Dust it off

Dear Whitney-

Remember that time our Peruvian hats got tangled together while we were wearing them? And then when I was working with the internet I found a dating site with BYU in its name, even though it wasn't affiliated, so I signed up a fake profile saying I was majoring in astrophysics and used this picture so people wouldn't know which one I was? Ha. I do.

I just couldn't help it

I'm trying to be responsbile and I'm trying to take care of myself so I decided to be proactive and get vaccinated. I took myself to the doctor today and received my first shot of Gardasil to ward of HPV (cervical cancer). And on a side note, this was the first time I remember taking a shot in the keyster. It wasn't that bad, I took it like a champ. But I was not prepared for what happened next. I was hanging out with Guille and we (more like I) decided that Sesame Street was a good way to un-hyper ourselves (actually just him). I love the calle de Sesame and so I watched with him enjoying the letter F and Mr. Noodles trying to answer three phones at once. Then it cuts to Big Bird leading a small mariachi band composed of children in Guadalupe, AZ. Fine, I love mariachi music and I like kids. So far so good. And then all of a sudden it cuts to some children in traditional dress dancing with eachother swirling their colorful skirts to and fro and suddenly this little boys voice cuts in singing "Viva Mexico annnnnd America". My eyes began to well up and my throat felt tight and then I knew. I was going to cry. It took all the strength I had left to not let the tears pour forth out of my eyes. I don't know why but I was just so filled with emotion and I'm not even Mexican!!! It was so STUPID! I didn't want my nephew to see me crying so I sucked it all in but man.....I just felt so moved - for no reason. This wasn't normal so I marched over to my bag and fished out the vaccine information sheet they gave me. I quickly scanned for the side effects and was disappointed. Dizzyness, nausea, pain at the injection site.......nothing on over emotionality. This can't be right. OK, so one time I teared up at the Applebee's commercial when the high school coach gets a plaque put on the wall but that's it. It just had to be the shot or I'm suddenly over emotional. Gross. Here is MY warning label for Gardasil: Do not take if prone to over sentamentality or sensitivity to children, animals or animals dressed as children. Please take caution when taking Gardasil around elementary school or primary programs. If you feel like crying or hugging at any time please notify your doctor because these could be signs of a more serious condition. Some women experienced extreme shame from side effects.

I want M-O-N-E-Y

Something wicked this way comes and it comes by way of my violet colored leather wallet. A couple of weeks ago i noticed this strong cloud of cologne surrounding me. I had just finished eating at this delicious Brazilian restaurant when I pulled a dollar out of my wallet and was immediately hit in the face with the most pungent over-the-top cologne smell ever. But i couldn't figure it out at the time. I thought it might have been someone who had just walked by our booth. It took me a couple of nose watering payments to figure out it was in my wallet. Cash, cards, receipts......all are laced with the stench of a greasy Guido. Its not a sickening Stetsony scent, more like a doused on Armani - heavy on the Italian. Its not wearing off, if anything it is growing strong in the warm, dark environment of the wallet. I grabbed some cash tonight to pay for Cousin E and I's shakes and the whole car filled with the eye-burning smell. Its freezing outside and we had to roll the windows down to keep from asfixiating ourselves. To be fair I haven't emptied the wallet to find the source because I just figured I would have spent it already. Guess not. And everytime I smell that......that smell I am left to ponder how money can be that saturated with cologne. Was it on the dresser when the cologne bottle spilled? Was it rubbed repeadetly on the neck of a greasy Guido? Is that someone's 'signature piece'? Has it been in a strip joint? Yuck.

What time is it?

Someone wake me up. I'm living in some sort of alternate sphere that has skewed reality for me. 3am has become the same as 3pm. I stay up until all hours of the night and then I sleep in until high noon. This is not normal. I already have a somewhat charmed life living at home nannying my blood 2 days a week without having to go grocery shopping and now I have taken advantage of the Thanksgiving holiday. I feel bad. I feel....unproductive. I feel relaxed. I feel like I'm milking workmans comp and I didn't even have to saw a pinky off. I feel kinda lucky and I feel kinda like rubbing it in your face. I have come to appreciate a schedule but not this week. I woke up when I wanted and went wherever I wanted. I ate rolls, tiramisu, clam chowder and chips and salsa with no regard for whether or not they went together. It was pure unadulterated chaos of the best kind. Now I need something different. Something to bring order back into my lawless exsistence. So I brainstormed today and came up with this: no text messaging for a week. I had originally propsed 2 weeks but I recognize my weaknesses and got smart. For one week I will either have to ignore or call back any person who sends me a text message. But why cut out text messaging you might be wondering. Because they are my favorite medium for communication. I have friends whom I solely communicate with through texts. Also, they get me in trouble sometimes. I'm sure everyone has read more into a text message then the sender meant and vice-versa. It makes me lazy and un-communative and doesn't bring out the holiday spirit. So because I love Christmas time I have decided to be personable and friendly so watch out. You may get more than you bargained for..........at least for a week.

Memories....in the corner of my mind

For years people have been telling me that I remind them of Elaine from Seinfeld. I can definately see that, but for the first time today I think I saw it how other people must. I was watching an episode where Jerry tells Elaine that she is the "queen of confrontation" after she confronts a man in her building for not saying hello to her anymore. I saw it. I am Elaine. I don't confront everyone, but I am good at it. Not only am I good at it but sometimes I like it. I'm just waiting for someone to really test my patience so I can release the goods from my mouth. And what better time than the Holiday season to express your frustrations. In fact, I'm thinking of celebrating Festivus this year. I'm itching to work someone over during the 'feats of strength' portion of the evening.

Continuing with my nostalga, I was looking through some old emails the other day and found a little jem that I think needs to be shared. It was a year ago this summer and I had just arrived in upstate New York to begin my first foray into child wrangling 101. And it follows........

-Schenectady (correct spelling) has been pretty interesting so far. I have some great stories to tell and it hasn't even been a week. It's just ridicurous. For one, my roomate during training decided to go on a walk yesterday and proceeded to pull a fanny pack out of her suitcase. Not just any fannypack my friends....one that must have been from Peru. It was brightly embroidered, to say the least. Then, I see her putting on head phones, you know the kind that wrap around the back of the head and over the ears......so I find myself wondering what kind of apparatus could be attached to those monstrous ear pieces? Here's the sweet stuff.....I start to hear rustling in her bag and I look over to see a collection of tapes. That's right my friends, she was rocking the walkman. And I thought to myself..."self - what better thing to have on a walk than a walkman? Brilliant". And that's when it hit me, you are NOT on the westcoast anymore girlfriend. Bravo for the girl who still has tapes.

More to come from my adventures in paradise. Hope all is well!

P.S. I learned how to do the Harlem shake last night. The eagle has landed!!!!!!
Give my love to the peeps-
Its good to remember how far you've come sometimes. Ha Ha

Room for two

What a day. The day before Thanksgiving. What are you supposed to do? Enjoy the outdoors, even if it means sacrificing an appendage to the Gods of frostbite. I woke up with an idea, as I usually do, and decided that today was the day to ride tandem bikes for the first time. So I called up Wo and talked her into it easy-peazy.

I left home at noon, picked her up and headed for Outdoors Unlimited where the nice worker gave us an hour and half for $6.50 (normally thats the price for an hour only) and told us to mark on a diagram all the damages we could see. After circling the whole bike, literally, we headed out into the cold. We bundled ourselves with gloves, hats, sweatshirts and fleece but we were no match for mother nature, that vile sunless lady.

It was a beautiful clear day but it was FREEZING!!! But none of that mattered as we toured the sights of Provo to our own soundtrack provided by the Ipod and portable speakers in my pocket. Memories flooded back as we passed sight after sight from our past. "Didn't we go to a party there once?" "Yes, that was the dojo. I think someone was living there at the time". Ahhhh, good times. It seems like every corner of Provo holds some memory for me and it was great to have my memory jogged without Fezzik back to the old days. We even happened upon stupid Danny, a friend of sorts, who was taking a bus for the first time in his life to SLC to catch his plane. Can you guess why he bears the title 'stupid'? After a little over an hour we couldn't take it anymore and headed back. It took what seemed like half an hour to get the feeling back into my finger tips.

Afterwards I picked up Cousin E. from her teeny, tiny apartment to go to the grocery store. But before we left I had to take a picture of her water closet. The toilet paper holder is in such an odd place, not at all convenient. It just wasn't right. The Fung Shui was all off in the cramped quarters. I could not risk throwing off my chi anymore than it already was so we vacated the premises immediately. I'm thinking of getting her a Feng Shui consultant for Christmas.

Help me help myself

I rushed to school on Monday morning to find Mike and Cousin E in the quad outside the JFSB holding signs up. I couldn't tell what they were advertising as I walked up. I couldn't think of anything that would top the Azbiristan scam so why even try? But sure enough they were out there pushing something on their clipboards. As I got closer I finally saw what all the excitement was about.......


ME.

They had taken it upon themselves to be my good friends and help me get a date. Not help me get a date with a particular someone, just any someone(s). They each had a blown up picture of my face and a clipboard with a sign-up sheet that they were using to court potential suitors for me.


That's right, there is one signature on there from a guy who said he had lots of girls to date right now, but that we could be friends on facebook. How sweet. It was pretty funny and entertaining to see them approaching people while I was 10 ft away unbeknownst to the potential suitors. Its about time someone got one on me......I'm so proud.

I had a discussion with Cousin E. today that I just continued with my sister Jeffiner. Cousin E. said she was going home to eat an open-face sandwich at which point I decided that I don't believe in 'open-faced sandwiches'. It just doesn't make any sense to me. Aren't the rules of a sandwich that it has to be book-ended by some sort of bread? Flat, pita, white, wheat whatever. No one seems to have a good argument for why its called that other than its been called that forever. Jeffiner even pulled out the Earl of sandwich card......low. Any thoughts?

No, thank YOU

A compliment is a compliment is a compliment, or so they say. But I happen to judge compliments by who is the complimenter. Take for example this Saturday when I went to the grocery store and the checker complimented my hair. "I really like your hair". Ok, I'll take that one and simply say thank you because I know you really like Utah hair and thats what it looked like on Saturday. But later that day at Blockbuster the clerk said " I like that ring on your left hand" - wait for it......."Its sooo cute, like a little princess ring". That's where I draw the line. Whats next? A license plate that reads 'PRNCSS'? Or a sticker that says "Daddy bought it but I got it"? NO. I do NOT except that compliment. I wanted to reach over the counter and strangle her while yelling "TAKE IT BACK....TACK..IT...BACK"!!! But I didn't because I chose to take the high road and think ill of her in my head. Today in class my friend Saul sat by me and as I looked at him I realized something. "I think we are wearing the same pants. No really, I think we have on the exact same pants" I told him. "Is that bad for you or me?" he asked. "Yes" I replied. And that was definitely NOT a compliment.

100% Cotton my eye

I hate getting ready for bed. I hate the whole process and I hate wasting my time with this nightly ritual. All I ever want to do at the end of the night is fall into my bed makeup on and teeth unbrushed and sleep the night away. But my whole life I've always heard "NEVER sleep with your makeup on". And since its usually some model or famous makeup artist saying it I just do it. Must be the secret to fabulosity. And to be honest, I've slept with my makeup on and its bad, really bad. There is nothing like a nice clump of mascara in your eye to get you up and at 'em the next morning. So tonight, like a good human being, I began the ritual. Pin bangs away from face, pull hair into pony tail, slip on headband, brush teeth for at least one minute(Sensodyne recommends it), pluck stray eyebrow hairs, remove eye makeup, wash face, dry face, apply toner and take out hair. Except this time things went horribly wrong after washing my face. I reached for my towel and began the process of drying my face off when BAM! Towel in the eye. TOWEL IN THE EYE! Somehow during this repetitive motion my guiding fingers went off course and headed on a crash course for my left eye. Its hard to describe the feeling of forest green terrycloth soaking up all your eye juices but it feels a little something like this; a combination of an air conditioner blowing right in your eye with the dull pain you get from pressing on your eye sockets too long. All in all not the best night cap I've ever had. Must be more careful next time. Thanks a lot Martha Stewart for your 100% cotton towels, thanks a lot.

A la Discotheque? A la Discotheque!

Club Biblioteca was bumpin tonight! I'd been waiting all day to go out tonight. I got all ready in my grey cashmere sweater and dark denim with matching Manolo's. Parking was a bit of a headache but when I got to the door I was let right through, must be ladies night. With 5 floors of non-stop dancing I didn't know where to start. I headed to the back of the second floor where I knew I could work on my moves without being recognized before meeting up with the crew. I decided to hit up the fifth floor next where I found my friend Capua in the 'party of one' section. He confessed to hitting up the club every night that week whe I mentioned he looked a bit fatigued. The club will be there another day I said as I moved across the dance floor. Hey, I thought to myself, I know that guy ! So I do-si-doed my way to his table and said hello. I can NEVER remember his name which is terrible, but I do know that he's in law school and loves to lift weights. Just then I noticed ward nerd crush sitting right across the table from him! I should have know he would love Club Biblioteca....he's so hip that way. I shifted my attention to him and chatted him up before starting a dialogue between law man and nerd crush, I'm so good. I left with some parting words, "see you on sunday...looking forward to it"! the fifth floor was getting old so I decided to hit the bar on the third floor. I was waiting in line when I heard my name from across the floor. It was Liz, Jenapers friend. I tried to avoid eye contact since I had uninvited her to my soiree this weekend but she came over to me none the less. "hey Liz, I didn't know you came here a lot". "Oh yeah, all the time. I'm actually here with your sis Jenaper in the VIP lounge" she added. "Cool, I'll head over there in a minute when I get my drink" I told her. I got my turn in line and headed to the VIP area. On my way I saw 'do you want to go get a sprite' guy mixing it up at the turntables. I decided to be nice and headed that direction. He took off his headphones as I leaned my arm on the DJ booth. He looked really surprised that I was there so I struck up a nice dialogue about him and he loosened up. He was there with another aquaintance who smiled at us as he swayed to the sick beatz being dropped. "Well, gotta make an appearance in the lounge, see you friday" I half yelled over the music. Just like promised Liz and Jenaper were kickin it in the lounge with huge flat screens displaying pictures set to music. "This is sooo cool" I said softly, "I have to come here more often"! I met Liz's brother for the first time as he told me how he was going to party in Croatia for 2 years. He is hard-core that way, learning Serbian to have a good time. I was pretty pooped after the long night so I said my adieu's and made my way to the door. "And by the way Liz, you are re-invited to the fiesta this weekend" I yelled over the music. A couple minutes later I was out into the fresh air again walking to my car. I should have done valet. Oh well, I'll be back.

King of the Jungle

I went into the Lions den today only to discover the Lion may just be a regular cat. Not one of the cats Mo likes to laugh at that look like Hitler (they call them Kitlers), but just a regular 'ole cat. Just what am I referring too? I went home with class bro today - not like that dirty minds. We were supposed to study the Middle East after class for our test. "Where should we go?" he asked after class. "We could go upstairs or somewhere else, whatever you want" I replied. "We could go to my house" he suggested. Hmmmm, go to his house? Why would I walk all the way to his house to study when campus is full of places to study. Thats kind of the idea of campus after all. "But my car is parked on the other side of the world from your house and I don't want to walk all the way back there after. You know how much I hate walking (lie)." I said. "my house is really close and I'll drive you back to your car after" he offered. So I agreed, mostly out of curiosity. Turns out he lives in a house that my friends Tim/Chad occupied circa 2003? Then my friends Bubba/Craig took over circa 2004-05. Now it belongs to class bro circa now.

Everyone I met looked really surprised to see me. I couldn't tell if it was a suprised 'she is too cute for you' or 'she is not cute enough for you' or a surprised 'she is not the normal skank who stays around all night, all the time' kind of look. But they all seemed pacified when they learned we were just studying. Phew. The last thing you want is to anger a bunch of bros. They could go wild and whip you with their puka shell necklaces before running over you and your house in their raised trucks. Besides the periodic 'I must pause to discuss the ridiculous things I do with with my friends' to the roomates during studying it went quite well and was most helpful. It turns out he has some pretty normal friends that don't look like they might burst into a rhoid rage at any minute. One even had steps cut into his hair - pretty bitchin stuff. In fact, he kinda reminds me of an ex-boy-friend we call Lilo. A little too bro but with potential. All he needs is someone to show him the ways of assembling an amazing closet and loosing up on all the "buddy" talk and he could really be something. But don't worry, I have no interest in going there. I have done the dark hair and light eyes combo for the last couple of years and I have sworn off it. It does NOT work out well for me - please hold comments back on this one. I just can't pull another love 'em and leave 'em at my age, its not becoming not to mention time consuming.

But I still have a little voice in the back of my head saying....."Oh come on, let us. Cher's main thrill in life is a makeover".

My Cabeza Hurts

My head hurt today. I rarely get headaches but I had one today. I stayed up too late last night making new music mixes and I payed for it today. But I did realize that I am really good at, seriously. Work was interesting today. El Guille exhibited major signs of hanging out with me today. Sign #1: I was in the kitchen cutting up an apple when I heard "Oh my GOSH" from the living room. #2: He learned how to say, "for the love" today. #3: After learning the phrase from #2 I said, "your mama isn't going to like that one very much" to which he replied, "no YOUR mom isn't going to like that". #4: most things I say are followed with "no YOUR ........". Baby didn't want to eat or sleep or play this afternoon which didn't help the headache but he's just sooo cute that it doesn't matter too much. The headache was further pushed into my brain when I had to take abuela to the bank after work. That is always a process which takes much longer than necessary and much energy to get through. I was done. So I climbed the stairs to my wing of the house and took a little ciesta to allow the Ibuprofen to work its magic. I woke up an hour later resolved to make it to Yoga. I went, but it was NOT pretty. I knew something was wrong during my first crocodile (basically a push-up) when my arms felt like they had been smeared with tubs and tubs of burning Ben-gay. I couldn't even make it to up-dog once tonight during my sun salutations. It went from bad to worse. My balance, which is actually my forte, decided to stay home as I wibbled and wobbled all over the place. I felt horrible and much worse I looked horrible trying to gracefully execute warrior 3. I finally decided to cut my losses 10 min. early when I decided that if I was going to be sick I'd rather do it at home than in front of the fine people at 24hr. And to make matters worse, Tuesday TV nights suck, they are utterly dismal. I mean, have you ever tried to watch 'Cavemen' or 'Carpoolers'? I'd rather admit that I wrote the WHOLE Burn Book by myself. There was nothing to entertain me as I lay motionless on the couch - why couldn't this have happened on Thursday? But don't worry, even though I am word vomiting, there was no actual vomit.

6-5-4-3-2

I made class bro angry today. Not the same kind of angry as when he showed me his bruises from snowboarding and I pushed on one. He was really NOT happy that time. All I could think to say at the time was "sorry, that's what I would do to my brother". We had to go to the Geography office today to read some articles for class. Being the 25 yr old that I am I ditched him after class to make it there first to steal the only copy -only to find out there was more than one. Stupid. We sat a seat apart in the office reading and filling out our papers until we were done. We left together and as we waited for the elevator I said "you are such a suck-up." And then I imitated him, "thanks soooo much (secretary name). Nice to see you, blah, blah".

And then he started. "Its not about sucking up, its about being nice blah, blah...I've talked to her a couple of times, blah. blah" And the elevator slowly inched down the floors 6-5-4 "its about being a people person, blah, blah" 3-2-home. Finally. And as we stepped off the elevator I smiled and said "you know I'm just giving you a hard time" and went for the door. He followed into the sunshine and said "smells like smoke out here". "yeah, I've picked it up again" I said nonchalantly. "So, you want to study on wednesday?" he asked. "Yup, sure thing. Toodle-loo" I answered. And just like that it was over. Just another day in the life of Laquina where I Work hard to give you a hard time so you don't have to.

I saved a small country today - what did YOU do?

While I was hanging out on campus today I saw an empty table with attached balloons and two chairs. I had an idea. "We cannot let that table go to waste" I told Mike. "Its the perfect set-up for petition signing. But what cause can we make up that is totally ridiculous?" I asked. So we debated over many stupid things and finally came up with ...........

That's right, Save Azbiristan! In case you are wondering they are suffering from an oppressive military dictatorship under the cruel hand of their dictator Chachumpskie. "Chumpatize Chachumpskie!" Cousin E. pleaded with the passerby's. I went for a more religious angle, "put your shoulder to the wheel and help!", "help us help someone else", "have you done any good in the world today?", "only you can prevent book burning!" Mike had to keep helping me remember how to say the dictators name that I came up with. I explained to anyone who would listen about the plight of the Azbiristanis. "They are burning books and limiting education for the children. They are harassing nuns and burning churches. Sign this petition that we will send to the UN to show them that someone cares!".

We had a couple of people ask where Azbiristan was to which I simply replied.."its by all the other 'stans' in central Asia. You know, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, its right there". Only one girl questioned us for a while but she was no match for me and my quick thinking brains.
"It would help if you guys had more information out for people to read and you don't seem very passionate about it. Also, I've never really heard of this.....what do you expect the President to do about this, blah, blah, blah."
To which I replied....."I'm not going to lie, this was a little last minute I wish I had more information to give you, but we just wanted to do something, anything to help. And I am very into giving the Azbiristanis the freedom they deserve. They don't get much press because the media is always reporting on the middle east and ignoring this area. And we don't expect the President to do anything that doesn't serve his self interests so we decided to bypass him and go straight to the UN. Help the children read, sign your name". She was finally bested and signed her name only to come back 15 min later to see the name of the country so she could "look it up" later. Fine. Look it up and see that after all that YOU are the one who got chumpatized. After about an hour we decided to dis-band the protest with 14 signatures to save Azbiristan.....I think thats a new Azbiristani record! And in conclusion I leave you with the liberation song Cousin E sang next to our table to help the cause;
"Help save Azbiristan fro-o-o-m that evil man, he uses lot's of crooks to burn up all their books".

"Behind the Sun"

I went to the movies alone tonight for the first time, just how I wanted it. I saw the most beautiful Brazilian film at the International cinema. It had everything I could have wanted in a foreign film; brotherly love, family feuds, breathtaking scenery, forbidden love and death. I didn't cry and I don't remember laughing but I remember being mesmerized by the way the camera made poetry of the story. I grinned ear to ear at the shear beauty of it. The music was haunting and warm as it floated through scene after scene. I was completely sucked into this world created in the badlands of Brazil. And the kiss.......oh yes, the kiss......it was a great one. The ending left you to make up your own conclusions, but in a really good way. I left the theater on a different plane, pure satisfaction. Its movies like this that wake me up from the contented sleep I fall into once in a while. It reminded me of all the things I hope to do one day that always end up falling by the wayside every so often.

So do yourself a favor and go see it this week. And if you want someone to go with you please call me because it plays 3 more times and I will go to all of them. I will definitely be back for seconds.

I don't know why I'm in such a good mood today but I am. I have nothing special to celebrate. In fact, I have a cold and a math test to take today. Not the best recipe for a great day, maybe the Mac and Cheese I had for breakfast has something to do with it.

I have this song called "Big Sur" by The Thrills stuck in my head. It is the perfect song for a sunny day and it reminds me of the time I went to Big Sur. The first time I went to Pebble Beach this summer we got our work done and went to play. We drove down the coast from Carmel to Big Sur at the insistence of Dan, our housing site contact. Amazing views of the ocean enveloped us as we headed toward our destination. We found a restaurant off the side of the road famous for its river chairs. Thats right, River chairs. There was a river running behind the restaurant at the far end of the lawn with wooden chairs placed throughout. You didn't even need to eat there, you just walked right over to the river and claimed your spot. We grabbed 3 chairs and positioned them in the sun.
Another great sunny day. The calm before the storm. I don't know how many more sunny days we have to enjoy but I plan on living them up to the fullest. Anyone is welcome to come along. And please, don't listen to The Thrills when they say "please don't go back to big sur...". GO....Just go.

Schedued Maintenance

Thanks for the patience while my site is under construction. Don't worry though, we are still open for business during this much needed face lift.

Gone Fishin

I woke up Saturday morning with one thought: fishing. Although I haven't been in years I really love to do it and it was such a beautiful day. I talked my dad into handing over his coveted khaki fishing vest with pockets brimming with such delicacies as dry flies, lures, bobbles and swiss army knives. He taught me how to tie a fly on a piece of rope (because its easier to see that way) and grabbed me some fishing poles. "Hey, I recognize this reel..its yours! This is the nice one....nice" I squealed. I pulled on my baseball shirt, grabbed a sweatshirt, two fleece jackets, two pairs of socks (one wool), gloves, a hat and my old hiking shoes - I like to be prepared. I picked up my friend Tara (see above picture) in her rain boots and some lawn chairs and we headed over to Mike's (also in the above picture). While Mike was grabbing his fleece and another coat I made a sign that said 'Gone Fishin' to put on his door. We piled into Mike's rugged Subaru and took off as I complained about having to leave the brightly colored wooden dingy in the driveway behind.

Next stop: Macey's for some fishing license's. 10 min. later with my wallet $8 lighter I held an authorized day fishing license from the state of Utah. Mike got one as well and Tara got a baguette, salami, provolone, Twizzlers and Vitamin Water (it has electrolytes) and we took off without a second glance. We headed straight for Pleasant Grove while stuffing our bread full of meat and cheese laughing about old stories and remarking about the lovely weather. We hit American Fork Canyon and it was like we had found another planet. Folded mountains, rushing water, sparkling trees; a dream come true. Suddenly around the corner we came upon the most beautiful green lake surrounded by majestic mountains (also in the photo above). From here we turned away from civilization and headed up a long, bumpy dirt road with switchbacks climbing higher and higher in altitude.

Suddenly inspiration hit and Tara plugged in her ipod which began to pour forth the triumphant sounds of Last of the Mohicans as we crested the last hill. We felt as though we had just conquered something really big as Tara searched the horizon for Indians on the attack. No Indians dared show their faces as we drove around the sad remains of a once great lake. The drought had rendered Silver Lake into a large dusty bowl with a small pool of water. My childhood stomping grounds were nothing but dust clouds swirling around pebbles. I could picture this lake as what it used to be; large, dark and full of hungry trout. I used to stand on the shore with my fishing pole and sing my fish song that I had learned from Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street; "Here fishy-fishy.....here fishy, fishy". I always caught a fish then, this time I would leave empty handed. The fish ignored our lures and I was too tired of tying flies after losing the first one to a faulty line to try more.

We alternated the two poles between the three of us as we soaked up the sun and laughed at our bad casts and one in particular of mine that ended with half my pole in the lake (don't worry, I reeled it back in). The sun suddenly disappeared behind the mountains and our breath appeared white against the scenery. We packed ourselves up and drove our empty hands back down the mountain to the same triumphant soundtrack. The sun dipped lower and lower along with our altitude until we found ourselves once again in Pleasant Grove at the Purple Turtle for dinner. We ordered cheeseburgers, onion rings, grilled cheese and 'Tornado" shakes. I used to save the gum from the bubble gum Tornado I always got on a napkin in the back of the caravan much to my mothers chagrin.

It was the perfect day and a great start to my goal of 'Revisiting Utah' this year. Thanks for an amazing day Tara and Mike.....just amazing.

FINALLY

Big day everyone. I finally took the tag off and wore a skirt that I bought about 4 years ago. I feel liberated and more than a little surprised that I hadn't given it away by now. Its actually a really beautiful silver satin with navy blue flowers that I could not match to anything. I never "outfit" shop. If I like something I get it, regardless of whether i have the perfect shoes or jacket to go with it. I think thats a waste of time. You never know until you get something home next to your wardrobe what it goes with and more often than not you are pleasantly surprised by its versatility. But this skirt was different. The navy was just dark enough to never match any other navy made on this earth and I never had the right shoes. Now 4 years later the navy cashmere sweater my mom got me last year (which also still had the tags on until today) and the patent red leather heels I got this summer complete the look. Feelin good people....feelin REAL good right about now.