Summer Plans.

I've been planning our anniversary/Jeffrey's baptism trip to NYC the past week, and I'm beyond excited to spend some time in the City! Here's a little run-down of what else we have coming up this summer:

May 15-18 we're headed to Rochester, NY, to see Brian's family and go to Rochester's Lilac Festival. Brian has been to the festival once before and says it's more about the free concerts and cool vendors than it is about the lilacs. We haven't been up to see his family in awhile, and we're excited to play games, go to the Palmyra temple, and relax!

We move to our new apartment on May 31-June 1. It's just a couple blocks away from where we're at right now. Pros: first floor, A/C, dishwasher, reliable heat, quiet neighborhood, same rent. Cons: first floor, no more hardwood floors, ghetto neighborhood, less natural light. With temps in the high eighties today, we're pumped for the A/C.

Our new apartment building. No, we don't have snow right now.

June 12-15 marks both our anniversary weekend and the Sunday when my nephew Jeffrey gets baptized! Jeffrey's family lives in NYC (right across from Central Park), and so Brian and I figured it was a perfect excuse to pay through the nose and spend a weekend there. I haven't been since I was probably seven. I'll do a separate blog post on what we're planning on doing and where we end up staying. (Shout out to Shaunelle for all the insider tips!!)

Corinne and me with Jeffrey when he turned four!! Crazy.

July 10-13 we'll be in Vancouver for Aaron and Katie's wedding!! Also really excited about this trip. I used Priceline to successfully book three adjacent hotel rooms for most of Brian's family at $45 off the original price. I still need a game plan for the day we have to tour Vancouver, but we'll figure it out.

Awwwww. Also, this was totally hacked from FB, which is creepy of me.

July 18 we'll drive up to Maine for my family's reunion. This is the first Mark Earnshaw family reunion that's been organized as such; we try to get together at Christmas, but this is a summertime visit, and Maine is so much more fun in the summer! We're staying for an indefinite amount of time (ten days? twelve?) because Brian can work from there and I have three weeks off starting on July 18 while the family I nanny for takes a trip to the mom's homeland, Serbia. We'll also be having a couple day trips to Boston while we're there to visit some friends and family.

And to bring things full circle, August 14-17 we're back in Rochester, this time for Galen and Keen's wedding. I get to buy a pink (any shade) summer dress for this wedding which I'm pumped about (minus the finding one I like and paying for it parts). We met some of Keen's family at their engagement dinner, so I'm excited to see them again and celebrate!

So yeah, I'm pretty much beside myself with excitement. Both for the summer and for Brian to be done with his final tomorrow so he can stop working before 10 pm.

Half marathons and Easter.

Because nothing of actual importance happens in my life, small events then become important. But you better believe I'm going to blog about them anyway. 

We ran our first trail half marathon on April 19! This was the description of the course on the race site:
"This race comes with bragging rights.  What makes this half marathon different is over 800 ft. of vertical gain.  It goes up and down the ski slopes in Boyce Park and then summits Indian Hill the highest point in Allegheny County."
I read that the day before we raced and I suddenly realized I might not have trained appropriately with all my speed workouts on the track. Oh yeah, and most of my training runs were on unplowed sidewalks like this:

longest, snowiest, coldest winter ever

Even reading the race description, I didn't really realize what a trail half would be like.

pre-race. I got new headphones the night before that were guaranteed not to fall out... I'm obsessed with them. They're called Yurbuds, and they really don't ever fall out.

horrible-looking kick at the end; I felt like I was flying :) The only part of the race that was on a road was the last 100 meters.

post-race pic

So the entire race was on these itty bitty trails running through the forest, up and down these big hills. And I loved it. I tried really hard to keep running up all the hills for the first seven miles, but after that it was literally faster for me to walk up them than run up them--and it saved a lot more energy. It was a different kind of mind game to run the trail half. Sure, I got my slowest time ever by a lot (2hr30m30s), but it was so fun running through the woods and talking to people and knowing I could walk when I wanted without mentally beating myself up. It was also the perfect day for the race: low 60s, cool breeze, sunny. Brian placed second overall (and would've placed first if he hadn't accidentally missed a small loop at the end that he ran later voluntarily), so we got to bring home some winner's loot: 4 (we think beer) glasses, a bike light, a box of Powerade chews, a bag. Even Brian got 1hr50m, so I don't feel so bad about going so far over my goal time of 2hrs. Trail runs are just different beasts.

So that started off our Easter weekend with a bang! Sunday I gave a talk in church on the last week of Christ's life and the Atonement. It was really powerful to prepare for it the week leading up to Easter. One story I came across really touched me.

President Hinckley told a parable of sorts about a one room school house in the mountains of Virginia where the boys were so rough no teacher had been able to handle them.

Then one day an inexperienced young teacher applied. He was told that every teacher had received an awful beating, but the teacher accepted the risk. The first day of school the teacher asked the boys to establish their own rules and the penalty for breaking the rules. The class came up with 10 rules, which were written on the blackboard. Then the teacher asked, "What shall we do with one who breaks the rules?"

“Beat him across the back ten times without his coat on," came the response.

A day or so later, the lunch of a big student, named Tom, was stolen. The thief was located—a little hungry fellow, about ten years old.

As Little Jim came up to take his licking, he pleaded to keep his coat on. "Take your coat off," the teacher said. "You helped make the rules!"

The boy took off the coat. He had no shirt and revealed a bony little crippled body. As the teacher hesitated with the rod, Big Tom jumped to his feet and volunteered to take the boy’s licking.

“Very well, there is a certain law that one can become a substitute for another. Are you all agreed?" the teacher asked.

After five strokes across Tom’s back, the rod broke. The class was sobbing. Little Jim had reached up and caught Tom with both arms around his neck. “Tom, I’m sorry that I stole your lunch, but I was awful hungry. Tom, I will love you till I die for taking my licking for me! Yes, I will love you forever!”

As I read this story in preparation for my talk, I identified very deeply with little Jim. Often when I take a personal accounting of my standing with God, my shame for the mistakes I have made make me feel like a spiritual cripple. But Christ has taken the beating for me for those mistakes, and I will love, and indeed worship Him forever because of it. 

After church, Brian and I enjoyed our first Easter dinner together, where I got to make my first Easter ham, potatoes supreme (Mom's recipe), Jerusalem salad (WOW I don't like red onions), and rolls, followed by a vanilla bundt cake for dessert. I loved everything except the salad, but that's pretty typical.

We only had one Easter decoration adorning our apartment that we made for a craft night FHE: bunny banner! I actually really liked how it turned out, so I'm saving it for next year, along with our paper shamrocks we made for St. Patrick's day. 

I don't know why our kitchen looks like an aquarium.

Other than that, I've had some humbling editing experiences, I got some layers in my hair, Brian and I are teaching EQ/RS (not together) tomorrow, and oh yeah, we're moving. Just a couple blocks away from where we are now, but it was all very sudden. I have mixed feelings about it. I love the big windows and wood floors of where we're at now, but come summer I'll be so grateful for the A/C that we're moving into. The new place costs the same but has a dishwasher, heat that works, A/C, and won't have busy street noise like we do now. Plus the floors don't slant, the shower doesn't alternate between Hades' fire and the Artic, the kitchen was just redone, and we have friends who live in the same building (though they might move to Boston right when we move there). 

I was going to blog about our summer plans too, but that'll have to wait until next time. We're happy and healthy here in Pittsburgh!

Garden in the study.

I grew up weeding and raking and picking fruits and vegetables out of the garden and off of the fruit bushes my parents carefully cultivated in our backyard. As a very picky eater, I'm sure Mom and Dad were happy to see me eating green beans off the vine, although I wouldn't touch the zucchini that was always far too plentiful. It was always amazing to me that Mom knew how to make all this food grow, and now that I've been researching it a bit, I'm even more impressed. 

                               
Brian was probably skeptical when I announced I wanted us to have a container garden because I had killed the already-grown ivy from Home Depot. (I'm actually not sure if it's dead or not, but it hasn't grown any new leaves in awhile...) I had also tried to grow oregano and thyme in some small clay pots we had gotten in a yard sale, to no avail. 

Dead ivy and clay pots...evidence of my brown thumb remain in a corner of the kitchen

Then last month, we had a stake Relief Society activity with a class on container gardening. The woman presenting, Barbara, works at Phipps Conservatory here in Pittsburgh (which I love going to with Mila). She explained how to start seedlings, which I thought rather ingenious.

Mila in the rainbow room at Phipps. The place is a huge network of greenhouses!

I'm here to say it works! Brian and I planted our seeds on the last day of March and they've thrived in the west-facing windows in our study (I can only hope these windows continue to provide enough sunlight). Here's a step-by-step for starting seeds:

Materials
cookie sheet covered in aluminum foil (to avoid rust)
plastic bread bag
twisty tie/elastic
egg carton (cardboard or styrofoam; if styrofoam, poke a few holes in the bottom of each egg compartment)
seed starting soil
seeds (make sure the seeds you pick are for varieties of vegetables that are meant to be in containers; these are usually smaller varieties. However, if you are going to transplant them outside, it shouldn't matter what type of seeds you use)

See egg carton resting on its lid. I got all of this from Home Depot (minus the cookie sheet). 

Take the top of the egg carton off and set it underneath the other half. Fill each egg compartment with loose soil. On top of the soil, place one seed--do not push the seed into the soil. Once all compartments have soil and a seed, place egg carton on the cookie sheet covered in foil. Pour water directly onto the cookie sheet, about a quarter inch thick. Leave for a few hours. After the cardboard has absorbed the water (there will probably be some left on the cookie sheet), place the egg carton into the plastic bread bag and secure the end with a twisty tie or an elastic. Put your mini-greenhouse in a sunny place and watch the miracle of seeds. 

My green beans need more space! (far left)

Here is a handy dandy little handout that Barbara gave us at the mini-class. It lets you know what seed varieties work well in containers, how big of containers each type of plant needs, how many you can plant in a container, and lots of other useful tips for novice container gardeners.

I ended up planting cucumbers, spinach, green beans, oregano, and thyme. After noticing my green beans were bursting from the bread bag, I made a trip to Home Depot and picked up some soil and plastic potting containers. 

I chose Miracle Gro potting soil because it has the nutrients my plants need for two months; after that, I'll have to start fertilizing them.

I gently ripped the egg compartments containing my little sprouts away from the rest of the egg carton and put them in their new home, cardboard and all. I left some seedlings in the greenhouse, partly because I ran out of potting soil, and partly because the thyme, some of the oregano, and one of the cukes were still too tiny. I really hope stage two of container gardening is as successful as the first!

The root of the spinach grew right through the cardboard!

Spinach, oregano, green  beans. 

Missing Ellen.

Ellen sort of epitomizes my BYU experience, probably because she made it the awesome four years that it was. Ever since moving to Pittsburgh, I've reflected often on my time in Provo. I wanted so bad to be done and get out, and now that I've left, I miss it like crazy. 

Disclaimer: I love my life and feel blessed beyond comprehension. But we all get down, right? 

Lately in particular, I'm not sure why, I have felt some acute Provo longings. But it's more than Provo, it's how things were two, three, four years ago. I miss living with Ellen, having her get me ready for fancy dances, going to church in a singles ward where the demographic was basically uniform (single students), sharing groceries, talking about random people we ran into during the day, sharing clothes, talking about the gospel. Doing spontaneous things like going to the hot springs or driving to LA for a three-day weekend. Crying from laughter for the most random things (hurricane? tornado? sleeping), or crying because the other was hurting so bad. Anticipating the future with whomever we would end up marrying. I wanted to get out of Provo because I was tired of the responsibilities that required 14-hour days to fulfill. Perhaps because I have spare time, I now really miss the fun times at BYU, usually made fun by Ellen and the ideal friendship she showed me. 

Freshman year, preference '20s dance.

Sophmores, going to General Conference for the Saturday sessions.

Junior year, trip to LA

However, I believe that such looking back can be detrimental to my motivation to move forward and accomplish things now. Matt gave a really good Sunday School lesson today that helped me realize a constructive way to remember the good times but not wish I were back in them. He quoted Elder Holland: "We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead, we remember that faith is always pointed toward the future." I can take those good times Ellen and I had and know that because of those memories and experiences, we will always be best friends! I miss her dearly, and instead of wishing I was her roommate again, I can be comforted in knowing that I have a friend for life! It will take some time to reformat how I think about my BYU times, but I'm looking forward with faith and know that God has great things in store for me and Brian. 

In other news, Brian and I went to his winter formal for engineer grad students. Disappointed in the food, but the Carnegie Music Hall was a beautiful venue! And it was fun to meet Brian's fellow student compadres. I missed having Ellen do my hair, although we did go out and buy me a fancy dress that I will wear on all future formal nights on cruises.

Brian and I with Subhro and his girlfriend

That's a wrap.

My life in a few words: Mila, running, 24, cooking, audio books, Brian, scouts, Relief Society. Pretty sweet, right?

Mila just turned six months, and we have a strange connection in that she was born the day I arrived in Pittsburgh. I didn't know how much more fun babies are the older they get! She can sit by herself (though she can't roll over at ALL), she hates tummy time, she just started eating baby food (mostly likes vegetables...odd), and she smiles non-stop. She finally has a more regular sleep schedule that has enabled me to watch the Olympics that her parents DVR for me (Brian thinks I'm obsessed with the Olympics--maybe true). My favorite times are just after she's eaten and I'm holding her to burp her and she is so smiley and talks to me in her little voice. She's starting a baby gym at the beginning of March, and her parents are buying a jogging stroller so I can go running with her! 

The pillow is there to catch her just in case she falls back.

Valentine's Day outfit. Kicks constantly on tummy time.
Her middle name is Valentina :)

Being married to Brian has gotten me into a few things that I wasn't into before: cooking, audio books, TV shows, and kind of running. I ran before, but since he runs everyday, now I feel extra motivation. We're running a half marathon in Pittsburgh in Boyce Park and we're following this running schedule (roughly):

Now that I have someone to cook for (and time to cook), I love it! This rice and bean salad was delicious, I cooked my first fish dish, and this chicken marinade is to die for. I also cook a lot of recipes out of the cookbooks I got for my wedding/Christmas. Cookbooks are the best. 

I never listened to audio books until Brian only listened to audio books. Sometimes it annoyed me: why can't we just read while snuggling instead of you having your earphones in? But now that I've listened to a couple, I always listen to something while doing the dishes, cleaning, or cooking. I kind of feel like I'm learning and getting things done, although I find I'm picky with the readers.

my first audio book. Brian's dad gave it and the sequel to us. 

TV shows: very hit or miss. Wowzers. We watched a couple first episodes of shows with really high reviews and thought they were SO DUMB. Agents of SHIELD--what happened?? Worst show ever. We watch Modern Family (hilarious), Merlin (kinda dumb), Firefly (LOVE), Continuum (first season only), and we just started 24. Although I close my eyes through half of it, I still dream about how to resolve all the cliffhangers. I never watched TV pre-marriage, but it's a good way to unwind after long, busy days.

Brian and I went to our favorite burger joint for Valentine's Day (I know, very romantic). It's a local Pittsburgh place called BRGR. Yum. 

Bad phone camera, but cute husband.

Church callings keep me busy! I got officially released as a den leader for cub scouts, but I'm hanging around until they call someone else. This is hard for me because it's a big time commitment and the boys can be pretty difficult to manage. But there are some special moments that make up for all the horrid ones :)

Relief Society is fun and also busy. I like knowing what service opportunities are available in the ward and then coordinating who does what. Lots of good people doing good things.

My bears! 

The two boys I drive every week. We went to a fire station a couple weeks ago!

In any other news, we visited Brian's family in Rochester last weekend for his mom's birthday, my cousin Ashley just had a baby, and we want to hike part of the Appalachian Trail for our anniversary in June! And that's a wrap.

To the future of #redswag.

To the lucky inheritor of the leadership mantle of the beloved teen group of CK BYU:

I have a few points of advice that may prove useful in the upcoming months before the eighth year of Camp Kesem BYU. Take them or leave them as you wish; I offer them as learned from experience. 

Plan everything as far in advance as possible. Most importantly, pick a campsite big enough for everyone to play together but still have privacy; ensure insured transportation can transport both kids and supplies; plan simple activities that encourage team-building. Think realistically about what food is needed and what is feasible on a camp-out. Make sure you or someone you know will let you borrow the necessary supplies: tents, grills, sleeping bags, water coolers, ice coolers, firewood. Brainstorm cabin chat questions, some funny and some serious. Try doing the hike before the week of to see how difficult it is, how long it takes, where it starts and ends. 

End formal letter. But really, most of that stuff I didn't do quite right. But where I fell so short, my counselors and teens made up for it (I feel like I'm bearing my testimony). Dang it, I forgot to think about cabin chat questions again, and here we are around the campfire, ready for cabin chat. Squirrel is all over it. Wait, Oboe and Reader just collided in the game of glow-in-the-dark capture the flag that results in injuries every year?? No worries, Hawkeye has the medical skills and Poseidon and Fisher take care of comforting. We're told we have to keep the rule of three even going to the bathroom and the teens are awesome at adjusting without complaining (unlike me). Oddish is falling behind on the hike, but oh look, DK is right there talking and encouraging. Hmm, I really don't want to drive back and start dinner. Good thing Baloo and Chowder offered to. How are we going to evacuate if the wildfire gets closer? Nobody could help with that, but luckily we didn't need to. I couldn't be everywhere and do everything, but I didn't need to be.

You have a lot of responsibility, future #redswag coordinator. You wear a watch and have the schedule of events and tell people when to be where and what to do. It might not seem as fun as last year when you were just a regular counselor and goofed off and went with the flow of things. But live in the moment! Yeah, you're going to be late regardless of how many times you radio your co and tell him/her to get their boys/girls to the meeting spot. (Oh, and having a radio is awesome.) But chill out. Be as prepared as you can before camp, and then go and have the best week of your life. Hint: even if you don't prepare that great, it's still amazing. Because it's the kids that make camp, not you. And even though you have no idea what you're doing, they love you so much, and you can't help but love them until it hurts. 

Give them my love,

Pepper

Some picture mementos:

I love the rainbow :)

The whole camp!!

Oboe and Mozzi at the playa

Cmer, Mozzi, and Skippy

Girls take pictures, boys play in water

Hot mazing, Fisher, Reader and Oboe. They're siblings, FYI

Why yes, we did see the lightning strike the knoll that set the entire hilltop ablaze.

Reader being Reader.

Firefly, Cmer (sisters), Skippy, Mozzi

Silly Squirel!

Mozzi always looks good, but especially on the ropes course.

I LOVE THIS PICTURE. Those are my teens!

What made up for my lack of activity planning...

Reader being Reader again.

All counselors! Best kids around.

My peeps. Minus Squirel. Gosh I can't say enough about them!!

#redswaggggg

hahahah the time I was the legs of a pregnant lady pretending to be more pregnant and I got a little wet.

really tiring counselor dance. 

Our home.

Here it is. In all its unkempt splendor. Including the two tables of clean dishes after making pumpkin whoopies, cookies, and butternut squash pasta with pumpkin sauce. And bonus: Brian in his natural habitat.

Walk  in the door and put your shoes in the black cupboards. I eventually (soon)
want to get little baskets for some cubbies to put mittens and hats in.

Hang a left and here's our living room full of craigslist furniture! I love the chest
myself. And the mirror. Grandpa's temple picture is hanging to the left. That blue
couch flips out into a bed, so come visit. Also, the leather couch reclines.

Through the doorway is the second-bedroom-turned-study! Diplomas hung
appropriately on the wall. Blackboard behind Brian. Brian hard at work.

Back out of the study you face the hearth. With no mantle. And my
favorite wedding pictures! And our Jack O'Lanterns.

Another left and you're in the kitchen! Trash is ready to be taken out. Through that doorway and...

bedroom! Bed made. Every day. Seriously.

Back into the kitchen and we see our five-dollar yard-sale clock and my ivy and
pots that are trying to grow oregano and thyme. We also have a SWEET table
with a leaf that you can hide in the table. 

We just put up that spice rack. I love it.

On the way out, here's the bathroom right across from the black cubbies!
Come again!