Ten on Tuesday

1. I’ve had a really enjoyable week that started when I hopped out of bed at 4:30 Wednesday morning, drove to Nashville, and caught a plane to Utah –
2. You may have noticed those USA Today articles that tagged our little town as the most expensive in the US to fly in / out – so it’s worth the drive [and parking] to fly out of Nashville – although, we’ve been known to get a deal now and then down our way…
3. It was an adventure since it’s the first time in a long time that I’ve traveled so far alone. Craig was doing his own thing with some fishing buddies and would have been left on his own for HOURS if he’d gone with me, so it worked out okay – we’d plan things a little differently if we had it to do over… but we both had fun [I’ll share more on my reason for going in a few -]
4. LOVED seeing the first glimpse of mountains when we were about 160 miles out of Denver – whether I’m driving or flying – they always look like clouds on the horizon when I first see them… LOVED that they had snow on them already!
5. And I love Utah. Some may [or may not] know that I went to school out there my freshman and sophomore years – I can still sing most of the Cougar Fight Song [Rise and Shout! The Cougars are out and on their way to fame and glory…] so it will always be a special place to me. Would I want to live there? Maybe, -- probably not - but I do love being there on occasion!
   
6. My first stop was IKEA – and I wanted to BUY so many things but had to keep weight [for luggage] in mind… I did pick up some of those cute pedestal photo frames… but I was really there to look at the bathroom sinks again to make a final decision on what I want for our [ever] upcoming re-do. And while I took photos of three different bases I’m still undecided… the sink-top is for sure the Lilla’ngen because it’s only 16 inches deep --- love it. Which do y’all prefer? One - Two [different sink - but I love the base] - or Three -
7. I shopped a little on Thursday, but am so NOT a buyer that I only picked up a new purple scarf. [Oops – can’t say that – I *DID* pick up a few things at the Deseret Industries Thrift Store!] And I sure enjoyed driving up [& down] State Street from American Fork to Orem . I shouldn’t be surprised to see how whole communities have overtaken the farms and rural areas... I can remember getting a speeding ticket out on I-15 near Lehi [years ago] and having to go to someone’s HOUSE to pay for it – now Lehi is a little city of its own. Wow.
8. I stayed near what used to be the only Orem exit [near Utah Lake ] – now Orem ’s expanded northward so that there are 3 or 4 exits – lol. It was nice to be near University Mall and things that are still familiar – drove down the hill to Provo, out the canyon a bit, around by our church [and noticed that the Community Church that served us non-Mormons dinner on First Sunday evenings is still there,] and had lunch at In and Out – oh my! I’d forgotten how truly GOOD that place is!!
9. I was sad to see that the [really] old Provo Tabernacle looked like it was being torn down – I always thought that was such a beautiful building – and that each time I visit there are more modern buildings being built in the little downtown area, and I have to say that I’m still a little disturbed to see a HUGE empty field where our dorms were, but there is still SO MUCH that is the same around campus. And mostly, I just enjoyed being in the shadow of those wonderful mountains of Utah.
10. Starting Thursday evening the crazy – creative – artistic – extravaganza began. I was busy from early morning ‘til late at night soaking up all the goodness of Spark [3] – The Event. And then I was back on the road to the airport at 4:30 a.m. Sunday morning to see my sweetie. [And I saw a shooting star come over the mountains -] It was One. Great. Trip. FULL of creative goodness – I’ll share more in a few days – after I catch up on some sleep – lol! But I’ll leave you with this - It's so FUN to attend artsy weekends where I can TRY new and different things –