A Great Sunday

Sunday was enjoyable. It was my ward's yearly Christmas program. The program was beautiful but the show stopper was the food that are prepared by our Bishops wife. Sister Wellington goes all out with dollar sandwiches, meatballs, and shrimp.After church, I played the wonderful, capitalistic game of Acquire. Kim, Wayne, Trent and I have played Acquire almost every Sunday night since April. It has become quite a tradition that includes the winner taking home a chalice, spontaneous dancing and singing, and dessert.

After Acquire, we accompanied Derek and Joni to see the Washington DC temple lights and watch the Mormon Choir of DC. The lights were beautiful. We also had a chance to see the photographic presentation called the Reflections of Christ. These pictures were taken by a great photographer and crew that produced photographs of the most memorable moments of Christ's life. To see the photos go to the website ReflectionsofChrist.org.

My roommate told me about a house in our neighborhood that we should visit. We drove up to the house that had Christmas lights in what seemed to be in a random blinking order. They had a sign that said "88.1." Once we turned on the radio, the lights were synchronized with the music. I thought it was great that someone would take so much time to bring happiness to others.

Now I am off to Disneyland.....then SLC.....then Idaho.

Thanksgiving Masterpiece

This Thanksgiving Trent and I decided to stay in Arlington and have a big Thanksgiving feast with some our friends. We hosted dinner at my house and were excited to prepare the Turkey, Stuffing, and pie all on our own. I must say that we did a great job!!! Trent arrived on Thursday morning with monkey bread. We ate and then started to prepare the turkey. My favorite part was to lift up the skin and rub herbs on the meat. I was up to my elbows. While I was preparing the turkey, Trent prepared the Chestnut and Apple stuffing. It was superb. No really, it was sooooo good. Then we made a chocolate pecan pie, which was also very, very tasty.

Our friends showed up with yummy food and we all sat at the table and enjoyed fine food and great conversation. Later that night we played some games and watched Wall-e. It was a perfect Thanksgiving.

Our turkey and stuffing

The next day we went to Alexandria's tree lighting festival. By the time we had arrived the tree was already lit. We saw Santa, walked along the cobblestone streets, and drank peppermint hot chocolate. It was another perfect evening.

On Saturday we had tickets to Scrooge the Musical at the Little Theater of Alexandria. Before the show, we had dinner at the Trattoria de Franco, a little Italian restaurant that we pass by all the time. We kept telling ourselves that we would go there some day. Well that day was on Saturday. The restaurant was quaint. I sat next to an open fire all night long as we ate bread, pasta, and canolli. It was great food and a great atmosphere. After dinner, we watched the show. I enjoyed every minute of it!! It was a great way to ring in the Christmas season.

The little restaurant that we enjoyed!

It was a perfect Thanksgiving break. I was able to do a lot of online shopping, watch cheesy Christmas movies, making Christmas music playlists, and eat Thanksgiving leftovers for four days. Awww........... what a great time.

Flowers, Letters, Dancing, and Derek/Joni

Today I just felt like writing on my blog about everyday life. First of all, the flowers above were from Trent. The other day he showed up with flowers on my doorstep. What a great boyfriend!

Lately I have had the pleasure of receiving letters and gifts in the mail by my grandmother. My grandmother and I are a lot alike so it is fun to read what she has to say to me. The most recent letter was about trusting God and putting our lives into His hands. My favorite line is "I always think that if you have your lover and your family, what else do you need?" How funny is it that my grandmother used the word "lover." A few days ago, she sent me homemade suckers in the mail. She is so thoughtful.

Last night was my neighbors birthday party and ...... I danced. If you know me well enough then you know what that means. It had been a long time since I put it out there and danced my heart out. From the mouth of Trent: "I didn't know you liked it so much" and "You can just keep going, can't you?" Well, yes I like it that much and I can dance all night long. That is why I don't get started....because I just can't stop. It was so much fun. All night I kept thinking about dancing with Jen, Leah, and Jon at Leah and Jon's wedding. We danced to Thriller. I miss you guys.

A big CONGRATULATIONS to Derek and Joni who got engaged!!!!! Tonight we went out to celebrate at Morton's Steakhouse. The steak was fantastic and the company irreplaceable. Derek and Joni's story is wonderful. They were good friends for a long time and then one day decided to date and walla here they are. They have been such good friends to Trent and I. They will be very missed when they move back to Las Vegas.

This is a picture of Derek and Joni's first "real" date. I was so happy to have been there.

Halloween 2008

I already miss October. The crisp-not-cold weather, Harvest festivals, and Halloween events. This years festivities started out by Trent and I going on a Haunted Hayride and through a Haunted Barn at Cows-n-Corn. We actually found this terrific place about 50 minutes outside of D.C. It was a beautiful rural area. The haunted hayride was great. There was this little girl that would get scared of everything, especially when all the monsters started to climb up into the trailer. I must admit that I jumped a few times. The haunted barn was completed by a man with a chainsaw. We ended that night in a great, small town pizza parlor.

Halloween night was started off right by free burritos from Chipotle. It was a fantastic deal. If you showed up to Chipotle on Halloween wearing aluminum foil then you received a free burrito. We showed up with our Robin Hood inspired hats.

Then we went to a party thrown by my friend Mary. I went as a Goth School Girl. This was done in order for me to get over my fear of someday having a child dress goth. I am not sure why it bothers me so much. Okay..Okay..I know why it bothers me so much....

Trent and Derek dressed up as the old guys from the Muppet's Show. All night long they would say *funny* jokes about the party and how old they were. It was pretty amusing all night long.
And let me set the record straight. . . I, in no way, was responsible for Trent having a moustache.Our friends Lincoln and Ali showed up as John McCain and Sarah Palin. They were a big hit. Lincoln even sounded like McCain when he talked. Ali, of course, looked great doing her pageant walk.
The next day we and some of our great friends, Kaylyn, Ryan, Derek, Joni, and Joni's awesome friend from Vegas, , went to the Worlds' Championship Punkin Chunkin. We were explained the difference between punkins and pumkins - "Pumkins are for carving and punkins are for chunkin." Now for those of you that do not know what this is let me enlighten you to the sport of punkin chunkin. There are people out there that spend most of their leisure time thinking about and building catapults, canons, and other forms to throw punkins in the air. Now sometimes these do not work as they should. Thus, we had to form a 20 ft clearance just in case the punkin came towards the crowd. This happened a few times and I was scared for my life. I guess death by punkin would not be that bad.

There was also a lot of great people watching. Take this man for example. I loved his bull horn hat and American tie on the back of his head.
That night we were driving home and got a phone call from Derek saying that they had been stuck in a traffic jam for 30 minutes. When were almost near the traffic jam, Trent said "Let's take a differnt route." He typed into Bernard (my GPS) to take another route and we were off. It sent us on a great trip through the country side. At one point, we came to an old, metal, one-way bridge. Then as we were driving up a hill, we came upon an old couple petalling on a tandom bike. It was like we'd had gone to heaven.

Tennessee

Two weekends ago my parents flew into D.C. The next day they fixed my broken car window and then we drove to Tennessee. (It is a good thing that they fixed the window since I was pulled over by a police officer on our drive down there and not to mention when I was pulled over again just a few days after for having no brake lights....my parents fixed that too.)

Tennessee is beautiful in the fall. The leaves were beginning to change and the humidity was low. The whole reason for our trip to Tennessee was to do some family history. We had a lot of relatives in the Knoxville area. Our first morning there, we took a drive through the back country of Tennessee. We ended up at a beautiful dam were we hiked up a trail to our family cemetery. It was a small and simple cemetery but it was great to be there. That was until we discovered that they might not be "our family" at all. That is right...the tombstone of my great-great-great grandfather said that he died six years before my ancestor was born. Oh, my...what a scandal. I wish I knew more.

After leaving the cemetery (feeling lost because we don't know who, genetically-speaking, we are anymore), we drove to an old church that our ancestor built. It is right across from the home where two of our ancestors were murdered. This was a perfect trip for Halloween with all the mystery and mayhem.

my parents walking to the cemetery

The beautiful scenery near the cemetery

Part of the cemeteryWe found this gem in the back country near the old church. Look close to the scarecrow. He is a stuffed man with a wolf head. We laughed so hard when we saw this that we had to take a picture. The kids living in the home behind it came out to see why we had stopped at their home. The home had garbage strewn all over, multiple trailers, and a billy-goat on top of a hay bale. I kid you not.

*

Then we drove to Gatlinburg, Tennessee in the Great Smokey Mountains. It was a beautiful drive...until you reach the most amazing strip of entertainment in Pigeon Forge: there was at least 15 places to go-cart, an upside down mansion, and all kinds of rides. At the end of the strip was mecca: Dollyworld. Gatlinburg was much more quiet yet still a bit touristy. We went on a ski lift ride to see the city. Then we made our way over to Hillbilly Golf. In order to get to the course, they put you in a lift that takes you to the top of the large hillside. The mini golf traps included kegs of beer, tractors, wagons, and outhouses. And, of course, I won.

The view of Gatlinburg

The next day was my parents 33rd anniversary. We started out the day by driving to the Great Smoky Mountains and going to an area called Cades Cove. This is where some of the first settlers in the area lived. There are still some remaining structures that you can visit. This was a popular attraction. Every where you went you were behind a steady stream of cars. My father could not believe it.

That night we celebrated my parents anniversary on a Tennessee riverboat dinner cruise. We had some good food and a nice time on the river. At one point, we were recreating the front of the boat scene from The Titanic ("I feel like I am flying.") and then all of a sudden the song from Titanic came on the overhead. We laughed so hard.

It was a wonderful trip and I was so happy to see my parents. It was exciting to get out and experience a new place with them. My dad says that next time we'll have to go to Boston. Dad - book your tickets!!!

Uta Becomes an Environmentalist

It is apple picking season again. I love this tradition that I have made in my life. This year we went to the same orchard as last year. It was a beautiful crisp morning. You could practically smell fall. While I was in the orchard, I had some great time to separate from the rest of the group (okay I got lost). I walked down an old dirt road surrounded by trees. I followed all the signs pointing me to the Pumpkin Patch. As I found the pumpkin patch, I became so excited for fall! I guess that feeling stuck with me because that night I baked 2 apple pies, pumpkin-chocolate chip cookies, and banana bread. It was a great evening.

As we were standing in line to pay, I saw the following sign:


Wait a minute. Isn't Uta the same person that was telling us last year about how organic fruits were a crock. She filled our heads with ideas of how we need pesticides. She did not sound very green back then. Uta has become an environmentalist.

It's Hot, It's Humid, It's Hanna

DC was promised that Tropical Storm Hanna would bring us a lot of rain and wind. In celebration of my childhood rainy days, I decided that I wanted a Saturday full of rainy day activities. It first started with having some good dinner and then we played the game Trent taught us: Fraggle Rock (okay, okay...it's called Farkle.) But don't you agree that there is just something to the name Fraggle Rock? Joni and Derek must think so because they brought a pan-sized cookie that had "Fraggle Rock" written in frosting. We watched the BYU football game. As a proud Cougar, I have to say that BYU deserved to win that game. After the game, the lights in my home went out. After telling some ghost stories we decided to play the game Clue under flashlights and candles. It was Professor Plum with the candlestick in the kitchen. I was the master detective.

It was a perfect Saturday!

Hick Festival 2008

My weekend was the perfect blend of relaxation, laughter, sleep, and travel. It started on Friday. I watched a movie in the morning, did some last minute errands, and packed for my trip to West Virginia. On our drive up we listened songs such as Country Roads, West Virginia Serenade, and International Harvester. We arrived at our cabin and it was everything I was hoping for...and more. It was beautiful, spacious, it had a hot tub, and was situated on the bottom of a ski slope.

Saturday was the big day - Hick Fest 2008. We all got dressed up in our most country threads. I think that Trent had the best outfit - Cutoff jeans, camo shirt, and a cowboy hat. Oh my... just what I thought I was leaving behind in Idaho. On our way to the Hick Fest, we stopped off at the Dollar General to pick up some country clothing for some of our friends. Trent and Kim bought American Flags that hooked onto our car windows. As we were driving our flag fell off. Our friends behind us saw what happened and they turned around to retrieve our flag. We fixed it on to our window and we were proud to roll up to the Hick Fest. We arrived just in time for ax throwing, log cutting, the child's beauty contest, and ice cream eating contest.

This year they did not have a talent show but instead they had karaoke. Everyone that participated got their name put into a hat and they would draw out a winner. Trent was very excited to sing and he did a great job. Everyone gave him a roaring applause. I yelled out "That's my boyfriend" in my best West Virginia accent. A few of our friends sang other wonderful songs. Then I decided that I would also participate. Now this is a big deal for me. I have never sung a solo in front of more than 4 people... and that was just in a car. This was the big time. I decided that I had to make up for what I lacked in talent with personality and my knowledge of people. As I entered the stage, I was so nervous. I told the crowd that I picked my song because I love this country (they were mine at that point.) I sang God Bless the USA. All of my friends stood up when I sang "Stand up with you today." Then other people in the crowd started to get into it. A man started to wave his lighter and some women were swaying and pointing at me as if they were saying "You da man." I finished and I felt so embarrassed but happy. At the end of the event, they called out a name to say who won...it was me!!! Unbelievable. It was a $50 check from the Rotary Club.

This woman would point at me while I was singing. She loved the song.

It cashed.

On Sunday, we went to church in Elkins, WV. We attended Sacrament and Sunday School. Sunday School was a big treat. There was a woman sitting behind us that obviously did not understand social cues. She would just blurt out things like "I can't even get a ride to the temple." For more on this please see Derek's blog. The most embarrassing part of Sunday School is when I was jabbing Trent when someone in the room said something funny. All of a sudden the teacher asks Trent, "She keeps hitting you, doesn't she?" Then the social cues lady pipes up and asks "Are you two together?" I kept my mouth shut and pretended it all did not happen. Later that day we went to Blackwater Falls. The falls and the look-out were beautiful.

On Monday, we had a lazy morning full of HGTV and breakfast. Derek, Joni, Trent and I took the ski lift up to the top of the mountain and hiked around the mountain. We could see the entire valley and the ski lift was relaxing. Then we played 18 holes of Putt-Putt Golf. It was the most rugged mini golf I had seen. The fake grass was coming up at the edges, they had painted in water and sand, and the holes were chipped cups. Due to the poor hole conditions, we called our game the Rugged Cup. At the end of the game, I beat Trent by one.

It was a wonderful weekend with great friends. Also, it felt a lot like home. There was a lot of camo.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Why haven't you blogged?
A. I have things.

Q. What "things" keep you away from blogging?
A. I have been working, playing, and relaxing. It has been a great summer. I am learning to play tennis and it is my goal to play three times a week. I am also getting pretty good at scrabble and acquire. As I currently write this, I am the reining champion of both games. I have been watching a lot of the Olympics and HGTV.

Q. What fun things have you done lately.
A. Let's focus on this weekend.
On Thursday Trent and I went to a nearby park amphitheater. There was a free performance of 1776-the musical. We ate some yummy food and enjoyed the show. Who knew that John A. and Ben F. were such good singers and liked to swear. I also gained a great quote that I enjoy saying sarcastically "To your legal mind and brilliance I defer." It was such a great time and the very reason that I love living in DC. Not to mention the fun people watching that occurs -a man and woman that wore "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" shirts.



This Friday Trent and I went out with our friends Derek and Joni. We took the metro to Ben's Chili Bowl to get a true DC experience. When we arrived, the line was outside and down the block. I had never seen this many people there. Come to find out, we had come on the 50th anniversary of Ben's Chili Bowl. We even got stickers! That night we went to a theater to watch Get Smart. There were only about twenty people in the audience. As we were almost to the end of the movie, the film stopped. All of a sudden a girl jumped out of her seat and ran to the projector room. Then the film began to burn. You could see it burning and melting away on the screen. It looked like a burning liquid. It was the best part of the movie. We were told there was chaos in the control room but we would get free movie passes. We were laughing so hard all the way home. We talked about Idaho words such as Jockey Box (glove compartment for all you not from Idaho.) I am the jockey.

Conviently our stickers were able hold our free movie passes.

Saturday I woke up and went to the temple. I had a great time doing intiatories. Then I had some errands to run in order to get ready for the Hick Fest next weekend. Look for that post later!

Let's Stay Together

Wolf Trap

So there I was, driving in Baltimore. It was March 1, 2005. I was turning 25 years old and was in serious reflection about my first 25 years of life and what I wanted in my next 25. I was listening to a college radio station that plays new upcoming music. Then a song came on the radio: Keep it Loose, Keep it Tight by Amos Lee. In an instant, I was in love. I sent myself on a mission to find his CD. I listened to it and nothing else for at least three weeks. My love affair with his music has continued and I finally got the opportunity to see him in concert.

Amos was playing with Al Green. Now, for those of you that don't know who Al Green is (apparently there are many people who do not.) He sang such soul hits as Let's Stay Together, Tired of Being Alone, and Here I am. I knew that this would be a great concert due to facts that Amos is fantastic and Al Green would bring out some fun people to watch. Both performers put on a great show. Al Green was especially a hit. He got up on stage and all the women screamed. He followed up his entrance by handing out single red roses to women and then kissing them. Oh, what a romancer! However, there was one of his fans that I did not expect. He was a tall, big, bald headed man that had a shaggy beard. Oh, he loved Al! He stood the entire time just swaying and cheered.

This video was of our view the entire night: the bearded man.