Woo Hoo!

The Parking wars continue.

This was in the local county paper's online edition.

http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/304537/17/

That's our flower bed with all the mulch in it. Oh, and that sign, is supposed to be facing right. The students did that.

Dissapointing.

Music Monday, as you may or, more likely, may not have noticed, has not been around for a while. The reason for this is contract negotiations. It turns out Youtube has contracts with the major record labels that allow them to show their videos online. The unfortunate part of these contracts is that youtube has been paying money to the record labels EVERYTIME any of the videos was clicked. Youtube, understandably, has been losing a large quantity of money on the venture.

I've been keeping an eye out for more information. I was curious how it was going to turn out. During one of my half hearted attempts to find an update, IU instead found an update about whan of my Favorite bands, BNL.

Last summer, one of the band's lead singers was arrested for cocaine possession and spent six months in jail for it. This is nothing new in the music industry. Several bands have had one member or another with similar issues. BNL, didn't quite survive the ordeal intact. The convicted member, Steven Page, has gone solo. In their press releases they say it was a mutual decision between Page and the rest of the group, and that the four remaining members would continue as BNL.

This weekend, BNL, or what's left of it, released for free online what amounts to a double CD of a live performance at Universal Studios in Florida. It fell flat. No band ever sounds the same live, and they say that they are heading to the studio for a new album, so I'll reserve final judgment till then. At this point, I'm not extremely hopeful, as Steve co-wrote most of the songs, and did a large portion of the lead vocals. Ed Robertson, who did the rest of the vocals can carry most of the songs by himself, but not all.

On the other end, Steven Page released his first Solo Album titled "The Vanity Project". BNL may sound half themselves now, but on his own Page is less than half.

So, I post this video, for what was. Or I would, If the Record Labels had not pulled everything offline when the Youtube contract was up.

Missed the chance.

A Couple of weeks ago, before the spring trip, I posted some photos of the initial "light" work at Oquirrh Mountain. Later that week we drove by and nearly all the lights were finished. It was just after dusk, the sky was powder blue, and the temple was a pale, slight yellow off white. We were in a hurry, And I did not have my camera. All the week before leaving town I kept thinking, I need to get back up there and get that picture.

I didn't. Last night we went up there on the off chance that we had not missed the window. Unfortunately, the lights were off, and probably will not come on again until the open house. So I did some long exposure shots, about 30 Seconds each. I got a couple of stunning shots.



Also, it is possible to see, if you look hard enough, Draper and Jordan River temples from Oquirrh Mountain. On a clear day, with a high power telescope, you could probably see Salt Lake as well. It wasn't and I didn't, so here are the other two. (Click the image for a less fuzzy version with slightly larger size ).

The Epic trip, day five. Homestretch.

That night we stayed with Nathan's parents. We slept for, oh, I can't guess how many wonderful hours. The next morning, off and running again, we pushed our way to San Diego, arriving with plenty of time to do a session.

Sand Diego California Temple, 12:31PM MST

Redlands California Temple, 2:52 PM MST

Las Vegas Nevada Temple, 9:39PM MST
We arrived here with just enough time for a session.

Saint George Utah Temple, 12:19AM MST
At this point, we decided to push on. We had
A couple of ideas floating in our heads, and both required
pushing through the night.

Manti Utah Temple, 3:52AM
About an hour outside of Manti, we reached a decision point.
Literally.
The road from Manti met up with the Spanish Fork Canyon road.
Our original thought was that, with another 6 hours, we could
be home AND have stopped at the Vernal and Provo Temples along the way.
But at that point, we decided we would much rather just head on home.
We ditched the Vernal idea, and went straight for Provo.

Provo Utah Temple, 5:44AM

With our last stop finished, we turned to Nathan's house. We transferred most of my stuff to my car, wich his wife had been using all week, and Then I finished the last 15 minutes alone. All in all, we arrived at Provo 4 days, 23 hours and 15 minutes after leaving my house. Just under 5 days. Anyone who wishes to top our visits and or time will have to have multiple drivers, drive all night, and not actually do any sessions. The advantage to that would mean you could add a state and 4 total temples at bare minimum. Were not gonna try it though. If we ever do this again, we will probably head east.

Episode 6: Return of the Parking Wars

A recent time ago in a city close by, a group of stalwart citizens battle against the scourge of the neighborhood - parking. The battle still rages on many fronts from students to parents to ecclesiastical. The weapons of tickets and words have not yet proved effective as evidenced by the growing mounds of garbage and piling cars. A new hope glimmers on the horizon. The residents continue to band together to bring forth another plea to the illustrious body of elected representatives known as the city council. One noteworthy individual, Brian of the Olsons, ended the series of pleas for help on a spectacular and fitting note. The residents have hope that they soon will be delivered...all is not lost.

Okay, I was nerding it up for Brian's sake. Really, he did a great job. There were a bunch of us there to represent tonight; three people spoke. The first gave a wonderful summary of our position. The second has a fun southern temper...'nough said. And Brian ended it off with a "thanks for what you've done so far; please keep in mind..."
I, like always, am proud of him and his public speaking abilities.

The Epic trip, day four.

We slept at a Rest Area between Oakland and Fresno. As the first post for this trip Attests, we had wifi. Consequently we were rather delinquent about sending ourselves to bed that night. After 5 hours of sleep, we were off and driving again.

Fresno California Temple, 9:12AM MST
My First visit to Fresno!

Los Angeles California Temple, 2:00PM MST

Newport Beach California, 5:52PM MST
We arrived hear with nearly 15 minutes
to spare before the next session.

The Epic trip, day three.

That night, we drove from Portland to about 30 miles outside of Medford Oregon. We spent the night at a rest are and once again, despite being a very light sleeper, and traffic was roaring by, light pouring in through the windows and all, I slept straight through our 5 hour allotted night.

First thing we did upon waking was drive our last half an hour to Medford. Our initial approach to the temple did not look promising. It appeared the lights were not on. As we rounded the last corner towards the Temple, it became apparent that the lights on the bottom half were beggining to light up, and as we pulled into the parking lot, the spire lights were warming up as well. By the time we were ready to take pictures, the lights were full on. Perfect timing.

Have you ever watched the lights come on on a Temple? If you live near one whose lights shut off at night, it's most spectacular in the morning. All artificial lights, even the ones that claim to be true white, shift towards one color or another. That color can be affected by the manufacture, the process they use, or even the batch of bulbs. When the lights first start to warm up, the color is very evident. Splashes of blue, yellow, purple and green, all slowly growing in intensity until they blend to one bright mass of white light.

Medford Oregon Temple, 7:04AM MST

Reno Nevada Temple, 1:23PM MST
It was odd, coming from Portland and Medford
where the grass was green, lush and often soaking wet,
to come to Reno, to find the grass dry and winter crispy.
Especially since our nect stop, three hours away, would
have lush green grass again.

Sacramento California Temple, 6:04PM MST
My first visit to Sacrament ever!
We arrived six minutes before the next session, and upon entering,
we were met by the Temple President who, after shaking our hands,
told us that they would hold the session for us.
We were pretty quick about getting ready and were
not the only ones they were waiting on.

Oakland California Temple, 10:41PM MST

The Epic trip, day two.

We spent the night in Columbia River, or rather Richland Washington, where the columbia River Temple is located. We had taken Nathan's minivan this trip around, This had the advantage of giving us more space to stretchout and sleep than just the front seats. this aspect was acentuated by us removing the seats before leaving town and filling the space with twelve inches of foam pads, sleeping bags and down comforters.

It may just be that I was so worn out, but I slept very soundly that night.

The next morning we attended the temple, took pictures, and were once again on our way.

Columbia River Temple,
9:30Am MST

Spokane Washington Temple,
12:00PM MST
The First Temple on this trip that we had not visited last trip.
Also the first temple on this trip that I had never visited before!

"Every time I come to the temple I feel such a sense of peace...
When I see that their lawn has also been heavily infected with a
winter snow mold."
-me

Seattle Washington Temple,
5:13PM

Portland Oregon Temple,
9:13PM
Unfortunately due to massive traffic in Seattle, we arrived
13 minutes to late to actually Attend the Temple itself.

The Epic trip, day one part two.

Back online! Whoo hoo!

Where was I now. Here we have for you pictures from the Second Half of last Monday.

Idaho Falls Temple, 1:35 PM
As of Yet, Still no night shots.

Rexburg Idaho Temple 2:08 PM
Last time I was up here, I blew out a tire. Nathan's car had no such luck.

Twin Falls Temple, 5:26 PM
Daylight savings time brought us some nice light.

Nathan going for a closeup with my other camera.

Boise Idaho Temple, 7:38 PM.
Did I mention that Nathan's car doesn't overheat either?

Columbia River Washington Temple.
Because of the crossover to another Time Zone, our
12:35AM arrival time was successfully commuted to 11:35.
Unfortunately, that did not bring the outside lights back on.

Olson B&B: Newly Renovated

The Management of the Olson Bed and Breakfast is pleased to unveil their newly renovated room:

Come stay with us and enjoy world famous dining and accommodations.

Guests enjoy breakfast cooked to order, a private bath, and many other amenities.

Call ahead for reservations now!

This room was my other "keep myself busy while Brian is out of town" project. I really like what a few changes can do, even if I am the only one who really notices.

Drama at DI

On my list of things to do today was a trip to DI to donate some of our excess. (I should note that I get the "urge to purge" fairly often. Brian, bless his heart, is very patient and understanding...and usually goes along with me.) Anyway, I had a laundry basket full of items to donate in my trunk. I took the basket out, handed it to one of the personnel and explained that I needed my basket back. As I was driving away, I decided that I could use a new-to-me skirt, so I stopped inside to look.

Success!

Went to put it into my trunk. To my horror, the picture frame and pants I had just bought at Target weren't there.

Okay, breathe Paige.

No big deal. It's been 10 minutes; they have to be in the loading area still. Right?

Bottom line: 15 minutes later after checking EVERY container outside (10 total) and 2 inside, we find them. I had 4 wonderful men searching with me; the women who unloaded my load had just left.

(Now, in the grand scheme of things, this was nothing. I have been laughing at myself for the past hour and thought I would share with anyone who was randomly interested.)


Moral of the story: Make sure nothing is in your trunk besides the donations; the staff are very helpful and go out of their way to get things done...whether you want it or not.

Making our house greener

Here is our "new and improved" spare room.







Our invitation only extends to these types of bugs....we have some others that are trying to crash the party. (I know these models are for kids, but I have so much fun with them.)





On a side note...there is a reason why Brian takes most of our photos; I have more to learn.