The Blogpost Wherein Lara Seals Herself into Nerdiness Lore

Q.  Nerdiness lore?  What's that?  

It's that blogpost wherein Lara inexplicably refers to herself in third person and does a FAQ where she both asks  and answers her own questions, which means if you all thought she was nerdy before, now you have it confirmed.  This post will probably get referenced in future editions of the Webster online dictionary when you search the word, "nerdiness".    

Q.  Why would she do such a thing?  

Because she's been up since 5:00am (for an airport run), has barely stopped moving for an entire month, and would rather blog than be productive.  

Q.  So, what's going on to make life busy enough that would make her want to  write such an incriminating blogpost?  

As mentioned in the most recent blogpost here on this very illustrious blog, she's hosted a whole lot of guests, had 40 gazillion things on her to-do list, gone out of town for 10 days (blogpost to come), and is in the throes of preparing her third talk in five months to be delivered tomorrow.   Also, Glen got called to be Bishop of a BYU YSA ward last week, so there's that too.     

Q.  That is a lot.  How does she feel about it all?   
   
Happy to have made a lot of happy memories this summer.

Lukewarm on giving yet another talk in church. 

Terrified about the time this new calling will entail, as well as the physical and mental energy that will be required.    

Super excited to get to know and love another whole  ward  (yes, a different ward than they'd been serving in the last few months).   

And super intimidated about learning 180 new names and trying to love them all unconditionally.

Q. How do they feel about hanging out in Provo so much?  

Mostly great.  It is more late nights and driving back and forth than they're used to, but they're really hoping that their service will continue to be meaningful to both them and the people they'll be serving.  

Q.  What scripture keeps coming to their minds during all this?  

The parable of the loaves and the fishes.   In many ways, this is a calling that require more of them than they have to give, so they are taking heart in knowing that the Lord can multiply their efforts, however paltry they may be, and make it enough.     



And here's the big question I know that's really burning on all your minds...

Q.  Will she have time to continue updating this blog regularly?  

Heck, yes!   She will make the time...

This picture, taken in Oregon, was to commemorate their last Sunday of sitting together in church for a while

Summer Update on Glen!

I recently did a whole series on what my family is up to this summer and never got to Glen, so here is his update... (Other updates can be found here...   Ellie,   Adam, Emma,  Cami , Spencer)

Glen had a birthday in June and Emma made him this beautiful cake!   

White chocolate raspberry is one of his favorite flavor combinations and it was quite tasty!   

Most of my family are big Brandon Sanderson fans and Glen is no exception.  He doesn't have a lot of spare time for reading currently, so it took him a good 6 months to get through his latest, "Wind and Truth."  Glen was very proud and happy to finish up that 1500 page tome!  

Back in mid-June, Glen's family had an impromptu family reunion in Colorado!  His parents are both in failing health and when his family realized that a couple of the out of town siblings were going to be there at the same time, they decided to make it an official gathering and see if they could get the whole crew at once.   Most of his five siblings don't love to travel, so it had been 7 years since the last time they were all together and there was no way Glen was going to miss that!  He flew straight from a business trip in San Diego to Colorado for approximately 36 hours.  

They spent time at both their Mom's and Dad's homes...

And even recreated this iconic G family pyramid picture...old person style!   

Here's a grandkid version of it from the early 2000's.   

It sounded like the trip was a great experience and a joy for them to be all together again.  

In addition to the work and church stuff that keeps him busy on a day -to -day basis, he also still loves to fish, play Magic the Gathering with Spence and Adam (and Garrett when he's in town), go golfing when he's got a buddy to play with, play disc golf with Spence, and play Pokemon Go.  He's been playing Pokemon Go long enough that he's reached the top level and is basically an expert.   He also walks with me most mornings, which is a habit/tradition that I love...time to connect and exercise together at the same time!  

Glen's a good one and I'm glad he's mine!  

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Spencer's Summer Update

Hello, friends!  Welcome back for the next installment in our series of  What Our Family is Up To where I go person by person and give a little update on what our family is doing this summer.  You can see previous updates  here:  
 Ellie
 Adam
 Emma 
 Cami 

...and if I get my act together, I'll do updates on Glen and I soon too, but in the meantime, here's SPENCER!   

NOTE:  Spencer has not outgrown his aversion to picture taking, so his update will be less pictorial than the rest.   

  For the last couple years Spence had been working as a relationship banker at a local branch of a big bank, which gave him some great experience and proved to be a  confidence booster for him. However it did not prove to be as upwardly mobile as promised when he was hired and he did not enjoy getting shuffled around to work at several different local branches, despite being hired to work at the branch 5 minutes from home.  

Eventually, he decided it was time for a change and he quickly found a job in a related field, but not before winning a prestigious performance award at his old job.   The reaction of his soon-to-be former manager when he found out about the award confirmed to him that he'd made the right decision by leaving.  

His new job seems very promising.  Not only have most of his co-workers worked there many years (which seems like a good sign), but part of the training is helping him receive licensing and certification that will increase his earning potential and future marketability, wherever he works.   He also enjoys working from home every-other-week, so the longer commute is less of a factor than it would otherwise be.   

The last couple of years he's gotten a few tattoos--each of which has special meaning to him.  

In addition to being busy with a new job, Spence has been enjoying the long hours of daylight by taking Kiwi out on long walks most days.  He still loves to read, listen to podcasts, play disc-golf, rock-climb at the gym, and play Magic the Gathering whenever he can talk Glen and/or Adam into joining him!   

His health remains good and we enjoy having him live close! 

Cam's Big Summer Update

Alright, here we go with the next installment in our series of  What Our Family is Up To where I go person by person and give a little update on what we're all doing this summer.  You can see previous updates on Ellie, Adam, and Emma here and more will be coming soon.     This update is the only one that will feature more than one person, since Cami now has a couple cute little attachments (and a tall handsome one) that come along with her on her life adventures!  

Speaking of cute little family members, I guess I'll start off with the family pictures they had taken in May.  They were taken by a photographer friend of theirs on the grounds of the apartment complex they've lived in the last 3 years (Tributary Rise).  They turned out quite adorably if you ask me and it's fun that the photos captured a glimpse of the place that they've grown to love so much!   

 Next, I'll get on to the biggest family update of all...

 In June, Garrett finished up his internal medicine residency at the University of Alabama - Birmingham and Cami worked her last day as a nurse at Children's of Alabama and they packed up their apartment and moved approximately 1200 miles northeast for Garrett's fellowship at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.   

The moving crew consisted of 5 full-time missionaries, Garrett's parents, and of course Cami and Garrett...

And Lucie and Oliver...

Sadly, Rhode Island is approximately 500 miles further away from us, but I am happy to report that plane tickets there are cheaper and more plentiful than they were to Birmingham, so we are taking that as a win!  

Plus their state bird is a chicken, so that's fun... 😆

They took three days to drive to Rhode Island, hitting a new state along the way (South Carolina), visited Garrett's sister Ashley and family in North Carolina, and spent a night in Virginia where they visited the house we raised our family in...

and visited with AnnaLisa and Tim where Lucie and Oliver apparently charmed the socks off them and quite enjoyed playing with Tim's cat, Ash...

Then on Monday, they rolled up to the house they'll likely be living in for the next 3 years!   It's old and doesn't have AC or a dishwasher, but after apartment living for the last several years, they're excited to have a little room to run around!   

In the meantime, Oliver started walking (finally!) and Lucie is really excited to make new friends.   I was also quite delighted with Lucie's reaction (shown above) when she received her first postcard from me in their new mailbox.   She didn't realize that postcards could come to Rhode Island too!   Each new discovery of something familiar in Rhode Island (like a farm, Lifetime Fitness, primary, etc), makes her happy!

Now, I am eagerly trying to figure out when I can come visit  my favorite  new New Englanders!   

Update On Our Emma Girl

Hello, friends!   I know you've been waiting on pins and needles for the next update in our summer  series about what everyone's doing in our family, so I'm here to give you what you came here for...the update on our Emma girl!  As you all know, she's had a very eventful couple months and if you need a reminder about why it's been eventful, check out here to read about her recent graduation from BYU and here to read about her injury and subsequent surgery.   

  Here's Emma's update:  

1. Update on her broken collarbone/ surgery/recovery 
Emma's got a fiercely independent streak and I think the hardest part of her injury has been not being able to do everything herself.  There are just things that she can't do one-armed (including drive), which means that she's had to open up and accept help from those around her.   Her roommates and Adam have been very helpful to her and we are grateful for them.   

Weekly grocery trips with Adam have become a tradition

 Though I know well that a collarbone break is a painful injury (I broke mine when I was 9), she was determined to be off any and all painkillers within a couple days of her injury and subsequent surgery...including Tylenol and ibuprofen!   She still wears the sling full-time, but does have a few movement exercises that she's begun.   Her 4-week post-up appointment was earlier today and she is set to start physical therapy now, which she's hoping will mean that she'll be able to drive soon.

Her x-ray from today showed good healing! 

   The day of the triathlon she was training for when this injury occurred was this past weekend.  I think that that day was met with a little disappointment on her part, but, all in all, she is taking the change of plans for her last summer in Provo in good stride.  

2. Trip to LA and Disney
  FIVE days after her surgery (with the doctor's permission), Emma and her friends went on a long planned for graduation trip to Los Angeles together.   They explored a lot of iconic LA area sites, including Disneyland, Ghirardelli, Griffiths Observatory, Hollywood, the LaBrea Tar Pits, and the Getty Museum.   I was honestly pretty nervous about the whole trip and didn't breathe easy until she arrived back home unscathed.  I worried that she would overdo it, wouldn't be able to sleep well, and/or that she'd re-injure herself on some Disney ride...but thankfully none of the worst of my worries came to fruition.   I think she likely did overdo it a little, but the joy it brought her was worth any extra fatigue that may have resulted.  

3. Activities with friends
Emma has a great group of friends and it's fun to see what creative activities they came up with.  They've done flower arranging, game nights, have regular tea parties, field trips to local sites, and most recently decided to hold  their own  "Great British Bake-Off".  They put Emma on judging, since her mobility is limited, and she took her role seriously enough that she started brushing up on her British accent for the occasion!  The pictures and videos in our shared camera roll crack me up  and it sounds like a good time was had by all!   

4.  Church callings  
She's been serving in the stake RS presidency for the last year or so in her BYU stake, which has been a busy, but deeply fulfilling calling for her.  When we got our calling to serve in her same BYU stake, we quickly realized how loved and known she was, as we are still often referred to as  "Emma's parents," rather than by our names!    She is  known for being reliable  and organized  and we are fairly certain our association with her is  how our names got on "the list" for the calling in the first place.   In addition to her calling within the stake, she also has a weekly shift volunteering at the Provo City Center Temple.  One of her biggest concerns after her injury was whether she'd still be able to do her temple shift and how attending the temple would go without the use of an arm.  Neither has proven to be an issue with her injury and she has not missed a shift due to her injury.  

Her "team" at church! 

5. Moving onward...
Emma is moving to Rhode Island in about a month to work, to help with Cam's kiddos, and to figure out what she wants to do next!  Perhaps grad school...perhaps not!   Time will tell, and in the meantime, we are going to really, really, really miss her around here!   

The doggos have really enjoyed having her around a little extra lately.

Stay tuned for more family updates coming soon...

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...

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

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Our Hermanita (Ellie) Update

Hello, hello!   I hope you all are having a wonderful June!   I'm here on the blog today to start  a person-by-person series of blogposts, because it feels like there's a lot happening amongst our family members right now...way too much for one long blogpost!     I figure I will start with the youngest first...

Ellie hits her 6-month mark on her mission next week, which is kind of wild to me!   As per usual with my missionaries, it's gone incredibly slow, yet incredibly fast at the same time.  Thankfully, she seems very happy and, from our perspective, the Spanish seems to be coming along well and doesn't  stress her out too much.   

She served in the same area (Oxnard) for her first three transfers and just got moved to a new area (Santa Barbara) this past week.  We haven't even talked to her yet, so we have no idea what she thinks of her new area and new companion.  She's really loved her first few companions, though, so we are hoping this next one will be good for her too.  

Her  mission hugs the coast of California just north of Los Angeles, so I imagine that most of her areas (if not all) will have Pacific beaches in them.  As full-time missionaries, they obviously can't get anywhere near the water, but  sometimes on p-days they go down to look at the beach from whatever safe distance falls within mission rules.  They like looking for dolphins and seals, and just feeling the ocean breeze on their skin.  I think Ellie really enjoys this proximity to the beach, even if she can't fully appreciate it at this stage!  

On p-days, her district usually plays pickleball, volleyball, or basketball, but occasionally they go thrifting.  She's never been a huge sports player, but she really likes expanding her wardrobe in the bargain bin at the thrift store!  It sounds like they also do a fair bit of trading outfits among the other missionaries and  I have to laugh at how few of her clothing items I recognize in her photos.  😂

These three girls have been Ellie's roommates and also have become her good friends.  She was a little sad when Hermana P and Hermana W got moved to their own apartment this past transfer, but they were still in the same ward and area, so they happily still got to see each other regularly.

LEFT TO RIGHT:  Hermana P, Hermana W, Hermana C, and our sweet Hermanita!

There's currently a lot of stress among the Hispanic people in her area, but she is finding great joy in serving them and sharing the gospel with them.  So far, none of the riots have spread to where she's at, though there have been protests in her new area.  

We are so incredibly proud of our Hermanita's decision to serve a mission and share her light with the people of California.   She has hard days, but we know she is making this world a better place...one day, one person at a time!   

Being Real

 I had grand expectations of coming home from our trip in November and getting right back "into the swing of things" with life.   I'd quickly reestablish my exercise and scripture study routine.  I'd get the house all decked out for Christmas.  I'd jump right on Christmas shopping and getting our cards designed and out the door. I'd leave my vacation eating habits in the dust and happily start cooking well-rounded meals again.  Heck, I'd probably even get a few books read, some neighbor gifts made, and some blogging done too.  😂

Lucie reacts to my grand dreams of productivity...

  I'm not quite sure why I thought that coming straight off a trip and directly into the holidays would be conducive to getting back to it,  but fast forward a month and I'm here to say that I am nowhere near the swing of things.  In fact, I am pretty sure my brain might still be in the middle of the Sahara desert somewhere.  Probably being chewed on by a camel, based on how I'm functioning currently.  

Not only do I keep catching random bugs (3 in 6 weeks, 2 of them directly from Lucie) keeping me on the tired and rundown side,

but our dishwasher is broken (dishes by hand are not my favorite chore), our car is unreliable (see this post for the story), my phone had to be repaired, I missed my flight home from Alabama (thanks to super long security lines), my house still hasn't recovered from  our weeks away, the Christmas decorations look like I had 4 people randomly throw them up onto the shelves (probably because that's exactly what I did),   I am stress eating like I haven't done in years, I'm still not exercising regularly, and I've barely even made a dent on Christmas shopping.   

On the bright side, though, I did finally start getting our Christmas cards out the door today.  #priorities

Oh, and we  hosted the missionaries (who still wanted to come despite Glen and I both being sick),

rented a car and picked up Ellie from Rexburg who is off-track for winter semester...

and sent off Adam's Christmas package (it was due on the 15th, so this was verrrrrrrry last minute)... 

-- all that within 24 hours of me returning home from Alabama a day later than expected and still being sick.  So, yay me. 

I think I've gotten to the point now that  I just have to accept that this will be a Christmas where I just need to prioritize sleep ( so I can stop getting sick) and taking care my mental health (which always suffers during the wintertime).  The state of the house will be what it will be and everyone will have Christmas presents of some sort or another.   It will be far from perfect, but we will have 3 of our 5 kids here,  and it will  all be good!  

Speaking of mental health, every time I start to get a little discouraged about yet another load of dishes to do by hand or by the number of things on my to-do list, I look back at these photos from my week plus an extra day in Alabama (December 2-10) and it's hard not to smile.    Lucie may have given me her cold, but it was worth it for the snuggles, storytimes, giggles, and time with her Mommy and Daddy too. 

 

I LOVE being a Gigi!

Next time I see them, they'll have a new little one to snuggle too.   I can't wait. 

Merry Christmas! 
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