Strawberry Days Rodeo

Lolly's visit just happened to be the weekend of Strawberry Day's in Pleasant Grove. I love going to the Strawberry Day's Rodeo, so I thought Lolly might enjoy going also... so I told her to bring some cowgirl clothes. Lolly and I love dressing up, so I knew this would be a great activity for us. Plus... how do you not have fun at the rodeo. They are fun (minus the rodeo clown).

It was fun to not only go with Lolly, but with Allison and Quinette and her friend also. Just a girls night out. Since we didn't have any guys with us, we were checking for hot cowboys. Lolly of course has her own hot cowboy... but supported Allison and I in our endeavor. We found a few. All part of the fun of the rodeo. :) *Confessions. I have always had a secret desire to kiss a cowboy...  I mean, I guess I technically have, but dressed the part... cowboy hat on and all*

We had a fun time cheering for the cowboy's. We had our strawberries and cream (a must during strawberry days) and after the rodeo was over, we stayed and watched the fireworks. My second firework show of the summer so far.

The rodeo was great. I was kind of bummed they took out he dirt bikes since that is my favorite half time show and they put more of the clown in... which is my least favorite part of the rodeo, but still a great time. It was a great evening with the girls!

Stewart Falls

Since Lolly lives in Vegas where everything is dry and brown... I figured she would love it if I took her on a nice easy hike up in the beautiful green mountains when she came to visit me here in Utah. I was right, she did. How could you not?

We started at Sundance and took the ski lift up the mountain. I got the idea to take her when we did it for work last month. I mean... you just can't beat that view, plus it is so relaxing and beautiful. Plus most people don't think to take them when they are not skiing.

Then we started our hike. It was an easy hike. We just chatted while we walked the beautiful trail. Hardly saw anyone on the trail....

Until we got to the waterfall. Then we saw lots of people and a little more on the trail back. I guess most people don't come from the Sundance side. All the better for us. The waterfall is so pretty. We sat there a little while, but then we were on our way. Had to get back home for our next activity.

It sure was a beautiful day for a hike to a waterfall.

Lolly!!

One of my best friends came to visit me last weekend. Lolly! I typically go out to Vegas at least once a year to go visit her. It's easier... I like getting away and Lolly is married with two kids. It's a little easier for me to go visit her than her to visit me. So when she text me and told me she was buying a plane ticket and taking a break from her married with kids life to spend a weekend just us girls... well, you could say I was thrilled.

I got so excited I planned an action packed weekend. I picked her up from the airport last Friday after work. We came back to my house, I showed her around my place that I have been telling her about for years.... showed her my decorating skills (she taught me everything I know) and then we were off to dinner.

When Lolly and I get together, I get excited because she liked to dress up with me and go out on the town. I wish more of my friends liked dressing up a little. So we threw on some high heels and I took her to the Riverwoods since it is the most classy place in Provo. We ate at La Jolla Groves which is not only beautiful inside, but it is also healthy and delicious. We both got amazing salads that we loved.

The rest of the weekend activities will come in the next blog post. I will just say that it's always a good time with Lolly. I have been blessed to have her as a friend. Ever since we became friends (which I don't remember exactly how that happened) she has been there for me. She helped me move away from home for the first time and road tripped with me out to move me to Utah. Helped me decorate my first apartment and grocery shop on my own for the first time. She is the one that taught me about fashion and decorating, she has known about all my guy drama since the day we met and has always cared. I was a bridesmaid in her wedding in Washington. Even though she is married and has two kids, I know that I can call her anytime and talk and she will always be there for me. She is usually the first person I think of to tell things to. You know you have those friends that you say you will be friends for life... but really who knows if that will really happen. Well, I truly believe that Lolly and I will be friends for life. The adventures will only continue. We have future BFF trips ahead of us to look forward to. We have already started talking about it. :) Anyway... it meant the world to me that she came out for the weekend. I know it is a sacrifice to buy the plane ticket, making the time after she just moved, leaving the kids behind and her husband taking over when he is really busy (Thanks Brian!). The weekend  was short... but it was awesome. Thanks for coming to play with me Lolly!

Flashback Friday 173

My sister Jamie and I in our High School madrigal dresses. Aren't we cute? I loved that I got to be in High School (and choir) with my sister.... even if it was just one year.

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 226

Last weekend was a blast. My bestie, Lolly, came to Utah to visit me. This like never happens. Therefore I planned a action packed weekend of fun. So fun that it was just me and her like old time. So nice that she ditched her husband and kids for the weekend to come play with me. She is such a good friend. I will blog about our adventures soon.

It's been busy at work. It's quarter end. I can handle it... I'm used to it, but it's the only time at work that I get slightly stressed. It's hard when I have so much work that I feel like I can't even take a break. My computer running really slow and programs shutting down on me doesn't help at all either.

Well... I am up on the Mormon Bachelorette site. I don't know if I should even feel lucky to be considered because I kind of wonder if they are just putting up everyone that has applied. You can check it out here.  I have been checking up on my competition. My friend RJ did an awesome job on my video and I really think I have one of the best video's... however I know I won't be chosen. And that is ok. Maybe something good will happen from putting myself out there. Maybe someone will see me on there and think...HEY! That girl is awesome, I want to date her, or I have the perfect guy to set her up with... who knows. You never know until you put yourself out there. I really appreciate the support that I have received though. Especially from my sister Jamie, me sister in law, Clara, my Aunt Sharleen and my cousin's wife Heather... for posting about it on Facebook and cheering for me and and telling everyone that I am awesome. It makes me feel special and loved. Really though... if you want some entertainment, check out some of the other girls video's.

I had a much needed massage this week. I am pretty sure that every muscle in my body was super tight. I had a different massage therapist this time since my girl I went to left for bigger and better opportunities, but new girl did a good job.

While Lolly was here, my back car window broke. Broke as in some piece broke that held the window in place... so every time I drove it would fall down... which gets annoying. At least it is summer and not winter. That would be the pits. Every time I parked... I would just push the window back up in place. On Sunday I told my dad what happened. I took the door apart and shoved a piece of wood in the door to keep the window from falling down. I would have been happy for it to just stay like that (you can tell my car is getting old and I care less and less all the time what it looks like) but my dad (being the awesome guy he is) bought the part that had broke and later in the week fixed my back car window. It took watching a couple how to youtube video's... but it saved me a couple hundred bucks of taking it in to get it fixed. My dad is awesome. He can fix anything.

So I put up the fort on Sunday night. It's the last week of June. Is the the  month fort week happens, so I had to put it up. However, I have been so busy this week that I haven't really even had the time to hang out in it or have anyone else come over and hang out in it. This is not ok. I need an official movie night and ninja warrior viewing party at least.

Speaking of June coming to an end... where in the world did June go? I feel like I didn't do much. Also... I'm sad it is coming to an end because that means no more S'more Blizzards at DQ. That is probably for the best though. ha ha. Allison and I have gone many times to get the S'more Blizzard which is the flavor of the month. SO GOOD!

Also I need to post about my finished patio. Project Patio is complete... although I want to find a little more lighting, but maybe not. Maybe it's fine just the way it is. The way the bench turned out was awesome. It was a big hit. In fact... one guy that used to be in my ward who is now married took a screen shot of my instagram of my finished bench and posted it in a comment on Facebook. I was like... HEY! That's my patio!

I went to a sewing class on Tuesday. I will also be blogging about that. It was awesome. However, it did make me think... I have such talented friends that have great ideas and are go getters and do so much with themselves and their talents... which makes me feel like... I don't make a difference. I wish I was doing something important and awesome with myself that was making a difference in the world or at least my community. That I was known for something. I can't even follow through with my ideas... like my travel blog, or the book I was going to write. I mean, I know there is still time. I just feel like I need a manager to help push me and work with me where I struggle to make it on my own. How do people become so well known for something? I don't know.. but I have a lot of talented friends that have done it and it makes me just a little bit envious. You know? All I have are my thoughts on this blog that not very many people read anymore.

Monday I went to SLC to hang out with my good friend Desiree and her husband Chuck. I love it when I love the guys my friends marry and I have just as much fun hanging out with their husbands as I do them. I totally don't mind third wheeling it in those situations. Come to think of it, I can't think of any of my good friends husbands that I don't enjoy hanging out with. That is awesome. We had fun chatting and telling stories. I had a really fun time even though we were all just hanging out. So glad that Desiree and I have stayed in touch over the years and continue to get together. I appreciate those friends... probably more than they know.

The other day I was adjusting or fixing something in my fish tank. The big tomato clown is a big bully and super territorial and will sometimes bite my fingers if I have them in there. I hate it. I try to show him who is boss. So the other day when I had my hand in the and he came for it... I flicked him in the face. I also told him that I didn't like him and was going to exchange him for a cooler fish at the fish store. That was not a threat. That is completely true. I already asked my fish store friends if I could and they said yes. Goodbye bully... your days in my tank are numbered.

Speaking of my tank, my friend Ellis came over to talk about a possible trip and saw my tank for the first time and thought it was so awesome he might get one of his own. My tank is pretty cool... but I told him of all the troubles I had. If he comes to me for advice his tank might fail. However... I may have it down now... maybe I can tell people the do's and don'ts at this point from trial and error on my own account. #scienceexperiment

I have been seeing more and more people talk and post about "The Piano Guys"... and I'm like, oh yeah... I made sushi with those guys. Not quite as legit as when Katy Perry come on the radio and I'm like... oh her? Yeah, we were in high school choir together. It's still pretty cool that I made sushi with them and their wives though. So random. I'm still waiting to run into Mitt Romney, Donny Osmond and or David Archuleta (although I met him before, but it was after a concert so it doesn't count) somewhere in Utah though. I've been here a long time, my chances have to be going up.

Did I tell you that I finally tried sudoku for the first time? Yeah... I wanted to see what all the hype was about so I downloaded the app on my phone and asked my roommate how you play (which they laughed and then told me) and now I play it sometimes. I can see why people are into it. I feel like I can only do easy puzzles right now though.... maybe I will get into enough where I try harder, but right now, it's just fun to play a quick easy game when I'm waiting for something.

Novell is a beautiful place to work in the summer. The stream the runs down by the cafe is going, they have a little river that runs around the campus that has ducks and fish in it. People are outside playing soccer and volleyball and basketball and running and biking outside. It is also BBQ season. It's awesome. It was only fitting that Lauren's last time at Novell to turn in her badge and turn in her laptop was on BBQ day and that we would sit out by the stream. It's our favorite spot on campus. She has been my gym buddy at work for the last 3 years... so I'm going to have to motivate myself on my own, but I think I can do it. I have a lot of friends at the gym now. I'm really going to miss Lauren though. She is my BFF co-worker and BFF gym buddy. She has already been gone for 3 months on maternity leave, but now it's hard knowing she isn't coming back. She has become such a good friend. Thank goodness for social media to help keep in touch... and if I ever go out to Idaho in the future, she is another friend I can add to the list that is there to go visit. That number is growing! Novell won't be the same. Thanks for everything Lauren. We had a lot of good times!

Photo of the Week 224

What? You didn't see enough of Machu Picchu? Oh ok.... here's another one for you. :) I'm sorry... can't get enough of that place. This was in the early morning when we first got there before the sun came up... fog still covered a lot of the ruins. Until the sun came all the way up and the clouds went away, you couldn't see all the ruins. Just made it that much cooler that it was slowly revealed.

Aguas Calientes, Peru - Machu Picchu

I have come to the last post about my adventure in Peru. Kind of sad... I have kind of gotten to relive the trip through blogging about it. However... I have saved the best for last. Not that I didn't love every part of Peru... but come on, the Andie's Mountains are amazing and this is a wonder of the world... the reason most people come to Peru.

Our journey began early morning in Cusco. We got in a van full of tourists and then we were on our way. It was a 6 hour drive to get to the train that takes you to Aguas Calientes. Taking the train of course is kind of expensive, so John and I (like so many others) opted to walk. The walk was about two hours following the train tracks. It was beautiful, but it was kind of long after driving all day through windy mountains and getting kind of car sick and being crowded.. the last part of he drive was on dirt rode which made it even more bumpy. The driving was crazy. They just whip around those mountain... honk going around the corners they couldn't see around so other people would know they were there even though yo can't see them. Sometimes it was better for me not to look at what was going on rather than watch. Anyway, so the walk was beautiful... but yeah, I just wanted to be there. I was the first one out of our van to get there and I got there right as it was getting dark. *John took the bridge picture*

Since it was dark, to couldn't really see the tiny city that took such a journey to get there. We explore a little the next day before we headed back to Cusco though. It was a very cute little town. We ate and shopped a little and just walked around and explored Aguas Calientes.

However, the reason we went through the journey to make it to this little city was to go to Machu Picchu. I was so excited.

Machu Picchu (in hispanicized spelling, Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmatʃu ˈpiktʃu]) or Machu Pikchu (Quechuamachu old, old person, pikchu peak; mountain or prominence with a broad base which ends in sharp peaks, "old peak", pronunciation [ˈmɑtʃu ˈpixtʃu]) is a 15th-century Inca site located 2,430 metres (7,970 ft)above sea level. It is located in the Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District in Peru.It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Sacred Valley which is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Cuscoand through which the Urubamba River flows. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often mistakenly referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is perhaps the most familiar icon of Inca civilization. The Incas built the estate around 1450, but abandoned it a century later at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Although known locally, it was unknown to the outside world before being brought to international attention in 1911 by the American historian Hiram Bingham. Since then, Machu Picchu has become an important tourist attraction. Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give tourists a better idea of what the structures originally looked like. By 1976, thirty percent of Machu Picchu had been restored. The restoration work continues to this day.

You can take difficult hikes and trails to get to Machu Picchu. If we had a lot more time and money, maybe we would have done that. However, we were tight on both... so we took a bus. Turns out that bus takes you right to the wonder. No sweat. We were going to be doing enough hiking around Machu Picchu to give us a work out. We started out with an English tour guide giving a little history. We started early... before the sun came up. Then we were able to explore on our own.

It is no wonder why Machu Picchu is a wonder of the world. I just stood in awe that people could build this. Not just that but it is literally on top of a mountain. The entire view is breath taking. Pictures I had seen of it were great and made me want to come... but even the pictures don't do it justice. It is amazingly beautiful. 

John and I had a great time. So neat that we got to experience that together. In fact, we have done a lot of really cool things together now. That is one of the things I always liked about him. He was always up for an adventure with me. We met almost exactly 8 months earlier at the Coffee Pod in Provo after matching on Tinder. If you would have told me that night that in 8 months I would be in Peru and exploring Machu Picchu with him, I'm pretty sure I would have laughed and said no way. Crazy the way things work out. So glad I got to cross another thing off of my Bucket List. I had been wanting to see Machu Picchu for a long time. It was totally worth the wait. 

Cusco, Peru

Back to my Peru trip that I have now been back from for over a month. Ha! I know... I'm so behind. I had so many pictures to go through and edit and after I'm done with all of the pictures I still have a video to make. I'm down to my last 2 posts about the trip though and I saved the best for last!

Cusco was my favorite city and it was also our base city throughout the trip. We flew from Lima to Cusco and then took a bus for the Sacred Valley tour back to Cusco, then to Aguas Calientes to go to Machu Picchu (that is the best post) and then back to Cusco then to Puerto Maldonado (the Amazon) back to Cusco and then to Puno. See what I mean... our home base for the trip. So glad too because I really loved this city. Sure it is full of tourists, but it sure is beautiful. 

John and I spent a lot of time exploring the city, going out to eat, booking tours in one of the tour shops, we bought most of our souvenirs here. We loved it. Some of the things we explored in this city... there are some ruins. You had to pay to get in, so we didn't go in. We felt like we could see it well enough from the rode.

They also have a great redeemer statue. I thought that was just in Brasil, but turns out it's not. Silly me. So we went climbed to the top of the hill... got a little lost along the way but finally made it to the top to see this awesome statue.

And this AMAZING view!

We found the famous 12 corner stone in the city. 

And spent time in the city park and went inside the BEAUTIFUL cathedral during Sunday service.

We loved it. Probably could have spent a lot more time here than we were able to, but so glad we got the time that we did. Completely recommend this city to anyone that has an interest in traveling to South America.