For your viewing pleasure

Watch this: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-234182513423170575&q=lone+peak+utah&hl=en

It's freaking hilarious. It's when my brother Nathan and his friend Zach scaled Lone Peak mountain. It's eight minutes long, but well worth the viewing time. My favorite is the last two minutes or so. They're planning a repeat trip in the summer of 2009 and this is their recruitment video.

Random thoughts

1. So I'm sitting at my desk last week, going about my regular work day activities when the phone rings. I answer, and to my surprise it is the editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine wanting me to apply for their interactive online editor job. They are looking to expand their websites, make them more interactive, and build more community. Now, I'm not saying this to brag, I'm saying it because I'm shocked that they're calling little old me. This is the first time I've been recruited for a job. Usually I am racking my brain trying to convince people that they need to hire me and how perfect I'd be for the job. Anyway, if I wanted to further my career in this online magazine stuff, it'd be a fabulous opportunity. But since I'm pretty sure I don't want to stay in this career for the rest of my life, and I'm almost positive I don't want to move to Iowa (where their headquarters are) I said I wasn't interested. Am I crazy?

2. I'm so stinkin' excited that it's October. That means it's Halloween season. I say season because for me, it's not just a one-day event...I try to make it last as long as possible and have as many festivites as I can manage. I love Halloween, I don't know why, but I absolutely love it....it's my favorite holiday. I think I just love the opportunity to be someone different for a day. What's your favorite holiday, and why?

3. General Conference weekend was a totally different experience for me this year. I was driving home Friday night, and the police had already started blocking off my street. There was this gigantic satellite dish on the street in front of my house hooked to a little trailer. I walked over on Saturday to see what it was and that little trailer is where they broadcast conference to the whole world. It was full of little TVs monitoring everything and tons of electronic switches and a guy with those big headphones inside controlling everything. It was pretty amazing. Then I saw Elder Perry going in the back door of the conference center, which I can see from my bedroom window. And, I could hear the bagpipe guys playing their hymns all day trying to drown out all the protestors. Anyway, it was pretty neat experiencing it all from right across the street. It also was kind of weird watching the sessions I couldn't attend on my TV from across the street. I almost felt guilty, but there was nothing more I could do to try and get inside.

Why do we do dumb things?

I'm not quite sure why I wanted to go on a 14 hour hike, jump into sub-Arctic temperature water, shimmy down 100-foot rock drops, climb out of a canyon in the pitch black, get home at 3:30 a.m. and get up at 6:30 for work the next day, and not be able to walk for 3 days after...but the Subway hike in Zions is pretty dang cool. Note to self: Don't ever go in September again unless you have a wetsuit.

This is why they call it the Subway...pretty amazing how rocks do that.
So just as we got out of the slot canyon, we heard a thunderous noise, and we all sprinted for high ground. Luckily it was not a flash flood but what if there really would have been? I can't even imagine being stuck in that canyon and getting swept away by the freezing cold water.

This is where I fell last time while trying to rapell down that rock face and I hit the rock cliff wall on the left side of this picture. This time though, we all made it safely by shimmying down that little crack and then swimming across.
Can I just say my Gramps is amazing? What other 80-year-old man would brave this one? And then get up the next day and go on yet another hike. I hope I have his genes!

Anyway, back to my original question. I think I do dumb things sometimes to add a little excitement to my life. I get bored of being in the same old routine every single day. I think it's somewhat a form of "rebellion". I think I just didn't want to go to work that day, so I almost killed myself on this hike instead. Or how about the time when I chopped off my hair and got a really ugly haircut just because I needed a change. I think I let things go for too long until I get super frustrated with the mundaneness of my life so I feel like I have to do something drastic.

Note: I think I made this hike sound like a dreadful killer. It's an extremely awesome hike--my favorite in fact--and I'd recommend it to anyone in half-decent condition. We just had some unexpected setbacks that made it a bit more challenging.

Tom Selleck graces the Utah State Fair

With Napolean Dynamite last year and Tom this year, I can't even imagine who they could possibly get for next year to top it off! This is way better than the butter cow. I also hope the Minnesota donut man makes a reappearance next year. Good times for all. Next year I will remember to bring a coat though.

What is wrong with this picture?

Today is September 16. It snowed today. Not just in the mountains, but at my apartment. What is wrong with this picture?

29.5 hours, 619 miles, 1 almost failed campfire, 10 numb toes, and $800 later...

I made it to Bryce Canyon! And was it ever cool. I have never seen anything quite like it...it was seriously amazing. It's so extremely cool how the rocks have eroded to be what they are--and so many all in one place. Wow! Really that's all I can say--WOW!

I must say that we had quite the adventure. We could not start a fire for the life of us, so we just left to set up the tent after burning all the paper we could find, and left our tin foil dinners in the fire pit, hoping they'd cook in the heat of the burning paper. But when we came back, the logs had finally lit on fire. I can't explain how it happened, but it was unbelievable. Then I had an unfortunate mishap with a tree as I was backing out of the campground,which is why this trip cost me $800. Don't worry, the tree is OK. Hopefully my car will be too. At least the trunk still shuts. And now I have an excuse to get the stalker key scratches fixed.

And now the summer is officially drawing to a close. I think I'll wear black all week for proper mourning. But to celebrate the last day of summertime (OK, I know it doesn't officially end til the 21st or so, but we all know it really ends on Labor Day.) I went hiking, and had a blast. Goodbye summer of 2006--and hello fall! Season of football games, corn mazes, apples, the fair, pumpkins, and my favorite holiday--Halloween!

Summer Staples

It's the last week of August, and the end of summer is drawing nigh. Summer is my favorite season, and I feel like this one went by especially quickly...and I'm sad it's practically over. I feel like I didn't even do much this summer. For me to feel like summer is complete, I have to participate in all my summer staples, and I just haven't gotten to do all of them this summer. It's just not summer without:

camping
going to the cabin
outdoor movies
lounging about by the pool doing absolutely nothing
enjoying fireworks
BBQs
corn on the cob and other fresh garden vegetables
homemade ice cream
concerts in the park
hiking with Gramps
a summer vacation
demolition derby
rodeo
boating at the lake
sleeping out under the stars
mowing the lawn (or at least smelling the freshly cut grass)

I guess I still have a few weeks left to complete my summer checklist. What are your summer staples?

Because I haven't posted in awhile...

Here's a few random things to report on.

Story #1. Family pictures. I feel like I should be on a yaught with these preppy colors. I tried to put in my two cents about wardrobe color choices, but no one would listen. Maybe someday I'll get to be the one in charge. P.S. I have no idea how to spell yaught.

Story #2. My bro Nathan and his friend made their annual hike up to the top of Lone Peak mountain. They do this every year and bring this gi-normous flashlight and shine it from the top, then call everyone they know to see how many people can see it. You can see it from both Salt Lake and Utah counties...pretty cool. They also wore lederhosen since apparantley there is some meadow up at the top that looks like it should be in The Sound of Music. Anyway, the funny story is that some people from the valley mistook their flashlight as a cry for help, so they sent the airmed people up to rescue them. Nathan and Zach saw the helicopter coming and thought it was Channel 2 so they started waving to it, but as it approached, they realized it was airmed and started waving it away. Well, the copter landed anyway and cussed them out and left. Then it was reported on the news as some pranksters (in lederhosen) who alerted airmed unnecessarily. HA!

Story #3. Went to a yoga class this week, it was a little bit ridiculous, but at the end of class as we were laying on mats on the floor with these eye pillow things over our eyes, the instructor was telling us to take this moment to appreciate our bodies and what they do for us. And I was thinking about how many little pleasures come from our senses. You know, stuff like feeling the warmth of the sun, the smell of bread baking, hearing birds chirping, etc. And to be honest, life would be quite boring without stuff like that. So, here's to yoga and body/mind appreciation.

That's all for now.

Kiss Me, I Belong in Ireland

You Belong in Dublin

Friendly and down to earth, you want to enjoy Europe without snobbery or pretensions. You're the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl... or enjoy a quiet bike ride through the old part of town.

What European City Do You Belong In?

We are FAMILY

Ahh...family reunions, gotta love 'em. Here we are at Brian Head down by Cedar City. It was pretty fun, even if my Grandma did have every second of our day filled with summer-camp-like activities. The cabin we stayed was utterly amazing--seriously like a mansion-cabin with an amazing view. I've never heard of a cabin with a sauna inside!


We did encounter a mouse in the cabin, which was the cause of much drama, but other than that everything went pretty smoothly. Except for the fact that I forgot all the words to my part of the lip synch.


We went to Cedar Breaks at the family reunion and I must say I was quite impressed. They say Bryce Canyon is like Cedar Breaks only more breathtaking. I've never been to Bryce Canyon before. And to think I've lived in Utah all these years. I am planning a camping trip to go sometime...who is game? I love Utah! I think it has some great destination points with such a variety of landscaping. I've decided I need to get a job at visitutah.com or something so I can just tell everyone about the fabulous things there are to do here.