In the Nick of Time

My goal was to be licensed before the completion of the Manwaring Center.

This was sent in the mail on Friday, the day of the Manwaring building dedication.

Last week, I had a professional photo taken.

Motab Christmas Concert

Amy gave me tickets to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert with David Archuleta. I took my friends Katie and RaeAnn. We had a back seat full of food and ate breakfast on the way over, and lunch on the way to church. It was wonderful.

David Archuleta rehearsing before Music and the Spoken Word. He has such a good voice.

FFKR Christmas Party

After stopping at Bethanys for lunch and a nap, I drove straight down to the company party in the press box at Rice Eccles stadium at the UofU. Bethany was kind and washed my fancy dress while I napped, and I then dried it on the heater vents in the car on the drive down. I stopped off at my house for 15 minutes to shower, and get ready and drove down to the event. I made it in time to figure out who to sit with before everyone went downstairs to be seated. The party is the same every year. People at my table started saying: "This is my favorite part" -- when the CFO gave his speach and told bad (as in not funny) jokes, and when a principal got up to dance in his own unique style on the dance floor, as he does each year. I again took my good camera. Here are some pictures:

The Press Box

You can see the great view of the city lights, the band and the dance floor.

My new dress.

The interiors department, who gave me a thumbs up for my new dress. They are all so nice to me.



An Ice Sculpture at the buffet table.

Here is my table: Left to Right: Libby and Jackson Ferguson, Mark Whightman and his wife, Steve and Jenny Goodwin and Dave and Marcy Jagielski.





Steve and his wife Jenny

Marby (black dress) and Doug Agee with Casino Arizona team members.

Marcy and Dave Jagielski. They had to turn around and drive back that night for her sister's wedding.

The Dedication and Banquet

Forgive this long blog- I am going to use it as my journal entry:

I was lucky enough to be invited to the banquet the night before the dedication of the Auditorium and Manwaring Center for those involved in the projects. It was held in the special events room that we designed in the Manwaring Center, which was a cool thing. We'd never seen the space in an event before.

I bought a new dress from Dillards a few days before. It is a fancy black velvet dress with a jacket top that has a fluffy blue collar. Bethany let me borrow her blue stoned jewelry. I was really glad that I had upgraded when we arrived at the fancy affair. I was also glad that I was able to stay that night in Rexburg at the Marriot. I checked in and was able to get dressed up between work and the dinner.

It was a small group (I'm thinking about 60 attended). I was assigned to table 3. We went in and talked to a few people. Rulon and Carol Nielsen helped me warm up my cold hands. President Clark asked everyone to take their seats so that we could begin. I had a hard time finding my table. It turned out that my seat was at the head table with President Henry B. Eyring his wife, President Clark and his wife, Jim Lewis (FFKR) and Steve Jacobson with Okland and his wife. I hadn't really considered looking there!

I sat right next to sister Eyring. Elder Eyring was so humble and nice. He asked about each of our lives. I told him that I remembered him wearing a pink Harvard robe when he visited the University. He laughed and told me that he came and didn't have a robe. A Rexburg seamstress sewed a robe using a pattern for a Harvard robe. Instead of Harvard crimson, she had selected a more fuchsia colored fabric. He said that he was embarrassed but had worn it since then.

I told him about the two plaza projects that we are working on to the north and south of the Manwaring now.

He asked about my dad's profession. I told him about Uranium mining in New Mexico. Out of nowhere he asked if daddy got cancer from it. He said that he knew Grants because he had lived in Albuquerque when he was in the military.

Jackson Ferguson, Mike Leishman and Jimmy Nielsen were also invited. Jackson sat by Elder Bednar and his wife at one table and Mike and Jimmy sat next to Elder Nelson and his wife at the other.

It was a fancy 3-course dinner. I only made it about half way through each course because I was trying to be so polite and careful. I was grateful for some etiquette lessons we had at some FHEs a few months back. For example, you butter each individual piece of roll as you break it off, rather than cutting the roll in half and buttering the whole thing. You don't push your plate away when you are done. You don't place your napkin on top of your plate when you are done, etc,...

President Clark spoke about the campus being built on a rock (literally. If you go down 2-4' below the topsoil, you will hit bedrock everywhere on campus). He spoke about the symbolism of that.

A girl sang a solo of "Consider the Lilies".

President Eyring then spoke. He reminded us that the purpose of the appreciation dinner was not only to thank those that worked hard on the projects, but also to show appreciation to God, whose hand was in the projects. He said that God is more highly involved than we realize. Jackson and I have felt this on the project as we run into just the right person on campus that we needed to talk to, or design solutions have come to our minds to resolve a difficult problem.

After, we gave Jim Smyth and his wife a tour of both buildings. He was a vice president of the University who retired midway through the project. We also took Mike Shatzer and his wife along with Jackson and his wife. Wayne Clark with the University met up with us in the Auditorium and had keys to take us where we wanted. We did a 2 hour tour. It was so much fun. We reminisced and referenced inside jokes that only hundreds of hours of meetings can germinate.

The next morning was the dedication. I hadn't slept well in the excitement, but had to wake up early because I accidentally left my laptop and tickets in the Okland Auditorium trailer. I scraped off my windows and drove over to pick them up.

Bethany and Scott were able to use the tickets that Penni Cromar couldn't use because her mother had been in the hospital that week. We all felt so sad that she couldn't be there. The Crenshaws sat with us. All of the team members and university people were in our section. I knew about a quarter of the section. It was such a joyous occasion. We were all so excited and couldn't sit down. As we saw all of the people we worked with, we just had to run over and shake their hands and talk to them. There was such comradory. I can't describe the feeling of gratitude and fulfillment that we felt as, in this setting, we came to the collective realization of how significant and historic the completion of these two projects really was. All of the problems of the process melted away.

The orchestra did a long interpretive piece of High on a Mountain Top that was very beautiful. The orchestra and choir performed come thou fount of every blessing. Elder Bednar spoke about the spirit of Ricks. Elder Nelson spoke more to the students about rededicating our own lives with this building. President Eyring spoke about the history of the building coming to be. He told about how President Hinkley felt inspired to change the program from 12,000 seats to 15,000 seats and to speed up the construction timeline. This decision came just before the financial crisis of 2006. Because funds had already been appropriated for the two buildings, the projects went forward.

Jim with Mike Leishman who was the Project Architect over the Auditorium.

Jim with Rulon and Carol Nielson. Rulon was promoted from Campus Architect to Director over Campus Facilities and Construction half way through the project. We were able to sit with them. Mary Taylor (Rulon's secretary) and her husband Kim Taylor (the fire protection subcontractor on the Manwaring) are seated in the front of the picture.

A row of FFKR team members. Dave, Mike Leishman and wife, Jim Moore and Andrae Kelly and sister.

Richard Baxter (our spec writer), Jose Sanchez, Steve Goodwin and Kevin Wilde were able to come up for the dedication. Each had contributed to the projects in some form.

Payne Engineering (Electrical Engineers for Both Projects): Eldon Payne and wife. Todd Paye and Wife and Dennis with his wife; standing on stair 7 in the Manwaring. Todd Payne used to be in Grandma Martineau's Ward in Pocatello.

Tanner Barfus and Associates: The Structural Engineering team: Leon Tanner and wife, Don Barfus and wife, and Luke.

Me with Charles Anderson. He is the Vice President over physical facilities. He is the one, we found out, who influenced the secretary to assign Jim and I to the head table. I worked heavily with him before he was promoted to his current position.

The Manwaring Center

We've finally completed the construction of the Manwaring Center. It has been a 4 year endevor. The afternoon before the dedication I went in with my good camera and took some pictures before the place was overrun with people. I photo shopped out caution tape that kept the people out as well as painters, cleaners, ladders, etc,...

The entrance to the bookstore off of the main hallway on level one. That is the Thomas S. Monson biography in the window.

The west ballroom. This space supports 3 simultaneous sacrament meetings with the use of large folding partitions. This space looks so much better than it did. The new stage has a rear accessible ramp and there are black lights in the alcoves for dance lighting.

This is a conference room in the new student activities space. This is where clubs and sports are planned, created and led by students.

This is a view from the bridge that connects the Manwaring Center with the McKay Library to the north.

This is the convenience store. We just finished hanging up the temporary sign before this photo was taken. They are left to right: Mike Shatzer, Project Manager with Okland Construction, Jim Lewis, Principal Architect for FFKR and Jackson Ferguson, Project Architect for FFKR.

This is the "not lounge" on the first floor. The president asked us not to use that word. People can purposefully sit, however. We are not sure that the power and CAT5 outlets on the wall where a flat screen could be hung will never be used.

Jolynns Bakery is combined with the Freshens smoothie bar. This is on the first floor by the "not lounge".

We have two large skylights that bring light down to the first floor hallway.

This is a view of the main hallway on the second floor. The large columns with a horizontal structural member mid hallway are the columns for the north face of the existing building. So, half of this hallway was existing and half was added on.

Thanksgiving

My mom and the Crenshaws came down for Thanksgiving. We met up with the rest of the family at Tucanos for lunch on Friday in celebration of my finally passing all of my architectural licensing exams. We had a lot of fun. I couldn't believe how good the little kids were.

On Saturday I helped the Cummins find a Christmas tree.

You can see more pictures on these blogs:

http://the-cummins-odyssey.blogspot.com/2010/11/hunt.html

http://carolyn-grammygoose.blogspot.com/2010/11/thanksgiving-in-utah.html

In over my head

What do you do when you are in over your head?

Call a Plumber!


Thanks, Colin!

Halloween Prep

The three featured films on our Halloween VHS tape growing up:

Mr. Boogedy

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61pIr7s_y_Q&feature=related

Bride of Boogedy

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ph8t-pA9Dk

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow with Jeff Goldblum

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q0U9hlbWnQ

The Last Leaf

I am studying for my last architectural licensing exam of 7. This will be the 13th test that I will have taken. I take it on Friday, October 29th, in the afternoon.

This is my third attempt at building systems. The test includes Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, Fire Protection, Elevators, etc,...

This is a request for everyone's thoughts and prayers. I need all of the help I can get. I need the most help with the vignette.

Note: for you Catholics out there, the patron saint of architecture is Saint Thomas the apostle.

Translator

Vern, Vern, Vern

When it rains, it pours. Sometimes things get so bad that it is almost comical.....almost.
I have spent months planning for our ward temple trip to Vernal, UT. 50+ signed up preliminarily. I reserved spots at the KOA based on who signed up with my credit card. I helped people find rides, and planned out three things to see at Dinosaur National Monument. I had another person on the committee that was supposed to help me, but It didn't pan out.

My deadline for the UTA Transfer Station construction document package was pushed back to the same Friday. Monday I could tell that I was getting sick. I went home early and slept all day Tuesday. I worked late each night trying to get my drawings ready. Thursday night I worked until 11pm. Friday I scrambled to get them ready by 5pm. People kept calling during the day to tell me that they couldn't come. I didn't have time to listen to their apologies. My computer kept slowing down. I didn't get out the door until 5:30pm. A few people came to carpool, but ended up leaving. I felt bad because I wasn't able to be there to organize.

When I got to the church, two people were there waiting. After waiting an hour, another person showed up and we left. We arrived at Vernal after 9pm and the KOA office was closed. We drove around trying to find the "tent city". We finally found it. One guy from our ward was there. 2 more girls arrived bringing our grand total to 7. 4 of us slept in a cute little cabin. The constant intervals of snoring kept me awake all night because my nerves were shot and I was sensitive to noise.

In the morning I went to the front desk. She made me pay for 3 cabins and the group camp site even though we didn't use them (hundreds of dollars) and told me that we couldn't come back to change in the restrooms before the session. My crying seemed to have no affect on her.

We went in two carloads to dinosaur. Our car stopped at Chevron to grab some breakfast. My breakfast burrito exploded in the microwave. I cleaned up what I could with napkins and apologized to the gas station attendant. Dinosaur was the fun part of the trip. I was able to see petroglyphs and we illegally parked at the trail head and saw dinosaur bones embedded in the rocks. I got changed into my skirt in the car (I forgot to bring a dress shirt for the temple, so I'd washed my shirt from work in the sink, but it hadn't dried yet, and I left it in the other car, so I ended up wearing the sports shirt that I wore to Dinosaur with my black skirt) and we made the 12:15 session. The Vernal Temple is cool. It was a historic tabernacle buit in 1907. The gutted it out in 1997 and converted it into a temple. It has 1850's decour. 5 other girls drove up in the morning for the session. An old man in a wheelchair was in the session. He had lost control over his hands. Temple workers assisted him throughout the session. I was impressed that he was there in the Lord's house and serving those who couldn't do the work for themselves.

The other carload (my ride home) was slower getting going, and had an engine light problem. They missed the session. The next session was 1:15 minutes later. I waited outside for them. They tacked a tour of the baptistry on to the end of the session, giving me concern that they had missed that session, too. But they finally came out and we set back for home. My migraine set in and I spent the rest of the car ride trying to prevent it from going critical.

I made it back without throwing up and went straight to bed. As I closed my eyes, the smoke detector went off. The End.

Petroglyphs

My car pool plus a guy named Steve

Name That Tune

Last Christmas I digitized some family cassette tapes. Among them was my Uncle John's funeral tape. He died in 1978 when he was just 22 years old. My dad played a song on his viola for the funeral. I have tried to figure out what this song is for a while now. There will be an award for anyone who can correctly identify the song. I've added pictures of John and my dad because you can't upload an audio clip to a blog, but you can upload a slideshow.

Two Parties and a Train Ride

Red Castle Lake

My friend RaeAnn and I did a 3-day backpacking trip to Red Castle Lake in the High Uintahs. We accessed the trail head from the Wyoming side. The hike was 25 miles total.

There were cool red rocks that glowed in the dusk light. We were there during the peak nights of the Perseid Meteor Shower. I watched the meteor shower with my head sticking out of the tent because it was so cold. We camped at around 11,000 ft in elevation.

Red Castle.

Red Castle Lake in the evening.

We ate oatmeal for breakfast and freeze dried meals for dinner. RaeAnn heated water for them on her portable back packer stove.

This is a make-shift sun shade I built to keep the tent cooler. It really worked. We spent a lot of time in the tent because there were so many mosquitoes.


View from upper Red Castle Lake. The colors are washed out because the dial on my camera was accidentally knocked to a weird setting. I didn't notice because I had my sunglasses on. I am kind of bummed because it was so awesome up there and all of my pictures are washed out and weird. My car is parked at the end of the mountain chain running from right to left in this picture.

Upper Red Castle lake is held up by this wall of rock that blocks off the canyon. The water runs through via this waterfall. We watched the boy scouts climb all around this area.