Things I'm Thankful For

One thing I've been working on lately is being more positive with myself and with others. I truly believe that gratitude is a major antidote for all sorts of problems (real and imagined), and so I've been trying to put that into practice in my life. And, with Thanksgiving coming up this week, I think it is especially apt to make a brief list of things that I am grateful for:

• I'm thankful for having an internship/job where I get to work at something that is both challenging and fulfilling. I'm also thankful that I can go play in kindergarten pretty much whenever I want.


• I'm thankful to live on the fifth floor of our apartment building, and the lovely view from our living room windows -- particularly of the sunrise each morning.


• I'm thankful that we upgraded from the crappy Stanford issue mattress that we started with, to a newer, more comfy mattress.


• I'm thankful for the Stanford campus -- there's lots of open space to go walking and running.


• I'm thankful that our gas bills have gone down since my commute is only 10 minutes every morning.


• I'm thankful that my family is coming to visit for Thanksgiving this year!


• I'm thankful for the Milk Pail and the Dish.


• I'm very, very, very, very, very thankful for an amazingly patient and loving husband who works so hard at whatever he does (including making me happy!)


• I'm thankful for God's love, and the perspective that His love gives me on life and its challenges.

That's the short list, maybe I'll add more this week. I will add that I'm also thankful for you, because if you are reading this that means you are someone who cares about me and who likely has had an influence for good in my life. So, thanks!

Happy Veterans Day!

Okay, I'll admit, Veterans Day generally goes by unnoticed by me. But, this year, school is out here for Veterans Day, which means no work, which means I am totally celebrating Veterans Day this year! It's kind of weird, though, since we had school on Monday, then no school Tuesday, then school the rest of the week -- like this random floating holiday in the middle of the week. But, hey, I'm not complaining!
However, lest this become all about me, I feel I must put a word in to those who made this restful day possible for me. So, now, a bit about the history of Veterans Day (Jon will be so proud!) ... which was actually originally named Armistice Day for the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended WWI (which ended hostilities on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918). President Woodrow Wilson originally signed the holiday into law to commemorate all those that served in WWI, and then Pres. Eisenhower extended it to all veterans. It is always celebrated on 11/11, unless that falls on a weekend, in which case it moves to Friday or Monday.
Well, there you have it, I hope you learned something new today, that you take a moment to pause to remember those who have served our country, and that you have a lovely Veterans Day wherever you are! (Oh, and for a bit of an English lesson as well -- the correct spelling of the holiday is, apparently, Veterans Day with no apostrophe in veterans. Thank you Wikipedia!)

Weekend of Woods, Water, and Will

This last weekend Will came to visit us for a test he had to take. We had a fun weekend exploring some new sites with him.

On Saturday we traveled north of S.F. to a national monument called Muir Woods. This was awesome! It's just north of the Golden Gate, and is one of the few remaining redwood forests. The trees were so tall, and so beautiful. We took a long hike through the woods, and I must admit, it felt good to be back in something akin to mountains.

Along the way, we discovered that at certain parts there were millions and millions of ladybugs all gathered for mating season. It was amazing to see so many ladybugs!

Will, of course, couldn't come to California without visiting the ocean. After a day of hiking we went to the beach, and Will talked Jon into doing some wave swimming in the freeeeeeeezing water. Not only was it super cold, but we found out too that we were at a frequent shark attack beach . . . nice, huh. But as Jon and Will's wise scout leader used to say: the amount of brainpower is inversely proportional to the number of boys (aka 2 boys=1/2 brain), and these two boys were not going to be deterred by a little thing like cold or threat of sharks! They jumped in enthusiastically, and were shivering all the way home (I'm pretty sure because of the cold -- not fear of sharks :)

All in all, it was great to have Will around for a few days, and we had a great time!

To Stanford and Beyond

Sorry, all, it's been awhile, hasn't it? Well, for fear that my older brother will call complaining about not having anything new to look at, I decided today that I'd better get around to posting something. We've actually been having a good time starting to explore the sights around Stanford, and I've been meaning to post some pictures of our explorations.

Near Stanford, there's a nature preserve, and we saw on the map that it had a Felt Lake in it. We got all excited to check it out. When we actually saw the lake (a.k.a. practically dried up pond), we did our best to maintain our enthusiasm.

Our ward hosted an activity one Saturday where we took a ferry from San Francisco across the bay to Alameda. It was a fun chance to move a little further out and see more of the Bay Area.

Probably our most exciting outing thus far was last week. It was "Fleet Week" in San Francisco, which means that a whole bunch of the naval fleet comes into the bay, and they host a bunch of events, including an air show. Lots of stunt planes, including the famous Blue Angels, performed, so we went up with some new friends, had a picnic, and enjoyed the show. It was pretty cool to sit right by the Golden Gate and watch the planes come in over - and under - the bridge! This one is likely to become an annual event for us!

Would you like a tour?

Our Sunday activity today (since we don't really have any friends yet to hang out with) was to go and take pictures of places around our new home. So, for anyone who would like to come along, I'm now going to offer a tour of our Stanford home. . . .
Our first stop is Lane History Corner. This is where Jon will be living for the next forever number of years. (I think he looks a little too comfortable, don't you?!)
Next is the Stanford Memorial Church. Unlike other universities, Stanford is allowed to talk about religion, and they even hold church meetings in this building (all churches are invited to reserve time). The outside is nice, but the inside is even better.
We now make our way across the main quad through one of the many archways on campus. They love arches here! The large building seen through the arch is the tallest building on campus, the Hoover Tower. (We're not sure what goes on in there, but there's no windows between the main floor and the tower floor... ?)
Our final stop for today is our apartment. This is the evening view from our 5th floor.
And now we meet up with Jon, tired out from the tour, resting in our living room.

That concludes today's Stanford tour. Thank you for joining us, and we look forward to seeing you again soon.

We made it!

Well, our life as gypsies has ended, and we are finally trying to settle into a more permanent lifestyle. We have officially become California residents as we arrived here at Stanford last week. But, more about that in a moment. First, I have some priceless pictures of Jon before the end of our gypsy lifestyle:

Here Jon is after a trip we took up Ephraim canyon on the four-wheelers (there were several big trucks heading in the opposite directions kicking up lots and lots of dust, giving him a cute white nose and moustache!)

Here he is on a sunny day we spent up at the lake with my mom, Christian, and Kaitlyn. He lost his usual sun screening hat in China, so he borrowed this one (I won't mention that it's my mom's gardening hat!:) Isn't he cute!

And so, after spending some good times with the Averett's and the Felt's, we packed up the car and arrived at good old Stanford, California. Yes, the campus is its own city, so our address is not in Palo Alto, but in Stanford. For those who don't know, Stanford is located in Palo Alto, which is on the southwest side of the San Francisco Bay. We are about 30 minutes from San Francisco and 30 minutes from the coast.
We live on the fifth floor of one of several graduate apartment buildings. Basically, the graduate students here at Stanford have their own neighborhood named Escondido Village, full of apartment buildings and townhouses for all the students and their families. There is even an elementary school just for the village. Our apartment is small, but I will admit, well laid out, so that it doesn't feel too crowded. We spent the first several days moving our things in and making it feel like "home," and though I don't feel entirely "settled" yet, we're getting there.
One of the nice things about arriving is getting into a regular routine. I started my internship this week. I feel so lucky to have gotten an internship with the Palo Alto Unified School District, which is the district right here in Palo Alto/Stanford. Not only is it an excellent school district, but both of the schools I work in are very closeby. Thus, my commute has gone from an hour to school and half hour to work in Colorado, to a two mile drive from our apartment to each of the schools. It's so great, and our gas bill is, I think, the only expenditure that will actually be decreasing here in California. I'm even considering getting really ambitious and getting myself a bike, since we can also look forward to a non-cold, non-snowy winter (not that I won't be missing the cold and snow.)
Stanford doesn't start school until Sept. 22, so while I go to work during the days, Jon is still wandering aimlessly, looking for things to fill his time. Not really, he has been getting to know the campus, doing some prep reading, and then getting all of those errands done that come with moving into a new place. We've also been exploring the campus together, and getting to know what will be our world for the next who-knows-how-many years (I'm trying to not think about it in actual numbers, it's just too overwhelming!) Really, the Stanford campus is absolutely beautiful. There are tons of trees and lots of open spaces with trails, and then the buildings are stunning. Today, we visited the beautiful historic chapel on campus. Our camera has been kind of on the blitz, but at some point I'm going to have to spend some time taking pictures of everything there is to see on campus.
That's all I'll report for now, I'm sure there will be more to tell. I'll just close with an open invitation that visitors are more than welcome. We even have a pull-out couch and an air mattress to offer you, along with many sights to visit, and not to mention the pleasure of our company!

Okay, I'll play along

Sarah, I want you to know that I hardly ever get around to actually following through with these when someone tags me . . . so the fact that I'm doing it with your tag must mean that I really like you! So, here goes:

3 Joys

• Celebrating 3 years with my best friend in the world, Jon
• Our phenomenal summer of travel
• Having so many prayers answered this year

3 Fears

• Death
• Not being taken seriously
• Being misunderstood

3 Goals

• Be a mother
• Get a Ph.D.
• Learn to speak Chinese

3 Obsessions

• Jon Felt
• Jon Felt
• Jon Felt (no, he was not sitting next to me dictating what I should say :)

3 Random Facts

• I really want to learn to do Tai Chi.
• Sometimes, I turn the music up really loud at my house and have a dance party all by myself.
• I have a very hard time telling personal things about myself to people! (so if I actually publish this post it will be a real feat.)

And now I know I'm supposed to tag someone(s), but another random fact about me is that while I generally appear to be a social conformist, sometimes my non-conformist side comes out and I am compelled to rebel against expectations.