Angie's Adventures

The Ragnar!

2010-06-21T07:05:00.001-07:00

So, here is my version of this crazy race I ran! YEAH RAGNAR!!!!

Ok, so the race goes from Logan to Park City, or 188 miles. It is divided up between teams, 12 persons to a team. There are 2 vehicles per team, and 6 people per vehicle. My friend Jessica was on a team with people from her office. Initially when I had signed up for the race, I was runner #1, and in vehicle #1. However, Jessica was runner #7 and in vehicle #2. I ultimately ended up switching with another runner on the team, and he became runner #1 and I was runner #9. It worked out well for both of us, as his dad and brother were running and in vehicle #1, and I got to be in vehicle #2 with Jessie.

This is me and Jessie in the van on the way up to the exchange where were taking off.

The morning of the race, our team started at 5:15 am. Luckily, being in van #2 we didn’t need to be up to Logan until 10:00 am. So, we got up and went up to meet our runner #6, and exchange off and have Jessie who was runner #7 take off and start running. I was incredibly nervous, as I had no idea what to expect. I have never done anything like this, and didn’t know how it worked. We got up to the exchange, and it was CRAZY!!! There were a ton of people, and tons of vans, with many of the vans having decorations!

One big thing with this race is naming your team. There are some very creative names. Also, people tend to decorate their vans/vehicles. I laughed out loud so hard at some of the names and some of the decorations! Some of the more creative names (I thought) were:

WTF? We thought this was a 5K!

RMAO

Where in the Wasatch is Waldo (and they all wore white shirts with red stripes and big black glasses)

Our name was “Something Wicked this way Runs” We had so much fun! Julee, runner #7 had t-shirts made for us, and it was awesome! Her company sponsored us and paid for the shirts!

This is Jessie waiting and getting ready to go to the exchange point. Isn't she cute?

This is our first exchange. Jessie is the girl in the red hat, and Ben is the other runner who was passing her the slap bracelet.

This is me and Jess after her first leg she finished. I was so proud of her!

One wonderful part of the race was the support and camaraderie. Our team was awesome at that! At certain pre-determined points the van would stop and we would get out and cheer our runner along. One of the girls had a cow bell, and we rang the crap out of that bell! We would turn our music up loud and dance. We cheered for runners that weren’t even ours! There is just this huge feeling of support for everyone. Our van was not only a cheering squad, it was also a support van. If the runner needed water, or food or whatever, the team members who weren’t running would take whatever the runner needed to them, as long as we were in a part of the race that we could. (Certain sections of the course were non-support legs, which means that the non-runners could cheer, but not get out of the van, unless the runner was in trouble.)

Here is Carlos with the cow bell outside of the van (technically it was whatever vehicle you had, but for some reason the name van was what we always called it!)

This is Jessie, Carlos, Mia and Julee... members of my team. Aren't they awesome!?

My first leg that I ran was my easiest leg. It was 3.4 miles, and it was relatively flat. I was worried about running it… well I was honestly worried about running any of this race. I have been having such problems with my hip!

So, Julee was the runner before me. Each team had an orange slap bracelet that was reflective. Each runner would pass it along to the next runner. Yes, we quickly learned who had sweaty wrists! So, at our exchange Julee passed the bracelet along to me, and I took off. I had my GPS with me, and I just was running. Honestly, I felt so good!! I was running a faster pace than I was planning on, or even thought I would be able to do with how bad my hip has been, or how little I have been training due to my hip. I ultimately ended up running my 3.4 miles in 29 minutes! YEAH!!!! It was so nice.

This is me running...

Julee was runner #8 in our van. She was there as support and had some water for me. Notice the orange flag. We had to have an orange flag every time we crossed the street. It became quite a joke for me!

This is me coming into the exchange to had off the slap bracelet to Mia.

And the hand off! Mia took off and was running.

Jess and I after I finished!

When the guy in our van who was runner #12 finished, and passed off to the first van again, we took off and had a few hours of downtime. We headed back to Ogden and got some food then headed to the next major exchange where Jessie was going to meet runner #6 and take off and it was our turn again. Luckily we had a couple of hours. We were in this big park, and we pulled out some of our sleeping stuff (I got my pillow and my sleeping mat) and we crashed. I fell asleep for about an hour. It was so nice! I totally needed it. It was great to have some downtime and not be in the car!

So, we were keeping in close contact with van #1, and when they called and told us they were getting close, we got Jessie ready to run. So, off she went. Jess started running about 7:45 at night. The Ragnar had some pretty strict rules about safety and running at night. Every person had to have a safety vest with reflectors on it when they were outside of the van. The runner had to have a head lamp and a red flashing light on their back. So, Jessie was our first runner to have to wear the safety vests. So, she took off and was on it! After she finished Julee went. Then, it was my turn!

This is me bringing Jess water on her night leg.

This leg I was a little worried about. It was a 9.6 mile leg, and I started running about 11:30 pm. It was actually pretty incredible. It was also very difficult. It was so hard because it was the middle of the night and up in the mountains on a mountain road. So, not much light, which was fine. The hard part was when a car would pass and have their lights on, it would totally light everything up, then once they passed it would take a few seconds for my eyes to readjust to the darkness again. Just about the time my eyes readjusted another car passed! That actually made it very hard for me. Another hard part was that because it was so dark out, sometimes re-paved parts of the road looked like a hole, and vice versa. But, I took off and was going pretty well. I was pretty pleased about how well my hip was doing. And then I got a horrible cramp in my calf. Almost debilitating cramp! So, I stopped and stretched out, and it was better.

So, I got to about mile 7.5 and there was a girl up ahead of me. I decided I was going to pass her, that was my goal. So, I started pushing a little bit harder so I could pass her. Right as I got to where I was going to pass her, I stepped into a hole which I thought was a re-paved part of the road. Down I went! Oh man, I was so worried. I rolled my ankle and I was worried that I had hurt it bad. I’m not going to lie… my pride was wounded too! She helped me up, and across the street was a support van for another one of the runners. Their name was “the superhero’s” and they were all dressed as super heroes and running in their costumes. So, I had Batman, Superman and Spiderman all poised and ready to run across the street and help. The girl I was passing helped me up, and I had some minor abrasions on my hands and my ankle hurt. I walked a few steps on it to make sure that I was going to be able to walk. I was, but it hurt. I still had 2 miles to go and I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to finish. But, once again my pride took over, and I started walking a little faster. I made sure that I passed the girl and I just kept walking. I walked most of the remaining 2 miles, but I kept going. I almost had a meltdown but realized that I didn’t have the energy to spare to break down. I had to suck it up and keep going until I got to the van. So, I did. My team had gone on to the exchange and so I wasn’t going to see them again, so I had no way of letting them know that I was hurt. Well, about ½ mile from the finish line I saw my team drive up towards me. They had gotten concerned because I hadn’t made it in to the finish in a time consistent with how I had been running, it was taking me much longer with having to walk. I told them I had fallen and was hurt. They asked if I needed to get in the van. Oh man, I wanted to so bad! However, I told them I was going to start running (my ankle was much better by then, still sore but better) and I would meet them at the finish. They asked if I wanted them to drive with me into the exchange. I told them no. I couldn’t have them there being caring and supportive because I really would lose control and start to cry. I was so exhausted! So, they took off and I started slowly jogging. I made it into the exchange and Jessie was right there. She gave me this big hug and I totally started crying. My ankle hurt, I had scrapes on my hands and shoulder and bruising on my knee. Plus, I had just run 9.6 miles at midnight and I was exhausted and hungry! We went and got back in the van and I got in the back seat and ate some food and fell asleep. My team was so good and let me just crash out in the back seat!

One thing of note… While Carlos, the guy who was runner #12 was running his second leg Jessie was driving. There were a few of us sleeping and she woke us up kind of freaking out. There was a guy on the course running who was wearing his running shoes, a g-string, and his reflector vest… and that was it! I couldn’t believe it. For me, more than he was in a g-string only, I was impressed he was in a g-string in such cold weather! I had 3 layers of clothes on it was so cold! Oh we laughed so hard! Carlos’s comment when we talked to him about it later was “at least you didn’t have to stare at that for like 5 minutes while running.” That totally made my night!! It was so wrong!

Then, once we all got done running and van #1 took off, we went and had some downtime. Carlos has a brother-in-law who lived not far from the next major exchange. His brother-in-law was so good enough to let us crash on his back lawn and leave a door open for us so we could go use a bathroom. We went and brushed our teeth and fell asleep. We slept for about 1 ½ hours, and that was some of the best sleep I have ever had! Then time to get up and head back and get ready. The runners in van #1 were much faster runners so we didn’t have that much down time while they were running!

But, we got up, and headed to the next exchange. Jessie took off and we were back on the course.

This is Jess showing her enthusiam that she was almost done with her last leg!

This was our last leg, and probably the most mentally challenging for me. I was exhausted, I was hurt and not sure I was going to be able to do my leg, and I had a gnarly hill to climb. 2 of the runners in van #1 offered to run my last leg for me if I needed. I thought about it, but then realized it wasn’t that much of a decision for me. I’m not a quitter. My ankle was sore but not broken and I was able to walk on it. I would walk my last leg if I needed to, but I was going to finish.

This was the course map for my last leg... look at that hill!

This is me right before Julee got there for us to switch.

And here was the handoff!

So, then it was my turn. The first ½ mile of my leg was pretty flat and awesome. Then the hill started. And I thought I was going to die! I had a 1500 foot elevation gain in 3 miles. That’s a pretty steep hill. It was so steep and it was a narrow gravel road. And I walked. I didn’t feel bad about walking at all! Well, that’s not true. I did get passed by some people who were running up the hill. My pride started to kick in and tell me I needed to run that hill. Then I would have a discussion with myself and ultimately I didn’t run it because I didn’t want to hurt myself too bad and be out from running for a while. So, I was very proud of myself! I will admit, one girl who passed me on the hill in the beginning as she was running I passed later on walking! Yeah baby!

Jess brought me some water for a much needed water break!

It was a very difficult hill to climb! It was also around 11 am and so getting super warm. Towards the end, my team had already gone on to the exchange. I needed some water and I was starting to be done mentally and physically. This super nice van for another team was driving by and gave me a bottle of water. That was so awesome of them! Then when I got to probably ¼ mile from the exchange, here comes Carlos from my van carrying some water for me. They were worried about me, and so they wanted to make sure I had some water. That was awesome of Carlos! He was going to be running in a couple of hours, and he walked down that nasty hill just to have to walk up it. It was so awesome of him!

This is me right after I finished. I felt like I was going to die!

Jess was right there for me!

I made it to the exchange, and Mia, the next runner took off. She finished the hill I started. We were trying to decide whose leg was worse, mine or hers. Hers was longer and a slightly more elevation gain, but it was spread out a little more. She did 1650 feet elevation gain in 4 miles. Hers was not quite as steep as mine, but hers was longer. I ultimately decided they both sucked!!!

This is the view of the mountain we were on that I climbed. I started in the valley in the town, and this is about 1 mile into Mia's run.

Carlos was runner #12. While we were waiting for him to start running, we met up with van #1. That was pretty much the only time we got to spend with them. So, once Carlos took off running we all took off and headed to the finish line. The finish was at the Canyons in Park City.

Traffic was horrible to get there! As we were making our way to the finish line, we saw one team of some young guys, like in their early 20’s, who were all wearing Speedo’s. Most of my team members were saying not to stare. Not me! Those guys would not have been wearing those if they didn’t want people to stare. So, I took some pictures! It was amazing how after I took a few pictures some of the people in my group started asking me to email and text them the pictures!

Well, we made it to the finish line and it was awesome. We all got to run the last 20 yards in with Carlos. We got to finish together! We all had our “Something Wicked this way Runs” t-shirts on, and we finished as a group. We all got our finishing medals, which are pretty amazing! It was really pretty incredible! And we did it! We finished!!!!!!!!!

We were spent. We drove back to Salt Lake and I took a shower and crashed out hard! It was a totally crazy 36 hours, but totally worth it! I can’t wait for next year!

These are just some various random photo's from the race...

This is me sitting in the back of our van.

This is Carmine and Carlos...

This is me using the safety flag to cross the street... making sure everyone saw me!

These Honey Buckets were our best friends! They were at every exchange. How glad I was to see an actual bathroom!

Lunch at the Revolving Restaurant

2010-01-31T20:43:00.000-08:00

So, Tuesday, December 22 Mom and Dad and I went to lunch at a revolving restaurant. It is on the 65th floor of one of the high rise buildings in Hong Kong. Every approximately 60 minutes the floor rotates so you can get a 360 degree panoramic view. It was awesome!

If you look closely on this picture above, you can see the running trail that Dad and I would run on! It had quite an impressive view itself!

I have to admit, the food was pretty incredible too! There were all types of food, and it was a buffet. I totally overate! It was so good!

But, I have to admit the deserts were to die for... well, most of them. There was a chocolate fountain and they had all sorts of cookies and things to dip in the fountain. However, my favorite was the pineapple!

There were also some deserts that weren't so good, in fact, downright nasty! And I just have to say, my mother isn't quite the innocent person most people believe her to be! She gave me this desert and told me to try it. So, thinking that my own Mother would tell me if something was not good, took a big - o'l bite of it... and promptly spit it out! It was so gross. It was this gelatinous bean curd crap that was so bad. Look closely in the picture, it is that green leaf thing on the circle plate next to me. It was horrible. Mom just laughed and laughed after I spit out the bite. A little conniving, isn't she! :)

This is Dad and Mom's condo building from the restaurant. It's the large white building in the right of the picture.

Hong Kong - Kowloon Light Show

2010-01-05T04:37:00.000-08:00

Monday night, Mom and I went back to Hong Kong and then met up with Dad for dinner at home. After dinner, we went and caught a ferry across the harbor to Kowloon. Every night at 8 pm, Hong Kong island does a light show with a bunch of the buildings in the city. It is set to music and it is pretty amazing! It was my first time visiting Kowloon. The light show was totally awesome! We had a great time!

Hong Kong has done a fantastic job of decorating their buildings for Christmas. Some of these pictures are a little fuzzy, just because I am not super great at holding still enough to get night shots!

Shenzhen

2010-01-05T04:18:00.000-08:00

Monday December 21, Mom and I took the train to China. We went to a place called Shenzen. Shenzen is just across the border from Hong Kong right in China. Holy Cow, there was so much to see and do, and we didn’t do much at all! Well, I guess I should say we didn’t make it too far into Shenzen… We got “trapped” at the Mall and it was not like any mall we have in the States! Well, I guess it kind of is, but there are so many more stores and little booths and shops than in the States. Also, it was 5 stories!

This picture only shows a portion of the mall. Inside there are just thousands of shops, all crammed in close together. It really is overwhelming!

I wanted to go to the tailor and have some clothes made for me. That is where we spent most of our time, and we didn’t see much of the mall. There were quite a few tailors in a row. We went to one Mom had had some stuff made at before, and they recognized her. The owners of the tailor shop are 2 sisteres, whose “American” names are Nancy and Cindi. Well, Mom had some fabric that she was going to have made into a dress and jacket so she started talking to them about getting her clothes made. While she was doing that I was looking through books and looking for clothes to be made.

Once I had decided on the clothes I wanted made, the tailor took us around to the fabric shops. It was amazing. They were all in this large room, and just jammed in right next to each other. There were probably 100-200 separate vendors with any and every kind of fabric imaginable! Oh man, I ended up with more clothing being made than I had planned on! It was just so cheap! And now the more I think about it, the more I realize that there are more things that I think I’m going to have made when I go to pick up my clothes!

Once I picked out fabric we went back to the little shop where the tailors worked. I then got all my measurements taken and off we went. I am super anxious to go back and get my clothes and go in for a fitting. They will be ready to pick up on Dec. 28, but that is the day that we leave for Bejing. So, I won’t go pick them up until we get back to Hong Kong.

Well, that whole excursion took quite a few hours. Both Mom and I were pretty tired after that. So we went and got a little snack and then I wanted to go see her pearl vendor. I have been wanting some black pearls. So, the pearl vendor was also in a large room with many little carts/booths. Holy cow, seriously there are so many vendors and people crammed in such a small space! I ended up getting a very beautiful strand of black pearls and a pair of earrings. I love them!

I was so totally on overload while we were there! Also, any shop that you walk past or any vendor that you walk past the sales people will stop you and sometimes even grab at you… “Missie (they call women Missie), you want handbag… or watch… or iPhone… or manicure… or whatever they are selling. Oh man, the sales people are so overwhelming!

Because I was so overloaded, I didn’t take many pictures. I will take more when I go back to pick up my clothes! Mom may have to take them, as I am sure I will be overwhelmed again! I don’t love people! :)

Have I mentioned I was overwhelmed? :)

Macau

2009-12-20T02:43:00.001-08:00

On Saturday December 19, Mom, Dad and I went to a place called the Island of Macau. It is an island about 1 hr boat ride away from Hong Kong. It is an island still owned by China, but like Hong Kong it is governed by itself. Macau was owned by Portugal for 450 years until Portugal gave it back to China in 1999. There is still a large European influence, as can be seen in many of the buildings and life. The island is interesting, there is the old section, which has a large Portuguese influence. Then there is a new section that is full of casino's and very modern. Apparently there are a lot of high rollers that come and play at the casino's and gambling brings in a lot of money. We didn't spend any time in this part of the island, except to catch a taxi!

This sign is typical for signs on the island. I thought it was fascinating that all of the signs were in Chinese and Portuguese.

In order to get to Macau, we took a boat. This is what the boats looked like that we took.

This is me and Dad getting into the boat.

This is part of the old town square. They had up some beautiful decorations for Christmas!

Macau apparently is pretty well known for it's shopping as well. Look at how many people are on the streets. This was actually not very crowded yet!

There were some pretty amazing places that are on the island. The first one we went to is the Fortaleza do Monte. It was built in 1616 and originally was where the settlement was founded. The walls are thick and there are big cannons that surround the top to help with protection (or for modern day peoples such as myself to take pictures with!)

This is the view of Macau from the top of the wall.

We also went to the facade of the Ruinas de Sao Paulo. This is what remains of a Jesuit Cathedral built in the 1600's. It is built at the top of a steep staircase. It's beautiful.

We were able to go behind the facade and climb up a staircase to look out some of the windows and get a great view of the city.

We went to a Catholic church called St. Dominic's Church.

While walking around we saw some celebrations going on in honor of Christmas. Some of them were very much reminder of the Chinese influence! We were able to see a dragon dance... well, actually 2 dragons dancing with typical Chinese instruments being played for music.

While trying to find a Protestant Cemetery, we went into a large city park called Luis Camoes Garden. It was a beautiful garden with plenty of plants, large open areas and even some old Chinese men playing what we think was checkers. We also came upon some Chinese women doing some sort of dance. We weren't sure for what, but it sure was fun to watch.

We finally did find the Protestant cemetery which was mostly in English, although we did see some German.

Here are just some general pictures of Macau.

After a very full day, we got back on the boat and went back home. It was an awesome day!

Hong Kong for Christmas!!!!!

2009-12-20T00:45:00.000-08:00

So this year for Christmas I gave myself a trip to Hong Kong to visit my parents. I got in Thursday night, December 17. I'm not going to lie... It was a long trip! It took around 21 hours for me to get here to Hong Kong. I flew from Salt Lake to San Francisco, then luckily I had a direct flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong. That flight was just over 13 hours! Needless to say, it was a LONG trip! However, I have just about 3 weeks to adjust to time over here! :)

Friday for lunch Mom and I went and met Dad and some people from his office for lunch. One of the girls took us for lunch to a Japanese Noodle House. I have to say it was really pretty good! The noodle bowls are served with a ladle attached to a long wooden handle and chop sticks. I learned that the way to eat a noodle bowl is to scoop up some broth, put some noodles into the ladle with the chopsticks, then to eat the noodles and broth. Slurping is allowed! Thanks to my mad chopstick skills... I ate like a pro! Not only was lunch fun and an experience, the food was really pretty good!

Here are some general pictures of Hong Kong. I am absolutely amazed at how tall the buildings are. It's like any big city, but still, I'm a girl from Alaska! It truly is incredible to me how many people live in such a small area. There are always people around! I have been quite impressed with my Mom... she has gotten to be quite the aggressive walker. I have been concerned a few times that I may have to stop and provide medical care for some old person Mom has knocked down! ;)

People in Hong Kong do celebrate Christmas. It is interesting though... There are not really any religious symbols around. Also, the colors used to decorate are a lot more purple, pink and silver, not as much red and green.

Hong Kong is awesome so far!

Viva Las Vegas!

2009-07-02T15:26:00.001-07:00

So over the weekend my friend Melody and I decided late Saturday night to drive to Las Vegas on Sunday. There was an audition for a performance company she wanted to try out for, and she wanted someone to drive with her. Since my job didn’t start until Wednesday I was the perfect candidate! Plus, I’m always up for a good adventure!
So, Sunday after church we got ready, packed the car and left! We got on the road about 1:30 pm. Seriously, it was so much fun. I think that so much of how delightful it was is how spontaneous the trip was. 24 hrs before we had left, I had no thought whatsoever in my head that I was going to be on a road trip to Vegas!
The 6.5 hours that it took us to drive there went by so stinking fast! We had so much fun in the car, totally time for some great girl talk, catching up on each other’s lives (for crying out loud, I had been gone for 2 months!) rocking out to music (the 80’s music was the biggest hit I think. ), and just all around joking and laughing.
As we were driving, we came to the Arizona border sign. So, apparently one has to drive through Arizona to get to Las Vegas from Salt Lake. I didn’t know that. I was quite surprised! We didn’t spend a whole lot of time in Arizona, but honestly I didn’t know that we needed to drive through Arizona.

Melody has a friend named Jared who lives in Las Vegas and we stayed at his house. We got in Sunday night and we decided to go out and get some dinner. Jared took us to this wonderful tapas restaurant.It was so nice and the food was incredible! We sat outside on the patio and the night was warm, but not too warm. There was some music playing, but it wasn’t too loud or overwhelming. It was really so much fun.

After dinner Jared took us to the Bellagio hotel and we watched the water and lights show. Holy Cow! It’s incredible! It almost made me feel like I was part of the Ocean’s 12 cast…If only I had my own Matt Damon or Brad Pitt by my side! :) We enjoyed the first show so much we stayed and watched a second show. Now, granted they do them every 15 minutes, but still.

Jared took us to the Bellagio’s flower gardens. They are BEAUTIFUL!!! They had all sorts of statues and display’s made out of flowers.

Also, one of their displays was made out of Gerber daisies, which are my favorite flower.

Jared then took us to one of my new favorite places on the face of this earth…the world’s largest chocolate fountain and candy store! Oh, you read that right. IT WAS AWESOME!!! All I could think of while I was standing at the glass was “open…open…open”. They had all kinds of chocolate and candy and they even had an ice cream section. I got some mango ice cream (I know, totally not chocolate but totally worth every bite!).

This is the top of the chocolate fountain. This is above the chocolate inside the glass.

Then we decided to go walk around for a little while. We went through Cesar’s Palace and some of the shops there.

This is the kind of man I need...the strong, silent type, looks good sitting there, and doesn't talk back! :)

They have some HIGH end shops in that casino! I’m not going to lie… I don’t normally like to shop or even like name brand stuff. Hell, I don’t even know who most of the names are whose stuff we were looking at. However, I fell in love with a pair of Jimmy Choo’s (for the bargain price of $895) and a Judith Leiber purse (for just $5,600). Oh my gosh, the purse was awesome! It’s an asparagus shaped clutch purse. How can you go wrong with that? :)

As we were wandering around we saw this poster advertising Cher. This is my impression of Cher.

After we were done window shopping (cuz let’s face it, am I really going to pay that much for anything other than some outdoor recreation equipment? I think not!) After that we went back to Jared’s and went to sleep. It was almost 12:30 am by the time we got back to Jared’s (1:30 am SLC time).
We got up Monday morning and Melody and I went to the pool at Jared’s condo complex. Oh my gosh, we laid out and just laid in the sun and it was so warm, relaxing and delightful. Luckily, when we got too hot, we just went and got in the pool and cooled off, then got back out and laid in the sun. That was probably one of my favorite parts of the trip. It was so relaxing. Besides, I wore my new bikini. I’m not going to lie…it was delightful!

Monday afternoon Melody went to her rehearsal and I stayed at Jared’s and slept. Once Jared got home from work he and I went back to The Strip and I was going to gamble for a little bit. Now, I totally love to play Blackjack. I don’t play very often at all (like the last time I played for money was 5 years ago) but I love to play none the less. By the time we got to the casino Mel was done with her audition and we decided to go get some dinner instead.
Dinner was at a fabulous Indian Restaurant. I had some of the best Chicken Tikka Masala I have ever had! (I think I like food, I seem to talk about it a lot!) After dinner we went to Coke World where we tried 16 different Coke products from around the world. We didn’t have any regular Coke until after we were done with all 16 we went and got some regular coke to help settle our stomach’s.

Man, some of the drinks that we tried were good, some not so good, and some so disgusting that I totally threw up in my mouth a little bit!

After our stomach’s were a little more settled, we walked through the M&M World which has every possible kind of M&M paraphernalia you could imagine, and some you couldn’t. They also have these large containers of M&M’s in so many different colors and different kinds too. They had a coconut flavored M&M. Honestly, I couldn’t even try it because I was a little nauseated from Coke world!

Needing some more activity than window shopping for product paraphernalia, we went and rode the roller coaster at the New York New York casino. It was so much fun. I sat in the very front seat with this like 11 year old kid. I was talking to him. That time was his 17th time on the roller coaster that day. Holy Cow! I was cracking myself up on the ride. I was totally nervous. I all of a sudden started laughing at myself…I have been skydiving twice, and a roller coaster was freaking me out? What the heck?
This is the 11 year old kid I sat next to.

Then I wanted to go dancing, and honestly I wanted to try and get up and dance on the bar at the Coyote Ugly bar. We went in and alas, because it was so early on a Monday night (it was 8:30 pm) no one was dancing on the bar. So, Mel and I went out and were dancing in the middle of the bar floor. Unfortunately, no bar dancing, but I love to dance anyway and it was fun!

Mel and I then got back in the car and started driving home at 9 pm Vegas time (10 pm SLC time). It was a long trip back home, but we finally made it in about 5:30 am SLC time. We both went to bed and crashed. All in all, it was fabulous and quick yet delightful!

The Alpha Bravo Charlie's of my Dad - HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD!!!

2009-06-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

In honor of my Dad for Father's Day and since he is so far away in Nepal right now, I thought I would write many of the wonderful things and some of my memories about my Dad, coming up with something for each letter of the alphabet (kind of borrowing the idea from my friend Jenna). I LOVE YOU DAD!

A -Arm Wresteling. One night my sister-in-law Gini challenged my Dad to an arm wresteling duel. Oh, it was quite funny to watch!

B- Bishop. My Dad has been Bishop four times in my lifetime. He has honorably served those people in his ward, and he is quite well loved for it! Now, THIS daughter didn't always appreciate having her father for her bishop, but oh well! :)

C - Corvette. My Dad had a '78 silver anniversay Corvette when were kids. I can't quite figure out why he sold that right before my sister started driving! :) He has always loved Corvette's. If I ever win the Lottery or marry rich Dad, I will buy you one!

D - Dates. When I was a teenager my Dad was extremely busy and I didn't see him very often, except it seemed like when I was in trouble (which was often!). After I expressed that to him, he made a significant effort to take me out on a me and him date once a week. Often times it was something simple like going for a walk around the park by our house or getting ice cream that we brought home to share with every one else, but I will always remember those times and cherish them!

E- Extremely Fashionable. My favorite of my Dad's outfits that he wore was one time after running a race, he had his short running shorts on (hey, cut him some slack...that was the style!), some knee high running socks and his cowboy boots! Man, he was styling! (Oh yeah, that's me in the picture with him!)

F - Fishing. My Dad loves to fish and is quite good at it. I loved being able to take him out fishing in Alaska. Of course, the times we caught fish were always much better, but we still had fun even if we didn't catch anything!

G - Grandpa. My dad loves being around his grandkids and is quite fun to play with. My niece Kiersten loves to talk to my dad on the WebCam and show off her twirly dresses! My niece Brooklyn calls him Padi since she can't really pronounce Grandpa.

H - Horses. My Dad grew up on farms and around horses. He always talks about having to shovel hay and clean out the barns. When I was growing up I wanted a horse so bad. He and my mom put me in a horse back riding class. He then offered that if I saved up money to pay for half of a horse, he would pay for the rest. I never did, so he never had to come up with the money for the rest of the horse, as well as room and board and food! But, I loved that he offered!

I - Intelligent. My Dad is incredibly intelligent and he has a large vocabulary. When I was younger he would regularly have a word of the day in order to help improve our vocabulary. That is where I learned to use words like "eclectic" and "plethroa" and "paucity" just to name a few.

J - Juris Doctorate. My Dad graduated from Law School 2 1/2 months after I was born. He has worked as a lawyer throughout my life to provide a wonderful and comfortable life for us. He has instilled in us a respect for the law and along with that encouraged a logical way of thinking in our family.

K - Kid. My Dad himself is still a kid to his parents. He used to spend a lot of time with his parents (until he moved).

L - Loving. My Dad has a very loving and generous heart. So many times has he come to my rescue and aid and shown me over and over again how much he cares and how much he loves me. He isn't always the most vocal about it, but his actions speak so loud! One time that sticks out very prominent in my mind is the weekend I got divorced. That was one of the worse times in my life, and my Dad cared enough about me to fly up to Alaska to be with me during that awful time.

M - Mountain Biking. My Dad definitely enjoys going out and mountain biking with my brothers. However, there are some times (usually) when at least one, if not all of them come back with battle wounds!

N - Not Half Bad. This is one of my Dad's favorite expressions. Years of therapy have taught me that this is his way of saying he likes something!

O - Outdoors. My Dad loves being outside. When we were younger he would take us hiking, camping and would spend a lot of time outdoors. Now that we are older, he loves to be outside running (he HATES running on a treadmill) or hiking or snowshoeing in the winter.

P - Parent. My Dad is the best dad! The 4 of us kids (me and my 3 siblings) are so very lucky to have him as our dad!

Q - Quick Witted. My Dad has a very quick wit. One always has to be on their toes with him. Whether he is joking and teasing or involved in a debate, we always try to keep up with him. Because of that, now that I am an adult, people regularly ask me how I learned to argue and debate so well!

R - Running. My Dad is a runner. He has always been very athletic and active with running. He has helped to instill an obsession with me in running as well. Some of the best times and conversations I have had with my Dad have been out on a run. That is one of the times where both of us have our guards down and we are able to really listen to and communicate well with each other.

S - Steeple Ashton. My Dad's Berrett family comes from Steeple Ashton, England. He was able to visit there a few years ago. When I went to England myself a couple years ago, he suggested I go and see where my family is from. I really enjoyed being able to see my family history.

T - Traveler. My Dad loves to travel; doesn't matter if it is by car or by plane. The last few years he has had more opportunity to travel outside of the country. Now, he is living in Hong Kong and going to be able to travel through Asia!

U - Undefeated. When it comes to Western movies, my Dad is "Undefeated" in his enjoyment and movie collection. If a movie involves John Wayne, horse back riding, Indians and Cowboys, or good shoot out, or any combination thereof, he's probably seen it!

V - Very Good Looking. My Dad is a good looking man. We had family pictures taken a year ago. When I was showing my friends the pictures, a couple of them suggested that he should be a model for golf shirts and golf clubs because he looked like such a good looking golfer! That was without them even knowing that he golfs!

W - Wise. My Dad is a very wise man. He always seems to know the answer and how to make things better. I don't always like his advice but he usually is right.

X - X-Ray. I don't ever recally my Dad breaking any bones, but there have been a few times where he did get hurt pretty badly, usually when running. One time when we lived in Denver he twisted his ankle pretty bad. That sucker was pretty black and blue for quite a while. The second time was in SLC. He tripped over a fence and had to go get x-rays and stitches from the Dr's.

Y - Yawning. My Dad always works hard during the week and gets up early to run. Regularly he can be seen yawning, and frequently "resting his eyes" during Sacrament meeting. He has even been known to fall asleep conducting FHE when we were younger!

Z - Zebras. My Dad's favorite Dr. Seuss book is "On Beyond Zebra". One year my sister searched high and low to find this book to give it to him.

I LOVE YOU DADDIO!!! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Things to make a girl feel better...

2009-06-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

I have been getting a little discouraged since I have not heard back about a job here yet. So, I decided I needed to go do something that would help me feel better. So, I went for a pedicure. I have been looking for a good place to go here in Salt Lake. One of my requirements is that where ever I go, they are able to paint art on my toes (I know, a little indulgence, but I LOVE IT!!!) So, I tried out a new place today and quite frankly was pleasantly surprised!. I think she did a great job! And I am not going to lie... I love the orange color! And she didn't do too bad on the toe nail art. I usually like a little more design, but overall I am quite happy!!! It's amazing what a good pedicure and foot rub will do to help me feel better!

Hanging with my nieces!

2009-06-18T15:05:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday Todd brought my nieces Brooklyn and Savannah to come visit me. We had so much fun!!!

Brooklyn and I played dress up. She wanted to wear a "princess dress". I of course didn't have one, but I did have a dress that we put on her and she was able to wear. It was WAY too big, so we had to use a twist tie in the back on the shoulders to keep it up. She also wanted Aunt Angie to dress up as well. So, I put a skirt on and we danced around.

My mom has some dress up shoes for the grandkids. Brooklyn of course thought both of us needed to be wearing a pair of the dress up "princess shoes". Isn't my outfit just to die for?

I eventually had to change shoes and I sat down to feed Savannah!

Savannah is such a sweet baby! Isn't she precious!

Brooklyn then came and jumped on my lap and was giving Savannah kisses!

Brooklyn then wanted to watch a "Princess" movie, so we watched "The Little Mermaid". There were parts of it that we a little scarry for her.

And parts she loved!

All in all we had a great time! Then, off to McDonalds to play on their playground. Afterwards, the girls were very tired and they left to go home.

Lunch with the Girls

2009-06-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

Tuesday I went to lunch with my aunt Leslie, Dusty's friend Laina and my aunt Dusty. We ate at the Garden restaurant at the JSMB. It was so good! It was so much fun to see them and to hang out with them!

This is the begining...

2009-06-08T21:21:00.000-07:00

So, I have finally joined the rhelm of blogging! This is going to be my place where I keep my friends and family updated with all of my many adventures!