How I "met" Ann Patchett

Many years ago I somehow came across a book that looked interesting to me. I have no exact memory of how I found this book. However, I read the book and found it very lovely. I enjoyed the writing and found the story intriguing.

My husband likes to tease me because if you ask me immediately after reading a book, how I liked the book, I will tell you all kinds of things. Ask me later, even days later, I will only be able to tell you how the book made me feel and maybe a detail or two...but not much. A few months later? I will probably remember that I liked it or didn't like it but no details at all.  I don't know why I'm like this. I do feel like I have good reading comprehension but just not a whole lot of retention. My brain purges all extra information unless it is needed for daily life apparently.

Anyway, a few years (I think) later, I was making a task of reading through the Boston Public Library's list of books to read. I don't recall if it was "important books to read" or just here are a bunch of books to try or what. But I really enjoyed doing that and I read a bunch of books that I never would have chosen otherwise. I started reading a book and was really enjoying it. I thought the writer was really good.  I got a good 2/3 the way through this book when I was suddenly thinking...I have read this book before.  But I couldn't remember the ending so I just kept going and I really enjoyed the book. Again.

More time goes by. Months? A year? Not sure.

I'm walking through Costco and perusing the books as I am wont to do. One book stuck out to me because it had a really beautiful cover. I took a picture of that book and vowed to read it. I went to the library and checked it out. I start reading it and, this time, it takes me only a few chapters before I am thinking "OH MY GOSH, IT'S THE SAME BOOK AGAIN"

You may not be surprised to find that I went ahead and read it the third time because I remembered no details really but I remembered that I enjoyed the writing and the story.

This third time I vowed to place this book and its author into my memory bank so as not to do this a fourth time. 

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

I have told this story many times. I don't know why I feel compelled to tell this story as it doesn't make me look good. But it's funny, so I tell it.

I realized a couple of months ago that, even though I really enjoyed that book and loved the writing, I hadn't really sought out more books by Ann Patchett. So I began to look for more. 

The first one I read was the Dutch House. Again, loved her writing.

So I went through the library app and just put holds on all of the Ann Patchett books. The next book that became available was not a novel, but a series of essays. It is called "This is the Story of a Happy Marriage". Wow, did I love this book. She had one long essay about becoming a writer and it felt a bit like advice for someone wanting to be a writer. I have never had any aspirations to become a writer. I don't, as some people do, feel that I have a story inside of me that needs to get out. However, this essay really spoke to me because over the many years of my life, I've had periods of time where I have found a great deal of meaning through writing. I've kept journals and blogs. I've done scrapbooks and really enjoyed the journaling portion of that hobby. I stayed sane through Franks cancer treatment through writing messages to friends and family. Since moving to Utah and starting to work full or mostly full-time, I have stopped pretty much all creative endeavors. I don't do paper crafting or sewing. I have even stopped writing and have huge gaps in time in my blogging which I used to do quite religiously. I miss being creative but work life seems to suck creativity right out of me. When I miss the writing, I find myself attempting to write just simple blogs about an activity we've done and the words are stilted and difficult. The end result is uninspired.

But as I read those essays by Ann Patchett I felt myself drawn back to writing. I started having thoughts go through my head that I wanted to write down.

So here I am. Who knows if it will last or if daily life will suck it back out of me. But I'm glad I "met" Ann Patchett through that crazy book I read 3 times without meaning to and I'm enjoying that feeling again of having something to say.

Michigan June 2025

I went to Michigan for a long weekend from June 26-29th.

It just so happened to be the exact weekend that Ryan was moving to Michigan so I arrived on Thursday afternoon but Branden left Friday morning to help Ryan drive back. Didn't see him much!

It was very hot and muggy when I arrived and Branden said they just started having some rain showers and storms that day.

I arrived and took my usual nap (6 am flights just trash me), then I picked up Isabelle at the Dieter's house. On our drive back we had a massive rain storm and it was crazy!

A bit later, Kaylee and Amber came home from her work (Kaylee and Riley were helping out on a presentation about service dogs).

That night we played some cards and went to a movie (How to train your dragon). We ate out at a little pub sort of place before the movie and the food was yummy. I shared some of Brandens mac n cheese (I can never resist mac n cheese). We tried to have a fun first night since Branden was leaving.

The next morning I took Branden to the airport and when I got back the girls and I headed out for our activity. Amber worked one more day at her summer camp.

I didn't have any good ideas and it was SO HOT...so I said well we could see another movie? The girls were not interested in that (which I don't even get...I would see a movie every day!) Anyway we did a bit of google and decided to go to the Museum of Natural History at University of Michigan. It was pretty easy to find and the entry was free! 

We started off with a snack from the snack bar...lunch was planned for after so we had to top up.

We enjoyed all of the Dinos and other large bones and whatnot

It's important to pretend to get chomped by large toothy heads!

I let the girls each buy something from the museum store which they loved.

Kaylee insisted on a selfie...

Afterwards we went to Isabelle's favorite: Panda Express with dessert at Cinnabon. 

During lunch Kaylee told me I looked way older than her other grandma. LOL. Well, dang.

I said that is was probably my grey hair and maybe her other grandma used hair dye?

The evening was relaxing and we watched a movie at home which was good fun: Kpop Demon Hunters!

Saturday, the big plan was to go to the Toledo Zoo!

I always give amber the option of coming with or enjoying some alone time and she chose alone time (that girl is no dummy! That's what I would choose in her shoes)

It was hot as hades. I was constantly looking for indoor spaces and/or shade. I'm a wimp.

The highlight was feeding the giraffes!

Bald eagle maybe?

We bought dip n dots for 8 bucks a pop!

Flamingos were super cool but stinky!

Indoor bird aviary

Also an aquarium!

The girls wanted a picture of the snapping turtle because their mom doesn't like them. haha

The polar bear was out and pretty active for a bit.

We rode the train of course

Afterward I dropped the girls by their other grandparents for a cousin's bday party.

I was planning to stay but had a bad headache from the heat so decided to head home for a nap and meds.

The first thing Kaylee did when we arrived was to ask her grandma if she dyed her hair! 

Haaaa!

The answer was no...so I just look old I guess.

The only thing we missed out on that the girls wanted to do was to go to a new cafe in their town that they've head was good...but it closed at 3 pm so that'll have to happen next time!

Branden and Ryan arrived home from driving from Utah at about 5 am Sunday morning. Once we were all up, the dogs got introduced with not much trouble and we headed off to church while the guys slept some more. Balder was completely calm around me that morning which was so unusual. We're chalking it up to the fact that he was in a strange house not his own. I liked it though!

Church was nice though I stayed in the foyer due to perfumes and the fact that I'd had a headache the day before.

When we got home we played some games with Ryan but Branden had to go back to work since he'd missed Friday.

I had to head out to the airport around 4 for my flight.

Another fun, if short, visit!

 

Anniversary weekend 2025

Our 37th anniversary is on May 28, 2025. So since we had a long weekend, we decided to do a little get away. We originally looked at southern Utah but ended up going with a slightly northern destination: Park City. 

We left (Saturday the 24th) mid-day. To start off we went to the Alpine Poppy Garden. I never even knew this place existed until last week and I was excited to go. It was a short hike to the gardens, but since we didn't know how long it would be, it felt longer...we were growing concerned that the poppies hadn't even bloomed yet. But, yes indeed, we found them! They were wonderful!

I kept thinking that I should drive there and go for walks sometimes on my day off. Why don't I do things like that?

We drove up to our Airbnb next. It was a lovely condo just a short way from the Jordanelle State Park. Officially Heber City but kind of the outskirts. Close to Park City as well.

We had a meal at the Back 40 Ranch house which is nearby in Heber. The food there is really good, we've been there before when we've come up for Swiss days. I really love Heber and wish I lived there sometimes. Now, of course, it's too expensive. We often lament that we didn't look there when we moved to Utah 13 years ago!

We bought groceries (too many) and then it was time to relax at the condo for the evening. We did walk around and check out the amenities and the grounds also.

May 25th

Sunday morning we had breakfast and, having realized that we forgot a bunch of stuff, we took the long road home through the Alpine Loop and Cascade Springs then went home to get the forgotten items. Felt lucky we'd decided to vacation only 45 minutes away since one the things we'd forgotten was Frank's blood meter (which was expiring while we were gone).

While at home, I discovered that my peony plant had gone from one bloom the day before to 22 today! That deserved a picture

Ok, back to vacation!

We watched my brother's ward in California for church so that we could listen to his talk. Both talks were great and it was fun to see my brother speaking.

We were going to ride our bikes to Jordanelle and hang out by the water. But we wanted to bring chairs and a picnic and towels etc...so we ended up driving. LOL Literally 2 minutes away.

But it was a lovely afternoon and the weather was nice. 

We relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful day.

Took zero pictures. :-/

May 27th

The next day, Memorial Day, we started off with a lovely breakfast at Chicks Cafe. Good food and we got smart and shared a meal! Go us. We are constantly ordering way too much food and are trying to do better.

We drove around Heber and Midway a bit and saw a few lovely Memorial Day celebrations.

We then made our way to Midway for the Sheep Dog Finals!

We've wanted to go to this for a few years and finally made it happen. My brother Dion and his family also went so we spent some time together there. 

It was amazing to watch these dogs! 

These dogs had to gather two groups of sheep, bring them together, take them through two separate gates (on opposite sides of the field), bring them to a circle where the dog and shepherd would divide out the non-tagged sheep, then move the tagged sheep only to a pen! It was amazing!

We saw sheep wrangling (probably not the right word), Sheep shearing, and Agility dogs as well.

I loved it so much.  

We also got a lot of sun.

Oops.

Next we drove to Park City for a visit to the Olympic Park.

I had never been before, though Frank had. 

Neither of us can figure out how he's been without me. He was sure I went with him. He even remembers doing the ropes course. But it wasn't with me! haha

Anyway, we decided to live dangerously and got tickets to do the Bobsled. I was super nervous, especially after seeing the sign at the top saying "Beyond this point, serious injury or death could occur" and after they gave us a little safety speech which included how to avoid being a "bobble head" or hurting your back in the 4 G turns.

I was seriously hyperventilating when we were strapped in waiting to go.

But in the end it was a fun ride!

I actually have a video of the whole thing which took forever to find on the live feed. But I found it and managed to record it on my iPhone. It's a bit long and you can't tell its us except for the loading part. But here it is for posterity:

We then took a ride up the ski lift. Supposed to be for enjoying the beautiful view. I was, however, freaking out the entire time. I am becoming less a fan of heights the older I get. Once we got to the top, I proclaimed my desire to take a shuttle back down rather than ever get on that thing again. Frank was flabbergasted and hadn't realized I was so stressed. I tried to calm myself down and force myself to get back on but in the end, we hiked down.  That was an expensive one way trip...we were supposed to be able to ride it as many times as we liked! (which I guess I did)

After Olympic park we drove to old town Park City and walked around, went into shops and then had dinner at Main Street Pizza and Noodle. They had me at noodle.

We also had a lovely ice cream cone.

Back to the Airbnb for News Hour while soaking in the hot tub while enjoying the gorgeous mountain views.

It was a lovely, busy day!

We had intended to do more bike riding but were both pooped after that long day in the sun and decided to forgo it for today.

May 27

We packed up the our stuff and our hardly used bikes and headed back home. I had to work at 3 pm so we just had a relaxing morning and got organized for work to start up again. 

I can't believe it's been 37 years!

We've been through a lot but we keep showing up for each other no matter what. 

I wouldn't have it any other way.

May 28th

The weekend is over but we exchanged gifts in the evening after work.

We had originally planned to go to dinner with Kari and Josh but Kari isn't feeling well so we had a quiet night at home.

Frank got me apple EarPods which was a surpise!

I got him/us a weekend trip in September to some domes in Bryce Canyon so we have another vacation to look forward to!