Halloween

This year we decided to be superheros for Halloween. Suzanne was SuperFrog, Jenna was Sarah Palin, and I was ElectroStatic Girl. (A special thanks to Mel and Joey for their help in completing the final touches to my costume!)

(Yes, those are Joey's underpants I'm wearing!)

Jenna, Suzanne, and Ryan enjoying their free Chipolte Burritos. This is now a new tradition of ours. Chipolte will give you a free burrito on Halloween if you dress like a burrito or wear foil. Jenna made a tie with her foil, Suzanne made a bib in preparation to eat her free burrito, Ryan made a Gun for his FBI outfit, and I made a headband. We decided Chipolte burritos taste even better free!

My friend's family makes a big cardboard maze from refrigerator boxes in their front yard each Halloween. This was my first year experiencing it and I have to say I was pretty impressed. It took Ryan and I at least half an hour to find our way out and Suzanne and Randy were stuck in there for over 45 minutes! However, I will admit I did cheat a little. There was a small hole I could stick my head out and I was able to find my friend who gave us directions.

Status Update

Okay, so not too long after I had announced I was dating Brian, I broke it off. He's a nice guy and treated me well but we did not see eye to eye on some essential issues and I decided it was best to let him go. Just thought I should clear the air on any rumors I had created. Thanks for the encouragement and good wishes. This was for the best and I feel confident I made the right decision.

Sedona - West Fork Trail

10/24-10/25: This was a very last minute trip. I had mentioned to Mel how I wanted to go hiking in Sedona and see the changing fall leaves. She mentioned she would sell me some of their minutes at their time share. So a friend and I took off that weekend and enjoyed the cool weather and fall colors.

Fall Break

One of the perks of teaching is that I get a week off in fall. It's nice but also very necessary. Last year I went with a few friends to Hawaii. I didn't take off to some exotic getaway this year, but I relaxed, got some stuff done, and stayed away from my classroom even though I was tempted to go in and get some work done. So here's what I did:

Lakeside, AZ - As soon as the busses left, I packed up my classroom and headed out as fast as I could! A few of us took off that weekend to Suzanne's family's cabin up in Lakeside. I wasn't quite prepared for how freezing cold it would be and had packed a bunch of shorts. So I only had one pair of sweatpants, which I wore for the majority of the time. It rained and hailed on us Saturday, so we sat out on the porch for the majority of the time enjoying the weather. Unfortunately, Suzanne had stomach issues for most of the weekend and so I spent a lot of the time walking around by myself talking to Sara on the phone. Finally, on Tuesday she felt better. We hiked Mt. Baldy a bit and enjoyed the picturesque views and changing fall leaves. That was definitely a highlight of my trip and I would love to go back and hike it all the way to the end. Too bad we didn't have enough time.

Fall Cleaning - Okay, so I didn't quite get around to spring cleaning this year, but thank goodness I have a week off in the fall to make up for it. So I decided to clean up my files and bills. Apparently I found out it has been several years since I've cleaned it up. Oops! After a couple of days of serious shredding and reorganizing, I think I finally have some order to the mess. I never seem to know what to keep and what to shred. Heaven forbid something should ever happen to me and someone should have to go through my stuff and figure out my mess. Once I had all that completed, my next task was to clean my room. It's been a while since I've done some serious deep cleaning in it so that took some time too. I just wish I could keep it clean! ;)

As You Wish - My friend, Suzanne, and I took some time to paint some pottery. As You Wish is a fun little place where you pick out from a variety of unfinished pottery and custom paint it yourself. You pay a sitting fee where you have access to all their paints and supplies. The cost of the pottery depends on what you get. Suzanne and I painted several tiles, which are one of the cheapest items. The trick with painting pottery is that it's tough to tell how it's going to turn out. The color of the paint is very light but it changes when they fire it and the more coats you give it the more distinguish the color will be. It kind reminds me of taking pictures on an SLR manual camera using old school film. You don't really know how well you did until you develop it. But it's still tons of fun to do and totally worth it.

Wicked in LA - Sept. 20th

What a trip! I took off with this guy I barley knew and his two sisters and a friend of theirs. I ended up driving out late Friday night all they way to Buckeye to meet him at his sister's where I got to meet the whole family. In the course of that night, I went also to his house, to his parent's, and then finally to his other sister's house where I stayed the night. Wow, talk about overwhelming! We left Saturday morning and after getting lost in the city, fighting LA traffic, and stopping to get food and gas, we arrived to our hotel in Beverly Hills about 5pm. Unfortunately, that didn't give us much time to relax before having to get ready. Once again, we had to fight traffic and find something super quick to eat before getting to the show. With just seconds to spare, we literally barely made it on time before they closed the doors. Phew! This was my second time seeing this show and it definitely didn't lose its savor. When Alphaba sings Defying Gravity and is hoisted up into the air, I get goosebumps! After the show we were all still pretty hungry, so we headed to the Cheesecake Factory. I had this super yummy pasta dish and strawberry lemon cheesecake. Usually I find when a restaurant offers a wide range of cuisines, and The Cheesecake Factory has the most extensive menu I have yet to see, the quality of the food diminishes. However, I have yet to be disappointed with anything I've gotten there. So Sunday morning we all slept in and didn't leave our hotel till noon. We decided to go check out the mall across the street to see what it was like to shop in Beverly Hills. After a couple of hours, we headed over to the Wax Museum by the theater. I've never been to one before, can't say I was overly impressed but it was fun and made for some good pics. We didn't head out of town till early that evening. On the way back, we stopped at a shady convenient store and found one of the few DeLorians from Back to the Future II. It had the flux capacitor and even the Mr. Fusion! So of course we all had to take pictures of it. The man who owns it is doing a cross country trek and logging his journey on his MySpace (I believe his online alias is punchcard). This particular car wasn't actually used in the movie, because they only used pieces of it for filming purposes. I ended up not getting home till midnight and was pretty exhausted at work the next day, but I had a great time and it was so worth it!

Another way overdue update...

So it's been awhile. I know. But you gotta give me some credit, at least I post more often than Krista. ;) But a lot has happened in these past two months, so I figure it's time I post and update you all on the happenings of my oh so wonderful life.

Rumor Control:

For those of you who have heard the rumors, yes it's true, I've been dating someone. Although, I'm not quite comfortable giving our relationship a title yet or becoming exclusive, we do spend a lot of time together. He treats me really well, despite my indecisiveness, and tells me I'm beautiful. So for the time being, I think I'll let him stick around. ;)

Back to Work -

I'm back in the classroom! For those of you who didn't know, last year I didn't teach any classes. Instead, my job consisted mainly of administrative type duties as the Special Ed. Dept. Head at my school. My list of duties included lots of meetings, paperwork, emailing, testing, etc. It did pay me a little more, but the stress wasn't worth it and I really did miss being in the classroom. So far this year it's been good, sure the kids can drive me crazy at times, but for the most part they're lots of fun.

San Diego 8/8-8/10:

After an attempt to try to end things with Brian, we got back together a week later and took off to San Diego where he grew up. We left Friday evening and stayed with his grandparents, who made sure to make me feel welcomed in their home, though I quickly came to learn that grandma wears the pants in that family. Talk about feisty! On Saturday he took me out hiking, kayaking, boogie boarding, we watched the sunset, and then walked around the temple. We then woke up early Sunday morning to go to his cousin's homecoming, which was about an hour away. We spent the afternoon with his extended family and then headed back to the valley.

West Clear Creek 8/23-8/24:

Brian loves canyoneering and this is one of his favorite places so he thought it would be fun to drag me down there.

Unfortunately, it didn't quite turn out the way he was hoping as I am coming to learn that I do not quite share in his love for this. Don't get me wrong, West Clear Creek is an absolutely beautiful place and I would love to go back, but he loves walking through the creek where as I prefer to stick to the trails. There was just something about constantly slipping on rocks and bush wracking that didn't appeal to me. He says he can get a better view of the scenery walking through the creek, but if we hadn't got back on the trail we would never had seen the hieroglyphics on the rock walls. :)

Zion National Park 8/29-9/1 -

A small group of us took off to do some camping and hiking up in Zion for Labor Day weekend. I had never been before and Brian was a little nervous to take me there in fear that I wouldn't like it either. I absolutely loved it! He had really wanted to take me through the Narrows but because of the rain and high chance of a flash flood, we decided it would be better to come back another time. Instead, we hiked Angel's Landing, Observation Point, and a couple of small hikes. The weather was great. It rained a little Saturday evening, and throughout Sunday, but nothing too much and for the most of Sunday afternoon it barely sprinkled. This made hiking really nice and not too hot. If you've never been to Zion, I would highly recommend it. It is absolutely beautiful and a very family friendly place with all sorts of hikes for all skill levels. There are free shuttles that take you to each of the trail heads from the visitor center, which is directly across from the campsites. The campsites have facilities with flushing toilets and a water spicket outside safe for drinking. You can hike as much or as little as you want, either way you'll love it. I'm thinking of even planning a big family trip there, but Mel and Sara think I must be crazy. So maybe it would be too much with all the little ones right now, but for those of you whose kiddos are a little older, you should definitely go. On the drive back we stopped at Horseshoe Bend. This was only a half mile hike to get to and absolutely breathtaking.

Viva La Mexico

This past weekend I took off with some friends for a fun filled trip to Rocky Point! There was some of the same people I had went with last year and some new. We had rented a beach house on Cholla Bay. It was pretty big and only cost us $75 each. Pretty sweet! I know people will caution against eating in Mexico, but I love it! I ate tres tacos for $3, bean burros on the beach, a mango flower, fresh tamales, homemade tortillas, cheese enchilada, and a coconut popsicle. Yum! And I haven't gotten sick yet, knock on wood. We mostly hung out on the beach, and even though I put on sunscreen 3x's, I still got a nasty burn on my back. I've been applying aloe lotion multiple times a day and taking cool baking soda baths. I think most of it will turn into a sweet tan, but unfortunately there's a couple of slivers of my back that got scorched pretty good so I'm sure they will be peeling soon.

Heber 4th of July

My home teacher and long time buddy invited me to a cabin trip in Heber. Turned out I knew several people going, even Camillia, whose family cabin we would be staying at. Her family also came and took good care of us. We had homemade ice cream and and all sorts of good eatins. The weather was perfect. In fact, the second night I slept outside in a tent in the rain. There's something sweet about hearing the pitter patter of rain tapping on the tent, love it!!! We first watched the fireworks in Showlow Friday night and then Saturday night in Heber. I thought it was odd that Heber was having their show on the 5th, but it was pretty cool to watch two shows in one weekend. I guess the party never stops in small towns! The fireworks in Showlow were better than I had anticipated. We got to watch them from the backyard of a cousin of one of the girls in our group. They were literally launching them in the field over her fence and since it's a chain link fence we saw everything, even the four fireworks that exploded on the ground, including the one that hit a school bus. It was pretty crazy! Heber's fireworks didn't last as long but they had some pretty neat ones and probably one of the biggest fireworks I had seen. Nearly filled the whole sky, it was ginormous! We had also ran into one of my old counselors and his wife from a singles ward I had attended. A few of us there were in that ward together. It was a nice reunion and I'm sad I didn't get a picture... I tend to miss a lot of good picture moments! Overall the cabin trip was a blast! We played games, hung out at the lake, enjoyed the fireworks, ate good food, kept cool, and enjoyed the company of good friends... all and all a good time!

Havasupai 2008

Another Havasupai trip gone by. This is my fifth year hiking into the canyon and I've still managed to make it out alive. I was actually in my best shape, thanks to the training for the Pat's Run last April and of course Jillian Michaels, from the Biggest Loser, who kicked my trash!

We had a pretty good group of 27, though our group did get split up into two camps so I was a little sad about that. However, we all still had a great time playing in the different falls.

We began our adventure on Thursday evening where some of us met at the church by my house and headed out of the valley by 5pm. We made a stop in Flagstaff, picked up a few supplies at the WalMart and ate a hearty meal at Fizoli's.

We arrived at the hilltop at about midnight and began our decent into the canyon at about 1am. We prefer to hike through the night to avoid the intense heat of the sun, it really is the way to go. The hike into the village is about eight miles. Since I was the ring leader, I had to hang out at the village till reservations opened up Friday morning to pay for our group. Some stayed with me while the others headed into camp, another two miles. I then joined the group, set up my tent, and slept for a good couple of hours. A few of us later headed over to Havasu Falls to soothe our tired muscles in the cool waters. Later I headed back, took a bath in the stream by camp and ate a Mountain House dehydrated dinner. Hmmm, there's nothing like going to bed smelling clean after a long hike in and a full tummy.

The next day I got up about 7:30ish, had some cereal and took off with a group to Mooney Falls. This is a fun fall to climb down to. There are plenty of chains and ladders to get you down. It sounds intimidating, but it really isn't. Mooney Falls actually got its name from a miner who died there while repelling by the fall. We took some pics and headed down stream to the 'showers' and then off to the rope swing to play a bit.

We then hiked backed to camp, ate lunch and took off to Navajo Falls. This fall is different than the other two. It's much more of a cascading fall and absolutely beautiful. There's also places to explore behind with some more small falls that many people don't know about. In fact, some people tried to warn us that the path dead ends. We thanked them and kept going.

Afterwards, I headed back to Havasu Falls with a friend to meet up with the rest of our group. We couldn't find them so we found a rock by the falls and chilled for a while. Later, one of the girls showed up and we hiked over to the mines since she had never been and was eager to check them out. Last year I had gone down into the lower levels, though I know it's not the safest or smartest place to be. So we just played it safe this year and explored the first level.

We headed back to camp, made some dinner, enjoyed some desert, and started to take down camp for the hike out early morning. Once all packed up as much as possible, a friend and I went to Havasu Falls to enjoy one last moment and to look at the stars.

That night I slept out under the stars in my sleeping bag on a raft left by another camp. We had overslept a bit so didn't begin our hike out till sunrise. I made pretty good time and just kept going till we made it to the top. Those switchbacks kick my butt every year! As soon as we reached the top I payed for overpriced ice cold water and a Popsicle...worth every cent!

On the way back home we stopped at the famous Snow Cap cafe and enjoyed a couple of tacos and a shake. There are some antique cars in the back with eyes painted on the windshields to look like the characters in the movie Cars, not sure which came first. The service was comical and the food delicious.

So the question now is, "Am I going to do this again next year?" I'm not sure I'm ready to organize another YSA trip, especially now that I'm no longer a YSA, but Krista wants me to organize a family trip. However, it gets a bit tricky with the kids so I'm not sure how well that idea will fly. We would probably have to put an age limit. There are also other options for getting down there besides hiking. You can take the mule all the way in or the helicopter to the village, but that can get pricey when you're paying for a family. There is also a lodge for those who don't want to do the camping, but you'll have a good hike to get to the falls each day (at least four miles total). And obviously, the better shape you're in the better your experience and the more you can see. So if any of the fam is interested, let me know ad we can start planning now.

Utah June 6th-9th

I've been getting the travelling itch lately so Ryan's wedding was a great excuse to get a way for a bit to visit with family and friends. The weather in Utah was a bit more chilly than I had expected. As soon as we landed and they opened the doors, I began making my calls back home to get a jacket. Luckily Beth hadn't left to the airport and was kind enough to pick up a light hoodie at my house.

So I always thought it was funny when you hear how people meet on planes. While waiting to board in Phoenix I had met a lady, and through our discussions she learned that I was single. Once boarded on the plane and through some seat changes, I ended up close by her again, but this time there was a guy sitting with her and her husband. It appeared she must have been talking about me because as soon as I came by her face lit up as she pointed me out to him and introduced us. I think it's funny how people try to set you up just based on the fact that you're both single, but luckily he was tall dark and handsome. We didn't talk on the plane until after we boarded off. He did ask for my email address, but I doubt I'll ever hear from him, not because I think he's not interested but because I'm not sure if he'll be able to read his own handwriting, maybe he was nervous! ;)

That night we went out to dinner at Red Robin, because Amanda had heard the bruschetta burger was delicious. However, due to the tomato contamination, she was unable to fully experience the flavor of the burger as it was delivered to our table bruschetta-less. You think they could have warned us before we ordered, right? Nice. Oh, and speaking of awkward moments, we witnessed an young girl and old guy meet for a blind-date. He had the high cinched-up pants with the plaid button-up shirt carrying a rose for his unsuspected match. She looked a bit surprise, so not sure how that date was put together but my heart went out to her.

Saturday I had the opportunity to be at Ryan & Kelli's sealing. She was absolutely beautiful and he couldn't have been any happier. And despite that their photographer showed up late, they were still in very good spirits.

So later that night I joined Beth and Brandon for dinner and a movie. We saw Iron Man, which was still good the second time around. Afterwards we joined a friend of Beth's, whom she had met on a plane a couple of years ago, for some ice cream. After some bad turns, we finally made it and I enjoyed the classic oreo ice cream in a waffle bowl with homemade carmel syrup, yum! The way home to Cameron and Amanda's was once again filled with some bad turns and poor Beth still had to get back to her hotel. Needless to say, I had little sleep that night and Beth had practically none. So Sunday, I barely made it through sacrament and went back to the house to crash for a couple of hours. That night we hung out at the Norby's and visited with cousins, some of which I hadn't seen in a very long time, so it was really nice.

Monday sure came quick! Amanda and I took the kids to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. We watched a 3-D movie with the ugly people, took pictures with scary prehistoric creatures, and watched the kids dig for dinosaur bones. It was lots of fun and I had a great time bonding with Amanda and the kids.

This time on the plane, I met another guy. He noticed that I had been reading Eclipse and so we talked about the Twilight series and how his wife is into the books... huh, figures!