Olympus High School Class of 2000 Alumni Website

Let me set the stage…

Rewind 5 weeks ago when Spence ventured to Spain for a business convention. He had 17 meetings in 4 days. He was bound to arrive in Spain around 10am and his first meeting was at 4pm with three meetings that afternoon.

Well of course American Airlines being the stellar airline they are (said with heavy sarcasm) canceled his flight to Spain out of Dallas. So after sitting in the Dallas airport for 8 hours and after several delays, his flight is canceled because the plane is broken. Well no worries, they have a backup plane, and guess what? That plane was broken as well.

So after much convincing, Spence grabbed a flight to London, and then they re routed him to Madrid from London on British Airways. Well obviously, he arrived in Spain very late that first day and missed his first three meetings. And the icing on the cake – well his bags didn’t show up. Well British Airways just happened to be the airline that took him from London to Madrid, so they told him to go and pick up some “necessities.”

Well when you are going to a business convention and having huge meetings, you very well can’t show up in a pair of sweat pants. So, Speen went on to buy a new suit, coat, shoes, shirt, cuff links and three ties. He was excited because all of his suits are huge on him because he lost so much weight this last year, so this new suit actually fit. I was a little concerned because let’s be honest, the chance of getting reimbursed from an airline for over $800 I thought was pretty slim to none.

Well imagine our delight on Saturday when this baby showed up in the mail (all $839) with a note apologizing for the inconvenience it caused Speen. So all in all, a new wardrobe was definitely worth a missed flight and late bags.

(ps, doesn’t Speen look great in his new Spanish suit?)

I do however find it very ironic that it was AA’s fault that he and his bags arrived late, but it was British Airways who had to pay for his new purchases… However, I strongly believe had it been AA, there is no chance we would have seen a reimbursement.

So, moral of the story: British Airways ROCKS!

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Thank you British Airways!

I believe there are many important “firsts” in life.

I still [embarrassingly] remember my first kiss

I definitely remember the first time I saw Brad.

I remember the first moment[s] I found out I was pregnant

And the first moment of meeting my precious boys face to face

I remember the first moment I realized and knew that my religion was true.

And the first time I realized that I was doing exactly the right thing and exactly the right time.

But this week (and last week for that matter), I’ve been remembering the first time I tasted one of these:

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Firsts…

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Wowee!

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Our Fort

Someone kindly asked for me to make a blog button for them to put on their site… completely flattered even if it was a family member So I thought I’d open up the goods to all! You know, just in case if any of you wanted to button up and put one on your blog too!

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Photography Blog Buttons

Yes folks, it is that time of year again, the time where I drag my hubby up the canyon to look for Moose! Yes, he grew up in Park City and had families of Moose living in his backyard so he thinks this is absolutely ridiculous but I think it is super fun! Here are two we saw on Saturday!

And here are two I saw with my dad last week on a short trip up Parleys.

I am happy that I have a cute hubby who likes to come home on his lunch break to hurry and build a snowman with Lance. I absolutely despise the cold – yes living in California and Arizona for four years did that to me – so I am happy Speen likes to play in the snow with the Goose! This snowman is from the short storm we had last week.

And this is the 9 foot snowman Speen and Lance built on Saturday in 50 degree weather! It was hilarious, it took up all the snow from our yard and by the end of the day all the snow on our entire street had melted and then you see this 9 foot snowman, it was pretty sweet!
Shows how big it was next to little Tallie!

And finally Speen and Lance showing their excitement over their creation!

Good work boys!

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Snowmen and Moose!

It seems like there are really only a handful of snowfalls here in Minnesota.  Sure when they come they dump a few feet of snow, but really I’m only remembering a real snowfall only three maybe four times this season.  What’s different about Minnesota is that the snow here sticks, and it sticks all season [...]

Related posts:

1. Serenity of Winter
2. Majestic Day
3. Week 23-24: Winter Break

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The Long Thaw of Winter

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A Sojourn of Dance

It’s here.
Finally!
This is it.
This is the week that…

• our new baby sister arrives!
• Lyvia becomes the “big sister”.
• Jason and I become parents of two girls. Two.
• our house seems suddenly smaller and yet happily full at the same time.
• the crazy picture taking begins. And videos of hiccups.
• I’ll probably be shocked (again) when the baby comes with a full head of dark hair. (That promptly falls out in a week and starts to grow in two years later!:)
• I become thankful all over again for family and friends who are so supportive and willing to help out. (This is already happening…thanks to all!)
• the “cleaning everything phase” dwindles into the “recovery phase”.
• I’ll be snuggling with my own newborn.

This is going to be one awesome week.

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this is the week

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The fun things that Logan does with dad while mom is at work!

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It is what it is because of the parents he has…..

Happy Oscar Day!

You know, there was a time (not too long ago) when the Oscars were right up there with Christmas for me. They definitely had the Fourth of July beat, if that gives you any hint as to how much I loved them. (That’s a lot of love, people. A lot of love.)

It all started in high school, when I decided I was going to win an Oscar. And believed it. Because when you’re in high school, you can decide things like this and it doesn’t even occur to you that it might not happen. For the record, I also decided that I would win a Tony, marry for money, and be thin forever. Ha ha.

Even after my Oscar dreams dimmed with the end of my career as a costumer, I held onto my love for the awards show. I made an event of it every year, eventually culminating in elaborate costume parties with themed desserts, signature cocktails, and prizes for Oscar Bingo.

And then…well, I suppose life happened. It’s harder to throw costume parties in mid-March when you get older because that’s a whole lot of silly for a Sunday night. I managed to pull it together only once in law school. The other years were either half-hearted attempts with short guest lists or plain old failures (although sitting on the floor of my apartment with Nate and Drew, eating Velveeta Mac-n-Cheese while I hold onto the TV antennae to get reception, will probably remain one of my favorite Oscar parties to date). I don’t know…I just got kind of cynical about the whole thing. The jokes were less funny, the fashion was less interesting, and most of the time I hadn’t even seen the movies.

So, here we are this year, with only a couple of hours before the big show, and no partyness in sight. I could have pulled it together. I could have called people and organized and taken advantage of our housesitting situtation, instead of having a dinner party last night that was completely unrelated to any Academy whatsoever. But I didn’t. I just let it slide by and tonight Kyle and I will watch the show in our pj’s, eating enchiladas that aren’t themed to correspond to any movie whatsoever.

Am I bummed? Yeah, a little bit, but only because I feel like it’s just another step away from something that used to be pretty cool when I was 18 or 22. But, like clubbing and wearing crushed velvet, I guess it’s just one of those things I accidentally grew out of…

(Remind me to cite this post next year when I spend $400 at the local party store on mini-Oscars and lifesize cut outs of George Clooney and Brad Pitt…)

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The Oscar Party I’m Not Having

Last night I went to get a massage. I heart massages. I don’t get them nearly as often as I should. Mainly because I can always think of somewhere else to spend $100+ dollars. However, when my coworker Nicole told me about Healing Mountain Massage School, my life changed. I’ve been to The College of Massage Therapy before and couldn’t handle the florescent lights and the gigantic room separated by sheets. I just couldn’t relax. However, Healing Mountain has individual rooms just like a real spa (I like to pretend). AND you can have a recently licensed massage therapist give you a massage instead of a student. AND it’s only $35. Where do I sign?

Once coworker Nicole told me about this, I immediately emailed roommate Nicole and told her I was scheduling massages for both of us. Among our many similarities is the fact that we love to pamper ourselves. So I scheduled the massages and then made a paper chain to count down the days until our massages.

So yesterday came. The Day of the Massage. There were no more paper chains to tear off and I was excited. I emailed Nicole and asked if she was as excited as I was. And well, she forgot. SHE FORGOT ABOUT THE MASSAGE! How that is possible I don’t know? Well I do know. She is becoming a grown up and buying her own condo. She’s leaving me in the process and I am denial about the whole thing.

Anyway. She forgot and was double booked and couldn’t get out of her other plans. And the wonderful and lovely friend that she is called and paid for my massage because she felt so bad. Who does that? Seriously? I need more friends like her.

So I walk into the school/spa and go to the receptionist to give her my name. And this was our conversation:

Me: Hi, I’m Natalie. I have a 7:00 appointment.
Receptionist: Oh ok let me check. It looks like your husband already paid for you, tip included, so you can just leave right after you are done.

and without skipping a beat I replied:

Oh! Isn’t that sweet? My husband is the best. He always does these little surprises for me.

Imaginary husbands are the best! Aren’t they?

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I love my husband

this girl has to be the biggest P.I.M.P. that i know. everyone, meet janie egan. she is a student of mine at prodigy and full on made this sweatshirt for a jazz game. she said it took hours. i died laughing when she walked into the studio.

the
back

the sleeves
the best part is the sleeve on the right that says, i wish i was a jazz dancer…..sike

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calling on all the 80's lovers

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During my extended stay in northern California, Kyle flew out

We recently made this card for Grandpa and I couldn’t help but post such an adorable little face. He is getting so big. He’ll be one in two weeks!

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Happy Birthday

Life: Just wonderful. We are all healthly and pretty darn happy.

Baby: Wiggly! She is trying to make her way in to the world earlier and earlier! Now our due date to meet her is Sunday the 14th, in the wee morning hours! No, we do not have a name selected- we’re going with the ol’ “wait-and-see-what-she-looks-like” routine.

Lyvia: As darling as ever. She’s pretty excited for her new baby sister and talks about all the things she’ll be teaching the baby. Right now, the top thing for Lyv to teach baby is how to dance- “I’ll teach her to twirl and jump and kick and wear a princess dress.” So cute!

Jason: Hunky. His knee is feeling good and he’s back to playing basketball. Working hard and taking care of his harem of girls!

Bryttin: Growing. Happy. Ready for the baby to arrive.

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the mini update

Housesitting is pretty lovely. I really don’t mind living with my parents and I definitely didn’t mind spending a month out in Napa living with my extended family, but there’s something about having a place with only two people rattling around in it that makes me rethink our plan to ever have kids…

Of course, we’re not staying in the crummiest of houses. Dad and Chris’s house isn’t huge, but it’s very comfortable and beautifully decorated. It’s also located in one of Salt Lake’s better neighborhoods, so Kyle and I are just a walk away from great bookstores and restaurants. Plus, Kyle’s commute has gone down from one hour to ten minutes, so he’s definitely not complaining. And, best of all, someone around here doesn’t know how to secure their wireless internet. Yay!

One of the big perks of housesitting for my father is his insane music collection. Although I never had to deal with a deadbeat dad, my Deadhead dad used to get lost in his music when I was little, spending hours in the basement blasting Jerry Garcia. He used to take me to all of the record stores in town, trying to get me interested in the difference between the ‘69 live album and the ‘74 live album. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the best pupil, even when we took a special trip to Haight Ashbury to see the house that the Grateful Dead used to live in…a trip that was perfectly time to coincide with my I-Hate-That-I’m-On-Vacation-With-My-Dad-Leave-Me-The-Hell-Alone phase.

It wasn’t all rock and roll, to be fair. My dad has a real penchant for jazz, folk, blues, and great original cast recordings of classic Broadway shows. I got to see John Prine, James Taylor, Jimmy Buffett, and countless others before I turned ten. I also had a pretty impressive record collection for someone who couldn’t tie their shoes…but I just could never see why Dad seemed to constantly need a fresh feed of music. So many CDs. So many CDs!

No matter what was going on my dad’s life, the music collection continued to thrive. As we went from house to house and my dad’s family situtation changed a couple of times, there were always the trips to the record store to replace the albums that a person simply shouldn’t live without. Kind of Blue from Miles Davis. One Fair Summer Evening from Nanci Griffith. Truckin’ Up to Buffalo from Grateful Dead. Learning to Flinch from Warren Zevon. And always John Prine Live, the album that has my parents and I on the cover. No, really, we were there and now we’re immortalized in music legend. Bit of trivia: this album also has my favorite version of my favorite song in the entire world, “Angel from Montgomery”.

We’re on the right hand side…see the Asian looking woman, the little kid in red, and the guy with the intense facial hair? That’s the Lane family.

Pic for comparison:

I always thought that his music addiction was just one more thing that I didn’t get about my dad. Until, of course, we stopped in at a used music store last spring and I stumbled on a copy of Deadicated, a Grateful Dead tribute album that’s pretty fantsatic. I was lamenting the fact that I had pawned my copy in college when Kyle mentioned that he didn’t know any of the songs. Apparently, Kyle made it all the way to 26 without listening to the Grateful Dead. I immediately bought the CD and then made him sit in the car while I tried to download everything I knew about the Dead into his underprivileged brain. “Listen to this chord change…isn’t that incredible? Mellow and powerful all at the same time. Oh, and listen to these lyrics. Do you get it? Here, wait, let me back it up again so you can really listen to it. There. Isn’t that just mind blowing?”

Apparently, the answer was no. But my husband laughed and shook his head and said, “You’re so your dad. You’re more like your dad than anyone else on the planet.”

It’s the truth and every day I see it more. I used to hate his retreats into seclusion, but now I get manic if I don’t get a couple of hours to myself every day. I thought the road trips to all of the crappy Utah historical monuments were a trial I had to endure to get into heaven, but now I really like getting in the car, picking a direction, and just driving until something interesting happens. And while I used to think that my father’s basement music sessions were just a noisy way to keep us all at arm’s length, I find that I have to take twenty minutes every now and then, lock myself in the bathroom with my headphones on, and just crank that iPod up as loud as I can get it…which is never loud enough. I’m looking forward to the day when they can permanently implant Eric Clapton music directly into my ear canal.

And so, while my father tours Argentina (with his iPod safely anchoring him in the sixties), I’m slurping all of his music into my computer and making playlists of all those songs I always thought I never got. And, oh, there might not be anything better.

Hanging with Warren in front of some of my father’s music collection.
If you don’t own Learning to Flinch, I’m sorry to tell you that your life is woefully incomplete.
Best album ever? Very possible.

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My Father’s Music

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new blanket

So at the beginning of the year I made resolution to lose 20-25lbs. I have had this extra weight ever since I was pregnant with Aaron and have never been able to loose it. Well, I will admit that in January I didn’t do much to lose the weight. In fact Eric and I got into this really bad habit of eating ice cream at around 10pm everynight. So, of course, I gained about 5lbs. Oops! Well we put an end to the ice cream and on Feb. 2nd I joined a gym.
I have now been motivated to lose this weight so I have been getting up at 6:15am every morning and working out. I go 5 times a week. Three times a week I have been jogging 2 miles or more and two times a week I lift weights. Then twice a week I walk about 1.5 miles round trip to the park. After not seeing any results after working out for 3 weeks I decided to join weight watchers to help me keep track of what I am eating. I have been on weight watchers for a week and a half now. I have done pretty good for the most part but it is so hard when I am home all day and have access to my kitchen all day.
Since I started working out I would weigh myself on the Wii fit board every morning. According to the Wii I have maybe only lost about1.3lbs in since I started to work out a month ago. The graph from this last month is all over the place. Does that just sound wrong to anyone else? I really don’t know what I am doing so wrong. I thought I would have at least lost the weight I gained in January by now.

I am also so frustrated with Aaron and bed time. When we put him into a big bed out of his crib when he turned 2 he did great for the first 2 months. He would go to sleep when we put him down and he would wait for us to come get him. Then he discovered that he could actually get out of bed himself. After a long struggle with that we resorted to locking his door and letting him cry it out. Eventually he went back to bed or fell asleep by the door. Now he is tall enough to turn on his lights. So as soon as we put him to bed and lock his door he is right out of bed and turns on his lights so he can play with his toys. We have constantly gone in there and put him back in bed. He even tells me what I am going to say. “No lights, stay in bed.” Then within seconds of me leaving his room he is back out of bed with the lights on. We tried just ignoring it as long as he is quiet. Well he was up until 11:30pm last night. Then he was up again at 1:30am with the lights on and then ready to get up for the day at 6:00am. My baby sleeps better through the night than he does. It is driving me crazy. I don’t know how to keep him from turning on the lights. We have put a night light in his room so that he could still see in his room but that did nothing. I just don’t know what else to do but it makes it impossible for me to wind down for the day when I am putting my toddler to bed all night long. Any suggestions?
Sorry if this is a complete blog of complaining but I need answers to these problems and I don’t have them. Ahhh!

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So Frustrated