Jack and his closest cousin Asher were born 6 days apart. Asher had his third birthday while we were in Utah, and since Jack's isn't far behind, my sister-in-law Amanda and I threw them a joint birthday party at my parents' house. We went with a construction theme, since they are both mega obsessed with tractors and dump trucks.
We started the party with games. Jared made a "Pin the Tire on the Construction Truck" board. It was just janky enough to be amazing. The kids loved it.
We had the most wonderful weekend getaway in St. George! I'd only spent one night away from Jack in his life, and that was for Jared's interview in Elko. And Jack turns THREE next week. So this was long overdue. It can be tough to keep the spark alive when you're parents and your spouse is giving their soul to residency training for 60-100 hours a week. Also no family around, and also covid. So quadruple thanks to my family who helped watch Jack/stay up with him half the night while he had a meltdown. Yikes. Nothing quite whispers "cut your getaway short a night you monster" in your soul like hearing your child is falling apart and depriving all your loved ones of sleep. Oops.
I've only been to St. George maybe 2 or 3 other times in my life, so I was excited to do some exploring. We spent a few hours hiking in beautiful Snow Canyon. The weather was in the high 60s the whole time we were there, which made me very happy, especially when I'd check the weather in Casper and see that it was literally 70 degrees colder there. February was a great time to escape the winter.
The only thing negative I have to say for our experience is that I expected to have the homes mostly to ourselves since we went during a weekday, but we failed to take into account that St. George is a pretty hoppin retirement community. We had lots of company--mostly older couples. I'm glad we didn't go on the weekend though. That would've been way more nuts, especially since it was President's Day weekend.
^^Our AirBNB was the guest house of a beautiful big home in Santa Clara. It was above their garage and really nice. Also, somehow it was cheaper than all the motels we were looking at? We were only able to book it for one night because everything was taken for President's Day weekend. We planned to just stay at a Motel 6 the next night, but even the Motel 6 was more expensive than our AirBNB. Probably due to a combination of St. George being a bit of a tourist town, and also it being a holiday weekend. That's another reason we cut our vacation short a night.
The weekend was a big success and got us pumped for future getaways together. This was our first vacation ever where we were able to kind of do and eat whatever we wanted (within reason) and not feel guilty. We would have started to feel itchy if our stay/spending had gone on for longer than a day and a half, but this felt like a great step in the right direction! Our favorite meal was in a restaurant tucked up near Snow Canyon in Ivins called Xetava's Garden Cafe. It was fancier than I expected, and we were probably underdressed. Next time we'll request to eat out on the patio, but inside was beautiful too. There was a little fire pit going outside the window next to where we were eating. I ordered a burger with insane french fries and a slushy mint-coconut lemonade that blew our minds. Jared got a loaded chicken sandwich with an insane side salad containing the first blue cheese I have ever liked. I must be an adult now.
After dinner, we went to our first movie theater since well before covid. We saw "News of the World." I always love Tom Hanks movies, and it was really well done. However, Jared and I both started to feel a bit anxious when there were like 10 highly intense, life-or-death scenes in a row. They could've taken it down a notch or two. Otherwise it was great! We followed our movie with a short hike to a viewpoint on top of a rock overlooking St. George. It looked to be a popular hang with the college kids. We felt kRaZy staying out until 11:00. Until next time, St. George! Thanks for being so good to us.
It's a good time to be in Utah! Today Jared starts a short rotation with another family practice clinic in Orem. We don't have any inclination as to whether it will lead to a job offer, but it will be good experience regardless. It's also great to not be in Wyoming this week. The high on Thursday in Casper will be -4. Yup, NEGATIVE FOUR. As the HIGH. Woof. No thank you.
Before leaving we deep-cleaned the house, and we took advantage of a Costco sale--$100 off the cordless
Dyson we'd been eyeing--just as our old vacuum bit the dust. What a time to be alive. No Costco in Casper so we ordered online and shipped it to my parents. No words can express my disappointment in myself for being this level of excited about a new vacuum.
Jack is very excited to be in Utah. He has been looking forward to playing with Asher and everyone else for weeks. Our countdown was, "When Mommy's finished weaving all the way to the top of the loom it's time to go to Utah." I made my mom a woven headboard/wall hanging for her birthday yesterday. I was so happy we could make it in time for her birthday dinner. It's the biggest weaving I've ever done and it turned out beautiful. Jack was pumped when I cut it off the loom because he knew it must be Utah time.
During my hours of weaving, I got hooked on Netflix's "The American Barbecue Showdown." It's a barbecue competition mostly focusing on meat smoking, set in Georgia near where we used to live. And dang, I'm gonna need a meat smoker at some point now. I've been toying with the idea of doing culinary school someday, but since I don't want to work in the industry, for now I'm seeing what I can learn from podcasts and free online classes. But I could see myself getting very into the meat smoking scene. Man, I miss that good southern barbecue of Georgia (and Alabama. The best barbecue I've ever had was off the side of a rural road in Alabama).
Whelp, that's a more lengthy update than I thought I had for you this week. Very excited to see if anything comes of this rotation in Utah. I'll keep you posted!
Well hey! It's been another slow January week. The sun is setting noticeably later each night, which is giving me some hope that winter might not last forever. This winter actually hasn't been nearly as bad as last winter. The roads have felt less icy, the days have seemed sunnier, and hey, no one's gotten the flu. Thank u face masks. I guess we'll do a brief catch-up, followed by the only two pictures on my camera roll this week.
Jared has been enjoying a more relaxed schedule in his hematology rotation. He's even taken up riding the stationary bike in our living room before work. He's had to jump through some unexpected hoops to get his Utah rotation finalized (his program coordinator is taking a verrrrry hands-off approach to 2021), which caused a bit f a frenzy last week, but looks like everything's all set again.
I am apparently rushing toward my 30s with vigor. Not only am I excited about spring cleaning and organizing, but I'm also a vacuum enthusiast now? Our vacuum we got for our wedding is dying a slow and painful death and I'm getting very excited about the cordless options on the market. Also today I took a stroll with my pre-covid thrifting self to our local thrift store to try and score a Candy Land or Hungry Hungry Hippos for Jack's birthday. I ended up finding literally everything on my "potential Jack bday gifts" list, plus a few extra gems. The thrifting odds were in my favor.
Jack is enjoying all the extra Dad time this week. He's also learned how to sound out the initial letter of words. He's surprisingly good at it! He can spell his whole name and is getting close to writing it all out. Saturday was warm enough to play some soccer in the backyard, and Jack was into it. I think we're going to have to put him in soccer in the next year or two.
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