My Memorable Moab Memorial Day Weekend

How about that for some alliteration?! Ha!

A small group of us went down to Moab for Memorial Day weekend and we had a great time!! The group was a little off kilter in numbers, but fun all the same - it was me, Lindsey, Rob, Lizzy, Jana, Heather, Nate and Jon. And we did the unthinkable: we took road bikes down to Moab - the mountain biking mecca of the nation! I know. I know. It was pure blasphemy with all that slick rock around.

We drove down there Friday night and totally got stuck in some awful traffic in the canyon, but! We had a blast because I brought some radios that I got a work! We were daring people in the other cars to do crazy things - like I did a cartwheel out on the side of the road!


The memorable moments-

The official competition between my JetBoil backpacking stove and Nate's (well, technically Jon's) nameless stove. Ever since I bought my JetBoil, Nate and I have been bantering over whose is better. Sadly, his stove boiled water long before mine did. BUT!!! I couldn't get my gas to turn on so I am going to demand a rematch! :o)

Riding our bikes in Arches National Park and have two "mother figures" (poor Lindsey and Lizzy) follow us in the cars so when we (actually me) got tired we could ride in the car to the top of the hill and then ride down.

Nate riding on my tail and making me nervous - because I was going so slow up the hills on my bike. I begged him to pass me but he refused. And then having the joy of Jon behind me - he gave me some space but he also refused to pass me. Hence his new nickname: Mr. C*. (The C does stand for a word, but I've promised not to reveal it . . . to too many people.) :o)

The Dutch Oven Lasagna that Lindsey made for dinner Saturday night! And the second bantering that Nate and I had: over whose method of starting charcoal is better. Stay tuned for the official competition results later this summer (hopefully).

Impersonating how Nate sits in his camp chair - see the video. Sorry if it is sideways - I don't know how to rotate it. I had no idea that Lindsey was taking a video - I thought she was just taking a picture!! So that is what makes the video so funny.


Lindsey and Rob's competition over who popped the better popcorn over the fire. Sadly, Rob won that one.

I DID WIN A COMPETITION WITH NATE THOUGH!! I won the smallest sleeping bag. Smoked him in fact. When we were cleaning up Sunday morning I packed up my sleeping bag and the conversation went as thus:
Nate: "Is that your sleeping bag?"
Me: "Yes."
Nate: "Really?"
Me: "Yup. Do I win?"
Nate: "Yes."
That was the whole competition. See? I smoked him in that one. :o)

Sunday morning breakfast of hard-boiled eggs, sausage and pancakes!!

Being called a "hussy" after flirting with the ranger at the entrance station to Dead Horse State Park. But I was dared to ask him how the horse died and I had to make conversation with him before asking him. I couldn't help that he used the most obvious pick up line on me from the get go: "Don't I know you from somewhere?"

Squishing all 8 of us in Lindsey's XTerra on the dirt road that everyone convinced me to take my car down. We started out taking both cars on a dirt road we figured would be a shortcut to the trailhead for some hikes. We got a third of the way when Lindsey radioed to me and said to park my car and the 4 of us would walk down to them and then pile in her XTerra. Heh - yeah. My car would have had to learn how to fly to get over those rocks that were sticking out of the road. Whoa Nelly! So everyone except me, Lindsey (who was driving) and Jana stood on the running boards and bumper of her XTerra to drive down the canyon - so we didn't have to squish inside for the whole time.

Next banter with Rob but also with Nate - how arches are formed. This one actually had a wager of a dozen of Rob's famous cookies or two bags of Oreos if I lost. I said they were formed by wind and he said they were formed by water. I lost and have already paid up. Ugh.

Hike to Paul Bunyon's Potty and Corona Arch.

Next banter with Nate - how many petals an Aster has. We didn't get the answer to this one until after we got home and looked in a wildflower book. He said they only had five and I said they had more. To just look at the flower you would agree with me - that they have more than five. But technically, by description, Nate was right. Double ugh.

Driving back up the dirt road and getting stuck on those rocks!! We were there for a couple hours trying to get out! And then the pressure to get out really built when we had other cars stacked on either side of us wanting to get by. But we eventually made it over the rocks.

Racing home on the highway. Passing cars. Getting passed by their car, passing them plus 2 other cars. All in safety of course. :o)

Having a prank pulled on us that they were out of gas as soon as we arrived in Price. Then having our own retaliation prank flop on us!

Overall, the weekend was very fun. Very laid-back and leisurely. Little excitement with getting stuck on the rocks. Very annoying that the boys were right every time!! But all in good fun.

Wordless Wednesday - One of My Favorite Pranks!

Home & Sick

These past few days have been terrible! I haven't been sick in ages and especially this sick. Each night it gets worse. It started Saturday night with a complete and utter drain of my energy and a pretty bad sore throat. Then Sunday I felt pretty good and Monday too. Then Monday night, my cough developed and worsened. So I stayed home from work on Tuesday even though I felt like it was just a bad head-cold. I figured if I stayed home one day, then I could kick it and be back to work by Wednesday. Wrongo-bongo. Last night I developed an ear infection in BOTH ears and .... get this.... pink-eye! Yuck! The pink-eye woke me up in the middle of the night.

So I determined, "That's it! I am going to the doctor to get some drugs and really kick this!" So I did go to the doctor. He pretty much told me my entire head is an infection. With my sore throat, cough, two ear infections, sinus pressure and pink-eye - I feel like quite the case! He prescribed an antibiotic for my ear infections, Advil Cold & Sinus for my sinus pressure, antibiotic drops for my eye, and gargling with salt-water for my throat. I never get sick, but I guess when I do, I do it with a vengeance!

Would you be my spouse for free tuition at BYU??

Ha! I have now worked full-time at BYU for five (5) full years! With that accomplishment comes my eligibility (or actually my spouse's eligibility) for FREE TUITION to Brigham Young University. Of course, my spouse would have to be accepted to his undergraduate OR GRADUATE program on his own merits, but I can get his tuition whacked off our list of bills to pay! If only I had a spouse.... :o)John Bytheway gives a talk on CD that I love - it's called What I Wish I'd Known When I Was Single. In that talk he emphasizes how unattractive it is when someone is obsessed that they aren't married yet (Amen!). And he quotes a church leader that talks about how marriage is not likely be to achieved through a direct and pointed campaign. At this point John Bytheway describes his visualization of someone campaigning for a spouse: carrying a sign and chanting, "Me for spouse! Me for spouse!" I've laughed at that everytime. As I've neared my 5 year mark at BYU I've thought to myself, "I wonder if one of my alluring persuasions to be my spouse would be that I could offer free tuition to BYU - if I were campaigning like that?" And guess what! I can offer that!! Yes! Free tuition to BYU if you marry me. But now if only I were campaigning for a spouse, huh?

The Hope of a Garden

Well, I planted an actual garden this year! That possibility was one more added bonus to moving into the house that I currently live in - there is a little garden patch in the backyard! Although I am nervous that it is doomed to fail!!! Waaa. For three reasons:

1. I planted it yesterday . . . on a Sunday . . . the Sabbath. I'm thinking it might be struck with lightning . . . but the prophets have counseled that we have a garden, right?
2. The garden patch only gets a couple hours of direct sunlight each day.
   
3. I am a total amateur gardener, obviously . . . since I ignored the fact of #2 above.

In my garden, I planted:

Two tomato plants - I even put Wall-o-Waters around them to help them out
Six yellow bell pepper plants
One green bell pepper plants
Two strawberry plants
Cilantro
Basil
Chives
Two leftover Lobelias

And I also planted some flower pots. One is a gorgeous pink Cala Lilly, one is my quintessential Fuschia with Lobelia (I've actually been successful with this one for the past couple of years), one has a New Guinea Impatient, and the last has a cute little Dahlia in a cute little orange pot. I love gardening and maybe some day, I will actually have the green thumb to garden successfully. But until then, I really hope this garden survives and my pie-in-the-sky hope is that it will actually produce some viable vegetables! Stay tuned....

My Trip to Europe

Well, here it is - the long-awaited-for summary of my trip to Europe. It was great! Of course. We had a splendid time.

What one place was my favorite? Salzburg, Austria. It was small, quiet, quaint, clean, the people were nice, nearly everyone spoke English, the food was good, there was so much to do and see, and our Bed & Breakfast was phenomenal! We knew the instant we got there that we had not planned enough time in Salzburg.

Overall we took 800 photos between the two of us, but you will only see a few of them on this blog entry. To see more, but not the full 800, click here. Here are 'some of my favorite things' about the trip:

Our 10-hour lay-over in New York City.
Awestruck at Ground Zero.
Views of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island from Battery Park.
Famous NYC hot dogs.
Steaming manholes in Times Square.
Flags of Rockefeller Plaza.
Today Show studios.

Going to church in Zurich, Switzerland.
Heavenly Father seriously led us there - we didn't have our GPS yet.
The members were so nice.
It felt like home.

Downtown Zurich with lunch on the river and a stroll through the carnival.
Band playing at the carnival.
Beautiful sunny day reflecting off the lake.
Weiner schnitzel for lunch.

The Swiss countryside and villages.
Little benches at the top of hills, between two trees, overlooking a village.
Swiss cows - still don't know if they wear the bells.
Even dandelions were beautiful in Switzerland!
Quaint churches in the middle of every village.

Incredibly nice Swiss people.
Our B&B hostess.
The lady that helped us get out of the car park garage by letting us follow her through the gate.

Yummy Swiss food.
The chocolate!
Breakfast of bread, 3 cheeses, butter, jams, yogurts and orange juice.

German Autobahns.
I drove 140 km/h.
Jed drove 200 km/h.
Watching a Porsche smoke a BMW.

One-lane roads with tw0-way traffic and covered bridges.
I got to drive through the covered bridge.
Jed got the really bad one-lane road with two-way traffic.

Extravagant castles and palaces.
Neuschwanstein Castle (aka the Sleeping Beauty Castle), Germany
Hohensalzburg Fortress, Salzburg, Austria
Hellbrunn Palace (with their trick fountains)
Doge's Palace, Venice, Italy

Amazing cathedrals & basilicas.
Munster Cathedral, Basel, Switzerland
Salzburg Cathedral
St. Mark's Basilica, Venice
St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, Rome

Our very own Sound of Music Tour.
Leopoldskron Schloss - back of the house in the film.
Hellbrunn Gardens - '16 going on 17' Gazebo.
Mirabell Gardens & Pegasus Fountain - 'Do Re Mi' song with kids exploring the city.
Residenz Platz - the fountain is reflected on her bus window.
Hearing the very same cathedral and church bells as in the movie.

Two cable car rides in Salzburg.
One to the top of Untersberg Mountain outside of Salzburg.
One to the top of the Salzburg Fortress.

Biking in downtown Salzburg and along the river.
Jed's incessant ringing of his bike bell.
My bell was broken.

Our Salzburg Bed & Breakfast.
The sweetest hostess - Fanziska.
Our own bathroom.
Two bikes we could use for free.
Down comforters.
The sound of birds chirping coming through the bathroom window while I got ready for the day.
20-minutes, by bike, from downtown Salzburg but outside of the hustle and bustle.

Hallstatt, Austria
Lakeside village with population of ~900
Terraced structures to accommodate the small amount of land between the mountains and the lake.
The salt mine we toured.
The wooden slides in the salt mine.
The Provo couple we ran into in the salt mine.

The drive from Salzburg to Venice.
Austrian and then Italian Alps.
Countless tunnels that were 6 or 7 kms long.

Chaos of Italy
Monstrous thunder and hail storm with 1-2 inches of water on the motorway - as we drove into Italy.
Getting lost even with a GPS giving us directions.
Taking a wrong exit and trying out a brand new motorway that no one else was on.
Finding a gas station that was open - which none were.
Guessing how much money to feed the auto-gas-pump thing to fill up our car.
22 euro (~$35) charge per 12 hours for a car park in Venice that we had to pay since our car rental place was closed.
Walking around the Roma Termini train station for an hour - trying to find the tourist information office.
Taking the bus to our Rome B&B in stead of the metro like I planned.
Crazy drivers in Rome - you take your life into your hands to cross the street.
Expensive toll roads.
The bus that never came to our stop in Rome on Sunday.

Gondolas of Venice.
They really do wear striped shirts and straw hats (well, maybe some of them).
The ones that would come down our very own, personal canal outside our B&B room window.
The ones with the accordion player and singer.

Sights and sounds of Venice.
Watching a resident close the shutters of her window.
Watching another resident open her shutters a crack to peak out in the early morning sun.
Waking up to the bells of St. Mark's Basilica.
The numerous souvenir carts all over St. Mark's Square full of Venetian masks, Murano glassware, and even gelato.
Skinny little alleys.
Costume shops for Carnival.
Pigeons everywhere and on everything - including people.
Being able to walk across the island of Venice in 30 minutes.

Visitors in Venice.
My previous roommate, Chiara, is from Italy and she came into Venice to see me!
Meeting her darling daughter, Matilda, and great husband, Moreno.

Rialto Bridge market, Venice.
The throng of residents, tourists, and shoppers.
The cup of strawberries and grapes (with seeds) I bought for 1.50 euros.
Dried pastas.
More gelato.
Leather anything.

Italian food in Venice.
Divine pizza! (better than Rome)
Pretty good lasagna.
Delectable gelato.

Views from the train between Venice and Rome.
Little vineyards in every yard.
Abundant red poppies.
Cotton floating in the air.
Tree-lined streets leading to a colorful villa on a hill surrounded by vineyards.
The top of the dome of the famous cathedral in Florence.

Roman antiquity.
2,000 year old ruins in the Roman Forum.
The one remaining toe on the foot of a long-gone statue in the Roman Forum.
The Colosseum. Period.
The Pantheon and its great dome with the sky light in it.

Sights and sounds of Rome.
Street performer in Piazza Venezia playing the guitar.
Street performer near the Pantheon wearing a sombrero and playing the violin.
The fountains of Piazza Navona.
Occasional Roman ruin with modern buildings built around it.
Market selling paintings in the Piazza Navona.
Local hot spot - gelateria chuck full of locals.
Villa Pamphili park with wild grass that is never mowed or watered and crammed full of locals.
The pizzeria that told us they would open at 7 pm and then when we stopped by again they said 7:30 pm.
The Pieta in St. Peter's Basilica.

Making a wish at Trevi Fountain, Rome.
Amidst a million other tourists.
Threw one American coin and one euro coin.
Wished for... can you share that wish? You can probably guess it.

Random stuff.
Our car rental upgrade from a Kia to an Alfa Romeo.
Decision to take the train to Rome from Venice in stead of driving.
Ear plugs. Period.
Immunity to jet lag - so awesome! I feel a little tired, but my body adjusts to the new time so easily.

Our trip home.
The warehouse terminal of the Rome Leonardo da Vinci Fiumcino Aiport we had to check in at.
The two shuttles we had to take to get back to a regular terminal to catch our flight.
The lack of seating near our gate.
Jed's carry-on being searched, but not mine.
The band, Augustana, sitting in coach with us on our flight.
11-hour flight from Rome to Chicago.
4-hour lay-over in Chicago.
3 1/2-hour flight from Chicago to Salt Lake City - that I don't remember since I promptly fell asleep.
The jet engine exhaust that flooded the back of the plane where we sat when we landed in SLC.

Souvenirs
Chocolate! - Basel, Switzerland
Music box that plays 'Edelweiss' - Salzburg
Venetian mask - Venice
Murano glass bead bracelet - Venice


P.S. Jed and I are just friends.

A Little Housekeeping

I know, I know, you are all so excited to see my entries for my trip to Europe... and I promise - I'll put them up soon. But first I need to tend to a little housekeeping regarding my blog. I am removing my list of friends and family with blogs links.... too many of my friends are making their blogs private (for good reason). To protect your privacy and my good character (right?) I thought it would be best to remove your blog link from my blog list. I had the list on my blog because that was my cue to remember to check your blogs on occasion. But then, thanks to one of your awesome blogs, I discovered the beauties of Google Reader! Within my gmail account (so behind my password) I could set up my gmail to notify me (in a round-about way) when you made an entry on your blog! That has been fantastic! I am much better at following your blogs now with Google Reader ... on one condition - that you allow feeds from your blog! Thankfully most of you have so my reading continues. So no worries! As long as you still allow the feeds from your blogs, then I will still be reading your blog on a mostly regular basis (with the exception of those that only allow invited readers).

So here's to being as wise as a serpent and yet without sin! (Recognize the verse?) :o)