My Midlife Crisis

I guess I have all the symptoms of a midlife crisis: I gave my notice to quit my job and I bought a brand new laptop, all in the same day! :)

I'm going to start grad school full time in the summer and I won't be able to continue working full time. I basically have a year to research, write, and defend my thesis for my mechanical engineering masters degree, and then the following two years I'll finish up my engineering coursework while I do my MBA. And since a laptop is required by the Marriott School for my MBA, I was able to write it off as an educational expense in our budget! :)

"Y", It's Finally Warm!

Here it is, almost June, and we're finally experiencing some warm weather! It was such a nice weekend, our family didn't want to miss a bit of it. Friday night we got together with Rob and Kim to play tennis in the nice evening air. We had so much fun, and though we're a little out of practice, we did manage to win a couple of games.

Yesterday, we started off the day with a big hearty breakfast of Kneader's "all-you-can-eat" French toast. A student gave me a gift card for Kneaders a year ago, and we just now got around to using it. It was delicious!

After breakfast, we started on the day's work, going from store to store to load up on soil, seeds, and plants. Remember that race Travis and I were having a couple months ago? To see how fast our seeds would grow inside? Well, I guess the seeds weren't as enthusiastic about racing against each other as we were... So we started all over, this time planting directly outside where they would be warm. We planted basil, oregano, cilantro, asparagus, carrots, peas, tomatoes, chili peppers, and some flowers. With how much we planted, we're hoping something pops up! But if not, we know this is a learning experience, and we'll just keep trying.

We finished the day with a hike to the Y. Travis gave me some nice hiking boots for Mother's Day, so I decided to try to break them in on our hike. They're so comfortable! I can't wait to use them over and over again this summer!

California Dreamin'

This spring has been an especially cold one, so what better reason to escape to the warm California sun? Since my brother is leaving on his mission, my family decided to have one more family vacation before he leaves. Because of the start of spring term, and school still in session, Travis and I met up with them Wednesday night and we all stayed at my mamita's house till Saturday. Not all of my siblings were able to make it, but we still had a great time with those who did!

On Thursday we went to Disneyland. I didn't have the guts to go on Splash Mountain (hey, I went on it last year in Florida, that counts for something, right?). However, I did conquer my fear of Space Mountain and went on that for the first time. Travis had to hold me the whole time; I'm surprised he could still hear out of his left ear, I was screaming so loud! It was lots of fun; we went twice!

On Friday we hit the beach. The water was cold, but we were still able to splash around in our swimming suits. Travis had a lot of fun getting tossed around in the waves.

It was a short but much needed vacation!

Flashbacks

Last week marked the two-year anniversary of our engagement, so Travis and I decided to relive some memories of that day and go to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point.

This was the first place Travis took me on our engagement day. The entire week before, he had doorbell-ditched a poem on my doorstep every night, telling me about some of his favorite times we've had together. When he picked me up on the night of our engagement, he had rolled out a red-carpet from the car to my door- a real gentleman! We drove up to Thanksgiving Point and walked around the beautiful gardens (it was during this Tulip Festival), then had an elegant dinner at the Harvest restaurant. After dinner, we drove up Provo Canyon and visited the bridge where we had our first kiss. :) After dancing on the bridge, he knelt down and opened this beautiful ring box, in which he had installed a light (being an engineer...) that would turn on whenever the box opened. It was perfect because it was already so dark outside, and the light made the ring just sparkle! The best part of the whole night, though, was Travis asking me to spend the rest of time and eternity with him. And I said yes! :)

We had so much fun being together, looking at all the beautiful tulips and reliving memories. This will have to be a tradition for our family in years to come.

Field Trip!

Last week, I had the opportunity to take a group of my Spanish students to BYU's Foreign Language Fair (known as "Espanolandia"). BYU sponsors this every year for junior highs and high schools, but Alpine School District is usually unable to participate because it always falls on our spring break- but not this year! I remember how much I loved going when I was in junior high, and I wanted my students to have the same opportunity to attend.

The students were given a "passport" and left on their own to wander throughout "Espanolandia", going to the different booths (pharmacy, market, bookstore, post office, etc...) speaking nothing but Spanish! If they were caught speaking English, they would be "arrested", and taken to the "carcel" (jail). The students had to talk to people at these booths, and once they did, they would receive a stamp in their passport. They couldn't leave Espanolandia until their passport was full!

I also required my students to participate in different competitions, such as poetry, show and tells, and skits. They all did very well, especially the skit group. They all received "Superior" scores on a Spanish II level! And they're only in Spanish I! They were so excited to tell me their scores; I was so proud of them! (The picture above is me with the skit group, posted with their permission.) Travis was even able to walk over from work and take his lunch with us! It was kind of funny to see their stares as Travis and I held hands. One student said, "Wait, so, if you're her husband...that would make you...Mr. Anderson?" :)

Everyone had such a good time- unfortunately next year Espanolandia will fall on spring break. :( But maybe we'll organize a group and go anyway!

I Believe In Miracles

Bountiful Temple
About a month ago, I went to San Diego to present at a conference for work. The conference was supposed to end on Wednesday afternoon, but I was able to work it out to come home Tuesday night, since one of my really good friends, Colby Green, was getting married Wednesday morning. My flight was supposed to leave around 5:45, but the plane had mechanical problems (one of the engines was leaking oil). They flew a mechanic in from L.A. to look at it, then they had to fly a part over to fix it, and then the airport closed and wouldn't let us take off. So they sent us all off to a hotel for the night. In my prayers that night, I asked Heavenly Father to help me make it back in time for the temple sealing.

The next morning, I got up at 4am to catch the shuttle back to the airport and I got on the first flight back to Salt Lake. Traffic was really bad for Lacee as she was coming to pick me up, because there had been some pretty bad wrecks on the freeway. We left the airport and Lacee drove up to the Bountiful Temple as I changed into my suit in the car. We arrived just in time for the sealing! I know the Lord helped us make it there, and I was very grateful. It was a miracle!

Provo Temple
Then last Saturday, it was Lacee's turn!  She was on a trip in Mexico during her Spring Break building houses. She was coming back on Saturday, and Bridger was going to receive his endowment that evening. They were making good time until they reached Payson. A couch had flown off a trailer and crashed into a motorcycle with two people on it. The freeway was closed as they brought in a helicopter to life-flight them to the hospital. After almost two hours, traffic started moving again. The people Lacee was riding with were kind enough to drop her off in Provo on their way back to Lindon. I picked her up and after a hug and kiss, we rushed over to the Provo Temple, again making it just in time. I know the Lord helped us make it on time! It was another miracle! It was wonderful to be with Bridger during that special time. He'll make a wonderful missionary!

Graduate School
While we're talking about miracles, I also found out I was admitted to the graduate program I applied for at BYU! It's a dual-degree program focusing on product development, where you get a masters degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA (Masters of Business Administration) at the same time. So it's basically about inventing a product, and then building a business to market and sell it. So we're really excited about that! I found out I was admitted to mechanical engineering program a few months ago and was waiting to hear back from the business school. I had my interview a few weeks ago, and as I was leaving the interview, Dr. Sawaya told me that I could expect to be admitted, and he welcomed me to the program. Last week I got my official acceptance letter!  So we're really excited about that!

Mi Semana En Mexico

Over spring break, I had the wonderful opportunity of spending a week in La Gloria, Mexico, building houses for those in need. It was with the Utah chapter of a national organization called Builders Without Borders. It all started when my friend, Danielle (the French teacher at my school), and I were wondering what we should do over the break, since both our husbands would be busy with work and school. One of her students mentioned Builders Without Borders to her, and after looking into it, we found out they were planning a trip during spring break. Perfect timing!

In preparation for our trip, we got the whole school involved in a clothes and school supply drive. We got so many donations from the students and faculty! Danielle and I were so happy to actually see them being distributed among the people in Mexico.

This was the first time I was really going to spend time outside the U.S. I've been to Canada for a couple of hours when my family visited Niagara Falls, and I've been to Tijuana for a couple of hours on another family trip, but it was the "touristy" part- not a real, authentic experience. This has made it hard for me to share cultural experiences in my classroom. I usually have to tell about other people's experiences in Spanish-speaking countries, instead of my own. So I was super excited to apply for my first passport and go!

We left on the Saturday before the break and returned last Saturday. The drive down was long, but it gave us an opportunity to create new friendships with those in our car.

Crossing the border into Mexico was fine, and we were so happy to see our new "home" for the next week. It was a very nice LDS Stake Center, and I met so many wonderful Mexican members. I admire them so much for all they did to serve us during our stay, despite the many challenges that faced them in their own daily lives.

As far as the work went, I was on the "stucco crew." We went around to 3 different job sites and stapled black paper and chicken wire to the walls, then applied the stucco. The first house was already built, but the walls were simply plywood, so we reinforced the walls. This house was located right by the Pacific Ocean, and the view was beautiful! That is, until the clouds and rains came! But that didn't stop us! We were able to talk to the dad later that week, and he thanked us so much for the new walls. "Before this week, my family would always feel the wind through the walls. Now we can't!"

The second and third houses we built from the ground up. The second family consisted of a young couple with a baby, who lived in a small camper. All these families owned the land, but had no means to actually build a house. The Stake Presidency decided who in the stake needed these houses the most.

I'm grateful for my knowledge of Spanish (though not perfect), because I was one of the few in our group of about 40 able to communicate with these wonderful people and hear their stories. As I conversed with this new mother at the second job site, I found out that she and her husband were married only a month after Travis and me, and they had always lived in this camper. Not once did she complain of her circumstances. She was outside every day with her baby, just watching the walls of her new home come together. Her huge smile said more than words. I would look at her smile, look back at her new house, and think, "Wow...and it's still not even as big as our 2 bedroom condo back home..." It was truly a tender, eye-opening experience.

The third site was smaller than the first two, but we finished sooner than anticipated. So we moved down the street and asked another family if we could finish the walls on their house. These people were not members of the church, so it was a wonderful opportunity to explain to the mother why we were there, and what we believed about serving others. We ended up leaving a Spanish Book of Mormon with her.

Work commenced in the early mornings and ended at sunset. When we returned to the stake center each night, the Relief Society made a delicious dinner for us. Sometimes we went to a local taqueria, which was lots of fun. Carne asada is the best- es para chuparse los dedos!

We left for Las Vegas on Friday afternoon, and I got home to Travis's arms on Saturday. I missed him so much! I was also able to bring back some strawberry Fanta, which Travis has missed since his years in South America. He was so excited that he didn't want to wait for the carbonated pop to settle after the bumpy ride home...needless to say, after opening it, our kitchen, clothes, and window blinds looked like a science experiment gone terribly wrong!

I'm so grateful for the things I was able to see and witness last week, and for the people I met and grew to love. It was an unforgettable experience!