where does the time go?

February is already half-over (thank heavens ... I am not a fan of this month ... more on that later) and I was reflecting on what has happened and what I haven't posted about.

I went to the Pacific Life Bowl Game on December 30th with my oldest brother. UO Ducks were playing Oklahoma State in San Diego. I got tickets and new exactly who would appreciate hooking him up ... since he always does the same for me.

I had a birthday ...
My roommie bought me flowers ... isn't that nice?!

I went out to dinner with friends for the birthday
(even though I was sick)
and wore this belt buckle I haven't worn in years
(because I couldn't for year ... if you know what I mean)
so I had to show it off and wear my shirt tucked in.
I know you can't tell but it has a lion head ... its pretty rad.

So about this whole not liking February thing. Its not because of Valentine's Day (typical conclusion to be drawn, but not the reason for my dislike) ... its because its a really crappy month.

Let us outline why.

The holidays are over by this time ... Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years ... and their residual effects have worn off as well.

My birthday has come and gone ... and to make matters worse ... I was sick this year.

Winter and coldness is STILL here and not letting up anytime soon.

And this year ... I am writing a thesis and February marks just four months left to do so ... and I am stressing out about it.

Need I say more???

So a few years ago I decided I would take trips in February. It hasn't worked out every year ... but I am going to try to do that since it makes me feel better about the month. This year I went to Salt Lake City, Utah. Not too glamorous, but a good get-away none-the-less.

Saw this guy in Salt Lake City, Utah.
He and a bunch of his lion friends are on the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.
I guess I have a thing for lions these days.

Went to the Logan Temple for the first time. It is soooo beautiful!
Loved every minute of it.

More pictures ... its just sooo amazing:

Embracing the New

I like the old ...

Exhibit A: I have a BA in Archaeology
Exhibit B: I am currently pursuing a master's degree in Historic Preservation

aka - I dig historic architecture (don't you just love how I managed to combine those two things together? ... dig (archaeology) historic architecture (historic preservation) ... what? not that funny? oh ... uh ... sorry)

So yeah - I am into the past, the ancient, the long gone by, the historical, the reminiscent, the once upon a time. As I have stated before, I have an old soul ... I like Paisley (as seen here and repeated - with much better taste I might add - in my current abode ... pictures soon I promise) and hanging plates and black and white photos.

Oddly enough, however, I have the conflicting urge to change my scenery and living situations very often (as inventoried here). I want to live so many places for a year or two - South Carolina, Louisiana, Boston, upstate New York, Texas ... it just dawned on me that most of those places are on the East Coast. In all fairness, those are places far from my family and thus most likely won't be places I stay forever ... places like Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego - those could be forever places. But this moving thing is an exception ... every other aspect of my life tends to lean toward to the old, solid, stable, and classic. However, the Fall is a good time to embrace the new and that is what I am trying to do.

School starts tomorrow ... late, I know ... and with that comes new classes, new students, and new adventures. This also translates to new people at church - a lot of them - which is wonderful to see this morning. To add to the "New Fest" as I will call it, we received a new Relief Society President, which is the head of the women's organization in my church. This position is a big deal, not because it suggests she is the most righteous or capable woman in the ward (although one could argue that both these characteristics describe my good friend Jessica) but because great responsibility is placed on her shoulders. Her call to the position I know is inspired and I felt that today as she spoke to the sisters. I felt the spirit testify of her plan and organizational style as she expressed her sincere love for the women in the ward and the gospel in her life. She made me want to be better and she continues to help me re-new my commitment to the Lord and live as a better disciple of Him. I too have a new "calling" or responsibility in the Relief Society. Jessica has called me to be the Compassionate Service Leader and has charged me with the concern and welfare of the ward - to get to know people and discern their needs and help them feel the love that our Savior has for us. I feel honored to be a part of her presidency and hope to live up to the desires of both her and my heart in serving the Lord.

I am also blessed with the opportunity to serve with Jessica in the Portland temple twice a month. I am extremely excited and humbled by this calling and pray that I can learn all that is needed and provide a great service to my fellow sisters in this life, as well as the next, as we do the work of our Father in Heaven.

On a scholarly note, I will be assisting my Program Director as a TA for the first year master's student's Introductory class this Fall. Lots of preparation and time will be devoted to this class, as well as my own research and writing for my thesis.

So, lots of changes are coming about, however I know that as I embrace all these new things and strive to put the Lord first in all that I do, that I will be able to accomplish all that is asked of me.

futuristic boats and and nameless eels (CROATIA TRAVEL LOG)

The historic island/city of Trogir (a UNESCO world heritage site, by-the-way) sits between the mainland and another larger island and is linked by foot and car bridges. You can read the history of the intact medieval city here. As a result the "Riva" or waterfront is the "it" place to park your HUGE yacht. Some of these boats looked like they were capable of not only sea voyages, but underwater and space travel as well ... these are boats of the future ... unfortunately the biggest ones were foreigners and not Croatians.




On an island, the name of which I cannot remember, where less than 100 people lived and only the small harbor had electricity, we romped around some long forgotten limestone houses and communities. We were lucky enough to have our own private boat and captain waiting for us to hike the few miles up to it, especially since there was only two ferry stops a day - 9 am and 12 noon. The island is so small that it doesn't even have a school, it shut down a few years ago since only one child lived here ... how strange is that. He ended up going to live with grandparents on the mainland. Something about that makes me a little creeped out ... not that I normally think about schools of the number of children that live in a town or neighborhood ... but doesn't that just seem kind of ... final. It makes a place feel even older. In the harbor area, the only place with electricity on the island, there is a really old church (of course) still standing with its fake facade (picture above) that started out as the real facade until they realized they couldn't afford to build such a big building. It now has a bit of a courtyard and I really really like it.

Another really cool thing about historical Dalmatian is the water catchment systems they set up. Oh, P.S. the coast of Croatia is called the Dalmatian Coast architecture and town plans, according to wikipedia: "Dalmatia is a region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, situated mostly in modern Croatia [... and] signified not only a geographical unit, but it was an entity based on common culture and settlement types, a common narrow eastern Adriatic coastal belt..." The climate is Mediterranean ... so its like southern California ... a bit arid at times and so they try to catch all the fresh water they can. These huge limestone (historically) and concrete (more recently) slabs lay in sloping expanses, in essence funneling the water into storage cisterns or wells. The water is channeled (above) into the well through a gravel and sand filter (below).

This particular well (below) located in an abandoned village on the coast was recently quality tested by the regional government and rated as having some of the purest water in the area! The owner, who heard through the grapevine (or at the local cafe) that American students were interested in documenting their little town, randomly meet up with us at the village and wanted to show off his well. His son, who now lives in Sweden was visiting and was kind enough to translate for us (another example of people speaking multiple languages ... Croatian, Swedish, and English ... sigh). He said that there was an eel living in the well and that is why it was so clean! I about died ... and then he said that the eel was 45 years old! I said ... wait ... how do you know he is that old and how do you know he is still alive (i was shocked and thus not thinking clearly that they put him in there that long ago and that he would float to the top and the water would start tasting bad if he were dead ... all good points). Then I asked if he had a name ... because hey at 45 ... he is part of the family! They roared with laughter and the son had to ask his dad to make sure he did not have a name (i thought that was funny). They said no and then I proceeded to ask if I could name it ... to which I got the response ... "no, you cannot Christen our eel" ... ahhhh, good times!

(home of nameless eel)

ready to ge my passport stamped again

You may be in planning mode now, but this isn't just about idle thinking. You have an uncanny sixth sense that won't steer you wrong. It's as if you can see the future and can organize the present in a way that allows you to reach your goals. It isn't time to negotiate, so be prepared to do it by yourself if others aren't enthused by your ideas just yet.

This is really a perfect Horoscope for me because I just started planning my summer ITALY trip! YEAH for traveling! I will be in Oira, a small town in Northern Italy's Ossola Valley attending a Field School for Historic Preservation. I will be learning how to read cultural landscapes and record and analyze the buildings in them ... plus I get to work along side a master Italian Stone Mason restoring a historic structure! And I get 9 credits toward my graduate work for this ... sweet huh!

"Oira is a small village of about 200 people located one hour northwest of Milan by train. Nestled between the steep slopes of the towering alps, Oira lies at the north end of the narrow Ossola valley as it winds its way toward Switzerland and the Simplone Pass. Through its relative isolation, the Ossola valley has held the secret of its striking natural beauty and amazing stone hamlets for many years. The valley has a long history of granite quarrying and milling and has many intact stone villages, a number of which stand as they did in the 15th and 16th centuries."

(Italy Field School - University of Oregon)

I am sad that I will not be in DC for the summer hangin out with all my DC peeps (and the AHA girls) ... it was a really hard decision to make ... but the internship wasn't panning out in the way I had hoped and really, isn't Italy always a good idea? (ok, so the real quote is actually "Paris is always a good idea" from the movie Sabrina, but you get it) So I will be in Europe for at LEAST a month, but most likely a bit longer. I will be in Croatia for about 5 or so days as well and then ANYWHERE IN EUROPE THAT YOU WANT TO MEET ME! I am looking for travel buddies at the end of July ... let me know if you want exact dates and locations!



Its too bad I don't drink because there is going to be a whole lot of wine around me come July!

All this Italy talk reminds me of this:


And this:


And this:


Oh, and don't forget this:



Summer 2008 looks promising. Have I convinced you to take a week off of work to join me yet? 'Come on ... you know you want to.

Oregon Coast

This weekend I took a mini road trip with some new friends! Check out the fun:

Bethany, Marcus, and Megan walking to the sea lion cave look out ...
turns out it $9 a person to go down to the look out and they
weren't even there that day ... so we poked around the cheesy gift shop.

Megan, Ally, and Marcus chillin on a big tree that fell over t
he river that comes into the Pacific Ocean.

Cool juxtaposition of steel and trees.
The bridge was pretty cool spanning the little valley that the river ran down towards the ocean.

The bridge ... asymmetry can be beautiful don't you think?

"Sexy architecture" as Ally (she's an architecture undergrad at UO)
claims all of her classmates would say.
I would have to agree.

I like the horizontal of the brick (I wish the window wasn't boarded up)
and the diagonal succession of steps in the upper left corner.

Gears of the working light part of the light house - cool huh!

The turning light gives you a small window of opportunity to take a picture. Don't worry I got one without the cage, but I liked this one better, just as the cage is coming back around again.

I was hoping that these pictures would come out better because the way
the staircase railing wraps around was so cool!

Bethany and Marcus climbing back down the stairs of the light house -
I love the brick!

Utah Trip - August 2007

As I am about to embark on a new adventure - school - I want to take the time to reflect on the past summer. After quitting my first real job (two years is a good effort, I think) and moving from DC, I was able to be on vacation for about a month in California before I moved to Oregon. I wrote here, here, here and here - just to remind you of a few. But I left out lots of stuff, so here it is!

August:

My trip to Utah to see my brother and his family was fantastic. Of course, I only have pictures of his children. They are sooo cute!

Terrick (or T as we call him) ... bluest eyes ever! And white blond hair ... I just love it.
He wants to be big like his brothers sooo badly. I wanted to steal him away in my suitcase.

Cameron (or Cam) and a dinosaur ... he likes dinosaurs and he picked out this alligator shirt to wear to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point.

Mikyla (or Kyla) ... sings songs to spell her name, always wears dresses, often says the phrases: "that's perfect" and "isn't it beautiful?"
She is a girlie-girl, despite the fact that she has three brothers!

Classic picture ... couldn't help but take it. Hunter is in the orange shirt on the right - he's the oldest ... such a cute little boy that is a great big brother most of the time - especially early in the morning when he is telling Cameron and Mikyla to play quiet because Aunt B is still sleeping in the next room.

My friends Sarah and Jon Bush's baby Jonah ... so cute!
It is crazy how much he looks like his dad!

Sarah Bush and baby Jonah ... I can't believe we met our freshman year in college and now she is married and has a baby! Crazy how time flies. It was so great to see these two and eat at Cafe Rio ... it had been over 2 years since I had been back to Provo!

the happiest place on earth - vintage

Kelly and I went to Disneyland the other day. It is always magical ... wouldn't expect anything less of the Magic Kingdom. On our way in under the bridge and onto Main Street, I always love to look at the posters they have up for the different lands and movies. Very retro, very vintage. I LOVE IT. Then, on the way out we stopped in some shops and I came across a bunch that you could purchase. Now, I couldn't justify buying any of them since I don't have a place for them (aka: a home), but I found them online to share ... love, love, love these posters.

Don't even know why this is tomorrowland ... but I want it.

Perfect for a little boys room!

Love the colors and the shapes in this one!

For a little boy again.


I love the drama of this one ... and the yellow background.

I think that the Haunted Mansion is the place
I would want to work if I worked at Disneyland ... I love the old Victorian house!


And last, but not least ... how can you not LOVE Small World?
Its old school - yes ... a little politically incorrect - yes ...
but it means well and has a great message.
Sad to say its in Fantasyland ... never really understood that one ...
however, we must remember that it was built before the internet.
I think the idea that the world is small is no longer a fantasy ...
ladies and gentleman, we have arrived (the world is now officially small!)

see ya later

Because self-portraits should always have Tara in the background sticking her tongue out ... it just makes sense. Well, maybe not ... but it does make me smile. I will miss that girl.

Hill Cumorah

Since my time is wearing thin on the East Coast I am trying to seize every opportunity to see the sites on this edge of the country. I was lucky enough to stumble upon a weekend trip being organized to up-state New York for the last performance of the Hill Cumorah Pageant. My travel mates and I made some interesting observations surrounding the pageant. Mainly this:

If the Mormon people have anything remotely similar to the idea of a pilgrimage to mecca as Muslims do - this would be it. Actually any historic church site will do ... but Wayne and Seneca Counties in New York (Palmyra and Fayette in particular) can be described as the "birth place" of Mormonism ... or in other words, where the gospel was restored to the earth. How amazing is that!

Beautiful farm land in Fayette, New York

Joseph Smith had what is known as the First Vision and the Book of Mormon was first printed in Palmyra, while the Book of Mormon was translated and the church was formally organized in Fayette. It was beautiful. And the pageant was amazing as well ... there were pyrotechnics and water spraying on the STAGE!

The stage before the sunset and the actors took their places


This is a shot from atop the Hill Cumorah -
looking down on the stage and at all the seating set up for the pageant.

I have decided that I need to summer in upstate New York. The small town main streets and the old buildings that line them are great. The mom & pop shops, antiques, wide-open spaces ... everything! I just loved it. We stayed at this camp by Seneca Lake and I think it would be so fabulous to go boating, go to town fairs, and attend the pageant!

Bay windows ... a favorite of mine. And I love the pillars on the porch.


I love the details of this house!


This is not that great of a picture - but this is the original of one of
my favorite paintings often found in church buildings and temples all over the world.
It is of Christ appearing to the people of the American Continent after being resurrected.


Books in the print shop.


The Print Shop where the Book of Mormon was first printed.