I finally got Seth out to take pictures and then I couldn't figure out how to do the timer function on our new camera. I thought it would be simple to figure out but I was wrong. So we didn't get to take any of us together, we just ended up just taking pictures of each other.
P.S. Seth and pictures are usually not friends. He really doesn't like taking them and usually doesn't like the result, so we were happy we got some of his real smile. I have learned a new strategy.
So for the last 8 years since I last lived at home, I have never really had easy access to a piano. There were pianos on campus which I would use sometimes while in school, but they were only available late at night after classes were done, so it was hard to use those very often. But finding a piano and a time that would work for me was always more difficult to do rather than walking 5 steps from the kitchen to our piano at home. I have gone through debate over debate in my head when I should get a piano. I don't really want to spend a lot of money buying a piano if we are renting and and just going to have to sell it, but I often just have the desire to sit down and play. And it makes me sad I cannot enjoy playing like I used to. Anyways, when we first got married, I looked on ksl.com all the time for the used pianos people were selling, but never very seriously considered it, mainly just dreaming. I didn't know if it would fit in our little apartment very well without feeling too crowded. So I am sure you know where I am going with this, right? Well we decided we would just find a cheap older piano and make room for it and just sell it or whatever when we leave, so I started looking again on ksl.com. After about a month of looking and calling around, I found one in Orem. Long story short, we have a piano!! I am one happy girl.
We got rid of a desk and rearranged some bookshelves, moved out 2 filing cabinets that belonged to our landlords and wa-la....our piano has a home. It it amazing how different the room looks with a piano. I am very happy and we have really been enjoying it. It is fun to hear Seth play a little. It makes our apartment feel even more like a home. The piano has seen better days, but it plays fine. It could probably use a tuning and some love, but we are happy with it. The people we bought it from got it from BYU 15 years ago when they were getting rid of their old pianos, but they haven't really played it much since then. But I am sure it has had a lot of hours put on it with all the students practicing on it. But we couldn't be more pleased with our piano!
We got to go to Megan's soccer game on Saturday in Mapleton, so of course I took the camera to get some photos of the kids. I think my favorite subject to take pictures of are children. They are full of life, energy, smiles, and they are so innocent. I know they can be stinkers at times, but you can't help but love them.
This one can be a stinker too, but I can't help but love him either! :)
So we just got a call on Thursday night from one of the counselors in our ward asking us if we would chaperon the Multi-Stake Single Adult Dance on Friday night. After we said yes and hung up the phone, we couldn't help but wonder what that would be like, chaperoning people that could be our parents.
Well let me just tell you it was quite an interesting night to say the least. We helped set up, take money, keep the refreshment table stocked, and checked the parking lot. It was quite the assortment of people there, of all ages. I think my biggest shock was how many people in their 60's and 70's there were. In my mind, I had an image of it being a group of people mostly in their 30's, but the older generation were very well represented! Also, I must admit, these people know how to dance. It was amazing how many good dancers there were, not just moving around, but couples dancing across and around the dance floor. I was jealous they could dance so well!
There was one guy, probably in his 60's that was Seth's favorite. He was a 'baller' as Seth put it. You would have never thought because he was a little husky, standing in the corner, had a little hunch-back and looked to be pretty shy and the nervous-type. Seth kept wishing he would go and ask someone to dance and was quite worried about him. So finally, in the last 40 minutes of the dance, an older lady went and asked him to dance, and he was phenomenal. Knocked our socks off. He was so good at leading the lady, and he knew what he was doing. He was so happy! It seriously made me get teary-eyed watching the whole thing transpire.
The two awkward events: I was sitting in the corner by myself while Seth was making his rounds in the parking lot, and all the sudden a guy comes up to me and asks me to dance. We had tags that were big and yellow that said "Host" on them to indicate we were just there to help out, but I guess he hadn't seen it or something. Anyways....totally awkward. I was like "ummmm.....I am married. I am so sorry." And he said something like he better not dance with a married woman. Anyways, I knew he felt totally stupid. And after that, I did not see him anywhere. He must have left the whole dance because there weren't too many people that I couldn't spot him. I felt totally bad. The awkward moment for Seth was a high-five from one of the ladies after the dance ended. She was like "thanks for helping out" and then stuck up her hand and so Seth went along with it.
Lastly, there was quite a bit of sadness that you could sense some of these people had suffered hard trials in their life. Lots of them previously married, perhaps divorced, or widowed, or whatever the case may be. One lady I spoke with was on the committee and she was very nice and friendly. I noticed she was wearing a wedding ring so I asked if she was engaged, and she said, "Oh no, I am not engaged" and so I stupidly said "Oh you just wear it to scare off the boys?" and she responded, "no I was once engaged, but he passed away." Ah man, I am an idiot. So later we started talking again and here I was thinking she had been married and then he passed away so I asked her if she had any kids and she said she didn't and that she had never been married. So after some deduction, I realized that she had just gotten engaged and then apparently during their engagement, he passed away. I don't know details, but it was very sad. It just broke my heart, especially since they were probably both older and had waited awhile to find each other. It was super sad for me. It was quite the night. It was good for me to get a glimpse into the life of being a single-adult in Utah Valley. I think it is quite different than being one in California or back East.
Anyways, that is the update on us. Everything else is going well. Josh went into the MTC this week. I will have more on that later.
