Back to Reality

After being away for 10 days I find myself back in Vermont....counting the days till summer vacation. What is that all about? I love my job, my students are awesome, and Vermont is great, but being on vacation is so much better! The month of April flew by. I'll spare you all the details...basically I was fortunate enough to see almost all of my family members and a lot of great friends from my mission and college, which is rare being that we live in such a rural place.

Conference weekend was great. I flew to Toronto and spent the weekend hanging out with my parents and my little brother. I love going home. There is something so comfortable about being there....even after not living there for years, it still feels like home.

The next weekend I spent Easter with my sister and her husband in Boston. We had all sorts of fun shopping for baby cuteness for her little girl. It was the first time I had seen her in person pregnant...and she is such a cute pregnant person!! She's so tiny! I can wait for both of the new babies to arrive in our family. Two little girls...we're so spoiled!

The following Friday, I canceled lessons again, and flew to Salt Lake to participate in the SLC marathon with my family. That whole weekend deserves a post of its own. The short of it is that it was an incredibly memorable weekend where as family and friends we were able to celebrate the life of my cousin. It was so neat to run with so many family members. And I even felt great after running the half marathon! I say bring on the full next year.

My brother Warren and I at the start of the race

I stayed in Utah for almost a week and was able to visit with mission friends, college friends and Ben's family. It was so fun to get caught up with friends I haven't seen in years. It made me realize what great friends I do have...and the fact that there are no excuses for being lousy at keeping in touch with people. Maybe that can be a new goal.

Friends from back in the day at Liberty Square, Jenny and Angell.

Burk, one of the sisters I trained on the mish.

My BF/roommate all through college Mary

(She bought these chairs at a garage sale for $5 and is going to use them in her studio. They were hilarious! Check out her work at www.photographybydmc.blogspot.com, she's incredible!)

After I left SLC I flew to Kansas to see Ben! It was so great to see him after being apart for the entire month of April. I got a great feel for Kansas City and had a ton of fun seeing where Ben grew up. We ate at some of his favorite spots, got to see the Royals kill the Tigers, and visited Liberty Jail. I fell in love with Kansas City immediately. It's the best of both worlds; a big enough city to have great culture, great food and great shopping, but a small enough city to not have massive amounts of traffic and congestion. And it was warm!
Ben loved his rotation and made some great contacts at KU. He loved being back home, and had a great time spending the month with the Beattys. We are so grateful to them for their hospitality and friendship. I loved getting to know them better and spending some time together!

Gates, the best BBQ around

Liberty Jail

May should be a little less hectic. Ben is back in Philadelphia and will make the drive home two of the four weekends. I only have 6 1/2 weeks left of teaching, and then we're off to Tucson for the month of June. I can't wait....bring on the heat!

1200 Miles Later...

What a weekend! Ben and I had such a great time driving to Kansas. Who knew 20 hours in a car could be that great?!
Friday night I got in late and we did a quick drive through downtown Philadelphia so I could get a feel for the city. We grabbed a bite at Cosi (so yummy) and watched a depressing KU basketball game. We decided to spend the night at the dorm where Ben was staying mostly because it seemed unnecessary to get a hotel if there was already accommodation there....and all I can say is big mistake! I'm sure I'm just spoiled coming from BYU dorms, but man, that place was so disgusting. I'm committed to finding Ben some better lodging arrangements for May. No one should have to live in those kind of conditions!
Saturday we drove to Cleveland. It was a pretty quick drive, and we even got to drive through Lancaster County (Dutch Country). It was so crazy, it was seriously like going back in time. We were a little pressed for time so we had to choose....Amish breakfast, or Target. I chose Target. There's always a next time right?
We had a great time vising with Warren, Leanne and their kids in Cleveland. It was so fun to see their new home and to play with the kids. We're so excited for their newest addition to join the family soon. We're planning to see them again at the end of April on our way home...here's to hoping the baby comes early!! (not going to happen, I realize!)
The drive from Cleveland to Kansas City was great. We hit some rain, but were lucky to not run into snow. I didn't get to see much of the city....mostly just the "Plaza" that I've heard so much about!! It was pretty neat, I'm excited to go back at the end of the month and spend a little time exploring.
We are so fortunate that some close Kunz family friends have opened up their home to Ben and are allowing him to spend the month there. It was great to meet the Beatys on Sunday and it was easy to see why Ben loves their family so much. We are so grateful to them for their kindness and hospitality!
The rotation in Kansas is going great. Ben is working with a great attending and resident. He's really enjoying his time and getting some great exposure to their program.
Hard to believe we're one week into his time in Kansas. I'm in Toronto this weekend to visit my parents and as always am looking forward to quality time with family!