Happy Birthday Jessie!

Isn't it awkward when people are singing you Happy Birthday? What do you do with your hands? Who do you look at? Do you sing along? (of course not!) Should you just eye the cake the whole time and summon massive lungpower? One tried-and-true method is the: smile sheepishly and sort of rock back-and-forth to the tune and be immensely embarrassed at being the object of so much singing. Jessie is a great example of this technique. Way to go, Jessie!

Your First Day

The first time I heard your voice was on the phone. I was talking to your mom about coming to see you in the hospital, and suddenly you spoke up. It hit me like a ton of bricks, because you were really there.


I got on the freeway to come down and see you, and was surprised at how beautiful the sky was. You have to realize that after so many days of nothing but grey and dark, the sudden blue of the sky was like a miracle.



It snowed all night after you were born, so the whole world was covered. It seems like everything was made new and special for your first day in the world.





I pulled out my camera and snapped some photos while driving, because despite the danger, I thought you might be interested some day. The sun was going down on your first day of life, and that really only happens once.



When I got to the hospital, I couldn't see you right away and I talked to your grandma about all the details.





Then I finally got to meet you, got to see you for the first time. It was all pretty surreal, and your mom agrees. Except for the very first moment that I saw you. That was very real. You were so real. It all got kinda hazy after that and I talked to your mom for awhile about how she was feeling and what had happened. But I got to hold you while we talked and you were so peaceful and happy to get a rest! (You had been through a lot).


Jillian, I'm so glad you're here. You're a special little girl, and after so many months of waiting it's amazing to meet you.

Young West-Side

I saw this article in the newspaper the other day. It mentions the "young west-side" of Utah county. That's Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain. That's where some of my friends live with their husbands in their new houses. Sandy is where they all grew up, but Sandy is too expensive for them to return to live. So the younger generation that grew up on the East side of Salt Lake County is turning to the aptly-named "young west-side" of Utah county for affordable housing. It's like a generational shift, a migration. Some of the friends that I went to high school with are moving there.

Will I end up there, too?

I don't think so. We're all so different. It's hard to compare lives with your friends, but if I've learned anything these past months, it's that comparing is futile a lot of the time. Even if you try to do the same things, life always deals different hands.

Top Museum Moments

The above photo is my friend Jessie

I have to start keeping a list, because my job is awesome.
We'll start out of order:

- Dusting the Seer
- Driving across campus in the Van
- Going in the humidity room (the wind tunnel room)
- Handling Rembrandts
- Riding the pallet jack
- Handling Warhols and Langes
- Exhibition meetings
- Security

Two months since my...

It's never a baby. Not that we're trying, but there's always a scare when it goes this long. Then we look at the results and go "oh." But not so much in an "OH, whew" sort of way, but a "oh..." sort of way. And I'm always relieved a few hours later, and the next day I realize that it's not the right time at all, and the next time I hear some kid wailing in Wal-mart I decide that I will definitely never have kids.

I kid, of course.

This is just a Tribute

I just got back from Denver. It was awesome.

Denver, Denver

So this trip to Denver has become a road trip with the girls that I work with. I couldn't be happier.

The Denver Art Museum (DAM, haha) has this exhibit that has been loaned from the Louvre, and apparently it's the first time that the Louvre has loaned anything to the Western Hemisphere. And as museum junkies, the girls at work and I have been very excited about this momentous occasion, and have decided to drive out to Denver in a couple of weeks to be a part of it. We all love museums, we've all decided that we want to work in museums for the rest of our lives, it's only natural that we'd want to go. Plus, most of us have been dying to go to Denver on a road trip anyway.

My friend Jessie is going, she is married like me, and Kirsten and Kelsey are going, two single girls. Ever since I got married, I've thought that I would still able to go on trips with friends of mine if I wanted. Unfortunately, that trip never came up, and when my friends got married a trip with them became unlikely as they moved away or had other responsibilities. But now it's here, it's possible!

I'm looking forward to this trip not only as a cultural perk, but as a break and a reminder that there's still some freedom in life.