Up at 1:30am

So, I'm up at 1:30am, dead tired and avoiding sleep.  Blah.  Please take this post with a grain of salt.  Please.

I do not like planning things.  I like having the ideas and then depending on a trusty support staff to carry out my ideas exactly how I imagine them.  Planning can be incredibly stressful!  Granted, this summer I literally have nothing to do but when I'm actually busy, planning is no fun!  Also, sometimes I feel as though if I don't plan things, no one gets together and I like it when my friends and I can get together.

Recently I was able to spend the day not being responsible for any of the plans and it was odd.  I had no idea what would be coming up next and it made me feel a little anxious.  (I was also incredibly tired that day, therefore I was much more reserved than normal). 

When asked about my change in attitude and I had to admit it was odd for me to give up control, this person also kindly reminded me that I dislike planning.  Yeah, I got called out.  Huh?  Who am I?

Seriously.  If I dislike planning but felt a bit uncomfortable not having any control....who am I?  I suppose I should feel grateful that it was pointed out, but yuck, I thought I knew myself better than that.

Ok.  I'm done, you may stop reading.  No comments necessary.  Love you.

Isn't It Romantic?

Every full moon, the resort at Sundance offers moonlit ski lift rides for $10. Since meeting Eliza she has talked about wanting to go, so last night we gathered a group and made her dream a reality. It was awesome! We got there around 9pm and played around on the grass for about an hour before beginning the trek up the mountain. The weather was perfect, the company delightful and the moon did not disappoint. Eliza and I are already making plans to go back.

Isn't it beautiful?

Again, beautiful!

The boys

The girls

On the lift!

"No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance."

- Confucius

Love, love, love this.  Taken from a real church!  

I wish Mormon churches had marquees  :(

Kat: Pros and Cons

This lovely lady is celebrating a birthday today and I thought it only appropriate for me to once and for all let her know what I love and loathe about her...

PROS

• We are always laughing when we're together
• She is one of my favorite people to interpret with
• She loves hard and deep
• We have taken road trips and never run out of things to say
• She can quote "The Office" and "Arrested Development" better than anyone I know
• My personal style has improved since meeting her

CONS

• She looks good in every single hair color and style, while some of us can only go dark
• She's younger than me and is a spiritual giant compared to me
• She can read me like a book - nothing slips past this girl, I can never fake anything with her
• She is a far superior interpreter
• She writes the most amazing notes with the most perfect advice and encouragement and leaves me feeling inept when I try to reciprocate
• She and her husband have an insanely loving relationship and has made me realize that I should settle for nothing less....great - where is that guy?!?

I love you so much Kat!  You are the greatest friend I could ask for.  My life has become enriched since I met you and continues to do so each time I see you.  There is no way for me to describe how much I appreciate all you do for me, except to say...

THANK YOU!  I LOVE YOU!

Best Weekend Ever! (super crazy long post - if you don't read it I won't be offended)

This weekend started at 6pm on Friday with a birthday dinner at my house for my friend Sam. We then moved on to a Real Salt Lake soccer game...it was awesome! Obviously I run with a crazy group of friends who love pictures so I took about 200 that night alone! Then back to my house for eating cake and staying up WAY too late. 

The next morning, I took Lindsey, Sam and Jason up to Hyrum to hang with the fam for Independence Day. We went to the parade, ate, went shooting and just played around with my family.

When driving home this morning someone suggested we take Sam's Jeep up a canyon and have a picnic. It was a ton of fun!

Shanna, Gregg and Paige stopped by the birthday dinner for a bit and it was marvelous to see them!

Jason, Rachel and Sam.  Can there be too much love?  It's possible.

Eliza!!!

I got the tickets and it was decided that I needed to do a gangster shot.  Good decision.

Rachel, Eliza and Jason.  Sigh.  These are some good people.

Brandon and Sam...this was totally candid  ;)

GOOOOOOOOAL!!!

Sam, Luis and Jason.  Jason didn't get the memo about getting a special edition Real Salt Lake scarf...

They were shaking their heads back and forth and we ended up with this picture.  Yum.

That was outside the car...I need to wash my windshield!

Fun times in the backseat of my car

Lindsey!

Cake smashing time

We like taking pictures...she's just pretending to hate it!

Lindsey and Jason with my nephew Porter.  So cute!

Hyrum city parade.  Woo hoo!

Aunt Meghan was helping Haven fend off the bigger kids so that she could get some candy

They let just about anyone ride in the parade.  Meghan and I will be involved somehow next year.

Jenny was there!  I haven't seen her in about 3 years!

Aunt Maria and Porter

Maria as Annie Oakley

Beautiful Rosie

Lovely Haven

Cute Naomi

On our way up the canyon!

Switch!  Me and my fat arm were able to drive the Jeep for a while

The clouds were amazing today

Photogenic ladies

Jason, me, Lindsey and Sam

Nope, not a postcard!

Why Men Don't Write Advice Columns

**sorry to be so behind on blogging....I'm just having way too much fun lately  ;)  **

Dear John;

I hope you can help me here. The other day I set off for work
leaving my husband in the house watching the TV as usual. I hadn't
gone more than a mile down the road when my engine conked out and
the car shuddered to a halt. I walked back home to get my
husband's help.
When I got home I couldn't believe my eyes. He was in our
bedroom with the neighbor lady. I am 34, my husband is 36 ,
and we have been married for twelve years.

When I confronted him, he broke down and admitted that they had
been having an affair for the past six months. I told him to stop
or I would leave him. He was let go from his job six months ago,
and he says he has been feeling increasingly depressed and
worthless. I love him very much, but ever since I gave him the
ultimatum he has become increasingly distant. He won't go to
counseling and I'm afraid I can't get through to him anymore. Can
you please help?

Sincerely,

Sheila

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Dear Sheila;

A car stalling after being driven a short distance can be caused
by a variety of faults with the engine. Start by checking that
there is no debris in the fuel line. If it is clear, check the
vacuum pipes and hoses on the intake manifold and also check all
grounding wires.
If none of these approaches solves the problem,
it could be that the fuel pump itself is faulty, causing low
delivery pressure to the carburetor float chamber.

I hope this helps.

John

A person was hit by a car outside my house today.  I got there several seconds after it happened when people were pulling over and getting on the cells phones to call the police.  It was odd and terrifying.  It got me thinking....

If I die soon, who will interpret my funeral?

Kat?  No way.  She's amazing but definitely couldn't make it through

Shanna?  Nope.  She'll be sitting behind my mom sobbing

Eliza?  Ditto.  Couldn't do it.

Gregg?  Possible.  If Shanna could find comfort in someone else long enough to let him go, I think he would be alright.

Dale?  Probable.  We're good friends but he's professional and has done it before.

I guess I would have to depend on the boys to pull through for me!

Half Full? Half Empty?

Did you know that at noon today we will hit the exact half-way mark of the year?  It will be 182.5 days completed with 182.5 to go.

I feel like I had such high hopes for this year and it has definitely not disappointed.  I have already done and seen a lot and I'm hoping to cram a whole lot more into the second half of 2009.  

What have you done and what do you want to do?  I still have lots of traveling, a move, lots of play time with friends and family, interpreting and who knows what else to accomplish.

Awesome.  Life is good.

Super Gross

I seriously hate belly buttons. Well, actually looking at them isn't so bad (unless they're fuzzy), I just can't handle anyone touching mine. It triggers my gag reflex whenever someone touches mine. I think the issue stems from the knowledge of the umbilical cord, blah blah blah. It's just plain disgusting!  I don't let anyone touch mine, unless they hold me down and force it.  Yuck.

There you have it, a little more insight into my weirdo life.

"Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance."

- C.S. Lewis

R.I.P. Michael

My friend, Nicki, reminded me off an awesome Michael Jackson memory that she and I share. When I was younger Nicki and I were inseparable and my sisters and I would spend the night at her house all the time. We would always watch Dirty Dancing and some weird Michael Jackson movie about him saving the world or something. Every summer we would go camping at the beach with her extended family for a week.

One year, there were some really annoying girls in the campsite next to ours. So, we did what any normal pre-teen girls would do. We lied to them and made them feel bad. We told them that we were all siblings, our parents were dead and our grandparents had full custody. Oh, and we were rich and lived next to Michael Jackson. We even sent Nicki away to "cry" for our dead parents.  We had lots and lots of other lies we told them and it was a LOT of fun.

The girls totally believed it and tried to one up us by pretending like some stuffed animal were a real litter of puppies. Luckily, we didn't fall for it....we were way too good at our own game.

Fun times with the Peters family! I miss those guys...maybe I'll try to go camping with them this year. Hmmm....

I was texting with my friend Jason today and I told him about how I wanted to jump off a cliff.  He said, 

"No way, we can't lose you.  You can only jump if you promise you will fly".  

That is possibly the nicest thing that anyone has ever said to me.  

Worst Movies Ever

A few years ago I foolishly watched Grease 2 and immediately fell in love. It is soooooo bad! I love finding really, really bad movies because they are just so much fun to laugh at. My sister, Meghan, and I have loosely compiled a list of some of the all time worst and if you wouldn't mind leaving your most hated in my comments section, it would be appreciated!

Here's the list:

Grease 2
Glitter
Swept Away
Gigli
Feeling Minnesota
Cutting Edge 3 (yes, apparently there is also a 2)
Sweet November
...there has to be more that I am forgetting

What Do you Do When.....

....you have a super fun date that lasts for many, many hours and on the date you find out that he has been reading your blog? 

You blog about it, of course!

We...

...had dinner at a cute restaurant

...took super cute pictures

...pretended to not want our picture taken (check out my sunburned nose)

...and over indulged on Phish Food ice cream, my favorite! PS - I have also successfully converted him to love it as well :)

"He that would live in peace and at ease must not speak all he knows or all he sees."

- Benjamin Franklin

I'm done!

I'm done.

I'm done?

photo found here

Live Action Alice

I have been hearing about the live action "Alice in Wonderland" for quite a while now. Just this week, Tim Burton released pictures of several characters. This is Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. Creepy, huh? Another Burton/Depp collaboration is always a good thing. Are you excited?

I'm in Love With This

This is a real flier! I applaud all you vegans and carnivores out there, if anyone needs support, let me know!

"When you live for others' opinions, you are dead. I don't want to live thinking about how I'll be remembered."

- Carlos Slim Helu