Lovers of the Undead in Southern Utah

A few months ago, Robert returned at the end of another long, exhausting, frustrating day at work. His face and demeanor were bravely trying to keep an upbeat attitude about the general hopelessness he clearly felt. As we talked about his day, he used all the familiar words from the past months as he attempted to make light of his misery. I watched him talk for a moment and as I listened, my heart pounded in my chest and my hand reached across the table for his.

He looked at me with no smile, no light in his eye.

Do you know my husband? Robert, of all people, has a light in his eye. He is the man who cheerfully washed dishes at my restaurant so that he could spend time with me while I waited tables. He hummed songs as he scrubbed toilets so that his children could eat when he was in school. He enjoys work. And now, his job, the one he had trained and studied for over the course of our entire 13 almost 14 year marriage, had extinguished it.

He (we) had chosen unwisely, and until that moment a few months ago, I tried to ignore it.

When I finally vocalized what we both knew, "Robert, you hate your job," I watched a weight lift off his shoulders and the stress dissipate ever so slightly.

"I do, I really do," he sighed. Admitting you have a problem is half the battle.

"Find a new one," I told him.

And so he has.

Over the weekend, as I accompanied him on his latest trip, I saw the spring return to his step.

I witnessed the light reignite from within my beloved.

He is positively glowing at the prospect of moving to St. George.

Stella said tonight "I hope there are a lot of girls in St. George who like zombies."

I'm sorry if this is how you are finding out that we are moving. I don't have an excuse for that.

We caught coconut on fire . . .

. . . and I grabbed my camera. The week my mom came to stay, we made a batch of cupcakes and ignited the coconut that we were toasting for the topping. The day I post the recipe for my cupcakes, you should immediately log off of the internet and run away, because they are evil.

We happened upon a cake decorating contest at the local mall. The contestants were the finalists in a competition between all of the Hyvee cake decorators all over the midwest. The Wonka Bar was so cute!

I actually don't think this Pasta Cake looks very appetizing, but it reminded me of the time we made backwards dinner with our friends. We made pot roast and mashed potato hot fudge sundaes. It was delightful and I was happy to think of Nick and Michelle.

Robert walked by this suit and exclaimed, "Look, Liz! A suit for a genie!" I think he is hilarious.


Stella was able to have a special day with grandma. She skipped school and went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch and also went to the spa for a mani/pedi. The next day, Jack and Creed were able to leave school early to see "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules" with grandma.

We enjoyed the above freezing temperatures and went for a walk or two.

Jack likes to use his own money at the gas station for treats. On this day, he bought everyone a snack. I wish he wouldn't spend his money so frivolously, but I'm also heartened by his generosity. He thinks nothing of purchasing treats for his younger siblings.

This was the longest visit I've had with my mom. I loved it!

Because a blog update is as good a use of 30 minutes as anything

On Tuesdays we have piano lessons and guitar lessons all over town. Not really, but I drop the middle children off at piano and then take Jack to guitar about a mile down the street. Today, Robert will pick up the pianists, which gives me a half hour in the parking lot with Georgie.

This is what we look like today.




For your viewing pleasure, I submit the following photo dump and summary of (fairly) recent activities.

A week after our epic Disney trip the kids had spring break. Roberto stayed here to toil away healing the sick and teaching medical students while I loaded our offspring into the family wagon for the twelve hour drive to see grandpa and Nana Sue.

Stella and George were immediately smitten with their Aunt Skyler, whom we met for the first time while we were down there. Judging by all the time she spent coloring and playing games and generally appreciating their senses of humor, the feeling seemed to be mutual.








We picnicked at the local city park and at the state park 45 minutes from their house.


Grandpa was dogpiled every day after work.


We watched movies, played outside, rediscovered Chik-fil-A, went for a hike, played Disney Scene It, reorganized the kitchen, stayed up way too late every night, and ate delicious food.

This is the end of this post, but I have many more pictures to dump . . . so stay tuned.

P.S. Are you jealous that my black tooth is turning black again?