Snowboarding

My sister Alana is amazing at snowboarding. She used to be sponsored. I don't really know how that works, but she practically has a retail store full of gear. She gave me a board for my birthday a year and a half ago. It is sweet! It has what I like to call Ninja Turtle bindings. They are bright green and yellow. They are awesome. Well, I went for the first time about a month and half ago. I stunk it up, man. I still can't kneel because the bruising was so bad. Hurty. I kept catapulting forward. Like cartoon catapulting. Way hurty. On my final run down the mountain, I flipped forward so hard that I hit that lower bone. The one where it makes you want to throw up if you hit it hard enough. So I just lay there in the snow. And I cried. And then I was done.

I went again on Monday night. They have a great deal for night skiing on Mondays: half price. Which is great. Because full price for night skiing in negative bazillion degrees would not be worth it for the beginner that I am. My legs got really tired and my fingers were like little otter pops. But they didn't taste good like otter pops. I got a lot better though and went down the mountain only falling twice on my last run. One of the spills was great. I supermanned it but ended up on my back, which means I did a full somersault. Hurty, I know. I wish I could have seen it. I love slapstick humor. Must be all Three Stooges I watched with my dad as a kid. Who knows. Anyway, I really had a good time. I think snowboarding is something I could really like. Especially on half price Mondays.

Hurricane: Pronounced "her-ih-cun"

This last weekend we went down to the old homestead. And by old homestead, I mean my dad's hometown in Southern Utah. Not like everyone who reads my blog has never heard of it, I mean, it's like my favorite place in the world. Anyway, we had a ball. My cousin Bryce got home from his mission so that was a great excuse for us to head on down. We went out to the "Flat" and saw some of my uncle's animals. He and his sons are really the only ones left that do any farming. And they love it.
Here are some of the cows. I just think cows are so cute. Just look at them! And they don't smell nearly as badly as pigs or chickens. Now those are animals that can put out a stench.

This is Uncle Wynn's turkey named Obama. I don't really know why he is called that. Maybe because he is brown? He is vicious though, apparently. He chases ya around. And being chased by a giant turkey is never fun.

We did a little shooting. I was super excited to bring my Red Ryder down, but since I was rushed getting out of town, I forgot him. Sad sad day. But I got to shoot the .22 anyway. And I keept hitting the target. Then my cousin's hub who is big into hunting said I had good shooting form. Yeah, my head got a little bigger

Jordy's birthday is on Valentime's day but we celebrated it the night before. Mostly because Sunday was for Bryce's homecoming glory, at least that is what I am thinking anyway. Which, I didn't get a picture of. I'm not great about photo documentation... But I love the kid. Fresh off the mish kids are the best. And he did a fantastic job. Oh to be recently returned once again rather than almost expired!

We also did some ball tag on the four wheelers and Bryce was on his little motorcycle. We had a blast!

Thanks to all the Hurricane-ites who made it such a great time!

Udder Paradise

If I was a cow, this is where I would want to live. Wouldn't you? This is my uncle's place down in Hurricane, Utah. Just look at that view!

Nicole

One of my favorite things to do is catch up with old friends. I just like to know what is going on and how their life is turning out so far. I went to visit my friend Nicole on Tuesday night. I have known her forever. She moved into the ward when she was 10 and I was 9, but we didn't become friends until I was 12 and in young women's.We became best friends. I remember nights when we woudl be talking on the phone and, of course, I would fall asleep while she was talking to me. I know, big surprise, right? I still do that... Anyway, it was fun to hang out with her for a number of reasons, one being that her older sisters would let us tag along. In fact, when I was 13 or 14, one of them took us to drag State Street. Yeah, I got in trouble for getting home so late, but it was fun. And so grown up. But now that I think about it, dragging State is just plain weird. Anyway, we would always go for drives as soon as she turned 16. And we did a lot of talking. We just got to know eachother really well during pivotal times in our lives. And these days, she tends to remember a lot more about my teenage years than I do. And let me tell you, it can be embarassing... She was great to pal around with. I moved out of that ward when I was 16 but we maintained contact. She got married and moved to Oregon while I got busy with school and went on a mission. We lost touch there for a while, but she found me again and I saw her at Alana's wedding last year. Since then we have gotten together a few times. I now know what she is up to and a lot of what has happened in her life. She has four kids and lives in a cute little house in Spanish Fork wher her hub is a successful lawyer. It's so cute to see how proud she is of him. She is a great mom and her kids are absolutely darling. She is as gorgeous as ever, totally happy, and so much fun to talk with. What is so great about it is that when we do see eachother, we are able to just pick up where we left off. No awkwardness or feeling like there is nothing to talk about. That's what I love about long time friends. They already know so much about you aand you can continue to build on that foundation from all those years ago. So, I thank all my wonderful friends! I love you all!

Nicole is the one in the green sweatshirt. And I'm in the middle.

Averi

So after the play, I hung out with my little cousin Averi. She is Craig's sister's daughter. She just cracks me up. A few weeks ago, I took her to see Where The Wild Things Are, thinking that since it was drawn from one of the most beloved children's books of all time, it would be great for kids. Wrong-o! It was so depressing and I didn't really like it at all. It was just plain weird and more adult themed than anything else. That will teach me to not read reviews before I take kids to movies again. Anyway, this time, she wanted to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks so I watched it, kind of, while she wandered off and did something else until she started a big pillow fight. I still don't know what happened to Uncle Ian... But anyway, after that, I dashed off and got together with some friends that night. And that is the end of my overly extended Saturday.

More Vegas

For those of you who would like to see more pics and good times from Viva Las Vegas, check out my sister Alana's blog. I would have to say that my favorite one is of the midget Elvis and Yoda together.

Twi-Lite: I Was a Teenage Vampire

I had a very busy weekend. For my lil' sister's birthday, I decided that I wanted to take her to the Desert Star Theater in Murray. Her birthday was two weeks ago. That's how on top of things I am... Anyway, they do parodies on different things and seeing as she is Team Edward, I thought she might enjoy this one. Our flight left Viva Las Vegas at 8:30 so I got tickets for the 11:30 show thinking we would have plenty of time to get there. Being the forgetful girl I sometimes am, I forgot about the hour time difference and that our flight wouldn't land until 10:45. We were supposed to be at the theater at 11:00. So I raced home, changed my clothes, and raced off to the theater. We got there just in time. And it was just delightful! We were laughing so hard and it was just fun to hang out with Rumblina. She is such a sweetheart and I love spending time with her one on one. But I hope I have learned my lesson on over booking myself as a result of this last weekend. Because that wasn't my only overextension of myself.

Viva Las Vegas!

Vegas was such a ball! We had so much fun! Our flight left at 6:35 in the a.m. which made us all tired. But we got there and my aunt's brother took us to breakfast at The Original Pancake House. Delicious! It was a lot of fun to meet him and eat delicious food. We then went to the hotel, dropped off all of our stuff and hit the road. We spent quite a lot of time in the Bellagio an dhten went to the M&M store. I met my man Elvis there! Actaully, i met my man Elvis on almost every street corner. But this was the only one I wanted a picture with. He's such a hunk. Then we went to the Coca Cola store. There were these guys with a ton of different flavors of coke and I really wanted to try it. It was called "Tastes From around the World." Umm, most of it was disgusting and didn't taste like real Coke products. I am glad I live in America where our sodas don't taste like crap.

In front of Serendipity's

We ate at the buffet at Treasure Island. It was oodalally delicious. On the weekends tehy have prime rib, shrimp, and crab. The only crab I remember ever having was canned or something like that, which sounds absolutely disgusting right now. Anyway, I just had to try it. It's such a pain to shell. But so good.
They have a wax museum at theVenetian. So I stopped to get a picture with the Rock. He is so dreamy.. He looks so much smaller in real life... But I was still intimidated as you can see I couldn't get too close to him.

Then we got pictures in front of the Phantom ad. We were just so excited!! And this picture is great because my mom has her eyes open. Sometimes, I think Rachel and Emma get that trait from her...

Then came Phantom. It was phenomenal! I was so amazed the entire time. It was definitely worth going down to see.

After the show, we actually saw Elder Holland! He was just so nice. My aunt Mel saw him and told me to get his attention. So I grabbed his arm and said hello. He turned and said "What is this? The Relief Society?" And then went on about how fantastic the show was as he shook all of our hands. It was a great way to end the show!

We all wanted to see the fountains at the Bellagio afterwards, but Grammy and preggo Alana were just too beat so they went back to the hotel. So mom, Mel, Taylor and I went out and saw them. So gorgeous!

My battery was dying thw whole trip so she has all the pictures with all of us in them. It was a fantastic trip and we had a ball! I can't wait to do something like this again soon!

Travel

I am getting the travel bug. I LOVE to travel. Sometimes I think to myself, "I haven't really been anywhere." And then I stop again and realize that I have been lots of places. I have been pretty lucky. Anyway, one of my friends just invited me to go to Germany and Poland. Wroclaw Rynek
I want to go so badly! I need to go back. I love this place. But, with Beyonce's repairs, practically zero tax return (thanks for nothin!!), and my car insurance premium due, I just won't be able to go. For a split second, I thought about selling my beloved. But then I thought, "How dare you even consider it! You love her!" Bah! So that is not even an option. I would feel like Benedict Arnold. Oh and I also bought this.
Not the guy on it, he's my cousin. And besides, you can't buy people. The four wheeler! My sister asked me why I did that, and I just told her "Because I wanted it." And I did. I really wanted it. So with all those things, I have drained my excess cash.

So, I have planned a few smaller trips that will keep my travel appetite under control. I can't even wait. I am going to Vegas tomorrow to see Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian. I hear it is fantastic!! We got round trip airfare for $50, and flying makes travel so much easier. So we bought them, booked a hotel, and got some Phantom tickets. Did I mention I can't wait?!

Then, a few days ago, I consorted with the BFF and I am headed out to Chicago at the end of March. Can. Not. Wait. "[Chicago] is so diverting!" Tons of stuff to do, but mostly, I am super excited to hang with the BFF, her little doll, and her hub. Oh, and we are going to see Beauty and the Beast. I just love going to the theatuh! And that is one of my favorite Disney movies, so it's a win-win all around! And since Chicago has the second largest Polish speaking population (second only to Warsaw), maybe I will be able to score me some Polish goodies. We'll see :) That will have to satiate my Poland hunger for now.

Beyonce

Meet Beyonce. She is a total Babe. Sometimes I like to refer to her as "Sasha Fierce," but only when she is particularly sassy. Beyonce/Sasha is, for right now, the love of my life. I love her color, I love that she is pretty new, and I like that I bought her myself.

She came into my life last June. I had been wanting to buy a car for a while. My little college car, the white 2002 Chevy Prizm had served me well. But it was my college car. It had a crazy bent up fender on the front passenger side and a funky black bumper. I felt like at 25 I should buy myself something nice. So I was looking into the Scion Tc, a VW Jetta, and a Mazda 3. I wasn't planning on buying it for a little while longer, but after my bf dumped me the night before my little brother's wedding, I felt like I needed something to care about. And something that made me feel cute. So ten days later I walked off the lot with this sexy little thing. And, as a side note, anyone who says money can't buy happiness, never bought a snazzy new car after a break up!
Well, anyway, on January 19, I walked out to the Babe and saw a huge branch lying next to it. Then I reached for the handle and to my horror, there was a huge dent mangling her sleek lines! She needed surgery, so I took her in for some estimates. Turns out there was a lot of damage (over $700!) So I filed a claim and now my baby is as good as new.
What did I drive while Beyonce was under the knife, you ask? Well, my boss has an old Mercedes and told me to take it for the night. I have the best boss. And man, that Benz has some pick up on it! Such a nice ride. One day, I will have something with more than a 4 cylinder engine. But for now, I am so happy in love with Beyonce. She is the best. Ever.