...we'll escape to Moab

Dave had some work to do in Moab, so I tagged along. It was the first vacation taken since graduation (two days before); therefore, worry free. What an amazing feeling! We arrived Monday just after the Easter Jeep Safari, so the town was pretty calm, which is the way I like it. We rode out North of town on a ride called Monitor and Merrimac. It's an easy ride--good for beginners like me and really pretty. 

Dave in front of Courthouse Rock

Monitor and Merrimac were civil war ironclad warships and the buttes in the distance kinda do look like warships.

It was sprinkling on us the whole ride, but we made it to the car just before it started pouring rain. Phew! I was also a little nervous of lightening because we were very exposed on the slick rock. Dave kept trying to race me as an attempt to make me peddle faster--a trick that works on kids, but I saw right through it. Besides, I was already peddling my fastest!

Dave and me trying to get a picture without looking awkward and definitely succeeding.

...I didit didit didit!

I graduated. Yipee! Which is actually kind of bittersweet because I loved the MPA program at BYU. A master's degree is kind of like going on a mission--very intense; therefore, you learn a lot and become very close to those you experience it with. I love my friends, professors, and administrators from the program.

Me & Marissa Widdison & Eric "the Creeper" Nay

Mom, me, & Dave

Kent, Dave, me, & Ella

And now it's time to celebrate! Family and friends were so kind to share graduation with me. I got gift cards, flowers, and other fun presents. It's great having a store that everyone knows I love: Anthropologie! So I think I'll get to spend a few fun hours there in the near future (sorting through the sale racks of course).

My friend Megan made this pin for me. It's a great piece to spruce up an outfit and make me look more grown up (which I'll have to be now that I'm applying for real jobs).

...how was your first experience with Basque food?

Michelle and I worked in Nevada for a summer. We ate out for dinner a lot and I was so in love with the Star Hotel basque restaurant in Elko. They served homemade bread and soup on beautiful dishes and made delicious meat. So, every time Dave and I drive through Elko on our way to or from Placerville, I beg Dave to stop for Basque food. This time, we did! But the Star Hotel wasn't open, so we went to the second-best Basque restaurant in town according to Urban Spoon (I guess there are only 3).

Written on the chalkboard were the specials for that night: meatballs, chicken, cod, cow tongue, and lamb. They also had pork chops, spare rib, ribeye, and king crab any night of the week. We felt like playing it safe, so we ordered meatballs and chicken. The waitress informed us that the chef special usually came with meatballs and chicken and then possibly one other dish. She convinced us to try it out, so we did.

The bread, soup, and salad were good. And the side dishes too. Although I've never had spaghetti as a side before. We were getting full already! Then, our waitress brought out our main course: meatballs, chicken, and...cow tongue! 

"I have more for you," the waitress cheerily said after she had maneuvered the plates on the already too crowded table.

"Are you kidding? There are only two of us," replied Dave with an incredulous look on his face.

"No, I'm not kidding. The chef made you more," she confessed and then added, as if to reassure us, "you can take the leftovers home in a box..." 

Dave and I were trying to act like this was all very normal as she came back with the final two dishes: cod and lamb. As if the meat plates weren't enough to appease our appetite, the chef also threw in a huge plate of fries. The waitress could barely find space to set everything on the table and dishes were hanging precariously off the edge. We smiled weakly and tried to act thankful for the chef's generosity. 

I was raised to be polite, so I tried a little tidbit of everything. I was also raised to eat everything on my plate, but that would have been physically impossible. Especially because the lamb was right next to me and was the strongest smelling lamb I've ever smelled. I was sick. Surprisingly, the cow tongue was the best meat on the table--even better then the meatballs and chicken. But you did have to watch out for the pieces with taste buds!

We asked for take-home boxes and shoveled everything into them without regard for what food was touching what. Outside the restaurant we searched for some hungry waif, but not seeing one, drove to the nearest dumpster and gladly threw the food away.

Oh darlin...I'm sorry your first experience with Basque food most likely resulted in your last! 

The next day I ate only saltine crackers because all I could think about was stinky lamb. The moral of the story is...when in the Basque eating Elko mood, eat at the Star or nothing at all.

...Spring has sprung in Cali

Dave assures me it is not always beautiful in Placerville. But I don't believe him. Every time I've gone, it looks like this:

Flowers and green and magnificent rivers and valleys.

On the way from California to Utah on I-80, if you're going to stop at the Chevron in Lovelock, don't! There is an old gas station called Two Stiff's Selling Gas on their main street. It's cheaper and quite lovely. I experienced a tender moment here when an old cowboy with boots and a white mustache walked bowlegged out to the bed of his truck, lovingly scratched his old hound's head for a full five minutes, slowly made his way to the driver's seat, and then drove off at 10 mph. 

Maybe there is something nice in Lovelock?

...an ode to Margaret

Dave and I attended his grandma Margaret Lydia Winters Madsen's funeral on Friday, March 25. I met her only once, at our wedding, so I got to know her through the stories and words shared at her funeral.

Here are some of the many memorable parts of the funeral:

A story told by her daughter Marilyn--
Margaret wrote “At family gatherings, I suppose we children were rowdy and active because Uncle Leonard used to line us up along the couch in the sitting room and offer 5 cents to the one who could be quiet the longest. I never did win, but would look at my cousins and burst into laughter!”

A statement, shared by her son Kent, said by President Joseph F. Smith--
". . . to do well those things which God ordained to be the common lot of all man-kind, is the truest greatness. To be a successful father or a successful mother is greater than to be a successful general or a successful statesman. One is universal and eternal greatness, the other is ephemeral."


This last story was told by her granddaughter Elana--
"Even when she got older she still was very witty and full of life. I remember one time she was talking to by brother Nathan on the phone while he was on his mission. When she was done talking to him, and was going to hand the phone to one of my uncles [her son], she couldn’t remember his name. So while on the phone she said “Nathan do you wanna talk to…wanna talk to…oh you guess who it is!”


Elana found a note on Margaret's fridge after she died that read, "Grieve not, nor speak of me with tears, but laugh and talk of me as if I were beside you. I loved you so."

The funeral was a celebration of her life and goodness. It is wonderful to know she is now with her husband, siblings, and friends and that we will all see her again in a healthy and happy state. I admire the way she lived a simple life and spent her time and energy loving people.

...this reminds me of the home we almost bought

This lakefront cottage reminds me of the home Dave and I were so close to buying in Oakley--besides the lakefront part and many other things...But there are some similarities and I love it! They both have:

Wood shingle exteriors.

A tall upper story with a great view (our Oakley almost-home has a view of Timp).

And gray floors.

 The other parts of the home are really not similar at all. This cottage has much more beautiful woodwork and huge windows. 

I love modern homes/cottages that use natural materials. 

Here's a shot of our Oakley almost-home. Kinda similar, eh?

...you come from a beautiful family

Meet the in-laws.

Maya

Paul & Brooklyn

Can you see the resemblance?