UNM Parish LibraryI am now in my second week of school. It has definitely been an adjustment with getting back into school mode. My classes are Mon-Thurs, almost all of them in the evenings, which throws my schedule off a bit since I am use to studying at night and spending the evenings with Ryan.
Parking is atrocious! Maybe it's because of my sense of entitlement, but I would think that there would be privileges for grad students since: a) we already have survived undergrad, b) we are considered as the "seniors" of the school--seniority rights, c) we pay more money for grad student tuition!!!
Starting in a new school has been a surprise too. Wandering around looking for classrooms/buildings, not knowing people, not knowing the "insider" hints in making school life easier...guess that just comes with being a "UNM transplant".
But enough of the gripes. Overall, I think this will be a great experience and that not only will I learn about the subject matter, but also about myself.
I know a lot of people have been posting their kids' first day of school pics, and my friend joked about me doing one, but I decided to post a pic of something that will endure the next few years of classes with me:
Ryan and I went to Oregon for my brother's wedding. This was our first time in Oregon, so we went a few days before the celebration to explore.
The happy couple:
They actually got married on our anniversary, so here's a little tribute to 3 wonderful years and plenty more to eternity :)
Thanks to my wonderful friend, MyLyn, I finally found a hair stylist here in ABQ! Since then, I had waited to get my hair cut each time we went up to Utah. So yesterday afternoon, I took the plunge and not only tried out a new hair salon, but also a new "do". I haven't had short hair since my last few years of college. I just let my hair stylist work her magic and--voila! Here's the results:
Before: About a month ago
For the 4th of July weekend, we ventured south to further discover why New Mexico is considered to be the "land of enchantment". We stopped by the famous (or infamous if you have a fear of UFOs ) city of Roswell. I loved the UFO streetlights: 
We visited the International UFO Museum and Research Center. Sadly, there wasn't much there and this was the only "UFO" we saw.
After our quick visit to Roswell, we headed off to Carlsbad, NM to visit the Carlsbad Caverns. We watched a massive, ominous dark cloud of thousands of bats swarm out of the cave's mouth for their evening bat flight. (no pics since bat hearing is ultra-sensitive)
The next day was spent in the cave. If you have the following phobias, this trip might be a bit tough:
I am officially a new Lobo (translation: Going to grad school at University of New Mexico in August)! I got my acceptance letter in the mail and was surprised how thin the envelope was. Back in the day (am I really getting that old?), I remember the difference between acceptance/rejection letters was dependent on the size of the letter--the bigger the better. So for a brief moment as I was opening the letter from UNM, I was a tiny bit worried, but relieved with the results! I registered for classes today and I am anxiously awaiting the start of a new schoolyear. It has been a while since I set foot in a classroom setting, but I look forward to the learning aspect of it. Doesn't courses like Operations Management, Organizational Behavioral, and Ethics, Politics, Social and Legal Environment of Business sound like fun??? ;) 
Last weekend, Ryan and I had the opportunity to participate in the Stake Youth Trek. This is a mini reenactment of what the Mormon Pioneers had to go through as they crossed the plains to Salt Lake City.
When we were first asked, I was very hesitant to go since I have never gone camping (Girls Camp in Florida was in cabins). The thought of no showers/facilities sounded like torture for a neat-freak/germaphobe like me.
But surprisingly, the experience was much better than expected--it was truly an amazing and uplifting experience. We were "Ma and Pa Jamison" for a group of 9 youth ranging from 12-17 yrs old. We went up to the Jemez and hiked a little over 12 miles on Thursday hauling 400+lb handcarts while wearing pioneer attire. There were some pretty steep areas along the way, but with trek family unity and wonderful leaders and many prayers and words of encouragement, we were able to complete the trek.
I must say that one of the most incredible experiences during the trek was the woman's pull. Along the way, there was a segment of the trek where the boys in the group were tapped out of pulling the handcart, leaving the women to pull on their own. This represented the time when all the men had to leave and join the Mormon Batallion, leaving the women, children, and elderly to continue the journey on their own. I know that when I was pulling the cart with the 4 other young women, I thought we were not going to make it up and over the hills. There were times when our cart was moving backwards as we climbed uphill and felt like we just didn't have enough strength to go on. With much faith and many prayers, we were able to make it to the next section of the trek. From the men's perspective, I know that Ryan and the young men in our group said that it was so painful to see us struggle without being able to help and do anything about it.
Having this experience made us realize the great sacrifices that the pioneers had to go through on both sides--the men seeing how difficult it was to leave their women/children and see them struggle on their own, and the women realizing that they must rely on each other and to have the faith, strength, and courage to overcome obstacles. We were able to talk about the experience with our trek family and the youth talked about the importance of families.
On Friday, we were able to have a day of pioneer activities. It was a day to relax and re-cooperate from the previous day. That evening we had a fireside with talks given by a few of the youth and the Stake Presidency. We ended the evening off with family home evening held within our trek family. Our youth shared their testimonies and it was so uplifting to hear their thoughts and impressions from this experience.
Saturday was our day to go home! We packed up camp and loaded up our handcarts and walked about 2 miles out to the main road. Everyone was in good spirits knowing that hot showers and civilization was awaiting. Overall, it was an incredible experience for all. There were many lessons taught and learned during the trek. I think some things that really impressed upon my mind were:
After a month's hiatus from blogging, it is finally time to catch up with all the events in our lives! So here it goes:
At the end of April, I was able to attend my brother, Jeff's, graduation. It was nice to go back to the ol' BYU Cougars stomping grounds.
Me and the Graduate
Much needed R&R
Loving the sand and sun
An approaching storm
More beach
Wedding Ceremony
Celebration Time!
Ryan and SaraYesterday, a neighbor came to our door and asked if I was willing to give piano lessons to her 10-year-old daughter. She "found" me when she heard me play as she was walking around the neighborhood (which makes me wonder how soundproof our house is!).
This took me by surprise and I quickly told her that I have never taught piano lessons before. She seemed to be okay with that fact--which further surprised me. I agreed and told her that we can try it out and that I would not be offended if I am not a good fit. I will start my first lesson on Monday. We'll see how it goes. I am a little apprehensive--especially without a teaching background. I am hoping that I will be able to teach her all the good techniques that my piano teacher has taught me years ago and that this will be a positive experience for the both of us.
I decided to try out a recipe I found on a blog from Bakerella called "Cupcake Bites" (http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2008/05/cupcake-bites-made-easy.html). They are essentially mini bite-size cupcakes with a candy coating. It was a surprisingly easy recipe and the results were so cute! I must admit, they were a little too sweet (probably because of the cake, frosting, and candy coating), but they are so cute, they are almost irresistible!
This is him devouring the little guy:
Beautiful spring flowers from my thoughtful brothers!!! Thanks Ben and Jeff--you guys are the best!!! :)
A few nights ago, I was finally able to get some inspiration for the 3 giant canvases. It turned out much different than what I had intended, but the overall idea is there. I have 3 additional (smaller) canvases to paint for the hallways, so hopefully the ideas will keep coming.
To complete the entranceway area, Ryan and I decided to bring some nature indoors. We bought some peace lilies that are stated to "cleanse the air while eliminating toxins and creating oxygen" (the selling point on the plant tag). Here is the completed entranceway.
I love finding and testing out new recipes. My really good friend bought me a recipe book of cookies and I decided to try out a recipe for Black & White cookies; which apparently are renown in NYC. We had quite a few friends tell us that these cookies were on a Seinfeld episode. They were yummy and definitely a keeper!
"The painter's obsession with his subject is all that he needs to drive him to work." --Lucian Freud
My birthday and Valentines was finally celebrated with Ryan after having missed the past 3 yrs due to business travels. Ryan surprised me with a beautiful ring! I loved the box and had to take a picture of it before I opened the present. Ryan and I went to the Melting Pot and spent the night at a Sante Fe resort. It was such a wonderful weekend and I am so grateful that I could spend the holidays with my hubby :)
I have had good intentions of being a better blogger for the year of 2009, but I am once again, trying to play catch up. Late last year, my Mom and I decided to plan a surprise birthday for my Dad. We planned for Mom and Dad to fly out to New Mexico and have Ben and Jeff fly out the night before to have a family reunion. It was tough to keep this a surprise for so many months, but we pulled it off. It was so fun having my family here with us.
Today was just an ordinary Monday; but for no apparent reason, I felt sort of sad. (Maybe this is attributed to being a girl.) Ryan noticed that I was not my usual self and surprised me by placing some roses on my laptop. I am so thankful that I have such a caring and loving husband who notices even the little things. :)
I've been a huge slacker with blogging over the holidays. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Years! Quick recap of ours: Ryan and I took a road trip to Utah (this Christmas was Ryan's family--UT, next year is my family--FL) for Christmas and unfortunately, we forgot to take pictures! Yeah, that's probably something I really need to work on. Anyway, it was a very busy trip and we were able to visit with lots of family and friends.
Now that the holidays have come and gone, I finally decided to become an official resident of New Mexico by switching out my drivers license. Ryan did his right away when we moved down (so responsible!), but I just kept delaying for no apparent reason--maybe it's my inner rebellion against conformism or something. Anyway, Ryan said it was a very painless process and that I should not take the risk of not updating my license in fear of a potential penalty fee. Taking his word for it, I decided that I should be a good denizen of New Mexico and get it done.
Needless to say, my experience was not smooth and easy like Ryan's. I even went to the less crowded MVD. After filling out the same form 3 times, getting my picture taken 2 times, answering the same redundant questions about another 4 times (address, height, weight), going to the MVD 2 times in a matter of 2 hours (they had to close for lunch in the middle of my license being processed), and roughly 2-2.5 hours of wasted time waiting (especially when I think of the hours as billable rates for work!), I FINALLY got my temporary drivers license! Talk about inefficiencies! I even began analyzing the flow process while I was there. (Maybe I should have presented them my assessment and billed them for my time) Thankfully, I do not have to renew my license for another 8 years...
