Flying high...and busy.

I guess I haven't posted anything for awhile. I've been busy (and not just watching TV as recent posts might suggest). I've had lots of unstructured time with Kenny (which has been too rare lately). I've spent some time with my family (also a rare occurrence), and have had lots of opportunities at work - granted "opportunity" generally translates to long hours, some frustration, and ultimately exhaustion, but it also means increased visibility with senior management and job security...and hopefully raises/promotions. We'll see about that last part. Anyway, to sum up some of the highlights:

My cousin Jen and her husband live in the bay-ish area. Due to poor weather in Utah, they switched plans and flew here! When I say they flew, I mean Jen's husband, Jamie, flew HIS plane here. How nice would that be! So after a Friday night full of yummy Cuban food at the Lab and a rousing game of Would-You-Rather, we met up with them again Saturday morning for a private flight around Southern CA. Sights included the Hollywood sign, Beverly Hills, Downtown LA, Huntington Pier, and Disneyland. (And LOTS of maps and Jamie sweating bullets.) Apparently there are many different air zones in this area, each with their own controllers and rules. So while we enjoyed the sights (and saying things like "niner" and "ten-four" into our headsets), Jamie worked really hard at obeying the air traffic controllers - even though some were unnecessarily rude.

Here's some pics:

I'm practicing

The Crew of The Tango

The Landing

I was a little nervous for the landing, but while we were doing this picture, we landed...and I totally missed it. Smooth! (Thanks Jamie and Jen!)

Over the next few weeks I spoke at the singles ward and attended a bunch of baby showers and kiddie birthday parties. And an awards dinner with the bosses. My coworkers think I'm joking when I tell them I'm going to another shower/party - I'm going to one at least every other week, thanks to my fertile friends. (Why don't I have a house yet?)

I then got to go to Utah for my cousin's wedding and Mothers' Day. I haven't seen the family since January so i was really excited. My family's pretty low-key, but they had some fun things planned: lunch at Pizzeria 712 (which was amazing), "breaking" into and exploring the MASSIVE new housing development on State Street, and viewing the Miverva Teichart exhibit at BYU's art museum.

Here's the parents:

And the sisters, Anna and Becca:

I got to see the brother too, but only for a few hours during which he finally delivered his Christmas gift to me: Season 1 of The Monkees! I LOVED that show growing up and had an unhealthy prepubescent obsession with Mickey Dolenz. It started with Davey Jones (mainly because my Aunt Jenny liked him too) but it didn't take long to develop my own taste and my five-year-old self was soon head over heals for Mickey. Needless to say I've been watching a lot of the Monkees since I've been home. In retrospect, they may have paved the way for my love of a more current wacky folk band/TV show: Flight of the Conchords (see post below).

Mix in a ballet final (100% thank you very much!), some cool parties/home-improvement activities with Skyler and Elise and several late nights at work and that's that. I could use some time to do nothing for a little while, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. I guess I'm pretty lucky.

PS - See the update to my previous post about when you can vote for Amy and Hudd's photographers of the year contest.