Usana (Crazy) Fest

This past week my mom had a connection for some free tickets to Usana Fest at the Usana Ampitheatre so I invited a group of friends and up we went. Friends being Breck, Brook, Craig, Dan and Kainoa.

 

After getting very lost, no thanks to Google maps (it landed us in a neighborhood 3 miles away) we made it right in time to hear the Usana CEO singing terrible karaoke and wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. Not to mention all the crazy people they were bringing in by the bus-load surrounding us (like Orem Summerfest crazies). It was all making out for a very interesting night as you can see by the unsure/excited faces below

We heard from Eddie Money, Belinda Carlisle, Collin Raye, Tommy Shaw and Kenny Loggins, and with each performer the talent got better. Once everyone started recognizing songs the evening became more and more fun. We sang and danced the night away and Kainoa made lots of friends

The night ended with some great fireworks and encore performances from everyone. In the end, we had a blast, lots of laughs, and memories we may or may not want to keep of all the crazies.

Group shot showing a small taste of some of our company

random thoughts of the day

- maybe it's not such a bad day if the only bad thing that happened was the Magic Bullet lost its magic or the gluten free wrap I tried eating was just nasty
- gluten free is not that fun, except maybe the bod is looking slightly more svelte with the decrease in carbs
-sometimes people do things even when they say they won't and instead of being upset or trying to read into things, you realize you've said the same thing and you just silently laugh and go with it
- maybe Justin Bieber isn't so bad, and maybe I actually like some of his songs
- I hate swallowing pills and am convinced my throat is going to close and I'm going to get one stuck one of these days
- sometimes the thing you least expect is the best thing for you
- when did I develop such expensive taste in everything?

happenings of late

how is it the end of July and I still feel like summer hasn't quite started? I'll tell you why, I haven't made it to a pool or the lake yet, I've only ridden my (road) bike once, I've only played sand volleyball once; pool, bike, and volleyball have been my summer staples for the past several years. oh, and I haven't planned any summer adventures which means I've been stuck in the office a lot.

it's not my fault, I like to think. I haven't been any busier, I still have great friends that like to do fun things, it's just that I haven't been feeling well since the middle of May. It all started because I got the stomach flu and then dehydration and just couldn't get back to normal. after lots of blood work (followed by passing out), doctors visits, and various scans in May and June the general consensus was, "Everything looks normal, you're okay." Then why oh why did I still feel sick? Like sick enough to miss about 8 days of work and only want to lie in my bed all day everyday.

after being fed up with doctors and blood work I decided to visit with a zonologist my aunt Wendy knows (who has cured her of so many things) because what could it hurt? we drove to Logan to see Sharla and after the most painful foot massage ever (you feel serious pain when she rubs your foot in areas that correspond to trouble areas in your body) she gave me some answers that just made sense. the things she pointed out were things I've been concerned about, however, none of them have shown up in any doctor's visits. she gave me a few things to try with eating habits, supplements and essential oils and even though it's been slow-going, I feel like progress is being made (finally!). I get super tired most days, but the pain is almost gone and I can make it through and I can even have some fun. I'm finally making some summer plans (small plans) because I feel like I can actually stay feeling good for enough hours at a time to be active or have some fun.

so thanks to my health (or lack there of) summer has had a slow start. not all has been lost though, these are the summer activities that still happened even if I wasn't feeling awesome:
- laying out in my backyard with my cute little puppy
- evening walks or cruiser bike rides (Utah summer nights are the best)
- Strawberry Days Rodeo with the friendsies
- outdoor concert on a Provo rooftop
- annual neighborhood on fire celebration complete with homemade ice cream and star sugar cookies
- watching fireworks whenever I can
- smores over fire pits with friends

- and maybe the biggest event of all (which I hope doesn't become an annual summer activity) the wedding of my beautiful little sister. I can't believe she's married, I still see her as a 16 year-old girl but she was a beautiful bride whose crazy (good crazy) style made for one awesome reception (see pictures here by the cute Tracy Hill)

Provo Parking

if you've lived in Provo, you've complained about it - the parking is terrible.

we've all played the games such as moving your car in and out of visitor parking every 30 minutes while visiting someone at Belmont, moving your car out of King Henry parking at 11:00 pm while University Parking does their scan for cars without permits and then moving it back when they've left, or parking on a random street you  hope they don't check - all to avoid a $25 ticket because who wants to park on 3rd north and walk forever to go visit your Arlington friends (obviously, I've spent my fair share of time in the Belmont/Arlington area).

I have found myself pretty lucky to have never received a parking ticket (or speeding ticket) and know that it makes others pretty envious. It seems everyone has been ticketed, booted, or towed, except me...until now.

Here's how it happened. Breck was having a small crisis and since I made it worse after a short phone call I went to visit my favorite Arlington boys. Breck told me about the perfect parking spot - close to Arlington and they didn't ticket/tow until 12:30 AM and no one ever parked there - a dream come true.

I arrived and sure enough the sign said no parking between 12:30 - 5:30 am - how had no one ever thought of this before? I parked, we watched some basketball, solved the problems of the world and then Breck and Alex were kind enough to walk me back to my car.

The whole way to my car we talked about this amazing parking spot and Alex was ready to start using it himself. Around the corner we went, and there it was - the dreaded yellow envelope. We were all completely confused and the only explanation was that I was too far away from the curb (I admit, I'm not always the best when it comes to parking).

We got to the car, I read the ticket and it was for parking in a permit-only zone. I was ticked. I had until 12:30, and it was only midnight. Just as I'm ready to choose my witnesses to call to the stand, we read the sign again. "Parking by Permit Only. No Parking 12:30 AM - 5:30 AM". Oh...Apparently, we only read what we wanted to see and didn't bother with the first and most important line.

so much for an awesome parking spot - you'll just have to keep walking.

The last word

I've come to the realization that I always want to have the last word. Even when I know I should just stop, I keep going until the last word is mine. Why do I do this? I don't know, it's like some nervous tick, like I don't feel at ease until I've said my peace and I make sure I'm the last one to say it. Ok, really I don't know, but I noticed it after a few conversations I had today and needed a place to record that little thought. Anyone else have to have the last word?

Merry Christmas!

So once upon a time I was going to be an awesome blogger, but let's face it, that's not happening. I'll try to update soon; I'm not so sure all of Europe is going to make it. I'll post a few more pictures though.

For now Merry Christmas and Happy New Years! I hope the holiday season treats you well.

numbers over facebook

I've never been a fan of boys getting my number over facebook, I mean where is the effort?

this one was pretty funny to me so I share:

boy: P.s. soo i dont know how to quite ask this(seeing how i dont usually ever do this =-)...(and that i had it once and now i dont) but can i have your number...again?
me: Seeing how you don't usually do this? Um, I believe, Mr. So and So, that this is the third time you have asked for my number over facebook.

maybe that's why it never worked out?

Barcelona - days 1 & 2

Barcelona

after a few scares that I would miss a flight due to gate changes or our friends might miss a flight due to delays we made it to Barcelona on no sleep and tons of excitement.

we checked into the hostel and then took off through the city to see what we could find. we walked down several main streets, through a few cathedrals, lost half our group a few hours into the trip (luckily, they were about 1o minutes behind us on a tour) found the Arc de Triomf; found a youth basketball tournament with NBA posters all over (nice to have a little bit of home there) watched as the locals danced a traditional dance in the streets (hundreds were dancing); and found Sagrada Familia - my highlight for the day. That cathedral is amazing, so much detail and so many stories on one building. I couldn't believe the ideas all came from one architect. we rode the lift to the top and could see all of Barcelona then took the long spiral staircase down - it was cool but a little scary since the center was open and definitely large enough to fall through and it didn't have a handrail.

we ended the day walking around the beach and eating at a nasty buffet (that's what we get for being tired and hungry) and then getting completely lost on the metro before making it back to the hostel for some much needed sleep
the next day we saw some more Gaudi architecture and then went to the beach. even though we were only two days in, a little relaxation was nice. I also got a massage from a nice little Asian lady that put the icing on the cake. we made another not-so-great dinner choice and I ate a full bacon and cheese sandwich; like a pound of semi cooked bacon and cheese that cost like 8 euro.

we then took off for pamplona in our tiny/cute volvos that would be our hostel for two nights :(