gratitude

Since today is the last day of November, I have to take a second to count my blessings and all that I am grateful for:

Brady

a home

our baby girl

the ability to walk

bike helmets

hugs after a long day

supportive parents and in-laws

old friends and new friends

seeing family for Thanksgiving

Christ

family

All Souls

Earlier this month we went to the All Souls Procession here in Tucson. We were told that was the essence of what Tucson is. We didn't have any idea what to expect or what it meant, but with some good friends, we piled into the car and went downtown.

Prior to showing you the wonderful pictures from the event, I'll give you a little history so you aren't as bewildered as we were:

The All Souls Procession is perhaps one of the most important, inclusive and authentic public ceremonies in North America today. The Procession had its beginnings in 1990 with a ritualistic performance piece created by local artist Susan Johnson, who was grieving the passing of her father. Inspired by Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos holiday, Johnson felt she should honor her father in celebration and creativity. The performance was very well received and many artists were inspired to continue growing the Procession into its modern incarnation.

Today we find ourselves organizing over 20,000 participants on the streets of downtown Tucson for a two-mile long human-powered procession that ends in the finalizing action of burning a large urn filled with the hopes, offerings and wishes of the public for those who have passed. Inside the event are myriads of installation art, altars, performers, and creatives of all kinds collaborating for almost half the year to prepare their offerings to this amazing event. The All Souls Procession, and now the entire All Souls Weekend, is a celebration and mourning of the lives of our loved ones who have passed.

We left the house (after an amazing pulled pork sandwich dinner) a little late to make it to the procession, in an attempt to catch them mid march we found a parking spot on the road a few blocks away from where we thought they would be going. All four of us ran down the street and all of a sudden we came up to the destination of the procession. A giant crowd had already gathered there because the official group was just then entering and beginning the party. We pushed our way through the mob to find the mass movement. We made it and snapped a few pretty sweet pictures. I'll let them tell the story in context of the above explanation.

These two gentlemen, I believe, are what the procession began as in its inception. A throw back to the traditional dress of Dia de los Muertos. Just solemnly marching down the road thinking of those gone before. By the way, we looked around for some white face paint before we went, but they were sold out all over town.


This young lady was walking like a zombie, like only a few of her joints were working. Also, note the giant head immediately behind her. There were a few folks walking around with giant paper machet heads or figures attached to them. I'm not sure what significance they played in their dead ancestors.

Another giant paper machet head.

This nice woman didn't think it was very nice of E to take this photo of them. She had a few things to say after it was taken.

We're pretty sure this guy was just riding his skateboard by and thought to himself, "Hey, whats everyone doing here?"

Just a regular weekend in Southern Arizona

our little one

Last Thursday night, I literally felt like a kid on Christmas Eve. I was so excited and anxious for tomorrow to come. I didn't know what to do with myself. On Friday we had our first ultrasound and I could not wait for that first glimpse of our little one. The doctor had told me at my last appointment that he thought my due date was miscalculated by about four weeks. Meaning that suddenly, without warning, I may have lost four weeks of progress. Just like that. It took two weeks for the hospital to fit us in and I truly felt like I was going to die with anticipation.

We waited for what seemed forever in the waiting room and they finally called us back. And then, there our baby was on a screen in front of us. So clear and so perfect. As Brady and I sat there, holding hands, we looked up in wonder at different angles of our tiny, sweet baby. My eyes filled with tears as I was overcome with love and excitement for this little one.

our first glimpse

and tiny hello

The tech measured the arms and legs, the head and the chest. Then she entered it into the chart and calculated me being fifteen weeks along, with a new due date: April 30th. I am only sad because that means four weeks longer that we have to wait to meet...

our little girl!

When she said "Well, it looks like it's a girl." I couldn't believe it. I just looked at the screen in amazement and may have giggled. A girl. I squeezed Brady's hand and finally said "Can you believe it?" Looking back on it, I know I would have felt the same way if she had said it was a boy. To finally see our baby and simply know what we are having is amazing. I could have stayed there all day staring at that screen watching our baby girl kick and turn. Luckily we get to go back in a few weeks for the mid-pregnancy ultrasound. So let the wait begin.

tell me, what is half so sweet
as a baby's tiny feet

missing autumn

I have been missing the changing of the leaves, the crisp fall air. I was thinking about this as I fell asleep last night and realized that this is my first year living away from fall. Even during my mission, during the fall I was in areas that had seasons. We are enjoying Tucson and couldn't complain last week that it was nearly eighty degrees as it was snowing for the first time in Utah. But yet, that's all my body and spirit want to do. Every year I look forward to Fall and the peacefulness of it. I never would have guessed how important this time of year was to me until living without.

The Fall that I miss

Fall in Tucson

Today, I spent some time with my camera in the streets of Tucson documenting the colors around me. Although I was able to find nearly the same orange here that the leaves are turning in Utah, the fact that I was walking around in a T-shirt and flip-flops and getting kind of hot was all wrong on the third day of November.



We are loving it here and enjoying our first home. We dreamed of the day we would come here for Brady to pursue his MBA. Every day I am so grateful for how things have worked out and recognize how blessed we are. I assume that in a couple years when we are packing the car to move from this place, I will be used to the desert and not want to leave. But for now, I am missing the mountains and colorful leaves.

Cheese Dip

As this blog is in its infancy, this post is simply to set the record straight. Let it also be on the record that my involvement in the proceedings of this not-so-official journal will be spotty at best, and the amount of contraband that appears here at my hand will vary in quantity and quality. Stay tuned for these illegal posts as she who audits this will undoubtedly edit my voice for fear that future generations might be tainted by my often unfounded opinions and ravings.

When this digital digest was only a flutter in our hearts it was proposed that it bear the name cheesedipdiet.blogspot.com. I took the initiative and claimed that URL for fear that some other lucky family might beat us to the punch, but it was vetoed quickly. The reasoning behind this name goes back to shortly after we found out about the aforementioned family addition. The two of us went to the grocery store on a Friday evening, as happens when you lead an especially eventful life, and my better half was hungry, but couldn't settle on anything that might satiate her new appetite. The only thing that sounded good at the time was Tostitos Cheese Dip. At first I thought she was just another victim of the marketing that we were barraged with upon entering the store, however, the desire held strong until we made it to the chip aisle. Dinner that night consisted of Frito chips and cheese dip. Needless to say, we each went to bed with upset stomachs and smiles on our faces.

So began this era in our lives. There will forever be an association in my mind of Berry and Cheese Dip.