Countdown

It's only a few more days until my big move. I'm really getting excited about it. I haven't been able to sleep very much the last 2 nights because I've been so excited. I went to Target last night and bought some more bins and packed up my room. So I'll be living out of suitcases for the next few days. I can't wait to get out to N. Ireland and be with Ray!

This feeling of excitement is a bit different from last week. Last week I was still excited but more emotional about the move. My mom calls it the "Peter Pan" complex. I think she's right. I really have to grow up now it seems. I find it a bit uncomfortable the thought of leaving my own neverland. The truth is it feels like the end of an era. How blessed I have been to have had so much of my family all around me for so long. To associate daily with them. Not to mention the amazing and wondrful friends I have made here and who I cherish.

Now as I move away it seems that much will be different. My only consolation is that I'm not alone in the family in moving away. It seems to make the idea of moving more bearable to know that others will be experiencing some of the same things as I. It would be much harder to call home and have everyone hanging out together every day while I was in a foreign land.

So now comes the hard part. The goodbye's. Turns out I don't think I'm very good at them. I guess I just haven't had a lot of practice. I have a feeling I'm going to get more practice at them then I would care to. Despite that, I'm looking forward to the move with joy and my sense of adventure firmly in place. I'm excited to find out what's ahead and to hear about all of your adventures while I'm at it.

My newest purchases

Only 2 and a half more weeks until I go to Northern Ireland and I'm getting so excited. In preparation for the big move I have recently purchased some Ugg boots. Here is a picture of them in all their glory. Let me just say that they are indeed glorious. So warm and you feel as if you are walking around in super supportive and comfy slippers. I wish a pair for each of you believe me.

The plural part of the purchases is that last week Ray purchased a new car for us. I know it's a volkswagon and I believe it's a golf. Although I really couldn't be sure and I would ask Ray to clear it up for us but as he is not a faithful reader of this blog I will just have to ask him the next time we talk. But for now here are the pics he sent to me of the new vehicle. I'm excited to get behind the wheel and give it a test drive!

Quote of the day

Sydnee calls me this afternoon and says, "Did you know that Britney and Kevin brokeup? PopoZao!"

Showtunes

Clearly I have long been a fan of the showtune. I can remember our trip to Nauvoo when I purchased Guys and Dolls . I remember listening to it over and over and over again. Until I'm quite certain H.B. wanted to snap his own neck. I can't understand this attitude as I don't feel I could ever, even to this day tire of it. I especially enjoyed Sit Down Your Rockin' The Boat.

It's no secret that lately I have been in LOVE with Wicked as well as Thouroghly Modern Millie. So in preparation for me leaving the Country I have decided to revel in my love by adding to my collection. I feel this will shore me up for the adventure lying just ahead. I recently purchased the following:

My Fair lady-This is the original with Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison, Not that imposter Audrey.
*Note-I adore Audrey Hepburn and am in love with her in the movie version of My Fair Lady but where Broadway is concerned I worship at Ms. Andrews altar.

Camelot- As a lover of all things Arthur how could I help myself.

Monty Python's Spamalot- For reasons as stated above.

In reminiscing about Guys and Dolls I am realising that I will have to pick up a copy of that as well. I want nothing more than at this moment to be listening to Sit Down Your Rockin' the Boat.

A little tip for all of you Utahns. If you haven't already experinced Kosy 106.5 and their showtune Saturday I would highly recommend it to you. You can always hear all of the old classics and maybe find a new tune or two destined to become a classic.

Well Then

First things first. I know I am biased but I have the cutest niece. Someone in my family needs to get a digital camera because this pic taken on Sydnee's cell phone is simply not cutting the mustard. Still I think you can clearly see that she is the cutest fairy princess of all time.


Some of you are probably wondering where we are at on the Visa thing. It turns out that even though we are "approved" the process will take a little bit longer. The application still needs to go to a National Visa processing center which is in New Hampshire. From there they issue it a new number and it goes to the London embassy. Once the embassy has it they will issue a packet of information for Ray to fill out. Once that has been filled out and returned they will set up an interview with him. Apparently that interview is really just a double check that all the paperwork is completed and he will get the Visa at that time.

In the meantime Ray and I are sick of being apart and we decided to do something about it! My last day at Condie Construction is November 29th and on December 2nd I move to Northern Ireland! Exciting times to be sure. Ray is currently trying to secure both housing and a car and we are both very excited to finally get to be together. The plan is that I'll move there and then when the Visa is approved we will fly back to Utah and get married here. We are so looking forward to being together and I'm excited for my new adventure in Northern Ireland

Heroes and Lost

So am I the only one who has gotten into Heroes. I've been Tivoing it since it started and I must say I am sucked in with a capital S. Um hello random people with superhero powers? Plus creepy guys following them around with unexplained intentions? Count me in!

If you haven't checked it out let me recommend that you do so immediately. Monday night at 8. You can catch up by watching reruns on both USA and Sci Fi network. Or online at NBC.com.

Next let's talk lost. 1st thanks to Devry for sharing the Lost blog. It has some amazing stuff on there. But now let's discuss yesterday.

As D and I were discussing this morning why do the Others act like it's the plane survivors that are just so violent and acting crazy against them. I mean let's review a few things
1. Did you or did you not abduct Claire for her baby?
2. Did you or did you not infiltrate the plane survivors for what appears to be sinister purposes.
3. Are you not currently threatning/abducting people.

Let's just say the others are a puzzlement.

A Change of Venue If No One Minds

Today I recieved the following email:

The following is the latest information on your case status

Receipt Number: WAC0623053359

Application Type: I129F , PETITION FOR FIANCE(E)

Current Status:

This case has been approved. On October 17, 2006, an approval notice was mailed.
If 30 days have passed and you have not received this notice, you may wish to
verify or update your address. To update your address, please speak to an
Immigration Information Officer during business hours.

So the latest and greatest it that we can get married in Utah!! YIPEE! What happens now is that the Visa goes to the London Embassy and Ray will have to have a physical and an interview but once that is completed he gets the Visa.

We haven't talked to the embassy yet. But once we have chatted with them and gotten approximate processing times we can at that point set a date for our UTAH wedding!

We are so excited about this development. I'll of course keep you posted.

Shaping up to be a fun week

I'm excited about the upcoming week for a few reasons.

Reason #1 My sisters are all going to be home as of tomorrow. Lacy and Lex fly in tomorrow morning and Syd is already home. I love when sisters reunite!

Reason# 2 Even though I think she is callous and unfeeling for not spilling her guts today about the gender of her baby, I am very excited to learn the sex of my newest niece or nephew (my bets on the latter).

Reason# 3 Kinzie's wedding. I do so look forward to a wedding. Especially one that involves my dearest family. Just think of the delights to be sampled. I've always said, "a little wedding can set me up forever!"

Reason# 4 More fun family times. Auntie Kathleen, Jeff and Pam, and I've heard rumors that even Cliff and Cathy will be joining in the fun! I can't wait!!

Viva Los Mexico

I met with our attorney yesterday. The news we got is that the visa isn't really close to being processed. After counseling with her we determined that the very best course of action we can take (so as to avoid any immigration complications later on) is to get married "abroad". We have decided that this means we will be heading to Ciudad-Juarez, Mexico.

This is right across the river (apparently walking distance) from El Paso, TX. So sometime in December we will be making a run for the border. Immediately following that we will set up our first home as Mr. and Mrs. Ray Elder in the beautiful country of Northern Ireland.

So much to do between now and then. I've been researching the rules of getting a marriage license in Mexico. It appears that Mexico only recognizes civil marriages so we will have a civil ceremony and then hop on over to the temple.

All are obviously invited to attend. All you will need is a birth certificate and a government issued photo id (or passport, obviously). Start brushing up on your Spanish and I'll keep you posted on when an official date is set.

Women's Conference

This weekend I, as I'm sure a lot of you had the opportunity to watch Women's Conference. Unlike many of you I have a very contrary nature when it comes to things spiritual. The thing is, I adore General Conference in all of it's varieties. I LOVE Women's Conference, and yet whenever it rolls around there always seems to be an internal struggle between something that's "come up" and Women's Conference specifically (I don't seem to have the same internal struggles about General Conference proper).

I'm so grateful that I listened to the words of our General Relief Society Presidency and our wonderful Prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckly. I honestly felt the spirit so strong as they talked about the importance of finding ways that each of us personally can feel the love of our Heavenly Father and his son, our Savior Jesus Christ daily. I felt the spirit confirm to me that they do indeed love me and a renewed commitment to feeling and seeking out that love daily.

I'm so glad that I choose to spend my Saturday night in that way and am truly grateful for the ability to be forgiven for my contrary nature. Now I'm just so excited for this weekend and the rest of the General Conference sessions. This truly is one of my favorite times of the year!

Ireland part 3

This is probably my favorite part. There is a beach Ray took me to. From the beach up on the cliffs you can see this domed building. I asked him what it was and he told me it was called Mussenden Temple.
The Bishop of Down Hill house built this temple for his mistress (who was also his cousin) it was a library. Can you imagine how divine this would be as your library? I can completely imagine myself here. The view was breathtaking. Here is a shot from this cliff down to the beach below.







And here is a picture of me in front of the temple fantasizing about having just such a library for my very own one day!

Ireland part 2

The following day we just took it easy and lazed about. Tuesday we drove out the this Irish ring fort. I don't know how to spell the name of it but it is prounounced green a gollya (maybe Dr. Ray can leave a comment and tell us all how it's really spelt).
It's a dwelling that was built 5000 years ago by an Irish king. and the view from the countryside there was incredible.

Here is a picture of Ray and I at the ring fort.
Also a picture of some of the Heather that was growing up on the hill. Who knew that the Heather plant could be so pretty?
Wednesday we went into Londonderry and walked along the walls of the city. Londonderry is the site of a famous siege and the city itself has a very rich history. From the wall I took this picture of an area in Londonderry known as the “bog” it was here that the incident known as Bloody Sunday occurred.










Wednesday we went shopping with Ray's mom which was a delight and then Thursday we went out to a national park known as Glen Veigh. Margaret (Ray's mom) was supposed to go with us but unfortunately that day she was feeling poorly and actually ended up in the hospital. She wanted us to go regardless and so we did. Immediately after we went and spent some time with her at the hospital where she has been for almost a week.

Here are some pictures of the grounds at Glen Veigh it was truly gorgeous.

This is a picture of the castle from the walled garden.




This is a picture looking out from the Castle to the Loch (lake)

Back from Ireland

I'm back! I had a most wonderful time being with Ray and his family and visiting the beautiful Irish countryside. I arrived on Sunday at 8:30 in the morning. To try and keep the jet lag away Ray drove me to his parents house to shower and then we collected his parents and visited the Giants Causeway.

Here is a picture of Dr. Ray, myself and Margaret. I had the most fun visiting with them and they were the hosts with the most :)

Here is another picture at the cause way taken by Dr. Ray of Ray and I. From there we drove down the coast to a place called Ballintoy which was a beautiful little place.

All Ready To Go

Only 3 more days until I head out to beautiful Northern Ireland!

I spent all of this last Labor Day laboring to get ready to go on this trip. After trips to the Mall, Old Navy and Walmart, I finally have enough outfits and supplies to get me through.

I also purchase this little beauty yesterday at Target (Where incidentally I had my first random Chad siting. Which was most exciting!). I'm hoping that this will allow me to at least get some sleep whilst winging my way to the Emerald Isle.

Now I have only to wait until Saturday when I will head out at the crack of dawn for my delightful 17 hour door to door excursion. Hopefully I can convince HB to take me to the airport at 6 in the morning.

Wish me luck!

My Government- Actually working backwards?

As most of you know Ray and I are patiently waiting for the government to let us know when we can get married. We have a receipt number that they kindly gave us when they received our application. This doesn't actually mean they are processing anything, just that they received it. However, with this number I am able to go to their website and track what dates they are currently working on.

Yesterday while checking things out I had quite the shock. When I checked the website on August 3rd of this month they were processing March 6th's applications (ours is July 10th). However yesterday when I checked, as of August 25th they were processing February 23rd.

Could someone please explain to me how this is possible? Can it be true that our government has actually started working in reverse? Say it isn't so!!

Hopefully this is just some sort of typo that will quickly be corrected so we can actually know where they are in processing these things.

Don't worry that when I called their hotline that the woman there told me she had "no information" about it, but that she had already received a few calls regarding this same thing and would let her superviser know. What a comfort indeed.

Sisters, Soccer and Oh yeah......BECKHAM!

Sydnee Nicole will soon be leaving us to head to the St. G for some sweet college action. Because this is the case, she and I decided to have a last hurrah at the Real Salt Lake vs. Real Madrid soccer game held at Rice Eccles stadium on Saturday night.

The reason we were so keen initially could be summed up in one word...... Beckham. Lest any of you need a reference please feast your eyes on the picture to your left.


So obviously we knew immediately that we would have a good time. Sydnee borrowed some binoculars from H.B. because as she said, "a good stalker always brings their own equipment." She then proceeded to ogle him with her binoculars for most of the game.

Clearly I wasn't expecting to get much more out of this game then a fun night with my sister(which it really was). Surprisingly I found I had more fun than expected. The thing is, I actually got into game itself. I just really found myself being entertained in plenty of ways that had nothing to do with Beckham.

In fact I liked it so much I might even consider myself a fledgling fan.

So many things have combined to bring me to this moment that I feel I can't let it pass with out a few shout outs.

First to David Beckham- Dave, thanks for being so hot. It was this hotness that sucked me into the sport in the first place.

and

Second to Dave Checketts and Sandy city- Guys, thanks for coming to a not so official (but we all have high hopes) agreement that will allow my love for this sport to develop.

Missing Ray

Today Ray has been gone for 2 weeks and although we have been apart before it's much harder this time around than it's ever been.

Ray and Lindsay at the Lodon Bridge (our attempt at a self portrait with the disposable camera)

When we went down to Bullhead City, AZ and St. George in May we bought a disposable camera and snapped a few Photo's. I just had them developed and picked them up this week when I was out and about and it made me miss him all the more


That same trip we went out and hiked at Zions and had mucho fun. Here is Ray striking a very dashing pose.

Much Fun in the Bear Lake Sun

I thought I'd start by honoring the two people for whom we trekked all the way to Bear Lake, Idaho to celebrate. Happy Birthday Dana & Steph. It was a very fun weekend in honor of 2 very fun people who I love with all my heart!


I know you were all most anxiously awaiting to hear whether or not our Bear Lake festivities were a sucess or not. Rest assured that we had a most delightful time.

Saturday morning we all got up early and headed out the the lake. Stephanie had purchased what was either referred to as the "party island" or "temptation island" depending on who was on it at the time.
Much fun in the sun, several sunburned people and a party island (almost lost to the Bear Lake monster later for more details on this ask Steph, Jake or Kathleen)....we packed up and headed back for showers and to rendezvous back at the Steve and Peggy Portela household from some really, really delicious dutch oven delights .

After dinner we all participated in some really fun relays. The first one involved straws and pretzels. Here is a pic of Stacey and I ROCKING the relay.

Next was followed by getting a piece of bubble gum out of whip cream and blowing a bubble, and filling up a glass with water by using only a spoon.


Behold the winners of said competition in all their glory!



Thanks to the Portela family for being the hosts with the most. I can't wait until next year!

Bear Lake, Yipee!

This weekend I am heading out to the beautiful Bear Lake. I'm excited to be with the Portela's, Bennett's, Brijs's, DelHoyo's, one Shepherd and the Larry Arnett fam.

On tap much lake side and lake activities. A delicious dutch oven BBQ and additional fun and frivolities too numerous to mention in this post.

Goals for this weekend include:

Maxing and Relaxing

Not getting trapped between 2 docks whilst unloading the boat (which happened last time I was at Bear Lake)

Eating myself into oblivion

Cove Fort and Other Delights

This weekend we went down to St. George with Jon and Kristen. We attended the play Grease "School Version". This just means that they cleaned up the lyrics to be not quite so graphic. It was truly a high school delight, although i'm quite certain that both Ray and Jon wanted to snap their own necks. Kristen and I however were thouroughly entertained.

We also met with some of Ray's friends this weekend. His friend Wilma from Ireland and her husband Craig, also a friend of Ray's from college and his wife and baby.

As a fun sabbath activity on our way home yesterday we stopped at Cove Fort. Everytime we pass by there we always say we should stop and finally yesterday we did. We didn't think they would be there on a Sunday, but the missionaries were indeed there and out in full force. We had a delightful couple from Boise take us around and it was fascinating. As I'm sure most of you already know Cove Fort was run by Gordon B. Hinckley's grandfather, Ira, his wife and family. By all accounts these were truly amazing people and it was wonderful to feel the spirit that was there as we learned about the Fort.

Last night was a fun one with an impromptu family gathering so that the Larry Arnett clan could finally meet our little Canyon. I'm posting a pic of she and I from when she was still in the hospital and I leave you with a final question;

How can anyone resist this face?- Her's not mine ;)