FA 100 Synopsis

Finally, the chaos of school and working retail during Christmas has subsided. I now get two weeks of relaxed schedule before another semester begins and Daniel starts working full time. Before I post all our fun Christmas happenings I wanted to write on our exciting FA 100 adventures this semester for posterity's sake (in case they care). :) For all out there who have not attended BYU-Idaho and do not what FA 100 is: It is a one credit class that requires you to attend six varying types of events (dance performance, concerts, plays, etc). Really it's an odd concept, but we had some interesting experiences.

We first attended an art exhibit. The gallery was hosting a NY exhibit of Illustrators. We expected to see pictures from books that we recognized, but it turned out to be a collection of random paintings. It was kinda interesting- I thought since this was a class we would have to walk by every painting and hear everything about it, but they just set us loose for 15 minutes and let us go. Not sure how I was really supposed to glean anything from that minimal interaction.

Then we went to see Nosferatu (I've mentioned this one already). We saw the 70s version--based on the 20s original. Creepy vampire, but pretty interesting plot. Unfortunately, the majority of the audience found everything about the movie hilarious (Let me remind you this is a vampire movie, they are usually funny, excepting perhaps parts of Twilight, ha). They were all in such an uproar that the art movie director had to pause the movie and tell everyone to step outside their uncultured bubble, and try the movie again in another perspective. The laughing reduced to a minimum. We liked the movie. We enjoyed watching something a little bit different, and it made us think about the impact culture has on cinema.

Next up was the Halloween concert (I might have blogged on this previously, too). We expected creepy, goth style garb and music only to walk in on overly Western muscial. Not our favorite forte, but the orchestra did well- 60% of it all was violins. We were entertained, but could've gone without the banjos and horrible accents.

Along came Extravadance. The one dance concert the school puts on a semester. Having done dance for some time gives me a critical eye for these things, so I would have given the whole performance a B. There was definite talent on that stage- African theme dances were extra popular and I absolutely loved some numbers. But on occasion I found it to be slightly mediocre, nothing too fascinating or exciting. Still good though.

The thorn in our side of the entire semester: The Marriage of Figaro- A three hour long opera written by Mozart. Now I thought most theatrical performances wrapped up in 3 Acts, so naturally I assumed it would end at Act 3, but then Act 4 gave us an extra 40 minutes of musical pleasure. Thankfully they had subtitles playing on the screens next to the stage or Daniel and I would have been more confused. At its conclusion we decided the production would have been half as long if they would have stopped repeating themselves. It was not our favorite. Historically, I do have to give props to Mozart for his gaul in producing such a forward thinking, audacious opera for his time. He was quite the Enlightenment man.

Ah, Christmas. We were most excited to go to the Christmas in the Snow choir concert. It was festive and cheerful. Too bad the choir didn't have the opportunity to perform in the new BYU-I auditorium (seats 15,000), because they looked a little cramped all up on the stage.

Just for fun, I went to see Handel's Messiah with my friend, Brittany. I loved it. I had never heard all of the Messiah and it was very well done. Music like that- that has survived over so many years, and it so powerful, just isn't as common today. I love taking the opportunity to enjoy such grand accomplishments.

And there we have our FA 100 experience. We are glad it is over, but somewhat appreciative we were coerced into attending some of these events. Oh- we did have to attend a lecture basically chastising our generation for not appreciating the arts. Although I partially agreed with them, I felt as though he was preaching to the choir. I'm only slightly obsessed with those types of things. It's alright though, more people do need to appreciate the value of live performances, arts, and music. If we allow for them to go by unnoticed, we will never see another grand musician or skilled artist rise, and we may lose the grandeur of past masterpieces.

What we are REALLY grateful for

It is the season of gratitude, counting your blessings, and thanking those you love. In the spirit of thanks we compiled the following list of the less conspicuous things we are grateful for-- of course we are deeply grateful for our fantastic families, the church, school, our jobs, etc. We are truly blessed- in more ways that one would probably think.

• We are grateful that Daniel won that stinkin' iPad. At first it seemed just like a toy, but then Ashley's laptop wasted away to the equivalent of a typewriter, and now it is an essential when both need to be doing homework.
• The apartment BUILDING we are in, not just our apartment. Nearly all of our neighbors are hardly ever home--we practically own the place.
• Free Melaleuca cleaning products--every time we clean our apartment it smells like a forest of eucalyptus.
• The crock-pot- food goes in before we leave for work and then we come home to a finished meal. Without it, we eat at 10 o'clock or later.
• The return of Ashley's iPod--It was lost for over a week and a half. We almost lost hope-then it was found under Daniel's parent's bed.
• The fact that our parents live one mile from each other--we were all able to have a happy Thanksgiving together (Something impossible for a lot of other in-laws out there) :)
• Macy's- Our favorite bed sheets of all time randomly started falling apart. We took them back praying for some sort of compensation for our year-old sheets---they gave us brand new ones!! ($200 sheets!)
• Rexburg during the school breaks- This town is so much better when there aren't 15,000 crazy students running around. It turns into the small little community it was meant to be. And in light of recent blizzards, it is better they aren't all here driving like maniacs.
• Our TV (Sad, but true)- It is our favorite form of entertainment (What else are we supposed to do when it is minus 10 degrees outside?!)
• One of my favorites: the invention of contacts- we are both so incredibly blind that contacts are a daily miracle for us. Love those little guys.
• Deseret Book Platinum Program--Ashley has to try to sell as many as humanly possible, but they sure to pay you back. After purchasing everyone's Christmas presents we were able to get a $90 Jim Shore nativity for free--using the points we earned and incentives Ashley received for selling Platinums. :)
• Being tall- We look forward to our freakishly tall posterity.
• Snow? Wait, no, nevermind.
• Poptarts- Ashley's breakfast necessity.
• FSN- Daniel never has to miss a Jazz game.
• Christmas Tree scented candles- Believe it or not, we have a fake tree. (A Christmas sin in Daniel's book)
• Daniel's parent's old broken recliner they gave us. There is much less fighting over couch space now.
• That we don't live in China-- long story, but Ashley is in a Modern China class, and swears China is the most bizarre place on Earth.
• The Office- without it we would have nothing to watch, nothing to quote, and would miss out on our several laughing spells over Office humor. We have seen most episodes 2-5 times.
• Netflix- Most convenient thing ever.

Well, that's all we came up with tonight. Of course there is always more. We love and miss all our family, and wish all of you this best this holiday season. We are grateful for all our friends and family. And whether we care to admit it, we are grateful for school ( I think ) and all the opportunities we are granted. This is a great time in life. Happy Holidays everyone!!

The Pictures that Never Were

My poor camera has been holding on to these pictures for over a year. I lost the cord that connects it up to the computer. Last week we finally bought a new cord. Now Daniel can stop complaining that all the pictures on the blog are of me (we could almost call this post: A Tribute to Daniel). And everyone can enjoy a recap of our 2009 year together. Fun? I think so.

Christmas of '09 was spent on the East Coast:

Daniel and Hannah searching for entertainment while in the airport in DC.

Our glorious beach house that all eleven of us (later thirteen) enjoyed for a week.

Mine and Daniel's room- comfy, cozy.

Sunrise (yes, sunrise!) over the Atlantic. We got up early one morning to hunt for seashells.

Daniel and Mom.

I highly reccommend Christmas on the beach.

Baby Bella.

D.C. saw an insane amount of snow that weekend we were there for Marci's wedding. We didn't see too many museums or anything. But we tried traipsing across the snow packed Mall for entertainment.

"I have a dream..."

The lovely Marci and Alan.

Washington D.C. Temple

Our very first dinner together- I think we had turkey sandwiches, salad, and Martinelli's.

Bewitched in Salem, Mass.

Salem

Classy hot dog from the hot dog cart at the sight of the Boston Massacre. Odd combo.

Old North Church- the start of Paul Revere's ride: "The British are coming!"

As nice as the lady was who took this picture for us, she could not take it correctly. We finally ended up with this semi crooked picture. This is us at Quincy Market in front of Sam Adams, excellent shopping there. This is also where our crazy cab ride ended.

Daniel on the Freedom Trail

Mike's Pastry. A man on the train told us he goes miles out of his way every day to get a canoli here. We had to try it. So worth it.

Trinity Church

Ah, Fenway. View from the Green Monstah.

View from the Media Box. I think Daniel fits in there just perfect.

Massachusetts State House

The charming streets of Boston

The notorious ducks from the children's book "Make Way for Ducklings". It took us fifteen minutes to take this pictures due to the mass amount of children crawling all over the ducks.

Boston Commons

The champagne and chocolate covered strawberries the hotel left for us after our first night in Boston.

Where we went to church.

And that's it. If you made it this far-congrats! We've got a couple exciting things coming up: Midnight premier of Harry Potter this Thursday night, and Thanksgiving break. And I'll tell you what I am grateful for- some time off to work on school work! Geesh, it's exhausting. That's all we've got for now. :) Happy Holidays! (That includes Thanksgiving)

What We've Been Up To...

School. That's about it. The last two months have flown by as we have each tried to make it through school day by day, week by week. And believe it or not, we are over half way done with the semester (and I couldn't be happier). We are both taking a class that requires us to attend various "cultural" events at the school for credit. We have gone to an Illustrator's Art Exhibit (kinda cool). Then we went to see Nosferatu, a vampire movie from the 70s. It was interesting. By far the biggest downside to the whole event was the widespread immaturity of the audience. Apparently a majority of the crowd found something hilarious about the film that resulted in some much incessant laughing that the director of the Fine Arts department paused the movie to tell everyone to grow up. It was only slightly frustrating. Daniel and I decided that this might not have happened at any other university. Sad truth. Our next event was a Halloween Concert. When we got there we were expecting Halloween, you know, ghouls, goblins, ghosts, vampires, and the like, but instead we got cowboy-themed concert that could have done with one less banjo. It was still a good concert, but when you grow up in the "Wild" West, it's not the most entertaining theme in the world. But that's okay, like I said, we still enjoyed the concert, but I felt a little crushed I didn't get the creepy Halloween concert I expected. This week we are headed to a dance performance. Good stuff.

So Daniel has been working hard at both school and work. It's not uncommon for him to disappear for hours at the library, which is a good thing, I think. He really likes his Tax class which is a good sign of what he would like to do after school. Basketball season has started up so it is Jazz talk all the time. We are going to try to make it to a game this season. He has already ordered me my own Jazz jersey for Christmas (Raja Bell- who can resist someone willing to clothesline Kobe Bryant in the face?) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V8ZukXsWmk

Being in my senior year my classes are extraordinarily hard and extra time consuming. I do not ever stop reading- I guess I asked for it being a history major and all. Trying to figure out my last two semesters has been a trial. I am trying to double minor in French and International Studies and one class I need will not be offered until next fall, by that time I plan on being graduated, so we'll see how that goes.

We did set up a couple of friends on a blind date and had them over for dinner, pumpkin carving, and a halloween movie. My pumpkin was supposed to be the Harry Potter symbol, but it turned out pretty shabby looking. In my defense, I was making pumpkin scones. My priorities were a little different. Also, Daniel and I did go to a sushi place here in Rexburg. Without really realizing what I was eating, I tried almost everything. It was alright. Daniel seemed to enjoy it much more than me.

We haven't done much else than study and work. Deseret Book already feels like Christmas and we went out and bought new Christmas decorations this weekend. So despite the gorgeous weather we've been having, we are already in Christmas mode. It's a great time of year so that's okay with me. :)

Sorry this post isn't all jazzed up with pictures- the camera is MIA. Just know we are looking forward to being done with school and relaxing over Christmas break.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

August is always one of my favorite months, after December. It's the month of my birthday, a lot of my friends' birthdays, parent's anniversary, and now my own anniversary. And usually I looked forward to school (not necessarily true anymore) and the weather was always fantastic (also not true, it has felt more like October here the past couple of days). Anyways, here is was we've been up to this past and last month of summer. :)

One Sunday night we both had a hankering for something sweet--but our pantry and fridge were both extremely low. With the help of an egg from the neighbors we had a crepe night!!

We added some frozen raspberries and chocolate syrup and that did the trick!

On to our ONE YEAR anniversary! This year flew by--so much has happened and changed. I wouldn't mind getting all dressed up again in my wedding dress, but I suppose that time has past. Anyways, we decided to venture out into the wilds of American Fork Canyon to go camping to celebrate. On our way down to Utah we stopped at Lagoon and spent the day acting a lot younger than we really are and had a lot of fun. We both almost panicked in line for the ride Wicked, but it turned out to be one of our favorites! We then headed for our campsite. I do have something to say about camping in Idaho verses camping in Utah. I had never seen this campsite before I just picked it out online, so when we got there we were rather surprised. We were the only people in our nicely paved cul-de-sac without an RV and everyone was surprisingly close together. Kinda felt like we were intruding on someone else's party. It felt far too comfy and well-groomed to really be called camping. But we had a blast anyways.


I felt like our neighbors just got to sit back and watch an episode of "Newlyweds: First Time Camping". Apparently we had a giant sign on our foreheads that read: Clueless. Haha. I thought we were managing just fine, but all these really nice people kept coming over to offer us a hachet, firewood, advice, and eventually a bottle of lighter fluid that he liberally dumped all over our fire. I suppose I would be amused at us too. It was all in good fun.

S'mores. Best part of camping food.

Our giant camping castle. We could have fit six more people in there with us. And we did enjoy a movie on the iPad as we fell asleep--we weren't exactly "roughin' it".

I did find some nature near our site:

The view from our site

Daniel's cousin Jason and his wife Kayli came up that night and ate dinner and dessert with us. It was so fun! I think we all just needed a break from school and work and this was perfect.

After all that working in setting up camp, we tore it down first thing in the morning. We took a nice long drive through the rest of American Fork Canyon.

There happened to be a bike race that day so we drove 10 miles an hour the entire time, constantly in fear of squishing someone. They all had much more determination and strength that I think I will ever have. Props to them.

We took a slight detour out to a place called Cascade Springs. It was cool, but kinda out of the way. But I always love just wandering around in nature after being cooped up at work all the time.

Then we drove by Bridal Veil Falls. Also very cool. There were some crazy people hike up through the falls with all their children in tow and on their back.

Then we rafted down the Provo River with Jason and Kayli. I don't have pictures, but they do and someday I'll snatch them off their blog. But that was really fun. I think next time Daniel and I want to try something more challenging. After we all got cleaned up, we went out for dinner at the Macaroni Grill and saw the movie Inception. I hear it's a great movie, but I kinda slept through the entire thing. Hey- it was a busy weekend! Haha. Thanks again to Jason and Kayli for being such great hosts! Daniel fell in love with their little dog and is now very puppy hungry. Too bad no housing in Rexburg allows dogs. ;)

BIRTHDAY (Is it just me or is this post getting excessively long?)

I had a most excellent birthday. While I was getting ready that morning Daniel snuck out to buy everything to make me French Toast and bought me some gorgeous flowers! I love them. He made me the French Toast and then I opened presents.

Mon petit chef

Daniel got me some movies, perfume, and Julia Child's french cookbook!! I've got some serious cooking to do now! It is the most intense cookbook I've ever seen, but I'm really excited. I want to make homemade croissants very badly but guess what?? They take 12 hours!! Yikes. We'll see how that goes.

Then we made our way to Idaho Falls where we met up with all the fam for lunch at Carino's. Daniel's mom got me some darling dish towels and a super cute watch. My momma got me another cookbook and some much needed money for clothes shopping, which we did immediately after lunch! Our plan was to go to the drive-in movie, but we found out last minute that they were closed. So we went to an overpriced movie and saw Despicable Me- which was great.

And Daniel's mom made me a chocolate zucchini cake. Yum. :)

Sigh- and that's our month of August. And believe it or not school starts next week. We shall see how that goes. Haha. Tough schedules ahead for both of us.