And we're off!

So tomorrow, as nervous as it makes Ryan, we're flying to Southern California to start a fun trip! The whole purpose of this trip was to make it out to my 10 year High School reunion in Flagstaff, AZ (which is where we'll end up towards the end), so we are making a trip out of it since Ryan's never really been out West besides Utah.
We're going to Six Flags-Magic Mountain tomorrow with Travis Green as soon as we get off the plane and check in at the hotel. And through the span of the trip we're also going to Sequoia National Park and hopefully drive through some HUGE Redwood trees! We're going to go along the coastline of So. Cal starting at Laguna Beach and ending in San Diego for a couple of nights. Then on to Phoenix, AZ to visit with my sister and some friends, then to the Grand Canyon to meet up with my bro John and his family (whom Ryan has not yet met). After that, we'll go back down to Flagstaff and spend the night and go to the reunion, which should be interesting. The next day we'll fly back home!
Jam packed but I am SO excited! Should be lots of fun and we'll take lots of pictures... I'm sure you'll be looking forward to them! So needless to say- depending on how much time we have and if there's internet, I might not blog much this next week or so. But don't fret... I'll be back! Peace!

What's On Your List?

I've decided to create a sort of "survey" as it were about music. I'll have listed some of my favorite bands, favorite songs, and favorite albums. And maybe some misc. items like favorite funny song or favorite new song... or something. It's taken me a long time to come up with this list...it's been hard to narrow down.
These however are in no particular order for me. I find it hard to have just ONE favorite since there are so many talented musicians out there. So even though I've made this list... it doesn't mean it's the bottom line for me. I could really have larger lists, but I've decided to limit myself. Maybe I'll come back to it another time and do an addendum to it or something!
If you want to, I'd be interested in what you'd fill in the blanks with. Go ahead and copy this and put it in your blog so I can see your list! You might even have some that I forgot to put on mine!

Top Ten Favorite Bands/Artists:

1. Alison Krauss and Union Station


2. Paul Simon


3. Imogen Heap


4. The Police


5. Jack Johnson


6. Beck


7. Kate Bush


8. Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians


9. The Cure


10. Feist

*Honorable Mentions: Indigo Girls, Bjork, Cake, Yes, Dave Matthews Band

Top Ten Favorite Songs:

1. Clocks-Coldplay


2. Rodeo Clowns- Jack Johnson and G. Love


3. Crazy Love, Vol. II-Paul Simon


4. Baby's Got Sauce- G. Love and Special Sauce


5. It Don't Matter Now- Alison Krauss and the Union Station


6. Can't Take It In-Imogen Heap


7. Going the Distance-Cake


8. Gravity Rides Everything-Modest Mouse


9. Love Like We Do- Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians


10. Mushaboom- Feist

Top Ten (okay 11) Favorite Albums:

1. Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars-Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians


2. A Rush of Blood to the Head- Coldplay



3. Graceland-Paul Simon



4. Zenyattà Mondatta- The Police



5. Under the Table and Dreaming-Dave Matthews Band



6. Forget About It- Alison Krauss &Union Station



7. On and On-Jack Johnson



8. Continuum-John Mayer



9. Singles- The Smiths



10. Give Up- The Postal Service


11. Speak for Yourself- Imogen Heap

Random Songs that Deem Mentioning:

• Bouncing Off Clouds- Tori Amos (new song, often repeated)
• Nellie the Elephant- Toy Dolls (funny and cute song)
• You Part the Waters- Cake (just because it's silly... you don't even play piano)
• Oh Atlanta!-Alison Krauss (oh the memories...)
• Suspended in Gaffa-Kate Bush (why? because it reminds me of Delinda...)
• Everyday People-Arrested Development (I just like it!)
• Shh-Imogen Heap (another favorite... but since she was on the list already I felt like I couldn't put her twice!)

(Man I feel like I'm leaving so much out... I have to draw the line somewhere though!)

Let's Hear it for the Hooch!

We've already spent a couple of Saturdays this summer playing way down yonder on the Chattahoochee or "The Hooch" as we refer to it. We've gone swimming and some have jumped off cliffs, and we went tubing a couple weekends ago! Boy it was COLD, but SO fun! Here's some picts! (We've got Andrea, Ashley, Clint, Michael and Lori, Stephanie and me and Ryan. Jennifer was with us too- but I don't think any of the pictures show her.) ****UPDATE! It seems we have a problem! Read here! Funny thing, that's where we went tubing and swimming!****

Go Ryan!

Andrea and Ashley

Ashley wasn't exactly happy about these ADORABLE little baby ducks that decided to hang out with us for a while. They were literally that close for about ten minutes- even with their mom standing by watching!

Poor Clint was doing his best to stay out of the FREEZING water!

Our butts were pretty much numb by the time we got out!

Isn't he so hot? RAR!

Happy Blog Anniversary!

So, this month I'm celebrating being a blogger for two years. I haven't been on this site the whole time, but I started out here.
It's pretty exciting, because like many of you- it's sort of become a journal for me. I've been able to copy and paste some of the entries I made into a word document for me to put in my journal- which is so much better than hand writing it! Especially since I never kept up with my real journal for those few months. Anyway... I'll stop going on, but I hope that I can keep this up too! It's actually a fun outlet for me, so I think I will! Cheers!

Thought these were cool

It's all tape! More HERE!

Story Time!

So a lot of people have wondered how I got to Atlanta. It's a good question really. I'll explain a somewhat short (okay not really) version of it and then tell you why I've come to really love it here.
I'd been living in Orem, UT in the same house as Elder Bruce Hafen. We called it "The FOF" (Fortress of Femininity) and I lived with great girls and in a good ward. Had a good job and a WONDERFUL, AWESOME group of friends to play with and hang out with constantly. But after living in Utah for 7 years and feeling sort of "stagnant", I had started to think it was time for a change. San Diego sounded good because I really like it there- but was too expensive. I like Portland, OR but couldn't find any good job opportunities up there. I'd kind of given up on the idea of going anywhere, but prayed that if it was the right thing to do- that a new opportunity would find me. As much as I loved UT and the fact that I lived so close to practically all my family, I was starting to miss living in a diverse culture and feeling the need to be in new places and to see new things.
And then my sister Delinda graduated ASU with her Master's degree in Art History. She decided after her graduation (or maybe it was before...) that she wanted to go on and pursue her PhD. I'm not sure how many schools she looked at but two she mentioned were in Chicago and here in Atlanta. So being that she'd have to go far away and all alone, and knowing my feelings of where I was presently in my life- she asked if I'd want to move with her to wherever she went and be her roommate. This sparked my thoughts and I told her it depended on where she went and that I'd pray/think about it.
She visited both places and as she got a little more excited about living in Chicago but I didn't really feel so good about moving there. She found out though that she was excepted to Emory University in their Art History program here in Atlanta, which is an EXCELLENT school. I prayed about it and I felt like it was the right thing to do, but I didn't know why. I had no job here, no friends, and had only been here once in my whole life- and for a matter of hours really. I felt though, that even though I didn't REALLY know why I was supposed to come- that it might be possible that I would find my husband here and also have plenty of missionary opportunities. (Funny how things work out!)
So my roommate Emily graciously accepted the invitation to drive across the country with me and she and I packed up my little Neon and headed on our 3 day adventure!
We got here August 6th, 2004 unharmed, safe and with some fun memories behind our belt and that's when life in the ATL or "Hotlanta" started!
I wont lie- it was VERY difficult for me for about the first year and a half after moving here. For someone who has had friends around me for most of my life, I really didn't have any for that first little while. Well, of course I had DJ- but she was also very busy with school. I learned a lot about myself though, and learned that I had to work to have friends and needed to build some self confidence. I finally found my niche though- and started to fit in better and started to make awesome friends both at church and at work. I was even able to be so privileged and blessed to see and participate in a good friend of mine, Megan, receiving the discussions from the missionaries and who would eventually join the Church!
So anyway, here are some of the reasons why I love it here:

• I love how green it is here. Even in the winter it still shows greenery, and it makes the winter months bearable. And there's no snow, which sometimes I miss, but I get enough of it when I go home for the holidays! There is ice here though, and that can be just as bad.
• I love how laid back people seem to be here. And for the most part non-judgemental.
• I love being so close to water in general. I love to play and fish at the Chattahoochee, and I love that we are only about a 5-6 hour drive away from the beach either on the Gulf Coast or the Atlantic.
• Speaking of being close, I love that we are 2-3 hours from several different states. NC, SC, AL, TN, FL... it's so fun!
• I love our home, and that we feel away from the city but can drive a short 20-25 minutes to get there if we want to.
• There are so many activities and things to do here and so much to see, whether it be outdoors in the wilderness or museums or the aquarium or parks.
• The people are genuine and I love the diversity of religions, race and scenery.
• The tall buildings were (and still are) a bit intimidating, but they're quite impressive to look at and be beneath. (Not as impressive as the tall mountains of course... well, in my humble opinion anyway!)
• Lightening Bugs... or Fire Flies! Holy coolness Batman! I'm so glad my kids get to grow up with those... I always wanted to!
• I have been able to participate in missionary work, meet good friends, have had great new experiences, I became so much closer to my sister, and best of all- got to meet my husband!

There are quite a few other reasons, which I'm sure you'll realize as you continue to read my blog- but I am so glad that I got that special prompting to move here. All of the things I really felt would happen, did and with a bang too! I mean, I even got to participate in the conversion of my own husband! What a combo! And I'm so glad I got to move here with my sister who I lived with for two years, even though she left me for another state to live in (she moved back to Arizona). We had lots of fun with each other and I think we both went through some pretty big life changing experiences, although completely different from each other. I'm SO glad that we had each other through it all. And she still has a room at our house! Love you Deej!

I love my husband!! A lot. I don't know that he'll ever know how much I love him. That's all I wanted to say... just felt overwhelmed with it all just now. He's the best.

Memorial Day Weekend in Destin, FL

Wow, Ryan and I had fun! That was a much needed trip! It was a good ol' time with our friends (Ashley, Andrea, Clint, Jennifer, Michael and Lori, Janessa and Stephanie) on a beautiful beach and perfect weather, and most of all being with each other. It was a long drive there and back because on the way there were super excited and on the way back we didn't want to come home... But it was worth it. The water was SO beautiful; perfect temperature, it was CLEAR and crystal blue and nothing but some harmless kelp floating around. The waves were a little crazy at times with a red flag warning most of the time- we only had a yellow flag once, and we pretty much missed out on that one because we were busy doing other stuff.

• drove about 6-7 hours and got to Destin late Friday and walked down to the beach with everyone for a bit before going to bed. Ryan and Ashley had a small "dance off".




• woke up early, ate breakfast, got our suits on and headed down to the water (literally across the street from the condo we rented!). Played in the water for a few hours and then afterwards went up to the pool at the condo and swam there for a little. Got lunch at Wendy's and went to the store for some stuff. And then went back to the beach for a couple more hours.

• for dinner, all of us went to Osaka Hibachi Grill for some good food and entertainment... although, I don't know that I would ever spend that much money there again! We'll see though, peer pressure is hard to resist!
  
  
  
• woke up later the next morning, sunburned and tired still- and walked two miles to rent scooters to drive around on for a couple hours (the walking was not my favorite part of the trip. SUPER hot with a sun burn- bad combo). The rental guy was NOT nice to my Jennifer though and that made me way sad. We didn't know just how mean he was though until after we had ours. :( Frowny face...
  




• after scooters, we went back down to the beach for a bit. And then back to the pool to get some good water time with out getting thrashed by the crazy waves!




• then we all made yummy Sunday dinner and had Margaritas and Martini's (of course with TONS of alcohol in them...NOT!), it was lots of fun!

• Ryan and I took a walk together on the beach to look at the moon and the stars- it was so peaceful and sweet to be with my love! And to be alone... even though we love being with our friends.
• Monday (Happy Birthday Ashley!) we got up and after cleaning up the condo to check out, 6 of us went to rent jet ski's and rode on wave runners for a couple hours in the Destin Harbour. It was a BLAST! Ryan said he had the most fun then, just laughing and going over huge waves and jumping really high! It was so gorgeous out there!



(Unfortunately we don't any action photos, but this one will have to do... of course, this is not us- but I'm sure we looked that cool! The water was that pretty!)

• sadly- our trip had to come to an end after that... we doddled around for a little bit at some of the beach stores and then headed home. It was sad to leave, but good to know we were going back to our home and our comfy bed!

It was so much fun that hopefully we can go again this Fall and enjoy ourselves all over again! Here are some more Pictures!

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