Stuck in Wichita

JoLee is writing a paper this semester on Paul Meltsner's painting, Martha Graham Dance Class (c.a. 1939). She wanted to see the painting in person, so we trucked down to the Wichita Art Museum yesterday morning. Wichita is a three hour drive, so we intended to return last night; however, our car's alternator broke and we ended up stranded in the middle of Kansas with no bags! With the help of the Honda dealership that happened to be on our way into town, we were able to contact a mechanic and find a hotel before it got too late. The hotel supplied us with a toothbrush and toothpaste, and we found food and a bookstore at the strip mall across the street. We were very fortunate to have everything we needed within walking distance. In the morning, the mechanic fixed our car in less than three hours and we were back on the road. With the exception of a costly repair, we both enjoyed our little adventure in Wichita.

JoLee spent an hour observing this painting and taking notes. She set up a few folding chairs for us to be comfortable. I highly recommend touring art museums with art history majors. It makes you feel like you know what you're doing.

I know not all art is beautiful, but I thought this painting was. The colors and the forms and the subject matter (i.e. modern dance) make this painting wonderful to look at.

The museum had a space for kids to explore and learn about art. I put this series of ramps and tubes together.

This one was JoLee's design.

After the art museum, we visited the Exploration Place (which is somewhat similar to the Exploritorium in San Francisco). Wichita has a rich flight history, so a big portion of the museum was dedicated to aeronautics. Here I am trying to fly the Wright Brothers' plane at Kitty Hawk. I'm pleased to say that I crashed spectacularly.

The nature section of the Exploration Place had this exhibit of a decomposing rat being consumed by maggots and a giant slug. This one's for you, Blake!

The drive between Kansas City and Wichita is spectacularly beautiful in my opinion. It takes you through the flint hills, which is some of the only tall prairie grass left in the world. What makes the flint hills so unique is the lack of trees. Under a thin layer of soil lies solid rock, making the flint hills useless for farming but excellent for grazing. In the winter time it's a little bare, but come springtime it will be miles and miles of rolling green grass. This drive should be beautiful when Jen and I drive it in June, but I'd argue that it's beautiful even in the winter.

We had incredibly powerful winds on both legs of our journey. A storm was rolling in as we drove home, but we were lucky to arrive before it started to rain.

The last time a car broke when I was on a road trip was in Salt Lake City. My dad got our family a hotel room downtown and we all went swimming with our friends in the hotel pool. Unfortunately, we didn't have our swimsuits in Wichita, but we still had fun.

Zephyr's Toy

Mom sent Zephyr some toys in the mail (despite the fact that Zephyr has been a very bad cat on our walks lately). As you can see from the video below she thoroughly enjoyed her present. Thanks, Mom!

A Plug For Google Reader

A few weeks ago, after watching my wife go through her regular routine of checking for new blog posts, I decided to hook her up with Google Reader. For those of you who already know or use a feed reader, you can skip this post; this will tell you nothing new. This post is for those of you who are checking a handful (or several handfuls) of blogs on a regular basis by going to each one hoping to find something new.

In simple terms,Google Reader consolidates blog posts (and any news posts) into one source. It's like reading a newspaper that is full of only stories that matter to you. It's incredibly easy to use. All you need is a Google account. Here is how Google Reader works.

1. Go to www.google.com/reader and sign into your account (or create an account if necessary).

2. Subscribe to a blog by entering its URL into the subscription window. Here I'm subscribing to this blog, joleeandnate.blogspot.com.

3. Read the latest posts within Blogger. You don't have to visit the blog to read read the latest posts, but if you decide you want to visit the blog simply click on the name at top and it will take you there.

4. Read about old post by scrolling down.

5. Subscribe to as many blogs as you want to and organize them into folders (technically they're tags). Notice that this menu will tell you how many new items there are to read in each blog. In this example the blogs are organized in two groups: the Jensens and the Walters. Notice that all of there are 38 new "Jensen" posts in all, "The Stephens" has no new items, and "A Flat and Two Cats" has 3 new posts.

A reader not only saves you time in checking multiple posts, it actually helps you find new posts more quickly. You can also share items with friends, star favorite items to be referenced later, and even access items on your mobile device. Finally, there are a few tools to show you how often you check your feeds and which ones you read the most.

The Birthday Boy

Today is Nate's birthday! Last night I surprised Nate with a birthday celebration because I teach a night class on Thursdays. Here he is with his presents.


This is exactly what Nate wanted for his birthday. That is why he looks so excited. He told me that he used to read Consumer Reports from cover to cover when he was a kid, kind of like how I used to read large sections of National Geographic when I was younger. I'll let you judge for yourself which is nerdier.


As many of you know, Nate is not a big lover of treats. In fact, if I ever make cookies he will only eat two, which he feels is rather generous. So, I was racking my brain to think of what we could do for a birthday cake. And then I had an inspiration ... Donuts. Nate loves donuts. They are practically the only treat that tempts him. He was really excited about the donut birthday cake.


Zephyr liked Nate's birthday too. Mostly because I let her play with the wrapping paper after he opened his presents. She was quite a pest while I was trying to wrap the presents.

Happy Birthday Nate. I love you.

Heroes

Not too much has been going on here, as evident from the lack of blog posts. The down time has given us plenty of time to catch up on season one of Heroes. Nate and I watched the whole season in the last few weeks on Netflix. We have been very entertained. However, despite all the super powers and the attempts to save the world, Heroes has an extremely high body count. So, in the tradition of the Roswell Cemetery that my roommates and I made back in 2001, I give you the Heroes Cemetery. Here lie all the dead from season one. May they rest in peace.


I can hear you now. You are thinking, "JoLee, you are a Ph.D. student. Don't you have better things to do with your time than make this silly cemetery?" The answer to that question is yes.

First Person

I look forward to getting my BYU Magazine in the mail every season. I always read the whole thing cover to cover. Sometimes this turns out to be a really interesting process. Once I knew four people in the magazine. The end of the magazine (which I always read last) is a real treat because that is where the First Person section is. For this section, BYU Magazine comes up with topics and asks their readers to send in their stories. Most of them are pretty funny. A couple months ago I wrote my very own First Person and submitted it to BYU Magazine. I awaited the next issue eagerly, but, alas, they didn't publish my blurb. I guess they didn't realize that I have been waiting for years for a topic to which I could actually respond. Anyway, they had asked their readers to write about music at BYU which I know is something that would garner A LOT of responses. Still, I think my little story is pretty funny, and I am going to post it here because I can.

Songwriters
JoLee Gillespie Stephens (BA ’01, MA ’04)
Overland Park, Kansas

My roommate Nicole and I were on BYU’s Track and Cross Country teams. During our last training camp our coach decided that one of the week’s activities would be a talent show. (Though, if truth be told, it was actually our idea.) Now, this was not just any talent show; it was a mandatory talent show, and anyone who didn’t prepare a talent beforehand had to sing their high school’s fight song. Nicole and I, however, were prepared. We sang “You’re a Grand Old Flag” and a combination of “Home on the Range” and “My Home’s in Montana.” We had such a great time practicing our songs, and we were so well received, that throughout the coming semester we continued to teach each other more songs. We specialized in songs with two intertwining melodies. As the semester progressed we had learned quite a few numbers, and one day we started talking about how funny it would be if we recorded all these silly songs and gave them to our families and friends for Christmas. One of the guys in the ward heard our conversation and offered to let us use the recording software on his computer. Our CD “Sing Along with JoLee and Nicole” included highlights such as “This Land is Your Land” and “Horsey, Horsey.” The album even included an original number written for the neglected (when it comes to songs) Thanksgiving holiday, “Oh, What Are We Thankful For.” Our families and friends were thrilled, and after that Nicole and I could proudly claim, “Oh, yeah we’re songwriters…we have an album.”

Negative 15 Degrees

What better way to celebrate sub zero temperatures than to drive up to Minneapolis? Last weekend, temperatures dropped to -15 degrees Fahrenheit (with a wind chill of -30). You know you're going to be cold when the forecast is calling for a high of -4. Having never experienced such extreme temperatures, naturally we couldn't resist. We packed up our stuff and headed north for a weekend with Uncle Jim and his family.

One of the highlights of the trip was sledding down a nearby hill. We all bundled up and braved the weather on our sleds. (It was actually much warmer that day, a balmy +9).


We had a great time racing and trying to see who could go the farthest. For some reason, JoLee kept winning.


The hill was just about the right length to make several trips.


We just had to watch out for mid sledding collisions (which were frequent). The only sledding I did growing up was with my youth group in the CA Sierra. It usually took us two hours to find a good hill, two hours of sledding until someone got hurt, and two hours until our appendages thawed out. I'm pretty sure this was the first sledding trip I've ever survived without getting injured.


The top of the hill was extremely icy, and try as we might, we just couldn't climb to the top without using a rope.


You can see by JoLee's celebration, that it really was an accomplishment to make it to the top of the hill.


As always, Jim and Peggy were great hosts. We always have a fantastic time and look forward to our next trip.

Disneyland

Nate and I just got back from a fun-filled Stephens family vacation at Disneyland! We had so much fun. I think the reason the trip was so great was that everyone was there. Now we'll always be able to all talk about that trip to Disneyland. Here's the whole crew. The park was still decorated for Christmas. It was really pretty and great for us because we had our own little Stephens family Christmas on Sunday morning.

The weathermen were predicting a less than ideal forecast. We were all geared up for rain all day, everyday, so we were pretty happy when it only rained in the evening. That being said, we still did get pretty wet. As you can see, the rain didn't deter Savannah.

Despite the cold rain, Aaron, Brooke and Nate rode the river raft ride. They said it was really fun, but Jen and I couldn't find the will to ride it because we had seen some kids get seriously soaked on the ride.

Jen and Will on the Jungle Cruise.

Val and Savannah on the Matterhorn.

Brooke and Aaron on the swings at California Adventure.

Dorothy and Savannah on Dumbo. Jen and Will are in the background.

Val and Savannah on Buzz Lightyear. Savannah looks focused.

Jen and I on Buzz Lightyear. We were very focused and determined galactic fighters.

Savannah & Will on the pirate's treasure on Tom Sawyer's Island (or whatever it's called now.)

Val, Savannah, Dorothy and Will on Tom Sawyer's Island.

Nate and JoLee in a Disneyland Shop - how's that for a ride shot! This photo was taken at the 11th hour. We were about to leave the park for good, but first Nate asked the clerk to take our photo.

This next shot is for all the runners that read my blog. Look who I ran into at Disneyland. Courtney Pugmire Meldrum. Favorite Courtney memory: Freshman year when Coach made her run while carrying a cone because she ran her repeats faster than pace.

I bet most of you don't know that Zephyr has her very own ride at California Adventure, but we didn't ride it because it is a spinny ride and because it was closed.

My favorite ride at Disneyland is Thunder Mountain. Look how happy I am. The ride is best at night, but that is not the best time for pictures. Also, never fear family, I made sure to yell about all our Thunder Mountain allergies. This trip Nate also realized the joys of Thunder Mountain.

Happy 2008!

The trip was a great way to dive into the New Year!

Thanks for such a fun trip everyone!

Gramma Scurr's Birthday Party

Another fun thing that we did in Colorado was celebrate my Gramma's 80th birthday. We all trooped up to my Aunt Patti's house and had lunch, cake, and games. We gave my Gramma a book with a whole bunch of handwritten inside jokes that was a big hit. Since everyone was there we took a bunch of family photos. First, here's the whole crew - my Dad and his kids and my Aunt and her kids, only my Uncle Todd was missing.

The Hales: Lincoln and his wife Anna and their son Lincoln, Aunt Patti, Nicholas, Emily, David and his wife Jaylene. (from left to right)

The Gillespies: Taggart, Mom, Dad, Paige and Peter and Me and Nate.


And here we are with Gramma. Taggart makes all of us 5'8" women look like shorties.

We also had cake. It took four people to light all the candles.


Gramma blew out all the candles by herself and here's my Mom showing them off.


Well, Gramma, I know that you will never read this because you don't use the internet, but we loved sharing your birthday with you, and we love you too!

Christmas Morning in Colorado

Nate and I spent Christmas in Colorado. Here are some pictures of Christmas morning. After breakfast (thanks Dad!) we all lined up on the stairs in our new pajamas, as tradition dictates.

We had a really fun time with our stockings. My mom can fit an amazing amount of stuff into each sock. Here's Nate with his pocket kite.


The boys all got a tiny puzzle. They took turns posing with the pieces once they were solved. Peter solved his first.

Taggart's puzzle was really hard. No one solved it until later that day. So Taggart solved Peter's puzzle to prove that he could solve one quickly.

Paige

JoLee and Nate

Dad with awesome hair

Mom took the pictures so she doesn't star in any. Mom also wrapped the presents in tape that was impossible to tear. We had to use scissors to open our presents. Consequently, Christmas morning lasted longer than expected.


The reindeer tells Taggart a secret. I think what he said was that it was a great Christmas morning, and he was glad that everyone could be there together.