Sweet Memories

Earlier this month Sterling and I were able to attend the sealing of one of my very best friends. We were privileged to travel to Nauvoo and witness the eternal union of Gina Valenti and Mat Brox.

Gina was one of my college roommates. It is both interesting and entertaining to look back on my time spent in Arizona and reminisce about the good and bad experiences with which I was blessed. I owe a great deal of thanks to those with whom I lived for their influence during those years.

Imagine six girls, all from different backgrounds, most of them only briefly acquainted with each other and managing to live together under one roof. Gina came to live with us when one of our roommates finished her final semester of school. I still remember the day that Gina came to look at the house and see if it was going to be a good fit for her.

Shyla, Erin and I were sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast while Kristen showed her the house. When Gina left we each took turns stating the reasons why we thought Gina would fit in with us and then stating our concerns. I don't think we could have imagined what great friends we would become and how perfect she was for all of us at that time.

All of that was about five years ago. Since then we have all moved out of the house, most of us are married and very few of us still live in Arizona. Although we are separated by many miles and we have not lived together for many years, the memories made at 1237 W. Hermosa Drive still live on.

I am as grateful to Gina for the memories that were made during our time together in Arizona as I am for the sweet memory of her sealing. It is such a blessing to see how the strengths and weaknesses of each of the six girls has blessed our lives in a variety of ways. Though we are not bound together by the walls we call home we will forever be bound together by the memories made within the walls of that home.

So to Josie, Shyla, Erin, Jordan and Gina I want to say thank you for your love, support, friendship and especially for the sweet memories.

Bella Pella

Due to the insufficient insertion of phone into pocket Sterling was without a phone Sunday night. Monday morning we called some friends to find out if it was in their car because Sterling had already checked everywhere for it.

Luckily it was safe in the front seat of their car and they said we could come and get it at any time during the day. The wife would be home all day and all night so whenever we showed up she would be there. Initially I thought of how convenient this was for us because Sterling had to be at the hospital Monday morning so that he could sit in on a cochlear implant surgery. However the more I thought about it I started to feel badly for her.

NOTE: In order to prevent confusion I will let you know that this post is not about Sterling's phone but is in fact about me. I have to tell the story of the phone so that I can talk about my thoughts which will then lead us to the actual reason for this post.

On with the story. After the thoughts of gratitude for her being home all day I started to worry about what it would be like to be a stay-at-home mom. I began to convince myself that having children was more of a restriction than a blessing and so I voiced my thoughts to Sterling. I told him that I couldn't imagine sitting in our house all day with our children and doing nothing else. I told him that I was pretty sure that I would need to work or occupy my time with something other than our children all day every day. I then started asking a bunch of rhetorical questions regarding staying at home and though they were rhetorical Sterling answered almost every single one of them.

The answer that leads to why I am posting today was, "Well Cylynn, why do you think so many of the people in the ward have so many posts on their blog? It's because they stay home all day and have a lot of time. Just think of how our blog would be if you stayed home all day. You could post all the time."

I replied, "I don't want to post all the time. Honey why do you think we have very few posts on our blog? It's because one post is enough to make me not want to write for at least a few weeks. If I stayed home all day our blog would look the same, as it does now."

So long story longer, I am writing today as a result of the above stated events. I want all of you to be updated on the fun and exciting things happening in our lives. Unfortunately the most exciting things at this time is our trip to Pella and our boring conversations that lead me to making boring posts. But I decided that if I don't take the time now to post the final picture collage from Pella then I might not get around to it ever.

So now a brief description of the post. The title of this post, though incorrect, means beautiful Pella.

The festival was fun and the flowers were absolutely beautiful. I have selected a few pictures of floats from the parades, pictures of tulips and the enormous windmill to share with all of you. Although you cannot comprehend nor imagine how beautiful it really was by simply viewing my amateur photographs, I hope you enjoy it just the same.

Stay tuned for more uneventful updates on our life in Iowa.

Tulip Festival or Two-Lip Festival...

that is the question. I didn't think I needed to explain what kind of festival it was, after all I did tell him that tulips are my favorite "flower." Let me explain where the confusion started. I will need to back up to our arrival at the bed and breakfast but I think that is the best place to start.

We arrived at the bed and breakfast at the precise hour that we indicated when making the reservation. We had made some pretty strict plans as to when we wanted to be to the festival on Friday since we wouldn't be there all day Saturday and many of the evening events were re-runs, if you will. This would make it possible for us to see everything we had in mind if we kept to our schedule. For example there was a lighted parade both nights, there was a tractor rodeo both nights, there was an opera both nights and well I think you get the idea.

In order to arrive home at a decent hour on Saturday we needed to catch the tractor rodeo, opera and lighted parade on Friday night thus our on-time arrival at the bed and breakfast was critical (at least in my mind). So up to this point we are on schedule and so I invite you to come along and enjoy the festival through my eyes.

Event #1: The Opera/Musical

At 6:20 pm Sterling and I arrived at the Pella Opera House for Shakespeare's forgotten musical! A rollicking musical based very loosely on the 1956 sci-fi film Forbidden Planet, itself a take off on William Shakespeare's The Tempest. Presented by the Central College Theatre and Music Departments which, I am sad to say, was very hard to tell whether or not some of actors/actresses participated in either theatre or music. That said, it was both fun and funny. They sang a variety of songs that Sterling and I have been singing for days now. Sadly my musical talent is no better but my delivery is phenomenal.

After the musical we meandered the streets of Pella looking in shops, checked out the goodies that we might want to buy from the bakery, ogled the delicious food that we would taste on the morrow, marked our territory for the parade (Note: our territory marking was not done in the same fashion as a dog marks his territory. Instead we simply made a mental note as to where we might like to sit) and finally we settled for a cup of hot chocolate because my attire was insufficient protection from the bitter weather that evening.

Event #2: The Parade

I would like to say that we sipped our cocoa all the way to our parade post but I think it is honest to say that I chugged that baby! Details, details.

Our parade post consisted of a tree that we could lean up against while we waited for the parade to start. It didn't seem too crowded around our post so we thought we had done well for ourselves, you know being first time Pella Lighted Parade attendees, but we soon found out that we actually picked the last street where the parade would tour. Not only was it the last street but it was in a location where you couldn't hear the emcee as he explained each of the floats. Our parade post was bad for the following reasons.

1. I guzzled my hot chocolate in a few seconds and that was about 20-30 minutes before the parade would begin.
2. Did I mention that my clothing was not suitable for 30 0r 40 degree weather ?
3. Does anyone know how long it takes for a parade to reach the last street when the floats and marching bands are going about 1 mph!
4. Our blanket that we take on trips for emergencies happened to be in the car, not at the emergency aka MY COLD BODY!
5. Sterling got himself into quite the predicament.

The fifth reason may not seem to relate the the other four, but you will see why it made the list. Stand with me on the curb as the floats pass and you will understand.

Do you see all of the creative floats? "Ooh, that one is neat." "I like that one." "Interesting." Oh honey, look those ladies are giving out tulips."

Event #3: The Tulip for Two-Lips

The girl and I make eye contact and she approaches us. Here is the conversation that takes place.

Girl: Would you like to buy a tulip?

Sterling: How much does it cost?

Girl: A kiss on the cheek.

Sterling: Really?

Girl: Yep.

Sterling: ... ... ...

He said nothing. I think it caught him off guard and since she was already standing at the curb waiting for her "curbside service" he kissed her on the cheek. As a direct result, I was the proud recipient of a yellow tulip.

One weekend out on the town and Sterling is kissing girls. Good thing I was with him to explain that it was a Tulip festival not a Two-Lip festival or he may have gone crazy giving out kisses for free!

Corn, Cows and Country Lanes

The bed and breakfast that we stayed at was in fact on a farm. Though this may not sound appealing to many of you Sterling and I found our stay quite pleasurable. It was extremely relaxing and it provided a nice break from the monotony of our daily lives. The farm was out in the middle of nowhere, as most farms are, and we could see rolling hills in every direction, corn fields as far as we could see and an occasional home if we were lucky. On the farm there were ducks, sheep, a "real" sheep dog that watches over the flock, cows, peacocks, a llama, goats and of course cats.

There was a small fire ring out in front of our bunkhouse where we roasted hot dogs and made s'mores on Friday night. We weren't sure that we were going to be able to have a fire because the weather had been so poor throughout the week and the forecast predicted rain showers all day. But with a little bit of luck the weather allowed us to have a campfire and enjoy the heat for a little while before turning in for the night.



Rise and Shine, that is what you do on a farm right? Saturday was the day dedicated mostly to the festival and though we were looking forward to it, we may have more excited about a nice big breakfast. Dwight and Arlene delivered!

At 8:00 Saturday morning we went to the main house for breakfast with the three other couples staying there. We had pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, fruit salad, grapes, juice and a small dessert cake. Though I wanted to continue feasting forever my stomach couldn't take it.

The bed was good, the breakfast was great and thus we have concluded that a bed and breakfast is the way to go, even if it is a bunkhouse.

Who Wants to Attend a Tulip Festival...

evidently a lot of people.

You might ask yourself what is there to do in Iowa? We have asked ourselves and others that same question since we moved to Iowa. Finally this past week I got a response from one of my colleagues and she said..."You could always attend the Tulip Festival." I think she was being extremely sarcastic when she recommended the festival but we started doing some investigating and decided that we would attend.

Our decision was based on two things. One, tulips are my favorite flower. Two, we have been couped up in our house for the past 7 months and needed to get out.

So we started doing some research on the Internet and thought that it might be a good idea to try and get a hotel room for the weekend. Unfortunately my colleague didn't tell me that all hotels within 50 miles of the festival are booked at least one year in advance. We searched the Internet for a motel, bed and breakfast and camping ground for availability but our searches returned the same results, "No Availability." However I was determined to find a place to stay so at about 7:00 am on April 25th I started calling a few bed and breakfasts in the area in complete desperation. Nobody answered the phone at the first three I called, which I found quite ironic considering that fact that they should have been awake making breakfast for any visitors staying there.

Anyway don't worry I had success on the fourth call. I almost couldn't believe that someone answered. Initially Dwight, that is the name of the owner, told me that they had no availability. I then asked if he had any recommendations as to where we might be able to find a place to stay for the weekend of the festival and I broke him with my persistence. Under pressure he admitted that they did have a small bunkhouse on the property that we could stay at for the weekend. Wait, wait, the kicker...it doesn't have a bathroom because it is used for people that are hunting or fishing in the area but there is a game room about 20 yards away that has a full bathroom that we could use for all of our bathroom needs.

How do you refuse an offer like that? So we said we would take it. I then asked if he wanted our last name and his response was, "Well right now I am out haying the cows and so I won't be able to get it from you. Can you call back at 8:00? I should be back at the house then and you can give me your name and number for the reservation." I kindly agreed (mostly because he was our only option) and said that I would talk to him soon.

Out "haying" the cows...what is this some sort of farm? I didn't actually say that but I was thinking it as he spoke. But we were desperate and we needed a place to stay if we were going to attend the festival. I should have known though that it was a farm because what is there in Iowa? Corn, cows and well that equals farms.

So without making this too lengthy I will just say that we ended up getting the bunkhouse for the weekend and it turned out to be a good time.

Check back in the near future for pictures of the festival and the farm.