Picture Collage

Instead of doing homework this morning, I ordered some textbooks, did laundry, played a couple educational games on my phone (for speed reading and improving my Spanish), made a picture collage, and called all our primary kids to remind them that our class has sharing time assignments tomorrow. It’s been very productive. I think I like having my Saturdays free.

Mid way through Summer term and back to blogging

Sorry about the month plus absence from the blogging world, Allison and I both have been equal parts busy, forgetful, and lazy.... when it comes to our blog.  But this will be the restart and hopefully we can get some interesting things down and out to you, our loyal followers... or something.

The end of finals week was killer.  I was able to learn a lot in the class, but there is much that I still want to accomplish in the digital media.  I love digital illustration and being able to work on the computer creating art is a really interesting feeling. (I wrote this back at the end of June)

Now, I have just finished my mid-term for my new summer class, which I have been uploading my progress on my art blog more frequently.

4th of July happened and Allison and I ran a 5k, my first race and probably not my last.

Allison's parents came into town for a few days

and this is a start....

sorry we have just been really busy and not that interesting as of late

Lovin' the Garden!

Look who was slow on getting the blog post up this week!

Last week was a nice and slow. On Memorial Day we went to the Rec Center and worked out for a while, went grocery shopping, and then came home.

We saw this when leaving the rec center. Made me happy.

Ezra worked on cleaning and selling some of his old toys on eBay, and I read. Later in the evening I ended up making a soufflé which turned out… okay. Clearly I need some practice. It tasted great! But it collapsed spectacularly. I’ll try again in the future. Really, I just wanted to call myself “soufflé girl.” (If you get that reference, you win.)

My Hot Chocolate Soufflés!

The rest of the week was pretty low key and nothing very exciting happened. We registered for the Freedom Run 5k on July 4th. As city employees, we got a pretty amazing discount that I couldn’t pass up. This will be my first race since my marathon a year ago and my second race ever. I’m excited and am easing back in to running pretty quickly.

My garden looks amazing! The peas are shooting up and blooming, my spinach is ready to eat, I just got a cherry tomato plant in the ground this week as well as 5 squash plants (my mom is probably amazed because she knows how much I love squash). Really, I just wanted a spaghetti squash plant but when I went to get one they were out, except for a variety pack. They ended up selling me the variety pack for the price the single spaghetti squash would have been. So now I have not only spaghetti squash, but also two pink banana squash, honey bear squash, and summer squash. I think I’m going to have to learn to cook squash in a way I like.

Pink Banana Squash! One on each end of the bench.

Honey Bear Squash

Summer Squash

Spaghetti Squash!

Some of my peas.

My lovely little cherry tomato plant.

Spinach!

That’s it for this week!

Food experiments and such

I made a random pizza crust out of chicken, flax and an egg, plus some spices for dinner last week and her is the recipe from http://yourlighterside.com/2012/02/easy-pizza-crust/

1 packed cup cooked, minced chicken breast

1 cup packed mozzarella, shredded (we used 1 egg and 1/4 cup flax seed meal instead)

1 Tbsp parsley, dried (I think it was too much, a tsp or 2 would probably be fine, depends on thickness of crust)

1tsp basil

1/2 tsp onion powder (we didn't have any, still turned out good)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

(Replace cheese with the flax and egg)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Process chicken and cheese together. Mixture will resemble a meal/thick, dense crumb consistency.
3. Press chicken/cheese mixture on parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
4. Top with parsley, basil, onion and garlic powder.
5. Bake for 12 minutes.
6. Let cool for five minutes.
7. Top with sauce, cheese, and then toppings.
8. Bake for 6-8 minutes more, or until toppings are melted.
9. Let cool for five minutes.
10. Slice and serve.

Makes an entire 12-14″ pizza.

Allison then made a crust straight from chicken, she used a mallet to flatten it then cook it up.... She took out all her anger from me leaving the office messy while finding things to sell on eBay

Allison and I went to the Rec Center again, I kinda just rock climbed the whole time... and I got a flapper.  It's healed since, but secretly... I really like the look of my hands taped up after climbing, shhh don't tell

This past week I was also asked to do some drawings at the library for a display about the author Brandon Sanderson.  I'm a big fan and really like his writing style.  I don't read much fantasy or sci-fi (I don't READ that much when it come to novels, actually) but I do love sci-fi and fantasy.  I'm more of a visual guy and like my comics and graphic novels... and cartoons.... love me a good animation.

So, these pictures aren't the best to show off my drawings, but I like how the display turned out and even threw in a few original ideas based off the "chalklings" in his book illustrated by Ben McSweeny

I would love to have a shot at adapting one of his books into a comic...

Preferably The Alloy of Law, I love that one

He is coming to the Provo Library June 3rd at 7pm, free tickets may or may not still be available at the Library reference desk, and there is a standby line the night of, just sayin.

While out for a Sunday stroll, we came across this house with a vehicle with an attached snow-plow (not that unusual in Utah).... I started to point it out to Allison, and mid-sentence I stopped myself and changed topic to Ronald McDonald waving from behind the plow.... It was odd, but one of those things that make you happy that you saw it.

Not that much new has happened in the past week, but we have been busy.  Allison is racing through books like no other before she starts classes up again in a few weeks and I am mid-way through my Digital Illustration class.  We will be having a small art show in the HFAC on BYU campus sometime this summer... I think it will be my third that I have been in on campus. I'll keep you posted as it gets closer.

Great Time to Be in Provo

I’ve been in Provo, Utah off and on since August 2006, and I feel like with everything that’s going on this year, there has never been a better time to live in Provo. Google Fiber is coming, the new state of the art Recreation Center opened its doors last week, and new trails and park features are opening up as well! Provo is so amazing!

(Granted, I’m not a fan of the climate… but Provo has a lot of great things going for it.)

Google street view of our old place, with my car out front!

I’m so excited about the new Recreation Center (here's a KSL article about it with some pictures)! Way back when Ezra and I first heard about the new Recreation Center and where it was going to be located, we were stoked. We lived about two blocks away! Then we moved from our amazingly cheap and perfectly located 4-plex (with out of control mold and landlords who didn’t care about the property), to a little cottage on the outskirts of Provo (with absolutely lovely landlords who make sure everything is perfect and who give us free eggs). Nevertheless, we’re still in Provo and thus will reap the benefits of Google Fiber and easy access to the Recreation Center (which we would get regardless because we’re city employees, another reason I love Provo!).

A photo I took just now of our current place! Sooo much nicer.

On Monday while Ezra was at work, I took a walk down to the Recreation Center and registered my employee badge. I wasn’t dressed to work out so I wandered around and checked everything out. Best. Place. Ever! It’s huge, and gorgeous, with brand new state of the art equipment. I’m a fan of the Biggest Loser, and our new Recreation Center could seriously give the Biggest Loser gym a run for its money. It’s that awesome.

Thursday after work Ezra and I ran in and activated his card, and then I showed him around. Friday morning we actually went to work out. It was great. I had a lot of fun, and really feel like it lives up to all the hype. This morning I spent a few hours there while Ezra was working and just had a grand old time.

 Even if we didn’t get in for free (city employee perk), I honestly think it would be worth the membership. I try to be pretty frugal, but oh my goodness, that is the best work out facility I have ever seen. We will be there often!

Digital Woes or: How I learned to stop worrying and embrace first world problems

This is a semi conclusion to last weeks post from Allison.

This has been one of those weeks that as it is happening you feel frustrated, confused and all-together lost.... AS IT IS HAPPENING.... after the fact, it becomes ridiculous and silly and almost un-eventful.

Allison and I both had cell phone issues recently.  She mentioned her's last week and her new one came in sooner than expected, which rightfully distracted her from her papers for awhile. But she ultimately finished her papers and felt good about how they turned out.  She loves her freedom for the next couple of weeks but wasn't exactly knowing what to do with all her extra free time that suddenly appeared.  Luckily, being a librarian, she found books to read. Her phone on the other hand caused her to buy her first ever app so that she could easily transfer over data and such from her old phone.  Not having the soft keys respond to touch was causing her much misery. Everything in the end worked out fine, and she is happier now with her new phone.

We had a few good days with no real troubles, but then my phone had some issues on Sunday, the screen went pixelated and couldn't work properly.  Now, I enter into the land of the troubled phone.  I had to get a replacement phone and lost all my texts and a few other things, but it is kinda nice and refreshing to have a clean phone that runs smoother and has a battery that lasts longer. It is funny how much we rely on modern technology.  There are so many things that 5 years ago we didn't have to worry about and now for a fair number of us, say 55%, have a smartphone and somewhere around 87% of us have a cell phone in general.  These numbers keep growing and so does our dependence on technology.

Don't get me wrong, I love where we are heading in terms of technology and the future looks bright. If I was better at math I would have stayed an engineer instead of focusing on art, I still dabble in technology and making things though.  I just can't wait until we get hover boards and holograms. Simpler days weren't that long ago. Back when I had to worry about weather or not my mom made corn for dinner or if I was going to be able to earn enough money painting fences to buy a new video game and a new bunch of comic books. Ah, the good old days when I used to record tv shows with my vhs player... now we have the internet and channels broadcast their shows and save them online, and I have a job where I get regular money every two weeks, and a phone that is faster and more reliable than my computer was when I was in high school.

Last Saturday our car randomly shut off at a stop light on the way home.  It has never done that before, We had to push it into a parking lot and then called Allison's dad.  While talking to him we tried turning it back on and it did start up.  It hasn't done it again and we are hoping that it won't again.

This week got forgotten about

I got super caught up in the week and forgot to post last Sunday. We also didn't have internet for a few days and that was tragic.  Allison and I started teaching Primary at church, CTR 4 class, cute little four-year-olds running around.  Last week was our 1st week and it was great once we started teaching, even though I was mostly the helper and just drew on the board most of the time. It was a great experience and we feel like we are starting to fit in now.

We have started hiking around the mountains out our back door.  It is really nice to be able to walk a few blocks and then start down a trail. On Friday the 26th, last week we ended up hiking over 6 miles and it was a blast.  I brought a sketchbook and drew as we went while listening to music and Allison listened to an audio book.

We also went to a co-worker's/friend's house for a BBQ.  It was fun visiting and seeing our friends outside of work. As well as seeing some of our old co-workers that don't currently work with us.

I'm tired and need to go to bed so, bye for now.  I'm sure Allison will post tomorrow a most excellent post as she usually does.

Exciting Week

Ezra finished classes this week and totally rocked his finals! On Friday (the first day of finals) he went to take his New Testament final. Our agreement was that if he got an A, we could rent a movie with one of our Red
Box promo codes. 95%!! Woohoo! So we got Life of Pi and watched that. It was one of the most visually beautiful movies I’ve ever seen. It’s definitely one that we’ll add to our collection when we get the chance.

I’ve still got classes until midway through May. Then I get a short break before I start my summer class. Final projects/research papers have started for me so I’ve been busy getting that done. I’ve randomly had a handful of people ask me this past week what I actually do/learn in library school. What’s the point? So this week you get a double blog post. For information about what I’m learning in library school, go to this post.

I finally got the first part of my garden planted this past Monday. It seems like every time I’ve planned on planting either it’s snowed or we’ve had to take a trip up to Salt Lake City. I planted something like eight pea seeds and ten spinach seeds. I’m hoping that as the peas come up they’ll shade the spinach since I got it planted so late. We’ll see how it goes.

Wednesday there was an “epic announcement” from Provo’s Mayor, John Curtis. Provo, Utah will be the third city nationwide to get Google Fiber! If you don’t know what that is, it’s super fast internet through fiber optic cables. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this! Basic broadband with 5mbs will be free for at least the first seven years with a onetime installation fee of $30 (I sound like an ad). They’re planning on starting to put it in homes before the end of the current year. I’m sooo happy we’re still living in Provo!

As Ezra mentioned last week, we’ve started using MyFitnessPal (I’m about to sound like an ad again). There is a phone app that we use, but it’s also available online. I hate calorie counting. I hate it hate it hate it, but this app makes it super easy. You give the app some information about yourself and your goals, and then it gives you a daily calorie budget. Food you eat takes calories out of the budget, and exercise is like a deposit, putting calories back into your budget. Yes, this is calorie counting, but the app makes it super easy. For packaged foods you just scan the barcode and tell the app how many servings you had, and then it adjusts your budget for you. For homemade foods you enter in the ingredients, tell the app how many servings are in the final product, and it does all of the math for you. Oh, did I mention that it also calculates nutritional information? Yeah, it’s a pretty awesome app and it’s made us a lot more aware of what we eat.

What my summary looked like at the end of the day on Thursday.

The only thing I've entered so far today is my breakfast.

My nutritional information summary at the end of the day Friday.

It’s also given us motivation to work out a bit more often. There is a trail right next to our house that we’ve been hiking on, and the other day we took a walk through our neighborhood, just so we could burn a few extra calories so that we could have a bit of extra chocolate.

We were excited to pass an intersection of streets with the names of our home states.

To end this past week, we finally got a calling in our new church ward! We will be Primary teachers, teaching the four-year-olds at church. In our church, Primary is where children go after Sacrament Meeting. They have gospel lessons and activities appropriate to their age group. I’ve never attended Primary because I joined the LDS church when I was eighteen, and Ezra’s family wasn’t very active in the church when he was younger, so Primary will be new to both of us. We’re really excited and have already started planning out how we will present next week’s lesson. It’s going to be great!

The week of continual sick, ugh

This week has been mostly about rest and relaxation.  We have remained sick and possibly got each other sick again. Allison is on the mend which hopefully means that I shortly will be too.

On the plus side Allison finished her first sewing project, an apron. Se is very excited about it and can't wait to use it.  I think she did a really great job on it. She is enjoying sewing, there were a few cases of frustration that arose but it was the sewing machines fault, mostly.

Ezra modeling the almost finished apron.

All done!

My mom spoke in Church today and that took us up to Salt Lake.  We had a great dinner and I got some of my birthday presents early since I might not see them again before my birthday. Doctor Who Yahtzee.  Hehe, the cup IS the TARDIS.  We have yet to play it, but I am sure we will enjoy it.

I'm also working on a personal project, An animation based on the Russian fairy tale the Snow Maiden. Not to be confused with Disney's upcoming adaptation of the Snow Queen, Frozen. I'll start posting images and progress on my art blog.

I'm still not very good at knowing what to say in these blog posts.

Studio C

This past week hasn’t been too terribly busy, but there were some definite highlights.

Wednesday evening we went to a taping of Studio C. It was a lot of fun. If you’re ever in Provo when they’re recording the episodes, try to get tickets (which are free). It’s an hour and a half of laughs, and you get to see the skits before they air on TV! Fun fact (aka what I think I remember from what they told us), apparently two years ago the biggest audience for any BYUtv show was for Fons and Porter’s Love of Quilting, with 8,000 viewers. Today, it’s Studio C with 500,000 viewers! That’s so awesome! Ezra and I love being in the studio audience.

On Friday we went on a date to celebrate the two year anniversary of our first date. We wanted to go back to the hospital cafeteria but decided instead on Jason’s Deli in Orem. We had a gift card and only ended up paying $0.23 out of pocket. It was awesome! And there’s free ice cream! As we were sitting there eating our lunch the sky dumped snow. The flakes were huge and we could barely see University Mall just across the parking lot. Thankfully the roads weren’t too bad and by the time we had finished lunch it had stopped snowing.

While we were out and about in Orem we stopped at Jo-Ann Fabric to pick up some stuff that I needed for the apron I’m sewing. I had gotten the wrong stuff earlier, but now I’m all set! So last night instead of writing a blog post I was playing with my sewing machine. Here’s what my apron looks like at the moment. Some sewing… lots of pins.

My ladybug apron. It took forever for me to figure out the pockets on my own but I did it!

When I'm finished everything (except the ties) will be lined in black like the pockets. I wanted to go with something that was yellow and black because according to Pottermore I would be sorted into Hufflepuff.

Ezra keeping busy.

Ezra had a quiz and test this week, both of which he got As on! So proud of him! I haven’t had any assignments to turn in yet, the first one will be next week. So far my classes have consisted of reading documents, listening to lectures, and participating in weekly discussions on class discussion boards.

Oh! There is one thing that I learned that I’d like to share:

Apparently way back when (long before the printing press when books were crazy expensive), ancient monastery libraries were so protective of their books that if you didn’t return one you borrowed you could be excommunicated and cursed. Here is one such curse:

For him that stealeth, or borrow and returneth not this book from its owner, let it change into a serpent in his hand and rend him. Let him be struck with palsy, and all his members blasted. Let him languish in pain, cry aloud for mercy, and let there be no surcease to his agony til he sing his dissolution. Let bookworms gnaw his entrails in token of the worm that dieth not, and when at last he goeth to his final punishment, let the flames of hell consume him forever.

A part of me wishes that we could hang a sign over the circulation counter with that curse on it… but I have a feeling the library director wouldn’t approve. Oh well.

Well, that’s all from this past week. There’s nothing exciting on the calendar for this coming week, so we’ll see what happens.

First Car Problem Ever

As boring as last week was, this week made up for it, so it’s a long post, sorry. First, I have never, EVER had a major issue with my car. I got it in November 2005 and it was already about two years old. It’s always run great and aside from regular maintenance I’ve never had to take it in to get it looked at. That changed this week.

Tuesday: When we left the house everything was great with the car. I dropped Ezra off on campus and I drove over to the library. When I parked at the library I pulled my parking break, as I do every time I park, and it wouldn’t lock into place. So I texted Matt, (my brother and the best mechanic I know) and Ezra to let them know what was up.

Wednesday: I called the dealership where I take my car for routine maintenance and made an appointment to get it looked at. They told me it would probably take half a day so I made the appointment for 9am the following day.

Thursday: Hello freezing rain! Thankfully I have a covered parking spot so the doors weren’t frozen shut. Ezra and I headed into town about 2.5 hours earlier than usual so that I could take my car to the dealership. We didn’t have any issues with the freezing rain until we made it to the dealership parking lot and I lost traction for a second. No damage done. They took my car into the shop and we sat down and started doing homework. Fifteen minutes later the guy comes out and says I need a new parking assembly. The nearest one is in Michigan. It would cost $450 not including tax or labor to install it. Great.

I texted Matt a lot more and asked him what he thought. At his suggestion, I didn’t order the part through the dealership and am looking into independent mechanics this week. I have an appointment to get my car seen again tomorrow (Jan 29th) so hopefully this guy (who had great ratings on Google and was recommended to me by a friend) will have something a bit more positive to say. I’m hoping for something like, “oh it’s just this small part and I can have that fixed right away.” I’d like the grand total to be under $200, but I think that might be wishful thinking. We’ll see.

Friday: First thing in the morning we went to donate blood. I love giving blood! Ezra didn’t have any problems but my iron was too low. Oh well, maybe next time. After that we went up to Salt Lake to meet a guy that bought something of Ezra’s on eBay. We met at the Salt Lake Public Library (first time I’d ever been there, it’s so huge!) and then once that was taken care of we visited Ezra’s mom and sister’s family who also live up there. We left around 5:30-6pm before the fog got really bad. I heard that by around 9pm it became so thick you couldn’t see the car in front of you.

The smog and light fog really darkened the sun in Salt Lake by 5:10pm.

Saturday: Work as usual. After work we went to a taping of the first episode of season 2 for Studio C! It was so much fun! I even got a t-shirt (which I’m wearing right now)! Definitely something we’ll try to sign up for again.

Sunday: A pretty normal Sunday. One exciting thing happened: I finally got my sewing machine out and started playing with it! I had some major frustrations for a little while with thread getting stuck in my bobbin case but Ezra fixed it for me. He’s amazing like that. :-) Maybe this week I’ll find some time to start working on my first sewing project, an apron.
 

My wonderful sewing machine!

The pattern I'm using for my first project. I'm doing the apron on the left.

So that was our week! Next week will hopefully be back to boring. The only major appointment we have is for me to get my car looked at.

After such a crazy and stressful week, here's some cuteness.

And some more cuteness. I feel better already.

The Great Purge

This week seemed to go by in a blur.  Not much excitement happened around here that we can remember.  We are on the 6th season of Boy Meets World now waiting for the new series to start.

I started to make the purge of my childhood. It has been a long time coming and I am now at a point in my life where I can arise from the dust (of my childhood), and be men (man, I'm only one after all .  My mom moved over Christmas time and it gave me a chance to go home and get the remainder of my stuff, now I am slowly working at selling it on eBay and through other sources.  It is nice to have it all under one roof for the time being, but a bit in the way....  Ok, lets face it, a huge burden to our living space.  As I sort through it, it tends to get strewn across the floor and tables, and couch... But on the plus side we were able to get the lovesac situated in a manner most befitting for the face of Boe.

I was able to finally take my bike out this past week too.  It was cold and I couldn't feel my toes for most of Friday, but it was worth it to feel the freedom of personal transportation again.

Allison sat at a desk really really board for upwards of 6 hours on Saturday helping with the Family Literacy Symposium at the Provo Library.  Shannon Hale was the guest speaker.

Allison pointed out last week that I'm not one to curl up with a book, that is mostly true, I don't do it very often, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy it.  I just feel that when I'm in a long book that takes many hours to read, I could be using my time differently, like drawing or building something.  But I do get lost in art books frequently.

Allison starts up her real classes later this week and I am still working on mine. I will be stating to post more of my art on my art blog soon so go check that out too... http://ezrads.blogspot.com/

2012 Christmas Letter

We've been meaning to write a blog post, but things have been a little crazy since we made it home from the Northwest. So, to make up for it, here is a copy of our Christmas letter. Enjoy!

2012 has been a rather productive year for the Smith family. Here are a few of the highlights.

Allison became a reference librarian at the Provo Library in January and is absolutely in love with her new position. She rarely asks for time off but on Saturday, June 9th she took a day off to run the Utah Valley Marathon. She trained hard throughout the year and it was tough, but she finished in less than six hours and received her finisher’s medal. She can finally mark “run a marathon” off her bucket list. In August Allison decided she wanted to further her education and become the best librarian she could by receiving her Masters in Library and Information Science (MLIS). She applied to San Jose State University and was accepted. She will begin classes in January 2013. Finally, in November, Allison decided to participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The goal was to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. She did it! Allison can now claim to be a novelist, even though it’s unpublished and may never see the light of day. That’s just one more thing she can mark off her bucket list.

Ezra went to California for a week in March with the Illustration department from BYU. They visited animation studios, video game studios, some fine artist personal studios, grad schools, and museums. He has a stronger drive to work in the animation industry but also continues dabbling in electronics and mobile app development. Having always been a little ADD when it comes to hobbies, he has had difficulties in choosing a major and sticking with it while in college.

We took our anniversary trip in August to visit Allison’s family, then toured various places in Oregon such as McDowell Creek Park, Enchanted Forest, the Oregon Coast Aquarium, Yaquina Head Lighthouse, and the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Then we traveled up to Washington, went zip lining, and saw Ezra’s family. It was a fun vacation and we look forward to planning next year’s.

To end the year, WE’VE MOVED! It was sudden but necessary because of some unfortunate circumstances with our home at [Address not available online]. Our new address is:

[Address not available online.].

We call it our best Black Friday deal because that’s the day we found it. We were finally able to start moving in on December 8th and are actually still in the process. We’ll officially be out of our old place on the 19th. This was definitely a move we needed to make and our new home is wonderful in all the ways our old place was lacking. Though the actual process of moving hasn’t been very fun, we really like our new home and it fits our needs well. Hopefully we’ll be staying here for quite a while.

We hope this letter finds you well and wish you a wonderful holiday season.

Best wishes,
Ezra and Allison Smith

NaNoWriMo

This week I’ve been sick and hacking up a lung most of the time. On Monday I woke up with a fever and felt miserable most of the day. By midafternoon I couldn’t really move from the couch, not even enough to lift my laptop up and type for NaNoWriMo. How much energy does it take to sit at a computer and type? I mean really? But I couldn’t do it. I just curled up in a ball with some chicken noodle soup.

Ezra took great care of me and made sure I had everything I needed. My fever finally broke in the early evening and I started feeling better. I ended up writing over 5,000 words that night for my NaNo and caught back up to where I should have been. I’d stopped writing regularly when we didn’t know where we were going to be living. Since my fever broke on Monday I’ve had a lingering cough and occasional stuffy nose, but that’s about it.

Along with writing news, I finished my NaNoWriMo this week! I can officially say I’m a novelist. It’s only a first draft and I know it needs a LOT of work, but it’s a novel draft and I was super excited that I accomplished that. How many people can say they’ve written a +50,000 word novel?

You can tell when the stress of finding a place to live hit, and then my word count jumped up on the day I had a fever.

Our move-in date keeps changing but as of right now we can start moving in to our new place this coming Saturday, the 8th. We have until the 19th to move out and clean this place, so there’s no major rush to get everything done in one day. Everyone keeps asking if we need anything, and the only thing we really need that we can’t take care of ourselves is a truck. Some of our furniture simply won’t fit in my car. At church yesterday we had a lot of people mention that they have connections to someone with a truck, so I think we may have that problem solved. We’re so grateful to everyone who is so willing to help!

Thanksgiving

This past week hasn’t been too terribly eventful. I registered for my first masters classes on Tuesday and then bought my books. I’m so happy to be furthering my education. I never felt like a BA was enough for me, so knowing that I’ll get an MLIS makes me really happy. I have the best job in the world and I want to be the very best librarian I can be.

Ezra and I donated blood Friday morning and then saw Breaking Dawn part 2 in the afternoon. I’m not a huge Twilight fan, but I was pleasantly surprised by the movie. I think this was one of the rare cases where I prefer the movie over the book.

I’ve been making some major progress with my NaNoWriMo. Last night my word count passed 31k. I’m excited to be over half way done, but I know that my novel will need some serious revisions. At the moment, I’m just writing to get words and ideas on the page, regardless of how ridiculous it is. A part of me hates the novel right now just because it is so rough, but I know that if I take the time to really rework it I might just end up being proud of it. Maybe.

With Thanksgiving just a few days away, I want to take a moment to share something I’m extremely thankful for. Ezra (stop now if you want to avoid gag inducing mushiness). He is my very best friend, and his support and encouragement has meant more to me than anything else. Ezra has always loved me for who I am, flaws and all. While we’re always trying to improve ourselves, he never judges me or makes me feel bad for my shortcomings. Instead, he encourages me and supports my efforts to be better.
 
 Before I ran my marathon, there were times that I didn’t want to get up and go running in the mornings. He would ask me how important that day’s training was. It was always important, and so with that reminder I would get up and hit the road or the treadmill. He got up with me at 3am on race day and helped me get ready and gave me a kiss as I headed out the door. I texted him at every mile marker to let him know where I was, how I was doing, and he would text back words of encouragement. It was something I really needed once I hit mile 20 and felt miserable. Then, when I finally ran past the library Ezra was there on the street corner cheering me on. Without his love and support, I never would have completed the Utah Valley Marathon on June 9, 2012.

Ezra took this photo on race morning. He was exhausted, but nevertheless supportive.

Right around here our texts went something like this- Allison: "Dying" Ezra: "Keep it up, you get a fabulous massage tonight"

Because of my husband's support, I managed to run a MARATHON!

I’m thankful that Ezra and I can be goofy together, serious together, that we can sit on the couch in silence and simply and make faces at each other. I’m thankful that we agree on the important things in life and that the things we don’t agree on are so small and trivial I can’t even think of one right now. I’m thankful that, because he listens to me so well, he seems to know me better than I know myself at times. I’m thankful that he always looks on the bright side, that he remains optimistic even when I start to freak out. I’m thankful that he can keep calm and be reasonable when I know I would be freaking out (such as that time he talked a woman out of giving me a parking ticket when we were geocaching).

In short, I’m thankful for my amazing husband, Ezra Smith, the most wonderful man that I’ve ever met. I love him with all my heart and am so grateful we get to spend eternity together.

Mushiness over.

Snow

This past week a few interesting things have happened to us.  The first was the Provo Library had me make a backdrop for a few display cases on the second floor.  It was fun to work on and I will be working on another in a little bit for December too.  The other thing that happened was SNOW!!! And like typical Utah fashion we got about 8 inches in one day, and then it stopped and we probably wont get anymore til Thanksgiving.

Allison has been typing up a storm since the first.  Working on a story for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) Where as I have been drawing more and more lately.  Both are good, except that I let her see my work, she wont let me read any of her book.  But I do understand, I don't exactly like it when people peer over my shoulder when I am drawing.  Next week I might show off my head and all my bald glory.

Photo Update and Video Tech Challenge

Here are the most recent pictures for the photo-a-day project!

30 January 2012

I had some time today and thought I'd paint my nails. Green! Not mold! I think it'll be easier to keep my nail polish looking nice with my new position at the library. Less nail chipping tasks.

31 January 2012

This is Ezra's painting of me! This was his first time painting, and I think he did a pretty awesome job. Granted, I have no face... yet.

1 February 2012

We have monthly technology challenges at the library for the staff and we get prizes when we complete them. This was Ezra's prize for the January challenge.

2 February 2012

My little peas are shooting up! They make me so happy. Some of the other plants I will have to thin out soon. For all but the peas I planted 4 seeds per container in case some didn't sprout. Both of my peas sprouted though, and I think I'll have to do some more. Peas are possibly my favorite vegetable.

Also, every month the library has a technology challenge for the staff. For February, the challenge is to make a video using Windows Live Movie Maker, then share it with friends and family. You can upload the video directly to Facebook, YouTube, and others from the program. The biggest challenge I had was finding royalty free music that I could use without getting in trouble. So, here it is!

Photo-a-day Project 2012

So I've been doing a photo-a-day project on facebook, and I thought I'd post the photos that I have so far, along with their captions for those who aren't on facebook. I know a lot of the pictures are kind of grainy, I've just been using the camera on my phone since that's the camera most readily available.

1 January 2012

This is on display in the HFAC. It was part of Ezra's final project in his illustration class. It's a big honor to have your piece chosen to go on display, and his was!

When Ezra showed it to his class someone commented that it reminded him of the move Mr. and Mrs. Smith... Ezra informed him that "Smith" was in fact our name.

2 January 2012

We've been cleaning up the living room and trying to find places for all of our books. I've been asking Ezra repeatedly if we could use the fireplace, and today he said we could. So, we lit a fire! We have lots of old decrepit books that would be going to the dump, so we decided to use some of them as kindling (phone books work great!).

3 January 2012

Two new book cases!!! We needed them so bad. Finally our floor isn't covered with piles of books. :-)

4 January 2012

Tried a new recipe tonight for dinner. It was an orange chicken type thing. We had salad with salsa on the side. It was good, the two didn't really go together, but it was food, and we got our serving of veggies. :-)

5 January 2012

Roasting marshmallows by the fire. :-)

6 January 2012

We had some random boards that we wanted to use as firewood... we couldn't break them, so we tried a lot of different methods of cutting them. We never made it through and it took Ezra forever to get even this far.

7 January 2012

Kinda dark, but this is a regular occurrence right before bed, Ezra's doing stuff on his phone as our kids (the stuffed animals) wait to be put away for the night.

8 January 2012

We don't have a table in our house, let alone a desk. This is Ezra's work space, the living room floor. Ezra likes to spread out, but he's good about getting it all put away before bed. :-)

9 January 2012

We have a crazy neighbor that always gets angry about where I put my garbage can. Here is proof that I am NOT in his driveway, or even in his way. My car is blocked, not his. He says he's going to report me to the city. I called the city and they said this is fine.

10 January 2012

Ezra likes ninjas... we have a stuffed ninja Mickey Mouse. Ezra thought it would be funny to give him a sword. Ninja Mickey protects us from crazy neighbors by guarding our window.

11 January 2012

I always win the dinner battle, but sometimes there are casualties... like my poor wooden spoon that is now chipped. Sad day!

12 January 2012

I walked into the kitchen and saw Ezra standing on the counter... he was trying to figure out perspectives for a drawing he wanted to do.

13 January 2012

Since our lives really are kind of boring, I thought I'd introduce you to some members of our family. Today, I'd like you to meet Thelonious, or Thelo for short. I had a roommate that named all of her plants, and when I got Thelo I sort of picked up the habit. He's the first plant I got while in Utah.

14 January 2012

Meet Bat! He's one of our aloe vera plants. Ezra named him. Bat had some arms that curved around the side of his pot that Ezra though made it look like bat wings.

15 January 2012

This is our second aloe vera plant, Owl! I felt like since Ezra gave the other the name Bat, I wanted this one to have a similar, night creature name, so I call her Owl.

16 January 2012

Hello Peter Parker! He's our first spider plant, and Ezra thought he should be called Peter Parker since he's a spider.

17 January 2012

This is the newest addition to our plant family, Doc Ock. He's still just a baby, but Peter Parker had a start growing from him so I decided to put it in water and grow another spider plant (I love them so). I thought another Spiderman character would be a fitting name, so He's our little Doc Ock.

18 January 2012

So The Woman in Black came in for me. A group of us in circulation have a little book club and this was the next book we wanted to read, since the movie is coming out (and the movie has Daniel Radcliff). I'm excited to have a scary book to read. I don't typically choose something like this for myself.

Update: 26 January 2012 Good book! I finished reading it today. Chilling, thrilling, and just some good scariness. Nothing graphic or violent, just creepy make you want to look behind you and hide under the covers.

19 January 2012

I was really missing gardening so I made a little container garden on one of my book selves. I don't know how the plants will do, but my fingers are crossed!

20 January 2012

So I went on a long run today, and about half way through the miles I was supposed to be doing I gave up because I was hurting like crazy. I knew my shoes were getting bad, but it took me a while to concede. I got off the treadmill and walked over to 26.2 and bought myself a new pair of running shoes. Here they are!

21 January 2012

Cringe! Okay, I know it's gross, but I didn't have a better picture for today. This is one of the many reasons I needed new running shoes. Right between my big toe and the smaller toe, the callouses had built up a lot. Great, lots of padding, right? Well, it's fine until your feet dry out and the callous splits... right down to the really soft tissue. It's been hurting so bad! I can hardly walk and when I do it's with a limp. I've been using liquid bandaid in the crack to try to encourage it to heal. Fingers crossed!

22 January 2012

On Sunday's I love to take time and cook something fun. Banana bread has been my favorite recently. So I thought today I'd get a picture of my collection of cookbooks, dilapidated discards from the library and otherwise.

23 January 2012

My plants are already sprouting! I've got some peas and flowers that have popped out of their dirt.

24 January 2012

I had to clean out my locker in circulation. I found this in the pile of papers I pulled out. It was from Halloween, when circulation became "Library High."

25 January 2012

First day as a reference librarian! Really my badge and name tag hasn't changed, but I was just so excited to be moved over to reference! Really though, I do miss circ. I like knowing what I'm doing and at the moment, I don't all the time. But I suppose that's how it is with any new job.

26 January 2012

I fear you may get lots of plant updates for my photos. I love my little babies, they make me so happy! Anyway, the plants that have already sprouted are thriving, and some dill started sprouting overnight!

27 January 2012

Ezra doesn't yet know that I grabbed another one of his drawings to post... hehehe. Anyway, he was setting this one up because he wanted to draw our feet with us in our wedding clothes. So we were sitting on the couch, he set up his camera on a timer, and I was bored. I got out my kindle and was reading a book while all of this was going on, ha ha. He liked the picture so much that he drew the whole thing. :-)

28 January 2012

Ezra's first experience painting. He's having a lot of fun making a mess in the living room. It's supposed to be me, walking up our steps after working out.

29 January 2012

Not man on wire, but bunny on glasses! Hopson was walking around Ezra's head.