Sarah

My oldest sister, a quantum physicist, writer, marathon runner, mother of three, and wife of one (THANKfully) is one of the coolest people I know.

She has this mind that is unmatched, which makes for great conversation. Her brain is filled with interesting information on any given topic. Like dissonance and black holes and antimatter.

Recently Sarah moved to Mapleton. What a blessing having her just 15 minutes away. I feel like I have grown even closer to her.

Sarah and I recently drove to Vegas and back. We listened to about 8 hours of music during that drive. From Beyonce to Simon and Garfunkle to Geographer to Ghostland Observatory to Adele to Bonethugz N' Harmony to so much more, we belted those songs. And I don't know about her, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I just want her to know that she is one of my best friends and I love her.

Arby-Q

For Laura and Seth, who eternally torment me about this.

We were flying to Boston in the middle of the night. Mom, Dad, Sarah, Ann, Scotty, Laura, Seth and I. All of a sudden flight attendants were running up and down the plane. Are we crashing?! What's happening?! Then I looked over and there's a man laying in the aisle with blood all over him. The pilot announced an emergency landing in Pittsburg would take place. The man had some sort of disease and had started throwing up blood (sorry for the disturbing details). We landed in Pittsburg at around one in the morning, and the man was taken to the hospital. He survived (I actually don't know that detail, but let's just say that he did because I'm trying to get away from the morbidity of this post). It looked like we were going to be at the airport for a while. Laura, Seth, and I were hungry, and the only food place that was open was Arby's. All the times I had been to Arby's in Vegas I had gotten a trusty Arby-Q. So I ordered first. I said to the young girl who looked like she hated her life at that moment, "Um. Can I have an Arby-Q?" She then said (in a voice that sounded ultra bratty teenagerish to me) "an ARBY-Q?" Mom had to explain to me that apparently Pittsburg Arby's don't serve Arby-Qs, so I ordered something else.

The end.

Seriously. That's the end of the story. So here's the eternal torment part.

Laura and Seth bring that up ALL THE BLOODY TIME. And they laugh and laugh because bratty Britney behind the counter said "ARBY-Q?" and there I was, looking sheepish. They find it even funnier because THEY WERE GOING TO ORDER THE SAME THING, but thankfully their innocent, angel of a sister ordered first.

Them bringing that up used to unleash my 10-year-old wrath. But now I just roll my eyes and laugh because they are still trying to extract any bit of humor from the story, 12 years later.

:)

W, NW, E, and a little bit of S

I'm proud of myself. In the last year I have been to:

Las Vegas, NV-home

Provo, UT-school

Palo Alto, CA-rugby tournament at Stanford

Coeur d'Alene, ID-roadtrip

Florence, OR-visit Ann, Brian and kids

Harrisonburg, VA-visit Laura and John

Washington D.C.- vacation with some of the fam

Miami, FL-for a night on the way back from Haiti, and

Port au Prince, Haiti-humanitarian trip for FFCIN

and will soon be going to these places (May 6-12):

Manchester, CT-Charley's graduation

NYC, NY-PARTAAAY, vacation with Mom, Charley, and Kat

Boston, MA- vacation with Mom, Charley, and Kat

Not bad for one year, eh?

Suggestions for places to visit in Boston and NYC?