Saturday, July 26, 2008

A Quick Update...

On Thursday night I went with Jason and his brother to the Rocky Mountain Revue. It's a basketball game by the rookies of the Utah Jazz playing other rookies of professional basketball teams. I haven't seen a professional basketball game in person before but it was awesome. It was an intense game versus the Atlanta Hawks and I'm amazed that the Utah Jazz actually won.

Yesterday afternoon Jason and I went to the theater down the street to reserve our seats for The Dark Night and we actually were able to see it on the IMAX screen which is amazing though it's a little hard to figure out which part you should focus on. At this particular theater they let you reserve your seats so after reserving our seats we headed over to Smith's to pick up breakfast...donuts. I have yet to find a good donut bakery out here other than Krispy Kreme but that's all the way down in Provo. It was a really good movie and pretty violent, Heath Ledger was pretty scary and very convincing as The Joker.

Do any of you remember playing laser tag as a child? You know the game where everyone gets a laser gun and you have to go around and try and shoot them with it...Well, I had the opportunity to do that last night at an actual laser tag course. It was a lot of fun even though I got shot at quite a bit and the guns actually record who you shot and who shot you and where and then they give you a printout afterwards telling you all of that information including your rank...I was ranked number 15 out of 22 which I guess isn't too horrible but I would have liked to have been ranked higher. I tried hiding in one area when it first started but no one came around that area so I started moving and that's when I got tagged...so I went up on the tower and tried shooting at the people down below or across from us and I think I did pretty well up there until I got hit in the back or the shoulders. Oh well, it was a lot of fun, it cost $7.50 for just 15 minutes of play time. After that we went to Coldstone Creamery for dessert and I really enjoy their Peant Butter Cup Perfection. It's basically Chocolate ice cream, peanut butter, fudge, and peanut butter cups and it's wonderful. I don't have anything else to add at the moment, I'm just trying to pass the time while I water the lawn. Anyway, I'll talk to you all later.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

I am not a fan of the DMV Driver's License renewal process!

I'm not sure why I do it but I always want to start my blog with the word "Well" so I decided to start it off with this sentence instead. Last Friday (6/11) Jason and I went back to Lagoon and this time I remembered to layer on the sunscreen. I didn't get burnt at all...I know you are all so proud of me. The most disappointing thing of the day though was that one of our favorite rides was closed due to a malfunction of some sort and they were waiting for a part to arrive. I did however ride Blastoff Reentry or something along those lines, it's supposed to be like Drop Zone at Great America but I don't think it's quite as high...I'll admit, I thought I was going to pee my pants but I'm sure you didn't really need to know that. It takes you up 215 feet and lets you sit there for a little bit before dropping you...We also went on a few water rides that we didn't get to the last time we went one of which was called Rattlesnake Rapids. We were waiting in line in the hot sun for a bit and watching people as they came off thinking oh they aren't too wet...A lot of them were pretty dry and there were only a few that looked completely soaked. I was really hoping that I wouldn't get too wet but alas, that didn't happen. It was just the two of us and these two other guys in the circular raft and I got the brunt of it, even though I was the lightest person in that boat. They even take you under a waterfall which is crazy since you are already soaked, I hid behind Jason during that part because of course it was coming straight for me. Luckily after that we went home so I didn't have to walk around completely soaked and feeling uncomfortable. Later that night we had a Stake Luau and we were pretty pumped for that they were going to have a catered dinner and hula dancers. We walked in and the catered dinner was basically pulled pork (I think) and a ball of rice and a fruit medley of sorts, I was a little disappointed but it was still pretty good. After that we sat around waiting for the show to start, and once it did it was a lot of fun. They showed us dances from New Zealand, Samoa, Tahiti and other places that I don't really remember now, they even had the fire dancers which is basically why I went and I wasn't disappointed. It was awesome!

Saturday was my roommate Holly's birthday party and so that night I sat around and ate cake and talked to people that I didn't know. At around 10pm we went outside and set up a little movie area with a projector and everything it was a nice setup but the grass was a little wet and we couldn't figure out why. Afterwards we found out that Adrienne had watered the lawn not thinking about the movie moment, she just thought that it looked a little dry there and was trying to save the lawn. Luckily, it wasn't soaking wet or anything so it's all good.

Sunday I went to church and after Jason got off work he came to pick me up to make me dinner. He made bacon fried rice and barbecued some terriyaki chicken and it was really good, we didn't get to eat until like 9 though because he had bought a wok the night before and we didn't get around to seasoning it until then...that is quite a long drawn out process. I remember Mom seasoning the dutch oven that they never use that's been sitting out in the garage for who knows how long. Let's just say that's a process that I don't want to have to repeat, why can't all pans come already seasoned?

Monday, Jason cooked me dinner that night as well and he made Tacos and they were really good. I hadn't had homemade Tacos since leaving home back in April and I can say that I really miss my parents cooking (you guys are amazing in the kitchen! I look forward to you coming out next month and maybe making me something tasty...you know, if you want to). Tuesday night I went with Jason and his brother and roommate to Del Taco and it was really an interesting experience. I have to tell you that this was at like 10pm and I don't think I will go to a fast food place around that time ever again. This might sound kind of mean saying it but there were a lot of weird people that came in at that time. There was a security guard guy that came in before us and he actually parked his car in the drive thru lane and came inside and ordered 6 tacos and ate those and then ordered 3 more he left at the same time we did so I hope that no one was trying to come through the drive thru at that time. Then there was a girl that came in and she was asking the guy at the counter if she could buy stamps there and she was carrying a lot of shopping bags and I don't think she ordered anything. She just stood at the counter for probably 10 minutes before moving over towards our table and she ended up taking to Jason's roommate Brent for a bit and she was really coherent from what it sounded like. It was definately an interesting night.

I had received a call from Brittany earlier in the week telling me that she had received a package from Jordan and Christina for Sisters Day and they sent me a present. I didn't get down there until Wednesday night to pick it up and they had sent me some really sturdy magnets (Thank You Guys...we actually needed those). Hayley and Tia wanted to have a Sisters Day since there is a Mother's Day and a Father's Day so Brittany and I were to celebrate Sisters Day on Thursday July 17. I called Brittany to wish her a happy Sisters Day but she didn't get my message until Friday so that's how we celebrated. It's ok Brittany, we can just say that we celebrated it a little early since we saw each other on Wednesday night. Thursday night I went with Eden to a ward party at someone's house and we just watched people play volleyball and tried to avoid hornets who were really interested in my Taco. Yes, it's true I had Tacos a few times last week...what can I say, I like them.

On Friday, Jason and I both need to renew our driver's licenses which expire next month so we went to the DMV around 3:30 hoping to get in and out before they closed at 5:30...the line was huge and we weren't willng to wait that long so we just left and decided to come back on Monday morning at 7am when they open...hoping to beat the rush. This morning Jason came to pick me up at 6:30am and we went to the DMV and there was a line going halfway through the parking lot, so much for being first in line. We ended up waiting about an hour and a half before getting called up to do the testing. I had kind of psyched myself out thinking that it was going to be hard and that I might fail it but luckily it was open book. I got to take my test on the computer system which was nice because then I could find out my score right away instead of taking the written version and having to wait. I'm proud to say that I passed so I can still drive but...I'm very disappointed in my drivers license picture...I look like I'm disgusted at something in the background and I just don't look happy. I tried not to smile too bif because in some of the pictures in Europe I smiled really big and my eyes bugged out and I didn't want that to happen so I just smiled a little bit and I think I'm more disppointed in that...if only they would have let me take it again. Jordan, do you remember my School ID pictures? It's like one of those. Oh well, hopefully I don't really have to show it to anyone...I still have my Oregon license but they poked holes in the bottom so that you can't really use it anymore...I'm disappointed in that too, that picture on my Oregon license was perfect, why can't they just cut that picture out and paste it on the Utah license, wouldn't that be easier? Ok probably not but at least I would be happy with the picture. I just need to let it go and not worry about that too much. Well I don't have anything else to really report but I'll update again soon. Talk to you all later...

Thursday, July 10, 2008

What do Wiffle Ball, a Fly Massacre and family have in common? Probably not what you would think...And no the massacre was not caused by a wiffle ball

Well it's been a little over a week since I last wrote on my blog and I kept telling myself that not much happened but thinking back that's not entirely accurate. I've been able to hang out with Kevin, Nicole and Noah the past week and it's been a lot of fun. Last Monday Jason and I travelled down to Provo at 7:30 am to help keep the Stephenson grandbabies occupied while they take their family portraits. That was a lot of fun actually, and it didn't take that long. It was nice that Kevin and Nicole got to meet Jason and I think they like him so that's a plus. We felt pretty good about our work there so Jason and I decided to treat ourselves to IHOP.

On Tuesday I made my way down to Provo again to invite myself to lunch with Brittany, Clay, Kevin, Nicole and Noah at Maria Bonita's. It's Brittany's favorite Mexican Food restaurants down there in Provo. They give you tons of food with your meal, like chips and salsa, and this soup that was really good that had chicken and rice and some kind of broth. I got the taquitos and those were really good.

Then on Wednesday night we went out again with Brittany, Clay, Kevin, Nicole, Noah, Jason and Eden...we went to Red Robin this time and it was nice to be there with friends and family...even though we were still missing a few members of the Smith clan children (THAT MEANS YOU JORDAN AND CHRISTINA AND GIRLS). We were thinking of going to play wiffle ball after that but everyone was too full to move and run around so we decided to skip that and go another day.
On Thursday I went to lunch with the Stephenson family to Applebees and then we went to the South Towne Mall in Sandy for a little bit and I ended up buying myself a shirt at Maurices (you didn't need to know that but I thought that I would add it in anyway) and it was fun going into a store with Nicole and looking around (you can be my shopping buddy anytime).

Then on the 4th of July I didn't really have any plans until later in the evening with Jason so basically I was just trying to pass the time shopping at Barnes & Noble and checking out some other stores. It was during that time that I got bored and called Brittany up who was going to the Stephenson Family Barbeque at 3:00...so basically I invited myself to that too but then I felt bad and said that I wouldn't go and then I got a call from Kevin who told me that Kara Lee would be offended if I didn't come. So I went to the BBQ and it felt like old times actually, I think I've spent the past two July 4th's with the Stephensons in Medford so it was nice to keep up tradition (Thanks for letting me hang out with you guys!). Then I made my way back up to Salt Lake so that I could be there when Jason came to pick me up for the fireworks. He got off work and we took off to Sugarhouse Park and had to go some odd routes to get there due to street closures and everything. We found one place in the park next to a duck pond so we sat there for a few minutes before we realized all of the smokers in the vacinity. So we made our way to another part of the park where there were a lot of people but we still weren't exactly sure where they were going to be launching the fireworks from so we kind of just decided to try that area anyway since that was where everyone seemed to be congregating. We had to wait around for about an hour and a half but the fireworks that followed was excellent, they were so pretty to watch.

On Sunday I invited Kevin, Nicole, Noah, Brittany, Clay and Jason over for roast and baked potatoes. Of course, I delegated to others different food items to bring. I took care of the roast and Kool-Aid, Brittany and Clay made baked potatoes and Kevin and Nicole brought a Marie Callendars pie so we were fed well. While waiting for Brittany and Clay to come we noticed that we had probably about 20 flies in the upstairs family room alone and they seemed to multiply by the second. We didn't have a fly swatter and we couldn't figure out where they were coming from but luckily I remembered while growing up Kevin and Jordan and Dad even killing fruit flies with rubber bands so I gave Kevin a rubber band and he went to work. He actually took out quite a few, and it was impressive work; however, he still left marks on the glass which I'm sure you all wanted to know but it was impressive nonetheless. After the great fly massacre started by Kevin and Jason we finished making dinner and sat down to eat. Everything was so delicious and clean up was a breeze. We were planning on playing wiffle ball afterwards but Noah was getting grumpy so Kevin and Nicole took off back to Provo to put him to bed so Brittany, Clay, Jason and I took off to Murray Park to play a quick game. I had all of the equipment, even bases and we found a nice place and laid everything out...remember not to play wiffle ball near any streams or anything because it can carry your ball away. I think after dinner Brittany and I were having trouble running the bases but it was still fun. Clay and Jason hit a few homeruns and Clay hit one under a car that was passsing by and amazingly it came out unscathed...but we did lose one ball to that stream...oh well.

On Tuesday evening I went down to Provo again to be with Kevin, Nicole and Noah one last time before they took off to Logan. We went to El Azteca and they have really good Mexican food there, even Noah seemed to enjoy it. We then went to Orem park to play some more wiffle ball. This team it was Kevin and I against Brittany and Clay. Yep, we were winning thanks to Kevin but then the last inning I couldn't catch a thing and Brittany and Clay kept hitting the ball and scoring runs so we ended up losing, oh well, it was a fun game anyway. Noah kept running onto the field and taking some of the balls away, he even got up to bat with daddy's help. He is so cute! After we finished playing our game Nicole wanted to help a few so I sat with Noah on a park bench while she hit. He was standing next to the bench and he would sign please so I lifted him up and put him on the bench with me, he'd walk around on it and then he leaned in to give the bench a kiss...and I'd pull him back and say dirty and he'd start laughing and he'd try it again and I'd pull him back and would tell him dirty and he'd start laughing again. I think this was our time of bonding...he actually let me give him a hug and a kiss before they took off for the hotel this time. After taking Brittany and Clay home I went to Krispy Kreme donut and picked up a few before heading home...they just sounded so good. Well, I don't think I really have anything else to report but I think Jason and I are going to go back to Lagoon tomorrow for a few hours and this time I'm definately coating myself in sunscreen. I'll tell you how it goes!

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

A quick trip to California...

Well this past weekend was a lot of fun! Jason had 4 days off and we decided to go down to California to go to the beach and to see his family. We left early on Thursday morning..around 4:00am and drove down to Mira Loma, California which is just outside of Riverside. It was a nice ride and actually wasn't as long as I thought that it would be, we arrived there around 1pm and actually needed to fill up once in St. George. He drove me around the town before meeting with his family, and in Norco (which is just outside of Mira Loma) they don't have concrete sidewalks they have sidewalks for horses and stuff...and no street lamps either. His family was very nice and welcoming, I like to think that we got along pretty well and it's obvious they were pretty excited to have him there if only for a few days.

On Friday morning I got ready to go to the beach that morning but first we made our way to Huntington Beach to visit Jason's Grandparents and after visiting with them for awhile we took off to the actual beach. It was overcast outside but I still put on sunscreen everywhere I could remember and let's just say that Huntington Beach is definately a lot warmer than any of the beaches that I have ever been to in Oregon. It cost $10 just to park the car anywhere remotely close to the beach. We walked along the beach for awhile and then walked back to the car to get our stuff and then walked to a restaurant on the Pier called Ruby's (It's kind of like a 50's diner). I got their cookies & cream milkshake and they had pretty good hamburgers but their french fries were delicious. Jason got their Chocolate Peanut Butter Shake and I was surprised at how good that was. He then took me to Fashion Island which is a really nice mall in LA there, there were lots of fountains all over the place which was fun to watch the kids run around in. We then took off back to his house during Friday night 5 o'clock traffic, seriously it took us what seemed like forever to get home but it was a nice adventure. We picked up his brother and went to see "Get Smart" and it was then standing in line that I realized I had completely missed the back of my right leg and the back of my ankle when putting on sunscreen that morning. After the movie we went back to his house and found some Aloe which felt good. We then took off to come back to Utah by about 9:00 am, and again it was a long ride but it didn't seem that long, we arrived at 8 that night. On Sunday I must have been so tired because I didn't wake up until 11, I went to church and when Jason came over afterwards we made dinner together and then we took off down to Provo to have a game night with Brittany and Clay. We started off with Pit and that was fun but of course I lost every single time, it just seems to be the way things go down. After that we played Risk, Clay is really good at it and knows all of the rules and Jason had played it a few times and knew some of the rules but he picked it up a lot quicker than I did. I actually ended up winning the game but I still don't understand the rules. Well, I don't think I have anything else to add to this other than photos from my trip down to California, the pictures of Jason are basically him trying to catch a sand crab and stuff...and I couldn't help but take a few pictures of some Ferrari's along the road as we waited in traffic.