Cutting Max's Hair

I cut Maxwell's hair about a week ago at my friend Christine's house. He went crazy anytime I got near his hair, so we gave him a lollipop and let him watch Elmo's World on a laptop in front of him. The cute little girl on the chair next to him is his girlfriend, Kaylee.

Happy Birthday Chauncey

Yesterday Maxwell and I flew out to surprise Chauncey on his birthday. Maaxwell was totally crazy on the plane. We are with Chauncey now until Sunday evening. It will be so hard to leave.

Lincoln Park Zoo

Maxwell and I went to the Lincoln Park Zoo with Elise & Violet Roberts, and Saerome & Aston Parish. It was fun!

Here is a picture of the University of Chicago Law School:

Move to Chicago

Chauncey and I just moved to Chicago. We rented a Penske moving truck and drove it all the way there. (Actually, Chauncey did all of the driving). The drive took about 24 hours, which we split up over 2 1/2 days. When we arrived to our apartment, 9 ward members were waiting to help us move our stuff into our apartment. When the Croatian man in charge of keeping the building came out to give me our apartment key and saw all of the people waiting to help us, he said "You have been here 10 minutes, and you are already more popular than me. I don't get it."

Chauncey started law school a couple of weeks ago and is working hard. Maxwell and I are commuting back and forth between Utah and Chicago because I am in my last semester of law school at BYU.

We live in Hyde Park, about an hour away from the University of Chicago. It's beautiful during the daytime, but really scary and nighttime. We have quickly gotten used to locking our doors, even during the daytime when we are home.

Aside from the scariness of living in a big city, we love Chicago. Our ward is very social, and many of the ward members have children around Maxwell's age.

This was Maxwell's first time on an airplane. He enjoyed playing with the tray that comes down fromt the seat in front of us. He must have made it go up and down about a million times. On the ride home, he walked up and down the isles again and again.

We are back in Utah for the next couple of weeks, but we will be going out again to see Chauncey in a couple of weeks.

We took lots of pictures with our families after the wedding, and some of them were really fun. Here are just a few.

My Grandpa Oaks performed the wedding, and it was wonderful. He gave us wonderful advice, and later gave us a copy of the advice he had given.

It was cold outside, but not too cold. I couldn't sleep at all the night before the wedding. There was just too much to think about!

We were married on a Thursday afternoon. Everything was perfect, except for my nose bleed right before the wedding ceremony. I was in the downstairs of the temple getting ready, and I suddenly got a bloody nose. The temple ladies helped me by getting me ice, covering my dress with towels, and getting me more tissues.

Luckily, it stopped bleeding before the wedding and I got up to where I was supposed to be only a couple of minutes late.

Wedding

Chauncey and I were married on February 23, 2006 in the Salt Lake temple.

A few nights ago on the Subway there was a huge fight. There were two guys standing right next to me and my friend Kelsie, and they started yelling at each other. There was a lot of tension, more than a regular argument, so I grabbed Kelsie´s arm and ran to the other side of the subway. Then they started physically fighting. One guy bashed the other guy´s head on the side of the subway and blood got all over. The bloody guy ran right over to where I was standing (I was trying to hide myself in a big group of guys who had awful B.O. but at least I would be safe), and I started praying that the scary guy wouldn´t come over too. Some of the Nigerian immigrant guys pinned down the pschyco guy. I got off at the next station. It was so scary! On Saturday I got to help the missionaries with their street preach. The whole Zone sang hymns in front of Stefan´s Dom (a really famous church from the middle ages), and told people about the gospel as they listened to the music. On sunday I got to go on splits with the missionaries again. We got to go door to door, and at one door that I got to do the talking for---which is kind of scary in German---the lady started screaming at us and slammed the door. That´s about it for this week. On thursday I am going to Salzburg for 3 days. That will be fun! Oh yeah, on Saturday morning I bought super-rad stuff at the flee-market. I got an old porcelin doll in Austrian clothes, an old jewelery box, one of those little hand-painted porcelin beer mugs from the fifteen hundreds, and an old record of a leder-hosen wearing brass-band. By guys! I just went to Salzburg and got to meet up with some of the LDS friends I made on my Switzlerland temple trip. We all went to dinner together, and it was so fun! (Although I spent more on my one meal than I usually spend on groceries in an entire week, because I ate out, and I got the only gluten-free thing on the menu). We went to tons of castles and went on lots of tours. We went to all the historical sites having to do with Mozart, the Sound of Music (we even got to go to the Do Ray Me stairs that they really sang on, and we ourselves, like four of us anyway, choreographed a chunk of the song and taped it. Lots of Japanese people gathered around us and either filmed us or took pictures---that was my favorite part of the trip). We also went to a place called Halstaat, and I´m pretty sure it was Heaven. We went inside a salt mine, and had to dress up in the coal-miner clothes, slide down giant wooden slides deep into the mine, and see all sorts of cool stuff. We were up in the mountains, there were giant lakes all over, and we even got to ride on a boat for a tour of the lake. It was raining really hard, but we all insisted on being on top of the boat instead of inside. The orderly Austrians thought we were crazy. Another highlight was one of the palaces we visited---It was inhabited by the American troups during WWII. There is a great hall, full of hand-carved wood all around, gold leaf covering parts of the art, and frescos on the ceiling---just like every palace. But the funny thing was that the tour guide told us that the American troups played tennis in that room. In another room, there was a bed made especially for Prince Eugene (in those days whenever people knew a special person was coming to stay they had a room prepared for them and made lots of either art or furniture for them). Prince Eugene had led Austria against the Turks twice, so this palace made him a bed made of dying Turks. It is really ugly, but the carvings and artwork is emaculate. He saw it, and said both that it was ugly and refused to sleep in it. The tour guide told us that it has only been slept in by the American soldiers during the war, and that they thought it was hillarious and took pictures in it. I think our culture is funnier, but I can see how we come across as being disrespectful.

I´m going to Italy-- Florence and Venice next weekend for 5 days. We are going to ride in a Gondala! I´m so excited. I didn´t get a chance to tell you about the potluck! We invited lots of people from our ward over. 20 people came to our apartment. 13 were Austrians, and 7 were Americans, including me and my roommate. There were 2 married couples there, one seemed so excited about the gospel. They talked about the different trials that the saints in Europe have, and how we need to work together as a worldwide church to build the kingdom. The wife of the other Austrian married couple seemed very pessimistic about life and about the gospel, even though she is a member. She doesn´t seem as happy as the other woman. She piped into our conversation and said that Utah mormons are so self-righteous and that their outward goodness is just a facade. She said that they pretend to be nice but really aren´t, and went off about it. I could tell that either she struggles with depression or has some other sort of struggles in her life right now----and she is always hesitant to come hang out with us even though her husband is always begging her (we invite all the young single adults and young married couples to play stuff like volleyball). So instead of trying to contradict her or anything I just responded to each pessimistic remark with things like ´´In many cases that is true. None of us are perfect, which is why all of us need the savior. There are many things that we need to work on in Utah, in Europe, and all over the world to build Zion. That´s why we all need to work together, because there is so much work to be done. It is true that there are lots of problems, but that only means that we need to fix them. You´re right! Even the scriptures say that we can´t go around saying ´´all is well in Zion.´´ I guess that means we need to get to work!´´ Anyway, the really optimistic married couple beamed, and backed me up, and I think they were a little embarrassed at her pessimism, but I pretended not to even notice it and I didn´t contradict her. I only looked for the silver lining in the cloud. Anyway, the really optimistic married couple pulled me aside and invited me and my roommate for dinner next week (which we will post-pone an extra week because of my Italy trip). There are a lot of people here who know the church is true, but lack a little bit of enthusiasm about the gospel. Elder Perry said that the best missionary tool in Europe will be enthusiasm. This couple has it! I really think they will be a huge strength to the church over here, and I won´t be at all surprized if they have leadership positions in the future.

Hi everybody! I´m not sure what I left out from my Switzerland trip. Well, on our way there (we took a night bus at like 12:30 and between switching trains we slept at the train station with people that looked like homeless people for 2 hours in a room that had a roof but no heating). I had the blanket that Liz had made me, so I didn´t freeze, but almost worse than freezing was the smell in the room. I am pretty sure it was the worst thing I have ever smelled, but I don´t know how to describe it, so I won´t try. We went to Salzburg and met up with a Young Single Adult group, and rode on a charter bus with them on an 8 hour trip to Switzerland. It was awesome to get to know them all! We spent a couple of nights in an old bomb shelter, which was actually really cool. On our first night there we had a dance, and of course, all of the Austrians taught us how to Walz (even to upbeat American music.... they never dance alone....always in pairs), and then when a cowboy song came on my friend Rachel and I decided to teach them how to country line dance. It was cool to make the trade. Doing baptisms for the dead in the Swiss Temple has been the best part of my trip yet. It is the same peaceful place as it is in the Provo tonight. The leaders of the Young Single Adults were so nice. I explained my allergy to the lady who did most of the cooking, and she went out and bought me some gluten free stuff and then fixed me some special food. I couldn´t believe how nice she was! On our last night of the trip Hans Ringger, a retired 70 and current Patriarch in Switzerland, gave us a wonderful fireside about priorities. It was neat to meat him, because he is the uncle of my uncle, whose parents moved to America from Switzerland. He shared some inside jokes and nicknames of my uncle. Tonight I am meeting Markus, the Austrian guy who I met in a cafeteria and talked to him about the church, to teach him English words about the Bible. We will be meeting once a week to discuss the bible in English. This week he is supposed to go to church with me. After that I will be teaching a beginning English class at the youth center, and I think there are 5 people in the class now, but this is only the second week. Last week I went on splits with the sisters, and a girl on the U-Bahn heard me telling some girls who didn´t want to hear about the church that they could also come to a free English class at our church. She tapped me and asked for more information. Right before I got off the Subway I handed her a card with the address of the church and told her she should come and that I am the teacher. She said she would. I am so excited! She is Muslim, and I want to talk about the church in English for a part of each class period. Today we went on a field trip to two different castles, and one of them totally looked like the castle on Snow White. I better run!

I took my friend Markus to church with me on Sunday, and afterwards he came over to my house and talked about the bible with me and my roommate for 6 hours. He didn't even start reading the bible until 3 years ago, and now he knows it like the back of his hand. When I would start talking about a principle, and say the names of people in the stories or anything he could immediately flip open to the chapter and verse. We didn't talk about the book of Mormon, but we talked a lot about the importance of baptism (He didn't like the idea of baptism for the dead), but after I explained that we believe that baptism is necessary for everyone if they want to go to Heaven. God is merciful, which is why the people that have died must have a chance to be baptized. That is why we do geneology and do their work for them. He was quiet for a minute after I explained. When we first started talking about it he sighted some Psalms that say that after we die we or nothing, or know nothing, but then I just bore my testimony of God's mercy and baptisms for the dead. I mentioned that maybe the "death" was figurative for not being with God. I pointed out that we could fight about interpretations of specific scriptures, or pray and ask God to help us understand the truth. Even though Markus is a little stubborn, two weeks ago all he knew about the church was that we didn't have electricity, we always wore church clothes, and that we are polygamists. I think he's come a long way. I know that when we were talking that he felt the spirit a few times when I answered some of his questions. The biggest problem will be the fact that he isn't as open to personal revelation. Anyway, I won't give up on him (even though I think he thinks he will convert me). It is weird that their church has so many parallels to ours. One big difference I can think of though, is that our church is true. (a slight advantage). I know we aren't supposed to bible bash or anything, so I'm being really careful not to. Anyway, he isn't as stubborn as the other 7th day adventists because he recently converted to their church. I better go! Tiffany

Here are some more excerpts from emails I sent while studying abroad in Vienna:

I brought Markus to church with me, and afterwards my roommate and I talked to him about the church for 6 and a half hours. His friend who was there when I was answering the questions of the antimormons (I was careful not to argue, only to give short answers). When I went into the kitchen, a man who is like 30 or 35 years old followed me in there and asked where he could get a Book of Momon. I said I could give him one for free, and he seemed pretty excited. I didn´t want to talk about it in front of the antimormon couple, so he gave me a business card and I told him I´d call him back later. Markus is out of town right now, and I decided it would be best if I could work on the two of them separately, so I called him, and just before I finished dialling the number, I thought I should send a copy through the missionaries, because they are set apart, are better with the language, and know the scriptures so well. I didn´t want to come accross like I was trying to convert him (which I am), but I figured I better follow the spirit. He answered and I reminded him that he had asked for a copy. He said ´´yes yes!´´ I told him that I didn´t have an extra, but that a couple of my friends who are missionaries in my church have lots of extras, and that they could even tell him what it was about. He seemed pretty excited, and gave me permission to give his number to the missionaries, and agreed to make an appointment with them this week. Pray for him! His name is Christian Himmelsbach. OK, so now I´ll tell you something super embarrassing. I went swimming with some of the Austrian young adults, and we were going to have a chicken fight. when I got on a guy´s shoulders and he stood up, the whole top of my swimsuit came off, but I didn´t even realize. One guy flipped around and closed his eyes, and my roommate yelled my name over and over again. I was like `´´what?´´ Then I looked down and just about died! I was ´´oben ohne´´ which means topless!!!!!!! I jumped back into the water and made myself decent. When I got back out of the water, I realized that the Austrians totally didn´t even care. It didn´t even phase them (because tons of women go around with no top on anyway). Well, even though I was just blending in with the culture, it was still super embarrassing, especially because there were guys there. I´m glad it happened in Europe instead of America, because otherwise I would never want to see those people ever again.

I studied abroad Summer 2005 in Vienna, Austria, while Chauncey sold pest control in Texas. The following are some emails I sent to my family while I was abroad:

Week 1
Hi everyone!

Everything here is going great. I don´t want to speak in English like
most of the other students here, so I eat in the cafeteria of a nearby
university. It´s a little odd to ask to sit at the same table as
other people when there are empty tables nearby, but after 1 awkward
minute I am able to meet lots of neat people and speak in German for
like an hour. Today I saw a guy praying over his food, which was
quite a shock, so I decided that I would sit by him. I learned that
he was a Seventh Day Adventist, doesn´t drink alcohol (also a shock).
He converted to that church from the Catholic Church 3 years ago. We
discussed Religion for about an hour, and I clarified the fact that
no, Mormons are not the Omish, we DO have electricity, No, we are not
Polygamists, and yes, we do dress like normal people. Anyway, I am
going to his church with him this saturday (don´t worry, my friend
Kelsy is coming with me), and he is coming to my ward with me on
Sunday. He was really interested in what I told him about the church,
and seemed like a good person.

There are so many things to do here, but they are all either very
expensive, or inappropriate, like bar-hopping for instance. The
church leaders are worried about the youth, because a lot of them fall
through the cracks, so they decided to provide wholesome forms of
entertainment for them for free. Yesturday was the grand opening of
the Jugendzentrum, or Youth Center, where they have English and German
classes, Ping Pong tournaments, and all sorts of other activities. It
will be open every day Mon-Fri 3pm to 9pm. It´s a great way to get
kids off the streets and perhaps let non-members know about the church
(I think any youth can go if they follow the standards and rules). An
elderly missionary couple runs the center. Anyway, I want to
volunteer there to help with the English classes and stuff, so today I
will ask the missionaries what I can help with. Next week I want to
start going on splits with the missionaries.

This week is the 50th anniversary of the independance of Austria, and
th 50th anniversary of the church becoming an official church here.
There are celebrations happening this weekend: on friday we are all
invited to a formal Austrian Ball (which I don´t have a dress for, but
I can still go anyway), festivities on Saturday (but I don´t know
what), and Elder Perry along with the mission President are coming on
Sunday. Everyone is really excited. Hmmmm. I guess that means that
my friend Markus will get to hear Elder Perry speak to us!

I´m going to Paris in 2 weeks, and to Italy in 4 weeks, and then to
Prague in 5 weeks (If we follow through with our plans). I was
invited by the family I´ll be staying with in Switzerland to go to a
Young Single Adult camp with their daughter for a week in Germany.
I´m so excited! Anyway, my touristy want to take pictures of
everything is wearing off, and now I just want to get to know the
people. I hope everything is going well in Utah.

Ich habe euch Lieb!
Tiffany

Baby Maxwell's Birth

Because I just started this Blog today, I thought I should go back an include some of the big stuff like our wedding and Maxwell's birth.

Maxwell was born February 24, 2007. Here is a short excerpt from an email I sent out when I left the hospital:

Hi friends! I am just emailing you all from the hospital. I am going home tonight with our new baby boy. His name is Maxwell. He was born saturday morning at 8:49, he weighed 7lbs 10oz, and he is 19 inches long. I was in labor for about 12-13 hours, but I stopped progressing and stayed at the same point for about 6 1/2 hours. They were going to have me keep going, but Maxwell's heartbeat dropped really low with each contraction, and they were worried he wasn't getting enough oxygen, so they told me it would be safest to deliver him through a cesarean. He is healthy and cute! Enjoy the pictures! Tiffany

Decisions

Chauncey and I have finally decided what we will be doing this Fall. After considering all of our options for Chauncey's law school, we have decided that Chauncey will go to the University of Michigan. It is a top-ten school, but will be cheaper than other high-ranked schools because Chauncey has a part-scholarship. It was hard to decide, because I am still in law school at BYU. With little 14-month old Maxwell in the mix and no babysitters in Michigan like we have here (Chauncey's mom and my mom both live in Provo), we decided that it would be best for me to stay and finish my last semester here at BYU, while Chauncey goes away to Michigan.

Aside from babysitting, one of the major factors behind our decision for my finishing up at BYU was the cost of tuition. At BYU, my tuition is only $4500 each semester. If I were to go to the University of Michigan as a transfer student for my last semester, I would have to pay $21,000 for the one semester. As long as we spend under $16,000 on travel expenses for me to visit Chauncey, we will be saving money.

I have a 10-day break in the middle of the semester, which be spent, of course, in Michigan with Chauncey. I will probably go out about every 3 weeks to see him. He will come out to Provo for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and then we will go out to Michigan together. Yikes! It's a good thing that Maxwell will get to fly free because he is under two!