I feel like I’ve been so busy over the last week or two. Packing, moving, unpacking, new house, new neighborhood, new roomies (strangers), new ward….. There’s been a lot of change in my life and I think it’s going to be superb. However I’m still getting settled so I’ll hold off on talking about it for a little. I first sat down today and was going to do a simple ipod shuffle and share the first thought or memory that comes to me about whatever songs came on…. I actually did start doing this. However one of the songs single handedly changed my entire perspective on my post.

The song is called “Where Can I Turn For Peace?” the lyrics were written by a woman named Emma Lou Thayne. She happens to be the mother-in-law of one of the men in my bishopric, and she spoke to us in sacrament meeting just two weeks ago. This woman is amazing! She’s 87 years old and has been married to her husband for 62 years. She’s a mother of 5 daughters and who knows how many grandchildren and great grandchildren. She received her B.A. in English in 1945 which is amazing on its own as it was so uncommon for women to even go to college back then. She later received her M.A. in creative writing. She was the only woman on the Board of Directors and the Deseret News in the 1970’s She was an English teacher at Olympus Jr. High, Murray High School and the University of Utah, she also taught Institute at the UofU and was the head coach for the women’s tennis team. All of this while being a writer and mother. Salt Lake Community College even named one of their buildings after her – The Thayne Center for Service & Learning… I hope if you’re reading this you’re slightly understanding why I was blown away by her. She truly is fantastic!!!

This woman helped her daughter who was battling from bipolar disease in the 1970’s, back when mental illness was not talked about. It was a very hush, hush situation. She had no idea how she could help her daughter and most doctors didn’t want to have anything to do with it. It was this time in her life that she wrote the lyrics to the song “where can I turn for peace?” She wrote this as a poem and called her friend Joleen Meredith, while reading the words to her over the phone Joleen composed the music. The entire song was written and composed in less than 2 hours. This remarkable woman has overcome many trials in her life including a terrible car accident that broke nearly every bone in her face. Yet she still has such a positive outlook on life.

During her talk she made each of us turn to the person sitting next to us and say “I love you, and there’s nothing you can do about it!” Earlier in the meeting a blonde girl sat next to me and I had barely even glanced in her direction. As I turned to say the cheesy line my bench neighbor had beat me to it. With a warm, inviting smile she looked in my eyes and said the words. As I was looking at her I realized I had been sitting next to Elizabeth Smart! As I repeated the words back to her, I knew just how much I truly loved her. I remembered the day she was kidnapped and how I cried and cried for her and her family. They were in my thoughts and prayers for such a long time, and now here I was with the opportunity to tell her I love her. Who knew you could love someone so much when you’ve never met them before?!

I’m not a writer (and I don’t try to be) I’m not able to explain how wonderful and meaningful that day was to me. It was very uplifting and humbling I hope it will stick in my heart for a very long time.

I also had another experience meeting a 59 year old man who is in the military and has just returned from a 1 year stay in Iraq. I only got to talk to him for a few minutes but he truly made me remember how lucky I am to have as much as I do…… I can’t even begin to describe his amazing presence, I just know I was blessed to have had the opportunity to rub-elbows with him for a few moments.

Goodbye to my East Broadway Business District!

As my current time living downtown is coming to an end, it makes me think about all the little things I love and am going to miss about living in the city.

I love watching the city “wake up” when I’m leaving for work in the morning. Seeing the streets being swept, the parking meters being emptied, windows being washed all with the smell of fresh brewed coffee coming from about 90 coffee shops in the vicinity. The good people of the world taking an early morning jog. I especially love the way the sun hits the high rise buildings as I drive down 300 south.

I love my afternoon walks around the city, never knowing where I’ll end up or who I’ll meet. Some of my favorite personal moments have happened on my downtown adventures. Some of my favorite spots to visit are the Library, Liberty Park, Trolley Square, Temple Square, 9th & 9th, The State Capital and the Gateway. I love that I’m so close to so many great places.

There are so many activities especially in the summer: free concerts, gallery strolls, farmers markets, charity drives, street performers. All of them make me so happy for the most simple reasons. Plus everything is “local” yes there are chain restaurants and shops but there is a great selection of local stores and places to eat. I love finding new little nooks to fall in love with and share with my friends.

Back in my drinking days I was in bar heaven. I could walk to almost any bar and stumble home at the end of the night. Never having to battling with friends over who would be the designated driver or waiting for a cab. I never had to worry about walking home by myself at 2am the streets never got to me, in fact they embraced me.

My apartment… Oh how I love my apartment. The courtyard which my friends say makes them feel like they’re walking through and ivy league college campus, complete with old fashion street lights and a few park benches. My wall of windows overlooking the beautiful courtyard. The living room and all of its massiveness. My dining room, what apartment has a dining room and not just a breakfast nook?! I’m even going to miss my maintenance man Jim, who says I’m his favorite and will always run to assist me when something goes wrong. I’m going to miss the weird things too, like the alley cats fighting in the middle of the night. I might even miss the stupid pigeon who lives outside of my window and watches me while I do the dishes. Even pushing the gate code outside the building.

Although I’m sad to leave all of the little things I love. I’m really excited to start my new chapter of life in the burbs!

I found this a while back and have been meaning to do it. Now seems like the perfect time!

Share your neighborhood: enjoy a walk around your neighborhood, take 10-15 photos to share with people via your blog or facebook.

Kristi Day

I woke up early for no reason on Saturday morning. I got ready and headed out the door. I wandered around downtown and found myself at the farmers market. I enjoyed listening to all of the musicians/performers and talking to a lot of the vendors. I got myself some breakfast and a new handmade fused glass ring before I headed home. I took a different route home just so I could enjoy a different part of my city.







I had a wedding to attend in Morgan, Utah that evening and I knew I had no desire to hang out at home on such a beautiful day. So I gathered everything I might need for the day and jumped in my car. I again opted to take the scenic route.





I drove to Huntsville where I hung out at Pineview Reservoir and visited the Abbey of Our Lady of the Holy Trinity Monastery. I have to say that drive happens to be one of my favorites ever! Spring is just hitting this area so the grass was extremely green covering the rolling hills and there were wild flowers everywhere. I loved that you could see so many bright colors for miles then in the background there was still snow covered mountain tops.









I then headed up to Snow Basin where I took myself on a small nature hike. I saw so many butterflies while on my short journey. I found a nice area where I sat and read a couple of chapters of Bossypants. I loved that there was nobody around, it was just me surrounded by nature.



I continued on to see the Devils Slide, which made me laugh as I remembered floating down that exact part of the Weber River with some of my best friends a few years back. I drove through a few other towns in the area. Before heading to Morgan. When I arrived still had a little time to kill before getting ready for the wedding so I stopped at a local pizzeria and grabbed a bite to eat. Then headed to a local park and walked along the river for a while.





The wedding was beautiful. I had such a simple and relaxing day. Typically when I need a day to myself I go get pampered and do some shopping. This was WAY better. I loved spending the entire day getting lost in my thoughts on life. Definitively one of my favorite “Kristi” days in a long time.

bum, bum, bum

Today my co-workers and I decided to walk over to Jamba Juice for a refreshing fruit smoothie. We were waiting for our drinks and I couldn't help but to observe the people around us. Standing in line was a boy and his mother, this kid must have been around the age of 15. He spoke very clearly while deciding what to order. He was dressed very fashionably with a trendy haircut. Then after they ordered and moved to the side to wait he said “mom, can you scratch my bum now?” The mother didn’t even think about it, she just reached over and started straching this kids ass like it was a back rub! Who does that?! I couldn’t contain myself I just started laughing hystarically.

Life is good. I’ve been busy which explains why I haven’t posted anything in a while. I’m still training to run a 5k, I really suck. I’m only up to about 2 miles… But I’m MAKING myself complete one before the summer is over. Then I want to run at least 1 a month while I start training for a 10k. I’m getting ready to move and once that’s out of the way I’ll be able to have more time to dedicate to running and working out in general.

My old roomie Beth visited from Rhode Island over Memorial weekend, we had a blast! I feel like we mushed so much stuff into those four days including: Bee’s game, Hangover 2, Green Pig, Jackaloupe, Lucky 13, D&D’s, Frisbee golf, ReAl game, smores, Tracy Aviary, SLC Library. Red Iguana, Cannella’s, cartoons. BBQ’s and I took her to a wine tasting. It was so much fun, I miss having her here and getting to go on constant adventures.

My older brother Jason just got engaged so I’m preparing to visit Florida early next year. I’m really excited for him and my future sister-in-law Jessica. They seem really happy. I’ve only met her once for about an hour but I hope I get to know her better in the future.

One of my best friends (Ashley) just had her baby, little Cohen. I love him so much and am so excited to have him in my life.

I’ve been going to some parties, farmers markets and stuff. That’s all been a good time.

I can’t really think of all the other crap that’s filled up my life but there you go. Once I get settled in my new little nook in the suburbs I’ll be much more interesting….