14 Days Above 90 Degrees

I heard on the radio that Denver has had 14 consecutive days above 90 degrees. It must be unusual because everyone is talking about it. From the weather reports it looks like we are in for more.

Okay, not that I would know the outside temperature since the only time I'm outside is the crack of dawn when I walk into the office and later in the evening when I walk out of it. The good news is my election judge training program is going so well. People are happy and even though I'm getting tired of listening to my own jokes, I love training people. The election is in 2 weeks and so far I've only had one major meltdown at work. Let's hope we can keep it to just one!

And the big news is that my capstone paper and project were cleared with minor changes and I am going to graduate on August 15. I really thought it would never happen but everything came together. Mom and grandma are coming to cheer me on and I will be so excited to see them. I love having house guests. I am trying to figure out what I'm going to worry about next and what I'll do with all my free time.

Travel + Leisure???

Does anyone subscribe to this magazine? I do, but really I don't. I got a free subscription when I renewed my subscription to the Denver Post. It was either this, Golf Digest or Food and Wine so I thought Travel + Leisure might be a magazine that I could actually read. What this magazine does is remind me of trips I will never take, luxury airliners I'll never fly, and five star hotels I'll never stay in.

Their August 2008 issue included a list of the top 10 best cities in Europe to visit. Those of you who know me know that I have been to Europe many, many times. I just go to the weird places that no one has ever heard of. Here are T+L's top 10 European cities (and we might as well call this list "cities that Amy will never go to.")

1. Florence
2. Rome
3. Istanbul
4. Paris
5. Krakow
6. Prague
7. Venice
8. Barcelona
9. Vienna (I stand corrected--I did have a layover in the airport here once.)
10. Salzburg

I decided to put together my top 10 European cities. I wouldn't necessarily recommend them as tourist destinations, but hey, I like them for sentimental reasons.

1. Riga, Latvia. Okay I WOULD recommend this as a tourist destination.
2. Kukes, Albania. Stayed for 3 months and froze my butt off but it was very quaint and I enjoyed studying the behavior of many farm animals.
3. Kiev, Ukraine. Yeah, I would recommend Kiev too.
4. Prizren, Kosovo. The fully-stocked grocery stores and bakeries saved me while I lived in Albania. Charming little city.
5. Stip, Macedonia. Centuries old Turkish and Roman ruins in the most random places.
6. Odessa, Ukraine. I have no idea what it is like now but 20 years ago I thought the beach on the Black Sea was cool.
7. Novosibirsk, Russia. Well, it's more Asia geographically but it's a fascinating Soviet city (and it's NOT Moscow).
8. Kutaisi, Georgia. Breathtaking mountains, monasteries aplenty, fabulous people.
9. Shkodra, Albania. Best pizza I've ever had!
10. Skopje, Macedonia. Loved the Turkish caravan stops, Albanian bazaar and Macedonian Orthodox churches. Fascinating cultural mix.

I would like to know from anyone out there, do you have a favorite European city that did not make the T+L list? If so please post the city and tell me why.

Kate is here!

I'm a bit late on the post but my niece Kate arrived on Tuesday, July 15. She came a few days past her due date but we are glad she is healthy and well (and that Melissa is too.) That makes 5 nephews and two nieces for proud Aunt Amy. It will be a few weeks until I can meet her.

The Sweet Rewards of Work

I have complained once or twice or twenty times on this blog about how NOT fun it has been to do this Masters project. I have been working on a model election judge training program for a year. It's interesting and it's what I love but it has been grueling. I have read dozens of books on training theory, I have done more research than I ever care to do again, and I have agonized over how to do this right.

Today I actually got to see the fruits of my labors. I started training election judges today with my model program and by all accounts, it seemed to be a hit. My bosses were happy, the judges were happy and I was surprisingly happy. It felt good to actually do it and know that this was the program I designed, developed and now implemented. Several of us at the county will now train so I passed off all the scripts to the trainers and they are all now trained to take it and run with it. It's hard to turn over my baby to others because it's been mine for so long. I think the sign of a good program is that the program is good enough that it can be turned over to anyone to present. Hopefully it will stand through all 55 classes or so that we have to teach.

I am collecting some data through post-class evaluations and I will continue to collect data on election day and after. The next hurdle in the training process is finding out if people actually learned something and if they can implement what they learned on election day. We will soon find out...For right now, I am going to breathe a sigh of relief that my strategies actually worked in a real, live classroom situation.

What I did today...in case anyone cares

I feel the need to justify the fact that I am overwhelmed just a tad. Here is a typical Saturday:

6:30 a.m. got up and got on my work email. Must clean it out when it's quiet. Also had employees working overtime today who needed questions answered.

7:50 a.m. off to Target for weekly grocery shopping. Must be there when it opens at 8:00 a.m. Stopped at the library to return books.

9:00 a.m. start cleaning the house and cooking dinner. The missionaries are coming at 5:00! Thank goodness for the Crockpot.

10:10 a.m. off to the gym for cardio and weights.

11:50 a.m. home to shower and get ready for the day

12:45 p.m. off to the salon to get a manicure and pedicure. Must keep toes looking fab for my hot dancing shoes. The color I picked looks like I spilled cranberry juice on my feet.

2:15 p.m. nap time! I deserved it after the week of 12 hour work days, one service project, 2 dance lessons, and two seminary meetings.

3:50 p.m. get up and finish cooking and cleaning before the missionaries arrive.

5:00 p.m. dinner with 4 elders. Think I convinced all of them to register to vote in their home states and vote absentee by citing 12th Article of Faith coupled with a guilt trip.

6:00 p.m. Elders leave and I clean up the mess. Dad called right after they left. Nice conversation was had.

7:00 p.m. work on Masters project (I have to start really training election judges on Monday with this project!) same as I do every Saturday night. In other words, NO SOCIAL LIFE FOR ME 'TIL THIS IS DONE. Had to turn down two offers from friends tonight and be disciplined.

11:20 p.m. I'm sick of working so I am blogging and going to bed (after brushing, flossing and scriptures).

July 4, 2008

So here we are, 20 years later after my reminiscing celebrating the 4th of July. I took a nice 3 day weekend trip home to Salt Lake to see the family. Melissa and Tony were (and as of this writing ARE still) expecting a baby. She is due today but I was hoping she'd come early so Aunt Amy could meet her but no such luck.

This is me and my Star Wars obsessed niece and nephews. I love these kids so much. I got to play with Mason, Ethan and Sagan on Saturday. We played Star Wars, of course. I was Princess Leia and Ethan pretended to do the Darth Vader choke on me so I fell down on the floor as if I had fainted. They continued to play with their light sabers (aka light SAVERS--we're working on that!) and after a few minutes of them ignoring me I asked, "What am I supposed to do now." Mason replied, "Why don't you stand up and shoot someone." Duh, Aunt Amy. Apparently I'm not very good at playing Star Wars.

I also played with Megan, Logan and Kimball. We played chase in their backyard but it was so hot we couldn't stand it for long. So we ended up inside playing Legos, which is what I used to do with my brother when he was little. Now I play Legos with his kids with his old Legos.

I also got to spend some time with Joel, Katy, Dave and Grandma Macey. I think I have the coolest family ever! As always it was a fast and fun weekend and I look forward to the next trip!

July 4, 1988

Here is an excerpt from my journal from 20 years ago. This was written in Moscow, Russia which was then the USSR.

"After lunch we went to this little tiny park which was about the size of our front yard. We lit sparklers, waved our flags, popped balloons, ate our melons and sang 'God Bless America' and 'The Star Spangled Banner.' It was a little celebration like this that made me appreciate something important like freedom."

Later that night we "waved our flags out the window and sang." We were probably on the 20th floor of the hotel and I remember leaning out the window and throwing candy up to the guys from our group who were on the floor above us. The stupid things you do when you are young...By acting so silly we caught the attention of 5 Bulgarian boys who were in the room next to us. I remember going over to their room and trying to communicate with them. We exchanged addresses and when I got home I wrote to all of them. Only one wrote me back--Ivan.

Ivan and I have kept in touch ever since. We have not met face-to-face since meeting 20 years ago in Moscow. We wrote letters, then emails, then instant messages. Ivan got married a year ago to his beautiful wife Nadya and they have a brand new daughter named Sofia (see photo).

Meeting Ivan and keeping in touch with him over the years has certainly been a great experience. We made an interesting cross-culture, long distance friendship. I got to hear about the fall of communism in Bulgaria, the building of democracy and ultimately EU membership through his eyes.

So happy anniversary Ivan! I hope we are still in touch 20 years from today!

Are Mormons Happy?

Someone not of my faith asked me this question this week. I have spent a lot of time thinking about it. Life is hard sometimes and I think we all have challenges and struggles. I also think there are happy and unhappy people in every religion.

However, I've been trying to pay attention this week to things that make me happy about being a Mormon. Here is my list for the week.

1. I am happy that people notice that there is something different about me. I was talking to another Mormon friend on Wednesday who said that we forget that the spirit we have really radiates and people are searching for that "light" that we sometimes take for granted.
2. I am happy that when I ran out of sugar yesterday I went to my food storage (that my church teaches us to have) and I had more sugar.
3. I am happy that when I go to church I have the opportunity to be corrected and can improve. Today we talked about the blessings of fasting and I realized that I needed to make a better effort.
4. I am happy for the opportunity to serve. Tonight I was asked to go sit with a sister who is extremely unhappy for a lot of reasons and I am happy for the hope that I have in the atonement of Jesus Christ.
5. Talking to and about my family makes me happy.

I went visiting teaching today (also makes me happy) and the message of why I'm happy came to a culmination in something Spencer W. Kimball said that was part of the lesson, "If we looked at mortality as the whole of existence, then pain, sorrow, failure, and short life would be calamity. But if we look upon life as an eternal thing stretching far into the premortal past and on into the eternal post-death future, then all happenings may be put in proper perspective." Perspective on life--where I'm going, why I'm here and where I came from makes me happy. Spoken much better by a prophet.

Since many of you who read this blog are also Mormon, how would you answer the question "Are Mormons happy?"

The Colorado Star Ball

Last night I went to the Colorado Star Ball with my friends from salsa. It was a ballroom dance competition for amateurs and professionals. Couples from all over the country competed in the American Smooth, American Rhythm, and Latin categories. (We weren't competing--just watching.)

I've never been to a real ballroom dance competition before; I've only seen them on t.v. It was incredible to watch some of these pros close up and thanks to Renee' we had great seats at table near the center of the dance floor. I'm convinced that the best thing about ballroom is not the actual dancing but it's the sequins, eye make up and hairstyles.

Here is a photo of me and my salsa friends. Renee' (the one with the curly hair) is my salsa teacher. The three of us are just a few of her "groupies."

June 15, 1988

Pardon me while I reminisce about June 15th twenty years ago...

This was the day I left for what was then known as the Soviet Union. I was a "student ambassador" selected to go on a peace mission to meet with students in the USSR and talk about how we could bring about peace between our two countries. Though the Cold War was kind of nearing the end with Gorbachev and Reagan meeting, it was not a place that Americans went to, certainly not 16 year old Americans.

I was so fortunate that my parents encouraged me to go and even paid for it. It was a trip that changed my life and set me on a course to study politics, Russian, and international relations. I had no idea at the time that my life would be so deeply affected by this trip. Since then I have made two trips back to Russia and several more trips to the former "Iron Curtain" countries. I love the people and I am amazed by their spirits.

Since this trip I have made many great friends because of my interest in that part of the world, I had a blast studying Russian at the University of Utah (even though I can't speak much anymore), and I gained a stronger testimony of the gospel along the way. While in the USSR we were able to have 2 sacrament meetings where I definitely felt the spirit in a communist country and came to understand God's love for all his children no matter where they live. It was a life changing experience at 16.

When I returned home I wrote this in my journal, "I will never take anything for granted again like clean water, clean hotels, the FDA, the Board of Health, air conditioning, soap, razors, washers and dryers, deodorant, money, tv's, radios, variety of food, shopping malls, and especially freedom."

Life 20 years after this experience is way better than anything I could have possibly dreamed and I am so grateful for the direction this gave me in my life.

So here is a photo of me in Red Square in 1988. I wish I still had those skinny legs!

I'm a Salsa Show-off

Last night I went to a church single adult dance. I usually don't go because I find them horrifying (to say the least) and about as socially productive as sitting in my apartment alone staring at the wall. Nevertheless, I went to support the people who were in charge because they are my friends.

I had pre-requested a salsa song because there is one guy I know who also knows how to salsa and we wanted to try dancing together. So, the dj thought she had fulfilled my request by playing a Latin pop mix of Shakira and Enrique Iglesias. Nice, but not salsa. So I went up to her and said, "I requested some REAL salsa music" and she explained that's what she had just played. I said, "No. I really am a salsa dancer and that was Latin pop." She was very confused as to why anyone would request salsa but she finally found something. I don't know how she could have been confused as I was standing there in my 3 inch silver sparkly ballroom shoes with suede bottoms. (Who's the freak at the church dance NOW? I mean really--who wears their ballroom shoes to a church dance? Uhh...I do.)

My friend and I danced and put on quite the little salsa show with some traditional salsa topped off by a cha cha. I must be attention starved because I enjoyed showing off for every second of those dances. I've been working hard for almost a year to be able to dance and it's time to start reaping the compliments. I had several people come up and ask where and how I learned. I gave out my name and email address and told people to let me know if they wanted to start learning and I would be happy to introduce them to the hobby. This is how I morphed from salsa show off to salsa ambassador at a single adult dance.

And despite my 3 inch heels and hip shaking, the night was as socially productive as sitting home alone staring at the wall.

Miss you, Grandpa

Today is the anniversary of D-Day, June 6, 1944. My grandpa Macey was a part of the D-Day invasion. He survived and made it up the beach. Several days later he was clearing land mines, stepped on one and his leg was blown off. He once said to me, "People always say to me, 'Boy, that's really too bad that you lost your leg' and I'd respond, 'I didn't LOSE my leg. I know exactly where it is. I just can't get to it.'" Grandpa always had the best sense of humor and he always had a positive attitude despite all his health problems.

We lost our hero 10 years ago and I know his children and grandchildren still miss him. I always think of him on the D-Day anniversary and I am so proud to be his granddaughter.

The photo above was taken in June of 1994 after my graduation from the University of Utah. Grandpa wasn't well enough to attend the ceremony so we went to see him afterwards.

Remembering Mr. Biggs

I am in Glenwood Springs, CO for an elections conference. Almost 3 years ago I was here doing a training with Kathryn when we were in a car accident at this intersection. We were going through a green light and one Wesley Biggs turned left into us and totalled the state vehicle we were driving. Because of my morbid sense of humor, I needed to take a photo on the median were I spent quite a bit of time for the cops, paramedics and paperwork.

Luckily Kathryn and I weren't hurt too badly but we also spent months dealing with workman's comp and physical therapy. The weird thing was that we were driving to this training class up I-70 through the Rocky Mountains in a blizzard and had to take a major detour through Breckinridge, even though we were trying to get to Grand Junction. We survived the hazardous road conditions and got hit going 20 mph in sunny weather.

Ahh...the memories!

All Hail Broke Loose

Last night I was out walking on the lovely trail behind my apartment complex when I got caught in a massive hail storm. Then my walk turned into a run.

It calmed down and then about 11:50 p.m. I was awakened from a deep sleep by what sounded like an attack on my apartment building. Oh don't worry...it was yet another hail storm. It was like little shards of glass were hitting my windows. Hard to go back to sleep after that!

Today I had to drive to Glenwood Springs for a meeting. What did we have to drive through? Another hail storm. Welcome to spring in Colorado.

Jet Lag is a Beautiful Thing!

I made it home on Saturday at about 2:00 p.m. The 10 hour flight from Munich to Denver was fabulous because no one was sitting next to me so I could sprawl out on my little 2-seat row. When I realized no one was sitting there I almost cried. Thank goodness for the little things because I was exhausted.

When I got home all I wanted to do was sleep. So now it's 1:40 a.m. on Sunday morning and I am ready for the day! I feel very productive right now cleaning, organizing and blogging. Hopefully I can go back to bed in a little while and try to resume my normal sleeping schedule.

Here are some random thoughts and photos on Georgia. I found Georgia to be a lovely and pleasant country. After having spent time in Albania, Georgia seems much more progressive, calm and stable (well, aside from the ethnic conflicts going on in parts of the country we weren't allowed to see, but that's another story). The people are lovely and hospitable. Conditions are generally good and it surprisingly did not have that "post-Soviet" feel to it. I can tell that the country is eager to westernize.

Georgia has been a Christian nation since before Christ was born. It's a very religious country and there are churches and monasteries dating back hundreds and hundreds of years. What treasures! This is the Bagrati Monastery that was built in the 11th century. It is currently being unearthed and restored (minus the ceiling).

Here you can see the icons they are restoring in the Gelati Monastery after the inside was white washed by the Bolsheviks.




Georgia has great food! I feel like I have been on an organic diet for a week. Everything we ate was fresh from the local gardens. They made wonderful salads with beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, fresh parsley, eggplant, etc. And they use walnuts in a lot of dishes. The meat was also fresh. And the cheese...oh the cheese! My favorite dish is khachapuri which is the national dish of Georgia. It is bread cooked with hard, salty cheese and it is fabulous. I have to say, though that I did get overloaded with the stuff. The last day at breakfast at my hotel the owner said, "Do you want khachapuri?" I said, "No thank you" and he brought me khachapuri anyway.

Happy cows! The cows in Georgia do not eat the trash like they did in Albania. These cows have plenty of grass and leaves to eat and it shows. They look strong and hearty and they taste good too. (My apologies to you vegetarians out there!)

These missions are always fun to make good friends from all over the world and re-acquaint with old friends from other missions I've been on. I was so glad to meet Bridget from Washington DC. She was my room mate, fellow tourist, and now a friend. I was also happy to see Lola from Spain who was an LTO with me in Albania last year.

Even though it was a difficult and tiring mission, it was a great experience. I am glad to be home!

Election Day in Georgia

I accompanied my interpreter Nana to her polling station to vote. I love the clear ballot boxes. I have never seen them before. Overall the election in our area went very well. The STOs did a great job. I am so glad it's over because I have only slept about 2 hours in the last 48 hours. I was up all night with Monique taking phone calls and helping the STOs. Tonight we had a farewell dinner and I am quite anxious to be finished and to come home. This has been an exhausting mission, so much so that I actually started missing Albania. However, I have had electricity and hot showers here so I won't complain too much. I think I came here thinking I was going to be an STO and I ended up not being so I am just worn out. My next post will be from home sweet home!

More Churches

The top photo is me at another church built in honor of 2 brothers who refuse to convert to Islam in the 7th century. They were killed and their bodies thrown in a river. Their bodies were found and they are laying in a small casket on top of the red stair case. There is a legend that if you crawl under their bodies 3 times in a row that your wish will come true. So I crawled under here.

The other photo is near the Bagrat monastery that is currently being restored. A view of Kutaisi is behind me. What a great place!

Monasteries, Dinosaurs and Toilets

Well, so today I got to take the driver and interpreter and be a tourist. We went to the Gelati Monastery that was built in the 11th century by King David the Builder (one of the national heros). It was absolutely incredible. During the Bolshevik Revolution the Russians whitewashed all the icons inside and they have spent the last 15 years trying to restore it after it was abandoned for 70 years.

Then they took me to a park where they found dinosaur tracks in the mountains. The place is in disrepair and as you can see, you can walk right up to the tracks, touch them and even walk on them. I gasped in horror that such a treasure is not protected.

I thought you'd also like to see the toilets I had to use. We stopped on the way here and 50 foreigners had to pay 20 Tetri (about 12 cents) each to use these horrible toilets. These are not the worst toilets I have ever used but certainly the most exposed I've been! Oh well. It's one of those suck it up moments and then take a photo to laugh about it later.

Turtle Lake in Tbilisi

This is me at Turtle Lake in Tbilisi. It is near the ethnographical museum we went to yesterday. Today we took a 4 hour bus ride to our area--Kutaisi, Georgia. It is a mid-sized city and it's very green. My partner is from the Nethlerlands and guess what? She salsa dances! She spends quite a bit of time in Cuba learning. I told her we'd need to practice because my dance teacher (shout out to Renee') gave me some things to practice while I am gone.

I met all our STOs today and they keep asking me questions as if I have any idea what is going on. The best thing about Georgia is the food. My favorite thing is khachpuri which is cheese bread. The cheese here is fantastic and salty and I can't get enough of it!

All is going well. I am still using my Russian out of absolute necessity. I can't believe how much I have to use it. It's still hard to speak as I am so out of practice but the understanding has very much returned.

Greetings from Georgia

We made it! After some serious jet lag (2 days of travel) I think I'm okay. I am having trouble finding Internet and can't hook up my camera to post picutres but I will keep trying.

We have basically had a day and a half free before starting our briefings today. I have paired up with Bridget from Washington DC and we have been quite the little tourists. Today we went to a history museum and I managed to negotiate a taxi in Russian and translate a tour of the museum from Russian to English for Bridget. I got to use words like "hunting lodge" that I had no idea I even remembered. I can understand pretty well still but I can't respond. I have lost the ability to conjugate verbs and decline nouns but I can get myself around well. Should have brushed up before coming but oh well.

Tbilisi is beautiful and mountainous. It is an old city and we visited many Orthodox churches. The food is fantastic and I can't wait to be deployed to my area. I am going to Svaneti in the mountains (imagine that--the mountains again!) up by the Russian border. Maybe the language will come back to me by the end of this trip. Russian is still very widely used although the signs and everything official are in Georgian which I can neither read nor understand.