the time has come, the walrus said

Surprise! We're moving to West Jordan next week.

Today was our last Sunday in the BYU 199th ward. I really like our ward, so I'm sad to be moving to a boring family ward. Not boring, just not the same as having everyone in your same stage of life. If I get a Primary calling.... we're moving back. Just kidding. At least not a Primary calling with children under 8, how's that for a compromise.

I've been in training for my new job for a couple weeks. And by training, I don't mean a little orientation with the software and duties. I am in the process of memorizing a very long presentation verbatim about the school. I'm more anxious about this than any test I've taken in school. I'll pass that off this week in front of bosses, coworkers, and a video camera. After that, training will be a lot less stressful.

Conversation with 4 year old Lexi:
"Lexi, are those gummy butterflies? Where did you get those?"
"A place that I love."

I don't care what kind of loyalties you have to your neighborhood grocery store, you need to experience the magic that is the WinCo bulk foods section. Candy (like the previously mentioned gummy butterflies. And they have gummy army men, too), baking supplies (sugar, baking soda, many kinds of wheat), like 10 different kinds of granola, dried fruit, cereal, SPICES, dog/cat food, honey, etc. I could go on for a long time. But I don't have to, because this girl already did.

When I wasn't busy studying and memorizing, I..

bought a bike for my new commute from the WJ apartment to work (really just an excuse to buy a road bike. I have a new-found love of cycling)

went to a Lamb and Wool show

This sheep just sat there while the guy was shearing it and kids were petting it. It was fascinating.

hiked Slide Canyon

note the off center-ness. if only we had this cool toy.

got my hair cut (it had been 8 months... a new record for me!)

picked up this sweet elephant

and held Nicole's precious week old baby, Symoni.

stay tuned for a photo that nicole should be sending me. to say this woman is busy would be an understatement.

PS. This was my drive to work today.

Thanks, Emily, for saying what we all wanted to.

happy mothers day to all mothers and mothers to be!

Is this not a great sight to behold? Utah is earning major bonus points for me now that it has springy weather.

Highlights of our hike in the aptly named Green River and in/around Arches:

Beau posing for the newest Izusu Trooper ad.

Finding a dead, headless rabbit.

Cacti!

Contemplating life whilst overlooking a scene that reminds me of Land Before Time. Seriously, this was the best view I'd ever seen. Photos (at least with my point-and-shoot camera) cannot convey how green and bright this canyon is, especially considering we were in the middle of the desert!

Ice cream and sunburn: the beginnings of a fantastic summer.

And for some other really exciting news.....

After just one week of job hunting, I have landed my first grown-up job! I start tomorrow at Utah Career College as an admission representative.

They offer courses for nursing, vet tech, pharmacy tech, criminal justice, and lots more. I will be contacting high school kids who are interested in enrolling. That's kind of all I know now, but after 3 weeks of training I should be a little more knowledgeable about what I'm doing. The campus is in West Jordan, and Beau also works in West Jordan, so it looks like we'll be thinking about moving a little further north. Alyse- too bad you guys just left!

So, think I'll be able to handle being stuck in an office 9-5? Good thing there's a Gold's right next door...

songs that make my heart hurt.

Back in high school, I was a lot more "into"music than I am now.  I hung out with the choir/drama kids, and I had a couple friends that were always sharing new bands or albums that I still love now.

Most people have a "favorites" folder on their iTunes, which has a hundred or so of your absolute favorite songs, and I started a playlist titled, "songs that make my heart hurt" for those select few songs that the moment you hear it, you have to stop and listen they're that good. I don't add to it very often, so it's a big deal when I hear a song I deem worthy of the heart hurt list.

Newest addition to the list:

"Cosmic Love" by Florence the Machine


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfBY96qxVRQ

Dear radio, please don't fall in love with this song like I did and kill it. Love, Mackenzie.


The rest of the list- if you care- after the jump...

spring! and a fantastic weekend.

If you look closely, you will notice that Beau is wearing a t shirt.  This is because he did not graduate, and actually, I didn't either. The only reason I would want to walk is for the photo op- and so we took care of that by borrowing a couple friend's attire for a few minutes to create some false memories.

In actuality, I have one class left (an independent study class) and Beau has one more semester.

I have a life goal to hike the entire Appalachian Trail, a 2,000 mile trail that runs from Georgia to Maine. (Read all about that here). We were going to take a two week long trip in August to cover a section, but after seeing ticket prices to VA ($500 for one round trip ticket!) we thought it might be a better idea to backpack somewhere around here, and buy some equipment rather than borrow from my parents. Saturday, we went to a local outdoors shop and REI to get some information about equipment and figure out what things we were going to purchase. 

In the afternoon we did a little day hike in Rock Canyon, something we will go back to do when all the snow has melted and we can get up to Squaw Peak.

Bright and sunny, yet several feet of snow on the ground. In some places where Beau walked, his foot fell through snow past his knee.


That night, a bunch of Beau's freshman friends got together for a little park BBQ.

I am loving this warm weather and no school! Now I get to start the really fun process of finding a job...

taxes, yogurt, and basketball.

Where have we been? I wish I could report some cool stuff we've been doing, like doing triathlons or getting awesome summer internships or at least finishing starting painting our room, but no. February was just a boring month, and all it got were 2 fake blog posts. March just feels better. Spring is here! I'm riding outside! Beau's going golfing! The semester is ending in four weeks!

Recent accomplishments:
- Finishing taxes. Did everybody know BYU offers a free tax service? The accounting students practice on you. (Don't worry, they check each other.) Room 332 of the Tanner building- check it out. So thanks, Jon, for checking that off our to do list. And thanks Obama, for the return.
- Speaking of government things, Beau is working for the census. There's a call center in Sandy and he answers calls of people with questions. Specifically, Russian people. So, fill out your census, and if you have a question call Beau!
- My interviewing job is just about wrapped up, so I've been working as a secretary in the JFSB for the past few months. I like it. Unfortunately, I knew going into it I could only work there for the semester, so that will be ending at the end of April.
- A few home decor additions, but that will be for a later post.
- I made YOGURT. No joke. Which is really the whole reason why I'm updating the blog today.

So I'm pretty much never buying yogurt again.

The first time I tried it, I failed. Although now that I've researched the techniques of yogurt in the crockpot, I probably could have saved it. The second time, I changed two things: I used whole milk (recommended for first timers) and I wrapped the crockpot better. So now I don't know which change fixed it, although I think it's the latter because I've read that many other people have used low fat.

You can find the recipe on the recipe blog I have with my darling former roommates here.

Annnd the only recent photo I have is of Beau's intramural basketball team after their first round tourney win. Pretty impressive, because the team really isn't all that good.


Don't worry, I cut Beau's hair a couple days later.

bad days in basketball

1. The Nuggets lost to the Jazz

2. Beau hurt his ankle




*note: Neither of these occurrences are very recent. But there seems to be a lack of excitement... both above mentioned wounds are healing nicely.

for the past two years

To Mackenzie
From Beau