The Mercado Family



Sunday, March 17, 2024

Birthday Week

 I did a little celebrating each day this week for my 46th birthday. I'm counting last Saturday as the first day of celebrations when Austin and I went to lunch at Panera Bread after his piano federation, where he performed his pieces superiorly (that's what he was awarded!) Austin's favorite place to eat is Panera and he didn't hold back! Track started up last week, so he says this was his last giant meal before he really gets into training. I loved talking with him about eating, health, anad exercise- some of my favorite topics!



The sister missionaries came over for dinner on Sunday. Since one of them is from Rexburg, I felt a connection with Victoria during our conversations over dinner. 

On Monday, during lunch at Red Bell, one of my students and I were talking about birthdays and I had mentioned that mine was the next day. I guess another one of my students had overheard this comment, so the next morning when I walked in, a bunch of students were wishing me a happy birthday, much to my surprise! The student who had overheard my comment at lunch the day before said, "Ms. Valerie, I remembered it was your birthday and told everyone!" I was completely surprised that a 4-year-old had retained that information and did something about it. She continued to ask about my birthday all morning long, like how old I am and what we were doing to celebrate. It was very sweet.

I just snacked on an apple during lunch that day so I could go to lunch with Jason aftewards at First Watch, a breakfast and lunch place literally 2 minutes from our house that has delicious and healthy choices. Of course, the minute we walked in, Austin called saying he didn't feel well and then the nurse got on the phone told us we should pick him up. So after we ordered, Jason left to go get Austin, then came and rejoined me for a then very quick lunch. 

Jason made me stir fry for dinner, per my request. While I was a my tap class that evening. Kade finished making my cake and everyone else finished their birthday gifts/cards for me that we got to enjoy together when I returned. At tap, my friend brought mini cupcakes for everyone and they tapped out "Tappy Birthday" to me. It was so fun!


A dear friend of mine took me to lunch on Wednesday to Kimchi, after work, where we had some very good conversation and food.

On Thursday I took off work to go on the Arts Academy field trip to the Holocaust museum as a chaperone with Kade. A grandson of a Holocaust survivor spoke to us for 40 minutes about his grandpa's experiences. It was enlightening, horrifying, and educational, as was expected. Our tour focused mostly on the artistic aspects of the Holocaust. It was extremely well-done.



The tree here is a sapling cut from a chestnut tree that Anne Frank could see through her hiding place.



This was painted by a survivor who wanted to express the amount of prisoners at the camps after they were set free and as they tried to move on with their lives. 

We got to go to lunch at a strip mall afterwards. I used my Starbucks gift card to get a wrap there, but Kade and his friends got lunch at Burger King. So I went to lunch, again, but this time with Kade.

This was on 3/14 and I had just discovered it was National Valerie Day!


I had one more lunch with another dear friend on Friday after work. It was at the Levant Kitchen where I got a mediteranean salad. It was delicious and I had another fabulous time conversing with a friend, but I was tired of eating out! 

I felt extremely celebrated by my friends and family here, as well as friends and family from afar. I wasn't feeling great on my birthday, but I did feel loved. 

Here are some more birthday pics. I need to do a better job at getting pics with my own friends, though.

Kade knows just what I like!!


Flowers!


Jason got me new sunglasses, which I needed, but never expressed that, he just knew.

Austin made me the keychain, Erik made me the snowman in LME, a friend gave me the chocolate, and Jason gave me the avocado holder. 

Some body scrub and a clear plastic bird feeder with bird seeds from other friends. Our cats are going to love the birds flying to our windows!

Outside decor 

The same friend gave me this bird welcome sign.

And my lunch friends gave me this plant and necklace. 





Monday, March 11, 2024

Winter Project

 Over Winter Break, between the activities my kids did when off of school, I needed to have a small project to keep my mind occupied. With my kids getting older and most of them planning things with their friends, or just doing their own thing at home, life is different. I wanted to have something to do that could improve my home, while also being available to chat with everyone when they were in the main living spaces, so I decided to repaint the borders/baseboards in our living room. That also meant repainting the high wall in our entryway because of the color change. Actually, the color of the high wall was my main pet peeve, but that was a slightly more daunting task, so I decided to start with the baseboards and then move on to the high wall.

I didn't take specific before pictures, so these are the most recent ones of our old colors:

This was taken on Christmas Day and is the old high wall color and the border around the door. It was all so brown!


I tackled the border around the door first so that when the guests left Kade's birthday party, I could look at it. Nice and white!

You can see the brown border at the top, and the hideous window treatment that has progressively gotten worse. I never knew what I wanted on this window until last summer at the Kish's lake house.

You can see the brown baseboards and border here. I was tired of the brown, but still wanted the green.

Jason got me these easy pull-down and push-up shades for Christmas, just like I wanted!
We'll get new curtains at some point. 

And you can see that the brown is gone, the border is white here and the valance matches the bookcase (Kade painted the valances).




When it came time to paint the high wall, Luke was pretty stoked about the ladders.








Jason taped and mudded the wall corners as we painted.







Everything looks so bright now, I love it! It took a long time, but I was in no rush. Just wanted to take it slowly and keep living while I did it. We're happy with how it turned out!









Sunday, March 3, 2024

A Light

 My original plans were to travel to Utah on Valentine's Day night and drive up to Rexburg, ID. the next morning with my mom to see Victoria in her showcase that Thursday night. I hadn't been able to see her in the fall because it was the same weekend as Kade's nationals for the marching band/ color guard. With Blake's death, I changed some plans and flew out Monday evening to help with what I could for the funeral and the McDonald family before driving up to Rexburg Thursday morning, per the original plan. I hadn't been to Rexburg since we toured the summer of 2021 and didn't have any idea that Victoria would attend there and love it so much!

We arrived in time for her tap class she is the TA for. I brought my tap shoes since I am currently taking an adult tap class with some of my friends. I got permission to join this "beginner" class at BYU I, though they were much more advanced than the moms I tap with! It was fun being a part of the class, watching Victoria lead the warm-up, and trying to keep up with those kids! The teacher taught the Shim Sham that class, which, amazingly enough, our class had already learned. I already needed reviewing and I knew going in that the Shim Sham is different depending on where you live in the nation. So, the Michigan version is definitely different from the Idaho version. Afterward, they practiced a dance that was so amazing and they practiced it over and over, each time using a different song that progressively picked up in speed. Each time, more students would drop out and observe. The final time through was just Victoria and Ava (the head teacher) tapping so fast, I couldn't believe it! I had always known Victoria to be a good tapper, but it was never her favorite. I think she likes it better now.

The first crosswalk just after Victoria's apartment. The dance building is just after the stadium here, so she's super close to where she spends the most time.


The tap class allowed me to take a pic! Some had already left, though.

The hallway of her apartment complex.


We got a quick and cold tour of campus and of Victoria's apartment complex. Rexburg is definitely cold and windy, but it wasn't as cold as it could have been when we were there but was cold enough. Still, no one was wearing a coat or anything on their heads!

After I ate some of Victoria's tacos she made and we chatted with her roommates while she got ready, my mom and I went to our Airbnb while Victoria arrived early for the showcase. Our Airbnb was super cute and a place my mom and Jim had stayed at when they took Victoria up after Christmas. It's just 10  minutes away from campus. 

Making her mom tacos.


Her cute room.



She's make-up and hair ready!

We got a thank you note and cookies from the Airbnb hosts since Jim booked their place twice.


The moment we had been waiting for arrived and we got to watch the showcase. There were so many amazing numbers and styles of dance. It was nice to watch so much variety and see more male dancers than I did at Dancin' Feet. Victoria was in a jazz number toward the end, choreographed to a song by Frank Sinatra. The program notes on the piece said, "The intention behind this dance is to showcase Jazz Dance Technique within a non-traditional framework. The use of Frank Sinatra was intentional in seeking playful movement, textured variations, and comfortable ease." They danced in cute suspenders and hats and with chairs. Victoria is now known for her amazing ariels in many of her dances where it's appropriate. 

Frank Sinatra Jazz dancers


Victoria hanging with her male dance friends backstage, since she was dressed similarly. 


After the show we met some more of her dance buddies and went "to dinner" after 9 pm with her two besties and their moms. We were definitely trying to keep up with the college life! We knew this was the plan so I had only a small taco at her apartment around 4 and then got a veggie burger at the burger joint we were at so I could digest easily. My mom ate her own meal at the Airbnb. We're smart old people!

Late-night dinner group!


Friday morning had a fresh new pile of snow, so my mom and I did an indoor workout on my phone that worked us pretty well! We checked out and met Victoria and her dance friends after their morning class at their usual Friday lunch spot in the Crossroads, which is like a mall food court, only for college kids and much better! On Fridays, they have .99 pizza slices at the pizza place there and it was some of the best I had ever had! And it was so fun chatting with a lot of her closest dance friends before we left. 

Friday lunch buddies!


The next change in plans was to drive back to the Salt Lake area for the viewing. Victoria would have driven down with us, but the tryouts for the Danice Alliance team (the biggest travel team at BYU I) were on Friday afternoon and evening. She had been talking about trying out for the team for a while and was really excited to do so. She had already talked with the lady in charge and told her that if she happened to make the team, she wouldn't be able to attend the first practice on Saturday because she would be at her cousin's funeral. 

When she called me at the viewing to tell me that she had made the team, I cried different tears than I had been crying all that evening. I was so happy for her! It was a light in the weekend, as was being up to visit her, while very short. She left to drive down to SLC after she showered, where she stayed with my aunt and uncle that night. Her roommate had been planning to drive down and see an old friend, so she just waited a bit till Victoria was ready. Luckily, SLC is only 3 1/2 hours away from Rexburg. My aunt and uncle took her down to the funeral the next morning and I was able to enjoy being with her the rest of the evening and night after the funeral. I drove her back up to Rexburg Sunday morning in what turned out to be a white-knuckle drive for part of it. The storm got really bad in southern Idaho and I almost got off the freeway to wait it out, but Jason looked into it and informed us that it would improve if we kept driving. It did! But I didn't stay long in Rexburg because I was nervous about driving back down if the storm got in my way again. It turned out to be just fine and I got to eat Sunday dinner with my brother's family, his in-laws, and my dad and Mary Lou. 

I am so proud of what Victoria has learned while at BYU I as a student, a dancer, and as a young adult, taking care of herself. She sacrificed being in the opening number of the show this summer so she could go to Blake's funeral, which she was so glad she did. She's in a bunch of numbers and has been practicing super hard. I can't wait to find out where they will go on their tour in July!

A new trick she has!



Photoshoot sneak peek for the tour!