Phoenix Symphony

On Saturday Jake and I went to the Phoenix Symphony! A friend of ours has a friend that was able to score us some sweet tickets! And it was amazing. Jake picked me up after the Relief Society conference (which was great), and we made our way to Phoenix. I had never been in that part of the city before and I loved it. There really is some great architecture in Phoenix. We'll have to go back one day and go through some museums or just walk around.

Alondra de la Parra was the conductor, and Adam Golka was a guest pianist. Both are in their 20s. It was great to be able to see such young, talented, successful people. My favorite piece was the Sinfonia India, composed by Carlos Chavez. Parts of it made me feel like I was suddenly in The Lord of the Rings or some other fantasy book. Next was the Concerto No.2 in G minor by Sergei Prokofiev. This is where Golka preformed. He was brilliant. We were lucky enough to be seated on the side of the concert hall that allowed us to see his hands. At some points they were moving so fast everything was a blur! And he played without any sheet music. A-maz-ing. Last was Symphony No. 8 in G major by Antonin Dvorak. The whole experience was wonderful. I'm always amazed at the feelings and emotions that music can invoke.

Art Take 2

So I've been working on a few things (not nearly as much as I should) and I thought I'd share! It's hard for me to be motivated to do art projects without an art teacher and a due date. I start a lot of things but don't finish them. But since I'm unemployed and with Jake now starting his new job I have a lot of free time. Jake is pushing me and his mom to start a mural business, where we'd paint murals and little flourishes in peoples homes. It'd be an awesome job but I need some practice! So I'm determined to sketch AT LEAST once a day, and paint something a few times a week.

This is called The Girl with the Blue Sucker. It's my sister Sydney when she was little. She is my favorite person to draw/paint. Not really happy with the shirt. I get impatient with oils after a while, since I haven't had much practice with them. So as soon as the face was done I scrambled through the rest.

Mesa Temple! This was commissioned by my father in law. It took me FOREVER! I'd probably rather draw hands all day (which I hate) than draw buildings. It's crazy hard to get all the angles right and there is so much detail. But it's nice to broaden my horizons and work on something different. It was a really neat project. My mom wants one in water color, and I think I'm going to do a big drawing/painting of the Bountiful Temple whenever I can afford to get it framed.

Sorry this one is so dark! I couldn't figure out the scanner so I had to take a picture. I did this today as my daily sketch. It's called Rain Dance. I want to do more with it, it'd look really sweet done in watercolor, and I think it has the makings of a cute book. Anyone want to write a story?

Labor Day Weekend

We drove up to Utah again for Labor day. The drive was pretty uneventful, except we did get to see how construction is going on the new bridge at Hoover Dam. We drove by it last Christmas and were impressed. It's a HUGE bridge.

Sydney was visiting from Tucson this weekend too, but we went a day early to surprise my family. We pulled into the driveway and no cars were there. The door was unlocked so we let ourselves in, but there was no one home! We drive 13 hours and there is no one to suprise. What a bummer!
Some highlights of the week include, going to the Music and the Spoken word on Sunday, visiting my niece Emery, playing tennis with the fam, visiting grandparents, my parents buying a Cadillac (haha!), eating delicious peaches, seeing my brother Rory and his wife Rebecca (hadn't seen them since Christmas!) feeling the first touches of fall, and the 2 year anniversary of our first date/kiss! It was such a wonderful weekend!

Carson drew on Jake's neck with a permanent marker. So Jake tackled Carson and did this :)

The Orchestra and the bells were there. It was amazing!

2 Years from our first date/kiss at Temple Square

Emery! She's getting so big! And she has hair!

Tippie toes! She can stand on her own pretty well and can walk a little bit when she has her toy cart thing.

Yellow watermelon. I kid you not.

Pretty Zaugg farm

I've always loved this sign. I think it'd look really neat all cleaned up and in someones laundry room or something.

Tucson

My little Sister Sydney moved to Tucson last month to live with my cousin Amber. Originally she was going to nanny for a family down there but they changed their mind once she got down there. But Syd loves being with my cousin and helping her take care of her kids. It's been great for Sydney, teaching her more responsibility and patience. She's always been amazing with kids. She isn't sure how long she'll be down there but I like having her so close! I've visited her twice, once when Jake was still in CA and then again when Jake came home. Here are some cute pictures from the trips!

Syd and baby Kate

We forgot her hat when we went to the pool. Amber's was too big so we fashioned one out of my tank top.

Amber and Jack

Jack's pre-birthday presents :)

Jali on her first day of school

Rain dance

Well since she wasn't soaked enough, she decided to sit in a tub of water.

Jake's reaction whenever I make him hold a baby

The Incredible Indestructable Blackberry

Sorry it's been FOREVER since the last post. I've had tons to blog about, and plenty of time to do it, I'm just extremely forgetful. So apologies all around. Today I'd like the tell the story of Jake's extremely tough Blackberry. We got it a few days after our wedding, and since then it has undergone some harsh treatment, such as.... falling onto concrete or a hard surface dozens (and dozens) of times, falling into a milk shake, falling into water multiple times, falling on the beach and getting sand stuck in the little ball scroller thing, and.... getting run over by a truck!! No joke! Here is the picture to prove it.

Jake was out with a friend offroading and hiking and somehow his phone fell out of his pocket. When they were half way down the mountain he realized his phone was missing so they drove back to find it. Jake found it implanted in the ground with tire marks on it. And it still works! What an amazing phone!
We're back in Arizona, living with Jake's parents and uncertain about the future. We'd been thinking of moving to Utah at the end of the year but I doubt that is going to happen now. So we're just gunna wing it and see where jobs take us. Jake's had some interviews at Go Daddy and is hoping to get a call back soon.
Our last days in CA were pretty fun. I'd moved back to AZ a week or so before to start job hunting but went back to CA to clean our apartment and haul the rest of our stuff home. We drove down through San Diego on or way home because Jake wanted to go swimming with sharks, like my sister and I did last summer with my cousin Krista. So we drove to La Jolla and had a blast snorkeling with leopard sharks! They are completely harmless and pretty small so now worries! We did see a sting ray though and that kinda freaked me out. I miss our friends from CA and the nice weather but it's good to be home.