Since our computer won't recognize our camera "chip" right now, I'll have to be more descriptive in my writing of our latest happenings. Have you ever driven through a town that had an overwelming odor of leather and steak? I hadn't either until our most recent trip to Fort Worth. That place has to be one of the most unique cities I have ever seen. Downtown Fort Worth reminds me a lot of Boise with the yellow lights outlining the buildings and several trees alongside the streets, with a main strip of bars, clubs and eateries that are alive late into the night. Once you are out of the city, the crowded feel stops as abrubtly as it began. The city looks like a castle sitting on a hill, literally surrounded by a river and empty space that makes it seem not real. There is no continuous run of neighborhoods or buildings, everything just stops, then you feel like you are in a different country when you come across the hispanic area. Most of the signs were in Spanish, and Joni and I played the game of who could spot the next white person. We ended up getting lost trying to find the rodeo because I guess there are multiple rodeos every single weekend there all over town. When we finally did find the Fort Worth Stockyards it was worth the ride. We entered a time warp into the old west, except for the really good Elvis impersonater who reminded us of what time period we were in. They actually move an entire herd of Texas Longhorns through the streets downtown twice a day, maybe that explains the leather and steak smell. The rodeo arena was very cool, we sat on the front row on some metal folding chairs that were probably made at the turn of the century.

Last night we saw "Wicked", it was AWESOME! I have to admit I had low expectations but it was really funny and really, really well written. We had to hurry to get there because there were torndado warnings expected at the exact time we were supposed to get there. The second we pulled into the parking lot, a monsoon of rain hit us. We ran inside soaked from head to toe. During the play the power went out three times, and the actors had to redo the scenes, but it was really cool how everything turned out. I laughed that we were watching a story about the Wizard of Oz while our own tornado was outside. Since we bought the tickets about 9 months ago we were willing to stick it out and I was glad we did.

I can't believe how time seems to have flown by here in Dallas, we will be leaving in a couple of months and we actually feel like we will miss it, at least certain aspects. Joni made an interesting comment that downtown Dallas is comparable to the mountains in Utah in that you use it to get your bearings when traveling, but you don't always notice it is there. Nothing compares to the mountains really, but people here view it in a similar way. This has been a really good experience for us, and we feel like we have grown a lot, and learned more about people and respecting differences than we ever could have learned otheriwise. We realize how unique things were where we came from, with everyone having so much in common physically and culturally, to a place where you can feel like your own person, and develop different charateristics that make you strong and individual.

Congratulations again to Joel on finding a job, I guess we can add a little to that feeling of releif as well. Joni has been offered a couple of jobs, and she has decided to accept the one in Waco. The offer was too good to pass up even though a lot of driving will be invloved. We will be moving in the end of June. As to where we don't know yet. When we have a weekend off together we will drive down to Waco, and then to College Station and basically rely on how we feel about little towns in between the two, or if we will just end up in one or the other. As you can tell there is a lot on our minds, and in times like these it is best to make a decision and roll with it.