Catching Up

The last two days have been inclement weather days because of icy road conditions. Therefore I have not had to go to work in two days and now it is the weekend. Thank you weather for giving me a nice, long, 4 day weekend right before Christmas break! I decided today would be a good day to catch my blog up on my life with pictures. So here we go!


I graduated from BYU with a BA in Music Education. Here I am hugging the Madsen Recital Hall goodbye.

We moved from Wymount to Snowflake, AZ to live with our parents for a month until we were ready to go to NC. We sure miss it!

We celebrated Father's Day in Arizona. I brought sunflowers to my daddy's grave. They were his favorite. 

We celebrated the Latvian summer solstice in Snowflake at Mom and Dad Bailey's house. We cut off a bunch of branches from the cottonwood trees and made traditional Latvian headdresses out of them. 

While we were in Snowflake both of my moms helped me to make a quilt for Mark. It is, in fact, the very quilt I am huddled under right now. 

Here we are with our rig. After we live in AZ for a month we came back up to UT to load up the truck from our temporary storage unit. This was our home for the next 3 1/2 days. 

Here we are passing into North Carolina. It was too dark to get a good picture of the "Welcome to NC" sign outside so I thought I would take a picture of the GPS. The dotted line is the state dividing line between NC and VA. 

This was the first sign we saw that said "Winston-Salem" and we were really excited!

We got there at midnight. We were hungry and tired and tried to find a Walmart, but the GPS took us to a big baptist church and said "arriving at Walmart." Eventually we found a CVS pharmacy that was open so we bought some milk and cereal and toilet paper. When we got back to the house we blew up the air mattress in the living room and went to bed. 

With all the help from our new neighbors and our new ward we were ready to return the truck within hours of arriving in Winston. 

Not long after we moved in Mark had his first day of school. Doesn't he look great? He is upstairs studying right now. I love my husband more than anything. I am so glad he is mine!

We celebrated Mark's 25 birthday about a week after he started school. He was dismayed that we had to buy two boxes of candles.  

He got a mantle clock for his birthday. He wanted a clock that chimed and that you had to wind. I found this one in an antique store. It was made in the 1930s. It is a beautiful clock. It winds and chimes. 

My mom came to stay with us for a week. It was wonderful! She helped me buy new furniture and decorate. She also helped me make bread. I love my mom. She is amazing. 

This was the day I had to take her back to the airport. It was also her 35th wedding anniversary. We bought 3 musketeers at the gas station on the way to the airport to remember my dad. They were his favorite. After I dropped my mom off  I cried all the way from the airport in Charlotte until about 20 minutes after I got home I missed her so much . It was the first time I cried about moving. 

Here is my school. This is where I teach 5 days of the week. It is a wonderful place to work. The administration is really supportive and helpful. The teachers are also really supportive of one another. I could not imagine a better place to start teaching. 

This is my domain. I spend approximately 8 hours a day in this room working on lesson plans and teaching my students. I love my job. It is the best. 

Mark and I went to Myrtle Beach for a weekend trip. The water was awesome but Myrtle Beach was kind of dirty and retro. We probably will not ever go back on our own dime. 

We found this AWESOME restaurant within walking distance of our house. It is called "George's Grecian Corner." Winston has a small Greek population. It has this awesome authentic Greek food. We love it. 

We went to visit Pilot Mountain in the late fall. It was very beautiful. It was so nice to be able to see all around you! I miss the big open sky from the west. It was like a big breath of fresh air to get up on top of that mountain. The missionaries called it a glorified hill with a rock on the top and they might be right... but it is the closest thing to a mountain I have seen here!

For our anniversary we went to Greensboro and stayed at the Marriot Hotel. We had dinner at Mimi's and did some shopping at a place called the Friendly Center. It felt almost like being back in Utah because it was so similar. We use to go to Mimi's all the time in Provo. We went to William's Sonoma and the Apple Store which were two things we also loved to do in Provo. 

We went to the Museum of Natural History. We saw an exhibit called "Bodies Revealed". It was really cool having Mark with me to explain everything (he had just finished anatomy). The museum also had a geology section, a paleontology section, and a small zoo. It also had a petting zoo. We also went and saw Harry Potter 7 pt. 1. It was awesome too.

At William's Sonoma Mark bought me a new set of stainless steel measuring spoons for an anniversary gift. Here I am using them on some chocolate chip cookies for the very first time. I LOVE them :)

For Thanksgiving we went to the Tharp's in Florida. It was wonderful! They were excellent hosts and we had such a wonderful and relaxing weekend. We went to the beach. The boys did some snorkeling while Mandy and I stayed on the beach and played with the kids. We had a great time! 

Here is the Thanksgiving Day feast. It was absolutely incredible. Mandy did a wonderful job and I loved helping her. This has to be, hands down, one of the best meals I have EVER had in my life. So awesome. 

We went to the Everglades on our last day there. There were so many alligators out! We even saw some action where one alligator was eating another alligator's baby. Then the mama alligator came and chased the mean alligator away. It was incredible. Douglas got it on video. 

After our adventure in the Everglades we took a little trip to Little Havana. it was almost like stepping into another country! It was really cool. When we got home we had Cuban sandwiches for dinner. They were amazing. 

Not long after we got home we decorated the house for Christmas. It took us about 4 days because every night we were so tired we only got a couple of things accomplished. 

After three days we were finally ready to decorate the tree!

And of course, Mark had to put on the tree skirt for tradition's sake and pose for a picture. What a stud. 

And here we are now. It is freezing cold, there is a lot of snow and ice, and we live in an old drafty house that costs a fortune to keep at 60. But at least we have a house. And a heater. And a I have a full time job. And Mark is in medical school. We are truly blessed. We live a charmed life. This is such a wonderful time to be alive. Merry Christmas!