Summer update!

Hi everyone! I hope you guys haven't given up on me, although I would have if I were you. I fail as a blogger! Oh well. Just thought I'd catch you all up on the past three months, in a somewhat chronological order...

-I had my non-required Master's recital which went well! It was a lot of fun and a "last hurrah" before I left BYU.

-We played our last concert with the BYU phil (Beethoven 5). SAD SAD SAD. Not sure what the future will hold at Michigan, but I know I will miss all the friends I made over the years, but most of all I will miss Kory! No one can replace him!

-Joe graduated! Here's a stunning visual with him and the K-Man:

Fun Fact: Joe's wearing my cap and gown...never mind that the tassel says '09, right?

-After the semester ended, Joe worked full-time at the performance library for two weeks while I enjoyed life as a stay-at-home-wife (way cooler/easier than being a stay-at-home-mom).

-THE BIG MOVE!!! I got deathly ill a few days before we drove cross-country to Virginia. Perfect timing, I know. The doctors said it was a virus that could last 10-14 days and, of course, they couldn't give me any medication to make it go away faster. Awesome! So Joe did the brunt of the heavy lifting and moving, while I sat on the couch with my Ibuprofen, Kleenex box, Vitamin C drops, and ten blankets. It was fabulous. After a couple days though, I was able to muster and help a lot more/clean stuff. With the help of family, friends, and guys from the ward, we got our butts out of our apartment!

-Carol threw us a going-away party and a lot of our friends came. It was a lot of fun but made me realize how much I will miss all of the awesome people I pay to pretend they like me.

-ROAD TRIP. We packed our little red Solara full of all our earthly possessions and drove to Virginia! It took us three days , driving around 11-13 hours each day. Highlights of the trip included listening to copious amounts of Flight of the Conchords and Muse, and me narrating the first two books in the Chronicles of Narnia. I think I have a future in recording books on tape. Did I mention Joe drove THE WHOLE WAY? Yes, that's right. I still don't know how he did it.

-Which pretty much brings us to now. We've been having a lot of fun in Virginia with the fam. Joe and I have been looking for jobs for the last two weeks, to no avail. It is so hard to just get a job for the summer! But we'll keep trying...on the other hand, being jobless really helps fuel my WoW addiction.

-My sister Sarah suffered a traumatic bike accident a few days ago. Her and my dad are into cycling, and they were on a long 50-mile bike ride when it happened. She was going downhill really fast, hit some turns and lost control. The end result was that she knocked out 3 1/2 of her top front teeth, got stitches on the bottom of her chin, has a fractured jaw, and some major road rash on her legs and arms. It was traumatic, to say the least, and I wasn't even there! She spent two days in the hospital, and thank goodness the doctors found no injuries to her head or spine. Now she's at home recovering on an all-liquid diet. On the plus side, she has an awesome lisp from her missing teeth! Anyway, it has been a crazy week for the Smith fam, but it has made me realize how wonderful it is to have a strong, supportive, loving family and ward. It has been difficult, but we are grateful that all of her injuries will heal over time and that she didn't sustain any life-threatening/long-term injuries.

Welp, that is everything. Hopefully I won't wait three months to post again!

For everyone who's been dying to know...

After applying, auditioning, and waiting...waiting...waiting...

Joe and I are going to the University of Michigan this fall!!! We absolutely love the school and Ann Arbor and we are so excited to go there (despite the butt cold winters!). We are so thrilled/grateful/hugely blessed to have this opportunity to pursue our Masters Degrees at such an awesome place.

WOO! Go...wait, what's U of M's mascot?

WOLVERINES!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. Holy crap just google imaged "University of Michigan mascot" and this is what popped up:

Wtf? I guess I've never seen a wolverine before...I had more of a "Hugh Jackman" look in mind.

Possibly all of my favorite things at once?

Behold, the pear and gorgonzola pizza from California Pizza Kitchen:

(Image from foodiebytes.com)

Just LOOK at what's in this baby: Caramelized pears, Gorgonzola, Fontina and Mozzerella cheeses, caramelized sweet onions, and chopped hazelnuts. Topped with field greens tossed in Gorgonzola ranch dressing.

Is it possible to have all of the things I love in my mouth at one time? I once said that if I could have one taste in my mouth forever, it would be Five Guys fries...but I might have to change that.

To Annie freakin' Elmer my taste bud twin, if you haven't tried this, you MUST! It may seem weird at first, but I have a feeling you will fall in love.

An open letter

Dear Obnoxious Lady who sat next to me during Alice in Wonderland,

Thank you for choosing to sit right next to me during the movie I have anticipated watching for over a year. During the previews I immediately caught on to your keen sense of humor when you loudly guffawed while Brendan Fraser got shot in the crotch by a sprinkler, and later got knocked over in an outhouse by a bear. I must say, that was humor at its finest. While the rest of the audience lightly snickered, your hyena laugh reverberated throughout the entire theater.

Thank you for loudly whispering "CUTE!" every time you saw a dress that Alice wore that you liked, a dog, or a small woodland creature appear on screen. Also thanks for being the only person who applauded throughout the entire film - thank you especially for clapping for that non-applause-worthy scene where the Mad Hatter did that really awkward dance at the end.

And finally, thank you for making me wish I had 108 minutes of my life back (or at least had picked a different row).

Sincerely,

Katie

Olympic Thoughts

Olympics, once again I cannot stop watching you. Here are some of my thoughts after being glued to the TV for the past week and a half...

The U.S. freestyle skiing uniforms:

(Image from http://www.kansascity.com/495/story/1747246.html)

Come on America. Can't you come up with a uniform that doesn't look like the pajama set I owned in the 3rd grade?

Vancounver's medal stands:

(Image from http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/blog/fourth_place_medal?pg=8)

Canada, I know you've gotta make budget cuts somewhere, but did you really have to make the medal stands out of cardboard?

Luge, bobsled, and skeleton:

(Image from http://www.ocw.cn/NR/rdonlyres/Global/2/2166AC8C-6DFF-41CC-A6D5-A1183C12D0D7/0/chp_bobsled.jpg)

Ok, so sue me - I have a hard time watching these events, mostly because I have a hard time telling how each person stacks up against each other. However, I came up with something that could make them a heck of a lot more entertaining - stick two competing lugers, boblsedders, skeletoners (wow I made up three words!) in the lane next to each other, then let 'er rip. Maybe for safety purposes they could put up a divider to form two separate lanes, but srsly, way more entertaining.

Bahhhhston

Things we learned in Boston:

1. There are no blondes in Boston. As Annie would say, "We're a national treasure."

2. Never, ever, try driving in Boston unless you have a GPS. And even then, don't believe it all the time.

3. Do whatever you can to get tickets to the BSO, just so you can see James Levine's happy feet.

4. Elliott Carter is 101 and he is STILL composing. What?!!?!

5. If you ever get sick, call Annie freakin' Elmer. She will make you homemade chicken noodle soup. What a star.

6. Boston has weirdly-named restaurants that you can't remember, like Zaffie's and Birdy's...or something.. But they're good.

7. Don't go to Boston in February.

8. I want a Neti Pot.

2009: Year of the Swine (Flu)

Well guys, it's official. I am the worst blogger ever. But to make it up to you, I give you 2009: A Year in Review (Nibley-Style).

January: Angie and Lulu came to visit and we celebrated Lulu's birthday. All I remember is her reaction to her presents - "OH MY GOODNESS!!!"

(She definitely takes after her grandmother.)

February: I can't remember a single thing about this month. February's a crappy month anyway. Moving on.

March: I played my senior recital! Halleluiah! And Joe played on it.

Pumps of Justice.

April: Joe and I took a trip to University of Michigan to take lessons with the bassoon and trumpet teachers, get to know the campus, etc. It was awesome and we had a great time staying with our friends the Bergmans!

May: This month was all over the place! We went to University of Maryland to take lessons with the bassoon and trumpet teachers and got spoiled rotten staying with my parents in Ashburn. Also, we went on a week-long tour to Oregon with the chamber orchestra, I took a trip to New York for my Grandpa Killian's funeral, and I got called as Relief Society secretary! Insanity.

Outside U of MD's School of Music. Uber-cute!

Beautiful view of the Oregon coast. I love that place! So many hippies.

June: I got my second gum graft, Joe and I had a great time working as Summerfest counselors (and got to eat at the Morris Center for a week...delicious?), celebrated my 22nd birthday, we celebrated our first anniversary (I roadtripped to Boise with SSASS for Sister Weiner's farewell...worst wife ever), and most importantly I discovered the greatest baboon who ever lived - Jackie.

Delicious.

"I am Lars, your new friend and counselor!"

We miss Sister Weiner!!

July: We went to the American Idol concert! I am still verklempt.

August: I graduated with all that I could've asked for from BYU - a degree and a cute husband.

Yah, I graduated - no big deal, vhatever.

September: Back to school! I started my Master's degree at BYU and realized that being a grad student is freaking awesome (perks include free donuts and bagels on Thursdays, primo parking, and convincing the freshmen bassoonists to take us out to lunch with their Dining Plus cards in exchange for our sage knowledge). Joe started his last year of his undergrad. Good times all around. Also, Angie and Lulu flew out and we went to the zoo. Highlight of my life.


October: Halloween! We went to Denny's and bowled in costume with other married couples. We are cool, I know.

From L to R: A pencil, a pregnant woman, vampires, Albert Einstein, a black woman (only in Utah could you dress up as a black person and not get shot), and a slumber party.

It has been proven that cigar smoking can improve your bowling score.

November: Thanksgiving! We stuffed ourselves silly at Joe's dad's and made a gingerbread house with the girls. Also, we auditioned at ASU and enjoyed the sunny warm weather for a couple days. It was pretty depressing coming back to the snow in Utah and realizing we still had 3+ months of winter hell to endure.


December: Joe, Sarah, and I headed to Virginia for Christmas break for a Smith Family Christmas. We enjoyed the down-time and basically did...nothing. We spent about 90% of our time looking up Bruno clips on youtube. Ach-ja!

(Picture taken from http://www.aceshowbiz.com/images/news/00023573.jpg)
Uber cute!

We also did a little shopping. Joe had fun.

And here we are now, in 2010! Joe and I are embarking on our grad school auditions...we'll be hitting five different schools in the next two months. Insanity!! I'll keep you posted. Maybe.