Steven Page plays for us

So...I heard about the Steven Page Ugly Sweater and Eggnog Concert on the radio and thought it was a joke. Here's the deal: the radio announcement said Steven Page (formerly of the Barenaked Ladies, of course) was coming in concert to club Elevate. I looked it up online and discovered that entry was FREE to those who brought an unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots. As if that wasn't great enough, they also were going to be providing FREE eggnog. Delish. So we leave right after we're both off work and rush up there, thinking there's going to be a massive line and we'll be lucky if we get in at all. NOT SO. There was nobody there. Ok, exactly 11 people (because I was the 12th one in). By the time the opening band finished and Steven Page actually walked onstage, there was maybe, maaaaybe 70 people. Tops. And yours truly was front and center. It was epic. Steven Page played about 3-4 songs from his new album and then for the rest of the night took requests. Requests! He even played the song Steve requested (War on Drugs) and thanked Steve for suggesting it.

The radio station sponsoring the concert also took photos throughout the evening, including the meet-and-greet pic above. Like my knit skull sweater? I didn't have an ugly Christmas one, so this was the next best thing.

Basically what I'm saying is...ya'll missed out.

Frannie and the dentist

A couple weeks ago Steve and I saw Brandon Flowers live at The Depot. He's amazing. His opener, though,was a man by the name of Fran Healy, who is also the lead singer for a little Scottish band called Travis. He did a short acoustic set and sounded terrific. He conducted a little meet-and-greet afterward for anybody who wanted to come up and say hey, and I did. When I walked up to him he said, "I saw you in the audience." (nothing creepy about it, in fact I felt very flattered) He's lovely and it was fantastic meeting him. (The picture is a little deceiving...I was crouching to avoid looking like an ogre in the photo. He's quite dainty.)

Also...I got my first root canal the day after the concert. One of my lower front teeth was really bothering me, so Doc Pincock took care of it and now I feel like I have a whole new lease on life. Take that, ice cream! You can't intimidate me now.

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving! I just finished the last of our leftovers today. Yum.

Halloween

MARTY McFLY

(Back to the Future)

This is not my best work (the wig is all wrong, but it's closer than my actual bleached blonde look) and it was still good enough to win 3rd place in the office costume contest.
Here is the first place winner:

Poison Ivy

And second place:

Lego Man

I thought they were very deserving costumes. Lego Man (a.k.a. firefighter Casey) put a lot of work into handmaking his get-up. Woo!

All Hallow's Read

You can read the details of Mr. Neil Gaiman's Modest Proposal on his blog, but the gist of it is that there should be more occasions to facilitate the giving/receiving of books, and what better time to do it than Halloween? Share a good read with your loved ones that is spooky, mysterious, creepy, et al.

This month for my family book club, we are reading The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, by Stephen King. Might I highly recommend that you also choose a book to give or share with your family and friends for Halloween instead of a plate of fattening goodies or store-bought candy.

Let the tradition begin. Happy Halloween!

Between Now and Then

I'm getting worse at this blogging thing. Okay, since our anniversary I have...

gotten sick and gotten well
completed my first half-marathon (results here)
started volunteering at the Springville Museum of Fine Art (smofa.org)
rocked my first pair of skinny jeans
visited my sister and her family in Minnesota and attended the Minnesota State Fair
took our niece Lexi to the Utah State Fair (despite the advertising controversy)
concocted a fabulous beef stew
seen B.O.B in concert (so amazing!)
gone four-wheeling in Duchesne
put a lot of money into a very beat-up Ford Taurus (it's good for another year! maybe two!)
bought plane tickets to Portland for our New Year's trip

And many more great and exciting things, I'm sure.

Anniversary Week

Five whole years?!!! Wowsers. Steve and I really want to make our "big" anniversaries (5, 10, 15, 20-year etc.) special. We went to Spain in April, so that was kind of our big trip for the year, but we still wanted to do something for our anniversary on August 18th. That day happened to fall on a Wednesday, so we went out to dinner at Ruby River (mmm...steak and jacketed candied yam, delish!) and ambled on over to the Springville Museum of Art. And what a gem it is. The building is so pretty, and their art collection is actually quite impressive. We ran into a couple acquaintances, one of whom happens to be the volunteer coordinator for the museum. Next thing you know, we are jumping at the chance to spend a few hours a week volunteering as docents/guides/general gurus at the museum. I can't wait.

For our weekend anniversary trip, we decided to try out the Lava Hot Springs in southern Idaho. We spent two nights at the Home Hotel & Motel (it is a two-in-one facility, never seen that before) and enjoyed the steamy waters of the springs (I swear the water is magical...my legs were tingling), the swimming pool with the giant diving platforms (I could watch people jump off a 50-foot platform for hours), and all of the fine dining Main Street has to offer (I'm looking at you, Fat Jack's burgers). It's a podunk town filled with podunk people, but we had a great time. We topped off the weekend with a quick drive up to Pocatello, where I'm pretty sure I relieved the Pine Ridge Mall of any wearable articles of clothing, and then drove home through rough winds and rainy weather. It was a good, easy way to spend our anniversary. Six years, look out...you're next!

Really fast!

No, that is not how I would describe my first ever attempt at a 10K race in July. I just wanted to post something quickly before too much more time goes by. I ran the Freedom Festival 10K in Provo on July 4th and felt really good afterward (I finished in 65:18, and ran the whole distance). This is a major milestone for me towards my goal of doing a half-marathon. There are a couple of pictures of me here (I'm the one huffing in the background).

More updates soon to come!

SPAIN

Here are a few choice pictures from our trip to Spain. Some are better than others. Please feel free to leave comments about how awesome we are and the awesome things that we do.


Note: Captions are underneath the picture they are describing.


(they are also in backwards order...apparently that's the way this blog rolls)

At the Tim Burton exhibit at the MOMA in NYC. So amazing.

A stroll through Central Park.

This picture is sideways, but you can
see all the flights in red that are cancelled
due to the volcanic ash cloud. We were lucky.

On a beach in Mijas Costa.

Proof that I really did drive in Spain.

A beautiful plaza in Estepa, and Steve
looking at yet another map.

Some pretty Spanish balconies.

The view from the top of Estepa,
the "heart of Andalucia."

The view from our hotel balcony.

The Spanish countryside, complete with
olive tree orchards.

One of many beautiful organs in a surreally
beautiful white cathedral in Granada.

View of the Alhambra in Granada.

The palace in Granada.

View from the Nasrid Palaces of Granada.

Intricate archways in the Nasrid Palaces.

An awesomely pink and white building.

The Cathedral in Sevilla.

View from the top of the tower in Sevilla.

Sevilla Cathedral.

Our first rental car being towed. Boo.

Us on a beach near Gibraltar.

The Lighthouse at Europa Point on Gibraltar.

That hazy outline in the distance? Morocco.

A view of the runway you have to walk across
to get from Spain to Gibraltar.

Steve and a monkey at the top of the Rock of Gibraltar.

Steve and monkey.

Rachel and monkey.

The runway we just walked across.

The great Rock of Gibraltar.

Outside the Museo Picasso.

The Gibralfaro Castle in Malaga.

Great birds' eye view of the bull-fighting stadium.

At the top of the Gibralfaro Castle.

View of the port in Malaga.

Outside the amazing Prado Museum.

The courtyard at the Royal Palace in Madrid.

The Royal Palace in Madrid. And Steve.