New Adventures.

I really need to post more but life has been crazy.
Because it has been so long this post will be quite photo heavy...
...and very long.

Enjoy!

Let's see...since my last post we had:

November:

We had the family (immediate and extended) over for Thanksgiving.
That was super fun and warm enough to play outside a lot.

Don't worry Cita, you may not have any more babies but you do have a dog that acts like one.

I was glad that I was able to see my family for Thanksgiving because I left for Jordan over Christmas break in order to work on the survey.

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December:

Funny enough, it was colder in Jordan when I arrived than it was in Utah.

Crazy right?

I couldn't get over how beautiful the country is in the winter and have decided that if I ever run a dig there it will be in the winter - summer stinks.

This is the fog being burned off by the sunrise first thing in the morning in Amman.

The sky in Petra blew my mind.

The winter light, which is softer and not as harsh as the summer, showed so many new things I had not seen before.  

Every day was stunning, which was good because working on the thesis made me very out of shape and the hike was very, very hard for me this go around.

Also, there were puppies.

I love puppies!

As "the technical specialist and consultant" I trained Bruce, Cyndy, and Tahani on the GPS.

It actually went really well.

It also meant that Bruce was so excited he didn't want to do anything else.

:)

Good times.

On the night before Christmas Cyndy fell off of her donkey.

We were on the last steep staircase before the top (and the staircase is incredibly short).

She did not feel comfortable so she went to get off the donkey to walk it.

Unfortunately her hiking boots caught in the stirrup and she fell.

In falling her donkey got scared and moved forward pulling her leg pretty badly.

We sat there, on the trail for some time stretching her leg and calming her down.

Word made it up and down the mountain pretty quickly.

Haroon came down from his shop and called the tourist police.

First they wanted her to ride a donkey down...hahaha nope.

So, an ambulance guy and army guy came up with a stretcher and we all carried her down the mountain.

She was on house rest for the rest of the trip.

On the 26th, Bruce and I hiked back up to continue the survey.

I took my little nativity figure, a gift from Sisters Hunter and Beckstead.

The survey went much faster with just the two of us and we had a good time.

Bruce really loves the GPS unit and climbing all over kingdom come.

Like I said, I could not get over the sky and scenery.

I LOVED IT!!!

Near the end of our survey we spent a day with Haroon as our guide and climbed to one of the top of the mountains above Ad-Deir.

Because the old Nabataean route is washed out, our route was a bit more precarious.

It was a really good thing Cyndy was not there.

Pieces (stairs) of the route that had not washed out.

The view at the top.

There was a strange green haze over the Jordan valley.

The survey wasn't the only thing I did in Jordan.

I finished my edits for my first 3 chapters (in Petra, on my little netbook - good grief the best purchase I have ever made), and finalizing some other things for my thesis.

Oh, also I worked on my PhD research proposal and CV a bit.

This trip was ABSOLUTELY VITAL to deciding on my PhD research.

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January:

....no pictures.

January was spent recovering from jet lag, a cold, and finishing my thesis by the end of the month.

There were some interesting and miraculous things that happened but I won't get into them here.

Actually I get into them here.

Before the first of February I scheduled my defense for February 27th.

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February:

Again, devoted to the thesis and applying for Durham.

By February 6th I received my last bits for my Durham application (letters of recommendation, transcripts, etc.) and SUBMITTED MY APPLICATION!!!

I expected to not hear back for 4-6 weeks so I tried to relax to finish all thesis stuff before the defense.
Bug and I did this by driving up the canyon and taking pictures so we both could calm the heck down.

Great legs Jen, great legs.

Also, it turns out I didn't have to wait 4-6 weeks.

I was accepted into Durham in 5 days! (February 11th)

I didn't even check my email until the 15th.

I surprised my parents and the next day accepted their offer.

More details on that ordeal here.

The rest of the month was spent at my internship and finishing my thesis.

I actually re-organized my typology and re-wrote chapters etc.

The process was a miracle.

The night before my defense I woke up with an infected eye and had to wear glasses to my defense.

Not a huge issue but my left eye was weeping and so I warned my committee that if I was only crying out of one eye then I wasn't actually upset, just infected.

My defense went REALLY well, I passed with minor edits, and went through the university approval and publishing process.

I also finished applying to St. John's and Hatfield at Durham and working on my loan documentation.

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March:

The beginning of March we drove to Colorado to go to Susan's wedding.

It was a blast.

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April:

The saddest part about April was finishing my internship.

Man I miss that place and those people so much.

It was also another sign that things are coming to a close and moving forward.

Speaking of moving forward, the end of April

I GRADUATED!!!

 
 

I remember graduating with the BA.

It didn't feel real.

This felt real, this felt right, and I felt a marvelous sense of closure and accomplishment.

I am ready to move forward - this time without fear.

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May - July:

May 9th we left for Jordan.
Bruce, Cyndy, and I spent some time looking into a museum in Madaba and working with the Department of Antiquities but on May 13th we left with all five of us to Petra.
This was the back of the car, there was also luggage between each person and on our laps.

Seriously, we need to bring less stuff!

The weather this year has been incredibly strange.

It was considerably cooler and we had some rain.

During that first week the President of BYU came to see our project.

We went to a special dinner but with everyone there Mariana and I had to sit in the trunk.

It was a harrowing experience on dirt roads.

The dinner was marvelous though and we all had a good time.

Thankfully we had shades for each site this year.

I would have undoubtedly had heat stroke without them.

Some days we ate with the workers, and the others we ate with the cats.

When you break out the Pringles, they come running. 

BYU TV came up after the President's visit to do filming for our project and two other student videos.

We did a lot of interviews, walking in front of the camera, and showing them the sites.

Mariana and I took them to the top of Ad-Deir. 

They also wanted to stay the night at Ad-Deir to get shots/film and we got to stay with them!!!

IT WAS AWESOME!!!

Some of the Bedouin brought a tourist to the top and they messed around for a bit.
They actually jumped from the split pediment to the center piece.
It was terrifying.

Abu Yusuf also made us dinner.
He grilled the chicken in an old arabaya (wheelbarrow) which was pretty much the coolest thing ever.

We went to the top of the Berg Berg to watch the sunset over the Jordan Valley and Ad-Deir.
It was wonderful.

Our kitty friend followed us to the top.

I think he thought we had Pringles.

Nope.

After they left business got back to normal.

One of our men caught a young falcon.
It became our mascot.

Mariana built it a nest out of her kaffia, on her lap, and it slept.

At some point they caught another one and brought them to site.
The Badul fed them lizards mostly but one day they caught a snake.
It really liked the snake.

I also had my first taste of camel milk.
Not fresh...I did not want to get a disease.
They had them at the store.
It was pretty nasty, I barely swallowed my little sip.

More days at site.

Aidth, little laughing Muhammed and big Muhammed - some of our best (and funnest) workers.

 The hike up passing the donkeys from the shop on top and mapping the end of the Great Circle excavation.

 Bruce fell about 10 - 12 feet from the ramp into the cistern.
His head landed between 2 rocks.
He told me one of his first thoughts were, "There is a God."
I told him that one day those thoughts of his were going to stick.
He was alright in the end but pretty shaken up and bruised.

Final day of excavation, smoothing out back fill piles.

We had a competition, Bruce's crew against mine.

Mine won.

 We spent the last week writing reports but on one of the last days Mariana, Elijah, and myself went off to Wadi Mataha on our own to explore.

We had a marvelous time.

Sometimes sacrifices must be made.

Actually, I sacrificed my shins in a drainage.

Despite bruising and swelling, we continued our excursion.

Miracle of the day - no broken legs and I was able to continue because it happened in the middle of nowhere.

We took the steps up to Al Khubtha and viewed the treasury from above.

 We decided we didn't want to go back the way we had come so we hired two Badul to take us down the Bedouin way to the Siq.

It was fun, beautiful, and insane.

Our guides were fantastic as we tried to climb on some pretty tense spots.

For example, this is Elijah and Ali holding Mariana so that they can try to swing her around the drop.

That is what I did.

It was terrifying.

We finished the day going back through the Siq towards Wadi Musa and getting pizza before we called the boss to pick us up. 

Finally, we made our way to Amman to leave for home.
...and find Ben & Jerry's...
...and eat at Burger King...

Jordan in conclusion:
1. I learned lots about directing a dig.
2. I discovered my "Alpha" voice - it is amazing.
3. I submitted and was approved for my loans to pay for school.
4. I was accepted to my college of choice - Go St. Johns!
5. I had a long, long list of things to replace and do on my arrival home.

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One of those were my glasses that broke in Jordan.
Goodbye glasses with an old prescription and broken nose piece!

I bought an extra pair of glasses a few months ago and loved them, still wear them, and will keep on wearing them.

But, I needed to replace my metal ones...

...and they happened to have a buy one get one free...

...and the total was less than half of my old pair of glasses.

Seriously guys, I will only buy glasses online from now on.
IT IS FABULOUS!!!

So, until next time!

Since August...

Many, many, many things have happened.

Did you know I have several blogs?

It is true.

I have one for my thesis research...which I update a little more than this one,

all the missionary blogs,

tumblr,

and a contribute to a few others.

Well, not really.

I haven't really been good since the end of August, when all the madness began.

I am not going to talk much about the thesis and PhD stuff because that is on my thesis blog but I will give a quick photo update of the last 3 months.

Bug turned 18.

This should have been in my last post but I somehow skipped it.

I gave her a betta fish for her new apartment and yes, he has a telephone box in his bowl.

She named him Sir Geoffery Bruce in honor of our lovely friend Bruce.

Unfortunately we did not realize that he could not live in her apartment.

That stunk.

She visits him when she comes home with laundry.

Her gifts centered around food.

 

Specifically rice and gravy.

She also started her tenure at BYU

which includes:

late nights at the library:

and all-day/night study sessions.

She is learning about taking breaks whenever possible.

We actually get to study together most days which is awesome.

To start out the semester we went watched Remember the Titans at the football stadium.

That was awesome.

I also had my magical birthday.

Numero 27 on the 27th.

The padre cooked me the most amazing cake in all creation.

It is not pretty but that is a lemon glaze on top.

It was AMAZING.

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My semester has been crazy!

It goes something like this:

wake up at 5,

get ready,

read scriptures etc.,

start studying,

get to library around 7 to write/ do Latin,

(bless you Pond for the mobile whiteboard)

Latin at 10,

run to bus,

bus to Frontrunner,

Latin homework/study on train,

Frontrunner to Trax,

Trax to Church History Museum,

work until 6pm,

run to Trax,

Trax to Frontrunner,

Frontrunner to Provo,

I used to take the bus and walk the mile home from the stop but since it has gotten dark the glorious Cita picks me up.

I get home between 7:30 and 8pm.

I do the dishes for the day, try to straighten up a bit, finish any homework/thesis writing and head to bed to get started again.

To say I am tired is an understatement.

On top of all of those things I am turning in thesis chapters, meeting with my committee every so often, and prepping PhD application stuff.

I am so very, very tired.

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Speaking of my internship at the CHM...

Things are going well.

I like the work and I love the people I work with.

I am getting to do a lot of cool things like getting trained on a forklift,

learning to make a "naked book",

("naked" meaning it doesn't have a cover but has acrylic paste to protect the outside)

doing preservation and cleaning on pieces in the collection,

holding historical guns from the exhibits,

and mounting/storing objects.

While most of the objects we work with are historical, I did get to mount a 2000 year old vessel last week, 

It has all been a blast!!!

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To finish off here are a few more pictures from the last few weeks.

Bug joined the BYU women's rugby team.

She broke her nose on her first tackle in her first game.

No joke.

Here is the evolution of her black eye:

(technically both her eyes were black but her left one was the worst)

With all of the time I have been spending on the computer writing/researching my contacts have not been doing well.

Therefore I bought glasses,

online,

for less than 100 bucks.

They are saving my bacon,

my eyes,

and my head.

Seriously, nothing starts a migraine like contacts and extended computer screen exposure.

The weather this October has been AMAZING.

We went on a bike ride/walk down the canyon before Halloween.

Provo is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

I love it here.

Finally, on Halloween Bug and I decided to start a new tradition.

We went trick-or-treating with the extended familia like always,

but then we went to a corn maze and shot zombies with paint ball guns.

It was a blast and something we definitely want to do again.

If I am here next October at least.

While we were waiting to for the familia to arrive I took pictures of grass.

It was probably the most beautiful Halloween that I can remember.

The weather was absolutely perfect.

What has become the semi-annual update.

Things have been so insane these last...almost six months.

Wow.

I used to be so much better at this.

This summer has been absolutely insane.  

First off, I started the capstone of my museum program - the museum internship at the end of April.

I take the train three days a week to SLC to work at the Church History Museum.

It has been glorious and an absolute miracle straight from heaven.

And no, I am not being sarcastic.

It has been a most incredible experience.

The train has been good for me.

I write my thesis, I read, and I study my French reading.

It is very productive.

I have to chew a lot of gum though or I get nauseous.

This last month I spent every extra minute working on my theater analysis for my thesis.

I finished that two weeks ago and have been writing rather furiously since then.

I am not quite where I want to be but I am not that far behind.

So, things that have happened, outside of the internship and thesis (which honestly isn't much) is as follows.

I became an Aunt.

Which means my brother and his wife became parents - which was pretty awesome.

And my parentals became grandparents.

He is heartbreakingly adorable.

Jon graduated with his masters which was a fun weekend before he and his little family moved a state away.

He graduated with his mother-in-law and his sister-in-law.

Bug graduated from high school, in fact she is starting universitynext week.

Yep, the parentals are finally emptying the nest.

Photobomb!!!

(this was actually on accident, she tripped)

I took her senior pictures which was super good fun.

The Padre has taken me on periodic hikes over the summer so I can keep my sanity in all of this madness.

It has been a crazy summer and it is coming quickly to a close.  

If all goes according to plan I will be finished with my thesis rough draft in the next two weeks!

This is so crazy!