on the blink

so my laptop is on the blink and i caught a cold from holding a baby for a little bit a few days ago. catching a cold in the summer just seems to be a sin. the place where i took my laptop informed me it was a "family business" and that i could just leave it there to be diagnosed and was assured that this woman's husband would look at it after he put down his baby in the back. hmmm... it should have been a clue when approaching the building that i heard random noises from the speaker outside the store and upon entering found that it was a movie their older child was watching in the store. needless to say i've gotten no call from them yet. i called friday since i let them know it was urgent since i was working on an application that needed to get in quickly. i smarted up and just redid the application on thursday. now i'm subject to dial up and really who uses dial up anymore? my parents. so the stories of gold panning and updates on the favorite and her boyfriend visit will have to wait. pray for my laptop... i know they haven't gotten far if they haven't called yet to get my password to get into my computer. one of the joys of page america.

witch shoes

i was compelled to buy witch shoes. after buying my first suit i had multiple people say i needed a pointy toed shoe to complete the outfit. for those of you who don't know me... i don't wear such witch looking, i'm about to kick someone, and such uncomfortable shoes. and when did these get popular as wicked came into theatre? i rarely think they're cute and think they look better on someone else if they happen to be somewhat flattering. but after some peer pressure i folded and bought these shoes.

i do think their feminine and wildly uncomfortable. danielle told me when you wear pointy shoes to an interview the people know you're sacrificing to wear such uncomfortable shoes and you mean business. so i bought them. i was alone doing so in phoenix and asked the dsw shoe lady (who showed some class) that i needed help and was not hip and thought pointy toed shoes were ugly. i even changed into my suit pants in my car as i began melting in the heat of the phoenix sun.

all i have to say is all this time, effort and discomfort better pay off.

scratch-n-sniff

i used to love those stickers that gave you that hint of scent whether of fruit or soap. as i drove back from phoenix last night i drove into flag and the aroma of pine filled my car. look at those peaks, just beautiful! blurry but you get the point. humphreys spoke to me and told me he was majestic and i needed to appreciate his summit sometime soon. as a teenager i disliked the thought of going to college in flag, it was too close to home and too cold. as i've grown, every time i go there, there's a peacefulness i enjoy and ease that makes me want to stay awhile. it may be a combo of the hippies, trees and delicious dara thai food it's probably more.

i religiously go to the rainbow connection & animas trading company downtown for my hippy shopping needs. i was enchanted again by the smell of incense and after purchasing a few items the heavy smell accompanied me all the way back to my parents' home. as i sniff my new clothes i'm grateful that smell hasn't been too over generated or imitated. the tv doesn't shoot out smells get, yes i know there's a ride in disneyland that does but i'm grateful for the memories surrounded by smells and it can't be copied as other things can. candles may try but they don't raise a flame to the pure goodness of a pine.

i'm a bit of a purist and i was happy to see in their city weekly-like paper, flagstaff live! that a. it's wasn't full of mormon critics (and yes other places talk about normal stuff not for religion always to be brought up, i still like city weekly but at times want to stop talking about ills of opinion of mormonism) and b. a section for you to send it your pictures that aren't enhanced by photoshop. oh and c. hearing about some one's musical, passionate global pursuit. it hard to leave... but i knew i'd be visiting this in cameron to read my fortune according to my birth month and wate?

hmmm... another great tradition fulfilled.

(oh no! i just noticed for years i've been putting the coin in the wrong spot. it's supposed to be in the slot opposite of my month born, i've had the wrong fortune for years! great, this is going to linger in my mind for awhile.)

true fact:

i haven't seen any of the olympics until last night (i don't own a tv)
i didn't know ANY of the names of peeps in the olympics
i was mocked when i didn't know some swimming person last week that was supposed to win a billion gold metals or something...
i thought it may be too much glory or athletes with big heads
but it did has made me teary every night and proud of these amazingly disciplined people

worn out

my life for the past few weeks:

lil children wearing me out

(i wore them out a little as well)

reuniting with ash

after she has successfully completed her RN *whoot woo!

wearing inge & bassie out

(o.k. & myself)

ward camp out

midnight full moon hike

staying up till 3 a.m.

wearing myself out (what's my age again?)

kickin it with grandpa in vegas

after days of making jelly & today we went to the temple

and look FINALLY he's worn out. my mom told me if i worked him hard enough he'd take longer naps...

which hasn't been the case.

& i'm worn out from just a few hours of shopping trying to find a stupid shirt to go under my suit. why can't it happen like my darling $2.90 dress as seen above that i got at ann taylor loft (my first time going to the store)

super sabbath

quick weekend recap. after enjoying a hike with ash, inge & bassie i decided the mtns are so nice and that i did want to smell campfire and smell like campfire so off to my ward camp out i went. the two days were full of good conversations which i realize i crave most of the time. friday night was not complete without a full moon hike at midnight. i'm hoping i can pass on the mooners hiking club wherever i end up. conversations around the burning embers lasted till at lease three when really the giggling happens more frequently and people's filters of what to say/not to say get thin.

among the conversation was the discussion of a secret room located in our church building. the true fact is... it is possible to get to with a key that unlocks another entrance with a ladder attached to the ceiling entrance but really who has the key and who wants to go that way where there is exploring to do.

so those of you who think people get boring as they get older, false. not true...

continue reading....

so after a righteous sacrament meeting i make my way into sunday school class ready for my uplift for the week from tanya. moments after i sit down and meet the new guy next to me, i get a tap from spencer. no hello, hey can i talk to you but a clear statement, "paul and i want to see the secret room." a lil taken away and having somewhat selfish thoughts because of my love of a good sunday school lesson and quite honestly i need the sunday boost in my life to keep me going. i hesitate a little... question about when the other ward will stop and am told we just have a window of time. a little voice comes into my head of my best friend in college, leslie, always saying to me... "what are the times you're going to remember? the times with your books or the times with your friends?" then i thought why do i need to act like a responsible almost 30 year old? so with that i left and we headed to the balcony.

i explained the rules of the exploration, neither could look up my dress and we would have to work together. after seeing the attic opening both thought that we needed a ladder and i said we'd be too obvious with it so we had to go up. using the pew and wall we all lifted ourselves up. paul stated that he luckily can do a pull-up. i was worried myself after going once before and having help but was reminded of the late amy brown now amy plasto that if she could do it so could i. so we departed suit coats (spencer and paul's) and sandals (mine) and headed up. i forgot how dark it is up in the attic and none of us had our cell phones for light.

we walked on the beams in the dark and luckily no old rusty nails found my naked feet. we came to the opening and peered below to the folding chair that awaited our decent. as a good leader would do and seeing that the drop was of a significant amount i voted paul to go first since he was the tallest out of the three. with a lil slam against the wall and a few scrapes and audible ouches he got down. i went last and i was impressed they both actually looked away as my slick $2.90 ann taylor dress came down with me. i left a picturesque foot mark on spencer's nice dark brown shirt. if i would have only old had a camera! the secret room was then observed and then we headed back. one time i will bring a screwdriver and open the shut windows to show my triumphant of getting there.

after returning to the entrance i peeped from the top i didn't see anyone in the chapel. i could hear a voice downstairs but we quickly swung down. i tried to help paul but quickly realized he was best on his own and found my face in his bootie and thought i really don't know him all that well and this may make him uncomfortable and quickly moved to the side. with smirks on our faces we rushed to the unisex bathroom to dust ourselves off and help each other look unsuspecting. luckily all smears of dirt on my face were discarded before reentering sunday school. i even got a good last 10-15 minutes to feel boosted.

after conversations by a campfire and a little adventure during church i feel like i have two new friends whether they like it or not.

later in the day a little smirk as we passed made my day... like i know where you've been today.

we think we're so cool.

ninjas

one of my most favorite things about danielle's house is secretly watching the ninjas practice. i always act kind & smile at them because i believe they could destroy me. the hard part is trying to get a good picture of them without getting caught. i used my car's blind spot here. there always seems to be one on the porch with sunglasses and i can't tell if he's looking at me or not. luckily they practice 5 days a week in the street in front of her house. you're jealous.

sleep police

i'm back in the slc doing the daily grind of finding the right job so the other day my friend tara & i went to the beautiful city library (which i saw more of an appreciate and love more now). while we were there i was typing away at resumes, cover letters, etc. while tara snuggled into a seat near me took a lil snoozer.
then out of know where she was awakened by a cop. they woman shook her and said nothing. i didn't see the sleep police approach us because she came from my back. it startled us both and then we were just confused. is it unlawful to fall asleep at the library? we've seen people do this act for eons of time. tara didn't look like she was homeless. i came to the conclusion that it was because she was using another chair to put her legs up and it's like the trax rule of keeping your feet off the seats. either way she was slightly frightened to fall asleep again but she did anyways. and unbeknown st to the both of us there's sleep police roaming the library. watch out!

may i please have some milky in a bottle?

the simple needs of josephine

i'm not sure how many times i heard this everyday but i never got sick of hearing it.

i think she even converted me to whole organic milk

look at her she could convert about anyone to anything

i don't hear too well

so in my adventures in babysitting... or pseudo nannying over the weekend juli & patrick went out to the grape festival (which i could have sworn they said the greek festival). it was confusing to hear juli talk about italians and spaghetti when talking about the festival when i was envisioning baklava and kabobs. anyways i got to babysit with the help of breia and kj. after dinner, i was hoping to gently persuade simon to sleep but found myself praying by the swinger for him to stop crying and go to sleep. motherhood and nannying bring you closer to God.

i came prepared to share lars & the real girl for everyone to appreciate. so breia, kj, & i started the movie and since it was round two for me in two days for the movie i promptly feel asleep as i did the night before. as the good pseudo nanny that i am, i didn't wake up until juli & patrick were about to go to bed and breia & kj had already left. so anyone that would like to sign up for my services, please let me know. i may be able to sleep through all of your children's cries, fire alarms or people coming in and out of the house.

i unfortunately had this problem as a young teen babysitting my little sister, but i thought i grew out of it. obviously not. with my sister my parents had gone out for the evening and left their key to the house inside so when they returned they pounded on my windows and walls but i didn't even stir. they eventually went to a neighbor's to get a key since i couldn't be wakened.

so feel comfort in letting me watch your children :)
i do fill up cups with ice well for parties though

pseudo nanny

while being here in arkansas i wanted to prove to myself that i could possibly handle being a mom some day so i took it upon myself to become pseudo nanny.

things that i haven't done in a while or ever include: changing a diaper(cloth ones at that), holding a baby for an extended amount of time, rocking a baby/toddler, acting like a fool to make one or two kiddos happy, reading books, singing "the wise man built his house upon a rock," and other such activities.
juli tells me i'm patient, i think i could probably work on that more. i think mothers are quite incredible. they have very little sleep especially when their college friends keep them up talking nightly but don't get up early in the morning to help with the kids, they have hips of steel, and are extremely compassionate and PATIENT! juli's kids are really good but as i think of all my friends with babinos i'm just simply impressed.

cheers to you moms!

arkan-sass

i arrived around 1 a.m. to nw arkansas to feel the humidity again
i had no idea it'd be so posh in arkansas.i haven't seen such cool toilets since a layover in chicago years ago

dani's first "real" mtn. bike adventure

not staged action shot

staged bootyilicious action shot

the pipeline is a quick good classic to start out on. danielle showed her skills and successfully did not fall off her bike or lose her front brake (oh wait i did both those things).

beautiful sunset and we only got back to our car at almost 10 p.m.

tube-o-fun

summer is here and shooting the tube is back on... my favorite screaming came from the "men" of the group

a thanks to dainon for introducing me my new favorite spot in the slc

new place to be discovered is a hot spring in the city during the day (not 1 a.m. at night)

so we don't awake any more city campers with a radio and a sketchy stare and have to descend through the bushes to avoid him on the path.

cut it out

cut out one: unrighteous. another reason mormons are sometimes ridiculous

who cares if the kid is missing the wedding. can you just say he's on a mission, hopefully it was his choice and honestly he'd rather be there than at the wedding. and really how much did you spend on that cut out. it probably could have paid for the whole village where your son is serving his mission to eat for a month.

cut out two: righteous. time for change america! obama even supports the farmer's market. i just wish he would have footed my bill there today. i have very little self control there but can you blame me?

great new thought notebooks

and an amazing light switch cover