Best birthday ever

It was the first one ever where I got to spend the entire day with my husband.

Incidentally, we were also in France.

David had a mission reunion (his first ever), so we decided to be there. It was a delightful chance to wander through the land of David's mission. And also hear David speak French. That was favorite. David made the comment once that it was funny how I was having a foreign experience, and he was totally at home. I love that.

For the record, this was my shortest birthday I've ever had - we landed in Paris at 12:45am DC time and immediately jumped forward to 6:45am Paris time. Voila - I lost 6 birthday hours. I guess that made me 6 hours younger, until I went back to DC and earned it all back. Anyway. The birthday was a blur.

In short:

We brunched by the Eiffel Tower,

we took a train/bus ride through the French countryside (I love getting out of the big cities when I travel),

and we watched the sun set behind Mont Saint Michel, a gigantic cathedral surrounded by a quaint little Renaissance-looking village on an island off the coast of Breton.

Technically, Mont Saint Michel is only sometimes an island, when the tide is in. And technically technically, it's never really a true island anymore because they built a causeway to get out to it. But I digress.

I had different songs in my head throughout this trip that seemed to perfectly fit each time. This was the song on the Mont:

We got to explore the Abbey the next day, always staying just barely a step ahead of the masses of tourists.

After that, it was back to the city of love. Here's the song for this leg:

What a beautiful city Paris is. We explored around all the tourist attractions with reckless abandon - we stopped by the Eiffel Tower (thrice, although we never made it to the top)...the Louvre (twice, although we never went in)...

...Notre Dame (during mass - glad we got to go in, but sad that they let tourists roam around during mass)...

...Arc du Triumph (we were ghosts) and the Champs Elysees (it's a busy street)...

...Sacre Coeur (amazing edifice, seedy neighborhood)...

...and the giant air vent in front of Moulin Rouge (people-watching opportunities abound).

You know why all of these are so popular? It's because they are absolutely stunning, especially when all the background sounds you hear are people speaking French. Now I understand. Oh, and the food helps, too. The world would be a more beautiful place if we all had easier access to crepes, macaroons, and chocolate chip pastries. Just sayin.

We also got a chance to consummate our almost-year-old union by making a contribution to the fence-o-declarations-o-love that we found on a bridge behind Notre Dame:

Here's my other song for this leg:

Watch it all, even if you don't speak French. It will blow you away. And/or hypnotize you.

Finally, we made it to the reunion, and I got to meet the Cuenots (David's mission President), and share with them one of the only French phrases I'd learned: "Je suis tres contente de vous reconetrer." Oh yeah. It was a show-stopper. (I confess. I had to look it up to spell it right. Turned out I'd left off the last half of most of the words. :) It was much easier once I learned that Sister Cuenot spoke Spanish.

I loved meeting everyone that was able to come, and I loved watching David reconnect. I also loved meeting a little girl who reminded me of my niece Lilia from the very first glance.

What a great thing reunions are. This time, I was humming this little ditty:

When the weekend was drawing to a close, I headed home to face tax week, while David stayed on the east side of the Atlantic to take care of some important work business for about a month. Miss you, David. Thanks for the killer birthday!

Westward bound

For those of you that didn't know, David and I will soon be headed to sunnier, less humid pastures. With more ocean.

That's right, it' LA or bust for the DC Chipmans. The big move happens mid-May. The details, we don't know much about yet. We're working those out beforehand, sort of. I'm feeling excited, I'm feeling sad, but mostly I'm staying focused on the present and working on being okay with a lot of unknowns.

Bring it on.

Destination: Reunification. ETA: 24 hours

So I've been flying solo for the last couple weeks.


It's not my favorite thing.

But you know what? I've been alright. Since David gets home tomorrow, I've been reflecting a lot on the silver linings I've been able to find while he's been gone.

A little background: usually when David leaves town for a work trip, I spend my freetime moping around the house and being lonely and willing time to go faster. (Thank goodness I have a job to keep myself occupied during many of my waking hours.) And those are the trips that usually last a few days at most, when he goes to exotic, distant places...like Boston. Or Dallas.

You can imagine the mild panic I was feeling in anticipation of his two-week trip to Saudi Arabia, and in the midst of all the Middle Eastern/north African upheaval, no less. Yes, this trip called for more drastic measures on my part. I needed to be proactive in filling my time. Maybe I could reach out to people. Or, more likely, maybe I could tackle some serious projects around the house, like ironing all of this:


and scanning all of this:


Well...I didn't get to my projects. I didn't have time.

I was helping my brother and his family move, and spending some QT with this little guy...


And also with this little guy.


I was discovering that I am actually quite a responsible, capable adult, since I've had to do everything by myself for a change. (I kind of needed this, so it counts as a silver lining.)

I was rearranging the artwork on the fridge to better display the artistic talents of some of my favorite kids.


I was helping one of my best friends find a wedding dress she could feel beautiful in. And spending a lot of time goofing off with her, too.


I was spending more than a few nights enjoying my neighbor Al's renditions of "Danny's Song" and some James Taylor song I can't quite remember. (Ah, he just sang it. "You've got a friend." Thanks, Al, for helping me to remember.)

I was celebrating Green Day with friends (this is me in their "photo booth" with my "date").

(If you're wondering, "Where can I get me that awesome wig?!" Target. $1. Oh yeah.)

I was having dinner (and almost a slumber party) with my sister - probably the last time I'll see her before she becomes a mommy.

No doubt about it, my life has been rich and full over the last couple of weeks that I had previously been dreading. It reminds me of a comment my first Stats teacher made about the Stats course everyone has to take at BYU: "It's the most dreaded class on campus, but not the most hated." See the connection?? But I digress.

I've been reminded of the value of good friends and family, and of the great potential the Church has in bringing people together. I have so much gratitude to everyone who has reached out and helped to fill my time with phone calls, visits, opportunities to serve, and excuses to get me out of my house. You are all wonderful people.

This time alone has also increased my appreciation for my husband. Not long after he left, I set a new background to my desktop:

It has been a perfect reminder of what a gem I have found. And when I've looked at it, I haven't been hit with the typical wave of loneliness. I've been able to feel the love that I see in his eyes. While I certainly miss him and eagerly await his return, I've been able to feel genuine excitement for the experiences he's having, and pride in the way he has capably shouldered such great responsibilities. I've been able to feel comfort in knowing that he is devoutly committed to the most important things in his life. I've been able to feel happy, even though he isn't here with me right at this very moment.

I am truly blessed.

Holidays in the Southern Hemisphere

So, how'd you spend your Christmas Eve?

David and I spent it in the sky, en route to see his parents. I meant to watch out the windows of the airplane for Santa, but I fell asleep and must have missed him.

David's parents are mission president in Piura, Peru, so we took a trip down so spend some QT with them (and some of David's sibs) - and really, it's one of the first times I've gotten to hang out with them at all! It was delightful. I had a grand time with everyone, from the moment they picked us up on Christmas morning. Much of the time we spent traipsing from place to place in their mission, just seeing the incredibly diverse landscapes and meeting the people they get to associate with all the time.

We spent some incredibly relaxing time at Punta Sal - a perfect way to unwind after the insanity of working in financial services at the end of the year. It also offered the best food I ate in Peru. Besides Yolanda's.



A few of the sights from our excursions...


There were at least a dozen churches like this between Piura and Chiclayo. Each has its own individual flair.

We actually got kicked off this playground in Chiclayo shortly after we captured this moment...


We spent New Years in Piura. A word about some interesting New Years Peruano traditions. Of course, there are the fireworks all over town - which we watched from the roof of the casa del Presidente.

But they also run up and down the streets with their suitcases. It's for luck in travels over the next year! So, of course, we did it too.

And here's my favorite. Observe: the muñecos.

Here's the deal. You get yourself a muñeco (they're sold everywhere). You think of something you want to put in your past. It could be a person you don't like, or a class you failed, or a bad experience...or, as we saw, it could be Michael Jackson, or a politician. You write this person or thing on the muñeco. Then, at midnight on New Years, you light it on fire in the street.

You may be asking yourself, do they ever explode? As a matter of fact, they do - when people put fireworks inside them! Which is probably what led to the practice becoming illegal. As you can see, that doesn't seem to stop anybody. I was itching to burn my own New Years Peruano muñeco effigy (not necessarily because I had anything to put in my past...I just really wanted to light a muñeco on fire!), but I abstained. Since it's illegal and all. Figured I could do smarter things than break the law on my vacation with the Presidente.

Part 2 of the vacation: the mountainous south. Words will not do justice to the majestic beauty I saw of the Andes and the Sacred Valley. So I'll just share a few stories and let the pics and vids do the rest of the talking.

We learned on our drive from Cusco to Ollantaytambo that every town was swearing in their mayor that day, which meant every town was having a big fiesta in their Plaza de Armas - the center of town. It basically meant that we got to see everyone in their traditional garb and watch the celebrations.

From Ollantaytambo, we took a train to Aguas Calientes, at the base of Machu Picchu. Unbeknownst to us, our train ride came fully equipped with entertainment. We got some crazy dancing creature, and they even modeled some alpaca sweaters for us.

We had been concerned that our hotel in Aguas Calientes was too close to the train station and would wake us up at odd hours. Turns out, we needn't worry:

And finally, the moment we've all been waiting for (I know I certainly had) - hiking up to see the wonder that is Machu Picchu - in particular, the world-renowned view of the Inka ruins in the shadow of towering Huayna Picchu. Behold, our amazing first view:

Wait...where is it?

Well, maybe if we hike around for a bit and go on a little tour, it will get better. And so we did. And it did.


Please move, little clouds...


Thank you. :)


I waited a long time to see that. Now that I've gone with David, I'm glad I waited.

We capped off our trip by using our 7-hour layover in Lima to do a session at the temple - in Spanish! Right before we met up with Emily again at the airport. I can't think of a better finale.

Christmastime in the East

So I'm playing catch-up, just not all the way. ("Christmastime in the Southern Hemisphere" deserves its own post, which I'll get around to writing sometime soon. Maybe.) I've gotten to see a few different angles of Christmas in the east this year, namely of the DC and NYC variety.

For starters, we have largely missed the insane snowstorms that have been pummeling the east coast. There has been lots of snow in North Carolina and lots in New York...just not much around here. Instead, we just get a whole lot of freezing wind. That said, I did take advantage the first time we DID get a little snow...

I really couldn't help myself. Snow brings out the kid in me. But even without much snow, DC can be a magical place at Christmas.


We went to a show at the DC temple visitors center with some friends and got to see an impressive set of Nativity scenes from around the world that would have made Mom light up like a Christmas tree.

Despite the fact that it was bitter cold, we managed to take some pretty cool shots while David taught us all the concept of Bokeh.

See all the blurriness behind us? Voila. Bokeh.


As for the New York Christmas variety, we paid homage to the Chinatown bus yet again for David's birthday. The Chinatown choir was out and about, helping everyone to get into the Christmas spirit.


We got some tix at the very last second (read: steep, steep discount) for Lion King, which I've always wanted to see. The show is an audiovisual assault. In a very good way. It also made me nostalgic for the sights and sounds of Africa, and I kept leaning over to point out unimportant Africa/Swahili trivia to David, like that "mufasa" means mirage and "rafiki" means friend and that the concept of an elephant graveyard is actually pretty accurate because elephants will push all the bones to the same place and mourn their dead. He humored me though, because he's nice like that.

We also battled the crowd to get a glimpse of the Christmas tree in front of the Rockefeller Center.

We'd been considering the possibility of going ice skating there, but one glance at the line for ice skating told us that we should find another form of entertainment. So we decided to check out the city from the Top of the Rock. I recommend this. The view is spectacular, especially if you time it right...



And then there was that one time when I took David to see Gin Blossoms playing in the streets of New York for his birthday...

We stumbled upon this gem of a show while wandering the streets one night. Turns out, they were filming their show for New Years. On December 18. (And just like that, I'm suddenly skeptical of the timing of every Times Square New Years performance I've ever seen.) So even though I wasn't in New York for New Years, FOX has documentation to prove that I was. Guess I can check that experience off my list.