Stadium of Fire

I flew into Provo airport on the 4th of July in time for Leah to pick me up, drop my things at her apartment where I'm staying, and meet family at BYU's Stadium of Fire. It was an incredible night.

Gentri sang a powerful medley of patriotic songs.

Brad Paisley is an amazing singer and great entertainer.

The fireworks were combined with a drone show for America's 250th Birthday. So cool. 

Backyard Progress

Dan's in the middle of snake proofing our yard with 1/4" wire mesh along our view fence and metal panels on gaps in our gates. He's also filling in all openings (we'll paint the black filler stuff). Now that our backyard is landscaped and we'll be spending time out there, we don't want to find snakes.

Our Polywood Adirondack chairs and side tables came today! We chose ones with a believable faux wood grain instead of the more smooth and plastic-looking options. They're comfortable. They're heavy enough to stay put during monsoons and wind storms. They won't fade or burn or crack with harsh sun and extreme heat. They're easy to wash. They're warrantied for 20 years. We'll put a fire pit or a low round table in the middle of this group of chairs, but we haven't decided or ordered that yet. I wanted to see how much space the chairs take up so I know what to get next.

We always stand over in this spot to watch the sunset because there are no side walls in our way, so I wanted chairs there. I picture future me resting at the end of the day, reading a book with a snack and drink next to me and an amazing sunset across the sky. And no snakes.

Dan and I shopped for outdoor lights today and got overwhelmed with different options. Dan came home, uploaded a picture of our backyard to AI, and created this vision which is actually helpful. We still want plants and a fountain and more furniture to complete our backyard, but we're one step closer with these Adirondack chairs and side tables. 

Update: We did indeed sit outside on new chairs for tonight's gorgeous sunset. 

Sinus Saga and Some Rosacea

I was sick with a cold in May, which turned into a sinus infection (always, my whole life, even after sinus surgery) that was treated the first week of June but has not completely gone away (I usually need multiple rounds of antibiotics and prednisone to get rid of them, that's just how it is for me). I also lost my smell and taste again. I was taking a biologic shot to keep asthma and sinus problems calm for 18 months before moving here, and then I started back up for all of 2025, but this January the asthma office messed up the renewal paperwork to keep me on it for another year, and after two months of me calling back and forth with the specialty pharmacy and the office, the asthma doctor suggested since I hadn't been taking the shot for those two months, I should stay off the shot and see how I do. Well, this is how I do off the shot: sinus infection and multiple rounds of medicine I'd rather avoid. The asthma/allergy doctor has been treating my asthma and sinus problems, but I decided I finally need to get set up with an ENT doctor. 

I found an amazing ENT doctor who had a cancellation this week, and I'm so happy with him. He listened to me and agreed about treatments and talked with me on a different level because of my long history and experience with sinus problems. Then he scoped my nose and showed me pictures of all the nasal polyps that have regrown. He also showed me the active sinus infection. Seeing the proof of polyps and infection validates how bad I've been feeling and why I lost my smell and taste again. My body is so good at making inflammation which wreaks havoc everywhere, ugh. So he's putting me back on Dupixent, and his office is great about staying on top of the paperwork that's needed. They even gave me the first two shots to start while I wait for the specialty pharmacy to start deliveries again. The whole staff was so friendly and helpful. It's an amazing medicine that works well for me, and without it, I can't smell or taste, I get infections, the polyps grow out of control, and I have to take too many medicines to calm things again. The ENT doctor also gave me stronger antibiotics and prednisone to take for a few weeks because this infection didn't go away with a short round. I'll be feeling better soon, phew.

I related too well to all these posters around the room. I have most of these problems:

Also, some days the Rosacea is calm, and some days it flares. Today is a flare day just because. 

But for sure it's been way more controlled thanks to three daily topical medicines I've been using for the past 18 months. Sometimes old pictures like this pop up and I realize it used to be uncontrolled and so painful and itchy and burning. I'm thankful for progress in any of my health troubles.

Snapshots

Leah found a new favorite yogurt.

Living in Minnesota for 20 years made us very familiar with the history (and Gordon Lightfoot's song) of the Edmund Fitzgerald that sank in Lake Superior. We even toured its twin ship in Duluth and visited a boat museum with artifacts they collected from the wreck. This is Dan's new book he's reading:

A little more than four weeks left!! Not only is it the end of his mission, but it's also the end of sending out missionaries from our family. It's another phase of life that will be behind us soon. So many changes in the past few years.

For one of her jobs, Paige was tasked with updating the location of all the sculptures around campus. On a day off, we spent a few hours wandering campus looking for lost sculptures in extremely hot weather. 

This flute-playing sculpture was the hardest but most rewarding sculpture to find. We came upon her in a secluded courtyard very far from the location listed. It's now updated thanks to Paige.

A few migraine days recently.

Almost done reading the Emma M. Lion series of books. I've been reading them slowly so I can enjoy them longer.

We have a mouse problem in our newly landscaped backyard. The mice didn't care about our yard when it was only dirt, but now they like it. They're burrowing under rocks in these three areas of our yard. We keep finding holes and new piles of dirt, and we've caught five mice so far. It's unpleasant, but if we don't take care of them, here in Arizona they become a big problem and cause a lot of damage to yards, houses, and cars. We also don't want snakes following mice into our yard.

Dan and Colby have every other Friday off work, which was today. Paige took this morning off work too, and we all went to the U of A Mirror Lab to see how giant telescope mirrors are made.

Monsoons have begun, and they're fascinating. Yesterday there was a heavy downpour with loud thunder, and then the sun quickly came out.

I have a plane ticket and will be packing Leah up and driving her home soon. This is the cutest picture of Leah with her cousin this week:

I chopped my hair short again. And my stomach still hates me every day. Any progress I was feeling has stopped.

We're getting quotes for a mini split air conditioner in our small garage so we can exercise in there and use it in other ways. It's too hot to keep walking the neighborhood in the summer, and we're out of room inside the house for an exercise spot. A lot of people in Arizona park outside and use their garages for exercise rooms, offices, etc., especially since there are no basements.

Mid June

We watched our nephew's mission homecoming on Zoom. Now Carson's the last missionary in the family still out, and he has six weeks left! 

Leah is finishing up a summer term, learning to test blood in a lab so she can use the results for her thesis, and then at some point I'll fly to Utah, pack up her room and pile boxes in the living room, and drive her home. She's staying in the same apartment but moving to a bigger bedroom with its own bathroom. We won't have to pack her kitchen things, but we will clean out her bedroom and leave it ready for the next person who might move in before we come back. Meanwhile, the girl whose bedroom Leah is moving into has left for the summer but didn't clear out her room, so Leah can't move in yet.

A monsoon happened yesterday, and all the lightning set another mountain on fire across the valley. We could see the new fire begin and then grow bigger. 

Meanwhile, the mountain fire next to us started back up, and by the end of last night a third fire had started somewhere else. Last night we set up a telescope to check on the three mountain fires (that's Colby in the picture). The lightning storms across the valley were amazing to watch too.

We did go back and buy the VW Atlas. I think it's going to be the best choice for us. I don't want to car shop again for another 15 years.

Fire on the Mountain

This was certainly a new experience for us and quite fascinating. A fire started on the mountain this morning. While ground and air crews fought the fire, we watched it grow until they finally got it under control many hours later. There is no more smoke on the mountain now.

Enough Already

There is no end...I fix one thing and another problem always takes its place. I finally got over a stubborn sinus infection. My stomach was amazing for five days but went back to all its problems for two days, and then today it hasn't bothered me yet, so I don't know what to expect next.

There were no same-day doctor appointments available, so off to Urgent Care I went today for new problems...hoarse voice, extremely dry mouth, and painful inflamed sore throat with white spots. A strep test came back negative, so the doctor took a new culture and is treating me for thrush. **Update on 6/13: Three days later, the culture came back negative for thrush. I stopped the medicine. I had a few miserable and uncomfortable days, but I'm finally feeling better now. I don't know what was going on.