Journey Through the Past

20 years ago:I was almost 5. I think I had just finished up Pre-K, but my memory is a little faint. I loved to ride bikes, play with my sisters, and go to the pool and pretend I was a mermaid. The pool has always been a big part of my summer.

10 years ago:I was just finishing up my freshman year. In the Spring I decided to run track even though I've never been known for my speed. It was a great choice and I ended up making some of my best high school friends. Running track helped me get in better shape and shed some of the weight I gained earlier in my adolescent years (fifth grade fat anyone?). I was looking forward to girl's camp. It was my third year and we were camping at the RLDS campground that year instead of our usual spot in Knob Knoster. I remember feeling very scandalized when some of the girls would make themselves faint. I wore my hair in french braids and looked bald for most of the week. Later in the summer I went to EFY at BYU with a friend from Fargo, Becky Leeser. I loved walking around campus and thought I was so old. I got my learner's permit and started learning how to drive. It was during this time I started wearing clothes that were more flattering to my shape. Up until this point I always bought wide leg jeans and XL shirts. I remember buying my first pair of boot-cuts at The Limited.

5 years ago:I had just finished up my sophomore year at BYU. I lived in Centennial apartments and had great roommates and ward friends. I was sooo sad to go home that summer. Right after school got out I spent a week in Bennington with my dad and learned a lot about animal science. My summer was pretty routine: I worked 7-3 at HyVee, went to the pool for a few hours in the afternoon and then ran 3+ miles with Brandi every night. I was not old enough to go to the single's ward--stupid rule--so I taught the CTR 5 primary class. In July I flew to NY and spent a week with my good friend Brent. My last full summer at home.

3 years ago:I had just finished my fourth year at BYU and was trying to figure out what to do with my life. My former roommates were all leaving me--to Texas (Carrie), Ohio (Candace), and Brandizzle(Melissa)--so I moved in with Nikki. We made a list of things we wanted to do that summer and accomplished most of them. I worked a lot of hours at the BYU Bookstore and took 2 classes. We took a road trip to CA in July with a dramatic pit stop in Vegas. I spent many hours running in preparation for my first 1/2 Marathon. I bought a contract for just the summer. The first Sunday in the new ward was testimony meeting and after several boys got up and spoke I remember thinking, how lame these guys seemed and was so glad I won't be living here in the Fall. Interesingly enough, one of those guys who spoke was Anthony. Haha. I didn't really get to know him until September.

1 year ago:Our last few months in Provo. We had been married for about 9 months and were excited to be heading to Missouri for graduate school. I had just gotten accepted to my graduate program and was starting my first on-line class. The fact that we were moving was starting to sink in so we were trying to do as much as we could with our friends and family. I started to re-read all the Harry Potter books in preparation for the release of the 7th book, yeah so cool. I was working at LegaLees and enjoyed chatting with Gloria all afternoon. :)

So far this year:We started the New Year off in Boston with a visit to the John family. I started a new job that is great! I've finished two more classes and Anthony has completed his first year of graduate school. I got called to be in the Primary presidency so that's been keeping me busy, but I love being around all the kids! In April we had our first overnight guests, Meredith and Steven, and some of my family has come down but not stayed the night in our apartment as well. The weather has been extremely unpredictible and I'm ready for summer!

Yesterday:Went to work. Did some homework. Worked out at the gym. Returned some things to Target. Had dinner at Red Robin with Anthony. Watched Juno and ate some sherbet.

Today:Slept in later than I intended. Went running. Worked on sharing time. Read a chapter for my class. Trying to write a talk for church tomorrow.

This year:

Turning 25! Going to Chicago next week. Taking 2 more classes this summer. Visiting Utah in June and going to Nikki's wedding. Vacationing in Cancun with the John Family in August. Reunion with college roommates in September. Lots of running with Steph in preparation for our half marathon in November. Hopefully lots of time reading poolside and visiting with family and friends!

Congratulations Mels!

This past weekend we were up in the OP celebrating with my family. My third sister, Melanie, graduated from Shawnee Mission South High School on Tuesday. We are so proud of her and all she accomplished at South. She was very involved and clearly had a lot of friends as she was constantly surrounded by them all weekend. She is very modest about her accomplishments, so I won't brag too much, but suffice it to say, she excelled academically, musically, athletically, spiritually, and socially. She'll be studying Dietetics at BYU and living in Helaman Halls this Fall. Here are some pictures of her for those of you who don't know her as well as we do.

Ginger Spice for Halloween.

She loves her Popsicles!

Four year Varsity Cross Country Runner.

She's a great dancer--in this pic she is dressed like she did in elementary school.

Hopefully I'll have pictures of graduation festivities to post shortly.

Week of Reunions

This past week has been a week of reunions for us. On Tuesday we had our first visitors from the John Family. Anthony's sister Meredith and her husband Steven are going to be living in Boston for the summer so Steven can do an internship. They will need their car this summer so they are in the process of driving cross country and were nice enough to make a not-so-slight detour in their journey and stop and see us. We had a great time with them! We had dinner at Lamberts, a local restaurant famous for its home style cooking and "trowed rolls." After dinner Anthony got to show them where he works and goes to school. It was fun getting to see them in person. Emails and phone calls are great, but nothing beats spending time with people. To see pictures of their visit, check out Meredith and Steven's blog here. I was really sad when I came home from work Wednesday and the house was empty. We had been looking forward to their visit for awhile. We would like to formally invite ANY and ALL friends and relatives to visit us in Springfield.

Saturday I rode up to KC with my good friend Stephanie. We had a reunion with two of our other best-girlfriends from high school, Brooke and Carrie. Even though we all went to different high schools, we became great friends through girls camp, youth conferences, stake dances and activities, and weekly hang outs. This was the first time we were all together at the same time in 7 years!

Stepahine and her husband Pat live in Nixa, MO (about twenty minutes south of Springfield) with their two girls, McKenna (3 yrs) and Paige (9 months). Brooke lives in Kellar,TX, (near Dallas) with her husband Ryan and 8-month old daughter Savannah. Carrie lives in Olathe, KS, with her husband Chris and daughter Cami (6 months).

Brooke's family has moved to Utah and so Ryan has never seen the KC area where she grew up. They were in town this past weekend and so Steph and I came up for a mini-reunion. I'm not sure about the other girls, but I had so much fun. Carrie D was the hostess-with-the-mostess. She had a veggie tray, chocolate for dipping and lots of treats. She made some fabulous BBQ chicken salad for dinner and Brooke brought some tasty rolls. It was fun to catch up and see everyone's babies. Everyone but me had a baby girl last year (in July, Sept and Nov). It's fun to see my friends as moms. We took a picture as we got ready to part ways. I can't wait to get together with these girls again, but this time let's not wait 7 years!

The Girls, circa 2001

2008

Here is the recipe for the delicious BBQ Chicken Salad Carrie & Chris made us for dinner. It was so good and great for summertime I just had to share.

BBQ Chicken Salad

4-6 Boneless/Skinless chicken breasts
BBQ Sauce
Ranch Dressing
Green Salad and whatever veggies you like, i.e. tomatoes, green onions
Drained corn
Drained black beans
Tortilla chips
Shredded cheese to taste

Chop chicken into bite size pieces and cook in
frying pan, once cooked all the way through, reduce
heat and add BBQ Sauce.
You could also grill the chicken in BBQ sauce and then chop it.
Set aside to cool.

Make a green salad with whatever vegetables you
like. Top with crushed tortilla chips to add texture
and flavor. Add chicken to salad and toss with ranch
dressing and BBQ sauce or let people add their own.