March Madness & Bracketology

I love being the mom of a boy. I’ve been such a big sports fan over the years, that it is a lot of fun to now share that with him. You may remember this post from March 2008 when Ryan & I had our own March Madness in the driveway.

You may also remember this post from last March, when we were at the state swimming championships at BYU and we were able to watch the BYU vs. Wofford in the first round of the NCAA tournament at the Legends Grille.

Every year for several years, Ryan & I have filled out our brackets for the NCAA tournament. Being older and wiser, I usually win. :) However, with so many upsets this year, my bracket is pretty much gone. Tonight, after a lovely Family Home Evening (doing one of the Faith in God activities on Preparing for the Priesthood), Ryan came up to me with the most serious look on his face and said, "Mom, I feel so sorry for you. (Long pause…) Your bracket SUCKS!"

I gently reminded him who it was that taught him about March Madness and bracketology.

PERFECT New Year’s Day!

Today was an incredible day! Papa, Ryan, Alice, Claire and I drove to Orem and met Marc & Frances at the Andersons’ church. Rara is now the Relief Society president in her ward, and was unable to go with us because she was teaching the RS lesson. It was the homecoming of Frances’ sister, Lauren. She had prepared her talk surrounding a talk by Elder Holland. A few minutes before the meeting started, in walked ELDER AND SISTER HOLLAND!!!

Lauren gave such a beautiful talk. She shared information from the talk given by Elder Holland, and then expounded on them with experiences from her mission. I have a soft spot in my heart for Elder Holland, since he was the president of BYU for most of my time there. He and Sister Holland truly had a love for each and every student, and were always so cute to express that love individually whenever possible. I was touched again by his tender love as he teared up during a few parts of Lauren’s talk.

After the meeting, Ryan & I debated going up to talk with Elder Holland, but there was already a huge crowd around him. Instead, we walked down the hall toward the parking lot. As we rounded one corner, Sister Holland was standing there. I introduced myself and told her that I had been one of her “kids” at BYU. She gave me a big hug and said how much she always appreciates it when former BYU students stop to say hello. I was so happy to have had that brief moment with her. I felt her love for me every bit as much as I always had as a student. And she radiates as much love as Elder Holland does, but in a more quiet and less public way. I have a great amount of love for both of them.

We went to the Andersons’ house for a wonderful luncheon and some fun time visiting with family and friends. The day was an amazing start to the new year!

School Costume Parade, Trunk-or-Treat, Friends Party

Friday, October 28, was Ryan’s last elementary school Halloween costume parade. I didn’t even go. I had some projects that I was working on for work, and asked him if it was ok that I didn’t come and watch and take pictures. Macho 6th grader that he is, he was ok with it. This year Ryan dressed as BYU’s Jimmer Fredette.

We had a fun evening. It was our ward Trunk-or-Treat and carnival, the last one where Ryan will be a Primary kid trick-or-treating. Starting next year, he’ll be one of the Young Men who is running the carnival. I took one last picture of Ryan with his good friend, Matthew, who is moving this weekend. (Matthew was working the doughnut booth and had sticky hands.)

Ryan left the carnival early to attend a Halloween party with a group of swim team friends. The kid goes from one party to another. I wonder where he gets that?

I’m a Cougar!

I am SO proud of my team! They played an amazing (but stressful) game against Ole Miss, and won 14-13.

I loved this ad that ran during the game.

BYU Basketball Team in the Sweet 16!

It’s likely that all of our blog followers know that we’re BYU fans. If you live anywhere near us, the Y Banner flying on game day probably gives it away. This has been an exciting basketball season, and we have been hopeful that the team would go far. As I mentioned in the last post, we enjoyed watching the BYU-Wofford game (the first round of the NCAA tournament – BYU won 74-66) at the Legends Grille on the BYU campus, and we listened to the BYU-Gonzaga game (the second round of the NCAA tournament – BYU won 89-67) driving home from Provo.


On Thursday, March 24, BYU played Florida in the Sweet 16! We had a fun family party watching it, complete with blue and BYU-themed food. Sadly, the Cougars lost 83-74 in overtime. We made some of the same comments about the Cougars in the Sweet 16 as we did with Ryan going to the State Swimming Championships. We were excited that the athletes we cheer for made it as far as they did!

State Swimming Championships/Junior Olympics ~ March 17-19

I included this information in my last post in describing Ryan’s “BC meet.” But it’s somewhat necessary to include it in this post as well. Swimming times are divided into three different categories: “A” times, which qualify swimmers for the highest level of championships; “BC” times, which qualify swimmers for the “back-up championships” (Ryan’s description); and then “All Times,” which consist of everything else. This division is the same for all levels of swimmers, whether it’s those attempting to qualify for the Olympics and other national and international competitions, as well as younger kids trying to make it to the State Championships/Junior Olympics.


Ryan’s best stroke is the butterfly. He made an “A” time in the butterfly, which qualified him for the State Championships/Junior Olympics, held March 17-19 at BYU. His coach also signed him up for three relays. Warm-ups and preliminaries started at 7:30 am every morning. We were concerned about what time we’d have to get up every morning in order to be at the pool by 7:30. We were also worried about possible weather complications. So we made the few days of the championships a little “stay-cation.” In addition, my LAST TWO COURSES of my PhD program officially end 3/18 (but both instructors offered extensions of a couple of days, knowing my commitments this weekend). I decided it would be worth it to be able to spend a couple of extra hours a day working on school work rather than driving back and forth.


Ryan and I drove to Provo Wednesday, March 16, at about 6:00 (when he was finished with scouts and we had eaten dinner). We dropped Copper off at Coddled Critters, and then drove to Provo. Per Ryan’s request, we stopped at Krispy Kreme for doughnuts. We checked into our hotel and then went to check out the pool so we could go directly there Thursday morning.


Thursday morning (March 17), we were up at 6:00, at breakfast at 7:00, and at the pool at 7:30. Rara & Papa drove down and met us at the pool. Ryan did pretty well in his butterfly, making about the same time as he did in qualifying. He ended in 23rd place. However, that is for ALL of the 8-10 year old boys in the state. We were pretty pleased with his results. We know he did his best.





After his morning events, we had several hours until the evening events began. We went to the BYU bookstore, where Ryan received his “medal” from mom – a Jimmer Fredette basketball jersey. I had told Ryan that I’d buy him one just for making it to State. Ryan’s other request was lunch at his favorite restaurant, Brick Oven. Interestingly, several of his Tsunami teammates and their families were there. We decided that everyone was “carb loading” before the evening events.

Thursday afternoon we were back at the pool at 4:00 for warm-ups. Ryan swam the butterfly in the 200 medley relay with three other teammates. They finished in 10th place!



Ryan was thrilled to discover that the BYU football team was holding their spring practice right across the parking lot from where we were. The practice field is surrounded by fencing and very thick bushes. However, we could watch it perfectly from the Richards Building balcony!

As we were leaving the Richards Building (the pool), we walked by the Legends Grille, where the BYU basketball game was on! BYU was playing Wofford in the first round of the NCAA tournament. We ate dinner and watched the game there, cheering for the Cougars with about 100 BYU students. It was a lot of fun, but Ryan LOVED it!

We also spent some time walking around the museum area of the building, admiring the Heisman trophy, the National Championship trophy, and many other sports memorabilia items.

On Friday, March 18, we went to the Carl Bloch exhibit at the BYU Museum of Art. It was wonderful! Ryan especially enjoyed the iPad app, which provided additional information, videos, and 360-degree views of the churches where the paintings are housed. (Photos from the LDS Church News website.)


We had lunch at one of Ryan’s other Provo favorites, the Creamery on 9th. He is always amazed when I remind him that it was Carson’s Market when I was at BYU, and it was where I did my weekly grocery shopping.


Once again, we were back at the pool at 4:00 Friday afternoon. Ryan and three other teammates swam the 400 freestyle relay, where they placed 9th.


We stopped at Wendy’s for dinner, where we also saw some teammates and their families. Papa had to drive home to take care of some things for his Young Adult ward, where he is still serving as the Bishop. Rara, Ry & I went back to our hotel, where I worked on my final papers for my two final courses of my PhD program!


Saturday, March 19, Ryan enjoyed his free time by…swimming in the hotel pool! He made friends with some other kids staying there, and had a great time relaxing in the water.




We checked out of the hotel and went on a driving tour around Provo. I showed Ryan all of my former apartments, as well as some of the main buildings on campus. We made another stop at the bookstore, and then had lunch at Brick Oven (yes, again). After lunch, we met Papa, who had driven back down to watch Ryan’s last event. Ryan and three teammates swam the 200 freestyle relay, where they placed 10th.




As we passed the Legends Grille, the next round of games in the NCAA tournament was on, with BYU playing Gonzaga. Ryan really wanted to have dinner at the Legends Grille again and watch this game. But since we were finished with swimming, we opted to drive home (with another stop at Krispy Kreme) and listen to the game in the car. BYU won, sending them to the Sweet 16 for the first time since Danny Ainge led the Cougars to the Sweet 16 in 1981. Yes, I remember it well.
It was so much fun cheering for Ryan at the State Championships/Junior Olympics! Even though he didn’t place high enough to earn any medals or ribbons, he had a great time. We kept saying what an honor it was for him to even be there! He did get a shirt with the State Championships/Junior Olympics logo on the front, and the names of all of his teammates who made it to State on the back, with a red dot by his name. :)

New Job(s)!

Since my graduation from Brigham Young University, I have considered a position at BYU to be my “dream job.” I receive the weekly email list of job postings, but nothing has fit my preferences and qualifications…until a couple of months ago. The position of “Director of Independent Study” was posted. I looked at the qualifications, and I seemed to be on the low end (i.e. I had all of the minimum “required” qualifications, but not many of the “preferred” qualifications). The salary was twice what I make now! I thought, “Oh, that would be a fun job sometime in the future.” I happened to mention it to the fam, and (after several discussions), Frances convinced me to apply. I thought there was NO WAY that I would even hear anything back, other than a “thanks but no thanks” letter. I submitted my application about two hours before the job closed.

Much to my surprise, I was called for an interview! I interviewed the week of Thanksgiving (the same day I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with strep). Since it was a director position, the people I interviewed with were a vice president and two associate vice presidents. Can you believe it? I couldn’t even comprehend that I was even being considered for the position enough to be interviewed! The interview went well, and I was pleased with how I did, even feeling horrible.

The vice president called me a few weeks later, letting me know that they had chosen someone else to fill the director position. Not a surprise. But he told me that they were impressed with me, and invited (encouraged, really) me to apply for any open position in his area in the future.

I can’t be too disappointed, because I did start a new job this past Monday! Just after I applied for the BYU position, I was invited to apply for a supervisory position with Western Governors University. I have been a faculty mentor with WGU for over six years. My former boss and a former co-worker and good friend have moved to a new department, and encouraged me to apply for an open position. I actually interviewed for this job the Friday before Thanksgiving, the same weekend as the BYU interview! Once I went through both interviews, it was clear that the WGU job would be the best fit for me at this point in my life. My new title is Performance Evaluation Facilitator for Teacher Education in the Assessment Department. I will be supervising 24 adjunct faculty members (for now…will likely grow) in the Foundations of Teaching area (Schools & Society, Human Growth and Development, Diversity and Inclusion, Classroom Management, and Testing). I am excited about my new position and the challenges it will bring.

Lastly, I have a new church calling. I was released as the Cubmaster after being a cub scout leader for almost six years. This year is going to be crazy as I (hopefully!) finish my PhD, so I was hoping for a low-pressure church calling, and had actually requested that. I am now the bulletin board coordinator. (I’ll give you a minute to laugh.) I’ve had a few people ask me how I got that great job. I’m tempted to say, “Earn your PhD as a single mom, while also working full time.” However, my response has generally been, “Inspiration.” Those who know me and my situation know that means, “If I add one more thing to my plate, I’m likely to spend the rest of the year in a padded room, and the people that need to know that, know that.” For those who don’t know my situation, it is a quick way to shut down any more snide comments and questions. I’m actually pretty excited about it. It will be like creating a big scrapbook page!

What is Today?

As a devoted BYU fan, my wake up song to Ryan every morning is “Rise and Shout,” BYU’s fight song. When I finished singing this morning, he sat up in his bed and gave me a HUGE hug. He had a hard time going back to school yesterday, so I thought maybe he was sucking up in preparation of his “can I stay home today” speech. When he let go, he said, “Do you know why I hugged you?”

“Because I’m such an awesome mom and you love me so much?”

“No!” (What?) “Didn’t you look at my calendar for today? It’s ‘Cuddle-Up Day.’”

That explains it.

We’re having a lot of fun with his calendar. Yesterday we were able to add something to it. Yesterday, January 5, was the inauguration of Governor Jon Huntsman.At the end of his speech the governor said, “No matter if you normally cheer for the blue or the red, today we are all proud of the Utes.” And he declared yesterday Utah Utes Day in honor of the great performance by the Utes at the Sugar Bowl.

For all of you that know me, you know that I am True Blue. Utahns know that if you live in the state, you are generally red OR blue, you can’t be both. Interestingly, at the beginning of the game last Friday, a friend in the South (and die hard Alabama fan) made a comment on Facebook about me cheering for the Utes. I never thought that phrase would be uttered! But I hope I speak for all BYU fans in saying that we ARE proud of the Utes and their spectacular season!

Bad Game, Good Party

I’ve been tempted just to let this whole thing blow over. You know, that thing last Saturday that we keep referring to as a game. But I will acknowledge it. Mainly because we had so much fun watching it! Ryan and Mom and Dad and I went to Marc and Frances’ house and watched it with them, the girls, and Frances’ parents. We all took yummy food to share, so that obviously made it more bearable, too.

Most of you know that I am the only BYU grad in my family. My mom has two degrees from the U, and Marc’s Bachelor’s degree is from the U. Luckily, my dad has been on the blue side of the fence my whole life. We also enjoyed 11 years of Cougar football season tickets together.

It was a good thing that we watched the game at Marc and Frances’ house. Playing with the girls was distracting enough that the outcome of the game wasn’t quite as painful.

Speaking of painful, Alice was born with clubbed feet, and she got her first casts last week. This set is on for 10 days, and then she gets new casts about weekly for about nine weeks. At that point, she will have to have her Achilles tendons cut (I KNOW!), and new casts for a while. Ryan enjoyed drawing on her casts throughout the evening.

My Week "Off"

Several of you have teased me about how I spent my week off of school. I had a class that ended last Sunday, and I start a new one tomorrow. I still had to work every day, but without homework in the evenings, I made the most of my time. Here’s what I did in the evenings and over the weekend this week (in no particular order): painted the master bathroom, did my taxes, had dinner with my parents, had my piano tuned, conducted a new student orientation, helped Ryan with a report on bald eagles, helped Ryan prepare a talk for Primary, watched a couple of movies, read a couple of books (not school books!), watched two Jazz games, listened to one BYU game, went to one BYU game, got my hair cut, had dinner and visited with my former roommate, spent some time with other good friends, attended a baptism, went shopping at Cabela’s, planted about 50 bulbs in my front yard (BEFORE the three new inches of snow), and got a massage.

If I weren’t so close to being done with school, I’d be tempted to take more weeks off! I could get used to this “free time” stuff! Alas, back to the grindstone.

AWESOME Game!

Saturday after all of the graduation festivities, Ryan, Rara, Papa & I headed to Provo for the BYU – UNLV basketball game. We HAD to go – it was my Alma Mater vs. my former employer! We knew it would also likely be the best game of the season so far. BYU is currently first in the MWC (19-5, 8-1) with UNLV second 19-5, 8-2). Last month, UNLV beat BYU in Las Vegas 70-41, so there was some avenging to be done.

It ended up to be a great game! BYU led by as many as 29 points, with the final score being 74-48. That pushed the Cougars’ home court winning streak to 44 games! The Marriott Center was packed with 22,580 in attendance.
Ryan loved the game (with the exception of the one time that I forgot to warn him that I was going to whistle, and made him cry it was so loud. I need to remember to provide him with a warning). We were able to meet some of the basketball players at the tailgate party before the homecoming football game a few months ago. He has their autographs on his “growl towel,” so he always enjoys watching for the players he met.

The greatest part of the game for me was watching my mom, who has two degrees from the U of U and has also taught classes there, singing “Rise and Shout.” Now if we can get her to do that on Wednesday when BYU plays the U, we’ll have her converted!

Something Big and Red

When Ryan and I returned home after watching the AMAZING Las Vegas Bowl game, there was something big and red on our porch - and it wasn't Santa! Someone had left a HUGE red box on our porch while we were watching the game. We had our suspicions, but had to open it to be sure. It was so big, it was wrapped in one (or possibly two!) of those disposable plastic tablecloths! We started pulling things out of the box - all presents wrapped in red wrapping paper! As we unwrapped, our living room turned into a sea of red, much to our dismay. Here is a run-down of the contents (all extremely red): a gas can, a garbage can, a toilet brush, two red lamps, a colander, measuring cups, measuring spoons, a peeler, ketchup, an apple, a jar of maraschino cherries, a box of tinsel, two sippy cups, a box of Christmas ornaments, a candle, a bag of Twizzlers, a bag of cinnamon bears, a blanket, five plastic plates, thirty clothespins, fifty plastic cups, and a University of Utah hat!

Ryan kept saying, "It looks like a big red tornado hit our house!" Our living room, at least!

We knew immediately who it was! Enclosed was the following poem (with very red pictures):

'Twas the week before Christmas...

Santa was desperately tryin'

To justify gifts

For "Snippety Mel" and "Precocious Ryan."

Their stockings had been hung

By the chimney with care,

But did they deserve presents???

St. Nick just had to be fair!

He'd made up a list

Even scrutinized it twice,

To see if he could ignore their past practices

And label these two as "NICE?"

When in Bountiful, they're OK,

But when they sojourn to Provo City,

Their values become contorted

By disciples of "Cosmo...the Kitty."

The revel in miniscule football successes

And think it's just dandy

To give humble, meek (yet extremely good looking) Utah fans

Yucky "BYU" candy. (Actually it was somewhat marginal.)

They become pious and cocky

Quasi-arrogant too,

Hence no elves of Santa

Are allowed to wear blue.

That's why from the sole of his shoes

To the top of his head,

Santa will always...YES ALWAYS

Dress only in RED.

Red's the color of beautiful roses and cardinals,

And tasty strawberries too,

And just what kind of anything

Is colored "Goofy Blue"???

Blue apples? Blue cherries?

"Hey, how 'bout a blue steak?"

Blue tomatoes? Blue lipstick?

Boy, wouldn't that look just great?

And so my dear friends

This old issue now falls dead

Could you now please apologize deeply

To us who bleed red?

If you do, I'll tell Santa

You two will cease to be mean,

Perhaps he'll release your presents

From his North Pole quarantine.

But I wish you a Merry Christmas

And know, despite it all,

That Linda and I love you...

So bring us some freshly-baked oatmeal cookes with some blackberry Shasta soda!

You guys will always be my faves!

************************************************************************

(Of course, our friend, JERRY, tried to pass it off as someone else. But naming Linda kind of gave it away!) ;) Refer back to October and November's posts for additional explanation.

I must admit, even through the torture, we value our friendship with Jerry and Linda. So, on Christmas Eve afternoon, Ryan and I dressed in every bit of red clothing we could find (Ryan even put the Utah hat on his poor little head), and we visited the Davies, bearing oatmeal cookies and Shasta.

(Note: Rumor has it that there was a photo taken of Melanie and Ryan in all red, including aforementioned Utah hat. If such a photo ever existed, it has surely now been destroyed.)

2007 in Review - December

Ryan and I always enjoy the fun events around Bountiful during the holiday season. One of our favorites is “Christmas at 2600” at Colonial Square. We love the carriage rides, roasting marshmallows over the bonfire, and going from store to store sampling their goodies. Oh, and of course, Santa.
An exciting event for our family was a reception held Friday, December 7, at the Rio Grande building honoring the Utah Arts’ Council “Emerging Artists Award” winners. Marc won the award for film! I teased him about his “major award,” hoping that he’d win a leg lamp (from “A Christmas Story” for those who are lost). Sadly, that was not one of the prizes. The evening was a lot of fun. The Rio Grande gallery was set up with sections for each artist. Marc had his film playing while people strolled through the gallery. We could tell that most people who watched it really enjoyed it, but there was one couple who watched it all the way through three or four times. They laughed hysterically all the way through it! We all enjoyed watching them enjoying it! Ryan was given the job of keeping the free copies of the DVD stocked in the bin on the wall. He did a great job!
Friday, December 14, we went to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert. Every year they invite special guests – always well-known musicians. This year was The King’s Singers. It was amazing! For most events in the Conference Center, tickets are just for a particular section, not assigned seats. They usually open the doors between 60 and 90 minutes before the event, and seats are on a first come basis. We got there about an hour early and got some great seats. I took a notepad and colored pencils for Ryan to draw while we waited. The Conference Center holds something like 22,000 people. It was pretty loud with people talking until about 7:15, when everything went absolutely silent. Having been in the Conference Center for General Conference, etc. before, we knew what that silence meant. We looked to the side door, and President Hinckley, President Monson and his wife, and President Eyring and his wife were entering. Ryan LOVES President Hinckley, and always asks me to lift him up so he can see him (I’m not going to be able to do that much longer!).

The concert was wonderful. The King’s Singers are so talented. There were some very powerful musical numbers with them as the lead and the choir in the background. Lloyd Newell made a short announcement before the concert began that it was the one being recorded for the CD and DVD, so it will be fun to purchase it next year, knowing it is the one we attended.

As we were sitting waiting for the concert to begin, Ryan was wiggling a loose tooth. (Please refer back to March and June – Ryan has a fascination with pulling his teeth on important days or in unique places.) Of course, with a tooth that loose, he couldn’t resist. He worked on it the hour before the concert, and pulled it out about 3 minutes before the concert started! He showed the grandparent-couple next to us, the family behind us, and the family in front of us. It was hilarious. He actually asked if he could go and tell President Hinckley. He was very disappointed that he couldn’t.
After the concert, we walked through Temple Square and the Main Street Plaza and looked at the lights. It was about 20 degrees, but it was a lot of fun. It’s always so beautiful that it’s easy to forget how cold it is.

Christmas time also means it's time for potica! Potica is the Polish nut bread that the Cieluszak family (and other Polocks) have been making for generations. The grandkids used to love helping Grandma Jensen grind the walnuts and "pound" the dough. Now Mom and Aunt Dott lead the all-day potica-making marathon. Here are Mom and Frances rolling everything up before swirling it into the pan. I have taken on the responsibility of ordering the "Kronskis" (Polish sausages) for the whole family since Auntie-Anne died. I have done my part, so we are set for breakfast for the month of December!

Saturday, December 15, was Mom and Dad's annual "Orchard Place" open house. Ryan and I have become such good friends with so many of their neighbors, that we always join them. We have a great time visiting with all of our friends in that neighborhood.

Ryan is still enjoying creating art projects in different ways. Here is the "Winter Masterpiece" created by my little artist in MS Paint:

Marc and Frances spent the week of Christmas in New York City with Frances’ family. Her grandparents are serving a mission in the Manhattan Temple, and it is their 50th wedding anniversary the week of Christmas. The whole family traveled to New York to be together for the celebration of that wonderful milestone. Since Marc and Frances weren’t in Utah for Christmas, the Inman family had our celebration together for Family Home Evening on Monday, December 17. It was fun to have dinner together, exchange presents, and just hang out and have fun together. Most of us gave each other gifts relating to our upcoming return to Hawaii. It’s always fun when we have a family trip planned – we always give each other stuff relating to the trip.
As you can see from the above pictures, we have a new addition to the family – Max. (Gee, BYU fans, who could he possibly be named after?) Ryan has been asking for a little sister for quite a while. Since that obviously isn’t happening anytime soon, I caved and agreed to the other thing he has wanted for a long time - a Build-A-Bear. I’m somewhat embarrassed to say that Max has really become a real member of the family; he and Ryan received matching Christmas Eve pajamas and Miami Dolphins jerseys (I know – I’ve gone too far.)

My friend, Julee, sent me a pretty funny e-card from her family this year. I went to the site and made a few adjustments. Here it is for your viewing pleasure.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1168499620

As we look around our living room at the nativities that we’ve collected over the years, we are constantly reminded of the true meaning of Christmas. We are grateful for the birth, the life, and the atoning sacrifice of our Savior, and wish you all the love, light, and peace that He brings to our lives.