utah.

word of the day: utah \ˈyü-ˌto, -ˌtä\  the 45th state to be admitted to the union; population 2,550,063

The sky is blue.  Granted, as I look out my window, I see leave-less trees and brown grass, but the blue sky is smiling through.  Its cloudless hue only reminds me that spring is on the cusp which makes sitting inside grading research papers all the more bearable.  How else do I know spring is near?  My toenails are painted, I wore flip-flops two days in a row, and I made myself an iced vanilla latte this morning.  

[insert sigh of contentment]

Oh, and it's Spring Break.  And a glorious break it has been.

As you can see, I don't use the word "glorious" lightly.

Jake and I became 'people of the mountains' this week as we visited Nate in Utah. Did you know that Utah means 'people of the mountains'?  Fittingly so.  You can't go anywhere in Utah without seeing a mountain.  I decided while we were there that everything is better with a mountain in view.  Everything.

Grocery shopping is better.

Card playing and drinking coffee is better.

Playing basketball is better.  So is watching.

Shoot, even McDonalds ice cream is better (as if it's not good enough already).

The common question around a school come spring break is, "Are you going anywhere?".  I found that every time I told someone that we were Utah bound, they would get this confused look on their face and then ask, "Why?" like it was the strangest destination possible.  Well, let me tell you people--Utah rocks.  

I forced Nate to take us to Park City, because the sappy tourist in me wants to see all the hot spots.  I could have spent hours upon hours on the Main Street alone.  

I love a good tourist trap even though it probably makes me a prisoner of consumerism (that one's for you dad).

We also spent some time at the Sundance resort which is way more low key than Park City but just as fabulous.  The only disappointment of the experience was that I didn't get to meet Robert Redford.  It's been said that Jake looks like a young Paul Newman and I was hoping that would be our in if he stumbled into the cafe or something.  Unfortunately he didn't make any unexpected appearances or I'm sure he and Jake would have been fast friends.

Jake spent an entire day snowboarding Sundance with Jon and Nate.  

What did I have to do for an entire day, you ask?

Again, better with mountains.  

But now we're back to the plains. Ginny is fast asleep on the couch and Jake is watching some old show on Retro TV (because we don't have cable and Oprah is on CBS instead of basketball).  The research papers quietly whisper to me from their perch on the kitchen table as if their presence alone isn't enough to remind me that they're there. 

I've heard the phrase, "I guess it's back to reality" a few times since being back which I suppose is true.  But if back to reality means blue skies, iced drinks, and beating Jake in my March Madness bracket, I'll take it.

Yeah, I'll take it.  

However, even though we're home, I think it's safe to say that a little piece of our hearts now remains in Utah.  But, then again, that was to be expected.