I Left My Heart in San Fransisco

Here's a whirlwind picture tour of my visit to the "city by the Bay." Our first stop was Fisherman's Wharf/Pier 39, a must-see for anyone visiting San Francisco, where we walked past a guy swallowing fire. That was interesting to say the least. Of course, on our way over to see the Sea Lions we had to stop and point out Alcatraz. After a rather awkward incident trying to get a guy to take a picture of Meagan and I and having him totally ignore us, we were off to the main attraction. Yep, the Sea Lions.

Ella was thoroughly engrossed and didn't want to leave. Although she seemed a little confused as to why she kept hearing dogs barking and couldn't see anything other than those strange water creatures.

As we walked down the street we had the option to have our pictures taken with a guy dressed up as a dog and his dogs dressed up as guys... we opted to keep walking. We also watched a baker at Boudin's create incredible works of "bread art" including crabs, turtles, bears, and 6 ft long alligators!

After fighting off Seagulls as we ate clam chowder bread bowls for dinner, we headed off to Ghirardelli's for hot fudge sundaes.

Sie schmecken (they tasted great) and as you can see, Benj and Ella thoroughly enjoyed theirs. I must say though, European chocolate is still eleventy-billion times better. :) But, I guess you have to take what you can get.

I also had an opportunity to go with Meagan and visit the Oakland Temple. It was beautiful! Throughout the grounds there are small speakers playing hymns. It was amazing how peaceful it was, especially right in the middle of such a big city.

We took a drive across the Golden Gate Bridge
- what trip to San Francisco would be complete without doing that? As we started out we were reminded by flashing signs to 'drive with extreme caution' because of the 'heavy fog.' Heavy fog was right! You could barely see the bridge while driving across it. However, as we got over to the other side we came out of the fog and everything was so pretty! It was pretty cool to see the bridge disappear into the fog from the other side as well.

On the way home, Ella and I stopped and played at a little park. She had a blast on the swings and enjoyed making music on the garbage can lid, but quickly lost interest when some older boys brought their dogs to the park.

I've never seen a child so excited to see a dog! Most of the
time if a dog comes up and gets in their face they start crying...

Ella just squealed with delight!


I decided that I needed a little more cultural diversity so I took a trip to China.

Chinatown that is. We all went to lunch at the House of Nanking. Although the idea was kind of fun - to tell the chef what kinds of Chinese foods you like and dislike and then have him go make you something - I wasn't terribly impressed with the food. It seems that most people either love it or hate it. It wasn't bad, but it definitely wasn't my favorite either. After 'ordering' though, I was able to go for a walk through the streets of Chinatown. I wish I'd had more time to spend doing that. It was so cool! :) Luckily for me though, I left my purse with Meagan when I left.

This wouldn't be complete without a couple pictures of the darling girls who stole my heart in San Francisco.

Tony Bennett was right - I left my heart in San Francisco.

Back to School

Well, after a long and event filled summer, I'm finally back in school. I've only had four days of classes and already I've had tests and assignments and the promise of presentations next week. Whatever happened to that nice, relaxing first week of class? It's good to be back though. I'm really excited for this semester!

This year I'm living in the Foreign Language Housing, speaking German. That means that I'm required to be home each evening for "house" dinners with all the German speakers. Inside the apartment we are only allowed to speak German. Actually, I'm really excited for it. In the past couple weeks I've already learned/remembered so much! So along with my German class, I'm also taking finance, design, dance, health/wellness, and religion. I also am a TA for one of my design professors. It's definitely a rather busy schedule, but I think it's going to be really fun.

For my last hurrah before heading off to school, I was able to go to San Francisco and visit my "adopted" big sister, Meagan Becker and her family. I had such a blast while I was there! I absolutely loved seeing the way Benj and Meagen interact. They're so cute together! Meagan, as always, was full of tips and pieces of advice, and I learned a lot about parenting. Benj is a wonderful husband to Meagan and a great dad to Ella and Anne. He also inadvertently helped me narrow down my "list of qualities in my future husband." [Although he would narrow it down even further to just one word: Michael] I think if I found someone as amazingly awesome as my Dad and Benj I'd be pretty happy.

Ella and Anne are some of the cutest little girls ever and I love them to death! I think my favorite thing was having Ella wake me up saying, "book, book!" and then run off, only to come back moments later carrying a stack of Dr. Seuss books and a big teddy bear. I think we read "Hop on Pop" and "I can read with my Eyes Shut" at least a couple times every day (not to mention all the others). Anne on the other hand, seems a little more subdued and she is such a doll! I did get to see her smile a few times while I was there, which was so cute! :D

So here's a little thank you to the Beckers for letting me stay with them for a week and play with their kids. I had a wonderful time!

And now, back to pressing matters at hand: Learning German! :)



PS - I'll put up pictures as soon as I can.

A few reasons why I love Montana...

I had the opportunity a little while ago to go for a drive through one of my favorite places in Montana - the Bitterroot Valley. It's so beautiful there! I was reminded of why I love it here so much. Enduring the long, miserably cold winters are more than worth it.









Along with some of the most beautiful mountains, meadows, and fields of wild flowers (perfect for frolicking in), Montana is blessed with amazing thunderstorms and sunsets - two of my favorite things. Summer sunsets provide a vast range of ideas on a giant canvas and a never ending color palate.

Come one, Come all!! It's the National Folk Festival!!!

Need I say more? The National Folk Festival has been around for 70 years... and this is the first time it's been west of the Mississippi!

I was lucky enough to still be "stuck" in Butte this past weekend, so I went uptown to enjoy some of the festival. It was so much fun! It was hard to walk down the street without dancing. There were stages with bands playing all over the place, booths set up selling anything imaginable. The air smelled like grilling meat and kettle corn. Mmmmmm....

It was impossible to see everyone that played, but my two favorite bands were Le Vent du Nord and Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas. The only thing cooler than a band with an accordion is a band with an accordion and either a hurdy gurdy or a rub board! Woo Hoo!!

And the best part.... the Festival will be here for two more years!! So grab your friends and get ready to head up to Montana for a music filled weekend next July!

A chicken with it's head cut off.....

Yep. That's kind of how I feel lately. I've been so busy, but I'm not really sure what all I've been doing either. I guess that's what happens when you're working all the time. However, this summer's been filled with little adventures as well.

In June we took our final family vacation. Well, final in that my sister's starting college next week, so with both of us off at school it's quite a bit harder to get the family together for trips the way we used to. Since we were going to be taking Hannah down to school anyway, we decided to go down to St. George for a week. It was so much fun and so nice to be able to just relax!

While we were down there we visited the Tuacahn Theater (I would definitely recommend it to anyone - visiting that area or not!). The first show we saw was Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables". This is my absolute favorite secular book of all time, so seeing the Operetta was wonderful! It was very exciting. The story is amazing and I've always loved the music as well. Especially the way it has recurring themes throughout the show. I.e.: there are multiple songs that talk of "unrequited love"; each has different lyrics and a different singer, but when you hear that melody, you know what the song's about.

The next show we went to was Rogers and Hammerstein's "The Sound of Music". This story (the movie) has been near and dear to my heart for most of my life. It goes all the way back to when my mom would sing to me as a little munchkin. I can still remember watching The Sound of Music for the first time and hearing "My Favorite Things" and being so excited because "that's the song that mommy sang to me!" After that I would watch the movie religiously and, along with my sister, sing "Do Re Mi" to anyone and everyone that would give me a few seconds' attention. To top it all off, during my semester abroad I had the opportunity to visit Salzburg, Austria... the place where The Sound of Music takes place and was filmed. So, needless to say, I was pretty excited to see the play at the Tuacahn. ...and it was wonderful!

After our fun-filled week in St. George, my dad, brother and I headed back home for work and scout camp. I made it to 3 days of work before heading out on my next adventure: Seattle.

A little before I went to St. George, I received a phone call from an old friend inviting me to be his date for the wedding of a mutual friend. So... after sitting up to all hours of the night on the phone with my favorite person, I got up at 4:30 in the morning to make it to the airport for my 6:00 am flight. (I have my wonderful friend to thank for that one.) After arriving in Seattle, meeting his roommates and giving him a crash course in ballroom dance basics, we headed down to Vancouver (Washington) for the wedding. It was such a blast and I got to see some of my old friends from 5th-9th grade. It's amazing how little some of them had changed. :)

The next day we headed back up to Seattle and made a stop in the little town of Westport. It just so happened that they were having their annual "Pirate Days" celebration. It was so cool! There was a cute little street market selling everything you can imagine, pirate-y and non, "Tug Boat" (along with others) singing pirate songs, and everyone was dressed up as pirates!!! I've always had a secret desire to be a pirate, so this was pretty exciting for me. I even saw a cute little old lady dressed as a pirate riding one of those motorized wheelchairs. I decided that'll be me in about 60 years.

Typical of the Pacific Northwest coast, it was about 58 degrees, cloudy, windy, and cold. Just what I was hoping for. I wandered around looking for seashells until I couldn't contain myself any longer and I kicked off my shoes and ran out into the tide. Then I turned around and ran right back out. It was freezing!! After a few minutes though, I was pretty numb to the cold and I had fun running around, in and out of the waves. Just before we were going to leave I saw a really cool seashell so I bent down to pick it up. I stood up just in time to see a HUGE wave hit me right at the waist. I was pretty wet after that. Luckily I had a change of clothes in the car. It would've been a long, miserable car ride otherwise. We even made it back to Seattle in time to watch people fly kites into the sunset at Gasworks Park. It was just like a scene out of a movie!

My last day in Seattle was spent wandering the streets of downtown Seattle. We visited the Pike Place Market and saw some of the most beautiful flowers and of course, the famous fish toss. And a trip to the market would not be complete without a visit to one of the pastry shops. There was a little Russian pastry shop, Piroshky Piroshky, and everything looked and smelled amazing. It was impossible to walk past without at least stopping to look in the window and enjoying the aroma of freshly baked goodies. We stopped. And bought pastries. And devoured them. They were absolutely delectable! Before heading back to the get my bags and go to the airport, we made a stop at the Sculpture Park. It was, ummm, interesting. I kind of liked some of the sculptures, but they were definitely very different and modern. Very fitting for Seattle.

Before I knew it, I was on an airplane heading back home. And although I only had a few sleep-deprived days there, it was such fun! And as for my big traveling adventures, that's my last one.... until August! :D

Wait, I take that back - It's not snowing. I think the correct term would be blizzarding. Joy. :)

So much for spring...

Well, I guess I got my hopes up a little too soon. It's snowing! It was really nice earlier today, but like the past little while, Mother Nature has been rather deceiving. We didn't get the typical 6-12 inches of snow on 1 April, but I guess all of this is just making up for it. :)

Last week I finished up my entry for a fashion design competition and it felt so good to be drawing and designing things again! I have no idea how I'll do in the competition, but it was fun nonetheless. Now I'll just have to keep up the designing... maybe come up with one new thing every week or two. Now, the trick is making the time for that, and everything else I want to do.

One thing is nice though. This is my last week working one of my jobs! I've been working at a clinic and it has been, well.... interesting. I'd say I have a ton of crazy stories, but unfortunately, everything is confidential. Oh well. I've definitely learned a lot working there, and it's been fun, but it will be so nice to start doing something else. Hopefully something with a better paycheck... :)

Thoughts...

So, lately I've been feeling a little restless here in Butte. After gallivanting around Europe for 4 months, being "stuck" in a town where the hangout [for non-drinkers] is Walmart is not quite my idea of fun. Every so often I think, "to heck with school, I'm buying a ticket back to Europe!" Then my better judgment kicks in [luckily] before I do anything rash. **Here's an interesting fact - the verb "rashen" in German means to rush. I thought that was cool.** But I guess really, you could be "stuck" anywhere - it's not so much being stuck in a small town or something, but actually being stuck in a [negative] state of mind. So now I just have to find ways to stay busy and to do the things I want to. I don't have to live in New York or Paris just to design. I can (and should) do it wherever I am.

Well, along with everything else, I've been doing a little re-evaluation of what I want to do with my life. I'm currently majoring in Interior Design - and I love it, but I'm not completely satisfied. The problem? I love to cook, to bake, to create culinary delights. How to solve this problem? "Go to culinary school!" my chef-friend tells me. Well that sounds wonderful. Actually, it's something I've always wanted to do, but never really thought it was something I could do. Well, phooey on them, because I'm going. I don't know when exactly, and it won't be for a couple years yet, but I'm excited to have finally decided on it.

I decided that what I want to do is finish up and graduate at BYU (as quickly as possible) and then move to New York and attend the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) and complete their Associates program. It's one of the best cooking schools there is, and with world-class chefs coming in from around the world as instructors, it's exactly what I want. ....Now to come up with the money....

On a different note, spring seems to finally be coming in Butte. Slowly, yes, but it's coming! I'm so excited! I think I'm being a little stubborn as well. Anytime the temperature reaches above 38 degrees I roll down my windows when I'm driving (even if it means turning the heat onto my feet so I don't freeze) :) It's so nice to finally have the sun out along with halfway decent weather! I even saw flowers starting to come up the other day!

Success!

Weeks of "devouring" the Food Network's chocolate competitions has finally paid off! Not only have I come up with a rather long list of variations to a chocolate truffle, but I finally made an excellent ganache. Smooth and creamy, yet firm... until you bite into it, that is. Then it just melts in your mouth. Today I opted for a basic dark chocolate and almond ganache rolled in powdered almonds. Mmmmm...
That, along with my portabello mushroom and potato soup creation of last week, I'm feeling pretty confident with where my cooking skills are at right now. I think I'll stick with truffles for a little while right now though - there're still so many flavors to create and I still haven't done anything with a chocolate shell.

Just a note...

So today, I decided I ought to update my blog. I'm still not sure what to do about the title. Seeing as I'm no longer in Europe, I feel that I should probably change it. Any suggestions will be welcomed indeed!

Anyway, I picked this lovely new template and was quite pleased with the way everything looked. Then I visited Liesl's blog. No wonder I liked that template so much. Liesl's already got it. So, I thought about changing it, but I liked this one too much. Oh well.

So Liesl, if you don't like the fact that we're matching, you're gonna have to change this time! :)

Rude Awakening

Have you ever had one of those days where you wake up and something doesn’t feel quite right? You walk down the street and you notice that something feels just a little bit different than what you're used to. Then it hits you. You're not in Europe anymore.

Welcome to my life. It's been over a month, and yet occasionally I'll say something in German before realizing that no one here understands that language. I still have trouble shopping for produce and not looking for the little scale/price machine. And those little wilty bundles of soup vegetables were ever so lovely. Pushing a cart feels rather odd as well.

Something interesting though, is that since being home, I'm noticing things - European-type things - more often. Butte's cool that way. The old buildings with their pediments and ornate decor, the random little pub on the corner, the rooftops of little Victorian-style homes all clumped together. Granted, most people who live here, or come through here say there's nothing to do. I'll have to agree with that for the most part. Unless you're a heavy drinker, your options are: going bowling or going to the movies, or there's always the option to wander through Wal-mart. The thing that a lot of people don't realize is that Butte has a very rich history, and there's actually quite a bit to do. You just have to look.

So that's one of my goals for the next little while. I'm taking a semester off of school and working here at home, so since I'm gonna be here for a while, I may as well make the best of it right? I'm determined to find at least 5 cool things here in Butte. And the refrigerated section of Wal-mart doesn't count. Maybe I'll be able to find some new and different "local cuisine" to sample. I'm already a fan of the pasties, and since I don't drink, I'll have to pass on the beer. I still haven't tried corned beef and cabbage. I'll have to do that - St. Patrick's Day is coming up soon and everyone eats it around that time of year. I've gotta live up to my Irish heritage somehow.

The Death of a Prophet

I'd like to take a moment to remember our beloved President Gordon B. Hinckley. As the leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for the past 12 years, he was able to do many things that he will be greatly remembered for. (for more articles on the recent event go here and here)

Although I have vague memoried of other prophets living and dying when I was younger, President Hinckley has been the prophet during some of the most influential days of my youth. Like many, I came to love the humorus, caring, and all around wonderful man whom the Lord called to be our prophet so many years ago, and I will truly miss him. However, my initial feeling, when hearing the news, was peace.

One of the things that he seemed to focus on during his service, was building temples. Just recently I had the opportunity to attend the open house for the new Temple built in Rexburg, Idaho. Like every other Temple I've had the privilege to be in, or seen pictures of, it was absolutely beautiful. It is amazing the peace that can be felt in these buildings. The fact is that they are so much more than just buildings that makes them so special. Each is dedicated as a house of the Lord Jesus Christ as a place of holiness and peace, where (among other things) one can be sealed to their family for time and all eternity.

It was such a wonderful experience for me to be able to walk through the Temple, especially having a "tour guide" to explain more about Temples, and the one I attended in particular. I would definitely recommend a tour at the open house of whichever Temple is being dedicated next.

A few of the temples that have special meaning to me.