Playing Catch Up - June

JUNE.... WAS A BLAST! I took a roadtrip with my best friend in SG (Sunny) and her roomie from college (Lisa). We left SG on Tue night after I got out of class, drove through the night and woke up parked in front of the fairgrounds in Monterrey, CA... not exactly sure how that happened, but it was an inexpensive way to catch some ZZ's.
Our first stop was the Monterrey Bay Aquarium.... for the record, due to the fact I grew up in WY and far far away from the ocean, I've never been to an aquarium before, and I'm pretty sure this was the creme de la creme of aquariums! It was PHENOMINAL!
I saw my first octopus... he was HUGE and very active!
The 'sea pens' were so cool! Apparently the base holds eggs... who knew?
My favorite part was the 'jelly garden' There were HUNDREDS of different kinds of jelly fish and the entire section of the aquarium was dark and lit only by the lights in the fish tanks... it was so peaceful and relaxing... I could have sat there and watched the jellies all day....
One of the most impressive sections of the aquarium was the 'Kelp Forrest'.... it was HUGE and had so many fish and we even caught the show of the biologist feeding the fish... notice the shark... and he had a microphone so he could talk to the crowd while he was in the tank... it was awesome!This was my favorite guy at the aquarium... he kept swimming back and forth in front of me so I just sat down and kept taking pictures... but finally he turned straight towards me and was completely motionless as if to say, 'ok lady, take your pic and get outta here...' he was so cute!We jaunted over to Carmel, it was BEAUTIFUL! Such a cute lil place, and timeless. Notice all the people in the water? NOPE! That's because the water was FREEZING! We got a hotel in Monterrey and the next day we trekked further north to San Francisco! A friend once told me that San Fran is the West Coast version of New York. Now that I've been to both, I completely agree... and I love them both! My cousin Valerie came over from Oakland and introduced us to Dim Sum.... it was interesting to say the least! But hey, we're all here to try new things right?We spent the afternoon checkin out San Fran. It was fun to remember all the places from the last time I was in San Fran a couple years ago. We rode the cable car, went to Pier 39, checked out Alcatraz, did a little shopping, went to Lombard St, bought Boudin sourdough, found the epic Haight Ashbury... which I was kind of disappointed, but it's legendary, so I'm glad we went, and ended the day engorging ourselves at our favorite... The Cheesecake Factory... that was a good day! I'm pretty sure I left my heart in San Fran..This was a first for me, we actually drove over the Golden Gate Bridge on our voyage north! It's breathtaking and crazy to think of all the work that went in to the construction before all the gizmos and technology were available.... it truly is a work of art....Have you seen 'The Other Sister?' Diane Keaton? It's so funny, but there's a scene where Diane is talking to her daughter and a Savage Garden song (Animal) comes on and they chase the birds and run around this crazy architecture... I've ALWAYS thought that scene was awesome and I wanted to find it ... well who knew it's in San Fran? Palace of Fine Arts anyone? It met every expectation I had ... it made the top 5 of my favorite places in San Fran... I only wish I had a picnic packed in a basket with a blanket to sit and enjoy the scenery all afternoon....We continued north.... destination: Napa Valley and the vineyards...It was straight out of the movies... 'A Walk In The Clouds' anyone? Keanu Reeves? Napa was awesome, my only regret is that we didn't spend more time here.... it really was it's own little little haven, that seemed untouched by the rest of the world.
Continuing north we had much anticipation for our next stop... The Redwoods! We had to pause overnight in what I now deem as the HOLE of northern Cali... it's a little place called Eureka. The only good thing it had was a US Bank with an ATM to get some more cash and .... nope, that was it!
Somewhere between Napa Valley and heading back towards to coast, Cali's atmosphere changes from sun and beach to cooler temperatures, overcast skies, and dense overgrowth... it's a beautiful transformation... We kept stopping along the way to check it out, it still baffles me how diverse the coast of Cali is...Just FYI... there's no 'official' entrance into Redwood National Park... all of a sudden you're looking around and realize.... the trees are H-U-G-E.... it's the weirdest thing!
We got a campsite in the park and loved every minute of it... the river ran right next to our site and I've NEVER seen a river more green and clear, you could see all the way across and all the way to the bottom... it was awesome!
It was hard to capture the vastness and gigantic size of these trees... but believe me, they're just huge....We turned inland and started truckin' to Reno. We took a short detour to check out Lake Tahoe, what a fun place! We had dinner at a cute diner and I just kept thinking how fun it would be to spend a summer at a place like this: what could be better than a mix of both the mountains and a sandy beach?
Then we drove through the night and rolled into St. George right as the sun was coming up .... it was a quick 5 day trip, but it was epic!
Drive the California coast... CHECK

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

My Prof showed this in class last night, and I just love it!

Ford Ironman St. George, UT

*Warning* This may be a LONG post. It has consumed my life since January, and when all was said and done, I had A TON of fun, got a lot of experience, met some amazing people, and feel very accomplish and proud of my contribution to this amazing event...
SO, in January, I contacted the Volunteer Director to see if he could use an intern. I needed to complete an intern for my schooling, and I thought the Ironman would be fun. That's when I met Colby 'Baggs' Neilson. He's amazing. He swallowed me up like a little sister and cracks me up. We started having meetings every week, coordinating with local businesses, gathering donations, prepping for Captain meetings, etc. I couldn't have asked for a more fun person to work with, he's the bee's knees, and totally made my experience rock.
Race week came, and I took the entire week off work. Good thing! I was busy!
Day 1 at the Dixie Center (which turned into local headquarters for the staff of Ironman) even this little family shuffled across from the river to check it out... they were so cute!
they had a hard time getting up the curb... but they all made it
Tue was our Captain's meeting where we met with our 100 local captains and they met with their Ironman Staff counterparts to ask questions. And we took our Captain's photo...
Wed and Thur was running around, organizing, coordinating, etc etc etc.
Fri we had our ALL volunteer meeting... which I heard last year was a disaster, and I was determined to remedy it this year.... I made it my baby. I made signs, coordinated with the Dixie Center for some poles, etc. there are our 100 captains, and 4,000 volunteers that show up and want instructions... it's mayhem, but it went SO good! i got a LOT of compliments that it was 100 times better than last year!
This is me and Baggs before everyone started showing up...
Sat was RACE DAY!!! I was so excited! I slept about 2 hours. And had to be downtown at 3am to shuttle athletes... I met a fun staff guy, JD, who let me fire the cannon to start the pro's race! It was the best milisecond ever!



And JD let me keep my shell from the cannon... for proof ;)

JD drives the lead vehicle in front of the lead pro... so I got to ride along! It was awesome!
This was our ride.. the new Ford Edge, with TIMEX race clock in tow!After we finished our loop, I hung out downtown with Baggs an Sunny ALL day. We did whatever we needed to, checking on our captains to make sure there werent' any disasters.... it was a well oiled machine....

Jen was Bike Aid #1 and Jamaica resumed her captain of Finish Line Catchers... we Frahmettes represented! ;)
This was my little family for the day... Josh, Baggs, Sunny, Bret and Me... we had SO much fun! We all hung out for the last 2 hours of the race (10pm-midnight) in VIP and cheered on the finishers.... once the sun goes down, the party starts at the finish line!
Mike Reilly is the COOLEST announcer EVER! He comes out from the booth and PUMPS up the crowd for the last couple hours! I thought he would just come out for a few minutes, but he ran up and down the shoot pumpin up the crowd and celebrating with the athletes as they came in to finish! I think he said it about 2,000 times.... 'YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!"
He was dancin and swingin a towel around and havin a great time!

In February when Baggs told me he needed me at the buses loading athletes at 3am I said, "I'll be there, but I apologize if I show up in the front page news and they assume I'm displaying public drunkiness as I'm passed out, face down in the Town Square fountain (finish line area)" so as things got stressful, we joked about it! And of course had to reinact it... even though we were wired and past the point of exhaustion
after 22 hours of being awake... all I can say is, I'd do it again tomorrow! It was my dream job, it was exhilarating, and I LOVED it! Baggs made it SO fun and reassured me I failed my intern, so I better be prepared to do it again next year ;)

April showers bring Vegas vacations

My dad attends conferences in Vegas once a year... ok... so this was only his 2nd time, but we daughters leave our husbands and kids at home and hang out with my dad for a couple days. (ok, so I don't leave much behind, but its still fun to just be with my sisters and my dad) We hang out, shop, and eat.. oh do we eat! And it's always delicious!
Dad spoils us and we go to a 'nice' place. Last year it was Lawry's, which was PHENOMINAL! This year it was Del Frisco's... it was one of the best steaks I've ever had! Ranking overall experience, I think we all preferred Lawry's, but Del Frisco's was definitely delicious!
It was too chilly to lay out by the pool, but we had a great slumber party! Thanks again day! Sign up for next year! It's becoming quite the tradition!

Easter in Cali...

My friend Sunny has a bro in San Diego... and cause she's a nice friend, she invited me on her family vaca to Coronado for Easter weekend. IT WAS AMAZING. The weather was perfect, it was SO relaxing, the house we stayed at was GORGEOUS, and Coronado is such a treasure...

the beach house where we stayed....
notice the ocean outside the upstairs window... this place seriously was heaven.
The Schulers... minus Stormy who was with Jim, her fiance in WY, and mama Schu... who was meeting some girlfriends..
Rick.. papa Schu, grandma and grandpa Schu, Rocky.. the littlest bro, Ricky.. the bro that lives in San Diego, and Sunny
I've seen a photo post war with a party on the streets and a sailor and a nurse totally making out... don't worry, they made a GIANT statue of it, it's romantic... I love it.
they had beach cruisers and we rode all over Coronado... it was SO much fun!
I've never seen such VIBRANT flowers... they were all so bright and beautiful...
roses EVERYWHERE and in full bloom.. they were so pretty and smelled delicious! They were so big a lot of them were drooping..
I actually forgot it was Easter ;) That's ok, it was worth EVERY minute.. so relaxing and enjoyable! Thanks Schulers for including me! I had a blast!

I'm in charge here, and you WILL have fun!

Jamaica and Daniel flew to MT to attend a temple sealing and I got asked to watch the kids for 4 days while they were away... was it revenge? Last resort? Desperation? Whatever the reasoning...
WE HAD A TON OF FUN, and I was EXHAUSTED! I was bound and determined to make it fun though, so we did just that! I couldn't document all that we did, but man we kept busy for 4 days, that's fo sho!

We tried a new recipe I found for rainbow cupcakes on St Patty's Day and doorbell ditched 4 of me and Coll's neighbors
ps... the cupcakes were kind of a mess, but turned out AWESOME!
We had a bonfire in the backyard with Colls and Steph! We roasted hot dogs, smores, and told scary stories... Michael taught us a game from scouts where we create a story by going around the fire and only saying 1 word and adding on to the last person's word... it was so funny and Michael and Haleigh were very witty and funny!
We went swimming, and played at the park! The park had those 'can phones' around the equipment, so I made Mya stand by one and I ran over to another one and said, 'HI MYA!' and she freaked out! She kept saying, 'MOM! Hi Mom! You need to come home now.' and she'd run back to the slide and then run back to the phone and say, 'mom.... mom... mmmmmoooommmmom...?' until I RAN over and reassured her I'd be home soon! Sorry Jamaica, I pretended to be you... I had to, she was freakin out!!
My mom sent some St. Patty's Day crafts to make lil leprechauns from TP rolls... I tell ya, I think I'm creative, but who thinks of this stuff?! My mom sent an example... it's in front of Haleigh, isn't it cute?! Michael wasn't too interested, so me and the girls occupied a couple hours painting TP rolls! Who knew TP would have so many functions?! Thanks mom, our leprechauns turned out super cute! We went to RANGO... which was cute, and had some funny 1-liners... but save your money... Redbox it, it's worth $1, but not $20... especially when you take a 3-yr old with the smallest bladder in existence. I did buy the 'Deal' which consists of 2 drinks and a gigantic popcorn, and I won a $20 gift card! I NEVER win anything! So that was fun!
I also borrowed a movie projector from work and we projected movies on the wall at my house and blew up air mattresses and had popcorn galore! We watched Despicable Me... which was HYSTERICAL! I highly recommend it! These guys were hilarious!
and the 'villain' was SO funny!
and per Michael and Haleigh's choice, we watched this favorite...
we used to watch this ALL the time as girls... Its so funny... and lets just say the 'HE PERMED ME!' from this ditty, was my scary story around our bon fire! :)

Overall, I'd give our 4 days a 10, but I'm a little bias since I was the one planning all the festivities! Thanks Michael, Haleigh, and Mya for being the coolest nieces and nephew a girl could ask for! Love ya!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

No, I have not completely lost my marbles... yes, I realize it's March and not December, but I L-O-V-E this time of year in St. George! Everyone calls complaining about freezing temperatures, snow, and road closures, and we have sunshine and 70 degree temperatures! I say to myself daily, 'self.... THIS is why you live here!' I almost forget every year, but my favorite thing about March are these beauties....

I know, it's weird... but I love these trees! I have lived here 9 years and still don't know the name of them, but everyone in these parts calls them 'Popcorn Popping' trees... and very suiting... it looks like they're popping popcorn! They're ALL over town and they only bloom for a couple weeks, but I love them...
They with their almost BLACK trunks and tiny white buds are the first sign of spring! Up close they are tiny little flowers, which actually STINK, but from afar, they just make ya smile! Ode to spring in Dixie!