She works hard for the money...

It has been awhile since I posted because I have been out of town this week. On Thursday I found out that my presence was desired at a business conference/investor schmooz-fest in Palm Springs for a few days and the thought of enjoying some time with family and friends in a lovely hotel was just too good to pass up. So I headed over and enjoyed myself in perfect weather, with wonderful food, great entertainment, and very productive meetings. The first evening was spent with the principles of the company enjoying an evening at a Beni Hana style restaurant. Now, my theme in life is "Dignity, always dignity", but this is difficult for people to believe when they see you (a new acquaintance) catching shrimp in your mouth that is being flung from several paces by the chef wielding a meat cleaver and butcher knife. It just doesn't jive, but it is fun! The next day was spent in meetings and a lovely buffet dinner where the entertainment was provided by Dan Tyminski, the man who was the voice of George Clooney in "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and a member of Alison Krauss and Union Station.

To say that I enjoyed him would be a vast understatement. I was grinning in that way that feels like your face could shatter into thousands of little pieces if your skin got stretched any more. He was wonderful and his rendering of "A Man of Constant Sorrow" was amazing. A real treat.

The next day, many of the menfolk went out with Johnny Miller for a round of golf and then clinic. We womenfolk headed off the the outlet mall! Then that evening there was another lovely dinner with Dan Tyminski again and then a comic doing interpretations of popular music. My favorite was the Doobie Brothers where he sang along without knowing any of the words. Fantastic!

Amongst all of this, I completed my MBA on Monday. I can't believe it is done and that I now have a graduate degree. It feels great and a little strange to not have that responsibility any more. I did have a dream the other night that it turned out that I actually had another class to go and I was late in starting. Why does our brain do that to us?

Overall, I had a really great week. While I was gone, Nathan finally found his coveted Wii and has been killing Nazis ever since. I played baseball with him the other night and my arms still have not completely recovered! Who knew you had to work out to play video games?

When it rains, it pours!

Congratulations to Sister Charlie Fisher, my brother-in-law's amazing girlfriend, who just received her mission call to the Taiwan Taichung mission where she will speak Mandarin. It seems that Jake's campaign of "locking her in" has worked! Victory!!! We are so excited for Charlie, she will be a fantastic missionary. And that brings our count up to three!

These are days...

It has been awhile since I have posted, but it has been for very good reasons. Nathan and I were up in Utah last week to see my brother Simon off at the MTC. I am so proud of him and how grown-up his is now. He just looked so prepared as we said our goodbyes and he headed through the missionary door as we went through the family door. He is going to be amazing. What am I saying? He already is!

It was great to be back at the MTC. I know some missionaries really struggle there - I loved it. It was an experience that I will never forget and walking back into the lobby brought back a flood of wonderful memories. I will admit to tearing up just for being back, but that was quickly disrupted when the sweet little old lady at the door thought that I was Simon's mom. Yeah, thanks. Apparently, I can just bypass having a child altogether and adopt a college freshman instead. Better make it a community college freshman - I ain't made of no bling!

My Boys

I always love it when my family gets together and now that we have little ones again it is even better. I got to hang out with my little boyfriend, Henry, all week and celebrate the coming of my new little boyfriend, Ethan, who will be joining us very soon. It is so amazing watching your siblings become parents. It adds a layer of respect and appreciation to your already incredible relationship. I am so proud of Megan and how she is molding her son, and of Derek and how he is conquering his very valid fears. It's a good feeling to admire your brothers and sister.

I had to fight the elements on both my trip up and back from Utah. It seemed that the north wind was conspiring against me. I had about a two hour delay sitting on the tarmac going up and a three hour delay on the way back so I got home at 2:30 am. My sweet husband stayed up and picked me up at the airport when I could have caught a cab. I've got a great guy. The next day was spent setting up the ward Valentine's party (ah, yes, Nathan and I are on the activites committee now, too) and started to feel a little under the weather that evening. I have spent the last three days out of commission. I mean coughing, sneezing, speaking in tongues, you name it. Fortunately, I feel I have made a turn and am hoping to be up and about tomorrow. Regardless, I am so grateful for last week. I am going to miss Simon so much, but there is nowhere I would rather he be.

Exito, Elder!

NFL EXPERIENCE BABY! WOO!

As everyone in the US knows, the attention of the whole country was pointed at our fair city as Glendale, AZ hosted the show of shows, the Superbowl. Nathan's boss, Nancy, is a football fanatic and she was a volunteer for all of the pre-game events. She brought a pair of tickets for the NFL Football Experience to work and Nathan (shockingly enough) won them in a drawing. So he got off work early and we headed over the the stadium to check out the activities. It was a blast! We wandered around the tents where there were players signing autographs, kids running drills, and memoribilia. We were bummed that we missed Archie Manning hosting the Nerf Quarterback Challenge (no joke) but we were very excited by the monstrous ferris wheel as you can see in the picture below.

Could the evening get any better?

In fact, Nathan was so excited that he kept yelling, "NFL EXPERIENCE BABY! WOO!"


After about twenty of these, this was my reaction.

And then he stopped.


We went over to the tent that was a mini Hall of Fame. We compared Nathan's feet with Edgerrin James' and it turns out the Nate's feet are even bigger than an NFL player's.

We saw Joe Kapp's jersey (this one's for Dad).

Saw a couple of other guys' rookie jerseys and then tried on some of our own.

Since Brett couldn't be there...

Nathan said that for some reason he really wanted to be Tom Brady at that moment.

This one is for Lynn and the fact that she will bare-knuckle brawl with anyone who doesn't agree that the Seahawks were robbed two years ago.

Yes, we got our picture with the Vince Lombardi trophy before Eli did. I guess that makes us the true champions.

Bethany's got back!

So after a few weeks of running, I measured myself to see how much junk I had unloaded from my trunk. In some cruel demonic trick I had actually gained three pounds. The conclusion that I have come to is this...

Running is evil.

So, I have decided to try a different method. I mentioned in a previous post that I am doing a detox diet. Yesterday was my one week mark so I decided it was time to check the hated measurements. I am pretty pleased with the results - I am down 5 lbs. and 7 inches! HOWEVER, not one millimeter was shed from my rear end. Curses! I am not deterred though and I am reluctantly embracing my bootyliciousness. I don't think that even I am ready for this jelly.