Feelin' Campy - Like Karate Kid!

Earlier this month (the 4th through 7th to be precise), some of my family and I ventured on our I-can't-count-that-highth annual camping/fishing trip to Bridger Lake - the mystic waters of abundant planters! I defy you to spend an hour there and not catch your weight in puny, white rainbow trout. What made this trip special (among other things which I shall detail later), was that we invited Joe along. It was great spending time with him and getting him more acquainted with my wonderfully insane family.

As per tradition, the moment we arrived, we set up camp at a speed only possible for super humans, and hauled our fishing gear to the lake. This year, it started raining about an hour after we started fishing. This picture is of the lake during our first afternoon at Bridger Lake. We were soaked through pretty dang fast, so we pretty much froze the rest of the night (I was too stupid to change my socks before bed and wound up with really cold feet all night).

The second day was a blast, because after a morning of throwing our lines in Bridger and a hike (only Joe and I did that), Dad and Larie put their four-wheelers to good use, finding a lake with decent-sized trout that were actually native to the lake. All of us took turns riding the four-wheelers to that lake and fished there the second half of the day with some pretty good results. Most of our fishing time was spent there the rest of the trip. My favorite thing about Marsh Lake? Buster found this salamander in the weeds one morning. I'll not lie, once he showed me what he caught, I stole it and played with it for a ridiculous while before I even considered giving it back. It had so much energy! Sally was old and weak her last few years, so having to work to keep this salamander in my hands brought back some much older memories!

Some other fun moments of note:

Papa Gary teaching Chloe and Gaige to whittle - as he did for all of us when we were younger. Chloe asked me for whittling tools for her birthday next year.






Joe being silly whilst fishing at Marsh Lake.

Wait for Me While I Play Catch-up, Play Catch-up

Well, this is embarrassing. I thought I'd been slacking off for a couple weeks, but it turns out it's been almost 2 months! Sadly, as I imported pictures from my camera earlier this evening, I discovered that my camera is more neglected than my blog. There's a 4-month gap between my most recent photos and my second most recent. I've been using my iPhone for pictures, but still! In the spirit of making up for my disappearance, here are a few updates, brought to you by some of the images I just loaded:

About a month ago, Joe and I hiked Broad's Fork again (we've done it three times now: once snowshoeing as friends - ha! And twice this summer). As I led the way back down the trail, I heard a rattle. And proceeded to bolt to the other side of the trail at speeds I never knew were possible, all the while asking, "What the heck IS that?!" I knew was it was (derp!). It's really hard to see the snake in this picture, but sadly, it's the best shot I have. It's towards the lower right corner. Actually, contrary to what it looks like in the picture, rattlesnakes are pretty big. I thought they'd be the size of a garter snake or something, but he was muchly much more bigger.

A couple weeks later (I guess this would be 2 weeks ago now), we hiked Grandeur Peak. It's definitely a new favorite hike of mine. The only thing there to slow us down? A rattlesnake. I kid you not, haha. I'd never seen one while hiking before, and now I've seen two within a couple weeks! This one was pretty boring compared to the first one; he just curled up under a bush by the trail and refused to let anyone pass without throwing a fit.

The filthy legs you see here are the aftermath of that hike.


This picture is about 5 months too late, but here I am, dominating Moab on President's Day. That's right - my Moab trip is the most recent thing on my camera besides Grandeur Peak and Broad's Fork. Can you say it with me? On the count of three. One, two, three: FAIL! Fail of epic proportions! To add to the glory of this huge exhibition of shameless slacking on my part, I'm going to go ahead and conclude my update here. Honestly, I'm keeping busy and enjoying the living crap out of my summer (not to mention life!), and yet I'm having issues thinking of things to blog about. So, on that note...

Until next time, suckas!

It's a Beautiful Day, Don't Let It Get Away!

Well hi! It's 8:45 AM on a Sunday. What should I be doing? Planning the lesson I didn't bother planning all week. Naturally, that means it's time to update my blog. Mono-wise, I'm doing fantastic these days. My only complaint is that I have no idea long how long I'm contagious - anything I've looked up has a very wide date range (even wider than how long the symptoms last. I know now for me that they last 3-4 weeks; however, this information has no value. You can only get mono once.). I did somehow pass it on to one person - unless she happens to know someone else with it. Joe's sister. I feel horrible about it, but I am extremely puzzled as to how she got it. I haven't been anywhere near her in ages, and anytime I was at their house I kept my distance from everyone but Joe and didn't leave anything of mine around. Go figure!

I started at work 2 weeks ago. I think it was too soon based on how hard the first week was, but after watching Jurassic park a 3rd time and checking out a second Goosebumps book from the library, it was time. I actually did great this week, and I'm feeling totally normal. In fact, yesterday I went on a little hike up Big Cottonwood and went on a tandem ride along Wasatch Blvd until it ended up North. As you can see from my hiking picture, it was a gorgeous day.

The only thing dragging me down and causing fatigue? All the fun I'm having! 2 weeks ago it was the U2 concert. The picture here is of their stage - it was amazing! You'd really have to see it in motion and in the dark, but just trust me on that. The concert was a blast and totally worth my dragging myself to survive the rest of the week.

This past Tuesday, I went to Les Miserables at Capitol Theater. I'd never seen the play in any form and really loved it - enough that I wound up starting the audiobook on the way to work the next day.

I think the only other thing to report is that yesterday I sent in my forms for my concealed weapons permit. Awesome, right? I took the 5-hour class on Friday night after work, which was offered for free from a coworker. Since he and his wife took care of everything, all I had to do was address an envelope and send it off. That was actually more difficult than it sounds. How safe would you feel mailing off your name, address, race, height, weight, hair color, eye color, social, credit card information, finger prints, a copy of your driver's license, signature, and a recent photo all in one envelope? Someone steals that, they steal you! Anyway, the application can take a couple months to process, but in the meantime, I'm choosing out my gun. I had my heart set on a Glock, probably a 9mm, but then the instructor pulled out a 1911. I fell in love with it. When I looked it up on Cabela's website, I decided on the Springfield brand, since Glock doesn't make a 1911 and that was my second choice anyway. When I saw all the pictures, I decided on this silver guy here. Isn't he pretty? 9mm Glock, .45 Springfield... same diff, right? ;)

I'm also posting a picture of a second gun I really liked. It's also a .45 Springfield 1911, but it's more of a WWII design. As you can tell from the fact I like the 1911 design, I love older-looking guns, so this one is still definitely a good possibility. Anyone want to choose? The silver one was exactly what I had in mind after the class, but this one has a charm in its rustic look, yeah? I believe it is also $50-60 cheaper, and let's face it, at this point I should definitely be saving money any way I can.

In conclusion, no one ever, ever tell me not to hike alone again. Why? 'cause I'm packin' HEAT!

I Once Thought I Had Mono for an Entire Year. It Turned Out I Was Just Really Bored

Naturally being constantly very fatigued leads to some pretty impressive mood swings. Nothing as bad as it sounds, just the normal ups and downs you get when you're super tired. One minute you're laughing so hard you're crying, next minute you're frustrated about you don't even know what. That said, I'm making a list of positive things about mono to make the mood UP:

1) Creamies and chocolate pudding
2) Down 5 pounds in a week? Not my favorite method, but I have no complaints about the result
3) As mentioned above, those moments when you do laugh so hard you cry
4) Sleeping 9 hours without meds
5) Visits from family, daily texts from Mama, and her gift of endless popsicles, juice magazines, and flowers
6) Getting to read, watch movies, or play video games all day and not being considered lazy
7) 1-2 weeks of not driving through the awful Utah County I-15 construction
8) No one cares or blames me if I wear sweats or glasses or don't bother doing my hair
9) I have something to blame when I say something stupid

Two of Us Riding Nowhere, Spending Someone's Hard-Earned Pay...

Saturday was easily one of my top 5 days ever. Why is that, you ask? Well, sit back and keep a tight hold on your pantaloons, because I am about to answer your question! One of the best days ever starts like this: waking up at 4 AM. Bet you didn't see that one coming, did you? So after 3 hours of sleep, I dressed, packed up some stuff for a 25-mile bike ride and drove out to South Jordan to meet my fellow biker cronies. We left around 5:20 (much later than we wanted), but wound up at the U's institute just in time.

Joe and I bailed on the others and rushed to the starting line literally less than a minute before it started, but as we crossed the street near some Trax tracks (haha, tracks-tracks?), the tandem's front tire caught the track and we fell over. I almost took some lady down with me, it was very amusing. Anywho, once we shook off the scrapes and bruises, we made it to the line and started the ride. The most entertaining part was that it was raining - everyone had this wet streak up their backs from the back tire that looked like babies when they... well, ya know.

Anyway, not long after passing the 8 mile mark, I heard a pop. Not feeling anything, I asked, "Was that us?" It was. So we pulled over and started taking the tire off. I found the tear in the tube, and it was pretty impressive. Joe called his dad. We had a repair kit on the tandem, but there was no way to patch that thing up. So we told his siblings to ride on, and we just waited for Kevin. We finally called him after a while to find out that he thought he was behind us when he was actually ahead, so he'd been riding in the wrong direction. In the meantime though, we fell back on our usual form of entertainment while we wait for things. The goat ladder video.

Eventually, Joe's dad got there, we pumped up a new tube, fiddled with the off-center brake for a bit, then took the bike out into the road. It was easy, since the rest of the bikers were long gone. The second I sat down, I heard an all too familiar popping sound. I stood up, felt the back tire and yelled out, "THAT just happened!" At that point it crossed the funny mark and became just downright hilarious. So we felt ALL over the rim and tire for anything tearing the tubes and found nothing. We took the risk and pumped up a third tube, but this time it was inside the tire and on the rim before we pumped. As it inflated, the tube pushed out through a rip in the tire. Yep, that had to be causing it. I was so glad to find out that I hadn't gained 1,000 pounds since I woke up!

Joe's dad rode back to the van and we waited for him to come back. In the meantime, we sat on the curb and watched the marathon runners. One of them sneezed, I yelled "bless you!" and some lady threw us a shirt and told us to throw it away (Uh, yuck?). Some guy was wearing Kiss make-up and an 80's rocker wig, another guy dressed like a flower, one was in a shirt and tie... it was good fun, haha. Oh, and there were many mean jokes about Ethiopians as the ones who were dominating the race ran by - mostly inspired by Billy Crystal's joke in When Harry Met Sally. Anyway, after maybe an hour, Kevin came back and took the above picture for us.

Since the bike tour failed, there was really only one obvious solution: spontaneous zoo trip. But first we stopped at a grocery store and bought bagels, cream cheese, and strawberry milk. We ate that in the zoo parking lot, then headed in for the first time in a very long time for both of us. We got mooned by a gorilla! I'd never seen an ocelot before, so I cooed over that for a while, and kept squealing "KITTY!" like Boo in Monster's Inc. Joe's response? A playfully condescending "Okay, let's go get a drink out of the giant lion head." Hehe. Love to!

Anyway, the zoo's the zoo, and the zoo is awesome. After all that, obviously it was nap and shower time, so I drove home and did just that. After an hour and a half (what's wrong with me?), I got dressed and we went for a real bike ride on the Jordan River parkway, sans killer tandem. After a long, relaxing ride and some dinner at The Pie that felt like swallowing a delicious brick, we went to Nick and Weenie's to play for a bit. Weenie, Nick, Joe, Jake and I walked over to Macey's, grabbed some movie food and, for some reason, more cereal than any human could consume in a lifetime, and headed back to watch 1408. That about concludes the day. Partying it up with friends and eating the Western Family version of Samoas, which I nicknamed Tongas.

Yep. That answer your question?

Geez, Banana! Shut Your Freakin' Gob, Okay?

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
Ether 12:27

Lately I've been feeling that I need to be a better friend. I tend to repel people, but I couldn't quite figure out how I was doing it. I know I can sometimes make myself unapproachable, but the trick is figuring out just how I do it.

On Sunday, I read a few articles in the Ensign. One was a small snippet from a woman who felt inadequate somehow, but couldn't figure out how. Referring to the scripture in Ether 12 that I quoted above, she prayed for Heavenly Father to reveal her weakness, and it was something totally unrelated to how she was feeling (she'd been impatient with her kids). I decided to do the same thing. Sunday night, I prayed to know what I could do to be a better friend.

My best ideas and answers to prayers usually come right when I wake up. They come in those final dreams that are short, yet vivid, then in the pondering as I lay in bed that first 5 or 10 minutes of the day, my mind unaffected by surroundings. This time, I had a dream about a friend I had in several classes at the U. I always admired her, wondering how she was able to get along with so many people. She took initiative, and I always felt like if I tried that I'd scare people off. She's just likable. In this dream, I sat in the back of a classroom, right in front of three girls who gossiped to each other. They said something mean about the girl I mentioned, and I turned around to tell them that I knew her. "Yeah, the one with long, blond hair?" one asked doubtfully, testing me. "No, it's short and brown." I was proud of myself and felt happy to be a part of the group.

Then the girl they had just talked about walked in with chocolate-covered pretzels that she brought to share with everyone. She also brought some random pudding or something she'd made with Slim Fast (it's a dream, something weird and random had to show up somewhere), since it was just after New Years and some people might want to avoid the straight chocolate. I woke up, knowing which of these people I wanted to be friends with.

This girl (her name is Emily) reached out to everyone. She showed kindness and thoughtfulness (completely blind to the clique) and expected nothing. Her only motive was to make others happy and brighten the day. Ultimately, she is the better friend. This is the kind of person I want to be. I feel that this was the answer to my prayer. To be a better friend, I need to reach out to everyone. As hard as it is for me, I need to talk to people - without considering whether they even want to be my friend or talk to me. I need to show kindness just to make people's day brighter and not even worry about what they think, do or say. All that matters is what I think, do and say.

You know, Catholicism. We believed in the teachings of Cathol and everything it stood for.

These last two weeks have been pretty dang eventful, considering I haven't done a thing really! How does that work? Oh, well, have a seat, get some popcorn, and I'll tell ya. I paid off my car last Monday (and I received the title in the mail 2 days ago). Yeah, I officially own The Black Mamba... but wait, IS she black? I'm very convinced that she's actually gray... but then again, I only wash her in the summer. Hm.

On Wednesday, I came home from work and immediately went to the kitchen to make dinner, 'cause I was starving when Buster said, "There's a surprise for you downstairs." I was very confused, so I went down there, and I have a brand new cedar chest. I instantly knew who it was, because my mom's been talking about getting me one since I graduated from high school. I called her up and thanked her, but she insisted it was all Dick's doing, 100%. A few days before, he had texted to ask our address. I was suspicious, but I didn't connect these two immediately. I can't believe he does these things for me - he's so thoughtful!

On Monday, I got to play with my best friend for the first time in what felt like forever (though it's only been a couple weeks). We went to Zupa's and watched an episode of the Gilmore Girls. Such good times! I've been missing all that - I'm pretty sure I've been craving Zupa's for 6 months, I've been needing friend time badly, and then there's the Gilmore Girls withdrawals... I think I might just pull through now.

See? Like I said, it's been eventful, but at the same time... think about it, all but the playing is over in an instant - and even then, the playing sure feels like an instant. I hope everyone had as good a week as I did and has an even better one this week! Hopefully in the next couple days I'll finish some sewing projects I've been working on and have some pictures to share. :)

PS (can you PSify a blog?) check out this song! No More Hotdogs
Buster came home with a copy of this CD, and we've literally been laughing for 3 days straight at this song.