Heather AKA Lurch

April 2011 Die Zauberflote

2012-01-28T11:43:00.000-08:00

My first opera. Kyle was at Utah State University, Go Aggies!, and in Mozart's Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute). I really enjoyed it and would see that one again.

This is just my girls, Nora and Brielle being cute.

March 2011

2012-01-28T11:33:00.000-08:00

Ashlynn's birthday party is in March. This year we went to the Kamas Aquatic Center which is super fun and just the right size for kids. I'm always amazed at the cakes that my sister-in-law does for her kids. This one was my favorite so far.

February 2011

2012-01-28T11:25:00.000-08:00

Volunteering at places is a great way to see stuff without paying for it. My Co-worker/friend and I like to do this from time to time. So we did it for a night at the museum at Thanksgiving Point. It's a pretty neat place.

January 2011

2012-01-28T11:23:00.000-08:00

Only thing I did was the annual tubing party at Solder Hollow with the Loertscher family. I gained another nephew this month. Welcome to my Reed!! My birthday spent getting my car registered again. And that's about it. Again no pictures.

2010 November and December

2012-01-28T11:17:00.000-08:00

Nothing interesting apparently as I have no pictures. Spent Thanksgiving and Christmas at Mom and Dad's house with the family. Love those nieces and nephews. I guess nephew at that time since Reed wasn't born yet.

October 2010

2011-10-01T14:34:00.001-07:00

The potato and carrot harvest is one of my favorite things to do each year. Well except the years where there is snow on the ground. It is fun to get together with my family and work together outside.
Grandpa is always near by helping to guide us.
I love this picture of Mom, Zeke and Nora.

Carrots come in all sizes. Really small, like this one I'm holding

and really big like this one Nora is holding.

September 2010

2011-10-01T14:28:00.001-07:00

I got to meet my wonderful little niece Brielle.

The only other thing I did in September 2010 that I have record of was going to Cascade Springs with Mom, Dad and Kyle.

Yes I'm still alive...

2011-10-01T14:26:00.000-07:00

My computer has become so old that there isn't as much joy in turning it on as there once was hence my absence. But I decided that I need to do it even if it takes a whole day to post one small blog. So with that I will attempt to catch up on my past so you all know what has been going on.

What do you like about yourself?

2010-09-23T19:56:00.001-07:00

The first question on a get to know you game at a Relief Society dinner I went to last week. Being O.C.D. I couldn't just skip it an move on to "where do you want to go on vacation" or "what's your favorite hobby." So I sat there thinking, what do you like about yourself. I complained about the question to my friend next to me and she pops out an answer in two seconds. And I thought now that's pretty cool to know yourself so well you know what you like about yourself in two seconds and it doesn't even phase you that the question was asked in the first place. So there I am with my blank paper staring back at me thinking about my life and who I am overall. Kind of like a mini life inventory right there at the R.S. dinner. Some people put down physical features. Others put down characteristics or titles like Mom. I did come up with an answer and moved on to other questions. Quickly forgetting the quiz and moving on with life. Tonight in the temple it hit me again.

What do you like about yourself?

I thought about who I am and who I want to be and thought isn't that what the gospel of Jesus Christ is about. To improve ourselves a little bit at a time until the whole package is done and we can answer with resounding, "Everything!" Not even like but love. And wouldn't it be easier to give that love to others if we know we have it and don't have to guard it or get defensive when we are asked for it. When asked it would take two seconds to say ok I've got it and here it is. It would be. My friend who popped out the answer in two seconds started trying to help me come up with what I like about myself by naming things she's noticed about me. Isn't great that we get to do the same in the gospel. We can be there to point out things to each other that we may be to blind to or scared to admit are there. And yet, how often I forget that the person who can point all this out the most is my Father in Heaven. He is just waiting for the opportunity to let us know of His love and we don't ask as often as we should. My Mom and Dad tell me they love me every time I end a conversation on the phone with them or leave their house. Why would my Father in Heaven be any different?

To end this random post I would suggest we take that opportunity a bit more often and work on being able to answer in two seconds the question, What do you like about yourself?

Cascade Springs

2010-09-19T18:32:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite get away for a moment spots. It's just nice to sit and listen to nature. You can hear the wind move through the trees. The water starts at the top just appearing out of the mountain, cascading down small waterfalls into a pool at the bottom. I was hopping to catch the fall colors but was a bit early. I'll probably try again in a week.

San Diego

2010-08-28T12:03:00.000-07:00

Got sick of day to day life and took off to San Diego. It was awesome to just hang out and chill. I can now add the San Diego temple to my list of temples I've been to. Went hiking of course. Not a long one but it was the first time I'd been in the mountains in southern California.

The beach of course. And yes I looked like one of those pathetic tourists with a horrid farmers tan and really shouldn't be allowed in a swimming suit. It was worth the public embarrassment to be able to walk along the beach with my feet in the water.

We went to the Mormon Battalion visitor center and it was awesome. Highly recommend it to any one who is in San Diego.
Believe it or not went shopping. Took a lot of walks and listened to the waves a lot.

I got to have dinner with Uncle Don and Aunt Robin. It was great to see them again and catch up. I got to have my first fig outside of a newton. Also my first time having Gelato. Now that is good stuff. I forgot to take a picture though. :(
Signs of a good vacation you never want to go home.

Young Women's Girls Camp

2010-08-27T12:23:00.000-07:00

I was the Camp Director for my ward this year. We had seven girls come this year. The MIA Shalome camp is owned by the Provo and Orem Stakes so they go to the same place every year. It has A frame cabins to sleep in which don't really keep the mice or other woodland animals out. It has a pond that the girls canoe on and hiking trails all around the camp. I didn't get to go hiking or canoing as my back was killing me from packing and unpacking the van with all the stuff. I should have delegated more of that stuff. We made tie dye t-shirts before we left for camp as our shirts this year. The girls had a great time and I loved being up there with them. Our ward was the "Ultimate Waterfront Champions of the world." They played a game where ducks, which had the values on the bottom of them, were launched into the pond and the girls had to collect a full set of the Young Women Values, of which there are eight now, and bring them back to the docks. The ward with the most sets before the time was up wins. Our girls kick it on a canoe. I even learned how to make Jewelry.

My Office

2010-08-26T20:08:00.000-07:00

I've never had one before so bear with me.

It is located in the reception area of the floor, not that anyone visits as we are closed to the public, so people walk by my office all day. I'm pretty easily distracted so I blocked the window that looks into my office with my nature pictures that used to hang in my cubical.

I don't get to look at them but I have a better view these days.

The 4th of July

2010-07-11T15:58:00.000-07:00

Why spend money on fireworks when you can spend it on rocket engines? Time again for our annual rocket launch. I love this activity that we do every year. The kids always like it, mainly for the slides at the play ground behind us.

Aaron fixed my launcher so that it actually works every time you hit the button instead of at random times. Nothing is more anti-climatic than a count down followed by nothing, then another count down followed by more nothing.

This year's first flight rocket was the SR-71 Blackbird. And it survived the launch, ejection charge and landing.

I also once again win the award for the closest landing to the launch pad. I launched from the pad on the left (my right hand) and it landed there.

Big Bertha survived yet another launch and remains the oldest rocket in the family. It's flight path resembles Corkscrew a little more every year though.

Diamond Fork

2010-07-10T15:58:00.000-07:00

Typical of a Loertscher family reunion/camping trip, the Bumble broke down. Good thing was that it was only just a little way out side of the camp ground and Quinn's car was totally able to pull the Bumble and the trailer to the campsite. But to bad for Quinn he broke his tow rope doing it.

The kids had a great time together...
Playing with each other in and taking all of us down to the 'Beaver Cave'...

Playing a matching game in the trailer...

Popping bubbles...

Sitting around the camp fire...

Taking 'naps' together in the trailer..

Playing with the magnifying glasses that Grandma bought for them...

Lets go for a hike! We went on the Five Water Trail up to the "Spanish Fork" hot springs.

Where we learned why it is called Diamond Fork. Note in the next picture the Diamond Back Rattle Snake. Tyler saw another one besides this one and we also saw a Gopher Snake, at least Dad thinks it was a Gopher Snake.
My nature picture of the trip. Well I guess the one of the spring was pretty good.
I also used my charcoal chimney for the first time on this camping trip. Loved it. Not to mention that the smoke cracking on the inside is awesome.

Another one bites the dust...

2010-07-03T14:57:00.000-07:00

Yep another roommate down. Here are some pictures from Jenn's wedding. It was way fun. Both Jenn and Randy's families are awesome and I loved hanging out with them all day. I actually caught Jennifer's bouquet which was saying something as she threw it really high from the top of a stair case so it did take some effort for me to grab.

Hot Springs

2010-04-07T20:25:00.000-07:00

Jess was in town which means that we went on another adventure. We went to the Spanish Fork Hot Springs, Three Forks is the name of the trail and I think the springs are actually called Five Falls. Anyway, we started early so Krishna could come to, she had an appointment that afternoon. Ok so we had never been to where we were going and even though I had a GPS it was the first time I really tried to use it. Which means that we hiked, through snow at points, for about an hour before we met a hunter who told us we were on the wrong trail. In my defense I had just figured that out as the numbers on the GPS went one to far in the wrong direction and I thought about this sign we passed at the trail head. I didn't remember seeing our trail name on it. When we got back to the trail head we read the sign.

Unfortunately, because we were on the wrong trail Krishina didn't have time to go with us anymore. But this was going to be attempt number three for Jess and I to go to this place and being that close we weren't going to quit. So we started on the right trail. It was a great hike. The springs were ok. I'm a bit mad at them as I slipped while crossing them and got beat up pretty bad. Totally awesome bruise on my arm that everyone at work keeps asking about. It was strange because you could be sitting in one place and have half of you in cold water and the other in totally hot water. Grand time all around.

Family Fun

2010-04-07T19:58:00.001-07:00

I've had the chance over the past month (March) to tend Zeke a lot. We have had some great times. Playing with trains, cars, tickle wars on the couch, watching movies and Inspector Gadget. Great times. I got to watch him during Manndi's sister's wedding and took some good pictures.
Then of course it was Ashlynn's birthday in March so we had a party. Which was great fun by the way. Thanks for hosting it Quinn and Dawnie. Tell you what Dawnie throws some pretty creative parties. This year was princesses. Grandpa was even there.
Ashlynn likes to take crazy pictures here is my favorite of the crazy ones we did that day.
Of course she wanted to pay with her new toys which were princess of course. But since she is the princess she hands me the prince and said I had to be the boy. Reminded me of the good old days when Skye would say the same thing. I didn't mind as I never really wanted to be the princess any way.
I also spent some time with my high school friends and Liz (Heather's college roommate) all of which I count as family. It was great to play cards and see them all again.

My Big Girl Bed

2010-03-24T18:49:00.001-07:00

So after years of thinking about it I finally bought a queen bed. So here it is. Note: The quilt is my "wedding" quilt that is from Grandma Averett. It is hand quilted by Grandma. Thanks to Grandpa for giving it to me dispite the fact that I haven't managed the wedding part yet. ;)

As you can see there is not much space on the one side but over all I love it.

You know you work in government when...

2009-12-16T17:55:00.000-08:00

So today the manager of the office, the building not all the people, announced that our lease on the building is up in March 2010 and DWS has decided to lease only half of the building from now on. All eligibility specialist, that's me, are going to be moved to the Provo Regional Center (PRC) , located on Center street in Provo, in either March or April. I'm ok with the change as I already live in Provo and it isn't the Provo North office. I remembered this joke list that was given to me when I worked in the Logan DWS office, which was June of 2001. And I had to laugh at how many of them were true for me. I put my answers in White

You know you work in government when..

You sat at the same desk for four years and worked for three different departments. Well it's been six years at the same desk and two divisions. First one didn't really have a name the second one is Eligibility Services Devision which was just created this past year.
You worked for the same department for four years and sat at more than 10 different desks. Eight and a half years and four different desks.
You've been in the same job for four years and have had 10 different supervisors. Again six years at the same job, 1. Noral, 2. Mike D., 3. Dave, 4. back to Mike D., 5. Matt, and current 6. Emily. My record is three supervisors in the same day. I went into work with Dave is my supervisor, got an email at 11 am and Mike was my supervisor then at about 4 in th afternoon Matt called and introduced himself as my supervisor.
You order your business cards in "half orders" instead of whole boxes. (note a whole box is 1,000) I've had three different business cards and all of them were half orders of just 500. I also need a new set as we changed our numbers and so forth so no current business card at all.
When someone asks about what you do for a living, you can't explain it in one sentence. This is the shortest way I've come up with explaining what an eligibility specialist is/does. I determine eligibility for food stamps, financial, medical and child care assistance. Even after I say that people look at me with blank stares and say, "what does that mean?"
You get really excited about a 2% raise. Last time I got a 2% raise was 2005 and they don't call it a raise they call it a cost of living increase. We haven't had a cost of living increase since 2007. So yep, if I got a 2% raise I'd be totally excited about it.
You use acronyms in your sentences. Not such an unusual thing in this day and age, what with text messaging and all. Yes we do use acronyms in our sentences. They have only increased over the years. I used to work for DWS. Now I work for DWS in the ESD, under the ESO on the CBT.
Your biggest loss from a system crash is you lose your best jokes. Well I do have some funny emails on there but I'd be more bummed about losing my music.
You sit in a cubicle smaller than your bedroom closet. My cubical is smaller than my bedroom closet right now. I have a fear that it will be even smaller come April or May.
It's dark when you drive to and from work. In the winter this is very true. The only way I see the sun right now is if I go out to my car on a break or lunch. It starts to get a little light when I arrive at the office at 6:30 am. Currently I leave at two different times on the days I leave "early" the sun is setting and on the days I leave "late" the sun has been down for over an hour. In the summer it is only dark in the morning. Daylight savings time really does give you more hours of daylight in the day.
Fun is when issues are assigned to someone else. Anytime I can pass of a nasty case oh you bet I do. For the record I fix more than my fair share of nasty and stupid.
The words "challenge" and "opportunity" makes you shiver in fear. It's so true.
You see a good-looking person and know it is a visitor. Yep they are either there for a job interview, consultants gathering information, or top brass of the department.
Free food left over from meetings is your main staple. To bad most of it is chocolate. Maybe that's why I weigh so much. ;) Most of it isn't from meetings though it is from treat bowls in Julie's cubical. I had to change the route I take to the bathroom to avoid the temptation of her treat bowl.
Weekends are those days your significant other makes you stay home. Not a problem for me. But I have worked overtime the past few weekends. The last time they even offered over time was about 4 years ago so that doesn't happen offer.
Art involves a white board. Yep the white board is by my cubical and the makers are at my desk. I put up a quote for the day every day. It used to have drawings but I can't draw and Jennifer moved to the Provo office so there hasn't been much art recently.
You're already late on the assignment you just got. Happened on Thursday of last week. All applications have to be worked with in 30 days. I got the case on the 30th day and all of the stuff for it had been for about 3 weeks. Then on Tuesday I worked a case that had been lost in limbo for a month so I issued it back to October.
Dilbert cartoons hang outside every cube and are read by your co-workers only. Actually my co-workers don't understand the humor of Dilbert. I know Dad, it is shocking but they just don't get it. One of the consultants that stopped by about two weeks ago laughed out loud at it. I do have three Dilbert cartoons on my cubical, some Peanuts, Garfield and Maxine.
Your boss' favorite lines are "when you get a few minutes" or "when you're freed up." Actually it's, "when you are caught up." Which is funny because my version of "caught up" is a little different than hers. I work on other peoples stuff pretty much every other day.
You read this entire list and understood it.

Junk mail changes

2009-11-18T17:55:00.000-08:00

Junk mail is a constant thing in life but I've recently noticed how it can change from time to time. Have you ever noticed that your junk mail changes after you make a purchase of about $200 or more. When you buy a house all of the sudden you get all of these home loan applications and information. What's the point of sending out that stuff after you've already got a loan and bought the house? At lease the home improvement store junk mail makes sense after a home purchase. You've made this major investment and now you naturally want to sink all of your money into fixing it up.

So I flew for the first time in a few years and now instead of just credit card applications they have miraculously changed to flight reward credit card applications. If I buy camping stuff then I get outdoor/sportsman credit card applications. My favorite with the buying camping stuff was when I bought a tarp to put under my tent years ago at Cabellas and the next month I was an official member of the North American Hunting Club. Got an bright orange hunting license holder and everything. When I signed up for that at Cabellas I'm not sure but there must have been a check box I didn't check somewhere.

Then there is the you buy one thing in our store you naturally you are a fan and want to get rewards here forever, right? Yeah, how many of us spend all our spare time at furniture stores or electronic stores. And the stuff they send you is discounts and coupons for what you just bought because naturally you will need another 52" LCD television or a $1,000 digital camera a month after you just purchased one.

"These days are crazy!"

Me trying to be a nature photographer again

2009-10-24T17:58:00.000-07:00

So here are my favorite nature pictures from my vacation.

A rain storm from above.

New Jersey the Garden State

Five Mile Point Light

Lighthouse Point Park

stream by Lake Wintergreen

Lake Wintergreen

trail around Lake Wintergreen

Cleveland rocks

2009-10-24T16:45:00.000-07:00

Ok so I was on vacation from October 1st until October 18th. Which was has been the longest vacation I've ever taken to date. It used up all of my vacation time so I won't be going very far for a while.

First stop was Skye's in Ohio. We went and checked out West Side Market. Which is like Pike's Place in Seatle without the flying fish. Then mostly just hanging out around the house. Which is totally fine with me as I got to play with Kaelyn and Kylie. I think I read The Pokie Little Puppy about 40 billion times.

We went to the museum of natural history where we saw lots of animals and dinosaurs. Kaelyn and I got to be Blue Footed Bobby Birds. The picture of the actual birds is above me on the right. Apparently this is one of Kaelyn's first things to do at the museum.

After which we had lunch in Cleveland's Little Italy. Which is by Jon's campus. We took a lot of pictures on Jon's campus including some of playing in the fountain but they are on Skye's camera so I don't have them yet. During General Conference we did our hair.

Then I rented my first car and went on a little road trip to visit the Taylor family in Connecticut. It was a nice 8-9 hour drive to get there and cheaper than plane ticket.

I saw my very first in real life lighthouse, Five Mile Point Light.

Being with Elizabeth of course we went for a little hike. However, there aren't any mountains so we hiked, took a long walk, around Lake Wintergreen.
I also got to have lunch with Sarah A. Kandil. Whom I haven't seen since just after high school. I got to meet her husband for the first time and he is pretty cool. Love being able to still hang out with my high school buddies.
Then back to Ohio, where Kyle and Tyler joined us. We went to Kirtland and toured some covered bridges.

A Halloween family tradition that we used to have was that we would go to Grandma Averett's house and decorate the cookies she would pass out for Halloween. Since Grandma's passing we haven't done it very often but I insisted on it for Kaelyn and Kylie. We don't pass them out on Halloween any more but it was still tons of fun to decorate them.

Today in Primary...

2009-09-20T14:23:00.000-07:00

we learned how to pray to Heavenly Father. We taught them the opening, "thank Thee, ask Thee" and closing parts of prayer. The kids pretty much got to say what they were thankful for during most of the lesson and then I came home and my roommate Jennifer was on the couch studying her scriptures and listening to piano church music. Well she is asleep now and the piano music has changed from church to just classical. And I was sending out my traditional weekly email and thought I'd check out blogs. While doing all of this I couldn't help but think how greatful I am that I get to have quite moments such as these. Also that email, blogs and Skype exist. I got to talk and see Sonya on Friday because of Skype. It was awesome that even though she is half a world away we could chat like always. It is amazing to me how much the Lord has given us to keep our families strong and close. And yep friends count as family for me. So I'm thankful for it all and most importantly the reason I need this technology, you my family and friends. Love you all!!

Computers are down at work.

2009-09-14T06:51:00.000-07:00

Ok well maybe not the computer as I'm obviously using one right now. But the system I use is down so basically I can't do anything. Normally this wouldn't be so boring as everyone in has the same problem so I have a deck of cards in my desk that we can play with while we wait for IT to fix the problem. Since I'm the only one in my office using this new system I am unable to pull out the cards so I thought I'd post a blog about how boring it is to be at work and unable to work. I wonder how long it will take them to fix it.

In other news, my life is boring at the moment. I have decided that I have a lot of unfinished projects, like that cross stitch that I started 8 years ago, sitting around the house so I'm trying to finish them up. Not very social but hey stuff is getting done. I also feel less guilty while watching TV if I'm doing something.

Just Stuff

2009-06-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

So Tuesday night a few friends went to April's concert. It was fun to be in that kind of an enviroment and hear her songs. I can't wait until her CD comes out. Probably more excited about the fact that when it does she can once again hang out and go hiking and stuff.

From left to right: Krishna, Mia, Jennifer, April, me and Jessica.

Then on Friday Jessica and I hiked Stewart Falls. I had forgoten how much up and down there is on this trail so I didn't bring my trek poles and paid for it. Well Jess more than me as I made her stop a billion times for me to catch my breath. I love that trail. I has a lot of hike through the forest, shade and grass lands. We saw two doe dear and lots of different birds. Made for a nice day.

Yeah I stopped and didn't get any closer to the upper falls.

Driving in the rain with the windows down

2009-06-20T18:48:00.000-07:00

I am loving this summer rain. It doesn't normally rain this much in Utah but I have been loving this. I don't think I'd like it all the time but this has been nice. I once wrote a two page journal entry about how much I love rain. It tends to bring back great memories and fun times. Puddle jumping with friends, friday night football games, playing soccer and just walking in the rain and not caring that you get soaked. I love the smell of rain. My favorite rain smell is in the mountains after weeks of heat then it rains one day. I love that smell. Ever notice that everyone in parking lots and such are all running to get out of the rain. I actually walk slower in the rain enjoying it all. And yes, I drove with the windows down today while it was raining.

Arches National Park

2009-06-13T19:51:00.000-07:00

This camping trip was to Arches National Park. Jennifer and I left on Friday morning to get a campsite as the camp ground in Arches only has 25 reservable sites and the rest are first come first serve. Since check in time is noon we were down there by 1 thinking that there might be a site left. Little did I know that they start giving away the sites at 7:30 in the morning at the visitor center and they are all gone with in an hour. But they had a list of campsites around the area which were all first come first serve. It took us about an hour to find a site just south of the Colorado River. It even had a little beach. Arches is going to 100% reserved sites next year due to the high demand. Jenn and I set up camp and then met up with Jess, Melissa and Rome, who is a friend of Jess and Jenn's. We hiked the Park Aveanue trail that night. It isn't an official trail but a "primative" trail marked by carens. It was sometimes a challenge to identify the carens from just other piles of rocks.
Next day we started with Delecate Arch. I didn't like the last 200 yards of the trail but I finished. As any of you who have hiked with me know I don't make happy faces while on the top of the world so sorry for not smiling in the picutres. Also the last one of these is the canyon I never saw, the last 200 yards of the trail.

Then we did lunch where there were some flowers for Mom.

Then more hiking, the Windows trail passes three arches. North Window, where I lost my footing and hit my knees big time ouch.
South Window
and Turret Arch Turret Arch is where you really see why the other two arches are called North and South Window.
Then we went back to camp to rest, play in the water whatever. At this point the group split up again. Jenn, Melissa and Rome went into Moab and did whatever whild Jess and I went hiking again. Devil's Garden trail, we didn't do all of the hike due to my knee and "primative" trail issues but it was nice. We also discovered that that is the trail to do in the heat of the day as it had a lot of canyons and was green. Hiking it at sunset was still great though. Then we did the Sand Dune Arch and Broken Arch Trails. Where the real excitement took place.
Boys if you are easily embarrised by girl stuff stop reading now.
You have to drive in between some of these trails so when I got out of the car at the Sand Dune trial head I suddenly felt this great freedom. And I realized one of two things had happened. One, my bra strap somehow became undone or two, my bra strap broke. So I checked things out and sure enough it had broken. After Jess and I stopped laughing I had to come up with some way to fix the problem, I'm all for being in nature but there are limits specifically when wearing a Camelbak. So I thought for a minute then remembered that I keep a 72 hour kit in my car which includes 3 days of clothing and that included underware so I took out the bra and put it on as discreetly as possible thanks to the help of a lady who was keeping watch for us. After this excitement we continued on with our hiking.
OK boys welcome back.
Sand Dune Arch really did mean sand. The start of the trail was a normal gravel path then we got to this canyon. Jess is sitting on a rock and the path to the right is pure sand.

After this point it was a slot canyon where the ground was nothing but sand. The further in we hiked the more sand got in my shoes. I was wearing my running shoes which are great for air circulation so your feet don't get hot well not so great because sand can get in too. I told Jess this and she said that it couldn't be that bad. We kept going until we got to Sand Dune Arch. I really need to buy a tripod because some of these angles are not so great. Jessica and I didn't see other people on the trails that night. Rocks and sand aren't the best photographers. Back to the story, when we got back to the trail head and out of the sand I showed Jess how much sand really was in my shoes.

Our last arch was Broken Arche. It was pretty cool as the moon was rising right as we got there. I'm the dead body under the arch.

We went back to camp then Sunday morning drove home and I went to my old ward as I had missed my ward. That was really fun as I got to see all of my friends I don't run into very often. Overall a great break from reality and I can cross off another National Park.

Road Trip to Mesa, AZ

2009-02-28T12:12:00.001-08:00

Four day weekends are nice. I took off with Jennifer Hoskisson and Jessica Cooper for President's day weekend. Mesa is a favorite get away for me as I have a lot of family and friends down there. I got to go hiking in February. We started on the Hyrogliph trail just before sunset so it was awesome to watch the sun go down as we hiked. Then the usually just hang and talk with everyone I could possibly squeeze in to the two days I was there. Sorry to those I didn't get to see. I'll catch ya next time.

Road Trip to Mesa

2009-02-28T12:03:00.000-08:00

Winter Hiking

2009-02-11T19:08:00.000-08:00

A first for me. I've never gone for a winter hike before. As with all of my hikes it was more of an afternoon walk but still great fun. Jessica is to blame for this first in my life. She's been doing that a lot lately. Advice to those younger than me out there, do stuff you've never done before you just might like it. (Not the bad stuff like drugs or anything. Don't be stupid about it.) So I lectured Jess about walking on ice and she got a smart and pretended to walk on the edge of the ice while I took a picture.
Hike continues on and a while later Jess was setting up the camera to take a picutre of us infront of Bridal Vail Falls. While she was doing that I was checking out the ice over the bottom of the falls. Then guess what happens. Yep, I step on the ice and fall through. So since my shoes are now totally wet and they aren't real snow boots, Jessica says, we have to get back. I could have made it until sunset. What's a little water on your shoes in 40 degree weather while the sun is setting in a canyon? My favorite part of hiking, anytime of year, is the sound.

Nature

2009-02-11T18:38:00.000-08:00

I love cool nature pictures. I'd love to be the one making money off of cool nature pictures. I'd get to go camping to take cool pictures so it would be free right? Well since most really cool shots require climbing up something to get them I stay on the ground and just pull out my camera everynow and then. Here are some shots I've taken since I got my new digital camera. The sunset was taken from my stair well and the others are from a hike I went on with Jess. More on that one in another post. Not bad but not great either. Practice makes perfect so they should get better. In the mean time, Enjoy! I do.

Happy Birthday to me!!

2009-02-11T18:13:00.000-08:00

Well as anyone who knows me can tell you today is not my birthday but here are the pictures from the grand event that kicked me out of the Young Single Adult Wards forever. As my b-day was on a sunday my roommates and friends went out on saturday night. They took me to PF Changs and then we went to Ozz to play pool. On my actual b-day we did cake and ice cream but forgot to get out the ice cream. My German Chocolate cake was made from stratch by Jess and she did a fine job.

I love my roommates!

2009-01-19T10:59:00.001-08:00

So last night we were sitting around exchanging pictures from the shooting trip and it started to get late. Krishna had fallen asleep on the couch and Jen decided to scare her. Now you must understand that Jen and Jess have been trying to scare Krishna since about October and every time she just says things like "Hi" to them. No reaction what so ever. The video that follows is what happened. Randy is holding the camera and I'm the legs on the end of the couch.

Shooting

2009-01-19T10:37:00.000-08:00

On satruday I finally got to go shooting. I've always wanted to go again since the time Dad took the "big kids" a million years ago but it has never worked out. It wasn't disappointing. I got to shoot a 22 rifle, 9 mil pistol and a shot gun. Boy that was fun. This video is probably the second time I actually hit the clay pigeon with the shot gun. My friends' favorite part is the end when I cock the gun again and the cartridge flies out.

I had a hard time convincing them that I really hadn't shot a real gun before. We did this all up at some guy's family cabin in Coalville. It was a beautiful day and well worth the drive up there. I loved it so much that if it weren't against the BYU Honor Code, which I have to live under as a landlord, I'd go get a gun right now. Ok maybe not but only because they are expensive. We are already planning our next shooting trip. This time to a local gun club where ever it is. P.S. and by the way the sunglasses aren't mine they are Jessica's. But it was so bright out there I had to have some thing.

Keys on Main

2009-01-19T10:29:00.000-08:00

Yet another late post but hey I'm catching up. The first friday night of the new year I went with my friends to Keys on Main in Salt Lake. It is a dueling piano bar. Yep I said bar. We arrived early and left early, pretty much before anyone could get drunk. It was so much fun. I can't believe how talented some people are in the music area. Stuff they did on the piano was amazing. From left to right you have Jessica, Me, Jennifer, and Krishna. Jess is an honorary roommate and Jen and Krish are my roommates.

New Years Eve

2009-01-11T10:21:00.000-08:00

So as always I'm a bit behind on my posts but now that I have a digital camera, thanks again Tyler, I'm going to be using this more often. Most college kids are looking for a good time on New Years Eve. I convinced my friends to come to Midway and watch while I put new break pads on my car so it would pass inspection. Having never done this before Dad was over the shoulder here and there but he likes New Years Eve to watch movies so for most of this he was inside watching Star Wars Episode III. This video is of the first side of the car. As it turned out these pads weren't as bad as the second ones. There was nothing left on the second side of the car. Everything was going great until we couldn't get a bolt off to remove the second tire. Dad helped and sheered the bolt off. That ended the project for the night.

We got up the next morning and went tubing at Solder Hallow with the Loertscher family. Dad found the fasted tube on the hill and shared it with all of my friends. Krishna actually ended up going through the fence at that the bottom of the hill it went so fast. After tubing I took Krish and Jess home in Dad's car, bought the bolt and nut I needed to finish the break job then went back to Midway to finish up with Dad. All in all it was a great memory for everyone and Jess and Krish said they really did have a good time.

Screaming Eagle

2008-12-10T19:37:00.000-08:00

Here is one of the things that I've been doing with my free time. It took me about 6 months total. Two months on the paint job. A lot of wood on this one so lots of sanding, sealing and glue. The paint job is three different colors of paint. It took hours with an X-acto knife and lots of tape. Now that it is done I can start a new one. I could also finish repairs on the ones that didn't make it whole through the last launch. So in other news I have been working out still but it has been a little hit and miss in the past few weeks due to holidays and illness. Other than that I've just been working. I realized today that I only see 15 minutes of sun light on the days that I work. The last 15 minutes before the sun is set. I don't actually see the sun. Isn't working 1o hour days so much fun. Nothing else to report at this time.

my boring life

2008-09-17T20:20:00.000-07:00

So my life just got a little bit more boring. Now on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I go to the gym right after work and then come home shower do my hair and go to bed. Why is this different you might ask; well I now meet with a personal trainer, Andrew, on Wednesday at 6 PM. Man am I tired. That should change soon but until then 10 hr days followed by an hour or two at the gym is exhausting. But weekends continue to be fun. I'm going camping this weekend just an overnight on Friday but hey it should be great fun. Till next time. Love to all.

Weekend Fun

2008-07-14T19:08:00.000-07:00

So this past weekend I went camping at Rockport State Park. No fire but it was still fun. Saturday was probably one of the most jam packed I've had in a while. I was a supporting spectator while my friends, Elizabeth, Seth, and Julia, did a Triathalon. Then I went to Seven Peaks with Mom, Dad and Kyle for Kyle's last water fun activity before he enters the M.T.C. this Wednesday. Then back to Mom and Dad's for tin foil dinners with everyone but Tyler as he is in Maryland. Next day was of course the "farewell" for Kyle. He gave a great talk and a totally amazing musical number with his friends. After dinner I had to get back to Provo for a meeting. Needless to say I'm so tired. Maybe some day I'll have a digital camera to make this blog thing better until then you get little notes now and then.

Start

2008-06-06T14:10:00.000-07:00

K so here is my first blog. Can't beleive I have been sucked into yet another comptuer fad. But this one might acutally be fun. So I'll try and do stuff everyonce in a while. No promises as my life is very boring.