May in Review
May 1 was the day Matthew and I were going to get to be together for the first time in 12 days. Even a five day quarantine may not have been the safest. But he came over super early in the morning because he was so eager to see me. I didn't object. It was a happy reunion. That was a normal work day, and I picked up groceries, Megaplex popcorn, and headed home to pack my car. At 4:45pm, we got on the road to St. George. We picked up Chick Fil A first, and got in to St. George at 8:50pm.
Saturday, May 2, we got out the door around 11, grabbed some Starbucks, and headed to the Dino Cliffs trail head. It was an interesting hike and was fun to get out and do something different. After that, we headed to Tropical Smoothie Cafe. That was a little bit ridiculous. I don't know if they were understaffed or what. We were literally in that drive thru line for probably 40 minutes. I just wanted a protein shake that I didn't make. Holy crap. We got home, and I spent time on the phone with the security company to fix the video camera. Then we spent some time at the pool. I got a text from Kristen who was also in St. George, telling me to go get a Volcano pie from Veyo, 20 minutes away. We did that and put the pies in the fridge while we went to eat dinner. We ate at Larsen's Frostop. It was fun to do an old school drive-in food situation. That night we just watched some TV and ate our dessert.
Sunday, we did some laundry and got breakfast. It was our first dine-in experience since the shut down, and we ate at First Watch. It was a good experience with decent food. We hit the road at 11:15am, stopping in Fillmore to swap seats, and in Nephi for a little bit of gas. Matthew helped me unload, and headed to his cousin's house for a birthday party. I did my normal Sunday things: a walk, a stretch session, ate, and watched This is Us.
Overall, it was a really, really fun weekend. I don't get how driving can be so tiring, but it was worth it to have some time with just Matthew and not be thinking about other things I "should" be doing. And thankfully my roommates fed Max and my fish while I was gone.
Monday was back to work. I donated plasma for the first time in a long time. And that evening, I went out to West Valley to have Waffle Love with Brittney. It was also May the 4th. I sent Matthew a Mandalorian t-shirt to celebrate the day, but even though I ordered it on Thursday, it wouldn't arrive until May 9. So I sent him an email with a picture to let him know what's coming.
Tuesday, May 5, Matthew and I hung out at my house for the first time in over two weeks! So crazy. We ate El Pollo Loco and watched Mrs. Maisel.
Wednesday, I drove up to Heber to have dinner with Rachel, who I hadn't seen since my birthday! It was fun to hang and talk with her and was worth the two hours of driving.
May 7, Matthew brought me the new coconut cookie from Chip. I made us chicken tikka massala for dinner, and mushy rice (oops). We went on a walk and watched Mrs. Maisel.
On May 8 my old roommate Mariah left me some protein on my doorstep, so that was super nice!
Saturday, May 9, Matthew came over. We stopped at Sam's Club for him briefly, and then drove downtown to Chile Tepin. We had never eaten there before. It was so, so good! We had a good talk at dinner, too. I love talks where I feel like I have a better understanding of this person I'm doing life with. After dinner, we drove up to see the McCune mansion, and then drove over to the cemetery to see the Lillian Gray headstone "Victim of the Beast 666." It's always creeped me out, even though the story itself really isn't that scary. We also saw the headstone for Porter Rockwell.
After dinner, we tried to go to Rockwell ice cream in Sugar House, but it was closed. So we drove a mile backward and had Spilled Milk soft serve. It was so good, but I ate too much. We stopped at O'Reilly for Matthew and went back to my place and watched Mrs. Maisel.
Sunday, May 10 was Mother's Day. I did my normal stuff but also sewed a button on a jumper, and made new laundry detergent. I got to see Matthew for about three minutes. He stopped by to say bye to me before heading to Zion for a few days. It's a small gesture, and a little inconvenient for him (because I know he wanted to hit the road), but it meant a lot to me that he did that. That afternoon, I went to my grandma's house and took my mom and grandma a card. I got my mom Crave cookies and flowers as well, plus brought her some tooth powder and laundry detergent.
May 11 was a standard day with a workout, plasma donation, work, dinner, and This is Us.
Tuesday, May 12 I picked up my at home taste test kit for a Chocolate Taste Off which I did with my mom. I cooked us dinner: chicken coconut korma with rice and naan. We went on a walk since I live by Historic Sandy. My mom likes to look at the old homes. Then we came home and did our taste off. I liked Chocolate Cottage the best. Mom liked the Chocolate Palette.
Wednesday, May 13 was Matthew's first day of work at Alpine! He got to start several days early, which was so exciting. We got dinner at Mint Tapas and Sushi.
Thursday, I had dinner with my friend Brianne who lives in Colorado. We ate at Mo Bettahs and had a nice chat as we do every year. Hopefully I get to see her again in July. It was also my brother Jake's 26th birthday! I also got myself some Roll With It ice cream after dinner and took it home to watch This is Us.
May 15 I got a really good time on my morning run (based on my recent averages, it was a good time), and had a quiet day at work. Matthew and I went to Slackwater Pizza for dinner and watched Mrs. Maisel.
Saturday, May 16 was a pretty standard day (workout, laundry, groceries, cleaning), and Matthew came over a little before 5. We got JCW and ate at a park near Jordan River Parkway. It was so nice out, and we got to watch three cute little puppies playing. We drove out to Nielsen's for custard, but the line was absurd like we've never seen. So we got Culver's, picked up The Kitchen at Redbox, and came home and watched that and an episode of Mrs. Maisel. I am so grateful we enjoy each other's company.
May 17, I picked up some Donut Boy donuts and spent 40 minutes on the phone with my 90-year old childhood nanny while I walked. I did my stretches and watched "church" on Zoom. We even had a musical number. The first two talks were about ministering. I loved the second talk especially, about listening because everyone in our path is silently saying "help me, help me, help me." I loved that.
Monday, May 18, I got to have dinner with Kristine at Mo Bettah's. It was fun to get to see her and talk to her. She empathized with some concerns and worries on my heart, and it was exactly what I needed. After dinner, I went over to Matthew's, and we watched Mrs. Maisel.
May 19, I got dinner at Zupas with Mariah, who I lived with from 2014-2015. It was fun to chat with her, hear about her life, and give her all the credit for what she sacrifices as an army wife and mom.
Wednesday, May 20, Matthew and I had Vessel Kitchen for dinner. I had to do a social media post but forgot, so I got a photo with chicken carcass in a to go plate.
Thursday, May 21, I left work a little early to pick up a kit for this paint night at home. Matthew and I had fun. I was self-critical most of the time, and I'm not terribly happy with the water at the bottom, or my rocks. Even my castle doesn't look great. But I'm happy we did it, and we had fun.
Friday, May 22, I took the day off work. I did a workout, stretched, went to a wax appointment, took Mr. Charlie's to Matthew's work and had lunch with him, got a Sodalicious, went and visited my mom and grandma, and came home and watched my show. If the world were "normal," I'd have gone to the movies and gotten a massage. Alas, my activities on days off are limited.
Saturday was a pretty standard day except that I got to go back to Orange Theory! Thankfully I didn't have to wear a mask once I got there and the turnout was low. I picked up some Duck Donuts for myself and ended up only eating one that day and only three out of the six total. Sad to waste those delicious things. Also, we went out to Macaroni Grill for dinner and got churros for dessert.
Sunday, May 24, we went on a hike. We got up to Mill D Trail up Big Cottonwood and started our hike at 10am. The first ten minutes were much steeper than we were prepared for (amateur hikers here). And the last 65% of the trail was muddy and snowy. Matthew had terrible shoes on for the hike, and mine would have been fine if it had not been snowy. But when we got to Dog Lake after about two hours, it snowed the last several minutes. It was freezing. We ate at the lake and took some pictures. My left hand got Raynaud's, so that stunk. We got back to the car at 2:15. We got Wienerschnitzel for a late lunch, came home and showered, watched a show and a movie, and Matthew left around 7. I watched my show.
Memorial Day, I had a good workout, donated plasma, got some Crumbl, stopped at Smith's, and made cupcakes (box mix, but frosting was from scratch). I also got to Face Time my cute dad. We went to my grandma's at 4 and helped set up a little bit. We ate way too much, but came home and watched the first episode of Upload.
Tuesday, May 26, we went to Maize Tacos downtown. I had a chicken burrito, and Matthew got three tacos. My burrito was So good, and Matthew was super happy with his tacos too.
May 27, I spent a little time updating my finances to track progress. In the last 3.5 years, I've saved almost $15,000 more than I had before. And I've paid down my mortgages almost $15,000. I'm proud of my progress in both directions. I also got dinner with my friend Amber down at Mo Bettah's in Lehi. It was her first time eating out since all the crap hit the fan. And I got a beauty box from Wal-Mart, so that was fun to come home to. I watched This is Us and went to bed early due to allergy struggles.
Thursday, May 28, I got lunch at Village Baker with Natalie. That evening, Matthew and I celebrated National Burger Day by getting food at Hires. I was working on fries and onion rings, then went to take a bite of my burger and realized that Matthew had mistakenly eaten half of mine. How he did that, I don't know, since I specifically ordered bacon and grilled onions, and he specifically ordered a double patty burger. I was pretty annoyed because I was starving, and I obviously wanted what I ordered, not what he ordered. He felt really bad though. I forgave him, but I'll probably just give him a really hard time about it for the rest of our lives. It's fine, he's prepared for it. We watched Upload on Amazon Prime.
Saturday, May 2, we got out the door around 11, grabbed some Starbucks, and headed to the Dino Cliffs trail head. It was an interesting hike and was fun to get out and do something different. After that, we headed to Tropical Smoothie Cafe. That was a little bit ridiculous. I don't know if they were understaffed or what. We were literally in that drive thru line for probably 40 minutes. I just wanted a protein shake that I didn't make. Holy crap. We got home, and I spent time on the phone with the security company to fix the video camera. Then we spent some time at the pool. I got a text from Kristen who was also in St. George, telling me to go get a Volcano pie from Veyo, 20 minutes away. We did that and put the pies in the fridge while we went to eat dinner. We ate at Larsen's Frostop. It was fun to do an old school drive-in food situation. That night we just watched some TV and ate our dessert.
Sunday, we did some laundry and got breakfast. It was our first dine-in experience since the shut down, and we ate at First Watch. It was a good experience with decent food. We hit the road at 11:15am, stopping in Fillmore to swap seats, and in Nephi for a little bit of gas. Matthew helped me unload, and headed to his cousin's house for a birthday party. I did my normal Sunday things: a walk, a stretch session, ate, and watched This is Us.
Overall, it was a really, really fun weekend. I don't get how driving can be so tiring, but it was worth it to have some time with just Matthew and not be thinking about other things I "should" be doing. And thankfully my roommates fed Max and my fish while I was gone.
Monday was back to work. I donated plasma for the first time in a long time. And that evening, I went out to West Valley to have Waffle Love with Brittney. It was also May the 4th. I sent Matthew a Mandalorian t-shirt to celebrate the day, but even though I ordered it on Thursday, it wouldn't arrive until May 9. So I sent him an email with a picture to let him know what's coming.
Tuesday, May 5, Matthew and I hung out at my house for the first time in over two weeks! So crazy. We ate El Pollo Loco and watched Mrs. Maisel.
Wednesday, I drove up to Heber to have dinner with Rachel, who I hadn't seen since my birthday! It was fun to hang and talk with her and was worth the two hours of driving.
May 7, Matthew brought me the new coconut cookie from Chip. I made us chicken tikka massala for dinner, and mushy rice (oops). We went on a walk and watched Mrs. Maisel.
On May 8 my old roommate Mariah left me some protein on my doorstep, so that was super nice!
Saturday, May 9, Matthew came over. We stopped at Sam's Club for him briefly, and then drove downtown to Chile Tepin. We had never eaten there before. It was so, so good! We had a good talk at dinner, too. I love talks where I feel like I have a better understanding of this person I'm doing life with. After dinner, we drove up to see the McCune mansion, and then drove over to the cemetery to see the Lillian Gray headstone "Victim of the Beast 666." It's always creeped me out, even though the story itself really isn't that scary. We also saw the headstone for Porter Rockwell.
After dinner, we tried to go to Rockwell ice cream in Sugar House, but it was closed. So we drove a mile backward and had Spilled Milk soft serve. It was so good, but I ate too much. We stopped at O'Reilly for Matthew and went back to my place and watched Mrs. Maisel.
Sunday, May 10 was Mother's Day. I did my normal stuff but also sewed a button on a jumper, and made new laundry detergent. I got to see Matthew for about three minutes. He stopped by to say bye to me before heading to Zion for a few days. It's a small gesture, and a little inconvenient for him (because I know he wanted to hit the road), but it meant a lot to me that he did that. That afternoon, I went to my grandma's house and took my mom and grandma a card. I got my mom Crave cookies and flowers as well, plus brought her some tooth powder and laundry detergent.
May 11 was a standard day with a workout, plasma donation, work, dinner, and This is Us.
Tuesday, May 12 I picked up my at home taste test kit for a Chocolate Taste Off which I did with my mom. I cooked us dinner: chicken coconut korma with rice and naan. We went on a walk since I live by Historic Sandy. My mom likes to look at the old homes. Then we came home and did our taste off. I liked Chocolate Cottage the best. Mom liked the Chocolate Palette.
Wednesday, May 13 was Matthew's first day of work at Alpine! He got to start several days early, which was so exciting. We got dinner at Mint Tapas and Sushi.
Thursday, I had dinner with my friend Brianne who lives in Colorado. We ate at Mo Bettahs and had a nice chat as we do every year. Hopefully I get to see her again in July. It was also my brother Jake's 26th birthday! I also got myself some Roll With It ice cream after dinner and took it home to watch This is Us.
May 15 I got a really good time on my morning run (based on my recent averages, it was a good time), and had a quiet day at work. Matthew and I went to Slackwater Pizza for dinner and watched Mrs. Maisel.
Saturday, May 16 was a pretty standard day (workout, laundry, groceries, cleaning), and Matthew came over a little before 5. We got JCW and ate at a park near Jordan River Parkway. It was so nice out, and we got to watch three cute little puppies playing. We drove out to Nielsen's for custard, but the line was absurd like we've never seen. So we got Culver's, picked up The Kitchen at Redbox, and came home and watched that and an episode of Mrs. Maisel. I am so grateful we enjoy each other's company.
May 17, I picked up some Donut Boy donuts and spent 40 minutes on the phone with my 90-year old childhood nanny while I walked. I did my stretches and watched "church" on Zoom. We even had a musical number. The first two talks were about ministering. I loved the second talk especially, about listening because everyone in our path is silently saying "help me, help me, help me." I loved that.
Monday, May 18, I got to have dinner with Kristine at Mo Bettah's. It was fun to get to see her and talk to her. She empathized with some concerns and worries on my heart, and it was exactly what I needed. After dinner, I went over to Matthew's, and we watched Mrs. Maisel.
May 19, I got dinner at Zupas with Mariah, who I lived with from 2014-2015. It was fun to chat with her, hear about her life, and give her all the credit for what she sacrifices as an army wife and mom.
Wednesday, May 20, Matthew and I had Vessel Kitchen for dinner. I had to do a social media post but forgot, so I got a photo with chicken carcass in a to go plate.
Thursday, May 21, I left work a little early to pick up a kit for this paint night at home. Matthew and I had fun. I was self-critical most of the time, and I'm not terribly happy with the water at the bottom, or my rocks. Even my castle doesn't look great. But I'm happy we did it, and we had fun.
Friday, May 22, I took the day off work. I did a workout, stretched, went to a wax appointment, took Mr. Charlie's to Matthew's work and had lunch with him, got a Sodalicious, went and visited my mom and grandma, and came home and watched my show. If the world were "normal," I'd have gone to the movies and gotten a massage. Alas, my activities on days off are limited.
Saturday was a pretty standard day except that I got to go back to Orange Theory! Thankfully I didn't have to wear a mask once I got there and the turnout was low. I picked up some Duck Donuts for myself and ended up only eating one that day and only three out of the six total. Sad to waste those delicious things. Also, we went out to Macaroni Grill for dinner and got churros for dessert.
Sunday, May 24, we went on a hike. We got up to Mill D Trail up Big Cottonwood and started our hike at 10am. The first ten minutes were much steeper than we were prepared for (amateur hikers here). And the last 65% of the trail was muddy and snowy. Matthew had terrible shoes on for the hike, and mine would have been fine if it had not been snowy. But when we got to Dog Lake after about two hours, it snowed the last several minutes. It was freezing. We ate at the lake and took some pictures. My left hand got Raynaud's, so that stunk. We got back to the car at 2:15. We got Wienerschnitzel for a late lunch, came home and showered, watched a show and a movie, and Matthew left around 7. I watched my show.
Memorial Day, I had a good workout, donated plasma, got some Crumbl, stopped at Smith's, and made cupcakes (box mix, but frosting was from scratch). I also got to Face Time my cute dad. We went to my grandma's at 4 and helped set up a little bit. We ate way too much, but came home and watched the first episode of Upload.
Tuesday, May 26, we went to Maize Tacos downtown. I had a chicken burrito, and Matthew got three tacos. My burrito was So good, and Matthew was super happy with his tacos too.
May 27, I spent a little time updating my finances to track progress. In the last 3.5 years, I've saved almost $15,000 more than I had before. And I've paid down my mortgages almost $15,000. I'm proud of my progress in both directions. I also got dinner with my friend Amber down at Mo Bettah's in Lehi. It was her first time eating out since all the crap hit the fan. And I got a beauty box from Wal-Mart, so that was fun to come home to. I watched This is Us and went to bed early due to allergy struggles.
Thursday, May 28, I got lunch at Village Baker with Natalie. That evening, Matthew and I celebrated National Burger Day by getting food at Hires. I was working on fries and onion rings, then went to take a bite of my burger and realized that Matthew had mistakenly eaten half of mine. How he did that, I don't know, since I specifically ordered bacon and grilled onions, and he specifically ordered a double patty burger. I was pretty annoyed because I was starving, and I obviously wanted what I ordered, not what he ordered. He felt really bad though. I forgave him, but I'll probably just give him a really hard time about it for the rest of our lives. It's fine, he's prepared for it. We watched Upload on Amazon Prime.
Friday, May 29 we had date night at Pizzeria Tazzo and Waffle Love. We finished watching Upload.
May 30, I did my normal stuff early in the day, and then I went to the pool!
We had planned to go that evening with Matthew's cousins to a sushi place downtown called Sapa. But with the riots, Matthew and I didn't feel comfortable doing that. So we went just the two of us to Mint Sushi in Sandy (again) which was amazing (again). And we picked up ice cream at Harmon's for later, and ran into someone from Glendora in the parking lot. That night, we hung out at Matthew's cousin's house in Cottonwood Heights. It was fun to meet some of his friends. I accidentally forgot my cell phone at their house, so we had to go back after getting home. Oops.
Sunday, May 31, I went on a hike up to the Living Room, stretched at home, watched church on Zoom, and went to the pool. Matthew joined me. We ate some food and watched The Umbrella Academy.
I'm excited to have a good tan going.
Other thoughts about this month: Allergy struggles have made breathing hard, making me feel very tired. I have had a lot of stuffy noses, and would really like the mucus in my face to go away. Thankfully I have an appointment on June 8. I've been doing a saline nose wash every day and hope it starts to help.
Other thoughts about this month: Allergy struggles have made breathing hard, making me feel very tired. I have had a lot of stuffy noses, and would really like the mucus in my face to go away. Thankfully I have an appointment on June 8. I've been doing a saline nose wash every day and hope it starts to help.
I feel all the tensions of the race issues currently as well as all the COVID stuff still lingering. I have generally held up OK, but have some moments where I feel really overwhelmed by all of it. I mostly just wish people would try to find common ground and spread love; you can't change minds with anger and name calling. I've added some books to my "to read" list to take steps toward becoming an antiracist.
I'm feeling incredibly lucky as I look at my calendar and see how many different friends I got together with this month (Brittney, Rachel, Brianne, Kristine, Mariah, Amber, and Natalie). I don't know if other women have so many other solid women in their lives. But I am grateful I have such a good and inspiring support system.
I'm also gearing up to look at my "new year's resolutions" to see how I'm doing on them since we're almost half way through the year!
Books I read in May:
Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell (audiobook)
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (audiobook)
Swearing is Good For You by Emma Byrne (audiobook)
Books I read in May:
Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell (audiobook)
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (audiobook)
Swearing is Good For You by Emma Byrne (audiobook)
Almost done with We Bought a Zoo by Benjamin Mee
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