Billy Weekend in Seattle

Over the long weekend for Martin Luther King Day, I met up with four of my very best friends for a fun girls' weekend in Seattle.  Caroline, Ann-Marie, Ashley, and Kate were all my roommates at BYU for a long time.  We are all scattered across the US right now, but we made plans to meet up in Seattle, since Caroline was too pregnant to travel anywhere.

We stayed in a small VRBO and spent all weekend doing fun things.  On Saturday, we toured the Theo chocolate factory, ate lunch at a fun restaurant at Pike's Market, saw the Seattle troll, and went and saw a fancy play of My Fair Lady with a live orchestra.  It was FABULOUS.

We loved wearing our hair nets at the chocolate factory!

The tour was very interesting, and we got to try LOTS of yummy samples!

The view from the restaurant we ate at in Pike's Market--can't remember its name

Attempts at a selfie in front of Pike's Market

Walking in the rain

The Seattle troll under an overpass

Outside the Village Theater, where we saw My Fair Lady

 On Sunday, we had a low-key day.  We went to church with Caroline's family and ate a spaghetti dinner with them.   Everyone stayed up late playing games, but I actually went to bed super duper early feeling very sick.  I felt better the next morning.

On Monday we ate lunch at the Space Needle revolving restaurant and then toured the Chihuly Glass Museum.  It was so freaking awesome--definitely a highlight of the trip for me!  Then we stopped by the Bellevue Temple (closed because it was Monday, of course) and then had a low-key movie night at our VRBO.  

Space Needle

Views from the observation deck of the Space Needle

It was a clear morning, so we could see Mt. Ranier in the distance!

Kate and Ann-Marie taking pictures

Ashley and me (with my hood on--it was cold!)

Ah, yes!  Caroline was there, too!  I stole most of these pictures from her!

Eating at the Space Needle restaurant.  It rotates very slowly (45-minute rotation) so you can see all the views.  The food was very pricy, and it was hard for someone like me who doesn't like seafood to choose something, but the experience was super fun.

Ann-Marie and me

Since it was Ann-Marie's birthday, our server brought us a free ice cream sundae with dry ice all over the place.  It was quite a presentation!

 All of the next pictures are from the Chihuly Glass Museum. It was really quite stunning.  I would love to go back sometime and show Alan.

This is called the Persian ceiling exhibit.  I think I want a room like this in my house.

Another view of the Persian ceiling

This was a big "garden"--it reminded me of something out of Alice in Wonderland

Chandeliers

Space Needle as viewed from the glass museum

We got to watch someone blow glass

Saying goodbye at the airport Tuesday morning--so sad!

I can't wait to plan our next Billy trip in a few years!  I LOVE these girls with all my heart.

Payson Temple Open House

Me with two of my Billies--former roommates

On a very windy, chilly Saturday in May, my family, my mom, and two of my best friends (and family) all went to the Payson Utah Temple open house together.  I was glad that I had some extra tickets so we could all go together.  The temple was beautiful inside and Jared especially was excited to learn about the different rooms of the temple.  

Ann-Marie flew in from out of state, and Caroline and her family just got back from living out of the country for a couple of years

My family with my cute mommy

 Ann-Marie, Caroline, and I had a fun weekend together.  We hung out just the three of us Saturday afternoon and evening, and then Sunday evening all of our families got together at my house for a yummy dinner.  It was fun to catch up with my best buddies.  We missed you, Ashley and Kate!  Next Billy party, right????

A Billy Visit

 At the beginning of July my former roommate of 3 years, Ashley, came to town and stayed with us for a day.  I love her and miss her so much!  I only get to see her about once every 2 years.  We took our kids to the local splash pad and had fun catching up.

Right now all of my "Billies" live out of state (one even lives out of the country!) so I really miss them.

Our cute kids (minus baby Evelyn).  Jared's snake Slither had to be in the picture, of course

Friend Get-togethers

These past couple of weeks I  got to see my amazing friend Kalee.  She and I were in the Math Education program together in college, but I hadn't seen her for seven years! She seriously was one of the reasons I survived all those ridiculously difficult math classes.  We signed up for probably 10 or so classes together and did our homework together pretty much everyday.  Anyway, I got to see her TWICE while she was visiting around these parts (she lives out of state), and it was so fun to see how we could just pick right up where we left off.  Our kids got along pretty well together, and my Jared and her little girl Ava even held hands when we were browsing around IKEA.  I'm so glad she squeezed me into her schedule!  I miss her so much.

I also recently hung out with two of my dear friends from high school, Andrea and Heather.  I haven't seen either of them for a year.  It was so fun to see them and catch up.  Andrea was so nice to host at her house and to plan fun activities for our big crew of kids.  They are both amazing.  

It is so fun to see friends and catch up!

Pi Day

My friend Kalee just sent me a Pi Day e-card (I had totally forgotten about Pi Day this year), so I thought I'd dedicate this post to two of my dearest friends and fellow math nerds.

Kalee is my dear friend that helped me survive my program at BYU. Some of those math classes were so dang hard, but life definitely got easier once Kalee and I found each other. We signed up for one or two or even three (!!!) classes together every semester and did pretty much all our homework together. Wow, I get all stressed just thinking about it! She not only helped me survive, but we survived happily with a lot of fun times to remember. Kalee continues to be one of my dearest friends. I haven't seen her in person for like 3 or 4 years (but I WILL see you this summer, right?), but she ALWAYS remembers my birthday and makes me feel special. I love you and miss you, Kalee!

My other math soulmate (ha!) is my former coworker Adrianne. She and I taught at the same high school together. She seriously was my inspiration to try new things to make my classroom even better. She is such an amazing teacher and her optimism and enthusiasm made her well-liked by all of her students and coworkers. I only ever heard good things about her! Adrianne has lived far away for the past few years, but she and I keep in touch every month or two with our over-the-phone book club we have--we are the only two members. :) I was lucky enough to spend a couple of hours with Adrianne just a week ago after a LONG absence, so here is a recent picture! Thanks for squeezing a visit in, Adrianne!


Happy Pi Day to math lovers everywhere. Go eat some pie to celebrate!