4th of July

Last Saturday was the 4th of July. It was my dad’s birthday, and I was in my hometown of Waterloo.  I went with some friends to see the Waterloo fireworks.

For one, I got to see my good friend Katie for the first time in over a year.

And of course, it wouldn’t be a trip home unless I see one of my dearest friends, Andrew, who is about to move to grad school in Tennessee.

While we waited, I of course had to make a funny face. Honestly, what fun would it be if I didn’t have a goofy picture of myself captured for all of my blog and Facebook to see?

The ending was a lot less spectacular than it was in past years.

I didn’t mind though. I had the best seat in the house.

See, the project I spoke of at the end of May is rather successful. Can anyone guess what this project is, or who it refers to? Leave me a comment if you have any ideas! And for those of you in the know? Kindly keep mum until the final revealing of my mystery man.

Kristin & Emily’s Night Out & Early To Bed

I was supposed to blog twice yesterday.

Sorry.

Anyway, here is today’s “This Is What I Did Adventure”, possibly one of two.

On Saturday, June 27, after Kristin and  I were burnt into crispy red lobsters,  we went home, changed into nice clothes, and headed out for dinner. After dinner, we roamed around downtown. Kristin and I walked around Temple Square at night.

After that, Kristin and I went home and had some Riesling.

Soon thereafter, Kristin and I slathered ourselves in sunscreen and hit the hay. We were tired ladies and needed to be ready for an early drive to Moab the next day.

Next up: Another Iowa vacation blog….

Whose Taller

When I was back in Iowa, my friend Jenna was home at the same time. Though we were not friends in college, we have become bloggy friends over the last year. Since she was only a short drive south of me in Robbins, we met at Culver’s in Hiawatha for ice cream on July 3rd.

Jenna and I are both small people, hovering just around 5′1″. In this shot, she looks taller than me. Not one to be defeated, I asserted she wasn’t. There was only one way to find out. Shoes off, we stood back-to-back on the Culver’s patio. I came in a tiny bit taller by a hair.

Scott tried to capture the measuring results on camera. But right after it was decided that I was taller, we burst into laughter. This was the result.

Let me tell you, especially after what this woman has been through lately, seeing Jenna laugh like that is worth more than all the scoops of custard on the planet. The drive to see her? So worth it.

Vacation Blogging Interruption Brought To You By Angela

Upon arriving home from work yesterday afternoon, I found Angela on my Itteh Bitteh Lenovo (aka LENNY). Did she ask me if she could use it? (Oh come on now, you must know the answer to this question, right?) She glanced up, saw me, and hurried off it, apologizing profusely. “I needed to check my e-mail. I had 177 e-mails,” she explained.

I was perplexed. Why so many? Should I even ask? Probably not. But curiousity killed the blonde, so I did.

“Oh, it was reponses from guys on Plenty Of Fish (a dating website, FYI) she responded airily. “I needed to respond to some. Not many of them were cute.”

I should have stopped, but I can’t seem to. Talking to this woman is like watching a trainwreck. You know you should look away, but you can’t. So down the track our conversation went. “Why do you need Plenty of Fish when you and Angel are back together?”

“Oh, he needs his space,” Angela replied. I can’t help but wonder… why does a guy who sees his girlfriend once every two weeks need more space? Wow…

Eventually, Angela’s verbal diarrhea lapsed into work. She told me her new job had a call center in Colorado Springs, and she might try to transfer there in six months, if she is eligble. This would only be two hours from her daughter. Angela said she misses her daughter and wants to be closer. That’s all well and good, but didn’t she just say two months ago that she can barely handle her? A child is not a toy you can toss aside when you get bored. Angela has even already told her daughter she might try to move to Colorado. Way to get you daughter’s hopes up and crush them when you don’t follow through.

Angela also discussed starting technical school again in September. A few days ago, she was considering re-taking driving school then. For a thirty six year old woman, she can’t seem to find a direction or make up her mind. If she moves to Colorado, I will celebrate because I will be rid of her, but she never sticks to a plan or really makes up her mind. She is an unstable person, blown about with every wind.

It makes me thankful that I havr the Solid Rock to stabilize me. Cause really, were it not for Christ, I probably wouldn’t be much different. I am prone to being fickle, impatient, emotional, and impulsive. Christ not only provided my salvation, but my foundation and stability. When life around me is unpredictable, God is unchanging.

In the end, annoyance should instead provoke me to prayer. Please pray for Angela too.

What’s That Smell?

After Kristin and I were on our way home from Park City, I suggested we stay on the interstate and visit the Great Salt Lake. Kristin, being the adventurous spirit she is replied, “How can I come to Salt Lake City and not go to the Great Salt Lake? Let’s go!”

I must admit, she had a good point.

I pointed out the seagulls once we arrived to the marina of the Great Salt Lake. Kristin shuddered to learn that they are the Utah state bird.

On the way out, I got hit by the sulfuric smell of the lake almost instantaneously. Kristin said she smelled nothing but a sea smell. Once we got close though, it was a different story.

The smell hit Kristin like a ton of bricks. She wasn’t so much a fan.

There also about a million mosquitoes swarming around. My theory is all the bugs of northern Utah stay out of the valley and take up residence at the Great Salt Lake.

With smell, the swarms, and the seagulls, needless to say, we didn’t stay long. We left after about fifteen minutes to get ready for our night out on the town.

Kristin & Emily’s Park City Adventure

When Kristin was in Utah, we paid a visit to Park City.

While there, Kristin’s travel companion Lawndart made friends with Park City’s local bronze bear.

I got reacquainted with the town moose and her latest fashions.

Then Kristin and I stood in line for way too long at a zipline, which we decided was too short for the hour long wait. We also were fried into Midwestern Lobsters.

Oh, well, at least we got to take in a pretty view.

Sunburn, short ride, et al, it wasn’t a total bust. We had a good time. Did I mention the view?

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for another adventure… in fact, maybe tomorrow there will be three!

Kristin Meets Froggy

While Kristin was visiting me here in Salt Lake City,  she met Froggy. Evidently, she found him irresistible, cause I caught them like this…

Sadly, Kristin did have some Froggy smooching to do when she arrived out here, and thankfully, I didn’t need to myself. More about that later…

So how were my two vacations? Awesome! This week, I will be posting one or two blogs a day with a photo of what I have been up to the last two weeks to catch you all up. I will be keeping them short and sweet, because I like said, there will be two a day! So if you keep coming, I will keep these coming!

A Re-teaming

Last night was my first night to really relax in almost a week and a half. Knowing that I only had two days (now less!) before I headed home to Iowa, I decided to watch Ferris Bueller’s Day Off so I could swiftly reship it on Netflix. Smack dab in the middle of one of the best scenes (the parade) Angela started blabbing about the new job she started yesterday. When she didn’t quit talking, I gave up and paused the movie. Once her work-related explanation was complete, she held out her hand toward me.

“Slap my hand,” she commanded.

I stared at her warily. “What did you do?” I asked, unable to disguise the maternal-like scolding inflections in my voice.

“Angel and I got back together,” she winced.

“WHAT?” I screeched. “ARE YOU CRAZY?” So much for taking a cool, calm, and disconnected approach with this person, huh?

So what happened? Here’s the story, at least, as best as I understood it. Friday night, her trucking trainer and Angel’s trainer were back in town so she went to visit them. She kept ignoring Angel and he kept staring at her. She gave me some more details about staring and Angel and some other guy, blah blah, but she was in this other guy’s rig and on some country station “their song” (The A-Team Song) was playing. She got choked up, and I think she went to some other truck and ended up hearing the same song on another country station right after it. (If It’s Bless the Broke Road I WILL poke my ears out)

Well, Angela looked up, bawling, and saw Angel staring at him. She flew out of the rig she was in, ran to his and into his arms. It was trucker movie-dramatic! (And nearly induced my gag reflex!) Evidently the two talked and the story is this: Angel is not in an open marriage but he is estranged from his wife. He cannot afford to get a divorce yet. The person he was talking to was ex, apparently trying to convince her to file. However, Angel’s aspirations to move to SLC are naught, cause apparently he wants to stay in Seattle. Angela told me they weren’t likely to stay together, but remain friends. My question was this, then… why are they even back together if they are so sure they are doomed for failure?

“We love each other,” was Angela’s reply. “I mean, we were only broken up for a week…” Angel is gone now, and won’t be back until next weekend. She wants to bring that hairy beast back into my home. At least she didn’t bring him back Friday night. Angela had enough consideration to keep him away from my apartment when Kristin was here. Still, I DO NOT WANT THIS MAN IN THE SAME ZIPCODE AS ME. Emily Ann is in Cali right now, so when she is home I may pow-wow with her and put our feet down: NO ANGEL. I also have the option of staying at Brockas that weekend. I will already be house-sitting there and I could just stay the night.

We Made It

Yesterday morning, Kristin and I were back at Arches National Park from our hotel by 6:00 am yesterday morning to do our big hike before the sun was too hot.

Where was our big hike to? Let’s see if you find this familiar.

If you are not familiar with this icon of the American desert, then familiarize yourself with Delicate Arch. It is truly a marvel of God’s creation.This next shot took a 3 mile hike to achieve so I hope you appreciate it. I certainly did!

Anyway, I will start blogging my trip with Kristin today. Get ready for some interesting photos!

Pink Ballet Lady Greets You From Moab

The Pink Ballet Lady (who is formally named Minerva) wanted to greet you all from Moab. She got rather bored sitting on my desk at work and jumped at the chance to go to Arches National Park in Southeastern Utah with my friend Kristin and me. Here is our lovely lad enjoying a view of the Salt Valley in Arches:

Minerva is prety tired now, so she might stay at the hotel when Kristin and Emily go hiking at the park tonight. But tomorrow she will greet you with a shot a Delicate Arch!