Phishing

I went fishing on Friday night after work. It was lots of fun. I went with some friends from church. I didn't catch anything, but a few of them did. There were some blue gill in a little pond off the road in the Chattahoochee National Park area. I've only been fishing twice since I've lived here in Georgia- and it's for sure time for me to catch one! I will though, and you'll be sure to know when I do. I promise.
We've got a little Jared, Ashley, Ryan, Ryan and Hillary.

I was remembering old times at Cafe Espress in Flagstaff, AZ where I grew up. I used to go there a lot with my friends on all sorts of different occasions. One thing I loved and remember the most about that place was their different taste in art and the different exhibitions they'd have up [I think] monthly. One that I fell in love with and related to in some weird shape and form was from Joe Sorren. I think I felt that I understood the girl in "Thirty-three and a third" not because of the Pink Floyd reference but because I just love my music.
http://joesorren.com/

catching up with the pictures

Well, I realized that I had a lot of new pictures on here but no explanation of what and where and all that good stuff.

I think that the Spring time here in Atlanta is beautiful so I took some photos of the temple grounds and some of the wild Wisteria vine that grows RAPIDLY here and it's beautiful purple blossom. They only stay around for a couple of weeks and I missed taking pictures of them last year.

Also, I went to Utah for my niece Alyssa's baptism. Greg flew Delinda and I out there and it was so nice of him. On our way there we had an overnight layover in Dallas, so Jill Hargus took us around and I got to see the "grassy knoll" where JFK was killed. And some of down-town. It was really fun. Then the next morning we flew into SLC and mom and dad picked us up. We got to see the whole family, except for Shauna which I am sad about- and I wish she was there because we had a good time. The baptism was neat, and I can't believe that Alyssa is that old! I remember when she was just a little bambino. I love her though and I'm so proud of who she is and what she's becoming as well as the rest of the kids. They are all good kids and I love all of them! And to boot, they're DANG cute too!

After Utah, I went with some friends camping in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Georgia. The next morning about 20-30 of us from Church went River Rafting on the Ocoee River in Tennessee. We did the Olympic run from the Summer Olympics that were held in Atlanta in 1996. It was SO much fun, and I could see how people can easily become addicted to it! It was 2 miles of river and about a 4 hour adventure. And I didn't even fall out of the boat! I'd like to learn how to Kayak next!

Then for Memorial Day weekend my friend Amelia called and asked if I would be her travel-mate to go to St. Augustine, FL because her husband couldn't go. We stayed with her family there so it was free and an offer I couldn't pass up. We had a nice relaxing visit and got some sun at the beach, the pool and a pretty lake. It was a nice trip and I'm glad I went! Her family was lovely and so hospitable.

Well- lifeis full of fun and adventure. I will be starting a new job on the 19th of this month and look forward to having a fun Summer! I will be going Tubing with some friends this weekend, so I will post those pictures when I get them!

COLLIER, OUT.

Welcome to Me

I thought I'd add myself to the bunch. Just testing this out. I will post more info soon.
Hux

Mississippi and Braves Game

Well, off to another Young Single Adult activity for Church. Went to Hattiesburg, Mississippi this time for fun and to meet some new friends. I went with 6 other girlfriends from the ward. It was a good times and we were very successful at meeting new friends. We boogeyed a little, hung out by a fire for a while, sang together and played games, and were uplifted by the workshops that the Institute program in Hattiesburg put on for us. It was wonderful to listen to different people's stories and to just have a nice weekend off.On Monday a big group of us from Church went to an Atlanta Braves baseball game. I had been wanting to go to one since we've been here and I was so excited to go! They won of course and I got some snapshots with the help of Delinda. We had a lot of fun and I can't wait to go to another one!Pres. Jimmy Carter and his wife.

That's all for now.

Birthday and Caving

Well, I finally turned the big 27 on the 14th. I have a feeling this will be a good year. Delinda was in Africa doing research and so I hung out with my friends after our ward's Institute class. We went to the Wave (a small little Hawaiian Diner) and just hung out and ate and talked and laughed. It was fun and good to have people around. Over all the day was really good. I woke up with an attitude of being happy, mostly because it was our Month End at work and those can usually be stressful days. But it turned out to be a very good day and I got to talk to most of my family!

Last weekend for our Ward Activity we went to North Georgia to go caving at Sitton's Cave. Our Bishop is way into doing hard hikes and other outdoor adventures and so he led us through this cave. It was SO much fun. I haven't been caving since I was in probably High School or something in Flagstaff. There were 28 of us and we all expected it to be muddy, but little did we know we'd have to walk through (in my case) waist high water! And it wasn't warm water either. We didn't have to walk through it the whole time, but a lot of the time we did. This was the first time though that I've seen Stalactites and Stalagmites. And of course the resident bats where sometimes hard not to touch! There were pretty much every where, but were sleeping most of the time. Our Bishop led us to a small cavern room where we all sat and turned our lights off and showed us the light that old time cavers used. It was interesting and everytime he lit it, it would make a very LOUD popping noise that startled me! Well me and pretty much everyone else in there! Then on the way back we all stopped somewhere and turned our lights off again and then Sis. Dean (the Bishop's wife) passed out Wintergreen Lifesavers which when you bite into, sparks. I personally didn't see any, but people claimed they did. (I've heard Certs with Retsin work too!) We headed back and then about 7 or so of us went the wrong way to get out- which looking back now makes me cringe a little because it was a VERY VERY tight space we had to crawl through for a good 5 minutes which seems like an eternity! We came out wet and muddy, but I personally feel it was TOTALLY worth it. It was a lot of fun and this earth is full of beautiful things to see.

On the way home we stopped at a Memorial for one of the first Mormon missionaries here in the South that was killed at a well. His name was Joseph Standing from SLC, UT while serving his mission was killed by a mob. The members in the Chattanooga Stake maintain the grounds.

That's it for now!Delinda in Johannesburg with our cousins.Delinda in Angola

Saturday Excursion

I'll keep it short, but a group of us went downtown to the Phillips Arena to see the Harlem Globe Trotters play. I remember wanting to see them as a little girl- so when the opportunity was offered, I totally jumped on it. It was a lot of fun and those guys are way funny and very talented. It was a fun show for the kids and the smiles on their faces were the best part for me personally. But it was fun for us big kids too. I've attached some pictures. We went to the CNN Center for lunch afterward. It was a fun Saturday afternoon excursion!

I guess it's about time

Okay, so it's been way too long since my last update. Sorry... busy bee I guess.
I will start with Thanksgiving since those are the next pictures after the New Orleans visit. Delinda & I went to Uncle Mark & Aunt Sally's house and got to see their daughter Laura & Jack and cute little Grace. We didn't get to stay for too long- but we had wonderful food, great family time together and wonderful weather. We love going to their house because it's the closest we have to home!Delinda and I arrived in Utah on Christmas Eve around the same time- but her luggage got lost. Luckily after working with the airport and going through a huge fiasco, she got it on Christmas Day. We had a good Christmas eve night- mostly relaxing and just being together. Christmas day Greg and Sam and the 3 girls (Alyssa, Brooke & Courtney) came and we opened presents and anticipated the arrival of the rest of the family. And then to make it even BETTER, John & Clau and their 3 kids (J.C., Nick & Missy) and Shauna came! We had the WHOLE family there and it was wonderful! One of the best Christmas's ever in my opinion. We had a nice dinner where we all crammed into mom and dad's bedroom (minus the bed) and ate GOOD food!After my visit at mom and dad's I got to go to see my friends down in the Utah County area. We got to see the new Joseph movie at Temple Square- it was quite good! It wasn't even that cheesy! My friend Christina's brother Joel plays Parley P. Pratt and so we got to get all excited to see him in it! After that we (Andrea, Travis, Ryan, Kate and Christina) just watched movies and talked, exchanged gifts and enjoyed each other's company at Andrea & Travis's house of fun. Then the next day I had to come home to an empty house with out my Delinda.For New Years I drove to Knoxville, TN to Laura and Jack's house (my cousin) and got to ring in 2006 with them in an enjoyable QUIET evening... just the three of us. We had chips and queso and Fresca and it was just right!It was quite an eventful three weekends, because for one weekend I was in Utah for Christmas, then Tennessee for New Year's and then the weekend after that I went with my friends Cecilia and Karen to Panama City Beach, Florida for a Young Single Adult conference. It was a ton of fun and we got to meet some really great new friends. It's about a 6 hour drive, and the beaches are very pretty- however the city isn't that pretty, but then again, it was Winter. We had a group of people from Huntsville, AL that took us under their wing and we became friends with them very quickly. They are the ones in the pictures with us.Since then my social life has gotten remarkably better. I have been making new friends and have been able to do a lot of fun things. I finally got to go camping this weekend at Lookout Mountain with some friends from the singles ward. I have put some pictures from that trip in there too. They are fun people and I'm glad I'm getting to get to know them.
I guess that's it for now. I'll give some more detailed updates when I haven't had only 2 hours asleep and it's 11:40 pm on a Saturday night.

New Orleans Clean-Up 10-29-05

Well, I had the chance to go to New Orleans this weekend. It might be my last opportunity to go and assist with the hurricane clean-up before the end of the year. So I was glad when they mentioned the chance to serve again.

It was a long drive but made very bareable by the Chalmers who are very wonderful and gracious. They spoiled me! And we enjoyed listening to a book on tape. Very riveting!
We didn't go to any of the REALLY devasted areas. Mostly just places affected by the hurricane winds. But we did drive by the area that was majorly flooded by Lake Pontchatrain. That was a very sad sight to see. We just did the usual tree and yard clean-up.
On Sunday morning we had a 45 minute Sacrament Meeting. I haven't felt the Spirit that strong in a really long time. The man that is heading up the relief effort in N.O., Bro. Walker, spoke on how we need to love one another and spoke on King Benjamin's sermon in the B of M and to never turn away the hungry and needy. The Stake Pres also spoke about how Charity never Faileth. It was an awakening for me because so many people are with out and there is so much we can do for them. I felt very privalged to be there. It was very humbling experience.
I will always be SO grateful for the chance I've had to go and help out. I can say that I have much deeper understanding of Christ-like love for my brothers and sisters, and also of how blessed I am in my life.