Sunday, September 9, 2012
Recent Noteworthy Happenings.
Alright so there's been some big changes since the last post I wrote. I really need to update my blog with all the happenings. Since I cant really remember where I left off, I'll just start over. Last month I moved from the basement duplex that I had been in for the last year to a condo about a mile away. Its nicer and cleaner. I wont have to worry about mice this winter (we killed about thirteen last winter in the duplex and since the condo is on the second level I do not anticipate finding lots of nasty freaky spiders here. I have two new roommates, one from Utah and the other from Mali, Africa. They are both pretty chill guys. I use the same freeway exit for getting to work so its not any further.
Speaking of work, I recently got asked to change positions and take on the duties of one of the team leads who is out on workman's comp. It is expected that he will be out for two surgeries and wont likely return for several months. I am learning new things and gaining new responsibilities and in turn it has been a bit of a stressful transition. But I feel like I have been doing good. I survived the busiest day of August and the extra busy 4day week after labor day making up for a lost business day.
Another really big thing that happened was in July. One of my older nephews decided that he would serve a two year mission for the church that my family participates in. He worked toward qualifying for that goal, saving up money where he could and was assigned to serve in Colorado. He was scheduled to enter missionary training in July so the week prior my sister and my nephew as well as his siblings came to Utah to visit with family here and see him off for his mission. My parents also came down since this is their first grandchild to serve a mission. It was great having some extra family around for that week and we enjoyed our time together. Eventually it came time to drop off my nephew as he had a specific time that he needed to arrive there. There was only so much room in the minivan but one of my sisters suggested that I go along in the extra seat and document it with my camera. I never went on a mission for my church though I admire those that do so being able to participate in that experience was great. It was truly inspiring to see the faith and determination in my nephew. He had no doubt, no second thoughts, he didn't even look back. He was going where he knew he needed to be to do what he knew he needed to do and not just that he wanted to do it. Leaving his family and friends and going somewhere he had never been with people he had never met. But he didn't look back.
Family is great. Sometimes they are the ones that lift you up and inspire you the most and most times I don't think they even realize it. I was able to make two short trips up to Idaho to visit some more family recently. I have many cousins in Idaho and also a brother with 4 kids. It was great being able to spend time with all of them. I was also able to fly home to Oregon for about 5 awesome days and it still wasn't long enough. Every time I go, it is too short. I miss Oregon so much. I miss my friends there and my family and the trees and the rain and the coast hills and the ocean and the rivers and streams and everything about it.
I am trying to make the most of this great basin desert in which I now reside and I will try to continue documenting my adventures here. I've done a poor job keeping up this year but I'll. Try to post date some entries and include pictures. I wrote this on my kindle fire tablet so I will go back later and include pictures where applicable. So until next time, keep on being awesome!
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Lost in cyberspace.
Oh internet, purveyor of random facts. Have we created a monster? How did I get from one thought to another that is so distantly removed from the original? I'll try to explain what happened here, one step at a time. Thought process as follows:
Snowshoeing to Stewart Falls? How high up on the mountain is it and which road do I take? Will it even be open? Google Maps, satellite view, Mt Timpanogas. Get distracted looking at map. Remember something I saw on a previous adventure, must locate on map. Exact location unsuccessful. Initiate street view. Unavailable. View user-submitted Panoramia photos from Google Maps. Zoom out and wander around. Somehow go from Wasatch front to west shore of Utah Lake. Continue panning, zooming, etc. End up viewing Dugway Proving Grounds (DPG) on map. Read Google user submitted reviews about Dugway and UFO/military conspiracy theories. Google it. Read about controversial incident involving a couple thousand nearby open range sheep getting killed from open air biological weapons testing. Army doesn't accept fault but pays rancher for the dead sheep anyways. Find mention of long since rerouted and closed section of Historic Lincoln Highway passing through Dugway. What was Lincoln Highway? Google it. First continental highway from Times Square, NY to Lincoln Park, San Francisco in early 1910's. Research to find original route through Utah. Refer back to Google Maps for tracing route. Find small town of Cedar Fort. Curious. Google Cedar Fort. Census results and demographics data. Population < 400. Cedar Fort on Wikipedia. Other nearby communities listed. Click around. Refer back to Google Maps for reference. Click on more neighboring towns, all of which are less than 750 residents. Find a couple that are comprised primarily of remote religious groups. Google them. Read about it. Weird. Backtrack to Lincoln Highway. Route passes a springs and wildlife refuge oasis in the middle of the west desert salt flats. Find it on Wikipedia. Only source: underground mountain aquifer. Only output: evaporation. Read that fish living in the springs are direct descendents of fish that lived in the ancient inland-ocean sized Lake Bonneville. Back to communities page in Wikipedia. Click through them. Read about Mona. Actually been there once last summer. Has lavender farms and a lavender festival. Unusual thing to find in Utah. Mental note: must discover if they know how to make the lavender lemonade that I love in Oregon. Read more. Burl Ives was once jailed in Mona for singing a song that authorities considered to be "bawdy". Familiar name, but who was Burl Ives? Link to Wikipedia on Burl Ives. Well known, actor, writer, singer. Once blacklisted as a communist supporter during the red scare of the 50s. Voiced the snowman from 1964's stop motion animated film, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Known to Star Wars fans as the narrator of a made-for-tv movie written by George Lucas with the title, Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure. Ewok Adventure is what I called a movie I watched as a kid. Click link for Caravan of Courage... Discover what I remembered was the actual movie title to my childhood favorite, Ewoks: The Battle for Endor. Realize that I have only ever seen the sequel and that Ewok Adventure was actually the one that I have never seen.
Look at clock and realize time. Stand up. Stretch. Realize path from snowshoeing to ewoks via Google satellite maps and Wikipedia. Mind Blown.
Snowshoeing to Stewart Falls? How high up on the mountain is it and which road do I take? Will it even be open? Google Maps, satellite view, Mt Timpanogas. Get distracted looking at map. Remember something I saw on a previous adventure, must locate on map. Exact location unsuccessful. Initiate street view. Unavailable. View user-submitted Panoramia photos from Google Maps. Zoom out and wander around. Somehow go from Wasatch front to west shore of Utah Lake. Continue panning, zooming, etc. End up viewing Dugway Proving Grounds (DPG) on map. Read Google user submitted reviews about Dugway and UFO/military conspiracy theories. Google it. Read about controversial incident involving a couple thousand nearby open range sheep getting killed from open air biological weapons testing. Army doesn't accept fault but pays rancher for the dead sheep anyways. Find mention of long since rerouted and closed section of Historic Lincoln Highway passing through Dugway. What was Lincoln Highway? Google it. First continental highway from Times Square, NY to Lincoln Park, San Francisco in early 1910's. Research to find original route through Utah. Refer back to Google Maps for tracing route. Find small town of Cedar Fort. Curious. Google Cedar Fort. Census results and demographics data. Population < 400. Cedar Fort on Wikipedia. Other nearby communities listed. Click around. Refer back to Google Maps for reference. Click on more neighboring towns, all of which are less than 750 residents. Find a couple that are comprised primarily of remote religious groups. Google them. Read about it. Weird. Backtrack to Lincoln Highway. Route passes a springs and wildlife refuge oasis in the middle of the west desert salt flats. Find it on Wikipedia. Only source: underground mountain aquifer. Only output: evaporation. Read that fish living in the springs are direct descendents of fish that lived in the ancient inland-ocean sized Lake Bonneville. Back to communities page in Wikipedia. Click through them. Read about Mona. Actually been there once last summer. Has lavender farms and a lavender festival. Unusual thing to find in Utah. Mental note: must discover if they know how to make the lavender lemonade that I love in Oregon. Read more. Burl Ives was once jailed in Mona for singing a song that authorities considered to be "bawdy". Familiar name, but who was Burl Ives? Link to Wikipedia on Burl Ives. Well known, actor, writer, singer. Once blacklisted as a communist supporter during the red scare of the 50s. Voiced the snowman from 1964's stop motion animated film, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Known to Star Wars fans as the narrator of a made-for-tv movie written by George Lucas with the title, Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure. Ewok Adventure is what I called a movie I watched as a kid. Click link for Caravan of Courage... Discover what I remembered was the actual movie title to my childhood favorite, Ewoks: The Battle for Endor. Realize that I have only ever seen the sequel and that Ewok Adventure was actually the one that I have never seen.
Look at clock and realize time. Stand up. Stretch. Realize path from snowshoeing to ewoks via Google satellite maps and Wikipedia. Mind Blown.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Go read something else. No seriously.
Oh yeah remember that thing I mentioned not too long ago. I thought there was a pretty good chance with one in particular. So I tried. I got my hopes up. I actually felt like I could be myself around her. For whatever reason I don't meet many people like that. It was pretty cool. But then, oh guess what! I failed. Not even sure how it happened this time, except that this one guy (who I was sure was interested in someone else entirely) just swooped in out of nowhere and shabam! Facebook official. How does this even happen so fast? What is the big rush of getting into relationships anyhow? I guess I'm a bit old school. Or perhaps I just got caught in the friend zone again. It happens all too often. It's just how I operate by default. They may show interest at first but by the time I have gotten to know them well enough, they've changed their mind and moved on, leaving me as just that nice guy that they're friends with. As you may have noticed, I'm feeling rather cynical at the present time. A bit of sleuthing on everyone's favorite social addiction provided some details that I am particularly irked by. I probably shouldn't divulge too much information, however I do feel that I was mislead by excuses made that seemed indisputable at the time. Worst part is, I'm sure I'll get to see them regularly at church and related activities. That's not really the most enjoyable concept. I've dealt with this before, albeit in much worse of circumstances, but perhaps I'll just lay low for a while. Eh, lets face it, I'll probably just be my same old self. Friend zone. Time to just accept defeat and add one more to the list.
Question: Am I just bad at showing when I'm genuinely interested? Or am I genuinely just not that interesting? Oh well. It doesn't really matter anymore. The goal was set. And it was achieved. I have surpassed the roommate. And yet, I feel no accomplishment. Nor do I feel any further motivation or obligation. Every time I try, I end up with a sick pit in my gut and an increasing lack of faith in humanity! To avoid becoming too much of a cynic and as a measure of self preservation, I tend to simply avoid the cause of those feelings. I have better things to do than waste my time and money trying to get to know people that don't care about getting to know me.
If you actually read this, I'm sorry. I did warn you though. Also, if any of you speak a word of this to anyone, by golly I swear I'll hang you by your ankles and tickle you until you pass out. But seriously, no one reads these posts anyhow. I wrote it for me to help in getting it off my chest and for no other purpose. I think I'm done here. That is all.
Question: Am I just bad at showing when I'm genuinely interested? Or am I genuinely just not that interesting? Oh well. It doesn't really matter anymore. The goal was set. And it was achieved. I have surpassed the roommate. And yet, I feel no accomplishment. Nor do I feel any further motivation or obligation. Every time I try, I end up with a sick pit in my gut and an increasing lack of faith in humanity! To avoid becoming too much of a cynic and as a measure of self preservation, I tend to simply avoid the cause of those feelings. I have better things to do than waste my time and money trying to get to know people that don't care about getting to know me.
If you actually read this, I'm sorry. I did warn you though. Also, if any of you speak a word of this to anyone, by golly I swear I'll hang you by your ankles and tickle you until you pass out. But seriously, no one reads these posts anyhow. I wrote it for me to help in getting it off my chest and for no other purpose. I think I'm done here. That is all.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Epic Man Food
February Fourteenth. A day just like any other? No. This is the day that I invented my epic man food. Even though that day has passed some time ago, I would still like to share the details of my creation here. When I exclaimed that it was the greatest I had ever made, my roommate suggested that I write it down. Here is my account of how it happened.
Now I'm not going to try to exaggerate, I really am not that great at cooking and whatnot. When I finally flew the coup and moved out to Utah, I refused to live off of ramen noodles and frozen microwaveable dinners. Therefore, I have been slowly learning some new cooking skills a little bit at a time. I think it was around April or May when I wanted to fry some potatoes. I don't remember exactly where I got the idea to do it this way, but I cut it into cubes, added some chopped onion and green bell pepper and fried it all together on the stove top, like a stir fry. Then I think I just ate it with ketchup or something. Very simple and it tasted simple. Good, but simple. Over time I tried new things and experimented here and there. During late summer and fall when my sisters garden produced an abundance of green zucchini and yellow squash, I was using large amounts of those as a base, along with the potato, then adding various things to it.
Any of the following ingredients have been used at different times (but never all at once) and many are interchangeable depending upon availability and desired flavor: Yukon gold potatoes, red potatoes, green zucchini, hybrid yellow summer squash, yellow crookneck squash, Green bell pepper, red bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, white onion, yellow onion, green tomato, fried chicken (shredded), chopped hot dogs, scrambled eggs, crushed almond, crushed walnut, salt, fresh ground pepper, onion powder, garlic seasoning, colby jack cheese, pepperjack cheese, ketchup, salsa and probably a bunch of stuff I have already forgotten. But the purpose of this writing is to discuss the greatest of all, which was unlike any previous.
Usually I use a small blop of vegetable oil on the pan but this time I switched to olive oil. This is necessary to prevent the cubed potatoes from sticking to each other or the pan itself. The potatoes always go in first since they will take longest to cook through. Usually I do this uncovered on medium heat. This time however, I kept it covered on low to medium-low heat. I used one red potato and one gold potato. While the potatoes were slowly cooking, I meticulously chopped up about 3/4 of a small white onion, moving the potatoes around periodically then adding the onions. Then I cut up one whole green bell pepper and one half red bell pepper and added them in, stirring periodically to prevent burning and keeping covered on low heat.
This is where it starts getting interesting... In another pan, I began frying up several strips of low sodium bacon. I think I did about 8-10 strips in total, making sure that they were well done so they are crispy when cooled. In between frying bacon strips, I thinly sliced up some broccoli stem that needed using and I also threw in a few small broccoli tops. I thawed two regular hot dogs in the microwave and sliced them twice longways, then from the end getting four small pieces on each cut. About a dozen or more whole almonds were then crushed with a strong spoon. All was added to the pan except the bacon which was cooling off. Once cooled, I broke apart the bacon strips into very small pieces and stirred them in. Near this point I took the lid off and kept it off to release some of the moisture. Keeping it on low heat, the entire process was slow cooked from the beginning for about an hour and a half. I seasoned it with a few shakes of salt, a few turns of the peppercorn grinder, a few shakes of bbq seasoning, with about 3 or 4 slices of lime squeezed in. Stir a few more times then serve with generous amounts of shredded pepperjack cheese on top so that it gets halfway melty. Devour.
The biggest, not so secret, ingredient here that helps to make it so epic is the copious amount of bacon. Additionally the bbq seasoning, lime and shredded pepperjack make a significant contribution as well. The amounts I used, created about 3 adult size servings, at least that's how many times I filled my plate before I had transferred the entire contents of the pan into my stomach. It was amazingly delicious in every way possible. This, was a meal for one purpose. To feed a hungry man!
Now I'm not going to try to exaggerate, I really am not that great at cooking and whatnot. When I finally flew the coup and moved out to Utah, I refused to live off of ramen noodles and frozen microwaveable dinners. Therefore, I have been slowly learning some new cooking skills a little bit at a time. I think it was around April or May when I wanted to fry some potatoes. I don't remember exactly where I got the idea to do it this way, but I cut it into cubes, added some chopped onion and green bell pepper and fried it all together on the stove top, like a stir fry. Then I think I just ate it with ketchup or something. Very simple and it tasted simple. Good, but simple. Over time I tried new things and experimented here and there. During late summer and fall when my sisters garden produced an abundance of green zucchini and yellow squash, I was using large amounts of those as a base, along with the potato, then adding various things to it.
Any of the following ingredients have been used at different times (but never all at once) and many are interchangeable depending upon availability and desired flavor: Yukon gold potatoes, red potatoes, green zucchini, hybrid yellow summer squash, yellow crookneck squash, Green bell pepper, red bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, white onion, yellow onion, green tomato, fried chicken (shredded), chopped hot dogs, scrambled eggs, crushed almond, crushed walnut, salt, fresh ground pepper, onion powder, garlic seasoning, colby jack cheese, pepperjack cheese, ketchup, salsa and probably a bunch of stuff I have already forgotten. But the purpose of this writing is to discuss the greatest of all, which was unlike any previous.
Usually I use a small blop of vegetable oil on the pan but this time I switched to olive oil. This is necessary to prevent the cubed potatoes from sticking to each other or the pan itself. The potatoes always go in first since they will take longest to cook through. Usually I do this uncovered on medium heat. This time however, I kept it covered on low to medium-low heat. I used one red potato and one gold potato. While the potatoes were slowly cooking, I meticulously chopped up about 3/4 of a small white onion, moving the potatoes around periodically then adding the onions. Then I cut up one whole green bell pepper and one half red bell pepper and added them in, stirring periodically to prevent burning and keeping covered on low heat.
This is where it starts getting interesting... In another pan, I began frying up several strips of low sodium bacon. I think I did about 8-10 strips in total, making sure that they were well done so they are crispy when cooled. In between frying bacon strips, I thinly sliced up some broccoli stem that needed using and I also threw in a few small broccoli tops. I thawed two regular hot dogs in the microwave and sliced them twice longways, then from the end getting four small pieces on each cut. About a dozen or more whole almonds were then crushed with a strong spoon. All was added to the pan except the bacon which was cooling off. Once cooled, I broke apart the bacon strips into very small pieces and stirred them in. Near this point I took the lid off and kept it off to release some of the moisture. Keeping it on low heat, the entire process was slow cooked from the beginning for about an hour and a half. I seasoned it with a few shakes of salt, a few turns of the peppercorn grinder, a few shakes of bbq seasoning, with about 3 or 4 slices of lime squeezed in. Stir a few more times then serve with generous amounts of shredded pepperjack cheese on top so that it gets halfway melty. Devour.
The biggest, not so secret, ingredient here that helps to make it so epic is the copious amount of bacon. Additionally the bbq seasoning, lime and shredded pepperjack make a significant contribution as well. The amounts I used, created about 3 adult size servings, at least that's how many times I filled my plate before I had transferred the entire contents of the pan into my stomach. It was amazingly delicious in every way possible. This, was a meal for one purpose. To feed a hungry man!
Monday, February 13, 2012
Valenslimes
As the title suggests, I am not a fan of this vile commercial "holiday". Perhaps its because the only time that I have had a significant other on this day was also while she was studying abroad in Europe for months, and thus it was nothing spectacular. I think I drew her a picture with crayons and mailed it. I know, it was silly, although admittedly fun. Now, my disdain for the day is probably due to my dislike of gooey, mushy, public shows of affection, as well as the high frequency of Tom Shane commercials on mainstream radio stations. I don't know about anyone else, but I cannot stand that guy. I'm not sure if it's his voice or the repetitiveness of his commercials or both, but when I hear it coming, I tell you what, my hand can't move any faster towards that next preset button.
Lately, I feel like I have been receiving an unusually high amount of unsolicited attention from the members of the opposite gender. I find this to be quite strange, especially since I think of myself as just an average chill guy, one that girls seldom actually take a serious interest in, but rather keep around as a friend. I've grown accustomed to this and frankly, right now in my life, I haven't placed a high priority on dating, despite living in one of the largest and busiest dating pools. When I moved here, I had a few people make jokes about or even just straight up ask me if I was going there to "find a wife". Good grief. There are other reasons for making a life changing relocation as I did.
My usual style of asking a girl out is one where I prefer to get to know them in social settings and groups a little bit and then if I'm still interested and if I feel like they may also be interested, I'll make a move. However, as I mentioned earlier, I haven't really made dating a priority at this point in my life. Perhaps I should. Really. I'm 27. Definitely a menace to society by now. Shortly after the first of the year I was somewhat tricked into writing down a new years goal to date, and more specifically to beat my roommate. Last term, my roommate had a crazy busy full class schedule, worked like 3 jobs, barely ever slept, and dated more than I did. The guy is a freakin beast. What did I do? Worked part time at one job, annnnnd yeah, thats it. But going back to an earlier observation, recently various girls have been showing what I feel like is an unusual amount of attention for an average guy like myself. I'm really not used to this phenomenon and honestly wasn't sure how to handle it. I was definitely overwhelmed. Then I got to thinking, hey, that February holiday is coming around again in a couple weeks... I think it's just making these girls go stark raving mad! Okay, exaggeration. But, still! Anywho, I have tried to kinda play it cool and just be same old average self, and now that valenslimes is tomorrow I feel like the flames have cooled off a bit, and I'm okay with that, because all along, I've been making observations and taking mental notes. Now I'm ready to start asking some of them out. Hopefully it's not too obvious that I clearly didn't want anything to do with this meaningless holiday. But if that bothers them too much, then they are probably not the right person for me. Realistically though, I would have reacted the same if the scenario were any other time of year.
So without further ado, here's tomorrow's schedule of events. I will awake and go to work at the usual time and get off sometime around 6-7 hours later, depending on work load. I will then make an incredible dinner from scratch with extra bacon and I will devour said dinner while enjoying a great man movie, The Last Samurai. Following the movie, I will probably just go to bed and catch up on lost sleep from the previous few nights, including right now when I should be asleep rather than writing this drivel. But yet, here I am. Therefore I declare February Fourteenth to be a day just like any other day in which I might make an awesome dinner and watch an awesome movie. Yes. To be a single man tomorrow is a very pleasant bliss that I for one, intend to appreciate. Goodnight.
Lately, I feel like I have been receiving an unusually high amount of unsolicited attention from the members of the opposite gender. I find this to be quite strange, especially since I think of myself as just an average chill guy, one that girls seldom actually take a serious interest in, but rather keep around as a friend. I've grown accustomed to this and frankly, right now in my life, I haven't placed a high priority on dating, despite living in one of the largest and busiest dating pools. When I moved here, I had a few people make jokes about or even just straight up ask me if I was going there to "find a wife". Good grief. There are other reasons for making a life changing relocation as I did.
My usual style of asking a girl out is one where I prefer to get to know them in social settings and groups a little bit and then if I'm still interested and if I feel like they may also be interested, I'll make a move. However, as I mentioned earlier, I haven't really made dating a priority at this point in my life. Perhaps I should. Really. I'm 27. Definitely a menace to society by now. Shortly after the first of the year I was somewhat tricked into writing down a new years goal to date, and more specifically to beat my roommate. Last term, my roommate had a crazy busy full class schedule, worked like 3 jobs, barely ever slept, and dated more than I did. The guy is a freakin beast. What did I do? Worked part time at one job, annnnnd yeah, thats it. But going back to an earlier observation, recently various girls have been showing what I feel like is an unusual amount of attention for an average guy like myself. I'm really not used to this phenomenon and honestly wasn't sure how to handle it. I was definitely overwhelmed. Then I got to thinking, hey, that February holiday is coming around again in a couple weeks... I think it's just making these girls go stark raving mad! Okay, exaggeration. But, still! Anywho, I have tried to kinda play it cool and just be same old average self, and now that valenslimes is tomorrow I feel like the flames have cooled off a bit, and I'm okay with that, because all along, I've been making observations and taking mental notes. Now I'm ready to start asking some of them out. Hopefully it's not too obvious that I clearly didn't want anything to do with this meaningless holiday. But if that bothers them too much, then they are probably not the right person for me. Realistically though, I would have reacted the same if the scenario were any other time of year.
So without further ado, here's tomorrow's schedule of events. I will awake and go to work at the usual time and get off sometime around 6-7 hours later, depending on work load. I will then make an incredible dinner from scratch with extra bacon and I will devour said dinner while enjoying a great man movie, The Last Samurai. Following the movie, I will probably just go to bed and catch up on lost sleep from the previous few nights, including right now when I should be asleep rather than writing this drivel. But yet, here I am. Therefore I declare February Fourteenth to be a day just like any other day in which I might make an awesome dinner and watch an awesome movie. Yes. To be a single man tomorrow is a very pleasant bliss that I for one, intend to appreciate. Goodnight.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Holiday Recap
Well here I am once again. It's 2012. Woooo! Since my last blog post there has been a lot of worthy topics and entries I could have written about. I'll try to summarize some of them here.
My birthday: I turned twenty-seven. I don't particularly care for the increase. However it was an enjoyable day. The Sunday before, my sister invited me to have a birthday dinner with her family. It was a lot of fun! My nephews and nieces made a cool Happy Birthday sign, which is currently still on my wall. My birthday fell on a Monday this year so after work, my friend took me out to dinner at this Texas steakhouse. The food was really good! They announced my birthday and made me sit on a saddle while other restaurant patrons shouted, "yeehaw!" A little embarrassing, but I'll never see any of those people again... haha After the restaurant we headed up to Salt Lake City and stopped at this awesome little hole-in-the-wall type cookie shop. Mmmmmm. Then we went to see the Temple Square Christmas lights display and walked around in the freezing cold, taking pictures and sipping hot chocolate. I'm not the type of person that throws huge birthday parties. I would rather enjoy a relaxing fun evening with a few friends or family and this was more than I could have asked for. It was a great birthday!
The week after, I made another exploratory trip out towards the lake and discovered a really cool marshy pond area that was entirely frozen. It was a neat area with a few trees right along the edge of the water and loads of cattails. Even though the city was just a few minutes away, this felt like it was miles from the cares of the world. I will return. Also the lake had frozen and the ice flow had shifted and created heaps of broken up chunks of ice along the shore. I found that the lake also makes many creepy, eerie noises at dusk when it's frozen. It was fascinating! I also visited a small park a little farther north along the shore that was part of the former Geneva Steel site. It had a little beach area and some neat photo ops. It also looked like a great place for a bonfire, which I would like to organize one of these days.
Christmas: It was on a Sunday this year and I was lucky enough to have both the Friday before and Monday after off from work. I was also lucky enough to be able to get decently priced round trip plane tickets for the exact times that I needed to leave and return in order to fully maximize my time in Oregon. I was able to visit with a few friends, spend some time outdoors, take lots of pictures, celebrate Christmas, and see all my family in Oregon. It was great! One of my nieces had apparently not heard that I was flying in and when she arrived at my parents house I came out of a room and received an unexpected running pounce of a hug! She didn't want to let go :) It was an excellent Christmas vacation weekend! And also weird in a way, being the first Christmas where I was "just visiting". I hope that I can always make it for Christmas.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra: Year after year, I have always wanted to go see them perform live but for many different reasons it has never worked out. But finally, on December 28th, I was able to go! Many thanks go to my good friend who got me a ticket as part of a combined Birthday/Christmas present. It was phenomenal! Their own rock opera act opened the first half of the show and then they finished with an all out epic firestorm of hard rock holiday songs! I will definitely go again sometime, hopefully next year.
New Years: I was unfortunately feeling kinda crummy with a cold that hit me right after the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert and I didn't really have any huge new years eve plans anyhow so I just stayed home. However, one of my friends from back home called me and said he had just moved into his new apartment that day, which was coincidentally almost across the street from my duplex. Both my roommates were out so I was just watching movies and eating junk food until my friend came over and then we just hung out and caught up on life and things. For the countdown we couldn't think of anything more awesome to do than to run outside and go down the slide upside down and backwards at exactly midnight. But it was good times. Then we walked over to his place and watched a Futurama marathon on tv until 2am. I've certainly had more and less exciting new years eves, but since being kinda sick I had expected very little and therefore was not disappointed.
On New Years Day, I carried on the tradition of a new years hike or adventure but without the usual company since they were all still in Oregon. Instead I went to Rock Canyon for just a little bit by myself to take a few pictures since I hadn't been there since fall. Shortly thereafter I picked up my friend and her and I went up to American Fork Canyon just for a little drive. We stopped at a few places and took lots of pictures. In one spot we found a small, steeply cascading stream that was entirely frozen. I was able to walk up it like stairs. It was really cool! And cold. So we headed back and had some hot cocoa. That wrapped up my successful traditional New Years adventure.
Visitors from out of state: In January my closest sister and brother in-law finally were able to move down here. Their house in Oregon had been on the market for over a year and due to economic conditions and market trends they weren't able to sell. However, they chose to rent it out instead and were able to continue on their game plan and move out here. Their purpose in moving here is similar to mine. Working and getting more education, while making new life experiences. I am so glad to have them here because now I have more people to go on awesome little adventures with, which we have already successfully done! They needed a break from job applications one day so I took them up to Pleasant Grove where we hiked to Battle Creek Falls and did some exploring.
Also in January, I had some friends come down for a visit one weekend. They are all currently going to school in Idaho which is only a few hours drive away. I showed them around some of the cool places I had found here. We went to Bridal Veil Falls and North Falls, both of which were icy and awesome looking. Later we went out to the lake which was also icy, but not as much as when I had been there before. We did a little exploring, some hanging out, made an epic breakfast and enjoyed a dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. It was a really fun weekend!
Wild & Wacky Willies: A while back I had heard about this food invention from a guy I know at church. His brother invented it while serving an LDS mission. It consists of an egg, a pancake, cheese and sausage all wrapped up into one thing. There are actually three types. The "One-Eyed Willy", reference to The Goonies, is where you take an egg and start cooking it, then pour pancake batter over it. Fried egg in a pancake. The "Wild Willy" is an egg on side of the pancake and cheese that gets fried and crispy into the other side of the pancake. The "Wild and Wacky Willy" is the same as the previous but in addition to cheese, you add sausage chunks that get fried into the flipside of the pancake. He prefers it served with fresh sliced tomatoes and salt on top. Last week we got a small group together Sunday morning before church and we made these for breakfast. It is surprisingly delicious and I'm excited to try some variations on it including hashbrowned potatoes and syrup. We talked about possibly making this happen every other week at different locations and inviting more people.
Lava Hot Springs: Most recently, I ventured up to Lava Hot Springs at the request of some friends from Idaho. It's about a two and a half hour drive north for me and a one and a half hour drive south for them. We split a room five ways in this old hotel which had originally been built roughly 90 years ago as the town's original hospital. There were about 6 different pools with varying temperatures and we tried them all. It was indeed, relaxing! We spent Friday night and most of Saturday there. We came into contact with all kinds of interesting people, visitors and locals, as we relaxed at the hotel, soaked in the pools, walked around the town and perused various shops, restaurants and a museum. It was a short but awesome little adventure with some fun friends!
And that pretty much sums up the last two months. I had forgotten my blogger password and also have been pretty busy with work and these adventures, so that is my excuse for not updating sooner. But don't worry, I'll be back again soon.
My birthday: I turned twenty-seven. I don't particularly care for the increase. However it was an enjoyable day. The Sunday before, my sister invited me to have a birthday dinner with her family. It was a lot of fun! My nephews and nieces made a cool Happy Birthday sign, which is currently still on my wall. My birthday fell on a Monday this year so after work, my friend took me out to dinner at this Texas steakhouse. The food was really good! They announced my birthday and made me sit on a saddle while other restaurant patrons shouted, "yeehaw!" A little embarrassing, but I'll never see any of those people again... haha After the restaurant we headed up to Salt Lake City and stopped at this awesome little hole-in-the-wall type cookie shop. Mmmmmm. Then we went to see the Temple Square Christmas lights display and walked around in the freezing cold, taking pictures and sipping hot chocolate. I'm not the type of person that throws huge birthday parties. I would rather enjoy a relaxing fun evening with a few friends or family and this was more than I could have asked for. It was a great birthday!
Christmas: It was on a Sunday this year and I was lucky enough to have both the Friday before and Monday after off from work. I was also lucky enough to be able to get decently priced round trip plane tickets for the exact times that I needed to leave and return in order to fully maximize my time in Oregon. I was able to visit with a few friends, spend some time outdoors, take lots of pictures, celebrate Christmas, and see all my family in Oregon. It was great! One of my nieces had apparently not heard that I was flying in and when she arrived at my parents house I came out of a room and received an unexpected running pounce of a hug! She didn't want to let go :) It was an excellent Christmas vacation weekend! And also weird in a way, being the first Christmas where I was "just visiting". I hope that I can always make it for Christmas.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra: Year after year, I have always wanted to go see them perform live but for many different reasons it has never worked out. But finally, on December 28th, I was able to go! Many thanks go to my good friend who got me a ticket as part of a combined Birthday/Christmas present. It was phenomenal! Their own rock opera act opened the first half of the show and then they finished with an all out epic firestorm of hard rock holiday songs! I will definitely go again sometime, hopefully next year.
New Years: I was unfortunately feeling kinda crummy with a cold that hit me right after the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert and I didn't really have any huge new years eve plans anyhow so I just stayed home. However, one of my friends from back home called me and said he had just moved into his new apartment that day, which was coincidentally almost across the street from my duplex. Both my roommates were out so I was just watching movies and eating junk food until my friend came over and then we just hung out and caught up on life and things. For the countdown we couldn't think of anything more awesome to do than to run outside and go down the slide upside down and backwards at exactly midnight. But it was good times. Then we walked over to his place and watched a Futurama marathon on tv until 2am. I've certainly had more and less exciting new years eves, but since being kinda sick I had expected very little and therefore was not disappointed.
On New Years Day, I carried on the tradition of a new years hike or adventure but without the usual company since they were all still in Oregon. Instead I went to Rock Canyon for just a little bit by myself to take a few pictures since I hadn't been there since fall. Shortly thereafter I picked up my friend and her and I went up to American Fork Canyon just for a little drive. We stopped at a few places and took lots of pictures. In one spot we found a small, steeply cascading stream that was entirely frozen. I was able to walk up it like stairs. It was really cool! And cold. So we headed back and had some hot cocoa. That wrapped up my successful traditional New Years adventure.
Visitors from out of state: In January my closest sister and brother in-law finally were able to move down here. Their house in Oregon had been on the market for over a year and due to economic conditions and market trends they weren't able to sell. However, they chose to rent it out instead and were able to continue on their game plan and move out here. Their purpose in moving here is similar to mine. Working and getting more education, while making new life experiences. I am so glad to have them here because now I have more people to go on awesome little adventures with, which we have already successfully done! They needed a break from job applications one day so I took them up to Pleasant Grove where we hiked to Battle Creek Falls and did some exploring.
Wild & Wacky Willies: A while back I had heard about this food invention from a guy I know at church. His brother invented it while serving an LDS mission. It consists of an egg, a pancake, cheese and sausage all wrapped up into one thing. There are actually three types. The "One-Eyed Willy", reference to The Goonies, is where you take an egg and start cooking it, then pour pancake batter over it. Fried egg in a pancake. The "Wild Willy" is an egg on side of the pancake and cheese that gets fried and crispy into the other side of the pancake. The "Wild and Wacky Willy" is the same as the previous but in addition to cheese, you add sausage chunks that get fried into the flipside of the pancake. He prefers it served with fresh sliced tomatoes and salt on top. Last week we got a small group together Sunday morning before church and we made these for breakfast. It is surprisingly delicious and I'm excited to try some variations on it including hashbrowned potatoes and syrup. We talked about possibly making this happen every other week at different locations and inviting more people.
Lava Hot Springs: Most recently, I ventured up to Lava Hot Springs at the request of some friends from Idaho. It's about a two and a half hour drive north for me and a one and a half hour drive south for them. We split a room five ways in this old hotel which had originally been built roughly 90 years ago as the town's original hospital. There were about 6 different pools with varying temperatures and we tried them all. It was indeed, relaxing! We spent Friday night and most of Saturday there. We came into contact with all kinds of interesting people, visitors and locals, as we relaxed at the hotel, soaked in the pools, walked around the town and perused various shops, restaurants and a museum. It was a short but awesome little adventure with some fun friends!
And that pretty much sums up the last two months. I had forgotten my blogger password and also have been pretty busy with work and these adventures, so that is my excuse for not updating sooner. But don't worry, I'll be back again soon.
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