missing in action

i've been on a social media fast for the past 3 months - no facebook and no blogs (not even looking at other people's blogs) since just before Christmas.  it started off thanks to my youngest brother, 10-year-old trevor, who made a wise comment during one of our phone conversations: "facebook and blogs are a waste of time."  i found his statement quite profound, so i dismissed myself altogether from the online world of networking.

yesterday, however, jonathan reminded me that the main purpose of our blog is to stay connected with our family and friends who are spread across the world.  he also had a good point - even my sweet grandma has mentioned a few times that she checks up on us through our blog every now and again (hi grandma!!).

so here i am, balancing the wisdom of my brother and husband and giving a sliver of my attention to updating our blog.

here's what we've been up to in the past 3 months:

Christmas & New Years in Utah

Christmas Eve fort

curtis crew at the byu basketball game - go jimmer

trevor's favorite Christmas present

jonathan plowing snow on the 4-wheeler

snowshoeing in the heber valley

Brunch & The Museum of the City of New York

herbert katzman's glorious sky exhibit

Yale Winter Ball

when it comes to the day-to-day, we don't find too much empty space on our calendars.

for me i'm staying busy with...

work.  my boss moved to another brand within l'oreal at the beginning of the year.  no one has filled her position yet, so i am currently reporting directly into the assistant vice president of haircolor.  although my responsibility and time commitment has drastically increased, i still love my job.  additionally, during the month of january i was gone for a total of 12 days on three different consecutive business trips to las vegas, nv, charlotte, nc and richmond, va.  luckily i won't have to travel again until may...travelling on business is not my idea of fun.
being sick.  after my body finally had time to rest, i was sick for 2 weeks with the flu.  jonathan being the public health whizz that he is claimed that i wouldn't have been sick had i gotten the flu shot.  he got the shot and never got sick...

church.  i was recently put in the young women's presidency for our church and am working with the mia-maids (14-15 year olds).  luckily in connecticut they hold mutual on wednesday nights (when i was in young women's in the city, we held mutual on friday nights!).  i love being with the youth again, although we do miss our adorable 9-year-old primary kids.

everything else.  when i'm not occupied with work or church things, i stay busy teaching yoga, reading jane austen novels, attending craft night, running, spending any moment possible with my husband and enjoying time with friends.

my dear husband stays insanely busy with...

school.  he's taking 6 classes, although it is recommended you only take 4, 5 at the very most.  in addition to regular course work, jonathan is the communications chair for the yale school of public health.  he also just finished a huge research proposal for the downs fellowship to support him during his 2.5 month study that he will be doing in Ghana this summer.

volunteering.  on thursdays jonathan volunteers at a clinic in bridgeport (about 20 mins east of where we live) where he shadows doctors, assesses patients and helps with administrative work.

research.  aside from his research preparation for Ghana, jonathan is also doing a research project through the rudd center for food policy & obesity that studies the effects of flavored milk on school-aged children's food choices and prevalence of obesity. 

tutoring.  on tuesday and thursday nights jonathan spends 3 hours tutoring a high school student in a neighboring town called westport.
scouts.  jonathan was recently asked to be an assistant scout master in our ward.  he's very excited to work with the scouts again.