Saturdate 2: Zoo zoo zoo and yurt yurt yurt

Since we had so much fun last weekend on our Saturdate, we decided to try another hand at it.  It was another lovely sunny day (albeit a bit chillier), so what would any 20-something childless couple do?  Go to the zoo, of course!

I befriended many a monkey in between jaunts to visit the swimming penguins, the birds sitting on the rhinos’ backs (they really do this, even in Utah), problem solving orangutans, pacing cougars, sleeping kangaroos, swallowing (and unswallowing) giraffes and chilly zebras.

We were definitely a minority (lacking a few kids to say the least), but we didn’t let that stop us.  We are zoo enthusiasts!

And then later on that weekend was… YURTASTIC ADVENTURE TAKE II

Our first attempt at our Valentine’s date yurt dinner was a tremendous FAIL.  We got off work early, dressed in appropriate warm clothes, drove up to Solitude and waited at the meeting point for over a 1/2 hour, only to discover that we had been stood up.  Apparently they cancel the trip if there aren’t enough people and they failed to contact us.  You can understand why we were disappointed when you read the description of the yurt on their website:

One of the most unique dining experiences in Utah, the Yurt offers an enchanting adventure and a delicious dinner. Guest’s cross-country ski or snowshoe (approximately 3/4 mile) through the moon or lantern lit forest to a Mongolian yurt, where a chef prepares an incredible five-course meal guests won’t soon forget. In its 19th season, this intimate dining experience seats twenty and is rated #7 on Sunset Magazine’s best mountaintop dining experiences list. Overwhelming popularity for this experience make reservations a must – the earlier you plan the better.

Disappointment of epic proportions.  The chef of St. Bernard’s, who also cooks for the yurt, felt so terrible that he invited us to have dinner there on the house.  And although it was not very yurt-like (I’m obsessed with yurts and am trying to figure out how to have an art studio yurt in the back yard), it was probably one of the top 10 meals of our lives.  It was that good.

Fast forward to this weekend, when we were finally able to reschedule our trip.  We repacked and bundled up and we were off, excitement still pretty high, despite the first fail.  It hadn’t snowed for a few days so the trail was pretty packed and snowshoes weren’t necessary, so we were able to take a lovely stroll through the woods on a crisp evening, keeping our eyes out for wild animals or lost skiers. You can’t see me in this picture because I’m way up in front, just charging ahead, anxious to see the yurt!

And then, just around the bend (there were many, I think to make it seem more magical.  I bet the yurt was really only about 100 feet from the meeting point, but it took a good 15 minutes to walk there on the charming trail):

The inside of the yurt was decorated in mongolian style, with great rustic photos, Tibetan prayer flags and a great professional stove and oven in the middle.  We ate on two long tables, getting to know our fellow yurt-goers throughout the night.   What characters.  The meal was spectacular and so huge that we could barely touch the dessert when it strolled around two hours later.

Here is a rough menu:

Course 1: Roasted pepper and tomato soup with artisan cheese and chive oil.

Course 2: Fresh large scallop ceviche with sweet pepper relish on a bed of baby arugula.  Served with a cucumber cup filled with salmon mousse.  The scallop had the most incredible flavor and texture.  I must try to recreate it.

Course 3: Baby spinach salad with spicy candied walnuts, slivered green apple and local Beehive “Barely Buzzed” cheese, with a scrumptious espresso lavendar crust.

Course 4: Thick, juicy pork tenderloin cooked with a wild mushroom sauce, served with buttered napa cabbage and roasted fingerling potatoes.

Course 5: Pumpkin spice cake and sliced strawberries marinated in a balsamic reduction.

By the end of the night we were so full and were having to waddle the whole 3/4 of a mile back to the car.  I was seriously contemplating hiring a snowmobile to take me, as Shane refused to carry me (chivalry is dead).  It started to lightly snow on our walk back.  What a perfect way to end a perfect evening.

More on that “starting to snow” bit later.  Shane’s still recovering from his “called in powder hungry” to work day.

Saturdate: Capitol Building and Ensign Peak

We had a rare sunny weekend with nothing to do.  So instead of doing much needed chores around the house, we decided to go on a budget tour of our city (everything we did was free!).  First stop: The Utah State Capitol Building.

There was an amusingly strange / alternative festival out front, and I was pleased to see that there is at least a small bit of diversity in Salt Lake, even if was only from the hours of 2-4 pm.  Most of the rooms were closed for the weekend, so we definitely need to go back when we can see it all.  So if you come and visit, you very well might get to go on a tour of the Capitol with us.

Although there were no bizarre governor’s portraits like there are in Sacramento, we did find an incredibly awful Photoshop Cloning FAIL.

Really?  It would have taken about 2 minutes longer to clone it properly.   But that’s besides the point… Why on earth did they need to even add extra head to her?

Poor Chief Justice Christine Durham.

Afterwards we mosied around the Capitol area until we saw a monument on the top of the hill.  We weaved our way through neighborhoods until we found a trailhead, and soon we were on a mini hike up to Ensign Peak.

The weather was warm (for a snow-less weekend in February in Utah, that is.  I think it got up into the low 60s), the views were spectacular, and the company was lovely.  We’ll add this to our list of places to take people when they visit.  The list is getting quite long.  Someone had better come and visit us soon.

25 Things You Didn’t Want to Know About Me

If you have been on Facebook in the last week, there is no possible way you could have not seen the “random facts about me” thing that’s been going around.  According to Time.com, an estimated 5 million of these notes have appeared on the website within the past week.  At first I resisted, but I finally caved.

So for those of you not a part of “the #1 productivity killer” (facebook), now I bring you 25 random facts about Jayna:

1. I can write upside down and backwards.

2. I am fairly convinced that bacon will only enhance any food except maybe pie.

3. I have never broken a bone. In fact, I believe my worst self-sustained injury was when I sprained my ankle in Ultimate Frisbee. And we weren’t even playing yet.

4. Despite the fact that I am ½ Chinese, I do not speak the language. My dad doesn’t either and I’m not even convinced my grandma does.

5. I despise comic sans. And papyrus. They make me cringe.

6. I started dating Shane when I was 19. I think he was kind of embarrassed to be dating a teenager.

7. I have a hard time watching professional sports because I feel so bad for the losing team.

8. For the first time in my life, I now weigh enough to legally give blood.

9. I’m trying really hard not to hold it against people who do not know the difference between there, their or they’re.

10. I can’t have anything with caffeine after about 2 pm or I will be too wiggly to go to sleep and will get kicked out and have to sleep in the guest room.

11. I secretly like shoveling snow. Just a little bit, though. I’m not sure when the novelty will wear off.

12. I would rather eat beef jerky than chocolate.

13. I just got a texting plan last month. Don’t text me, though. It takes me about 20 minutes just to send one.

14. Shane and I retired two summers ago. We quit our jobs, put our stuff in a 10’x10’ storage unit and traveled in Europe for the summer before moving to Utah and finding new jobs. It was one of the best experiences of our lives.

15. I was voted best legs in shorts in the 7th grade. It was obviously a joke. If you can imagine a 4’8” big bird in a skirt, that was pretty much me.

16. I never went to a school dance. There’s a reason I’m an awful dancer: severe lack of practice opportunities.

17. My friends think I am an endless fount of knowledge, but really I am just a really good googler.

18. My Indian Princess name is “Spotted Fawn.” Indian Princesses were kind of like girl scouts except it was for fathers and daughters and it was a lot less involved. I remember playing rack-o while our dads made our pine wood derby cars in someone’s shop. Mine always won the “most creative” award.

19. I am in a constant state of hunger. I need to have snacks (fruit leather, etc.) with me at all times. Shane can attest. Snacks are imperative for his and my survival.

20. I cannot leave the house without: 1. Chapstick. 2. Lotion. 3. Hair tie. I will turn back no matter how far away I am if I forgot one of these items.

21. I looked like E.T. when I was a baby, and it was apparently difficult to find something to compliment me about. One of the compliments I received as a baby was that “I have a nice shaped head.” Really.

22. I coached youth tennis, despite my complete lack of athletic ability.

23. I often try to calculate how much more time I spend writing the last name S-W-E-N-S-O-N as opposed to L-E-E. The number was pretty high. Something to think about before you get married.

24. The first CD I ever bought was Mariah Carey’s Music Box, and I listened to it on loop on my discman for days.

25. I am a sucker for great packaging. And I think it’s completely acceptable to judge a book by its cover. If the book is good but has an awful cover, they should fire their designer. And hire me!

Gung hay fat choy!

In honor of the new year of the Ox, the Swensons threw a Chinese New Year party this weekend as our cultural contribution to Utah.  Brynne and Sam, Adrienne and Max, Melissa, Clinton and later Grant came over and feasted on, well, a legitimate feast.  It was an official party, as you can tell, because I broke out the table cloth and cloth napkins.  High class.

The menu (this is mostly for dad):

Egg drop soup with fresh spinach, napa cabbage, green onions, enochi and shiitake mushrooms
Drunken chicken with stir-fried baby bok choy, ginger and shiitake mushrooms
Steamed Gai Lan (Chinese broccoli) with oyster sauce and hot peanut oil
Fried Rice
Pork and Shrimp pot stickers with five sauces (sweet chili, soy/worchester sauce, ginger and red vinegar, hot chili garlic, etc.)
Mango coconut sticky rice (not technically Chinese, but oh so good.  Thanks to Adri, who made this delicious treat)

After dinner, we retired to the living room for a fun game of Balderdash.  Shane was victorious, despite his glabrescent associations with  L.T.A.B. and Plennie Wingo.

Top 10 reasons why we love where we live today

10. World class skiing only 20 minutes away from our house.

The whole Lee family trekked out here for Christmas (including Jeff, all the way from Beijing!).  David and Shane braved the weather on Christmas Day in search of powder.  They found some at Solitude, a mere 20 minutes away from our house.  Apparently it was “epic.”

9. Beautiful views out our kitchen window after a storm.

8. Sledding and playing in the snow, just beyond the fence.

Shane declared his love for me (or maybe just the snow) in giant letters (you can kind of see the I heart Y…).  We made snow angels, threw snowballs, practiced our snownastics, and found a sledding hill and a broken sled that we utilized for the rest of the afternoon.  All in our own backyard!

7. Groceries are so cheap!
Maybe I’m the only one who finds this to be exciting, but check out the price of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and milk!  I have to remind myself that I don’t have a deep freezer and I must restrain myself.

6. Shane has his own personal flying field.

Shane built a remote control plane in our basement and can walk it out the back door and fly it out in the field to his heart’s content.  A few other people have remote control planes that fly here, too.

5. Friends!

Last weekend, over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, was the third annual “SLC MLK SKI GTG,” hosted by the Zimmerli family.  About 90 people from around the world converged here for a weekend of non stop fun, skiing and eating.  I believe there were kids from over 17 states, from as far as Hawaii and Florida and from Canada, Australia and South Africa.  It was a great time seeing old and new faces, and we were sure glad that we had our own (quiet) house to sleep at, only 5 minutes away.

4. Two words: backcountry skiing.

Not wanting to “waste time” on the groomers at Brighton last Saturday, Shane and Ashley Williams found some untracked powder about an hour’s hike from the resort.  As for me, I stuck to the blue squares.  The lifts were invented for a reason.

3. Another two words: rock climbing.

Again, not wanting to “waste time” while in Salt Lake, when Ashley heard that we climb and that she and I are the same size, she easily convinced Shane to take her and Stefan Lindsay climbing up Little Cottonwood Canyon.  They came home with huge smiles, despite having to brave the chilly temps once the sun went down.  I think we might have sold a few more people on the joys of living in SLC.  Skiing AND climbing in the same weekend, only 10-20 minutes away?  Right on.

2.  Good jobs.  We both love our jobs, and that makes the gap between weekends a lot easier to deal with.

1.  Vacation destination.  It’s super fun to have our families and friends come to visit.  Maybe it’s the international airport 20 minutes away, maybe it’s all the super fun things to do, but occasionally we convince ourselves that it’s just because we are here.

Are you sold yet?  We love it when people come to visit, so come on over!

Jayna and Shane: America’s favorite breakfast

For Halloween this year, I decided to go with friendly instead of my previous streak of scary costumes.

Bacon is my favorite food and I once declared that it would enhance any dish.  Only after long discussions and debates did my friends and I come to the conclusion that the only things bacon wouldn’t improve are ice cream and pie.  My life goal is to prove that statement wrong.  You might not want to come over for dessert for a while until this phase passes.

We had a fun time on Halloween with our snuggly bacon and eggs costumes (I made them out of fleece… dual purpose! It’s both a scarf AND a bacon costume!).  Brandon Klenk and Melissa Canaday threw a Halloween party, complete with pumpkin carving, bobbing for apples, caramel apples and mafia.  I’m not sure how mafia was halloween themed, but I guess there’s a lot of “dying” in that game, so it fit.

Since I work in the creative field, there is a lot of pressure when it comes to halloween costumes.  In the past, I had some pretty terrifying costumes.  And I defined the word “terrifying” as something/someone that has killed or harmed a lot of people.  I stood out a little from some of the other costumes I saw, like “sexy kitty!” and “sexy sailor!” and “sexy nerd!” and “sexy darth vader!”  To each his(her?) own.

I now present you the award winning homemade costumes of years past:

2005: Hurricane Katrina
1,836 confirmed dead, 705 missing.  Yeah, I’d say that’s pretty terrifying.
I sprayed people with my misting fan, gave out FEMA checks and won “most creative” costume.

2006: Ecoli-tainted Spinach
1 death and 98 hospitalizations.
I gave out ecoli stickers and took home the “people’s choice” award and $50.

2007: Traffic
OK, I gave up on the whole “natural disasters” thing and just went with a highway.  Although if you’ve ever been to Utah and seen how they drive out here (we call them “Utards”), you’d understand why my costume was actually quite scary.

I promise, we did have a summer

Well it’s been over half a year since I logged in and blogged in.  I have no official excuse except that we have been too busy actually living life to take time out and document it.  So in order to get back on track, I now present you with “Swensons’ Summer in a Nutshell.”  (Well, our hiatus actually started in April, so I’ll start there).  As usual, click each picture for more.

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April 14 – Shane’s brother, Derek, was in a roller hockey tournament in Colorado Springs, so we met the whole family (minus Tyler) out there for a little hockey, sight seeing, rook and milkshakes.  Please excuse Shane’s awful facial hair.  He wanted to savor the remainders of the Manly Month of March.  I was not a fan.

Sheldon, Shane and Aunika enjoying Rook and Milkshakes

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April 19 – I was bragging to Mark Williams that we got a few feet of fresh powder, so he called back and said he booked a ticket for the next weekend.  He and Shane had a blast hitting up the backcountry during the day and then at night we hung out with all the people who converged in SLC for the weekend, including Maria Siegel, Todd Richtsmeier, Brynna Zinniker, Lindsey Pontious and Heidi Henderson, in addition to the regulars.

Shane and Mark, post ski/hike.

After meeting on Sunday – people visiting from 5 different states.

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May 16 – Taking advantage of the close proximity of a ton of National Parks, Brynne, Sam, Shane and I hit up Arches, Moab and Canyonlands one weekend.  We slept under the stars, hiked (despite Shane’s arm in a sling from dislocating it a week before), saw some really neat indian drawings and saw the Wall Arch just a month or so before it fell down.

Here we are, recreating our license plate.

Our campsite under the stars

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June 5 – It started out as a bachelor party trip last year, but it’s turning out to be an annual trip, regardless of if anyone’s getting married.  Shane and a bunch of other guys and workers (I suppose they are guys, too) from CA and NV prove their manhood by taking a backpacking trip in the Palisades Basin, the South Fork of Big Pine Creek.

Shane, Eric, Brian, Greg, Lane, David and Kevin.  The others were hidden or cut off by Shane’s signature “Swenson” photography technique.

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July 3 – Brian Frandsen drove up from Vegas for the holiday weekend.  We went climbing about 15 minutes from home in Big Cottonwood Canyon (my first multi-pitch!), played some impressive potluck volleyball (they’re really into it here.  One guy draws diagrams to help people know where to stand to receive a serve), and had a great time.  If only the drive were a little less boring and long, I’m sure we’d see a lot more of Brian.  And although we have no photographic evidence of this either, Charlie Wilson, a college kid from CO, stayed with us for a month in June and helped fix our fence and remove the ivy.  I think he would have stayed longer but we had far too much yard work with his name on it.  If you want to stay with us, watch out.  We just might put you to work.  =)

Even though Brian was here the whole time, we don’t have any real photographic evidence except this shot of my bum.  I guess you could deduce that I would not have done this except if Brian was here, since he’s the only one who would have volunteered to lead climb the three pitch climb.  Actually, I’m not sure, Shane might have led part of it.  All I know is that I sure didn’t.

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July 12 – Call in the press! Every member of the Lee family AND the Swenson family were able to meet up in Hawaii for a week of non stop fun.  We spent a few days in Oahu and then the rest of the week in Kauai.  We walked across the beach and snorkeled, hiked, ate lots of mangoes and shave ice, hiked in slippery mud and just had an amazing time.  Who knows when everyone will be able to get together at the same time again.  Quite a feat.

David, Jeff, Glen, Barbara, Jayna and Shane

Aunika, Jayna, Shane, Derek, Sheldon, Mitzi, Tyler and Kjirsten

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August 9 – We seem to get company in spurts.  Marshall & Mollie and their dog-children, Nyah and puppy Ko stopped by for the night on their way up to Spokane, and Shane’s family and cousin Cara came out to visit us and see our house.  We hiked up to the Timpanogas caves and toured around downtown.  Kjirsten stayed with us for the rest of the month as she finished up a rotation at the University Hospital.  Never a dull moment in our house!

Jayna, Cara, Aunika, Mitzi, Sheldon, Tyler and Kjirsten with a view of the SLC valley.

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August 30 – Mom came to visit for Labor day and my birthday!  We had a lot of fun – shopping, wakeboarding with Clay Gilliland and Darryn Kracht in the hot summer weather, having it hail and then snow (!), taking the Snowbird tram up to the top of the mountain and freezing to death.  Lucas’s parents from Albuquerque and his girlfriend, Heidi Shay from CA were here, too.  All in a weekend!

I was always too slow or too quick in catching Shane’s jumps.  My wakeboarding skills might need to improve a bit before they get documented here.  Notice how warm it looks.

Mom and I in the backyard

That would be snow on my birthday up at Snowbird.  Don’t be fooled by my smile.  It was freezing.  Literally.

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September 6 – Shane, Marshall and Keith met up in the Ruby Mountains outside of Elko for Keith’s bachelor party weekend.  They hiked several miles in to a lake, where they went boating, fishing and other manly activities.  And when I say that they boated, I mean they carried the dreaded Club 200 raft (purchased for $7, and that’s just the beginning of the absurdity of this raft) and oars on their packs.

Marshall, Keith and Shane.  Note the oars on Keith’s pack and the rolled up raft on Marsh’s.

Marshall and Keith “fishing.”  They’re really close friends, as you can tell.

After they got back from the trip, Shane found this ad for the Nevada State Tourism Board.  Note what’s written on the side of the raft that the last Blue man is in.  That’s right- The Blue Men Group roll in a Club 200.  AWW YEAH!

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As you can tell, we were really busy all summer.  We had a lot of company on the weekends and our weekdays were filled with Ultimate frisbee in the park behind our house every Tuesday (about 10-20 people every week), Volleyball, hikes, etc.  Our house seems to be a central meeting place for the kids in the area.  It’s not uncommon for 5-10 college-aged kids to be at our house a couple times a week, either stopping by before or after playing frisbee or football in the park, or playing a big round of mafia, computer games or halo downstairs.  We’re having a fun time!

Who did Brandon marry? Idk, my bff… Kara?

We flew out to Chico, CA this past weekend for the wedding of one of my favorite half asian twins/yayas/roommates/bffs. It was a beautiful wedding with details that would put Martha to shame.

Congratulations Kara and Brandon!

The future Mr. and Mrs. Leen with Brook Daly, Brandon’s uncle and effective matchmaker.

The Leens

A similar photo was taken last year at Jamie’s wedding with all of our married friends looking gleeful with our wedding rings and kara sat in the middle with a pouty face.

The Swensons: The first of the three Yayas to get married off.

Heaps upon Heaps: Easter Weekend

Suburban life is upon us on this glorious Easter weekend. Saturday morning started out with a 9 am neighborhood Easter egg hunt and breakfast pot luck down at the end of the culdesac. There must have been at least 20 or so kids under age 8 and their accompanying parents and grandparents (not all live on the street, but there are probably at least 10 here). Add that to the approximately 60 dozen filled plastic eggs (if you wanted to participate, you were supposed to bring 3 dozen eggs the night before), and you’ve got yourself a party. Although we have no kids and are over the age cut off for the egg hunt (age 12), we had a really good time meeting our new neighbors. There are some new families with young kids as well as some really friendly older families with kids in high school and some with grandkids. Apparently the neighborhood holds two street parties a year: the egg hunt and 4th of July. We were told to wear fire retardant clothing and bring eye protection for that one. Given his history with explosives and the law, maybe July isn’t a good time for Tyler to visit. Or David, for that matter.

The rest of the day was spent in true homeownership style (at least the definition created by Marshall and Mollie). We went to Home Depot, got some blinds and a rake and went to work. I am pleased to announce that, thanks to my very handy husband, we are no longer sporting the mismatched sheets on windows. We now have blinds! At least in the living room. All other rooms will have to wait.

One nice thing about our house is that we have a yard.  One bad thing about our house is that we have a yard.  Today we raked and raked and raked. Since the house has been unoccupied and then covered in snow for the last many months, the poor lawn has a nice layer of pine cones, needles and leaves that have had the added benefit of being compressed by about a foot of snow the entire winter. We made heaps upon heaps of needles, cones and leaves and now have to figure out how to dispose of our heaps. At the moment it looks like our yard has been invaded by lawn-dwelling beavers.

Although there were no eggs in sight for our Easter dinner, Shane, Lucas (our new basement-dwelling renter), Clinton and I enjoyed the feast and then headed out the back gate to our OTHER back yard (the one we DON’T have to mow or rake) and played frisbee until it was too dark. WE LOVE OUR NEW HOME!!!

Life as new homeowners: so far so good.

Well apparently the masses (all relatives, mind you… what an ornery bunch) have spoken and we are now posting an update. The last few months have been filled with skiing, fun company and enjoying life. Oh, and buying a house. About that…

In a rather quick and painless (aside from the whole mortgage thing) turn of events, we closed on our house on leap day and moved into it a week and a half ago. We were hoping that there would be financial advantages to closing on the 29th (like only having to pay insurance and taxes every 4 years, etc.), but apparently that is not the case. We don’t have internet access yet which explains why we haven’t set out to blog about this development yet. More details later since I’m at work right now and am not exactly what we like to call “billable” at the moment.

We love our new house. It is everything we wanted, and it will fill our needs for a very long time. It’s down in Cottonwood Heights, at the mouth of the canyons on a culdesac backing up to a huge park and rec center. It is an older rambler that has been completely gutted within the last year and remodeled with all new flooring, kitchen, bathrooms, windows, finished basement, etc. It’s basically a new house in an established neighborhood with huge trees (slacklining!) and a view. We have tons of room and are anxious to have people over. If you’re thinking about heading out our way, let us know. We still have a few boxes to unpack and could use the help. Just kidding. We wouldn’t do that.

We’ll post a couple more pictures once we’re all moved in and have something a little cuter than old sheets covering the windows. Or maybe when old sheets come back in style. Which ever comes first.