Laura's Life

A Birthday Party and Thanksgiving

2010-01-07T10:48:00.005-06:00

So this year for my birthday I actually got to have a party!! We had it at my friend Olivia's house and it was tons of fun.

My Birthday landed on a bad day during the week, right before a holiday, so tons of people weren't able to come but that’s ok. We had cake, talked, played games and just enjoyed the evening. My party was actually the day after my birthday.

For my actual birthday my boyfriend Alan took me out right after I got home from work. He took me out to Aristo's, which is a Greek restaurant here in Salt Lake City. I love Greek food and was so excited. It was perfect. After that he took me over to temple square and we had a carriage ride over to City Creek.

I'd never been on a Carriage ride so even though it was freezing cold I was more than happy to jump in the buggy.

We got to cuddle up in blankets anyway. After that we went back to his place, had hot coco to warm up and watched a movie. Yes it was the perfect birthday. I was sad I forgot my camera, but I took a few pic's on my phone.

Thanksgiving this year was exciting! Alan and I went over to his grandmother’s house and chatted with Aunts, Uncles and Cousins, while having some of his grandmother’s wonderful pie and yams. We couldn't stay there to long before we had to jump in the car and hurry on up to Tremonton for the main dinner. My sister and her family were going to be there so I had to see them. We loaded up the table with food and all settled in to a wonderful dinner. The food was amazing. I sadly couldn't eat to much because I was so stuffed from the pie and yams at Al's grandma's house.

After dinner we played some card games and then had another little birthday party for Lisa and I.

We had pie for our cakes and then opened presents. Or the nephews opened our presents. You can't help, but let them do it. They were so cute. It ended up being a wonderful weekend!

Tepoztlán and Teotihuacan

2010-01-01T16:10:00.008-06:00

I loved my trip to Mexico City, but after awhile I was glad to be able to get outside the boarders of that concrete jungle out to something a little more country and to what Roberto called True Mexico.
The first place I was able to go was a city called Tepoztlán it is southeast of Mexico City.

It was so beautiful to see the countryside as it passed and the fields full of stacks of Hey.

As we entered the city it looked like a little village you would expect to see in Mexico. Colorful buildings, little markets in the streets, lots of little places to buy wonderful food.

We first went for a hike up to the top of the mountain above the city. The hike was 2 miles. At first it was really easy with stairs cut into the rocks, but it gradually got more difficult. We had to start crawling over rocks and hiking up switch backs in a deep clef in the rock.

The day we choose to go up happened to be a holiday. There were many people so it was good that we started early. Access was restricted for people traveling through the narrow passage and the line soon would take hours to get to the top.

It was hot and humid and a hard hike, but once we got to the top it was worth it. The view of the valley was beautiful and the temple, though small was very pretty. We enjoyed our sit at the top for awhile before heading down.

At the bottom we went through the markets, ate the best quesadilla's I've ever had with cactus, mushrooms and pumpkin flowers.

We also had Elote or Corn Ice cream which was amazing. We also went into a cathedral and relaxed on the grounds before ending our day.

The next day we went Northeast of the city to the Temple site of Teotihuacan. The Area was huge! The first part of the site that we visited was the Quetzalcoatl Temple. It was ringed by 12 other smaller temples and one large on in front.

We soon took our walk through the avenue of the dead through the smaller buildings of the city over to the gigantic Pyramid of the Sun.

It was huge and we hiked all the steps to the top. The steps were steep and we had to hike sideways across them to keep our strength. The top had a wonderful view of the ruins and the surrounding countryside.

All the buildings in the ruins had been painted but I thought they were beautiful the way they were. The colors of the rocks they used to build it were so colorful and there were smaller decorative rock in the mortar.

I loved that you could hike all over the buildings and explore the city and imagine what it used to be like when many people lived there. We then made our way through all of the junk sellers and headed the rest of the way down the avenue of the dead to the Pyramid of the moon.

The steps on this Pyramid were very steep and Roberto decided not to hike this one, but I'm glad I did. The view of the Sun Pyramid and the Avenue of the dead was my favorite. I'm so glad I was able to come and have this wonderful experience.
The only thing I regret from this last day was buying a straw hat to shad the sun. The Sun Pyramid really lived up to its name and I got really Sun Burned.

Make sure to bring cash for all the little junk shops here. If you are looking for a Souvenir this is the place to find it. I'm glad I was able to enjoy this my last day. It was beautiful and all the walking and Hiking was worth it!!

Mexico City

2009-12-19T13:05:00.013-06:00

I had the Wonderful Opportunity to go to Mexico City in November to Visit my friend Roberto from my mission. I had wanted to go for a long time. The great part about this vacation is that I had a readymade tour guide and a free place to stay! As we flew into the City I had the feeling as if we were going to land on the houses. The urban sprawl was something to incredible. I thought Vegas was bad. Anyway just as midway airport in Chicago just when you think that you are going touch the roof tops the sea of buildings part making way for the airport. My friend Roberto met me out front and we started off on our grand adventure. The day was mostly gone but we had a few things to do before we called it a day. We first headed out to Azcapotzalco, the city that is part of Mexico City where he grew up. He then took me to an ice cream shop. He said that Ice cream was a little different here and I had to have some. It was wonderful. The kind that I had was called Chongos Zamoranos, which is a sort of creamed cottage cheese. We don't have it in the states. It was kind of weird and hard because it was frozen but tasted good and really rich. next on the agenda for the evening was off Salsa Dancing. We met Roberto's friend Shasllely and headed off to Mama Rumba's. Her driver dropped us off and some guys opened a gate to let us in. I felt kind of important. Anyway we went in and upstairs in a little area to watch the band play, people dance and we ordered Taquitos, which are more like little soft shell taco's there and virgin Pina Colada's. We soon cleared the chairs and started dancing. I didn't fare so well as they did. But it was a great place to try Salsa dancing in Mexico. On The Drive home that night we were taken home through downtown Mexico City, so I was given a little taste of what I would get to see in the morning, but in the beautiful colors of the lights at night. The next morning we started off early headed downtown Mexico. The first place we went was The LDS Mexico City Temple. It was so beautiful and a lot bigger than I had pictured it in pictures I'd seen. The color was such a brilliant white and the Aztec archetechture made it hard for me to take my eyes off of it. We went into the visitors center and met one of Roberto's friends, who was on a mission there. We even got to sit and listen to a message in German. You can here it in the language you know, so they played it for us in German. We soon went out and walked around the temple and took many pictures. So many people were around. I was amazed it was so busy. Next we parked the car and jumped on a micro bus which is an adventure in itself. These little buses are one of the cities main transport. The buses only have about 5rows of seats that fill up very quickly. Getting on and off is another experiance. The doors of the bus are usually left open, which I think is rather dangerous. If you don't know where they are going you are kind of out of luck. The drivers don't yell out where you are. If you are lucky enough to get to your destination you have to jump off very quickly or the bus will be going again. The same thing about getting on the bus. They were usually moving again as you stepped on. I can see why they only cost about 2 pesos Anyway after that adventure we caught the metro downtown to Casa de los Azulejos or The House of Tiles. It was an amazing building. We of course were there to eat. The inside as well as the outside walls were all tiled and painted. In the center of the building where the restaurant was opened to a big courtyard type area where a little fountain was on one wall and beautiful arches were on all sides. The food was splendid. I had enchiladas and Roberto had Chilaquiles, which is basically chips with some salsa and cheese, but so much better. We also had fruit juice. I could write an entire section on the fruit juices there. They are so much better than in the states. They mix lots of juices together and it is thick and fresh, more like nectar. It spoiled me to fruit juices in the states. Next we walked around downtown and looked at some of the buildings like the Torre Latinoamericana or Latin America Tower, National Post office as well as Palacio de Bellas Artes or Palace of Fine Arts, which was magnificent. The roof is a beautiful orange dome and the inside was eligant. We then went to Zócalo or the Main Square in Mexico city. The square was huge. This was the place to shop for souvenirs. Almost every street vender you could think of was here. They also had very reasonable priced stuff. Pesos are a lot less than Dollars. I was a little nervous at first when they said things were as much as 35 pesos. I had forgotten its only about $3.50 in Dollars. Anyway back to the main square at Zócalo. National buildings surrounded the Plaza de la Constitución and in the center of it all was a gigantic Mexican flag. To the north the Metropolitan Cathedral stands. It is said to be the oldest and biggest Catholic Cathedral in the America's. On the east stands the Grand National Palace or Palacio Nacional. This is where the federal executive is seated. They are a beautiful sight and well worth a visit. The Temple Mayor sits just to the north of the square. The Templo Mayor was the one of the main temples of the Aztecs in their capital city of Tenochtitlan which is now Mexico City. We only looked inside and watched some Aztec dancers perform outside, but instead of roaming the ruins we took a trip over to the National Museum of Anthropology to see all of the artifacts that were found in the ruins, which were not a few. It cost around 50 Peso's to get in and was worth every one. This museum was full of artifacts. It houses the Aztec Calendar, Many giant statues and Sacrificial alters. Tons of quetzalcoatl artifacts, the snake was everywhere as well as head dress figures and tablets of their writing. There was also housed many artifacts from the Mayan and Olmec cultures, Some including giant heads and recreations of pyramids. We were also able to one night of our stay go to the square at Zócalo and Celebrate Día de la Revolución. It is every November 20th. Hundreds of thousands of people crowded the Plaza de la Constitución to watch a light show. It was a little bit of a letdown to me. I thought there should be more fireworks and power and that the people should have been cheering more than they were. The light show was on the actual National Palace itself. This was quite impressive. They transformed the facade of it with lights and colors and optical illusions.
It was quite beautiful and stunning, but lasted a bit too long. It was worth it though. The crowd getting out was a different story. You need to plan on not being in a hurry to leave. The best thing to do is to enjoy the very slow walk through all the people and stop at one of the vendors, for some elote, a type of corn, tamales or some cotton candy. The cotton candy was a sight to see.
it would fly up into the air and catch on street poles or just fly up into the night. We even stopped to watch some street performs where you could draw your Destiny from a box. Kinda creepy, but interesting.

Masquerade Ball and Halloween!!

2009-11-23T12:58:00.002-06:00

This year Halloween was so much fun. My friends had a couple of different parties going on. I've always wanted to go to a Masquerade Ball and this year I got my wish. My friend Alie hosted a Ball. We all were able to dress up in our best, wear masks and dance like crazy. I was working a flight down to New Orleans the day before the party and was able to Purchase a mask down there which was so much fun! I loved seeing everyone get into it. The best part about it is we are going to do it every year! I'm so excited! For Halloween we Changed it up and Me and Alan Decided to be Johnny Cash and June Carter since Johnny Cash is his idol. It took awhile for me to find an outfit that would work, but we pulled it together. Of course we had to tell everyone who we were but they all loved it! We even got to sing a few times to our audiances :) I can't believe I dared do it, but I loved getting into character. It was an exciting night!!

Oregon Visit and Corn Maze

2009-11-19T11:45:00.003-06:00

Me and Alan had the chance a couple weeks ago to go up to Lisa’s house and help out around and play up on the farm in Oregon.

I wanted to introduce him to Lisa as well as show Alan the farm. He loves farms and animals and the country, but hasn’t been around it much so this weekend he was in heaven! It was like seeing a kid in a Candy store. I was able to take him over to feed the baby calves, combine corn and even help Lisa break down a wall in their basement.

That was one of the hardest things I’ve done. It was like trying to break down a wall of concrete with a hammer. The wall was stucco with reinforced with Chicken wire. Kind of frustrating but it made you feel really accomplished when you actually got one down.

I also loved the chance I had to play with my nephews. They are growing up so fast. I loved talking to Chase. He seems so much more grown up now that he is in school.

Trey was so cute. He walked around everywhere with his Cowboy hat and boots.

Keegan well He is just cute little smiley man, with lots of cranky stints between the smiles, but I loved it.

The next week my friend Chelsea came to Utah from Chicago. She had to be here for Flight Attendant Training. We had tons of fun after training was over. It was my roommate Nettie’s birthdays so we all went out to a corn maze at Thanksgiving point.

This corn maze was amazing!! There was so much extra stuff besides the corn maze there.

They had slides, a big jumping bubble thing, food, a mechanical bull and lots of little booths.

It kind of ruined me for any other corn maze. I will only bring people to this one from now on. Anyway we had tons of fun.

After we all went back home for cake and ice cream. The funny thing was we forgot candles for the cake so we were really ghetto and used matches for the candles. Yup it was a little redneck but fun.

Ireland

2009-11-03T22:01:00.006-06:00

My mom and I had a wonderful trip to Ireland a couple of months ago. I took lots of pictures and had tons of fun. I'll share a couple of pictures and tell a little about some of the places.

The first place we went to was Dublin. The city reminded me of Germany a lot. We landed on a rainy morning and it was beautiful. Some of my favorite places in the city was the Dublin Castle.

We were able to take a tour of it and take pictures inside. It reminded me of a 1700palace. Really pretty.

The Library at Trinity College was amazing!! The buildings around the college are beautiful, but the Library is so pretty.

It costs maybe 9 euro, so if you like old books and history it is a wonderful place to visit!!

I also loved the Ha Penny Bridge. That is the nick name for the Liffey Bridge which is a pedestrian only bridge because it used to cost that much to cross it.

The Cathedrals were also very beautiful. I loved being able to see the outside of these buildings, but sadly I wasn’t able to go in either of them.

I was able to see two. St Patrick’s Cathedral and Christ’s Church Cathedral.

We also got to go to the Gaeity theater and watch Riverdance. It was amazing! I’m so glad I got to watch it over there. The only thing I would have done different is Not to watch it on the first night I got there. I was so tired from jetlag.
We also were able to go to a place called Glendalough.

There was an old monastery built in this area with a big Round tower, Cathedrals and churches.

The Cathedral was in ruins and surrounding it was an old cemetery.
Glendalough was set up in some mountains in a valley with two lakes.

The lakes were a nice little walk away from the main buildings. It didn’t take very long and was worth it. There were some more ruins, but there wasn’t much left of them. The upper lake was really pretty in itself. I’m glad we went.
I think my favorite place to visit was The Cliffs of Moher. We took a tour bus through Barrett tours. We took a train to Limerick where we caught the tour bus. They took us first to Leamenagh Castle.

It was one of many little stone castles that cover the Irish Country side. Most of the buildings there are made of the Limestone that covers the landscape.

Caherconnell Stone Fort the next stop on our tour is one of these buildings. It is a Dry Stone fort dating from 400 A.D. and made from the limestone from the Burren.
That is what the countryside is called that is covered in the stuff.

We were able to take a drive through the stuff and enjoy the many stone walls and houses.

The next thing that we went to was Poulnabrone Tomb, which is an ancient burial site thought to date back to 3800BC. There are many tombs like this around Ireland. They are large rocks standing up on end with a very large cap rock on top. I was just amazed that they have stayed together so long. I would think weather would have made them fall years ago. It was fun to see.

We then went to eat at a little town called Doolin. I had a stew and soda bread. We had soda bread lots of places we went. It was like a staple there, but the best thing that I had to eat there was the Fudge. It was the best fudge ever, with a layer of fudge, Carmel type stuff and a crust that was amazing. I wish we would have gotten more.

After that we were able to go to the Cliffs of Moher and see those beautiful dark cliffs. It was so peaceful there. We didn’t have as much time as I would have liked to go run and explore.

It was really windy by the cliffs. My mom was not happy when we went out in this area that told us not to. She was mad when I got close to the cliffs. It was so beautiful and worth the trip to Ireland.

If this was the only thing I saw I would have been glad to see it. We saw many other things but these were my favorites. I would love to go back to Ireland and see so much more. Maybe next time I’ll have more than three days.

Dinosaur Park and The Races

2009-09-23T14:01:00.005-05:00

My Sister and nephews came up to visit a couple weeks ago. I had just gotten through with talking to a lady on my airplane. She said that she just took her little kids to the Dinosaur park in Ogden. The kids couldn't stop talking about it, even though I only understood half of what they said. I got excited and when I got off the plane I called my dad and had him look it up and convinced him to take us all the next day. I felt like a little kid again.

There were animated Dinosaurs, Rocks and Petrified wood. They had an entire section of fossils and Complete Skeletons. They had Allosaurus, T-Rex, 3 horns and even a Wooly Mammoth.

We soon found ourselves wandering outside in a garden area that had huge statues of Dinosaurs throughout.

Of course I think the boys favorite were the slides and jungle jim sets shaped like Dino's. They also had a little area where you could dig for Dino bones.

I'm so glad we went there. I didn't even know it was there and wonder if it was when i was a kid.

After that I went back to Salt Lake and out to Rocky Mountain Raceway.

There were car races going on. I'd never been to races, but a bunch of my friends went. I also went 2 days later with my cousin Brett.

I had a great time. Some of my favorites were these things called figure 8's where the cars race in a figure 8 and almost hit each other and Trailer Races...well it was more like a demolition derby but with trailers.

I Can't wait to do that again. Sad thing is I have to wait till next summer. Oh well It's worth the wait.

Cubs game and Ang's Wedding

2009-09-22T16:36:00.004-05:00

So at the end of last month I was able to go to Chicago and visit that wonderful city with my old roomie from there. She picked me up from the airport and we went directly to Wrigley field and a Cubs game. It was so much fun. They played the mets and won!! I love going to games they win! Chelsea did have a little scare. We went to Starbucks after for cocoa to let the trafic settle down and she left her camera. It cost us a lot of money because we got off the bus took another bus back thankfully found her camera which has the bulk of our pictures that I still need to get from her and then took another bus back. When we got back Chelsea had received a parking ticket for 60 bucks. Sad thing was is they gave it to her 5 minutes before we got to the car.

We stayed out at my aunts house in Naperville that night. She took us around downtown Naperville ate Chicago style pizza watch Psych and talked.
The next day we got up a little to late and drove up to Sheboygan Falls Wisconsin to our friend Angela's wedding. We were late because the roads around there are hopelessly and gloriously confusing. Chelsea refused to go into the church because the bride already walked down the isle. I on the other hand didn't care. So I went in and watched them get married. It was a nice ceremony.

After we should have asked for directions, but Chelsea decided it was a good idea just to fallow everyone to where the reception was. That was a bad Idea. The car we fallowed wasn't going to the reception. We fallowed them on a wild goose chase. They finally noticed we were fallowing them and pulled over. I got out and asked them how to get to the reception. They laughed at the comedy of the situation and gave us directions.

We finally made it. It was so funny. I'm glad we made it. The reception was the only time we really got to talk to Angela and it was only for a second.

They had food and when the dancing started the wedding party came out in sailor hats and life vests.Her honey is in the coast guard. It was entertaining. Well to soon we had to head back to Chicago. We got there really late and I had to wake up really early for my flight the next morning. I was really tired but it was worth it.

Draper Days and Thanksgiving Point!!

2009-09-21T14:12:00.004-05:00

I was able to spend Draper Days with my friend Shaun and her sister. We walked around and got to sit and enjoy the fireworks.

Little bit later my mom and I were able to go to The Oquirrh Temple Open house and see that beautiful Structure.

Afterwords we headed over to Thanksgiving point enjoy the buildings, eat at a really good little resturant and go to the gardens. I love the beautiful flowers there.

I'm glad my mom got to come and spend a couple days with me.

A BBQ and Harry Potter

2009-09-21T13:48:00.003-05:00

So my Sister and Nephews came down in July for the family reunion that I was unable to go to, but I was able to see them.

We had a little BBQ in the back yard and had a great time.

Later Lisa and i were able to go down to my house and go to a early showing of Harry Potter 6. It was so much fun. I had lots of friends who went to it as well. We dressed up and had a great time. I wish Lisa and I could do more fun stuff together like that. To bad she lives so far away.

Trip to NYC and CHI- TOWN

2009-07-18T13:10:00.008-05:00

At the begging of the Month my friend Kelly was visiting from Australia. She really wanted to go to New York City. She had never been so I gave her a buddy pass and we headed off on our adventure and the midnight red eye flight.

I really didn't think that we were going to get on, but when we did, I called my dad at midnight and had him book us a hotel room. I told him which one though, so he didn't have to go searching for a good deal.

I got to sit in first class on the way over and was not very smart. I watched a movie going over. I couldn't pull myself away. I finally got about 2 hours of interrupted sleep before we landed in JFK. We then started out. I was very glad that I knew the way and was just able to go instead of like last time, when I wandered around and had to ask everyone where to go.

Our hotel was very easy to get to and I rather liked it. The lobby was bright and colorful, the hallways were dark, but colorful and the rooms were small but clean and air-conditioned. That was my favorite part. We took a quick nap, before heading downtown.

We first went to the Brooklyn Bridge. It was fun to walk most of the way across it and get some better views.

We then walked through lower Manhattan, through the St Paul’s Church, saw Alexander Hamilton’s grave, we walked passed Wall street and got a picture of the Big Bull and saw the ground zero before walking down through Battery Park to buy our tickets for the Statue of Liberty.

The lines were crazy. We stood in Line for over an Hour just to make it to the screening center. The ferry was way over crowded, but at least it was a nice clear day to have a nice walk around Liberty Island. After that we took a train up to Times Square to eat some pizza.

We walked around looking at all the lights and made a stop in Toys R Us to see the Giant Ferris Wheel inside and the little less than Life Size T-Rex and other toys. After that we went over to Central Park to enjoy the peace and quiet and the pretty views of the buildings.
One thing that really shocked me were all the Piles of Garbage that lined the streets at night. The heat of the day didn't help the smell of the bags. It kind of helped it to smolder. It was kind of interesting. It made it so deep breathing was not recommended.

We soon had to go back to the Hotel to change and accidently take a nap. We then quickly left to go eat at a little open door pub down the street. It was great food and not to spendy. We then had to go see Times Square at night. I love Times Square. It truly is one of my favorite places on earth. I love the lights and the Atmosphere.

I was very grateful when sleep finally came. We planned to get up early but it didn't happen. We only had time to go up to the temple. The man in the front let us go into the front doors. I felt really underdressed to do that, but they were really nice. We then went up the 1 train line a ways to Tom's Restaurant. They used the outside as the Restaurant in Seinfeld.

We then went back a couple streets to see the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. It is one of the biggest in the world. It was really beautiful and I wish I would have had more time and a better camera so I could enjoy the inside of it.

here is another view of the inside

After that we walked through a corner of Central Parks North West side before heading back down to 5th avenue getting food and heading to the airport.

The airport was a fiasco. We tried to get on a flight and it didn't work. The rest of the flights looked terrible for the next two days. I had to make a decision so I decided to take us to Chicago! It would help us out, because we would have a free place to stay, the flights looked better and there was another city that Kelly said she had visited.

We both got first class, on a little plane over to Chicago and soon got on the blue line headed to my friend Celeste's house. We all sat to chat for awhile. Kelly was amazed at the Fireflies in the backyard. We sat there playing with them and trying to take pictures of them forever.

Finally we went downtown and walked around the streets. We went up inside the John Hancock building pretending to get drinks, so we didn't have to pay. The view was amazing at night. We then went and ordered a Pizza and got Kelly some fries. Because it was so late, we had to take the pizza to go. We ate it over east of Michigan Ave buy the NBC building in a little park.

It was so fun, to sit enjoy friends company and the lights of the city. After that we walked around by the Chicago river and headed back home.

We stayed up all night talking, before leaving really early to get flight stuff figured out.

It took a couple of tries and I didn't think we were going to make it, but after racking up a lot of airport appreciation time we finally did. I was stressed about all the flights, but the trip was really fun and I'm glad we were able to go.

Tulip Festival

2009-06-27T12:23:00.005-05:00

My mom and I love flowers. So a little while ago I took her to Thanksgiving point and we had a day at the Tulip Festival there. It was when It was just starting to get warm in the spring time. It was so beautiful.

We started to take a tour to learn all about the flowers and the Garden, but they were walking way to quickly and we didn't have time to enjoy everything and take the millions of pictures we like to take, so we broke off and slowly walked through the flowers and each of the different gardens, just chatting and enjoying the scenery.

I had know Idea that there were so many different types of Tulips.

Each year after the Tulip festival at Thanksgiving point they dig up all the bulbs and sale them. I wanted to by some but you don't know what kind you are getting. I want, what I want,so I decided that was a no go.

We last ended up at this big rock waterfall with little food vendors.

I got this Chimney European pastry that was kinda interesting. We then sat and ate at the Cafe out on the Patio. It was a great day out with mom!

Martin and San Diego

2009-06-25T14:27:00.003-05:00

So my friend Martin from Switzerland moved to San Diego for a few months. He was in an intense English program in La Jolla. One of my trips ended in Ontario and so I decided to rent a car after my trip and drive down to visit him. It was so much fun and only slightly tragic.

The fun parts were the first day we went to the beach and played sand volley ball and later that night headed on over to the San Diego Temple. It was so beautiful at night. The next day I drove all around San Diego while Martin was in class taking tons of pictures of all the sights.

The Tragic part of the trip came when I picked Martin up and we went on a walk along La Jolla shores beach. We were walking in the water and sadly my camera fell out. I never even new that it happened until it was lost. All those pictures and memories lost. At least I downloaded a couple before I lost it. I guess I'll have to do as the people in the old days did. Just remember it.

Later that night we went out to eat with a bunch of his swiss friends. We lost them in downtown and spent 30 minutes driving all over trying to find them. When we did it was in little italy and a wonderful little resaurant. It was great fun except I couldn't understand half of what they were saying. Swiss German is messed up! Anyway we left really late and I had to drive straight back up to Ontario, got 1 hour of sleep before I had to head off on a plane back to Utah. Oh well, It was worth it!

The Zoo and Nephews

2009-06-23T14:05:00.005-05:00

At the Beginning of June I had the chance to go up to Boise and take my sister and her little kids out to a day at the Boise Zoo.

I've been planning to do this forever. The kids loved it!! I was a little nervous that they would get bored. We saw so many different animals, Lions and Tigers and Bears oh my!! One of the Favorite exibits was the African Plains.

They had a little mock village as well as loud monkeys, Giraffes and Zebras too!! The only thing I wish is that we would have had a map instead of getting lost in the maze of winding roads trying to search for a few animals that seemed hidden, like the Red Panda.

There were also lots of toys that were really hard to get the boys off of. When we finished at the Zoo we went and had a picnic in the park next to the zoo.
The next day we went out to a little carnival and took Trey and Chase on a little roller coaster.
They were a little terrified, but we convinced them that they had fun!

Hello from Down Under...Sydney to be exact!!

2009-05-27T14:54:00.013-05:00

At the end of April I was able with two of my Chicago friends, to take a trip to Sydney Australia. We took a flight out of San Fran and sat in Business class on the way over. We were even lucky enough to sit together, even though we flew stand by. It was a 14 hour flight, but was to me like a fun road trip, with bigger seats and more space to run around. We mostly sat around and played games on Andrews Iphone and talked, trying to force ourselves to stay awake until we should go to sleep Sydney time, helps with the Jet lag. I was one of the only ones who made it, but was able to see the Hawaiian Islands as we passed them by. Well when we finally got to Sydney we couldn’t get off the airplane until they sprayed for bugs. Apparently the planes pesticide papers had expired 4 days pervious and so before we could get off they had to come on with aerosol bug spray and spray everywhere. You can imagine the ruckus that caused. Everyone freaked out, but I just took it as a photo op. We finally got off and headed on our way, so I thought. The first day was full of little snags of not having a room rented, not knowing how to get to a hostel, figuring out transportation and then trying to find parking. 8 hours after we landed, we were able to finally get downtown to sight see. We went to an area known as the rocks, which is the oldest settled part of Sydney. This is one of the most Touristy spots and is right on the Harbour. The oldest house in Sydney is located here as well. It’s called Cadman's Cottage and was built in 1816, once home to John Cadman. After eating some Pizza with hot Salomi and whole olives with the pits still in them, we ventured a short distance over to the Harbour to look at the Sydney Opera House and then walk down to the end of the doc to take pictures of the Harbour Bridge. As we sat and admired the view I looked down into the water below and saw hords of Jelly Fish. They almost covered the water, defiantly wouldn’t want to take a swim there. It reminded me of all the dangerous animals they have here. They have the most dangerous Spider, Snake and Jelly Fish. Well after we saw the bridge and Opera house I had to run back to the car, grab my bags and head off on the Train to Parmatta, where my friend Kelly Conlon lived. I was supposed to be here the first day myself so I could go hang out with Kelly, but my friends decided to come a bit early. Well it was Kelly’s birthday so she got a group of friends together along with her twin sister and we went out to celebrate. We went out to eat and then after we ate ice cream and cookies, while watching a movie. Kellys roomie Amie had me try tons of different kinds of Aussie food, Milo hot chocolate, Tim Tams, some other little things and she even made me lunch for the next day, a veggie mite sandwich. Vegie mite is made from yeast extract, so it’s kind of Salty and sour as in fermented sour. I don’t know how to explain it. Anyway I had tons of fun with my Aussie experience hanging out with Aussies. The next day Kelly took me up to her work, which was the church offices in Sydney which was right next to the temple. I was able to attend a session in the Sydney temple and then enjoy the grounds for awhile till my friends picked me up and we then headed off to the Featherdale Wildlife Park. This was one of my most favorite parts of the trip. The park lets you get up close and personal with the animals. Some of the animal are fenced in but many are just out roaming around at your feet. I was able to pet A Wallaby
A Kangaroo A Koala An Emu and see lots of other animals native to Australia, like the Tasmanian Devil, which is a lot uglier than I had anticipated. A wombat, apparently they bite, so there was not petting going on there. The most poisonous snake in the world Inland Taipan . I wouldn’t want to be in that section of the zoo in an earth quake, They had like 6 of the most poisonous snakes in that room. There were tons more and I loved it. It was the most fun, I’d had at a zoo, since I was a kid probably. Actually, I think it is the most fun I’ve ever had a the zoo! After the zoo we ventured on up the road into the famous Blue Mountains, so named for the bluish tinge the range takes on when viewed from a distance. I thought that they would be more desolate, but they were populated and beautiful. One thing that was kind of weird to me was to see the leaves changing colors in April. It was fall there for them and very pretty. We were able to see some waterfalls. The red cliffs dropped straight down and were covered in green. It was a beautiful back drop for the water to cascade from. I wish we would have had more time here. You could feel the moister in the air and it finally gave way into buckets of rain.
(this is what the three sisters should look like...not my picture)
We ran back to the car and started heading up the road to another rock formation we wanted to see called the three sisters. The modern day tourism industry has created a legend about the three sisters that says that three sisters fell in love with three men from a neighbouring tribe, but marriage was forbidden by tribal law. Battle ensued, and the sisters were turned to stone by an elder to protect them, but he was killed in the fighting and no one else could turn them back. We tried to race the weather, but when we got to the town of Katoomba we found it cold and fog filled. We could barely see in front of our faces, let alone the mountains. We decided to get ourselves some food and then found a hotel to stay the night, since it was twilight and bad weather, we thought that if we stayed, we’d be able to see stuff the next morning. To our dismay when we awoke, the view was the same. The fog was dense and thick, but we decided to take a walk down by Echo Point anyway and take a picture of the view, which looks like San Francisco on most days, just gray. We then had to head back to Sydney and drop the car off. I was perfectly fine getting rid of that scary little thing. I was the only one that was to drive it, but the stupid thing was a stick, but even worse was the steering wheel was on the right and you had to drive on the left. It would have been fine, well sort of if I didn’t have to think about all of that at once. I only almost killed us a couple of times, but freaked everyone out most of the time. I finally let my friend Andrew drive. We then took a ride on a ferry out to Manly beach. The ride was so beautiful and the beach was amazing. This is a picture looking back at Sydney from the ferry anyway, Manly is across the harbor from Sydney. I think it’s the best place to go for souvenirs. It reminds me of a boardwalk beach town in California. The ice cream was great and the view was amazing. I think I liked Manly beach better than Bondi beach, which is more famous. Anyway after taking some pictures and walking around we headed back on the ferry. We decided to stand in the bottom part of the boat this time because the waves splashed up and I wanted to get some cool pictures. Well there were a lot of people in the front of the boat headed back. I think it made it heavier because we got a lot wetter than the people did going over. I thought I had the timing right to get a good picture but instead I got drenched and I sadly used my camera as a shield against the water, instead of me shielding the camera. My camera didn’t last very long after that. Salt water and cameras don’t mix. Anyway I’ve never seen people scatter so quickly. We stayed up there and enjoyed the view. It was worth it. We were going to go up in the Center Point tower to get a great view of the city, but it cost 25 bucks and I had just destroyed my camera, so I wasn’t in the mood. We did walk along Macquarie street and saw the Parliament House, Sydney hospital, which is an amazing old building, outside the Royal Botanical gardens and took a stroll threw Sydney’s Hyde park. It weirded me out that so many place here had the same names as in London. We also got to see St Mary’s Cathedral, which is made of a brilliant red stone and beautiful to see. It is also the largest Cathedral in Australia, but not the highest. Later that night we were able to walk around China town, eat Chinese food and walk down by Darling Harbour to see some of the boats in the maritime museum. It was the only time I was able to see any of the lights of Downtown Sydney at night. The harbour was beautiful. I wish we could have seen the Opera house as well. There were lots of street performers to watch besides just sitting and relaxing on the shore line. The next day we took a bus out to Bondi beach and relaxed on its beautiful shores. This beach was a lot less crowded than Manly and the water wasn’t very cold to swim in either. I didn’t get to stay long before I had to head back and go to lunch with my friend Warren Dautzenburg. He is an elder from my mission. The funny thing was that we just ran into him on the street. I was walking along and all of a sudden he was right in front of me. It was so random, but I was grateful. It was fun seeing him again. We were supposed to go hiking around the rocky shores of Watson Bay north of Bondi beach later that afternoon but the plans were changed and I ended up just taking the ferry back across the harbour right when I met back up with my friends. Maybe next trip. I saw the light houses and rocks from the bus, so that is ok at least I saw them. That night we didn’t do much of anything because Andrew got food poisoning from bad sushi and Chelsea was sunburned really bad. I ran errands for them, but it was nice to get out and walk around. The next day Chelsea and I headed back down to the rocks, which we visited almost every day, to see the Opera house, and also to eat at our favorite place called Pancakes on the rocks. They had the most amazing crepes and pancakes and they didn’t just have sweet stuff. I had some with chicken and a creamy sauce smothered with parmesan cheese. It was delicious!! Anyway the time went by way to fast and I soon found myself climbing aboard a United Boeing 747 in economy class. I was unlucky enough to get a middle seat, but blessed that the seat next to me was broken, so I could spread out. I did get a beautiful view of Sydney as we flew over and I got to say good bye to that beautiful city that felt a little bit like home.

New York City

2009-05-19T00:26:00.004-05:00

At the Begging of April I was able to take a quick trip to New York City. I took a red eye flight and had the attitude of go go go…see see see!!! I of course started out trying to find my hostel which was in up town. It wasn’t too bad actually. It was really close to the train. my roomies were from Israel and were super nice. We stayed up most of the night talking.
The downstairs area was warm and inviting. It was newly renovated with dark wood, stone and warm colors which just drew you in.

The rooms and hallways reminded me of a frat house with their skinny purple linoleum corridors, big white rooms with 6 metal bunk beds and white hospital looking bathrooms. At least they were singles with a tub and shower and not community or tree of life style as named in the MTC.
Anyway back to the seeing of the town.

I finally got out into the wonderful thick stench of city air…aaaahhh…It reminded me of Chicago and made me miss it a little. I ventured on the subways and the first place I emerged was at time square. It was a lot bigger and cooler than I remembered it. I had forgotten that there were big screens on both sides of the square. I was in heaven at the business of the signs and the streets. I snapped a few picture and as I was trying to get one of me with the square the dark foreboding clouds decided to have a hay day and poor buckets on the city. I quickly ran under an awning wondering what I was going to do. Well to my luck the guy I was standing next to kind of looked around at us, flipped open his backpack and started pulling out umbrellas to sell. It was so random to me, but I was so grateful that I picked the right place to stand. After awhile the rain turned into a slight drizzle and I dared venture out to get my pictures.

I then started my hike around the city visiting many stops along the way as my pants slowly started to soak up water and get heavier and heavier. I saw the Chrysler Building, Empire State Building, ran up the street to the Rockefeller Ice Rink and plaza, I then went over to Radio City Music Hall and the Flat Iron building which was designed by Daniel Burnham, who designed the layout of Chicago. There were also a few churches and other interesting sites in between. I then had to get me my New York City vendor hot dog with sauerkraut on top. Mm good!

By the time I was a little miserable. My hair was wet and wavy, my shoes were completely water logged and my pants were wet up to my knees. The weather seemed to be like a big rotating sprinkler, that would trick you into thinking it was nice and then poring on you when you least expect.

I had a little bit of time left, so I quickly went down to the harbor and purchased a ticket for a ferry ride to see the city from the water, but most importantly The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I stood outside on the top deck to get some good pictures. It was a little wet but not raining on the way over. The city and Statue were beautiful. I’m so glad I was able to go and walk around and see lady liberty. The wind was really starting to pick up and water seemed to stand still in the air as I arrived, so my tour of the island was very fast.

I ran around and quickly snapped pictures, visited the tourist shop and right as it started to rain heavly again I boarded the ferry headed back. We stopped by Ellis Island, but because of the rain and shortness of time, I decided to save that for another trip.

I was very grateful that I was able to run back to my hostel at this time, change my clothing, straighten my hair and head out to meet my friend Maggie. Feeling a lot more secure, warm and dry I headed out in the now almost cloudless afternoon. I almost effortlessly found the little diner were I spent half of my evening.
Maggie was late in getting there, but it was fun to see my old roommate, enjoy the best calamari I’ve ever tasted, reminisce over old memories and relish the new ones. We spent hours of talking and then slowly walked back in the beautiful night to the train station.

My thought of the City were, that it reminded me of Chicago, but so, so much bigger. Every turn there were bigger buildings and it kept going and going. It was so enjoyable to me, because I love architecture.

Anyway I was about to get on my train at Central Station to head back home, when I decided I was crazy. I didn’t have lots of time and decided I could sleep when I got home. I started to walk around and saw many of the buildings at night, Chrysler building, Empire State, but the best again for me were the bright lights of time square. You could see them, from very far off and the called me, like a moth to a flame. The just reeled me in and I loved standing in the middle of the bright as day square in all of the hustle and bustle.

I soon took my adventures up and out to the Serendipity café where I was going to try their famous frozen hot chocolate, but the very long line and wait, by myself kind of cured me of my want of one, so I ended my night going back to time square and to get a hot cocoa at Starbucks.

Well the next morning I was going to get up early and try to hit the Today show stuff and wave at my family, but because we stayed up so late, I could hardly move. It was all I could do to get up an hour and a half after intended so I wouldn’t miss my Temple session.

It was a very interesting experience in the temple. You walk into the building and the temple is to the left of elevators going to other parts of the building. There were multiple floors. On one you rented your clothing and then had to go to another to change and then to the session. The rooms were really beautiful. The first room was covered in paintings of the outdoors with wood paneling and rounded corners to the room. They had problems getting the session started, but it was ok because I made friends with two very nice ladies sitting next to me, who took picture for me afterwards.

When the wonderful temple session was over and I dressed and went back out onto the loud crowded streets, the world seemed a little more peaceful and slow. Even in that big city. I slowly went back to my hostel, changed my clothes and headed down to lower Manhattan once again.

I went for a walk on the Brooklyn Bridge and saw the Woolworth building, with many of the other beautiful buildings around it.

I walked over to the World Trade Center site and saw the new skyscraper that was being built there. Nothing really is there, besides walls around it and a visitors center on the south side. I didn’t go in because it cost 10 bucks.

Instead I stopped at a little pizza place next to it and ate some New York Style Pizza, before taking a nice peaceful walk to the Grounds of St. Paul’s Chapel, where George Washington worshiped after his inauguration as president.

Sadly after this I had to quickly run back to my hostel and head out to the airport. The time was short, but I think that my two days in this great city were well spent and much was seen. I was supper exhausted but it was worth it!

Wicked

2009-05-17T02:24:00.000-05:00

On May 2 I was able to go with my friend Angela Ipson and her siblings to watch Wicked. My friends and I memorized the music years ago and finally after many failed attempts to get tickets and some problems with work and planning I finally had my shot to go. The much anticipated moment was well worth the wait and lived up to my expectations.

I loved this show. I would tell anyone if there is one show to see it would be Wicked. I’ve seen lots of shows and this one is my favorite so far. So yes to all my friends who haven’t seen or heard of the story of the Wicked Witch of the West, go watch it, you will fall in love with it. Oh, but don’t read the book, it takes after its name. It’s kinda wicked.

Moms Birthday

2009-05-12T11:21:00.000-05:00

For mom’s birthday this year I was doing what I do best. Flying!! I was blessed to fly to the same place I was sent on Thanksgiving. I went to stormy Pocatello Idaho. I called my dad and convinced him to bring my mother up to me, so that I could spend her 51st birthday with her. It was a little bit less from their house to drive to me than down to Salt Lake anyway. It only took them an hour and 15 minutes. The only problem was the bad weather.

We went out to sizzler and then opened some presents in the car. We also went shopping in the mall for a bit before they had to take me back to my hotel and try to race home and beat the storm that was quickly coming in. They didn’t beat it but I’m glad they made it home safely, as well as coming up and taking the time to include me in her birthday.

Relief Society Temple Day

2009-05-12T11:19:00.000-05:00

On March 21st my singles ward had a relief society temple day. I loved this day. It was so special. We all get together early that morning for a little devotional, before all piling into cars and heading over to the temple. A group who weren’t endowed went in to do baptisms and then there was a group who did an endowment session. I was so amazed at how many of us there were that could do endowments. It was so much fun to see so many of the sisters in my ward in there together, especially afterwards when we were all standing in the Celestial room, hugging and enjoying the peace in the lords house.

After the temple, we all went back to the church had a lunch and speakers. It was a great day that I made more friendships and many older ones became closer as we all got to know each other on a little bit more spiritual level.

Llama Fun

2009-05-10T18:01:00.000-05:00

Last month, I was able to go with a friend to a llama farm at the harry christna temple here in Spanish fork. I didn’t even know the place existed. The Harry Christna temple was very pretty on the outside. We all could go in. You had to take off your shoes to be respectful. The lower floor was set up as a store that sold many different kinds of things, books, clothing, jewelry, trinkets and they even had a buffet with tables.

Upstairs was their gathering place which was also very pretty. We were able to talk to some of the people and see them having a little meeting. Yes I took a picture of them, but they said it was ok.

After we bought some stuff and looked around we went outside with our apples and carrots to the Llamas. They were stinky, but soft and seemed to enjoy the carrots a lot more than the apples. “Just if any of you ever want to feed llamas go with carrots, then you don’t have to get your hands so close to their teeth either.” The only tragedy in the whole thing is that I was too big to ride them. Wow would that have been fun.

Jazz Game

2009-05-07T23:54:00.003-05:00

On March 28th I along with my mother and Uncle Jim, were able to bring my Grandma Penrod to her first live Jazz game. She is a crazy Jazz fan and watches the games on TV religiously. She had never been to a game and I knew I just had to take her, so for Christmas we got her the present of tickets to see a game. It took a long time to find a day when we all could go, but we made it.

It was so much fun to see the look of excitement on her face. It was a perfect game to bring her to as well. They played the Phoenix Suns and it was a close game. The Jazz were way up until the end. It had to go into overtime, which made it all the better when the Jazz squeaked off the win. I swear I never prayed so hard for a team to win, just so they would win while she was there. I'm glad they did.

Hanging with the Fam

2009-05-07T23:37:00.004-05:00

I had a lot of opportunities the past couple of months to hang out with my family. Some for good reasons some for sad. I was able to go down to my Uncle Brian and Aunt Ruthann’s mission Farewell. I'm so proud of them and a little jealous that they get to go. It was one of my most favorite experiences in life. I loved that so much of the family got together for it. I hadn't seen some of their kids for awhile and it was so good to see them and spend time.
I was also glad that right after the farewell, my mom, dad and I were able to go down the street to Mt. Pleasant and attend the Draper Temple Dedication. It was so wonderful to be able to sit for awhile before it started and watch a slideshow basically of pictures from the temple and to ponder the beauty and purpose of the lords house. I'm grateful that I was able to go with my family to it.

Shortly thereafter I got to spend time with most of my dad’s siblings again, but this time on a less happy note, for their aunt’s funeral. I enjoyed seeing them as well as many of the extended family. It reminded me of Family reunions as a child. I miss getting together with everyone, but glad we have times when we can catch up and celebrate life.

Help Chuck get 3rd Season

2009-05-04T12:11:00.002-05:00

To all my friends and truly devoted Chuck fans...I'm asking you to help take a stand and this week do something to help the TV Show Chuck get a 3rd season. NBC is making the decision this week and we need to help them make the right one :) If you've never seen the show, I really think you should. I love this show. You can watch it online at nbc.com or hulu.com and if you want to watch the first season it on the thewb.com
Really you guys will love the show!!! Also at CHUCKTV.NET It talks about how signing a petition is great, but a hand written letter is worth 100 or 1000's of signatures on a petition. Wouldn't it be great if we could take the small amount of time to write the network and tell them why we love the show so much!!! It takes such a short time but can make a Big Difference. So let’s all help SAVE CHUCK!!!

PS Watching it online helps them see who watches the show too....oh and tell your friends!!!

Guidelines for letter's:

DO be respectful.
DON’T be threatening. “I’ll never watch NBC again!” doesn’t have any impact.
DO mention your age, gender and general geographic location. We want to show what a broad fanbase this show has.
DO tell them whether or not you’re a Nielsen viewer. If you’re not a Nielsen viewer, remind them that your viewership still deserves to be counted.
DO tell them if you watch/buy Chuck on other platforms (iTunes, Hulu.com, PS3, etc.)
DO tell them why you want Chuck to stay on the air.
DON’T complain about a storyline that you aren’t fond of. Keep comments about the show positive.
DO handwrite your letter if possible. If not, at least sign it by hand.
DON’T send in a template/form letter. It’s okay to model your letter on someone else’s (we recommend Rachel’s), but make it your own.
DO send in a box of Nerds candy with your letter, as per Josh Schwartz’s suggestion.
DO write today!
Where to Send Your Letter:

Ben Silverman
Co-Chairman
3000 W. Alameda
Admin Building
Burbank, CA 91523

Angela Bromstad
President of Primetime Series
100 Universal City Plaza
Bldg 1320, 4th Floor
Universal City, CA 91608

Hailee's Wedding

2009-04-17T13:14:00.003-05:00

On March 13th my Cousin Hailee got married. I was so nervous that I wouldn't be able to make it. I was on call and the first one on the list to be called out. I decided to go down anyway. Her wedding breakfast was in Nephi, so I was still in Rang of the airport. It was so fun to see everyone and finally meet some of my mom's friend that she had growing up. (My mom is from Nephi)

After it was over, my parents and I went to see my Grandma and Uncle Jim. We hung out until I had to run off to Fountain Green. I was a little scared that I was going to get called out, but I figured I'd be ok since it was 4 pm. I'm glad I was right.
The wedding was beautiful. My father married them. They made a cute couple. I'm glad that so many of my cousins were able to come. It was so great to be able to run around snapping pictures and gossiping with my cousins again.

Wish we could all get together more often, like we did when we were kids. Miss the fun times.

Hailee and CHet cutting the Cake
Josh filling up the punch bowl...yeah yeah..we all know he's spiking it :)

2 Baby Showers

2009-04-13T21:04:00.003-05:00

Last month I had two baby showers in one day. They were both in different Cities and were both for girls in College that I hadn't seen forever.
The first one I went to was up in Willard for my friend Stephanie. I met Steph in College. She was my roomie Becky's Cousin and was always at my house. The funny thing is, is that when I moved to Chicago Steph was in my ward. I was so shocked to see her there and so happy that she was. She became my visiting teacher and made me feel lots more comfy when I was living there.

She was in town this week and I was able to go to Becky's house and see her as well as a bunch of girls I hadn't seen since College. It felt like know time had passed. I loved it.

The next shower I ran too was for my sorority sister Emily Bilskie. She is my little sister in the Sorority. It was back in Salt Lake. There were tons of my sister's there. We games that you have to play at baby showers, talked, ate and had a great old time. It made me really miss hanging out with my sister's. I loved being back together with them all again.

I usually don't like baby showers, but today it was well worth going and I wish they could have both lasted longer, so I could have enjoyed everyones company a little bit more.

Visit to Adrian and Chase's first ski trip!!

2009-04-11T12:07:00.004-05:00

So Last month I was able to go up to my sister's house for a little visit one weekend. It was so much fun. We got Lisa's sister in laws together made cookies and gossiped. We chatted and ate the cookie dough more than anything.

I also got to just hang out with me and my nephews for a little while. Ok I used the tv as a baby sitter a lot but it works. They all got stuck to it like glue. There so cute.

The next day we had the wonderful chance to take Chase up skiing for his first time. Lisa and I brought him night skiing to Bogus Basin near Boise. We got chip lift and rental tickets.

Chase was so cute and excited! We took him up the bunny hill and he wasn't scared at all. We couldn't get him to put his ski tips together to learn how to stop. He tries to run in his skis. He hasn't figured out that you don't have to move them to make them go. The kid was so excited and fearless. He just kept saying. "I want to go up the big hill" We didn't let the poor kid though, because he couldn't figure out how to stop.

After awhile it got cold so we went in for some food and glasses of nice Hot Chocolate. We went out for a bit afterwards, but then had to leave.

I'm glad we got to take him and that he's excited for his next trip up the slopes. Maybe he'll figure out how to stop and we'll take him up the big hill.

Tight Ward Family

2009-04-04T01:10:00.004-05:00

My Singles ward is amazing!!! We are all really close. Every weekend someone seems to have something going on. There is always a game night on Sunday nights at some random persons house and the fun thing is, is that everyone finds out about it and everyone goes. There is usually always between 40 and 50 people at everything. It's not even sponsored ward activities.

There have been a couple of really fun ones lately. My friend Torri had a PI party, yup PI party where we all brought our favorite pie and ate way too much, while we played games and chit chatted. I had five different kinds of pie myself and brought my new favorite, Raspberry and Blackberry pie. yummy!!!

My friend James had a big movie night at his house on March 13, better known as Friday the 13th. We watched The 6th Sense. We had a little contest to see if we could fit everyone on the couch.

It soon got to be impossible because so many people showed up. They had to lay on the floor around and sit on chairs behind the couch. I'm so glad I got there early. Of course the best party was after the movie, when we ate Orange and Grape Floats.

My friend Shaline threw a Smores Bonfire night on one of the first warm weekends in March. It was wonderful. We didn't even half to where coats!!

I mostly stayed around the fire, ate smores and tended to the flames, while others played basketball and Volleyball. Chit chatting and getting to meet new people was my favorite.

One of the main events at most of the Parties is Karaoke. It's huge. Everyone gets up and sings their little hearts out. Well everyone that is except me. Know they have not yet successfully pulled me out of my seat and forced a microphone into my hands and until they do that I will happily sit on the couch and cheer them on.

Some of my favorite nights are the Sunday night game nights or war nights. It depends on the game being played. There is this game called killer bunnies that we get pretty vicious playing.

Sometimes we all pull out different ones and section off and other nights it’s ended up as just a chit chat night and telling of worst date stories. Oh to good memories!!

Draper Temple Open House

2009-04-03T19:05:00.002-05:00

I was so lucky to be able to go to the Draper temple Open house. It is just right up the street from where I live. I was able to attend with my Mother, Grandma Penrod and Uncle Jim. It's weird to call him my Uncle since he is only a bit more than a year older than I.

Anyway Jim got the tickets for us and because of Grandma we got to park up at the temple in the Handicap parking. I'm so glad we could just walk in. It was freezing outside.
Anyway the Temple was beautiful inside. We were able to watch a short film and then tour all the rooms. My favorite were the endowment rooms. They were painted with scenes from the mountains, that reminded me of the mountains down in Fairview where my father is from. I also loved the huge sealing rooms. This temple has the biggest ones of all of them.
It was a special visit to be in there and I can't wait to go through it now that it is dedicated.

Free Denny's and Chicago Overnight

2009-04-02T21:15:00.004-05:00

So my sister and I decided that we wanted to go to the free Denny's breakfast that we were told about during the super bowl. We went to go here in Sandy and the lines were outside the door and around the building.

We decided to go in Tremonton instead. When we got to my parents house we packed up Lisa's kids and my mom and went to our Denny's. It was so much fun. We had to stand in line but it wasn't over a half hour, but we got free food, had tons of fun talking and even got to see friends that we hadn't seen forever. Guess everyone had the same great idea.

Later in the month I was able to have a 20 hour Chicago overnight. I called my old roomie Shaun when I got into town and she picked me up for a poker night. It was with people from her ward. It was so much fun. I was up so much money and lost it all on one hand. It's a good thing that it wasn't real money.

The next day I called my other old roomie Chelsea and she took me out to lunch and then we went out for hot chocolate. We talked the entire time. It made me really miss living there. It's a good thing I can go back and visit often.

Jen's Cabin and a Bon fire

2009-03-16T14:27:00.003-05:00

Over presidents day weekend I went with a bunch of my friends, who are all teachers, up to my old roomie Jen's cabin. We went up to go watch movies, play games and go sledding. There was tons of snow up there and we got the cars stuck once, but besides that it was great. We mostly sat around told stories and ate pizza and junk food. The only thing that sucked was having to flush the toilet with a bucket of water. We had to go outside to the pump and fill the bucket every time. It kind of made you not want to drink anything, so you didn’t have to go.

The next morning a bunch of us went out for a little walk in the snow. There was a light snow storm so we thought we'd enjoy it. When we got back we played a little dare game with dice. I was the only sorry sole who had to do something. It wasn't bad though. I just had to kill all the flies upstairs. It was a pretty fun weekend.

A week later I was able to go with some friends out to the west desert and have a bon fire. It was freezing cold, but once we got the fire started it was toasty. We did have the cursed luck of starting the fire in the area with the most mud. Our shoes and chairs were caked in the stuff.

We also brought up some 4 wheelers and went out for rides. It was cold and I kind of got numb to it after awhile. The stars were really pretty though and it was worth it. We usually blow things up on these trips, but we were good this time. Well we were good only because we didn’t have time to buy anything to blow up.

Visit to Cali and the Super Bowl

2009-03-16T14:14:00.003-05:00

I was able to go visit my friends Lydia and Markus Tolman in California on super bowl weekend. Her little baby Max was having his baby blessing. I had a little cold so I tried to stay as far away from little Max as possible, so I didn't get to hold the cute little guy. They had a big get together at their house after, the blessing. We ate lasagna, chatted and made some new friendships.

After the party we went over to Markus's parents house for the super bowl party. Lydia didn't watch, but the rest of us camped out on the couch with chips and soda and had a fun filled night. I was just sad that I had to leave the wonderful weather and head back to Salt Lake.

The Tube

2009-02-20T11:48:00.004-06:00

So one of the things I love lots about London was its transportation system. I've lived in a couple of different places with public transit. A couple of big cities in Germany and Chicago.

To me London is all of those cities in one. Perfect. I loved the tube and wish that they would have better transit all over.

The stations and lines are set up so well. All of the Trains are color coded and named. There are signs all over the stations with the stops. It makes it really easy and convienent to find where you need to be. In this way in reminded me of Chicago.

The best part was how timely and often they ran. It made it easy to get where we needed to be and not have to worry if our train would be on time. We had a slow down one night and there was some construction on the weekends that closed some lines, that part reminded me of Chicago, but besides that it was great.
I loved how these signs were everywhere and they had speakers announcing to mind the gap. I only saw one gap that was big enough to fall in the entire time there, but it was pretty funny.

I did loose mom once. Thank goodness it was the third day instead of the first. It was during rush hour and everyone was of course in a rush. I got on the train and couldn't get off when I saw that she didn't get on. I mouthed through the window our stop, she nodded and came a couple minutes later on the next train. It made for good laughs later.

The state of the trains were also very good. In Germany the trains were all full of graffiti and in Chicago the more often than not smelled of urine, but in London the trains were clean and had very comfortable seats. The only thing I would complain about was the rush of the people. Everyone was running everywhere and I felt in the way very often.

Jaunt to East Anglia

2009-02-20T10:41:00.005-06:00

I have a friend, Pam, that I grew up with that is living in England right now. She is in a town called Thetford, which is a little east of Cambridge. Mom and I just had to go visit.

We jumped on a train and sped up north to Cambridge. The weather wasn't the happiest that day, but Pam, Mom and I walked around and explored anyway.

It was really beautiful. We saw many of the different Colleges such as Kings College and St. John's College.

I wish we would have paid to go inside St. John's College. I tried every way to sneak into the grounds, but was thwarted at every entrance. Oh well.

We then went back to Pam's and Hung out with her cute little family, before heading off the next day to a town called Lavenham.

The town is famous for a couple things. One are all the crooked houses that line its streets. A popular fairytale was penned because of this crooked little town. It's called the Crooked House. Here it is to jog memories.

There was a crooked man who walked a crooked mile,
he found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile,
he bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,
and they all lived together in a little crooked house.

One other thing this town was famous for is it is where Twinkle Twinkle Little Star was penned. We were able to see the house and the window where Jane Taylor wrote it from.

Soon after this visit we went up the road to Bury St Edmund and saw the extensive ruins of the abbey there.

It was crumbling away and you could walk all throughout them and climb on them.

One of my favorite things about these places were all the fun little markets.
They were all in the town squares and reminded me so much of Germany. I loved it and was sad it went by so quickly.

Off to Warwick, Stratford upon Avon and Oxford

2009-02-19T22:52:00.006-06:00

Well we started off this day as we did one other. Waiting for a tour bus to take us out and about to area's outside of London.

On this particular day we set off first to the town of Warwick and its medieval castle that was originally built by William the Conqueror in 1068, rebuild many times and turned into a residence in the 17oo's.

Because the insides of this castle were changed it had a much warmer feel to it. It actually felt like a home instead of cold inside.

The grounds were really large and the view from the river Avon was wonderful.

We loved going through and exploring all the little rooms in this castle. There was so much to look at and not many people around, which kind of led my mother to get into a little mischief..evidence below...she said there were just books in the cabinets

After the Castle we hurried on down the road 20 minutes to the town of Stratford upon Avon. This town is the birth place of William Shakespeare. He also died in this town and was buried here.

I was only about to see the tops of the spires of the Holy Trinity Church. We didn't have time to visit. We did however get to see many of the Tudor style building that William Shakespeare occupied during his lifetime. We were able to walk past a school where he attended.

We also saw the grounds of where his last house used to be, or the house in which he died. In the 1700's its owner was annoyed by tourists and he burned the house to the ground. There is now only a garden and the houses foundations left.

After we ate a wonderful lunch for me of Cottage Pie, one of my new favorite dishes, we walked through the streets over to the house where Shakespeare was born. It was larger than I had thought.

We were able to walk through it and see what it might have been like when he was alive. His father’s workshop was also in the house. It was a fun experience.

We then were off to the town of Oxford. We were able to tour Christ Church, where some of the Harry Potter films were made.

We then took a tour of the City and wonder around the towns beautiful streets investigating the different colleges and marveling in the architecture that make up Oxford University. I didn't think I would like this town so much.

I actually like it better than The other college AKA Cambridge.

It was also fun to see a window, 2nd to the left on the top, where Lewis Carroll penned some of his famous works. Oxford was actually one of my favorite places to stop on this day.

We had fun adventures. Here is a pic of one of our tour buses. This was actually taken in Bath, but though I’d tack it on the end.

A Day at Windsor, Stonehenge and Bath

2009-02-19T22:32:00.006-06:00

I wish that I could say I spent a day at each, but no I spent a day in a bus quickly jumping from place to place. If you want to see as much as you can for not much money, I say, a tour is the way to go. It leaves you wishing that you would have had more time in each place, but I’d do it over again in a flash.

Our tour first took us to Windsor Castle. Which is the largest inhabited castle in the world and, dating back to the time of William the Conqueror is the oldest continuous lived in as well. We were able to tour the grounds and see Queen Mary’s Doll house.

Sadly we weren’t able to see inside because it was closed to the public that day. It’s ok though. I still got to see St Georges chapel there where King Henry VIII and many other modern monarchs are buried.

I snuck a couple of pictures here, even though I wasn’t supposed to. The grounds of this castle were beautiful. I wish I could have done some more exploration. We even got to see a group of sentries marching through the lower.

Stonehenge was another item on my list to see. Again it wasn’t what I expected. I was shocked as our tour bus pulled up and we drove right next to it. I thought you had to walk a ways in to see it. It was surrounded in green fields with grazing sheep. There were paths that encircled it. Some very close, which I was grateful for.

We also got little head sets to learn about it, but sadly didn’t have lots of time to listen, I spent too much time trying to take the perfect picture with a dysfunctional camera.

It was a lot smaller than I had pictured, but I loved it and would see it again. I’d take more time to listen to its history. The main thing to know about this is, they don’t know what it was used for, but there are lots of theories.

We then got to see some of the picturesque English countryside. Wow was it pretty. The rolling hills with hedge rows blanketed the countryside as it gently folded its way down into the valleys were the city of Bath is located. Bath sits as many cities’ I saw in this trip do, upon the river Avon. It’s a wonderful city that’s buildings were rebuilt with limestone in the 1700’s.

The main reason for our visit to Bath was for the Roman Baths. They were used before the Romans, but the Romans built the temple and a bath around the hot springs in around 70 AD and were used by them until they left in the 5th century.

I loved visiting the Baths. It was kind of like a step back in time. There were people sitting in Roman style clothing and if you imaged hard enough, you could picture what it must have been like. Not many people were at the bath on this rainy day.
Sadly the top area was closed due to inclement weather. We got to take a head set and learn as we walked around the bath and the museum around it. Again I wish I would have had more time to learn about it, walk the streets of Bath and See inside the Abbey, But at least I was given the chance to see it and walk those streets.

Westminster Abbey

2009-02-19T22:24:00.003-06:00

Westminster Abbey was another mark in my book. It well worth the 12 or so pounds I paid to get in. There is so much history in the Abbey. The statues, carvings and architecture is beautiful.

I loved how many of the old Monarchs were buried here. My favorite being Elizabeth I. My mother thought the place felt more like a crypt. I thought It was nice that they paused once an hour to say a prayer of the loud speakers and have everyone stop to pray or reflect.

I just loved being where so many people that had such an impact on history had been or were buried. To me, being seeing where they are buried is kind of like meeting them. Anyway, It was amazing. All of the Kings and Queens since William the Conqueror in 1066 had been crowned there. Wish I could have taken pictures inside. Oh well that’s what books are for.

501 Pictures of Big Ben

2009-02-08T23:25:00.003-06:00

So I recently took a wonderful trip to England with my mother. I’ve been waiting for this trip for a long time. There are so many things I want to see in this world. I actually have a list of them.

One item on that list was to see England’s Parliament and Big Ben. I am now proud to say that I have accomplished that task and can check off a couple items on my list of things to do before I die and I have 1001 pictures to prove it.

I also found out something interesting about the Clock Tower. Its name isn’t Big Ben. Big Ben is the name of the bell inside the clock tower, which has a beautiful deep ring if I do say so myself.

My first view of the tower was not what I had expected. I thought I would see it from afar and be awestruck as I wound through the streets till I found the expansive gothic structures that seemed to fallow behind the clock tower.

What really happened was my mother and I wandered out of the tube station kind of lost and confused. There were many different ways to exit and I all I could do was stare up at the signs telling the direction for points of interest. We started up the steps and I first remember looking at the base of a very beautiful building. The first thing that came to mind was wow they have tons of pretty buildings here, but then it clicked in my head to look up and at that moment I saw it, The Gigantic Clock Tower that I knew as Big Ben.

I couldn’t believe it at first. I thought that there must have been another big tower, but after a little looking and staring I figured how could there be another big clock tower on a building and me not know about it. Anyway It was amazing to me.

The Tower was so beautiful. I loved the gold around the face and the detail. It was staggering to me. Much better than the Eifel tower. First time I saw it I thought it was just a big piece of rusted metal, but this was a masterpiece. Ok I might be weird but I loved it.

The Sugar Bowl Party!!!

2009-01-16T09:12:00.004-06:00

One of my friends had a big Sugar Bowl Party. It was great big screen TV, comfy couch, friends and lots of pizza and Diet Coke. This year the Utes were taking on the Alabama Crimson Tide in what I thought was going to be a very sad game for the Utes. I was praying that the U would at least make a field goal against the best defience in the country. I was shocked and amazed as the Utes started making touch downs. We started screaming and cheering so much that I was horse the next day. I have a very good friend from Alabama, who I kept texting through out the game. I gave my Condulances to him after his poor little team lost.

The Utes won 31 to the Crimson Tides 17.....wow am I glad that I didn't make bets with anyone!!!

The Holidays

2009-01-05T10:48:00.010-06:00

The Holidays were a little crazy for me this year. It was a lot of flying but also some time with spent with my family.

Right before Christmas my mom had a Christmas Concert for her singing group reflections. It was so much fun!! They did such a great job singing this year, my father even got to sing in this concert with a group of men. They were called the mirror image.

I was so proud of both of them and went picture crazy. I think I drove everyone nuts.

The next night I got to go to two friends Christmas Parties. I went to my friend Torri's and had wasel and joined most people on the couch and watch byu lose their bowl game. It was pretty fun though.
Watching the Pioneer Bowl
Jen, Torri and I
Need I say more?
Next I went to my friend Dave's house. When I walked in the had started a Christmas program. Everyone was sitting down facing the door. When I walked in a felt on stage. There were so many people there. It was the most amazing christmas program, just for fun, I'd ever seen. I felt like I was at a church function stuck in a house. Well some things weren't church appropriate.

It made me really want to start doing that. There was singing, guitars,
a fake wedding proposal and refusel, funny skits and even a visit from a scary santa and his elf.
for Christmas this year I had to go on a 5 day trip. My father had to take me to the airport because there was a crazy snow storm that made driving terrible, in my case it made it hard to get to work in less than two hours.

I was on a tiny 30 seat prop plane for Christmas, we went to exotic far off places like freezing cold Gillette WY, Sun Valley and Rock Springs. My first night I was on a bigger plane and overnighted in Calgary Canada.

I was very lucky this year. On Christmas eve, I was supposed to be in Twin Falls Idaho. The cross winds were terrible and the runway snow packed. The conditions were terrible. We were descending when the captain told us we had to turn around and go home. I was so grateful that my luck turned good and I was able to spend Christmas eve and Christmas morning with my family.
Christmas night I went back to Gillette. We tried to go out and eat dinner. We called 41 different restaurants and fast food joints and non were open. Finally we found a diner in the Flying J and ate there. It wasn’t that great, but it was nice to have a good steak, for Christmas dinner.

My sister and her cute little boys came down after Christmas. I had two days off in the middle of flying so I came down and played. We had Christmas all over again with them. Here is Chase and Trey opening their present from me. Cubs Base ball hats! Aunt Laura Has one to match. Here is Keegan and Mommy. Keegan loved the soft little bear I got him.
Here is Trey and a airplane he got from the grandparents. It was so cute when he opened it. He said "It's just what I always wanted!!" It was so cute to here his little voice say that.

It had snowed a ton, so me and the boys played out in the snow and made a snow man and snow angels and even had a little snow ball fight. Grandma had to make snow pants for them out of garbage bags. It was really creative.

For our late Christmas dinner I made a turkey. I got a brine recipe from my uncle that I wanted to try. I usually don’t like turkey, but when this one was done it was amazing! It was the best turkey I’ve had in my life. I also got to fix the entire dinner. It was fun to be put in charge of it.

Me and the Turkey

My True feelings about having to touch it!!
I also bought a little something special for our party. I went and bought three different kinds of German Christmas cookies. It cost a lot but was totally worth it.

It wasn’t to long before I had to run out the door and be off again on another 4 day trip. I was in Phoenix two nights and then the last night I was supposed to be in Jackson Hole, but my trip was changed and I was sent to Oakland.

I think my father in heaven wanted to help me be with family for the Holidays. I was so lucky that my Uncle Larry lives close by. He came and picked me up and I was able to spend New Years with his family. I had such a great time. We had a wonderful dinner of Ribs and a toast at 10 to bring in the New Year. The kids and I had to go to bed. I had to get up at 4 am to get ready for work.
It was a wonderful Holiday season and even though I had to work like crazy during it, I was still blessed to spend the most important parts of it with family.

Temple Square

2009-01-05T10:30:00.003-06:00

Every Year my mother has a concert at temple square. It is a tradition in our family to go here her sing and then walk around and look at the beautiful Christmas lights around the temple. This year I was on a plane home from Chicago and just missed my mother singing. I couldn't find any parking. I did get to walk around and go out to eat with them afterwards. Here are some pictures from the night.

Christkindlmart and the Freezing cold!!!

2008-12-08T13:52:00.005-06:00

The weather in Chicago this weekend was pure evil!!! On Saturday I thought it wasn't going to be to bad. I had a friend bring me downtown, so that I could check out the wonderful Decorations and the Christmas atmosphere.

I check my luggage into Nordstrom and then walked around Michigan Ave. I loved looking at the wreaths, the lights, and ornaments all around. I thought It interesting that signs were posted all over the sidewalks that said watch out for falling Ice. That was scary and always had me looking up.

I then walked over to the German Christmas market at Daley Plaza. There was a light snow, but the weather was pleasant. When I got to the Plaza it was completely packed with people. There were huge lines to get into the few shops that were indoors. I quickly walked over to look through the rows of outdoor shops and found that I couldn't use my credit card. I had to use cash to buy food.

I quickly assessed my funds and found it not to be enough to buy hardly anything. If I wanted to make purchases at other little shops I had to spend over 20 dollars. That wouldn't have been bad, except most of the things I wanted were in different shops. I had a problem. My debit card was having issues and I couldn’t get out more cash. I finally bought some kindergluwein, a spiced cider, stood at a table out of the way and called my bank. The weather quickly started to turn worse. By the time I got off the phone, the air was wet and started to become bitter cold. The bank told me, the only thing to do was to find a bank that would let me use my credit card and get money directly from them. My bank isn't in Chicago. I wandered the streets for awhile. I locating a few banks which were closed. I then realized it was Saturday and I was probably out of luck!

By that time my feet and hands were frozen and my nose was beyond that. I went back to the market, watch a cute little band play and wandered in a few of the shops, before I decided to go back to the mall and warm up.

I was supposed to go to a couple of different friends houses that night, but because of my debit card problems, no way to get money and the thought of having to walk around in the cold weather. I decided it wasn't worth it. I grabbed my bags, took my couple of dollars left to my name and bought a CTA pass back to the airport and caught the next plane home. I'll go back when it’s just a bit warmer and I actually have money to get from point A to point B.

I had a good time though. There is nothing better than a good old German Christmas Market to Celebrate the Holidays!!! Next I’ll remember to bring more cash so I can get some potato pancakes and applesauce, lebkuchen, Brats and sauerkraut….mmmm

A Christmas Carol and A Birthday Party

2008-12-08T13:25:00.004-06:00

I just can't seem to stay away from Chicago. My old roommate, the theater and the Christmas season excited to return. I bought tickets online to attend a production of A Christmas Carol at the Goodman Theater. My old roommate Chelsea came with me. The weather was less than pleasant as was the traffic situation. We quickly parked the car and took the train into the city.

We were an hour early and didn't know it, so we settled our hunger with 3 dollar Sugar bomb cookies and hot cocoa thick as mud. I thought I was going to go into shock.
The Play was wonderful. It kind of scared me in a few places, when Jacob Marley came in and also the Ghost of Christmas Future. It was really kind of creepy. I decided things are creepier in person than on TV. Anyway this is one of my favorite Christmas stories. I love seeing the transformation of Scrooge and seeing how having the spirit of giving can change people’s lives.

The next day was my friend Lauren's Birthday. We had a party for her at night and a bunch of friends got together to go watch a band play. We had lots of fun. The only bad thing was the weather. I was so glad that I had warn a sweater with a hood. When we came out of the place, it was a blizzard. I threw on my hood, linked arms with a friend and ran slip sliding out to our car, which we couldn't find, because it was covered in snow. We finally made it home unscathed, Thank goodness.

Lauren,Chelsea and I

Dave and Melissa's Wedding

2008-12-08T11:19:00.008-06:00

It's wonderful when two great people find that perfect person for them. In this case it was my friends Dave and Melissa. They are so cute and made for each other. They were married at the end of November and I loved the reception. I was a little late to it because they were married the Day after the reception and I got confused, but I made it.

They had it downtown Salt Lake City at the Gallivan Center Plaza. It was Beautiful all decked out in Black, red and White and Christmas Decorations through the plaza. There were glass plates filled with delicious cookies and little ceramic cups for the hot cocoa.

After my Friend Jen and I went in to give our Congrats, Dave gave us tickets to go Ice Skating. We all went outside and gathered around little fire pits and waited for the Ice to be cleared. Then an announcement was made For Mr. and Mrs. Dave Toronto and they were given the first turn on the Ice. It was so cute and clever to have their first skate instead of a first dance. I loved it. Everyone clapped for them as they went around the outdoor rink. It was perfect.

Thanksgiving 2008

2008-11-30T17:30:00.003-06:00

This year was not that eventful of a Thanksgiving. The day before Thanksgiving my parents and I got the stomach flu. We caught it from my cute little nephews and all felt a little under the weather. The morning of Thanksgiving I had to fly to Pocatello. My father was kind enough, even in his sickened state, to come up there and pick me up, so that we could spend Thanksgiving as a family.
My mom fixed yummy food, but because we all felt so crummy hardly any of it was consumed. Mother’s famous pies weren’t even made.

We all ended up just laying there watching a couple Christmas shows, not saying too much. Then mother had to take me back up to Pocatello so I could fly back the fallowing morning.
Even though we were all sick, I was very grateful that my trip was so close to home and that my parents were able to come get me so we could celebrate together.

My 30th Birthday!!

2008-11-30T17:28:00.001-06:00

Yes to I am now Officially 30. I've decided it’s not too bad. I think I was more traumatized the two weeks before it happened than I am now. For the past couple of years I've thought about what I would do on my 30th birthday. The big party I would have, the friends that I would have over. It didn't happen how I had first anticipated.

I was able to go up to my sister’s house in Oregon. My parents and I drove up there the night before. It was so much fun to wake up to my 4 year old nephew Chase wishing me happy birthday. My mother made my sister and I apple cinnamon pancakes, fried potatoes and Bacon for breakfast. There was even a candle in the pancakes.

After that my sister, dad and I went down to the store and after a little comprising, picked out veggies and meat for stir fry. Mom or Grandma stayed home with the kids and they decorated a cake for us and drew pictures. When my sister and I got home I made funny little crowns out of construction paper for us.

We then opened presents and ate cake. It was a pretty fun party even though it was just with my mom, dad, Lisa and her kids.

On the way home I tricked my dad into letting me drive and I stopped in Boise and took them to a movie theater and begged them to let me watch Twilight for my birthday. I was grateful my dad sacrificed his pride and came with me to watch it. I loved it. It wasn't the crazy party I'd always thought about, but what better way to spend a birthday than with your family!!

All My Trips

2008-11-30T12:12:00.004-06:00

Recently I've had many wonderful adventures to far off lands. Ok they weren't that far off. I went to Calgary Canada and amazingly it wasn't to cold outside. The Hotel van took us out somewhere to eat and didn't pick us up. We had to walk home and i was grateful for the nice weather. We were almost late leaving. At least it was good food.

I was also given the wonderful opportunity to end that trip in San Francisco. I decided to stay there with my Aunt and Uncle for a few days. We had so much fun. We went out for Sushi the first night and then I got to hang out with my Aunt and go shopping!!! So much fun. We even got to go on a couple of different walks to look at the beautiful fall leaves. It was strange to me to see Palm trees next to trees with color changing leaves.

I was also able to see a friend from College Melinda Clayson. We ate way to much food at the cheesecake factory. We also got some cheese cake there and some to go.

After that trip I immediately went out on another one. I called it my arctic north trip. It was so cold. I went to places like, Casper WY, Bismarck ND, and strangely my favorite of them Helena MT. Just so everyone knows. Location is everything!!! The hotel location was changed in Helena. It was actually downtown. The city is actually pretty neat. There is a beautiful Cathedral that lured me out of my warm and cozy hotel room. I walked up the hill to take a picture and saw many other buildings with interesting architecture. I started walking around looking at different monuments and plaques to learn the history.

The old part of town was so neat. They had old looking clocks on the street and statues everywhere. They also had this street called last chance gulch that was just a pedestrian zone. I loved it. It reminded me of my mission. I also got to eat at a little place called Coney Island. They had some amazing Gyros there. Can’t wait till the summer when I can walk around and sit outside on some benches with an Ice Cream cone.

The clock

Me and Last Chance Gluch

Little Sahara

2008-11-12T20:40:00.004-06:00

So last Saturday I went with a bunch of friends to the Little Sahara Desert west of Nephi. We got there after 9 at night. It was so much fun, but rather chilly. We started a fire and then went out riding. It was kind of hard to see at night but that kind of made it fun.

One of my friends took me up to the top of a very large sand hill. It was kind of scary and I prayed most of the time we wouldn’t roll over. It was so pretty. You could see the stars and look around for miles. I even called my mother from the top.

After we got back to camp we just sat around the fire talking and gossiping…my favorite was eating roasted starburst. The best thing about the entire night was that we had a generator and a heater in the tent. It would have been so cold otherwise. We went to bed around 3:30 and I woke up at 7 right when it started to get light. Everything had a thin sheet of Ice on it. I wanted to get a picture of the sun rising so my friend and I wiped off the seat of a bike and went up to the top of the hill and watched as the sun peaked over the mountains and spilled over the valley. It was so beautiful. I had to leave very soon after that because I was on call, but it was a fun weekend.

This was the hill that we went up on the 4 wheeler

Here is when we were going down the hill

Here is a picture the other way….looking up the hill

View of my Room and House

2008-11-06T12:58:00.006-06:00

so this is for my sister...she wanted me to post some pictures of my room and house so she could see them...they aren't going to stay up here forever and this is not how it is finally going to look...still working on it...well my room anyway...the rest of the house is furnished by my roomies :)

This is a view of my room with the double doors looking in from the front room.

this one you can see the window seal which I turned into a bookshelf...I know its amazying and you can also see the door to one of my closets..I have two. The other is in the bathroom. This one is just like a coat closet.

This is a little corner you can see well in the other pics...that is my new lamp..mom helped pick it out. I don't have an overhead light so this brightens up the room.

This is the boring side of my room right now... it will look totally different when I'm done..the pictures will be on the walls the dresser will be in my closet and there will be a beautiful black bookcase and stuff...I'll show you when i'm done.

Here is the bathroom...its only a half bath, but its inside of my room, so I'm fine with that. I can shower upstairs and then do my hair and stuff down here.

The rest of the house is kind of self explanitory. here is the front room.

The Stair. I love how all over she has the cutiest sayings and quotes.

Dining Room

The kitchen. I love the red walls and the fake hard wood floors..I'd do what she has in there in my house anyday!!!

First Big Snow

2008-11-05T17:46:00.002-06:00

So yesterday I woke up to tons of rain and this morning I woke up to tons of snow. I was going to leave the house today, but wow after this mess, I called my dad to get me a news paper and only went to the store down the street for some milk...then I cuddled up on my couch to read and watch tv with a warm cup of cocoa....mmmmm
I'm still in denial about the snow, but come it must....I guess I need it in the mountains to go skiing. Oh more good news I found out one of my new roomies is a skier. I'm so happy!!!!

Lot O'Rain

2008-11-04T17:23:00.002-06:00

So this morning I woke up to lots of Rain pounding on my window and filling up the street. When i walked out to get into my car the water was so high it went above my ankles. It was kind of Raining slush to. Made for a nasty election day morning. My roomie had to go out and vote in it and wow I was so happy that I had decided to vote early!!

Moving yet Again!!!

2008-11-04T14:14:00.004-06:00

So on Saturday the 1st my parents and I loaded up a friends truck and my mothers car with some of my stuff and moved me yet again from their house to my new place in Draper. I have been moving around so much lately that I am so excited to finally be in one place and hope that I stay there for awhile.
I'm moving in with 3 other girls into a town house in draper. I'm really excited and it should be lots of fun.
We had to kind of run all over the valley to get my stuff. The biggest was my bed at my cousin kim's house. I'm so glad people were so nice to let me store my stuff places.
After I dropped all my stuff off my mom, dad and I went to watch a movie. It was a great way to relax before I actually had to start unloading boxes...not looking forward to that......I had forgotten that I had so much stuff!!!!

This is my place in Draper

My dad tying down the stuff in the truck

Halloween

2008-11-04T14:05:00.004-06:00

Halloween is my FAVOITE HOLIDAY!!! This year my mother and I got up, put on some spoky music and carved our pumpkins. We also went out and voted for ouf favorite canditates and issues.
When we got home I sadly had to go to work. I was so disapointed, because I wanted to help pass out candy this year. I went to San Diego and back, so it wasn't that bad of a work day. When I got home my mother made sure that all the pumpkins and lanterns were still lit. I went up to the door and prentended to be a trick or treater. I got some pretty good candy too :) My mom was dressed as a witch and my dad was a pirate...He makes a pretty good one. Well I took a picture with them and then we watched Hocus Pocus. It was a pretty good night.

Me,Dad and Mom on Halloween after I got back from work....I didn't get to dress up this year.

What I saw walking up the steps....don't they look good!!

Just Couldn't Stay Away!!

2008-11-04T12:04:00.001-06:00

Last week I just couldn't stay way from my Friends and the Fall time in Chicago so I had to go back and visit. Before I went out there though I went on a four day trip work trip. We went to Denver where I got to see the Beautiful leaves.

I also went to Lincoln Nebraska where it rained most of the time but I got to walk around in their old town and look in some cute little shops and at all the yummy looking restaurants. I then walked downtown to get myself some cheap food. When I was checking out at the counter the song rain drops keep falling on my head started to play. The guy behind the counter said oh this song came just in time. I looked outside and to my dismay he was right. I had to then walk back 5 or 6 city blocks back to my hotel in a freezing rain storm in just a light sweater. brrrr!!!

My work trip ended in San Francisco so I decided not to fly back to Salt Lake, but take a plane then and there and go straight to Chicago. It was so much fun, but sooo cold and no I didn't bring a coat with me.

I went with my friends Michael and Sean to see The Blue Man group. Which was kind of weird, like nothing I'd ever seen. Non of them said a word, they just did weird things like play musical instruments made out of pipe, paint things, eat things and there was some audience interaction. It was fun though.

After a group of us went to a little cafe in Evanston called Kaffeine. They had tons of different kinds of specialty drinks. It was a laid back chill college kid atmosphere. They had these couches we sat on for awhile that made me feel like I was at Central perk just chilling on the couch like they did in Friends. We then stayed up watching movies all night long.

Most of the time i stayed at my friend Tiffany and Chrissy's apartment downtown. It was so fun to walk out and be right down in the heart of the city. I got to go to church and see all of my friends, walk around downtown and see the leaves and feel the biting cold wind. My old roomie and I went out for dinner downtown one night and then we all sat up in the hot tub chit chatting and looking out over the city from there roof. I loved it.
Ps this is a view from their apartment window.

I was also able to go support my friend Kelsey Shearer and go to her play that she was in called Bernarda Alba. It was a sad play, but very good and I was glad that I was able to see it.

I wish the trip could have been longer and I could have seen more of my friends but I had a great time and was glad I was able to go.

Me and My friend Michael outside the blue man group theater. Its funny I used to live right around the corner from this place and saw this sign all the time, but thought it was just an advertisment...didn't know it was their theater.

We weren't supposed to take pic's inside..so this is my illigal pic :)

This is just a Giant Bat Statue that I've been looking for and finally found down town right by the Train Station.

On Daley Plaza they had an interesting show for Chicagoween. They mostly had acrobats and people just making jokes. It was kind of fun!!

At Daley Plaza they change the color of the fountain for different Holidays...Here it is Bright Orange for Halloween :)

Utah, Oregon and The Move

2008-10-11T18:33:00.004-05:00

a lot has happened since I wrote on here last.
I had a great last couple of weeks in Chicago, but then I sadly had to move back home to Utah. One of the fun things that I got to do was go to a place to eat called Super Dawgs. My Uncle David told me to go there since I got to Chicago and I finally made it. They had a 2 big Hot dogs on top of the place. Mr. and Mrs. Dawg. It was kinda funny, but fun as well.

I also got to go visit the Botanic gardens again and hang out with my friend Michael. I think the funnest thing to do was drive his Nissan 350Z down the freeway. It was so fast and smooth. I loved having the windows rolled down and the radio turned up. When I got home and sunk behind the wheel of my little old dodge neon..wow did the 350 Z make that car seem like a little putt putt....

My friend had a little going away party for me on that last sunday. It was so fun to see everyone there and just chatting.

It seemed like I hung out more that week than any. I went to an FHE on wed. night. We played the wii and watched a movie.

I went downtown the last day I was on call with my friend Chris. We went to eat at Uno's pizza place, went down Michigan Ave and to Navy Pier. After that I went to my friend Tiffany's house to a party to watch The Office.
I then left the next day to head back home. I put my two suitcases full of my stuff on an airplane, worked a couple of flights before getting back on a plane and heading home to Utah.
I moved all my stuff back to my parents house in Tremonton for now. I'm trying to save money you see.
Well, a couple days after I moved home my Grandma Penrod had her 70th Birthday party. I flew my sister and her baby Keegan down from Oregon to go to the party and we surprised everyone. I loved the shock on their faces.

After the party I drove my sister back up to Oregon and Stayed there for a few days. It was so much fun.
I got to play with my nephews and get them ready for bed a few nights all by myself. I was pretty proud of myself. The boys and I went to town one night and bought cookies and hot juice (soda pop) and watched a movie. We had lots of fun. I love spoiling them :)

This past week I had my friend Martin come in from switzerland. We were on our missions together. I helped him extend his vacation here and then we went up to the U to hang out with another kid from the mission. We talked and ate. It was pretty fun. Oh I also got us lost a couple of times.

Today my mom and I got to go downtown and look at decorations for Halloween. We spent last night cutting flowers outside because it was going to freeze, making a pumpkin desert and watching halloween movies. I love Halloween and can't wait for it.

Best Seats in the House!!!

2008-09-18T12:17:00.004-05:00

Recently when I went home to visit, my dad and I went out to watch The Dark Knight. We wanted to see it in Imax before it left theaters. Well when we got our tickets we were in shock. The guy who let us in said you two have the best seats in the house. Reclining leather seats. They even had huge leather and wooden arm rests. It was amazing!!! It was almost like sitting in a lazy boy at home, but better!!! Bigger screen of course!!

The Twin Cities

2008-09-10T11:43:00.004-05:00

This past weekend I was able to go up to visit some of my friends that live up in near St. Paul Minnesota. The first night there we watched lots of football highlights and college football. On Sunday we went to church and I got to see the temple. Then my friend Liz and I drove all around Minneapolis and St. Paul. We drove through the neighborhoods and parks. I got to see tons of cool Cathedrals and the Capital.
Then that night we watch more football. The Bears play the Colts...All the girl, except me, sat behind the couches and scrap booked and the boys and me watched the game. I wish I could have seen a bit more in the City, but we all had a good time just hanging out watching lots of football.

St Paul Capital Building

Me and Liz

Minneapolis

Pretty Cathedral

Rainy Days

2008-09-10T10:31:00.002-05:00

One thing that I am going to miss so much when I go back home to Utah is all the rain they get here in Chicago. Twice this past week it rained the entire day. It wasn't a little bit of rain...It was constant rain all day!!! It made you want to just curl up on the couch with a blanket and a cocoa!!! I will miss that. I wish you could tell in this picture how are it was raining.

Midnight Sun Sadness

2008-09-04T10:01:00.002-05:00

So I was looking some stuff up online and found out that Stephenie Meyer isn't going to finish her book Midnight Sun...For those who don't know it is the book Twilight from Edward's prospective. I guess someone leaked the book and she decided not to finish it...hopefully just for now.

She put the draft on her website if anyone would like to read it....
http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/pdf/midnightsun_partialdraft2.pdf

Also here is her official statement on her webpage if you’d like to read that as well…
http://stepheniemeyer.com/midnightsun.html

First Signs of Fall

2008-09-03T21:23:00.003-05:00

So today I noticed the first signs of fall....The weather was finally cool today and I think that it is now the start of cold weather. I am so sad. I took a walk today because the weather was so wonderful and noticed the leaves on some of the trees start to turn colors. I am excited for the pretty leaves, but I am sad that the summer is over. Goodbye Summer 2008

Sidewalk Cafes

2008-09-03T11:52:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite things here in Chicago are the little outdoor cafes..Well when it gets warm outside, many of the cafes and restaurants open up their large windows or even entire walls to the street. I love having them wide open and the tables outside on the sidewalks. It is so relaxing to just sit outside in the wonderful perfect air. I don't think I have had a more perfect summer, weather wise, than this one. Nothing is more fun than sitting outside at a little cafe, eating great food and chatting with a brunch of friends.

Chicago Botanic Gardens

2008-09-03T11:28:00.005-05:00

So I went to the Botanic Gardens Here in Chicago 3 times last month and loved them. There were so many beautiful sites...I took tons of pictures. I don't have many of myself but I'm going to put a few on here that I took that I like lots.

Pretty Water Fall

One Of Many

Japanese Garden

The Benches

Tell me if you like my pics!!!

The Parents Visit

2008-08-24T15:52:00.005-05:00

So my parents came into Chicago to visit last week. It was so much fun. My mother had to be on crutches the entire trip but we had lots of fun anyway.
We went and saw The air and water show, The Botanic Gardens, A Boat and River Tour,a White Sox game and The Field Museum. We even got to here Elder Oaks speak in a special confrence for our stake that sunday as well. We then ran over to the Chicago Temple.

We also ate at some very good places. I really liked the greek food that we had. I think it has become my new favorite.

I was really sad to see my parents go. Oh well all good things must come to an end. Tons of fun though!!! My dad has lots of the cool pics on his camera. I didn't get to steal them before he left.

Fun in Louisville

2008-08-22T13:34:00.005-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I was able to go to Louisville Kentucky for a couple of nights. Well it was for work but I was there two nights in a row. I was so glad when I got there to find out that we had a new hotel that was right in the heart of Downtown.

The first day I was able to walk down by the Ohio River and the Steamboat docks. I also got to walk around downtown, by there town hall and read all the historic signs and see the statues. The town was so nice and tidy. I even liked the humidity pressing against me like a down comforter. Weird huh!! It wasn't to hot that is probably why.

I also loved all of the fountains in the city and this little downtown area on 4th street. It was like an outdoor mall, but covered and they have live concerts there at night.

The next day I was able to go to the Louisville Slugger factory. It was so much fun watching them make bats and learning about there history. I got to see bats used by greats such as Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Shoeless Joe Jackson and Ty Cobb. I also got to see baseballs signed by every president from Theador Roosevelt on.

I think the thing I was most grateful for was that when I left my phone there the first night. I got to go back that night and pick it up!!

Breaking Dawn

2008-08-04T23:46:00.003-05:00

I was so happy that on August 1st I was able to go to a Barnes and Nobles here in downtown Chicago and buy my copy of Breaking Dawn, the newest of the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer.

I was trying to get home to Utah, so I didn't know what state I would be in. I was working on the first and my schedule was switched around a lot making it so I got home really late.

When I got home I quickily jumped on a couple different buses to make it downtown at about 12:15. I ran in the store and thought that it would be crazy busy. There was just a small line. I looked around for other people, but realized that everyone was already in line. I thought it was going to be as big as Harry Potter, but here in Chicago it was not. The cashiers started yelling is there anyone else. I quickly walked up and asked for 2 books. One for me and one for my mom. I also saw this really cool Godiva chocolate that had a picture of twilight on it and the saying Can you resist temptation? I thought it was perfect so I bought one for my mom and my sister and myself of course. I was the last person in the store to by the book and quickly left after that.

I'm really glad I made it. I love fun random nights like that!!

The New Place

2008-07-30T01:47:00.003-05:00

My sister wanted me to put up a picture of my new place on here. It's not a big apartment building like it was by the lake, its just a small building with 2 apartments, like a house really. We are on the very top floor. Its kinda fun.

Fireworks at Grant Park

2008-07-26T23:24:00.003-05:00

.
Here are the fireworks tonight at grant park. They were really fun to see. This was the finally. I loved the roar of the crowd at the end and the echo off of the buildings

Lilly Lake, Wisconsin

2008-07-26T20:04:00.006-05:00

Today I went to an activity for the singles branch. It was up in Wisconsin at Lilly Lake. It was the cutest little thing. The entire lake was surrounded by houses and trees. All of the houses had boat docks with their boats. It looked just like a large swimming hole.

We got there and ate hamburgers and hotdogs. They had Kayak and a rope you could swing out into the water on. Lots of people sat on the dock, talked and fished.

We also got to go out on the boat. I went wake boarding again. I don't think I’m going to hurt as bad this time. The lake was so small and choppy. There were tons of boats and the lake was so small we had to turn a lot. After we came in I even got to go in the Kayaks for a little run. It was a perfect day.

I'm Moving Today

2008-07-25T17:47:00.002-05:00

My lease is up on my apartment, so that means I have to move. I am sad to be moving away from the Lake and the City and moving closer to the airport. I wont be in an apartment this time but the top of a house. I'm Kind of sad about that, but don't plan on staying long. I hope to be back in Sandy soon.

The Dark Knight and The Gotham Times

2008-07-20T15:34:00.004-05:00

So I went out and watch the movie The Dark Knight yesterday. It was pretty good. I defiantly don't think it is a show for the kiddies or my mother. It’s really violent and graphic, with bits of comic relief. They incorporated more than one villain into the show and did a very good job at it. Heath Ledger did a great Job as the Joker. I think he portrayed a crazy psycho path better than almost anyone I’ve seen, which kind of concerns me that others might get crazy ideas. I had a big headache when it was over because i sat so close to the screen, guess that just shows I need to make it to the theater early to get better seats. :)

One of the things I liked lots about it was that it was filmed in Chicago. It was fun, because I kept saying to myself hey I know where that is, through the entire movie.
When I walked outside after the movie was over there was a guy selling Gotham Times newspapers for a buck. It was so fun, because it felt like I was really in Gotham. I was in the City it was filmed in and as I walked out of the Theater I picked up the Gotham times and walked down streets in the movie. It was so fun!!

Ed Debevics

2008-07-20T15:09:00.005-05:00

I went out to eat with my roomie, her mom and her niece. We went to a place called Ed Debevics. It was the weirdest place to eat. The waiters kind of make fun of you on purpose. I was just given something to drink. They call it a green river. It was good; still don't know for sure what it was. The guy grabbed my phone and hung it up twice when my sister called. A kid tried to get his attention from across the room and he yelled at him "come over here and let me stomp you out like a used cigarette." He even bounced my roomies to go box off her head. We got him back by slowly one at a time ordering desert, so he had to keep going back and re doing the ticket. He got us back by bringing us the tiniest deserts known to man, but at least we got a free little glass with it.

Me and My Green River

Me and the tiniest Sunday

Larsen Family Reunion

2008-07-18T12:07:00.009-05:00

So I also was able to go to the Larsen Family Reunion when I was home. It was so fun to see everyone. My sister and her kids came down and cousins from everywhere.
We ate good food, I helped out with the fish pond, we played some games aka water balloon volleyball. My favorite of course was guessing how many pieces of candy were in surtain jars. I won one of them.
The fish pond

I also got to sit and talk to my Uncle David forever. He loves to sit and talk to me in Norwegian and make me practice. Its pretty fun.

After the Reunion we went back to my parents house and just hung out for a few days. I loved playing with my nephews. Me and Chase made up stories to tell each other on our long drive back home. It was so much fun. I was so sad when I had to leave.

The only bad thing about this trip was that everywhere I went I left something important. My watch,which I need for flying, my book, my Ipod, My phone and Camera charger, My Keys to my apartment and then just a shirt, but still those are all very important things...oh well, maybe someday I'll learn.

The Boys in their war paint watchin tv

Me, mom and Lisa being our crazy selves

Grandpa and Keegan

Fun at Yuba!!

2008-07-18T11:46:00.007-05:00

So I went home this past weekend and went out with some friends to Yuba reservoir down past Nephi. We got there kinda late on Friday, so we just got the camp set up ate and talked around the camp fire. It was so pretty. It made me really miss the mountains. We got to sleep outside under the stars, which was really fun too.

The next morning a handful of us got up really early and went out on the lake. We tried to get out before anyone else did to have smooth water...oh well, it didn’t work. I had fun though. I finally made it back over the wake without crashing. I was happy about that. I swallowed half of the lake though. I only got to be on the water for an hour and a half before I had to leave, but it was so fun.

I'm up

Beautiful Crash...well Beautiful Board

My friend Jeremy Showing off...wait I could do that too I just don't want to make everyone feel bad because they can't!

Steve and James just playin

Delays and Delays!!!

2008-07-18T11:09:00.005-05:00

So my life at the Chicago O’Hare airport is delays, delays, delays..... My last trip before I went home to Utah was full of Delays. We got delayed for 3 hours sitting on our airplane. It was crazy to see the long line of airplanes outside the window waiting to take off. On the last day of the trip, the last turn to Milwaukee was cancelled. I was so happy, because I thought I'd get on an earlier flight out to go home. Of course I thought wrong. Right at the time that we were starting to board a huge storm came through and closed down the airport for a couple of hours.

It came in within minutes. I couldn't even see my plane outside the window. It finally settled down but they wouldn't let the rampers go out to put our bags on the plane because of how bad the lightning was. I was just glad that flight didn't get cancelled after waiting to board for 4 hours.

This wasn't even when it was bad. It got a lot worse. This was taken less than 5 minutes after the pic in the middle. I was going to take more but some guys started talking to me..

The Taste

2008-07-18T10:13:00.006-05:00

So I haven't written for awhile. I went To the Taste of Chicago on the 5th. The Taste is the biggest outdoor food festival in the world. There were over 70 different restaurants and food vendors. I ate a Sauerkraut Pierogie, which was so good and had some Italian ice as a desert. I also got to watch some street performers and I watched Dave Barns perform. It was great food, perfect weather, tons of people, fun entertainment. It was a perfect day!!

Me and the Food

The Food

The Crowds

The Entertainment

Independence Day.

2008-07-05T14:13:00.009-05:00

I was very happy that I was able to spend the 4th of July here in Chicago. The Big fireworks happened here on the 3rd. I had to fly and so I was unable to be there. I had a really late flight that was delayed, so I was able to see many fireworks out of the window of the Plane. It was so neat to see them go off all along the shore of the lake, while I was above them. On the 4th, I went to a Block Party in Berwyn, a suburb, with some friends from the singles ward. I had never been to a block party before and was amazed to discover that the entire city block was blocked off for it.(Hence a block party)silly me!! There was a fire truck, tons of food, A Volleyball tournament as well as a paper airplane contest. One of my friends and I found a big rocket and taped it to our airplane. Yes we were disqualified but it was fun.

We stayed there most of the day and I met tons of new people that I'd felt I'd known for a million years. Later that night I went with another friend down to the lake. We stood on a hill in the middle of a park in Montrose and Watched fireworks in the Harbor as well as tons of people’s random fireworks. We also got to see the ones South in downtown. It was so fun to be surrounded by them. They went off everywhere for at least an hour after the professional ones were over and we just walked around by the lake looking at the lights of the city and watching them..... It was a perfect Independence Day.

Shoplifter

2008-07-02T15:55:00.002-05:00

a few days ago I was at Jewel, A grocery story, and I saw something kinda interesting. I was walking out the front double doors and I heard a man behind me say excuse me. I turned around wondering if I had left a bag of grocery's and realized he was talking to a lady behind me.

She was a lady in her late 40's I would say and He was a young guy in his mid 20's. She turned to him and said. "Do I know you" he said "Yes". She then turned around and started walking again. He again said "excuse me". She said some things I couldn't understand, he kept saying excuse me and tried to grab her arm. She again turned to him and yelled at him "DO I KNOW YOU" he then yelled "YES" and right as I got through the door they both took off running past me. The kid threw off his hat and it almost hit me.

I was so confused about the entire situation, that I ran out into the parking lot to get a better look. The kid tackled the lady. I was shocked and wondered what was going on.

At that time another employee ran out behind me and said, "Oh did somebody steal something?" I then realized what had happened and saw the kid pull handcuffs out of his back pocket, cuff the lady and start bringing her back to the store. I just wish I would have pulled out my phone to take a picture. It was weird and interesting though.

Room Swap

2008-07-01T13:14:00.004-05:00

So last night when I got into My Hotel in Peoria, I couldn't get into my hotel room. I went downstairs told them and they gave me a new key. I still couldn't get into the room. They then switched me rooms.
In the morning I got a couple of phone calls and a man at my door telling me I had to switch rooms again. They moved me back to my orginal room. I then asked if they would comp my breakfast. I was so happy they did it without a second though. When I went downstairs to eat I even got them to comp my captains breakfast to.
It wasn't a problem to me to switch rooms, but it never hurts to ask for hook ups!!

Oh and the hotel was really cool. It had a medival look to it. Old furniture,
gargoyles stain glass windows. It was kinda cool.

Finally Some Cool Air

2008-06-28T21:53:00.002-05:00

So it's been really hot and humid out here. My apartment didn't have air conditioning. I had to go out and buy a fan, but it hardly did anything to cool the place off. A couple of days ago I was trying to sleep when my roomie and her boyfriend came in with an air conditioner that she had picked up from home.

The said do you mind if we wake you up and put it in. Oh believe me, I had no problem with that!! I was so grateful and it was so nice to finally sleep here and have it be cold. I love it!!!

Sailing...I wish

2008-06-27T16:11:00.003-05:00

The other day was such a nice and sunny day out here in Chicago that I decided to go down to the lake. While walking there I ran into some people putting lots of sail boats into the water. I sat and talked to the people for awhile about it and took some pics. It was pretty fun.

Sunrise

2008-06-25T21:15:00.002-05:00

This past week I have had really early show times. I hate having to wake up so early to go to work, but I love being awake to see the sun rise every morning on the airplanes... It's so beautiful. To bad the picture just doesn't do it justice!!!

Beautiful Utah!!

2008-06-24T16:33:00.005-05:00

So I went on a trip back home to Utah this past weekend. It made me miss home so much!! Well the main thing that I couldn't get my eyes off were the mountains!! I just kept staring at them in aw liked I'd never seen them before.

I did tons of fun stuff. I hung out with my friend Dave and had a bon fire, Visited my friend Craig and his new wife. I got the date wrong for their wedding. Sadness!!!

The next day I went with my friend Jen and Torri up to Park City. It was so much fun. I love the little fun shops and the little resort town feel of it. Its like a vacation without really going anywhere. The only thing that suffered was my pocketbook, because of the Outlet mall. oh well!!

Then my favorite thing of all was the Drive in Movies!! We got a group of friends together to watch the Hulk and IronMan. Its a six screen drive in theater and you pay 7 bucks to watch two movies... I love it!! One of my favorite summer night activities!!!

CUBS VS BRAVES!!!

2008-06-13T16:41:00.001-05:00

I can finally check another item of my list of things I wanted to do before I die. That is get inside Wrigley Field and see a Cubs game. I've walked around Wrigley sooo many times.

On Wed. I finally was able to see the Cubs against another team I really like the Braves.

We could only get Standing room tickets, but eventually got to sit down in some seats. It was so fun. I ate hot dogs and soda,

finally got to sing take me out to the ball game at Wrigley and watch the Cubs beat the Braves 7 to 2.

After the game my friends and I hung out in Wrigleyville at Harry Caray's Tavern to celebrate the victory with tons of other people.

It could have been a better night to go out to the ball game!!!

Gas Prices!

2008-06-13T16:37:00.002-05:00

So my friend filled up her honda accord the other day and it cost 62.06 to fill up her tank and that was at the cheap place!!!
I'm glad I don't have my car here. Hurray for CTA!!!!

Lunch w/ the girls

2008-06-13T16:22:00.002-05:00

So a couple of days ago I went out to lunch with the girls to a place called feast. It was a perfect day to sit on the patio and just relax and have girl talk. The girls being some girls from my ward here in Chicago. The funny thing about that though is they are from Utah. Baylee the blond is from my home town of Tremonton Utah and Stephanie Johnson I met at college. Its so crazy how small the world is!!!

The Blues Festival

2008-06-09T12:01:00.004-05:00

I went with my friend Eric to the 25th Anual Blues Festival here in Chicago. It was sooo much fun!! We were able to hear Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials,

Theodis Ealey and an asortment of others. The best thing about it, was it was free.

There was tons of food. Which strangely you had to buy tickets and give the vendors the tickets for your food. The only thing bad about it was the RAIN!! we had many crazy cloud bursts which made my hair look terrible, but it we stayed till the end. Tons of fun!!!

Sunday Dinners

2008-06-01T21:14:00.004-05:00

Every Sunday out here there is a group of friends that get together for dinner. We all meet at one girls house and bring something to contribute. After we are done eating we all sit around and talk about everything under the sun. I love it!!!

At the Races

2008-05-24T15:08:00.002-05:00

Last weekend I went to the horse races in Arlington here in Chicago. It was so much fun. I was on call and afraid I would be called out the hole time, but lucky me I got to stay.
This was my first time every going to a horse race. My room mate Cheslea's friends taught us how to bet on them, but I only bet on them in my head. Good thing to, because my horses never won.
It was freezing the entire time, but I would definatly do it again!!!

Cali and the Mini

2008-05-22T12:52:00.003-05:00

I had a fun passed weekend off. The first day I went home to Tremonton to visit the parents and then went to Cali to visit my friends Lydia and Markuk. When I got in Markus picked me up from the airport. Then Lydia, Markus, I and some of their friends went for a bike ride and out for dessert. The next day we lounged by the pool, went out and ate chinease and watched lots of tv. It was nice and relaxing :)

I also got to drive My friend's old '85 mini from England. It was kinda fun to be on the wrong side of the car driving. It always felt like you were going so fast, but it was soooooo fun!!!!

Lots of Delays

2008-05-12T23:53:00.005-05:00

I just got back from a 3 day trip full of delays...
It started off in Savannah. The Weather was so nice and warm when we got there, but later that night tornado warnings were everywhere. Just as we loaded people on the plane we were grounded because of tornados 40 miles to the north. We took all the passangers off. The wind was crazy and there was tons of rain. 2 hours later we left.

Then when we were back in Chicago we had radar problems and were grounded longer....
We finally got it fixed and left for Moline and got stuck there. They weren't letting anyone in to Chicago...if we would have been delayed 15 more minutes, our flight would have been cancelled.
Oh well, It just made life interesting!!!!

Oregon Trip

2008-05-09T00:05:00.001-05:00

2008-05-09T00:02:00.002-05:00

I went to Oregon to visit my sister’s family for 4 days. It was mostly a Chase weekend. Chase turned 4 years old on the May 7. We had a fun birthday party for him. He also graduated from Preschool. It was so fun to go to his school and see him sing and get his certificate.

We also got to go out and do some fun stuff. One day we went to Ontario and had a picnic in the park. I loved helping the boys play on the big toys and just run around the park.

Aden came home off his mission, so now I have a single person to hang out with. I was starting to feel outnumbered. We mostly worked on the farm. I got to move pipe and watch them plant corn. I like getting out and doing work I don’t do all the time. It was also good to get out in the nice clean air.
I was sad that I had to leave and come back home. I felt like I was just getting settled in. Oh well, Its good I’m a flight attendant and can travel lots!!!

Blue Line Blues

2008-05-08T20:38:00.004-05:00

Every weekend there is construction on the blue line train, which is the train to the airport. This past Sunday was particularly crazy. Half way to the airport we have to get off the train, get on a shuttle and be taken to the next train stop and get back on the train. This time the train we all got on was broken. They finally told us and we had to get off the train and wait for the next one. There were so many people waiting for the train. I’ve never seen so many people trying to get on the train or going up the stairs to the airport. It was crazy. Hope that doesn’t happen too much. I was almost late for work!!

Tulips

2008-05-04T19:35:00.001-05:00

The Tulips are out in downtown Chicago. They are so pretty. I wanted to get more pictures, but my roomie Chelsea and I were on our way to the movies. I thought I would take a few and get them on here, so everyone could see how beautiful they are!!!

SkyWest fun!!

2008-05-04T18:57:00.001-05:00

I thought I would put a picture of me having fun at work. I was bored waiting for my capt to get to the plane so I sat in his seat and the FO took a pic for me. I also thought It would be fun to get a pic of me next to the SkyWest plane I flew on today. We usually have planes just painted as United Express or Delta Connection, so this one was fun.