More Wisdom Please

been a while

2011-12-02T11:53:00.001-07:00

i was rolling there for a while with my posts .... but then life kicks in and i forget. i ran across this video via a friends and wanted to share ... i have tons to blog about and hope to get to it soon, but until then ... ENJOY

houston

2011-11-06T21:49:00.003-07:00

falling a little behind on the posts but here is a quick glance into my recent trip to houston.

i was able to travel to the great state of texas for a the sweet adelines international competition. the chorus that both my mom and sister sing with mt. jubilee chorus (mjc) had place first in their region and were therefore representing their region at the competition. it was a week full of inside jokes, laughter, and some great singing.

we flew in a few days early so that we could roam around the city before all of the rehearsals and contests began. the first day we went downtown and walked around the mall. it was a great day to just hang out and relax.

the second day involved a trip to the houston temple. it was a great experience and the temple was beautiful. it is always a good day when you turn off your phone for a few hours and concentrate on service.

From Sept-Oct-2011

wednesday was the start of the contest with the quartet semi-finals. bounce was one of the competing quartets. they did a fantastic and we were all pulling for them to make the top ten. it was a long day with lots of music and in the end bounce came in 16th.

thursday was the start of the chorus contest and mjc was 14th on stage. here is a picture from thursday night.

From Sept-Oct-2011

i honestly wish that they could be nearly the tail end every time because once they sing i HATE sitting through all the rest of the contestants. my stomach is tied in knots and i start to fell a little sick. every time they get on stage during a contest i get so tense!! this contest was no different as they were out 14th of 33. once mjc came off stage we did take some time to go back to the hotel so the ladies could get out of their costumes and grab some lunch. as we got in the elevator to go up to the room i made an off the cuff remark about getting in the spirit and putting on some fake lashes if mjc made it to the second day. guess what!!! they did ... they were announced as contestant 7 in the top ten.

as promised i decided to either go big or go home .....

From Sept-Oct-2011

friday was jammed packed with the quartet finals but more than that the anticipation was growing for the chorus finals. mjc was preparing like crazy with the 'missing U' package. it was hysterical and jill was playing to the crowd like nothing that i have ever seen see pic below). i can't even explain how funny it was ... you just had to be there.

From Sept-Oct-2011

in the end mjc came in 7th. it was a fantastic week and i was thankful to be a part of it.

From Sept-Oct-2011

a week in highland

2011-10-24T21:07:00.000-06:00

every now and again i get to hang out with a few of my favorite people. this stay was no different ... it was a blast. it seems like we had a new adventure each night. if you have never had a chance to spend time with mc and kc (an most of you probably haven't) you are missing out. these two constantly crack me up. everything from arguments over homework, picking out birthday presents, and playing a little golf in the park ... it never stops.

one of the first nights we showed a little love to ace and chelsea and cleaned out their cage. i was completely disgusting and i swear that i will NEVER own birds. but i bit the bullet and we got it done. here is proof that the birds are still alive ...

From Sept-Oct-2011

our next adventure was carving pumpkins. we picked out three pumpkins and as it turns out kc didn't want to carve one. we bought a book with a bunch of carvings and they were a little harder for miss mc. no worries, because she got a kick out of pulling out the pumpkin guts. we only made it through one on the first go around but it turned out great.

here is mc proudly displaying her pumpkin

From Sept-Oct-2011

There were no candles in the house when we finished so we improvised and put a birthday candle in it .... it lasted just long enough to get a few pictures.

From Sept-Oct-2011

mc also likes to pick out her clothes her clothes each night before she goes to sleep. no only does she pick them out but while i was there she wanted to lay them all 'as if someone' were wearing them.

so adorable

From Sept-Oct-2011

my favorite memory of the whole week was sitting in bed friday night(well after bedtime) wih mc on one side and kc on the other watching america's funniest home videos. it really isn't all that funny to watch it on your own ... but watch it with two kids that are crazy tired and laugh at everything. sooooo funny.

sisters(x2) and soccer

2011-10-10T19:54:00.000-06:00

a bit more on the great state of oregon .... seriously, i have decided i need to move there. we had a full saturday as we ran from place to place. we attended two soccer games, went to the resorts town of sisters, attended a baptism, had family dinner, and then hung out with the family ....

as soon as we got to the first soccer game i was wishing that i had packed my 'big' camera. oh well, live and learn, instead i pulled this picture of google ... just so that i would have something to share with you all.

From Sept-Oct-2011

in between soccer games we drove out out to the resort town sisters for the farmers market. i could have spent some major money there but ended up only buying one thing. maybe the coolest thing at the market was a stand where a gentleman has turne coins from countries all over the world into necklaces. i have a good friend serving a mission in estonia and just about bought a necklaces for her .... i didn't buy it and i am regretting it now. again, i didn't have the fore-site to take a picture so here is a another one thanks to google.

From Sept-Oct-2011

lastly, i got to hang out with r&h and company. lovin it!!

From Sept-Oct-2011

great to be 8

2011-10-09T19:31:00.000-06:00

the main reason for my visit to oregon was to attend my niece's baptism. it is always fun to visit my brother and sister-in-law but this trip was extra special. maybe it was due to the fact that conference was fresh on my mind ... whatever the reason, I am so glad that i made the trip. emt is amazing and i was so proud of her and her choice to be baptised. examples come in every shape and size ...

(of course my eyes are closed in this picture .... i will have to replace it at some point ... but for now, here it is)

From Sept-Oct-2011

pumpkin patch + games

2011-10-07T22:53:00.000-06:00

we decided to go out to a somewhat local pumpkin patch yesterday. we drove to a town near bend and found a pumpkin patch that also had a kids play zone and a petting zoo. it was fun to see the different reactions of the kids. after some time with animals and some time on the sack slide it was time to pick out pumpkins. each child walked around and tried to find the 'perfect pumpkin'. I likes this one ... i thought that it had character.

From Sept-Oct-2011

instead of seeing the animals or really even paying attention to anything and me, being me, i just walked around and took pictures with my phone app!! i tell everyone about this app (hipstamatic) and how cool it is .... here is proof. check out this picture that i took.

From Sept-Oct-2011

LOVE IT!!

not only did we have a great time hanging out but then we added to go back to the house and play hearts. my dad cleaned house. for any of you who have ever played hearts with him you know that he can count cards like no ones business. proud to say that only shot the moon once .... be at the end of the dame i think his number was still under 20. i will tell you one thing for certain. i hate to lose ...

From Sept-Oct-2011

sneaky

2011-10-07T20:00:00.000-06:00

i woke to the sound of kids voices and two sneaky boys slowly sneaking up to the couch where I happened to be sleeping. of course, as soon as I sat up they would run back to their room. after finally waking up completely and chasing them around upstairs they all had to go to school and i was ready to get some work done. however, before they left i asked them to take a picture with me....instead M said...'just take a picture of me'... so I did

the smell of pine

2011-10-06T23:19:00.000-06:00

after finally arriving in bend and meeting up with ryan we stopped by target. we were joking around about how UN-busy target was at 9:00 at night and that if we were in utah the parking lot would have been half full. it is amazing the things you notice when life slows down a little ... as we were walking out of the door at target all i could smell was the fresh pine. generally i am not a big fan of the smell but for some reason i loved it in bend. the more i visit the more i fall in love with the city. there chances are high .... i may have to become an oregonian!!

mad dash

2011-10-05T18:40:00.000-06:00

tonight was really all about the mad dash. being me, i waited until the very last minute to pack for oregon, which in my case is pretty typical behavior. i was working at my computer until the last possible second and then i started throwing everything in my suite case. luckily, i only forgot one thing ... and one of my great friends was kind enough to fedex it to me. can't wait for a fun filled weekend with my brother and sister-in-law!!!

new shoes

2011-10-04T16:54:00.001-06:00

Yesterday i got some sweet new shoes courtesy of my bff. I wore them around for most of the day today too .... amazing

conference

2011-10-03T22:00:00.000-06:00

the first weekend in october is always a good one. i love conference weekend!! it really is amazing that every conference i feel like the things being said are specifically for me. it is a great chance for us all to take a step back, slow down, & listen. in the last couple of years i have even started taking notes ... really!!! It makes it so much more enjoyable and i find myself listening more intently.

there is nothing that i can convey better the our leaders except my own personal comment that the church is true. If you want to check things our visit The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints main page or mormon.org.

drowsy chaperone

2011-10-02T21:06:00.000-06:00

whahoo. i can now say that i have seen the drowsy chaperone. sissy did awesome and as always it is was fun to have a night with ie and bub. sissy was in this play previously and i never had a chance to go. this time she was playing a different character but was in her element all the same. the entire cast was memorable.

sometimes i forget how great it is to meet up with amazing people to enjoy a night out. i am trying to shut down the computer a little more often and concentrate on people. i really have been blessed with phenomenal friends.

From Blog - October

express pass

2011-10-01T18:00:00.000-06:00

it finally came!

in case you didn't already know this ... i despise traffic ... i understand it is part of life and i even find myself being sympathetic when the traffic is due to an accident that has cause injury ... because lets face it, accidents stink. however, i cannot understand why the traffic slows when there are flashing lights on the freeway going to opposite direction or if there is a simple fender bender that is is being taken care of in the right emergency lane. i guess people are just curious by nature. well i am hoping to alleviate some of my own stress with this magical pass (that costs money of course) that allow single drivers to drive in the car pool lane.

From Blog - October

i will let you all know if it is a good as i am hoping it will be.

winner, winner, chicken dinner

2011-09-30T22:53:00.000-06:00

it is all starting to come together ... they are finally starting to play as a team! we had a double header last night and rolled with a 54-17 'W' and a 74-10 'W'. We were at an advantage because some of our competitors are a year younger (last year we felt the heat being the younger team). Regardless .... they are maintaining intensity and sharing the ball .... awesomeness !!! There is not better experience as a coach.

From Blog

girls night

2011-09-29T18:00:00.000-06:00

last night we had a girls night and went to the taylor swift concert. i know a few t swift songs but the real fun was watching mac at her first concert. she was a little apprehensive when we first walked in the arena because it was dark and incredibly loud ... but once mickey hooked her up with some earplugs she was a perma-smile. when t swift sang the songs that mac knew she was signing right along. one of the better days this week.

Because of the spotlights ... i got this picture .. kinda cool

From Taylor Swift

miss mac telling me a secret

From Taylor Swift

t swift

From Taylor Swift

life lessons

2011-09-28T17:30:00.000-06:00

the hardest part of forgiveness towards others or even towards yourself is admitting your own role in a particular situation. isn’t that the beauty of hindsight? looking back and understanding that you could have reacted differently even though your emotions were running high. James E. Faust quoted Dr. Sidney Simon by saying, “forgiveness is freeing up and putting to better use the energy once consumed by holding grudges, harboring resentments, and nursing unhealed wounds. it is rediscovering the strengths we always had and relocating our limitless capacity to understand and accept other people and ourselves.”

what happened happened and what’s done is done. let go of any ill will that may linger. accept things the way they are, remember the good times and concentrate on the future.

re-entry

2011-09-27T18:00:00.002-06:00

i am re-entering the blogging world.

i haven’t felt much like writing lately but catching up on other blogs has made me reconsider. like every other long stretch that passes without a post, life progresses; my life is no exception. 2011 has been filled with highs, lows, new challenges, joyful moments, disappointments, and adventures. so for those 4 people that read my blog … here are a few updates.

in may i lost a great friend. it hit me pretty hard and had me re-evaluating my own life. if there is one thing that we can take from this tragedy, it is the realization that life is fragile. our life or the life of someone we love can change in an instant. margo was by far one of the best people that I have had the pleasure to call my friend. i used to call her the big teddy bear. at 7’6”, she was without a doubt an imposing person but spend just two minutes with here and you would learn what most of us already knew …. she was completely genuine and kind. not a day goes by that i don’t think about md and the impact that she had on my life.

From Margo

on a happier note ... mickey, molly and i headed over the great ocean to visit kellie in hawaii. she was there for an internship and we took full advantage of the opportunity to go over and visit her.

final thing work noting ... i moved! i am now a north salt lake resident. i don't really have any pictures yet but will be sure to post some soon.

Margo Dydek Tribute

2011-06-06T14:37:00.002-06:00

My thoughts are overwhelming ... but for now this will do

just for the fun of it

2010-12-21T23:36:00.005-07:00

two days into vacation and i am already stir crazy ... of course when i get board i turn to tv, so i thought i would share some of my favorite movies quotes .. with a twist. i will supply the quote and you supply the movie title. i will add another antoehr blog in a couple of days with the movies titles. these movies were all released in the 80's and they are in no particular order .. ENJOY !!

Actor 1: "What are you doing to this dog?"
Actor 2: "Just taking him for a walk!"
Actor 1: "He's bleeding. My gosh! How long has he's been bleeding?"
Actor 2: "Not long enough."

"Gee, I'm really sorry your mom blew up, Ricky, guess she won't be able to eat any spicy foods for awhile."

"Me? I'm scared of everything. I'm scared of what I saw, I'm scared of what I did, of who I am, and most of all I'm scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I'm with you."

Actor 1: "Sorry, I needed the phone."
Actor 2: "Why, the cabbage patch mothers are having a PTA meeting?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I can't come to the door right now. I'm afraid that in my weakened condition, I could take a nasty spill down the stairs and subject myself to further school absences. You can reach my parents at their places of business. Thank you for stopping by. I appreciate your concern for my well-being. Have a nice day!"

"Subject in transit. Has changed his shoes. Riding a bicycle. Ten-speed, I suspect."

"Freddy, as a younger man, I was a sculptor, a painter, and a musician. There was just one problem: I wasn't very good. As a matter of fact, I was dreadful. I finally came to the frustrating conclusion that I had taste and style, but not talent. I knew my limitations. We all have our limitations, Freddy. Fortunately, I discovered that taste and style were commodities that people desired. Freddy, what I am saying is: know your limitations. You are a moron."

"You only think I guessed wrong! That's what's so funny! I switched glasses when your back was turned! Ha ha! You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders - The most famous of which is "never get involved in a land war in Asia" - but only slightly less well-known is this: "Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line"! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha..."

"I wish I were big."

"I have since heard of people under extreme duress speaking in strange tongues. I became conscious that a steady torrent of obscenities and swearing of all kinds was pouring out of me as I screamed. It was all over - I was dead. What would it be? The guillotine? Hanging? The chair? The rack? The Chinese water torture? Hmmph. Mere child's play compared to what surely awaited me."

"I got to get into this dude's pelt and crawl around for a few days. Who's the gopher's ally. His friends. The harmless squirrel and the friendly rabbit." '

my first love

2010-12-07T00:06:00.002-07:00

From John

enough said

oregon adventures

2010-11-27T14:27:00.002-07:00

spending labor day weekend with my brother and his family is best vacation of 2010. r&h are extremely chill and we mostly just hung out and played wii (as a side note, i am official addicted to mario brothers) ... i wasn't tempted to think about work and really just enjoyed being with family.
h took us to an incredible cupcake shop where you could pick your cupcake flavor and the frosting flavor ... i was all about red velvet with a cream cheese frosting .. yummy

From Oregon Adventures

we went to a local park to enjoy the cupcakes and then play a little.

From Oregon Adventures

one night we went to downtown and rented this wicked cool 6 seater bike. they even let me drive.

From Oregon Adventures

my cute little niece let char and i sleep in here room. she used bend-a-roo's to label it for us .. so cute.

From Oregon Adventures

we took some time and went to the high desert museum. i drifted toward the telescope and the animals .. a kid at heart.

From Oregon Adventures

here is a cool picture that char took on our drive back from crater lake.

From Oregon Adventures

the rest of these are just typically picture of char and i messing around.

From Oregon Adventures

crater lake

2010-11-27T13:45:00.003-07:00

with the long weekend, i thought i better catch up on some posts. during a recent trip to oregon my bff and i got a chance to visit crater lake. to tell you the truth i wasn't sure that i wanted to make the ~2 hour drive out to the lake but i was assured my r&h that it was well worth it.
well ... r&h were right, it was amazing. before i share some of the pictures here is a little background on crater lake. (FYI ... i am taking this information from the carter lake national park service handout) crater lake is 5 miles wide and ringed with cliffs almost 2,000 feet high, the lake rests in the shattered remnants of a volcano called mount mazama, which erupted and collapsed into itself 7,700 years ago. it is filled with rain and melted snow, at 1,943 feet deep, it is deepest lake in the united states and one of the deepest in the world.
when we pulled up to the first pullout - this was the site that greeted us ..

From Crater Lake

we decided to hike down to the water. it is a pretty strenuous hike down as the trail drops 700 feet in elevations in 1.1 miles (this is equivalent to climbing 65 flights of stairs. here is a picture of some of the switchbacks.

From Crater Lake

here is a picture at the waters edge

From Crater Lake

before we left to the lake we talked about taking our swim suits so that we could get in the water ... however, we were told that the water would be pretty cold and so we decided against it. but when we got there the water looked amazing and char being the daring person that she is peeled off a layer of clothes and prepared to jump in. here she is getting her camera set to record as she jumps in the water.

From Crater Lake

taking the plunge

From Crater Lake

char enjoying lunch and trying to dry off before we hike back to the top.

From Crater Lake

about to hike back to the car

From Crater Lake

one of the many stops along the rim. this is a picture of wizard island.

From Crater Lake

lava, lava, lava

2010-10-17T19:19:00.003-06:00

during my fantastic oregon trip which also included my BFF we took a day to visit a place called lava land near my brothers house. basically it is a this huge monument and miles of dried lava. after we walked through the visitors center and listened to a presentation by the local ranger we walked up to the lookout. it was amazing to see all of the lava with random trees popping up in the middle.

before heading to our next adventure we ate some lunch at a near by picnic table. while eating we had aboout ten chipmunks gathered around us wanting food. being us we could hlp but share a little and take a few pictures!

we then went down the road to walk around in a lava cave. once we got to the opening of the cave we had to put on jackets, turn on our head lamps and light up the latern. we had a great time exploring one of the earths natural creations.

R&H

2010-10-16T19:03:00.000-06:00

last month i went to oregon for a long weekend and got to spend some quality time with my brothers family. i happened to bring my camera on this trip and so my sister-in-law asked me to snap a few pictures of their family. i am always hesitant to take pictures because i haven't had a lot of time to practice and improve in the photography department. but i had fun anyway ... here are some of my favorites ....

From R&H

last one .....

2010-09-28T21:39:00.002-06:00

I have given up one of my favorite things ....

From DDP

underwater

2010-09-26T21:47:00.003-06:00

i am on a blogging roll ... so why not share a few more pictures. i have to give two huge thumbs up to my most recent electronic purchse .. my olympus stylus camera. each time i use i find one more thing i can do. my favorite thing though is the underwater capabilites of the camera. here is a sampling

mackie

From Underwater

she is a little fish

From Underwater

kai wore scuba gear 90% of the time we hit the water. i love this kid.

From Underwater

lexie = fearless

From Underwater

possibly the best concert ever

2010-09-26T21:11:00.005-06:00

earlier this year char and i attended one of the best concerts ever!!! i was in vegas for work which just happened to be where the concert was taking place. char drove down on saturday morning to hang out and go to the concert. in fact she didn't really sleep at all that night in order to get to vegas for the concert. She got off work at ~3:30 am and started the drive south ... gotta love a bff that would be willing to do that.
so after char arrived and took a much needed nap we got all dressed up in our best flannel shirts and headed to the mgm grand. we took a minor detour to get some dinner and then it was concert time.
here we are pre-concert

From George_Reba

this is lee anne womack. she was a perfect opener.

From George_Reba

the first headliner in a packed show .... REBA.

From George_Reba

we had amazing seats!!

From George_Reba

lee anne joined reba on stage to sing the dueling song "does he love you".

From George_Reba

halfway through reba's set melissa peterman showed and to 'sing' with her best-e ... if any of you are familiar with the tv show reba ... hopefully you understand why this hysterical.

From George_Reba

reba singing 'fancy' as her encore number boo-yah!!

From George_Reba

and then ...... GEORGE hit the stage.

From George_Reba

i pretty much love him

From George_Reba

he's still got it

From George_Reba

char and i got a good nights sleep and then headed home.

From George_Reba

ranch

2010-09-25T23:35:00.003-06:00

here are a few pictures from a couple trips to the ranch this summer.

kai ready to drive the 4-wheeler

From Pics_2010

looking for frogs

From Pics_2010

korbie & seth (he is a doll!)

From Pics_2010

like father like son - wayne & seth

From Pics_2010

tomlinson tradition ... roasting starbursts

From Pics_2010

fourth of july

2010-09-25T23:21:00.004-06:00

this year for the fourth of july char, ang, doug and i went to the stadium of fire. this was the first time that i had attended the festivities in quite a while. the concert was fantastic and i even enjoyed the fireworks.

this is a great picture for two reasons
1-char and i both have powered sugar on our shirts after sharing a funnel cake, typical us!
2-check out the people behind us :-)

From Stadiumoffire_plus_more

carrie underwood!!!

From Stadiumoffire_plus_more

i took this at the perfect moment and got the 'heart' in the background

From Stadiumoffire_plus_more

fireworks (i was testing out my new camera and taking some pics for my mom; two birds with one stone)

From Stadiumoffire_plus_more

strawberry days rodeo

2010-09-25T23:04:00.006-06:00

one of my all time favorite things about tne month of june is attending the strawberry days rodeo in pleasant grove. i grew up going to the rodeo and as i get older i enjoy it more and more. this year was no different. i was able to go with both family and friends through-out the week.

suzie, korbie

From Strawberry Days rodeo

nichole, char, korbie

From Strawberry Days rodeo

this last picture is of the entertainment this year ... in my opinion the clown and entertainment can make or break the rodeo, this year both missed the mark. although i do have to say that the rider that led the entertainment was skilled. her act consistted of getting two buffalo on the top of her trailier. this was not the amazing part ... she was riding around with a whip in both hands and for the most part was stearing the horse with her knese. this kind of traiing blows me away ... i love the way horse and rider interact.

From Strawberry Days rodeo

fishing

2010-09-25T22:45:00.003-06:00

i was looking through some pictures and came across these from last summer. i always had the good intentions of posting them but never got around to it. it was the a spur of the moment fishing trip and thinking about it brings a smile to my face. art and rex were kind enough to invite me and it just happened that i had a current fishing license.

we drove up through heber to strawbeery lake and choose what we hoped was the perfect location. the view was great.

From Fishing

this is angus *at least i think it is angus, i will have confirm that with rex* everytime i looked at him i would chuckle to myself. i love his eyes

From Fishing

art and rex are two of the greatest people that i know. this is the closest picture that i have of them being natural. art kept trying to look at me out of the cornor of his eye ... i sitll laugh thinking about it.

From Fishing

hawaii

2010-06-22T22:00:00.002-06:00

i went on my first trip to hawaii over new years. it really is everything it is cracked up to be. there was a huge goup of us together and we were constantly laughing. i am not going to give you a play by play ... mostly becuase so much time has lapsed and i can't remember much. here are some of the highlights

1. abc stores
2. pinapple (fresh pinapple)
3. the beaches
4. going to the pool
5. reading books
6. spending time with friends
7. mjc's brillant make believe stories
8. mambas
9. mjc taking care of me when i was yarking all over
10. scuba diving

graduated

2010-06-21T21:49:00.000-06:00

after months of no posts i am finally going to share a few life updates.

i guess that the biggest thing that happened over the last 7 months is that i finally graduated. i finally saw the tiny glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel and ran for it. i successful completed my student teaching at timpanogos and loved it. i had 190 students overall and there were only two that i really didn't like. my corperating teacher was great, we got a long amazingly well.

anyway needless to say i got all of my assignments turned into the teachers in the nick of time and have my diploma in hand.

regret

2009-12-23T20:58:00.000-07:00

every time that i am in the car i start thinking about updating my blog; about events have occurred since my last post that i can update everyone on … i always seem to stumble upon something profound that relates to whatever i am currently going through (both good & bad). although by the time i get home i have forgotten my brilliant analogies and am once again left with a blank screen and no desire to write anything.

today i got to thinking about the recent year and all of the things that i have accomplished along with the things that I had wanted to accomplish. i keep coming back to one word regret. regret is defined as a feeling of sorrow or remorse for a fault, act, loss, disappointment, etc.

i wonder if i have made the right choices in my life, if i am the person that I think i am or even the person that i know i should be. if i were to be honest i would say no .. i have not made all the right choices thus far in my life and i am not yet the person that i want to be. this is where the regret kicks in .. not saying something i should have .. making one choice when i knew another was better .. speaking in haste and hurting those i love .. believe me people i have done it all. at times my mistakes are tiny while at other times they are like an elephant in the room.

does regret do any good?

i have come to the conclusion of no. what happened happened and there is generally nothing that can be done to change that. i look back at what i might consider a regret and realize that i have learned a lot throughout my relatively short life. I have learned how to avoid becoming someone that i hate and know that i ultimately control my future.

that is not to say that i will never say anything in haste or do something that is wrong, because with time it will happen (in case you didn't know, i do have a bratty side). but i hope that as different events occur in my life that i can handle myself with dignity and pride and live with no regret in my life.

overdue update

2009-11-26T21:14:00.003-07:00

wow, it has been a while since the last post and sitting here on this thanksgiving, watching the jazz/bulls game I thought I would put up a few thoughts. The last few months have flown by and have been extremely busy. Not sure if I ever got around to announcing where I was doing my student teaching. I have taken up post at Timpanogos. It is near and dear to me because it is the high school that I attended. I spent endless hours there. I am a t-wolf through and through.

It has been an interesting experience. I have learned a lot. Not only about myself but about the younger generation. It is funny because my first day of teaching I would think.. ‘how am I going to teach these guys. We are nearly the same age’. The more time I spent with them, the more distance I was able to see in our age and the easier it was for me to become ‘the teacher’. As I get to know my students it is so fun to see all of their personalities. A handful of students are sibling to friends that I knew while in high school which also makes it fun. When they refer to siblings that I know it brings back some of the greatest memories I have of high school.

We have covered so much material in the short time that I have been teaching. We have coverd a unit on social health, a unit on physical health and most currently have started our unit on human development. As we have covered both new and old material we have shared experiences some more personal and real than others, but all insightful. Throughout all the units I have given a written assignment that goes along with our topic of conversation. When my teaching stint is over (in 5 days) I will have to get around to sharing some shortened and condensed stories.

Tori's Memory Book

2009-09-05T00:08:00.004-06:00

Thank you to everyone that contributed to Tori's book. It turned out great. We gave the book to Tori during a chorus retreat at the end of July. I have included some pictures that were taken when the book was given to her. We also got a video recording! As soon as I am able to get the recording I will get it posted so please check back. I am hoping to have it posted in a next few days.

When I told Tori I was posting these pictures she asked me to pass along a message:

"Please thank them all and tell them it was a treat and a pleasure for me! I feel so humbled and honored that they spent time to honor me." - Tori

ranch

2009-07-15T18:20:00.003-06:00

the ranch. it is a great place to spend some r&r. i didn't have a chance to go up at all last summer so the first chance that i had this summer i jumped at it.

From The Ranch

i was super excited to go up this time because my roommate had given me a book to read and i was just getting to the middle of the book. dad had made a fire and i was getting settle in with my salsa verde chips and my diet dr pepper. i put my chair in prime location in order to miss all of the rising smoke and i started to sit down. i was almost seated when the book dropped out of my hand hit my knee and landed smack dad in the fire...

From The Ranch

all i could do was sit there and stare at the book as the flames danced closer and closer to book. after a second i finally and jumped to action reaching in to grad the book. There was only minimal damage but i still felt like a fool and so i bought katie a new book.
the weekend before we went up the ranch i happened to be in old navy when i noticed that they were selling dog clothes. i happened to look at the price tag and this little vest thing was only 99 cents. i bought it for my sister little dog and brought it up to the ranch. clyde wore it and seemed to like it but who know.

From The Ranch

here is a random picture of the our shoe cleaner.

From The Ranch

the screen of all screens

2009-07-13T19:47:00.002-06:00

my roommate kristen has the bomb diggity of all movies screens. it is the ultimate in outdoor activity. we had a party at our house for her birthday and even with the wind as the enemy we final got it up and going.

From movie screen

i am pretty much set on buying one of these .. i just have to graduate from college first :) if you are thinking about a good family invest i highly recommend this. not only is it good for movies but it is a blast when it comes to games. we got together at kristen's friends house for a friendly challenge of dr. mario on the old school classic nintendo. mike was all about the competition and put together a huge white board that had all the names put into a bracket. i totally stunk it up when it came my turn to compete but it was worth the humiliation.

From movie screen

next up guitar hero or rock band.

drive-in

2009-07-13T19:28:00.002-06:00

there is nothing like a summer drive-in. ang was there too .. but she wouldn't let me take a picture. instead she took one of me, anja and cara. we went to the double feature of star trek and monster vs. aliens .. not really worth the money but it was fun all the same.

From random

fleetwood mac

2009-07-13T17:42:00.004-06:00

we went to the fleetwood mac concert when they stopped in utah. i do love their music and knew it would be a good girls night out. mickey gets all the credit because she got us 4th row seats !! not only that but the first 4 rows could go stand at the stage ... and of course we did. we were so stikin close!! we had a groups of 7. mickey, stacie, jackie, karen, holly, lillian and me. it was a pretty amazing night.

From random

Lindsey Buckingham

From random

Stevie Nicks

From random

John McVie & Mick Fleetwood

something new

2009-07-12T21:55:00.003-06:00

i had a gift certificate for rei ... so i set out looking for something great. i love rei and could spend sooo much money there. it was funny because i had just been talking to my mom and she said you don't need any more bags or vests .. so with that in mind does it surprise you to know that i bought a bag, not in the slightest right? i walked around the store for almost two hours. there were quite a few things that i was considering; a hammock, a pair of chacos, a camping mat, a kite, even some some sun glasses. i had finally decided on the hammock and as i was walking to the cash register i saw it...a camera bag.... it pretty much had my name written all over it. so i bought it.

From random

BFF's

2009-07-12T21:47:00.002-06:00

here is a quick little note to my two BFF's. when char came back from iraq for r&r we had to hit a jazz game. we went to see the game against the rockets. we were in the top row of the arena but had a great time. it doesn't matter what i am doing with char or ang it always a blast.

From BFF

a little pre-game dinner at california pizza kitchen.

From BFF

goblin valley

2009-07-12T20:24:00.003-06:00

may 8th and 9th kristen, katie, megan and i went with the oak canyon singles ward to goblin valley. i had never been there and honestly didn't really want to go. however, i was on the activities committee so i convinced some friends to come along.

From Goblin_Valley

we went down late on friday night and set up camp. it was pretty windy but we eventually got the tent set up with a massive amount on sand flying inside all of clothes and sleeping bags. The fire wood was scheduled to come up with one of the bishopric sons .. but somewhere along the way he got lost and the firewood never showed up. We ended up putting a lantern on the ground and standing around to talk. I did capture this somewhat blurring picture of the moon while we were talking.

From Goblin Valley

we all went to bed super early (ok just our tent everyone else stayed up till the extreme hours of the morning). we are such fun! the next morning we got up packed up the tent, ate some breakfast and them set out to hike. we hung out at the base of the hike (i think it was the little crazy horse trail) waiting for the rest of the ward to drive over to start the hike.

From Goblin Valley

the hike was amazing, nothing too strenuous but beautiful. i tried to take a bunch of pictures along the way.

we hiked through a bunch of narrows. i know that i have probably hiked narrows before but i don't remember any so i really enjoyed it. one with nature, that is me.

From Goblin_Valley

after the hike we went over to goblin valley to have a look around (formally known as mushroom valley, which having been there seems like the more logical name). i want to make a point to go back again and take a big group of friends. while on this particular trip katie came up with a brilliant idea to find some rocks there in the valley that looked like extensions of out butt cracks. always up for the challenge we set out to find the perfect rocks and here is out creation.

From Goblin_Valley

GOOD TIMES!!

From Goblin_Valley

guess the rest will wait

2009-07-11T18:04:00.002-06:00

i was so on top of it. i made a list of everything that i was going to post about ... spent the last two hours gathering and editing pictures to add to the posts ... too bad my computer is being completely moronic and will no longer let me connect to the internet. i nearly picked it and dropped it on the ground, instead i just hit it a couple of times. maybe tonight when i don't want to bash in the screen i will once again set out to post the pictures and stories.

moved out

2009-07-11T16:46:00.002-06:00

okay so first major event of the year, i moved out. i no longer live in the great city of highland. i am back in lindon and currently have three roommates. i was a little nervous to move in with three girls that i have only met a few times but it is all working out.
kristen, katie, and aja are my roommates and we all get a long well. it seems like we are rarely home at the same time ... but when we are we can stay up talking for hours. it is pretty fun having roommates that are close to the same age and share the same belief as me.
couldn't have asked for a better situation.

solid start

2009-07-11T15:22:00.006-06:00

in slacker city i would be the governor. i have incredibly good intentions when it comes to updating the blog but the more time that passes the more i don't feel the update bug.
well now is the time, i have started the update. i hope to include pictures with most of them so that you can be visual and intellectual fed. (i totally crack myself up!!). anyway i have a list of post still to come and i will continue to chip away at the it, but for tonight i am done.

no, i am not dead!

2009-04-20T15:45:00.004-06:00

i know that the post are few and far between and that is the way it is gonna stay for the next two weeks. however, i did need to make a quick post in order to dismiss those rumors that i am dead.

i'm not. i am alive and well.

i have am still treading water but have not sunk below the surface. i have 4 day left of class .. that's right 4. i am not sure that i can contain my excitement at never having to see a few of my instructors again. at one point i did not think that i was doing to be able to make it through this semester and still keep a job, but i am here to tell you the task is nearly complete. i have two projects due this week and then finals next week. after that i will have the summer off before i start my student teaching. i am going to leave you all hanging right now because although i do know where my student teaching assignment is .. that is going to get it own blog post :)

i need to start listening in class .. more post to come .. but not till after finals and the work bbq that i am helping organize.

enjoy the weather and smile

seth-ster

2009-03-14T12:36:00.002-06:00

my nephew seth

From Seth

enough said

celine

2009-03-14T09:08:00.002-06:00

okay a while back (it is pretty sad when you can't rememeber the date) i went with a couple friends to the celine dion concert at the energy solutions arena. i was excited to go becuase 1- i've not been to any of her concerts before 2- i like celine's music and 3- i heard that she always puts on a good show. i was not disappointed. celine was totally energetic and a she was constantly changing her outfits. definitely a concert that i would see again. she had dancers that were all over the place .. there was a lot going on ... but you never got board. one of my friends took some picture from the concert .. as soon i get some of them i will share.

food, friends, laughs

2009-03-14T08:45:00.004-06:00

on our last night in austin we went out for a much needed night of food, fun, and laughing. mickey, kara, daynna, and i met up with annemarie at ruth's chris downtown. ruth's chris is not a place that i will frequent often. although when i do, i enjoy every minute. we can't go there without ordering their sweet potato dish and without file it reminds me of kellie who could eat a sweet potato every day and be happy. here is a visual image of the dish they say is amazing (i don't like sp's much so it doesn't have the same effect on me)

From Ruth's Chris

we couldn't leave without makin a picture

From Ruth's Chris

austin was great but from now on we will have to get out to califonia so we can still have a girls night with annemarie.

good times

2009-03-14T08:34:00.009-06:00

i am about a month behind on everything but today i am determined to get some blogging done. as the weeks have passed since my last post i find myself making a list in my phone of post that i want to put up. hopefully this is the first of many today but i won't make any promises.

the first thing on is huey lewis. in february i went on a business trip to austin where we hosted a party at a dell conference. the headliner for the the party was huey lewis. i am not sure about the other people that came but i was stoked. i love huey lewis ... because

From FRS09

...the music, movies, fashion ... brings back great memories. before the concert started a handful of people got to go backstage and meet the man himself.

From FRS09

he wasn't exactly what i expected but i can tell you one thing for sure .. mr lewis can sing! the concert was amazing. there were a few people taking pictures at the concert so there were tons of pictures to choose from. here are a few of the pictures...

From FRS09

25 random things

2009-02-21T08:42:00.003-07:00

i wrote a list of 25 random thing about me on facebook and after seeing a similar list on a friends blog (thanks for sharing emily)i thought i would post it on my blog too.
In no particular order...

1. I absolutely hate sea food. I hate the smell of it and I hate the taste. I think it is so funny when people say, "Sea food is the greatest food ever, there must be something wrong with you!" Yeah I can't stomach sea food... and just because it suits your taste buds, it will likely never suit mine.

2. I love to read (this does not include text books) which can be a good and a bad thing. It is good because I feel like I am learning and using the little imagination that I have. It is a bad thing because if the book I am reading has a story line that grabs my attention ... I stay up way too late reading and I ignore my school work.

3. I don't often open up my life to people. I have had quite a few people tell me that I need to loosen up, be vulnerable, and share my troubles with others. I know this is true but it so much easier said than done. In the past I have shared struggles or problems that I am having with people and sometimes feel like information that I share with them when I am mad or angry get used negatively. There is really no one to blame for this but it makes me hesitant to share anything below the surface with anyone except my main 3

4. If I had the chance to take a summer and work on a cattle ranch or horse breeding ranch, I’d do it in a heartbeat. I wish that I had the means and opportunity to go horseback riding every day. To me there is nothing more relaxing or peaceful.

5. Some of my greatest memories as a child revolve around my families yearly camping trips to Beaver. The drive out was long (especially to a child) but I loved to hear my talk on the CB with his friends who were car-a-vaning to Beaver too. My dad’s call sign was Boo Boo, while one of his best friends was Yogi Bear. Hearing Dad and Roger talking in their character voices was priceless. I remember sitting around the campfire while Ryan played on his guitar and sang to us …. Little Stan and Alan trying to scare all the kids telling the story of Bigfoot. There was the year that Maddie wouldn’t get in the car to go home so J & J got in the car and started driving slowly away saying, “I guess you’ll have to stay here.” J & J thinking this would bring her running but instead she went and sat down by the campfire and started waving good-bye …. Gonzo … Hand and Foot … Deloy and Janet … Margaret Hansen … Big John Flats … cow is the camp … Suzie teaching Tom to drive the motorcycle (ask her hehehe)… Fishing … tiddlywinks … tree swing … tailgate rides … 4-wheelers … family … friends

6. I am the youngest child in my family and dang proud of it. Growing up I was privileged to do a lot of extraordinary things. I am not really sure of any limitations or rules that were set for my sibling but for me the list was short. I am sure that I think that I am better child than I actually was.

7. Have any of you ever read the five people you meet in heaven? Well this is my twist to that … the five people that I would love to be able to spend a day with 1) Deloy Tomlinson 2) Jerry Brown 3) Aunt Lur4) Ruth McPhee 5) ?

8. I hate asking for help. It is not that I think that I can do everything on my own but I am overly stubborn and hardheaded. I am getting better about it but old habits die hard

9. If I were to worship an idol .. It would be Reba. I absolutely love her. She is down to earth, religious, and a hard worker. I have seen her perform on a number of occasion and was lucky enough to meet her as well. Sometime when you meet someone who is famous you are let down because you have an idea of how you want them to be .. Reba was awesome and I was not disappointed.

10. I would rather die than throw up. I don’t do sickness well. You know how sometimes after throwing up you feel better… I rarely ever get that feeling because I force it back down and then can’t relax enough to throw up. Sick I know!! Also when I am throwing up the only thing I want is my mom. She does have sit right next to mrer but I feel better knowing she is the same room.

11. I love musicals. Those who know me well know this to be true. I usually don’t proclaim it from the rooftops but I can sing along to most musicals out there. Doris Day is the greatest

12. I love the act of fishing but refuse to touch the fish or the worm. I am sure this drives my dad and my brother crazy .. but they are kind enough to make up for it. When I was ~10 years old … I want fishing with my uncle bob before we went he told me that I had to gut any fish that I caught. I totally thought that he was kidding because my dad always joked around like that. NOPE, when we got home he handed me my fish (3 I think) and told me to gut them or bury them… I took them and headed to the yard .. As I cried and starting digging the hole Wayne took pity on me and came and got them and gutted them for me.

13. I usually have my radio on, even if I am not listening to it .. It might drive some people crazy to have background noise all the time but sometimes absolute silence drives me crazy.

14. I am patriotic and love to see the flag displayed. I am grateful to all the service men and women that are defending my freedom.

15. Speaking of the armed services. I miss my BFF like crazy. She is currently serving in Iraq.

16. I did NOT vote for Obama … he won .. so I will support him because he is now our Commander and Chief. Having said that I was/am a supporter of Bush. He may not have been perfect and I certainly did not agree with every choice that he has made. However, he still has my loyalty and it irkes me when I hear people say, “I am glad we have an educated President now” to me that tell me more about the person making the comment then it does about Bush. If you don’t like him … great .. that is your choice .. just know that I do.

17. I want to go sky diving and bungee jumping at some point in my life. I am scared spit less of heights but think it would be an amazing adventure.

18. Every day I think of something new that I would like to do/try but it seems that I never have the time to do any of it.

19. I am completely intrigued by photography. I know that the to get better I need to get out there and shot picture … once again it all comes down to time. This will have to be a later-in-life hobby.

20. I am determined to learn to play the piano. Whenever I see people play the piano I get so jealous. My mom was right “one day you will regret not sticking with your lessons”

21. I could eat ice cream every day

22. I love the 80’s ... music ..movies .. styles

23. I am a huge fan of the rodeo … my favorite rodeos of the year are Strawberry Day and the Utah State Fair

24. I am sick of school and professors

25. There is nothing better than roasting Starburst while sitting around that campfire.

too long

2009-01-21T15:37:00.002-07:00

okay i can't believe that is has been so long since the last blog so although i don't have a lot of time to write, i thought i would drop a line to say that I am alive. things have been crazy. i am in my last full semester of school and then all i have to do is student teaching. work is going good but it seems like i have my little road blocks everyday that stress me out. I can't wait to start teaching !! anyway like i said not a lot for now. maybe another day i will feel like i have something or worth to share

change of times

2009-01-06T23:10:00.002-07:00

i just got back from a rec leauge basketball game and our team got destroyed. our team is some women who wanted to play ball and so they got some friends and friend of friends together and formed a team. our whole goal was having fun. tonight .. not so fun. tonight when we hit the pinewood we played a team of former college ball players and we pretty much got worked.

playing tonight taught me a lot about myself. as much as i love basketball and as excited as i am to coach; i am not sure that i have that drive to play competatively. not that i have gotten over the sting of losing .. because i will forever hate that feeling, but i would much rather teach than play. thinking back though i always loved practice more than i enjoyed the games. every day i tried to learn something and improve some aspect of my game.

things that contribute to my lack of motivation - i am no longer in 'basketball shape' - i don't really know how any of the other player on my team think - did i mention that i am out of shape ... so instead of bailing on this team that i said i would play for (and don't worry Kara, i won't bail) i am going to try harder. i am going to start getting back into shape. i am going to start putting a body on someone and jumping for the ball - even if it means wearing the knee brace that hate so much. i am going to get better. even if we lose every game i am going to try and stay postive and encourage my team.

basketball reunion

2009-01-04T22:44:00.002-07:00

last week i went to a basketball reunion with a few of the girls that i played ball with in high school. the visit was great and it is always fun to catch with the girls that i spent all my time with

From Bball_Reunion_08

top row: Aubrey, Ashley, Mel, Jake, Carey, Korbie
bottom row: Stacie, Celeste, Wendy, Emily, Malinda

there is nothing like a little bit of friendly competition whenever we get together and so when we down to check out the play room we had to play a little bit of basketball.

From Bball_Reunion_08

i am not sure what was up with this one but i knew aubrey would want me to share ..

From Bball_Reunion_08

sky was loving all the attention that she was getting and after getting he belly scratched laid out in the middle of the floor to take a nap. she really is the greatest dog.

From Bball_Reunion_08

this is hannah and luke, they are two of carrey's four kids. hannah was sitting in the chair and i was about to take her picture when like came flying into the picture and wanted to be in the picture.

From Bball_Reunion_08

aubrey being the good coach and helping loek shoot hoops

From Bball_Reunion_08

the next three picture were taken after jake showed malinda and i how to 'rock' with guitar hero.

From Bball_Reunion_08

great times!! can't wait till the next reunion

starting the new year off right

2009-01-04T22:03:00.002-07:00

okay ... okay i know that i have gotten a little behind with the posts and i should have spend the whole vacation blogging everything that i have be thinking about but i always find other things to fill my time. i finally took all the picture off of my camera and so i thought i would share some.

this first set of pictures were taken on thanksgiving. we all gathered at mom and dads house. it is always good to spend time with family and without fail lexie and seth were the highlight of the day.

this next set of pictures were take on Christmas eve. we got together at waynes house to have soup and scones. everything turned out great and once again all eyes were on lexie and seth. the last two pictures are on Christmas day. kai was so excited that santa brought him a remote controlled dino. he had to have his picture taken with it.

after the first two big storms kai and mac couldn't wait to get outside and use their snowball maker. kai was going around hitting everyone, especially his dad with snow while mac was crawling and playing in the powder.

the next three pictures completely crack me up. i was watching the kid one night and they wanted to learn how to use the carpet skates that santa brought me for Christmas. so we pushed the couches and the tables out of the way so that we would have tons of room. afterward we pulled the mattress out of aj's room so that we could have a sleep over. by the time that we crawled on to bed we were all ready for sleep.

From Sleep_Over

you see that space in the middle of the kids ... this is where i got to sleep .. all night long ...

mac got a makeup kit from santa and inside was a sleeping mask. she thought she was the coolest kid around. after we'd been laying down for a while she asked me to put it on her eyes so she could sleep better, i couldn't help but chuckle.

From Sleep_Over

vacation was a blast and it will be so hard to get back on track and get into the office on time ... i will try my best though. I hope everyone had a fantastic new year!!

Hero, Teacher, Friend

2008-12-24T15:13:00.004-07:00

Maybe it was the simplicity of the talk, or the fact that what was said, was what I needed to here. Either way, President Monson's talk on change in October 08 conference really helped me.

Change is inevitable and it does not always change for the better, or how you think it should change.

In reality, I know that change comes to those we know and love. Sometime I struggle with why; why that person, why now?

Case and point. George. Some may know him, some may not. He changed my life. He changed it in ways that he may not even be aware of. He taught me how to play basketball, he taught me about life. I can't recall that very first practice but I will never forget George and his simple way of teaching me. I remember seeing George around town and his constant greeting,"there's my all-American". He has a contagious smile and sparkle in his eye. He was always taking care of me when I got injured. Even when he wasn't technically my coach I knew I could call him at home and he would take look at my current ailment. Countless times he welcomed me at his office and set up a back treatment. But the thing that stood out to me, he always did it with a smile and a joke. He always had a funny story to tell that kept me laughing for days afterward.

This thank you has been a long time in the making. It should have been said years ago but I have never known how to adequately express my gratitude. How can I appropriately tell him how much I look up to him and love him. To tell them that I never pick up a basketball without thinking of those many hours spent at the PG rec or at PG jr high.

I truly appreciate the many times George would re-explain an out-of-bounds play or a drill. The first day that I ran a practice of my own as a coach at Spanish Fork High School; I realized just what it takes to be a coach. The patience, the love, the commitment. It was in those first weeks of practice that I found out just how sick George really was.

There are not enough words in the world to explain my gratitude to George, Jan and all of their children. They were constant examples to me and I count myself lucky that I am able to know them all. There is so much still in my heart but I have been unsuccessful at putting it down on paper ... so on the Christmas eve ... let us all remember those who have touched our lives and made us want to become better people. May we all take the time to let other know how much they mean to us ...

to George, you are my HERO, my TEACHER, and my FRIEND.

May God bless you.

finals week

2008-12-14T22:47:00.001-07:00

it is finally here ... i love it and dread it ... school is almost over ... some of my classes hang on the balance of a final test ... nothing more stressful for me (i hate tests) ... can't wait till it is over ... just have to keep my head above water ...

tag 4 : 4 : 4 : 4

2008-12-14T22:40:00.002-07:00

Here is how it works.

1. Open your photos folder

2. Go to your 4th folder and pick the 4th photo

3. Up load it

4. Tag 4 others

< dolphin time >

From Dolphin

this picture was taken in 2006 at one of the stops on a cruise. we had tons of fun and although i really hate touching slimy little creatures it was a cool experience that i am glad that i did not miss.

tag your it ... heidi, liz, holly, kara

inspiring

2008-12-08T17:18:00.003-07:00

i have heard this story before and every time my reaction is always the same ... i cry my eyes out. today in my institute class we were talking about the proclamation on the family and what role both the mother and the father play. we talked about how important is for the mother to be the nurturer because a lot of time they spend the majority of the time with the kids. however, this does not minimize the importance of having a father figure in your life. the our teacher went on to read a story that brought tears to my ear. she wasn't even two sentences in and i knew what story she was going to tell. i know it loos long but i promise that the story and the attached clip are worth the time. the following article was written by rick reily of sports illustrated

I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay for their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots.

But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck.

Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in Marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a Wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and Pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in the same day.

Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back Mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. On a bike. Makes Taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?

And what has Rick done for his father? Not much--except save his life. This love story began in Winchester , Mass. , 43 years ago, when Rick Was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him Brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.

"He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life;'' Dick says doctors told him And his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. ``Put him in an Institution.''

But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes Followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the Engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was Anything to help the boy communicate. ``No way,'' Dick says he was told. ``There's nothing going on in his brain.''

"Tell him a joke,'' Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a Lot was going on in his brain. Rigged up with a computer that allowed Him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his Head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? ``Go Bruins!'' And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the School organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, ``Dad, I want To do that.''

Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described ``porker'' who never ran More than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he Tried. ``Then it was me who was handicapped,'' Dick says. ``I was sore For two weeks.''

That day changed Rick's life. ``Dad,'' he typed, ``when we were running, It felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!''

And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly Shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.

``No way,'' Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a Single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few Years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then They found a way to get into the race Officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the Qualifying time for Boston the following year.

Then somebody said, ``Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?''

How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he Was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick Tried.

Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii . It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud Getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you Think?

Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? ``No way,'' he says. Dick does it purely for ``the awesome feeling'' he gets seeing Rick with A cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.

This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best Time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992--only 35 minutes off the world Record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to Be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the Time.

``No question about it,'' Rick types. ``My dad is the Father of the Century.''

And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a Mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries Was 95% clogged. ``If you hadn't been in such great shape,'' One doctor told him, ``you probably would've died 15 years ago.'' So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.

Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass. , always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day.

That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.

``The thing I'd most like,'' Rick types, ``is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once.''

anytime that i fell like my life is getting a little to hard or i am thorwing my self a pity party - i just have to think about rick and the excitement that he shows when he is crossing the finishing line waving his arm. it makes me take a step back and realize every thing i have been privilaged to do in my life. it makes me want to be a better person

i go to school with 15 year olds

2008-12-02T17:58:00.003-07:00

i swear some of the students here at uvu should still be trying to skip out of their 10th grade english class. as i walk on campus i look at some of the kids (that's right i said kids) walking around and i think "shouldn't you be over at the high school?"

many thanks

2008-11-27T12:35:00.003-07:00

alright i am determined to get all my blogging done for the day so that i can relax. last night as i was trying to go to sleep i started thinking about everything that i am thankful for. I had to pull out a piece of paper to keep track of everything ... i have been so blessed in my life. we i narrowed it down to the top ten things that i am thankful for right now, at this moment. these are in nor particular order.

1. my family. we are all crazy at times and we get into arguments; but when the day is through we are always there for each other.

2. the gospel. i have not always been as active as i know i should have. but i know that i could not make it through life without it.

3. music. i love how certain songs bring back certain memories .. like the song that makes me remember my softball team elite, or the senior trip that i took with my best friend. i also love people that have the ability to play music. i never thought the day would come that i regretted giving up piano .. my mom said it would happen one day.. she was right. when i am done with school, i am determined to learn.

4. friendships. sometimes you need a break from the family :-P i have the greatest friends.

5. my coaches. yes, even the one that i openly disliked. i learned something different from all of them.

6. the sun. with the winter season upon us, i just want to escape to the beach.

7. words. i have never been extremely good with words and i really enjoy reading a good book or journal. something that let me take some time to think about something other than my life.

8. dreams. what is life without dreams. i have crazy dreams, but they always keep me laughing.

9. the ability to learn. at this point in my school .. i am hating it. however, i am thankful to know that i can go to school and that soon i will be the one teaching.

10. opprotunities. i have able to do so many things up to this point in my life. some things that i never thought i would have the chance to do. everything from traveling to meeting amazing people.

Happy Thanksgiving

killer project

2008-11-26T13:35:00.004-07:00

i am in the midst of a killer project. i can't go into a lot of detail until it is done because i don't want the recipient of the project to get wind of it ... your interested now, aren't you, thinking "maybe i am the recipient". i promise someone will know soon if 'the project' is indeed for them :-P until them ... enjoy the suspense. thanks to all of those that are helping; you know who you are!!!

a saturday with kai

2008-11-25T13:24:00.003-07:00

a few weeks ago i got the rare chance to spend the day with kai. although i see him nearly every day we don't often get a chance to do things one-on-one. mickey had mac and so kai and i made plans for the day. we made a list of things that we could due but when all was said and done kai wanted to go to chuck e cheese. i said okay and we started on our way. when we got into my car he was being so sweet without even knowing it. we were talking about what we were going to do after chuck e cheese (cec) and he said something to the extent of 'i am really excited to spend the day with you.'

i have four pictures hanging on the wall of my bedroom; two with kai, one with mac, and one with mac and alexis. they were taken on two different trips to cec. one of the picture has a green boarder while the other 3 are purple. kai loves to come in and talk about what color the boarder will be the next time that we get to go and take a picture. all of you who know kai, know that he has an amazing memory and as we were getting closer to cec he wanted me to guess on todays border color. we went in and got some tokens and the first thing on our list was to check the picture machine. someone was using it so we went around and played a bunch of games before coming back to the picture. kai was really good at a lot of the games. he is getting so big and it amazes me at how grown up he is becoming. finally is was our turn so we got into the booth and took a picture. i was already to stand up when i was informed that we needed to take a total of four pictures so that he could have 4 pictures in his room. it was hysterical.

later that night mac joined the fun as we made a trip to walmart. we were back in the toy section when we say a really cool robotic dinosaur. it was in an enclosed case but was singing and doing a little dance. kai was mesmerized and would have stayed there all night pushing the button to hear it talk. mac on the other hand was completely scared of it and stayed 10 feet away at all times.

we had the greatest day and it really sunk in how much i miss spending everyday with them ... i hate growing up.

annoyed

2008-11-20T20:09:00.003-07:00

i am not s prefect driver but i try and drive safely and without jeopardizing the safety of those around me. in the last two day i have witnessed two near accidents. yesterday i was on the i-15 when this car started whipping through the lanes. now i understand the frustration when you get behind someone that isn't going the speed limit and puts the old dial 55 mph (yes i am serious) i think that when you are on the freeway you should be going freeway speed (unless there is inclement weather) however, this guy was going at least 80 and cutting people off all over the place. then today i was center and 12th in orem. i was approaching the intersection and in the left turn lane. as i got closer the arrow was turning yellow and decided not to go through the intersection. i guess the guy behind me thought that i should have went ... so he swerved around me on the left hand side. he was two seconds aways from being in a head on collision but just stepped on the gas and got on the freeway .... it could be due to the fact that i know two people that have been killed in car accidents this month ... but i was steamed. i am sure this does not apply to everyone but some people do not understand that the decisions they make on the road affect all those drivers around them. both of the people that i know who were killed dies way too early, one girls was 16, and then second one was 20. it is so sad because in at least one of these accidents it was due to another car cutting another car off. so.. if you happen to be reading this ...please, please, please ... be considerate of other drivers on the road ... even id they make you mad sometimes

disney on ice

2008-11-14T07:59:00.002-07:00

yes it is true, i went to see disney on ice last night. a good friend of mine had gotten tickets and then had an extra one and asked if i wanted to go. i wasn't really thrilled at the idea of going(sorry ang), but never get to spend anytime with her so i thought i would give it a try. it wasn't the worst thing that i have ever been too, but i'll take a sporting event any day of the week, if given the choice. it was fun hanging out but next year we better have some kids with us so we don't look like such geeks :-P

$ 1.99

2008-11-14T07:51:00.002-07:00

it seems like as the gas priced raised and raised in the last year everyone got so mad and outspoken about what an outrage it was. i am not going to lie i felt the same way. however, yesterday as i filled up my car paying only $1.99 per gallon i had to ask myself "how come the reduce in gas in not getting a lot of notice?" is it becuase we just expect that it the price will always be low and never inflated. i am sure that i am not the only one that has evey said "when i started driving, gas was only ____ per gallon. well floks time are changing.
but as i was filling up my tank i really was grateful that the price of gas has gone down. i am not sure that the price of gas will ever be as low as it once was and the more i think about the more i am okay iwth it ... becuase the way i look at it, at least we have gas ... but who know for how much longer.

annual show

2008-11-03T21:33:00.003-07:00

the mountain jubilee chorus has there annual show a few weeks back. i haven't seen them sing in quite a long time and it is always interesting to see the new songs that they have been developing. overall i thought it was a really good show, but then i am biased.

this year the guest performers were metropolis. they are a comedic barbershop quartet. they were funny although i thought one of the guys fell too much .. it was pretty funny when they sang yakko's world from animaniacs, i think that was my favorite song.

Reba and Kelly

2008-11-03T21:12:00.002-07:00

alright folks this is the first item on my 'to blog about' list. i went to the reba & kelly concert on the 10/10 .. and it was all that it was cracked up to be. we had a great dinner at sette bello (a new favorite restaurant) and then we went to the concert where we had great seats. i was so bummed that the battery on my camera was a dead because the pictures that i took with my phone are not that great.
needless to say, it was a great concert. melissa peterman opened up the show with her comedic actress routine. it was really funny, and i would tell you all the funny jokes, except, it never seems to be as funny to those who were not at the concert. anyway, after melissa was done, reba and kelly came out and sang for almost two hours. they sang songs together and then they sang backup for each other.
there is not much else that i can say, it was phenomenal.

too cute not to share

2008-10-19T23:50:00.002-06:00

this is the last post for tonight. there are still more post to come ... but let me leave with with these pictures of the kids.

From faces

general conference

2008-10-19T23:39:00.002-06:00

i am not sure there are enough good things to say about the recent general conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. there were so many amazing talks; i really enjoyed all the sessions. next time conference rolls around i am determined to go up to the conference center for at least one of the sessions. i took a lot of notes and can't wait for the november ensign so that i can study the talks again.

lagoon

2008-10-19T23:15:00.002-06:00

a few weeks back mickey and i took the kids up to lagoons (or as kai calls it magoons). we had a great time even when the kids got a little cranky. mac was dying to go ride the dumbo ride. so as we snuck away to do that kai and mickey went on puff the magic dragon. we stood in line for dumbo and the whole time all mac could say was .. i really want to ride in the pink one. well luck was on our side becuase we were the first in line and she did indeed get to ride on the pink one.

From Lagoon

kai is such a crazy kid. he has started to make silly faces at people. he cracks himself up. while we stood in line for the carousel where kai begged to ride on the 'duke' dog .. he also wanted his picture taken. here he is being silly.

From Lagoon

good time

2008-10-19T11:00:00.002-06:00

about a month ago i took a picture of my cube at work so that people can have a visual as to where i spend most of my day. it has been sitting on my phone forever ... and i finally got around to downloading it.

From office

the flowers that are sitting on the desk were a surprise from the other members of my team. it was such a sweet thought.

From office

the final picture on this post is just a little food for thought. one sunday driving through lindon my friend kim pointed out this bush growing our of the sewer grate. it was crazy.

From office

no new is good news

2008-10-19T10:19:00.000-06:00

in our family we have a no news is good new policy, however, with all the bloggers out there that doesn't always work. i know that i have been awful about posting anything but to day is that day. each time i think about all the things that i want to post about i get a little overwhelmed .. so i am going to take it one post at time and see what i can due .. stay tuned

might do me some good

2008-09-30T13:37:00.002-06:00

yes, it might well do me some good to actually study for my upcoming tests. for those of you who know my study habits i am sure that you are not suprised that i wait until 11:00 the night before the test to even look at my notes and by that time i am too tired to really comprehend anything that i am reading. i only mention tis because i have had two test this week. one i did awful on and the second one i got did great. the difference (beside the fact that i like one teacher and don't care for the other) ... the second test had no true / false questions. Maybe it is just me but the t/f ?'s kill me.

here is to becoming a teacher and eliminating the t/f /'s on my tests.

thanks ali

2008-09-27T08:58:00.006-06:00

well, i am in class and i should be listening to everything my teacher is telling me about helath care and how he is biased against doctors. no way i am checking up on blogs and stealing fun posts. this one is from ali, and she may not even know i took it but i am going to give her credit anyway.
1. Where is your cell phone? in my pocket.
2. Where is your significant other? TBD
3. Your hair? brown
4. Your skin? a little oily
5. Your mother? checking beer bands at a concert
7. Your dream last night? if i had one i don't remember a thing
8. Favorite drink? diet dr pepper
9. Your dream/goal? finishing reading both of my book club books so i can join in the conversation
10. The room you're in? dirty ... like usual
11. Your ex? who knows ... probably back in louisiana
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? working, married, happy
13. Where were you last night? workin late and writing a paper
14. What you're not? a rich girl
15. Muffins? poppyseed
17. One of your wish list items? a job after i graduate
18. Where you grew up? l-i-n-d-o-n
19. The last thing you did? got up early to go to work before class ... do you see a pattern, i am a work-o-holic and i have no life.
20. What are you wearing? it saturday ... sweats and a hat :)
21. On your TV? um..well the last thing i watched was bones...
22. Your pets? i don't have any, and as much as i love them i doubt i will own a pet again
23. Your computer? dell ... if i could jusify it i would get a mac ... but i do not forsee that anytime in my future so i'll stick with what i've got it and be thankful that i have one.
24. Your life? crazy
25. Your mood? grumpy
26. Missing someone? always :)
27. Your car? altima
28. Something you're not? didn't i already answer this one
30. Your summer? too short
32. Your favorite color? baby blue and light pink
33. When is the last time you laughed? thursday night watching baby mama
34. Last time you cried? i am sure that is was recently but i am not really sure
35. Who will respond to this? i hate this question and am thinking i should delete it
36. Whose answers are you anxious to see? whoever

school and work are killer

2008-09-23T22:22:00.002-06:00

just an update for all. school hours are killin me, but i only have a year left!!! i leave the house around 6:30 most days and i am usually gone until 8:00 if not later. I can't seem to make myself go to sleep before midnight ... although tonight i am will be in bed early, whether or not i am asleep is still in question but i will be in bed. i know there were more things that i wanted to post about but i can't remember what they are .. guess i will save that for tomorrow.

professor lorraine

2008-09-23T22:12:00.002-06:00

alright let me explain ... i have this professor that drives me crazy. i will not say male or female or use their name ... let just say lorraine :-P. i say lorraine because mid sentence the professor will let out a little cough and all i think about is lorraine. for those of you have who have not met lorraine, let me introduce you (fyi...if you want to watch more lorraine remember not all of her skits are appropriate.)

long overdue

2008-09-23T21:31:00.002-06:00

this post is so long overdue that i thought that i ought to do it first. i really should have posted this on 9/11 because that is what it is about. while we were in new york we had the chance to go down to st paul's church. it was one of the churches that was a headquarters for the search and rescuers that were working at ground zero; after the world trade centers fell. i knew it would be emotional to go into the church but i had not idea how much it would affect me. I was overcome with emotion. here are some of the pictures that i took while we were there.

From St. Paul Church

all throughout the church they had things set up that paid tribute to 9/11 search and rescue. on one of the signs it said that everyone would come to this church and sleep for the little time that they had; they would sleep on the benches and cots that were set up all over the place.

From St. Paul Church

these are patches from that were left by all of the people that volunteered there.

From St. Paul Church

another shot of the patches.

From St. Paul Church

this one was the amazing. when people went missing after 9/11 family and friends would being in missing flier that they had made and they would hang them all over the church. they left one alter as it was and it still held the original missing fliers that were hung there. we all stood around and read the fliers it was an experience that i will never forget. the picture below is a plaque that hangs above the memorial alter.

From St. Paul Church

as they say in alaska

2008-09-15T16:27:00.003-06:00

i love this clip. i will tell you right now, i really like sarah palin

thanks ashley

2008-09-09T18:19:00.000-06:00

i took this quiz from ashley's blog :-0

You Belong in 1986

Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day.

What Year Do You Belong In?

relaxing

2008-09-08T22:33:00.002-06:00

saturday was a great day. and when i say great i am speaking in the terms that it was great after i got out of school and went into work. i went out with some friends to one of my favorite restaurants had a yummy salad. then we all went and got pedicures. honestly, there is nothing better than a pedicure.

From pedi

oh how i love the rodeo

2008-09-08T17:25:00.003-06:00

on friday night i went to the state fair rodeo and it was so great. i am not going to lie, i love the rodeo and try to go as often as i can. this year in particular i am felling redeo deprived because i was out of town during strawberry days (my all time, #1 rodeo). we went to the lehi roundup .. but it just wasn't the same. well the state fair is another one of my favorites of the year, so i was excited to get up to it. every year it starts off with a bang as skydivers drop from the sky ... the last one always carring the American flag.

From rodeo skydivers

i am not sure when it happened but recently whenever i see the American flag i get really chocked up. it is all i can do to just breathe and not break into tears. i love our country so much and i am so proud that i can call myself an American. when the last skydiver came into view i thought it only appropriate to stand and recognize the flag ... we were in the front row and as i turned around and looked at the crowd i was extremely disappointed that 90% of the people stayed seated even as the skydiver landed in the arena. maybe it didn't even occur to them to stand but it broke my heart. it seems like such a simple act of pride.

From rodeo skydivers

for all that are rodeo fans the actual events are always awesome but it helps when you have a clown that is funny. you are listening to him talk and crack jokes most of the night and if he isn't funny then it can get a little boring. well this clown did not disappoint, he was brilliant. he had some of the funniest jokes that i think i have ever heard. it is definitely better when you hear the jokes in person but i took note on the funny one and i am more than willing to share.

title explanation

2008-09-08T17:21:00.002-06:00

will this one is for you. alright i got a great comment on my shut the front door title from a few posts ago, wanting to know what it meant. well here it is ... i have a few friends that use this term as in 'oh my gosh, or 'holy crap'. whenever i think something is amusing, amazing, or just laugh out loud funny i use the term ... shut the front door.

man with the carrots

2008-09-08T17:10:00.004-06:00

i have been meaning to blog this for a while and today seemed like the day to do it because it (carrots) is happening as we speak. i love work and although i still ask kara a million and one questions (sorry kara)every day, i do think i am getting the hang of it. it is so interesting working somewhere with cubicles because you never realize how truely funny it is until you are actual there in the cube. although the office comes to mind we do have partition / walls that separate us. however, you can still hear any conversation that is not in a whisper. not only conversations but carrot crunching too. if you know me; it might have come up that little continuous noises can drive me bonkers. i will never forget the first time that guy that sits just over the wall from me started crunching carrots; like he is going at this precise moment. the first time i was like, 'this isn't that bad, really' however the more it happens the more that earphones come out of my purse and the music goes on. i have nothing against this guy ... it's just that i get the sensation of fingernails on the chalk board and at times all i can do is walk away. it all a learning experience and rest assured that i am learning.

shut the front door

2008-09-02T18:28:00.003-06:00

first off i stealing these links off of bobbie's blog. bobbie, thank you for sharing. i am sitting in class and although i should be listening, i most definitely am not. it is my stress management class my random teacher is talking about old clients (although no names) that she used to have in therapy. there is absolutely no relevance to the class but whatever.

anyway so i am catching up on all the blogs that i read and i come across bobbie's. all i know is that i am trying my hardest not to laugh out loud and draw attention to myself. this might be funniest thing ... ever. paul hunt - hysterical !!!

how come (continued)

2008-08-30T14:00:00.002-06:00

holly you are right, i should have just moved before writing the post. however, my computer was already on and the thought of packing it away so that i could gather all of my things and moved did not seem like the right option.
i did end up moving but it didn't even matter, because even though i changed seat i got another random person that decide i wanted to have a long drawn out conversation about the real estate value of houses at bear lake... come on people, you're killing me!!!

watch it and see

2008-08-30T00:03:00.001-06:00

one word

2008-08-29T23:43:00.004-06:00

i was going to post another ny post but i didn't feel like pulling the pictures together so i was cleaning out my inbox .. so fun :). anyway i came across this email that aubrey sent me a while back and i thought that i would post it. the instructions are simple
You can only type ONE Word! Come on you know you want to do it! JUST DO IT
1. Where is your cell phone? off
2. Where is your significant other? missing
3. Your hair color? brown
4. Your mother? amazing
5. Your father? grumpy
6. Your favorite thing? sleep
7. Your dream last night? boring
8. Your dream/goal? happiness
9. Your favorite job? coaching
10. The room you're in? bedroom
11. Your hobby? sleep
12. Your fear? failure
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? teaching
14. Where were you last night? oklahoma
15. What you're not? cleaner
16. Muffins? poppyseed
17. One of your wish list items? husband
18. Where you grew up? lindon
19. The last thing you did? emailed
20. What are you wearing? pajamas
21. Your TV? entertaining
22. Your pet? gone
23. Your computer? laptop
24. Your life right now? chaos
25. Your mood today? miffed
26. Missing someone? yes
27. Your car? filthy
28. Favorite store? REI
29. Something you're not wearing? socks
30. Your summer? crazy
31. Love someone? yup
32. Your favorite color? blue
33. When is the last time you laughed? today
34. Last time you cried? today

how come ....

2008-08-28T15:16:00.002-06:00

.. the loonies at the airport always find me. there is nothing that i can do to get away. may be this happens to everyone and maybe not, who knows. on all the flights that i have been on in the last couple weeks i always get the crazy person sitting next to me. everything from spilling cokes all over my lap because she falls asleep holding the coke, to another guy that accidentally fell asleep on my shoulder .. come on people.
i am sitting at my gate in kansas city waiting to get on a flight back to slc .. i choose a chair that was out in the middle of nowhere with 20 other chairs surrounding it sure that no one would come and sit by wrong. WRONG!!! this bigger guy come waddling and and choose the seat that is back-to-back with mine. as he leans back he keeps bumping into me ... do you think it would be rude to move chairs ... i think not ... and don't cry for me, that is exactly what i am going to do when i am done typing this post.

friday (8/8)

2008-08-23T18:40:00.005-06:00

on friday, we went non-stop for the entire day. i am going to try give you the short version :). We started the day out looking for somewhere to eat; on our way to rockefeller center. We found a place that looked alright but we ended up changing our minds and walking out (our waitress was a little mad). luckily we found a great bakery a few block away and everyone was able to find something that they wanted. (i forgot the name of the bakery, but i will remember sooner or later)
we went to st. patricks cathedral, it was a beautiful building. from there we started walking in the direction of tiffanys. mickey had a watch that need to be cleaned and since we were in the area we thought we would stop by. while mickey was taking care of her watch we were sitting in some chairs making faces at each other. then kelly started doing her crazy tongue tricks, which got everyone else trying to do them.

kellie - making faces

kelly and korbie at tiffanys (yeah that is a double chin)

shanae trying to do kelly's crazy tongue trick

kellies tongue clover
the next picture is of the apple store. it is open 24/365. it is this big glass box that is located by central park.

if you look close in the picture you can see all of this little metal things around the outside of the building. kelly accidentally walked into one and it only took about 30 seconds before it had swelled up.

kelly's booboo
the apple store was crazy busy so after looking around for a minute we decided to go. when we came out of 'the box' it was raining (surprise surprise) and so to kill time and wait out the rain we went to fao schwarz. we didn't make it past the candy section. they had bins of every candy imaginable that you could mix and match. i think everyone got some to take to the play later that night.
after fao we wandered over to central park to walk around. as we walked through the park we all started talking about movies that had been filmed in central park and kept our eyes open for the bridge that james marsden jumps of in enchanted. we had a great time. we stopped at the metropalitian museum of art but ending up not going through to see any of the art. from there we started back in the direction of our hotel. about this time our feet starting feeling the strain walking all day. when we saw a nail salon we all went in to get a pedicure or manicure. i am not sure if this was the typical ny salon but it was packed. there were pedi chair and mani tables filling every square inch. and if there wasn't a chair or table there was a person filling the empty space. it was an adventure indeed, especially since we were all pretty sure that they were talking about us. after we left mickey was telling us about this comedy act where she is talking about a nail salon. i have included it for you all.

as we were walking toward the lds temple we saw a magnolias bakery. we had heard that they had the best cupcake ever and so of course we had to stop. we each got a cupcake for later and then headed out again. before we knew it we were standing in front of the temple. the ny temple was unlike anything that i had ever seen because it was made of an existing structure. i wish that we had been able to do a session. next time!!

seeing the angel moroni was amazing, it was one of my favorite things that we did that day.
we were all starving at this point and so we headed to angelo's pizza. it is located right next to letterman's studio. there are not enough words to describe how good the food was. i think we ate in record time :)

angelo's pizza ... yum
as if this post is not long enough there is only one more thing that i am going to mention. we went to another play

is wasn't as good as wicked but there were so pretty funny moments. and just an fyi the cupcakes were not that great .. in fact it would be hard for me to even call them good

thursday (8/7)

2008-08-22T22:13:00.010-06:00

thursday was tons of fun even though i was working for most of the morning. my morning consisted of talking to a bunch of people at chelsea pier. trying to answer all of their questions to the best of my ability (which in the case of symantec products is still very limited). the best part of the day was breakfast (no, i am not kidding) they had this great yogurt mixed with rasberries and granola and then a whole bunch of fruit. the fruit was really good which i was not expecting at all. after the future of computing tour i headed back to the hotel to meet up with mickey and get ready for kellie, shanae, and kelly arrived.

the girls arrive in the limo

once everyone was checked into the hotel we didn't have a lot of time before it time to go see ...

i will be completely honest, i was not at all excited to see this play. i am not a huge fan of the wizard of oz but since everyone else raves about how good it is, i thought that i would give it a try. it only took about two songs before i was able to conclude that i would really, really liked it.
before the play started we joked around and took some pictures. i was so bummed that mickey was not sitting by us :(

kelly and jermey

kellie and shanae

kellie and korbie

so after the brilliant play we were all starving. it only took us a few minutes to decide that we wanted to go to ellen's stardust diner. we had heard that it was a fun place to go and that all the waiters were aspiring broadway stars that sang karaoke. our waiter was the worst waiter in the place but the entertainment was dynamite. our whole table liked the waiter that was serving the area right next to us. after a little convincing we got him to agree to a picture with us. our conversation went something like
him: were are you all from?
us: utah
him: shut the heck up .. i graduated from byu
us: no you are not. there is no way
then to prove us wrong he started singing the byu fight song. his name was ryan and he was a riot. it was so much funner (i know that isn't even a word) to be there in person rather than hearing it second hand, but you get what you get :-P

kellie being serious

kellie and shanae sharing a milkshake

our stinky waiter

ryan the riot and our group minus two

the girls outside the diner

wacky wednesday (8/6)

2008-08-22T22:00:00.000-06:00

wednesday was for the most part a regular day, except for the fact that i was about to board a flight to go to new york for the first time ever!!! i was completely stoked and could not wait to get there. i had to go for work but made arrangements to stay through the weekend. when we reached jfk there was a driver waiting for us ... a very bad driver. if there is one thing that i learned about new york it is that if given the choice i would choose to walk everywhere rather than take a car. every time i got into a car i got sick. anyway the driver that was waiting for us was not the most friendly guy around, but i figured not every thing was going to be perfect. well the was an understatement, we may have had the worst drive in all of new york. i think the thing that tipped us off is that he was a little unsure where the marriot in time square was. anyway we finally got there and it lived up to my expectations. it was so cool .. it was the first time that the registrations desk has been on the 8th floor.

so mickey and i are standing at the registration desk checking in to the hotel when i am informed that there are no more rooms. i nearly peed my pants. i felt like i was in that episode of seinfeld when they are trying to get a car. the guy at the desk told me that they would pay for a hotel room in another location and then i could check in at the marriot the next day. i was about ready to accept the offer (although i was completely baffled because my room was direct billed, and therefore basically paid for). after a little talking with mickey we just asked the guy to knock a nights pay off of mickey's room and then i would check into my own room the next day. the guy at the front desk felt so bad that he got permission from his manager to give me $100 because of the mix up. it was a crazy start to a crazy fun filled weekend.
we even walked around the city a bit to find some food. a few blocks down the road we found a little cafe shop that had the greatest chicken salad sandwiches (in the next few post i will be mentioning food ... a lot)

you don't need to tell me ...

2008-08-20T22:34:00.003-06:00

... that i am already past due on the new york posts and pictures that i promised .. sorry to say they are going to have to wait another day (or two). i want to post them all at the same time which is proving to be a longer process than i thought. i have three days of event happenings already written out but have not official posted them because i want to add pictures. however, i don't have my personal computer with me and i am in minneapolis traveling for work. no need to worry i get home tomorrow and i swear that this weekend you will have much to read (not that many people are impatiently waiting to know the comings and going in my life)

updates are coming

2008-08-12T02:32:00.002-06:00

updates will be coming soon (and when i say soon, i mean not until this weekend). i have been on the road but i have lots of great pictures and stories to tell ... and yes i finished breaking dawn and loved it!!!

willpower

2008-08-03T22:50:00.003-06:00

i will have the power to put down 'breaking dawn' and go to sleep tonight. i refuse to be non-functional at work tomorrow. just for the record, i am halfway through the book and it is living up to my expectations.

busy week

2008-08-02T22:59:00.002-06:00

things have been crazy this week .. i am trying to recall everything that happened and i am already forgetting. work has been busy preparing for tech summit in texas in a few weeks. i have been engrossed in work and i am starting to get the hang of everything.

monday night i didn't do much, just hung around the house and watched the closer (one of my favorite tv shows.

tuesday night was an adventure in itself because i went and handed out beer bands at the motley crew concert. handing out beer band isn't the funnest thing in the world but it is not that bad either. however, the mc crowd was rude and obnoxious. i am glad that i don't have to encounter people like that on a daily basis.

on wednesday i worked late and then went home and went to sleep earlier than my normal time. i haven't been sleeping great and i knew that i had to be to work early the next day.

thursday started out rocky when i realized that keys were not hanging on the hook in the kitchen. i looked everywhere and could not find them. after twenty minutes of frantically searching i went and woke mickey and art to ask if they had seen them. mickey got up and helped me search but after looking for another 15 minutes i decided to take a different car. i was already pushing the time .. i was taking breakfast to some of the sales reps on the first floor and still had to go purchase all the food. mickey did find the keys ... i know you will be laughing to know that mac took them and put them in the toy box. after a long morning and a hard day of work i headed up to char's house. it is coming up on the last few days before she is officially deployed and we were trying to get some quality bff time in. we went got some food (sweet potato fries at rumbi :-P ), moved some of her furniture out of her apartment and then we came down to my house and watched a movie. i am trying not to think too hard about her leaving because i get so dang emotional. she is my sister at heart and i know she will be okay, but i still worry.

friday was a GREAT day. work was a little more low key because it was the end of the week and a lot of the projects that i needed to get done were surprisingly done. plus kara and i were headed out a little early to hand out beer bands at the martina mcbride concert. i probably wouldn't have gotten to work this concert but i had filled on at lat minute for the motley crew concert and so they threw me a bone. i am not even going to tell you about the concert in this post because it deserves a post of it own.

today i was lazy and caught up on some sleep. i didn't get up until 12 and then it was only to go sit on the couch and watch strawberry shortcake with kai and mac. i was finally showered and ready for the day by 4 ... slacker ... anyway after that i went up and met char at fashion place mall ... the last hang out session for quite a while. we shopped an talked. i think we both tried to keep it light (at least i did). when it was time for our good-byes i choked up. i was feeling so down that i stopped at see's candy on the way out and bought some coconut chocolates, which i really didn't need, but brightened my mood a little. i am now typing this post and them will promptly go back to reading breaking dawn. i wasn't going to buy it until next week for my trip, but mickey brought it home from the store today and i couldn't help myself ... it was too tempting and i have started reading it already. go bella!! my money is on edward and her becoming a vampire.

martina mcbride

2008-08-02T22:45:00.003-06:00

have you ever been to a concert that is so good that you don't even know how describe it. that is preety much how good the martina mcbride concert was on friday night. i have always like mm's song but she won me over with her performance. she is now neck and neck with reba and for me that is saying a lot.

as mentioned in the above post i was there handing out beer bands..yippee..but hey i got into the concert for free. kara came with me too. when we were done handing out the bands we went in and watched the concert. it was completely amazing. we even learned something new, during the song "love's the only house" when you hear the harmonica ... that is really martina playing.

anyway as i said there are no words that can even explain how great mm sounds live. i will be on the lookout for her next visit to utah or anyplace within driving distance.

Martina

sundance / camping and more

2008-08-02T22:30:00.000-06:00

here are some of the pictures that have seen stashed on my camera and i am just now getting around to posting them. the first few are from visiting wayne and liz.
the picture of kai and mac at sundance were from when honeybee and jake were in town. they went up there to explore and look around. we found this nice spot with a little waterdrop (when you see the picture you'll know. anyway kai was taken with it and he kept saying can you get a picture of the waterfall. at one point he ask me to take his picture and i could say no. then mac wanted her picture taken. then kai got serious and wanted a picture with that water in the background. they crack me up :).
the pictures at the end are from out day at the ranch. we really did have a great time. that was the first time that i had been able to make it up all summer and it was worth the drive and the dirt. we took a trip down to the frog pond and caught a few frogs and a snake. the kids loved it and then they got drinks from the spring. kai was always thirsty and would lead the way over. we also spent a lot of time at the playground. the kids could have played there all day. they had one of the those spinning things (i don't even know the name). kai and tate pushed and then jumped on. mac loved the see-saw and stayed on there 90% of the time. we got dirty and tired but what fun it was.

24th of july

2008-08-02T22:15:00.000-06:00

for the 24th of july we went over to wayne and liz's house for cafe rio and fireworks. lexie went to the store with wayne earlier that day to pick out the fireworks and although we tried to distract her she was waiting all night for the fireworks. finally she could wait not longer and so we started fireworks at 8 (it still light outside). that did not detract from the excitement. anyone who knows lexie knows she gets so excited that she shakes to show her emotion. i wish these pictures did her justice but she was shaking all night long with the biggest smile.