Idaho

*I had the idea to form the letters to spell out Idaho in the Window's of Megan's Aunt's house that we stayed at in McCall*

When I first met Jay.... I take that back... when I first started to get to know Jay, he mentioned that he was going to plan a fun trip to Idaho this summer to his parents house. I remember telling him how fun that would be and if I could go (barely knowing him) he said of course but back then.... 5 or so months ago, I didn't really know if I would go or not because I didn't know if we would become good friends or what my summer plans would be and so on and so forth. As it turns out, Jay and I ended up becoming VERY good friends and he did plan an Idaho trip and I did go on it. There was a group of 16 of us that went and we had a blast as you have already seen from my video. :)

Let me summarize the epic 3 day trip...

We started out the roadtrip right! I was the DJ and we had good (bad for you) food, fun music, car dancing, good conversation and even better company. (Rich, Megan & Vicki)

When we got to Jay's parent's house in Boise, there was an amazing BBQ and homemade ice cream all ready for us. We then walked it off, watched a movie and went to bed.

The next day was a hot day, but we didn't let that stop us from the activities planned for the day. First up... shooting. Jason in my ward came up for the trip and brought many of his guns, taught us gun safety and we were shooting away. Don't we look so hard core? I really enjoy shooting.

I didn't get to shoot as long as everyone else because Jay took Rich and I off to go 4 wheeling, which I also love and there was a fun track near by that Rich and I had a lot of fun on. We got to go for about 40 minutes. We got super dusty... but that is just how you know you had a good time. :)

We then went back to the house and collected our things and were on our way to our next destination. McCall, which was another 2 hour drive. In McCall we would be staying with Megan's aunt.

After we got to McCall, the rest of the day was spent hanging out and enjoying the scenery. That night we discovered how amazing the stars looked out in the country and spent a lot of the night snuggling up and talking while watching the stars and watching for shooting stars.

The next morning we all went out to breakfast at this amazing pancake house. Rich and I decide to order a lot of food thinking we were going to share it all and it would be fine. Little did we know we would eat so much that we would almost make ourselves sick. We had a clue when they brought out our cinnamon roll...

After breakfast, we spent the entire day at the lake, which was wonderful. It is what you picture your summer doing.... or at least I do. It was perfect. The water was nice, the sun felt great, we had a few toys and we had some good food but the best was the scenery. It was a beautiful lake. Kind of reminded me of Shaver Lake up by Dinkey Creek.

I of course always love riding around on wave runners (and these were really nice ones provided by Jay's parents) and I got to ride both, both went fast, the bigger one went faster. I think I remember getting up to 50+ mph. It was smooth too, especially when I went... in the evening when all the boats were starting to get off the lake. Ah, it was awesome. I also tried paddle boats for the first time. I was intimidated by them at first because I didn't think I would be able to keep my balance on them, but I did pretty well (didn't fall off) and it was pretty fun. I'm sure it would have been even more fun to go when all the boats were done and gone. I went out when it was still kind of choppy.

Friends at the lake.

That night we ate cobbler. The way we were eating you would think we were vultures eating a dead carcass.

Next morning we went to church and then headed home.

Came home exhausted and happy. Here is a picture of everyone that went on the trip. Wow.... that was a lot. Told you it was an epic weekend.

Owlz

Remember the other week when we went to karaoke? And Dave, Megan and I got free tickets to the Orem Owlz game because our table was so awesome?

Well, that game was this last wednesday. Megan invited Josh to come and we all went out to dinner before the game. We lost, but there were a couple of stellar plays and we still had a great time. Turns out, we are a pretty fun/funny group, the 4 of us. Never a dull moment. Always entertaining. I like it. I hope there is a lot more of it.

Baseball is a great summer activity. I LOVE summer.

Wake Up!

I am still working on editing pictures from the Idaho trip.... and getting pictures from other people. Until then, here is a little taste of how the traveling in the car part of the trip went. Try not to be scared of us after you watch this,we thought we were being funny.

Summertime

I can't believe that Summer is almost over. Seriously, it has gone by WAY too fast. I feel like I have done a ton and at the same time not enough, there are still so many things I want to fit into summer before it ends and I don't know if I will be able to. I just think of how long Winter is and it just makes me sad with how fast summer goes by. Here is to making the most out of the last month of summer and spending lots of time outside and going on adventures.

Flashback Friday 75

Today we go back to December 2004. I was living at the Riviera and just becoming BFF with my boys. Everyone was about ready to take off for Christmas vacation. We had the day off and I had bought this puzzle of Santa Barbara that I had randomly seen at the store in Utah. Steve saw it sitting out and decided we would start it since we had some time. Brad soon joined and we got really into it. I usually don't have the patience for puzzles... there were so many times that I wanted to change out of my pj's and do something else, but the boys didn't let me leave. Nobody was leaving until the puzzle was done. We ended up spending many hours that day working on that puzzle. Lazy... but we had fun. I miss spending so much time with those boys. We used to do everything together.

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 128

All week I have been feeling under the weather. Either a soar throat that I have been fighting or stomach aches. I have been taking it easy and didn't really go to the gym this week. I know I am going to regret this decision next week, but I was just really trying not to get sick. I blame it on all of the crap that I ate on my roadtrip to Idaho and that a couple of friends on that trip were sick...

For FHE this week we were told that we are going to be doing FHE movies again. Finally. I missed them. We came up with our idea... I am pretty excited about it... mostly because it involves my nieces and nephew, hopefully it turns out as great as I hope.

I was really sad on Tuesday... because most of the state of Utah had the day off for Pioneer day. As it turns out, Novell is a world wide company and doesn't give a crap about Pioneer day. While other people were out playing outside and going to different activities, I was stuck in my office. The highlight of my day was when my co-workers and I were in the conference room for a little afternoon break and snack as we normally do. While we talk we look out the windows. We are on the 4th floor. Used to be on the 5th. The other day I saw a deer running across the field across the street from our building. Another day we watched 3 little birds chase a big Hawk away. Tuesday we watched as one by one about 30 paper airplanes came floating (some nose diving) by our window. We moved to the window to watch where each one landed and which one went the furthest. My boss now wants to have a paper airplane contest. I'm down.

My roadtrip to Idaho last weekend was really fun and much needed get away time. I will blog all about it, but all you have to know is that it was one of the most fun drives I have been on in a long time. The time flew because we were having so much fun. It was me, Rich, Megan and Vicki and we had a blast. I was the DJ and we even made a couple of car music videos, had great conversation and I brought a long a question book that we put to good use... oh and we played a game where I played a tv show theme song and people had to guess what show it was....

On Wednesday I went to the Owlz game (which I will also blog about) and we were telling Josh and Dave about our roadtrip and I mentioned that I played that game. Dave wanted to play and I knew why. When I was first getting to know Dave last year I discovered that he not only remembers all the shows that he watched growing up, but he also remembers the theme songs and the actors that played in the tv show and sometimes even extra info that nobody else would know. When we got home from the game, we played that game and of course Dave crushed everyone. Megan and Josh left and Dave wanted more... so we ended up looking up tv show theme songs quizes on youtube. Who knew you could do that? Well, now you do, so in case you ever want to.... I thought I was good at that game, but Dave puts me to shame. He is so fun.

I am already half way through season 4 of Psych. I really like the show, but it is amazing how fast I have been able to watch it. I mean I just started it a couple of weeks ago. I like watching tv shows all in a row like that, makes it seem more of like a long movie. Kind of awesome.

Tuesday night I saw the new Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises". Rich even insisted that we drive to SLC to watch it in an IMAX theater. It was late and I was really tired and not feeling the best... but I really liked it. I REALLY dislike Anne Hathaway who they unfortunately casted as Catwoman, but she was tolerable I suppose. Overall, really good. Because of the shooting that happened on the opening night of this movie, they had cops there at the theater when we went. I am not sure if it made me feel more safe or uneasy. Kind of sad that they have to have cops at the theater to make sure people are safe.

PS. How does Bane eat food?

Photo of the Week 126

One of my Instagram pictures from my Idaho trip this last weekend. This was the view from where we stayed at (Megan's Aunt's house) in McCall. So pretty there.

Karaoke

Tuesday night at Applebee's they have karaoke from 9-12. During the winter I had gone a few times here and there. Then I met my friend Josh. He is so funny. He does "Humor U" at BYU. We were talking one time and he told me that he used to go to karaoke at Applebee's every week by himself and sit at the bar and get up and rap for his karaoke. Ever since then, we talked about going. It took us a while to line up our schedules, but we have gone a couple of times together now and it has been epic.

The first time we went there were 6 of us. It was probably one of the best karaoke experiences I have ever had.... and nobody at karaoke was even drunk! First of all, Josh got up and sang/rapped "Where the Party At" and our waitress had a total crush on him. Second of all, me, Megan and Vicki got up and sang "Alone" by Hart and it was amazing. Liz came later and sang "Ain't no Mountain High Enough" with Josh. In that same night.... the manager who is in his late 30's-early 40's got up and sang "Let's get it on" and Megan commented on how we would be fun to be married to and pointed out the way he moved his hips. There was an old man that got up to sing "Ring of Fire" and then the second time he got up he sang "Battle Hymn of the Republic" which has to be a first at karaoke and we were all banging our classes together as we waved them in the air during the chorus and after the song was over everyone in Applebee's was chanting USA. That was all funny, but I think what put that night over the top was the group that showed up with a guy in a green suite which we learned later that he sewed himself. He first got up and did a little song Acapella that he wrote himself. It was long. The second time he got up we knew it was going to be good because he took off his green suite coat. He started singing "E.T." by Katy Perry and while he sang, he was walking around Applebee's and serenading different girls. One of the girls he was trying to serenade was our very own Liz. He got her up and wanted to dance with her. She sat back down.... he leaned in for a kiss.... she dodged it and he ended up kissing her arm. It was so funny. I was laughing so hard that I was crying. Literally. Such a good night that we decided that we wanted to start going every other week.

So two weeks later we went back. I think everyone heard about our epic experience last time.... either that or we are just THAT cool, but our group size doubled. Out of the 13 or 14 people we had there, at least half of the people at our table got up to sing... which was awesome. I sang some Spice Girls with the girls.... but then I sang a duet with Rich "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" by Elton John. It was so fun. Everyone had a great time. The whole place busted out in "Sweet Caroline" when someone got up to sing that.... it wasn't as funny as last time, but still a good time. I believe that some karaoke is good for the soul. I'm always laughing when I go to karaoke because you never know what you are going to get.

For sure the best one to watch is Josh though. He gets up there and people don't expect him to rock at rapping like he does. This time he did "It's Getting Hot in Here". Everyone loved him.



Our table had so much energy and excitement that the manager came over and gave some of us free tickets to the Owls game this week. Not often that I get free stuff.... so me and Dave were pretty excited.

I think we are going to keep going every other week.... so many good times ahead!

Pimp My Bride

I have been wanting to post this video for a very long time but wasn't able to because of the format of the original video and trying to figure out how to put it on YouTube. Well.... I finally figured it out and am excited to share it.

This was one of many FHE Video competitions that I have done. We actually won for this video. It was my idea (which I am proud of... I used to be obsessed with Pimp my Ride) and I got to stare in it as well because it was my idea. I thought it was funny and clever and Bridgette did an amazing job editing it. It is kind of long, but it makes me laugh every time.

Picture Scavenger Hunt

For FHE we had a picture scavenger hunt. We had to get a picture of each person in our group with something that started with each letter of the alphabet. Which ever group accomplished this the fastest... won.

Here is what our group came up with.

A- Apple

B- Bush

C- Curb

D- Door

E- Earring

F- Fire Lane

G- Grass

H- House

I- Insect

J- Jay

K- Keys

L- Lip Gloss

M- Money

N- Nike Shirt

O- Oranges

P- Pitcher

Q- Quilt

R- RAV4

S- Sandals

T- Trash

U- Umbrella

V- Vase

W- Wheel Chair

X- eXpence (in the sign.... yeah, we were stretching it)

Y- Yellow line

Z- Zebra print phone

I think it is a fun activity that actually doesn't take a lot of time. However, I have been thinking of doing something a little more creative on my own like this for my photo of the week... stay tuned.

Glasses

Last Saturday, my good friend Rich asked if Liz and I would help him pick out some new glasses. A guy is always smart to ask a girls opinion on fashion advice. So Liz and I went with him and had him try on a lot of glasses.

In the meantime, I was kind of having fun trying on glasses too. I have never had to wear glasses, the only glasses I have ever bought are sunglasses, so it was fun to see what I would look like if I had to wear glasses. The guy helping us said I looked to natural with them on that he thought they were my glasses. When I told him I had 20/20 vision and didn't need glasses he told me that people buy them for an accessory even if they didn't need them. I'm sorry.... but I just can't bring myself to spend money on that, and I think that I would feel like a fake walking around with glasses when I don't need them..... Not going to happen, but fun to try them on anyway.

Flashback Friday 74

Everyone knows how I love to throw parties. Well, back in 2005 when I lived at the Devonshire, I threw many parties. One of those parties was a Toga party. Complete with food, dancing and a photo spot that included a chair, a big leaf (to fan the person in the chair) and grapes (to feed the person in the chair). I love that people will do just about anything you ask them to when it comes to attending a party.  Good times.

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 127

This week has been busy as usual. Had the normal week activities of work, church, FHE, Institute. Went to karaoke again and this time doubled the amount of people that went which I will blog about later and I am getting ready for a much needed trip.

I am a true blue. I'm sensitive and am always worried about other people's feelings and how people view me, most people that know me, know this. I am constantly having heart to hearts with people. I think it is my own way of getting therapy that I need. I am the type of person that needs to talk things out to feel that I am understood and to resolve my feelings. This week I had a couple of heart to hearts that helped me see things in a new light....

The first one was with a good friend of mine that I also may be interested in. After karaoke he gave me a ride home and we decided that it was a nice night and wanted to go sit on a blanket at the park and look at the stars. We had a nice chat. I like talking with him for many reasons, one of which is because he is a therapist and has great insight on situations. Something that he helped me understand is that I can't let people walk all over me (I have a tendency to do that) and that I have to set boundaries for myself to attract the type of person that I want and to stop the unhealthy relationships in my life. And in the processes of sticking up for myself and setting boundaries, not everyone is going to be happy with it, especially the unhealthy relationships in my life and I need to be okay with that and continue to be nice and love everyone but just be okay with the fact that I can't please everyone and that  I am okay with where I am at and the people that are not okay with where I am at are not people I want in my life anyway. This is way easier said than done for me because I am the type of person that wants everyone to be happy and not have bad feelings toward me and I would do anything to fix it. Slowly... I am getting there though and learning to let go. I still don't hate anyone and want to be friends with everyone, but have come to realize that people come and go at certain times in your life for a reason as you learn and progress. I am thankful for everyone in my life even if my relationship with that person has faded because they have all meant a lot to me and helped me in some way and I hope that I have helped in some way back.

My other heart to heart I scheduled with a member of my bishopric, Brother Cope. It has been a long time since I have felt close enough to a bishopric that I felt like I could go to them just to chat because I wanted some insight from a leader. My bishopric now is SO awesome. Brother Cope is so awesome. We have really bonded over all our softball games. He went to every game except one. Anyway, he was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to talk with me. We ended up talking for 2 1/2 hours. It was so great and he told me a lot of things that I needed to hear. One of the things he said was that my life is not balanced. I am very heavy in the social department, but I am not taking enough time for myself and for the spiritual. I have known for a while that I needed to work on doing things that I am supposed to, but never came up with a plan. He gave me a few suggestions of how I can improve and he said he is going to check up on me.... which I need. He is so great. I am now working on a plan... but already I feel better. I am not letting things weigh on me as much and not beating myself up over little things that I shouldn't. I am so thankful for everyone that is willing to have heart to hearts with me because I really am inspired by others examples and really take what they say to heart. Thank you to everyone in my life that cares and is really there for me. Even my friends that just check in and say hi and that they are thinking about me. It really does mean a lot.

I don't want anyone to read this and think I am depressed or anything. Sometimes I just have a lot on my mind and am just looking for ways I can improve and be a better person and a better friend. I thrive off of meaningful relationships and I love having fun and goofing off, but I love deep conversation about the meaning of life and how people think and so on and so forth.

Anyway, that has been my week. It has been a very good and insightful week. I need those every once in a while. :) Now I'm off to Idaho and I will blog all about it when I get back.

Photo of the Week 125

Fields of Gold. I know.... another picture from me and Darrell's photoshoot next to Utah Lake. I either need to go on another photoshoot or on another travel adventure.