good times!

On August 14th I went down to meet up with Lisa and Alynn to see Pride & Prejudice - The Musical. Lisa had got tickets so we went for her birthday. It was a lot of fun! I was a little hesitant about it being a musical...but, it was pretty good!

I had left Salt Lake right after work to advoid rush hour traffic and figured I could easily kill some time in Provo. I ended up at the RC Willey outlet where I met and fell in love with a hutch. I was able to talk the salesman down $600 dollars and ended up buying it! It's so cute! They only problem was that it was now in Provo and I had to figure out a way to get it from there to Salt Lake since it wouldn't fit in my car. So I arranged with Dad to come up the following weekend which he agreed to. But, later I decided to see if Ray would let me borrow his truck and save my parents the trip. He agreed to let me borrow it so we did a car swap on Monday & I drove down to Provo and picked it up. Once I got it back to my apartment I enlisted the help of a couple of guys in the complex who helped me unload it. Once we got it into my apartment and tried to stand it up I found out that it was too tall!! So I had to take the legs off, stand it up, and then put the legs on it again one side at a time. But, now it's all together and looks beautiful!!!

Memory Lane

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Gone Campin'

Our family vacation this year was to go camping for a week up on "our mountain" - Boulder. It was a lot of fun! It was great to get away from the city and life in general and enjoy nature.

It was a week of firsts for me this week too. After 20+ years of asking Dad if I could try cutting something with his chainsaw he finally gave in and let me cut some firewood. It was fun but after sawing up one log my arms were tired! Guess I need to get back to my weight lifting class and strengthen my arms up again.

Another first was that Marie and I tried out Brandons motorcycle while he was at work one day. I have never attempted to drive it by myself. It was a challenge with my short legs but after tipping it over once, trying to start it a bazillion times andthen getting it started and killing it right off I finally succeeded. Thanks Marie for the tips and help!

Overall it was a great week. We had some rain towards the end of the week so I was able to enjoy my favorite smell of all - wet mountain, pine, & quakies. LOVE IT!!! and it makes for some fun scenic photos.

The Old Torrey Rock Church House

A little piece of Torrey is changing forever on Main Street. This month they are demolishing the old Rock Chapel and building a new and larger church. It's a little sad because this is the first chapel I can remember going to. I remember back to when it was the cultural hall and the front that now has the church name was the front doors and some steps leading up to it. To the right, you walked around on the sidewalk, up 2 steps, and then to the left was another enterance to the small kitchen area or to the left to the small modular trailer where we met for sacrament meeting. I also remember seeing Santa on the front steps and performing dances and singing songs on the stage inside. I guess it's memories like these that we'll keep and the pictures that we have to remember the Old Rock Church by. It's great that Torrey Ward now needs a larger ward house but it's sad to think of no longer driving down main street and seeing this piece of Torrey history.

4th of July

For the weekend of the 4th I went down home to go camping out on Boulder for the first time this summer. I so love it out there! Mom, Dad, & I worked on Friday and loaded the truck with firewood. Later that day Wes & Corinne showed up so we visited for a while and then loaded their truck with firewood too. Rob with the Forest Service showed up and for the first time ever they checked to see if Dad & Wes had wood permits. Mom had to take a picture and document the occasion! We had dinner together that night, dutch oven potatoes, chicken, & corn on the cob. Yum!

On Saturday morning we got up early and headed back into town to go to Torrey Apple Days. Ruby & Wendell came down to go to the festivities and see how us small town folk celebrate our freedoms. They came down the night before and stayed at the house so we all got ready the next morning and went down to Torrey. We watched the parade, walked through the booths on main street, and then watched Mom at sing at the patriotic program that afternoon. It was a lot of fun and great to see some people that I hadn't seen for a while. Ruby & Wendell both enjoyed and was impressed by Wayne County.

We went back out on the mountain Saturday evening. We got about halfway back and Mom remembered that she hadn't grabbed the trailer keys out of her purse so we had to turn around and go back to the house and then head out again. On Sunday we slept in and then went for a 4-wheeler ride out around Lost Springs, down past Antelope Springs and then back to camp. It was a lot of fun and some beautiful scenery.

The trailer got flat tire on the way out so we, and when I say "we" I mean Dad, had to change the tire before we could load up and go. However, the spare tire was also flat so Dad took it into town with us on Saturday and fixed it so he changed it on Sunday before we left. I offered to help... but this was the look I got...

friends, food, & fun

On Friday I was able to meet up with Amberly, one of my old roommates, at Temple Square and visit with her and have dinner. We tried to convince Suzanne to call off from work and join us be she couldn't. We hadn't seen each other for year and it was fun to catch up. We got too busy chatting and I forgot to take a picture of our little get together. But after she went back to her hotel I remembered my camera in my bag so I took some pictures of the temple at dusk.

On Saturday I went with Ruby & Wendell downtown to the Farmer's Market and did a little shopping there. It was really fun and I bought some really good Asiago bread and fresh peas. It was a lot of fun and I think I might have to go down every Saturday to buy fresh produce and goodies. After we got back from Farmer's Market Ruby and I did a little yard work around the apartment (the things we do for cheaper rent...). It was the first time that Ruby had ever mowed a lawn so I had to document the special occasion for her. She did a pretty good job for a first time!

That night Ruby had invited six of her friends to Holly's house and had Wendell make dinner for us (he's a chef). It was required that if we accepted the invitation we would have to at least taste everything that was made. No excuses - unless it was for allergies. It was so good and a lot of fun. I had to take pictures of the food because it was beautiful! We started off with some Asiago Basil bread and Lemon Chocolate Mint bread served with a roasted red pepper humus. That was followed by a green spring salad with champagne vinigerette dressing. He then served a red curry beef stew that had yogurt and toasted coconut on top.

The next course sample was a cold pear ginger soup and a melon chaser. In between each course we had time to sit around and visit and let the last course digest while Wendell worked to whip up the next entree.

The fourth course was barbecued shrimped with gold, red, and candy striped beets served on the cooked beet greens. Now, you all should know that I am not a shrimp lover - at all. But being brave and sticking to the rules I tried it and it actually wasn't too bad. The flavor was great and Wendell, knowing that 3 of us didn't really like shrimp, cooked them a little longer than normal so that weren't so slimy and raw. The beets, I loved!

The fifth course was a pork tenderloin served with mashed Russian Blue potatoes, golden raspberries, and drizzled with a chipolte sauce.

We finished off the dinner with dessert which was a sample of three different taste bud delights. There was a slice of lemon pound cake with lemon curd, nutella, and red & golden raspberries. The second bite was a ginger and nut crusted graham cracker with a small scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and red cinnamon sprinkles. Last but not least was a grilled peanut butter and orange marmalade sandwich with maple drizzled over it. It was all so good and we all pretty much waddled out of there when it was all done. Wendell did a great job and was always willing to explain to us what he was doing and serving and answer any questions we had. It was a fun night and if anyone is needing a dinner or event catered you should really check into hiring Wendell - it's totally worth it!

I must say that it's nice to have Ruby dating a chef because some nights I benefit from it when they cook dinner. I offered to cook a meal for them, to make up for all of their food that I've eaten, but I have to admit, I'm a little intimidated to have Wendell there watching. Guess we'll see how that goes!

fun @ the Gateway

Lisa & Tanya called me today and invited me to meet them and hang out at the Gateway. We took the little kids to the Olympic fountain and let them play in the water for a bit. It was fun to hang out with them since we don't get to do it very often anymore. Love you girls- it's always fun when we can get together!

father's day weekend

I went home for Father's Day and surprised Dad. Only Brandon & Marie knew that I was coming (they totally begged me and then used the guilt card on me). I left on Friday at about 2 and ended up surprising them out on the mountain where they were having a BBQ. I am so ready to go camping after being out there!! On Saturday we went down to Capitol Reef and played in the water then had a hot dog roast that night in the yard and looked at the stars and moon when they appeared. (Thanks Ryan for the use of your old telescope that was in the basement.) We also pulled out the croquet set and relived old childhood memories. On Sunday we had a family dinner and invited Grandma Jensen out to join us. We had a great weekend hanging out together.