A Snow Shoeing Weekend!

Hey all! So my birthday snow shoeing was just as fun as I expected it would be. So much fun that we did it again on Saturday!

Thursday night was pretty chilly, but not too chilly for our awesome down coats! I became hot hiking up to the meadow and then stayed plenty warm hiking downhill back to the car. The company was me, Lindsey, Jen, and Dan. We brought the ever fun Potter with us. Potter is Lindsey's adorable Great Dane dog. He played with us and even barked at me when I would tackle his momma (Lindsey) in the snow. Ha!





Here I am blowing out my candles on my birthday cookie! We had hot chocolate and cookies after the snow shoeing extravaganza the night of my birthday.

Saturday was a beautiful day. Camille, Lindsey and I hiked the same trail but went much further--all the way to Big Springs. That was probably a couple miles. We got up there, ate our lunch for 5 minutes and then headed back down as it was still quite chilly and it is especially chilly to sit there in your sweaty clothes, not moving, and have the cool weather cool you off via evaporation of your sweat. Think of getting out of the shower on a cold morning. Brrr. So we headed down. When we got to the road, which was snow covered and closed to vehicles, we sat on the little light-weight sleds we brought along and sled the whole way down! It took us 10 minutes to sled the distance it took us 2 and a half hours to hike up. So fun! Absolute riot! Potter ran along and would bark at us as we sledded down. Funny dog. At one point he pulled Lindsey off the sled and started pulling her away from the sled by her Camelback. We think maybe he was scared, thought she was scared and in trouble, so he saved her. So cute. Enjoy the pics!

The Birthday Girl!!

Happy Birthday to me! Yes, I am still up at this absurd hour of 12 midnight. I made the mistake of staying up to talk to my roommate and have now hit my second wind. I have been thinking for a while what I might write on this, the 27th anniversary of my introduction to the world. Unfortunately, nothing profound comes to mind. Sorry. At the age of 27, I am now on a steep double-black diamond slope to 30. But... I still have 3 years. I don't know why 30 worries me so. I have plenty of friends that are 30, and I admire them so much! They have lives worthy to emulate. Maybe it is because 30 is the cutoff I gave myself--to decide if I should still be in Provo, and especially if I should still be renting as opposed to owning. So that means I have 3 years to figure out what I am going to do when I turn 30. Move back to my hometown? Move somewhere big and exciting like San Francisco, New York, DC or.... Salt Lake City? Ha! Buy a house? Well, some words of wisdom come to mind (and probably the only ones that will come at this hour): I will cross that bridge when I come to it. Until then, save, save, save. Any of the above options will be expensive.Here are some photos to enjoy from a birthday of mine, many years ago. That is my beautiful mother with me in the picture with the cake and the candle. The other picture is with 3 of my fabulous sisters--from left to right--Robyn, Joni and Jill. They will probably love that I added this picture and put it on the internet for all to see. Ha!Today is going to be a good day. I can feel it already. Work is going to be exciting. Last weekend I left on Friday wishing that Saturday was actually Monday and I could go back to work. I love my job! And then tonight will be so much fun. Some friends and I are going snowshoeing up the canyon and then we will come back to enjoy some hot chocolate and cookies. My favorite! Seriously, hot chocolate is my favorite. I think I probably have at least 8 different cans of Stephen's Hot Chocolate. Yum.

And then here is a little update since my last entry: I had my Lasik surgery and I can see!! It is a little blurry in the mornings but I think that is due to dryness when I first wake up. But by 8 or so I can see just fine! Getting that surgery was quite the adventure. I will give the short version: My mom came down to give me a ride back from my appointment and then to take care of me afterwards. We took her car up to Salt Lake City for my surgery. When we were seriously only 5 minutes away from my vision center, we hit a metal rod in the road--it flattened a tire, wound itself in the wheel-well and then also tore up the bottom of my mom's car. The rod was 5 feet long and about a half inch in diameter--we did not see it until we hit it. And there was no way to dodge it--we were in the middle lane of the freeway with traffic on either side of us. As soon as we pulled over to the side of the freeway, mom called AAA and I called my vision center. Luckily, some other patient of my doctor's overheard my conversation with the receptionist and volunteered her dad to come pick me up so I could make it for my appointment.

I felt rotten leaving my poor mom on the side of the freeway with a broken down car in a strange and wild town. But people were super nice to her--a good Samaritan stopped and stayed with her until the tow truck came and then when the tow truck came, the tow truck guy gave her a ride to the vision center even though he wasn't supposed to. And then my mom called my friend Lindsey and she drove up to come and get us and bring us back home. My mom arrived at the vision center just as I came out of surgery. I burst into tears when I saw her! I am not overly emotional--I think the Valium did it to me. Laughing Gas makes me cry too so I guess all relaxants will make me cry. Go figure. My surgery went well and my doctor was very pleased. Not to mention me!! I am super pleased. It is so wild to go to bed without taking out contacts. The story ends with my mom being stuck here with me for a week more than she planned, as it took a week and a half for the mechanic to fix her car. Very upsetting--tell me about it! I thought it was a sign of divine intervention that I was not supposed to have this surgery. But so far it wasn't. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Year in Review

Happy New Year’s Everyone!!

Sampler of how 2006 treated me. Pretty decent if I might add.

1. Celebrated my 26th birthday. I am officially on the downhill slope to 30. Yikes!
2. Certified in SCUBA, although I have not yet been able to go scuba diving.
3. Bought a digital camera, which then required the purchase of a computer—a beautiful iMac. I am officially dependant on technology.
4. Returned to London! It was an adrenaline trip of only 4 days actually spent in the city and not an ounce of jet lag was to be had.
5. Tragic loss of my step-dad. That is the one sad bit of news of the year. It has been a difficult time for all of us and he will be missed. Consequently, my mom has moved back to Boise to be closer to family and friends.
6. Started two blogs: www.skierjess.blogspot.com and www.walkergenerations.blogspot.com. The first is one that I use to post pictures and happenings in my life—check it out today! It took a couple of my friends to inspire me and I thought you all might enjoy it as much as I enjoy my friends’ blogs. The second is a blog I use to post family history stories so that all of my family can have access to the stories I continue to find about my ancestors.
7. First expedition to Glacier National Park. I joined my sister for their family vacation for the 3rd year in a row. We hiked 30 miles, gained 3,000 feet in elevation, on 3 hikes in 3 days. Yup.
8. Sang my heart out at the Soul2Soul II tour with Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. Not on stage though—only in the audience.
9. Hiked the 11,749 feet of Mount Timpanogos for the first time. Nearly killed me too. Boy that thin air can wipe you out. Next on the list: Everest—from my living room.
10. Discovered the beauties of canyoneering. Canyoneering is the sport of down climbing and rappelling through slot canyons in southern Utah. My friend, Lindsey, has introduced me to the sport by canyoneering through Key Hole canyon in Zions National Park.
11. Promotion time! This is the best news of all: I got a promotion!! I am now an Area HR Consultant on campus and therefore the one-stop-HR-contact for 1/4th of campus. It will be an awesome growth opportunity for me and will open many doors. Plus—I moved up to the second floor from the basement. I am no longer a mole!

Thank you all for being such dear friends and family. I love you all and think a lot of you. I hope you will keep in touch with me as I love to hear what is going on with you and your loved ones. Best wishes for the new year!!

Christmas Wishes

Hey all!

Christmas was wonderful. We did all the traditional things our family requires: Christmas Eve at Mom's complete with dinner and Jill's yummy Cranberry cake with a double-yummy sauce on it, opening one gift--always the one from mom, and the white elephant gift exchange. Christmas day followed with more traditions of going to Jill's house for lunch and dinner, working feverishly on a puzzle, touring the kids' stash of presents from Santa, visiting and enjoying one another's company.

Couple of funnies:

1. My mom gave Chandler (my 7-year-old nephew) the wrong present to open Christmas Eve. She bought a bubble gum dispenser for him and everyone knew he would love it! Everyone watched with anticipation as he opened his "fabulous" gift. We laughed heartily when he opened it and it was dish towels--to be given to his mom, Jill. I caught it on movie mode on my camera--Check it out below!! Mom's reaction was classic--first the exclamation and then the speedy removal of the erroneous gift from Chandler's lap. He actually really loved his real gift--the bubble gum dispenser.



2. I am officially kicked out the house. With the move of my mom to a new and quite small home, my stuff got the boot and I had the joy of doing it. That is not supposed to happen until I get married!! My sister, Teri, and I went through all of my stuffed animals, dolls, high school paraphernalia, baby clothes and baby blankets, kindergarten and elementary school pictures--basically we did what we could to give as much as possible to the DI and then condensed what was left. At first, I was pretty liberal with what I gave to the DI, but as time passed I became more attached to all the stuff. So I filled up my trunk, my backseat, and the entire back portion of Teri's Tahoe (well, you could still see out the back windows in the Tahoe and my car--so it wasn't that horrible). That is one more chapter of my life closed--the mobility chapter. I found joy in the security of being able to pack up my car and move to another place whenever I felt like it. C'mon! The past four years of living in the same place is an anomaly-- when I was still in college I moved every 8 months. Of course, I have accrued some stuff here and so that has increased my number of car loads, but now this finishes it. Especially now that my mom sent her old kitchen table down with me. I probably wouldn't move too far away from Provo now that I have this awesome new job, but what if I get bored of my ward? Or the boys in my ward? Or my roommates?

3. Everyone kept asking me why I was wearing my glasses. "Are you trying to look smart?" While several people have accused me of that--including one of the interviewers for my new job--that is not the case. This is another big announcement: I am getting Lasik this coming Wednesday, January 3rd. Yes. I will be able to see the stars as I fall asleep when camping out under the stars. I will be able to see the alarm clock when I wake up at the crack of dawn to go to the gym. I will be able to go scuba diving and clear my mask without freaking out. I will be able to race down the slopes without my eyes watering. And that is exactly what I focus on to actually go through with it--that and I am counting on the Valium to do the magic that everyone says it will: wipe out my anxiety about the actual procedure. The thought of the procedure grosses me out and makes me nervous. So, I focus on the results and the incredibly low probability that anything will go wrong. If my sister Robyn, who is the "Nervous Nelly" of the family, can do it and come out with perfect results, I can do it--because we have nearly the same genes! My mom and Teri are going to come down and baby me while I heal. Yeah for family!

Other than the couple of funnies, Christmas was wonderful. It is always my favorite to get together with my family. My mom, dad, sisters, brothers-in-law, nieces and nephews and all of my extended family are the joy of my life. My Christmas wish for everyone of you is that you have family to surround you, love you, cherish you, tease you, give you hugs and kisses, and be there for you.

8 Inches of New Snow & a Hole in My New Skis

Yeah! I got to go skiing a second time and in 8 inches of new snow that Snowbird received over night. I also tried out my new skis. They are so awesome! I absolutely float in the powder and can power through the tracked out stuff. Soooooo awesome! So awesome that I was a little adventurous in looking for untouched powder. I figured out why the powder there was untouched---because there were rocks underneath and one of them took a bite out of the bottom of my new skis. My poor babies. I think it is fixable though, at least that is what the guys told me--the ones I went skiing with.


Starting on the left is Nate (one of the twins), Lindsey, Jon (the other twin),me and Dan. Lindsey and Dan spent the day on the bunny hill as they are still learning. I am bound and determined to get Lindsey trained and ready to play in the chutes and trees with me and the twins. Nate and Jon are good----really good. They invited two other guys to come and so I spent the day skiing with 4 guys. It was not the first time doing so, but last time I knew the guys better. I was a little apprehensive since I didn't know them very well and I felt like the little sister that begged to come along. But I kept up with them. I was super tired in the morning. I think it was because I took some Dayquil to try and get rid of the symptoms of my cold. When it began to wear off in the afternoon I got a boost in my energy--just as Nate and Jon were getting tired. Jon had been skiing 3 times that week already and Nate went running the day before. I was pretty shy with all 4 of them there, but when the two I knew the least took off early and left me with just Nate and Jon, I came out of my shell. Super fun. I liked skiing with Nate and Jon alone better because we actually skied--we didn't just go around looking for jumps like we had when the other two were with us.

I have decided I definitely have ADD when it comes to skiing--I don't like to go to the same resort and therefore never get a season pass because I get bored with one resort when I have 8 all within an hour drive of my house. Secondly, I get bored with one run, one type of run (groomers, bumps, powder, trees, chutes, etc) and definitely with just looking for jumps. I suppose if I ever live where there is only one resort then I will learn to put up with it, but until then I can be picky. :o)

Thanksgiving Summary-Just a Bit Tardy

Hello all dear friends. Yes, so writing about Thanksgiving has taken me a long time to get around to it. Well, this is why: Work has been super busy between training myself for my new job and training my replacement for my old job and therefore allowed absolutely no time at work to blog. And then at home...well internet connection has been off and on here until tonight. So there you have it! My excuse.

Thanksgiving was lovely. I went to my sister, Teri's, house in Logan and enjoyed myself immensely. Maybe too much. Check out the pic of me. Yes, that is me in my pajamas at 5 o'clock in the evening on Thanksgiving Day. My brother-in-law made the mistake renting the entire first season of the television series "24". So he, my nephew, and I were glued to the TV for literally 24 hours watching the entire first season over the course of the weekend. The premise is that each episode accounts for 1 hour of a 24 hour period in this man's life. He works for the government as some sort of spy and therefore is involved in a whole bunch of action, of course. Now I am hooked. I will need to rent the second season and start watching it. I haven't yet, but I think that is because the cliff-hanger wasn't very good.

Then of course my mom, sister, and I enjoyed our traditional day of shopping--two days actually. I picked out my Christmas for my mom to give me this year and she bought it. Funny thing about that is not that I know what I am getting--I always know what I get for Christmas from my mom--but the fact that she told me to go ahead and take it home with me and then that way she wouldn't have to worry about wrapping it. Well, I know my mom and I know that she will feel bad when I don't have very much to unwrap on Christmas Day....so I wrapped my own Christmas gifts and took them home to Idaho two weekends ago when I helped my mom move into her new house.

The other picture is of some pilgrim figurines I bought at the bookstore before Thanksgiving. Aren't they so cute! I have never found any Thanksgiving decorations that I like until these figurines. So darling. So that is about it for Thanksgiving.

Extra- Extra- Some Big Announcements!!

Greetings all!! You probably wonder, "What in the world is Jessika still doing at work at 12:30 am?" Well, actually I am not at work any more, phew!! And I am not intruding on my roommates generous hospitality of allowing me to use their computers.... no, no, no. This is big. BIG. Are you ready for this? I....bought....a....computer.... Did you get that? Yes!! I actually bought a COMPUTER for my HOME!!! I never thought I would because I didn't want to put up with a finicky computer that breaks down, freezes, catches viruses (like the cold that is beginning to take residence in my nose), lose my documents...etc, etc. But my roommates are big Mac users and lovers. They convinced me. Linda is the biggest user of the two and she assures me that a Mac will not give me the trouble that a PC will so.... I did it. I bought a iMac computer. I also bought a Canon printer and an iPod Nano--the red one. The cool thing about the red one is that when I bought it, Apple will donate $10 to Bono's (of U2) charity to help those afflicted by AIDS in Africa. So not only do I get to enjoy my iPod in my favorite color, but I also helped to save the world!! Well, okay, not technically, but every little bit helps.

Secondly: And this is bigger than the purchase of my beautiful iMac.... okay. Are you sitting down? Do you have a brown paper bag in hand to breathe into if necessary? Or maybe some non-alcoholic wine, confetti, balloons, crete paper would probably also be appropriate..... I GOT A PROMOTION!!! YES, I SAID PROMOTION!! BYU GAVE ME A PROMOTION. I had to make sure I mentioned that three times, because "they" say repetition is the best way to get something across to a group of people. I think I officially start next week and my new title is "Area HR Consultant". I am no longer part of Employment Services. I am technically part of the general division of Human Resource Services. I am super excited and so honored. Of course the promotion comes with a stunning raise and more vacation days--I am talking about 22 days of vacation per year on top of University holidays and sick days.... Isn't that awesome? Of course, they say I may not be able to take those vacation days, but it is worth it though!! I will still try to take them. No more shortening vacations because I don't have enough days... Oh it is a beautiful thing. So what does my new position entail?--you ask. Well, basically, I am the one-stop-HR-contact for 1/4th of campus. I have Athletics, Student Life, and Student Academic & Advisement Services under me. They will contact me with any questions they may have. I will post their jobs, set the salaries of their incoming employees, evaluate their jobs for appropriate exemption and pay level, do some light employee relations work, some training and basic consulting. And another really good part about this PROMOTION? I am moving up from the basement to the second floor of the ASB. I will not be a mole or miner any more!! I will see the sun in the daylight hours!! Isn't that so fabulous? This is a picture of my building. So yeah. I thought I would just share the news with y'all.