Summer's Over

Dearest Mothers-

With the start of a new school year, I've decided to pause and finally blog about the summertime--blessed time of year that it is. I'm already a stress-case with school, so this will be as good a time as any. I'll try and go through as quickly as possible some of the highlights of the past one to two months.

1. We went to Europe! In addition to relatively clean hostels, here are the good points: we caught all of our trains, we ate fondue in Switzerland, we hiked the Alps, we saw beautiful architecture, I finally visited Auschwitz (more of a somber than good point but worth the trip considering I've read about it since I was 10--much more harrowing than I was anticipating), we met a family N. taught that is still active AND normal, we took a cog train up and down mountains, we explored the huge castles of King Ludwig, we ate dairy products for every meal, we peregrinated through charming European towns (Vienna, Salzburg, Munich, Krakow, Berlin, Thun, Bern, etc.), we studied GRE words (as evidenced in the previous statement), we snacked on ice cream every chance we could, we swooned over cows with bells against the backdrop of waterfalls and verdant fields in Switzerland, we sailed around idyllic lakes with mountain-perched homes, etc. I came to the conclusion that we are moving to Switzerland when the millions come rolling in. That small country is the most pastoral place I have ever seen. Here are the bad points of the trip: we had to share a "sleeping car" (the seats pulled down into small couchettes) with two large Polish men, we forgot it was our anniversary until someone happened to ask how long we had been married, we couldn't stay with Rachael in Switzerland (lovely place but full of the most anal people I have ever met), it rained on one of our days in the Alps, everything was more expensive than we had planned, and we only had enough money for a tiny souvenir: a carved wooden Christmas ornament. See some of the pictures below.









2. N. took the GRE and is starting grad school applications. It feels weird: after so many years of living in Utah, I'm actually feeling sorrowful at the prospect of leaving. I remember coming out to BYU with the full intent of leaving within four years. Oh how things change.

3. We had a family reunion in Idaho and then Yellowstone, and I couldn't believe I had never been there before. We loved the geysers and sparkling colors created in the hot pots. And we even saw a grizzly bear. Very exciting. After the enjoyable time in Yellowstone, I compared the money we spent there with the money we spent in Europe. My conclusion? Our next Europe trip will be in ten years, and for the next decade we will dedicate all vacations to exploring the jewels and unheralded haunts of America. Then N. has promised to take me to Italy. Hopefully the PhD will be done by then...

4. I became an Olympic junkie. This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who knows me. We watched more tv in the past two weeks than we have in a year of marriage, but how can you not? I cried when Nastia Liukin won gold, I cried when Shawn Johnson's parents broke down in the stands, I cried when they told a story of Kristy Coventry (swimmer from Zimbabwe) who returned with a gold four years ago and her country had a period of peace to celebrate her accomplishments, and I cried at the story of the Sudanese Lost Boy who was now a runner for the United States. And N. and I watched every Michael Phelps race, biting our nails and screaming out encouragements. He's my new hero. Even some of his races made me misty-eyed.

The glory of the human spirit that is prevalent in the Olympics always makes me emotional. It's as if everything upsetting and wrong is put on hold as we glory in the feats that are possible when body and will power are brought into complete agreement. Love it.

5. And then school started. Sigh. Back to the grindstone.

Love you all.