Fabulous family

Some days I seriosuly love my family. Seriously, undeniably, I think I have the world's greatest family.

During the flight home from Alaska I suddenly realized what it means to be unemployed. And I remembered that I have nothing to do all day. So, I thought of all the people I know who stay home during the day, and tried to figure out what they do. My sisters have a bunch of babies at home - so that's what they do. My mom now has a day job (outside of the home) for the first time in her life, so that's what she does all day. Then I thought about my incredible mother-in-law. She babysits her neice and nephews, cooks, cleans, exercises, feed people in the ward meals, goes to the temple once a week, and in her spare time she scrapbooks and does ceramics.

To be honest, all of that sounded exhausting, so I opted for exercising (just enough to make me tired), cooking (just enough so we don't starve), cleaning (just enough so the health department doesn't condemn my house), and taking a much needed trip to the temple. I timidly asked if I could join her on her weekly temple trip, and of course she welcomed me with open arms. So, my day started in the best way possible.

I seriously think I have the world's greatest mother-in-law. She's cool, and easy to get along with, easy to talk to, fun to be around, spiritual - but not crazy, and a fantastic example. After the temple, we talked for a while, she gave me some stuff I've wished I had forever (she's the queen of perfect gifts) and enjoyed each other's company.

After such a great morning with her, I headed to Katy's house to tag a long with her, Sarah, and their kids at the Kangaroo Zoo. Man those kids are CUTE! The Kangaroo Zoo is a fantastic place. And if you're just watching your kids, it's FREE. Yes, that's right, FREE. We had a fabulous time and I once again remembered why I love living by my family.

So, I didn't get home until later than normal, but I had a great time and a beautiful day. So far, this weeks just proves that unemployment ROCKS!

As a side note, I'm still looking for jobs, I have some promising prospects, but no offers yet....keep your fingers crossed for me.

Rags

OK I blogged about the Legacy I think I left in good 'ol Lindon 1st Ward. And here is what I mean when I say I had a real live fro.


This is me and Carly - after you take the rags out, you come out with these cute little ringlets (this is usually the second to last day of girls camp - that way your hair is all tied up and out of your way while you're camping, which in theory is the whole point). THEN......


Heather, Megan, Carly and Me. We're superheros. Heather and Megan have plastic bags on their heads because we were going swimming, and they needed to keep their hair dry or it would lose the curl. We wore bags too, but the camera didn't wait for me and Carly.


Once I got home, we took pictures of the fro. And yes, that is my real hair.....and my real nephew too. :) I think he was scared of me, but he's a good sport, so he smiled anyway.


yep, there I am in all my girls camp glory....dirt on the hoodie I probably wore for 3 days straight, then rolled around in the dirt when we took down camp. I came home and immediately went to the kitchen to eat. :) And yes, I'm still in my pajamas.....oh this picture makes me happy!

Unemployed.....

Yesterday after church Josh was going stir crazy and couldn't wait to go visit family, so we went to his parents house to distribute presents and show off pictures. :) It's always good to visit family that wants to hear about the vacation.....I'm not sure they really cared to see all 595 pictures, but we wanted to show them, and they humored us.

Those of you who were not there for slide show, I've added photos to the previous posts - and here is a link to the online album (don't worry, I didn't put them ALL in the album).

Last night since I didn't have to work, and Josh didn't have to work, we hung out with Cami playing games until 1:00 AM. We miss that. And this morning, it felt sooo good to sleep in this morning until....well later than I want to admit. :)

This morning was relaxed, filled with laundry, cleaning, and Josh and I going running this morning (read: afternoon, but it counts as morning because we weren't awake very long) and then I got ready for my interview. It's now 6:00 and I feel like we still have the whole night to hang out with each other because we got all out other stuff done this morning. How great is that? Very great.

Yes, it feels weird to not go to work, and I know I'll get sick of being home all day long eventually, but today.....I loved it. I really really loved it. And I'm already excited for tomorrow, I can run in the middle of the day, swim in the morning, do laundry, clean my bathroom, make dinner, and still have plenty of time to sit around doing nothing.....oh happy day!

Victoria

Our last stop was Victoria, and we decided last minute to do the Butchart Garden, which was incredible. Seriuosly. The first stop in the garden was the sunken garden which made me think I had walked into the Garden of Eden. Seriously isn't this what you picture? It is for me.

We wandered around the garden, took a bunch of pictures and listened to the band that was playing in the park. It was the perfect evening, calm, relaxed, and beautiful.

We were with Mark and Megan the whole time, which was also really fun for us.  It's too bad they live in Colorado, or we'd hand out with them more often. They were really cool and I'm glad we got to make some new friends. :)

Anyway, here are some of the pictures, of that beautiful place. Enjoy!

Snobbery

I’m a snob. Yes, you read that right, I, Amy Lavina Egbert, hereby declare myself a snob.

I think most people are snobs about something. Some people are fruit snobs – eating nothing but the best, and nothing touching the worst. Some people are travel snobs, and they only take the best cruise line to the best places. Some people are airplane snobs, only flying first class. Some are clothing snobs, shoe snobs, food snobs, house snobs, furniture snobs, the list continues. So what kind of snob am I? Paper products.

There are a few things I truly hate in this world, and cheap toilet paper/paper towels/facial tissue are the worst of them. I’m paying $100/day to live on a cruise ship. I have the best of everything, Room service 24/7. My choice of 2 swimming pools and 5 hot tubs. Entertainment of any kind, any time. A live band to dance to. An art gallery with some art that is fine enough that I think it’s ugly (not that it’s saying a whole lot….but people are throwing down some serious cash for this stuff!). A spa, fine jewelry, a beautiful view of some of the most incredible places on the planet.

Now, someone please explain to me why they can’t afford to buy decent toilet paper?

We’re talking 1 ply, thin, cheap, this stuff falls apart before use – forget about it doing its job during use. TMI? Sorry. 

I can understand it in a public government restroom (something about how 25% of my income is not enough for the government to buy descent toilet paper....I know I don't earn a lot, but I'd think Charmin would cut you a break for that much business) but on a cruise ship? The essence of luxury? Seriously guys….give me a break!

Ketchikan

Can I believe it’s Thursday already? No! Absolutely not! I’m starting to get anxious about coming home – as in I don’t wanna. You can’t make me. I’m already planning my tantrum. I’m wondering if it counts as a tantrum if you plan it in advance…..the kicking, screaming, yelling, clinging to something stable on the ship….do you think they’d let me stay if I offered to wash dishes? Seriously – there have to be like 10 million plates on this ship that need to be washed….if I’m willing maybe they’ll take me.

As a side note – we hit Ketchikan today! Turns out it’s the first city in Alaska, and it was beautiful, and interesting. Nothing like I expected.

Juenau is touristy, and like a city. It even has a Walmart and Home Depot. The glacier has…OK it’s just a big hunk of ice floating in the sea. Sitka was old and all about the Russians and the religions. Churches and cemeteries everywhere. In fact, there are probably more dead people there than living. There was a ton of history, and everything was OLLLLD and all about Russia.

Ketchikan is old in a different way. We went to a lumberjack show, and a tour of “Dolly’s House”. I guess this town used to be a big lumberjack area, and it was full of rough tough men. They had man competitions (like with chainsaws, and axes and stuff) on weekends, and hung out in bars, and eventually someone figured out that it would be a good business to bring in some…..well…..women. For sale. So there is this section in the back of town called “Creek Street”. It was the red light district. Now it is a bunch of shops and stores and it’s great for tourists. The only evidence of such a scandalous lifestyle is Dolly’s House.

We walked by, and the woman standing outside talked us in to taking a tour. It’s full of history and we justified going in because it has so much authentic old stuff that actually belonged to Dolly.

Honestly, it was a little scandalous – they weren’t really shy about telling us all about Dolly’s life. BUT we plugged our ears at all the right times. The biggest shock was walking into her dining room, and what do you imagine I saw there? My grandmother’s china. In real life. The china I ate every single Sunday dinner on for like 6 years. Turns out Dolly had the same taste in dinnerware as my Grandma….who wouldda thought! I laughed and took a picture (stay tuned for the whole album when I have a real connection).

Next we headed to the lumberjack show which was AWESOME. Ridiculously expensive, but so much fun!

Now it’s only 1:00, but we have to head out to make sure we hit Victoria by 6:00 tomorrow evening. And that will conclude our trip…..and the tantrums will begin.

Sitka

This morning we got to Sitka at about 7:15AM. Fortunately Josh and I were still in bed, and still had a half hour before breakfast was delivered to our door. Seriously, I’ll never get over that. We fill out a card with ALL of the breakfast foods you could possible imagine on it the night before, hang it on our doorknob, and tell them what time we’d like it. We then eat breakfast in our bathrobes in the comfort of our room. We leave the dishes there, and when we come back to our room before lunch, the dishes are cleared, the bed is made, and there’s a note by the door of what is going on today. This is living.

Megan and Mark had told us about the company they were going on a kayaking adventure with. So, when we got ashore, we looked for the company, and scheduled our own tour. It was amazing.

We went kayaking in Alaska, and we loved it! We were in a 2 person kayak, which was good because it means both Josh and I saw everything the other one saw. It was bad because Josh got sick of me saying “left! Right!” and telling him which way he should steer the boat. He had control of the rudder because he’s a man, and he’s taller, and stronger. Ugh.

In any case, we wandered around, saw about a million star fish, in every shape and color – they have bright purple ones here. We saw fish, and mussels, and ravens. But the best part was when we went into “starfish cove” as the tour guides call it. It’s just behind a lighthouse on one of the 30 small islands we wandered around. We kept hearing eagles (like bald eagles….) in the trees, so we sat and waited. Before long we saw 2 or 3 swooping in at a time. Then one came down, grabbed a salmon right out of the river, and carried into the woods. 3 or 4 more quickly joined in for the meal. They fought over it. Then another eagle had salmon, and more followed him in. It was incredible. They flew all around us – probably 8 or 10 eagles flying around us for a good 15 minutes! These creatures are amazing!

The kayaking was beautiful, peaceful, calm, serene. We saw wildlife, and beautiful islands. We learned all about the life here in Sitka, saw some Russian dancer-ladies….(they were a little lame, but it can’t all be amazing, right?) and wandered around a cathedral. In all, it was another beautiful day. It seems that every day has some event that tops yesterday – but then when I relive yesterday, I can’t imagine it being any cooler, until I remember today! What a week this has been!

Now I'm sitting on a cruise ship, listing to the kids swim in the pool, watching my husband play ping pong with a comeplete stranger, and enjoying the view of the snow covered mountains right up against the ocean. With small islands littered with Christmas trees  as far as I can see. Does life get any better than this?

Evenings of Luxury

After the glacier we went about our normal business. Food.

You truly wouldn’t believe the food on a cruise ship unless you’ve done it. Every meal, every day is amazing.

Last night we at with 4 other people – all of whom are regular cruisers – I call them the “regulars”. While we prefer our new friends, Megan and Mark, it’s always educational to eat with the regulars. The order of conversation at dinner on a cruise is:

“hi, I’m ________” (insert your name here)

Then everybody goes around the table shaking hands and saying their names.

“So, where are you from?”

Everybody responds, then (on this cruise anyway) they talk about the temperature “back home” and how it’s “such a shock” to be so cool in the middle of summer.

After the appropriate weather talk, the next question directed at Josh and I is: “so is this your first cruise?”

We then explain that we went on 1 other shorter cruise, and are looking forward to many more. Then Josh works his magic, turns on his natural “talk to me” voice, and asks where they’ve been.

The rest of dinner we hear about all of the cruise lines, where to get the best deals (smartcruise.com), what to do on shore (cruisecritics.com), who has the best food, who has the best service, the places people have traveled, the people they travel with. From the “aussies” (there’s a big group of them on this ship) we hear about the parties. They are all on “holiday” for 3 months, and they’ve been to Canada, and Seattle, and they’re heading over to spend some time in “the rockies”. I think that means the Rocky Mtns., but that doesn’t really narrow down where they’ll be for me. We know that rich old people prefer Celebrity cruises, Megan and Mark (they are our age and are here on their honeymoon) prefer Princess, and so far nobody prefers Holland America (the line we’re on).

So, in one week, we’ve heard of enough fun places to last us the next 20 years of vacation. And although we really prefer the company of people our own age, it’s important that we sit with rich old strangers every other night in order to plan our future vacations. (Plus, they have allergies, and they’re picky eaters, so they usually see the menu the night before. We already know what’s for dinner tomorrow!)

After dinner we went to the show, which for the past 3 nights has been the singers and dancers, and honestly it was getting kindof old. Tonight was a magician. Which was incredible! He did a surprisingly large number of "scarf tricks" which I think are cheap shots - too much is concealed behind those scarves, and I think it's a cop out.  BUT they are still very entertaining.

He also did some bird tricks, which had me on the edge of my seat, because now that I've seen The Prestige, bird tricks make me want to hurl. He was very good, very entertaining, and I am still trying to figure out how he did "the egg" trick. I like magic, I like not being able to tell what's up, and I REALLY liked the show last night.

This cruise just keeps getting better and better!

Hubbard Glacier

Today our stop was Hubbard Glacier, which is incredible. If you’re bored and want to see something amazing, google it and I’m sure you’ll come up with some breathtaking photos/video. The boat doesn’t dock, just comes close to the glacier, and turns around. Everybody goes outside to watch, except those who are scared of a little rain/snow, they stay inside and look out the windows wishing they were brave enough to see it in real life.

While we were there, we saw a lot of calving and some incredible breaks. We tried to take picture/video of it, and of course it’s way cooler in a real life, but I think we caught some of the coolness of it on camera.

As you stand there, you hear a crack, it sounds like thunder, then you see an enormous chunk of ice fall down into the ice.

We learned about why glaciers are blue (they are so dense, that the only blue wavelength can pass through the ice), and blue they are! As big chunks floated by us in the water, they kept getting bluer and bluer (is bluer a word? Yes. It means “more blue”), then we saw the full glacier, it was truly incredible.

Early in the morning as we were coming up to the glacier, Josh and I went to the outdoor pool/hot tub, and did a little swimming. It was beautiful, and warm, and it felt SOO good! People around us were bundled up in coats, gloves, scarves, ear muffs, full blown boots. There we sat in the hot tub, staying plenty warm. Eventually I was ready for the pool, which was surprisingly warm. People looked at us like we were crazy, but we weren’t.

It rained the entire time at the glacier, but it was TOTALLY worth being outside for it. I think it was a once in a lifetime experience, AND from what we hear we got much closer than is normal. So, only a select few (like the 2,100 people on this boat) have been that close! See? We’re special.

Juneau

After a full day at sea, Josh and I were excited to get out and see some stuff. So, this morning came just in time.

I was told in a lecture yesterday that if we woke up really early in the morning (like 5am), we would see some beautiful sights as we headed in toward Juneau. So, after dinner and a show, we went to bed to make sure we could wake up at 5. He was right.

It was a beautiful sight! We ran into a grand total of 3 other people on the ship at 5 am, and everything was this beautiful color of morning blue. If I ever work for Crayola, it will be my personal mission to make something (a crayon) this color. It is truly breathtaking. Since the internet connection is so slow out in the middle of nowhere, I’m not posting any photos until after we’re home….but watch for the “morning blue” photos, I’m sure they won’t even come close to doing it justice, but hopefully caught some of it.

After wandering all over the ship, watching the water, and enjoying the peace and calm, we decided to enjoy sleep a little longer. It’s strange to wake up twice a day (so far this is the routine: wake up so early in the morning it’s almost still the middle of the night, then go back to sleep and wake up at a far more reasonable hour) and almost makes it feel like 2 different days – so maybe we’re on a 14 day cruise.

At a “more reasonable hour” we got off the ship and headed into town. First order of business: the tram. It heads straight up the mountain, and at the top is a short little hike, a gift shop, a restaurant and a raptor center. The ride up the tram is breathtaking, and although everything was foggy today, we were still able to see a couple of bald eagles. Which is exciting!

On the hike, there was a tree that had a totem pole-like design carved into it – random! Turns out we’re hiking in a rainforest. Everything is beautiful, lush, and green. Just as we were coming down, someone announced spotting a bear, so we followed the ranger up to try to find it – only we didn’t see it. We just wound up doing the loop again. Good thing it was so beautiful!

Next stop: Mendenhall Glacier. The most visited glacier in the world. And man can I see why! We rode a bus up to it, and bus driver Don told us all about his 41 years in Alaska. He was a real funny man and made the 20 minute drive seem just a little too short. At the glacier, we only had 45 minutes to look, take pictures, view the visitors center and the video, and get back on the bus. Not nearly as long as we otherwise would have spent.

This glacier was huge, seriously huge. And beautiful, and blue, and stunning, and breathtaking, and photo-worth, and I wish I had a better camera – and I wish I knew how to use a better camera! It was incredible.....

We learned all about the glacier, global warming, the life cycle of salmon (our funny bus driver told us a wicked poem that I don’t dare publish because it has a bad word in it….but it’s funny.), we saw people hiking, down at the base of the waterfall, and of course the throngs of people like us who were only there for a short time. It was a fantastic 45 minutes though.

After enjoying the ‘real Juneau’ we opted for some shopping – and shop we did!

On our last cruise, I was eyeing the tanzanite jewelry, and coveting it, and wishing we were filthy stinkin’ rich so I could drop hundreds on jewelry I had no place to wear. This time, we went into Tanzanite International (a section of Diamonds International) which was highly recommended by the ships shopping specialist. Seriously, this boat has a shopping specialist on board. Anybody else want that job? I do.

When we went in, I found a tanzanite necklace that I immediately fell in love with. They offered a super-cool you’re on a cruise and it’s your anniversary discount, and Josh just plain bought it for me. That man is amazing.

For the most part he is very responsible with money, and even concerned about spending too much, but it seems like at exactly the right moment, he throws all that out the window, looks me in the eyes, tells me he loves me and makes me feel like a million bucks.

I’m not really a “gifts” person, but he has the ability to pick up subtle hints (maybe I’m not as subtle as I think I am) and make me feel like I’m worth all the presents and prizes on the planet. I love it! I feel like we’re rich, we’re being pampered, we’re enjoying each other, and this beautiful place. And now, when we dress up for our next formal night, I’ll be sporting my new necklace and earrings. And I’m hoping that we’ll have plenty of excuses to wear them in the future too! (More pictures to watch for.)

In return, he’s getting a ridiculously fancy massage (they use heated stones to work on your back….) and I’m sure he’s in heaven. So, those are our anniversary presents to each other (apparently the cruise wasn’t quite enough, ha!) I get fine jewelry that I don’t deserve, and he gets a massage that he definitely earned. How’s that for fair?

Day At Sea

The first day on the cruise kindof reminded me of the first day of school. I feel like some kids are immediately pegged as the cool kids, the homebodies, the drunks, the geeks, etc. I’m still not quite sure what we are because it isn’t quite as defined as high school.

We spend the entire day at sea, which we thought would be nice because it would mean that we’d have time to get to know the ship and everything on it. Unfortunately we still get lost every time we step off an elevator. We wander around until we find food (which truthfully isn’t very long because it’s a cruise ship) and then we try to figure out where we are while stuffing our faces with the best grub this side of….well I don’t really know where we are – so I’m not sure what side of what we’re on.

The boat has contests and events, Josh participated in the ping pong tournament (he got out after winning one game), we tried to hit a golf ball into the floating life preservers (the things that look like cheerios) and neither of us came anywhere close to that. We went to some classes/lectures.

I learned about the wildlife in Alaska and how you have to wait for it to see anything. I learned where to shop in Juneau and Sitka. I watched the florist of the ship (1 of 2) create some beautiful arrangements. I attended an art lecture (the history of art in 30 minutes). I’m not quite sure what Josh was doing that whole time – part of it was ping pong, and part of it was eating lunch without me – I’m not sure what else he did though. I’m surprised to say that my favorite class was where to shop in Juneau and Sitka. I’m excited to go out and see stuff today – I think this port will be very cool….at least I hope so.

The best part of Sunday, was that it was formal night. Which means we get all gussied up – well, as gussied as we get, and go eat dinner. So I did my hair all up, and donned my new dress, and off we went to formal night.

At dinner we sat by the parents of the art lecture guy, and art lecture guy (Scott) joined us for part of dinner. Again Josh’s ability to listen and get people talking came out during dinner. I know all about these people, (they currently live in Texas, they have 3 kids scattered across the world, they’ve lived over seas for Jerry’s work, they have a closet full of photographs that have never been put into books, etc.) and I think they know we’re from Utah, but that’s about it. I’m kindof getting to like this listening business….it’s certainly is interesting, and it beats hearing the same stories I already know out of our own mouths. I much prefer hearing something new from someone else. Thanks to my hubby for being so good at drawing the “interesting” out in everyone.

Happy Anniversary!

Last night at dinner, we heard the waiters singing Happy Birthday to someone way across the dining room. Then they worked their way ping at a lot of tables on the way. They landed at the table next to ours singing Happy Anniversary to a very happy older couple.

We glanced (it would have been rude to stare) at the couple, and then turned back to hear the stories from our table mates. Suddenly, Josh and I looked at each other, and I knew we both knew that we had both forgotten that yesterday was our anniversary. Wow! Who wouldda thought?

Before we got married we took a prep for eternal marriage class, and we heard stories from the teacher and pretty much everybody else we met about one party or the other forgetting their anniversary and being in big trouble for it. Josh and I decided that since we both got married that day, it is the responsibility of both parties to remember the anniversary. We are celebrating our togetherness, and it will be our job together to figure out how to celebrate.

Once we figured out that it was our special day, we wished each other a Happy Anniversary about 10 million times. We reminisced and remembered. We ordered something special for desert – OK cruise deserts are ALWAYS special. We held hands the rest of the night, and kindof fell in love again. Isn’t it funny how the conscious knowledge that it is a special day makes you like it (and each other) more? It’s a good feeling.

Well, in honor of our anniversary, here are ten reasons I’m glad I’m married to Josh (and not someone else):

10. He makes me laugh every day.
9. He opens doors for me.
8. He kisses me after we pray together – every time.

7. He wants to see the world – and he wants me to be with him. (Thus the trip to Alaska).

6. He is willing to try anything. This adventurous spirit is the only reason he dared marry me I’m pretty sure.

5. He actually thinks I’m beautiful – and he tells me so! Even when we’re camping.

4. He gets up at 5am just in case something cool is happening on the top deck.

3. He protects me when I’m scared or uneasy. (or from the bad guys…..)

2. He supports me in anything I want to do. Even if that means quitting my job for no apparent reason.

1. He loves me and I know it.

Seattle

Some trips just seem to go so smoothly that you can’t believe it’s all that easy. This has been one of those trips. Josh’s little sister, Megan, was kind enough to take us to the airport at o’dark thirty on Saturday. We got there, checked our bags, grabbed breakfast, sat down for a few minutes and then boarded the plane. We didn’t sit around bored for any amount of time. We didn’t have to run through the airport because we were late. It was just perfect timing.

During the flight we sat by Chatty McChatterson. She is from Seattle, out on business, felt the need to tell us how cool she was and how much money she makes. She’s a recruiter for a trucking company, and she’s a big enough whig that she took the company jet out to Salt Lake, but for some reason was flying Southwest back. I guess she’s not that big of a whig.

She told us all about her kids, her job, her house (unfinished basement, her youngest son and his 3 friends live in it) her childhood, fishing, crabbing, and living by the river. Surprisingly I enjoyed listening to her stories. Normally that (talking to strangers, rather listening to stranger jabber on about nothing at all) is Josh’s area of expertise, and I’m starting to see why he likes it.

Josh, by nature is a listener – I am a talker. We make a good pair…..I think.

When we got to Seattle, we called Spence (my brother, nothing like mooching off family) to come and get us, and we went to his house. Which, by the way, is beautiful. He and his family live in Bellvue, which is beautiful. Seriously. We pulled up to their house, and there’s a “forest” right in the front yard. The grass is green and there are trees everywhere. You can’t even see the front of their house from the street because of all the trees.

Our first tourist place was “The Locks”. Now, if you’re like me you don’t know what “the locks” are, or even what one “lock” is. For some reason, they put gates between the ocean and Lake Washington. So, when boats go from one to the other, they have these little check points. They’ll close gates on both sides of the boat (so they’re ‘locked’ in), and either drain or fill the water inside “the lock” so the water level is even with the place they are going.

Why they need to do this is beyond me, but it turns out to be a fun process to watch. We watched a bunch of boats come in, some small speed boats, some sailboats, some yachts (I’m not sure what makes it a yacht instead of a boat, but I’m gonna say there were yachts there….go ahead and correct me if you know better) and even what Emily called a “cruise ship”, we kindly corrected her and told her that cruise ships are far too huge to fit in a “lock” and she should just wait until she saw a REAL cruise ship.

After the ship, came the fish ladders – my brother is an engineer, and kindof a geek. (For fun, he studies fluid dynamics. Really.) So, he was enthralled with the path of the water and honestly, so were we. His kids are the children of geeks, so they correctly identified and drew our attention to the “vortex” created by the water coming down the fish ladders.

By the time we left the locks, it was beautiful outside. The sun was shining, I’ll bet birds were singing, although we didn’t hear them. It was amazing. So, to the beach we went.

We dug for crabs, oysters, clams, anything alive pretty much. We didn’t find anything digging, but we saw starfish, sand dollars, and a lot of small crab carcasses. We felt the sand between our toes, and cool water rushing around our ankles. It was truly beautiful. We even got a little red from the sunshine – which would wouldn’t expect in Seattle, but hey we’ll take any color we get!

Legacy

I've been thinking a lot about the legacy people leave behind lately.  For a few reasons actually.

A couple of months ago, I knew somebody in the "John Smith" prison (that's not the real name, but I don't remember what it was....it's only important that it is a man's name). In my search to find the prison rules of how to contact an inmate, I found an "about the John Smith prison" page.  Turns out that this prison was named after somebody. I stopped reading, and I'm not sure why they got a prison named after them, but it was intended to an honor to that person.

It just got me thinking about if that person is really honored that they named a prison after them.  Like they name libraries after intelligent educated people.  Medical facilities after those who have given everything they have to medical research.  They name stadiums after....OK I don't really know anything about the Eccles..... but you get the point. Cool people get cool stuff named after them.  What do you have to do to get a prison named after you?

Most importantly, what will be my legacy. What will be named after me, and will it bring honor? or embarassment?

Another friend of mine recently posted about a lesson learned by a friend that she's never forgotten. It was a simple lesson, and of course the kid who taught her had no idea how profound it was.....but it was and she thinks about it all the time.  That was his legacy.

Well....this week I think I found my legacy. And while I can't fully claim it - I think I had a GREAT deal to do with it. 

Way back in the day, when I was a little girl (read: 6 years ago, when I was 16) I had the best friend any 16 year old girl ever had.  Carly and I were inseperable. Really. There was nothing we didn't share, and nothing we didn't trust each other with.  She had moved into the ward, and introduced me to the concept of 'rags' the first year she came to girls camp.  I'll find an old photo and scan it in so you can see it in all it's glory - but for now....suffice it to know that you LITERALLY tie your hair up in rags - small strips of cloth. You curl it all up, and tie it in a knot.  You wear it in the knotted strips of fabric most of the week (at girls camp it's nice to not have your hair all down) then on the last day, you take them out and wind up with ringlets.  Spend and hour or two brushing out the ringlets, and wha la. You have an afro. A real life, genuine afro - and I don't care how straight your hair was before. It's amazing. And, at the time it was unique.

The first year it was just me, Carly, and Megan. The next year, we had 1 or 2 more people who wanted to do it.  Then the next year it was a big rag party the night before girls camp. It was the ward trademark.

Last week, a facebook friend of mine from my parent's ward posted pictures of girls camp. And those pictures had all the girls in rags. And then fros. This hairdo takes an enormous amount of dedication to wear and deal with, so I was truly amazed that these girls had pulled it off! So, 6 years later, they are still wearing the rags at camp - it was our trademark, and it is still the symbol of the Lindon 1st ward. And to think, me and my best friends started it! Other certainly carried on the tradition, and I have a feeling someone cool did it after us and that's what really made it cool. But, I'll take it.  Amazing. I can think of no better legacy.

Bear Lake

For the 4th of July, we went to Bear Lake with the Egberts. On Friday we went down to the beach, and some mean lady told us we couldn't set up where we wanted to.

We went to this great public beach, which on the 4th of July happens to be very crowded. We started to set up our chairs and shade cover by another group - when this grumpy old lady came over and informed us that they were having a family reunion and she didn't want us to set up so close to her.

She then informed us we could go up the beach about 50 yards and set up there as long as we kept the dogs tied up. Jeremy, being the incredibly nice person that he is did NOT point out to her that we had paid as much as she had to be there, and it was insane for her to be the boss of the beach. Nor did he point out that there were about 5 other groups of people between her and where she suggested we set up all of whom would have more say in us parking there than she did. He also did not curse at her. Or call her a grumpy old lady to her face. He just walked up the beach until we found this super-sweet spot. It's like a sand-city was just WAITING for us there. So, we took full advantage.


Josh was the boss of waterways. He dug out canals for the water to form in.


Jeremy started out as being the head of BDOT (as in Beach Department Of Transportation), but then he discovered his architectural skills - and check out what he made! Beautiful eh?


Off to the left you can see Jeremy's architectural brilliance, the cobble-stone road leads to the city capital - with a weed flag sticking up. Back behind that is the university., which is connected to our own pretend yellowstone - really it's just a volcano.


Sadly this is the ONLY picture of the two of us we took while we were there. Not pretty, but.....whatcha gonna do? We're happy and that's the important part.

No such thing as too big

My dad doesn't get small. I mean that in the "he doesn't understand" way. One time my mom wanted a cute little wishing well. She got an structure as big as my kitchen.

So, it's no surprise that when my dad decided he wanted to build a swingset - my mom kindof gasped. When they found out that they'd need a forklift to lift the steel beams, you'd probably think that he would maybe reconsider or downsize a little bit. Nope. Not my dad. He found someone with a forklift he could borrow.

Dad and my brothers spend the better part of a day or 2 welding this thing together, and here is the finished product.

Since photos kindof warp the size of things, I want to point out a few things:

1. There is a tree right by the far end of the swingset (left of the picture) is a full grown apple tree. Use that as a comparison.
2. The child in the swing is Daniel - he's 4 years old, and he's about as tall as a 4 year old.
3. See those cross beams about 1/3 of the way to the top? I have to reach my hands up to reach it.

In short? It's a big dang swingset. My dad is just plain cool. That's all there is to it.

Affleck Park

Last year Jamie and Cameron taught us about a place up Easy Canyon called Affleck Park. We went camping there and had a fantastic time. This year, since Josh and I realized that for the next 2 weekends we'd be on a cruise, and we hadn't yet gone camping - we decided last minute to go camping and made the Marshes and Cami and Braden (Tato) come with us - which turned out to be TONS of fun!


Ryann thought it was really cool that she could hear and see us through the screen.


Cami, Tato, and Ryann. Once we taught Ryann Tato's name - she couldn't get enough of it. She walked around the whole time saying "hi Tato! Hi Tato!" I'm told that she hasn't stopped now that she's home. I guess she has a thing for the men in Josh's family.


Me and Josh - see? We're cute. :) And yes, even thought it's 100+ degrees in Utah, when you drive up the canyon for 10 minutes, it's COLD at night.


Those Marshes sure are cute.

We're lucky to have such a great family - and even luckier to be able to go camping like that anytime we want. It was a great weekend.

Josh loves her

My husband is whooped over another woman. I mean really whooped. He thinks she's the most beautiful creature on the planet. Her laugh makes his face light up. He'd rather hang out with her than anyone else in the world. She says his name, and he goes wild. He is really truly 100% in love with her. All of this is really hurts my pride and my sense of belonging to my husband. But, then I remember that this girl is 2 years old - and I'm whooped over her too.



When we played with the slip-n-slide, poor Ryann just didn't feel good. I held her, she cried. Her dad held her, she cried. Even when Katy held her, she cried. So, we wrapped her in a towell and set her on Josh's lap. She sat there for an hour without making a sound. She loves him right back.

Tagged - 3 things

I've been tagged!


3 things...

3 joys:
1. My amazing hubby. He's the greatest
2. My neices and nephews. They are adorable and make me baby hungrier than anything else in the world. ("Hi Tato!" says Ryann)
3. Summer time (mostly food) - homemade ice-cream, bbq, salad, bolt, learning to play football, swimming, So You Think You Can Dance, night games, sleepless-overs, campfires, banana boats.....OK that was a cheating way to put a whole bunch of joys in one.....but it's all what makes summer so great!

Fears:
1. Not being able to have a baby.
2. Roller Coasters (seriously, I'm a big baby. Like terrified. Josh forced me to go on the ltitle Atlantis ride at Sea World, and I cried.)
3. The scary sounds in the woods (bears, dear, racoons, wind, bad guys) when you're camping.
Goals:
1. Being more healthy.
2. Finding the perfect job. (i.e. working for the mormons)
3. Having a baby - SOON please. :)
Obsessions:
1. Blogging - althought you wouldn't know it this week....I have a bunch of pictures that I'll post as soon as I have time!
2. Things having a place in my kitchen. Don't put stuff where it doesn't go - and if it doesn't have a home, you don't really need it. Those are the rules, deal with it.
3. Tetris. This is a fleeting obsession, so I don't really know if it can count or not....but I put it on the bottom of my blog....and now I can't stop.
surprise facts:
1. I still hold the record for most crunches in 2 minutes at my Jr. High - look at me now....you'd never believe it. :)
2. I have an obsession with paperclips. They should not touch if they are not the same.  Same goes for sticky notes and sign here flags.
3. I did a cartwheel last week for the "talent" portion of my family home evening. And here's the surprising part: Josh was impressed. :) I love my husband for loving that I can cartwheel.
I tag- Aubrey, Ashley, Cathy (do you ready this as much as I read yours?), and as a bonus, Anna :)

Wave-Runner-ing

I think most nouns should also be verbs.  And "wave runner" is no different. Mostly because I have no idea what normal people call it when they take wave runners out on a lake. So, there it is, in all its awkward glory. Wave-runner-ing.


When Josh and I were engaged, we were invited on a family outing to "the dunes" with his dad and anybody else that dared go with them.  That was back before Steve (Josh's truck) died, so we headed out pulling a trailer with a 4-wheeler or 2 on the back.  I had never been 4-wheeling (*I just figured out that since when you ride a 4-wheeler it's called 4-wheeling, you can probably apply the same rule to wave-runners. It's now going to be called wave-running which is cool because now it sounds like exercise and it's not awkward. Score!) ever in my life. So I was excited and a little scared for this grand adventure.  Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately...if Josh knew what a wuss I was before we got married, he might not have gone through with it.....), Steve overheated on the way up the hill. We died in the middle of nowhere, with nobody near by.


Josh and I were alone in the truck, with no help or ability to fix what was wrong, and no cell phone service, so we did what everybody does. We looked under the hood. This is something that I have always done, and never really understood.


Something is broken? Open it and look at it.  Maybe there will be a flashing red light that says "push me and everything will be OK." I apply this principle to everything. Toasters, staplers, cars, watches, phones, computers, tvs, EVERYTHING. 99% of the time, I have no idea what I'm looking at, or what it should look like. And I know very well that I don't have a clue how to fix it, even if I could see something wrong. 


After looking at the engine for a long time, we decided to get out and play frisbee and go exploring. We wandered around, took a walk, I learned how to throw a frisbee, and more importantly I learned that Josh and I are good at having fun even when our day is "ruined".


We figured they'd realize we weren't with them and come back to rescue us at some point, but they didn't. Not until they were done playing for the day. After about 6 hours of being stranded on the side of the road, and when Josh and I were tired of studying and playing frisbee, we figured it couldn't hurt to try to start the car again. So we tried, and it ran.....sorta.  Rather than getting lost deeper in the dessert, we decided we'd head for home and see if we could get cell phone service (it helped that the truck couldn't go uphill and "home" was downhill). When we died again, we decided to wait. Josh's dad eventually came to rescue us and drag us home. The exciting adventure of the day turned out to be a bust in his eyes.


Since the dramatic 4-wheeling experience, Dad has been itching to take us out for some fun. 4-wheeling or wave-running. He has both toys, and enjoys both. Personally, I prefer biffing it in the water to biffing it in the sand, so wave-running is far more appealing. The only problem has been that Dad likes to go when nobody else does (because they're at work) which is hard because I'm part of everybody else who works during the day.


Last night, the moment finally arrived. Dad called at 4:30 and asked if we wanted to go for a couple hours. We did want to go. We didn't have other plans. So we went and had a great time!


I love the feeling of speeding across the water, then coming to a complete stop and feeling the water splash up in your face. I love "drifting" when you've turned much faster than the thing can keep up with. I love flying off because you can't hold on tight enough. I love going as fast as you can in one direction, and seeing the beaty of the lake, sunset and mountains. It was a beautiful night, and on a Thursday Utah Lake really isn't very populated. We had plenty of open space, plenty of time, and plenty of fun.


I rode with Tato (13 years old) and he had me screaming everytime he tried to throw me. Josh rode in circles around us and splashed us every chance he got. We each took turns riding with each other and riding "the little one" (I now understand the term crotch-rocket) alone.  I love that feeling of freedom and excitement! This would definitely be a good investment for us. If only we had the money....the trailer....the garage space.....someday we will.


We didn't leave until dark, and got home pretty late, but it was well worth it. Plus it makes me feel cool that we spontaneously decided to go out on a weeknight. We're cool. This is also the only thrill type thing that I genuinely enjoy. Probably the only one that doens't make me want to curl up in fetal position and cry. I normally hate speed, out of control, crashing, sharp turns, and anything else that sounds dangerous. But, for some reason, being the water makes all that perfectly acceptable.

Jobs....

Never in my entire life had I been turned down for a job - in fact, most of my jobs just fell into my lap. Until last year when I applied for Jamie's position at the church - and I got REJECTED.

Fortunately I didn't need the job, I just wanted it so I could leave my current position. Since then, I've applied for what feels like a million (in actuality it's probably 5-10) jobs. I've applied, interviewed, had 2nd interviews, talent assessments, skills tests, and nobody wants me.

It wasn't such a slap in the face the first time because when I apply for a job at the church, I really feel like they pray about who they hire, and they hire people based on the spirit. That means that if it isn't right for them - there is something else that will be better for me too. It's comforting to feel like it's in the hands of a higher power.

Still, the sting that comes with "the phone call" still exists. "Another candidate selected" sounds like "eh.....we don't really like you". "Thank you for your interest" sounds like "you shouldn't have wasted your time". "We'll keep your application on file." sounds like "look elsewhere, because our 'file' gets taken to the dumpster once a week".

Logically, I know they don't hate my guts (they hardly know me, how can they hate me?), and it's unreasonable to think that I'm the best person for every job out there - but the sting of rejection is something I don't ever think I'll ever get over.

This morning I had a pretty good interview (at least I thought it was a good interview.....I've thought that before) and we'll see what happens. If it works out, it will be the coolest new job I've ever had (I've always had cool jobs), if not.....the coolest new job I've ever had is still out there waiting for me. I'm sure of it.

FHE

In 2007 Josh and I made some New Years Resolutions together. They included being debt free by the end of the year, having FHE together every Monday, and some other stuff I don't remember. 2007 was going to be the year of us setting a high standard for the rest of our marriage. Well, we did pretty well on both of those goals....sorta.....

We paid off my car in 1 year (which is pretty awesome considering that it meant more than tripling my car payment) and ended the year with zero credit card debt. However, in May, Josh decided to go to UCMT, so we got some student loans. That's kindof the opposite way of being debt free. Also we bought a house. So TECHNICALLY we ended the year with 25 times the amount of debt we started with, BUT education and housing are things worth going into debt for - so we still count that a success. We still have zero credit card debt....

As for FHE. Well.....we did really good - for about 3 months. And then we missed a week, and then we did good for a while again. And then Josh started school. Now, I know we aren't the only young couple doing school and work full time, but by the time Josh got home at night, neither one of us wanted to have a lesson. So we didn't. I'm not saying it's impossible, because I'm sure people busier than us have done it, but it wasn't really working for us. So we just didn't do it.

Since Josh graduated, we've been doing A LOT better! So, maybe we'll just finish this year where we left off in 2007. :) My favorite part of the whole thing is that Josh kinda thinks I'm wonder woman.

He thinks that since he's the man, he gets to assign who is in charge of putting FHE together. On a Monday night at 4:45 when we're talking about what we're going to do tonight, he almost ALWAYS thinks it should be me.

"Hey, will you put together FHE for tonight so we can have it as soon as you get home from work?" I think he fails to notice that if we're doing it "as soon as I get home from work" that means I have had exactly 0 minutes to prepare it. That never really bothered him though.
"ummm...Yeah, I guess I can do that." I say it in a way that makes it sound like I'm really stressed and it will be pretty hard; but, since I'm so amazing I suppose I can pull that off just for him.
"Great! Thanks." He misses the point, but I'll take the "thanks" anyway.

Then I get home, we sit down and get ready for family home evening. I pull up my e-mails for the day, and open my trusty message from www.LDSLiving.com. I signed up for their junk mail service (I'm a sucker for junk mail, I really kinda like it.....) and I get a weekly "FHE Idea" in my e-mail inbox.

This packet (in case you didn't click on it) comes complete with a song, scripture, thought, conference talk, story, activity/object lesson, game and recipe all centered on a theme. This week it was "Follow the Prophet". We sang the song, read the scripture, did the thought, explained the object lesson, told the story, talked about the conference talk, did the activity and wrapped it all up with my testimony of our living prophet.

When I was done, Josh looked at me "you're amazing, you know that? I'm so glad you're my wife!" and he really meant it too! He was totally impressed that I had all of that put together (in less than 2 minutes) and that FHE lesson was a success.

Josh and I joke that if I wanted to keep a secret from him, the very best place to hide it would be my blog because he doesn't read it. Ever. And I'm 99% sure he never will. In fact, I'm pretty sure he doesn't even have the website....So, I feel comfortable outing myself here because I know he'll go on thinking that every week I'm able to pull some very involved, complete, beautiful lesson together in practically no time at all, when really all I did was glance through it for 5 minutes before discussing it all with him. Ha! I love the internet, and I love that my life is so easy! And I really love that somebody somewhere spends a week putting together a FHE and e-mails it to me at no cost!

Seriously, I highly recommend joining this "junk mail" list. My husband thinks I'm amazing, and it serves at my reminder that tonight is FHE, and gives me everything I need to make it a good one. The activities are easy to do with kids (or 2 20-something year olds with the attention span of a kid), and the stories are short enough to stay interested in. Our FHE really only lasts 1/2 hour, and that seems to be just perfect for us.

So, even though we still owe some banks some money, and we didn't do well with FHE last year - we're turning a new leaf, and I'm calling it my "mid-year's resolution" to keep it up.

Davis County

What a fantastic weekend we had. It kicked off Thursday night. After waiting for the traffic to die down we headed North on I-15. Those of you who know NB I-15 at 5:00 on a holiday weekend may now groan with me. Uuugggghhhhhhhh!!!!! I went home, and told Josh there was no way on this planet I was leaving our house until traffic was un-horrible. And I don't care HOW much like the real live beach Bear Lake looks!

We waited until 6:00, then checked the traffic. It wasn't moving.
We waited until 6:45 because we knew that everybody would leave early for the holiday weekend. It still wasn't moving.
We waited until 7:30 because we knew nobody in their right mind leaves that late on a holiday weekend! It still wasn't moving.

So at 8:00, we did what any sane couple would do. We loaded up the car and decided to join the throngs of people who were heading North for the holiday. Only when we got to the freeway, we took one look at it (which incidentally looked EXACTLY like the website said it looked) and decided we needed to kill some time before really joining in.

Since we have now been Davis County residents for 6 months, we figured it was high time to get a Davis County Library card. So, to the Bountiful branch we went. We picked some books to listen to on the way, and signed up for our cards. It turns out I have an opinion about the library in general. I've had some really fantastic library experiences, and some not-so-fantastic ones.

Salt Lake County library has 25,000 copies of every book known to man. And you can have access to any of them with just one card. You can even have them transferred between libraries so you can pick it up anywhere and drop it off anywhere. You can put stuff on hold online, and renew your books online. You can have pretty much anything you want from anywhere. That's why it's cool. Only trouble is their website is a pain to navigate, which makes me think that I'm too old to use a computer which just makes me mad. I'm only 23 - 22? I was born in 1985, which really wasn't that long ago. Also, they have branches all over the county - starting at about 3300 South, and not any closer to downtown, which bugs me. I suppose that's because of the Salt Lake City library though.....

Salt Lake City library has A LOT of books, a very cool atmosphere (coffee shops and stuff outside), and like 4 elevators, which is cool. But, it's downtown, which means parking is scary, you have to go into a dark and scary parking garage that you enter from 4th South. You can't really see in, so you could easily be hitting a pedestrian who is smarter than you because instead of dealing with the scary parking, they walked. You could also be hitting the wall because you can't really tell where it's going. Every time I go there, I park, and since only the first 30 minutes are free, I panic and hurry as fast as possible. I skip over the cool ambiance, the coffee shops, and the elevators. I run in a mad dash to the computer that tells me where the book I want is. It's checked out. Always. It's never EVER available. Then I wander around trying to find a new book to read, and I can't find the right section. Ever. The library is SO huge that I don't even know what floor I'm on, much less which floor I want to be on, or which floor my book would be on if it was where it belongs. Which it's not. Ever. Then I RUN back out to my car, repeating the number I parked by (P3B, P3B, P3B) over and over in my head because I have an irrational fear of being lost in a parking garage. All the while trying desperately not to trip down the ENORMOUS staircase leading down into the aforementioned dark and scary parking garage. You'd think that once I find my car, the panic would be over. It's not. Because then I have to find my way OUT of the parking garage. I hand my ticket to the nice lady - 29 minutes flashes up on the screen and I finally breathe a sigh of relief, letting my guard down and vowing that I will run faster next time because I don't want to cut it too close. Only to realize I almost hit a "smarter-than-me" pedestrian on my way out. The Salt Lake City Library stresses me out.

Davis County Library has an incredible website that doesn't make me feel old - just cool. They have a lotta books. You can transfer them between libraries; but, in the words of the 17 year old kid that gave us our cards "you request a book, then 1-2 weeks later, you can pick it up at your requested location and the fee is $1". Why do you have to pay AND wait that long for a book from the library? That's my question. Not that $1 is a lot (unless your watching KFC commercials, then it can change your life) but it's a hassle. Not enough to use a debit card, and more than I can find in the cup holder in my car. I'd have to think about bringing $1 with me to the library to check out my "free" book. That bugs me. When we first walked in to the library it smelled like wet dog and pee. Not a good smell for a library. Neither of those things mix well with books - come to think of it they don't mix with anything really. On the plus side for Davis County, it's close(ish) to my house and the water in their drinking fountain tastes SOOO good. As for the rest of the important library features, the verdict is still out, I'll let you know when I decide. Just in case, I'm keeping my Salt Lake County Library card.

After 45 minutes in the library, we headed North on I-15. Those of you who know NB I-15 at 8:15 on a holiday weekend may now groan with me. Uuugggghhhhhhhh!!!!! Traffic still wasn't moving.