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.

Thanks BSB, well for the most part

A couple of months ago, it was my friend D's birthday. My friend, C, thought that it would be a great idea to get her tickets to the Backstreet Boys concert since D is still a HUGE fan. I agreed, and so did another friend, J. We decided to get her two tickets and she could take whomever she wanted. She LOVED the gift, but could not decide who to take with her. I recommended she take a niece since they are fans too. Instead she bought two more tickets and invited C, J, and myself to go. I wasn't too excited about it because I used to be a fan, but it's been a long time and I don't really listen to their music anymore. But, I couldn't say no. So we all went and, for the most part, it actually turned out to be quite a bit of fun. Let me explain why.

Not fun: The ticket said 7:30. To most people they would interpret that as the time that the concert would start, but no. It's actually the time that they decided to let everyone into the Energy Solutions Arena. Then the opening act was not an opening act. It was their dj. It was fine for the first 5-10 minutes, but after 40 or so minutes it was long past time to be done. If I wanted to just listen to a dj, I could have just gone to one of the FREE dances at the school where I work. Oh wait! I just did the week before. The really annoying part was when the crowd would kind of die out he would shout into his microphone, "Are you ready for the Backstreet Boys?" The first time the crowd screamed and roared in anticipation, but then he just kept on going. By the fourth time, we had all had enough of his lying. But that wasn't the end of it. When the dj was finally done we had to wait 20 more minutes before the Backstreet Boys even came out. Lame! If I would have known that they wouldn't have come on stage until 9 pm, I wouldn't have shown up until 9 pm. Seriously, BSB, you can do better than that. I know it's been a while, but couldn't you have gotten a better opening act?

Fun: Once the Backstreet Boys finally came on stage and performed, I was taken back to my youth and sang along with the ones I knew.

So, lesson to be learned: never have a dj as your opening act.

Crappy Computers

So, I really hate computers right now (even though ironically enough I'm using one to post this). My laptop decided to go on the fritz last week. REALLY bad timing, by the way because of my MA project that I need to finish immediately. It started slowly and will now no longer boot up. I called tech support and was on the phone with them for about 2 hours, which was bad because it was already 10 pm, I was tired and frustrated, and the guy was just reading prompts (no effort to be personable). We tried all sorts of things, but nothing worked. Finally, the guy said to do a hard disk test which would take over an hour and then to call them back. I did the test, but was so tired and cranky that I decided not to do so. He called back on Friday, but was not in the mood to deal with my computer so I didn't answer. He called back Saturday. I didn't hear my phone, so obviously I didn't answer; however, I knew I needed to call. So I did and had a much better experience. The guy was very friendly, made conversation, and helped me order a recovery disc since nothing else worked. It was done in about 20 minutes or less. So, the disc should be arriving within the next day or two. I'll try it out and if it doesn't work, I'm SO having them send me a new one since it's under warranty. I think that's the most frustrating thing; I haven't even had it for an entire year and it totally died.

Anyways, I just want to say thanks to tech support people who are friendly and care about the customer, or at least are really good at pretending to. It makes the process a whole lot easier on both sides (at least when the customer isn't a big jerk, like some are).

Jewelry

So, one of my ultimate favorite hobbies is to make jewelry. I absolutely love it. So much so that I have a jewelry cabinet furniture thing instead of a jewelry box. I just go through these phases sometimes when I make several necklaces and then take a break for a month or so and make tons again and so on. Because of my love for making jewelry I usually make it for my friends as gifts. My most recent creation is a wedding necklace for a friend of mine who is getting married. While shopping for a dress she found a necklace that she liked and I told her I could make one like it. We talked about a few revisions and here is how it turned out:

I'm pretty proud of it and she loves it. Success!

So, I figured, while I'm showing you that one I may as well show you a few others. Some of these are recent and others are a little older, but I wanted to show varying styles. So, here you go.

I love Sheldon!

This last week I finished watching the second season of Big Bang Theory. Frickin' hilarious show. My brother and sister-in-law introduced me to it a little while ago and I've been netflixing it. I haven't been able to watch any of the third season because I don't have TV, but I thought I would post my favorite Sheldon moments from the first two seasons, giving those of you who have seen it a happy moment in your day and for those of you who haven't seen it a glimpse of my favorite character in the show. So, here's the countdown of my favorite moments:

#9 Being caught in a loop in his "how to make friends" algorithm.

#8 Sheldon, defending his point that he could be batman, saying, "I'm batman."

#7 Rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock

#6 In a drunken state, singing a song from Fiddler on the Roof in a restaurant.

#5 Going to a Renaissance fair dressed as Spock.

#4 Forcing smiles when Raj is in People magazine.

#3 Soft Kitty, twice.

#2 Being defeated in the neighbor battle with Penny by receiving a phone call from his mom.

#1 Receiving the used napkin signed by Leonard Nemoy.

Trip to Jersey

So, I love Jersey and I love visiting Jersey. Two reasons why: my brother and sister-in-law and their kids live there, and I served my mission there. Wonderful place. I did a lot of fun things: celebrated S's birthday, went to Six Flags, went to NY, played Star Wars camping and Indiana Jones Legos, and so on. And of course I took many pictures. I've been trying to post an album on Facebook, but have failed miserably. Every time I try to post it, it fails. I don't know if it's the lack of strong wireless connection or what, but whatever is going on is annoying and hereby deserves a "Hehhhh!" (Mad cat hissing sound with accompanying mad cat facial expression). Anyways, back to the subject at hand, here are some of the pics from my awesome week that I wish could have been longer.

When parts of obstacle courses set up for a birthday party become hats...

...and leave behind a whole lot of static.

Kids just love throwing things...

...and hitting things. Knock the junk out of it S!

They also love gifts. But, hey, who doesn't? Well, Sheldon from Big Bang Theory doesn't, but since he's fictional he doesn't count (even though he's totally awesome).

Sometimes kids just need something to hold on to: a parent, a blanket, even a lunch bag. And boy W. had a tight grip on that thing.

Would not want to meet up with this thing in the deep blue.

Now, you all may be thinking, why the junk I took a picture of a worm and why the junk I posted it. Well, I'll tell you. When I first saw it, instead of thinking "worm" like any normal human being would do, I thought "Goa'uld. Proof that they exist." I had recently finished watching the Stargate SG1 series, so of course they would come to mind instead of worms.

Said "hi" to Rex.

Discovered the incredible length of an apatosaurus.

S. discovered heads.

Just thought it looked cool.

Yet again, static is the culprit.

S. loves chasing animals. Chased a bunny at his birthday party as well.

Found spring, while back in Utah it was still acting winter.

Just a cute little scene to finish up the lot.