Hiking the Y

It is still amazing to me that only about a 20 minute drive from my home I can be at the trailhead of this wonderful hike! I've hiked it by myself a lot, but before blogging I never tried to create a memory of it.

Sorrow is born in the Hasty Heart...

... or so the play "The Hasty Heart" tries to refute. I received 3 tickets to any 2008 shows as a Christmas present from the Willes. I went to "Don't Drink the Water" in February by myself and decided I didn't really want to go to another play by myself if I could help it. So for the next play I sent out an invitation to my FHE group. I was really excited that 6 others wanted to come! We went last night to see the play at Orem's lovely theater-in-the-round Hale Center. I say 'lovely' because although the stage was awesome (as always) and the setting is a small, cozy theater, the physical condition of the theater itself is deterioating. We sat on the top row and got a close view of the leaky roof. Hard not to be worried about injesting mold or a cave-in.

While taking these pictures before the play started we worried we were disrupting the theater and that they were going to throw us out. Which is why we didn't take too many shots. Our flash was lighting up the stage, which was suppose to be setting the abiance of a hospital barracks at night.

Ryan, Stacey and Me

Brian, Lindsay, Ryan and Stacey

(not pictured: Molly, because she came later)

Hailey's First Time Swimming

Last Friday I got to go with my friend Dawna and her 2 little daughters; Izzy and Hailey to the swimming pool. It was 4-month-old Hailey's first time swimming and she loved it. It was fun to have her smiling and kicking non-stop in the water. Even Izzy got more brave the longer we were there.



Dawna is my oldest friend. We met when were were about 2 years old, in nursery at church back in Chicago. Sunday night I got to go down to Dawna's mom, Leona's house and spend time with the whole family. For me it is a real treat to be with people that knew my mother, because it doesn't happen very often here in Utah County.

Grilling up something good

I love to cook on the grill and I like to try new things. So I just tried grilling asparagus.

Very YUMMY! It had a different but good taste from just steaming. I used spears to stick them together like a fence. This not only kept them from falling in the grill, it made them much easier to turn. Brush with a little EVOO and some S&P and put them on the grill.

Breathing is optional

This summer and last I've been swimming laps at my Orem City Scera Swimming Pool. I'm addicted. I swim 2-3 times a week. Last year it was a huge accomplishment to get to 800 meters (half a mile) for one workout. This year I do atleast 1,000. It is fun to see improvement.

I don't have pictures of me swimming, but I took some of the pool. I love being here. Below are the two lap lanes. Which are my roped off domain in the pool. I've joined the veteran swimmers in getting very onry with kids cutting in the lap lanes.

Doesn't it just make you want to go swimming right now?

New Experience

With my cousin Jonathan and his wife Chelsea in town from Chicago, I got to hang out with my cousins. Technically they are my 3rd cousins but they include me as family and I let them. After a great meal at Cafe Rio we went over to Pudding on the Rice.I had never been to Pudding on the Rice before and was truly a little hesitant. Rice for dessert sounded pretty gross. I ordered a chocolate something with white chocolate-chips in it. It was sorta tasty. It was like a thick, rich pudding. If you like pudding more than ice-cream you would love it. However if I had a choice I would still choose ice-cream. Pudding on the Rice does win points for being a really cool techno atmosphere. Here we are:

(Left to Right: Jonathan, Keri, Becca, Jori, Matt and Me)

(Left to Right: Matt, Keri, Jonathan, Chelsea and Becca)

Now I Found It

In 2007 I upgraded my cell phone to a Razr and then 2 weeks later lost it. When I went back to T-Mobile they said it would be another 2 years before I would qualify for an upgrade and if I wanted a new phone now I would have to pay full cost. At that time Razrs were just over $200. So I went back to my old phone with the crack in the front screen and set out to make it 24 months.
But after 14.5 months I dropped the old phone one more time and the flip part was seconds from falling off. I had to get a new phone. I called T-mobile and cut a deal with them and I got a new Razr for $10.

However before it came in the mail... I finally found my lost original! After 14.5 months I took the mattress and boxsprings off my bed and there is was about 2 feet under the bed. If only I had found it 5 days earlier.