Viva Las Vegas!

Look at me, taking no longer than a week to post about our trip!  We had such a great getaway, eating great food, seeing some awesome shows, and even finding time to catch some BYU games! :)   We got in late Thursday night so we ordered room service (I could get used to that) and got some rest.  After sleeping in Friday morning we made our way to Bobby Flay's Tex-mex restaurant in Caesar's Palace, where we had some of our best bites of the trip.  I'm still dreaming about the chopped tuna tartar nachos...seriously, one of the best preparations of raw tuna I've EVER had.  That afternoon we walked around the mall at Caesar's Palace, where I couldn't get enough of the ceiling that was curved and painted to look like the sky.  We didn't buy anything from Gucci or Louis Vuitton or the other crazy extravagant stores, but had fun looking around.  There was a small art gallery featuring the work of Peter Lik and we decided that when we're billionaires we will own several pieces of his art (check his stuff out here).  After walking around for a few hours in less-than-comfortable shoes, I opted to get a pedicure at the hotel spa while Jon rested in our room that afternoon.  Dinner Friday night was at a great steakhouse where I tried both caviar and fois gras for the first time.  I'm surprised to report that they were some of my favorite courses of the meal!  I'm not sure it's a good thing to discover my palate is suited to such fine dining... :) After dinner we hit up a late showing of Cirque du Soleil's "O," a show performed on a moving platform over a 20' deep water dank.  It was mind boggling and one of the coolest experiences I've ever had. Even though we didn't get back to our room until after midnight, we had to watch the BYU basketball season opener online, capping a great day with a win!

Saturday morning we had brunch at a French cafe on the strip and made our way back to the hotel for the BYU football game. Unfortunately, this game didn't have as favorable an outcome as the basketball game, and I honestly fell asleep during the third quarter to avoid the pain of watching our team get squashed, but there's always next time. We outdid ourselves with Saturday night's dinner - another French restaurant, this time on a terrace in the Bellagio over-looking the fountains.  We got to see about half a dozen fountain shows to different songs throughout our meal, adding an incredible ambiance to an already delicious meal (that included fois gras again and a fantastic molten chocolate cake for dessert).  Saturday night's show was Penn & Teller, an awesome magic show that incorporates stand-up comedy as part of the act, which makes it a double bonus to see them!  Then back to the hotel again and on a plane back to Boise on Sunday morning!  It's always interesting coming home from vacation - you miss the relaxed pace and cool sites, but it's so comfortable to just be in your own home and your own city (both smoke-free, which was quite a relief after Vegas). But we loved it and can't wait to make it back soon for more shows and fine dining!

In front of the "O' theatre

This is a picture of part of the Bellagio's living conservatory right inside of the hotel! It was beautiful!

Fountain views from our table at dinner Saturday night

Aren't we cute? Dinner at Picasso on the terrace

Another shot of the fountains - this one taken from the sidewalk outside on Friday night

They stamped the butter wit the name of the restaurant!

A picture of my fois gras course on Saturday night

Jon's chocolate/hazelnut concotion he had for dessert on Saturday - Love the presentation!

Family Pictures Fall 2013

 For those few of my sweet family members not on Facebook (Grandma Margaret - I'm thinking of you in particular), here are the pictures from our recent photo shoot this October.  Haven't I caught myself a fine husband? He's so handsome!  Things are going well here in Boise.  Jon's business is robust as ever and we're looking forward to the holidays - a quiet Thanksgiving in town and then Christmas in Omaha. I've been working part-time, babysitting for friends, going on walks, keeping house, and quilting baby blankets for nieces and nephews.  Oh, and taking care of one of the cutest and naughtiest puppies on earth! If he's not tearing up the toilet paper he's pulling up grass or raspberry shoots, and he even tries to get in a few chomps on my new slippers now and then. But who couldn't forgive a face like his? :) Jon is working with the Deacons in our ward and I got a new calling as Visiting Teaching Coordinator - a nice change of pace and neat to be involved in such an inspired program.  We're headed to Vegas this weekend for a little get-away and plan on dining well and experiencing some great shows.  Maybe if you're lucky I'll even post some pictures less than a year from now! Love you all!

 

Summer 2012

I found these pictures from last summer and it brought back such good memories!  While I think I'm doing a lot better at taking pictures, I obviously have much room for improvement because I have no record of a few of our trips and adventures.  Highlights from summer 2012 include:

• Jon going to Moab to jeep with our brother-in-law Brian and nephews Brian and Cameron while Lisa and I hung out in Logan, painted a crib and planned a business (which may or may not ever come to fruition)
• Spending a long weekend in Omaha, where we relaxed, shopped and ate lots good food
• 4th of July in Logan, "helping" with new baby Josh (aka holding all the time to get my baby fix!), going to the water park, watching and setting off fireworks, and lots of girl-talk
• Lisa and kids visiting the week after I went to her - she had to show off the baby to the rest of the family!
• Hastings family reunion in Park City with Jon's parents and siblings.  They rented a house up there and we had a blast catching up, swimming, shopping at the outlets, doing the alpine slide, playing games, and visiting temple square.
• Suzie visiting Boise - always love to have her!  A fun time where we played with the kids, visited, and pretended she lived close until we had to send her off again!
• Mini Baker reunion in Logan with all of the siblings for a weekend, and even Grandma, Aunt Diane and cousin Annie came for an afternoon.  We had a blast on the slip-and-slide, including the daredevil two-year-old twins!  
• My cousin Andrea's wedding in Salt Lake, followed the next day by Jon's cousin Jake's wedding.  We got to see Jon's parents for the afternoon and have lunch with some of his aunts and uncles and grandparents.

After a busy yet fun summer, we swore off traveling for a few months so we would be well-rested for Thanksgiving in San Francisco!  That post is coming as soon as I get pictures off of Jon's phone!

Playing in the water at Grandma's house

A close-up on Joy - I love that gleeful face!  It reminds me of doing the "rainbow" with the hose when I was a kid!

Mom helping to towel the girls off

I love this picture of Josh at the water park.  He was about one week old and it was blazing hot outside so we were all worried about keeping him cool enough.   Lisa was trying to hydrate him with the water bottle and I thought he looked like a baby calf being bottle-fed. Don't you agree?

Me holding the little guy.  He's so big now I can't believe he was ever that teeny!

Adam insisted on getting a picture with his baby brother before we left the water park

Adam's got a grin from ear to ear after going down the scary steep slide!  He's so brave!

Adam and his mom being monkeys at the park near grandma's house

Pretty Joy riding a horse at the same park

While Lisa was visiting we all went to Roaring Springs one afternoon.  So hot but lots of fun!  I think I went down almost every slide, all with different nieces and nephews.  Not sure where Ty and Cam were for this picture...

I love how Grandma and Grandpa have scripture study with the boys when they stay at their house.  They are the best grandparents ever!

And finally a sweet picture of baby Josh, taken probably around 6 weeks of age.

Overwhelmed but blessed!

Taking a 10-month break from posting on the blog only leads to one feeling - overwhelmed!  After looking at the hundreds of pictures I've taken in the last year, which don't even include the ones on Jon's phone, and I don't even know where to start!  I think I'll start with the present and work backwards, which will most likely constitute several posts, but I think I'm up to the challenge!  Fisher is politely chewing up a flip-flop next to me while I type, so I think I have some time to write down some of our happenings lately.  This week I celebrated my 26th birthday, and it's a little strange to be on the down-hill side of my 20's - closer to 30 than 20 now.  I spent so much of my youth wishing to be older, and once I hit 25 I though to myself, "I've arrived - I no longer want to be older."  However, 26 came despite my best efforts and now it's weird to think I'll soon start saying that I wish I was younger.  Anyways, back to the birthday.  I started off the day with a biting puppy (he forgot it was my birthday and that he needed to be polite to his puppy-mama on her birthday) but my woes were soon forgotten when I baby-gated him into his spot and stuffed myself with Kneaders french toast in some of the best company ever - my dad!  After brunch Fisher went to the groomer and I had three whole hours to myself without worrying about him biting, barking, or using his naptime to the best advantage.  During my beautiful break I worked a little, wrote a letter to my friend who entered the MTC this week (Carolyn will forever be one of my role models), talked to some of my siblings, and responded to a plethora of loving text messages from friends and more siblings.  Next I fetched my fluff-ball from the groomer (the hair-dryer does crazy things to his curly fur) and we went on a pleasant walk with my friend, followed by a shower, presents from my man (flowers, my favorite Haagen-Dasz, knives and a knife sharpener!) and dinner at Fork, a new place for us and a new favorite.  The next day I went to Red Robin for dinner with some of my closest friends to celebrate, and the day before my birthday I had a fantastic lasagna dinner with darn good chocolate cake with the family.  A three-day birthday bonanza that left me feeling very loved! 

Ok, Fisher is getting antsy and I'm not sure how much longer I can ignore him, so I'll finish this post with some of my favorite pictures of him.  He epitomizes a love/hate relationship, but I'm getting to the point where I love him quite a bit more than I hate him.  And can you blame my forgiving nature after seeing his sweet face? 

He likes to ring the bell like he needs to go out, and then once I open it he'll lay across the threshold and refuse to choose inside or outside.  I think he likes to feel the breeze but stay cozy inside!

This is his common sulk pose. After being reprimanded he'll grab one his blankets, plop down with it, bury his face in the fabric and glare up at me.  It's one of the cutest things ever.

Lisa and Josh visited in January and this is about the closest we let Josh and Fish get to each other once Fisher got a little too interested in what baby toes taste like.  I love this picture because you can tell Josh is smiling at him, and Fish is just looking on indifferently.  But boy, did he love that kid!  Always tried to get close to him!

I love when Fisher curls up next to me while I work and falls asleep.  I recently realized that I have a disproportionate amount of pictures with him sleeping, but that's because we love him most when he is unconscious and not biting!

The other day Jon woke Fisher up from a nap when he came home and after a brief greeting, laid his head right on top of Jon's foot!  It was so sweet and he stayed there long enough for us to get a picture.  I love my boys!

April Update!

Me and Jon at Barbacoa for my birthday

Hello!  Time for another update from the Hastings!  We've had a very busy spring and can hardly believe it's almost May!  To start off with, the business is doing very well, and they're building houses like crazy!  The housing market seems to really be picking up, and we're seeing a lot more consumer confidence here in Boise/Meridian.  Jon hired an intern from BYU to help with drafting until August, which has freed Jon up to spend more time marketing, selling, doing concept drawings, and everything else that takes up 70+ hours a week.  They moved their offices into a beautiful model home in March, and that's been awesome.  The model is literally two minutes from home so I see Jon more for meals and such, and it's so much easier to sell your product when your sitting in it, rather than a dingy office in downtown Meridian.  Not that it didn't have it's charm...or did it?  Let's just say we won't miss late-night encounters with drunks roaming the streets.  Anyways, since moving into the office, Jon and Russ have hosted a realtor open house and a subcontractor appreciation barbeque - both very well attended.  Jon is hesitant to say this, but it just kind of feels like we've arrived.  After three years of putting their noses to the grindstone, they've really made this company into a thriving and legitimate home-building business.  The other day I snagged my neighbor's landscaper to talk to him about moving a tree of ours.  I mentioned that my husband was a home-builder, and later in the conversation he asked, "So, is your husband just an employee of a builder, or a small-time guy..." I proudly told him the name of the business and that Jon was co-owner and his eyes got real big and he told me that he was doing the landscape for one of their new homes!  Jon told me later that that landscaper's been looking to do more work for his company- needless to say he did a great job transplanting our tree!  Oh, and when Jon was looking at web analytics the other day for his website, he saw that one of the referring sites was Pinterest.  His homes have been pinned!  I was pretty excited to hear that, seeing how Pinterest is my favorite new time-waster.  Then again, can finding delicious recipes, cool DIY projects, ideas for my next home, and even YW ideas really be a waste of time? Back to the point though, wouldn't you say it sounds like we've arrived?  Industry recognition, a model home, four employees, and Pinterest?  Yes indeed.

While Jon works hard at being amazing, I work not quite-so-hard at my insurance job, though work is picking up these past few weeks.  I actually worked 7 hours straight the other day and thought I was going to die!  I know I'm spoiled, but I treasure the lifestyle I've created for myself over the past few years.  I sleep in, work out semi-regularly, go on walks with friends, go out to lunch with other (or the same) friends, put lots of effort into my calling (I love those Beehives of mine!), keep the household more-or-less running smoothly and do the occasional project, be it painting, sewing, crocheting, or gardening.  Last week I painted our front bedroom blue, finally taking care of the glaring green that we've hated since we moved in.  You might ask, "Didn't you pick that color since you built your home?"  The answer is yes, but we chose it at 2 in the morning and it turned out tons brighter than we expected or wanted.  Therefore, I painted the room a beautiful and more serene blue, and we converted the room from "junk room" to a home office for Jon.  Don't ask me why we didn't make the room his office earlier, but it became a necessity after he moved into his model home.  Saturdays are Jon's most productive days for playing catch-up on his administrative and design tasks, but now that his office is also a model home, Saturdays are a day for heavy foot-traffic and sales if he tries to work there.  So we set up a desk and monitor, took care of the terrible color, and viola! Home office!  I decided painting a room is like exercising - it's terrible and such hard work while you're doing it, but all the pain (and paint in the hair) is worth the end result.  Just don't ask me to pick up a paintbrush anytime soon!

As you can see and as Jon pointed out to me a few weeks ago, I really do lead quite a charmed life.  Though there is the sometimes gaping hole in it called motherhood, I count my blessings daily and strive to have faith that we'll be blessed in the Lord's time and in the Lord's way.  On Easter I gave a lesson to all of the Young Women in my ward, and I felt impressed to focus my thoughts around the word "nevertheless."  It was such a neat experience to receive inspiration for my topic, and though it was a strong prompting, it was only one word, and the Lord left it to me to turn it into a 40 minute lesson.  It was a testament to me that Heavenly Father works with the talents we have to bless the lives of others, and in this case it was my love for and training in the English language.  I gave a brief explanation about what the word "nevertheless" means (a transition word linking one statement with a surprising or unexpected conclusion), and then we looked up scriptures that used the word.  Did you know that, according to my research on lds.org, the word "nevertheless" appears something like 247 times?  And over half of those in the Book of Mormon?  While not all of the instances are used according the definition I gave, there are examples like when Nephi didn't know what to do about the Laban situation and he says "And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.  Nevertheless I went forth..."  Don't you love that?  He had no clue, but still he says "Nevertheless I went forth."  This was just one example of many that I pulled from the scriptures for the girls to look up in pairs, and then we ended with Luke 22:41-42 and D&C 19:16-19, scriptures in which the Savior resolutely says "nevertheless" despite the pains he had to suffer in Gethsemane.  In my lesson we discussed how this nevertheless was the most important "nevertheless" in all of scripture, in all of history, because without it we would all be lost.  If Christ had not said "nevertheless," it would mean that he had given up, that he decided to refuse to take the bitter cup and drink.  After discussing the atonement and playing the song "Oh Lord, My Redeemer," I tied is all together with this statement (the concept for which Jon helped me solidify at midnight the night before - I'm so grateful for his wisdom): "Because Jesus Christ uttered the most important "nevertheless," we also have the choice to proclaim "nevertheless," turning our most bitter moments of sin and sorrow into declarations of hope, faith and solace."  I handed out paper for them to take home and write their own nevertheless statements: including their trial/sin, the word "nevertheless" and then their declaration of faith.  I wrote mine on the board for them, bearing my testimony that because of Christ's atonement I can be comforted through my trial of infertility, that Christ will bear me up and make my burdens light if I take my yoke upon him.  All in all, this Easter lesson was an incredible spiritual experience, mostly in preparation but also in its delivery.  I learned a lot about myself and about my relationship with Jesus Christ, and reaffirmed my testimony in Him.

I think I'll end on that note, leaving you with a post-Easter message of faith and hope. Love you all!

Tampering...

After I posted the first half of our vacation last night, Jon mentioned that I should have posted the second half first so that it appeared chronologically of the blog.  Therefore, I am tampering with the posting times on my blog.  When you see the inland post first, keep scrolling and you'll see the island post after it, even though I wrote it afterwards.  Clear as mud?  Happy reading!

Christmas in Belize - Inland Adventures

Happy New Year and a belated Merry Christmas!  This year Jon and I decided we should finally take a real vacation and started talking to Jon's brother and his wife (Steven and Lauren) about going on an exotic trip together for Christmas.  After tossing around a few different destinations, Lauren suggested Belize and we decided it was perfect.  Despite leaving halfway through the month, I was adamant about still decorating our house for Christmas, and I loved the result!  In fact, I've talked myself into leaving everything out for another week because I figured we're owed it, seeing how we were out of the country for part of the holidays. We finally purchased a 7.5 foot pre-lit tree to replace the cheap 6-footer we had from our college days, and I bought all new ornaments as well.  My mantle has a few of my many picture books that my mom has given me over the years (Nutcracker and Night Before Christmas), and I made the stockings myself last year.  We were very busy in the weeks leading up to our vacation, getting work wrapped up, buying gifts for family, and completing service projects.  By the time we got to Belize, we were more than ready for a break.  However, the relaxing part of our vacation didn't start until four days in, and we spend the week before Christmas on some once-in-a-lifetime adventures!

Our spectacular Christmas tree!

My pretty mantle

The day after we got home I narrated our whole trip to my mom, using pictures and a map.  The map was so helpful that I thought I would include one here for your reference, since if you're anything like me you're not very familiar with Central American geography.

For our budget's sake as well as convenience, we decided to drive to San Francisco and fly out of there with Steven and Lauren. After spending Saturday, Dec 17 driving, we flew out for Belize at midnight on Sunday, taking a red-eye to Atlanta and then continuing on to Belize City.  We got into Belize city around 1:00 pm, grabbed a rental car, and drove about two hours west to San Ignacio, where we spent the next four nights.  San Ignacio is a great little town, a little touristy, but not too much so, and we stayed in nice resort.  After checking in to the hotel we grabbed some food at a local dive, including the best nachos I think any of us had ever eaten, and then crashed for the rest of the day.  Red-eye flights are pretty terrible, and we were glad to catch up on our sleep and take it easy.  The next morning we slept in and then headed south down a dirt road (about 2 hours) called the Pine Ridge Road to the Rio on Frio Pools.  This was a set of five pools separated by small cascading waterfalls set in the middle of the forest/jungle.  I was expecting more dense jungle/rain forest before we got to Belize, and was shocked to find ourselves in a forest with as many pine trees as deciduous trees.  It was breathtaking though, and one of my favorite destinations of the whole vacation.  We got to hike up the pools and the water was shallow enough to wade out into the middle of the pools.  I was a little more curious than the others and spent a good amount of time exploring the pools and hopping from rock to rock, and absolutely loved it.  We had the pools all to ourselves, and it felt like a little piece of paradise, hidden away in the middle of the forest.

View from a look-out that catches most of the pools

Us in the middle of the pools, looking the opposite direction than the previous picture

 Just a little ways up from the pools was the Rio on Frio Cave, an enormous cave that was awe-inspiring.  While you can typically walk through the cave end to end (it has two openings), we only spent about 5 minutes there.  Why, you ask?  Let's just say there were two men in camo with large automatic machine guns in their laps hanging out near the entrance of the cave, and we thought it prudent not to linger.  More than likely they were there for a very good reason, but we figured it wasn't worth taking any chances in the middle of the forest in a foreign country.  Though a little scary at the time, it made for a good joke for the rest of the vacation, as we often referred to our "near-death experience" with military personnel "brandishing" their weapons. 

Rio on Frio Cave from the inside

At the entrance to the cave (The military dudes were in front of us at a picnic table about 100 feet away)

 The next day we crossed the border into Guatemala and went to Tikal, the largest collection of Mayan ruins in the world.  After getting to the park, we had to trek about 30 minutes through dense jungle before all of a sudden you turn a corner and, boom! There's a huge ancient temple right in front of you.  Because of time we only saw 4 of the 6 temples along with several other small buildings/ruins, but it was absolutely amazing.  I kept thinking, can you imagine being an explorer and just happening upon this ancient city?  The temple in the second picture is only excavated on the front, and as we were walking around it we were amazed to see how the jungle absolutely consumed the whole side of the temple, making it impossible to distinguish it from another jungle mountain-side unless you look up and see the top.  Though I've never been to any other ruins, Steven and Lauren said they were the coolest ruins they've ever seen, and it was definitely an incredible sight.

One of our rare group shots of the vacation, in front of the main complex at Tikal

Steven and Lauren climbed to the top of the last temple we saw and captured this birds-eye shot of the whole site.  Crazy how you just see the tops of the temples peeking up, with no other clue of a whole city lying below

Jon in front of a cool tree near the entrance of Tikal

  So our last day inland we decided to go cave tubing! Belize has a large cave system that has a river running through it, and you can book a tour that will take you tubing through the caves with nothing but a rubber tube, life vest and head lamp.  When we got to our tour guide's outpost we were a little surprised when they loaded up all of the tour participants on a flat-bed trailer with the tubes and life vests, and then pulled us through orange orchards and jungle with a heavy duty tractor for about 45 minutes before we got to the entrance of the cave.  Our tractor actually got stuck in the mud a couple hundred yards before we were supposed to stop, and after trying to get it out for several minutes, our guides gave up and sent the driver to walk back for help.  Kind of a funny diversion, but something you have to deal with you're out in the jungle, I suppose.  We hopped in the river and spent the next three hours or so floating/paddling through this river cave system, going through 5 caves total.  Most of the time the water was very slow-moving and we had to use our arms to paddle along, but there were a few rapid currents that were fun.  The coolest part was seeing all of the stalactites and formations in the caves as we went through, and just knowing that you were underneath a mountain!  Halfway through the river opened up on the jungle and we stopped on a little beach for lunch where we fed the fish tortillas, then hiked through the trees for about 15 minutes before we met up with the river again and the next cave. It was really fun, and again, one of those things you only do once in your life.

Lauren and Steven on the trailer on the way to the cave

After getting off the trailer, before getting in the river - ready for adventure!

In front of the cave on the beach during lunch

A further-away view so that you can see the cave opening behind us

Each of our day excursions while we were inland took anywhere from an hour to three hours to get to the actual site, so we spent a lot of time in our trusty rental Jeep (which we may or may not have beat up pretty good, especially on the dirt road the first day).  It got dark around 6:00 pm which limited the amount of things we did during the day, but we were very happy with our pace, as most of our excursions were pretty active.  We ate at some great restaurants (except for the terrible fish we had at the most expensive, most highly recommended place in San Ignacio - figures) and slept surprising well considering how finicky I am with beds for my back.  Since our hotel had wi-fi we even got to watch two BYU basketball games online that week before Christmas, which was the cherry to our awesome stay inland.  On Friday morning we slept in, ate breakfast at Mr. Greedy's Pizza (yeah, I know it sounds like a weird place for breakfast but it was amazing), drove back to Belize City, and hopped on a ferry to continue the second half of our vacation on Ambergris Caye, an island off the coast of Belize.  Since our vacation was split in two halves, I'm going to split my blog post in two as well.  I know these are long, but my blog is my journal as much as anything else, and I want to capture as much of the memory as possible.  Plus, I figure I'm making up for a year's worth of blogging.  So check back tomorrow, as this adventure is

TO BE CONTINUED...