The Annual Letter

Dear Friends and Family,                                                             

2014 has been another wonderful year for us!  In August, Daniel published a paper in a scholarly journal regarding a study he has been working on since 2010. This has been a big accomplishment for him and we are very proud.  In just a couple of weeks, he will be proposing his masters thesis and he is planning to defend in the spring. He is in the middle of his third year of his 6-year PhD program in clinical psychology. Almost to the half way mark!

MaryAnn celebrated her one-year anniversary with SPS this year. She has enjoyed the dual role of working as an attorney in the Bankruptcy Department and a manager at the same time and working for a large corporation instead of small law firms.

We’ve been fortunate to do some traveling this year.  Daniel was invited to present his research at a conference in San Francisco, so we were able to experience Muir Woods, the Golden Gate Bridge, China Town, and Pier 39 together. We also traveled to Chicago (for MaryAnn’s work), California, Las Vegas, and Wyoming.  In Wyoming, we went river rafting for the first time! This is something that MaryAnn has always wanted to do. You can see us pictured below!

 Okay, the truth is that is not really us and it wasn’t as exciting/scary as we imagined it would be. We went during the low season, so the rapids were actually more similar to the picture below.

Thank you for being a part of our lives. We hope you have a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Love, Daniel and MaryAnn Bride

The Many Adventures of Hiking with Daniel and MaryAnn

One of the things I best love about summer is hiking.  With the mountains practically in our backyard, I don't know why we don't do it more often.

Daniel and I have been hiking twice so far this summer. Our first hiking adventure was in early June. We wanted a short trip as we only had an evening and I had hoped to rediscover a trail I found while trail running a couple of years ago. Luckily we found it! Our trailhead was at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon, just east of Little Cottonwood Road and Wasatch Boulevard. I like this trail because it can be done in an evening and the views are breathtaking. We were also able to pick some wildflowers to take home. Here are a just a couple of the breathtaking views we saw:

In July, Daniel and I decided to go on an overnight hiking/camping trip to Malan's Basin, above 29th Street in Ogden. This hike was not for the faint of heart. It was steep and took a little less than three hours to hike in, but it was well worth the sacrifice.

From 1894 - 1906, the Malan family operated a seasonal hotel in Malan's Basin, accessible via a wagon road. Today there are no roads leading to the basin and the wagon road has become the narrow hiking trail leading into the basin. I was fascinated by the history of the place. The only signs of former habitation included an old steam boiler and some clearings and a plaque where the hotel stood.  Other than those things, it was completely deserted and free from civilization. We only saw one other family as we hiked in, but once we set up camp we were completely alone and did not see or hear another soul.

Once we pitched our tent, we had a dinner of fire roasted vegetables, grapes, and Hebrew Nationals. We experienced only one small disaster as our tent collapsed in the middle of a rainstorm around midnight.  The next morning we hiked out, grateful to have had the experience.

Mountain Biking Take 1 and Take 2

Daniel is a very talented mountain biker. He has been mountain biking since he was 14-years-old and as a teenager he won several races. Now, he just bikes for fun and is introducing me to all the fun mountain biking has to offer.

Our first attempt was on Antelope Island sometime in early June.  The bad news is that we made it less than a mile before my bike got a flat tire and to our horror we realized that we didn't have the patch kit with us. The good news is that we did get this pretty awesome picture:

If you look closely, you'll see that Daniel is holding the bike with the flattened tire.

Despite being attacked by bugs, riding in the blazing heat, and getting a flat tire, I would not be discouraged. Attempt number two took place at the Pipeline Trail in Millcreek Canyon. This time we met our match. The weather was perfect, there were not nearly as many bugs, and I had a better bike. I found mountain biking to be exhilarating and a little pee-my-pants scary. There were parts where we rode only a foot or two from a small cliff.  The downhills were scary, yet exciting, and I ended up walking the turns on the switch backs after nearly tipping over. I can now see why people like this sport and I want to keep going and keep getting better.

Taking a break on the Pipeline Trail.

If you are interested in taking up mountain biking, I would recommend the Pipeline Trial (oops Freudian slip). The uphills are not too steep and neither are the downhills. It was very manageable, yet still challenging. I'm excited to try this trail again.

Logan Retreat

Shortly after Daniel finished his last final last May (yes, I'm a little behind in blogging), we decided to escape to the quaint town of Logan, Utah. Although Logan may not seem like the most exciting town in the world, it was a wonderful trip! Over sixty-seven years ago, my Grandma and Grandpa Bennett were married in this town and it was fun to retrace some of their footsteps.

We visited the Logan Temple, the actual place where my grandparents were married, and did an endowment session while we were there.

After the temple, we had dinner at The Bluebird Restaurant, where my grandparents had dinner after their wedding. Grandma told me that this place was the fanciest place in town when they were married. It has changed slightly. Daniel ordered fish and chips and I got a burger. We also picked up a Bluebird chocolate to take home to Grandma.

We stayed at the Anniversary Inn and we loved our romantic room. The Anniversary Inn is a themed bed and breakfast. We stayed in a room called Arabian Nights and loved sleeping on the comfortable king sized bed, soaking in the hot tub for two, and eating delicious ham and cheese croissants for breakfast.

 My favorite part of the trip was getting to hang out all day and night with this guy. 

We also went on a beautiful 12-mile run down historic main street, through some farm-y roads, and around Utah State University's campus.  Towards the end of this long run, I looked up and said "Holy Batman..." Daniel said "Whaaaaat?" He looked up and also saw Batman on the street corner, who was yelling across the street at Spiderman, who was being chased by a Storm Trooper. Yes, this is a true story. You never know what you'll find in Logan! We think a costume shop or a theatre must have been involved.

San Jorge

Over part of spring break last month, we took a trip to St. George, Utah. MaryAnn presented at the Utah Bar Convention, which is less alcohol-centric and more lawyer-centric than it sounds. Daniel used the time to pretend he was studying and enjoy being warm for the first time since October.

It was refreshing to feel like we were taking a vacation, even if we were both trying to get some work done at the same time. Our friends Preston and Michelle were kind enough to let us occupy their son's room for a few days. Here are some trip highlights (I've had to be creative since we didn't take that many pictures):

We got to visit Pioneer Park up above St. George and hike around like desert mountain goats.

 

While we were there, we of course hiked through the mini slot-canyon. We didn't take a picture, but here's a random little girl who isn't as cute as MaryAnn demonstrating the cramped conditions. MaryAnn was very brave and pressed on even when she got a little claustrophobic.

We also got to do some rock-climbing at Green Valley Gap. Again, we didn't take pictures, but here's roughly how MaryAnn looked while climbing (only MaryAnn is wayyyy better looking):

Here's roughly how Daniel looked while climbing:

Most importantly, we got to see MaryAnn's mom and pop. We met up for lunch in St. George and went for a nice hike in Zion National Park. Luckily they're better about taking pictures than we are:

 

 

It was a nice escape from winter, followed promptly by a month of sickness: sinusitis for both of us, an ear infection for Daniel (isn't that a little kid thing?) and bronchitis for MaryAnn (ain't nobody got time for that!) The moral of the story is, if you live where it's warm, be grateful. If you don't, be careful, because you could be ravaged by disease at any time.

Merry Christmas!

I always enjoy reading my friends' Christmas letters and though it's too late to mail out letters, I thought I would share ours on the blog.  To all of our friends and family reading, we love you, we're thankful for you, and wish you the very best Christmas wishes.

2012 has been a wonderful year for us.  Daniel and I met at the beginning of the year in our singles ward in Ogden.  I was living with my brother up there on the weekends and Daniel had just moved home to save money for graduate school. 

This past summer was a great one.  We got engaged and we ran our first marathon together (Daniel's first marathon ever).  We also spent lots of time with family, watching Monk (the T.V. Series), enjoying the outdoors, and visiting the temple. 

In August, Daniel started his first year of a Ph.D. program in clinical psychology at the University of Utah and he is well on his way to achieving his dreams.

In October, we experienced the best day of our lives as we were married for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake Temple.  We honeymooned in Florida and have settled in Holladay, Utah.

I have been working at Pearson Butler for about 10 months now and it has been going really well.  I like this lawyer job better than the two previous jobs and it is a great environment to work in.  I manage my own caseload and am still specializing in bankruptcy.  I am also starting to branch out into estate planning, probate, guardianships, and social security disability (elder law in a nutshell). 

A couple of weeks ago, Daniel and I were called as team primary teachers at our church and we are excited to serve together and teach little children.

On December , 2012, we had the opportunity to go to the Conference Center in Salt Lake City and see the First Presidency Christmas Devotional of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  This was a wonderful event and the words of President Thomas S. Monson have stayed with me:

"Christmas isn't just tinsel and ribbon, unless we have made it so in our lives. Christmas is the spirit of giving without a thought of getting.  It is happiness because we see joy in people.  It is forgetting self and finding time for others.  It is discarding the meaningless and stressing the true values.  It is peace because we have found peace in the Savior's teachings.  It is the time we realize most deeply that the more love is expended, the more there is of it for others."

We hope that you will feel the true spirit of Christmas and enjoy this beautiful season.  Merry Christmas!

Love,

The Brides



Our first Christmas tree

The Thankful Tree

Daniel and I have been starting some fun traditions in our family and this is one of them.

Every day for the month of November, we added a leaf to our tree and both listed one thing we are thankful for on the leaf.  It was a great way to feel the spirit of Thanksgiving!

 

(PS - Yes, those may or may not be stockings next to our thankful tree.  Christmas began immediately the day after Thanksgiving in our house).