Latest and Greatest

Hello everyone,

We just remembered we have a blog! Ha! Actually, we have so much happening these days that we just haven't stopped to write about all the shinanigans and going-ons. So, to get caught up to speed, I'm going to give you a brief timeline of events since our last post to give y'all a snapshot of where we've been. I'm hoping this is pretty comprehensive of major events. Here goes:

January

• January 1--Jana turned 28 years old. We had a New Year's Day dinner with the sibs Dallin & Becki, Kimball, and Kira. Great times.
• January 16--MLK Walk of Life at BYU, one of our favorite Provo events. We love the legacy of MLK and always enjoy participating in the the candlelight walk from the bell tower to the Wilk.

February

• February 11-12--Traveled to Boise to visit Scott and Emily Eliason and fam and saw Emily play "Jane Bennett" in the stage version of Pride and Prejudice. Mark and I are both huge Austen fans and also big Emily Eliason fans, so it was win-win. Plus, we got to hang out with awesome nephews and niece.
• February 28-29--Jana sat for the Utah bar, thus the minimal amount of activity in January and February since every weeknight and every weekend I was studying for the bar exam. Probably the highlight of my year thus far, however, was feeling the support of Mark. He made breakfast, lunches, and dinner each night and did the dishes. He was so supportive and selfless with his time, even though he was taking 17 credits at BYU Law. I will be grateful forever for his support in everything.  It was an interesting time of life--and I'm so glad it is over (until we move somewhere else and I have to re-take the exam...).

March

• March 16-25--Mark went to Hong Kong with Vis Arbitration team from BYU Law. He had a 15 hour layover in Dhubai, so he has now officially been to the Middle East. He still hasn't been to Australia or Antarctica, but he has been a lot of different places in his lifetime with more adventures to come.
• March--We attended great performances by my sister Kira as she performed with dancEnsemble at BYU and performed one amazing, amazing duet in the BYU Senior Projects. She is awesome--she'll be dancing with BYU's top contemporary team this next year and she is totally going to rock. We also attended awesome rock performances at BYU's Guitars Unplugged and other backyard venues by my brother Kimball and his rock band "Red Yeti." Let me just put it this way--he writes the music, plays the guitar, and is the lead singer. Hello, can we say "talented"? He is totally awesome. Visit the Red Yeti Facebook page and check them out!

April

• April--Mark finished 2nd year of law school
• April--Jana got results saying she passed the Utah bar exam!!
• April 21--Mark attended a good friend's wedding in Wisconsin and was able to spend some quality time with his best buddies. I couldn't get work off since I'd taken so much time off for the bar and hadn't accumulated my vacation time back, but Mark's set of friends is really close and he had a great time. Plus, I was headed to see my group of best friends in Boston in May, so I was saving up my pennies to take that trip. We love our friends!
• April 22--Mark turned 30--hooray! I'm including pictures in this post of the gift I gave him--and many of you contributed. It was basically a collection of stories and memories about Mark from all of his friends "from around the globe." The "globe" theme went well, especially since his b-day was on Earth Day. Both sets of parents, my grandparents, and I all went in on a great big wall map for Mark, the world traveller. It was a great b-day celebration.

May

• May 11--Jana's swearing in ceremony for the Utah Bar at Abravanel Hall. It was such a huge venue for such a small group of people attending this ceremony, but it felt pretty awesome to have my name read and to stand and get sworn in as an attorney. Such an amazing moment! (My parents took pictures, so I don't have pictures to share for this momentous occasion.)
• May 11-13--Jana's Boston trip with her friends. So fun!! I love my wonderful friends! We walked to the park, had some clam chowder at Quincy Market, visited pastry shops, rented a house in Cape Cod, and laughed our heads off. It was such a beautiful time.
• May--Mark started his externship for the summer at a small consulting firm here in Utah County. He loves consulting and has been such an effective extern that he is now in charge of other externs on his project.

June

• June 1-4--Jana's dance recital "Happily Ever After..." So, I've been taking dance at a studio here in Provo that offered classes for a great deal, plus the people in the program were my age or around my age (which is rare to find). I had a blast dancing with these guys. For the spring "Big Show," we did a Disney theme. It was the longest show ever (literally 3 hours), and yet Mark came every night! He is so awesome. He came prepared with my iPad, though, and was able to read almost the entire issue of The Economist in between my dance numbers. My solo number was "Steppin' Time" where I was dressed as Mary Poppins and led a bunch of younger kids in a tap number to that song. SO fun. I've always wanted to play Mary Poppins and this was about as close as I think I'll ever get. Great memory. (This picture is actually from a different show but this is the only pictures I have from this studio. There are HUGE gaps of my life with no pics, as you can tell.)
• June 11--Mark gets a phone call from University of Michigan's Ross School of Business telling him he has been accepted to attend their business school. We had been on the waiting list and wondered if we should stay here in Provo, but this opportunity is so terrific and will really give Mark the leg up in his field. So, we are heading out August 9th to Ann Arbor, Michigan! We are so excited!
• June 12-16--Jana goes to YW Girls' Camp at Mia Shalom by Fairview, Utah. I was called as Assistant Ward Camp Director and so was involved in planning and executing a bunch of things at camp. But I had a BLAST! I love girls' camp, but being a leader was so much fun and I just had such a great time bonding with the girls. I'm going to miss my YW when we move!
• June 16--Jana's 10 Year High School Reunion. Pro: the reunion was held at a country club which promised great food and a lovely setting; Con: I didn't get the memo that we were supposed to dress up so Mark was in jeans and I was in shorts (oops!). Pro: I won a ColdStone gift card in the raffle drawing; Con: I didn't hear my name announced until everyone around me was yelling my name and I was like "What? What happened?" It was actually pretty funny. Pro: Some of my girls and their husbands and Mark and I got out on the dance floor to break a move--no one was dancing and we were there to get the party started; Con: Mark ripped his pants on the dance floor and so we had to leave early. Pro: I got to see some of my favorite people in the world and some of my dearest friends and get caught up with them; Con: We all live far apart and don't get to see each other often enough! But, it is our new resolve to get together more.

July

• July 3-8--Eliason Family Reunion--Horseback riding, white water rafting, family talent show, Minute to Win It, hiking. SO FUN!
• July 13--We went to see Kimball's rock show at The Depot in SLC. It was an awesome show. They got a full 45 minute set, which, for a young band, is pretty good.
• July 19--Jana joined a bunch of other BYU Alums and danced as extras in a music video they are making for the BYU Spectacular. It was a song from Hairspray. Dancing on the Maeser building lawn to Hairspray with a lot of really, really nice people--what a great time.
• July 20--Mark and I saw the long-anticipated "Dark Knight Rises" movie. If you'd like to de-brief it with us, just give us a call. We are big fans of the Batman movies.
• July 21--Country Dancing Date Night. Confession: I love country dancing. And Mark is sweet enough to go with me and learn the steps--and let me say, he is good! We went last night and he did a great job.
• July--Mark decided he loves statistics. (Note: he was an English major).

Coming up:

• August 1-4--Barker Family Reunion in Park City. Woot! Love to hang with the familia and all the cute little nieces. Can't wait.
• August 9-16--Road trip across the country. We will be visiting Laramie, WY (Mark's bro lives there); Mount Rushmore and Badlands National Park; Madison, WI (two of Mark's buddies live there) and Mark's old stomping grounds in Oconomowoc (who knew a word could have so many "o's"); Chicago, IL (another one of Mark's buddies lives there); and then on to Ann Arbor (where we're going to live!). Cool.