Lagoon: It's what FUN is!

So yesterday I went to Lagoon for like 10 1/2 hours and it was a blast! We started the day with Wicked, which probably had the longest line of the whole day:

We went roller coaster crazy for a little while, then got a little nauseated on The Rocket so we took a little break and took a picture of the stamp on our hands.

I don't know what it is about getting old that makes you sick on the good rides, but we kind of had to take it easy the rest of the day. We still rode all the good roller coasters and the Music Express and all that, but we rode some of the tamer rides in between. We went on the Sky Ride:

Saw the tigers from the train:

Rode the carousel:


And Rattlesnake Rapids twice. This was after our second time. It's hard to tell in the picture, but we were pretty much soaked.

A couple of funny things happened while standing in the lines. I don't know what we were doing, but little kids kept talking to us. We were in line for the bumper cars and this kid who was probably 9 or 10 turned to us and said, "So how are you guys doing today?" We said we were doing great and then he kept asking us questions like where we were from and stuff. It was so...odd. Nice kid though. Then later we were in line for Jet Star II and there were 2 little girls about the same age as the other kid, in front of us. One of them was doing the potty dance and she turned to me and said, "I have to go to the bathroom! We've been drinking soda all day!" Then the other girl started getting all hyper and Derek asked her if she'd ever had a Rockstar, and she said no, because they made her fall asleep because she has ADHD. She said all of this super fast and then they just went off about all the rides they had been on, and they were jumping up and down this whole time. They wore me out just watching them.

So we had fun. Lagoon is what fun is, after all. Thanks for going with me Derek! :)

Parade of Homes

Yesterday Parade of Homes started in Davis, Morgan and Weber counties. I have always wanted to go to this awesome event, and this year I finally got the chance! My friend Susan has gone a lot with her mom so she said she'd go with me this year. Last night when I got home from work we went through 3 homes, starting at the bottom in North Salt Lake and working our way up. These houses are awesome!

House #1 - North Salt Lake

The master bathroom shower had two showerheads at different heights. His and Hers?

The kitchen downstairs had a TV!

I think every house had a theater room.

A cute bedroom.

This is half of the closet. The other half is behind me. It was bigger than my bedroom.

House #2 - Bountiful
This house was humongous.

Living room. I liked the windows up by the ceiling.

Basketball court; view from the exercise room.

House #3 - Bountiful
This was my favorite house. The colors and the way it was decorated inside were so beautiful.

Living room. I love the ceiling beams.

You can clean yourself with the toilet in the master bathroom.

The elevator.

A really cool bench! Someone pointed out to me that it's a ski lift chair. So cool!

My favorite room ever! I love pink/black/white.

I love looking at houses so this was a lot of fun. We're just getting started though! I think we're going to go again on Wednesday night, so watch for more pics!

Promptings

So today a couple of things happened that made me grateful for promptings we receive from Heavenly Father. They weren't big by any means. Just small promptings (more like nudges I guess).

The first one was this morning. I realized I forgot to set my alarm last night when I work up this morning at 7:05. Usually I am alarmed at about 6:45, after which I hit snooze until about....oh, 7:05ish. Now I am not normally an early riser on my own, so the fact that I woke up all by myself at the exact time that I needed to was nothing short of a miracle. Or maybe just a little nudge.

The second also occurred this morning, as I was driving to work. There was a truck in front of my loaded with stuff, and on top of all the stuff was a big box that looked pretty precarious. I noticed it wobbling a little bit and I thought to myself, "I hope that box doesn't fall off right in front of me." I also noticed that I was driving a little too close to the truck, so I tried backing off a little (I get that from someone in my family, but I won't say who Mom). Maybe about 30 seconds later I was startled when the box flew off the truck, right in front of me. I was still a little too close, but was able to swerve around it. It didn't seem like there was a lot of stuff in it, but who knows if it would have done damage to my car if I had run right into it. I'm grateful for that little nudge as well.

Isn't it funny how promptings come? I usually never notice them until after they occur, whether I followed them or not. I had a mission companion tell me once that someone had told her to always follow any thought she had as long as it wasn't bad. In other words, a lot of promptings we receive are through our thoughts, and it's very difficult to discern where those thoughts come from. So if it's a good thought, or it's not going to hurt anything or anyone, then follow it. It sounds a lot easier than it is, and is definitely something I need to work on.

Happy Birthday Luke!

Saturday was my nephew Luke's 1st birthday! We had lots of fun eating cake, opening presents and going to the duck park to feed the ducks. Here are some pics documenting the exciting event:

Balls!

He got a lot of presents. This is a really cool book that you can put your face in.

Luke with his cousin Hayden

He was really excited for his cake!

The Cake:

He actually didn't like the cake too much. Maybe it was the color?

He didn't really like his hat either. Oh well.

He really liked the ducks!

And the swings!

So that was his birthday. We all had a lot of fun and wore the little guy out. I can't believe he has been around for a whole year! It seems like just yesterday I was holding him in my arms at the hospital *sniff*. I love being an aunt and playing with my nephews. We sure love him and get so excited when he gets to come visit!

Fun with the fam (and one more thing checked off the To Do list!)

Last night Danika, Dan, and I went to the Real game! It was so much fun. The weather was perfect, the sun was in our eyes for only 10 minutes, and we didn't lose! Although we did tie 0-0. BUT we should have won. Kyle Beckerman (the one with the dreds) had a beautiful header in the second half that should have counted, but they called him offsides, which he wasn't. He was in line with the defender. Then there were like 3 other times when Real could have scored and it just didn't work out. Oh well, it was still fun.

Here we are at halftime. Dan is eating a piece of licorice for those wondering if his mouth is really like that.

I got a frisbee!

Dippin Dots! Mmmmmm.

It has been so much fun having Danika's little family here from Missouri. I know we're all going to miss them when they leave, especially Luke. He's so much fun!

He's getting so big!

He can almost walk on his own!

And he loves to go up and down the stairs!

I just love this picture. My mom actually took it and I think it's so funny because there is Luke in the background petting the bunny (he can actually say "bunny" now, it's so cute), and then there's Maggie in the foreground with a classic look on her face like she wants to say, "What the heck is going on."

Luke loves to go outside. Whenever I come home from work I always stop by to see him before he goes to bed, and he usually holds his arms out for me because he knows I'll take him out to see the bunny. It's so cute!

A Look Back at Life

I've seen this tag on SO many blogs, so here it is on mine. Thanks Steph for tagging whoever read your blog :)

20 years ago:
- We lived in Ventura, CA (I think we had just moved into a new house)
- I was about to start kindergarten
- I had a red and white dress with apples on it

10 years ago:
- We lived in Layton, UT
- I was just about to start high school
- I babysat a lot. My favorites to babysit were the Newman kids.

5 years ago:
- I had just started dating someone, which turned out to be a pretty long relationship
- I worked at the computer lab in the Telecom/Bus. Ed. building at Weber State
- I was nominated (and actually made it) for Homecoming Royalty at WSU - that's pretty much my one claim to fame.

3 years ago:
- Exactly three years ago I was in Brooklyn, NY
- My companion was Kaili Auna from Hawaii
- We did service every week at Prospect Park, where I was bit 10 times in one day by either a centipede or a pincher bug or something. I'm not sure which. I didn't see them til the next day and I freaked out because I thought they were bed bug bites (those came in a later area).
- We met and taught Norma Cruz y familia - the best family on my mission
- I had gained at least 5 pounds by then - gotta love rice and beans in extreme quantities!

1 year ago:
- I graduated from Weber State
- I got my first "real" job at MasterControl as a marketing assistant
- I bought my Mazda3!

So far this year:
- I moved back from SLC to Ogden
- I signed up to go with a group to Guatemala
- I put approximately 13,000 miles on my car just driving to and from work

Yesterday:
- I worked
- I went to Zupas for lunch
- I took my nephew outside to see the bunny
- I played soccer

Today:
- I'm working
- I'm going to the Real game tonight
- I'll probably eat a hot dog at the game

Next year:
- Hopefully my car will be paid off
- I really want to go to NY again
- Maybe I'll find a job closer to where I live?
- Who knows what the next year will bring!

I tag whoever wants to do this that hasn't already done it.

Weight Loss

A few people have asked me what I've done to lose weight, so I thought I'd do a short post on it. There are basically two things I have tried to focus on in the last month or so. 1 - portion control, and 2 - exercising.

Portion Control
I work with a lot of people who like to eat out for lunch. For almost a year, I went with them a lot. Sometimes 4-5 times a week. Not good for my tummy, or the rest of my body. Especially since I can always finish my meal and never take leftovers home. So as part of my "diet" I decided that I would only eat lunch out a max of 1 time per week. The rest of the time I bring my own lunch and try to keep the portions small. I also have been trying to eat a lot of foods that contain fiber. Nobody gets enough fiber in their diet, and I actually heard a couple of months ago that fiber helps break down the fat in the body, thus making it easier to burn. Or something like that. It sounded good to me, so I've been eating a lot of carrots. I also really like Fiber One bars, granola, and Go Lean Crunch cereal. Other fiber-heavy foods are: broccoli, corn, peas, apple w/ skin, prunes/raisins, beans & legumes, and anything whole wheat/grain. A lot of fruits have fiber in them as well.

I haven't tried to go on a "real" diet because I know that it wouldn't work for me. I love food too much. So the portion control thing is a lot easier for me to do, especially now that I've been doing it for about a month now. If I feel like I ate a lunch that was too big, I won't eat dinner or I'll just have a snack. Just do what you know you can do without putting a ton of calories into your diet. I found this on wikiHow. It has some pretty good info and tips.

Exercising
I hate running. For me to exercise it has to be fun, and it's nice to put a little variety into it. I like to play soccer, hike, do kickboxing, do one of my hip-hop videos, or go country dancing. These are all pretty good cardio exercises, and I know my metabolism has gone up in the last month. Working in an office can take its toll though. I work on the first floor of my building, so I can't do the whole 'take the stairs instead of the elevator thing'. Sometimes I'll take a break and just walk around. Or sometimes I'll turn things I have to do into an exercise by standing up and moving around a little more.

So there you have it. Happy eating!

A Great Weekend!

This weekend I once again got to cross 2 things off my To Do list! On Friday my ward went camping. I have been dying to go camping for a long time. I honestly don't think I've really been since before my mission, so I was pretty much ecstatic for this little trip. It was a lot of fun even though it was FREEZING cold. I didn't think it would be that bad since we were just up Ogden Canyon. But it was. However we didn't let that fanagle our fun. I shared a tent with my roomie Mary and our friend Susan (thanks for bringing the tent Susan!)

We:
- ate a wonderful dinner cooked by the guys (surprisingly I forgot to take a picture of my food)
- went on a bear hunt (that thing they do at Scout Camp; the guy in the middle of the picture is the leader and we all followed him)

- hung out by the fire pretty much the rest of the night, due to the freezing weather. One guy kept putting logs on the fire and kept it at a pretty good blaze. This picture really doesn't give justice to how big the fire really was.

The ground we slept on was amazingly comfortable. If it wouldn't have been cold, I think I would have gotten a good night's sleep. However, I think I've mentioned that it was freezing, so no matter how much the 3 of us cuddled, I still woke up every half hour from the frigid temperatures. Oh well, it's the experience that I really enjoy, and I always know that I won't get the best sleep of my life.

Saturday after getting home and taking a 3-hour nap I went to the hospital to play the piano for a couple of hours. You know, I've never been a big fan of hospitals, but I have to say that this one is probably the most relaxing hospital I've ever been in. Add to that the fact that I'm playing the most beautiful grand piano I've laid my fingers on, and I'm one happy clam. Two hours goes by way too fast. I guess sometime I should have my mom or someone take a picture of me there for the memories.

After that I went on a date ;) in which we had the best cheese fries ever, played ski ball and other fun games, won some bouncy balls, saw Iron Man (the other thing crossed off my list: go to a movie), and threw the bouncy balls in the parking garage. Really, how can it get better than bouncy balls?

Sunday was Father's Day, as everyone knows. Happy Father's Day Dad! We had a great dinner with all my favorite foods. Well, maybe not all of them. That would be way too much food. But we had steak, chicken, garlic-cheese mashed potatoes, rolls, cookies, and...oh yeah, there was corn too. Later we watched My Turn On Earth. Most of you have probably never heard of it, but it was a play/show thing from the 70s. It just came out on DVD at Deseret Book, so of course my mom had to buy it. We used to listen to the soundtrack all the time when we were little. Road trips with my family consisted of My Turn On Earth and Saturday's Warrior. And my mom used to sing one of the songs to us when we went to bed. So we have pretty good memories of this show, although this was the first time any of us had actually seen it. Wow. I'll just say that it was definitely made in the 70s. I think the favorite part for all of us was the little dance number in which everyone (guys included) had pom poms.

So that was my weekend. I'm back at work for the week, and as you can tell, I am currently working very hard. :)

Waterfall Canyon

On Saturday (sorry I'm so slow in posting) a couple of friends and I crossed off two things on my Summer To Do list. I've been wanting to go on a hike for a long time, so finally I just invited people to come and whoever wanted to could just show up. Unfortunately a lot of people had to work and the weather was pretty rainy, but Andrea, Julie and I braved the weather to ascend Waterfall Canyon. That was the first thing I crossed off my list.

It didn't start raining until right after we started hiking, and then it rained and hailed for most of the way up. But did we let it get us down? No! We tramped our way up, with a few stops along the way, until we made it to the top where there was a beautiful waterfall and blue skies to greet us.

On our way up we:

Found a heart-shaped rock! Second thing crossed off the To Do list.

Crossed a log bridge surrounded by a 'raging river of death!' (Name that movie)

When we got there we:

Took pictures of the waterfall and the awesome view.


Ate our snacks.

We stayed at the top for about 45 minutes just chilling (literally. The mist from the waterfall was freezing), eating and hiking around a little more. We ended up looking for more geometrically-shaped rocks and found a perfect square, a triangle, an oval, and later found a circle. The way down the mountain was much quicker than the way up of course, and the sun was shining and it was almost warm - ok I'm going to go off subject a little bit here. What is the deal with cold weather in June?? Has anyone seen the forecast for tomorrow. The high is in the 50s!

Anyways, I had a great time on the hike. Thanks for coming Andrea and Julie! You guys are great!

Wedding bells and tractors

On Friday my friends Nick and Lynette got married in the Manti temple, so I tagged along with some friends, Steve, Derek, and Derek's dad for the long ride down. On the way down I mentioned something about wanting to live on a farm and Derek's dad said "I'd like to see you on a tractor." Then he mentioned that his mother-in-law (where he was going for the day while we were at the wedding) had a tractor and I would have to drive it around while we were down there.

So we got to Manti and went to the wedding, which was beautiful of course. The weather outside was also beautiful except for a pretty strong wind that would not leave my skirt alone. After flashing everybody one too many times, Derek offered me his suit jacket to help hold it down. It definitely did the trick. Unfortunately I was so busy trying to keep my skirt down that I didn't ever take any pictures of the bride and groom! Oh well. I'm sure they'll have plenty. Then we went to the wedding breakfast and afterwards went to the house with the tractor. When we got there I got a BIG hug from Derek's grandma (she gave great hugs) and his dad reminded me that I needed to get on the tractor. So we went outside and he went into the shed to get it out. Things seemed a little fishy when I noticed that the shed was a little small for a tractor. When he brought it out I started cracking up because it looked like this:

Derek, Steve and me with the tractor:

Apparently this tractor has been around for a very long time and it's still in fabulous condition. I had a great time with it and will always remember the first time I got to sit on a tractor.

Later we went to the reception held in Gunnison, Lynette's hometown. Then we returned to the house with the tractor again and hung out for a little while, ate pizza, and watched TV before the long drive home. It was a long day, but a lot of fun.