Fireworks and Ninjas

This last weekend was Pioneer Day in Utah, which was nice because I love holiday weekends. I spent the entire weekend at a friend's house and had a lot of fun the entire 3 1/2 days I was there. Even though the whole weekend was great I really just want to focus on the events of Saturday night.

Another friend planned a group hike up the neighboring hills and mountains to watch the fireworks from all over the valley. Cool idea, but not quite what people were expecting. We hiked to this spot where we could see the everything for miles and miles (beautiful view, by the way), plopped open some blankets, and waited for signs of a big fireworks show. While we waited, we saw the strobe light effect of the fireworks done at people's homes, the flashing lights of police cars, and the sporadic flash of a larger firework. It was ridiculous. We'd see one big flash and then there wouldn't be another in the same spot until about five or so minutes later. Finally, just before we left, a city further south did an actual show. It was awesome.

After the hike back down, we went to a park to meet up with another group to play some night games. The problem was that we were about an hour late. By the time we got there, the other group was leaving. So, as we were hanging around the park deciding what to do next, I saw some black images moving toward us. At first, I thought they were two horses, but soon realized that they were actually people dressed in all black. I pointed them out to the rest of the group and everyone looked. As they got closer we realized they were dressed as ninjas. There was a line of six of them, and they acted as if they were playing following the leader. They walked along the sidewalk next to where we were, then stopped and faced us. Then turned again and took off running to who knows where. One of the guys in our group ran after them, but couldn't find them. Totally weird. Now, I'm not going to deny that I like to dress up in costumes whenever I have an excuse to do so, but that was just plain odd. Entertaining, but odd.

In the end, it was an entertaining and enjoyable evening, even though the fireworks were a bust and the ninjas were weird. The company, conversation, and jokes made it all worth it.

Rock You Like a Hurricane

This last weekend one of my very best friends, D, got married to an absolutely wonderful guy, J. Since D is from Texas, she decided to get married there in the Houston temple. She really wanted me to go, so I did. It was kind of crazy though because the wedding happened around the same time as Hurricane Alex. It was pouring rain pretty much the entire time I was down there. Not kidding. But miraculously, the rain stopped for about half an hour after the wedding, which was awesome because they were able to take some pictures.


However, there was still an issue with the 100% humidity. As soon as anyone would pull out their camera, the lenses and screens would fog up.


But whatever. The photographer was still able to get some good shots. Now, since they got married in Texas, some of D's siblings wanted to make it a "Texas" wedding. How? The obvious answer...shotgun shells.


They became an official part of the decor for the luncheon. They also made an appearance at the wedding reception, but not in a class vase. The shells were cut and shaped into a lovely bouquet for D's sister, B, to carry around. Go Texas!

Now as I said before, Hurricane Alex was happening at pretty much the same time and because of that, Houston and other areas of Texas were drowning in the downpour.


Luckily I was indoors for that shot. But I was outside for this next one. I cheated by being under the porch though. The rain caused a bit of flooding, as you can see below by looking at "Lake Neighborhood." Luckily we were on the higher side of the street.


Now, my friend had planned to do an outdoor wedding reception at her parents' house. They have a lovely yard, but it was partially under water and the rest was more than sopping wet, and she had no backup plan. So, canopies were set up on the driveway instead. One collapsed because of the rain, but the others stayed strong. There still wasn't enough room for all of the tables though, so the garage was used as well. Things were cleared out of the way and hidden and decorated as much as possible, but it was still a garage. D's nephew and niece decided to make a poster to help decorate the garage and bring some humor to the situation. I thought it was great.


Even though Hurricane Alex messed up quite a bit, the wedding and reception turned out just fine. People still came, and D and J still enjoyed themselves. The most important part is that they were sealed for time and all eternity. Hurricane Alex couldn't mess up that.

Now, the one issue that I have with Hurricane Alex is that because of the extreme wetness and the humidity, all of the bugs were out. In a matter 45 minutes, I received 28 bug bites that still itch 5 days later. Curse bugs.