The Swell

Welcome to the San Rafael Swell. Here we are just about to drive through the reef.

I don't have too much time to write now, so I'll just throw a few pictures on here from my trip to the Swell last weekend with my dad. (I know what you're thinking, yeah right, like Grace can just say a few words, but really I will) I was going to go climb some routes that I've wanted to do forever with my friend Scott but he ended up having to work and my dad was going to go with one of his friends who got the dates wrong, so we ended up going just the two of us. That was the most time I've spent with just my dad in a long time and it was really great to spend 3 days just hanging and wandering through the desert with him. I love the San Rafael Swell too, it's great.

These are both from Little Wild Horse CanyonIt was pretty cold the first night. A lot windier and colder than we thought it'd be.

This one is from Crack Canyon

I love the old, Juniper skeletons.

So, basically, it was a great weekend and I had a fantastic time with my dad in the desert!

I hate being sick!

I've been fighting it for like two weeks. Just waking up with a sore throat or a little stuffy nose, but it's gone by noon or so, but the last couple days, I have been sick. Body aches, head ache, ab-working out cough, unbelievable amount of snot coming from my sinuses sick. I don't like taking medication. I never have, and I try not to even take Ibuprofen if I can help it, but eating dinner at my parents last night I was miserable, and I took some "Vitamin I" and even though I was stuff stuffy and coughing, I wasn't achy and miserable. Then today at work, after sneezing and coughing into my mask all day at work, and having snot run down my face because there's nothing I can do about it, I had the doctor I work with hook me up with a prescription for some drugs, and I gotta say, I'm feeling pretty good about taking them. So, it's 10:30 and in bed, which for is a change for sure, and I'm going to bed, and going to be feeling great about working another 12 hour shift tomorrow.

And, just for fun, I bet you may have seen this but if not, check it.

(Here's the details about it, because on the site they are in Espanol:
Several years ago this woman found a sick, malnourished lion cub in the jungle. She took the cub home and fed him and brought him up until he was too big to keep anymore. Then she made arrangements with a zoo in Colombia to take the lion. Here's a video of what happened when she went to visit him in the zoo for the first time)

Good night, hope you all are healthy and well!

Check your pockets!

It's April, and I still need my fat skis! The last time I went up to Snowbird, like two weeks ago, I thought I'd snowboard because I hadn't in a while and sometimes I miss it, but it was a miserable day. It had snowed like 8 inches on top of totally hard cement. And it was cold and with a snowboard, that was the worst day I could have chosen. So, with the nice weather, I haven't been thinking about skiing much any more, but with the last storm we got, I decided to go up yesterday, and it was amazing! It was still a little hard underneath, but the foot of new snow on top was great. Many more face shots than what I'd expect in April, and it was great.

(This picture was taken the day before I went, but it was still that good!)

I ran into a couple of the McQueens up there, and they're great skiers and it was so fun to keep up with them. It was pretty cloudy and sometimes I'd look around and couldn't see anything! Just white everywhere. So, on my last run, we went through the upper gate of Silver Fox, and I thought I was going to go off this little rock but ended up going pretty fast off about a 12 foot cliff not even expecting it. Needless to say, I wrecked pretty bad, and my neck is so sore today! When I got up and tried to get snow out of everywhere and pull myself together I noticed my pocket was open and my keys were gone. With Fiona, I'd just leave the keys on the floor and leave the door open, and it's been a change for me to actually lock the car and have to carry my keys. So, somewhere up in the Macaroni Shoot is my brand new car's key and clicker (a new thing for me also) my house key and my Front membership card. Luckily, I bought a magnetic thing, but unluckily, the other key didn't fit in it, so it wasn't attached to the outside, but luckily, it was in the car. Public Safety broke in in like 5 seconds and my key was in there, so a major tragedy had been averted.

So, the point of the story is don't ski with your pockets open, or just leave your keys in the car.

Jackson

I think the first time I went to Jackson was when my mom and her friend Alicia took 8 of my friends and me there for our eighth grade graduation. It was so fun. We stayed in a nice place and did the canyon section of the Snake (my first memorable river experience) and went on some other great hikes. I have been to Jackson quite a few times since then, but not for a while, and it was great to get up there this weekend. My friend, Mark was signed up for the Pole Pedal Paddle race up there, and I went up to do support for him.

We went to the pre-event meeting, and it's so funny to see that group of people. At the Moab half-marathon, there was a huge variety of people: big, skinny, real runners in tight clothes for aerodynamcity (is that a word? I'm not sure, but I like it) others in sweats. Old, young, business men, and hoodlums. But at this event, pretty much everybody was the same. Everyone was wearing down or fleece, usually a beanie, with sunglasses on top (I had all of these). Most had goggle tans and / or beards, carharts or ski pants. Luckily we had Mark's Subaru (that looked pretty sweet with a kayak, bike and three pairs of skis on top) because we fit right in with all the other 4-wheel drive cars, trucks and other burly vehicles that reside in Jackson. (I did see one Ford Taurs wagon up there and I was stoked!) People always talk about the stigma in Utah to have to be better than your neighbor, and have to always be happy and have it all together but I really don't feel like I get sucked into that, but I do like feeling at home with a group of outdoor enthusiasts. If you know me, you know I have a bit of a problem with having and wanting too much gear. It's so great to have just the right jacket or piece of equipment for whatever fun things I'm doing outside. So to be in a group of other people that I imagine have the same issue makes me feel right at home. But it is amusing being in that group, looking around and pretty much seeing a different version of all the same person. I usually don't like being one of many, but in that group of people, I'm OK with it. They make me feel more motivated to push myself harder and spend more time outside. However, this isn't the point of this entry...

This race is great, and I really want to do it sometime. I'd love to do it all myself if I knew it was going to be warm, but it would be so fun to do it in a team. It's awesome that Mark did it on his own without much training, he just wanted to do it, and did so well. It starts at the top of Jackson Hole resort where you have to ski down through gates, then run 200 yards, put on skate or cross-country skis and ski a 10 K, then trade out to bike stuff and bike 20 miles. At the end of that, you get off your bike, and get into a kayak and paddle 9 miles downstream on the Snake River. We got Mark's kayak dropped off the night before, and in the morning I dropped him off and helped him leave his skate skis and bike. (He had never skate skied before, except for a test run around a field the night before but he caught on really quick)



I like the above picture, because you can't really tell, but he's wearing tele boots, has skate skis on his shoulder, and he's walking his bike. It shows the diversity of the race, not to mention the sweet sunrise going on in the background!

(My camera was just about out of batteries so the pictures I took were either from my phone or taken super quick as I turned it on, before it realized it didn't have enough life, and turned off)

I went up Cache Creek and cross country skied a 10K of my own, but was glad I didn't have to get on a bike and ride 20 miles, because it had started snowing. I saw Mark on the bike section, and helped him trade out to his kayak.

His whole bike was crusted with muddy ice, and when he got out of his kayak at the end, this life jacket was coated with ice. He said he wasn't too cold, just his hands.

I would've been freezing, but it's great he did it all, and enjoyed it. We ate good Mexican food and hot chocolate at the event and had an amazing home-made s'more at the Brewery. We stopped at Lava Hot Springs on the way home and it was a perfect end to a fun weekend. Good job, Mark!

Out with the old...

FIONA

Remy, Callie, the Honda, the Tarus, and Fiona. Such is the life of my cars. Remy, an '82 Nissan Sentra was so great. My first car when I was 18. We had it for 2 years and it died when my brother Eric was learning how to drive a stick and he reversed in front of our house and popped the clutch so hard that something happened and Remy never moved again. Callie, my first wagon, was an '80 Toyota Corola. Bought for $500 from my dad's patient, after I left on my mission, my dad gave it to Coulson for his graduation present and he later sold it for $1700 to buy his Volkswagon Westfalia, Blue Betty. The Honda, the Tarus, boring stories, that end in one donation to the Kidney Foundation, and one totaled car until came Fiona, the '93 Ford Escort wagon that I got for free and have had her three years. But, she is starting to show some wear, and I don't think she'll survive making trips back and forth from the Grand this summer. So, after some looking and much deliberation I settled for a maroon Ford Tarus wagon. It's long and bubbly looking, and looks like such a grandma car, but it has under 100k miles and I had the money to buy it without borrowing any, and it's spacious inside and the back is huge so I can fit all my crap in there.

I really do feel like I'm giving up on Fiona and I feel so bad about it. She is still running pretty well for the most part (despite some fun little quirks) and I'm sad to be upgrading. But I'm giving her to the Rich Foundation of boys, so I'll be able to see her for a while watch her die a probably slow and miserable death at the hand of young drivers. So, I'm going to have to be OK with having the grandma car. Once I get my rack on it and some stickers, hopefully she'll become a little more like my car and i'll become a little more attached. I am looking for a name. Harriett is the first on my list right now, but I am taking suggestions, so leave them if you will.

Who was that?

It's probably just my FOMO (Fear of Missing Out for anyone who doesn't know) but I can't stand it when people whos number doesn't show up on my ID call and then don't leave a message! I don't know why it bugs me, maybe it was a wrong nubmer, or one of my roommates calling from working or something, so I shouldn't care. I don't know who I think it is, or what I'm missing out on, but that's just the point. So, if you're ever calling me from a number you don't think I have in my phone ... leave a message!

Westwater

I love the river! And so much more when I'm doing it with my friends instead of peeps. Thanks to Camille and Mark who put the trip together, a group of 6 of us did Westwater and it was so great. I was pretty nervous it was going to be super cold, but it turned out to be great. We left Thurs night and got to the put in pretty late. It was so good to sleep next to the river agin. However, it was a little colder than the last time I did it, and we woke up with frost on our bags. It was a rude awakening to move my pillow around and lay my face on ice. (And I had some great morning hair after sleeping in a beanie!) It was so nice to take our time getting to boats ready and to just hang and make breakfast, and take off whenever we were ready. I got to row Mark's Cataraft and it was so fun. I'd never rowed and/or ever been on one before so I was stoked for a chance to row it. He and Garrett kayaked, so he was happy to have someone row his stuff down the river. Anne Spencer and I were on one boat, Camille and Dez on another, and the dudes in their kayaks. (FYI Anne is a great photographer and just did her final project down at BYU and it was called women of rock and ice. Check them and here other photos out here. She and Garrett are to be credited for all the fabulous photos you will see on this blog)

Westwater is beautiful and I love the vishnu shist. It's such a great canyon. The water was lower than I've ever seen it, but it was great because the rapids were all about the same size and they were all fun. And I got to see razor rock in Skull,

which I've always heard about, but never seen. We all had good runs through the canyon and it was cool watching Mark and Garrett kayak, although I have no idea how they didn't die of brain freezes the whole time.

After the canyon it was so nice to pull into camp and just hang out. We all got our bags out and laid on the warm rock and enjoyed the sun. Then when it was time to set up camp everything just got done. We for sure had the A team and it was great. Dinner got cooked and enjoyed and cleaned up, and the fire got started. We did a massage lesson around the fire, so everyone could work on each other rather than having me work on everyone. Garrett just scamerped around taking great pictures.

This one is light from the fire

And this is lit just from the full moon. Sweet pics Garrett!



The next morning, we woke up with the sun, made some breakfast, Dez lead us in some yoga and we took our time getting on the river. It felt great to be rowing again, and great to be hanging in the sun. I rolled a couple times in the kayak, and was glad I didn't paddle the canyon. My head wouldn've frozen.

We climbed in Moab that afternoon, stayed in the trailers, and had a great drive home. I love weekend trips and Westwater was so fun. It was the first overnight private trip I've been on and it's all thanks to Camille for putting it together and Mark for having all the gear, so thanks friends for a great weekend!

SQUASH PARTY!

To those of you who don't come to my squash parties because:

a) (Most common excuse) You have never played before and don't want to be bad at something

b) You have other plans

c) You are too tired to play

d) You don't have a cute squash skirt, protective eye wear and non-marking soled shoes to wear


I say, those are all lame excuses. And here are my answers:

a) It's great that you have never played before. That's why you come to a squash party! And you don't have to play, they do have ping pong and a TV and there's always snacks.

b) You can bring your date, spouse, kids if you want and it starts early enough or goes late enough that you could come drop by on either end.

c) Again, you don't have to play, you can come to just hang out

d) We have rackets, glasses, squash balls, shoes and I have tons of awesome clothes for you to wear.

But, that being said, I'm not trying to give you a guilt trip too much, and honestly the people who will actually read this probably have better more legitimate excuses and / or may not have even heard of it. So, don't feel bad, just think about it when next squash party comes around.

This last one was sort of a St. Patty's day party (I found out at the party why St. Patty was important, but really, why do we, as Americans care about the snakes in Ireland? I'm asking for real, so if anyone knows let me know). I'm a lot like my mom in my unrealistic idea of time, and had all the intentions of making a bunch of green food and drinks but in the end, hardly had time to make green cupcakes and throw on some green make up. I mean to take pictures throughout the night, but I forgot to bring a camera, but Ali brought one, and we took some pictures after of some serious hoola-hooping.




I tried to upload some vidoes of Ali doing some sweet hoola-ing, but they took forever, and wouldn't really load, so maybe when I've got a better connection, I'll try again later, but until then, let's get this on here.

It was a great party, and any time anyone wants to play, I'd love to!

What's all the hype?

Seriously, I just don't get why people love running. I feel good after and I feel like I am doing my body good, but I just don't get "in the zone" like people, especially my friend Bri, who has run like 8 marathons says. I think it's also beacuse I always seem to get side aches. No matter long I wait after I eat or drink or do breathing exercises or whatever, I still get them a little, and it makes it harder to quiet the voice in my head that says (in a whiney voice) "I'm tired and my legs hurt and I don't like running." But every once in a while I actually like it.

I think it was 6 years ago, I decided to run the Moab half marathon super last minute. I had run 5 miles twice and 7 once, then just ran it. Angela and I weren't registered and we snuck on the one of the last buses. So, I'm not sure exactly what my time was since I didn't have a chip, but the clock said 1:58 when I went under it. I'm pretty sure that that was faster than I'd ever really run.

So this year when my roommates decided they were going to run it, I gave it some thought, and decided against it, becasue I just wasn't liking running (the one time I had run in the last 3 months I got a bad side-ache). But we went down to try to register the night before and I remembered they do a 5 mile race, and decided I could run 5 miles. We all got in the race, and slept in the trailers. I really do love that place. I will only been down there for two weeks this summer, and I know I have out grown that place and Moab in general, but I will always have fond memories of the trailers.

We ran our seperate races in the morning. I finished my 5 miler in 49 minutes and I have no idea how I ran almost 3 times that far faster than that pace. I can't believe it. Anwyay, everyone did really well and it was a great morning.

After some hanging and showering at the trailers, Some of our other friends came and met us and we all went in to the San Rafeal Swell. I love that place. I love it that there's no signs and it's easy to get lost. It keeps it feeling like the desert and not a tourist place. We did get a little lost, but had a good time riding on top of Jeremy and Jake's sweet Westfalia. Some of the dudes had some "man time" and shot guns and the rest of us found a sweet camp spot. As we were getting set up, the sun set was amazing! It is so great to be in the desert. We turned the Westfalia into a kitchen, made some dinner, then made a huge bonfire. Probably made it a little bigger than we should have. We turned up some music and got prettty roudy and had a dance party. The sunrise in the morning, when I got up to use the "bathroom" was another great testament of why I love the desert. It turned out to be such a great trip for most of the time.

I don't think I'm quite ready to be done skiing but the nice weather we've been having really makes me want to go camping and do things on the weekends. So, if anyone is interested, let me know, and we'll get a trip together to Zion or the Swell or one of the other amazing places that Utah has to offer!

Review

I think maybe a couple of you have seen this, but I started a different blog to kinda keep track (more for me that anyone else) of the books I've read and movies I've seen. So, if you don't know what to read or you're looking for a good movie, check it out.

Plan to save the world was thwarted again!

Since I admitted how bad I've been about driving to work lately especially after my soap box about it, I was really going to try this week. So, after a trip to Moab last weekend (details to come later) I went to bed early... meaning a miracle happened and I was actaully asleep before 10:30! so that I could wake up at 5:15 to shower the smell of bonfire out of my hair and make it in time to take trax. As I was getting ready, I made a plan to go straight to the climbing gym after, so I'd drive to a different spot to get on, which meant I could leave later. I definately thought about going back to sleep, but since it was just like 15 mins later I decided that the danger of not waking back up was just too great. Anyway, I made a good egg sandwhich, and two meals for the day, and have time to spare when I pulled into the parking lot. I waited in my car for a few minutes listening to the never-ending news about Hilary and Obama on NPR, then decide it's time. As I'm walking up a train coming into the city comes in going on the track that is usually the one going out...? So I walk up to see a sign flashing saying that there's delays due to a blockade or something vague like that. So, I ended up driving good old Fiona the rest of the way anway. Could have saved myself a good half an hour of precious sleep! but, I'm trying, I promise! Speaking of, I've got go to sleep, so I can wake up early enough to try again tomorrow. Good night!

Anyone need swim wear?

I'm always looking for good swimming suits and tops and clothes for the river, and I got a great recommendation. I have really been wanting to dress a little more modest, maybe like a polygamist, or an Amish person. So, if we go swimming sometime soon, be prepared to see me wearing something like this and be so stoked!

Soreness

I love being sore! It makes me feel like I have really been doing something and that I have used my body rather than just sitting on the couch. I feel like the last couple months I've been pretty lazy. I have been skiing a bit, but don't usually get too sore, excpet last time when Jess and I did like 10 non-stop top to bottoms in a row. But I got a pass to the Front (a climbing gym) and have definately been worked the last couple days. And last night, I went and got my arms worked, then went to get my legs worked by a bull. A bull? you may be asking.... yes, a bull. My friends, Tyce and Tony bought a mechanical bull and have been starting a business where they rent it out for parties or whatever. It sounds like a crazy idea, but it's a very fitting plan, that I can see working for the two of them. So, last night I went to Tyce's house for a party and after a while they started up the bull riding. It was awesome! It was really fun, and I felt like I got the hang of it pretty quickly. However, my last couple tries I could hardly hold on and today my inner thighs haven't been this sore since.... well, I won't talk about that (get your mind out of the gutter! It was horse back riding like 6 years ago at Quickwater and that's a whole other story). So, if you want to have some sweet entertainment at your next party think about Buck Wild Bull Riding because man, it was awesome, and totally worth making me walk like a cowboy today.

(I find this picture especially amusing

because it's in New York, I do believe, and

what a random place for a rodeo!)

Hypocrite

I'll just have you know, that I'm a little embarassed, because after my whole soap box about taking trax and not wasting water and all that, I think I have maybe taken trax like twice. I keep having things that I need to drive for. Or I'll be going somewhere half way between home and work after, so it's not worth it to take it all the way back to the aves, but I keep being too late to those stops. Several times, I've pulled up to the intersection right before trax and had the rail things come down and all the lights come on so the train can pass in front of me. What a slacker I am! So, I am feeling guilty and that I'm ruining the world. And, I'm working an 11am-11pm tonight and the last trax is at 10:58. I'm usually not in a room by then anyway, but by the chance that I am, I don't want to be stuck at the hopsital all night, so thus, I will be driving Fiona again, and uping my footprint on this poor Earth. Sorry Mother. I still don't flush and I recycle!

What was that?

"I wonder what the learning curve is on those wheels for the donkeys" is what I woke myself up with this morning. What started as Wells Fargo horses at the bottom of the butte in the desert turned out to be donkeys with thier legs attached to a rocking horse like thing, with hydrolic wheels on the bottom. It totally makes sense, right?

Hoarding

Stuff. If anyone is the Queen of "Stuff" it's my mom. So, that would make me the Princess of Stuff. And that becomes terribly apperant when I'm moving or having to clean out my room. My parents are redoing our basement and I've had to go back there and clean out my room, and I realize how rediculously much stuff I have.
Looking back at pictures of my mom, in high school and my age, I really wish she would've saved all her clothes for me. So, thinking for future generations, I want to save some of my clothes, but for now, what am I supposed to do with those huge soled shoes, and big legged Lucky jeans?
After going through clothes, I then started on boxes and boxes of memorablilia. I found stuff that I loved to look at. Tons of pictures, including all my dance pictures from high school. I found books I had been looking for, and I'd saved notebooks from school, that were so funny to look through. All my doodles in there and my obsession with hand writing was very evident, and it was so much fun remembering how it was to be a high shcool girl. But, do I need to save all my notes from every class I've ever taken to reminisce about it? I decided no. I was really proud of myself. I threw away (well, recycled) so many notes, and so much knowledge that hopefully is bouncing around in my head somewhere.
Then there's the letters. I am so lucky to have so many people who love me and remember my birthday and who wrote me while I was on my mission and who sent me letters. There was nothing better than getting a letter, and I still religiously check the mail box just out of habbit. But what do I do with all of them? I sat for hours looking through them all and reading most of them, feeling the love, then throwing most into the recycling bag. It was really hard to do, but it had to be done. I can't be carting around reams of paper every time I move. So, to all those of you who sent me wedding announcements, that I had been saving ... I'm sorry to tell you, but they are in the garbage. That being said, don't not send me announcements, letters and birthday cards, just know that I most likely won't be showing them to my grandkids.
It's been a walk down memory lane, and it was great, but I'm really going to try to not be such a hoarder. That will be my Chinese New Year's resolution.

Burnt Toast

I took a test in high school to determine what my footprint was on this Earth. I was sadly shocked that it would take something like 4 1/2 earths to sustain my kind of living if everyone was living the same way. Since then I have been kind of obsessed with some of the little stuff (and I know there's really a lot more of the big stuff I could be doing, but I feel alright about my contribution). Like any of you who have spent any amount of time with me know, I am a bit of a freak about water. Running water that is not being used, kinda gives me a bit of a heart attack and I'm pretty sure it raises my blood pressure. Today at work, in the bathroom, this lady I didn't know was in brushing her teeth and she just let the water run. I really don't like to be "that person" that tells people, "um, you really shouldn't do that" so I just had to leave and finish putting my hat on by my locker so I didn't freak out. All my family knows that you don't need to have the water running full blast to do dishes, and other such chores, and at my house, and my parent's, we practice "if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down" (FYI in the old toilets which are in most of our homes, it takes 6 gallons of water every time you flush!! Some of the new ones are a little better and they are only 1.6 gallons, but really, is it that bad to see a little pee in the toilet?)

This isn't my point though ... my point is driving my car. My brother Eric doesn't have a car and he rides his bike almost everywhere. I really wish I could do this, but especially in the winter it's really hard to motivate to not drive. I do however take trax to work almost every day. On the days that I do have to drive becasue of having to go somewhere after or working until 11 (the last trax is at 10:58 and there's never a guarantee I'll get out of there on time) I really feel guilty. I feel like I am failing my planet and ruining the environment. This is also my justification for hitch-hiking up Little Cottonwood Canyon. (That and my poor Fiona doesn't really love that drive)

OK, that wasn't my real point, the real point of this whole soap box is that yesterday was (and probably the rest of the week will be) a "red burn" day aka don't drive, don't smoke, don't light fires unless you have to, and the easy one, try not to breath when you go outside. So, when I got off the University train for the Sandy one at 6:15 am when all the smog has really settled into the valley, I stepped off and I swear the air tasted like a mixture of burnt toast and bovie smoke (this maybe be a little graphic, so if you don't want to know, just skip the explanation) which is the cauderizer the doctors use to burn the skin when they cut it, and let me tell you, it stinks. You think burning hair is bad, you should smell the bovie! But the inversion really smelled that bad! It was discusting! Then on the way home from work, I got off at 21st South and walked 5 or 6 blocks to Costco, and back, and I started coughing on my way back and my lungs were a bit burny the rest of the day. So, was it worth it to not drive my car, but ruin my lungs? I say YES! YES! to the greater good and doing my part to prevent further "red burn" days. And I will continue to take trax as much and as often as I can. And maybe just maybe, this might happen while I'm on the train someday!

Ok, I'll get off my platform now, thanks for listening! Save water! Don't drive!

Give me sun cancer!

You'd think that being a river guide, and being in the sun 98% of the summer, I'd be burned out, and not want to be in the sun anymore.... Well, sadly for my skin that is not the case in February. Maybe by August I'm ready to never see the sun again. I hide my already tan - as - it's - going -to - get - skin under long sleeve shirts and hats. By then I've given up on sun screen, except on my face, becuase I think once you get to a certain point, your pigment can't change any more.


So, in February, in the darkest, coldest part of winter, when I have the chance to enjoy the sun, I will soak up every second! My roommate, Jess's grandpa has this sweet place at a resort in Scotsdale, Arizona, and a group of 5 of us went down the for the soul purpose of sitting in the sun by the pool and getting tan. Each day we'd spend hours just sitting in our lounge chairs reading, crocheting, napping or nothing. We wore sun screen the first day, then decided, we needed all we can get. It was great.

We also went to Trader Joe's and for anyone that doesn't know what that is, it's a cheaper, cooler feeling version of Wild Oats. We filled the back of our friend, Erin's sweet old Land Cruiser. Why the don't have one in Utah is beyond me. They sell a lot of wine and other beverages of the alcoholic nature and I think that may be one thing, but come on, Utah deserves good deals on good wholesome food too! We also went to Last Chance, which (same as Trader Joe's) is a cheaper, better version of TJ Maxx (I know, how can you get better than TJ's you may be asking? But it is) I got out of there with only spending $100 on a lot of great clothes that I really will wear. In fact, I'm pretty sure, I've worn something from there every day since I've been home. It was a great weekend away with my girls. We've all been so busy lately that it was perfect to sit around and talk a just be together. And what better place there is than by a pool?

My point is, they say you've already done most of the damage to your skin by the time you're 18, right? And I'm well past there, so I'm not really doing damage, right? So, especially in Februaury when, in Utah it hasn't been over 40 degrees for at least a month, 70 degree weather, I will take the risk of skin cancer, to bake in the sun a little and get some sun on my skin. So, if you are one of the these party poopers in the black, sorry but you just wouldn't understand any of this!

Let it snow!!!

Well, not as much snow as '97 or '83 but I won't complain too much.

8888888

I have been tagged by TR so I must do the 8s

Passionate about:

1. conserving water
2. the fam (maybe they should come first, but that was the first thing that came to mind)
3. making and maintaing friendships
4. skiing
5. climbing
6. finding out what the earth has to offer me
7. reading
8. finding undiscovered (at least by me) places

Want to:

1. live up to my potentail
2. see some icebergs in Alaska
3. find the cure for levido reticularis
4. travel around europe
5. climb in thailand
6. always be learning
7. be the kind of friend I wish to have
8. find me a good man and pop out some kids

Have recently read:

1. Am reading and loving Endurance Alfred Lansing
2. My Sisters Keeper Jodi Pocoult
3. East of Eden John Steinbeck (for the second time and it's amazing and sad what I didn't remember)
4. The Island (I can't remember, it was a book I picked up and read at a hostel in Costa Rica)
5. The Other Boelyn Girl Phillipe Gregory
6. The Fountainhead Ayn Rand
7. Deception Point Dan Brown
8. The Notebook Nicholas Sparks

Say:

1. seriously?
2. yeah, no (this drives my brothers crazy, and I'm working on not saying this even though it does make sense in some situations)
3. so, this one time....
4. this one time on the river....
5. like (another thing I've really been trying to like, phase out of my vocabulary)
6. you think?
7. who's up for (fill in the blank)?
8. yeah, that's going to happen

Attracted to friends by:

1. enthusiasm for life
2. FOMO (for those of you that don't know, that is this disease I have: the Fear Of Missing Out and it makes me never be able to say no if there is something exciting going on)
3. hopefully they'd agreee and say integrity
4. and honesty
5. and being considerate
6. spontinaeity
7. my really nice car that we always ride in
8. my need to be doing something

Could listen to over and over:

1. The Garden State Soundtrack
2. A mix that Ashley Gish made for Powder Shots
3. pretty much anything by Tegan and Sara
4. The Sounds are great to listen to when cleaning my room or running (both things that need some encouraging and motivation for me to do)
5. Both Hands and Talk to Me Now Ani Difranco
6. Everything but especailly IV by Led Zeppelin
7. Norah Jones
8. Love Actually Soundtrack if I'm feeling like sappy music

Learned this year:

1. it does feel good to finally be done with college
2. it's not so great having a "career" job that I have to work 40 hours a week to keep my benefits
3. it's great to have a job with benefits and a 401K
4. girls can drive a J-rig
5. that I love to travel. especially in a forgien country and especially by myself
6. I always need to be reassesing what is impotant and trying to follow that
7. I really am a desert girl, humidity makes me crazy
8. I am really lucky to have some great friends that love me always and will stand beside me and always want the best for my happiness

And ...

1. I always eat my sandwhiches, burgers and pretty much anything from the outside in so that the last bite it the best, and I always move my cereal around so that it's all the same sogginess.
2. I was a religious Days of Our Lives watcher for years and probably still would be if I had Tivo or was home at that time of day
3. I fell off the top bunk in my sleep and split my eyebrow open and sprained my wrist (to those of you who have slept by me will find this as no suprise)
4. Fires used to scare me into sleepless nights.
5. I have no problem doing laundry or the dishes but I will put off unloading the dishwasher or putting away my laundry until I get too frustrated not having anywhere to put my dirty laundry
6. I love my brothers, but I have always felt a little jipped at not having any sisters, so I really hope my brothers marry (or just make a pact or something as the case may be with Eric) cool girls
7. I am a little OCD about handwriting. I love writing on caron-copy paper and when I get to label things with, especially with sharpies
8. I really like my name. (It's Grace) because not many people have it, and it's my great grandma's name, and even though I didn't know her, she seemed like a pretty cool dame.

Tag:

1. Carren
2. Scott
3. Anne
4. Ali
5. Mike

And that's pretty much everyone I know that blogs that hasn't done this, so until I can find some others, 5 is going to have to do.