Jen's Updates

Soldier Hollow Tubing

2012-02-13T19:31:00.001-07:00

Thursday night Mike and I were able to go tubing at Soldier Tubing with our friends Dillon and Courtnie. We had so much fun! None of us had ever been tubing at Soldier Hollow before but it was a blast. Soldier Hollow is up in Heber so just 20-30 minutes up the Provo Canyon.

I wasn't sure what to expect but after going down, I only wanted the hills to be longer and faster. They have six hills that range in speed and bumps/jumps. We went down by ourselves a number of times and then we went in pairs and in a group of four and six (other people joined in). There were huge groups going down all night and I counted 26 people at one point. Can you imagine!?

Mike and I at the top of the hill:

Dillon and Courtnie at the top of the hill:

Riding the tube up the hill:

(The hat: I found a cute hat at American Eagle before Christmas and I bought it without trying it on. All of my snow clothes are at my parents house so the morning of tubing I grabbed it, having never actually put it on and looked in the mirror. Well... it was super warm, but not super cute.)

Mike at the top of the tubing hill:

Best shot I got of Dillon (he was just in such a rush to get down that hill as quick as possible):

Courtnie:

All of us at the bottom of the hill:

I would recommend it to anyone. Tubing is just fun. Dillon & Courtnie: I hope we get to see you guys again soon!

Rigoletto

2012-02-03T20:38:00.000-07:00

Mike and I went to our very first opera last week. Rigoletto. It was very different than I expected but I enjoyed it a lot. I have a problem with staying awake during shows. Movies at the theater. Broadways in New York. And yes, I did fall asleep during the first Act of Rigoletto (and we went to the 2 PM show); but once I woke up, I was awake for the rest of the show. :0)

So... the opera was three hours long, had three acts and two intermissions. All the songs were in Italian so it's too bad I don't know Italian. They had a nice white screen running across the top of the curtains and it translated for all of us English-only speakers. We had good seats which were 8 rows back on the floor (orchestra section).

The story was about a court jester who has a hunchback (Rigoletto). His wife died and to protect his only happiness (his daughter), he locked her away in their house and wouldn't let her venture out into the city except to go to church. Well she met the Duke at church (who happened to be a pimp), and he played her. Rigoletto was upset because of the Duke stealing her virtue as well as for the way the Duke always treated Rigoletto, commanding Rigoletto to make him laugh at any given point in time. So Rigoletto sought revenge and would not leave the city until he had gotten his revenge. He paid someone to kill the Duke but the brother/sister duo that was supposed to kill him had a change of heart and chose to kill the next person who entered their place. Rigoletto's daughter loved the Duke, even knowing that he treated her like every other woman he met, and she overheard the plan of his death while spying on him. She chose to die in his place. In the end Rigoletto was left without his revenge and with a dead daughter in his arms.

The music was beautiful, the voices were incredible and the acting was very well done. I enjoyed what the story line taught - revenge isn't worth it, but I hated that his daughter had to die. So many people already made fun of him for his hunchback, why did so much bad have to happen to him?

I think that I would go to an opera again. I'd like to try an English opera, but I'll take what comes my way.

I didn't get any pictures of Mike & I but I absolutely loved the look of the Capital Theater where the opera was held in Salt Lake City.

Girls Dirty Thirty Night Out

2012-01-29T18:32:00.000-07:00

Our annual Christmastime girls night out sleepover got pushed to January this year so that Kjersten could fly in from DC and attend. Isn't it great that she is willing to fly from DC for a sleepover?! That's the kind of tight-knit group this group is :0)We met at Lindsey's house and talked for about an hour and a half. Then we went to the Corner Bakery Café. It was really yummy and there again we talked and laughed for close to two hours.

Tracy turned 30 the Monday before the party so Amanda transformed the party into a dirty thirty. She made a poster "30 'Dirty' Reasons We Love Trace" but the reasons weren't dirty at all so don't worry. She got a Mormon's book of porn which is men saying, "oh let me vaccum" or " I just decided to knit booties for your sisters baby" or do the laundry or the dishes etc. I guess something that every girl wants to hear their man say ;0) Tabbi bought stuff to make some fancy non-alcohic drinks... Pina Colada's for party time and Mimosa's for breakfast ("Naturally" she said). That was so much fun and they were so yummy!

After we had Pina Colada running through our veins, we started a dance party. We battled it out with the Xbox Kinnect. Which again was totally awesome.

Pretty sure the Xbox Kinnect is my favorite thing ever! I love that it captures images of you while you are playing.

We danced the night away and then made a room full of mattress's. We talked, and talked, and talked and talked. The last time I looked at my cell phone to check the time, it was 4 AM. After only a couple hours of sleep we were back up again partying/talking until noon. We had a blast and it obviously needs to happen more often because there is so much to cover when we finally do get together.

Austin's 16th Birthday

2012-01-17T17:14:00.000-07:00

To celebrate Austin's 16th birthday I took him to the Mayan and then to a ReAL Salt Lake game. My mom brought him down south where we met at the Mayan. After watching the cliff divers for about an hour (three times) she headed to Salt Lake to meet up with my dad and Austin and I headed to the game.

We had a blast at the RSL game. It was the perfect night for a soccer game. It was ReAL vs. the Chicago Fire. The most exciting part of the night was the return of Javier Morales. Austin called it that Javi would be the game's "super sub." (The surprise sub that comes in during the second half to help win the game.) When they announced that he was subbing in for the second half there were steamers everywhere. It was pretty awesome. I didn't realize it would be such a big celebration.

This is a You Tube clip of when he hurt his ankle. It's pretty bad. So, you may only want to watch it once... or not at all if your stomach gets queasy easily...

I enjoyed this article of Morales' return:

It said: Morales entered the game when RSL trailed 2-0 and was down a man because of Kyle Beckerman’s red card.

He received a raucous ovation from the franchise-record crowd of 20,762.

The welcome back gave Morales goose bumps.

"Unbelievable," he said. "I don’t know how you say it in English, but my skin, you know? ... That was my best feeling in my career."

I thought that was pretty neat that it was such a special experience for him.

ReAL Salt Lake was beat 0-3 which was a bummer, but we still had a blast. At the end of the game, after the teams say, "good job" to one another, one of their players tried to start a fight with one of our players and he had to get escorted off of the field by two security guards. It was pretty exciting to watch.

I am glad that Austin and I got to spend time together to celebrate his birthday :0) I can't believe that he is 16! He is such a great little brother and a real blessing to our family. Austin and I always talk about how much we both have in common and how alike we are which makes us extra tight. I am so lucky that I get to learn from him, laugh with him, and spend time with him. HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE BROTHER! :0)

Real Life Disney Princesses

2012-01-15T16:58:00.000-07:00

I found this website the other day through my old coworker's blog, "Slice of Fried Gold." He shared these photos that led me to the blog of Jirka Väätäinen, an artist from the United Kingdom who envisioned Disney characters in real life last year (2011). I loved his photos and I showed them to my niece Annika on Friday morning and she carried my iPad around all day to look at them. She could name all of them but Meg from Hercules and Esmerelda from the Hunchback of Notre Dame (which she hasn't seen either of those so oh well). Anyway, here are the amazing pieces of artwork :0)

Princess Ariel from the Little Mermaid

Ursula from the Little Mermaid

Belle from Beauty and the Beast

Meg from Hercules

Sleeping Beauty

Esmeralda from the Hunchback of Notre Dame

Jasmine from Aladdin

Pocahontas

Mulan

Tiana from the Princess and the Frog

Snow White

Cinderella

Rapunzel from Tangled (I think she looks a lot like Amanda Seyfried)

How fun were those!?

Ogden Christmas Village

2012-01-07T10:26:00.000-07:00

Mike and I decided to visit the Ogden Christmas Village one night for a Christmas date :0) It's always fun to try to think of holiday-type things to do. It was really cold, but it was fun. I had never been to the Christmas Village before. It reminded me of the Cache Valley Pumpkin Walk where the city creates something and gives people the opportunity to get out, walk around, and enjoy other people's creativity. I know that the Cache Valley Pumpkin Walk changes every year but I am not sure if the scenes inside the buildings of the Christmas Village do. I guess I will have to wait until next year and fund out.

They had a train driving around the Christmas lights that kids were able to ride in. I thought it looked like so much fun and the kids really seemed to be enjoying it.

I loved the nativity that they displayed. Just because nativity's are one of my favorite things so I loved seeing them displayed. (For people that don't know me too well - I like to get a nativity from every country that I visit.)

Behind this truck there is a snack shack where people could roast marshmallows and chestnuts over an open fire. How awesome is that? What a great idea perfect for the season. We had just gotten our Carmel Apple Spice Cider from Starbucks, otherwise we probably would have tried it. Just for the experience :0)

I loved these two scenes in a couple of the buildings. In the one above the Grinch is in a jail cell trying to steal a Christmas tree and two police officers are there with some doughnut boxes.

In the one below I loved how Santa is looking at the nativity scene. A reminder of the true reason for Christmas.

It was a really fun date and I really enjoyed the Christmas Village and all the Christmas lights. I am glad that we were able to go and experience it. Next year, if you are ever in the Ogden area you should check it out!

Final Days In New York

2012-01-03T22:13:00.000-07:00

This is my last post on New York! The last couple days were pretty chill compared to the days before.

We went to Grand Central Station and caught the train to Harrison so that I could visit the fabulous family I was a nanny for 5 years ago. It was so crazy to see how much they have grown up and to hear about their lives and what they have done and what they are up to. They are all doing really well which makes me happy :0) I am glad that we still remain in contact, even if it isn't super often.

Mike was really excited to see the new Apple Store in Grand Central Station. Too bad it was opening 4 days after we left :0/

We went back to the apartment and hung out with everyone and then we went to the lighting of the Christmas lights in Central park. It wasn't as big of a celebration as we were told it was going to be and it is definitely a family friendly thing - not a group of single people with no kids thing. Anyway, it was still fun to at least see what it was all about. And it was a very pretty night.

Afterwards we split up and did our own things for the night. Mike and I walked around and looked at all the Christmas lights and festivities. More pictures of that can be found here.

After we went to a pizzeria that came highly recommended - John's Pizzeria. It was AWFUL. The only thing I liked was this photo -
which I actually love. Awesome perception of the city.Anyway, we got garlic knots and a Hawaiian pizza. Our waiter was there to take our order and the he didn't come back to our table the rest of the night. Seriously. He walked past us about ten times which the final time I was able to flag him down to ask for our bill. But he didn't check on the order, to make sure it was correct or that it was okay, he didn't refill our water, nothing! He would walk past us to the big screen TV that was at the bar and watch the game or text. Trust me, it was about ten feet away from us and I could watch him the whole time. It was lame. It was like $35 for that lousy lousy meal (one pizza, garlic knots and no service). Grrrrr.

Everyone in the group thankfully loves the Carmel Apple Spice drinks from Starbucks so Monday morning we headed to the nearest shop.We walked around New York for a while and just enjoyed looking at the sky line and all the things that make it different from Utah. The traffic, the buildings, the people, the fashion, the weather. It was so much fun to try and take it all in through every sense; seeing, smelling, feeling, touching and yes, tasting :0).
We walked around Central Park
And decided to watch "the Three Bears Christmas" show at the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater. Totally for kids, but oh well, we watched it too.
After the show we walked to Belvedere Tower, it's one place I remember from my first visit to NY in 2004. Quite the view from the tower huh?
It was erected in 1869 as a lookout (how awesome is that) but is now the home of the New York Meteorological Observatory (still pretty neat).

It was a really fun visit and who knows which way this train is headed, maybe I will be back to NY, maybe I won't. Guess we will wait and see what happens in the future :0)

Christmas in NYC

2012-01-02T13:59:00.000-07:00

People were constantly telling me, "New York City is magical at Christmas-time." In different ways but the same thing over and over. Honestly, I think any city turns magic during the Christmas season because Christmas itself is a magical season; however, I did love visiting New York and seeing all their lights and decorations celebrating the holiday. I loved that their Salvation Army bell ringers had music playing and danced as they collected money, they didn't do that when I came back to Utah. It was a beautiful Christmas in NYC and here are some pictures of what we saw specific to Christmas :0)

There was more but I kinda didn't take pictures of everything ;0)

Maurizio Cattelan at the Guggenheim

2011-12-31T10:48:00.000-07:00

Saturday we went to Battery Park and saw the Statue of Liberty (didn't take the ferry to the Island because the line was ridiculously long), visited Central Park, ate pizza at Sbarro's, road the Subway every place possible, including, back to Times Square where we saw the famous New Years Ball.

After riding around in the Subway for a really long time we went back to the apartment and hung out for a couple of hours. That was really nice after such a crazy morning where we literally ran place to place trying to see and do everything that was on our list. When nothing worked out, we gave up and headed back to the apartment to watch some TV. Probably the best thing we could have done for ourselves.

We walked to the Seinfeld restaurant. This isn't the soup kitchen, this is just the "Restaurant" sign that they show on the show. Not incredibly amazing but it was fun. The neighborhood where this restaurant sits is really nice so we enjoyed walking around and pretending like we are New Yorkers :).

The Guggenheim

"Today the Guggenheim Museum in New York is one of the most famous contemporary art showcases in the world. It is not just the art that is outstanding; the building itself continues to attract art lovers and architects from all over the world. Visitors stand before the Guggenheim Museum in amazement. In his effort to join architecture and nature, (Frank Lloyd) Wright designed a building that is organic right down to its basic structure, which resembles a snail shell."

One of the things that we were most excited to see in NYC was the Guggenheim museum. It was in one of my books as one of the top 100 "must see" places in the world. It did not disappoint. The architecture of the Guggenheim is very unique and if you have seen Mr. Popper's Penguins, you may remember the Guggenheim as the place the penguins followed him to when they crashed his business party and slid down the circular walkway. :0) In addition to being unique and fun it is a very pretty design. I found this website on the Guggenheim history, it's a short read with a bunch of fantastic pictures I really loved.

"Inside, a ramp spirals upward along the walls, creating a space that gives the impression of being open on all sides. Exhibitions begin on the top floor and follow the ramp down. Visitors' visual perspective is constantly changed and refined as they move around the space, providing them with what is literally a new "point of view" with every step..."

The artwork we saw at the Guggenheim was by Maurizio Cattelan (displayed November 4, 2011 - January 22, 2012). This retrospective survey brings together virtually everything the artist Maurizio Cattelan has produced since 1989, and presents the works en masse, strung haphazardly from the oculus of the Guggenheim’s rotunda.

Some people in our group thought that the artwork was morbid, but others enjoyed it and felt like it was a modge podge of history and life - some morbid, some mundane. I like the Guggenheim website for the information it gives on Maurizio Cattelan and his artwork. They say, "Although an ironic humor threads much of his work, a profound meditation on mortality forms the core of Cattelan’s practice. His recurring use of taxidermy, which presents a state of apparent life premised on actual death, is particularly apt for exploring this thematic concern. Perhaps the most poignant of his anthropomorphic animal scenes is Bidibidobidiboo (1996), in which a despairing squirrel has committed suicide in his grimy kitchen. Death stalks the artist’s psyche and creeps into all manifestations of his production. With All (2007), he created what he described as a “monument to death,” a sculpture that would commemorate its unrelenting presence. Derived from ubiquitous media imagery of fallen bodies, and carved from traditional marble, the nine shrouded figures appear as victims of some unnamed trauma, silently recalling the unconscionable realities of our present-day world."

After visiting the Guggenheim we hailed a taxi and went to the Lincoln Center for the Saturday night showing of the Nutcracker ballet.

The taxi pulled off to the side of the road, next to another line of taxi's that were parked along the curb, to let us out. We paid him, and me being on the passenger side closest to the sidewalk opened my door to get out. At that moment a biker just happened to choose to ride through the line of parked Taxi's.

You can guess what happened. My Taxi door hit the biker and sent him/her flailing onto the hood of the Taxi next to us, parked along side the curb. I was shocked and didn't know what to do. It was a spot-on hit. I have never been "the vehicle" in a bike accident before, usually I am the biker. All the Taxi drivers started yelling at the biker and the biker brushed themselves off, grabbed their bike and moved quickly on their way. I sat there for a couple more seconds, stunned at what had just happened and then got out and headed towards the theater.

In summary, this video is what happened, except me getting out of the Taxi is the Gazelle.

Bikers, Word of warning: Don't ride on the wrong side of the street, between two rows of parked Taxi cars. Bad things are bound to happen.

After the string of bad luck that had accompanied the day, we decided that we should make sure we were in the right spot. Just our luck the Taxi would drop us off at somewhere other than the Lincoln Center. Well, imagine our surprise when we ask someone, "Is this the Lincoln Center where the Nutcracker Ballet is playing?" and their response is, "No, this is the New York City Opera." GREAT. :0/

Thankfully the Lincoln Center and the Opera House are side by side. So we had made it! The Nutcracker was pretty amazing. We had front row seats on the mezzanine and really enjoyed the dancers and the orchestra. I was amazed at the talent of the ballet dancers and so impressed with the things that they can do on the very tips of their toes. The main dancer is from Utah, which was a fun fact, and at one point she was drug across the stage while on one foot/toe the entire time. WOW! It was amazing.

All 9 of Us -

The Girls: Amanda Dillehay, Me, Kjersten Evans, Shara Reimann, and Angela Hoskisson

The Guys: Mike Teagle, Mike Layton, Rusty Greiner, and Todd Wiese,

Ice Skating in Central Park

2011-12-29T20:41:00.000-07:00

I woke up with a nauseating headache on Friday so Mike & I decided to go find some caffeine to go with the meds while everyone else got ready for the day. After the headache started to go away we walked through Central Park on our way back to the apartment. It was so fun to see fall colors still out in December.

My friend Tabbi suggested that we visit Sarabeth's Kitchen. It was definitely worth the visit. Oh man, it was yummy! It started in 1981 and has become a popular place for brunch in NYC.

After brunch Kjersten, Mike and I went ice skating in Central Park at the Wollman Rink while everyone else went shopping. It was beautiful. I think I could have stayed there all day long. I loved ice skating and seeing the park as well as the sky scrapers in the background.

I love the horizon and the buildings behind Mike in this photo below.

NYC Skyscrapers

Central Park Tavern on the Green

Central Park Chess and Checkers House

the Metropolitan Museum of Art

As soon as we got to the Met we found a bench and just sat there. For as long as possible. It was so nice to get off of our feet for a little bit. It gave us enough energy to enjoy the rest of the night and to walk through the Met and enjoy the artwork and the beautiful building.

Afterwards we visited the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). We loved, loved, loved, loved it! It was so interesting and all of the artwork was so fun.

This piece is three frames of postcards labeled "I Got Up." The artist used stamps and ink and sent herself postcards everyday with the specific time that she got up that day. Interesting huh?

Uh... "Dress for Five Persons" by James Lee Byars. That's all the info I have on that one.

"Starry Night" by Vincent van Gogh. I loved seeing this in real life because I remembered seeing it in my school textbooks. History comes to life!

"Water Lilies" by Claude Monet.

Visiting the inspiration pub of "How I Met Your Mother."

Craig Thomas, co-creator of HIMYM, revealed in an interview with TV Guide (http://www.tvguide.com/news/craig-thomas-mother/071112-02) that MacLaren's is based on McGee's Pub on 55th and Broadway in Manhattan, not far from the Ed Sullivan Theater (where he and co-creator Carter Bays worked as writers for The Late Show With David Letterman). (Wikipedia)

We went there and the pub is literally right around the corner from the Ed Sullivan Theater.

The menu insert announcing upcoming events: Watching Season 7 of "How I Met Your Mother"

"How I Met Your Mother" is such a fun show! It was fun to see the place where all the inspiration came from. We had a blast visiting it and eating some dinner there.

"Challenge Accepted" hahahaha.

After dinner at McGee's we walked to Rockefeller Center to see their gigantic Christmas tree at night. It was very pretty and so much fun to enjoy the Christmas spirit and hang out with friends.

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree this year was a Norway Spruce (usually is) from Mifflinville, PA and is 74 feet tall.

9/11 Memorial

2011-12-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

We visited the new 9/11 museum and memorial. I am always so impressed with the thought and the meaning that goes into the memorials and this one will probably always hit home since I remember the day so clearly.

This is a little YouTube video we made of the pictures from the memorial. It was my effort to reduce the number of pictures plastering on the blog :0)

Some interesting things about 9/11 I learned from the 9/11 Memorial Museum.

"On September 11, 2001 terrorists murdered nearly 3,000 innocent people at the World Trade Center in New York City, at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and aboard four hijacked planes.

The events of that day marked the single largest loss of life from a foreign attack on American soil.

Over 400 first responders perished heroically performing their sworn duty - firefighters, police officers, and other rescue workers. The victims represented 92 different countries. The oldest was 85 years old; the youngest was two and a half."

Timeline of September 11, 2001

Between 7:59 and 8:42 am
Four commercial planes depart from three east coast airports for flights across the U.S. Shortly after take-off, each is hijacked by a team of terrorists. The airplanes are intended as weapons in a coordinated attack on targets of high symbolic value for Americans and much of the world.

8:46 am
Hijackers, affiliated with the radical Islamic terrorist network Al-Qaeda, crash Flight 11 into floors 94-98 of the North Tower of the WTC.
***(see below)
9:00 am
The Fire Department of the New York City (FDNY), the NYC Police Department (NYPD) and the Port Authority Police Department (PAPD) mobilize at their highest levels.

9:03 am
Al-Qaeda hijackers crash Flight 175 into floors 78-84 of the South Tower of the WTC.

9:15 am
NYC officials begin closing bridges and tunnels to all except emergency personnel and pedestrians.

9:25 am
Federal Aviation Administration orders the first ever nationwide ground-stop, prohibiting the take-off of flights.

9:37 am
Al-Qaeda hijackers crash Flight 77 into the Pentagon, near Washington DC.

9:40 am
Federal Aviation Administration orders all 4,546 planes in North American airspace to land at the nearest airport.

By 9:45 am
The White House, the Empire State Building, the United Nations, Disney World and other major US sites are evacuated.

9:59 am
The South Tower of the WTC collapses.

10:03 am
Passengers aboard Flight 93 launch a counter-attack on the plane's Al-Qaeda hijackers, causing them to crash the aircraft into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

10:28 am
The North Tower of the WTC collapses. All 16 acres of the WTC site are in ruins. A rescue and recovery effort begins immediately.

11:02 am
NYC Mayor Giuliani orders the evacuation of all of lower Manhattan below Canal Street, including workers, residents, tourists, and school children.

5:20 pm
7 WTC collapses.

8:30 pm
President Bush addresses the nation.

Between the time the first plane crashed into the North tower and before the second plane crashed into the South tower is where I tuned in. So in essence, this is what I witnessed:

***This is where I began learning what was happening the day this all took place. I was heading to school earlier than normal (would have been before 7:00 am MST. I was going to school early because all of the student government people were asked to go early to greet some Russians that were coming to our school that day. All I knew is that I was going to meet the Russians, otherwise I wouldn't have left until more like 7:30-7:45. As I was driving to school I had the radio going, but I didn't actually tune in to what they were saying until I was at a 4-way stop about a mile from my house. I heard the radio announcer say, "We just saw a hijacked plane hit the North tower of the World Trade Center and it looks like there is another heading towards the South tower." I sat at the 4-way stop for a while as I listened to the play by play until they announced that the plane had crashed into the South tower. It was a strange moment. I remember feeling like I was in another world. Like, 'did that really just happen?' I continued to listen as I drove the last mile to school (ya, I lived like 2 miles from school) and then I found a TV and a telephone and I called home to tell my family what I had just heard and for them to get turn on the TV and watch it. I watched it in the Drivers Ed room with Mr. Falslev. His wife was our student government leader and they were the only ones at the school by then. The Russians never came, but I remember watching the TV and watching the events unfold in every class period for the rest of the day. It's still hard to believe that it happened. Sometimes I still feel like I am at that 4-way stop and I hear the radio announcer say, "Another plane is headed towards the South tower." and then I feel like my body shakes with the crash. That's the most real memory I have. Then I fast forward 3 years to when I was a nanny out in New York. I remember seeing gas masks hanging with the coats and jackets as if they were a regular accessory. They purchased them after not being able to breath from all the debris that masked the city. It can't imagine what the people in NY went through on that day. I don't want to. I am grateful for the many brave people who stepped in that day. I mourn for those who lost their family members and friends and I hope they found some sort of comfort. I know we will see them again one day and I hope they too have faith that they will see them again as well.

The Memorial:

The design for the 9/11 memorial at the World Trade Center, entitled Reflecting Absence, was selected in 2004 out of 5,201 entries to an international competition. Designed by architect Michael Arad and landscape architect Peter Walker, the Memorial covers eight of the original 16 acres of the World Trade Center site. The design consists of two pools, each nearly an acre in size, set within the original footprints of the Twin Towers. The surrounging plaza is populated with more than 400 swamp white oak trees. The 2,983 names of those killed in the 9/11 attacks in New York, at the Pentagon, and on Flight 93- as well as the six victims of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing- are inscribed in bronze parapets surrounding the pools. Thirty-foot waterfalls cascade down the four sides of both pools, as the water disappears into deeper voides in the pools' centers. The opening of the 9/11 Memorial marked the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

A few pictures that didn't show up too well in the video:
People showing rememberance of September 11:

Two of the new World Trade Center (WTC) skyscrapers being built:

The new WTC museum - it wasn't open when we were there, we went to a different location. But I bet it will be awesome when it opens.

The new World Trade Center (WTC) will include:
-Five new skyscrapers (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 WTC)
-The National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center
-The World Trade Center Transportation Hub
-550,000 square feet of retail space
-A Performing Arts Center

It was a neat experience to visit this site and to take time to reflect and remember some of our country's history. I am glad we didn't miss it and recommend it to anyone visiting the area.

Empire State Building, NYC

2011-12-15T19:00:00.002-07:00

Mike has never been to the top of the Empire State Building so while the other girls shopped and rested their feet, Mike & I traveled to the 83rd floor of the highest building in NY. If I ever go again, I think I will splurge and visit the 102nd floor. This time around Mike and I went on the Sky Ride over NY (not really worth it) and then went to the observation deck.

The Sky Ride is a simulator where your chairs move as you watch a movie and it is supposed to feel like you are really flying over NY. Kevin Bacon was the pilot which made it fun and I had never done it before, so it was an experience, but it wasn't really worth it. The movie and the effects were old so it was more like we were just watching an old movie of New York. I'm not sure how long the line was to get to the observation deck because since we purchased the sky ride, we didn't have to wait in line (bonus). There was a guy outside the Empire State Building who offered us the deal and then helped us by pass the line and purchase our tickets.

He told us the line was an hour and a half and that for $10 more we could go on a Sky Ride and by pass the line. We figured it was worth it. When we reached the counter he said, "Tips are appreciated."

Then we went to pay and it was $10 more than he told us. (LIAR!) So I wondered if the line was really as long. I also wondered how many other people tipped him to pay a higher price than he quoted.

Anyway, we made the most of our time up there. We were there for approximately 2 hours I am guessing. However, in those 2 hours we were able to see NYC during the daytime, at sunset and at night. It was pretty amazing and we loved taking in all the different parts of the city - the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, the Chrysler building and the Flatiron building.

It was really windy, as it normally is when you are up high, and I was wearing a dress. You can guess what happened and yes, it happened. My dress was pretty much all the way up. Thank goodness for slips but no thanks to the slits in the back of slips that pretty much go up to your butt and show everything anyway :0/ awkward.

These pictures help me remember that there are so many parts of NY I love.

Season's Greetings from the Empire State Building!

Harry Potter er Daniel Radcliffe On Broadway

2011-12-14T18:12:00.000-07:00

We took the subway to Radio City Music Hall and went to a cute little organic cafe called "Le Pain Quotidien" I think in NY - brunch is a must every day, there are just too many fun restaurants to pass up.

We saw the newly lit Rockefeller Tree and realized just how close we were to it the night before during the lighting ceremony and Justin Beiber concert... Bummer.

We checked out the Nintendo World store and I raced Mario just like I did when I was a kid. (As you can see - I came in a easy first again!)

We went shopping at Macy's, yes like actually browsed the rack and checked out their Louis Vuitton selection. It was just so fun to walk around in the store because of all the Christmas decor! I loved it.

Even their window displays were of a Christmas story - not just clothes and things for sell.

We went to the 9/11 Memorial and to the Empire State Building - but those pics are going to have to wait (way to many).

After the Empire State Building we sat on the red steps and watched people in Times Square (again). Seems like you can't go anywhere in NYC (at least to Broadway shows) without passing through Times Square a time or two each day ;0)

What trip to New York (or Las Vegas or Orlando or London) would be complete without a visit to M&M World. For just $12.99 a pound you can purchase M&M's in any color and flavor you want!

Can you guess which colors/flavors were most popular?

Mike and Kjersten love Harry Potter so the broadway "How to Succeed In Business" was on the "Definitely Do" list. In fact, Mike purchased tickets months in advance so that we could for sure see it while we were out there. Ugh, expensive. Kjersten waited and bought her ticket at TKTS and ended up being only 2 rows in front of us so at intermission she came back and sat with us.

The broadway was really enjoyable and Daniel Radcliffe gave an excellent performance. I am not going to lie, I was kind of worried about his singing in the first song, but that didn't last too long and he seemed to be in his element in no time. Kjersten commented on how great it is to watch someone do what they love and want to do. She pointed out that he is (probably?) a millionaire and most likely doesn't have to work right now, but because he loves it, he is. I enjoyed that thought.
The story was of a window washer (Radcliffe) who purchases a book on... (wait for it)... How to Succeed In Business (go figure). It's of him rising to the top and the tricks he pulls and the falls he takes getting there. He finds love and makes some friends along the way and although it sounds corny, it was. LoL. But still really good with great music too!

Kjersten and I got to meet Bud Frump (Christoper J. Hanke), J.B. Biggley's (John Larroquette) er.... the boss's nephew after the broadway. He was J. Pierrepont Finch's (Radcliffe's) main competition in every area of the story.

After the broadway we met up with Amanda, Shara, Rusty and Angela.

NY, NY

2011-12-13T16:31:00.000-07:00

I went to NY and I just want to plaster my blog with photos. That's normally why I break up trips into multiple posts - so I can add more photos - but from all the blogs I read, most people do trips in one post. So I will see what happens. When I feel like this post is getting too long, I will stop and finish with another one.

I love putting every detail and every picture in my blog though because it makes it SO MUCH easier when the time comes to make a photo book (which that time does come three or four times a year).

Anyway, I went to NY with Mike, Kjersten, Amanda, Shara, Angela, Todd, Rusty, and Mike Layton. That's 9 people total. AND... we all stayed in one studio apartment. Can you imagine? We can hardly imagine it either yet we lived it for a whole week. LoL.

Mike and I arrived on Tuesday along with Kjersten, Amanda and Shara.
Tuesday we hung out in Times Square. We ate at the Olive Garden right in Times Square, watched a photo shoot and went shopping. One thing I came to appreciate about NYC is that there are more employees than there are shoppers. In every store we went into, this was the case. If more stores were like this, customer satisfaction would be coming out of the roof tops. It really was nice because when we had a question, there was a one second pause before we could get an answer. :0)

We went to the Disney Store and I loved it. The castle was almost as great as the one at Disneyland ;0) It was pretty fancy with a huge chandelier - and all for the kids!

We went to see the Addams Family with Brooke Shields (if you know who that is). She did excellent and everyone did! It was a fun story about Wednesday dating someone and being ready to get married. Of course they through in some sibling rivalry as well and some funny family moments, like not realizing that "Grandma" is just a random person who came to stay with them. I really liked some of their songs and it was a great lighthearted show.

Afterwards we went to Mike's toy store. the Apple Store. It was pretty fancy and as much as I try not to care too much about Apple, I am impressed with the things that they do. The store is completely underground and the way that you enter is by a glass box. You can either ride the elevator down or take the spiral staircase, but it is pretty amazing to look at. From the store you can look up and see all of the buildings outside or the just the night sky. I think it would be fun to be in the store during a snowfall and just see all the snowflakes coming down but being warm inside :0)

Living in NY as a nanny and all of the other times I have been back visiting, I have never been to F.A.O. Schwarz. Can you believe it? Mike & I went and watched a Big Piano Recital and then played on it ourselves. Mike did some fancy moves and played a real song. I mainly jumped and slid all of it just to see the different lights light up :0)

At the end of the night we went to see the Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center be lit. It was pure chaos. We had no idea where the tree was and there were people everywhere. We gave up and just went back to the apartment. The next day we went to see it and it turns out we were on the very corner to see the tree. Just four feet shy actually seeing around the building that was hiding it. Who knew! Too bad we didn't stay because it could have been epic - but oh well. We were there with all the people, we just missed the main event ;0)

Well, that was our first day and I think I did overload on the pictures, so I guess I will add some more in another post :0)

Austin's Christmas Tree

2011-11-28T20:42:00.000-07:00

I had to put my blog on private again. Because I am a good sister and Austin didn't want everyone seeing this:

LoL. We sure got a kick out of it. With my limited video editing skills we can now enjoy it even longer ;0)

The Saturday after Thanksgiving my family went up into Idaho to cut down a Christmas tree. This has been a tradition for a number of years now. We sure enjoy it and look forward to it each year.

(If you look at this picture close - Adalyn looks like a Cabbage Patch doll.)

I really didn't realize it until now, but this trip was kinda all about Austin.
First he pulled Alisha & Annika on the sleigh:

See how happy he made them:

Then Alisha & Adalyn (and Annika creeping in the background) wait for Austin...

to pull Annika up the mountain.

But the snow was so deep it took some time,

so he stopped for a picture with his family,

and he attempted climbing a tree,

and when his shoes wouldn't grip the bark he attempted another way to climb.

Alli tried to assist him, but they both ended up on the ground laughing.

So he climbed a tree where he might have a slight advantage.

He kept getting higher and higher.

The tree was dead and kept snapping as if it would break at any minute. Through that smile are clenched teeth and frozen words saying, "hurry and take the picture Jen."

But don't worry. Popeye (er my dad) had eaten his Spinach and was able to hold up the tree and Austin with a single hand.

Austin escaped his close encounter with heaven today.

We went back to our perfect Christmas tree and Mike and Alli began sawing it down,

Austin stepped in to get the job done.

Then he and Alli hauled the tree down the mountain.

My dad stayed behind and with one quick swipe, he had the stump down to a safe level.

What a day for Austin and his Christmas tree.

Just some other fun random pictures Austin took of the day:
(Poor Ady had a cold. :0( and Annika creeping in the background...)

Annika

Little Cuties

Paragliding at the Point

2011-11-17T14:00:00.000-07:00

The Saturday before the first snowfall, October 29, Jordan, Vanessa and I all went paragliding at the point of the mountain. I am so glad we were able to do it before winter came. It was cold when we went, but once we were up in the air of course we didn't notice. It was so much fun, but nothing like sky diving (which I think I prefer).

We went paragliding off the South Side of the Point of the Mountain. We had no instruction because we were going tandem. We simply signed a waiver, went to the edge of the mountain, strapped on all the gear with the pilot and took off. The air simply lifted us up.

My pilot said that the Point of the Mountain is the best place to go paragliding. He said that the wind is always very consistent and very smooth. So people come from all over the world to go paragliding at the point of the mountain. I love that Utah has so many amazing things to offer!

Paragliding has a larger "wing" (parachute) than skydiving and is more steady. So I took that to mean that it is safer. You can get really close to the ground and then get right back up in the air. I was really impressed by that and at some points the pilot took us so low my feet were hitting the weeds, then we went back up again.

It wasn't scary at all. It wasn't really an adrenaline rush either. It was just fun. It was fun to look out over the valley and see the beauty all around. The pilot said that for a little more dinero we can go on the North side of the mountain and go a little higher in the air. I think that next time I would like to try that.

I think that the most intense part of paragliding was the landing. We were trying to land on the top of the hill, from where we took off, but other paragliders kept getting in the way. So we ended up just landing at the bottom of the hill. We had to lean right so that the wing almost hit the hill, then left and again, the wing almost hit the dirt, then back right and back left again and again. We were going fast and feeling drastic movement - it was fantastic.

Jordan & Vanessa got to paraglide together:
Jordan:

Vanessa:

Jordan & Vanessa together in the sky:

I am glad that we were all able to go. We had a lot a lot of fun and I am glad that my mom, Mike, Alisha, Annika and Adalyn were all willing to come and bear the cold to watch us!

Thanks guys! It was fun to spend the morning/afternoon with you.

Final Day in Philadelphia

2011-11-13T19:47:00.000-07:00

I loved our last day in Philadelphia! Tabbi and I walked all over the city and found so many new hidden treasures!

The first place we visited isn't really a hidden treasure. I'm sure lots of people know about it - "Your Move" park. It's a park - across the street from City Hall. "Your Move" is comprised of oversized game pieces including dominoes, Monopoly, Parcheesi, checkers, chessman and bingo chips. Scattered around the plaza the whimsical artwork installation is intended to function as a catalyst for memory between childhood memory and adult responsibility. We spent a good chunk of time here playing around and having fun! Definitely one of the highlights of the trip!

Some nice old lady on her lunch break passed us and offered to take a couple pictures. Tabbi is known by all of our friends for being completely crazy! However, after taking a couple pictures the lady says nodding her head towards me, "Oh she's the crazy one isn't she?" LoL. Tabbi and I both laughed, but I took it as a compliment. :0)

We had heard so much about the famous Philly Cheese steak sandwiches namely from Pat's and from Geno's. They are right across the street from each other so we figured that the best thing to do is get one sandwich from each shop. Probably the best thing to do if you really want to compare is to get the exact same sandwich from each place. Our orders were a little different, but eh, I think we got the jist.

I really liked my sandwich from Geno's.

Tabbi really liked her sandwich from Pat's.

So I think it's a draw. I think that either way you go, you will be happy.
(On a side note, I actually got a Cheese Steak Sandwich our first day in Old Town Philadelphia. I think it was better than both of them (cheaper too) - but hey - it's about visiting the famous spots sometimes right!?)

Tabbi and I discovered something in Philadelphia called the Mural Mile. There are 17 murals painted on buildings throughout the city. You can walk from mural to mural and see artwork as well as different areas of the city. With our cell phones we were able to listen to the artists talk about the inspiration of their murals. Many times, the history of the neighborhood that we were in influenced what the painting was about. I really loved that aspect of it. History is so fun when you get to see the place that you are learning about instead of just reading about it from a book. I did take pictures of all the murals, but here are just a few ;0)
Autumn

Crystal Snowscape

The Theatre of Life

I really wish that the pictures could be larger. There is so much detail on the murals that is lost in the image and I wish I could point out all my favorite parts of each!
Taste of Summer

Building the City

Finding Home

One of the hidden treasures that we found is Philadelphia's Magic Gardens.

I pulled this little bit of information from their website:
Philadelphia's Magic Gardens is a folk art environment, gallery space, and nonprofit organization that showcases the work of mosaicist Isaiah Zagar. Located at the site of Zagar's largest public mosaic installation, the Magic Gardens includes a fully mosaiced indoor gallery and a massive outdoor labyrinthine mosaic sculpture. The installation, primarily consisting of found objects and contributions from the community, covers half a city block with myriads of tile, texture, and color. A walk through the labyrinth will reveal sculptures from Latin America and Asia, bicycle wheels from local South Street shop Via Bicycles, Zagar's hand-made tiles, and mirrors of every shape and size.
You should really check out their site because it has an awesome aerial view of the place. Tabbi and I sure enjoyed it though!

We ended our tour in the city back where we started - City Hall.

What's a protest without a little street music?

A popular east coast city activity in the fall is to leave the city, find an orchard and go fruit picking! We decided to go to Boyertown and visit Frecon Orchards to do some apple picking of our own. We didn't actually get to pick apples because it was a holiday and they closed early :0/ but we played around in the orchard and then went to their fruit stand and bought some apples to eat. I can't believe how many kinds they had! I loved it! It was a fun evening and I enjoyed being out in the country. Great ending to the trip!

We flew home the next morning,

it's always so nice to begin the descent and see Utah mountains!

Philadelphia or Philly

2011-11-08T19:25:00.000-07:00

Turns out some people get confused when I say, "I went to Philly." They don't get that I am talking about Philadelphia so maybe I am crazy, maybe Philadelphia is never called Philly.

Friday morning (10.7) Tabbi and I slept in. Then we got up and explored the city. First things first, we took the bus to the Philadelphia City Hall.

There were lots of Wall Street protesters. I like protesters. Sometimes they make very good points. People don't listen to them a lot, but when they do is when we have revolutions :0)

I loved this next picture. The protesters were at City Hall and behind them, on the steps of City Hall, among all their information was this picture of City Hall. It's a beautiful building and I loved how the picture stood out among all their information.

We walked around the city and passed the Reading Terminal Headhouse & Train Shed

The Reading Railroad Terminal complex was built in the 1890's and had a thirteen-track train shed and a farmer's market. The trains don't come in there today - but they still have the farmer's market.

So these photos are of the train shed. It was renovated in March 1994 to become the Pennsylvania Convention Center's Grand Hall. The thirteen original tracks of the train shed are represented by parallel steel lines embedded in the floor. I think that it is a beautiful room and such a fun history!

I finally got to see the Liberty Bell. Who knows how long I have waited for that!?

The Liberty Bell is a symbol of the American Revolution. It is a symbol of the liberties gained and a reminder of the liberties denied.

"The Liberty Bell is 'a very significant symbol for the entire democratic world.'"
-Nelson Mandela

The Liberty Bell's famous gap - often called a 'crack' and running from tip towards crown - makes it instantly recognizable.
That gap is really the result of an attempt to fix a thin crack that destroyed the Bell's tone at some moment after the American Revolution.
Exactly when that crack developed is lost in history. The repair work dates to 1846. It failed when, as the Bell rand for George Washington's birthday anniversary. The original crack reappeared and lengthened. It zig-zagged up towards the top of the bell. Silencing it - at least physically - forever.

"Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof."
Leviticus 25:10

We took a walk around the rest of the Old City District. We saw Elfreth's Alley. The oldest inhabited street in the U.S. It currently still houses people. I think the houses look very well kept-up and nice. It's a really quaint street.

The tour guide said that the way that they used to tax back in the day was by the width of your house. This house is only 9.5 feet wide, but as you can see, very tall. It's known as the "halfway house."

I love this website of Elfreth's Alley. It gives all the history of the street as well as the history of each individual house - how awesome is that?!
Afterwards we saw the Betsy Ross House

Betsy Ross (1752-1836) lived and worked in this house on Arch Street during the American Revolution. In 1776, Betsy Ross lost her husband John. The young widow worked as an upholsterer, but when war came, she turned to making naval colors. In early 1777 she sewed the first Stars and Stripes for the naval vessels defending Philadelphia.

I found Betsy's history interesting - she outlived three husbands! So here is a snippet of her life story: Born January 1, 1752
Married John Ross on November 4,1773
He was in the militia and died January 1776.
She sewed the first American Flag in late May/early June that same year.
Married again, Joseph Ashburn, June 15, 1777.
He was captured by the British, imprisoned in England and died March 3, 1782.
She married again on May 8, 1783 to John Claypoole, a fellow prisoner of Joseph Ashburn's. They lived in this house until he died August 3, 1817.
She didn't marry again and died nearly 20 years later in 1836.
Can you imagine how hard that would be? To bury three husbands? My heart aches for her. Her and her final husband are buried outside of their home in Philadelphia.

The last thing we visited in the city was the Rocky Steps. I haven't ever seen any of the Rocky movies but I heard they were a place to visit - so we did. :0)

The 72 stone steps before the entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania have become known as the "Rocky Steps" as a result of their appearance in the triple-Oscar-winning film Rocky and four of its sequels, Rocky II, III, V and Rocky Balboa, in which the eponymous character runs up the steps to the song "Gonna Fly Now". Tourists often mimic Rocky's famous climb, a metaphor for an underdog or an everyman rising to a challenge.[1] A bronze statue of Rocky was briefly situated at the top of the steps for the filming of Rocky III. (Wikipedia)

I think that's a ton of events and pictures for now. I will post more later. (And you don't have to read it because I know it gets boring.)

Utah's Own Haunted Circus

2011-11-05T22:01:00.000-06:00

Okay, I know that I was in love with the Eastern State Penitentiary Terror Behind the Walls but I found a haunted attraction even more amazing that that! And, in UTAH!!! Who would have thought that the best haunted attraction would be so close to home? In Draper, UT right off I-15 is the Haunted Circus. The first time we drove past it Mike said, "We are going to that." I said, "Because you have heard about it or because you see it and just want to?" He said, "I just want to." The chance came, and so we did.

Jordan & Vanessa came with us and because none of us had really heard anything about it - good or bad - we weren't sure what to expect. We purchased our tickets and walked in. They had a whole bunch of rides outside and then a big top tent, which is where we stood in line and waited to go through the haunted train cars.

Some of our favorite parts of the Haunted Circus:
*At the entrance of the big top tent they had a Fortune Teller machine, kind of like the one on Big, and it looked completely like an arcade machine. But as people got closer, the Fortune Teller would come to life scare them. It was awesome. It fooled everyone. It made the line entertaining because we were able to just sit and watch all the new folks come in and get scared. ;0)

*The Haunted Circus was so long! It just kept going and going and going. We thought it was going to end a couple times, but it kept on going. Every bit of it was pretty awesome.
*They had a train car that was dark and lit only through some black lights. There were a number of jail bars that created a maze through the train car and the black lights seemed to make the bars multiply. The ceiling was glass or hard plastic, but either way it was see through and there was a scary person chasing you through the maze from up above. At the end of the maze right before we came out they were able to hang out of the ceiling and block our path. It was pretty neat.

*They also had a train car that was filled completely with fog. If I had put my hand in front of my face, I couldn't have seen it. We weren't able to feel our way around because they had white plastic mesh that led you away from the walls and into the middle of the train cart. It was seriously a task to find our way out of there. That was in the middle of the circus and on our drive home all of us could still smell the fog.

*Another train cart had blown up plastic paths that we had to squeeze our way through. It was all black except for the strobe lights and there were heads and bowling pins hanging from the ceiling. A clown came straight at us and the strobe lights made it look really neat. Then we were chased through the heads and the pins until we were finally able to escape.

*In between each set of train cars we went outside and into different locations. They had an awesome graveyard, swamp, a wrecked train cart with an escaped gorilla, a school bus of clowns and a few others that I can't remember. I loved going outside and inside and outside and inside.

*We saw where we were going as we walked into the last train cart. We walked onto train track, once we began walking down the path it became pitch black pretty quickly. All of the sudden a train was headed straight at us. A bright light, a horn, it was traveling fast. We all jumped out of the way and what do we see? A man dressed all in black with a fake light and horn. It was awesome all the same. It seemed so real. We really loved it and had a blast going through it together. Thanks Jordan & Vanessa for the fun night together!

Eastern State Penitentiary

2011-10-15T09:15:00.000-06:00

This was the world's first true penitentiary, a prison designed to inspire penitence- or true regret - in the hearts of criminals. The original seven cellblocks spread like the spokes of a wheel, and had water and central heat before the White House.

It's vaulted, sky-lit cells held many of America's most notorious criminals, including bank robber "Slick Willie" Sutton and "Scarface" Al Capone.

The prison stands today in ruin, a haunting world of crumbling cellblocks and a surprising, eerie beauty.

(I took all of that off of a sign at the penitentiary.)

Friday night we went to the Eastern State Penitentiary for their "Terror Behind the Walls" event. "A Massive Haunted House in a Real Prison." It cost $30 to go inside but it was definitely worth it. The prison reminded me a lot of Alcatraz. It is open purely for tourists to walk through and it housed prisoners like Al Capone. But at Halloween times, it is haunted and amazing! If you look at the aerial view of the penitentiary, from the center you can see down every single row of cells. Very well designed I thought.

Before we even entered the penitentiary we were swarmed with creepy characters. They were seriously awesome. Their costumes and makeup were the best I have seen at a haunted house. And how many haunted houses have characters roaming the whole block?! They had so many characters entertaining us while walking to the penitentiary, purchasing our tickets and signing our waivers to go inside :0).

They have TV's all along the walkway into the penitentiary. So for as long as we were in line we were able to watch Ghost Adventures and Ghost Hunters both taking place at the penitentiary. Luckily for us, the line wasn't too long at all.

This is the creepy old man that showed us into the actual 'Terror Behind the Walls'.

A few things I don't want to forget about this haunted house. It was divided up into different sections so it went on forever, when we thought it was over - it wasn't. At first we started out in the courtyard. My favorite part of that was a HUGE mechanical dog that they had with a night watch person. It sat there growling and then when we walked past it got up and lept and you. And it was seriously HUGE! They had people around every corner. We walked through an old abandoned and totally creepy school bus. Then we went inside.

We went through the control tower, the infirmary (the doctor's office and the dentists office) and one of my favorite parts - we walked down a hallway of jail cells. There were prisoners that would reach at us and clank their handcuffs and some were actually like ghosts, able to move through the jail cell walls. CREEPY :0) It was awesome. We walked up the creepy stairs overlooking all the jail cells and then back down.

We went into a 3D section where they gave us 3D glasses and it was beyond amazing. People can blend in very well in the 3D section. They just wear black and paint their clothes like the walls. SO AWESOME!

Then we went into an area that was pitch black. They gave us little flash lights that didn't put off much light. But the only way we could see anything was with these flashlights. LOVED IT!!! It was doubly awesome as well. I turned my camera to video and just carried it in my hand so I didn't necessarily get very much but the pitch blackness. However, I just watched it and there is a portion near the end of the video where a wall almost falls on me. And instead of helping me - Kj just runs back - leaving me for dead :0/ Again, you can't see it - but you can hear us ;0)

The end was one of my favorite scenes ever. They had a couple different men in a room and one of them was telling us that this is what happens to bad prisoners. He pushed a button, and we saw someone get electrocuted. The person was tied to a wall so he wasn't standing on the ground but his body was upright. He was majorly electrocuted - limbs (arms, legs, head) flailing and everything. The lights were flickering and after the electrocution the body lept off the wall and came right at as. :0) SO FUN!!!! It was awesome! I hope I don't forget all the little scenes in between that made it so much fun. It really was a blast!

After the major terror portion we got to go down one of the hallways and look at the prisoner's cells and see what the penitentiary is like 'unspooked.' It was really awesome, and again reminded me tons of Alcatraz. Before we left they had one more scary scene for us to walk through in the courtyard. It involved us exiting and prisoners trying to escape with us. :0) We made it out - alive! And the prisoners fortunately enough were caught and remain at the penitentiary.

This video isn't one I took. It's just one I found on YouTube but I wanted to save it because when I watched it I remembered walking through the scenes that they show and I don't want to forget them :0)

Philadelphia

2011-10-09T19:46:00.000-06:00

I just can't say no.

Someone invites me to vacation and I do everything in my power to make it happen.

It happened again.

Tabbi wanted to go to Philadelphia, invited me, and as soon as I made sure I could get the time-off, I bought my ticket. :0)

So - we took off Thursday night after work and flew to the Philadelphia International Airport.

It was a great day to leave because it snowed in Utah and weather in Philadelphia has been in the 80's. :0) SO NICE!!!!

Crossing Lake Michigan a little North of Chicago on the plane.

And then coming into Philly...

New Windshield

2011-09-26T20:51:00.000-06:00

I have the sweetest boyfriend EVER!

Mike was coming up on a Saturday to help me move all my big things (and all my little things - and everything in between) to my new house.

My windshield had developed two very large cracks due to a dang rock chip and then the heat of the sun. What made me mad was that I just barely got my windshield replaced a year ago. Well like a year and a month - long enough to make it no longer covered by the warranty.
The top crack:

The bottom crack:

Anyways, can you see the cracks. I marked along them in red. Pretty big. Mike kept asking me to get it fixed because he says it's dangerous to drive with cracks in your windshield. Well so after a few months of him asking me about it, I finally made an appointment.

It was for the Saturday that he was coming to help me move. So I called him and asked if he could be there early enough in the morning to take me to drop my car off.

Here is how the conversation went.

Me: "Hey, do you think that you can be up here by 830 in the morning?"
Mike: "Ya, why?"
Me: "Well I was wondering if you wouldn't mind, can you be up here by 830 (it's a 1.5 hour drive from his house) and then take me to drop my car off to get the windshield changed?"
Mike: "Why would you ask me that?"
Me: (Pause.... uh.....)
Mike: "Of course I will take you! You don't even need to ask silly!"

I thought that was so cute! I really didn't know what he was getting at when he asked, "Why would you ask me that?" and then he followed up so quickly with, "Of course I will, you don't even need to ask."

What a guy!

Sweet 16

2011-09-26T20:01:00.000-06:00

The little girl that I volunteer with for Big Brother Big Sister turned 16. I came back early from Oak City Days so that I could go to her Sweet 16 Birthday Party. She has been talking about this day for months so there was no way I could miss it :0)

The party was very cute. All pink - KR's favorite color. I forgot to wear my pink but the majority of other guests didn't!

I didn't take a ton of pictures, but I took quite a few. There is one thing I don't want to forget about KR's big day - her gratitude.

Every time one of her guests arrived she screamed their names with excitement as if they were the one person she was waiting to come. She was so good with introductions. She introduced every new person to each person at the party.

When she was opening her presents she yelled with joy at everything she got and then followed up with "I love it!" So imagine this over and over, "ahhhhh! I love it!" .... "ahhhhh! I love it!" "Mommy look! Ahhhh! I love it!" And the best part about KR is that she is so sincere about everything :0)

To top the night off her last gift was... a pink cell phone. She has been waiting for one and her parents told her when she turned 16 she would get one. One of her friends in St. George called her as she was opening the gift so she got to open it and use it right away.

It was such a fun night and I am so glad that I get to spend time with KR and her family. They are such wonderful people and she is such a special person to know.

Rapunzel ~ and Brian's Birthday

2011-09-21T22:40:00.000-06:00

Alisha and Brian were up near Logan camping with Brian's family so they stopped by my parents house on their way home for dinner. It was Brian's birthday the next day so my mom planned a little celebration and we all got together for the occasion.

I just thought that this apple branch was very random - straight down. No curves.

While I was at Oak City Days I saw little girls running around with long braids like Rapunzel's (at the end of the Tangled movie with flowers and all). I thought that they were so cute. I looked at one little girl's and I thought, "I could make one of those way easy for Annika." Then I thought about it and I thought, "If I made it, when would she get it!? Years from now when I finally had time to go shopping and buy everything and then sit down and do it. So I just bought her one.

She climbed up into the playhouse and so that she could let down her gold hair.

Then Austin and I "used the hair" (or the pole) to climb up into the tower. She loved it and was smiling really big every time we got into the playhouse with her.

It was a lot of fun!

Bear Lake with Friends

2011-09-13T18:02:00.000-06:00

Mike & I got to go to Bear Lake a few weeks ago and soak up the summer sun with friends. It was such a perfect day! We got to the beach before anyone else and enjoyed having the sand and the water all to ourselves.

Mike & Rebekah on the empty beach when we got there:

I just loved looking at this gas pump out in the middle of the water. It made me happy for some reason ;0)

Matt & Alli

Ali & Steve

Ryan, Lorna & Rebekah

I loved these pictures of Rebekah chilling in the shade.

Lorna's sister Lisa and her family came up too. She has a beautiful little girl named Kate and it was so cute when Kate fell asleep on Rebekah while tubing around.

Mike playing with Rebekah, "ramming" her into me and making her laugh...

We rented a paddle boat and paddled our way around the lake for a bit.
Alli & Matt needed help driving ;0) LoL. Just teasing, they did good.

Look what a beautiful day it was! Mike & I floated on our backs and enjoyed the big waves everytime I boat or jet ski went by. SO MUCH FUN!

Mike & I playing in the water.

We had such a great time. Thanks for the invite and for the planning Lorna! I hope we can do it again sometime.

Oak City Days 2011

2011-09-11T20:05:00.001-06:00

Friday night I drove down to Oak City to celebrate Oak City Days with Mike & his family.

I slept on the trampoline with Mariann Friday night. I can't remember the last night I have slept on a trampoline. We had a blast and stayed up pretty late talking and looking at the stars. For some reason the neighbors decide to start sawing down a tree at 5 am and so despite our best efforts, we didn't get to sleep in :0(

Mike had gone to put Ty down a while earlier so I went to find him to say good night and we found them later like this:

Saturday morning we visited and then went to the city center for lunch. They cook beef, pork and potatoes in a pit. It is so yummy!

After we walked around the boothes and shopped a little bit.

Sherry bought some cake pops from her next door neighbor. They were all so cute. Owl shaped ones, cupcake shaped ones and mine was a cookie monster one! Loved it!

After that the family got ready for the mud volleyball tournament. I wasn't able to play because I had to leave for a "Sweet 16" birthday party that night, but it was fun to watch and despite getting all muddy - it is funner to play. Mike did awesome! He was definitely the MVP! He loves volleyball.

I left right after their games and headed to Layton. It was a really fun day. Thanks for the good times Teagle family! :0)

Jordan & Vanessa's Idaho Reception

2011-09-09T22:24:00.000-06:00

Jordan and Vanessa got married on Friday, August 5. Here are some pictures I captured of their reception in Idaho that evening.

The happy couple:

Laughing with Grandma Reeder:

Congratulations from Grandma & Grandpa Jarrett:

Cutest Couple at the Wedding (and most handsome man):

Decorations:

Cute Jordan:

Three of my favorite boys:

The cake - Oreo flavor - they didn't shove it in each others faces when they ate:

Table tops:

Vanessa's Wedding Shoes:

Bouquet:

With Annika:

Having some fun with just guys.

Vanessa & Jordan having fun & laughing together during a break of guests:

Veil pictures:

Dessert (cobbler):

Welcome:

Reception Center:

Gift Wagon:

Vanessa & Jordan:

Brian, Jordan, Mike & Austin

Jordan & Vanessa laughing again:

Arch enterance into the reception:

Mike (pulling a face) & me at the end of the night.

The car:

And of course Jordan drove it for a little bit without cleaning it off...

I thought that everything looked amazing and I loved the colors and the decorations! Best Wishes to Jordan & Vanessa. I love you guys! <3

Moving

2011-09-09T21:02:00.000-06:00

After a month and a half of not having the internet. I finally have it again. Woot.

Also, I started a new job and I moved.

Some people wanted to see my bedroom (Sara) and never did. LoL. So I took some pictures before I started packing everything up.

So here is the old house and bedroom. Pics of the new place to come soon as well as updates on everything else as well.

I am SO HAPPY to have the internet again!

My Bedroom:

Empty:

Park City Condo

2011-08-16T19:29:00.000-06:00

My family stayed in my grandparents condo in Park City and had so much fun. We had some yummy Spanish food prepared by Alisha, went swimming, and rode the Alpine slide. All mixed in with spending lots of time together talking and laughing. I am glad that we got to go - even if it was for just one night. It's always fun to spend time together!
After swimming we dipped cordial cherries, rice krispy treats and cinnamon bears in chocolate. mmmm.

Riding the lift up the mountain.

What are the chances of getting sled #001?!

Austin

Alli

Dad

Mom

Me

Mike

Annika - I couldn't decide which was cutest so I put them both on!

Alisha & Annika

Brian

Jordan

Vanessa

Ady stayed with Grandpa and Grandma Jarrett while we went on the Alpine Slide. When we got back she was fast asleep. Wore herself out playing with them I suppose.

Ady's hair is so white!

Annika on the merry-go-round.

LoL. Awake from her nap. Check out Adalyn's hair. Isn't she so cute?!

TechMediaNetwork

2011-08-12T18:49:00.000-06:00

Today was a day of change.
It's really weird.
It was my last day at TechMediaNetwork as a Technical Writer/Researcher/Reviewer for TopTenREVIEWS.

It is really strange. It's exciting, but sad. I have been working at TechMediaNetwork for almost a year and a half. So I have gotten pretty comfortable and grown to love everything about the job and the people I work with.

Monday I start working for Select Engineering Services (SES). I will be a Technical Writer contracted by the government to work on Hill Air Force Base. I really have no idea what I will be doing or if I will like it, but hopefully I will. I feel good about the position so I trust that I am making the right choice and that whatever happens from here on out is supposed to happen.

I have been really excited but I have been hesitant too. I work for a really great company and I am definitely going to miss the place and the people.

My coworkers started out the day a little before lunch and threw me a little party. We all took a break and went outside, ate some treats and visited. Sara even came (for the third day in a row) and brought Gavin!!!! I can't get enough of him! I loved visiting with everyone. All day long everyone just said the nicest things about how they were going to miss me. I will definitely miss all these amazing coworkers!

A group of my cube mates wanted to take me out to lunch today for a congratulatory lunch. I chose to go to Zupas. :0) We had so much fun and again - made me think about how much I am going to miss everyone.

I guess this is a new chapter in my book of life. :0) I am really excited.

As soon as my secret security application is approved - I will be more excited. Until then, I am sad to leave TechMediaNetwork - but thankful for the things I was able to learn and the great friends I was able to make.

:0( Farewell TechMediaNetwork.

(This picture was taken as I left the parking lot. LoL. How pathetic am I?!)

7 Peaks Fun

2011-08-11T15:05:00.000-06:00

On Saturday afternoon we left Park City and headed to Provo, where Mike & Brian's company had rented out Seven Peaks Waterpark for a company party.

We had a blast. Going down slides and playing with Annika and Adalyn while Brian and Alisha went down slides. Too bad my camera battery was dead and charging so I didn't get any pictures until dinner. We did have a lot of fun and went on all the adventurous slides. Plus, their company isn't very big, and lots of people had to stay in the kiddie pools because of their children so there were no lines at the slides - which was awesome! We would walk up to a slide and get right on in. SO MUCH FUN! Here is a picture of the wave pool - not too many people when compared to what it could be.

Alisha, Annika, Adalyn and Brian eating dinner.

Notice Adalyn's cute little onsie? Everyone got company t-shirts which looked best on the little kids.

Can you believe that this was the first time Brian ate Dippin Dots? I had to document.

Annika so has him beat in the "try Dippin Dots before your 4" category ;0)

Alisha got Annika and Adalyn dressed before dinner because they were going to play in the bounce houses and then go home for bed. Despite not being in the water, she still had fun with the tubes.

Mike and I heading to the Vortex after dinner.

We had ridden the Vortex before dinner. It was a fun slide, but nothing scary. Well, it was our first ride after dinner and quickly became our last.

You start the Vortex by going down a tube, gaining speed and then coming out into a half circle type bowl. You spin around and around and around until you slow down and then you plop down the center and slide out. The best way for me to describe it is those penny things you find in the mall, where you put a penny in and it goes around and around and around until it finally plops down the center. Well Mike and I were on a double tube, just like we were the first time, we were going down the tube, gaining speed and right at the end, right when we were at full speed, our tube went a little too far up on the side and we capsized. We flipped completely over and since I was in front, I think I took the grunt of it.

I knocked my head on both sides. The next day I found goose-eggs on both sides and I parted my hair to look at them and found red-purple bruises :0(

I scratched my elbow a tiny bit - more than anything it was super bruised and tore up the skin on my hand pretty deep. :0(

After we capsized we slid a little bit on our skins and when I stopped I didn't know what to focus on - my head, my arm, my hand or my knee. I looked down to see that my knee was already swollen and changing colors. I noticed too that although it wasn't bleeding, the pigment had been torn off. So all I could say in all my shock of what happened was, "My tan got torn off!!!!" The lifeguard asked if I needed the EMT and then he made us get back on the raft and finish the ride. It was pretty awful.

This is me after crying a little (just a little) about my knee:

I think Annika had been ready to go home for a while but once I got hurt, she was really ready. She kept saying, "Let's go, let's go. I want to get out of here..." LoL. So as you will notice - she is 'ready to go home' in the family photo.
Alisha & Brian & Family:

Mike & I:

Mike drove me to his house after to make sure I was okay to drive home.
He lives four blocks from Seven Peaks and my knee was swollen by the time we got there.

He ran to the store and got some meds and bandages, then he took care of me. What a great guy huh?

The knee kept getting worse and this is what it looked like the next day.

It has been two weeks, and it's still swollen, though it looks much better. I just want the blood to drain and for it to go back to normal so it isn't as sensitive.

Anyways, my first experience of Seven Peaks - pretty fun. I didn't feel like going back but I think that now, if I had the chance, I would. I am glad Alisha and her family were there - it made it that much more fun! Thanks for the good night to all who were there!

Night Before the Wedding

2011-08-11T09:20:00.000-06:00

The night before Amanda’s wedding we had a bachelorette party, kind of. :0) All us girls met up at Nielson’s Frozen Custard in Holladay and then we went back to Amanda’s house for a sleepover. Tabbi came back to chat with us but left because she worked the next day. Tracy, Amanda, Kjersten and I had the sleep over :0).

It was so much fun. I always love getting together with this group of friends and being able to have one ‘last night’ with Mand before she got hitched was exciting. We didn’t really do anything too wild – just stayed up way to late talking and catching up since we don’t get to see each other too often.

I missed the wedding because my little brother got married on the same day (pictures of that to come soon). But CONGRATULATIONS to Mand and Chris! I am so excited for you two and can’t wait to get together again (hopefully soon)!

End of July in Review 7/15-7/31

2011-08-04T00:00:00.000-06:00

One day when I am 84 years old I will read this blog and say, "Dang, I had a lot of energy!"

The last couple of weeks have been so busy. I just want to recount the craziness so that when I read all my blog posts I will remember, oh ya... that's what I did ;0)
(I am not including work (M-F 8-5) and church (Sun 11-2). They are a given.)

Friday, July 15, 2011
Girls Night in Park City to celebrate Mom's Birthday

Saturday, July 16, 2011
Shop the Outlets
"The Thing" party with Mike

Sunday, July 17, 2011
Going Away Party for Rebecca & Jason
Transport Mike's things from SLC to Orem
Visit Alisha, Brian, Annika and Adalyn

Monday, July 18, 2011
Sunset Pizzeria and make cupcakes for shower with Rebecca

Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Help throw shower for Vanessa

Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Big Brother Big Sister - mall, ice cream, movie

Thursday, July 21, 2011
Dinner with Mike
David Coulier at Wiseguys in Ogden

Friday, July 22, 2011
Sushi dinner with Rebecca

Saturday, July 23, 2011
Highlights
Firehouse Pizzeria with Mike
FlowRider in Ogden with Mike
Movie

Sunday, July 24, 2011
Film HGTV Video (ALL NIGHT LONG - ugh)

Monday, July 25, 2011
Katy Perry Concert with Alli

Tuesday, July 26, 2011
iFly with Alli
Roy Aquatic Center with Becky
Visit (make cookies, watch YouTube, look at pics) with Becky & Caleb

Wendesday, July 27, 2011
iHop with Mike, Dustin, and Angelica
Movie Premiere "Crazy, Stupid, Love"
Juicy Berry

Thursday, July 28, 2011
Drive Triathalon Course with Becky & Caleb
Dinner, look at vacation destinations, make cookies (for VT'ing) with Becky & Caleb
Internet Date with Mike - watch "Something Borrowed" (horrible ending)

Friday, July 29, 2011
Park City Condo with family

Saturday, July 30, 2011
Park City with family - Alpine Slide
7 Peaks with Mike's Co. (Brian, Alisha, Annika, Adalyn)

Sunday, July 31, 2011
Gavin's Baby Blessing

Man! What a month! I can't remember what I did at the beginning of the month, but I think I am going to love compiling this blog into a book one day and remembering all of these little things.
So far it's not looking like August is going to slow down but I am excited for everything that's coming up! Two weddings this week plus a girlfriend slumber party! Wah-hoo!

My Favorite House

2011-08-02T18:24:00.000-06:00

This is my favorite house in all of the Davis/Weber county areas.

Why?

Because Becky & Caleb live here.

They always invite me over to talk and hang out.
Recently I shut off my internet and they let me come over and use theirs.
They let me watch TV with them.
They let me live with them last year for two months until I found a place.
They told me to keep the key in case I ever want to come over when they aren't home.
and
Every time I come over they give me homemade dinners :0). It's the only time I ever eat a decent dinner.

I am so grateful to have them as friends.
They are just like family to me and it is so nice to have family close by.

I love them and for that reason - this will always be one of my favorite houses.

David Coulier in Ogden

2011-07-28T21:45:00.000-06:00

Thursday night Mike and I went to see David Coulier at Wiseguys in Ogden. We had so much fun. He was hilarious.

WARNING: There are probably too many photos. I think I got carried away again...

David Coulier doing the famous "Cut, It, Out..." He said that he did it once and the producers on Full House loved it and told him to keep it up.

His act was amazingly clean, I loved it! He talked a lot about his family and did a ton of funny impressions. He did impressions of all of the Warner Brother cartoons including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Porky Pig and ending with SpongeBob SquarePants, Patrick Star and Gary the Snail. He had everyone laughing so hard!

#WINNING

2011-07-28T08:36:00.000-06:00

I like to attribute my new found gift of #winning to Charlie Sheen. Although I don't think he really passed any luck on, he definitely set the stage for me to notice how #epic my winning has become.

After hearing all about Charlie Sheen while in Cozumel from Kjersten and Amanda. I tweeted him and won some tickets for them to his show in Boston.

This was actually the first time I wanted to set my Twitter account on private. All these people started following me and mentioning me and sending me messages. Some of them seemed a little crazy so I got worried. Thankfully I think that they all found out I don't know Charlie Sheen and they stopped following me and telling me to tell him stuff. (And the crazy ones left me alone! Whew!)

Shortly there after I entered a caption contest and won $100 to Rodizio Grill.

I decided I should keep entering contests. Mother's Day weekend I won $20 to Roosters and $10 to Grounds for Coffee. Two eateries 1/2 a block away from my work.

A little while later I win $100 for tweeting a picture of my lunch,

then I win $100 again.

Then I win $100 for Mike. Woot Woot! What luck.
(I told him he needed to get a passport with it... We'll see if he really does...)

I also won a cupcake from the Vintage Cupcake Factory
I got Maple Bacon because there is no way I would actually purchase that flavor cupcake. Surprisingly it was actually really good. It was more maple than bacon so I liked it. (I have had cupcakes from there that are NASTY! So it's saying something that it was good.)

I won some free henna...

A $25 Visa gift card...

A book on how to be a good parent...

and most recently, I won some Katy Perry tickets!

How awesome is technology where we can enter contests and win fun stuff like all of that!?!?!? I LOVE IT and hope there is more #winning to come!

Private for a Time

2011-07-24T19:09:00.001-06:00

So - I am going to put my blog on private for a month or two.

Just because.

So if you want to keep reading it during that time - let me know your email and I will send an invite to you.

:0)

Black 4th

2011-07-23T12:00:00.000-06:00

I decided to label this post according to the hot dogs and brats that Mike cooked - pictured below.

Upon touch they turned to a black powder called ashes. ;0) LoL. Just teasin. They really were burnt beyond repair - but it was Mike's first time using the grill... ;0)

-----

The 4th was fairly busy. We went to the Clearfield parade in the morning with Rebecca, Jason and Liam. Then we had a BBQ with Lorna and Ryan (hence the above photo) and then Mike went to work his last day at Verizon and I went to my Grandparents BBQ in Brigham and then to the Brigham fireworks with my family.

What a fun day and night it turned out to be.

I didn't take a ton of pictures - but I did capture these:

My cute Grandpa and his nice thick hair (otherwise known as a wig. LoL. not sure why he was wearing it - but it sure was fun!)!!! Notice - he is wearing red, white and blue.

The he started to dance...?? LoL. I just love his smile and laugh.

My beautiful Grandma - also in flaunting red, white and blue apparel. I love when people get dressed up for holidays. I need to focus on doing that in the future...

And my lovely mom & seester. Also dressing for the occasion. LOVE IT!

Pics and videos of the Brigham City fireworks. I took just shy of 400 pictures of fireworks alone... I have a problem. I can't ever decide which are my favorite so here are some random ones. (And - I photograph and video tape at the same time - oh ya... mainly I mention this so if the camera shakes... you won't get disgruntled.)

Something awesome about the Brigham City fireworks....they are free!
Something else awesome - you get more ash landing on you than at the USU Stadium fireworks and the Stadium of Fire fireworks :0)

I like this firework image because it makes me think of something I would see scuba diving

I like this firework image because it looks like the firework is coughing out smoke ;0)

The Finale... you have to wait for it. But it will come! ;0)

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!!

Scuba Diving Certification

2011-07-16T11:43:00.000-06:00

Gosh. It’s over?! It’s really over?! Wah-hoo! I am SO STINKING happy to be scuba certified but I am even more happy that the class is over! This class was SO time consuming! I took the class from Scuba Utah – awesome place, awesome teachers – but way far away from my life in Ogden. Okay, not really way far – but during rush hour, it feels like it. My classes were Tues/Thurs from 6-10 pm. If I left work at 4:30 I would get to class late. But if I left at 4, I would be super duper early. It was kinda a no-win situation. But since I don’t like to be late, I would go to work at 8 every day, miss lunch, and leave at 4. I normally skip lunch but really!? I have to be there at 8?! That was so early! I did it though. I survived the traffic and the classes and I am certified and it’s over.

The classes were really good. There were 4. We started diving on the very first class. I think that I wasn’t very nervous since I had been diving in Cozumel and felt pretty confident about it all. So the first class was a piece of cake. The second class… got a little more difficult. We had to take out masks off underwater. I was really worried about that because I didn’t want water to go up my nose. :0/ I didn’t know how I was supposed to breathe out my nose and in my mouth at the same time. Literally at the same time. I was so nervous I didn’t even think that I could breathe out and then in and then out and then in. I had to practice by standing up and just sticking my face in the water. After standing up and putting my face under water - I did it on my first try. So I went underwater and did it. It was a cinch, I think I was just too worried underwater I panicked. We had to remove our masks and breathe for one minute and then put our masks back on. Well I was so nervous that I took off my mask and threw it! Since I couldn’t see in the chlorine, I kept trying to find it and couldn’t find it anywhere. Lucky for me, my instructor grabbed it for me. And boom, I finished the second class with no problems!

Our third class was the written final. I was super worried about this because I am not good at taking tests. I tell people this is why I became an English major. I would so much rather write a paper than take a test. We could only miss 12, and that put some pressure on and I was even more worried. But guess what – I passed it on my very first try! Na-na-na-na hey-hey-hey yahoo!

The fourth class I think I almost died! We had to swim with our snorkel’s (not hard) and then dive underwater, touch the bottom and come back up and swim back. OHMYGOSH!!!!! I really am fine diving under water and holding my breath, but for some reason, that snorkel just messed me up! I swam, I dived, I touched, I surfaced and I did awesome my first time. So I wasn’t quite at 12 feet, maybe I was at 8. The teacher said I had to do it again. Boo. I dived, I tried to breathe and I couldn’t so I surfaced. I tried again, I touched the bottom, and while surfacing I tried to breathe, I couldn’t – I thought I was going to die. But don’t worry, I didn’t. And I passed. Thank heavens. That could have been the end. Every night I called Mike on my drive home and I said, “I wanted to quit... But I didn't! I survived another class!” LoL.

With all this drama, and my fear of water, why the heck did I certify you are probably wondering. Well… I liked scuba diving in Cozumel and when I am underwater, swimming I am fine. It’s just the whole testing period that gives me anxiety and makes me nervous. But now that I am done with it – I feel like I could go jump into an ocean – in fact, I want to… time to plan a trip I guess ;0).

Anyways, after our four classes, we went to the Crater in Midway and performed what we had learned for our teachers. We performed two dives on Friday and three dives on Saturday. We did an extra one on Saturday just for the pure fun of it. The crater was pretty neat, not at all what I expected but really fun. They decorated it with plastic fish, a turtle and a snake. It’s like a cave with really warm water – it was 95-degrees on the days we went. It isn’t very wide in diameter, just one big circle. It was a fun experience but I probably won’t go diving there again. I am so happy to be done with scuba diving classes and so happy to finally have a life again! Yay for me! And FYI – scuba certification lasts a lifetime so I will never have to do it again! I do feel confident about what I learned though, I had awesome teachers who were so great to work with. They were so nice and just plain awesome. They really make sure you know your stuff and can do it which makes for an awesome feeling when it’s all over and you realize that you can!

My scuba instructor Jo Ney in front of the Crater

The entrance to the Crater

The entrance after the tunnel - into the water portion of the crater

The beautiful blue mineral water

The top of the crater has a hole showing the sky

The water is about 65 feet deep and in the shape of a beehive. The walls are all made of Limestone rock. (On our last dive we stood on the very bottom of the crater.)

My favorite pink fins underwater.

Underwater on certification dive #2

Turtle

Snake

At the certification platform

Watching my classmates certify - waiting for my turn

After becoming certified we had the option of going on an adventure dive.
Me before the adventure dive signaling "OK" :0)

Girlfriends

2011-07-12T14:25:00.000-06:00

Amanda is getting married on August 5. So what do Tracy & Lindsey plan for her bridal shower?! A boating trip! It was seriously the best bridal shower I have ever been to! SO MUCH FUN! We would drive around and ski or tube and then park and chat, then go play some more - then park and chat. We had dinner, opened gifts and as mentioned, played in the water like mad, talking and laughing the whole time! It was the perfect combination of everything. I literally took hundreds of pics - here are just a few... :0)

Me, Tabbi and Tracy

Amanda opening presents. You can guess what she got a lot of! :0) Yay Mand!

Me & Linds Tubing

Lindsey Slalom Skiing

Tabbi

Karina

Megan - 6 months pregnant came and rode around with us :0)

Amy

Me & Mand

Tabbi, Amanda and Lindsey

The sunset - we stayed as long as we possible could!

And that... is a bridal shower! ;0)

Stadium of Fire 2011

2011-07-04T11:18:00.000-06:00

Mike's brother Skyler invited us to go to the Stadium of Fire with their family. Mike was really excited about it, so we went. Being from Cache Valley, my family always went to the fireworks at the USU stadium so this was my first time to the Stadium of Fire. It was really fun.
We had a BBQ at their house before. Catina made these really cute fruit/brownie kabobs for dessert. I loved the idea of them.

Here are some pics from the evening:
Mike & I:

Skyler, Catina, and Tyrek

They started off with the Star Spangled Banner being sung by David Archuleta. It was fun because they had a video of him singing at the Stadium of Fire back when he was like 12. Then he picked up singing live from the stage.
I didn't record it but here is a video I found of it:

They had sky divers land in the stadium, which was really fun. Especially now that I know what sky diving is like. :0) I want to do that one day. I got this little video clip of the last sky diver taking out a camera man with the American flag. LoL. He actually took out the blue little barracade wall and everything. Like 6 seconds into the clip you will see what all the excitement was about. ;0)

Then the Stadium of Fire Dancers came out and performed. They performed very well and were lots of fun to watch.

Ty really liked watching the fireworks at the end of the performance.

Stephen Jones hosted the first ever Stadium of Fire talent show. He was in this YouTube video of the BYU Harold B. Lee library.

He was hilarious! At one point he was walking around in the crowd talking to people and he asked a couple how long they had been dating. They said, "a little over three years." He said, "And your not engaged?" They said, "No." And he walks away while muttering, "Faith over fear people, faith over fear." That had to be my favorite comment of the evening. He was just so matter of fact about it and it just came to him so quickly - it was good. (A little bit of the favortism may also come from the fact that I know a couple in that same boat. LoL. ;0)

Anyway, David Archuleta performed and was so much fun to watch. I just think that he is one of the cutest kids ever. He seems so humble and sweet.

Brad Paisley was also really fun to watch and we enjoyed his songs and performances as well.

After Brad was the main attraction... the FIREWORKS!!!!
The first video has a little dancing while the fireworks were starting, the second is all fireworks.

This is how mesmerized Tyrek was while watching the fireworks.

And this is his face when Uncle Mike scares him ;0)

It was a lot of fun and I am glad that we got to go. Thanks for the invite guys!