Pie Night

Tonight we had our annual Pie Night and once again I forgot to take any pictures. I always get so stressed about making sure it goes well and that everyone has a good time. I think everyone did. We had some really good pies and everyone stayed late to visit, which is always my favorite part. (Ok, it's a tie between visiting and eating the pie. So really this night is a win/win for me.)

Thanks to everyone who came! We love you all!

Friends

I just wanted to document a couple of stops we made during our trip to St. George.

On the way down on Wednesday night, we stopped in Cedar City to visit Kyle & Megs. I've known Megs since Freshman year at USU. I love that we've stayed close and have made it a tradition to stop by & visit them when we go to St. George.

It's always fun to get together & catch up on life. And her husband Kyle always cracks us up. He's a great story teller.

On our way home Sunday night, the Preece's invited us over for a BBQ. Of course!

Some other friends Steve & Kam were also there and we had a fun night talking and laughing. And playing with the children. Aria insisted on doing my hair over and over, and made Brian & I King and Queen for the night. We felt very honored.

Corbin was a little shy at first, but soon overcame that & played with Brian. Total boy right there. So cute though.

I'm so grateful for our friends and all the fun we have, even when we don't see them all the time.

Temple Day

Today I got the chance to attend the temple with one of my best friends.

Heather was my first roommate at college at USU. She was not a member of my church, and had no interest in being one.

We soon became best friends. And we've stayed that way for the past 9 years.

Last year I was ecstatic when she decided to be baptized. It was a very happy day.

Today I had the privilege of being her escort as she went through the Bountiful Temple for the first time.

I'm so proud of her and the choices she's made.

I know it hasn't been easy for her.

Even though she had no family support, and went through a pretty awful marriage and annulment, she hasn't lost the new faith that she found so recently.

She's a pretty strong woman. And I can tell she's happy.

Even when she's stressed, she's happier than when I first met her.

Congratulations Heather!

Moving On

After 4 years of cinder block, and tile floors, and not-insulated-windows....

And all-nighters at school, and models, and supplies, and reviews...

And the best ward, and the best friends, and some of our best memories...

We have moved out of the Village.

Last night we planned to move most of our things into storage, but leave the rest for next week, because it was so late and we didn't think we'd have enough help.

Turns out, we had TONS of people show up. Including people we didn't even know, who were new to the ward, but offered their help anyway. I was so touched.

Moving is very stressful for me, but with all of the help, we were able to move almost everything in one night.

And then our families helped us unload it all in two different places and made it almost easy.

Thank you to everyone!!

And thank you to all of those we're leaving behind. We love you all!

Park City

Today we spent the day up in Park City. Our friends the Preece's had a conference up their for Landon's residency program and they invited us to join them for some swimming and fun.

Corbin, Aria & Me after swimming

 We went swimming in the hotel pool. Aria was a little water shy, but Corbin, who's only 1 1/2 was ready to dive in on his own. We had to keep a close eye on that kid.

Me & Marci on a ski lift in the hotel lobby

 After swimming we went up to the Olympic Park and watched some skiers jump into the pool. Pretty amazing!

Then we walked around the museum...

Landon, Aria & Brian

 Corbin & Brian tried out some skiing...

Corbin skiing

Brian skiing

And then we headed back to the hotel for some pizza. A very fun day spent with very good friends.

Dinner with the Preece's

Tonight we had our friends, the Preece's, over for dinner. They were in town for the day and we were so happy to see them.

We had a great time catching up and laughing. I always love how we can not see each other for so long, but when we get together we're still as close as ever.

We played with their cute little kids, who thankfully still remember us. Though I noticed that Aria can now say my name correctly instead of the cute "missa" she used to call me. It's a little sad that she's growing up so fast.

We love to see them and miss seeing them more often. Come play again soon!

Ward Bear Lake Outing

Our family reunion ended the same day as the ward Bear Lake outing, so we decided to drive straight there instead of home.

It was a nice day to just sit outside and enjoy the lake. Since we had been camping the past two days, I didn't change into my suit, but still had a good time chatting and being with our friends that we've made the past few years.

Our bishop and his wife are so generous in allowing us all to crash their home, and we all had such a good time.

We're definitely going to miss this ward!

Recent Happenings

Well Summer is just flying by. Here is a few things we've been up to: (Sorry for the lack of pictures. We just haven't taken any lately.)

• June 24th - Annual Ward Camp out.
• We have only stayed the night once in the 4 years we've been in this ward. That tells you how much I like camping.
• But I love going up for dinner! We have a guy in our ward who makes Award-winning turkeys. For reals. SO GOOD.
• I love our ward. It's always so much fun to go up there and chat with everyone.

• June 25th - Day of Babies
• First I went to the baby blessing of my cousin's little boy. They had it at their house and held a luncheon in the backyard. So fun to see lots of family and to hold that little guy. :)
• I headed straight from that to a baby shower for one of my best friend's growing up. She's due in September and was so surprised to see me. (It was a ward shower and since I'm no longer in that ward.... but then again, neither is she.) Glad I could go and see her.

• June 26th - 30th - BEAR LAKE
• This year we only had 16 people on our fullest day. By the last day there were only 5 of us. But we still had a great time.
• Monday Brian and I went for our annual 10-mile bike ride. I promptly got sunburned and my sit bones were so sore that I couldn't go on any more rides the whole trip. That's what I get for only riding once a year. Brian of course rode another 30 miles after that because he took my brother and two cousins out for rides when we got back. He wasn't even tired.
• We also did Minute-to-Win-it! We only did a few games because there were so few of us, but it was still fun.
• The rest of the time was spent just relaxing, watching movies, chatting with family, and eating. Don't forget the eating.
• While at Bear Lake, Brian received a request from a firm to send more of his work for them to review. This got us very excited! Brain promptly looked up their site and fell in love with them. They would be a really nice place to work for. We haven't heard anything since but we're not giving up yet.

• 4th of July Weekend
• On the 3rd my sister and her husband came into town. No big deal, except my sister now lives in Minnesota! So we were happy to have them.
• On the 4th we slept in. SO NICE! Then we had breakfast with Brian's family and he fixed about 5 bikes.
• Then we went to lunch with my family (Burger King as usual). Then we saw Transformers 3. I'll just say, it was better than the second, but not as good as the first.
• And then we had a BBQ. Walker chicken. If you haven't had it, you don't know good BBQ chicken. End of story.
• The only downside is that we didn't go see any fireworks. Brian and I were pretty bummed. But on the drive home we saw plenty all over the valley. Pretty cool. We'll have to catch them on the 24th.
• On the 5th, we had a Barlow get-together. Some of my cousin's and their families who live in WA & TX were in town, so we all got together to catch up. Lots of food and laughing, and very loud talking, as usual. :)

Something else worth noting: We got a BIG air conditioner! We were talking at the family dinner and mentioned that it's so hot in our apartment because our little unit just can't handle it. Well, my uncle manages a few apartments and he keeps AC units in case his renters want them. He said we could borrow one! So the very next day he brought it over and Brian installed it. HEAVEN! It cools our whole apartment. WONDERFUL! Like my sister said, I couldn't have been a pioneer. It's a struggle for me to survive without air conditioning and electricity.

Last weekend Brian had taken off Friday & Saturday to go to a Father & Sons camp out with his family. But then he decided he didn't want to go camping and he'd rather spend the weekend with me! So we got to spend a whole Saturday together, which I don't think has happened our whole marriage (except when we're on vacation). Well, most of the day. Brian still went for a bike ride in the morning, but I spent that time reading, so we each got to do something we love.

We went to lunch with my friend Richard from college and his wife Wendy & their new son Will. Way fun to catch up with them. And the baby was adorable!

Since we met them for lunch at the Gateway, we decided to spend the day shopping. :) Brian bought me some capris, a skirt, and a cute top to match. Then we wandered around and we both got some new sandals. We then spent the better part of an hour sipping large Orange Julius' and people watching. It was so great!

We saw X-Men: First Class using some gift cards I had stored up. I loved it. Not as much as the first, but when is anything as good as the first?

We then grabbed some pizza on the way home and snuggled on the couch to eat it. It was just a really great day.

Visit with Friends

Tonight we drove down to visit our friends the Preece's. They abandoned us in the Village to go live in an actual house. But I guess we'll forgive them.

We had a nice dinner and ate some more of my birthday cheesecake for dessert. We took a tour of their "huge" house. (It's actually just normal size, but anything is huge compared to these apartments.) Their daughter's closet is bigger than mine, as well as her bathroom. :)

We had a lot of fun just talking and laughing and watching their silly children, who we just love.

It was good to get together and remember that we can stay friends even if we move apart.

Upside & Downside

We love where we live.

I know I complain sometimes that it's small, or old, or smelly, but we really do.

We love how close it is to school for Brian.

We love how easy it is for me to get to work.

We love that it's cheap. :)

But more than that, we love our ward and neighbors.

People are so friendly and willing to help out.

It's so nice to be surrounded by people in similar situations and stages of life.

We've made some great friends here.

~~~

Now the downside.

It's a very transitory place.

New people moving in constantly, which makes it challenging to get to know everyone, especially when you're in Nursery every other week.

Old people (meaning couples who've been here for longer than 1 year) moving out at the end of each semester. And sometimes right in the middle when you don't expect it.

It's hard sometimes to be one of the few couples who've been here longer than 4 years.

It makes some of the younger couples look really young. Mostly, because they are.

~~~

So what's the point of my rambling?

Today, I helped move out some of our really good friends. We packed and cleaned and loaded. And with the wonderful help of our Elders Quorum, it only took about 2 hours.

And then I kissed their adorable 1 year old son, and gave one of my best friends a hug and said goodbye.

And yes, I cried a little.

I know it's silly, because we'll stay friends and we will still find time to visit and see each other, but it's going to be different.

So we wish them well in their new adventure!

~~~

And then we look around and see all the great people still left, and count ourselves lucky.

Garage Sales, General Conference & an MTC preview

Saturday morning I went garage sale-ing with my friend Marci. I didn't find much, but I just like to go and look for good stuff. Marci on the other hand found lots of good stuff. I can't wait for the weather to get better so there are sales on almost every corner.

When we got home I enjoyed the Semi-annual General Conference for our church. I enjoyed Saturday morning by myself and then went out to my parent's house for the afternoon session.

Saturday evening I went over to Marci's house during Priesthood session where she invited a bunch of girls over and we had shakes and talked. After Brian got home, we went to his grandparent's house and had more ice cream.

On Sunday morning we went out to Brian's family's house and had breakfast and watched the morning session.

During the break there was a special about the MTC, so we went to my parent's house to watch it together. My mom started crying when it first started and at one point I went to laugh at something and started crying. I don't know what came over me.

We watched the last session and then had dinner with my family and watched How to Train Your Dragon.

I loved the talks given and can't wait for the Ensign to come so I can read them again.

'Tis The Season

This year we've been so blessed to have so many friends and family to celebrate with. Here's what we've been up to:

Dec. 4 - Ward Christmas Party
Great way to kick off the Christmas Season. Our Bishop has it catered and our (previously known as) activity committee does a great job with decorations and games. We love getting together with our ward. And there's always a special visitor for the kids.

Dec. 8 - Relief Society Christmas Dinner
Our Relief Society does a great job providing good food and a fun time. Our Bishop's wife is in a singing group that came and performed for us after dinner. It was great! And I even got to bring my mom with me, which I always like.

Dec. 12 - Community Sing-a-long
This year our Stake sponsored a night of singing Christmas carols. We had a pretty good turnout and Brian and I even participated in the musical number our ward contributed. It really helped put me in the Christmas spirit singing all those songs I love.

Dec. 14 - Brighton Christmas Concert
Like I said on Facebook, we might be going to this until we're 40 because of all the siblings we have. (OK, so only until we're 31 or so, but still that's a long time.) It was fun though to go up and sing. Two of my younger siblings happened to be there too (to see old friends) and Brian's brother is in the choir, so we all stood together again. I am really starting to forget the songs though so hopefully we get pushed more to the back.

Dec. 16 - Glad Christmas Party
Always a fun time. We had yummy soup and rolls and then sat around listening to Grandpa Glad's Christmas stories (which incidentally have nothing to do with Christmas, but it's tradition.)

Dec. 17 - Brian's Work Party
We all went bowling. I have gotten worse at this and I always break the nail on my thumb. No Fun. But we did do one game all left handed, so that was pretty entertaining.

Dec. 18 - Grandma Glad's Birthday Dinner
We went to a place called Golden Dragon. It was really yummy Chinese food. Brian's dad ordered most of the food, and it was so good. I ate way too much. I even tried dim sum for the first time.

Dec. 19 - Bishop's Christmas Open House
We really love our Bishop. He is always so good to have us all come and invade his house. They had yummy food and we had a good time just talking and singing Christmas carols and even playing a few minutes of Christmas Charades. This party is always so much fun and a bunch of us always end up staying to the very end because we don't want to go home to our tiny apartments after having spent a few hours in his huge house. We're going to miss this ward a lot.

Dec. 20 - Walker Christmas Party
Gotta love family. This year we switched things up and had an awesome Italian dinner, complete with Olive Garden salad (the only salad I will eat, probably because of the dressing.) And of course, the traditional brownie pudding for dessert. We had our program and sang some more Christmas carols. Then our grandparents passed out the gifts. They gave the married couples this year a nicely framed picture of the temple we were married in and a sign that says "Families are Forever". I love it!

Dec. 21 - Fesitvus
Our friends Landon & Marci invited us over for a Festivus party, a first for us. (It's from Seinfield.) We had our Airing of Grievances over dinner, most of which consisted of small apartments, and our husbands golfing too much, then we had the Feats of Strength, in which we played Ticket to Ride & Blurt. We had so much fun with everyone and laughed a lot!

Dec. 24 - Barlow Christmas Eve
We had our traditional Pork Roast and Potato Casserole, with Brownie Pudding for dessert. We had a program and sang more Christmas carols. And we ended the night with Silent Night on the harmonica and guitar. Even though we do the same things every year, it always makes me happy because it's a great time to get together and feel that Christmas Spirit.

Lame Title

I hate coming up with titles for blog posts. So I didn't try this time.

On Friday we took Brian's brother Nathan to go get him signed up on our phone plan. His Young Men's program in his ward sends out texts to tell the kids about mutual. Since he didn't have a cell phone he was always missing. So his parents have agreed that it's OK, but they're on a company plan so can't add him. So we are. He also didn't want to buy a new phone, so he agreed to take mine.

I had been contemplating getting an iTouch, but realized that I really just wanted a better phone that could do more. But I just upgraded. So since Nathan took my old one, we got me a new one. I love it! I feel so cool and I can do so much more.

Saturday I got to spend the day with some friends and their VERY cute children. Our husbands went golfing and then to Andinita's, a Venezuelan restaurant. They all served in different missions there around the same time. But none of us wives really like the food. Instead we ended up going for frozen yogurt. Much better.

Saturday night we went out with my cousin and her husband. Always fun to catch up.

Last night I had a dream that we were living in an apartment/house. It was a really big, multiple story apartment, in an apartment complex. It actually reminded me of a building Brian designed about a year ago. Pretty cool.

We had two kids. So happy. And yet for part of the dream I was trying to breastfeed the baby and it wasn't working out. Weird.

We had an impromptu FHE with Brian's family last night. His mom challenged us to write down all the negative or draining thoughts we have and then write down the opposite plus one more good thing. It's been interesting to think about.

Sometimes I think I care too much. When you feel like crying, but try to keep it inside, does it make your throat hurt? It does for me.

I'm so grateful for my husband. He is great.

Tonight Brian's already told me he's going to be late at school. So I'm going to go be crafty with my friend Marci. So excited.

Date Nights

This last weekend Brian took me on two dates.

Friday we went to Jason's Deli for dinner. It's one of my favorites, mostly because you get free ice cream with dinner. (Though we did see a group of teenagers come in and just take the ice cream with out buying anything. I was offended, even though I have no stake in the business. I can't believe kids do stuff like that.)

After dinner we went to the SLC Art Center and looked at a couple exhibits. One was called Girl, Rising, and the other was a mini golf course. Each hole was a different piece of art that was totally playable. We had a good time even though some of them were kind of weird. It was a great idea, something different, and totally free. I loved spending time with my hubby!

Last night we went out with our friends, the Holmans. We both knew Lindsey in high school, and she recently got married at the end of April, so we wanted to get to know her husband. We had dinner at their place (which we liked and even might look at moving to after we're done, depending on where we end up). Then we headed to Mulligan's to play some real mini golf. I did much worse at the real thing than I did at the art center, but we had a good time.

We ended the night at Frogurt, which is another one of those places where you fill your cup up with whatever you want and they weigh it to charge you. I'm really loving those places.

It was great to spend time with them and get to know Preston better. We'll be getting together again soon.

Heather's Wedding

One of my best friends, Heather, got married today. She looked beautiful and so happy. It was a crazy day, starting with me trying to finish setting up the decorations and things right before, and everyone running around like crazy trying to make sure everything was put together, but that's normal for a wedding, right?

We had a great time and got through it all just fine. We sent them off and then went home and rested my feet. Marci and Brian did the pics and they took tons, so I'm sure I'll put up more once they're finished editing.

Congrats Heather & Jeff!

Bear Lake w/Ward

Our Bishop has a "cabin" at Bear Lake, so this summer they invited the ward up to spend the day. It was a beautiful place and we had a great time. Lots of good food, and we spent a couple hours on a boat as well, just enjoying the lake. I didn't get any pics, but we were having so much fun, we didn't even worry about it. Hopefully they do it again next year.

Wedding Stuff

One of my best friends, Heather is getting married soon, so we've been doing a lot of wedding stuff.

Friday we went to Lagoon with the Glads, and that night I went to a bridal shower for Heather. Then Saturday I drove up to Kaysville again to do some bridesmaids dress shopping. We looked around for a few hours, until we finally found them. Then we had to find shoes. Then I helped her get other little items needed for the wedding. And finally we ended up picking up her dress after the final alterations.

After getting home Brian and I went out to the reception for my cousin Miranda. They got married last week in St. George but we weren't able to go. It was great to see her and see how happy she is.

Today I drove up to Kaysville one more time, this time with my friend Marci who is doing the pictures for Heather's wedding. (Check out her work here.) We spent a couple hours taking bridals and had a good time. Now just a couple more weeks and the wedding will be done!

Christmas Meadows

We spent the 24th of July weekend with our friends, the Preece's, at their family cabin in Christmas Meadows. We got up there late Wednesday night.

Thursday we started off going for a little hike.

We had a really relaxing day and just hung out that night. We ate some yummy dinner and then played games. Marci's dad & sister came up as well.

Friday we went four wheeling. I've never been, but had a great time. I really loved it, though I'm a little shaky at driving.

That night some more friends, Steve & Kam and their daughter Ruth came up to join us. It was great to hang out and get to know them better. Another yummy dinner, with more games and lots of talking.

Saturday we all went out for another hike, this one a little longer. The mountains were beautiful and we had a good time.

Aria loved throwing rocks into any and all lakes. She convinced Brian to help her.

I ended up getting a little dehydrated after that hike, which wasn't fun, but Dr. Preece diagnosed me, (since I wouldn't listen to Brian) and convinced me to drink lots and lots of water. We played even more games that night and all ended up laughing until our cheeks hurt.

Sunday we got up and just hung out until lunch. After lunch we headed home.

We had such a great time just relaxing and being with friends. We loved playing with their two little kids (and their parents). Thanks for inviting us! We'll have to do it again sometime.

Ward Campout

Each year our ward does a campout. We camped out one of the times, but last year we missed it due to a wedding reception. This year we decided to just go up for the dinner and games. Mostly because Brian had to work on Saturday. Ok, honestly it's because I don't like camping.

We had a really yummy dinner provided by the ward and then played fun relay games.

We also had a great time playing with our friend, Aria.

We had a short devotional by the Bishop and roasted marshmallows before heading home. Our friend Marci was the main authority on marshmallows. :)

Overall, a very fun time, though I'm glad I got to sleep in my own bed.

Heather's Baptism

Today one of my best friends, Heather, was baptized. She was my first roommate in college, and we've been friends ever since. I won't say I never thought this day would happen, but I'll admit I didn't think it would happen so quickly. But I'll also admit that I am so so so so so happy that it did.

The service was great. There were some great talks given by her boyfriends sister-in-law and mother, her boyfriend baptized her and his brother confirmed her. I didn't think I would, but after she was baptized I really teared up. I was so happy to see her so happy.

Afterwards we went over to her boyfriends house for food. It was great to see all the people there to support her. She's had some trouble with some of her family accepting her decision but I'm happy that she's been strong enough to know that she made the right choice.

CONGRATULATIONS HEATHER! WE LOVE YOU!