M+i-N-d*Y

Someday I'm gonna be a trend-setter!!!

2011-10-25T17:22:00.000-07:00

When I was collecting my talents in Heaven, I think I forgot to go through the line marked 'STAYING UP ON THE LATEST TRENDS'. (i'm not even kidding about this...everytime I think I've found something new I find out I'm like 6 months behind). Instead, I think i got confused and walked through the 'ANYTHING GOES' line twice!!!

So i'm probably way behind on this, but how cool is this app?!
I can test hearing from my iphone (if I had one, but I don't- NOT.EVEN.CLOSE. My old skool free phone knows how to call and text. period. nothing more-not even the internet).

And my research (sample size, n=1) shows that the results are kind of legit (the low frequency hearing thresholds were a little worse by the iphone than a sound booth, but close).

I'm just sayin...once I get my iphone (give me a couple years to break down the 'anything goes' part of me) I just might start working from home!!! :)

p.s. Truth be told, I hear the iphone 4s actually is something else and now I really really want one, like sooner than later!

p.s.s. Here is the link http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/uhear/id309811822?mt=8

My lucky encounter...

2011-09-25T11:45:00.000-07:00

Turns out my encouter with THE TROLL was nothing!!!! I was telling my neighbor about the story and I guess Trolly once told her, "I hope you drop dead!!!!"

hehe, I got lucky!

I encountered The Troll...

2011-09-10T15:35:00.000-07:00

I've heard it said for the last 3 years that the meanest-lady-of-all-time lives on the lane behind my house. She has been affectionately named THE TROLL by all the kids in the neighborhood. I've tempted fate a few times and walked down that lane and every time I have felt a little creeped out knowing that there is some mean lady somewhere waiting to chase me away, but every time I've made it without even a sighting.

This morning my ward was doing service throughout the neighborhood and cleaning up the landscape of a few homes. The home of a cute 90-year-old lady, who happens to live on Troll Lane, was chosen as a recipient. I provided my service at that house for a little while, left to get some lunch, and then had to drop off a key at a house above the lane (the street the key house is on is connected to Troll Lane). After I dropped off the key I decided to swing back by the service house to see if I could do anymore. Instead of walking all the way around the block I decided to cut through the lane to the service house... This put me in prime position for my Troll encounter.

As soon as I started walking that way, I noticed an old bearded (just stating the facts) lady and her husband standing in the lane and the second my foot left the nicely paved street and landed on the gravely lane, the bearded lady almost forcefully demanded my name. I politely responded and then she insisted on knowing where i live... I knew right then and there who I was dealing with. The husband unknowlingly saved me when he noticed my unsually large muscles (kidding) and decided I could be of some assistance to him. He had been struggling to clear a nearly dead tree branch up in his tree and decided I was just the help he needed. He had me climb up a really tall ladder and toss a rope about 6 feet in front of me over the tree branch so that he could pull the mostly severed branch out of the tree. I glady helped him and then had what i thought was a very pleasant conversation with the man and his troll. :) All the while I was thinking that this was just like the movies...some old lady that seems mean, but turns out she is just a really nice lady who has been misunderstood for years . I WAS WRONG!!! (I should have clued in when the husband mentioned that he loved people, but his wife, not so much).

After our little conversation and the service I had provided them, I figured I had earned my passage through the lane, so I continued on. The wife kind of slyly followed me down the lane, out of earshot of her husband, and then repremanded me for passing through and told me that she does not want me to ever set foot in their lane again!!!! And then she kindly followed that up with, "maybe we will see you....when we take our trash out to your street." And so I think I will side with the kids on this one and forever refer to my loving neighbor as THE TROLL!

Some things never change!

2011-08-17T19:55:00.000-07:00

These friendships are going on something like 20 years!!

Hard to believe, but so fun that we can get together and pick up right where we left off!

Marathon Finisher!!!

2011-04-16T17:06:00.000-07:00

Never EVER in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would run a marathon, but a few months ago my friend Heather (the one in the green)called and used her strong powers of persuasion on me and before I knew it I had paid my dues and was signed up for the Salt Lake Marathon. I think I was too easily convinced! The whole experience was about as hard as I thought it would be, but was also easier than I thought it would be! There were certain moments that were TOUGH (like mile 13 to 20, but especially miles 17, 18, and 19). I wanted to keep some food with me (cliff bars and animal crackers) in an effort to avoid "hitting the wall", so I wore a running pack around my waist, but I underestimated how much the weight of that little pack (like 3 pounds) would take a toll on my legs. About mile 13 my hips started SCREAMING! Luckily, at about mile 20, the race passed my friend Carrie's house (the one in the orange) and she and a friend named Anna were dressed and ready to join us. Their fresh legs and energy helped SO SO SO much, especially since they willingly took that stupid pack from me!!!! With that extra boost, the last 6 miles were better than the previous 6. I can now happily call myself a marathoner! I haven't seen the official time yet, but according to my GPS watch it took about 4 hours 40 minutes (I was secretly hoping for a 4 hour 20 minute race, but it was so much fun I didn't want it to stop...kidding). ALSO according to my GPS watch, which I started right as I crossed the starting line, I actually ran 26.36 miles!!! Anyway, it feels so good to have completed a marathon. Now I just hope my legs recover quickly...my knees do not currently bend!!

2011-02-12T19:45:00.000-08:00

WIP

2011-01-15T11:06:00.001-08:00

Long no longer

2010-09-11T09:48:00.001-07:00

This one is for you Cari and Nikki.

Wasatch Back 2010

2010-06-23T19:45:00.000-07:00

Our team start time for this race was 5am, so in an effort to get some sleep the night before (Thursday night) part of my team and I went up early and spent the night at our captain's aunt's house. Unfortunately for me, I don't sleep well in unfamiliar places, so it felt like I never went to sleep that night. I am pretty sure I was still awake when our alarms went off at 3:15am Friday morning. We had to be up, ready, and to our pre-race safety training at 4am.

My first run happened about 7am Friday morning and was a 5.1 mile leg. Above is a picture of me awaiting my team member (you can see him approaching in the distance).

He is passing the fancy baton (aka slap braclet) and I am off. I let him borrow the GPS pacing watch (that I had borrowed from a friend) and so the watch exchange didn't go quite as smoothly as the slap braclet.

In this picture my teammates are cheering me from the sidelines in an effort to get me to explode off the starting line, but as you can see I was having some trouble multi-tasking. Apparently, I can't run and put a watch on simultaneously.

And then I was off and running (looks like I'm gasping for air in this picture)!!!

Once our first 6 runners ran, we handed off to the second van and our next 6 runners had a turn. In the mean time, our van went to Subway for lunch and just lounged around waiting our turn to start running again.

I don't have a piture of me running my second leg, but I set off at about 5pm and man was it hot!!! This leg was definitely the hardest of my 3 legs...maybe the heat, or maybe fatigue.

We exchanged to van 2 after our second run and headed to dinner and to the Oakley fairgrounds (the race covered the most beautiful 188 miles of Northern Utah). By the time we had dinner and got settled in our sleeping bags it was about 11pm Friday night. We didn't get to sleep long (we woke up about 2:15am Saturday morning to begin our 3rd leg), but it was seriously such a refreshing night of sleep.

I think we all felt refreshed! Here are my van members bright and early Saturday morning loading up the van (we were required to wear reflective vests from dusk til dawn).

Here were my 3 legs.

The finish line was just waiting to be crossed! We just needed our other 6 runners to finish, so that so that we could all run across it together.

These last few pictures are out of order, but here I am posing with my first medal ever!

Team: Roman's Legion (the bald guy in the front is Roman)

Race time: 31 hours and 17 minutes!

Summer of Races!

2010-06-02T20:47:00.001-07:00

I'm counting down the days until my first bike race ever!!! I would say my first race ever, but I once got tricked into running the Turkey Trot...SARA!

Anyway, I've been very excited about getting into biking. And very excited about this race on Saturday. Unfortunately, as I was getting all geared up for it (having my bike adjusted at a bike shop) I learned that this is actually a "ride" and not a "race." Funny.

The good news is that I WILL be racing in a few more weeks.....running in the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay. (more on that when it gets here).

Let me finish this post with a picture from tonight...I had just gotten home from a 23 mile ride with my roommates (third time riding that trail since saturday). LOVE IT!!!

Sneak Peak

2010-05-02T11:23:00.000-07:00

I'm about to start a quilting project... wish me luck!!!

I also love these!

2010-04-15T11:29:00.001-07:00

Love this!

2010-04-15T11:10:00.001-07:00

I've been having a serious quilting bug these last few weeks and I just can't shake it. I've spent my lunches blog-stalking about quilts and finding all kinds of treasures. Today's stalking adventures led me to this cute bag...and now I really want one!

Deliciousness

2010-03-14T22:21:00.000-07:00

I'm going to attempt a new recipe this week. Wish me luck!!!

P.s. I made my first lasagna last week and it was so simple that I can't believe I haven't made it before now.

P.s.s. I've been looking for new recipes, now that my roommates and I have started dinner sharing, so if you have any good recipes, send them my way!

Happy Birthday Mom!!

2010-01-20T22:12:00.000-08:00

Dear Mom,

Do you remember the time I came home from high school and caught you rocking out in front of the stereo all by yourself? I think you were perfecting your signature "figure 8" dance moves (which by the way you taught me well)!!

Or how about the time you asked for a bean burrito, B-E-E-N!

Or the quarter-twist (that's all I'm gonna say about that one)! :)

Or the time you were in a huge huge hurry and asked me to grab your newly purchased nylons off the stairs so that you could quickly finish getting ready, and I quietly snuck the nylons out of the plastic egg container, replaced the egg in the box, and handed it too you! Oh the desperation in your voice and the look on your face when you thought you had ripped off by Leggs...priceless!

Then there was the time you surprised me and flew up for my birthday just to make sure it was a great one.

And the time you endlessly sacrificed to make sure your children were happy, healthy, and loved.

But not only that, you also sacrificed for so many other people and went out of your way to help people in ways that they could not help themselves...HOTEL NORRIS is probably the best example of this (I can think of at least 7 strangers/friends who experienced a warm roof over their heads as a result)!

The list could go on and on, but mostly I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday and remind you how much you are loved!!

Love you Mom!!

Blast from the Past

2010-01-12T22:13:00.000-08:00

So I know these pictures are from Halloween and it is now 2010, but if you are anything like me it will probably take another month or so before my brain learns to write 2-0-1-0 and not 2-0-0-9, so I figured I'm still okay to post these.

My roommates and I went as the clue characters. Our newest roommate (not pictured here) is a professional photographer, so she did this little mini photo shoot for us after our Halloween festivities. (I was the one working the camera for her portion of the photo shoot, but I had the camera turned the wrong way, so her pictures were no good)!

Enjoy!

Hobbies

2009-11-29T09:26:00.000-08:00

Here's what I've been doing in my spare time....

Thanks

2009-11-15T22:26:00.000-08:00

Thanks for all the birthday wishes!!! It was a fabulous day! Pictures to come.

P.S. I think I am destined to meet all of the Mike Hatch's in this world...I've already known 3 in this short little life of mine!!!

So You Think You Can Dance!!

2009-11-08T08:57:00.000-08:00

Last night some friends and I got to see SYTYCD in action and we decided to do it in style. Thank you Walmart for providing such entertaining shirts and Michaels for the lettering on the back.

We had to alter the shirts a little to make them fit (Walmart only had few larges and extra larges), but thanks to my roommate's sewing machine and some awesome iron on letters, we were able to come up with this. Each of us took a word from the title of the show...I was "can" (just in case you didn't recognize me from the back)!

I snapped a shot of the stage before it all got started...I was hoping it would look a little cooler.

And although you can tell from our faces in this picture...we were had a great time. Stay posted for my favorite dance of the night!!

Kid Art

2009-11-03T11:35:00.000-08:00

My friend can turn children's art into a masterpiece!! I love it. Check it out. Click on the link below and head to the gallery....
http://www.finedoodles.com/

Wedding Bliss

2009-10-29T20:10:00.000-07:00

My roommate Allyson got married October 22. I took the day off work so that I could enjoy the festivities. Here are a few pictures from the event!

Carrie, Kaylin, Melissa, and I snuck out at half-time to go get a little snack. There is an excellent waffle place downtown that I would HIGHLY recommend, except that I can't remember the name of it right now.

I was hoping for more of a cake-smear, but they were too nice.

Congrats you guys!!! (p.s. what is up with my pupils in this picture?).

Can't get enough...

2009-10-22T17:17:00.001-07:00

of this cute little guy!!! My sister Kristy had her first child on October 15, 2009. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 6 oz and I think he was 20 inches long (is that bad that I don't remember anymore? HA!).
He is a pretty content baby. Mommy and baby are doing well! Introducing Tanner!

A bridal shower of a different kind!

2009-10-22T17:02:00.000-07:00

My roommates love to party and do a pretty good job of it too! My roommate Allyson got married a week ago, but before she did we had to send her out in style.

This seems like a strange idea for a bridal shower, I know, but Allyson was given a few options and this was the one she liked best. I think it turned out pretty good.

Here is the gang!

There were even fake teeth at each place setting on the table. Melissa and I decided to glame it up with our teeth!!

These eyeballs might have been my favorite part...thank you Martha Stewart!!!

The bread sticks were tasty too...notice the fake teeth in the cup.

Some creepy decor.

and the guest of honor! Way to go Allyson!

Denver Baby!!!

2009-10-11T19:28:00.001-07:00

I just got back from a fun weekend in Denver and thought I would share some of the pictures and memories. My friend Paul moved out there a while back and recently became a homeowner. In an effort to show off his homemaking skills, he invited some friends and me out to visit. Orignially there were 6 of us who bought plane tickets, but in the end only 3 made it on the plane. (I know you are dying to hear what happened to the others, so here goes...2 of them were dating, but broke up a couple weeks ago and didn't want to suffer in front of us and 1 of them couldn't risk failing an upcoming test for his MBA program). I was a little sad when I found out they weren't coming, but turns out we had the time of our lives.

Nate and I flew in together and Claire joined us a hour later from New Mexico. We drove around Denver and then stopped at a fun little Italian joint called Pasquini's for dinner. The food was delicious and the company was hilarious.

Nate was a little sleepy after waking up at 5am that morning and staying so up late (this picture was taken probably close to 1am). The girls had the upper wing of the house and the boys were down in the basement, so Paul had to carry Nate downstairs! Okay, not really, but he was very hard to wake up.

Here is the crew!!

I was able to add another temple to "The List of Temple's I've Attended." Denver was a great one.

It had snowed the night before and was bitter cold that day.

After the temple, my friend Nate talked us into trying to find his grandparents' grave (I know this is really sounding like weird activities to do on a vacation, but I think I laughed non-stop this weekend- except in the temple, of course...or maybe just a couple laughs)! When we were leaving the cemetery we saw this headstone and had to take a picture in honor "Uncle Chuck Norris." (I hope it isn't bad to jokingly take a picture of a stranger's headstone).

Paul's roommate used to be a little bit wild and has a few marks left behind to prove it. Paul had tried to explain this tatoo to me over the phone, but I could not picture it. I had to take a picture, so that when I told people about it I could just show them (even though I am not such a fan of tatoos).

Here was are striking a few poses right before we headed off to the airport.

Turns out we ran into an old friend from the ward we were all once in. Love Denver!!!

Can't wait to go back!!!

Willie Nelson's Twin

2009-09-19T13:13:00.000-07:00

Today I saw the cowboy of all cowboys...tight wranglers, hefty pointed steel-toed boots, a wide-brimmed hat with a long skinny little wirey gray braid hanging down his back, and a shirt that said....

"Vegetarian is just another word for a hunter that is too bad to catch anything!"

The Secret Sauce

2009-08-25T20:18:00.001-07:00

A conversation I overheard between two friends in the locker room at the gym:
*the names have been changed to protect the innocent (actually, truth be told...I don't even know them).

Heba: Oh no!! I forgot my plastic wrap!!

Linda: Your plastic wrap...what is that?

Heba: The thing I wear around my stomach to help me get flatter abs. If I wear it while I workout, I sweat off the fat around my mid-section.

Linda: You know that doesn't work right?

Heba: But I think it has been working.

Linda: hmmm...well if it makes you feel better.

...overhearing this made me smile on the inside...and on the outside too!

Rico Suave

2009-08-15T11:03:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I feel like I tell too many stories of days gone by ... you know, kind of like Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite, obsessing about the past...like the glory days have already come and gone. But, once again, I was reminded of a funny story the other day, so i figured why not tell it.

It is a well known fact that I spend way to much time on the road commuting to and from work everyday. Well, several months ago I had an unusual shift at work, so instead of driving back home at the crack of dawn and then turning around the next morning to drive back, I just decided to stay at my brother's house for the night. The next morning as I was quietly getting ready in their bathroom (which is tucked back from their kitchen table), I overheard my nephew (who was probably 5 at the time) talking. His conversation was directed to his mother, although he was the only one downstairs at the time (besides me of course, but I'm pretty sure he didn't know I was there), so his words of wisdom were mostly just for himself, but

he humbly said, "Hey Mom, when the people see my shirt (followed by a long pause), they're gonna love it."

Who are these people he speaks of and what in the world is this shirt he is wearing?

I couldn't see him from where I was standing, so of course I was intriqued and had to get a glimpse of this amazing shirt. I peeked out from behind the bathroom door to see him crunching on his Marshmallow Mateys wearing the most ordinary green shirt of all time (it might have had a picture of the hulk on it or something, but it looked like one he'd worn a million times). I had to laugh!!! Who knew that one simple shirt could have such magic powers?... all I did know is that he looked stinking cute in his shirt and with confidence like that I'm sure he had all "the people" staring.

...I wonder if Uncle Rico needs to borrow his shirt?

What's been happening?

2009-08-12T19:30:00.000-07:00

Last week I had the chance to catch up with these ladies.....love them!!

and to buy one of these babies!....Love it!!!

Picture Explosion!!!!

2009-07-19T16:32:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the posting delay... I was gone on a wild adventure to England!! My four roommate and I decided to go on a two week tour all over England and to parts of Scotland too! We had a great time and I thought I would share some of the memories. This a long post, so get ready....

This is my roommate Allyson and me waiting to board the plane to England. It wasn't a direct flight, so I'm not sure if this is us in our airport at home or us waiting in Texas...either way we were waiting.

Here we are again... my fifth roommate had to catch a different flight to Texas, so these pictures must have been taken in SLC.

Now we jump ahead about 14 hours. We landed in London about 7am England time..about midnight SLC time. I have the unfortunate gift of not being able sleep on planes, so I just sat there like an insomniac watching my roommates get their beauty rest (actually, I don't think they slept that well either). At any rate, we landed, made it to our hostel and then set right off on our first adventure. The streets in London are not set up as conveniently as SLC, so this is a picture of us feeling totally lost, SUPER tired, but excited to naviagate our way through the city.

These pictures are a little out of order, but we went to a few tourist attractions and then we met up with some of my roommate's friends from Denmark (she served her mission with the one at the front of the picture). They showed us around more of London and joined us on a fun ride of the London Eye. (Pay no attention to the fact that I look like a creepy stranger trying to slyly lean into someone else's picture...at this point I was going on about 30 hours of no sleep)!!!

This was the ride back to our hostel after a long day....I think I literally feel asleep the second after this picture was taken. My roommate has proof of it on her camera, but I didn't post it...you'll just have to take my word for it.

More of London!!! You might recognize this as Buckingham Palace. We spent 2 1/2 days in London, so these pictures start a new day. We took a boat ride down the Thames river and got too see all kinds of great sites, and hear some great accents too! The guide on the river tour had one of my favorite accents of all the people we encountered in England.

This picture says it all for how we feel about England!!!!! Like I said, the pictures are a litte out of order, but here is more from the first day...Big Ben! A trip to London would not be complete without entering one of the most expensive stores EVER! It didn't help that with the conversion rate, everything was almost double the price in American dollars.After a great tour of London, a ride on a double-decker bus, and several rides on the "Tube" or the underground subway system, we were ready to try our hand at driving on the wrong side of the road. (The English claim that we drive on the right side of the road and that they drive on the "correct" side of the road)!!!! We rented a Black Passat wagon and headed off to Stonehenge. While still in America, I had fooled myself into thinking that driving on the opposite side of the road would be no big deal, but once we got to London and I couldn't even cross the street without almost getting hit (I literally stepped in front of an oncoming bus because I had looked the wrong direction and thought I was safe to cross...AHHHH), I realized I was WRONG! Luckily my roommate had a driven a car for several months on her mission in England, so she was able to safely navigate us through the country.

Here is Stonehenge...I was FREEZING!!

Everyone says it is just a pile of rocks...which is true, but when we drove in and I caught my first glimpse of it, I was totally AMAZED. It almost took my breath away...and then once I caught my breath it just became a pile of rocks (apparently I go through my emotions quickly).

We had a few near misses on this trip and the city of Bath was one of these. We got stuck in a little bit of traffic on our way to Bath (dang roundabouts...I think there is a misconception that roundabouts speed things up, but I would have to disagree) and showed up in the city right at 5pm. The place had pretty much shut down and I was SAD because this place is BEAUTIFUL. I think I could have spent a whole week here. Anyway, we did get to eat at Sally Lunn's restaurant, the oldest house in bath. The food was ok...slightly flavorless, but I guess that is how the English like it (is that too much of a generalization).

We were able to see several different castles throughout the country. Some still had structural integrity and others were just crumbled remains, but it nice to see them all. This is Warrick Castle.

I got to try shooting an arrow...I am proud to report that my arrow made it on the white part of the target. So what if my roommate's arrows actually reached the target, people cheered louder for me (oh wait, does that mean they felt sorry for me?).

They had a live catapult demonstration. Back in the day, when the catapult was actually in use, they had blind men run in the bottom wheels of the machine. Apparently people with vision get too dizzy if they run for extended periods of time because of the intermittent light that comes through the slats of the wheels. This next picture is also just slightly out of order, but my roommate was having trouble getting our car into the stall on the ferry ride over to the Isle of Mann. After a few tries the worker finally just let her park as is. She is standing where our car should have been.

We departed on the ferry from Liverpool...home of the Beatles. It was fun to roam Liverpool.

We tried out a pub in Liverpool. My roommates got fish and chips there, but I was too scared... and when it was all said and done I was grateful I didn't get any. At this particular pub, they left the skin on the fish and just battered and deep fried it that way. YUCK!!! My roommate Kaylin, in the picture below, was not bothered by the skin...Melissa on the other hand could barely get it down (what kind of weak-sauce American's are we?). (oops i just deleted the picture for this caption and I can't get it back...picture my roommate holding up a deep fried fish with skin on it)!!

After a two hour ferry ride on the Mannanan (a very spiffy ferry I might add) we landed on the Isle of Mann. We stayed with some people that Carrie knew from her mission and they were so so so good to us. They showed us around town and fed us exciting food like fried Mars candy bars.

View from the car window.

There is a very famous motorcycle race that happens every year on the Isle of Mann called the TT or Tourist Trophy race. The motorcyclists race around the entire Island (about 38 miles) in approximately 11 minutes. They are easily going speeds of 200 miles per hour (so I'm told) and every year (without fail) at least one person dies in the race. This year one person died and another was critically injured...and sadly we missed it all by just one week (makes it sound like I wanted to see someone die...I'm glad I missed that, but it would have been fun to see the motorcycles cruising at top speed)!

The bought us Kippers! I was not adventurous enough to try them either since they smelled so NASTY (anyone noticing that fish isn't my thing). I think my roommate's faces say it all.

After we left the Isle of Mann, we headed to the Lake District and a cute little family was kind enough to let crash on their floor. We had planned on sleeping on the floor that night (no biggie), but we had no no no idea what we had signed up for. When we got to the house the carpeted floors were slightly damp (ok, we thought, we can just put blankets down and again no big deal). Unfortunately, we didn't bring any blankets with us (I did have one blanket..my EuroCozy, but it was packed away deep our car. We had consolidated our belongings into one bag for the night because we didn't want to over-take their small home with all our stuff). They offerred us all that they had, which was one child-sized blanket and two love seat covers (Yikes, this was getting worse by the minute, but still managable). The husband wished us goodnight (his family was already sleeping) and headed off to bed. He returned a moment later because he had forgotten to tell us about the slugs they sometimes get in their house (he was so casual about the whole thing that I really thought that by "sometimes" he meant like five years ago it happened once. NO, he accidentally said "sometimes" when what he meant to say was ALWAYS!!!!!

Here is a picture of me using my clothing as a blanket.. it was a LONG, cold night!!!!

....because these NASTY things were creeping all around me!!!!!

This pictures shows some of the emotion we felt when we discovered the slugs! I still cringe just looking at that picture.

They creeped around all night long and when we woke up in the morning there were slug tracks EVERYWHERE!!! (I forgot to mention that my roommates moved their "blanket" into the other room under the kitchen table and I decided to try my luck in the slug room on the loveseat ).

Very sleepily we headed North the next morning to the top of England, Carlise to be exact. This is us eating dinner on the grocery store lawn. We decided it would be cheaper to keep food in a cooler and eat it rather than eating out at a restaurant every meal. I'll have to post our "Hot Mustard Challenge" video soon (just picture me with fire coming out of my mouth... and nose, and that's almost as good as the video)!!

These are some beautiful gardens at Castle Howard in York (I think). We headed here after attending church in Leeds.

Recognize this bridge....it is in the first Harry Potter movie (at least that is what my roommates claim. I went to see the first Harry movie on opening night at midnight, slept through the whole thing and have never seen another one since....I liked the books though).

My face does not let on to just how STINKY this phone booth is... (I know it resembles a port-a-potty, so I can see how it would be a bit confusing, but I would think the telephone and windows sould be a dead giveaway...it is not a bathroom people)!!!! (Edinburgh Scotland)

More at the gardens of Castle Howard. Aren't those flowers so beautiful? I was loving this place!!!

We even got to catch a little game of polo while we were at the gardens.

We decided to book our housing before we got to England just to make life a bit easier. We thought that it would be fun to stay in Nottingham...you know, and catch the whole Robinhood vibe and stuff. Well, I was one in charge of booking our hostel that night and so I did my best to find a good one. I believe the hostel I booked had 4 stars and was praised for it's friendly staff and clean rooms. Little did I know that Nottingham (at least the parts I saw) is the GHETTO! We pulled into town to find barbed-wire on all the fences, bars on all the windows, and freaks loitering everywhere!!!! YES, the hostel we stayed at did have a very friendly staff and rooms appeared clean, but it was anything from a 4 star location. HA!!!

Turns out that if one want to fall in love with Robinhood, Sherwood forest is the place to be!! This is a picture of me hiding in one of the many cool trees in Sherwood forest (we drove right by a totally nice and clean hostel as we entered Sherwood forest the next morning...if only we had known)!!

Cambridge University!!!

Streets of Cambridge! (these captions are getting short because I need to finish this post and I keep running out of time).

We finished the trip off at the London temple and what a perfect way to end an awesome trip!

Goodbye England! I hope to see you again soon...after I go visit a few other places!!! (P.S. try out the London temple accommodations next time you take a trip there...it was cheaper than any of the hostels we stayed in).

(note to self: avoid neon pink undershirt when flash photography will be used...or you will become a flasher) :)

Memories

2009-06-09T11:45:00.000-07:00

This morning, as I was driving out of my neighborhood, I noticed the beautiful flower landscapes all around me and it took me back to my high school days. I remembered a time (shortly after I got my license) when my friend and I were out cruising on a Saturday morning. I don't actually remember why we driving around, but it was probably about 11:30 am and we decided that, since we were in the neighborhood, we would stop and say, "hi" to my church leader who happened to be out planting flowers in her front yard. We arrived just as she had planted her last flower (lucky for us so we didn't have to help)! The flowers were gorgeous in bright colors and they perfectly lined the side of her driveway. We had a great visit...we were glad we stopped by, she was glad we stopped by, good feelings were flowing all around, etc... That was until I crazily reversed out of her driveway, swerve a little too far to the right, and created a nice HUGE tire track through about a 2 foot section of her newly planted flowers. OOPS!

I probably shouldn't mention the time my friends and I accidentally spilled a tiny bit of red nail polish on the nice bright white floor of my other leader's house.

Sibling Rivalry Payoff

2009-05-23T20:57:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year my siblings and I entered into a small competition. We decided to put a little ice cream wager on the NCAA tournament. I was a little nervous that I would be the one buying the ice cream because I was sitting in last place throughout most of the tournament, but I'm happy to report that in the end I pulled out a third place win! Luckily we had the perfect location for the ice cream payoff since Kristy and Alan wanted to show off their newly purchased home....and newly buldging baby belly!!!! We had a great time and here are a few (million) pictures to prove it.

Kristy's tiny little growing baby.

Pre-party fun!!
We had a toe bleeder, but there were no bandaids to be found in the new house...so we had to improvise...

Step 1: Rip small piece of paper towel

Step 2: Wet the paper towel for better adhesion.

Step 3: Apply makeshift bandaid (I know...not so sanitary, but it worked)!!

While the boys were doing this...

The girls were doing this!!!

I taught my nephews a new trick...(a skill I'm sure their mommy wasn't ready for them to have yet).

and then they had to try it out on me!!!

We finished the night with a little bit of BOX OLYMPICS!
Every successful jump allowed for an additional box on the stack.

The winner of the tournamet picture below on the far right.

The ice cream purchaser is picture below, but I won't say who!!

What a fun night! Thanks guys!

Cari and Dave we wish you could have been there!!!

Saturday Sunshine

2009-05-16T09:53:00.000-07:00

I've decided that there is something very magical about sunshine (I'm not talking about the frying in the sun till you can see the wrinkles kinda sunshine, but more of the get your daily dose of vitamin D kinda thing) and today is a perfect day...second only to a sunny day in Hawaii.

Here's how it has gone so far.... I woke up early (7:35 am) and hit the gym (my favorite gym class is on Saturday morning). After class, I walked outside to find a beautiful sunny morning. I just took a deep breath and tried to soak it all in. I came home and made some blueberry pancakes...YUM! (except I might have burned a couple of them). Now I'm sitting in my bed catching up on emails and the sunshine is pouring through my window. I have a couple of chores to get out of the way and then it is off for a bike ride and more sunshine!!!! I love love love it!

Watch Out!!!

2009-05-07T15:33:00.000-07:00

I didn't believe all the hype about swine flu until this happened to roommate.... I better not eat any more of those cupcakes (see previous post)!!!!!

Take that...

2009-05-06T18:36:00.000-07:00

...you bad bad dance floor!!! I went country dancing a few weeks ago and the dance floor was making me look bad. It kept making my feet go all crazy and miss the steps. It kept making my arms go in the wrong direction. It kept making me pull all these weird faces and finally I couldn't take it any more!!!! I decided it needed a spanking....and I hit it as hard as I could.

Ok, so maybe it wasn't the dance floor's fault that I have no rhythm and I actually tripped on my second left foot and fell. HA!

I feel slightly responsible....

2009-05-06T18:32:00.000-07:00

... because there weren't any confirmed cases of swine flu in Utah until I made and distributed these cupcakes.

I can't breathe!!

2009-04-11T10:23:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from the Festival of Colors a couple weekends ago. My roommates and I and a few other friends packed up our bags and headed down to the Hare Krishna temple for a little adventure.

Here's how it works:
1. Buy mulitple packages of colored cornstarch.
2. Push yourself through the crowd to find the right location.
3. Try not to lose your friends as you move through the masses of people.
4. Wait for the appointed time.
5. Begin throwing colored cornstarch at friends and strangers alike.

It was seriously hilarious and slightly painful....only because I was suffocating and I couldn't find fresh air in any direction. I probably have purple lung now (I know my clothes were permanently altered...even down to the inner layer)!!!

We had a great time! Seconds before this picture was taken, someone unexpectedly threw yellow cornstarch right in my eye. I managed to smile for the picture, but right after this I could barely keep my eye open and the worst part was that I didn't have a clean anything (finger, shirt, tissue..) to wipe the cornstarch out of my eye.

It might be true!

2009-03-26T08:27:00.000-07:00

I saw this quote the other day and it made me laugh:

"One out of four people in this country is mentally imbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends....if they seem ok, then you are the one!"

Weekend Fun

2009-03-15T21:25:00.000-07:00

I got to hang out with my niece and nephews this weekend and thought I would share some of the fun.

Grosser than Gross!!!!

2009-03-05T11:50:00.000-08:00

The other day at work I got peed on by an old lady!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, that might be a little bit of an exaggeration, but she did pee in the chair that I later touched with my hand and my knee. GROSS!!!!!!!

A week in review...

2009-02-18T21:22:00.000-08:00

AND LESSONS LEARNED!

1. Work is not the right place to be flashing people! I don't know if there is a right place, but I do know that work is not it. Unfortunately for me, this week was not the first time!!! Here's how it went....I was having a nice friendly conversation with my co-worker when suddenly I realized that I might have forgotten to zip my fly when leaving the restroom a few minutes earlier. Not so bad right?...except that I was standing with my legs crossed and because of the leg cross-ed-ness my zipper was gaping open. AHHH! The worst part about the whole thing is that just a few weeks prior to this I had used the restroom and unbeknownst to me I had tucked the bottom of one side of my skirt up into the waistband (am I an old lady?).....That's right the whole posterior side of my right leg was flapping in the wind for the world to see and it stayed this way for probably 15 minutes before I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror! AHHH...not to mention that the same co-worker was an eyewitness to this whole scene!

2. Kids younger than 5 know what a dragon is! My roommate's boyfriend wrote a song about dragons in his younger days. He decided to showcase his song for us on the piano and somehow this led into a conversation about the age at which kids acquire the word dragon in their vocabulary. I decided to put my nephew to the test. As we were driving along I asked, "Hey, do you know what a dragon is?"

He said, "Yeah, it breathes fire."

This turned into a game, so I asked him other words like fire hydrant, cyclops, cellular telephone, etc. He knew most of the words, but there were a few that were too hard for him. After a few hard words he stated, "Stop asking me words in Spanish and in English! Only ask me real words ok!"

I had to laugh...he might not know English, but he definitely knows dragon.

3. Don't speed in the snow while going downhill! That's right! I was beginning my morning commute and accelerating down the slight decline of my street towards the main road. The roads were slightly snowy, but no big deal...at least that is what I thought, until I tried stopping and my car was still sliding at top speed toward the stop sign AND the car passing by on the main road. (Luckily my roommate had had a similar experience a few weeks before and had mentally prepared me for my escape route). Even with this preparation, my heart was racing and I think I freaked the passing by car out when I came around the corner (hugging the curb) at full speed in order to avoid an accident. HA!

How many of these skills do you have?

2009-01-24T12:27:00.000-08:00

I really think some of these tips could come in handy...like knowing how to handle the police! I might not have as many speeding tickets to my name if I had known this information a little earlier in life!!!

50 things everyone should know

Some of you already follow this blog...

2009-01-24T11:49:00.001-08:00

and if you don't, you should check it out!!!! It is a wife blogging about her recovery following a helicopter crash that she and her husband were in (back in August). She was burned on about 80% of her body, but is now home from rehab and back to blogging.

http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/

Funky Chicken

2009-01-13T20:50:00.000-08:00

Tonight at the gym I decided to try something a little different! A new class just started at my gym called ZUMBA and from what I've heard it's all the new craze. Everyone had been hyping it up for the last few weeks, so I wanted to see what it was all about. I thought my years of experience perfecting the Funky Chicken were going to come in handy...little did I realize I would need some awesome rib cage popping, hip shaking, Beyonce-like moves (somehow I just wasn't blessed with those moves). I swear everytime I looked down at the weight floor below me (yes, I was standing right next to the window) people were looking at me (probably just in my mind). I hope they had as much fun watching me as I had fun doing it. I think it was worth the hype...I just can't wait to take my roommate who actually knows how to shake-it!!!

Christmas in 2009.

2009-01-11T19:59:00.000-08:00

I was sent a present in early December, but it didn't reach my doorstep until this week.

Winter Commute...

2009-01-11T19:56:00.000-08:00

Notice how fast I'm going?

Just to give you an idea of what my winter commute looks like.

2009-01-11T19:50:00.000-08:00

I recently read on a forward I received that it is impossible to lick your own elbow. I'm pretty sure that with a little practice I could make this happen...

What's the Sign for Blog?

2009-01-06T21:15:00.000-08:00

Considering the fact that I spend my whole lunch hour eating and blog stalking, I thought I would be a fairly good blogger...you know the kind of blogger that posts something new and exciting almost daily...boy was I WRONG!

This feels about the same as when I signed up for an American Sign Language class at BYU. Prior to attending my first class that semester, I had convinced myself that ASL was a hidden talent of mine and that I was going to be a natural. Ha! WRONG AGAIN! Turns out I was the second worst in the class (ok, i don't know that for sure, but there was a boy that was really really bad and I'm just hoping I was a little better than him)!

The good news about this all is that despite my weak attempts at being an ASL master...I still managed to pull a good grade in that class. So, even though i'm not being graded on my blogging skills, I think I can pull through this blogging slump and improve my blogging ways! Wish me luck!

Christmas is in the air and I just can't get enough of it!

2008-12-16T20:42:00.001-08:00

I opened one of my Christmas presents early (at the request of the gift giver), so that I could enjoy it for the rest of this season... AND I love it!!

We had a Christmas party one Friday night and my roommate Melissa was sporting some festive reindeer gear.

All these pictures are all jumbled in here and I can't figure out how to move them. Anyway, these couple of pictures are from the Festival of Trees. There was a fancy glass blown tree that was rumored to have sold for $40,000.

The snow was dumping out of the sky one night, so I thought I would take a picture. We get way more snow now that we moved up closer to the base of the mountains.

Ho Ho Man

2008-12-15T21:17:00.000-08:00

I was recently called to the activities committee in my new ward and quickly given the assignment for our ward Sub for Santa. In an effort to rally the troops, I sent a sign-up sheet around church so that people could volunteer to help with the shopping and had a pretty good response. Unfortunately, when I called all those that signed up, everyone (except one girl) bailed on me. I begged my roommate to come along and help so that the shoppping wouldn't take forever. Even though our numbers were small, we acutally had a great time buying presents for a family of 6girls.

Tonight we got to deliver the presents we purchased. We showed up to a humble home and were greeted by 6 smiling faces. The littlest girl (she was about 3)was dancing around the room with excitement. She told us all her favorite things about Christmas. She was smiling and I was too, especially when she pointed to Santa and said, "Ho Ho Man!"

Hooray for Christmas and getting to spread some Christmas cheer this season.

I got a good laugh from this one

2008-12-11T21:37:00.000-08:00

Just Because

2008-12-04T19:04:00.000-08:00

I was downloading some old pictures onto my new computer and I found a couple that I just love! Seriously, what a cute bunch.

Christmas Fun

2008-12-02T19:27:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed a christmas concert downtown this last weekend!

My roomates and I had some friends over for dinner Sunday night!

We tried out a new frozen yogurt shop in town called Red Mango. It was very tasty... I can't wait to go back!

Decorated our Christmas tree!

Love is Blind

2008-11-27T14:44:00.000-08:00

I distinctly remember the day that my niece (who was probably about 4 years old at the time) mocked me for my truck!!!! EVERYONE saw it but me....to me, my truck was amazing. It always took me from point A to point B without putting up much of a fuss...except, of course, for the two times it left me stranded in the middle of the freeway with a tire blown out (oh wait, that might have been my fault for not rotating the tires enough...or ever, oops)!

Actually, it is kind of funny thinking back on this... One of the times I ended up stranded was on the toll road in California on my way home from work. I called my dad to come help me change the tire and he kindly obliged. He was trying to pound the tire off with some kind of long metal pole (i can't really remember what he was using), but the tire wasn't budging for anything. The tire was rusted on (gotta love Utah winters). A cop driving down the road stopped to see if we needed help. As he stepped out of his car, his chiseled biceps bulged in the evening sun (don't worry, this story is all part of the story). Anyway, he asked me if I knew this man, meaning my dad, (I think that means you look creepy dad :)) and asked what he could do. He noticed that my dad was struggling to get the tire off, so he decided to take the matter into his own hands. He took out his crowbar and with his first wack...tire was off (my dad totally loosened it for him) and within minutes I was back on the road again.

Anyway, the point of all these ramblings is that eventually I saw what others had been telling me and decided to let the truck bring joy to someone else after an amazing 11 year stint. These pictures are from the day i sold my truck and the new lucky owner!

More Birthday Favorites

2008-11-27T14:35:00.001-08:00

I went and had a fun birthday pedicure with some of my favorite people.

Had some of my favorite cake (lemon with a lemon glaze) and made my favorite birthday wish.

Birthday Bull Ride

2008-11-20T21:05:00.001-08:00

The way I see it is that every good birthday should end with a bull ride. I mean, SERIOUSLY, is there any other time in the year that your friends will willingly subject themselves to bow down before you and allow you to unyieldingly clench them in your grasp for 8 seconds? Ok, so maybe I only made it 5 seconds, but this was my best year yet. One of these days I’ll be ready for a real bull….actually, on second thought, that sounds scary….I think I’ll stick to my friends.