Utah and Back Home

I'm very grateful my dad survived his massive heart attack with 100% blockage this year. 

I stayed at Leah's apartment because other family members were staying at my parents' house, and I was going to spend most of the time in Provo packing Leah's things anyway. Leah has a roommate in Alaska for the summer, so there was an empty bed I used. It worked out well.

Leah and I spent our mornings taking long walks all over Provo.

Leah spent a lot of time on campus trying to finish lab work for her thesis so she could come home for the rest of summer. The lab professor is my brother's good friend. I met him when I was 16 and he came to our house to visit. They played college soccer together and still keep in touch often, and he recently sent this text to my brother. So one day I came up to campus with Leah and said hi to Shawn, then left Leah and wandered campus for a while.

Another day, I was in line at the BYU bookstore when I looked at the line next to me and saw the author of this book I read a few years ago. I've followed him on social media for a long time. I introduced myself and thanked him for sharing his experiences. We talked about all things Arizona, since he lived in our city for grad school and was just in Arizona for a conference and knows a friend from my ward here. He is the nicest man, and I was a little starstruck to see and talk to him in person. It was unexpected. I hope I played it cool. I do wish I had taken a picture of us, but maybe that would have been less cool of me.

We got all Leah's things organized, pared down, and packed neatly in a corner of her living room. We left her bedroom deep cleaned and empty for the next person who will move in before Leah comes back. This is our easiest move yet. We didn't have to pack up kitchen things, and we just have to move her right into the next bedroom which will be bigger and easier to fit everything in.

Leah and I drove to the SLC mission office and picked up a large box from Carson because HE'S COMING HOME IN TWO WEEKS!!

We drove back to Arizona all Saturday, and she's finally home and can take it easy for a few weeks. Meanwhile, back at home, Dan and Paige watched World Cup soccer games, Colby traveled to California with friends, and we had a mini split air conditioner installed in our one-car garage because we have a wild plan for that space soon...

For the Cause

Today Leah's assisting with a graduate study. They needed victims, I mean participants, and I'm in town. I hate all needles but agreed to it for science and helping college students out. Leah stabbed my finger for blood. Then another girl drew more blood which was not easy for me and maybe was embarrassing for Leah when I had some strong reactions, but hey we got it done and I hope they learn interesting things about me.

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.