Photo of the Week 337

Up American Fork Canyon right before Sunset

Boyz II Men

You know my new friends that I met at the gym that also train with my personal trainer? Hillary and Lyndi are great. It's a shame it took us so long to become friends, but better late than never. They work at the Marriott and get free tickets to things when people stay at the hotel. That is how we got tickets to The Grid. Well, I guess Boyz II Men were staying at the hotel for their concert at the Scera Theater. I had no idea they were even going to be in town. I honestly didn't even know they were still performing. One of them was on this last season of dancing with the stars and did pretty well. I also didn't know that they are only a group of 3 now. Shows you how much I know. What I DO know is that I LOVED Boyz II Men in elementary school and that I still think they are great... so when Hillary asked me if I would want to go if she got free tickets, I said absolutely.

She ended up getting free tickets. Lucky me! When she asked me, she also asked our trainer (Josh). "Hey Josh! How much do you love Boyz II Men on a scale from 1-10?" Josh replied "A Solid 8" so Hillary got tickets for Josh and his wife as well. We all met there and then sat together and danced and sang. We got there a little late, so we didn't know where we were going to squeeze in to sit because it was pretty packed... but we found a place up front to the side, so we went for it.

For the most part, we couldn't even see them because all the speakers and equipment were in the way. However... every once in a while, they would go all the way to the front of the stage, then we could see them. There were also a couple of times that they walked around the speakers and such and came to our side of the stage. One of the times they did this, I was close to the stage and reached out my hand and this guy... he shook my hand to the beat of the song for like 5 seconds. I thought that was kind of exciting. Ha ha.

It was a super fun concert. They sang all of their old classics. I still remembered all of the words. I rocked out and loved every minute of it. We all had fun together and it was fun to see our trainer out of training mode. Thanks Hillary for getting me free tickets once again! So far I don't think I have paid for any of the concerts that I have been to this year. ha ha. Not that I have been to many... but still. I'm not mad about it.

Silver Lake... Pond

So Originally I wanted to camp in the Uintas and paddle board and sleep in the car and do night photography and asked Kyle if he wanted to go with me. He said he would but he doesn't want to miss out on anything and commits to everything with everyone and then either his friends flake on him or he decides he doesn't want to do it for some reason or another... so he told me he would come and then that he only wanted to do Saturday afternoon/night and go up to Silver Lake.

That was better than nothing, so I agreed. Silver Lake is beautiful, so I thought that would be nice. Last time I was there in June, it was awesome. Great paddle Boarding and so beautiful there.

When Kyle and I drove up there... different story this time. I knew that Tibble Fork has been under construction all summer, but I didn't know they had also drained Silver Lake. SAD! However... we were there, so we decided to make the best out of the pond that was left there. Thankfully I decided not to bring my paddle board, because that would have been for nothing. Instead, I just brought my inflatable couch and just sat next to the pond until the sun set.

I took some pictures of the sunset while Kyle decided he wanted to build a fire, so he was gathering wood and built a fire with no help except a lighter he borrowed from a fisherman. I was impressed. It was windy too, so it was a challenge, but he did it. Then we just waited until it got dark.

It got too cold for me, so I waited in the car cuddled up in my blankets until I felt like it was dark enough. Kyle stayed by his little fire. When I felt like all the stars were out, I grabbed my camera and went back outside with Kyle and he helped me figure out my camera and how best to capture the stars. I think I need another lens to capture them the way I see others do it... but I felt like this was a great start! I like how this turned out. Thanks Kyle for helping me out. :)

The Grid

Friday night my friend Hillary that I met at the gym (We train with Josh at the same time) had tickets to The Grid event and asked me if I wanted to go with her. I had no idea what The Grid was, but I had nothing going on Friday night and Hillary is fun and I like new friends... so I went with her and her kids.

I probably wouldn't have appreciated this event very much had I not spent the last 4 months with a personal trainer. These athletes do what we do times 100 and make it looks so easy. I watched and felt so dumb that I struggle as much as I do with stuff that I do with my personal trainer. ha ha. These guys & girls are like SUPER strong. It's pretty amazing to watch them compete. Hillary and I had fun watching them and picking out all the guys we thought were really cute and cheering louder for them. Ha ha... I know... we are such single girls.

It was something to do. Nice to get out with new friends and check out new events... especially when they are free. Thanks for the ticket and invite Hillary!

Drive-In

It has been YEARS since I have been to the Drive-In movie's. In fact, I forget that we have one because I didn't grow up with one and the one here is in Salt Lake, so it isn't exactly super close. Anyway... while MacKenzie and I were at the Josh Groban concert on Saturday, we were talking about all the other things that were going on that night that we were missing out on, but did NOT regret being at Josh Groban. Just a happening night. There was a REAL Soccer game, the Lantern Festival was that night and then MacKenzie mentioned that at the drive in movie there was a double feature of Pete's Dragon (the new one) and Finding Dory, which we both hadn't seen either one and wanted to see both. We both grew up loving the old Pete's Dragon and were super curious about the new one. Plus it is so fun to go to outdoor movies in the summer. So we were bummed to miss that. Still no regrets being at Josh Groban.

So later that week I checked the Drive-In movies to see if that double feature would play again. The last night for those 2 movies was on Thursday night. The first movie doesn't start until it gets dark and then the next movie starts 20 minutes or so after the first one ends... so we knew it would make for a late night, but we decided to go. Gotta live a little right? So what if we lose a little sleep here and there.

So after my workout at the gym, I went home and quickly showered and then picked up MacKenzie. We first went to Sodalicious because that is what we do. Then to Spitz to pick up some dinner to eat while we watched the movie. This was my idea. You can bring in food to drive in movies, that is one of the best parts! I was craving Spitz (Mediterranean Street Food) and MacKenzie had never had it before, so she was up for it. After getting our food, we got to the Drive-In RIGHT as Pete's Dragon was starting. There was hardly anyone there, which was awesome. The trunk of my car was already set up as a bed because I was too lazy to take it down and I was getting a lot of use of it like this... so all we had to do was back up into our spot and open the trunk. I brought twinkle lights which was great so we could see our food better. I have a great sound system in my car, so the sound for the movie was awesome. It was pretty much the best set up for the Drive-In.

After eating our DELICIOUS food we just sat back and relaxed and enjoyed both movies. Both movies were great. We even brought a little dessert for the second movie. The only think that stinks about my car for the Drive-In is that I have a push start button for my car instead of a key... meaning without the car running, the power would only stay on for a half hour. So ever half hour we had to press the start button again to keep hearing the sound. Ha ha... besides that, it was the perfect sound and set up for the Drive-In. In fact...I would look at other cars around us and people were setting up camping chairs around their car. I thought... they really don't know how to do this. Meanwhile, we were laying down on memory foam and with comfy blankets and pillows and twinkle lights and delicious food. Yep. Best way to watch a movie in the summer if I do say so myself. So glad we went... even if we didn't get much sleep that night and had to go to work the next day.

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 338

The Olympics are coming to a close. It's a good thing. This is about the time I am ready for them to be over because we are at the end of 2 weeks and all I have been doing pretty much every night it sitting and watching. It's a lot of Olympics to take in. Work all day and at home at night. It's been great though. USA has been rocking it. I don't think ANYONE could catch up to our medal count at this point. Go USA.

Friday I didn't have anything to do so...... I went to go see a movie by myself. No big deal. I just do that now. If I have nothing to do and want to leave the house... I mean, why not. Perfect solution. I saw Bad Mom's. Which was pretty funny.

Saturday's big event was the Josh Groban concert that I had been looking forward to all summer. Already blogged about that awesome experience. SO GOOD! I will keep going to Josh as as as he keeps coming to Utah.

Sunday was the usual dinner with the family. Always a good time. My family is the best.

Monday, after my work out with Josh... I was eating dinner while watching the sunset when I get a text from Stacey telling me that he made dinner and that I should come over and have some. Stacey is a great cook, so even though I was already eating dinner, I told him I would come mostly because I wanted to just hang out with him and see his new place and just try whatever he made. So I went over to his new place, which is super nice. He made me up a small plate of some shrimp dish that he made and some broccoli. So good, and we drank juice out of fancy glasses out on his patio while watching the end of the sunset and chatting and enjoying the beautiful weather outside. We always have a good chat. In fact, whenever we talk it ends up being HOURS until we go home. I ended up going home around 11pm. Good times. Glad we are friends.

Tuesday I didn't do anything except for work and gym. Those nights are not bad either. Enjoy just relaxing at home when I have super busy weeks. Although with some free time, you would think that I would get some projects done that I have piling up. Allison asked me if the Havasupai video was almost done.... ummmm..... haven't started yet. Sorry. I haven't even finished my Puerto Rico video yet. Yikes... I know... I'm behind, big time. I have to give myself deadlines or something. I just have some free time, and I feel like doing nothing instead of getting something else done. Hopefully I will catch up soon. I don't like it when too many projects pile up on me.

Wednesday I drove to Saratoga Springs to my cousin Dave's house after work and the gym. Why? Because Heather is helping me finally start my travel blog. It is pretty slow going, but it will get there eventually. I also need to work on putting a lot more content up. Part of my list of projects I need to do. She has been so great to help me though. This is the push that I need to finally do this. Once it is set up and going... THEN I don't think I will have a problem keeping it updated. At least I hope not. Just need to treat it like another job I guess.

Today was a HUGE movie day for me. First we went to the movie's for work. I was so excited because I used to do this with my old team after every quarter end. It was tradition. Since I moved to my new team a little over a year ago, I haven't been able to do that. Not a tradition with that team. However, someone gave our team money to do whatever we wanted with to say thanks for quarter end, and everyone decided on a movie. I was so excited because usually everyone just wants food. A movie is so much better! So we went and saw the new Star Trek as a team. It was fun. Then it was back to work and then the gym.... and then MORE MOVIES!! Why? Well.... I will do another blog post for this, but MacKenzie and I went to the drive in theater tonight in SLC and watched a double feature. So fun. I hadn't been to a drive in movie in years.

So I guess that is it. My fun filled week. I'm sad that summer is coming to an end. I'm not ready for it to get cold again. I guess I will have to come up with another game plan this year to be gone as much of Winter as I can. :) Last year I did pretty well.

Photo of the Week 336

This is what I love to do.  Explore and take pictures. :)

Sunsets

When I don't have time to go on a fun hike to watch the sunset (which I usually don't because I am working out with my trainer after work)... I just go up the street from my house to this parking lot in the mountain and watch the sunset... sometimes while I eat dinner. Sometimes people look at me funny because I have my trunk open and it's set up like a bed and I'm eating my dinner and chilling back there by myself... but it's fine. Just love sunsets and taking advantage of the warm months before they are gone.

Josh Groban - Take 3

You know how I love Josh Groban. I have loved him since his first album came out. He is one of the only celebrities that I follow on Instagram. I love him enough that I have now seen him in concert 3 times.

When he released his album, Stages, I was so excited. Josh singing broadway songs. Love. Love. Love. Plus when a CD comes out, that means he goes on tour. When they first released the tour cities and dates... I searched to see where Salt Lake was on his list. I mean... it had to be there, he always comes to Salt Lake. I looked and looked, but Salt Lake wasn't on his tour list! What? Why? I double checked thinking I must have missed it. It wasn't there. I was disappointed in Josh. Why would he skip us?

After feeling all sad about it, a couple of months later there was an update and I was notified that Salt Lake was added to his list. I think that he had only one more concert after us... so we were at the VERY end of his tour. He knows he always draws a big crowd here. He can't skip us. And to quote him at the end of the concert, "Salt Lake City, thank you for coming again and again. We will be here as long as you are". So I'm pretty sure we will always be a part of his tours. ANYWAY...

Now that I knew he was coming to Salt Lake, I looked up where he was performing and marked my calendar months and months in advance before they even started selling tickets. He usually performs at the Energy Solutions Center in Salt Lake, but this time he was going to be performing in the USANA Amphitheather. I had never been to that theater, but I always love outdoor concerts. In casual conversation with my friend Amber, I mentioned my love for Josh Groban and that I wanted to go to his concert on August 20th. Pretty sure we had this conversation in March or April. She told me she loved Josh too and would go with me. I got excited... sometimes I have a hard time finding people to go with me to concerts. When I told her what theater he was going to be performing at she told me that not only she would go with me, but we would go VIP for free. Say what? How? Her work has a section reserved for their company for all concerts, so whoever wants to go to them puts their name on the list and I think the first 10 get them? Something like that. Amber told me that she always gets them and it wouldn't be a problem. Now I was REALLY excited. I have always paid big bucks to see Josh in concert. Now I get to see him VIP for free?

Fast forward to today. I made sure I made NO plans today because I had a date with Amber and Josh. Well... this morning I get a text from Amber saying she isn't going. For a min I thought that meant I wasn't either. I was going to be devastated. However, she told me to just find someone else to go with and told me where to pick up the tickets. I couldn't believe she was ditching out on Josh. I had a few hours to find someone else to go with me. Thankfully, MacKenzie JUST got back into town and was texting me to hang out that night and I knew she loved Josh. So I text her asking if she wanted to go to the Josh Groban concert with me VIP for free. She got all kinds of excited and we quickly got ready to go.

I had never been to this theater before, so I didn't know how long it would take to get there or how early we should be there. The VIP pass not only had VIP parking, but it also included free dinner. So we got there right before they opened the gates and served dinner. We were there so early that we heard Josh practicing. We didn't have to wait in that long of a line, then sat and ate our free dinner. The food was OK... but it was free, I wasn't about to complain.

Then we went to go find our seats. I didn't know where VIP would sit. It's a HUGE theater. I know more than half of the audience sits on the lawn... but there were still A LOT of seats by the stage. We went to go look for our seats. There is a section of seats right by the stage and then there are a bunch of sectioned areas with seats around tables which are reserved for companies and VIP... then another couple of sections of seats are behind that and then the lawn is behind that. So... that is REALLY close! I'm thrilled. Plus, we were the first ones there in our section, so we got first pick of the seats.

We had to wait a little while before the concert started, but I was cool with that. Mackenzie and I had a great time talking. First to open was Foy Vance. I had never heard of him before, but he is from Ireland and I liked his style. His music is like soul music. He was pretty entertaining too. Plus, he closed with an awesome cover of "Purple Rain". If he hadn't won me over before, he did with that.



Next in the line up was Sarah McLachlan. I haven't kept up on her music, but I love her old classics from when I was in high school. She sang some of those songs. She was awesome live. Kind of serious, not quite as entertaining talking between songs, but her songs are great. Loved listening to her.



Then it was time for Josh. His concerts always go by way too fast for me. He is beautiful to listen to and he is so entertaining even just listening to him talk and tell stories. Loved all of the songs he sang. He even did duets with both of his openers. Loved them both. Thought it was very cool that instead of Sarah singing one of his songs, he said one of her's. And with Foy, they did a Simon & Garfunkel song. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Simon and Garfunkel, so I was happy about this. Josh apparently loves them too because this is the second S & G cover he has done. I don't mind. Keep them coming.

There were a couple other things going on tonight that I missed because I went to the Josh Groban concert. I gladly missed them... but one of them was the Lantern Festival. I mean... I know I just went in April, but I seriously love it so much. It's ok though, I'll go to the next one. What made me feel better about missing it... there were different displays going on the big screen on stage throughout the concert. During one of the songs, there were floating lanterns. So it didn't feel like I was missing it after all. The funny thing is, when I went to the Lantern Fest in April (with MacKenzie) they played a Josh Groban song while the lanterns were going up into the sky. I guess the two were meant to go together. :)

His closing number (before his encore number which was "Somewhere Over the Rainbow") was "You Raise me Up". Not only is that a great song, but he had everyone get out their phones so the entire Amphitheater was lit up with everyone's phone lights. It was beautiful. I LOVE when they do this at concerts. It almost makes me emotional. I couldn't really get a great shot of it because I was too close to the stage (not the worst problem to have)... but you can see on the screen all of the glowing lights. I LOVED it. So much. What a great way to close the concert.

I guess there really isn't much else to say about the concert that I haven't already said. He sang everything that I wanted him to sing and more. I loved every second of it. MacKenzie and I both did. I would have paid for it, but I'm incredibly lucky that I got to go for free and with AMAZING seats. Thank you Amber for the tickets! I didn't take them for granted. Still wish you came with me, but MacKenzie was thrilled to take your place. Thank you Thank you!

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 337

The summer is going  by WAY too quickly. We are already approaching the end of August and I HAVE NOT done as much as I would have liked to. What can you do. It's happening. Can't stop time. I just need to find more adventure friends.

Friday I took a LONG lunch because we had a contracts reunion lunch at work. I'm not sure who really organized it, but everyone that I have worked with since I started working at Novell 7 years ago was there. Not everyone knew each other.... but since I have been there the entire time, I knew everyone. We met in Draper since people are working all over the place now. Some in Salt Lake. It was fun to see everyone. I wish that I would have gotten a picture. I am usually so good at documenting, but people just started taking off and then it was too late. I was also stuck in the middle of the booth in the back, so I couldn't really go anywhere. It was good to see everyone and I hope that those lunches happen every once in a while. They are work family. The ones I worked with for many years feel like family anyway.

The rest of the weekend I just spent watching the Olympics. It's the only time I am a couch potato. I really love the Olympics... I just really start to get antsy to start doing stuff since I am spending so much time watching tv. One more week!

I went to the Nike outlet on Saturday to shop for my dad's birthday and to get myself some workout clothes. I am working out everyday and it has been over a year since I bought new workout clothes... so I figured it was time I buy some new stuff.

Sunday at family dinner we celebrated my dad's birthday and Grant's birthday since they are a day apart. Mom cooked to give dad a break as one of his gifts. It was a nice day.

I already blogged about taking Grant out to Sodalicious for his birthday and I also already blogged about my sunset hang out with Stacey. So there isn't much else to say since that was pretty much the highlight of my week.

I did go out with a couple of guys from Tinder. Nothing to get excited about. One was weird, like the entire thing was awkward. The other guy seemed pretty normal and cool... but I'm positive we will never see each other or speak again. Why? Because that is how 90%  of them go. I probably won't want to date this guy, but I would totally hang out with him again and invite him on adventures with friends, but like I said... we will never talk again. Welcome to online dating.

Other than that... I have just been working out with Josh. It has been going well. I mean... it is slower than I want it to be, but I am am making progress. For example... I leg pressed 1 set of 15 reps of 405 lbs! What?!! That is a lot! I bench pressed 3 sets of 15 reps of 95 lbs. I have also been able to do a couple of core exercises that I didn't think I would ever be able to do when I first started. I have decided when I am almost done with my second round, I will do an entire blog post dedicated to my experience and progress and will video tape some stuff that was way too hard for me in the beginning and of course before and after pictures (which I hate showing but it's good for me to see the progress I make). Anyway... on top of the strength and endurance I have gained since my last report, I only lost 4 lbs which I was a little discouraged about, but then Josh measured me when I got to the gym and measured my body fat and I lost inches everywhere and I lost 5% body fat! Just since I last measured a month ago! That is amazing! So now I don't feel as bad about only losing 4 lbs because I gained 7 lbs of muscle. Now I have lost almost 10% body fat since I started. Not bad. So I am happy about that progress. Not a bad start to round 2.  Thank you Josh! I will keep you updated on all of that.

That's all for now!

Photo of the Week 335

The park by my house. I took the same shot in Winter. Different season, but still beautiful.

Grant turned 8!

 

As is my new tradition, I took Grant out for his birthday. I can't believe he is 8! Where has the time gone? Doesn't seem like that long ago that I was holding him in the hospital. He is definitely turning into a handsome boy. He is so fun to be around. I love his happy/giggly personality. We had a fun time chatting and laughing about silly things and of course drinking sodalicious. Love you Grantinator! Happy Birthday!

Sunset with Stacey

It has been TOO LONG since Stacey and I had some quality one on one time... so we made plans after work and the gym to get together and watch the sunset from the back of my car... since that is my new favorite thing to do... park somewhere pretty and hang out with pillows and blankets. Stacey knows me very well... so he knew that I would bring my twinkle lights and it would be a pretty set up. So he decided to bring fruit and sparkling cider. I know... a pretty romantic date for a couple of friends just catching up. Ha ha. I guess we are secure enough in our friendship not to care what we do when we hang out or what other people will think about it.

When you PLAN to watch a sunset instead of just watching it in the moment when it happens to be going on, you don't normally get such an amazing sunset. However, we lucked out! We got an awesome sunset. Maybe we should plan to watch sunsets together more often.

We just sat back and enjoyed every minute of it. Such a nice night, perfect temperature. We just talked about everything from old memories and our Brazil trip to our future plans and what we wanted out of life and the struggles we were going through. It is nice to have a friend that you can be so honest and open and vulnerable with. We talked for hours and hours while we ate fruit and drank sparkling cider out of glowing Lord of the Rings Goblets that my dear grandma bought and collected for me years ago. It was pretty much the best and I wish we had more of that in my life. Like someone permanently to have that with. We were having such a great time that we finally looked at the time and it was after midnight, so we called it a night and went home. An evening well spent. So glad things are back to normal with Stacey and I. I'm really thankful for his friendship.

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 336

This week's confession...

I already blogged about the Salmon Supper and the Aquabats concert. So I guess that starts us with Saturday. I met up with my cousin's wife, Heather, to talk about FINALLY starting up a travel blog, which I have been wanting to do for years. I just haven't really known where to start or how to do the business aspect of it. So she is so great and it going to help me with that.

Later on I met up with Kyle and we went paddle boarding. He of course always brings a friend... this one just got off of his mission. He hangs out with babies. Seriously, these people are young enough that I could have babysat them when I was a teenager. I just go with it though. Who cares. I'm not looking to date any of them. If they want to come paddle board with me and Kyle, they can come paddle board with us. This guy just made me laugh because he was trying to come across as SO mature and that he was so sick of the dating games. Talking to the WRONG girl. ha ha. He doesn't even know the half of it.

Sunday was family dinner and then after I went over to Dave and Heather's to actually set up the blog. We still have just a bunch of scattered thoughts on paper... but I bought the domain for my blog and kind of set it up. I can figure out how I want it to look later. I will probably be asking lots of people's advice on it. I want it to be just right before I go live.

Monday was my first week back with Josh after a 2 week (almost) break from working out with him. It wasn't terrible getting back into the swing of things... but I was sore again and I haven't been sore for a while. That is ok. It isn't as bad as the first week. Nothing is as bad as the first week was. Yikes. I still haven't weighed or measured since before I went to Havasupai, so I wonder what the two weeks off did to me there. I mean... on one hand, I did a lot of sweating and exercising in Havasupai... on the other hand, I did the opposite of that during Q-End and probably gained back anything I lost in Havasupai. I wish I didn't hate the scale so much. I told Josh that I was weigh myself next week and he could measure me then and see where I am at. So I will report then. As of now, it stinks getting back into the gym grind... but it's good. I need it. I need that push and motivation and accountability.

I also already blogged about Lagoon. That was the exciting part of my week. I got the day off and a free ticket into Lagoon which I had never been to before. It really was just a fun day with my new friend Lacy at work. I am just so glad that I have a friend at work that isn't a married man that I can't really hang out with at those things. Instead she is a married girl that I can hang out with. ha ha. There are VERY few single people where I work. I guess I could have hung out with Tyler and his kids as well, we were texting each other throughout the night saying where we were in the park, but not enough that I could actually find him to say hi. Too bad. Tyler is fun. I had fun with Lacy though.

Besides that, my life has been watching the Olympics. I am just glad that I am able to watch them now. At first I got SOOOO frustrated. 2 years ago when the Winter Olympics were on, I was able to just watch it online and it didn't matter that I didn't have cable. Well... this time around, they decided to make it extra difficult for anyone that doesn't have cable. They would let you watch a half hour online and make you think they were going to let you keep watching.. but then BAM, nope, sorry... you have to have cable. I was SO irritated. I thought for sure that I would be able to find a way around it, but I failed. Even the week of free "Sling" that I signed up for (another way to watch tv online) didn't show the main coverage of the Olympics. When the main coverage was on, they were showing sports jeopardy. That really got my blood boiling. Why were they denying the average American the opportunity to cheer for the USA by watching the Olympics. It should be like General Conference where everyone has access. There should be a way for everyone to watch. It's the Olympics for crying out loud! ANYWAY... I finally called my parents after hours of frustration and begged them to give me their username and password to their cable so that I could watch the Olympics. So they of course didn't remember what it was, but my dad could sense my frustration, and being a good dad, called their cable company and changed the password and called me up and gave it to me. After that... I was a happy girl. I watched the Olympics all day at work, whatever events I felt like watching (that had already passed or were live) and then I watch the main coverage at night at home. I LOVE the Olympics. So it is exciting to watch all of the events and see us win so much gold. I also get excited when Brazil wins anything too since they are on their home turf. Fabio (one of the guys I met in Brazil that is in me and Stacey's video) even was sending me talk text telling me how we were doing so well in the Olympics but he was hoping they would win their soccer game. It was cute. Such a nice guy. It's fun that he still keeps in touch from time to time. I have actually been pleasantly surprised how many friends I have made abroad that have kept in touch. It's really fun. I'm sure probably some of it is them wanting to practice and keep up on their English. Except the girls I met from New Zealand... obviously. We just bonded and are the same type of people. It's always fun to hear from them. ANYWAY... so happy to be watching the Olympics. I'm glued. Another week of it to go. But the first week is always my favorite with all of the swimming and gymnastic events.

Photo of the Week 334

Sunset up Little Cottonwood Canyon

Lagoon

For the first time ever (since I have been working at Novell/Micro Focus) we had a paid for Lagoon day that we didn't have to take time off for. So for the first time ever, I went to Lagoon. Ha ha. I know I know... I have lived in Utah for how long and never been to Lagoon? True story. I just never cared enough. Plus... I'm not a roller coaster person. So why spend the money to go? Plus, most friends that invited me in the past, when I told them I didn't like roller coasters they took back their invitation. I wasn't offended. Never really had a desire to go anyway.

I got 2 tickets when we were supposed to sign up for tickets. I didn't have anyone to take, but I got tickets anyway... just in case. I didn't have a date to take, I don't have a family and I don't have a lot of friends anymore. All the friends I do have all have to work on Thursday, so it wasn't looking like I was going to go. However, then I talked to Lacy at the gym... every time I go down to work out, I chat with her. She was invited to participate in Lagoon day. She was planning on going and taking one of her friends and then her husband would most likely join when he got off of work. She told me I could join her and her friend. I agreed and planned to go and try and find a friend to come. I didn't try very hard. Her friend ended up not being able to go. The night before she text me and asked me if I still wanted to go. I said I was fine going or not going... we could even go on a hike instead of Lagoon and I would be fine. Anyway.... she grew up going a lot so we decided to just go and hang out at Lagoon A Beach and hang out and get the free dinner on the company and then when her husband came, I would just go home.

So we did that. We went and got their in the afternoon. We hung out in the water park and just lay there and chatted for hours. When her husband got there, we over to get the free dinner (which was NOT very good) and I was surprised how many people I saw from work that I knew. Nobody from my team. I don't think a lot of people from my team went. I didn't really want to be a third wheel with Lacy and her husband that I didn't really know... I mean, I had met him once, but that was it. However, after we finished dinner... Lacy told me that I had to try at least a few roller coasters that she thought I would handle (aka ones that didn't go upside down) ha ha. So I said ok. Turns out her husband was really cool too and I didn't really feel like a 3rd wheel. So we all ended up hanging out the rest of the night. Lacy and I went on one roller coaster while her hubby played Basket Ball games which he was most looking forward to because he doesn't really like roller coasters either. ha ha. They were telling me that they have these singing/dancing shows that are really funny/terrible, so we decided to go to one. Oh... it was bad. I laughed when nobody else was laughing. I couldn't tell if they were being serious or not. Anyway... my favorite moment of the day was during that show, I saw my friend and co-worker Dave sitting at that show. We made eye contact at the same time and kind of nodded at each other to say hey... but then quickly realized we were both really embarrassed to be running into each other at that show and were covering our heads. We weren't close enough to say anything to each other... but our facial expressions said it all. I was laughing so hard after that and so was he. His wife turned to him and asked him what was so funny. Afterwords I went to say hi and how hard that made me laugh and he said they went because they thought it was a kid show... we didn't even have that excuse.

Anyway, I wasn't overly excited for Lagoon. Lacy and her husband made it really fun though. It was fun to run into random co-workers all day and it was fun to not be at work. Nice little break. Thanks Micro Focus for the Lagoon day and thank you Lacy for going with me so that I actually went. Otherwise I wouldn't have gone.

Rooftop Concert - Take 3

After the Salmon Supper last night, my friend Lindsay told me she was going to the rooftop concert in downtown Provo. I know they happen every first Friday of the month of summer... but I never keep track of who is playing and for the most part don't go to them. Well, I have been going like once a summer. That is good enough right? I mean, don't get me wrong, they are awesome because they are free, but I just would rather camp or go on road trips if that is an option.

Anyway... guess who was playing yesterday and I didn't even know. THE AQUABATS!! I didn't even know they still performed. Apparently they do! Ha ha. Lindsay and I both loved them in high school, so it was a trip down memory lane for us. We were loving that show and singing a long. The others that came with us... not so much, but it's free... why not go. ha ha. They have a few new songs that I didn't know, but for the most part, I knew all the songs from listening to them ... well.... when I was in high school. It was a typical Aquabats concert with blow up balls and toys that they throw around the audience. Last time I saw the Aquabats live was when they played at my dad's club (The Living Room) back in California. Good times.

We didn't stay super long. Only came to hear them, came late and left when they were done, so we were there for like an hour. It was perfect. A really fun night with the friends.