Our Voyage Eastward

As I shed a small tear for Utah, we headed off at 4:52am on our four day journey east to my family's home in Maryland to stay until our house in Pennsylvania went to closing. Let the excitement begin!

Red Rock Relay

I did something I never thought I'd do this summer. I signed up to run a race - a RELAY race. I had heard great things about some of the similar Ragnar races so when some of my friends from PMI needed some extra teammates I thought "what the heck, why not take the challenge and have some great fun with friends before I leave Utah" and I did it!

With this relay you have a team of 12 people, each of which runs 3 legs of a 36 leg 180 mile race during a 24 hour period. Each leg is anywhere between 3 and 8 miles long, with the entire course spanning 180 miles and a descent of 8,000 ft.

Each team of 12 is split up into 2 van groups - the Snow team and the Sun team. Each van takes turns supporting their runner (stopping along the course to give encouragement and hydration) and then at the end of the leg the van drops off the next runner, where he waits for the baton to be handed to him to start his leg.

The whole team finishes together!

Our team minus 1 after we got our medals
The Snow team after we finished our legs

Hiking Timp!

I had the great opportunity to challenge myself and hike Mount Timpanogos (2nd highest in the Wasatch Mountain Range -11,749 feet) with my good friend Emily this summer. She has been before and knew the ropes - for example the fact that you start hiking at 4AM with headlamps so you get to the top before the sun gets too strong. Our husbands weren't too excited about waking up so early, so we braved the hike ourselves :) The whole thing took us around 8-9 hours top to bottom, I think. By the end I may have been hallucinating so I might not have my facts straight. It was definitely a great experience and I would recommend the hike to anyone who has the guts to do it!


My computer lost most of my pictures but this was a great shot we got on the way up (around 5:30 am)

Here's what the view is like at the top! Click to enlarge. (courtesy Wikipedia)

Vegas Vacation

I had a great trip to Vegas with my bro-in-law in celebration of his 18th! Amos missed out since he had to travel, but he was generous enough to get us a nice place to stay super close to the strip!

Caleb's favorite, the MGM Grand

On the strip.

Ooh la la!

Cool shot of the Stratosphere

I LOVE the Luxor (and the Wynn)

Then on the way back we visited the St. George Temple

And I got Caleb hooked on In-n-Out!

Coming up Quickly!

Our Big Move...and my relay.

We know when we're moving! It will be the week of September 12th that we load up the truck and head East. We're just trying to fit in everything before then, so anyone in Utah make sure to let us know if you want to get together before then!

And, I am going to participate in the Red Rock Relay, which is a 180 mile 24-hour relay race made up of teams of 12 people (that each run 3 times through the course of the race). I figured it would be a good chance to get in good shape and do something fun with some friends before packing up and heading out. However, that means I have to train, a LOT. Anyone with any relay-running or training tips please let me know!!

All Amos, All the time! (this week)

Amos was home for this whole week! He got home last Saturday after his company training meeting and an intense paintball match. AND he brought me home cookies and a cell phone holder for my desk. He got major points for that. Now for the collateral damage...

Nope, that's not a 3rd nipple you see- it's a paintball 'battle scar'. He had about 3 others just like this one. Ow!

Caleb is here from England so Amos and him have played tennis pretty much every afternoon. Here's us on Saturday:

It was really hot, and just near the courts were some people who were extremely innovative and fashioned a huge slip-n-slide out of a long sheet of plastic, a hose, a hill, and some dish soap and sprinklers. They were all having a blast, so after my match against Amos I decided to go for a ride down the hill to cool off.
We kept busy the rest of the weekend going to the Park City Outlets, playing Apples to Apples with the Nicolls, and going to baby Jake's baby blessing on Sunday.

My New Craft

Whenever I find the time, I have used a fabric star-making kit to make these little mobiles! It's fun, but time consuming :)

Happy 25th Amos!

Amos was in Florida this year for his birthday, which means that he had a wonderful time celebrating on the sunny beach with warm water, and enjoying an expensive meal at the Cheesecake Factory - all company expense. Not too shabby!

We celebrated when he came home this weekend - however, this michevious Hobby dug in this morning before I got a chance to take a picture. Here's the birthday boy with his partially-eaten cookie cake he requested this year!

Hanging Out at the Park

...Zion's National Park! We got a chance to do one of the things on my Utah Bucket List - go hiking through the Slot Canyons at Zions. Amos and I went down for the weekend and spent Saturday hiking and Sunday relaxing down in St. George. The hike we went on was a very flat hike, up a river (of cold knee-high water) to where the canyon gets really narrow. It is a breathtaking hike, and a great way to spend a warm afternoon.
And on our way home we stopped by the St. George Temple
And even more amazing, we did the whole trip for the cost of park admission, plus gas, plus $2.75 for food. Yep, $2.75. Amos had a gift card for Outback and when we got there we ordered an appetizer, a salad, and a dessert to-go and ended up not being very hungry and making all of it last us the whole few days. (minus our stop to In & Out Burger on the way home - mmm greasy hamburgers) And thanks to the Timms we had nice (and free) accommodations (with HGTV) and pool access - sweet!

Official Announcement...

We are moving to the East Coast! Amos has been assigned to manage the NY, PA, and NJ territories for DealerSocket. We are very excited and have been looking for houses in either NJ or PA and are planning a trip to go out and look in early July. There are so many things in Utah we will miss *ahem*Cafe Rio. (just kidding, but serious at the same time :), but so many things we look forward to about going East. We will be here for a bit longer and could end up heading out in the fall. I am very anxious to do a lot before we leave- like hike the Y, hike Timp, go to the hot pots, go "shooting the tube" again, picnicking in the canyon, going to the drive-in movie, etc. If you are up for doing any of these things with me/us, let me know and let's go!

Parading Around Utah

...checking out a bunch of fancy brand-new million-dollar homes. Now that is definitely my idea of fun! Christie and I have made a tradition out of doing the Utah County Parade of Homes each springtime while our husbands hang out and do whatever husbands do while their wives are gone.

It costs $10 per person, and we get to go see about 20 different homes throughout the valley, and then we go for lunch before returning home. It is really fun to get different decorating ideas, and to see all the latest and greatest features- like lights that imitate outdoor sun lighting, or under-the-sink storage ideas, corner kitchen drawers, etc. It's like HGTV-LIVE!

Does anyone know where I could buy the pictures below? Target maybe? If you've seen them around, let me know!

Memorial Day Weekend

We didn't make any big camping plans, but we DID get to go for a nice springtime stroll at Silver Lake, up at the top of Big Cottonwood canyon. Rather than snowshoeing, we went snowsandaling, as we were both in flip flops and it was still pretty snowy up there. Amos managed to keep his footing during the walk around, but not me! Nope, I definitely fell in some snow.


We also got a chance to wander around Temple Square on Sunday just before it rained.

Definitely an enjoyable, relaxing weekend.

Oh how we love the Weekends!

We weren't going to let my little tennis incident get in the way of our fun - so after pampering my ankle a little, we decided to go out and get a few errands done.

It had been a while since we have been up to Salt Lake City, so we took a trip up to one of my favorite places, the London Market - on 700E and 600S. I have SO much fun going there and looking around. We decided to stop there because we have both been craving Fanta Fruit Twist thanks to the Fanta billboard on highway 15 at about 9000S when you are heading north. In America Fanta isn't as good as in England, and we don't sell the 'fruit twist' version that is so delicious - so that was the nature of our stop. While we were there we also picked up a Lion bar for me, and a few Apple Tango's for Amos. He also picked up some Korma Curry sauce and is going to use it to make us a fantastic dinner tonight! Yay!

Then we went to go see X Men Origins. It was actually perfect timing since EVERYONE was going to see Star Trek and Angels & Demons this weekend since a lot of them have seen X Men already. We both really enjoyed it, and if you go, make sure you watch the 2 extra endings after the credits. I found this funny graph oh Graph Jam which I have to share....


And we also had a great excuse to get some celebratory Krispy Kreme donuts, as Amos found out this week what territory he has been assigned!

Needless to say, we have been doing a lot of research this weekend as to the local areas, neighborhoods, etc! The Adventure awaits!

Hopalong Hobby...

That's me!

Amos and I have started playing tennis on Saturday mornings. We have a court in our complex, and in the morning it is the perfect time to play because it's not too hot - and we get some good sun and good exercise.

We are pretty nicely matched as far as skill level goes - which is nice for me. I'm used to getting beat by Amos at mostly everything! With tennis, he has more power, but I have more experience in placing my shots. Last week we played and drew at 5-5 before we stopped playing. Then this weekend we got to 3-2 and were in the midst of a high-intensity rally when I went flying to the pavement because I rolled my ankle and it gave out on me. I was determined to win that point, too!!

Amos came right over and new exactly what to tell me to do, thanks to all his similar experiences on the soccer pitch. So, I have been hobbling along for the past day and icing it and trying to keep it up. I hope it's all better for next weekend's match!

Anniversary Adventures

We had a great Anniversary weekend this year. We ended up visiting my family in DC and doing a lot of fun things.

We visited one of my favorite places, Federal Hill and the Baltimore Inner Harbor - and got to ride up the glass elevator at the Hyatt.



Amos got to fly in the pilot seat, and my dad in the Instructor seat as we flew to Luray Caverns, VA to take an hour tour of the caverns.



We ate the top part of our wedding cake, nicely frozen and preserved by my mom.

And we lighted some leftover wedding sparklers to finish off the day!

One down, Eternity to go!

We have been married a year! Everyone always says how fast the time goes, and it did go fast, but so much happened this year!

We moved 3 times, Amos graduated and got a great job, I changed jobs and am now doing something I love, we went on our Honeymoon to Rome, and learned a lot about one another and laughed a lot in the process!

I still remember our wedding day like it was yesterday. I want to post the lyrics of the song I wrote, modified from a Sawyer Brown song, that my dear friend sang just before we exchanged our rings.

Our day has come, just you and me
Sealed Together for Eternity
Now we are one, both in joy and pain
We'll laugh and smile, come sun and come rain

And with this ring, I promise you
Everything that I have or can do
There's so many roads that love can run
But here in my heart, you're the only one

I've done alright just on my own
But you give me things that I've never known
And here we've come, your sweet hand in mine
To show the world what we have is divine

And with this ring, I promise you
Everything that I have or can do
There's so many roads that love can run
But here in my heart, you're the only one

Here in my heart, you're the only one.


Here's to another great year, and Eternity to follow!

Chalk Throwing Fun

Every year in Utah, at the Hare Krishna temple a traditional 'Festival of Colors' is held - and wow is it colorful! The festival gets a good deal of publicity and is advertised for weeks. This year it was on March 28th. Our friend Jared told us about it, and since Amos was at an Elder's quorum activity playing basketball games and video games on projector screens, I decided to tag along with Jared!

Before

As we arrived, there were people everywhere all in white shirts headed toward the Hare Krishna temple just waiting for the chance to throw chalk and get dirty. There was a stage with people in traditional Hindu clothing singing and dancing and reciting this chant, which is said to "bring about a higher state of consciousness when heard, spoken, meditated upon, or sung out loud":

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare

Then, at some point in the afternoon a bonfire gets lit and that starts the chalk-throwing fight! They sell colored and scented bags of chalk powder that people start flinging around like crazy. All you can really see is one big puff of dust when the fight starts. I overheard someone refer to the whole thing as "BYU's version of spring break."

During

After

If you haven't ever been to one of these, definitely put it on the calendar for next year!

The 26th Year

Things I loved about my Birthday this year:

1. When I went to the gym this morning, the lady who logged me in told me "happy birthday"

2. I have a great husband who loves to spoil and surprise me with unexpected presents and activities and who even sung me a Happy Birthday song this morning

3. I got phone calls from my parents (first thing in the morning) friends, and family (and my bro called me all the way from an internet cafe in Spain!)

4. I had a ton of birthday cards to open from my family filled with lots of nice messages.

5. I made my favorite cake in the world (red velvet) and despite it not looking very appealing, it tasted great. (and said husband also offered to do alll the dishes I dirtied while making this cake)

6. I got to go to two restaurant/breweries (Hoppers, and The Bohemian) I've wanted to go to since moving here; one for lunch and one for dinner with Tyler & Christie and their cute little girl.

7. We went out to get marzipan from the chocolate shop (thanks mom and dad!) despite the fact that Amos can't stand to be within 20 yards of the stuff. :)

8. It is 11:59pm and I still can't go to sleep because I'm so excited about what a fun day it was.

Thanks everyone for making my birthday great!

It's so nice outside...

That I stood outside the car while refueling today! Bring on the springtime! please...

All rise for the Jury

Yep, jury duty for me this past Friday. Now call me crazy, but I really enjoyed myself. I know most people try their hardest to get out of jury duty, but I was kind of hoping I'd get to be assigned to the case, which I was.

To start, all 19 potential jurors arrived at the courthouse at 8:30 and were seated in a tiny little room and had to watch a 'here's-what-jury-duty-is-all-about-and-remember-it's-your-civic-duty' video. Then we filled out a profiling questionnaire and got paid $18.50 for our time. After a while of sitting around and waiting they brought us down to the courtroom for jury selection. The judge told us the case was a criminal case involving DWI. She then proceeded to ask all potential jurors a variety of questions to determine any prejudices we might have had that would influence our decision to judge the case fairly. From there, both the plaintiff and the defense lawyers took turns eliminating jurors until they were left with four. Those final four were called to sit up in the jury box, myself included. We got sworn in, which didn't involve putting our hand on the bible, which surprised me. We just had to raise our right hand and attest that we would judge fairly. I was chosen along with an older man, and older woman (both teachers), and another younger guy - also a teacher. One thing I found interesting is that every time the jury came into or left the courtroom, everyone present would stand, out of respect. After all, the jurors are the ones who decide the outcome of any case. Cool, huh?

By that point it was 12:30 and we broke for an hour lunch and then came back and heard the case. It was really interesting listening to the calling and questioning of witnesses, but my favorite part was when one of the lawyers would stand up and yell, "objection, your honor!" Then all the lawyers would approach the bench and they would make the speakers play a static sound so we couldn't hear the conversation.

We got to have a few breaks here and there, but when we were breaking the bailiff led us up to the jury room (stocked with sodas and snacks) and locked us in there. As jurors, until the case is over we are not allowed to discuss with each other any of the details of the case, and we also are not allowed to converse with anyone else who is a part of the case (the judge, lawyers, etc.) which is why they keep us isolated. We even had to wear 'juror' badges around all day so people from the courtroom knew they couldn't talk to us - even when we went to Burger King for lunch we had to keep them visible.

By about 6:45 we'd heard the closing arguments and they took our dinner orders and we got to go back up to the jury room to deliberate. We talked over all the facts for about forty minutes, and came to our conclusion. This is another part I found very interesting; we found the defendant 'not guilty'. I think we all wished we could have called him 'guilty,' but legally we had to assume that he was innocent unless proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Due to the lack of conclusive evidence that he was over the legal limit, and since we didn't have enough facts to prove otherwise, we had to declare him not guilty. I can now understand why people get away with a lot of things they shouldn't, because of how the laws are set into place. However, we have to remember that if we ever have to stand trial for something we didn't do, we are lucky to be given the benefit of the doubt right from the start.

All in all, this was a great learning experience that I'm glad I got to be a part of. Having said that, I just got another notice in the mail this Saturday that I am called to be a potential juror for a Federal case at the start of March. We'll see what happens with this one, should be exciting!