More pictures

Here are some pictures from Justin's camera.  Enjoy.

Murdock family

Dear Sister Kennedy,

How's life?  Got any good stories?

The biggest thing that's happened this week was our anniversary.  We went up to Salt Lake and had lots of fun.  We went to the aquarium because Justin had never been to one before.  Then we went to Temple Square and did all the touristy things there.  We toured the Conference Center, had dinner at one of the restaurants at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (there were a lot of prom groups up there too), went to both visitor centers, got to see a free concert at the Assembly Hall, went into the Tabernacle, etc.  We also got dessert at the Cheesecake Factory.  Yummy.  It was a good day.  

Brian and Dani had their monthly family dinner tonight, so we got to see everybody.  Oh, and Dani's expecting another baby!  She's due in September, and we're all really excited for them.  

The only other things that happened this week are work-related.  You know, crazy clients, silly things people said, etc.  One client got really bad burns (that got infected) after giving herself a Brazilian wax using a home waxing kit, and the insurance company asked for pictures of her injuries.  Our first thought was, "No.  We are not sending you pictures of this lady's private areas."  But she sent us the pictures!  Full-page color photos!  And she didn't censor them at all!  Ack!  There was no way we were sending those photos to the insurance as-is, so we censored them for her.  I had to look at pictures of kittens for a while after that.

Those were the only things of note that happened this week.  I'll attach some pictures from our trip this weekend.  Got some pretty good ones if I do say so myself.  :)  Hugs and much love.

Symone

Murdock update

Here's my last two letters to Jessica.  Sorry I forgot to post last week's.  Slipped my mind.  Anyway, enjoy.

3-9-15

Dear Sister Kennedy,

How's it going?  Got any fun stories for us?

I just realized I forgot to write you last night, so this is going to be quick because I'm at work right now.  

Justin and I had Hilary and Max over for dinner last night.  We made a roast and cupcakes, and then we played a new board game after dinner.  And the boys played Halo for a little bit, of course.  We all had tons of fun just talking and laughing and having a good time.  

We helped clean the church on Saturday, and I am so glad my house is not as big as a church, let me tell you.  I don't think I'd survive.  Though we couldn't do everything on the cleaning list because the Polynesian ward was setting up for a ward party.  We were ok with that, though.  They could clean up after themselves.  :)

We're learning cha cha in our social dance class right now, and even I'm having issues with this one.  The teacher is using American Rhythm cha cha, which I've never done before.  I've only ever done International cha cha, which is very different from Rhythm.  So I'm having to break a lot of ingrained habits and it's driving me crazy.  Our test for cha cha is tonight, so we'll see how this goes.  Wish me luck.  

We didn't really do much this week, and I can't think of anything of significance that I missed, so this letter is going to be very short.  Love you little sis.  Hugs.

Symone

~@~

3-15-15

Dear Sister Kennedy,

Sounds like you had an interesting time with zone conference.  Is the sister ok?  How did the exchanges go?

Our cha cha test on Monday went about as expected.  Nobody in the class did very well, but I'm not surprised.  It's not an easy style.  We're doing waltz next, though, so I'm kind of excited.  

We're planning what we're going to do for our first anniversary, which is next Sunday.  Crazy!  (BTW, if you don't get a letter next week, that's why.)  So far, our plan is going to an aquarium between here and Salt Lake because Justin's never been to one, dinner in one of the restaurants at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, wandering Temple Square for a while, and spending the night at a nice hotel.  Any other suggestions for us?

We hung out with our Home Teacher and his wife again.  She made lasagna for dinner (yummy) and we played more video games.  Not exactly my ideal activity, but it gets us out of the house and into social situations.  We played Super Smash Brothers, Mario Kart, and then the boys played Halo.  

Justin's working his way through Final Fantasy X right now.  When he's done, I'll make a run-through, and then he wants me to play Final Fantasy VII.  I've heard lots of good things about that one, so I'm rather intrigued.  

I went shopping with Hilary and Max this week, too.  They have a Sam's Club membership and said I could go with them next time they went, so I took them up on it.  Got some cheap toilet paper and contact solution and got to hang out with friends.  Bonus points!

Anyway, this week has been rather average, so not a whole lot to say.  Hope everything is going well for you.  Hugs and lots of love.

Symone

Additional Info on Reunion

Roy mentioned that Bear Lake is a lovely spot & has many things do.  This is his choice after Yellowstone.  It is near the UT/ID Stateline.  He also mentioned it is Close for the UT group.  It is close to Logan, UT and relatively close to Ogden, UT?

Logan has stuff like i.e. - The Willow Park Zoo is a small zoo in Logan's Willow Park, with a small collection of wild animals including monkeys, coyotes, bobcats, bald eagles, and land birds and ducks.       Brigham Young College was founded here in 1878 (but later closed) and Utah State University – then called the Agricultural College of Utah – was founded in 1888.       In 2005 and 2007, Morgan Quitno declared the Logan metropolitan area the safest in the United States.^[7]       noted for its many historic buildings and landmarks. Among them are the Logan Tabernacle and Logan Utah Temple, which was constructed on the highest hill in the valley so as to be seen for miles in all directions. Both buildings are owned and operated by the LDS Church. Along Center Street, which intersects Logan's Historic District, are a number of stately houses on the National Register of Historic Places, including the three-story French chateauesque home at 250 West Center Street built in 1907 by the Scottish immigrant, industrialist, and LDS polygamist David Eccles for his second wife, Ellen Stoddard. The downtown area also houses retail and cultural outlets, as well as the municipal and county buildings and courthouses.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Beside the Ogden Temple Ogden has stuff like i.e. -

Ogden is the closest sizable city to the Golden Spike location at Promontory Summit, Utah, where the First Transcontinental Railroad was joined in 1869.

Also taken from Wikipedia.

Does anyone have any more info they would like to share?

Wishing everyone a lovely week.

Karla/Auntie

Murdock Update

I just had an idea.  When I write to Jessica each week, I'll also post the letter here so we keep you all up to date as well.  Why didn't I think of this before?  Anyway, here you go.  I'll post the other ones too, so you'll have some background info.

Dear Sister Kennedy,

I think I told you that Justin and I are taking a ballroom class together.  The first dance we learned was foxtrot, and our test for it was Monday.  We had to wear church-type clothes for it, which meant I had to wear a skirt to work, and it was really cold that day.  Blah.  Anyway, Justin actually did really well on the test.  The practice session before hand was bad, but he really pulled it together for the test.  And he doesn't believe me when I tell him he's better than he thinks he is.

Speaking of Justin, BYU sent out admission letters on Friday evening.  This was their most competitive session to date, and they're denying about 50% of applicants.  Which means Justin will have to deal with lots of upset kids and their parents on Monday wanting to know why their brilliant son/daughter/self didn't get in.  Short answer: there's no room for them.  Will they like that answer: no.  Justin and his office are in for a fun time next week.

Let's see, we also got our taxes done this week.  That was an adventure for a couple reasons.  One, I had a hard time getting my W-2 form from one of my employers.  Had to track that down.  Then when it was time for our appointment (Accounting students at BYU will help you do it for free.  Woo hoo!), we couldn't find the room we were supposed to be in.  They had it tucked away in this back corner on the bottom floor of this crazy building on campus.  We walked all over that building searching and finally found it 30 mins. later.  Crazy.  Then the computer was having issues and it wouldn't accept the name of the company I currently work for.  When we finally got out of there, the 45-minute appointment had taken two hours, and Justin and I were very late getting back to work.  But at least we got our taxes done and we'll get a pretty big refund.  Woo hoo!

So, I learned something interesting at work the other day.  Our office gives bonuses if you write more than four settlement demands in one month (That's the document we send the insurance company saying, "This is what happened, this is how our client was injured, this is how their life was affected by this car accident, and this is why you should pay them X amount of money.").  We get a $20 bonus per demand, beginning with number five.  I counted up how many demands I've written while I've been working there, and just in January and February, I wrote 30 demands, plus another five in December.  Which adds up to $460 in bonus money.  Which made my most recent paycheck very pretty indeed.  :)  My bank account thanked me very much for that.  

Let's see, Justin and I went over to our Home Teacher's house (his name is Josh) on Wednesday and played video games with him and his wife (Raven).  We played Super Smash Brothers and Mario Kart, then Raven and I talked about wedding and photography stuff because we're both pretty newly wed while the boys played Halo.  We actually had a lot of fun, and we're planning to do it again soon.  I think we've actually made some friends around here.  Miracle!

Yesterday, Justin and I went out shopping and to the library.  I got the second and third books of a trilogy I started on our last library trip, so I can finish that soon.  Yay!  I got a pair of new pajamas at a store that's going out of business, so they were really cheap.  Always nice.  :)  Not-quite-so-nice part is that they're 100% cotton, so they shrunk when we washed them.  The pants were almost long enough before the wash-and-dry, but they're capris now.  We laughed about that one.

I'll quit now before this letter gets too much longer.  Love you, little sis.  Hugs and tickles.

Murdock Update part 2

Here's the rest of those letters I promised you.

2-8-15

Dear Sister Kennedy,

How have your first few days in the MTC been?  How's your companion?  How's your district?  Do you like the food?  How are classes?

The last few days have been pretty normal.  We taught the First Vision to our Primary kids today.  It was slightly difficult because they were not in the mood to pay attention, but we muddled through.  And we only had two of them today.  We've never had that small of a class, so that was different.  

I just beat Final Fantasy VIII a few minutes ago.  Justin wanted me to play a video game while he worked on his painting, so I chose that one because I had never beaten it.  I got close, but never actually beat it.  Until now.  Woo hoo!  Now he wants me to play either Final Fantasy X or VII.  Can't decide which one.

Mom and Dad came down on Saturday to pick up the new entertainment center, and we all had lunch together.  Dad was asking Justin if he could design a logo for the company, so Justin's going to put together some mock-ups for Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Matt to look at.  He already has some interesting ideas.  We also went to the library, and I got a new book by Tamora Pierce.  However, I think it's book two in this series, so I'll probably go back to the library on Monday and switch them.

I think that's about all that's happened since we saw you on Tuesday.  Remember who you are and don't let it get you down.  Love you, little sister.

Symone

~@~

2-22-15

Dear Sister Kennedy,

How's things at the the MTC?  Learning all sorts of fun stuff?  Gone crazy yet?  ;)

This week was a bit weird.  As Justin told you last time, I caught the flu.  Spent Sunday evening/night throwing up (and I do mean all night), spent Monday feeling better, but still crappy, and then felt human again by Tuesday evening.  Which means I only went to work Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  Totally threw off my internal clock, let me tell you.  

I'm going to start learning how to collect medical records at work.  Not as easy as it sounds.  There's a whole slew of regulations we have to follow, and then I have to learn how to read them and figure out what's important and what's not.  Fascinating reading...not.  

Justin made an apple pie from some of his mom's homemade pie filling that she sent home with us.  Pretty dang good, too.  I started playing Final Fantasy X.  This one is slower to pick up than Final Fantasy VIII, which makes it hard.  I've been playing for two hours now, and it still hasn't gotten into the story yet.  Justin says I'll get to it soon, though, so I'll keep plugging along.

We went to Bryan and Danielle's house for dinner tonight and spent most of the evening talking with Kristen, Celeste, and Dennis about BYU and crazy dating stories.  That was a lot of fun.  Our Home Teachers came over and we played a round of Super Smash Brothers with them.  Haven't ever done that before.

I can't think of anything else worth mentioning, so I guess I'll sign off here.  Love you, baby sister.  Hugs!