We LOVE Visitors!!!

Burke and I had a wonderful weekend+ with his mom, dad, and little sister who came to visit from Wisconsin while on Spring Break. It was so so fun to see them and so nice to have them here. Here's a little recap.

On Friday afternoon Burke and I drove up to Gettysburg, PA, where Burke's fam was staying the night also. The next morning we went to the Visitor's Center and watched a lovely video about the Battle of Gettysburg and then we had an awesome bus tour of the battlefield. It was neat cause you could actually get a feel for what happened there. It made me pretty sad though.


In the afternoon we drove back to our place (it's about 4 hours). We hung out here for a bit, and then we drove down to Virginia Beach. That was my first peek at Chix Beach. From what I could tell (it was night), that's a dang nice beach! Ours is nice, but it doesn't quite have the white sand and big waves of VA Beach.

On Sunday and Monday night Burke's fam stayed in a big downtown hotel with a gorgeous view. We walked down to the Battleship Wisconsin which is berthed right there downtown. The museum was closed but it was still neat to see it. (I like that it's called Wisconsin... of course they had to go see it.)


On Monday after I got out of my morning class we all drove up to Colonial Williamsburg. Burke's Mom hadn't realized how close it was to where we lived but she had always wanted to see it. We didn't buy the outrageous tickets but we just walked around the town to see what we could see. The weather cleared up and warmed up so it was a really nice afternoon. It's a beautiful place! We were too late to see Jamestown and Yorktown, but it's neat to realize how much history was right here in this area.

The Governor's Mansion in Colonial Williamsburg

Monday night they topped off their vacation with a visit to AW Shucks. Actually, they were too busy and too small to seat us, so we got our food to-go. It was worth it though. My friend had recommended it as a great place for seafood, and oh-my-goodness it was awesome! I've never been a big seafood person, but I'm trying to get past that and try stuff. I loved my crabcake sandwich and everything else I tried! (Except the hushpuppies, but that's just me... not a big fan in general.)

Norfolk has mermaids all over it. I guess it's like the symbol of the city. They are on all of the neighborhood signs, on top of flag posts, decorating all sorts of buildings--everywhere. I finally read, in the tourist magazine from their hotel, that over 100 10-foot mermaids were made by various sculptors and sold at auction as a fundraiser. They call it "Mermaids on Parade."
Burke's family headed back to Wisconsin yesterday morning. We loved their visit, and hope that they did too! After they came I actually found that I like this city more than I thought I did. I have a lot of complaints, but it's neat in a lot of ways too. Their visit gave us an excuse to do some more exploring that we haven't gotten around to yet.

So basically what I'm trying to say is if you come and visit us we'll show you a good time. (If we can get out of school and work....)

Thanks Kathy, Curtis, and Bonnie for coming so far! (And thanks to you too, Ryan and Kaylynn, for your visit!) We LOVE visitors!!!

Three things we love

Here are three of life's little joys that have been getting us through the day lately:

Jake Shimabukuro


Burke introduced me to this ukulele-playing master a long time ago, and recently I have rediscovered his genius through Pandora. My Jake station is my most used study music, selecting from instrumental-only albums (all uke and acoustic guitar) with feel-good titles like "Everything Under The Sun," "Not All Who Wander Are Lost," and "Good Day Sunshine." For a while there I would write down song titles I wanted to buy on i-tunes, but they just kept coming! So usually I just listen to Pandora, and love every minute. I'm pretty sure I've never "thumbs-downed" any song that came up, which is a pretty good record if you ask me. I love that Burke introduced me to this music that makes my heart happy. Some of our favorites are Jake's "Crazy G (live)," his "Beat of My Heart," "Be Still My Soul" by Paul Johnson, and "Canon" by Trace Bundy (thanks to Clark!).


Rodney Yee


I was talking to one of my friends at school about yoga and she recommended some videos by Rodney Yee. I went right home and bought two on Amazon, cause I was so anxious to do yoga again and certainly couldn't afford the classes. I started doing AM Yoga, 20 minute sessions "for every day of the week." OK, besides studying the scriptures and praying, I can't think of any better way to start the day. They are lovely. I also got a steal on Rodney's "Power Yoga Collection," which has 3 hour-long sessions. I don't do these as often but when I do I get nice and sore. But I love them.

And the best part is, Burke started doing it with me and now he loves Rodney too. He's so excited about how much improvement he's already seeing in his flexibility!


Blue Bunny Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Ok it was actually kind of a fluke that we bought this specific ice cream (we usually only buy generic brand!!) and it didn't even last a week, but really it's an almost nightly dose of ice cream in general that's been getting us through. However, mint chocolate chip IS my favorite flavor, and Blue Bunny IS the most delicious brand of it I think I've ever tried. Dee-vine. Really.


Whatever it takes to get you through the day!

Burke's Bakilas

In Burke's 2nd to last semester at BYU he was in a Marketing class. In one of his projects he and his group analyzed the marketing of Vibram Five Fingers. As the researched the product and how it could be marketed, Burke became a believer...and he has wanted a pair of toe-pocket "shoes" ever since.

As a Christmas gift my parents gave him a gift card for a sporting goods store so he could get some if he wanted. Unfortunately, he's got some pretty big feet, and when we went they did not have his size in the style that he thought he wanted. After much patient waiting, Burke bought his Bakilas (the style he wanted) on Friday night.


He was not crazy about the color ("They're blue polka dots! They'll draw more attention!") but he decided to do it anyway rather than wait and see if they got anything else in in their next shipment (whenever that might be!). If I remember correctly, Burke's group determined that one of the major barriers to this product was it's appearance....people think they look weird. But Burke's trying not to let that stop him. He wore them while we ran errands yesterday.

With jeans...

He also wore them running yesterday morning, and he LOVED it. Now all my selfless husband can think about is getting some for me. :)