I want glow-in-the-dark undies too!

I've moved back to Portland now; going back to school and being with the family for a while. It's been nice so far and it is such a beautiful city. What amazing city would be complete without it's characters and creeps? Being back I'm reminded of just how "quirky" P-town is and how much I love it that way.
One of my favorite "characters" I recently met while filling out job applications at Pudding on the Rice. I went in for a snack and sat at a little table next to a mom and her two boys while I caught up on paperwork. After the older kid scarfed down his rice pudding that, oddly enough, tasted "like CANDY!!!!" it was time for them to get going. While Mom was cleaning up the younger one and getting the stroller ready, little big brother came right up to my table and quite seriously exclaimed "Guess what? I have glow-in-the-dark underwear!" He continued to explain how cool his underwear was and the detailed pictures that really did glow-in-the-dark but, unfortunately I lost focus after that first line. At this point, I was just trying to keep a straight face to look like I understood the serious awesomeness of his undergarments and that they were no laughing matter. Wow. I want some.

Where the Angels apparently Land

My dad came to visit at the beginning of June and we took off for a much needed adventure in Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks. I was excited to hike Angel's Landing again and thought I would blaze up it as well as I did last summer with some friends. As I soon found out, graveyard shift really takes a toll on your hiking ability, as does sleep deprivation. Though it was a lot cooler this time of year, I was really irritated in my lack of energy and the stupid attempts at passing out my body kept trying.


We made it up the switch-backs in a fair amount of time and then came the fun part: 1/2 mile of rock climbing and guide chains along the ridge. My dad was not as enthusiastic about this section of the hike as I was. He thought we were at the top after we reached the first plateau and after seeing the rest of the climb on the edge of the Earth, his response was a very surprised and slightly nervous "oh sh**."

We took pictures at the top and re-fueled- we were joined by chipmunks I wanted to put in my pocket and take home with me. I'd probably be able to fit a few in a hamster cage in my room... We made our way back down and did a few more hikes around the park- dad had a few pictures from when I was about 1 year old and he and my mom took me camping there and he wanted to re-visit the photo sites. :)

Next we went to Bryce canyon an took a day to rest- my body was not happy and i had blisters from my dumb Chacos that don't fit right. The next day we did another pretty dramatic but not as long hike that went down into the canyon and back out. It wasn't too bad but still a bit painful and the feet. We took a scenic way back to Provo and spent the next day showing Dad the Alpine loop and a yummy El Salvadorian restaurant on Center St. The weekend was short, tiring, and way fun!

Sadie Got Married!

One of my all-time favorite roomies and best friend is now roommates with a boy. A very nice boy, though. I went up to Sadie and Abe's wedding at the Twin Falls Idaho LDS Temple a few weeks ago and got to see her for the first time in months. She moved down to Tucson to finish her dietetics degree in August, and what do you know, she met her new husband a few weeks later. He took her on a motorcycle ride for their first date...not too shabby. Anyway, she was absolutely beautiful and it was great to see her family and my friends Pamela (in pic, she was also our roomie and Sadie's roommate before that) and her husband, Tod.

UT-AZ-CA-UT

For what was probably my only vacation-style road trip for the summer, I hitched a ride with a friend-couple of mine and a cooler and headed to the beach (by way of Tucson). The first day we drove to AZ to catch a wedding anniversary party for one of Rich and Kirsti's friends. It's a good thing we didn't get to Tucson until the evening since we discovered our a/c wasn't working at all...

The next day while Rich and Kirsti were at the party, I volunteered to get the a/c fixed since we suspected it was just a re-charge that was needed. However, that turned out not to be the case. After taking the car to a couple different shops, I wandered around in the sizzling Arizona heat trying ot find something to do while the car was getting fixed. I settled on a pedicure, then a box of lime popsicles from Trader Joe's for lunch. After about 3 hours the car was finally done and I shared the backseat with the cooler again as we drove a refreshing 8 hours to LA.

Kirsti was nice enough to get me a cup of english mints from the party to enjoy on the trip, two of which rolled between me and the seat and were smashed there for a few hours until we stopped for gas. That was a fun clean up. I had chocolate smashed all across my shorts and on the back of my shirt due to trying multiple times to find a comfy position. Luckily, I had chosen to wear my chocolate brown shorts that day anyway. :)

We surprised Kirsti's mom for mother's day and went to Knott's Berry Farm (I am WAY more sensative to roller coasters these days) that weekend. Being the fan of water that I am, we hit up one later in the afternoon. It ended up being our last. Kirsti and I were having a great time watching Rich get splashed the whole time whiel we stayed relatively dry. We stayed on to go a second time and this time Kirsti got a little more action from the waves. I made it through with the least amount of wetness... until the last 2 yards before the exit ramp when we hit a random lip and a huge wave came up and over our raft and collapsed on ME. I went from being perfectly dry to essentially soaked at the very last second. Figures.

My favorite part of the trip was our afternoon at the beach. We boogie-boarded and roasted hotdogs on a fire (the best way to eat hotdogs in my book) while the sun set. I wish we could have been there longer; I love the beach and Utah doesn't seem to have any. Bummer. Overall, it was a nice vacation away from the valley and I even got to drive on the way back.

Hot Air Ballooning

I work with a woman who does scheduling for a local hot air balloon pilot. He just got a new huge balloon (you could fit a small house inside, yet amazingly it fit into a duffle the size of a luv-sac) and was giving deals to a certain number of riders if we signed up on time. So, as expected, I jumped on that chance. Early this morning my friend Katie and I took a ride. Another bucket list item checked off for me! Also, they had the passengers help inflate and take down the balloon which was a very windy yet amusing experience. And cell phones work quite well up there too. One of my proudest moments was when I finally spit on a car after only 3 tries. I am truly my dad's kid.

I finally gave in.

The idea of blogging has never been appealing to me, personally. However, because I like to take pictures and seem to have quite a few ironic and/or odd experiences in my life that I like to share with my family (who live a few states away) I figured I'd shares those on a blog. It's simpler in the long run, I guess. Hope you enjoy!