Tour of My Place

And here is the entry you have all been looking forward to! The tour of my new place. Finally! I had a little trouble figuring out the video portion of my camera. I needed to make sure the video was less than 100 MB before I could upload it and I finally figured out a way to make the video compact enough to upload it, although it does take a toll on the quality. Enjoy the tour!

Moonlight Lift Ride

This past Wednesday evening, some friends and I got together and rode the lift at Sundance Resort. There was a full moon and lots of fun laughs. Lindsey made some super yummy apple cider and ginger cookies. The ride just got me and Jen excited for the ski season!
Friday night, we even saw our first ski film by Teton Gravity Research. But the venue was awful! We went to Harry O's in Park City for the premiere which is a bar/dance club. We expected the smoking and drinking to be happening around us, but not the lack of seating! There was only a few seating areas and they were all reserved for the sponsors and athletes. Dumb! So we had to stand through a rough hour of an awful band and then an hour and a half of the film. Yes, TGR does show their film elsewhere with better seating, but I will be gone for most of them - on my Church History tour! Oh well.

Wordless Wednesday - My Treadmill

The Seattle Summary

So I am back from Seattle! Mike (and Nate) showed me a great time! Super fun. Chatting late into the night the first night - catching up, curbing a big nasty prank that would have been pulled on me too, the city (Pike's Street Marketplace, THE best ever REI (what dreams are made of), the Space Needle, and a delectable dinner at Ivars), breakfast and hiking near Issaquah on Saturday - watching the hang-gliders and para-gliders launch from the top of our hike (the hike was 1.6 miles and 2,000 feet elevation gain), breakfast with Ruth Ann on Sunday and then church in the local singles ward. Fun filled weekend! Thank again Mike!! Enjoy the pics.

Wordless Wednesday - Famous, Daily Universe Style!

(be sure to click on the picture)

My Car is All MINE!!

I would like to announce that I have now officially paid off my car loan! - A year early. And now my car is mine and I have a couple hundred more dollars to save, spend, whatever! Yay!

One Wild 48 Hours in Zions

So my new roommate, Jen, and Lindsey and I went to Zions for part of Labor Day weekend. We drove down late Thursday night and headed straight for the Backcountry Office to camp out there so we could get the permits to do Mystery Canyon. As soon as we showed up in line with our arms full of sleeping bags, pads and pillows we discovered there was already a guy in line to get the permit we wanted. Foiled! But not so fast. As soon as we got there the guy, Barney, started mentioning the idea that he might not need all six spots and that he might work out something with us to be able to go. Yes! The stars had started their movement to align themselves to our benefit. So we exchanged phone numbers with him before parting ways for the day (we had to obtain the permit 24 hours in advance of when we wanted to go since this was such a popular canyon). Barney and his family are from Logan, Utah and within 15 or so minutes of meeting him he blurted out that he had a son that needed to get married! Ha! He must have seen us 3 girls and thought we were a possibility. We found out that his son would be down here in Zions, is 27 and teaches a rock-climbing class at USU.

We went mountain biking out on Gooseberry Mesa outside of LaVerkin, Utah and actually had a ton of fun out there! I think I might actually like this mountain biking business . . . :o) Now just to own a bike that will make it more enjoyable. Alas, not until next year.

We drove back into Zions and discovered that we had a message from Barney (drum roll please) and it was good news! He only had 3 people going in his party so he would turn in the the 3 unused spots and then we could get them as soon as he turned them in. So we met him at the Backcountry Office and got our spots! (They only allow 12 people through the canyon each day: 6 by lottery and 6 by walk-on.) It sounded like Barney really wanted to book it through the canyon which was totally fine with us. We planned on doing it alone anyway, but his party offered to give us a ride to the top of mountain so we could miss a grueling 2 mile hike where we would have gained 2100 feet in those 2 miles. Yuck. I would have been dead by the end of the hike - before we even started the canyon. So we planned to meet at their campground at 6 the next morning.

We got to their campground a few minutes late, but we ended up waiting just a bit. No big deal. And then they started talking about the 6 of us doing it together! We were surprised at this new development but not appalled by it either. So we decided to do it all together! And it was so worth it! They were loads of fun! "They" consisted of Barney, his unmarried son, Andrew, and his son-in-law, Dave. The canyon was beautiful! I will let the pics do the telling of the fun we had.

One confession for the day: I dropped some M&Ms in the canyon and didn't pick them up! I actually feel really bad about that now. I should have picked them up - there is a reason why they only allow 12 people through the canyon each day: low impact. But they are biodegradable, right??? :(

After we finished the canyon, we got some dinner and hit the road for home! What a wild weekend!

Click Here to see more Canyon pics.

Memory Lane in McCall Idaho

I had a wonderful time in Idaho. I saw the movie Becoming Jane and loved it. Although, I am a bigger fan of happy endings. :( But I think I will still buy it when it comes out on DVD.

And then there was the Western Idaho Fair. I had a corn dog and an Ice Cream Potato. Best ever! Check out the pics. My nephew, Spencer, and I were going to go on some rides but the lines were so dang long!! So we hocked the tickets I bought and jetted out. We also checked out the animals, like the gigantic cow next to my nephew, Spencer. And the little shops where they sell cowboy hats - like the princess one my nephew, Parker, is wearing. And look at the sweet little lamb! I love it! And we checked out the Expo center with their award winning vegetables. I looooove Idaho. :)

And then there was the packed-full day of McCall. Checking out her cabin that her dad is building, going on a little hike, going swimming at the WhiteTail hotel/resort. We were little hooligans with that last one - you are suppose to be a guest at the hotel to swim in their pool. Heheheheheh. Then ice cream down Ice Cream Alley and an Italian Soda at Moxie Java. Anna, my friend from high school, remembers a lot more of our adventures and whatnot than I do. So fun to reminisce.