Adam's Summer Update

Alright, alright...we're off to blogpost #2 in our person-by-person update series here on the blog.  This post will be catching us up on what our Adam is doing!  As is usual with my kids, he doesn't sit still often, so it's been a busy summer for him.

Here are the bare-bones basics of what he's up to, then I'll add a little more detail about each below that: 

1-He's currently taking a spring class
2-He's currently working full-time at the FSY office on campus
3-He has two side gigs, in addition to his full-time job
4-He's been really into hiking lately. 

1- He's currently taking a spring class.  

So, he officially declared his major as "computer engineering" this past year, which he realized is a long major, and would require him taking spring/summer classes just to stay on a 5-year graduation plan!   This spring he opted to take a psychology class that would fulfill a general education requirement.  He had taken an AP psych class back in our homeschool co-op, so  he didn't find the course material very hard, but he was dismayed to find out upon opening the syllabus for the first time, that this class would require 13 written papers during the course of the 6-week condensed spring schedule.  Paper writing is not his favorite thing, but he has officially completed his coursework now and should be completely done with it all  in the next few days.   Hallelujah for him! 

2-He's currently working full-time at the FSY office on campus.

FSY is a HUGE employer of BYU students in the summertime and they recruit pretty hard in the Provo area.  I would say close to a quarter of our YSA ward has some kind of employment through FSY this summer.  Adam had worked as an FSY counselor before his mission and was applying to be a session coordinator for this summer.  He ended up getting hired as an assistant coordinator, before being offered his current job, which is logistics specialist for the Provo sessions.  It was exactly what he was looking for...part-time and flexible during the school year and full-time during the summer.   It's definitely stretched him in good ways (like becoming proficient at spreadsheets) and is giving him a good boost on paying his own rent this upcoming school year!    He gets to work with some great people and he likes knowing he is a part of something that is making a difference! 

3-He has two side gigs, in addition to his full-time job

He didn't get his FSY job until winter semester, so to  earn money for groceries and other incidentals, he started donating plasma during fall semester.  There's a donation center not far from his apartment and he found that donating didn't affect how he felt, so he's been a very regular donor for several months now.  I personally find the whole process fascinating.  I've been a regular blood donor for 35ish years now, but have never been paid a cent for it.  It's wild that there's enough of a market for plasma that they can pay that generously.   

His second side gig is one that he's just recently taken up.   He's always appreciated a good pair of Nike shoes in his wardrobe and was definitely hoping to someday serve near the Nike headquarters while he was on his mission in Portland, but that never happened.   But, he has since discovered that if you can buy a pair of just-dropped limited edition Nike shoes, you can turn around and sell them at a good profit.   He's just figuring out all the ins and the outs of it right now, but he recently sold his first pair at nearly double what he paid for them!   

On his way to the post office to ship his first sold pair

   Nike doesn't release very many pairs of the limited edition shoes, so it's a bit of a crapshoot on whether you can get your hands  on a pair (and one pair of a design is all they allow), but he has since procured two more pairs that he anticipates will also sell for a hefty profit.  I think he's enjoying this new side gig a little more than the plasma donating one.  

4-He's been really into hiking lately.  

Between his full-time work and his fast-paced spring class, his summer schedule has not left a lot of free time on his hands, but  something that he is prioritizing this spring is hiking in the mountains on Saturdays.   I say I like to hike too, but not like his hiking.   His type of hiking is 10-12 mile hikes up  in the mountains with a few thousand feet in elevation gain!   He usually hikes alone, because he doesn't know anyone who wants to hike that intensely, plus, as I previously mentioned, many of his friends are off on FSY adventures in other cities.   Glen did join him on one recent voyage though...

When he's alone, we have a system, where he tells us where he's hiking and he checks in  along the way, so we know he's safe.  Surprisingly, he has found that he has reasonably good coverage on most of the trails...even high up in the mountains.    He did injure himself one time, which caught him unprepared...

But he now carries a first-aid kit with him, along with a boatload of water!  

So far he's hiked Big Baldy Loop, Provo Peak, Khyv Peak, Battle Creek Loop, Lake Hardy, and some other smaller ones... 

We love finding all these amazing pics in the camera roll... 

And we love that it exhilarates him!  It clearly is something he very much enjoys and we live in a great area to explore the outdoors.   

Okay, these are the main things keeping him busy right now, but I thought I'd throw in a bonus item for your enjoyment!  

BONUS ITEM:   He recently allowed his head to be shaved as part of his calling!  

He's the Institute rep for his YSA ward.   You've probably have never heard of that calling before, but in a BYU ward, it's actually a pretty big deal.   I didn't really know how big of a deal until we started serving in our own YSA ward a couple months ago, but let's just say that it's quite the weekly social event, they get amazing teachers for it, and the biggest chunk of the stake budget goes to providing food at Institute each week.  President Nelson (our modern day prophet) has given some amazing promises at how participating in Institute will bless lives and Adam's calling requires participating in ward council,  attending and helping at institute each week, and HYPING it up, so people actually come.   

Right at the end of winter semester, somehow the promise was made (with the help of a friend) that if his ward's attendance reached a certain threshold at Institute that week, that he'd allowed his head to be shaved.   They exceeded that threshold (by a good deal more than they'd had there all school year) and his head was shaved!   

I don't think he actually likes his hair being that short, but he took it all in good stride, and decided it was worth it for the cause!    His hair is growing back nicely now...

******************

Stay tuned for more updates in the series coming soon...

******************

Fall Splendor

Fall has always felt like a time of new beginnings for me, even more so than the actual beginning of a new year. I think it partially has to do with the fact that the advent of a new school year generally brings with it a new schedule to work around, which gives me the opportunity to re-establish good habits that I often let fall by the wayside in the summertime, but that's definitely not all of it.     

I love all the seasons for different reasons (except maybe winter, which I only tolerate), but I think fall might just be my favorite.    I  really, really love the glorious fall weather when I can turn the AC off, but before I have to turn the heat on.   And the beauty of the earth as it enters into the autumn-mode is an absolute delight to my senses. 

Last week we decided we needed to take a drive into the mountains and see the aspens in their peak colorful beauty. 

An East Coast tree cover it is not....

but I do have to say that Utah did pretty well for itself this fall. 

The beauty took my breath away and I wished I could freeze the change of seasons right here and make it last another month or two...

 But  I already turned my heat on this week...and  took my morning walk in  brisk sub-freezing temps today...and noticed that the snow in the mountains isn't melting right away....I was reminded that winter is on its way.  

And it's probably not that far off. 😐

 

 

Trek to Albion Basin

 Ask me how I like Utah and I'll definitely give you a mixed reaction.  There are a lot of things I love about living here (more on those later), but there are also A LOT of things I miss.   I miss trees and songbirds in my backyard.  I miss humidity (yes, really!).  But mostly I miss being known.  I miss someone asking me how my older kids are doing (and actually caring).  I miss someone knowing that I like to do something and asking me to help them with it.  I miss people asking me for that one recipe. And I miss people knowing a little of my story. 

We've been here a year now and I very much still feel like the invisible woman.  People are so nice to me when they see me, but NO ONE seems to have any interest in having anything to do with me other than those built in times when they see me anyway.  My true friends are the ones I made in Virginia  or to a lesser extent, in Pennsylvania.  Starting my own book group, attending YW camp,  and reaching out to people have helped the cause a little, but I never feel truly seen or known unless I'm with an old friend. 

Alas, I cannot deny all the spiritual impressions that landed us here.  I KNOW 1000% that we are exactly where we are supposed to be right now, but, to be totally honest, moving 3 times in 2 years (and 4 different wards) has been more difficult than I imagined.   And if that kind of adjustment wasn't hard enough, throw into the picture my Dad dying, and I have to admit that I often feel pretty lonely.  Thank goodness for having a full house the last month or two, which has distracted me from the loneliness a bit.  

 So, enough about my woes...there are a few things I love about Utah.  For one, I love that Ellie has access to the perfect school for her.  After so many years of homeschool, there wouldn't have been too many places I'd feel comfortable sending her, but her school is exactly what she needed.  I feel like that is one of the reasons we needed to be here.    I also love living close to family.  I had no idea my Dad had cancer when Glen accepted the job here, but it's very clear that we were very needed here over the last year and I'm grateful to have been able to spend so much time with my parents through my Dad's final days.  I also love living closer to my college kids.  Instead of seeing them only at Christmas and summer breaks, we get to see them a couple times a month.  And I get to meet their friends, which is a huge blessing.    

I also love the cool mornings and open vistas.  I do miss the thick covering of trees of the East, but there is something pretty spectacular about a Utah sunset streaking the sky with golds, pinks, and purples...and actually being able to see a clear view of it {instead of peeking out through the trees}.  

A few weeks ago we decided to trek up to Albion Basin to see the infamous wildflowers and Cecret Lake.

What can I say?  

WOW!  WOW! WOW! 

We got off to a later start than we wanted (thanks to a super long line at the admission gate), but being there at sunset was a sight I'll never forget!

If it were a little closer to home, I might be tempted to head up there every night for sunset! 

Have I mentioned how much I absolutely love wildflowers?   There's something about their  effortless beauty dotting the landscape and blooming where they landed that just makes me happy.  I guess I could try to be a little more like a wildflower, and try to bloom into my best self right here in Alpine.  I feel like I'm still breaking through the rocky ground and finding my place, but I have faith that I will find my spot eventually! 

Speaking of the joys of Utah...we saw a mama moose and her baby near the parking lot. 

And Ellie may have shed an actual tear when we saw this cute little porcupine cross our path on the way home. 

How's that for an entry into her baby book?   First wild porcupine sighting:  July 2022

Thanks for reading my free therapy session!   Have an amazing day! 

Sick in Switzerland

May 20:  After a disappointing and tiring finish to our day yesterday in Lucerne, we were more than a little excited to wake up to this glorious alpine view just outside our cabin in Emmetten, Switzerland.

I woke up early and took a gazillion pictures of the lovely mountainside surroundings...

The kids were fascinated that we looked like we were higher than the clouds sometimes....

<sigh>   isn't it lovely? 

Ellie woke up feeling  ill, so it took a little longer than we would have preferred to get out the door, but I didn't mind the extra time to enjoy the view....

At my dad's suggestion, we drove through Brienz (look for another blogpost on Brienz coming soon)....

and then onto Interlaken.

Interlaken was much more the charming little Swiss town that we were hoping for when we went to Lucerne and we very much enjoyed taking in the lovely alpine surroundings.

Too bad that Ellie was reallllllllllllly dragging by this point and we didn't get to explore quite as much as we'd hoped.    She vomited at lunchtime and was now officially full-blown sick

 Luckily for Ellie, it was a day with a lot more driving than walking.   After Interlaken, we headed to the Swiss temple in Zollikofen.

Then we crossed the border and headed to the mission home in Lyon, where Cami will be serving her mission in a couple of months.

It was evening time, so no one was in the office, but it was great to see a glimpse of where she'd be serving!

We walked around Lyon for a bit and found the famous Notre Dame of Lyon high up on a hilltop overlooking the city.  

Lyon was a bigger town than we expected...

and we loved visiting the place that will someday be a place that is near and dear to her heart!

After exploring for a bit more, we headed to our hotel, where Ellie and I chilled (and eventually slept) while everyone else went out in search of dinner.  

Other than Ellie being sick, it was a great day!

***************************

Italy to Germany

May 18:  We woke up first thing this morning, checked out of our apartment,  and headed to the La Spezia train station.  After a tad bit of frustration figuring out all the details, we eventually purchased train tickets to Munich, Germany for the 6 of us.

We had to switch trains twice and  overall it was a long day (about 10 hours) ....

during which we slept, read....

and enjoyed the very  beautiful scenery.

Our neighbors on the train probably thought we were  a tad geeky, because we couldn't stop taking pictures out of the windows of the moving train!

We decided that we definitely need to come back to Austria someday!

We oohed and ahed over the scenery all the way to Munich, where we picked up a rental car and headed onto the next leg of our journey!  

But not before enjoying one of our favorite meals of the whole trip at a restaurant called Limani!

It was a pain to get to the restaurant in our beast of a rental car, but the mediterranean food was delicious (and not overly expensive) and the servers were friendly and welcoming.    We would definitely go back if we ever visit Munich again!

*************************