lucky it was hunting season, and to find a ride down in a pickup truck. We made it to the auto parts store, and back to the beginning of the 4x4 road with the help of a cardboard sign that said: Purgatory (the name of the ski resort, plus a fun play of word)

Making it the next 14 miles to camp was a little more difficult. Some good samaritan in a Jeep offered to help. We flew up that mountain so fast, I was certain we would fly off the side of the mountain! Back at camp, we tinkered around with the new auto part, only to find out that we had bought the wrong part! So next it was Mark and Soquel's turn to hitch hike down the mountain. At the end of the day we finally got the Wagoneer running again, and were set to go.

Being 4 months pregnant wasn't going to stop me from hiking 20 miles at the top of the mountains. Jessica and I had a great day walking, and singing, and freaking ourselves out about mountain lions. However, as the light started to fade, we started getting really tired. The peaks we had to scale just kept coming and coming. There seemed to be no end. And to make matters worse, I started having (what I now know) Braxton Hicks contractions (at 4 months!!) And then it started to rain as well. Luckily Joe, and Jessica's friend had started to get worried about us, and were walking towards us from the end of the trail. That night we tried to cook in our tent, and almost set it on fire.

This trip is one of our favorites to think back at, probably because of all the mishaps. We love the scenery and the weather. It's where we'd ultimately like to end up living.

Painting the project

Painting the landform project

Gymnastics

Proud or Ashamed

I can't decide which one of those words best describes the circumstances surrounding this photo

Ashamed; because today was the first time these strings were plucked in 9 months

Proud; because these strings were plucked today.

There are no good reasons why this instruments has been sitting in a corner, under a cover for so long. It's not that I don't like to play. Somehow, that big black elephant sits in the room, and goes unnoticed. Sometimes, all it takes is a request at church for a musical number. I am grateful for those requests, because I'd hate to think how long it would sit untouched if it wasn't for them.

Since the length of our move to Holland is so uncertain, and the cost of taking the harp so great, we've decided to leave it here, and reassess towards the end of Joe's school. If we find a good job in Europe, we'll have it shipped over. If we move back to the US, we saved ourselves a bunch of money and "just" a year without playing. But on days like today, I wonder whether I'll regret this plan..

Old identity

Somehow the day ended 30 minutes ago, and I didn't post a picture. So maybe we can just pretend that I'm in California, and it's still Saturday....

This morning I helped mom paint the living room for a few hours, and then I hit the outlets with Winter for the rest of the day. My wardrobe has seriously diminished over the past few years. Living in Texas, where it doesn't get cold, and living out in the country when the only day I don't wear jeans and t-shirts were Sundays, made it easy to save money by not buying new clothes (except for an occasional $5 shirt). Now that we are moving back to Holland, I get to

take back my old identity. The one who wore stylish clothes, and make-up daily. The one where high heels and cute sweater greatly outnumbered ratty old t-shirts and crocs. I'm ready for that change!

Joe's cousin Bethany introduced me to Ann Taylor while we were vacationing in Branson. At first I thought those clothes were too dressy/fancy for me, but today I was loving their offerings. I found some great black slacks (which have been missing from my wardrobe for way too long), wool trousers, patent leather high heels, and dressy sweater. I also bought a cute gray wool peacoat. However, later when I was in the J Crew a few doors down, I fell in love

with another wool coat. This one black, and longer, and cuter, and of course... more expensive. I decided that the only sensible thing to do, was to buy that one too, and let my MIL help me decide which one to keep. By the time I made it home to model the coats, I had successfully convinced myself that the extra $40 was worth it for the one I really love. After all, I know I'll wear that coat for at least the next 10 years (speaking from experience).

So here it is, for the picture of the day. Don't pay attention to my unmatching pajama pants, or tired hair and face. Look at the fabulous lines of the coat!