Christmas Fun

It is a bit of a blizzard in Cache Valley this Christmas evening. Brandon and I thought it would be fun to play in it...maybe we should have taken the time to put on coats and hats and gloves...or at least shoes...

**UPDATE** A couple hours later our snow angels left us, so we decided to give it another go... Check it out on Brandon's Blog.

Gemini

I miss my dog. Her name is Gemini. She was so playful and full of personality. She would snuggle with me at night time. She would keep me company. I know it sounds nutty but I swear she would somehow know if I was upset or had a bad day and she would crawl onto my lap and up onto my shoulder and she would snuggle her little head underneath my chin. I don't know where she is now, Jon kept her when we split up and I think he gave her to his mother or his uncle, but I miss her. I didn't even want a dog in the first place especially not a chihuahua but Jon talked me into getting her and I fell in love with her and now I miss her. It would be so nice to have a little Gemini affection.

Happy Holidays

Here's what I'd like everyone to do - just copy this blog and paste it into yours (changing the answers of course), we may learn something new about each other - try not to be a SCROOGE!!!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Defiantly paper. It feels lazy to me to use a bag, plus you don’t get to rip them when you open ‘em!
2. Real tree or Artificial? I’m not against a fake tree but I think I like the real ones better…if I’m not the one that has to vacuum that is
3. When do you put up the tree? No tradition, just when I get around to it
4. When do you take the tree down? See above answer
5. Do you like eggnog? It’s ok. I don’t love it, I don’t hate it
6. Favorite gift received as a child? That’s a hard question, I have had a lot of really great ones. I think it might be my Cabbage Patch doll. (I think that was a Christmas gift…it might not have been though) She was blond with pig-tails and I loved her.
7. Hardest person to buy for? Dad
8. Easiest person to buy for? Mom
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yup
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I haven’t done cards for a while but when I do I send them in the mail. It’s more fun I think.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I can’t recall
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? The Grinch that Stole Christmas, the cartoon
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Whenever
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas Present? Not that I can remember…
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Wow, where to begin with this list?! Million dollar fudge, pumpkin pie, apples, oranges, rice balls, orange sticks, chocolate oranges, mashed potatoes, yams, cranberries,
16. Lights on the tree? I like white lights on a tree
17. Favorite Christmas song? Tom Petty sings a Christmas song
18. Do you travel or stay home at Christmas? Home, but I wouldn’t mind traveling. Its fun
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Yup
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? My parents tree has an angel on top of it and she is very pretty but I’m a fan of the star myself
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Morning
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The commercialism. Is that a word?
23. What theme or color are you using? Um..
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Mom always makes Christmas Eve dinner instead so that no one has to work too hard on Christmas day, we just eat leftovers and have fun together
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Undecided

The Fairy Tale Adventures of Steph & Michelle

Once upon a time there were two beautiful maidens....

Their names were Michelle and Steph. Steph lived in a far away land called Connecticut and Michelle wanted to come visit.

So Michelle went to the Salt Lake international airport and got on an airplane and flew all the way across the country to this far away land. Michelle was so happy to be seeing Steph and they planned to have Grand Adventures!

When Michelle had made it safely to Connecticut the two lovely maidens decided to take a train into the city of New York. They made sure to take photos of Michelle waiting to take her first train ride and of Steph in Grand Central Station.

They decided that they should go see the view of NYC at night from the top of the Rockefeller Center (aka the Top of the Rock). It was something neither of the beautiful maidens had ever done so it was especially fun for both of them!

They next day (Saturday) the two beautiful maidens were lucky enough to have another beautiful maiden join them on their trip back into the city. Stephanie's sister Kelly! Once they all got to Grand Central they made sure to stop for what could possible be the most delicious bagel in all the land at Hot and Crusty's.

They rode the subway to all sorts of exciting places, like Washington Square Park, where they also spent some time wandering around The Village and to Times Square to see some of the sights. They got all sorts of delicious goodies from the street vendors all day long as well. Another fun place they went was to the Brooklyn Bridge...





They had a lot of fun walking over the bridge from Brooklyn back into Manhattan. Making sure, of course, to take some fun pictures along the way.

After sitting down for a slice a cheese cake at Roxy's, the three lovely ladies were lucky enough to be able to go see The Phantom of the Opera! It was a wonderful show and they all enjoyed it very much.



The next day (Sunday) the beautiful maidens were two again. They had another splendid day in New York, full of Grand Adventures. They ate lunch at one of Steph's favorite places, Speedy's. They wandered around Central Park, They did a little shopping and had a lot of fun!



...They also broke the rules just a little by sitting on the stairs at Grand Central Station.

But New York wasn't the only place where the maidens had Grand Adventures. They also had a wonderful time in Connecticut...



Steph introduced Michelle to Stefano's Pizza. Home to the most delicious pizza that she had ever tasted.

And they also got to see the beach in Connecticut!

Michelle was sad when it was time to leave, but she was happy that she had gotten the chance to go. She was so grateful to everyone that helped her on her magical journey, and she was happy to have spent so much wonderful time with her friend Steph.



She was also very happy that she got to meet some new friends while on a layover in the Chicago (Midway) airport. The Blues Brothers!!
Michelle had a wonderful time!

East Coast Here I Come!

After many heated debates (between myself and myself) I have made my decision! In about a week I'm going to get on an airplane and fly my little self all the way to Wilton, Connecticut. My wonderful friend Steph lives there and is willing to let me stay with her for a week. We are going to have a great time! I am trying not to plan it out too much, I think I just need a roll with the punches, fly by the seat of your pants kind of vacation. We are planning to ride the train into the city (yay, New York) a couple of times which I think will be great. I've never been to Connecticut and I have only been to New York once about 9 years ago when I was 16 (Wow, time flies doesn't it?!) Any great suggestions on things I shouldn't miss seeing or doing while I'm there?

Lets Just Say...

Lets just say that you (and by you I mean whomever is reading this at the moment) are a single 25 year old female. And lets say that you desperately need a vacation or trip. Where would you go and what would you do if you were a woman travelling alone? Lets also just say that you need to go on this trip SOON, like within weeks hopefully. Come on folks, I need your ideas. Lets hear them...

Silent Rave

I heard on the radio yesterday as I was driving home from work something that sort of baffled me. Apparently the new, hip thing to do (this is one of those times I feel older than I think I should feel) is to have silent raves. NPR was telling their little story on my drive home about a bunch of teenager/college age kids getting together in Union Square in NYC, putting on their headphones and turning their iPods on at the same time then dancing around to their own music. I guess there were around 7,000 people dancing around and having a grand old time, each to the beat of whatever drum was playing on their personal musical device. I didn't really get it, they said they were socializing but they couldn't have been talking to each other or mingling so much because they had their headphones on. It must have been a sight though, 7,000 people dancing around and acting crazy in apparent silence. Wow, I feel a little old and out of touch!

Bob Dylan

I found out on Friday that one of my all time favorite artists was coming on Sunday to play in Park City. And even though there were minor obstacles in the way, like that I had nobody to go with and the fact that the show was actually sold out, I HAD TO GO! So, Sunday afternoon I loaded the trusty Subaru, hoped in, and took off in hopes that I could somehow get into the concert. Finding a ticket was no problem but lets talk for a minute about the rain. IT RAINED A LOT. I just heard on the news that it rained more yesterday than it did in the months of June, July, and the rest of August (all but yesterday) combined. Did I mention that this was an outdoor concert? WE GOT SOAKED! I can't remember the last time I've seen it rain so hard or so much!! It was totally worth it though. He played some great songs and I had a great time even if I was very cold and very wet

Bob Dylan

Park City, Utah

Deer Valley Resort
August 31, 2008

1. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 (Bob on keyboard)
2. When I Paint My Masterpiece (Bob on keyboard)
3. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again(Bob on keyboard)
4. Not Dark Yet (Bob on keyboard)
5. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (Bob on keyboard)
6. Million Miles (Bob on keyboard)
7. Desolation Row (Bob on keyboard)
8. The Levee's Gonna Break (Bob on keyboard)
9. She Belongs To Me (Bob on keyboard)
10. Honest With Me (Bob on keyboard)
11. Simple Twist Of Fate (Bob on keyboard)
12. Highway 61 Revisited (Bob on keyboard)
13. Queen Jane Approximately (Bob on keyboard)
14. Thunder On The Mountain (Bob on keyboard)
(encore)
15. Like A Rolling Stone (Bob on keyboard)

It doesn't mention it on this set list that I found on the Internet, but he also played the harmonica on a few songs which was awesome. What a great time!

A Great Find

I have found a great book! I'm pretty sure (since I found it in the childrens section of the book store) that it might be directed towards people that are a little younger than I, but it was too much fun to refuse so I bought it anyway. It's a journal and the name of the journal is "Wreck This Journal" by Keri Smith.

These are her words:

I have only just begun but so far I am having loads of fun. Basically each page has some sort of instruction on it, such as:

Rub Here With Dirt

or

Collect Fruit Stickers Here (stickers you find on bought fruit)

or

Ask A Friend To Do Something Destructive To This Page. Don't Look.

or

Glue In A Photo Of Yourself That You Dislike. Deface.

one of my favorites is

Tongue Painting 1. eat some colorful candy. 2. lick this page

I had some of the people I work with help me with the fingerprint page...

I think I'm really going to enjoy this book!!

Yeah, We Did That

August 13, 2008
Ogden, Utah

Brandon, Michelle and Jodi hanging out and waiting for it all to begin

Before we could jump we had to sign our lives away...

Time to suit Up!

Here is the plane

And the ride to approximately 13,000 feet

And this is Jodi jumping out of the plane at about 13,000 feet

There I am!!

We made it!

IT WAS AMAZING!!!

Brandon put some photos and a video on his blog as well, check them out here:

http://ishouldtoo.blogspot.com/2008/08/inexplicable-bliss.html