Memorial

And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. - Malachi 4:6

Unfortunately the hearts of the children have not yet been turned to the fathers in Denver. Since I can't be home this holiday weekend I took a drive through the oldest and largest cemetery in Denver. I'm shocked at the lack of flowers decorating the graves of loved ones. Only about 10% of the graves had flowers to indicate that they were remembered, and grocery stores do not have plats of mums on sale. I've always loved cemeteries. They feel like sacred places to me, full of stories. I considered continuing my family's Cache Valley tradition of adopting a forgotten grave and making sure that it is decorated each year, but with tens of thousands of lonely headstones on memorial weekend it seems futile.

Thankfully the veterans are remembered with flags, but no flowers from the families they were torn from. For those of you in Utah, where Memorial Day is marked with trips to multiple cemeteries dripping with flowers and visiting families, be grateful that you live in a place where people still care about their heritage. And I am thankful that even though I can't be home, I have family who will remember all those who have come before.

A Conversation with My 8 year old Nephew on His Birthday

Me: What did you dress up as for Halloween?

Ethan: Indiana Jones.

Me: Did you have a whip?

Ethan: No, I forgot it at home.

Me: Did you have the hat?

Ethan: Of course! What's Indiana Jones without his hat?

Me: laughing

Ethan: No, I'm trying to tell you a joke! What is Indiana Jones without his hat?

(Answer: The Hatless Adventurer)

Spring in the Rockies

Sorry for the lack of posts. Spring has been pretty busy but I'm enjoying a little lull at work. I thought I should catch everyone up before things get crazy again. 

In April I was able to attend my first groundbreaking ceremony for a project I worked on. Speeches were given, project boards were displayed and everyone, including me, took turns posing with shovels. I'd like to tell you all about the project, but it's for the government and if I put up details on the internet I might get audited. But here are a few photos of our presentation boards and some of the people I've been working with. The building is under construction and it will be exciting to see it as it goes up.

In May I participated in a Spring Swap hosted by my friend Susan. I sent a package of my favorite organizing supplies to Marilyn in Utah, and I got this lovely box of goodies from Raphelle in Brooklyn.

It included all her favorite things for spring, from makeup to sidewalk chalk. It was wonderful to come home to a box of spring fun!

In May I was part of my office's IIDA Pret-a-porter team. We were teamed up with an office furnishings dealer in town and our challenge was to turn their products into high fashion. We chose one of their task chairs, tore it apart, and remade it into a dress. It was so much fun, and we won 2nd place in the professional category. You can check out photos of the night here.

Memorial day week I flew home to visit my family. I was there for nine days and had absolutely nothing to do. It was wonderful! My niece Paige turned 8 years old and was baptised. She even asked me to give a talk at the baptism. As you can see she was very excited.

Her message in chalk says "Party on!" I'll post more photos of my week home when I download them from my other camera.

When I got back to work I found out I'm going to be on the IIDA chapter board as the new Student Liaison. For the next two years it will be my responsibility to represent students in four states. I'm not quite sure what I've gotten myself into, but it should be fun.

After all my hard work this past year I decided to splurge a little and on Saturday I bought myself an oil painting. I went to an art market held by a local art league and fell in love with this painting by George Coll. It was painted in the Denver Art Museum and is finally bringing some color into my beige living room. 

It's much richer in person. You'll have to stop by and see it.

That's my quick recap. I really need to write about my trip to Qatar and a few other things I've been thinking about. Unless I get distracted by the warm weather. 

 

A is for Aalto, B is for Breuer

I've been ABC tagged by Pam, and I finally had a chance to fill it out.

ABC's "getting to know you" TAG ABC's of you. Each player then tags 3 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

A- Attached or single: Single
B- Best Friend: My mom
C-Cake or Pie: Pie. It's the only thing that broke my birthday cake curse!
D-Day: Saturday, of course!
E- Essential Item: Pen and sketchbook
F- Favorite Color: Ice yellow
G-Gummi Bears or Worms: Bears
H-Home town: Logan, Utah
I- Indulgences: Chocolate marshmallows and Doctor Who
J- January or July?: Neither. These are my two least favorite months. One is too hot and the other too cold.
K-Kids: Nope
L-Life is incomplete without: Chocolate marshmallows and Doctor Who
M- Marriage Date: TBD
N- Number of Siblings: 3 brothers and a sister
O- Oranges or Apples: Oranges 
P- Phobias or Fears: clowns, cliche but true.
Q- Quote: "Light seeking light doth light of light beguile." - Shakespeare
R- Reason To Smile: Alvar Aalto's Savoy vase
S- Season: Autumn
T- Tag Three: Brett (this time he better do it), Susan and Loralee
U- Unknown Fact About Me: I once ran into Gorbachev at the Parthenon. 
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: One time vegan come carnivore
W- Worst Habit: infrequent blog updates
X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Only x-rays so far
Y-Your favorite food: Anything with tomatoes in it
Z: Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius

On Being Tagged

I've been blog tagged by Hayley. Enjoy!

A: The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.

B: Each player answers the questions about themselves.

C: At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

#1 What was I doing 10 years ago?
Working on a major in history and a minor in classical studies with an emphasis in Latin. What was I thinking?!

#2 Things on my To-Do List today:
Prepare for a client presentation in the morning
Return a phone call to the USGBC chapter president about a presentation I will do next week on sustainable development in the Middle East
rework my portfolio to enter an AIA competition
clean up the house for the visiting teachers coming on Thursday

#3 What would I do if I were suddenly a Billionaire:
Quit my job, travel and do humanitarian design work.

#4 Bad Habits:
Being too quiet when I'm nervous.

#5 Places I have lived:
Logan, Utah
Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Orangeville, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Denver, Colorado

#6 Jobs I have had:
babysitter, various families in Logan
design consultant, On the Avenue
event planner, Utah Festival Opera
wedding planner, all my siblings and cousins
design intern, GSBS Architects
teaching fellow, Utah State University
interior designer, Gensler

#7 Things that people don't know about me:
I've been to Qatar - twice (the first time with Hayley).
I can curl my toungue into a clover leaf.
I've always wanted to learn how to fence.
I volunteer my time as a missionary.

I now tag Brett and/or Annie, Shannon and Karen.

Stanley's Weekend

This weekend is snowed! Stanley wanted to play outside so we made a snowman. Isn't it cute?

Then Stanley slid down the hill.

And fell into a big pile of snow! It was cold!

It's almost time for Stanley to got home, so on Saturday night we went to a concert in a town called Boulder.

Here is Stanley at the Boulder Theater. He's so excited to see a concert that he is glowing in the picture. We heard a taping of a radio program called E-Town. The guests were Tim Finn and Ky-Mani Marley.

It was a cool concert. Stanley thinks Ky-Mani is great, but he liked Tim Finn best. Here is Stanley at the concert during the song "One Love" by Bob Marley.

Stanley has had lots of fun in Denver, but it's time for him to go home. He wants to see Paige and play with her at school.

Good-bye Stanley! Come back and visit me soon!

Stanley's New Friends

Stanley made lots of friends at work. Everyone was excited to see him. Here is Stanley at my computer. I'm an interior designer and I help architects design buildings.

Stanley got a tour of the office.


Jenny, Claudia and Karin showed Stanley our plotter. It's a machine that prints giant pieces of paper.

Then Caroline, Carrie, Amy and Kirsty helped him pick out some carpet and tile for a new office.



Harry, Anne and Karin showed him how the computers work.

At lunch Flat Stanley and Flat Holly went exploring downtown.

This is the capitol building where the Governor of Colorado works. It's where all the laws are made.

The capitol has a big gold dome and it is exactly 5280 feet above sea level, which is one mile. That's why Denver is called the Mile High City.

There are cannons in front of the capitol to protect it from invaders. Stanley and Holly tried them out.

Across from the capitol is Civic Center Park, and at the other end is the County building and the Denver Mint. The mint is where money is made.

There are lots of churchs in Denver. This one next to the capitol has a tall spire.

This is the Colorado History Museum where you can learn about the Native Americans and pioneers who lived here over 100 years ago.

Here is the Colorado Ballet where all the Ballerinas practice dancing.

This is the new Denver Art Museum. Isn't it a crazy building?

It has lots of angles and looks like a spaceship. It was designed by a famous architect named Daniel Libeskind.

Look! A giant broom and dustpan!

Here's another building with crazy windows.

Across the street is the Denver Library. It was also designed by a famous architect. His name is Michael Graves.

Stanley really likes this big orange sculpture. Orange is his favorite color.

This is another sculpure of big red Ys that have messages of peace on them.



But this is Stanley's favorite sculpture of all. A giant chair with a horse on it!

Then Flat Stanley and Flat Holly went back to work so he could see his new friends.

Goodbye Flat Stanley! Come back and visit us again!

Stanley Goes to Work

This week Stanley has been coming to work with me. We ride a train from south east Denver to downtown. There are lots of cool places to visit in Denver.

This is the 16th Street mall.

Stanley really likes the Hard Rock Cafe. Look at that giant guitar!


This is Nike Town where Stanley tried on some new shoes.

There are lots of concerts at the Paramount Theater. Stanley wants to see Lenny Kravitz and Kelley Clarkson.

Stanley got tired of walking around so he tried out this bench.

Then he ran over and sat on this bench. They are hand painted by artists and make the street very colorful.

Then he jumped up to look at this cow. It has Denver painted right on it's side.

16th Street is really long and there are stores and restaurants everywhere.

Denver has lots of tall buildings built around historic buildings. Look down this road and you can see an old church.

This is the World Trade Center where I work every day. It's more than 25 stories tall.

Stanley's Sunday

Today Flat Stanley and I went to church. My church is on a street called Holly Street. Stanley thought that was funny.



In church he played with the other kids in primary and had lots of fun.



On the way home I stopped and showed Stanley this giant ice fountain.





Isn't it cool? Stanley thinks so. But it was so warm today that the ice was melting fast.

After lunch Stanley played with Athena. He had another fun day.