Our Day Off

Gotta love how Utah celebrates more holidays than Arizona! And today was an awesome day off. It started out... late. I think the clock said 10:30 when we got up. I hadn't realized how tired I was. And lucky Marcus, the first thing I said was that we were going to clean the apartment before doing anything else. He wasn't thrilled, but I will love not having to worry about the mess it was right before cello lessons tomorrow morning.









I know our apartment isn't too exciting, but it's never been this clean. Well, it hasn't in a long time! :)

And in the process of cleaning, we noticed that our cactus was looking a little sad, so we put him in the window. I figured you'd all want to see Cody the Cactus. Yes, he's from Arizona!

After our apartment was all clean, we started running errands, which definitely included In-n-Out!!! And to Marcus' dismay, several other stores. However, that was his idea. We went up and down about what to do for Valentines Day. We debated all kinds of gifts and trips. After much indecisiveness, we decided on a bluetooth for Marcus and 101 Dalmations (the Glenn Close version) for me. Here's some great pictures of Marcus with his bluetooth. He loves it! He didn't waste any time setting it up and testing it with computer stuff.









While we were out today, Marcus told me that the movie didn't count as my Valentines Day. I could pick something at any store that I really wanted, but didn't need :) Once again, I started debating all the things I almost got originally for Valentines, but then, we went into Pier 1 Imports...









And this is not just any piece of furniture... It holds all my cello music! Almost all, but still. And I love it! It looks so much better than the cardboard boxes by the dresser in our room and can sit beautifully in the living room, conveniently located for lessons.
Marcus also agreed to get the pretty flower for the top. The wedding picture was in our room, but I think it looks even better here :) Marcus' grandma made the Establish a House sign for us for Christmas, and we couldn't find a place worthy of it. But something about this place looks great... probably the thermostat :) JK.









I was so excited about this, you have no idea. Thanks Marcus!!!

Website!

I had been using a blog as my cello website, and I just (with Marcus' help, of course) finished my new website. That's right, my new WEBSITE! So go check it out, please :) And tell all your friends and other family about it. I would love to get some more cello students due to it. Plus, I am so excited about it, since I did something techie. Woo-hoo!

www.ericascellostudio.com

Application Process: Finished.

Marcus has been working crazy hard to finish his application for the Communication Department at BYU. That included the infamous Independent Study class (with a 55 page report), a timed case analysis, and an interview on top of the normal grade/class requirements. Trust me, it's been stressful. However, it was all over on Monday after an extremely successful interview. Marcus couldn't have been more excited, nor jump off any more walls.

The stud himself:

I was so proud of him for finishing the whole process. There was awhile where it didn't seem very likely, so this was quite the accomplishment. I wanted to show him somehow how awesome he is for following this application through and working so diligently to the end. So these are the treats I got him:


Nothing too big, but he loved it all! A Sobe, a Kit Kat, and yes, a cow. Marcus has always wanted a cow, so I hoped this would satisfy him. And it was a hit. He fondly named the cow Fergie... after the singer ??? The coolest part was that this cow was linked to the National Star Registry, so we were able to name a real star after Marcus! He is a star for finishing his application, so it was fitting. (Insert awwhh here) haha. But seriously, a real star. It's in the constellation Draco at the location 15h 34m 31.87s 61* 41'50.56". Pretty sweet!

But anyway, we're both crazy happy that the applying is all over and that Marcus felt great about all he did. He'll find out in the beginning of next week how it really went :) Keep your fingers crossed! Good luck, Marcus!!!

Skiing

Last weekend, Marcus and I went to Brighton with Jen and Misha to go skiing. I won't lie, it took a lot of convincing to get me to agree to ski with everyone, but it was fun to go out. Marcus had a blast! He loves skiing, and he probably would go back next weekend if he could. I enjoyed it... for the most part :) I loved hanging out with Jen (& Misha), quoting How I Met Your Mother, and being up the beautiful canyon. And thanks to Cozette, I was never a tiny bit cold. That lady sure knows how to stay warm while skiing! :)

Marcus and Erica going up the ski lift. This must have been after one of my better runs down the mountain since I'm smiling. :) (Sorry about the quality of the picture-- it's from my phone.)

Feet!

Jen sticking out her tongue, while Misha is pondering a way to conquer the mountain on his snowboard.

I'm sorry, I had to include this. Marcus spend the better part of the evening trying to convince me that skiing is great and that I won't freeze to death. Of course, for some odd reason, that included this demonstration of the wonders of snow pants as he loaded the car- hahahaha

One of our favorite places!

No, the snow isn't my favorite place, but I really wanted some great snow pictures. Even if I hate being cold, I have to admit that I love pictures. So on our way to "one of our favorite places," I kept trying to snap a great white pic. It didn't really work. Instead, I decided to take pictures around "one of our favorite places"

M - A - G - L - E - B - Y - S- !!! The Utah Valley Symphony gave all of the members a gift card for Christmas, and we were more than happy to use it. Thank you so much UVS! ... and just in case you didn't know, we are mourning the fact that this restaurant moved from the Riverwoods to Springville this weekend. I guess we'll just have to drive south to get some amazing bread.

We got to sit in the big arm chairs by the window. It was awesome. And then it started to snow-- so beautiful! The tree outside the window looked incredible all covered in white. I had to stalk it all evening and get a picture.

And here's that tree :)

Another shot of the tree

The Riverwoods-- we love going up there for movies and dinner (Magleby's or Macaroni Grill). It's our favorite movie theater because the lines are never as bad as theaters by the malls. We had some time to kill, so I took pictures between dinner and a movie (Sherlock Holmes-- loved it.)









The only bad thing about going to the theater at the Riverwoods... Paige saying "You can see the sweat!" in her ad for R. C. Willey. We don't like her too much. Sorry Paige.

The Tale of the Incredible Pig

I have been trying and trying and trying to get some posts up, but our Internet has been fighting with blogger. So I apologize to our four avid followers.

This is a blog dedicated to Maggie. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

This is Maggie.

Kate and her little pig. I love this picture-- do you spy the pig butt?

Maggie coming out of the sheets

Cozette uses Maggie as an alarm clock to wake up Kate. Actually I don't know if she still does because Maggie recently ate some of Kate's hair! Seriously.

Kate and the piggy

I wanted a picture of Maggie's teeth, and this is the best one I got :o)

Renee

I wanted to dedicate a post to Renee. It's not much, but she deserves a lot. I met Renee's mom, Michaelle, at the MTC in the summer of 2008. Michaelle is from Haiti and usually volunteered to be an "investigator" for the missionaries learning Haitian, but this week it was closed. Randomly we were assigned to be together for the French missionaries. After talking a little, she told me about Renee and how she wanted to play an instrument. Shortly after, I got a phone call, and Renee began lessons. Even though there was a time without a smaller cello for Renee, she seemed to love learning about music and the cello. Her memory is stinking amazing! One of my favorite Renee memories was when she was learning Mary Had a Little Lamb. It was a little rough, and we had a recital coming up. I was nervous that she wouldn't be able to play it. At the recital, I helped the cute, shy girl up to the stage, and she played it basically perfectly! She was so excited, and it was obvious that she really practiced. I don't think there is anything more a teacher could want.

Renee was my second cello student, and sadly, her family just moved to Georgia. Well, it was exciting for them. Michaelle hates the snow and couldn't wait to be somewhere warmer. I saw the whole family a couple weeks ago at the memorial service for their four month old baby, Nathalie. She was born last year at 26 weeks and seemed to be doing a lot better after the first month. She was even taken home. I don't know the whole story, but I was glad to be there to help support their family. I saw several pictures of Nathalie at different lessons, and she was a beautiful little girl. It was a very special service, and I was honored to be invited and asked to help participate in a musical number. Hopefully they are doing well in Georgia, and I cross my fingers that Renee will keep up the cello. She was really starting to understand and play well. I am definitely going to miss her and her wonderful family.


I wanted to have some pictures to remember their family, so I may or may not have taken the next few from Michaelle's facebook...

Christmas-- Nathalie



Renee, Marie-Laure (Lolo), and Yael (Yaya)


Michaelle and Kulve-- two of the nicest people I've ever met!