Leap Second...remember to set you clocks...

FYI - Because this was leap year, the planet's official timekeepers will be adding on one additional second tonight. So remember to set your clocks to add an additional second to correspond with the Universal Time.

Here's the story to find out more information: Leap second: More time added to 2008

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

I think this may be my very first Christmas card. What a great way to end my year of trying new things. My sisters have demonstrated that there are some great new ways to create a year in review. I decided to "do something new" and put together a smilebox Christmas card to share (and of course it's with hoops and yoyo). Here are just a few random things I have been able to experience this past year... as I was putting this together I realized I did a lot of things this year. It's too bad I could only put in a few things.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Thank you all for a memorable year. I hope you have a wonderful New Year!

Saying Thank You...

For some reason this holiday season feels a lot different than past Christmas times. I have not figured out why yet (maybe a ton of life changes going on at once...) but I have been trying to find more giving opportunities than receiving. I was just informed of the website: "Let's Say Thanks" (http://www.letssaythanks.com) where xerox allows you to pick out a card, provide a message and then they will send it out to one of our troops overseas. So if you are in need of a fast service project for today, check it out!

(FYI - I checked this out on snopes.com and truthorfiction.com - they say it's legitimate)

It's TIME!!!....to Update!!!!

I realize that one blessing of having a cold is that you find time to update a blog that has been neglected for over 2 months.

So a very condensed cliff note version of my life in the past 2 months....

1. I flew my dad up to Utah and he with my sister's family, and cousin's helped me pack and move to Arizona. It was an interesting drive down as my dad had to drive the moving truck as I drove my car. We took a "detour" through the sand dunes in Southern Utah. I've never been to the sand dunes before. I don't think I would recommend your first time going to the sand dunes be while you are moving. The drive took over 14 hours, but it was a success!

My sister helping me pack up my kitchen

Everyone was helping out in someway... even through babysitting :)

Finally done with phase 1 of the move.... now to phase 2 - Arizona
Taking the sand dunes detour in Southern Utah

2. I started working for a hospice company and Higher Octave Healing (agency for working with children with Developmental Disabilities) as a music therapist. After about a month of working with the hospice company I was laid off due to low census of clientele. This was a good thing though as I was working more than what was good for me during these big life transitions.

3. I was introduced to “Veggie Tales” (I know I’m a late bloomer on this) and experienced a rockin' Veggie Tales party with my nephews every night. Everyone should check out “His Cheeseburger,” “The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything,” and “Belly Button Song.”.... or I may eventually post them on this blog one day....

4. I started out living with my parent's but then moved in with my sister, Jen and her family (in Gilbert) as there was more room in their home. This has worked out well, and after talking it over with them we've decided to make it a bit more permanent. Let me say, it's never a dull moment here :)

5. I purchased a therapy harp that I am able to utilize more in my music therapy career. I am excited about this new path that is opening up for me. This is something that I have wanted to explore more, but haven't really been given much opportunity yet.

6. I purchased my first laptop to use for work (of course it was Macintosh). This has been really helpful and also a lot of fun. One of the programs I have is called "Photo Booth." One Sunday, my niece came to visit me in my room and we sang and recorded some songs. She liked being able to watch herself after it was recorded. This is the first video we made. It's of Popcorn Popping. This was a lot of fun to sing with her as she has been improving so much with her speech. She talks a whole lot more than I remember previously. (it's also nice to be able to try out music therapy songs on her before I use them on my clients...) I tried to explain to her that she needs to look up instead at herself but this hasn't quite been understood yet.

side note: be aware that I have a slight problem with remembering words correctly to songs... but this tends to make songs new and interesting every time... unless of course you are teaching primary kids the songs....

Waking up...

For the past, oh say....25 or maybe more years, I have noticed that my body likes to "wake up" early. I've decided that this can be a good thing... like when I am wanting to exercise or go for a run early in the morning... and it can be a not so good thing... like when you get to bed at 2am, but for some reason still you wake up wide awake at 5:30am. I think I am part rooster. That and I really like the sun.

During my "moving" experience, I have noticed a shift in waking up though. Instead of 5:30am, it has been 4 - 4:30. (perhaps my body is trying to get adjusted to the new time change I will be experiencing in Arizona?) This has become the most frustrating. Luckily for me the past week I have been able to sleep in till about 5:30 though. But I am excited when Tuesday will come. Perhaps, eventhough I will probably still be waking up early. I may be able to take 1 - 2 or even 3 - 4 naps, as I am starting to feel a bit tired...

Utah Memories...

This is my last week in Utah, and I've been reflected the past few days of all that I have learned and been able to experience during this adventure in my life. I'm really going to miss this place. I've decided in this post to reflect on memories of when I lived in Utah before. I was born in Utah and my family we moved to Arizona when I was four. I don't have as many memories about living in Utah back then... just the basement, play room, dog house, indoor pool, the dogs, and for some reason my dad's office. It's interesting on the things we tend to remember.

Here is a picture of the first day of school (for my two older sisters)

Here we are in Vernal, Utah... I wasn't able to relive that memory again these past two years.. bummer

Here is, I think my 2nd Birthday, with cousins at my party! In Arizona we didn't have any close relatives nearby... or any relatives nearby. That has been one nice thing living here.

I think I'm 2 here and enjoying my birthday breakfast.

Easter in Utah, near a fireplace that we were able to actually use!

My best friend in Utah... my brother....

Sorry, there are no pictures of my sis, Lindsay. She wasn't able to join our family until after the move to Arizona.

Furntiure Stains Tip

As I am busily packing, I couldn't help but notice quite a few finger marks on my wood furniture that I have not been able to get rid of. No matter how much polishing or rubbing I did, it never seemed to get rid of any of it. I was kinda down about it, as this was nice furniture, and still fairly new. As I looked up information regarding this issue on the internet I found a site that wrote how to remove water stains on wood furniture you just place a medium iron on it with a soft cloth for a few seconds. Wipe and then repeat until it goes away. I decided to give it a try. I was amazed at how quickly it took the stains right out. Plus it was cheap and no chemicals were used to hurt me or my furniture! I'm going to be doing this on my coffee table tonight, so I'll try to take before and after pictures to show everyone. Here is the link to the website with the information I found.

Cool, Crisp, Autumn air

I am so grateful that I am able to experience a bit of autumn before I move back to Arizona. Fall in Utah is a much different experience than Arizona's Fall. Today was a great day to experience this. I was able to do my favorite thing this time of year. When I drive to and from work, I turn the heater in my car to high and roll down the windows. I know this may sound odd, but for some reason I really like the feeling of the warm heater and the cooler air all at once. In addition, we received a great storm during the day... and wouldn't you know it, this was the day work chose to go to the State Fair. So I was able to be outside for a few hours in the rain :) How else could this day be any better...

The Utah State Fair is a lot of fun, but a bit different than the Arizona State Fair. It's a bit smaller, or a bit, bit smaller than Arizona. But a good enough size to not feel overwhelmed with everything. We were able to see a good portion of the things during the time we were there.

Jicama and Spaghetti Squash

As life has become busier lately for me, I have begun to realize that I have a new "drug of choice" in my life.... jicama and spaghetti squash. It's been interesting for me to see, as I have been buying it more frequently, how many people are not aware of these vegetables. I am just stunned. Even as I type this blog entry I am amazed that my spell check does not even recognize the word "jicama." Generally the cashier says "what is that?" (with an unusual tone in thier voice). I tell them, then as they look it up, realize I need to spell it out for them, as it sounds different than the spelling (hikama). So perhaps I need to help in starting a new "drug craze" of jicama and spaghetti squash. Come on... try it... soon everyone will be eating it.

Wow! Do I need to catch up

So I realize that it has been awhile since I last blogged. I'm sorry to say that I will have to stop the "do something new everyday" entries as a lot of things are going on in my life. I will though continue to look to do new things continually though. I must say though, those who thought I couldn't last a month... I made it for 6 months!!! But here are some things that I have been doing the past 3 weeks (presented in bullet point form and sporadic pictures):

• Took work off just for a "mental day"
• Taught my supervisor how to do something on her computer e-mail without really knowing how to do it myself. (luckily it was successful)
  
• Decided the morning of to travel with my friend, Krystal, to Arizona for the weekend (plus a few more days) ... sorry no pictures of the trip, I forgot to take pictures... again!
• Stayed in Snowflake, Arizona for a few days... that is a beautiful and peaceful place, I've only been there once before and that was about 7 years ago for the Temple open house. That trip was just a quick trip as well.
• Bought a Universal Television Remote (mine has decided to choose when it wants to work and not work... became really annoying)
• Had 8 additional people (the amazing Sharp family) stay in my 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment for a couple days (did I mention 1 bathroom). It was fun and everyone had enough space to sleep. I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of the sleeping arrangement.
• Went on a hike with the Sharps to Stewart Falls (here come the pictures... aren't you excited!)

the group on the Stewart Falls trail

There were some beautiful flowers, trees and bugs that we were able to see on the hike

The views on the hike were amazingSo was the group going on the hikeWe all felt like super heroes when we made it to the top

• Went and saw Kung Fu Panda with 6 kids! (I recommend this movie... it is hilarious!)
• Performed my version of opera for the kids as I drove the Suburban home from the movies
• Celebrated with my family my Grandma's 80th Birthday!!!! She looks amazing for only being 80. I'm glad we have the young gene's in our family :) - here come the pictures
  

I was able to see my newest nephew, Calvin, again after he's been away for 2 months!!! He's REALLY cute and talented :)

I think I may be retitling my blog "why my nephew, Calvin, is one of the cutest and smartest guys around" Here he is with his tigger. This kid is only 3 months old!!! yet another reason....Here he is again with is mom, my cool dad, and beautiful Grandma

• Went to my sister's ward to see my really cute nephew, Calvin, be blessed. He didn't cry at all, and in fact he laughed and smiled at his dad. After we had a family luncheon.

4 generations in the picture.. with 3 sets of great - grandparent's!The family after Church

• Made some sporadic yet INCREDIBLE nachos for a luncheon... by the way my brother-in -law, Trevor, makes some killer guacamole!
• Ran 10 MILES!!! - unfortunately it was only on the treadmill.... but I did it!
  
• Managed to go to work after spending the holiday break with family (aka: receiving very little sleep, in addition to the adventurous embarked upon during the past several weeks of little sleep).
• Bought an external hard drive
• Gave my 2 week notice at work
• Made a decision to move to Arizona in 2 weeks
• Accepted two job offers.. yes 2!
  
• Am slowly starting to pack my apartment and am wondering why I have so much stuff!
• Rented a moving truck... and was able to develop my bartering skills
• Am realizing that I am embarking on a new phase in my life as I am closing this chapter in my life and will begin a new one.
  

Japanese way of folding T-shirts!

Have any of you seen this? I thought this was cool and can't wait to try it....

Day 144 - Sunday, August 17, 2008

Good Eats

I have been realizing lately how therapeutic running has been for me in many different ways. One thing it has done has helped me become more in touch with my body. It has also helped me learn to appreciate it and love it for what it can and is capable of doing. I think that's one reason why I love Saturday's long runs. This is the time I am able to see what I can really do and what my possibilities could be. I have also learned to talk more kindly to myself. I am constantly needing to be aware of my thoughts as I run and encourage myself and talk nicely. It's amazing how you may feel that you are exhausted and need a small walk break. But if you tell yourself, "just run to the light" then when you get to the light you realize that you are not as tired as you once thought. Before I didn't like my body as much, and thought of it more as a means to get from point A to point B. I see now that I would not talk as nicely as I should have to it. I would criticize parts that I thought were not working as well, or that didn't look the way I wanted them to. I also realized that I didn't listen to it as much, and just thought of it more of a nuisance as it would get sick a lot, and prevent me from doing things I wanted to do. But as I have been running, as I have become more aware of different feelings I may have always been experiencing, but didn't realize in the past. I have been learning this summer how our body is always trying to communicate with us. Whether or not we choose to listen is another story.

Saturday after lunch I noticed that I began to get a bad headache and experience other symptoms. I began to realize that these were the same feelings I experienced when I took my Crohn's medicine that I had taken myself off of. I began to think about this as what I ate, I generally eat everyday. I was confused and wondered if I had always felt this way after I ate and just ignored it or didn't realize what was going on. In a sense I began to realize that not everyone feels this way after they eat, and this may be one reason why I tend to struggle in the afternoons after lunch. I'm not feeling well, and don't realize it (how sad is that). I began to do some research online and discovered this is a sign of a food intolerance. I didn't realize this. To me I only looked at how my stomach reacted and whether or not I could keep the food inside of me. Perhaps my body has been trying to tell me that it doesn't like a certain thing, but I haven't been able to notice this or make the connection before. I was frustrated as I didn't know what it was that I ate that made me react this way. I also realized that I really don't know what I could or could not eat. I always went by what others told me, or from books. These have helped in the past and have helped me get to where I am today, but I wanted to know for myself. So today I started an "elimination diet." This is where you eat in a sense 'minimum food,' like vegetables, and some fruit and meats for a few weeks to cleanse your body of all the other foods and then introduce one new food every few days to see how I react with it. You are also supposed to be aware of cravings you have, as you tend to crave or eat a lot of the foods you shouldn't. (that could be a whole other discussion on why this is). I'm excited about this, as I will really be able to see how I respond to the foods and what helps or hurts me. Of course to initiate this idea I decided to get some ice cream on Saturday. Yeah, I learned that ice cream is definitely one that I can't eat as it makes me break out in mouth sores (who knew mouth sores were a sign of food intolerances).

Day 143 - Saturday, August 16, 2008

Feeling somewhat of an improvement

Running this week has been something I have not wanted to talk about. It has been a big struggle and I didn't know what to do. I know a lot of it had to do with my low iron though. But Saturday I just began to feel really good during my long run and was excited to beat my best time so far. I was able to run the first 4 miles in 40 minutes. This was good for me to experience, as I thought that perhaps I am improving somewhat, and won't always be insanely slow. Now going back the 4 miles to home was a different story, but I was also experiencing a strong headwind at the time, and I realize that I am not use to running with a head wind.

Day 142 - Friday, August 15, 2008

Raspberry Juice Company

I went with my friend to IKEA for the afternoon, and then on our way back she was kind enough to go with me to Costco (so I wouldn't have to go on a Saturday). We went to the one in American Fork. As we got out of the car, she noticed a new store nearby called "Raspberry Juice." She wanted to know if I would be interested in trying it out after Costco. I was excited to be around someone who liked to try new things. She told me that she is trying to teach herself that healthy food does not need to taste gross, but can actually taste good. I didn't know how to respond to that comment. But this is a nice place. It's similar to Jamba Juice, but I think it tastes better. This must be a really new place, as I couldn't find it online yet... sorry.

Day 141 - Thursday, August 14, 2008

The Move

After work, I went and helped my friend and her roommate move from their college dorm into an apartment. This was a lot of fun, and took a fairly good portion of the night. I am grateful that I have a car that was able to fit a lot of boxes and things in it, so we only needed to make a couple of trips.

Day 140 - Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Ah - ha moment... i think...

The past couple of weeks I have been struggling with energy. Tuesday and Wednesday were my worst. It was really bad, and something I hadn't experience this bad for awhile. Wednesday I finally realized that I may slightly be iron deficit. During my lunch break I went and got some iron pills. I had been iron deficit before, and was on iron pills, but stopped because I think I felt it was better. But hopefully being aware of this and working to build up my iron levels will help me get my energy and ability to do things back up. So needless to say, I really didn't do anything new today as I was EXHAUSTED!!! I was just grateful that I was able to make it to work.

Day 139 - Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Physical Therapy

At the hospital they offer physical therapy as a service to those patients in need of it. I was asked by the physical therapist awhile ago (perhaps a year ago) if I could do an inservice with his volunteers and workers. We weren't able to get a date to do this until this week. I will be doing this twice during the week as they have different volunteers each day. This was a fun presentation to prepare for, as music therapy and the impact it has on the physical body was one of my passions in college. I felt like I did the majority of my papers on this subject. The inservice was a lot of fun, and of course didn't have enough time to talk about all the exciting things music can do to help or hinder ourselves. But the physical therapist and I are talking about helping each other with various groups and populations. This will take my area of expertise to another level.

Day 138 - Monday, August 11, 2008

Interventions...

I use interventions at work to help meet the goals I have with the group. I've been getting in a rut in a sense with a few of them, where I use the same ones all the time, just rotate them frequently. This is fine as the patients enjoy them and grow through them, but it's good to do new things and explore new areas of life. I had heard about this one intervention from a fellow music therapist. I even got all the materials together about a month ago. But it was today I chose to implement it. It turned out to be a good session, and the discussions went deeper than past sessions.

Day 137 - Sunday, August 10, 2008

Frozen cookies + Butter knife = 3 stitches

yep, I had a fairly eventful evening. let's just say separating frozen cookies with a butter knife may not be the wisest thing I could have done. and, yes I did try the super glue, but felt that I should get the Urgent Care as I didn't want to mess my finger up (especially as a musician). I ended up needing 3 stitches and the fun adventure of trying to go 10 days without getting it wet (of course that didn't happen). but i had fun at Urgent Care as the doctor's were fun and willing to joke around me to make it not be as bad of an experience as it could have been. It was funny for me to see how they try to set up the "stitching table" without getting anything contaminated. it was also a very weird feeling when they numbed my finger. i wanted to see what i could do with it when it was numbed. unfortunately i was too tired to think of anything.

Day 136 - Saturday, August 9, 2008

8 MILES!!!

I did it... I finally ran my 8 miles this morning.... yea!

Day 135 - Friday, August, 8, 2008

Spaghetti Mama's

With the research I have been doing online, I am fairly sure I have a gluten intolerance. I called up my grandma in the morning to see if her and my great aunt would like to go out to lunch as I had to go up to SLC for work. They had suggested the place "Spaghetti Mama's." I looked it up online and they mentioned that they have a "gluten free" menu. This restaurant is a lot of fun to go to. It looks like something you may see at Disneyland (to some degree). I asked about the gluten free menu, and they can serve gluten free pasta with any of their dishes. It turns out that they make rice pasta as their substitute. So for all those who can't tolerate gluten, ask at the restaurant if they cater towards this diet. I had no idea this was even a possibility.

Day 134 - Thursday, August 7, 2008

Tres - dos - uno - ALTO!

I started a new group at work today. To my surprise (aka... they didn't tell me beforehand), I had a patient who only spoke Spanish. My co- facilitator spoke Spanish and translated what was being said. For the majority of the session though we just drummed together. That was nice as they were able to really feel a part of the group. But I had wanted to have them feel like they were a part as well, so I asked my co- worker how to say "3-2-1 stop!" in Spanish. This was taught to me, and I ended all the group drumming's in Spanish. I realize that it is hard to break a tradition like this one. I had to concentrate the entire time I was saying it, and had to stop playing my own instrument in order to do this. Hopefully this will get easier as the group continues.

Day 133 - Wednesday, August 6, 2008

FINALS!!!

Can I just say how I don't really miss having finals right now in my life. I was talking to a friend who was experiencing college finals at this time. Just the thought of those made me feel tired. I put together a "finals survival" guide for her. It was full of healthy foods (of course) as well as cookies (chocolate is essential at this time), ginseng tea, and chips and salsa (unfortunately for her the chips were baked and unsalted). It was fun to put together and relieve college memories as I tried to think of things that I may have been craving at this time.

Day 132 - Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Paramore and Panic! at the Disco

One thing I do with my job is choose what kind of music would be appropriate for the clients and work with. I hear recommendations from them and then when I am able to get the CD, I listen to one of the songs, and then generally after that, listen to the music I like and just look up the lyrics online to see the content of the songs. Today I decided to actually listen to two of the CDs and try to experience new music before a session. Panic! at the Disco and Paramore had been recommended but some clients that I wasn't too sure if they would be listening to "appropriate" music for their treatment. But I decided to give it a try and not judge. The music was better than I thought, and I enjoyed listening to it.

Day 131 - Monday, August 4, 2008

Odyssey House

My department at work (which consisted of me and two other people), went to Odyssey House in SLC to see how their facilities are run. While my supervisor set up this arrangement, she offered my services as a Music Therapist. I went and did a session with a group of their clients. It was a lot of fun and interesting for me, as I had no idea who I would really be working with, or even how many. We ended up having about 20 people in the room, and it turned out to be a good event for the majority. My supervisor wants to make this become a "tradition" where we visit other facilities during our preparation week, and I do a music therapy session with them.

Day 130 - Sunday, August 3, 2008 - Millet

Millet - the new grain

Actually Millet has been around for a very long. Supposedly it's mentioned in the bible... I just don't know where. I have just recently discovered it. I was told about it last week, and found it at the Chinese store in Arizona. It is a gluten free grain. I am finding more and more as I have been trying to incorporate more grains in my diet, that I am more gluten intolerant than I want to admit. I did some cooking research on it yesterday (as all the writing was in Chinese) and was able to cook it for dinner tonight.
This actually is a great substitute for rice and other grains. You can make it as a rice consistency or mash potatoes. It also looks like this is a great source for protein, which I am always looking to get more of.
To cook it it's a 3:1 ratio. If you want a rice consistency you put 1/2 cup of millet with 1 1/2 cups of liquid, then just let it cook. For a mash potato consistency, you add a bit more liquid and stir it a few times while cooking it. I wasn't sure how much it was for 1 serving. I knew rice was 1/2 cup dried, so I decided to do the same. WOW! that made enough for 2 dinners.
It took about 15-20 minutes to cook this.
I decided to add: steamed vegetables, cooked onions, garlic and mushrooms, than add some seasonings and slivered almonds. It was really good and filling. Now I just need to find out where I can buy it near me...

Day 129 - August 2, 2008 - The Tape

Tape to CD

While I was at my parent's home last weekend, I found old cassette tapes that I use to enjoy listening to. I took a few of them home with me, and today attempted to convert them from cassette to CD. I think I need to learn more about this process, as for some reason I couldn't get it to be at the right speed. The Aladdin soundtrack sounded funny playing at a much faster speed than I remember.

Day 128 - Friday, August 1, 2008 - Chocolate Mint Water

(sorry I haven't posted for awhile... but now I am all caught up! Enjoy reading about my past 3 weeks....)

Chocolate Mint Water

I was at the store this afternoon and saw this on sale:
I have never seen this product before. This is one of my biggest weaknesses as well. Anything with chocolate and mint. So of course I had to try it. It's not that bad, and really not that over powering of a taste. I honestly think this is something I will enjoy again in the future.

Day 127 - Thursday, July 31, 2008 - 2 YEARS!

2 years!

Today I celebrated my 2 year mark working for Utah State Hospital. I am so grateful for this job and all that I have been able to learn from it. I have grown so much since I started to work here. To see a little bit about the place where I work (and to see a short clip of me leading a drum circle) check out this website.

Day 126 - Wednesday, July 30, 2008 - Computer pseudo tech once again...

Prayer... the BEST Computer Tech Support...

At work, we tend to do songwriting during group. During that time, I record the song's performance on my digital recorder, than enhance it with my computer program. That way they get a CD of their work. The previous week (before the fun and busy vacation), one of my groups wrote and recorded 2 songs. Something happened with the midi files that I has never happen before. For some reason I could play the files on media player, but could not burn them to a CD or even play them on itunes. I had spent several hours the previous day trying to figure out what was going on and how I could fix it. I became frustrated, and decided to work on it at home the next day.

Wednesday before I commenced on this work, I said a prayer and explained my situation and why I needed to get these files repaired and that I NEEDED HELP!!! It was really cool, within 2 hours I had figured out that the files were 4 bit (I still couldn't tell you what this means), but realized that I needed to get them to be much higher than this. I found a free program online that would convert these files. Then without knowing what I was doing, played around with the program and was able to somehow convert the wav files to mp3. I was then able to fix the songs so they sounded great!

I am so grateful for the blessing and opportunity we have to pray. I no there is no way I would have been able to figure this problem out on my own (hence the frustration from Tuesday) and as quickly as I did.

As they say... "God Answers Knee - mail"

Day 125 - Tuesday, July 29, 2008 - Mandala

Mandala's

Today I actually went to work, but then came home and went to bed early. I decided to draw a mandala on my own at the end of the day. It was interesting to this on my own, as I generally have had someone with me setting the whole thing up. I enjoyed it though, and realized it was a great way to journal in a sense.

Day 124 - Monday, July 28, 2008 - Walk the Line

I Walk the Line

Let's just say I was a bit tired today. I struggled to get out of bed in the morning. Finally got to work and after 15 minute, realized I could not keep my eyes open and took the rest of the day off. I was very fortunate though as the next two weeks are more just preparation weeks for me, so I wasn't needed at work. That night I went to the gym and was able to receive my FIRST leg problem. I did some weight training with my calves, and after decided to run on the treadmill. I haven't been on the treadmill for a couple of months. I realize that I don't like the treadmill like I use to. But after... let's just say, I really couldn't walk. That was my day. But monumental to say that I was able to experience my first leg problem.

Day 123 - Sunday, July 27, 2008 - HOT SUNDAY

Hot Sunday....

For our last day in Arizona, my cousin Holly asked to go see the LDS Mesa Temple. The only time we could go was at 1pm that afternoon. I think out of all the days we were in Arizona, this was the hottest! It also didn't help to go at one of the hottest times of the day. But it was still enjoyable.
During the trip, Holly really enjoyed seeing the desert landscape... specifically the palm trees and cactus's.

Here is Holly showing her happiness of seeing a palm tree.

Here we are by the "Cactus Garden" at the Temple. Unfortunately that pathway was closed off, so we could only see them from the other side of the bars.

Later that afternoon, we left for our journey back to Utah on "a Jet Plane."

This is how I am after EVERY visit to Arizona...

Holly was able to catch up on a lot of reading during the trip. She read the first 2 books by Stephanie Meyer, Twilight and New Moon. The 4th comes out on August 2nd! The movie comes out in December..
She also seemed to be able to live on "cracker jacks" during the trip. I guess this is good to know. A good food to have in food storage.
I felt like I snacked on mostly EmergenceC (electrolytes due to the heat) and my parent's pecans.
We were able to end our trip seeing a gorgeous sunset, and be welcomed back to Utah with a rainstorm, and strong wind driving all the way home.

Day 122 - Saturday, July 26, 2008 - Family Dinner

Sat-ur-day is a special day, it's the day we....

... do as many things possible!!! I woke up early and despite being on vacation still went for a run (also despite only getting 3 1/2 hours sleep). After, I drove my friend Aaron to an appointment (car broke down earlier that week), than I helped my dad finish organizing and cleaning the garage. After I quickly got ready, and Holly and I went to pick up Aaron and see if we could help get his car started. Unfortunately it was not the battery, so we decided to play the remainder of the afternoon. There is a Chinese market near Aaron's home that has the BEST tea and I haven't been able to find it anywhere else. This was the first time Holly had been to this market.

This is basically what she thought of the place.... I forgot how she has really sensitive smell.

We found some really interesting things there, that I hadn't seen last time. One was "green rice." I was so tempted to get it to see what it was like.

But then I saw Holly's expression of it, and decided not to torture her anymore with it. Perhaps next time, we visit... this would be fun to get and have a "green" party of some sort, or even green eggs and ham + rice party.
I was able to buy the "squash candy" they have there. It's so good, and healthy as well. Too bad you couldn't see Holly's expression of this candy.

I had to go get a few more things that I could only get in Arizona, and one of the stops we made was to Ulta (of course) to return a exchange a product I had just purchased previously.

That evening we met up with my other family members for a fiesta/ birthday party. We were able to swim, talk and reconnect that evening.
I hadn't gone swimming in a LLLOOONNGGG time. We played several fun games with my nephews and nieces. One was Marco Polo... I need to practice that one so more I realize.

Later I watched for the very first time "Rocket Man." I had never heard of this movie before, but it is hilarious! I laughed through the whole thing practically. Beware it is korny. But I like that kind of movie.

Day 121 - Friday, July 25, 2008 - A Day at the Salon...

Christmas in July...

Or this is what we were hoping as we walked outside in Arizona. Holly and I decided that this vacation was the "Ulta" trip. She went to Ulta almost everyday. It was also a roller brush trip for her... but that's another story.

My mom told us about a new Ulta opening up near her, and since we are deprived by not having any Ulta's near us, we went. What was supposed to be a 1/2 hour shopping trip turned into about a 4 hour excursion. It was a lot of fun. We discovered that they were doing FREEE eyebrow waxing!!! So my mom, Holly and I all got one. This was the first time I have had this done. It's not as bad as I thought it would be. Then we discovered that they had a really good deal on their salon haircuts. Holly and I decided to take advantage of this deal. I decided to just get a whole new look. I was ready for change in my life. Plus I had been having dreams of getting my hair cut that week.

Before the haircut picture (if you look you can still see the red marks from the eyebrow waxing... but really it didn't hurt that bad)
Holly and mine "After Pictures." We celebrated at Chipotle of course

After we went on several errands where I was able to see my mom's new classroom, and we were able to fulfill one of Holly's dreams of getting a "In - n - Out" shirt.

Holly with her NEW COOL SHIRT and other goodies

That evening Holly and I took her rental car back. On the trip to the rental place we stopped at another Ulta to return the roller brush that Holly bought the day before (they were giving away free brushes as well during the grand opening). While we were there we checked out the sunglasses (of course). We found some great ones, and were really tempted to get them, (they were on SALE!!!) but chose not to. Instead we took pictures of the sunglasses we would like to get one day.

I can't decide which one I like better. Any votes?

Day 120 - Thursday, July 24, 2008 - Pioneer Day

Pioneer Day!!!

Many people may not know this, but on July 24th, the Pioneers entered the Salt Lake Vally and began to establish Utah. What's even more exciting about this day, is that I have it as a paid holiday, and am able to travel to Arizona, but not have to spend holiday prices. My cousin, Holly and I visited Arizona over this holiday weekend. It was her first time really visiting Arizona.

Holly and I - so excited as we are about to leave for the airport to embark on our exciting vacation!

Holly rented a car for the very first time so that she could travel for work related purposed on Thursday. When we came into Arizona (late Wednesday night) we continued what appears to have become my tradition to go to Walmart at midnight. Then was able to talk to my mom for several hours after.

Holly and her 1st rented car. We laughed when we saw it as it was the exact same kind of car that she drives at home. Only this was a newer model... thank goodness:)

With only a few hours of sleep, I helped my dad work on another tradition of cleaning out the garage on a holiday :) But this was actually the main purpose of coming this weekend. It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun. I enjoyed spending the time with my dad, and going through old memories with him. I found a plaque that my mom had in college. It said "Romans 16:16" than on the back of the plaque it had written on it "for more info see Linda in apt 306" (or something like that). I think my mom is holding back on some stories about her youth from me. During this day, I learned how to put together shelves and was able to assist in coming up with an organization system for the garage. I also was able to use a power washer for the first time (those are really cool!). And also see what happens when the hose to the power washer unexpectedly comes off right next to your dad. I'm still laughing about how funny it was trying to catch the hose as it was shooting water all over us. It felt good though with that heat we were enduring.

My dad and I at the end of the weekend, with the majority of the clean garage. The shelves in the background that are standing up strong and sturdy, are the ones I helped my dad put together :0) They look so great!!!