Farewell 2015

I will always remember that 2015 was a great year.

It began with cashing out the equity from the sale of our 25th Street home. We quickly converted the cash into new bedrooms for Sophie and Ian, cement to extend the square footage of our basement, a new driveway, braces for two kids--I know, I know we are super exciting people, haha!

Brian travelled to Washington with my dad for three months for a welding job. And though we missed him, it paid all of our bills plus bought him a pick-up truck--something he has wanted forever.

I had three awesome months with Katie and Isaac doing homeschool. And, just when I thought my life was taking a major turn in one new direction (homeschool), it took a major turn in the opposite direction when I was offered and accepted a position with CCHC in May.

While I do miss the one-on-one time with them, this is a blessing for our family and I can't imagine more perfect teachers for them than the ones they have right now.

We got to go to Disneyland with my parents and my brother's family in June. What a wonderful memory that is!

On October 1, Brian started his new career as Marketing Director for GOAL.

Everyone is healthy and I cannot imagine a more charmed year than the one that is ending today.

I am still writing restaurant features. I had mixed emotions about it for awhile. I do still make money, but I get the feeling that the new management would just as soon that correspondents work for free.

The good news is that I have been given more creative license. For example, I can now write as a food critic if I want (rather than features only). When they told me, I asked if I could start being reimbursed for food. Because, sadly I have never been reimbursed for food. Shocking, no?

The answer was that I could turn in a meal receipt and be reimbursed OR get paid my regular amount, whichever was greater. This is why I think they think I should write for free (or maybe I should say for a free meal).

This has caused a great amount of introspection and I have come to the conclusion that I want to keep doing it even if it has become more of a glorified hobby than a job. After ten years as the restaurant writer (almost 17 as a correspondent-I can't believe it!) I would miss it terribly if it ended. I love getting to know all of the restaurant owners. I enjoy writing. And, there are a lot of meals that are at least discounted. It is fun to get to try the best menu items at every restaurant in town. And it is rewarding when the restaurant owners tell me my stories boosted their business. I will keep doing it for now.

Christmas break is coming to an end. I wish it could last a little longer. It has been very relaxed. Most mornings I wake up trying to think of where to go and what to do to entertain the kids only to find that they are happy to stay home. I think we all feel the pressure of the fullness of our lives right now and it is nice to enjoy some down time.

Last Monday, Brian needed to get some photos at Crystal Hot Springs for the newspaper's monthly magazine (Wasatch View). We met our friends from Honeyville and took an evening dip in the hot mineral waters. I think it was about 10 degrees outside, but the water was plenty warm and made the air steamy in a magical way.

After a soak, we went to our friends' house for a beautiful meal of homemade tomato soup, cheese sandwiches and an assortment of homemade ice cream. Wonderful night!

Now it is New Year's Eve and today is a milestone in my life to remind me that my family is changing. Sophie is going to a church sponsored activity at Weber State for 14-18 year olds. Ian is 13 and he is going to a party at a friend's house. This is the first year since I became a mom that I won't be with all of my kids on New Year's Eve.

It is a shift and perhaps that is why I don't feel motivated to host our traditional New Year's Eve party. Instead, Brian and I decided to take Katie and Isaac to Classic Fun. I always think parties like this (or, Boondocks) look like fun. But, I never end up going because I worry there will be way too many people there. Looks like I will find out tonight.

Last week, I wrote a restaurant feature on the New Year's Eve menu at Hearth on 25th--a fancy restaurant serving an even fancier 8-course meal. It made me wish I was having a grown up New Year's Eve at Hearth on 25th. At the same time, I didn't want to miss out on being with my kids to ring in the New Year. Things worked out well when we got to go to dinner with friends at Hearth on 25th last night. The food was amazing and the only thing that was off putting was when they gave us four choices of water. Three had fancy names like they had been through some complex filtration or osmosis. We opted for plain old (free) tap water. What? Tap water in Ogden is some of the best in the world! It made us feel a little silly. Other than that, everything was perfect.

Now it's time to celebrate one of the best years of my life with three of my favorite people (while two more of my favorite people celebrate with their friends - Yay!/Boo hoo).

Star Wars VII

Brian and I saw Star Wars VII at the Megaplex opening night. It was a fun night. I won two tickets from America First Credit Union. They even threw in popcorn, drinks and pre-show prizes.

When the Star Wars title flashed on the screen and the signature music started to play, everyone in the audience cheered--great energy and the movie was good. It reminded me of the original movies but with better technology.

I grew up with Star Wars--the action figures and dreams of having princess Leia hair. But, when Sophie and Ian were around ages 4 and 6 and I deemed them old enough to be introduced to great classics like Star Wars, I realized I had never actually seen the movies all the way through.

That seemed odd because Star Wars seemed so familiar, until I realized was only one when Episode IV came out and barely seven when Episode VI hit theaters. I remember going to the theater to see Return of the Jedi with my dad, my uncles and a group of my cousins. We were suppose to go to a 7 p.m. show, but it was sold out. Those kooky dads took all of us kids to the late showing instead. I think I fell asleep.

It was fun to discover the Star Wars movies with my children almost ten years ago. We have enjoyed watching all six episodes together many times since--although, my three older children were only introduced to Episode III a few years ago because it is PG-13 (Katie has to wait to see that one and Episode VII, which is also PG-13).

It has been fun to see all of the hype around the newest installment. Brian took the kids to a 3-D showing the following week.

This December was pretty relaxing. Mostly because I didn't fill my mind with a lot of expectations. It was a wonderful feeling to finish my Christmas shopping before December. After that, I decided to take things a day at a time.

There were a few Christmas parties--the ward party with amazing food and gorgeous snowflake decorations; Brian's swanky work party at Zucca that included his staff plus board members making it a large crowd; and a more intimate party with Brian's staff of six plus spouses, a fun night eating homemade soups and being silly playing left, right, center.

We attended two Christmas plays -- Elf at Sophie's high school and A Fairly Potter Christmas Carol at the Ziegfeld. Sophie liked the latter so much that she went a total of three times. We've been to Christmas Village and the kids have played in the snow. We have visited Santa and ice skated outdoors. The kids upheld their annual tradition of watching A Muppet Christmas Carol with my mom. We have really ended up doing quite a lot of Christmas activities even though I didn't make a list and check it twice to make sure we got out and enjoyed all the season has to offer. It ended up being a good balance.

December 2015

X96 Bill Allred and Gina Barbari

December is off to a great start.

I woke up yesterday feeling so optimistic. It was Dec. 1 and I already had most of my Christmas shopping complete! Inspired by the wrapping Katie and I had worked on the night before (for some gifts we are giving away), I decided to get a head start on wrapping Christmas gifts for my family as soon as the kids headed out the door for school.

I don't like to leave my shopping until the last minute and usually get it finished early. But, I have a bad habit of forgetting to wrap things until Christmas eve. That doesn't work out too well for me. Maybe this year I will actually be sipping cocoa and enjoying my family on Christmas eve.

Today started out very well. After I dropped Sophie off at school, I heard on the radio that X96 was broadcasting from a car dealership in Ogden where they were collecting winter clothing for the homeless shelter. I went home and suggested to Brian we should go. We gathered up some winter coats we no longer use and headed down. It was my first time meeting Gina. Bill and I are on a first name basis. Except he might only know me as Brian's wife, but I'll take it. 

After we made our donation, we visited for a minute during a pre-recorded segment and then Bill invited Brian to be on the air to promote the Ogden Marathon. He did an amazing job. I would have been so nervous. 

I was so pumped up after that 10 seconds of second hand fame that I decided to call a friend who I have been trying to meet for lunch for a couple of months. Things never seem to line up for us, but today they did! We had a delicious meal at Gabor Brothers in Layton.

Such a nice day.

It is December and 2015 is coming to a close. I still remember with clarity waking up on January 1st with the distinct feeling that this would be a lucky year for us. 2015 has been so good to us in so many ways. I feel this is only the beginning. I am so grateful for my job and Brian's job and our family and all of the wonderful people who support us and make life awesome. I am looking forward to enjoying December to the fullest with all of the festivities, lights, and reflections on Jesus.