Water "the Essence of Moisture"

Since moving to North Carolina, emergency preparedness has been something on my mind. Growing up in Arizona and living in Provo for the past 5 years, it hasn’t been something I have really given much thought to. Arizona rarely ever sees natural disasters—the only time school was ever closed is because the boiler room got flooded and the air conditioners didn’t work. Living in Provo, everyone usually assumes that because BYU has enough food to feed 30,000 people for 3 days, it’s nothing to worry about.

Living nearer to the coast in North Carolina has made me think “what if?” There are a lot more possibilities for natural disasters here including hurricanes, tornados, floods, and even weird power outages. A couple of weeks ago our county had a tornado warning. Fortunately, all we got was a bit of rain. Our ward is really focusing on emergency preparedness however, even asking some families to see if they can go for an entire week without going to the grocery store. I couldn’t do it—can you?

The ward had everyone fill out questionnaires about our emergency preparedness. Emergency supplies? Hum… I think we have a flashlight? It has been something on my mind, and Steve and I are trying to heed the prophet’s council to be prepared in the event of an emergency. Every time we go to the grocery store we buy a few more gallons of water, and we have a 72-hour kit for both of us courtesy of our BYU Married Ward.

Yesterday, I got an e-mail on my phone that said we shouldn’t drink the water before boiling it. Apparently, during an inspection they found the presence of Fecal Coliform in the Greenville area, and were worried about the magnitude of the contamination. Basically E-coli bacteria. In the water. From fecal contamination. Sick! For more go here: http://www.reflector.com/ Right now the Boil Order is still in effect, and they are not sure when it will lift.

By the mid-afternoon all the restaurants in Greenville were forced to close. It was weird driving by to see so many empty parking lots. But have you ever thought about how much we really use water? We use it to wash our hands, wash the dishes, brush our teeth, drink, bathe in, and make ice with. We constantly are using water in our lives usually without a second thought.

It made me very grateful for our meager efforts to follow the advice of the prophet. Especially since many people had to rush out and buy bottled water. Wal-Mart started charging $8 for a 24-pack of bottled water!! Fortunately not everyone was price gouging, and a local store, Harris Teater, was giving out gallons of water for free. It’s amazing how disasters can bring out the best in some and the worst in others.

*** Update! As of Thursday 6/26/08, the Boil Water Advisory was lifted except in specific areas where they found the contamination!!!

Oh the places we've been

I was reading a friend's post about all the amazing places she has gone in her first year of marriage, and I realized Steve and I have had an amazing year + of marriage! We are trying to make the most of the time we have together before we have children, enjoying each others company! I feel like the luckiest woman alive because Steve is so great to me and takes me on such fun adventures! He is my best friend, and whether we are flying in a prop plane over the grand canyon or water skiing at Bear Lake, we have a blast! This past year + has been the best times of my life! Here is a year in review.

We honeymooned in SEDONA, ARIZONA and it was beautiful and relaxing! All of the red rock is so amazing!!!


As as surprise, Steve arraigned a small plane tour of the GRAND CANYON! I'm really not bored, I promise!


It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen! I've seen the Grand Canyon many times before, but never from such a vantage point! The plane was pretty small, it only seated 5 people, this is Steve and I with the pilot.

Steve took me to CALIFORNIA the summer after we were married, and we had a blast visiting with my cousin Karen, and exploring Santa Monica, Hollywood and Rodeo Drive! Here we are at the Getty Center.

We rode tandem bikes along the SANTA MONICA PIER! That was an experience! We really had to learn to work together! I guess I wore him out!

We even went to see Wicked!!!!

We went to the UTAH LAKE FESTIVAL with a bunch of my Glenwood Friends.

We were waiting for a boat tour of Utah Lake--They made amazing “hats”.

BEAR LAKE or the “Caribbean of the Rockies” was amazing. This is us on the back of a jet ski.

The water was so amazingly blue!

We went camping with our Married Ward. This picture is lacking in people... oh well.

On the way to Arizona for Christmas we spent the night in LAS VEGAS and went to the Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl. BYU beat UCLA by 1 point in an amazing game ending block! We were right on the 10 yard line about 15 rows back, so we had the perfect view!

My favorite part was definitely afterward, when we rushed the field!!!

Over Christmas, we went on a horseback ride in the San Tan Mountains with my mom. It was only Steve’s second time on a horse. We went 8 miles—what a trooper!!

Christmas with my family in Arizona. All 6 kids plus many of their spouses/girlfriends/etc.

For our 1 year anniversary, Steve took me snowboarding. We fell down a lot, but sure had fun!

No year in review would be complete without the giant game of TWISTER!

I graduated with my Bachelors from BYU in Marriage, Family, and Human Development. It was such a neat experience because I felt really supported. My family and extended family was there, and cheered so loud at the commencement exercises that Dean Miller said, "I think you've got the loudest cheering section!" Go team!

I had never been to OHIO, so we flew out for Steve’s sister Liz’s wedding! It was beautiful, and so neat I got to be there for the sealing!

All the bridesmaid's with the beautiful bride.

I also saw a friend I went to Romania with—Megan Sears—who was serving in the Stanton’s ward in Cincinnati! Small world!

Right after we got back from Ohio, we turned around and moved 4 days later. Here we are in front of a Pony Express stop—somewhere in Nebraska I think!

It was so fun being able to spend so much uninterrupted time alone! I think it took us about 4 days to drive cross-country! (We were driving a 16 ft moving van)

Living in Greenville, NC, we are less than 2 hours from GORGEOUS beaches! We have gone several times already with our new friends and neighbors the Stinsons.

My favorite so far is Emerald Isle. (Also pictured in the heading of our blog.) The water is so beautiful a crystal blue-green and is almost warm!

It's been such a great adventure! I look forward to this next year!

Shenanigans

We've been in Greenville for 6 weeks now, and have been having a blast! I've included some of the pictures from around the Greenville area. Last weekend we went to Raleigh and explored the city! This is a picture of Steve and I when we went on a paddle boat in a cute little park named Pullen Park. It was beautiful and picturesque!Steve was a little sleepy... or something.
We also went to a flea market, and we saw the most amazing store! One dedicated solely to selling fried twinkies!!! I was so tempted.....
At the flea market we also saw all these amazing old lunch boxes. I've never seen so much amazing stuff!
We are nearly moved it. Steve into the townhouse, and me into my new box! I'm really excited. It's pretty big!
Another one of the great things about living in North Carolina is that we are so close to the ocean! We drive less than two hours and can be on a beautiful sandy beach!
Steve was really excited when he saw that we live near "Stantonsburg Road" but furthermore, there is a Stanton Square there!!!
We are sampling the local cuisine, and we went to a Mexican place named "Moe's" It was pretty good, but made me miss Cafe Rio! Nothing compares!!!

We've been having lots of fun exploring our new town! We miss Provo, but are enjoying living somewhere new!

Viva La Vida

By now, most folks I know have heard of this CD; the title song, Viva La Vida, has been released. The remainder of the album isn't due out for another week. However, I am writing to give a brief description of how it sounds. In a word that I think is fitting, it is somewhat revolutionary.

After songs like "Yellow", or "The Speed of Sound", Coldplay has kind of fallen to the side of their genre's forefront. It seems this album will seriously change that landscape. It is still Coldplay, though; you can still hear Chris Martin's voice clearly. But the tones, the topics and the timbre of it all has changed to a greated 'depth-iness". (In homage to Colbert's truthiness. :) ) The greater usage of strings (violin, etc.) really enhances this depth

I particularly like the title song, but a couple of other songs to pay attention to are Strawberry Swing, Violet Hill, Lost (the acoustic version especially) and Death and All His Friends. Listen to the last one for the variety of melodic style, and the few but fitting lyrics.

It is a short album, but its a good one.

Also, watch for hidden tracks!

We must be peasants, cause we got burninated.

This last weekend we went to the awe-inspiring Atlantic Beach. It was incredible to wake up in our own bed, drive a little ways, and go to a gorgeous oceanside. See, is isn't it nice!


Anyway, we swam and chilled and drank copious amounts of seawater. And then realized we looked like lobsters. Sorry - no pictures of this, I believe Marina would kill me. Literally. With a knife.

Okay, maybe not.

We have pretty much done nothing but lay down and listen to Harry Potter. It is so painful to move! Did you know that when your feet get sunburned, they get all swollen and it hurts to walk? I did, which is why I took this farewell photo of my foot before it got burned.


Sorry you had to see that.

In other exciting news, we have a new car! Since we sold the Accord and Civic, we had to get some form of transportation. Because we are incapable of being frugal, we bought a Lexus. And by Lexus, I mean another Honda Accord. Its so pretty!



Ok, enough of that. I have one more thing to say. Marina is doing really well with her assistantship so far, and we really are liking the area. I'm particularly proud of Marina. She graduated from BYU and is on her way to making people address envelopes to us as Mr. and Dr. Stanton. Now I have to get a Doctorate, just so it doesn't look suspect.

Hope everyone is well!