Placement Break

I am teaching preschool at a center for the arts near the Timpanogos temple and it's official, I've gone and gotten myself all attached to my little students. If only I didn't wear my heart on my sleeve. With so many hands to hold and children who plop themselves into my lap, it was only a matter of time before I got sick. So the stomach flu hit me hard this weekend, and let's just say I have a lot of catching up to do with General Conference. 

But on a much happier note, this entire week Jon had a break from classes!

Which means...

Movies until I recover

Recent ownership of 17 Miracles 

Two tickets to explore the Timp caves

Laughing at how crazy we both are

Chocolate covered cinnamon bears

One stop to Cabellas

Banana walnut waffles

Spanish Fork hot pots

A scenic drive through the Alpine Loop

and quality time with my best friend. 

Life is good. 

Summer Standstills

Life is hard and that's the plain ol' truth. In fact, especially lately for the little Rach (yes I tend to refer to myself in third person when the situation calls for it) one event after another lately has felt like a major blow. The only thing keeping me standing is the strength of my greatest accomplishment - my husband. And the gospel of Jesus Christ of course. Thank you President Uchtdorf, for saying exactly what the women of the church needed to hear.

So rather than listing those recent major blows, I would think listing my standstill moments of the past few months should be a very wise thing to do. After all, "When upon life's billows you are tempest-tossed...count your many blessings." Here is what I will try to focus on.

First off, the Ditto family reunion in Washington last July. I taught a little Hula dance for our Luau, particularly focusing on those little girlies in the front. I gave them extra motivation to shake their hips and it was adorable. Furthermore, the men did a portion of the Haka which I love love love. All of this accompanied with traditional Luau pork and rice = my taste of Hawaii Standstill Moment.

Next, summer standstills at Bear Lake. Boating is always a remedy for the soul, especially because it gives Jon and I memories of the day we met.

 He might kill me for posting this. And for the record, he was way too shy to do anything like this on the day we met. I just asked him to flex because quite frankly, I love me a man at the grill. Hopefully he doesn't ever glance at this blog post. ;-)

We were just grateful to have a week or two that actually felt like summer. Making plans to move across the nation, following through with those plans and taking the trek, searching frantically for a job and a place to live for three days in Columbus, and then getting back in the car just to drive all the way back to Utah sort of distracted me from remembering that it was summer - my all time favorite season of the year. Luckily we squeezed a little vacation time in there somewhere.

And in conclusion, proof that things just don't turn out the way you expect them to. Have a good laugh at this!

Meet me in St. Louey!

Let it be agreed. One of our happiest memories will forever be that trip to St. Louis on the way back west. Again, just a few snippits of that phone call the night before that would change our future.

Columbus, OH Thursday @ 5:00 pm

Dean Hernandez: "If we were to have a spot for you at BYU, would you be interested in taking it?"

Jon: "Well I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested. Now are we speaking hypothetically or...?"

Dean Hernandez: "Where are you now?"

Jon: "We are in Columbus, Ohio."

Dean: "Have you signed any contracts yet?"

Jon: "No, we haven't actually."

Dean: "So what would be your response if that spot opened up for you? We can't offer it to you unless we know you are committed."

Jon: "I would say I'd like to go to the temple with my wife and let you know as soon as possible."

Friday @ 4:30pm, eastern coast time (Dean told us he would call at 10:00am his time, and took the rest of the day to get back to us. Poor Jon was sweating bullets all day.)

Dean: "So are you ready to jump in the car and head back to Utah?"

Jon: "We are all packed up and ready to go. I would love this opportunity."

We drove to St. Louis that night. And this is why.

That's right. The legendary Dan Ditto is dating someone. He is beaming ever since he met her, as are the rest of us. Seeing the love in their eyes is what makes this world go round. 

Meet Alicia. The perfect fit of a woman for my brother-in-law. And already a kindred spirit of mine. I feel like I would be close friends with her even if she wasn't dating Dan and making him so deliriously happy. Seriously, she is solid and you can see it in their faces: these two are crazy in love. Of course they met after the fact that Dan had already decided to go to law school outside of Utah. :-( But we are all crossing our fingers. Anyways, Alicia drove out to St. Louis with Dan to help him get all situated for grad school, and naturally Jon wanted to see his brother's university and say hello along our way home. (What on EARTH is it with the Dittos and law school, anyway? ;-)

 That is the arch behind us in downtown St. Louey.

 Our angel shot. We're so righteous!

 Magnum bars, our treat. After realizing how much debt we were saving, the joke for the week was "We're rich!!!" 

Yeah that feeling didn't last too long...

But even more importantly, these two people are certainly some of my faves to play with. We are already planning our vacation to Italy in a few years. It has to happen, people. Dan served his mission there and will be our personal tour guide. Hopefully! Fingers crossed again.

 On our trek back to good ol' Utah. 

We secretly wanted to stalk Sam Ditto, who is currently serving a mission in the ghetto of St. Louis. We'll just leave that up to Dan I suppose.