bruxelles

Il va a Bruxelles!

Ben's call: Brussels, Belgium/Netherlands

French speaking

So excited to speak more Francais!

mission call!

today ben portwood

aka rowland benjamin

the youngest of the portwood tribe

has received a mission call

it won't be open until later this evening

where will he go?

take a stab at it

leave a comment

if you win, i will seriously send you

a small gift

if you're wondering where the rest of us went:

ivy: croatia

ryan: panama

robert: ukraine

richard: paraguay

katie: university of utah (j/k she wasn't interested)

ben: ... you tell me!

my guess: finland

just cause i'm quite sure my mom

would like that immensely

thanksgiving

this two-a day blog thing is ridiculous

but i'm trying to solve a problem

where to go for thanksgiving

my entire friend group will be gone

or with others

so what do i do?

where do i go?

Here's the dream:

family takes a trip to the beach

i join

or

friends take a cruise

i join

it's simply never that easy:)

spin

photo courtesy of Wellbridge Athletic Club

so yesterday i taught my first spin class

i've been "in training" for a few weeks

shadowing the pros

after certifying a few weeks ago

the class is full of my friends

a nice way to experience

a very intense workout!

yesterday was a big day for another reason

hilary, my dearest friend

of dance your a** off fame

(yep, she won it)

had baby boy Zwahlen

around 5:47 am

i can't wait to go spend a weekend

as aunty ivy

AND

yesterday i built my very own

72 hr emergency kit

the beauty of the LDS Church

all about preparedness

we built them for

family home evening

a very nice monday night tradition

even when your family

is many miles away

my favorite kid

my favorite 2 yr old

we've been friends as long as he's been around

his mom is one of the reasons I like Dell

his "hey baby" face

his "i like you" face

...

as expected,

here's how the day looks now

from the office

today in Austin

it's supposed to clear up

and shine on us to the tune of 78 degrees

but for now

mystic morning!

I'll post the change later:)

Things that make you go hmmmm

This may be inappropriate to blog about but I'm going to make the call that without graphic description, it's just plain funny. I live in a lovely apartment building. My roommate and I have a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment that looks out on the gradiose pool (seriously, it's sprawling with volleyball net, swim lanes, a shallow end, fountains that flow into it, and a 15 ft high columned piece from which water cascades - if that makes no sense just picture "over the top").
All of that is slightly irrelevant to the fact that my room is on one side of the house and directly below the bedroom of someone else who obviously lives upstairs. I've probably never even seen these people before but I have definitely heard them. It's one of those ridiculous things that you never really expect to experience - a very squeeky bed frame + some very very loud and physical people above you. I'll stop after telling you that while trying to read some articles, including one in the Ensign, "it" happened three times. I could do nothing but laugh out loud.

In other news, when NPR started calling CNN a down-the-middle media organization, I had to turn it off. I love the book reviews; I love the glimpses into the lives of people around the world; I love Prairie Home Companion and Car Talk and Wait Wait Don't Tell Me... but I don't like slanted politics.

I'll close with the fact that Austin is 70-80 degrees every day. If luck hands me the right house soon, it'll be time for everyone to come visit!

merci

a generous serving of thanks to my family and friends

that believed and loved and pushed and prodded

throughout my life

it has given me the gusto

to stay persistent in things that took time

...
but were very worthwhile

an idea

i think this may be a very rewarding fix up job

but is it haunted?
and how many roommates would i need
to feel like the house wasn't empty?