A River Runs Through It

I picked up an old copy at Deseret Industries because I had never read this book before. I'm exactly half way through the book and so far there have been a lot of one-liners that make me laugh or make me think. Closer to the beginning on page 41 there was an entire paragraph that touched me in some way.... I'm still not sure how it touched me but I definitely wanted to share it. If you don't get anything out of it, well, that's okay because I re-read it a few days later and it didn't "touch" me as much. And that's the end of my ramble, take it or leave it.

"Even though Paul must have had three or four fish by now, I took my time walking down the trail, trying with each step to leave the world behind. Something within fishermen tries to make fishing into a world perfet and apart-- I don't know what it is or where, because sometimes it is in my arms and sometimes in my throat and sometimes nowhere in particular except somewhere deep. Many of us probably would be better fishermen if we did not spend so much time watching and waiting for the world to become perfect." -- Norman Maclean

Frisbee Golf

In our free time Jake and I have been playing frisbee golf. Yes, this "sport" actually exists. When I heard about it I thought to myself, "only in Utah...." The course has 18 holes (or baskets) over many lovely acres of land in a city park.













My frisbee is pink. The TeeRex.
And Jake's is blue. The Wraith.


I'm not a very good putter but the distance of my drive is greatly improving. Jake is pretty good but every great throw is followed by a "no big deal." There are some people who show up to the course with special frisbee golf bags filled with 20-something frisbees of different sizes and weights. These people are insane.

45 minutes.... each way.

It's official. I'm a commuter. Today was my first day of work-- in Salt Lake. As I left at 5:00 p.m. my mind was wandering, reflecting on my morning and I was smiling to myself. Then all of a sudden I was wishing I had stuck the camera in my purse to catch this moment, not because it was wonderful, but because the exactness of angles caught my attention really fast. I found myself surrounded on each side of the car, in a perfectly symmetrical pattern, by four smelly semi=trucks! Very smelly! Since I had to use the 4-70 A/C (in other words, our car doesn't have air conditioning) I was huffing and puffing the whole way home.

It was just too odd to me, how these trucks were perfectly aligned with each other, and me in the middle of them. Boring story? Sorry, that's the life of a commuter.

the Band

Jake has been practicing with a band, The Mckay Stevens Project, since we've been back in Utah. They've played a few local shows and I think they're creating somewhat of a following. Just this last time did I remember to bring the camera.














Mckay is one of Jake's old high school buddies. He does most of the vocals and plays guitar.


Then there's Ed who was a roommate of Jake's at BYU-Hawaii. He does back up vocals, guitar and keyboard.







And on the drums is another man by the name of Jacob. He's from this area and he loves what he does-- drumming.



Then there's the Jake that I'm in love with. Sometimes he rocks it on the electric.... but he seems more 'Jake' to me when he plays the upright bass.

20 reasons why I'm LAME

I guess I got tagged a while ago and didn't even realize it! Yes, I'm lame like that. So.... here it goes.

1. I have been trying to learn Spanish since 7th grade (13 years). Every time I hear spanish around me I stop what I'm doing to see how much of it I can pick up. Still not very much.

2. I know all the words to Saved By the Bell's theme song and if I had time, I would continue to watch that show every day.

3. I try to cook new recipes all the time but they NEVER come out right. I don't taste the food while it's being prepared to see if it needs more pepper, salt, etc. I just want the flavor to surprise me once it's finished, but the surprise never turns out to be good. You ever hear of Apple Ginger Chicken Stir Fry? Somebody, somewhere probably made it pretty good once.

4. I start a new exercise program every week.... because the previous programs only ever last one or two days.

5. I'm obsessed with flossing my teeth. It happens at least every other day, sometimes more. And I could never, ever fall asleep without brushing my teeth. I might lie awake for hours before I finally just get out of bed to go brush my teeth and get it over with.

6. I never knew that electric lawn mowers existed until my 25th year of life. I have always enjoyed mowing the lawn until now, when I have to constantly move a cord out of the way. Vacuuming is enough!

7. I wash dishes constantly. Like if I'm cooking and I get done with a spoon, I like to wash it right then. It would be easier for me to dirty all the dishes and clean them later all at once, but I don't. If Jake is in the kitchen cooking with me I'll wash a bowl that he hasnt' finished using. He'll look for it then dirty it again. I wash it again and he might even use it a 3rd time before the meal is ready.

8. I really enjoy plucking my eyebrows. It's soothing or something, so I always look forward to it.

9. I like making homemade cards for birthdays and anniversaries but I have never been real artsy crafty. So people always get ugly cards from me.

10. I finally convinced Jake to start playing tennis with me. I played in high school and he has never played. After about 5 games he was beating me.

11. I have a day planner in my purse that comes almost everywhere with me but I end up scratching out the dates and writing in new ones over and over again on the same page because I hardly use it.

12. I won't drink soda because it has too much sugar but I'll eat yogurt (that has even more sugar) because the commercials make it seem like a healthy snack.

13. Sometimes I'll find a random box of my old clothes from high school. They were pretty hip back in the day so I'll put something "cool" on for a night out on the town. Jake is like "what are you wearing?!" What-- purple Skecher boots aren't cool anymore?

14. After seeing an episode of the Brady Bunch where Jan tried to put lemon juice on her freckles to make them go away, I tried it many times.

15. Whenever I'm bored I check my horoscope on Yahoo's website. Then I actually contemplate it long enough to make some sort of stretched match to my current life.

16. I pray every night for motivation to read my scriptures more consistently, but it's usually after I'm in bed and under the covers.

17. I have put an insane amount of time into making my resume. It is way too professional looking for the actual material it contains.

18. It took me 8 months to figure out how to put a background on my blog, and that is still the most exciting 'computer thing' I know how to do.

19. I check Craigslist every day for free stuff in my neighborhood.

20. I think showering takes too much time. I can go four or five days just by overloading on deodorant and perfume and putting baby powder in my hair to take away that greaseball look. Day 5 is usually a Sunday and I'm pretty sure I embarass my husband.

Always Mr. Fix-it!

Voila.... we've got bikes for summer cruisin'!

Food Dehydrator

You know it! We got this baby at Deseret Industries for $6 smackaroos!

Four lovely layers of bananas, apples, kiwi, cantaloupe, and, well.... the fruit leathers didn't turn out how I had hoped. I never grew up in Utah, how am I supposed to know how to create perfect homemade fruit leathers!? Where I come from they are called fruit roll-ups!

Just like the movies!

This is the view from our front window. We have a radically large window in our front room. We just sit on the couch and watch crazy things happen. It's better than television!






And here is a view from the street, so obviously some people catch us watching them. I had to blot out the address by the front door because apparently there are weirdos out there who shouldn't know where we live.



We see a million joggers and bikers everyday. Last week we even saw a pig running down the street (mind you, this is not Taylor, Arizona so it was kind of a big deal to see something like this in downtown Provo). We saw a fat white kid give a little hispanic kid the biggest wedgie that ever existed. And my favorite.... I saw our neighbor walk over and look both directions down the street before looking in our trash can! She shut the lid and then saw me watching the whole ordeal from the living room couch. She looked down at the street quickly, pretending not to see me and then walked way too nonchalantly back into her house.

Speaking of the Canyon....

Jake and I took a lovely Sunday drive last week. It was sprinkling outside but I thought this first picture (taken from a ghetto camera while the car was going too fast) turned out kinda cool.






























Getting Jake to smile 2 out of 3 times are the best odds you can ask for.



However, he is quite the chef and he made me a super awesome birthday cake last week. It was a "Better than you-know-what Cake" and I loved it! Now if you don't know what I'm talking about, I just feel plain sorry for you because this is the best cake you'll ever taste. We survived off of the leftovers for the following 5 days.... and then we made another one this week. :)

Oh, I'm just being picky now.

Well I had a job interview for a full-time position with Whole Foods (used to be Wild Oats) over in Park City. I drove up to Salt Lake first to do some business, then I went over to Park City. The drive was GORGEOUS! I must have picked the perfect day for that drive because I fell in love with Utah all over again! The lakes, the trees, the snow caps and leaves!!!! It was such a beautiful and peaceful experience that I had to make a New Post out of it!

Then the interview went well, so well that the manager offered me the job on-the-spot. I told him I'd get back to him by the end of the day and I took the journey home. The drive home was just as spectacular! This time I took the back way into Heber and then through the Canyon. I couldn't get enough of this scenery!!!! I was jealous of everyone who was just "hangin" out in Park City. I thought.... yep, this is the life. People driving their big fancy cars, shopping at Whole Foods, taking some bikes our for a cruise, maybe a picnic around the lake, and then back to a 5 star hotel for a nice sleep in an oversized, oversoft bed.

I had almost convinced myself that taking this drive through the canyon everyday, though a little bit long, was very much worth it because it is also SO beautiful. Then it hit me. Right as I was driving out of the mouth of the canyon snowflakes started hitting the windshield. WHAT!?!? It's June 3rd. NO SNOW ALLOWED! There's no way I would survive that drive come October 31st.... because we all know the first snow always hits Utah Valley on Halloween. I was irate.

There is no way to change this weird phenomenon that happens time and time again. HOWEVER, I do have the power to change my future. I WILL NOT be driving through the Canyons of ice and car wrecks this Hall-o-ween. I'll just have to find a job somewhere else.