Smith family Christmas traditions.

• Decorating sugar cookies
• Neighbor gifts
• A house full of candles on Christmas Eve
• Chili on Christmas Eve
• A designated “Santa” to dole out gifts under the tree
• Egg casserole for breakfast (with orange and banana fruit salad)
• Seeing the lights downtown
• Christmas music
• Ceramic winter village
• Luminarias in front of the house

p.s. I’m sure there’s more that I’m forgetting… These ones in particular hit me last night and this morning. Lots of memories! ‘Tis Christmas. I’m happy to be here in Utah with my family.

I’ll be in Utah for Christmas.

It is nice to be on holiday break these days! Finals went well enough. And Scott and I have been relaxing since… first in Whistler, and now we’re in Utah visiting family.

Our Utah visit was planned around a big surprise for my parents… Both of my sisters flew in from outside of the country. They knew about my older sister, but my little sister was a surprise. Everyone was sitting around the kitchen decorating sugar cookies when Lou came and knocked on the door. It all worked out really well. (There were tears. Success!)

We’ve been doing Christmas stuff this week. Eating. Shopping. Crafting. Singing! (Yes, singing at a huge sing-a-long held in the Jazz basketball arena.) And Christmas lights in downtown Salt Lake.

Mom and Dad’s Visit: Classic Seattle Touristing

My parents came to town last weekend for a visit and to drop off my cat, Luke!

Since they (my parents) have been to Seattle a few times, I was at a loss for fresh and exciting activities to do with them. It turned out my mom was interested in re-doing some of the classics: Pike Place Market and the Chittenden Fish Locks. We also visited the UW campus and took the ferry across the water to visit Bainbridge Island. It was nice to get my touristing on and rediscover some of Seattle’s gems. Love this city.

Sushi in the Park and the Elysian After Dark

We combined Scott’s birthday and a welcome back “Sushi in the Park” on Saturday. Scott and I have often carried sushi to eat at the park, sometimes with friends, sometimes without… so “Sushi in the Park” is getting to be somewhat of traditional activity. We had such a nice turn out of friends and coworkers (and combinations of those two things). There were also friends who I hadn’t seen from even before Perú, and friends who I corresponded with almost daily when we were away. We know some really good people, and I only regret not being able to talk individually with everyone. Our dance card has filled up since with lunches, dinners and coffees over the next few weeks! Love it.

After the sun went down it started to get cold in the park, so we moved on to the Elysian for beers.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get many photos! I had all of my good friends right there, too! Definitely a missed opportunity. I love this one that Casey took though…

Feliz dos años a nosotros.

We’ve been married for two years today!

I still can’t believe I have a husband. I especially can’t believe my husband is Scott. He is… so great. I’m always scrambling to keep up my end of this deal.

We try to avoid the daily grind and the yearly ruts, and Year Two was a wild success in this regard. It has definitely been one of our best together. We risked driving each other insane, and discovered that 24/7 close proximity only makes it harder to be apart.

We’ll be spending the day on a 15 hour bus ride to Quito. Although that’s not ideal, celebrating tonight in a fresh, new foreign land seems appropriate.

p.s. We have seven hash marks to add to our rings when we’re back in Seattle! (Eight including the Bahamas!)

Schmilas Family Reunion: Wrapping up in Ica & Lima

We spent one day in Ica and a half a day in Lima to wrap up Jeremy and Autumn’s trip this week. It was just enough time for them to see a little more of both cities, visit the Tacama and Cantador bodegas, sandboard, shop for some artisan goods, eat lots of ceviche, and drink more pisco sours.

After they left on Monday, Scott and I kind of looked at each other and realized that yes, we only have a few more weeks left in Peru! It has been super nice to have so many visitors here, but we’re also excited to get back to see everyone in less than a month!

Schmilas Family Reunion: Desert Trip with the Maestro

We got to the desert at maybe 1am after making our way through the strike blockages on Wednesday. The moon was practically full that night, and we were able to set up our mattresses and sleeping bags without any flashlights.

Over the next three days we scoured different areas of the desert in search of megalodon teeth. We were in less “open” areas and the sun wasn’t as cooperative this time around, so we only found tiny little teeth the first two days. Jeremy had the biggest find of the trip, finally, on the third day. He snagged a very large, black Mako shark tooth. Scott was the big loser of the trip, and found nothing. Actually, I didn’t find anything either, but that was because I spent most of trip napping in Hermalinda or back at the camp site!

It was really nice to see our friend Roberto Penny Cabrera again. He was just as contradictory and complex as our first trip. Since he’s not a fan of the “shaman” title, we came up with a new label… the maestro, or teacher. I think it’s very fitting given how enthusiastic he is about sharing his knowledge of the desert with others. I enjoyed getting to know him even better, and we promised to come back for another visit once we have some little kiddies.