One Derby Down... How Many More To Go?

Jared was in the KSM derby this last weekend. As always I was sitting in the stands just sick, but it was worth it Jared did really well. Jared by some miracle took 3rd in his heat (The crowd cheered for placing after it got to the top 4). His front fenders locked up his tires so he would just dig a hole with his back tires and get stuck, but someone always came and got him out. He would go for a little longer and the same thing would happen again. While he was in the pit getting his car ready for the main he noticed he was losing his transmission. He only had 2ND gear when he went out to the main. He didn't have a prayer. How could anyone go longer than 30 seconds without reverse? Well that was what everyone thought, but like always Jared likes to prove everyone wrong. He would drive around and sideswipe people. It was pretty funny. He only got hung up once, and once again someone came to his aid and freed him. Jared ended up taking 3rd in the main. It was fun to watch, and everyone loved the paint job on the car!!!The paint was joint effort this time and it turned out really good.

Tagged!!!

Yeah, so I kinda hoped this would never happen but since it has I guess I better live up to my friend duties and by the way thanks soooo much Calie! :)

A - attached or single: Attached and wouldn't have it any other way. Jared and I have been married 5 years and it has been awesome!!! I am so greatful to have someone like Jared.

B - Best friend: I have lots of good friends, but I would have to say Jared and my family. Even though sometime they drive me crazy I love every second I get to hang out with them.

C - Cake or Pie: Does Cold Stone Cake Batter count?

D - Day: Saturday I always seem to get so much accomplished

E - Essential Item: Chap stick!!!

G - Gummi Bears or Worms: Worms I like to eat them in pieces.

H - Hometown: I would have to say Mendon I lived in a few other towns, but that was before I can remember.

I - Indulgences: COLD STONE!!!

J - January or July: July just to make Jared mad (see below blog).

K - Kids: Not that I know of ;). Hopefully one day.

L - Life is incomplete without: My husband, my family, and my friends.

M - Marriage Date: July 10, 2003

N - Number of Siblings: 1 Sister and 2 Brothers.

O - Oranges or Apples: I love oranges, but hate to peel them. So I would have to say apples.

P - Phobias or Fears: I hate heights, but love the adrenaline rush.

Q - Quote: “It is our choices…that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

R - Reason to Smile: I have an awesome husband!!!

S - Season: Spring. It is the perfect temperature and I love all the new flowers.

T - Tag Three Friends: Here's for all my blog stalkers ;) Leonora, Tina, Amber

U - Unknown Fact about me: Well I am not sure since I am a loud mouth and tell everyone everything.

V - Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals: Somewhere in the middle.

W - Worst Habit: Burping.

X - X-Rays or Ultrasounds: I have had both and would probably prefer x-rays. The ultrasounds I have had to have lately aren't the funnest as some of you know!!!

Y- Your favorite food: Anything Mexican.

Z - Zodiac sign: Scorpio

Big Fishin'

Well I have been behind at getting things posted so does it surprise anyone that I am a week late with this one? Last weekend we went to Island Park with Eric and Tina. It was kinda a last second thing. We went to Island Park on Friday night. Saturday we went to Yellowstone and went biking/hiking. First we went to Osprey Falls. It wasn't the easiest ride, but sooo worth it. It was cool because not many people see it. You have to hike 1.4 miles after the bike trail to get to it. It is a very steep trial, so that means straight down which wasn't so bad, it was the straight up that could kill you. Next we went to Old Faithful. We went and got the tradition ice cream cone and watched Old Faithful erupt. After that we jumped on the bikes and rode to Morning Glory. It was a much easier ride than earlier that morning, which was good because I wasn't sure how much more the old behind could handle! We spent the rest of the afternoon in West Yellowstone. As always we had to go to Wild West Pizzeria, and the candy store. We went to the Playmill and saw Hello Dolly for the second time, it was probably just as good if not better since we could anticipate the funny parts. The next day we got a yearly morning wake up call from Buzzy. He was in Rexburg visiting friends. I don't think he could last even a few days without seeing us j/k. So Buzzy Karina and Carson joined us for our float down Henry's Fork. The fishing has never been better!!! We caught some big fish and had a lot of fun.

BRAAAAAAP!! (Jared's graduation present)

The dictionary defines the word wretched as follows: "characterized by physical misery; very unhappy; full of misery". There is a season—not of love, life, or creation—that causes wretchedness to flow through my veins like rodenticide rat poison. This season I so bitterly speak of is known as summer. A majority of you faithful blog stalkers are in disaccord with this truth so let me explain. I will list what I have to enjoy and so faithfully look forward to during the summer: I love the allergies and all of it’s accompanying symptoms (swollen shut eyes, itchy throat, sneezing, no sleep, throwing out money for prescription medicine that rarely works). I love sweating. There is nothing quite like sweaty crawling underwear and the sweet smell of swass as it permeates my nose like old road kill in a musty household garbage can. I love pulling weeds, pruning trees, mowing the grass, and watering the lawn in guilt as the news continually reminds us of our terrible forever annual drought like condition. I love spiders, mosquitoes, gnats, and all other creeping things that infest us in full force during the summer. I love heat. Need I say more? Some of you may be thinking that I am a pessimistic hater of sorts that is unable to find the beauty of life. Read on….
The dictionary describes the word “groovy” as very good. The word winter and groovy had just as well be synonyms. There need not be an elaborate explanation for the pictures posted with this blog will pretty much sum it up. For those of you not familiar with such machinery, you are looking at an Arctic Cat M8 fully equipped with a clean burning 2 stroke 798 cc displacement liquid cooled twin. It is also noteworthy to mention the 46mm batteryless electronic fuel injection with adjustable power valve technology which helps rapidly spin the 153 x 15 Camoplast Challenger. I could list it’s other features but I only have a couple pages left so I’ll stop there. Some (less educated persons) claim that heaven is home on earth. I argue that heaven is floating through the powder on a powerful yet lightweight 2 stroke snowmobile. It’s the fresh smell of exhaust and the sound of the rapped out motor as you climb out the top of a large mountain peak. It’s the friendships made while digging out stuck snowmobiles and trying to high mark each other on the hill. It’s the constant maintenance, repair, and modification. I was hoping the global climate would evolve to a day when I could enjoy winter year round. I guess I’m screwed due to global warming. Oh well.

War Wounds

Jare and I went paint balling. It was way fun, but there were a few casualties. Okay not really, but there were a few war wounds. We went to the paintball course by Zanavoo. Jared sliced his hand on a barrel and had to get 9 stitches. Does it surprise anyone that as he is gushing blood he was still playing until he got out? I also had quite the bruise, not quite as impressive as Jare's wound, but I was quite proud.

"Some must push and some must pull."

On July 15, 2008, Ash and I had the opportunity to accompany the young men and women in the Cache and Cache West Stake for a pioneer trek experience. This event took place in a God forsaken desert stricken land of desolation which is approximately 7 hours away from Logan, UT by school bus. For those of you who do not know of this ugly, sage brush, bug infested land I speak of—It can be described with a simple 3 word phrase: Middle of Wyoming. Enough said.
The purpose of the trip is to load handcarts with personal belonging and rough it in the outdoors while walking long distances. This is an attempt to re-create the fatigue, trials, aches, fun, and obstacles faced by the pioneers on their westward journey to the “Land of Zion.” The church has invested large amounts of money and service in making this experience as pleasant, spiritual, and informative as possible. There are multiple campsites with drinking water and hole in the ground johns. The trails are well maintained and handcarts are provided for your pushing and pulling pleasure. We saw a bunch of historical sites and trekked about 21 to 24 miles total.

Ash and I went as a Ma and Pa and were assigned a family of 4 girls and 4 boys. In attempts to provide some organization, each family was assigned a color. I was very excited when I was informed that our family was the hot pink family. The kids in our family were awesome. They worked hard and helped out. We couldn't of had a better family for this.

Things we liked:
- Not having to go to work for four days.
-The feelings and experiences associated with that special area.
-The large amounts of food.
-The youth that taught us much and brought out our teenager mentality.
-Sleeping in a tent (which is only fun for 3 nights a year)
-The inconsistency with the earth’s temperature which provided short periods of relief.

Things we disliked:
-14 hours in a hot school bus
-The never ending supply of sagebrush and sand.
-Ticks & Mosquitoes
-Heat (probably global warming)

5 Year Anniversary Trip

July 10-13, 2008 are a few days of vacationing that will be hard to forget. We wanted to do something unique and somewhat adventurous in attempts to celebrate five years of (insert euphemism here) marriage. In fact, before I continue with the “tell you all about the trip” blog format I will intermit a non-typical tribute to my beautiful bride of five years:

Roses are Red and Pansies are Blue,
Five years later our love is still true.
It’s hard to explain the way that I feel,
My connection to you is almost surreal.
I know I cause stress and find it quite funny,
When you proclaim, “Honey! Stop spending money!”
You’re patient with me even when I pass gas,
To me you are more than a nice piece of cake.
Our trials and fun times have been really sweet,
We’ll be just fine if the past five could repeat.
You’re so good to me and have superior skill,
I love you so much and I always will.

I suppose there are some friends within the blogging community (particular the men) that will poke fun and make light of my attempts to express myself poetically. I am prepared to withstand the persecutions and taunting that may result and welcome the repercussions. Now back to the trip…

We went to SLC Thursday where we stayed at the Radisson Downtown. We enjoyed an excellent dinner at The Roof (top floor of the JS Memorial Building) and then caught the flick “Get Smart” at The Gateway. The movie was excellent and the dinner was okay. To be honest, at $35 a person I expected a higher level of service and food quality than was received at The Roof. The atmosphere included a live pianist and an excellent view of Temple Square. The buffet food was certainly buffetish. The desserts were amazing.

Friday morning we got up early and went to Intermountain Harley Davidson of SLC to rent a 2008 Harley Davidson Ultra Classic Electroglyde. We met Ashley’s parents that morning to join us on the open road. We traveled a little over 320 miles that day on the hogs. We took I-15 to Idaho Falls then up to Ashton where we took the scenic byway through Mesa Falls. We then went through Island Park and to West Yellowstone. I had some concerns about us being sore after riding a motorcycle that long. I was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable and smooth the ride was. I had absolutely no soreness at all. The only noticeable discomfort was the sun and wind burnt face and arms. Ashley was in hog heaven sitting on the back of the bike. She had her camera in one hand and the iPod in the other. She wanted me to wear a t-shirt that says, “If you can read this, the bitch fell off.” I told her no.

On Saturday we took the bikes through Yellowstone National Park for some sight seeing. We travelled up through Madison to Norris then up to Mammoth. We saw all of the typical things like rivers, waterfalls, elk, bison, etc. After we left Mammoth we had our first black bear sighting. The beauty of being on a bike is that you can pull over off the road and sit there and watch the wildlife without trying to park a car. We went over to Hayden Valley and then came back through Dunraven pass and back to West Yellowstone. That night we say Hello Dolly at the Playmill Theater in West Yellowstone which was excellent as usual. That day we saw many elk, buffalo, deer, bald eagle, three bears, and a plethora of scenic snapshots.

An observational note about Yellowstone National Park: I have spent countless hours in that miserable place. My father is obsessed with the park and imposed his Yellowstone obsession on us as children. The things I associate Yellowstone with are boring drives, cold picnics and long bug infested hikes. I’m not typically one to notice and/or appreciate the natural beauty of the earth so Yellowstone to me was just another place. I have to swallow my pride and proclaim that Yellowstone on a motorcycle is a whole new world full of amazement and awe. For some reason I was never able to really see it for what it is in the back seat of the family van. I can’t imagine how anyone can tour the park in a vehicle after doing so on a bike. It was awesome!!!

On Sunday we began the long journey home. We went back through Yellowstone and through Teton National Park. We stopped for lunch in Jackson Hole, WY at Bubba’s Barbecue and then went home via Bear Lake. After returning the bike back to SLC Monday morning the trip odometer read 983 miles. Ashley took 150 pictures off the back of the bike. The sun and wind blistered our lips and arms but the slight discomfort was all worth it. It ranks as one of our favorite vacations of all time. It did however create a very large and serious problem: I have to find some money and buy a Harley. I didn’t want to be faced with this dilemma but I am. I have to face this problem like a man and get ‘er done. I’m up for it.

The pictures are your typical Yellowstone scenery pictures. The only difference is that these pictures are how things are perceived while perched on the back seat of a Harley. Enjoy.