Surprise Staycation

This last week was pretty crazy.

Matt was going to be working in Salt Lake City all week for the annual Qualtrics Insight Summit at The Grand America hotel.  We decided to stay the week at my parents' house because they live closer to Salt Lake than we do.  This actually turned out to be a brilliant idea because Matt wasn't finishing up each night until about midnight.

During the day, Adam played with Grandma which is mutually rewarding.  We went to Kid-to-Kid, a secondhand kid's store with clothing, toys, and pretty much anything else you can think of, and I got a lot of new spring/summer clothes for Adam, and Grandma picked out new toys for him.  Being the only grandchild definitely has its perks.

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to see some chubby feet in these this summer!

After the first few nights of Matt working late, Qualtrics decided it would be best to just keep Matt at the hotel, but he wouldn't agree unless... Adam and I got to stay, too!!  (Thanks, Matt!)  We stayed in one of the suites that had two rooms which is the best because then we don't have to be woken up by Adam moving around all night, and the room was on a corner, so we had huge window-doors all the way around the rooms.  Matt still had to work late for the two nights that we stayed in the hotel, but after putting Adam to bed each night, I shamelessly watched Food Network and surfed the internet.  It's so fun to have an unexpected getaway!

Adam got a token for a free toy at the hotel's toy shop.  He was very happy and proceeded to eat the tag and toss the penguin...

And it's not a Qualtrics party without some fancy toys!... and feather dancers... Adam woke up early after a rough night, so Matt took him down to work with him for a little bit so that I could sleep in.  Adam, of course, loved it.

We stopped by City Creek one night when Matt had a break because it was literally the ONLY place open and he was starving.  Adam played in the children's play area of the food court and had a blast.  We will definitely be stopping there again!

And I guess the highlight of the week was that my little brother got engaged to the cutest girl ever and they have the best story and they are so in love and I am just so excited for them!!  Congrats to David and Kylee!  July 22 is going to be here before we know it!

January Reads

I made a goal to read 36 books this year-- so 3 books a month with room to fall behind and catch up if I need to.  Well, January is over and I'm right on track!

Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--The World's Most Dangerous Weapon
by Steve Sheinkin

I loved this book.  I loved this book.  I loved this book.  Sheinkin makes this history play out like an action movie!  He gives plenty of background information about the discovery of Uranium and the making of the atomic bomb itself without going overboard into unnecessary details like a lot of documentary style books do.  This account includes stories of Russians and Americans spying for the Soviet Union as well as US efforts to gain information about the German and Soviet Union plans.  This book was fascinating and one that I would recommend to everyone.  

Saint Anything
by Sarah Dessen

This is a story about a girl who lived in the shadow of her brother's fame and good looks.  Then, after a series of destructive behavior lands him in jail, Sydney decides to move to a new school and start over.  She makes new friends that help her overcome the challenges and guilt from her brother's choices that no one else in her family seems to care about.  A feel-good book about self-discovery, family, and learning to deal with the consequences of our own choices and the choices of those whom we love.

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1)
by Marissa Meyer

I listened to this book on CD-- I like to have something on when I'm home all day and Adam watches the TV if I turn it on, and that's not a habit I really want him to start-- and I finished it in like 3 days.  I'm pretty picky when it comes to readers, but this girl nailed it.  She did the voices of the different characters perfectly and I thoroughly enjoyed that.  Now, the book itself was so good!  I have to admit, I struggled in the beginning because it was set in "New Bejing" after World War 4 and there and hover crafts and ID chips and all that stuff which, after reading The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, and Divergent books, I was pretty much done with this whole futuristic society thing, BUT I stuck with it and had a lot of fun listening to this book!  It's a play on the Cinderella story and is so clever-- I'm not going to go into more details because I'm afraid I'll make it sound stupid haha.  Just trust me-- you will like it.  I've already checked out the second one and have been listening to it in the car!