Conference Weekend!

Saturday morning we drove up to Salt Lake City to see conference. It was a pretty amazing session. I loved it. 

Me, Mark, and Matt at the conference center:

Mark and I:

We ran into Cambrie at the conference center, which was the best surprise ever!

After the first session, I met up with some converts from the branch I served at in San Diego. We took them to see the Christus statue, which they loved.

M.J. got me a ticket to the second session, so I went with her and a couple of girls from my mission.

On Sunday I just watched the sessions in my apartment, but got together with the visitors from San Diego and some other sisters that served there too.

Mom comes to town

My mom was in town last week and we had a blast together.

While Megan was in class, my mom and I went to see the Andy Warhol exhibit.

It was most excellent.

We went up to Sundance and Aspen Grove one night to see where Megan had worked during the summer. I rode a bear while we were there.

It was surprisingly cold, so we got some hot chocolate.

The girls. We missed Emily though!!

We went to The Chocolate one night with Megan's and my roommates, which was so delicious. 

The best of all though, was the surprise birthday party that we had in Park City on Friday night. We all told my mom that we were busy that night, but then snuck up there and surprised her. It was a blast. 

We even played pin the horn on the unicorn. Mine was the closest. 

Thanks for coming Mom!!!!

I think, therefore I am

Have you ever wondered what Renee Descartes would look like as a sock puppet? Well, you need not wonder anymore.

I made this puppet for my philosophy class project. Here he is being interviewed for our Dr. Phil-osophy show. I think it will be a smash hit!

The Birthday

One of my favorite paintings in the whole world is "The Birthday" by Marc Chagall. I love it because my parents have had a copy of it hanging in our house for as long as I can remember. Naturally, my little-kid mind thought that the people in the painting were in fact my parents. I have since learned otherwise, but I still love the painting.

This year my mom had a special birthday. She turned 50. As a gift, I did my own rendition of this panting in watercolor. This is how it turned out:

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

MBHS Retreat

Last weekend we headed down to the Brenchley's cabin for a Mormon Battalion Historic Site reunion. It was a blast. I rode down with these beautiful ladies:

We drove through some beautiful canyons with some lovely trees.

Haggerty, Lee, Adams, Johnson, Livingston, and Mendoza:

The senior couples provided all of the food; thus, it was excellent. Here is Elder Stallings with the cobbler he made:

Slumbie time!

The most thrilling part of the adventure was jumping from this ledge with only a swing to save you. Luckily, I survived and it turned out to be really fun. 

Walter had to stick with the baby swing, but he sure enjoyed it! Can't you tell by his face?

In the morning Mendoza, Stott and I went 4 wheeling, which was a total blast. 

Also, Walter took me for a spin. He's a pretty good driver - considering he couldn't see over the wheel and all.

The whole group!! The seniors made us matching t-shirts. They are the greatest.

Andy Warhol

The MOA at BYU has an excellent exhibit that shows Andy Warhol's pop art side by side anime. Everyone should go see it. They even have the Marilyn Monroe Series. So excellent.

Not to mention this excellent bit of installation art that you can interact with.

13.1

I did it! I finally ran a half marathon. It was a spontaneous decision made approximately 2 nights before the race, but I'm glad we decided to run it. And I'm glad I didn't die.

Official time: 1:44:53

Bowling

Mark and I went bowling fancy-style the other night. In this first picture, take note of the scores. Mine is the bottom number: 114. Usually I bowl somewhere between a 40 and a 70, so I was pretty excited about my score.

This is how Mark has been ever since getting back from France:

Excellent form.

Anti-towing

You might think this is an anti-drug ad based on our blurred faces and inability to open our eyes all the way due to a strong flash late at night. You would be wrong. This is in fact an anti-towing ad. 

This was taken while Tim, Mark, and I waited for the people to give Mark his car back after it was unfortunately towed. The only reason we are happy is because Tim came to visit. Not because Mark's car was towed. 

Oh, and if you want to know why we love Tim so much, you can check out his music here.

SLC and Cheesecake

Tuesday night I headed up to SLC to have dinner with these lovely folk:

(The Woodburys and Camille)

(The Mendoza sisters)

The food was delicious and the company was excellent. I most enjoyed myself.

Hna. Mendoza wanted her sister to see the temple, so we stopped on our way back and took some excellent photos.

Yoga + the temple = serenity?