Free giveaway on my friend's blog

http://fitmepink.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-favorite-fitness-giftswith-giveaway.html
She is so generous! Take a look and enter. She has a lot of great tips and encouragement for exercising!
Love her!

Ohhh yeah! I have a blog!!

OCTOBER -
Well, this was a great month! My cousin, Cami got married on October 1st. She met Javier Talamantes while serving a mission and a few years later, they got married in the Logan Temple. It was a fun day! She didn't want her two brothers (Josh is on a mission in CA) to destroy their car with wedding shenanigans, so they left it at the temple. Well, apparently Trent and Chubbs found it anyway. Haha! So funny, they are! Javier's Dad surprised the newly-married couple with a mariachi band at the luncheon. It was awesome!

The end of the month found me travelling to Albuquerque, NM for an International Educators conference. This was my first time to ABQ and I had a great time. However, it was COLD! My flight was delayed because of the weather. That weather followed me to the southwest.

Halloween couldn't come soon enough! I was sooo excited for my costume! I decided to be Frenchie from Grease. How'd I do?

I flew in from ABQ on Friday night, and left for Newport Beach on Sunday morning. So, Halloween was my only break. It was perfect! I went to my ward/neighborhood's trunk-or-treat, then went to see Grace, Hazel, Justice, and Will's costumes. (They were darling! I love having them so close! Even Michelle and her sister's dressed up --They looked awesome!) Then I spent the rest of the night at my BFF's house talking to her sister, Bonnie. I was invited to 10 different Halloween parties, and I was exactly where I wanted to be. Like I said...PERFECT!

Where did my summer go? May!! Represent!!

Well, it's the end of Summer 2009. I feel like once I got back from Spain and Italy, it has all been a huge blur. From graduations to births to family reunions to conferences to holidays and rodeos...it's been a VERY eventful summer.
So, we'll start with MAY.
On May 8, 2009, Maggie Luella Wilde was born to Katie Marie and Sefton. I got the call about 6 o'clock in the morning, went to work for a couple hours, then quickly went up to Preston to see my new little niece! (Isn't she adorable!!! All that hair! Just like her mama! (and possibly her Daddy, I'm not sure. Sef, I've never seen baby pictures of you! Remedy.))

Mothers Day was wonderful as we gathered as a family to bless Marc & Michelle's new little boy...Will Herr Mumford-- born January 9, 2009.

They joked that he would about be able to walk up to the circle to be blessed. This is because Marc & Michelle were moving from Los Angeles to Salt Lake and just barely moved into their new home. It was a fantastic day.

The next week I flew to AZ to see my brother Brad graduate from Arizona State University's Law School

Turns out he was sort of smart...graduated with distinction and everything! (Just kidding, Brad. I always knew you were brilliant. All my siblings are.) One thing I thought was cool was that they made a point of noting how many marriages and children were made during their 3 years at school. I love that they still celebrate those milestones when society gives a message that those things are not as important as money or a career. Speaking of children. Brad and Cassi were part of that number.

Congratulations Brad and Cassi!

My brother Marc celebrated a birthday on the 18th! (Yes, I'm still in denial.) I keep telling everyone that I used to be the oldest of 8, and now I'm in the middle. I now have 3 older brothers and a twin! (Baa Haa turned 29 on Sept 5th!)

The end of the month took me to Los Angeles for a week. I just got a new position in February and I had my first professionals conference. IT WAS HUGE!!! The event was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center in downtown LA. Being a rookie, I made some mistakes. I should have come in on Tuesday instead of Saturday. The LA Marathon was ran on Memorial Day, so there were 20000 runners right at my hotel. Thankfully, they had a pool and I just stayed put the whole day. I did get to walk around the city a bit. It was a lot of fun. Some of my colleagues, Dr. Settle and Dr. Flores (Enoc) were there too. Enoc and I were on a committee together and we always have fun when we go to these conferences. Because they had a car, I went out to an outlet mall with them. The first one we went to, we thought we were going to be hacked to bits. Outside the building, all these high end vehicles...inside the building...yeah, it could have been any number of country's underground. Korean, Italian, Russian. They were all represented. We got out alive.
So May was awesome! Love it!

I've got Tiffany wrapped around my finger!

So, you may or may not recall the tragedy last winter of me losing my favorite ring. It was a ring my brother and sister in-law bought for me while they were in New York. Next to my New York Yankee's hat...the best souvenir of that town that I could ask for! (And I didn't even have to ask.) I cried for days after it got lost in that wicked snowstorm, and am still saddened that even after the thaw I didn't find it--and I looked!

Well, I decided to purchase a new one. I have gone back and forth on this because the sentimental value alone made that ring priceless. But I reasoned that if replacing the ring brought the same feeling and joy and reminded me of my brother and sister in-law instead of the losing of the first ring, then I should go for it.

So, I did it.

Snow??? What snow??

Alle Fine! (The end) (of my trip, I mean)

Well, you probably wondered if I would ever get here, huh? Alas, it is a sad day when a trip of a lifetime starts to come to a close. But two weeks later, my ankles, knee, and pocketbook were a little worse for wear. That carpal tunnel in my wrist started to come back with my "charge it! charge it!"--haha, just kidding. I had been saving for over a year, so I did really good.

So we woke up Friday morning, after making the decision to "splurge" a little and take the fast train to Roma from Firenze. Sara took us to the train station after a tearful goodbyes. (Ok, so the photos don't show tears (I'm not a pretty cry-er), but trust me, there were tears. Sara told me not to cry, but I couldn't help it. And neither could she.)

We arrived in Roma 1 hour 40 minutes later. A drive would have taken 4 hours with traffic, and the slow train would have been nearly 2 1/2 more hours. Definitely worth the extra euros! And kind of cool, too! Mama Luciani warned us of gypsies at the train station, but we didn't have to worry about such adventures. Brad is a formidable discourage-er of all things gypsy. And with Alexa Jo. winning the hearts of Italians everywhere we went, we figured we wouldn't be a target. (Just a note, it costs €.80 to use the bathroom at the train station.) We also figured we should just buy our tickets to the airport the next morning so we didn't have to worry about it. We found out later from our "tour guide" Daniela, that our accommodations that the Luciani's had found for us were less than 3 blocks from a closer train station. Live and learn, huh?

So we find a cab that will take us and alllllll our luggage, she wasn't the nicest driver, and every time poor Alexa Jo. would scream, she would jump. (Apparently Alexa didn't win her heart.) We made it to our flat and Daniela was waiting for us. Now, I don't have a picture of Daniela because he basically kidnapped Brad and took him alllll over the city while Cassi, Alexa and I stayed back at the flat. When he returned, we were STARVING! So we commenced our eating and touring of the beautiful city of Rome. Their subway system is the best I've ever ridden on, very easy to navigate and hop on and off of.
We first saw the Colosseum:

Everywhere we went, Alexa would use her sounds to identify a dog or a kitty, or in this case..a horse ([naaaaay])

Then we went to Trevi Fountain. This place was PACKED, so I didn't even get to go throw a penny and make a wish. (Next trip! ;)

Then we were told by Daniela that we HAD to see Spagna. I kept saying it wrong, had no idea what it was, but it was beautiful...and PACKED. People kept going to the same things we wanted to see! It was annoying! haha, just kidding. But, we did have gelato here:

On our way to St Peter's Square, I found a shop named after me....AND we matched!

Here are some pictures from St Peters Basilica and the square:

Our last stop was the Piazza de Popolo. You may recognize it from Angels & Demons, the movie (or the book if you read the one with picture:))
In this plaza, a man tried to give Alexa a rose and he had to have his hand smacked! What a dirty trick! To give a kid a treat and then expect the parents to give you money for it. So naughty!
We walked home, got packed and ready for the train ride to the airport.

WARNING! International flights from the Rome airport is CHAOSand you should allow AT LEAST 3 hours! You stand in at least 20 lines just to get to your gate. Thankfully, I had nice people and the ticketing agent at Delta even told me we were going to be the same age this year. I told him I was in denial and still told everyone that I was "29" - he said, "well, you look it." And winked. He invited me back to Rome (he was American, so it wasn't just Italian hospitality) and he would take me out. So nice!!

The flight home was brutal-long. But not nearly as bad as Brad and Cassi's flight with Alexa. They flew from Rome to Pennsylvania and weather delayed them there and in Chicago for another 24 hours. They were so happy to reach Salt Lake, and grateful to an employee at the Philly airport who got their luggage squared away and gave them some water and blankets to bunk down for the looooooong night. See RyanAir? You don't have to be rude to be a successful airline!!!

I am so grateful to Brad and Cassi and Alexa Jo. for being such awesome travelling companions. We had THE BEST time and I know they loved their short stay in Barcelona. To Sara and Giuseppe..THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!! I cannot say it enough how much we loved being with you. Next time, in CLIFTON! (cheers[clink]) xoxo

My Trip to Europe - part "due" (pronounced do-A) (That's Italian for "two")

Gosh - I've been a big slacker. I know I am not too good at this blogging thing, and I HAVE been out of town quite a bit with various job conferences and family commitments. But still - I've been home from my trip for almost 6 weeks. This is ridunkolous. :) (I overheard that word the other day and thought it was funny.)

So, on to my trip. I think I left with "Oh yeah, we hate RyanAir" - I really would prefer if no one ever rode that sham of an airline again. But, now I know that if someone (the RyanAir check-in attendant) with a Spanish accent says "fifty" they probably are really saying "fifteen". A minor difference when you are talking about peas or even pennies. But, when the conversation is about kilograms and meeting the airline's luggage weight requirements--things could quickly become problematic. She thought we understood, we thought she understood, we thought WE understood, it was a big mess that she only half helped us out of by reducing our huge overage charge from nearly 400 Euros. We could either pay it, or we couldn't fly - they wouldn't even return our luggage to us (to throw stuff away and have it re-weighed) unless we paid it. They held our luggage HOSTAGE! TERRORISTS!!

Anyway - we flew to Pisa and thus began a wonderful week in the gorgeous land of Tuscany. I will never, ever tire of this view and the million others like it:

(I think if you click on it, you can see it better. I think?)

So, in Pisa, we got to see the Leaning Tower. *Note to all those who decide to travel to Europe. As Americans, we may not be accustomed to walking most of the time. We walk for exercise, a romantic stroll, etc - rarely do we walk to get to work or to the market, etc. So when a European states that it is a [fill in the blank] minute walk, you are safe to double it. And that's if you are bookin' it. Here is a picture of our clan - me, Cassi, Brad, and Alexa Jo. She is still calling me "Bfff" at this time, we're trying to get her to call me Aunt Moff. Baby steps.

Of course, I had to have my picture doing this:

and it was really heavy - I almost didn't make it. Ha ha.

Sara and Giuseppe were our AMAZING hosts in Florence. This is Sara, her mother, me, and Giuseppe.Sara came to our home as an exchange student in high school back when we were seniors and we have stayed in touch this entire time. We have commented on how easy it is to converse with each other in spite of sporadic correspondence. I think that is the mark of true friendship and I love that she is a part of my family. She FINALLY (haha - that's for you, Sara) married Giuseppe 3 years ago July and they have a beautiful daughter, Vittoria who will soon be 2. She and Alexa Jo. became fast friends. This is is their first meeting:

While in Florence we went to the cities of Siena and Monteriggioni. These are both medieval towns that are so well preserved and just gorgeous. We visited several museums (I even got a picture of "the David" - yes, that's illegal, and one reason I have not posted it yet. I'm waiting for the statue of limitations to finish. HAHA - get it? STATUE of limitations! Hahaha - I kill me!)
and parks (Boboli Gardens is a must see - absolutely beautiful!) and ate like kings! Kings I tell you, Kings!

Sara is a wonderful cook. And Giuseppe could compete in the U.S. for his grilling skills. The meat there is making my mouth water even 6 weeks later. We LOVED the gelato and decided our favorite place was right off the bridge "Ponte alle Grazie". I found some wonderful souvenirs there and off the "Ponte Vecchio" or Old Bridge. Does gaining weight count as a "souvenir"? I say yes.

Sara ordered pizza for us one night, and I had no idea that it meant a pizza EACH. I looked at mine, looked at everyone else in amazement. By the way - when you order pepperoni pizza in Italy - it will only have ONE piece of pepperoni on it. Or if you get one with pepperoni and olives..yep, you guessed it, one piece of each. Anyway - the pizza is sooooooo delicious and you can see why they call it "amore" when it hits your eye ;) I'm in love!

We were walking down one of the bazillion streets (see picture -it's a big city) when I heard an accordion --a sound that will always remind me of Italy. I tracked this sound down and asked the man if I could get a picture of him (see below). Then Brad paid him a Euro. That was nice. :)

I had the best time in Florence! Brad got to drive, and he did AMAZING! They make 5 lanes out of 3 - genius, I tell ya! Thanks to Sara and Giuseppe for their generosity and their patience. We couldn't have asked for a better trip and better hosts. We are truly blessed.This man looked like he needed it more than the men who were standing in front of the Colloseum in Rome. They were charging at least 5 Euro, their reasoning? Because there are 3 of them. Ugh! Capitalists! jk We took a free picture in front of the Colloseum. But that is for Part 3...stay tuned.

My Trip To Europe - Part 1 (Spain)

Well, many of you know I recently took a trip of a lifetime to Europe. I spent about a week in Barcelona and a week in Italy. WE HAD SOOOOO MUCH FUN!!! Who is the "we" you might be asking? My brother Brad and his wife Cassi and little girl Alexa Jo. have been living in Spain for the past few months while Brad attended his final semester of law school in a study abroad program. So I stayed with them in Barcelona and then we flew to Italy and stayed with some very dear friends in Italy for another week. Then we flew home. :( Sad, huh? Obviously some of the highlights were seeing the beautiful sites of these wonderful, friendly countries. I have so many memories that I'm sure it's going to take a few entries to talk about them all. So, on that note, I will start.
I arrived in Barcelona in the morning and Brad came and got me at the airport. They have become quite efficient at getting around on the bus, so me and all my bags got a few dirty looks from people who were probably thinking "why didn't you just rent a car?" But it was awesome to take the bus ride and see some of the city. Brad started telling me about the city: 1-There hasn't been bull fights in Barcelona in quite some time. They keep trying to bring it back, but as you can imagine, there is a lot of controversy. 2 - Antoni Gaudi is one of their most famous residents, who lived back in the late 1800's and early 1900's. His influence is everywhere in the city - a lot of art deco. 3 - Catalan is the language that is spoken in Barcelona. (Incidently, Barcelona and most "c's" are said with a lisp so it's like "Bar-the-lona".)

We picniced at the beach, shopped off the Ramblas, drank fresh fruit drinks, visited Casa Mila, had dinner with Caterina at an Irish Pub, moved to a new apartment, and visited Sagrada Familia (see below).

We got rained on in Park Guell (yes, "someone" had an umbrella in their backpack, but we didn't realize it soon enough-haha). We got to see the rainbow off the Magic Fountains (also see below)

The walk home had Miss Alexa Jo. in top form with her spontaneous push-ups on the side walk. I was dying laughing. She would walk a few steps, then drop and give us 2-3 pushups. Then walk a little more and drop and give us 2-3 more. Everyone thought it was hilarious. After it had happened about 5 times, I told Brad that he should join her. He tried his darndest to encourage her to keep walking, but alas, she had to drop one more time (see below).

Our last day in Barcelona, we happened on to an Earth Day fair. It was the perfect way to spend the last day in the city. We had a delicious crepe, some thai food, and couldn't find a garbage to save our life. The train ride to Girona was fun, we made it to the airport and got to Pisa very late. I'll talk more about that in my next blog...and oh yeah---we HATE ryanair. :)