Our 'A' Date!

 A few weeks ago I came across some random post on social media about a married couple who decided to implement "alphabet dating" into their relationship.    Glen and I have been on a lot of dates in our  31-years of marriage, but something about this idea really appealed to me.  I like the idea of giving a "direction" to our dates and perhaps adding in some fun twists too.   The social media post said they started with an 'A' themed date one month, then 'B' for the next month, then 'C', and on and on, and they would alternate who plans the date each month.  

I mentioned the idea to Glen and he was instantly sold and volunteered to plan and implement the inaugural  'A' date! 

The night before the date, he gave me a little itinerary of what he wanted to do, so I'd know what to wear and what our timing looked like.   BUT...when we awakened  the next morning to snow and ice, we had to pivot to a Plan B for our A date.  Haha!  

   I didn't actually take very many pictures during the day, but we had planned to start the day with a long walk outside along a popular birdwatching trail (an Audobon walk), but instead made it an Atrium walk in the mall, where we did several laps around.  

Then we headed to Ambrosial (my favorite gluten free bakery) for a late breakfast...I always eat too much there!  Haha! 

Then we took a little break from our date for me to get my hair done (an appointment I'd made weeks before), which took 5 WHOLE HOURS!!! That meant we had to cut out one of our A activities ( a trip to an Art Gallery)!

But after my hair appointment, we did go to Aubergine for dinner (no pictures) then to Al's Sporting Goods, where Glen insisted that I pick out a new outfit for myself.   I am not much of a shopper and it has been quite a while since I've had a good wardrobe update, so it was fun to pick something out.  

(Don't mind the disheveled bed in the background.  We actually make it up nice every morning, but the dogs jumping on it always makes it a bit of a mess by the end of the day!)

And that was it for the date, except for coming home and watching the live action Aladdin movie while we did our stuff for Sunday.  

I said that was it, but here's one last photo I did want to throw in, since we saw  this goofy sign  while we were driving around town for our date!    I'm relieved to know that there's somewhere safe I can go for my gluten free oil changes now!  Hahaha! 

And that's really it now!   I've already got the date picked out on the calendar and some fun ideas for 'B' percolating in my head for next month.  Feel free to send me your ideas!

HAVE A LOVELY WEEK!   💗

Ellie's Senior Prom!

It was a little bit of a roundabout story to get here {you can read more about it here}, but Ellie had her Senior Prom a couple weeks ago and I wanted to capture it here on the blog. 

I LOVED her dress, although we had a hard time deciding how to describe the color of it to her date.  I think she ended up telling him it was ivory with light pink and blue shimmers.   He went with an ivory tie.    We made the corsage (since all the florists were sold out completely) with a light pink rose. 

She didn't know her date super well, but she ended up having a very fun time. Their group went on a day-date out to brunch and then to Boondocks.  I don't have any pictures of that part of the day, but here they were in the 12-passenger van everyone was picked up in for the evening festivities.  

Ellie has a sweet group of friends and I love how classy they all looked! 

I seriously love all their dresses!  😍

She found out later that this was her date's first-ever date, so that was kind of a cool honor for her.  

It was yet another milestone for her to pass and one step closer to end of her high school days, which included 2 years of homeschooling, 3 new houses, 4 new wards, and 2 years at a wonderful private school, which was perfect for her.  

Now excuse me while I go have an identity crisis about the kids-living-at-home stage of life coming to an end for me!  😓

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Sweethearts Dance for Ellie

When Ellie came home one day and announced that she wanted to go to the girls' choice Sweetheart Dance at her school, I was excited to take her dress shopping!   Not only was I excited that she's starting to find her people after 3 years of being the new girl, but she's my first girl to need a dress in Utah, which meant that we actually had options for finding modest ones off the shelf!  

Here's the beautiful dress she picked out--classy and full of gorgeous details.   

I love that she opted to wear her very comfy (and very cute) Converse, rather than uncomfortable dress shoes that would have made her feet ache.   She's definitely a girl after her Mom's heart in that regard!  

Neither her  or her date drive (thanks to her seizure disorder and her date being a foreign exchange student), so we brought her to the festivities.   I loved that she brought along Denali along to see her off!   :) 

 We weren't there (obviously) for the festivities, but we were happy to see these pictures afterward.  Here she is with her good friends from school.  

They did a painting activity together...

And had dinner, which they all brought something for...

Then they took photos together...

Here she is with her date, Daniel--a very kind foreign exchange student from Cambodia (who speaks English without an accent)...

A good time was had by all... 

And her first girls' choice dance was definitely  a success!   

catch-up part 2 (arranged marriages, temple, etc.)

Not allowing myself to blog about anything else until I finished writing up the details of our trip to NZ has felt weird.        Blogging's been such a big part of my life for so long (8-years now!),  that I had started to feel a little overwhelmed / disconcerted about all the things in our day-to-day that we were missing out on capturing for the blog.  {Yes, I know I'm a little weird that way!}  So now I am really enjoying typing up these two catch-up posts and hoping that they will help me to feel like I can get back to my  normal blogging again.   Here are a few more things that have occupied our time the last few weeks!  

Cami's {potential} future husband came to town--  Over six years ago, I wrote about how we had arranged for  Cami and JT to get married someday.  They haven't seen each other at all in over eight years, but when JT came to town with his high school student government last week, we (especially his dad) connived a way for them to reconnect.   They seemed to genuinely enjoy spending time together and I think things are looking good for a post-mission reconnect  in a few years.   ;) 

Paying taxes--Being married to an accountant, you would think that our taxes would be done in January every year.   Not so.  Tax season is busy and Glen was ahead of the game when he sent them done on  April 13th this year.   And for only the second or third year we actually owed taxes, which is an unpleasantry that I'm still trying to adjust to!   

Youth temple trip (4/15)--One of my favorite parts about serving with the youth, is the opportunity I have to go to the temple with them a couple of times a year.   I love seeing their excitement at being there and it was extra cool this time doing some family names that my Nana had sent for us.   

Cami had a lacrosse game and couldn't be there, but it was great to have Adam, Emma, and Glen there as well! 

Spending time with my Young Women:  It was one of my Laurel's birthdays, so we gathered for an impromptu ice cream party!    These girls are 100,000% awesome and I love teaching and spending time with them.

Anna B., Katy, Alexia, Cami, Rachel, Kelly

Lacrosse dinner at our house (4/16)--When Cami originally told me that she'd invited her whole lacrosse team over for dinner at our house, I was a little hesitant.   I don't mind hosting {occasionally}, but I felt a little sheepish at us {still} not having any living room furniture for anyone to sit on.   With Cami's encouragement though, I got over the hesitancy and planned on making a delicious pasta dinner for them.     Then the night before, Cami sprung on me that because it was an early release day at school, that they were not coming over at normal dinner time that I expected, but at 2:00pm.    Not only was it 4 fewer hours to get ready than I expected, but it was also at the exact same time as a doctor's appointment and right after a dentist appointment.   Suddenly I went from being able to spend the morning cleaning, then cooking a home cooked meal in the evening,  to providing a fine meal of Domino's pizza and Oreos...on the living room floor.     I guess in the end, the change in timing made my day far less stressful, but I think Cami's learned her lesson not to spring those kind of things on me at the last minute anymore.    

Cami's prom (4/17)--I know I did a whole blogpost about prom, but it's worth mentioning here that this day was far more than just about hair curling and dressing up in a fancy dress.  In fact, it was absolutely insane-o from beginning to end .  Rather than recount the day in its entirety, let's just say that it involved a rushed run to the fabric store, a missed orthodontist appointment, a big make up history assignment being  due at noon, at least 75 miles of driving around town and at one point Cami  sprinting on foot down Lee Highway through heavy traffic to pick up the boutonniere (and she still beat me there).   Somehow it all came together though and Cami not only looked beautiful, but she also got 98% on her history assignment, AND had a boutonniere for her date!   

Okay....now that you know far more about the last month than you ever wanted,  I think that I'm finally all caught up.   

Stay tuned for my regular (non-travelogue / super boring) programming...

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Worst Date Ever

Mr. BM (actual initials) did not see what was coming, when he invited nice little Lara on a date to go golfing with him.

While I had never been golfing before (other than putt-putting), I was actually pretty excited about it.  Golfing doesn't look that hard when you watch the pros do it on television and I thought it would actually be a really nice way to walk and talk and get to know someone.

It would have been hard  for anyone to envision that a mere two minutes into our date, though, that Mr. BM would be flat on his back, eyes glazed over, and completely unconscious.  

  I had swung with exuberance thinking I was swinging just like the pros on tv, but apparently my form was a bit off.   And he was standing too close to me.  I had knocked him out cold with my very first swing of the club.

 People rushed from everywhere to offer assistance while I just hung back feeling rather sheepish! Thankfully he was only out for a minute or two and seemed dazed, but okay afterward.   Even without lasting injury, for some reason Mr. BM did not take my unintentional assault very well and he completely avoided me ever after that day.

Except for the one time he came to visit me at work a couple of years later, after I was married to Glen,  to randomly show me his new brain surgery scar, that so happened to be on the same side of his head as where the golf club had hit him.

He didn't say that it had anything to do with me (and to my credit,  it was a couple of years later), but still I've always wondered….

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So, can anyone top that for a worst date ever?   If so, I'd love to hear about it!