2 Weeks of Interviews and I Need a Nap

In interviewed all last week for a tenured position at BYU. The interviews included meeting with Erin Holmes, our SFL director, an interview with Laura Walker and Makaela Dufur, Dean and Assistant Dean, and individual faculty who wanted to meet with me. I also had a breakfast, a lunch, and a dinner with faculty. The schedule was like this:

Tuesday: 

9:00 am Erin Holmes interview
10:00 am FHSS Dean and Assistant Dean interview
11:00 am work with Starlyn to make pizza and cream of cauliflower soup for our guests to taste
12:30 pm Teach 215 and 340
3:30 pm Practice my Thursday presentation
5:00 pm Dinner with colleagues
7:00 pm Attend special lecture

Wednesday:

7:00 am breakfast
9:30 am faculty came and observed me teach. I also got filmed for faculty who couldn't come
11:30 am lunch with some colleagues
12:30 pm teach
2:30 pm individual interviews with faculty
6:00 pm in charge of activity days activity
7:30 make changes to Thursday presentation based on feedback from colleagues and their questions about FCS

Thursday:

9:30 am get to work and continue to revise my presentation
11:00 am presentation
12:00 pm final interview with search committee
12:30 pm teach

Friday:

Sleep in, go on a walk, take a nap, do some work from home

I really get invigorated when I'm around people. I was really encouraged by all the interactions. I also got ideas and made some changes to my original plan. I totally cut out the part where I talked about my personal history and my kids. I replaced it with information about the history of FCS. I also added information on the relevance of FCS, why it should matter at BYU, and why my job matters. I also talked about my unique contributions and my plan moving forward. I'm really glad I already prepared a lot before I took my vacation to Disneyland because it left just some tweaks. 

I hate practicing presentations, but I'm really glad I did. Starlyn let me practice on Monday. Then I made some changes and practiced again on Tuesday with Natalie. Then, after having had breakfast, lunch, and dinner with other faculty and hearing their questions, I made edits on Wednesday night. I was as prepared as I could be when Thursday came. 

Tuesday went well. The interviews went well. I had read through the BYU mission and aims and the SFL mission. I feel like foods works perfectly into all missions and aims. I got word that some professors were looking forward to trying food on Wednesday, so Starlyn was kind enough to come in and help me make pizza and cream of cauliflower soup. Dinner was at a Chinese restaurant in the Riverwoods. Alan Hawkins, Chad Gibbs, and Ashley Frazier were there. It was a nice visit. I wished I had taken advantage of the opportunity to ask them if there was anything they wanted to learn from my Thursday presentation, so I made the point to ask at breakfast and lunch on Wednesday and got great suggestions. Jeff Hill's lecture that evening was excellent. 

The only bad thing about interviews all that week was that I couldn't wear my Peanuts Halloween sweatshirt. My students asked me to wear it tomorrow, so I'll be wearing it on November 3. Haha. 

When I got to work on Wednesday, Starlyn had a soda for me and she was dressed so nicely. The TA's and Starlyn worked so hard to make it a good day. I wasn't nervous at all about colleagues observing me on Wednesday. I feel like I'm a good teacher and that I have good rapport with my students. I got great feedback and many enjoyed the food we had to share with them. He heated the soup on the stove and heated the pizza using my favorite method - the air fryer. Lunch was with Loren Marks, Jeff Hill, and Ashley LeBaron-Black. Jeff and Loren are some of the nicest, most spiritual men you'd ever meet and Ashley is a new professor and has an office next to me. She is from AF and went to AF high school. She had given me some tips for my presentation and is a great gal. We got my favorite caterer, Beehive Catering, owned by Jon Bryner. Delicious. Individual faculty had signed up for one-on-one interviews. I got a chance to get to know others better, to ask them what they still wanted to know about my position and my qualifications, and to sell myself. Then I ran home and helped run a Halloween activity for our primary girls. I was pretty much in charge of everything because I had volunteered to bring cookies, frosting, bingo, and another game. It went well. 

I got up early on Thursday and wet into my office to make final touches on my presentation before 11:00. Erin Holmes and Natalie stopped to wish me well. Natalie went 10 minutes early with me to help me get the technology ready. My presentation went very well. I was so blessed. I had prepared and prayed and gathered feedback, practiced, and made changes and prayed more. I asked my sisters and mom and Kim Cassetti to pray for me. It went really well. I was nervous at first, but I always am. Then I hit my stride, as Natalie put it. When I opened up for questions, there were NO questions. I guess I had done my job. After a couple of minutes, there were a couple of questions, but nothing tough. I was asked if I think we'll take labs back to pre-covid structure. I had an easy answer for that. NO. We love that the changes with covid brought about deeper learning. They may sample fewer foods, but the learning is deep and they can take the skills home to cook more. I was also asked how my position will free up Natalie to do more tasks. I was complimented and one faculty mentioned that it was mean to make them listen to a presentation about food right before lunch. On the way out, many complimented me. Whew. 

I really took most of the weekend off. I did have to prepare for this week's classes, as I had no spare time last week to prepare. So, I did some work on Friday and Saturday, but not too much. 

I'll be honest that Sunday I was quite emotional. I was feeling sad, a bit angry at Keenan, and alone. The weight of supporting myself and paying all my bills hits heavy sometimes. I had tithing settlement on Halloween. Don't get to do that often. Our bishop is so kind. I told him that I was having a bit of a sad day. he assured me that I am not alone and that I can reach out to him for help anytime. He and his wife are wonderful. Sunday afternoon I had my ministering brother and his wife over for lunch. Kurt Saville just retired from BYU as music education faculty. It was nice to talk shop and he gave me some encouragement in this interview process. 

Yesterday I had an interview with Brad Neiger, Associate Academic VP over faculty. I'd met via zoom with him 18 months ago and he remembered having met before. It was a nice interview, but I felt that I didn't articulate well my stance on some controversial issues. I love all my students (color, race, gender, sexual orientation, etc) no matter what. At the same time, I'm not an activist. I don't see that any good comes of sitting in an extreme end. I find that there is division and hate on the extremes and those serve no good. I wasn't able to articulate that very well. Hopefully he understands my message, although it was a bit rough. Oh well. I prayed and prepared. I can't do any more. I connected via text last night with one of my all-time favorite students, Ashton Burrows. He wanted advice on Disneyland. We texted for quite a while and I asked him to pray for me for today. He's practicing family law in Alpine now. I asked him to find a nice straight, employed man in his mid-50's for me. Haha. He said he'll look. He is a fantastic young man. He's Kamiko's age. 

My zoom interview today with Elder Bassett, on the other hand, was wonderful. I was so nervous. I had been emotional on Sunday and I felt like today might be similar. At 10:57, I texted mom and my sisters and asked them to say a quick prayer for me that I could better articulate what I wanted to explain. Right off the bat, I told him I was quite emotional. He said "let's talk about it." He asked about my kids. I love talking about the kids. I even got to tell him about our Arkansas connection. I told him about the divorce and all that led to it. He was very kind. I finally figured out how to articulate what's in my heart about the gospel and inclusion and diversity. I read my favorite quote from Elder Holland's talk. 

My takeaway from Elder Holland's talk was that if BYU has to choose between the gospel and the world, we will always choose the gospel. Elder Bassett said it's about the 2 great commandments: love God and love our neighbor. When we get them out of order and love our neighbor more than we love God, we find ourselves in trouble. We talked about the family and about marriage. I told him that I go to the temple and feel blessed to have a testimony of my covenants. I love the Family proclamation and I read my patriarchal blessing and see many blessings that the Lord has for me. I told Elder Bassett how grateful I am that the Lord knows me so well that He spoke to me in grammar I don't use to tell me the divorce was needed. I am so grateful that things have always worked out. I have no doubt this will all work out too. I really can't express how grateful I am that things went so well today. He said he takes the responsibility very seriously, that he is looking for people that he would feel comfortable entrusting his kids with. He said he'd give a glowing endorsement to the First Presidency and the Board. In the context of our interview, he also validated many things I've thought about the divorce and my marriage. I'm just so grateful. I also feel way more prepared for my interview with Shane Reese, Academic Vice President on Thursday. I'm finally figuring out how to articulate my love for BYU and for my students. 

God is good. 

Time for me to go to bed. I want to read scriptures and I'm working on reading a book entitled "The Coddling of the American Mind." I'm committed to 20 minutes/day. 

HALLOWEEN 2021

 

A closeup of the sweatshirt I wear every year. Melia has officially asked to inherit this when I die. 

Jim and Michelle Brau gave me this cute pumpkin pillow for my birthday. 

Jenny made me this adorable runner and a matching pillow for my birthday. 

55 Baby!

This year's birthday celebration started a bit early - in September. Jamie Stephens and I always get together for our birthdays. We went to the movie on September 30. We saw "Dear Evan Hansen" and had a great time, as always. She gave me the CUTEST bat pillow. It's so dang fun. I have it on my bed and it makes me smile. Jamie and I met when we both moved to 1520 North Circle in 2000. Even after she moved, we kept in touch. She went through a divorce and got remarried. I went through a divorce. We've sent kids on missions. Kids have gotten married. She's the BEST. 

General Conference, as usual, was great. I really liked the talk about 1% Better. Pick some aspect of the gospel and try to do it 1% better. It really spoke to me. I try to do 100% and that's impossible and unsustainable. 1% adds up. After a year of trying 1% more each day. someone will be 37 times better at a task. Baby steps do make a difference. 

On my actual birthday, I got to teach my favorite classes. On Tuesdays I have my 215 discussion and my 340 lab. Jenny came at the end of 215 and we all had cake. There was enough cake to share with my 340 students. One student, Allie, gave me flowers and chocolate. I've had her in class before and she is very thoughtful. I put the flowers on my dresser and they brought a smile to my face for days. Dad took me and Melia to dinner. Mom was out of town. We went to Strap Tank, a local microbrewery that has great sandwiches. I really enjoyed my brisket sandwich. Kamiko and Bekki said they are going to buy me dinner at Disneyland for my birthday and Melia said she's going to buy me a treat. Allie bought me a really cute flannel shirt from Madewell. We sure love that she works there. She uses that discount to bless all of us. The sister I minister to, Claudia, brought me some cut chocolates. Starlyn gave me some wonderful cleaning supplies, and Karen and Grant Schultz brought me some chocolates too. 

My wonderful shoes

Birthday selfie on my way to work

Cake with Alyssa Arnold (food buyer), Misha Bean (TA), Hallie (TA), Julia Lee (TA), Starlyn, Andrew Sykes, Jenny Sykes, Chase Crockett, me in one of my new dresses and my new shoes

Delicious and cute chocolates from Claudia

Starlyn gave me these cleaning supplies and this cute tray to keep them cute and contained

Flowers from Allie

One of my new dresses

A lunch to celebrate my birthday and Kim Blight's birthday, hosted by Wendy Lee and Debbie Larsen. We've been enjoying birthday lunches since we carpooled our boys to junior high

Kim Cassetti sent me a very thoughtful gift from "home"

I also treated myself to a couple of new dresses and some new shoes. I'd been needing to get rid of some dresses that don't fit me anymore. I found some cute dresses at Seagull Book and bought some adorable shoes at Madewell. I went to Madewell to look into a coat and Allie told me I get $25 off during my birthday month. I also get a teacher discount, so I bought some shoes I've had my eyes on. I've worn them a lot. In fact, today I thought "how did I live without these shoes? They are the perfect fall/spring shoe." 

On Monday, October 11, I went to our monthly lunch with my "Walking Friends," Kim Blight, RaDawn Mehr, and Sherie Ritchie. Sandy Hewlett couldn't make it. I love those women so much. I cried a bit at lunch when I told them they are the part of my "old life" that I miss the most. I think I'll join the gym again to find a new love for exercise and to maybe find some exercise friends down here. I then met Melissa Willey, a friend from BYU and AF days, for dinner. She's recently divorced, too, and we had a great visit. Her kids are about the same age as mine. She's doing quite well. Her divorce was also best for all involved. Later that night, Maria, John, and Abby Trump came to stay with us. It was so fun to have them here, to have them see my new place. They are such good friends. I always see them when I go to Kristen's. It was nice to host them. They were with Sidney in Cedar City and a storm warning was issued, so they left Cedar City earlier than planned and spent the night at my house. We had a great visit. Maria so kindly venmoed me $30 to treat myself. 

Me and Abby Trump in our pajamas. She's a unicorn

Tuesday, October 12, was what would have been our 30th anniversary. After a great day of teaching my favorites, I treated myself to a movie. I went to see the new James Bond movie, "No Time to Die." Loved it. I love going to the movies. I wasn't sad at all. In fact, I'm in a really good place. While I never thought I'd be divorced, I realize I'm better today than I was 2 or 3 years ago. It's like a weight is lifted. Do I want to get remarried? I'd like to. I'm open to a healthy relationship with a straight, mature man. I won't settle, that's for sure. Time will tell. I'm in no hurry. I'm enjoying my job, my income, my freedom, my time with my kids, my friendships, etc. 

I've been working long hours at work. I've also found time to go to the temple. I've been fortunate to schedule 1 endowment and 1 initiatory session each month. It's difficult to find sessions that work with my schedule, but I've found them. It's wonderful to be in the temple. Oh, they announced a temple for LaPaz during conference. YAY. 3rd temple for Bolivia. I have a student in my class who served in Bolivia. It's fun to talk missions with Caylor. 

I also did something I've been wanting to do... I contacted the Center for Teaching and Learning and had an evaluator come to my class to observe and evaluate. She came on Tuesday, the 12, and we had a meeting on Friday, the 15. Looks like I'm connecting with my students and that they like my class. I did get some ideas on how I can improve things. My students want to make some beverages. I'm going to ask them what they want to make. I'm also going to start class with having them share what they've been making at home. The students want to make more advanced things, but some things that we're making are specifically designed for our FCS majors. This class was built for our majors, to prepare them to teach advanced baking and pastry classes. I was also reminded that I should move around the room more, even though I'm stuck at the podium for Zoom and PowerPoint purposes. I'm going to work the room more, something I talk to my student teachers a lot. I can do better. I appreciate the chance to be evaluated. 

Credit Card Scam

 I was scammed last night and I've been dealing with banks and credit card companies all day. I'm so upset with myself that I let my guard down. Jenny has been great all day. She has reassured me that the criminals are professionals and I did my best to make sure I was not being scammed. I think we got it taken care of. I'll be checking my accounts regularly for a while. It's been an exhausting week. This was not a fun way to end the week. 

Sunday I was invited to dinner at the Brau's. We had yummy shepherd's pie. Soooo yummy. I love comfort food. Kamiko gave me a blessing for back to school. It was a wonderful blessing. Bekki took notes. Here's what she wrote down.

Back to School (Fall 2021)

Strength courage and balance

The Lord is making sure to give you guidance as to what to instruct your students 

He has taken great interest in your life

Blessed to feel spirit and be guided to help individual needs of students and students will help you

The Lord is impressed and pleased w how you have handled things

Blessed to endure whatever need to this semester and will only be small obstacle

God uses you as an example to spread his word to others. 

In the time revealed you will realize how chosen you are 

Keep eyes open for the ways God is guiding you 

I couldn't help but highlight in red what had me worried. Maybe I've already endured "what I need to endure" just this week. Maybe there is more. All I know is that today I'm feeling very overwhelmed. The world is in commotion, BYU is on edge, and I'm dealing with credit card/banking fraud. Life feels really heavy and sometimes it's hard to do life alone. I have great friends and family and I remind myself that I have my Savior, but sometimes I feel the weight of doing life alone. It's a lot. 

Monday Elder Holland spoke to faculty, staff, and administrators. It was a wonderful talk about upholding the standards of the church and of BYU. He said that we'll defend the church above being accepted by academia. I sat with Starlyn Hjorth, Natalie Hancock, Alyssa Arnold, Sheleen Ostler, and Dawna Baugh. I missed a bit while Allie and I were texting back and forth. During the bit I was conversing with Allie, Elder Holland said something about defending family and marriage between a man and a woman. BOY, that started days and days of an online/social media uproar. The LGBTQIA+ community has been very vocal about his remarks. It's so difficult for me. I don't think loving and following the gospel and loving those who are different than I am are mutually exclusive. In fact, here's my favorite quote from Elder Holland's talk. 

It's been a difficult week, full of emotions on all sides, especially hurt on the side of the LGBTQIA+ community. 

Tuesday was the university breakfast. I got a lot done after the breakfast. I'm pretty ready for the semester. I saw Jennifer Stevenson, from our American Fork ward. She's working at BYU in the Neuroscience department, working with graduate students. It was great to see her. Wednesday was the Family, Home, and Social Sciences day. We had messages from our new leadership, including Dean Walker and a faculty advisory council town hall. I got to take Kamiko to get his haircut at Gabe Jolley's house. It was great to see him. 

Wore a scarf that Allie got for me at her work at Madewell

Thursday was the School of Family Life faculty retreat at Thanksgiving Point. The theme was unity and it was much needed. Liz Darger, an assistant athletic director at BYU, spoke on having difficult conversations with love and understanding. She started by bearing her witness of the First Presidency and the 12 Apostles. She talked about finding common ground, about learning how people want to be identified and working hard to comply, about coming to the table and staying there, and about the fact that we don't always need to agree. She said she personally was uplifted by Elder Holland's remarks, but she acknowledged that it was difficult for others. We don't always have to agree. There doesn't have to be a right and a wrong. We walked around the grounds at Thanksgiving Point. I got to know some new faculty (Ashley Black and Andrea Busby) and I got to know others better (Loren Marks, Natalie Hancock, Spencer James, Roy Bean, Chelom Leavitt, and Sarah Coyne). I work with some pretty great people. The executive committee went to Atlanta, GA, and Montgomery, AL, a few weeks ago and Jeremy Yorgason led us in a discussion on unity and race. He had us look at The Family proclamation and the SFL statement on inclusion and diversion. As I read them, I noted that BOTH talked about the responsibilities of the individual and of the group. Spencer James commented that the recipe for a healthy family is also the recipe for a healthy classroom environment. Faith, repentance, respect, and wholesome recreation. We got done at 4 pm and I realized I had book club, so I killed time at the outlet mall and looking for a nightstand until 7 pm. I've decided I'm not buying a nightstand. Can't figure out what I want, so it's back to just one nightstand. Oh well. Instead I've spent my money on identity theft protection. LOL. 

Learned about Martin Luther King's desire for a Beloved Community

I took it easy on Friday. I got up and went on a nice walk, then I went to see Jenny Hebdon in Lehi. She's busy with her 4 littles. I stayed long enough to watch the 3 kids while she went and got Blake at 1st grade. I came home and cleaned the house. I got the rings out of my toilets with Borax and vinegar. Worked like a charm. 

Birthday Week

Bekki turned 27 on Monday, August 9, and Kamiko turned 28 on Thursday, August 12. Mom and dad celebrated their 61st anniversary on Sunday, August 8, and dad turned 84 on Thursday, August 12. 

I made confetti cake with chocolate frosting. One batch from Cake by Courtney makes 2 2-layer 6-inch cakes. I took a cake to mom and dad on Sunday. I took another cake to Kamiko and Bekki on Wednesday. 

The candles read "HAPPY BIRTHDAY"

Sunday afternoon we had a Zoom Pleasanton Youth 1970's and 1980's reunion. I went to mom and dad's to help them log in. It was nice to catch up with old friends. Everyone seems to be going through a lot. There's cancer, divorce, death of spouses and parents, children problems, etc. We really need to pray for each other and support each other. 

Wednesday night I took cake and ice cream to Kamiko and Bekki. We were going to have dinner, too, but they'd been celebrating all week and weren't hungry for dinner, so we just had cake and ice cream. Mel's back, so it was all 4 of us together and the cake was delicious. I'm getting really good at making 6-inch cakes. 

The Best Part of Being a Professor: Summer Trips

 So, I am finally back to somewhat normal life after a 3-week vacation in California. I seriously love having a townhome because I have no yard to care for and I love being a teacher because I have the summer off. Kristen and Doug were kind enough to host me and let me call Livermore home base. We had a blast. Here's basically what I did:

Monday, July 5: fly with Kristen and Doug to Oakland. We left late enough in the day that I was able to clean my house before leaving town. It's kinda a Hunter girl thing. We can't go on vacation with a dirty home. Plus, Kamiko and Bekki were going to house sit for me and I wanted the place to be clean. Mountain Mikes pepperoni pizza for dinner. 

Look at how that cooked pepperoni curls on the edges. So yummy!

Tuesday, July 6: kinda ran errands with Kris. She'd been in Utah so she needed to get groceries, etc. 

Wednesday, July 7: Went into San Francisco with hopes of seeing Mission Dolores and Fort Point, only to find that those places are only open Thursday - Sunday. So, it was a quick trip into the city. We did stop a Baker Beach, a side of the Golden Gate Bridge that neither of us had seen before. It was windy and a bit cold, but we got some good photos and had a good time. We made a quick stop in Oakland too. When I got back to Livermore, I found out that a chef I follow on Instagram had JUST released a pizza that she concocted at a pizza joint in SAN FRANCISCO and OAKLAND. Had I known, we could have tried her pizza collaboration. Oh well. 

In front of Mission Dolores

@ Baker Beach

The church at Mission Dolores

Clouded in Golden Gate Bridge

Mission Dolores

Me and the kids have a 4-way talk for a bit

Chapel at Mission Dolores

Kris and me in front of Mission Dolores

Thursday, July 8: borrowed Kristen's car and went to Manteca to visit Maria. Her daughter Sydney had an appointment in Merced so I went with them. We stopped on the way back at a parking lot full of food trucks and I got a delicious hot dog. Like, an amazing hot dog. It was called The Messy Dog. It was a bacon-wrapped hot dog topped with carne asada, jalapenos, sauce, and crusty cheese skirt. Cheese skirt is a thing. You know when cheese escapes your quesadilla or grilled cheese sandwich and ends up browning in the pan? That's cheese skirt. It was soooooo good. I'd go back again for sure. 

Abby showed me the water vending machine at Costco

Maria and me at the food truck lot. We've been friends for 17 years.

Friday, July 9: Happy Birthday Jenny! Went on a morning walk, as we did pretty much every day I was in California. If I remember correctly, we went to the beach. We went to Manrisa beach for a few hours, then went to visit with Doug's sister Karen and her husband Bill. They live right on the beach in Aptos. They are lovely people and I enjoy visiting with them. 

Beach Smiles

Saturday, July 10: washed the fleet. Kris and Doug have more than 2 cars. I helped Kris wash all of them while Doug did yard work. We joined their friends Jeff and Maggie for Mexican food for dinner at their favorite place, Casa Mexico. They used to go to Anitas, but it closed during the Covid shutdowns. So sad. 

Sunday, July 11: I love going to church in Livermore. Everyone is so nice. We had plans to go to Mike's on Monday, but got word that his air conditioning went out. We were still willing to go and use fans, but then we got word that his power went out. We were really bummed because Carolyn was going to join us too. Well, the whole situation quickly got resolved. It was a power company thing and it all got fixed, so Kristen and I got ready to go to Oakhurst. Made a chocolate cake to have for dessert and to take to Mike's. Kris also made her famous sourdough bread to take to Mike's.

Monday, July 12: Drove to Oakhurst to meet up with Carolyn at Mike's house. There were fires not far from Mike's and we drove through some pretty smokey parts on our way. Kris was a bit nervous. I won't lie...I was a bit nervous too, but I figured if it was unsafe, there would be emergency vehicles telling us to go another way. We made it to Mike's. I love going to Bass Lake. Such great memories. We shared the chocolate cake with Mike and he said it was the best cake he's ever had. He has a new puppy, Sierra, and she's quite hyper. She's a crazy little thing. She's a black boxer with dark black eyes. Mike treated us to dinner at the Forks, the restaurant on the lake. We all got club sandwiches, at Mike's recommendation. Kristen and I shared a sandwich and fries. It was yummy. 

Tuesday, July 13: Carolyn, Kris, and I took Sierra on a walk. She's a crazy little thing. We then relaxed around Mike's house. We drove around the lake, with Mike telling us stories of others who lived at the lake when they would visit. Kristen and I took a photo outside of the corner store in The Pines, where we would buy Archie comic books when we were kids. Mike Grilled chicken and vegetables and we had rice and fruit. It was a wonderful trip.

Wednesday, July 14: Drove back to Livermore. It was such a great time with Carolyn and Mike. We are fortunate that Carolyn drove all the way to spend time with us and that Mike hosted us all. 

Thursday, July 15: Lunch with Kim Rose Cassetti! Since I planned this trip, I've been looking forward to having lunch with Kim. Kim came to Kristen's house and got the tour of all the renovations Kris and Doug have done on their house. Kim treated me and Kris to lunch at The Ale House in Livermore. Kris and I shared a grilled cheese sandwich that was really unique, with apricot preserves and gourmet cheese on sourdough. The sandwich was great and their French fries are awesome. I wasn't upset when we decided to go there for dinner on Saturday. Kristen's Relief Society had an activity Thursday night. LaMyrle Sandholtz and her daughter, Jerie Jacobs, spoke about life lessons. It was a wonderful evening. LaMyrle is in her 90's. Mom and dad always get together with her when they go to California. Jerie is Kristen's age. They went to stake girls camp together. Her kids are friends with Kristen's kids, as they all grew up in Livermore. LaMyrle said that one lesson she learned from her mom during the depression was that it doesn't matter what you wear as long as you wear a smile. Jerie talked about messengers, things that share important messages with us. She talked about how even nature can be a messenger. 

Me, Kristen, and Kim BFF's

Friday, July 16: Ice cream at Meadowlark Dairy in Pleasanton with Aunt Leigh Hicks. Leigh isn't technically our aunt, but we grew up with her. She also lived on School Street, across from Amador High School when grandma and grandpa Sears lived there with Mike, Kathy, and Carolyn. Leigh's mom had passed away and grandma Sears became a second mom as Leigh was friends with Kathy and Carolyn. Leigh has always been a cheerleader to all of us kids. She is wonderful. We disagree on politics, but that doesn't matter. We spent a lovely hour together. I'm so glad she made the effort to spend time with us. 

Saturday, July 17: As I write this 3 weeks later, I can't remember what we did on Saturday. If I remember right, I watched some recorded professional conference sessions. Cobb Salad at The Ale House then Lords Ice Cream.

Sunday, July 18: Went to church at 9:00 am. Kristen's ward is so nice. One of the girls in the ward saw me walk in with Doug and told her mom "I don't know Sister East's face." LOL. She thought I was Kristen, but couldn't place why I looked different. After church and got in the car and drove to Derek's house. I was really excited to see them all since it's been almost 2 years since I was at their house. Dumb pandemic. Derek had some yummy leftovers that we enjoyed for dinner. Charlie always greets me with "hi grandma." I love those kids. Milo is 4. He's really grown. He was 2 last time I saw him. Of course, Kris, Derek and Rachel and I stayed up way too late talking. I told Derek and Rachel I would watch the kids so they could go out for a night and they planned that. 

Milo Ryan Hunter, age 4

Rose Annalee Hunter, age 10

the word problem Rose wrote about grandpa's spaghetti

Charlie Hunter, age 7

Charlie likes to watch leaves fly in the air when the air conditioner runs

Just me and Derek relaxing in the morning. Their patio is so lovely.

Monday, July 19: There was a bit of a miscommunication and Derek and Rachel had made plans to be gone Monday night instead of Tuesday. It was a good thing because it meant I had Kristen's help. She had plans to go to Sarah's house on Tuesday. So, Derek and Rachel left after breakfast and Kris and I were on kid duty. Charlie is a handful since I last saw him. He's stronger and bigger and more stubborn. Still, we had a great time. We played Candy Land, which was great. Charlie usually doesn't play games with the family, but he played with us. We grabbed pizza for dinner, which was a lifesaver because we had it not only for dinner, but also for lunch on Tuesday when I was on my own. Bedtime was rough. The boys really didn't want to go to bed. In my experience, bedtime is always hard when mom and dad aren't home. Kristen actually went and sat in the boys' dark room until Charlie fell asleep. She had to keep redirecting him to his bed when he wanted to get up. Oh, I forgot to mention that we were also dog sitting. I slept in Derek and Rachel's room. I went to bed very tired and not feeling well. I was hoping I would be ok enough to watch the kids alone on Tuesday. I prayed that I'd get good sleep. I left the door open so any wandering kid or dog could find a familiar face in the middle of the night. Charlie came in. The dog came in. I had to put the dog on the bed with me so she wouldn't bark. It was quite the night, but my prayer was answered. I did feel better in the morning. 

Tuesday, July 20: Happy Birthday Sarah! Kris left before lunchtime to go to Sarah's. I stayed put with the Hunter kids. We didn't go anywhere. Rose suggested some things to do, but I told her we were staying home. I did organize an outdoor scavenger hunt for Rose where she had to find certain things and draw pictures of them. Then I did one for Milo that was simpler where he had to identify certain things for me. It's part of BYU's health challenge to enjoy the outdoors this month. It was fun. We had leftovers for dinner and Derek and Rachel got back. They had a great time. They went to Japan Town and bought some of Derek's favorite treats. I got good sleep on Tuesday night and headed to Sarah's on Wednesday. 

Wednesday, July 21: Rachel gave me a haircut. I had told her that I was having trouble styling my hair. She had a great idea and cut it for me. She always does such a great job. I was all set to take the train to LA Central Station then switch to another train toward Sarah's house, but Derek offered to take me to LA to meet up with Sarah and Kristen. Everyone was so nice to drop me off and pick me up. Derek, Rachel, and the kids drove me to Milk Bar, a cookie and cake place in Los Angeles. I've heard of them, but haven't had their food. I got a piece of their seasonal strawberry shortcake cake and a corn cookie. Both were good. Kris and Sarah came to get me. Boy, we dealt with crazy traffic getting back to Sarah's. It took us soooo long to get to her house in Ladera Ranch. We stopped at her friend's house before heading back. Her friend recently bought a condo in LA. It is so cute. Her friend was very nice, too. We got back to Sarah's and rested for a bit. We were going to go out to dinner, but we just didn't want to leave, so we grabbed groceries and cooked a yummy recipe that Sarah often makes. Sarah and Cameron always introduce me to funny TV shows. This time it was "Kim's Convenience", a show about an immigrant Korean couple who owns a convenience store in Toronto, Canada. They have 2 young adult kids who have grown up in Canada. The cultural clash is so funny. The also showed us "The Good Place", a show about a woman who dies and ends up in the good place, but she shouldn't be in the good place. We always have a blast with Sarah and Cameron.

My delicious Strawberry Cake

My haircut

Thursday, July 22: BEACH. We went on a nice walk then packed up stuff and headed to Laguna Beach. We went to Adolfo's and I got the yum Black Bean Burrito that I've been thinking about since last October. We took our food to the beach and relaxed and enjoyed the day. Sarah and Cameron really love living in Orange County and I can't blame them. Sarah made a really delicious curry for dinner. She is a great cook. We watched more TV. 

Morning walks happened daily

Beach Smiles

Sarah wore these socks for her barre workout

My yummy bean burrito, even better on the beach

Sarah made us this yum avocado toast. It has pesto, egg, red pepper flakes, honey, ricotta, avocado, and sourdough bread. WOW.

Friday, July 23: Drove back to the Bay Area. Sarah came with us and Cam came later. It's always good to get bonus time with family. Mountain Mike's Pizza. 

Saturday, July 24: Happy Pioneer Day! Went on an early walk with Kim. She came to Livermore for one last walk together. Donut Wheel. Worked on some things I had to do for work. Read some, watched recorded professional conference sessions, etc. We went to Casa Mexico for dinner again. YUM. Kris and I shared the 2 chicken enchilada meal. We are pretty good and sharing meals. perfect amount of food. We also made another chocolate cake because I thought the first one we made was dry and average. I wanted a redo. The 2nd cake turned out great. Watched Olympics a lot! Skateboarding is new this year and it was soooo fun to watch. 

Kristen and Doug's beautiful backyard

DONUT WHEEL

Sunday, July 25: Last day. Church. I told the sisters in RS that I was surprised I didn't get a calling in sacrament meeting. Watched more Olympics with Kris and Doug and Sarah and Cam. We really did sit on their comfy leather couches and watch Olympics. It was a blast. 

Monday, July 26: My flight left in the afternoon, so that gave us the morning to go on a walk and to take our time getting to the airport. Stopped at Donut Wheel to get donuts for Kamiko and Bekki. Good flight home. Kamiko and Bekki were nice enough to pick me up. It was a great trip, but it's nice to be home. I love my house and I have great neighbors. I got home and there was a note on the front door from Lynn and Michael next door. Mom left a note and food in the fridge (milk, fruit, soup, and bread). It was so nice of her. Very thoughtful. Time to get back into real life. Ready, set, go...

Note from Lynn and Michael

Note from mom