It was a very good year

In society at large, 2017 was even worse than its predecessor: fires, floods, hurricanes, an orange person in a white house, shootings, and more.

But in my personal life, 2017 was a great year! I'm usually a little sad at the end of the year, but I'm not really sad this time, I think because I felt satisfied with 2017. A new car, a new cat, solar eclipse, three major concerts, holiday bucket lists--I enjoyed this otherwise terrible year.

January. January wasn't very eventful, so my blogs were about topics, rather than what was going on in my life. (I was going to provide links throughout this reminiscence, but all my posts are accessible on the sidebar, so I'm not going to put in the work, especially if no one would read them.) I went to a fireside with Cherie Call, my favorite singer, and she offered to send me a copy of her first Christmas EP for free, since I'm her biggest fan and it's not available for purchase.

February. Our fourteen-year-old cat, Jenny, became very sick and quit eating. We took her to the vet, and they cleared an abscess from her hindquarters, which restored her to health. It bought her five more months.

 I got copies of two major books: Settling the Valley, Proclaiming the Gospel: The General Epistles of the Mormon First Presidency and At the Pulpit: 185 Years of Discourses by Latter-day Saint Women. I helped out in substantial ways on both of these books. I got fitted for new suits and new glasses, but they wouldn't be ready until March.

March. The snow melted, marking the return of trail running season.

 On St. Patrick's Day, I went to Relief Society lunch where we heard the experiences of an African refugee and local Relief Society president. My cousin Tammy and her family visited, and we went to an escape room. I ate lots of green food.

April. I wanted to attend an Easter concert, and I actually went to two. One was at St. Olaf's Catholic Church, and one was the Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert.

 I enjoyed Eastertime, even though I had stake conference that weekend. :/ I went to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point and discovered the local Springhill Geologic Park trail.

May. My ward went to the Salt Lake City Cemetery, and I worried I came across as a know-it-all. I got new running shorts that had mesh pockets, so whenever my phone in my pocket hit my thighs, it acted like I was touching it, and my phone did all sorts of crazy things--playing music, taking pictures and videos, calling people, drafting texts. On Memorial Day weekend, we fed the missionaries of my ward, and on Memorial Day, I ran up Kenney Creek Trail to an old miner's cabin. ("Ran" is generous; I did run up the whole thing, but I did lots of stopping.)

June. I picked lots of cherries from my sister's tree to use in various dishes. My ward took a three-day trip to Fayette, Utah, which might have been my first time in Sanpete County. I went to Yuba State Park, and we went to the Manti Temple, where there were cattle roaming freely across the temple lawn and through the town.

July. July was a very full month. On July 1, the ward outing went to Palisade State Park, and I returned home. On July 2, my nephews (and my sister-in-law and her sister) came into town. On July 3, we went to North Salt Lake's fireworks. On July 4, we went to the Centerville parade. I started to run up Holbrook Canyon, but I twisted my ankle. I still went to see the National Parks (band) in northern Davis County. During my nephews' visit, Jenny got really sick, and on July 10, we had to put her down. That was the saddest I've been in a while. We buried her in the backyard. I went to the Draper Days parade and to my high school ten-year reunion. My family took a vacation to New York. We flew into NYC on a red-eye flight. My fatigue made me hate the city the first day. After I was better rested, I didn't hate it as much.

 I much preferred the upstate portion of vacation, where we went to Niagara Falls and spent several days in a house on Big Sandy Pond near Pulaski, NY. We visited my great aunts Mary Lou and Lynn--I had never met Lynn before.

August. We met a long-lost great-uncle who is an astronomer, who was passing through Utah on his way to see the solar eclipse. I went to my uncle's house with my friend David in Lander, Wyoming, that we might be in the path of totality of the solar eclipse. Everyone in the country was excited about the eclipse. Sorry, but if you didn't see totality, your experience wasn't as interesting as you think it was.

 I went on a small excursion to Little Cottonwood Canyon.

September. Pumpkin season returned! As I was preparing for my twenty-ninth birthday, I test drove lots of cars. I made lots of homegrown grape juice. I was given tickets to see Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. I had my golden birthday--29 on the 29th--and the next day I bought a shiny, blue 2017 Toyota Rav4 Hybrid Limited.

October. I drove my new car to Fish Lake to see Pando. I ran my first half marathon, the Halloween Half wearing my Vector costume, which was more exhausting than I expected it would be. I bought a new used cat, Jimmy. I feel bad for him, because he had all four paws declawed, he's missing a tooth, and he had been at the Humane Society for a long time. But I'm glad we can give him a nice, comfortable home. He's about eight years old, and he's the sweetest kitty, though he's pretty skittish.

November. I thought it would be fun at Thanksgiving time to go to Plymouth, Utah, so I went with my friend Shane, and we also went to Crystal Hot Springs.

 It was a warm Thanksgiving, and I ran to City Creek Canyon from my house and exhausted myself. On the day after Thanksgiving, I went to Katy Perry's Witness tour with my sister and my niece.

December. I went to see my other favorite singer, Lady Gaga's Joanne tour. I went with my sister and niece again, and this time my sister-in-law joined us, because she and my nephews came in for Christmas. I had one of the best Christmases I've ever had. And as of Friday, I am unemployed. My contract with the Church History Department is over, so I am beginning my job search.

I cleared room on my shelf for the books and journals I helped with at BYU Studies (2012-2014) and the Church History Department (2014-2017).

It was a wonderful year!

Here are reviews I wrote that were published on The Impulsive Buy in 2017:
Red Velvet Kit Kat
Brach's Dessert Hearts Conversation Hearts
Malt-O-Meal Cookies and Cream Cereal
Hostess Shamrock CupCakes
Hershey's Eggs with Pretzel Bits
Chick-fil-A Smokehouse BBQ Bacon Sandwich
Little Debbie Red, White, and Blueberry Creme Rolls
Cookies & Screeem M&Ms
Werther's Pumpkin Spice Soft Caramels
Brach's Chocolate Mint Cookie Candy Corn
Nature Valley Pumpkin Spice Granola Bars
Nestle Toll House Pumpkin Cobbler Cookies
Hostess Peppermint Twinkies
Gingerbread belVita Breakfast Biscuits
Brach's Fruit Cake Nougats
Life Savers Butter Rum Candy Canes
7-Eleven Mint Oreo Hot Chocolate

This year I also did a holiday bucket list. I accomplished most everything on it (except New Year's isn't over yet). However, I did not attend a St. Patrick's Day parade; all the close ones were the day after, and that didn't count, so I just walked the parade route. I didn't hear an owl hoot at Halloween, even though I put myself in positions to hear it, but I did have my Echo make owl noises. And my Christmas caroling was just me walking around singing to myself.

Make resolutions	wear heart clothing	wear green	Find eggs	Watch fireworks	attend parade	Trick or treat	Cook	Go caroling
Reflect on the past year	go on a date	pinch someone not wearing green	find basket	light fireworks	light fireworks	dress up	Have Thanksgiving dinner	Send Christmas cards
Count down to midnight	make a valentine	go to an Irish concert	Attend Easter concert	light sparklers	Go to historic pioneer place	give to trick-or-treaters	see wild turkey	Go sledding
Attend party	receive a valentine	go to a St. Patrick's Day parade	Read Easter story	throw snaps		rake leaves	rake leaves	bake
Light fireworks	give a valentine	Eat green-dyed food	attend church	attend parade	saltwater taffy	watch scary movie	Go over a river	Donate to Salvation Army kettle
Have balloons		Irish stew	Color Easter eggs	run race		Go to corn maze	Go through woods	Have real wreath
Throw confetti	conversation hearts	Irish soda bread	jelly beans	Go to American historic place		candy corn	Visit a grandmother's house	Have real poinsettia
use confetti poppers	chocolates	Corned beef and cabbage	chocolate bunny	Barbecue		caramel apple	Donate to food bank	Have real tree
Play "Auld Lang Syne"	chocolate covered strawberries	See shamrocks (or similar plants)	carrot cake	Smell firework smoke		pumpkin cheesecake	Give thanks/express gratitude	Make garland of popcorn and cranberries
Watch the ball drop	red velvet cake	potato	Peeps			pumpkin spice	play in leaves	Put up Christmas lights
Use rattle noisemaker	red velvet cupcake		eggs			apple cider	turkey	Buy presents
Use horn noisemaker			carrot			popcorn ball	cranberry sauce	Wrap presents
Use paper blow-out			Roll eggs down hill			Halloween candy	stuffing	give to charity
Urban nightlife				Hot dog		pumpkin pie	roll	watch Christmas movie
				Hamburger		bob for apples	pumpkin pie	Attend Christmas concert
				Bomb Pop		eat donut from a string	pecan pie	Attend church
						hear owl hoot	mincemeat pie	make gingerbread house
						play in leaves	apple pie	eggnog
						see a black cat	pumpkin	candy cane
						attend a Halloween party	pumpkin cheesecake	peppermint candy
						carve a pumpkin	squash	ribbon candy
						pumpkin seeds	candy corn	peppermint
							spiced cider	wintergreen
								spearmint
								gingerbread
								gingerbread man
								wassail
								hot chocolate
								spiced cider
								orange
								cranberry
								cranberry orange
								Read Christmas story
								Read A Christmas Carol
								Sing in a choir
								Give presents
								Unwrap presents
								Receive presents
								Have a stocking
								cinnamon
								nutmeg
								clove
								mint
								pumpkin pie
								make a paper chain
								Decorate a tree
								Perform service
								See Santa Claus
								light a candle
								gumdrop
								play Christmas music
								Display Christmas cards
								sugar cookie
								look at Christmas lights
								Maintain advent calendar
								hang garland
								shovel snow
								Catch snowflake on tongue
								chime
								hear a bell choir
								watch a holiday TV special

Wonderful Christmastime

I thought the Christmas season got off to a rough start. I mean, I ran up North Canyon twice after Thanksgiving because the weather wasn't very Christmassy. I set up a Christmas bucket list to make the season more festive, but I found myself worrying if I'd be able to get everything done.

But now it's Christmas Eve morning, and I've been feeling more Christmassy and joyful.

On Wednesday, my boss gave me and my two immediate coworkers Christmas gifts. I think most of his gifts are ones he gets free and then gives away. He had three wrapped gifts, one for each of us. I suspected that mine was the CD of last year's MoTab's Christmas concert, since I had seen it on his windowsill since September. But instead he said, "This isn't actually your gift. I was going to give this to you, but then I found this other gift instead." (I was a little relieved, because I didn't like last year's MoTab guest.) What he actually gave me was a seasonal cookbook, with recipes for each holiday/month! He knows me well. Then he took us to lunch as a farewell, since my contract is up at the end of the week, and it might have been the last time I will see him as his employee.

It was on my bucket list to decorate a gingerbread house, so I helped to make this one.

My nephews decorated graham cracker houses. They were mostly interested in using all kinds of candy so they can eat it. We had lots of Christmas candy, but we also had some leftover stuff from Halloween.

Nathaniel used Veggie Chips Ghosts and Bats to make "masks" for his Peeps Snowmen.

Preston had an open house that he dumped all the candy into.

 We have had our cat, Jimmy, for two months now. Even though I bought him, he has loved my mom the most. But since his routine has been disrupted with my nephews in town, he has been hanging out with me, sleeping on my bed and nuzzling against me. I don't know how he was taken to the Humane Society at least twice, because he's such a nice kitty. But I've never known a cat to shed as much as he does. There are clumps of fur all over the house, and my bed, and my clothes, and my face. Nathaniel (7) said that maybe he likes me because he thinks I saved him "from the torture," because we have speculated that he was abused by a previous owner--he's pretty skittish, and he's missing a tooth.

It was also on my bucket list to go sledding, so my brother and I took my nephews to the golf course to sled. I went down several times, but I'm really too scared to do intense sledding--I kept deliberately slowing myself. I don't think I would do well with skiing or snowboarding. :/  I was able to slide down just on my belly with my coat and no sled.

The boys also wanted a break for a snowball fight.

When I would run back up the hills after sledding down, the jingle bells on my Christmas tree hat were making festive noises. It was a lovely snowy day, and I thought, "This is so magical!" It's a great Christmastime. 

I have also been playing my Christmas playlist, which is the best it's ever been. I have just about every genre of music represented in some way: pop, rock, country, jazz, Baroque, heavy metal, rap, choral, EDM.

Merry Christmas!

The applause, applause, applause

On Presidents' Day this year, at the beginning of the St. Patrick's Day season, I had a mint brownie from Kneaders on the same day I bought tickets to see Lady Gaga.

On Thursday, ten months later, I had another Kneaders mint brownie, the same day I used those tickets to see Lady Gaga.

I bought four tickets that day, having no idea what I would do with them ten months later. I invited my sister and my niece, but what about the last one? But then, as it got closer, we learned that my sister-in-law and my nephews would fly in for Christmas--and my sister-in-law, Ya-ping, could come with us.

When I came home from my mission eight years ago, I was sick of being so weird, awkward, and nerdy, so I began following pop music to try to normalize myself. As my tastes became more refined, I recognized just how talented Lady Gaga is. In 2011, "Born This Way" became the first digital song I ever purchased. I like her pop stuff, but I have especially loved the more stripped-down, rock-like songs that showcase her strong vocal abilities: "Brown Eyes," "Speechless," "You and I," "Gypsy."

Then last October, she released an entire album of those songs: Joanne. I love Joanne! It's almost everything I ever wanted from a Lady Gaga album. The songs might not have the same catchy hooks as her pop stuff, but there's none of the electronic sounds that disguise her voice. It's pure Gaga. Some people have called it a country album; that's a bit of a stretch, but there definitely is a country influence (especially in "Sinner's Prayer").

And except for the song "Dancin' in Circles," this is her cleanest solo album. (Cheek to Cheek with Tony Bennett doesn't count.) True, there are three songs with an "explicit" label, and I don't listen to unedited versions of those songs, but they are only explicit because of one word in each of the songs--words that Taylor Swift and Jason Aldean get away with without ever getting an "explicit" label. The topics of those songs are not bad. In fact, that's another thing I appreciate about the album: a lot of the songs explore themes of family and friendship. It might be more of a country album topically than musically. Joanne is her middle name and the name of her aunt who died at age 19, when her father was only 15. The song "Joanne" is what she imagined her father might have said if he had the chance to say goodbye.

Anyway, this was a very long introduction to explain why I wanted to see her Joanne World Tour. It was actually going to be the first big concert I ever attended, until I was given Tim and Faith tickets in September and my sister invited me to Katy Perry the day after Thanksgiving.

Me, my niece Allie, my sister Susanne, and my sister-in-law Ya-ping.

My sister bought me a tour shirt. It was the least she could do. (Her words, not mine.)

Katy Perry's concert was more like a fun party, but her live singing wasn't as good as her recordings. Lady Gaga, on the other hand, was just as good live as she is recorded. There were sound problems inherent to Vivint Arena, but her vocals were on point. She insisted that everyone stand up (using some salty language) unless they had a good reason not to--pointing out that one of her back-up dancers broke his collarbone and was dancing again five weeks later. Every time she got to the chorus of one of her songs, she made everyone put their hands up. I felt tremendously awkward doing so, but I did. There was a main stage, and we sat to the side of that stage, but there were bridges lowered from the ceiling whereby she walked to smaller stages across the floor. At one point, people threw letters on the stage for her to read, and she read one that said, "We have been married three months," but at first she read it as "we have been worried three months."

When we were walking out of the arena, I heard someone say, "She sang every song I wanted her to." I can't say the same thing. As I pointed out, I love Joanne, but there were several from that album she didn't sing: "Sinner's Prayer," "Hey Girl," "Grigio Girls," and "Just Another Day." She sang songs from all of her albums, including some obscure ones from Born This Way, "Bloody Mary" and "[a swear word in German]." I would have rather had her sing "You and I" from that album. "Applause" was the only one she sang from ARTPOP, and that was a lot of fun. That's maybe not her greatest single, but I have a soft spot for it, because it conjures up positive memories of August 2013. My coworker asked me what the best one she sang was, and I said, "Probably 'Joanne,'" the stripped-down folksy tribute to her aunt.

The main stage.

After she had gone to the other side of the stage.

I've heard her next album is going to be more like ARTPOP--which disappoints me, because I think Joanne suits her voice perfectly. I've loved Lady Gaga in varying levels of secrecy since 2011, so I was glad I finally got to see her live.

In other news, my nephews are in town for Christmas. I have three of them--Preston, Franklin, and Nathaniel--and they haven't been in Utah during the winter since 2011/2012. They haven't been here on Christmas Day since 2009, which was before Nathaniel was even born. They have loved playing in the snow, and they were excited to see snow falling from the sky.

I have tried to make it a fun Christmas myself, so I got a live tree and put homemade cranberry/popcorn garlands on it. I have other things I want to do. I hope it snows more so I can go sledding with the boys.

We have never had ten stockings on our fireplace before!

Preston made this impressive igloo. I never did that.