Can You Say Guilty??

So....

So I get to see these girls in Chicago this weekend!!!! And I am very excited! :)

Let the Season Begin!!!

She wanted to dress up as a Diva...

They are in Love

Depressing

This is what I saw when I left to work this morning...they left with out me :(

Horrible

I have really been a horrible blogger. With crazy days at work and doing 3 jobs in one, it leaves little time to blog. Add in doing really nothing but talking on the phone for hours on end :) and still recovering from being sick (yes it has been over 2 and a half weeks) there is nothing too interesting to say. I did however color my hair. I was feeling a little bored with the blond, so of course the most logical choice was to go with stop sign red...it is fun and sassy and already fading to pink. Lol. Guess I will be coloring it again shortly.

Oh My Tags....

8 TV shows I enjoy watching
1. The Hills
2. Medium
3. Lipstick Jungle
4. Law and Order SVU
5. Dr. 90210
6. Gossip Girl
7. One Tree Hill
8. Samantha Who?

8 Things that happened yesterday:
1. Worked
2. Got almost caught up at work
3. Went tanning
4. Talked to Drew for forever -- thanks for diagnosing me :)
5. Played with Miss. Priss
6. Looked for condos
7. Day dreamed about ski season
8. Decided to get a new car

8 Things I am looking forward to:
1. Not being sick -- it's been two weeks
2. Being lazy tonight
3. Getting my hair done tomorrow
4. Seeing the cute little kiddies tomorrow for T or T
5. Chicago in 2 weeks!
6. Shopping at XXI Forever in Chicago
7. Seeing my Stephy!
8. Visits from strangers in November


8 Things I love about Fall:
1. Hoodies
2. SKI SEASON on it's way!
3. Cute jeans
4. Leaves -- so pretty
5. Cool weather
6. Crisp smell in the air
7. Pumpkin pie
8. Thanksgiving....Mmmmm

8 Things on my wish list:
1. A house
2. New car
3. Winter clothes
4. Bindings for my new skis!
5. Trip to Europe...
6. Pedicure
7. SNOW!!!!
8. And more snow...

People I am tagging:
1. Steph
2. Beck
3. Nichole
4. Mindy
5. Anyone who wants to...

TAG NUMBER 2......

6 quirky things about me
1. I hate the feeling of wringing out a wet wash cloth it makes me cringe
2. I hate all types of beans, except green beans because they are different
3. I hate the feel of carpet on my bare feet, so I usually always have socks on in the house even in summer
4. I wake up in the middle of the night just to put on chap stick
5. I have an eyelash fetish
6. I won't wear sandals unless my toes are freshly painted (minus the 2 times this year I had to)

Thrilling Weekend

Friday night in celebration of Becky's actual birthday we went to dinner at Garcia's and to see Thriller. I had never been to see it before and was pleasantly surprised, it was sooo good! It was a blast to spend the evening with Beck and celebrate, I love this girl!

Palm Springs

So between being sick for that last week and a half and crazy days and hours at work I have had no time to update. Anyhow, a week and a half ago I had the chance to go with the girls to Palm Springs in celebration of Becky's 27th birthday. The first day in Cali Steph and I met up in the early morning for a day in LA. We had a blast cruising all over the city (literally all over) I think we did a full circle of the city, all the while with out temperature gage in the VW Bug flashing at us. The day started out with a search for cheap designer jeans...but every place we tried to find had closed! Can you believe that? By the time we decided we were out of luck we were starving! Thus a new quest began...the search for In and Out. With out tummies filled we thought it may be a good idea to trade our cute little car in for something that wouldn't break down on us in the middle of the desert, we did have a 2 hour drive to Palm Springs that night...we traded our cute little convertible bug for a much more practical Saturn Vue (small SUV) and headed to pick up Becky's sister Heather from the airport. From there we headed to Manhattan Pizzeria at Manhattan Beach, Steph and I discovered this place last year when we can to LA for a weekend. They seriously have some of the best pizza!

Then we went to the pier to look at the water and enjoy the ocean air

Then it was FINALLY time to pick up our Beckers! Then we were off to Palm Springs. Along the way we stopped and got a milkshake to share for a pick me up little did we know how badly we would need it! You would think that with mapquest directions we could make it there with no issues...but we were wrong! 4 hours later we arrived at the condo. Day 2 we slept in and then went to brunch at this great place...delicious!

It was so good we went back the next day. Then we headed back to the condo for an afternoon at the pool.

That night we headed to the street fair that is held downtown every Thursday. They had all sorts of little shops and vendors lining the streets. It kind of reminded me of a mini Summer Fest. We enjoyed delicous carmel and chocolate covered apples...Mmmm. The next day I woke up sick :( I was pretty much worthless the rest of the trip. The girls went on an awesome hike and I slept. We went to the amazing outlets. I got pulled over in California for doing a California Stop...and we had a delicous dinner at Kobe. They had a great fish pond out front, with food to feed them. They would seriously almost attack each other for the food!

And then when we got back to the condo Steph drugged me....


It was so great to spend time with the girls! Thanks ladies, hopefully we can all get together soon again! xoxo

And I am off....Again...

We are off to Palm Springs/LA in the morning for a girls weekend...stay tuned for pictures!

Winter?

The weather man said we would have winter like weather -- well he was right we got 11 inches of snow at our house this weekend...

Sunday Night

Last night I went over to Austin's for his mom's birthday dinner. So a little cheesy, but I love his family especially Dari his 5 year old little sister...she is adorable! We played a game of memory and Candy Land together...and can I say she kicked my butt at both, and I really did try! In memory she beat me 22 matches to 13. Anyhow after we got done playing she drew me a picture on her magna-doodle and wanted me to take a picture of her with it.

39 Days

Only 39 days till he Basin opens....today it is snowing I am in heaven! (well besides the fact that I am working today) Here is a picture for your viewing enjoyment, the current conditions at the bottom of Needles at Earls Lodge...

Thoughts...

Now that things have settled down a little and I can think a bit more clearly on the events of the week. It is very strange to think that just one week ago I had an interview for the job with RSRV, and today I am transitioning into the job. I have found that things in my life never seem to move slowly. Don't get me wrong I love it when I am not waiting around for things to happen. I generally know right off the bat whether or not I like something or someone, I have learned to trust that instinct. I am very excited about my new/old job, I sat in on 2 meetings today and it got me excited to be back in the "mix" of things. But I also had a sad realization today, I am going to miss my job. I am going to miss harassing Charlie every day, having Cody 3 feet away to complain to, and about a million other things...I guess over all I just feel very blessed that I have been so lucky with having such great jobs with such great people to work with and for.

Good Day??

What constitutes a good day??? Well mine has been pretty dang good! Last year at this time I applied for a job, a job that I loved. I have been here for a year now and love the people that I work with, but have been longing to get back to the more technical side of things. So when my old job opened up at a promotion I was excited. I felt a bit torn because my currently job is a blast, but felt strongly that I should apply. I interviewed last week on Friday and tried to push it out of my mind of over the weekend. I knew that I had a heads up on the competition, since I had done the job for 3 years previously...but you never really know. Plus it was a little nerve racking being in a formal interview with 3 managers you know so well. Anyhow, today I came into work with the expectation of finding out about the job, but little did I know what the day had in store. First thing my current manager called me in and presented me with a nice raise and promotion! I was so excited! Then my old manager came over and called me over to his office, he then offered me the job. At this point I was in shock! I formally accepted the job, on the condition that I could help my current manager out until he found someone as wonderful as me ;) lol But really, I would never want to leave him in a bind so for now I have two jobs. The ironic part of this whole situation...that I will be going back to my old job one year and one day later then when I left...funny how things work out.

Conference Weekend

We were lucky this weekend and had the opportunity to attend two sessions of conference. Austin's fabulous dad got us tickets for the Saturday PM session, so we took Becky and Doug with us. The session was amazing, my favorite talk was by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, he was so funny and such a sweet old man. Below is a picture of the four of us before we headed inside...I had the old gentleman behind us take the picture and he kind of cut Doug off...oops.


Austin and I had just planned on watching the Sunday afternoon session at his house, but my mom and Mike had extra tickets to the session so we went with them. I was bad and didn't take a photo of the four of us...but I did take one of the choir and the General Authorities...including the First Presidency. Unfortunately my camera wouldn't zoom enough to get a shot of President Monson :( Sunday afternoon session my favorite talks were by Elder Russell M. Nelson and President Thomas S. Monson. We are so blessed that we live so close that we can see our prophet speak in person....

SNOW!!!!

IT SNOWED!!!! Granted it will probably melt today -- but at least it means the ski season is rapidly approaching....

Love Handles

Who would have thought that your love handles could get so sore?!?! I went and saw the evil Adrianne last night -- jk jk -- he is not evil. I actually really like going and being tortured, I always feel so much better after, plus I can feel myself getting stronger. If any of you want some killer exercises for your fat under your butt, butt and core...let me know.

I lived through another night, I got back on Thursday....I just can believe how sore my LH are...but it sure is making work on my posture. (slouching makes it more sore)

Okay that is enough complaining from me!

xoxo -- the "to be" Buff One

ER Take 3.....

This time it wasn't for one of the dogs....it was for me. Before heading to Pineview to take the dogs for a swim I had asked my mom for some Ibuprofen, I had some cramps going on and was in need of pain meds asap. Asked me how many I wanted, I always take 4 so she gave me 4...no biggie. After taking the dogs to the dam we headed back to Ogden for dinner at Austin's parents house. When we got there I realized that my hands and face were numb and I could barley stay awake. For some reason I had the realization to ask my mom if she was sure she had given me Ibuprofen, it then clicked in her head that she had Elavil (Generic Name: amitriptyline) in her pill bottle as well and had given me 4 pills of it instead. Mind you that my step father and her take a quarter of a pill to help them sleep at night. The Elavil and Ibuprofen look exactly the same, except the Elavil is a little smaller so it was an easy mistake. Anyhow, we called poison control and they said I need to go to the hospital to have my heart monitored due to the risk of cardiac problems that could arise. By the time we made it to the hospital I was so out of it I don't remember much. I remember having to drink this nasty charcoal crap, getting an IV, cold sticker things being placed on me to monitor my heart and the heart monitor on my finger falling off every time I moved while I was sleeping and someone putting it back on my finger every few minutes. Other then that it is all a blur, I don't even remember getting home. So after a long night in the ER and a day of sleeping/recovery I am as good as new! :)

Hopelessly In Love

I am utterly and hopelessly in Love....with my New Skis....I got a new pair of Phat Luvs on Saturday!!! I heart my new skis! Let the snow fly!

Sunday Afternoon

Sunday afternoon after church (yes I have been two weeks in a row!!) my mom, Mike, Austin and I decided to take all our dogs up to Pineview for a swim. The dogs had a blast! And since everyone always posts video of their kids, I thought I would post some of my "kid" :) Syd was so concerned about the other dogs being so far out in the water and not playing with her, so she would stand on the shore and bark at them -- it's so funny that she thinks she can boss them around.

And a few pictures for you viewing enjoyment....

Syd is annoyed because I woke her up...

Again she is annoyed because I am trying to make her pose for the picture

Bossing the the Goldens around...this is as deep in the water as she dared get...

Good News ---

The trainer may have kicked my butt last night -- but I can still walk to day!!!

A Goodwood Lunch

I heart my friends -- they are the best. Becky, Doug, Ryker, Mindy, Phatty and I went to Goodwood for lunch today...and just take a wild guess who our server was....that's right Austin!

Mindy and I

Becky and Ryker

Austin and ME!

The many faces of Phatty, he didn't want me to take his picture, but I did anyway multiple times! And how nice is he to carry Ryker out? Doug had to jet off to work in a rush...but is was nice to have him join our weekly lunch group!

Traitor....

Saturday I went to the BYU game with the new boy in my life...Austin. I met Austin at Goodwood BBQ while at lunch with my boss...little did I know that my boss had totally set me up and had me there to show me off to the waiter (Austin). Anyhow, I put aside the guilt and agreed to go to the game and had a fabulous time...

I'm Not Dead Yet

So I am not dead yet, although part of me kind of wishes I couldn't feel the lower part of my body. I started the ski class last night and I have a few observations:

1. The trainer guy is really hot

2. He is determined to kill me or make me cry

3. How am I supposed to concentrate with his beautiful brown eyes laughing at me the whole time?

4. I could barely walk last night -- this could be a very long 8 weeks

5. I better be in dang good shape after this voluntary torture...

6. Sitting all day is not good for the muscle soreness factor

So pretty much I hate and love that I am so sore. It means that I got my butt kicked which is excellent, but it also means my run today may be more of a limp shuffle...lol. Good thing I run where no one can see me. I am hoping it helps with the soreness. If not it is a good thing I am headed to Logan this weekend and can make someone rub my poor legs.

Training Update

So far I am proud of myself -- yes I know it has only been two days but I have run both of those days. Yesterday I ran/walked 2 3/4 in under 30 minutes...and hopefully it will just go up from there. Tonight is ski training class....wish me luck!

Monumental

This is monumental! She is actually sleeping in my bed tonight! And yes she sleeps in the covers with her head poking out on a pillow -- silly dog.

Training

So I started training (again) last night. Okay can I call it training when I only ran a mile and a half? I know it isn't far, but I am on a training schedule that I run every day for 30 days to build up endurance. Yesterday was the first time running that I didn't get frustrated -- so I think I must be doing something right. I finished feeling like I could do more...it is very encouraging and actually makes me excited to go out tonight. My one regret...that I can't carry a camera while I run! While I was out last night I saw a whole bunch of deer! Weird thing they weren't afraid of me, they just sat there looking at me run. They must have got a kick out of me because they actually even turned around to watch me keep going. So Strange. But way cool. Anyhow I will head out again tonight -- wish me luck!

On another note -- so they can't back out!!!!! Steph, Becky and Mindy have all agreed to do the half marathon with me!!!! I am way stoked! Now if I can just convince Nic to come out....hint hint! Also, Aunt Holly.....you are invited too! At this point we are still looking into which one we will do, more then likely it will be spring though.

Warning

Be prepared to hear me complain....I start "boot camp" for skiing tonight. This is what the email said as an intro to the class:

"This is a great clinic; Joel Hatch will be working on Balance, Agility, Speed, Injury prevention, Coordination and Strength (BASICS). For those of you who think you are in great condition, this guy will change your mind in a hurry!!! He will work muscle groups you didn’t know you had."

I did say I wanted to get my fat butt in shape...guess he's going to help me out with that. Also, figure I should post this so I can't back out. I am going to do a half marathon. I have too many commitment issues to commit to a full at this point. But once I do that half we will see how I feel about it. So let the training begin. And be prepared to hear my complain about not being able to sit, walk, lay or move....

xoxo -- the to be reformed couch potato

I miss Logan :(

Sunday night I hung out with some old friends. Mergs and I had planned on getting together Sunday afternoon after my family stuff (my cousin's farewell). We ended up going to one of their friends grandma's property for a fire. It makes me miss living in Logan and being able to hang out with my friends every night :( The only draw back...late night made me late for work, not so bad, but now I have to work later tonight. Boo.

Mergs and I sitting by the fire

Mergs and Justin in their matching shirts purchased at Flying J

The Group sitting by the fire

Random things for a Friday

-- I have been eating yougart for breakfast every morning this week....with a fork because I am too lazy to go to the breakroom to get a spoon.

-- I heart my new red shoes! Thank you Beck for opening my eyes to BOGO!

-- I am a looser and went to bed at 8:45 last night...who does that unless they are 82? (sorry no picture of this one)

-- I was able to hang out with one of my favorite Summit Park boys this week, and eat my new favorite obsession...brats. Who would have thought?? Such a beautiful view...and can you believe the leaves are starting to change?? It's about time to start praying for snow!


-- I was able to hang out with my dear friend Phatty this week, and we made the best Muddy Buddies ever!!! So delicious!!

A Virgin What?

Ordering a virgin drink in Europe...not as easy as it sounds. I wanted a virgin strawberry daiquiri to sip while laying on the beach...not an easy thing to explain to the waitress. At first she said I don't think we can do that. We tried to say to just make it normal leaving out the alcohol, to which she responded -- "maybe we could just put a little" -- Oh my so after some debate this is what I ended up with...mind you it wasn't the best, but it was virgin and it was cold.

Greece Wrap up...

I wanted to document my trip and my feelings before, during and after. Maybe I should have started doing this before I left...but I was so busy scrambling to get things together. I think before I left I was really just in shock, I booked my ticket 7 days prior to my departure, so I had a lot to take care of in a short amount of time between work briefings, getting extra hours in at the office, packing, packing and packing. By the time I actually made it on the plane I don't think I had come to a full realization that in a day I would be half way across the world. I have never been too far away from home, the furthest being Florida...so this was a new and slightly terrifying experience for me. I am a creature of habit, I like to have a schedule and familiar things. But with that being said I am also very random and spontaneous. Really who just buys a ticket and leaves the country in a week? (If I would have had my way I would have left 2 days later, but couldn't swing it with work) I think for the first few days of the trip I was in shock, trying to absorb as much of the experience as I could. At some points it felt like a fire hose. I would take time to just walk the streets in Santorini wandering in and out of little shop or sit on the beach with my iPod trying to process all my thoughts and experiences.

It is hard to put into words the things that I felt and realized. But one thing really sticks out, I am so blessed. I am blessed to have a great job that allows me to just take off when I feel like it. I am blessed to live in the US, we truly do not realized what we have. And I more then anything I am blessed to have such a great support system. Between my family and friends (Beck, Steph, Min) I seriously would be lost in my life. It was so hard to go a week with limited to no contact with them. It left me feeling completly exposed. Being in a forgien country with nothing familar or "safe" is a strange feeling. It was very trying for me to not be able to pick up the phone and call my mom.

I have found myself saying so many times in the past year I can't believe how much I have grown into myself, but this experience has changed me. I look at things just a bit differently. I can't really put it into words, but it would be safe to say that I feel like all the "parts" of me are finally coming together. And for the first time in my life I can see what I want more clearly then I ever have.

Greece in two words....Life Changing

Santorini

The island is beautiful. That is really the only way to put it. Breath taking. The above picture is the Red Sand beach on Santorini. Santorini is a volcanic island so all the beaches but two are black volcanic sand. There was a little hike/walk into this beach and well worth it!

This is the light house on one of the tips of the island, there were some amazing views from this point.


This is the road from the port at Santorini...the drivers there are crazy, passing on curves. I may have found it more amusing had I not felt like I was going to puke.

A view from the light house. All the white on the other side of the island is houses!

Click HERE to link to more pictures of Santorini

Acropolis

Okay I figured it was time for a catch up! I feel like I blogged about the first day pretty well already, but the pictures would not post. So attached are a few pictures.

The city of Athens, they build all of their churches on hill/mountains

My friend Tyler and I at the Parthenon, it was so stinking hot! After traveling for 24 hours and not sleeping, I was hot sweaty and tired. But it was so amazing! It is almost surreal to stand looking up at these amazing structures, very humbling.

Over looking Athens and Zeus's Temple. I just sat there for awhile trying to soak in the magnitude of it all. In one day I went from my comfort zone in Utah, to seeing things I never thought I would get the opportunity to see. It is a very terrifying yet liberating experience being so far away from friends and family.

Better view of Zeus's Temple

For all the fabulous pictures of the Acropolis link here

Lazy day...

Today was a very lazy day, I just wanted to hang out on the beach for the whole day. No touring or rushing around, just lay. It was fabulous! After the beach I picked up too many desserts from a local bakery...no I didn't eat them all...but I will by tomorrow :) So YUMMY! PS. Photo and post to come about my virgin drink...lol

Topless Beach??

Wait...they are all topless beaches. Call me a dumb american girl, but I had no idea....There is something strange about someone walking around with out a top on...espcially when that someone is a little girl. I guess between growing up LDS and living in the US this just stikes me as strange...

Made it!

So I made it to Greece -- and so did my suitcase! lol

I got into Greece yesterday at 11:00am local time after a delay at JFK. I made it from my first flight to the second in under 30 minutes, only to get out of the gate and sit on the tarmac for over an hour. I was stressing about Ty having to wait at the airport for me -- but little did I know that he had been delayed four hours on his flight. By the time I made it through passport services, waiting for my bag at the wrong carousel and figuring out how to use the phone in Athens, I only had to wait for 30 minutes until his flight got in. Upon his arrival we jumped on the metro and headed into downtown Athens to drop our bags off at one of Ty's friends houses. While there we invited her son Brian to come with us to see the Parthenon, he has lived in Athens his whole life and had never been up there....

After the hike around Athens be grabbed a quick bite to eat at one of the local out door restaurants, it was delicious. We were off after that to pick up out bags, before catching the fairy to Santorini. The fairy was a great 12 hour ride, until I woke up this morning. I was so sick and it was everything I could do to not puke. Luckily we only had 15 minutes left on the boat at this time. I was pretty sure that after I got off I would be fine. But I was wrong. Our hotel picked us up at the port in Santorini and took us for a crazy ride to our hotel. Normally I would have enjoyed the crazy drive, but my stomach was not loving it. After check in I took a nap to hopefully start to feel better, which I didn't. Finally I puked, and after that I felt great. I am thinking the reason I was so sick was due to lack of sleep and dehydration. I was up at 4am Utah time Thursday to leave for the airport and slept very little during the 17+ hours of travel, arriving in Athens at 11am local time not going to sleep until around 12:30 am...so needless to say I had a serious lack of sleep.

Since I was feeling better we took off for the red sand beach. Santorini is a volcanic island so most of the beaches are black sand -- but the red sand beach was defiantly worth the walk. We didn't spend too much time at the beach because we wanted to cruise around and the scooter and see more of the island. It is so amazingly beautiful here -- pictures don't even do it justice. Anyway enjoy! And I will try and post more later, but for now please enjoy the pictures...that won't upload for some reason... I'll have to post them when I get home.

And I'm off....

I made it through security with no complications! So in about an hour I am off to JFK and after a long 46 minutes there I will be off to Athens! I am excited, nervous and in a little bit of shock that I am actually going! Wow. I was up at 4 this morning so between that and the Tylenol PM (spelling?) I think is should sleep through most of my flights....wish me luck although I don't think I'll really need it -- unless Tyler isn't at the airport to claim me :) lol.

xoxo -- ME!

Excuses...

So I do have an excuse for being a vacant blogger -- and it isn't going to get much better until the 8th of September -- unless of course I have Internet access. I am off to Greece on Thursday morning so I have been packing and shopping like a mad women! So please forgive me! And I swear to be better when I return.

xoxo -- ME!