Memorial Day Weekend

JD and I escaped last weekend up to Bear Lake when we were done with work on Saturday. Upon arriving, there was no snow and everything was green. Waking up on Saturday morning brought the surprise of about a foot of snow. I will admit that at first I was panicked not really knowing how our little Civic was going to get us home. Weather proved me wrong when the sun came out and the temperature rose resulting in what sounded like rain all day long as the snow drip drip dripped all over the place, off the cabin, off the trees, off the cars, off of everything. By the time we were leaving for church that foot of snow was practically gone. The next day we experienced something similar but only started with 4 inches, it was kind of cool to look down towards the lake and see snow turn to grass turn to blue water.

The weekend was filled with JD studying and sleeping and my opportunity to talk and hang out with my grandparents and the Reese's who I haven't played with for a long time. We are now semi-experts of the card game Rage, Haylie can kick butt at Phase 10. I finished a book and read an entire new one. It is kind of nice being trapped while snow is melting because it forces you to relax and enjoy not having to do anything. It was a much needed break from the 'fun' summer semester JD has been having with Organic Chemistry (part 1 complete in 2 weeks!). On our way home we stopped by to see how the Brigham City Temple was coming along. I was shocked to see just how much progress has been made. I loved being able to see through the temple. It will be fun to contrast with a finished building.

Do you hear the people sing?

I love music. There is just something about it that I have always been drawn to. This week has been full of musical experiences. The U2 360 concert with The Frey was amazing, so much so it is kind of hard to find words to describe it. JD and I had the great opportunity to go to Les Miserables as well; a timeless piece of work that I remember listening to before I was 5. The new Pirates of the Caribbean music was released; I am in love with Hans Zimmer. And then tonight I have been winding in and out of some of my favorite artists: Switchfoot, The Shins, Weepies, This Holiday Life, and so on; I love how a song can automatically bring back a memory or just make you feel good because you are listening to it.

U2 360

Emi, Chris, Erin and I all had a blast at the U2 360 Concert last night. The Fray was a great opener, but nothing compared with what U2 had in store for the 50,o00+ people in attendance. Great music, great band, fun venue, and overall just a good, fun, clean concert (clean in multiple senses of the word). Bono thanked Utah a few times for the patience of waiting for them to come back a year after his broken back surgery which was pretty cool. He also sang a few Bob Dylan songs to honor his 70th birthday. Some of my favs included: Walk On, City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, and All I Want is You; really the whole concert was amazing. I have seen U2 perform before, but this tour took the term concert to a whole new level.

Ogden 5K

I had a blast this morning participating in the Ogden 5K with my mom. We enjoyed the river walkway, the trees, the river, getting in front of pig tail girl (a girl who was 'run/walking' that we kept passing by just walking because she would run by us and then start walking slowly right in front of us and it was driving me crazy), and taking pictures all along the way. It was also a good revelation to my mom that I do not have a 'flat' lung anymore. What a great, fun, and beautiful way to start the day!

The Floods

I love going to the parkway in Riverdale to walk the path along the river. This time of year it is green and beautiful. In contrast to past experiences, however, there is also a noticable amount of water in the way of my beloved path. I love the water. It is so fun to watch and listen to (and as posted last week, throw rocks in). The problem with all of this water is that it has a tendancy to go everywhere, even where it isn't supposed to like houses. The black and white photo was taken of the Ogden River outside of the canyon and as you can see this water likes to bring a lot of stuff with it that blocks water and makes it go other places as well. I love the rivers but I hope that they calm down soon.

Grandpa Wayne

My grandpa taking me for a ride when I was 2 1/2 at our cabin in Heber.

It was my Grandpa's birthday yesterday and I wanted to post at least a little something about him. He is one of the most amazing people I know, he is a pseudosurgeon, dog keeper, vending machine repair man, light installer, pilot, electrician, star gazer, hiker, runner, travelor, salesman, fisherman, and the list of skills and talents and interests goes on and on and on. He is one of those people where if you have a problem with anything, you just call and he will be there as soon as possible to help fix it, whether it is an appliance failure, car problems, teaching stars and constellations to scouts or young women, you name it. I lived with my grandparents for a summer during high school as I did a summer class at the U. My grandpa would always tell me to get my homework done and we would go adventuring, hiking in the canyon, swimming at the Cottonwood complex, or some other activity, always stopping for something to eat on the way home. He took Emi and I on a trip to California and walked us through the entire strip buying us the best treats and sticking us on every roller coaster on the way to California followed by Disneyland with my cousins. On top of that he let us listen to our music the ENTIRE time. He bought us those, now annoying noise making sticks, for us when he took us to Yellowstone and didn't mind us playing with them the whole time. (at least not out loud) He shared his love of Lake Powell and it's beauty with us, even stapled my hand shut when I sliced it open in the middle of no where there, who needs stitches when you have surgical staples? I love my grandpa and I am thankful for the example he is to not only me, but to my entire family. He is amazing and that is a word that doesn't even come close to doing him justice. Happy birthday grandpa!

Physical Therapy

Today I was fortunate enough to talk to some smart guys at the rehab center about my shoulder that has been causing me a lot of grief lately. I will be fine one day and the next I can't hold a phone to my ear or I find myself sleeping on the couch half way through the night because of the ache. My new friend, Nephi, was awesome in diagnosing me with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. What started as a 'just curious' question landed me in performing different exercises to help with my TOS which included lying on an exercise ball and letting my arms dangle. You feel kind of ridiculous lying on a fitness orb with a guy staring at me, arms crossed, telling me my technique for dangling my arms was a little bit 'off' and to maybe flex my wrist a bit more and I am thinking, oh I never knew until now how much work my arm dangling technique needs! In all seriousness though, proper fitness orb arm dangling and the other exercises helped a ton and I can already feel a big difference so yay for therapy!