BYU, Lights and Christmas

It's been a little more time in between my posts due to school stress, but thankfully, that is now over! It's the end of the quarter and the paper that caused so much stress is now turned in and over with! So on to a recap.
On December 1st, the BYU football came to town and played SDSU. I regrettably missed the Friday night fireside the team put on(USD's library is really nice on Friday nights, no one there;), I heard it was pretty good. But I did get to go to the game the next day. About 20 of us went to the game, and cheered on our Cougars who won 48-27. It capped an unbeaten regular season and an 10-2 record for the Cougars, who are on their way to the Las Vegas Bowl on December 22nd. I was able to go to two BYU games this year, which was so fun, I miss that part of being at BYU. I loved the games. Here are some pictures from the event.




I love the Christmas season. I love the lights, the smells, the chill in the air, though I complain about that:) But I love winter. My roommate and I went out to see the program and the temple and the lights one night last week, and I loved the feeling of Christmas there. Just being on the temple ground reminded me of how grateful I am for my family and friends. I have a great life. Sometimes I get down about some things, but I really have a great life and am blessed with so much. Our ward had a Christmas party this last weekend, we did take roomie pics (coming soon) but I had a great time talking to many of those friends and enjoying being with so many great people.

Could the Holiday have been any better!!

Ahh...Thanksgiving, food, fun, family, getting lost in the CA desert? Not usually what we do at Thanksgiving, but that's what happened this year, along with all the other things that are normal Thanksgiving events. I was able to leave SD early, the Saturday before Thanksgiving, to drive home to Concord. I made it in great time, pulling into my parents yard about 2:30, still enough time to go shopping! I stayed there, visiting with friends and having my mom wait on me hand and foot(she wanted to!) and hung out with my brother,till Tuesday, when we packed up my parents car and my car to head to St. George, UT!. My sister and brother in law from American Fork and another sister from BYU, drove down to meet us at my aunts house.
My grandma, mom, dad, and me drove out through the CA desert (anyone recognize the towns of North Edwards, California City, Mojave? if you do, you'll know right where I was). The traffic came to a halt about 5 miles past the turnoff for CA city. For whatever reason, Highway 58 was closed from Boron for 7 miles. How were we going to get around the stalled traffic! We crossed the dirt median, and went back to the California City exit, where our map said there was "another route" that would take us to Highway 395, then south to 58 again, past the 7 mile closure. Well, those "other routes" are unmaintained roads! We were following my dad's GPS system that showed us in the middle of a big yellow screen, with the highway we wanted off on the edge of his screen. The system said, "we were off the map." Great.
Well, we drove California City Blvd. to Rutgers Road to Osdick Road, all ATV/camper roads. At one point, I had 4 wheelers passing me on this washed out dirt/sand road. What fun. My car, not 4 wheel drive, made it over some dunes and what felt like bike jumps! Pearl took flight a couple times. Finally we made it to Highway 395 and found out, that Twenty Mule Team Road, another road taking off from CA city, was an even more direct route to 395, but how were we to know. Now we do. Take the "Team road" when in doubt. So we got to St. George about 2 hours later than we had hoped, a little worn down. But we did find out later as we were talking to a lady pumping gas in front of me at the next gas station, that the wait on Highway 58 had been 3 hours! So we saved some time and saw some scenes!
The rest of the vacation was awesome, with aunts, uncles, cousins, babies, grandma, siblings, niece(cutest one ever!), parents and of course, 2 turkeys, a ham, veggies, dips, potatoes, stuffing, asparagus wrapped in bacon(looked nice and tasted great!), pies, cheesecakes and anything else you wanted to eat. Throw in the trip to the local Dinosaur tracks museum and the entire week was one of the best Thanksgivings ever!

Holiday traveling tips...my own testimonials

I think I'm a little bored this week with three posts, but that's life this week at work. With the holiday season coming up and traveling on the mind, I found this helpful article on Yahoo. It lists the top 15 traveling tips to review before flying. I'm not going to go through all 15, but I have a couple experiences in the airport that will testify to the truthfulness of some of these tips.

Airplanes are flying buses
You get little more than a little seat; now quit whining and take responsibility for your comfort. Assume that food, entertainment, blankets, and pillows cost extra, if they're offered at all. Rather than get nickel-and-dimed, carry on anything you want.
Testimonial: I fly Southwest all the time and this is so true on their airline. While they offer the cheapest rates, it is like a bus. You get on, find your seat since one is not assigned, then realize that it just isn't that much room. So we just deal with it.

Hands off the call button
The vast majority of flight attendants have a Pavlovian reaction to the call button: When they hear it, they snarl. About the only time it's acceptable to push the button is when you or your seatmate is having a heart attack.
Testimonial: I have seen many flight attendants get frustrated with passengers for this, just stay on their good side.

Airport security for beginners
1. At home, place gels and liquids (in 3-oz. containers) in a quart-size Ziploc. Wear slip-on shoes, and don't forget socks (going barefoot is gross).

2. In the security line, remove everything except your ID and boarding pass from your pockets.

3. When you're three people from the front of the line, take off your shoes and jacket, and remove your laptop from your bag.

4. Try to be patient with everyone who didn't do it this way.
Testimonial: Different airports do things a little differently. San Diego may not yell at you for not having your liquids in a quart-size ziploc, but Oakland will, and not just yell, but only give you 5 seconds to make your decision, check your bag, or throw it away since you don't have the right size bag! Luckily, they now have bags there just in case you didn't bring one. But I am amazed at how many people don't realize they have to bag their liquids and only have 3-oz containers. By the way, liquid makeup, non-solid deodorant are all things that you should put in the bag, or just check it, just to be on the safe side. Some checkers are picky. And just be patient, why lose years off your life getting mad at the people in front of you who don't know what they are doing, or are slow, does no one any good.

Got a big carry-on?
Then you'd better be at the front of the line for your boarding group. Once you're on the plane, if it looks busy up ahead, stash the bag in any open overhead space. Never allow the bag to end up behind your seat, or you'll have to wait for the entire plane to empty before you'll be able to retrieve it.
Testimonial: Just don't bring a big carry-on. If it can't fit in the test slots, don't bring it. Just plan for a mad dash to the luggage carousels after your flight, you'll be fine. The rest of us want space for our bags that actually fit.

Call someone who cares
To reduce the number of cars circling the arrivals area, airports are creating "cell phone parking lots" where people meeting an arriving passenger can wait for that person's call. The lots are the best thing to happen at airports since Auntie Anne's pretzel-wrapped hot dogs.
Testimonial: Lucky for me, I have great friends, who even when they forget their cell phones at home, and my flight is 1 1/2 hours late, will drive around, then park their car in the cell phone lot for a hour while waiting for me. These lots have saved my life by allowing my rides home to wait for me. Thanks so much!

Finally, a movie worth seeing!

I went and saw this movie last Friday and I really enjoyed it. I find The Office pretty funny, but this wasn't office humor. DAN IN REAL LIFE was everyday moments in a big family. A family would like this movie as well as adults. I found it very refreshing to go to a movie that portrayed a family we all liked and, secretly, would like to be a part of, interacting with eachother and why they love and help eachother out. It had the humor, but was a side of Steve Carrell we don't usually see, and I also cried! When a movie can take you across the board of emotions, I think it's a keeper!

The Big Three are Back

"Yes, Pierce told Garnett that opening night here would be something extraordinary, because Pierce understood the ache of the old Celtics fans. He understood the embarrassment, the humiliation that comes with forever failing under those 16 dusty banners. It is never easy to struggle in this league, but no where do the ghosts haunt a franchise the way they do in Boston." (Yahoo Sports)
I love basketball, especially NBA basketball. I am a big fan of the San Antonio Spurs, and also enjoy the Suns, Dwayne Wade of the Heat(not a big Shaq fan). But I grew up watching the Celtics. My dad has always been a Celtics fan, he loved Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Danny Ainge(who he got to open gym with at BYU). So it has been really exciting to see Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen join Paul Pierce to bring the Celtics back to their glory days. The big three are back. And they have played like they are. I am excited to see a resurgent Celtic team take it all the way and then play against my beloved San Antonio Spurs in the Finals, the storied franchise against the new dynasty. How fantastic!
"As the Celtics' season crept toward tipoff, Allen watched the video montage of Red lighting his cigar on the bench, and Cousy dribbling out the clock and Bird stealing the ball and passing it underneath to DJ who laid it in. He watched it all, and the goose-bumps ran up and down his arms. It made him, he said, feel so insignificant. And it made Allen ask himself a question.

“What can we do to put our little dent in Boston sports history?” he wondered later."

Mormon Helping Hands

This last weekend was really great. My ward was asked to participate in a multi-stake service project up in Ramona, where the fires had swept through a week ago. About 20 of us from my ward went up, met at the church building there, had a little devotional, received our work shirts(yellow 'Mormon Helping Hands' shirts), water and our assignments. The group I was in was assigned to a members home, where they had lost their garage and another out building. As we chatted with the owners for a bit, we heard a little of their story. They had been given only 15 minutes to evacuate their home. The fire burned up their hill, destroying the home below them and coming up onto their patio, burning their furniture and brush outside, but the firefighters had fought to save their home for 2 hours. They pulled water out of their pool to save their home. They lost their large garage with all of his tools, their school supplies for their children, whom they home schooled, their kiln, all their outdoor equipment and so many other possessions they had stored out there. This was a huge garage.
So we were assigned to clear away the debris. One of the guys in our group had brought up supplies his work had donated, like work goggles and wonderfully tough gloves which were so appreciated and made the work manageable. We didn't have worry about what was getting in our eyes! We sifted through the rubble for any items they could identify for insurance purposes then started shoveling all the rubble and ash into bags to go into the dumpster. The stucco walls had collapsed in and needed to hacked apart and the chicken wire that runs through stucco needed to be cut so we could move the walls by piecemeal into the dumpster. The garage doors were twisted, melted metal and needed to be removed. The tile melted into a huge, really heavy mass that needed to be moved as well. By the end of the day, we were covered in ash and dirt but we left a completely flat and cleaned space that had been their 4 car garage. I am so amazed with the church and their ability to organize so many people. Our stake provided 600 bagged lunches for everyone and water. While I am sad for those who lost so much, it was satisfying to be able to help them and make their rebuilding process a little easier. The family was grateful for what they did have, they had their home and lives and all they needed was that. It was truly amazing.

Lost all my links

For those of you who may know about these blog templates, I need some help. I have recently tried to revamp my layout here and in the process, I lost all my links to your pages. I am working on getting those back, so if you don't see yours on the side, please feel free to send me the link to yours, but is there a way to change your template WITHOUT losing info? Just wondering...this really came about when I looked at Krystle's page, saw a link to a template site, tried to change it, did and lost all my links. While I'm not blaming a faulty link on my friend:), I do wish I could find an easy way to change my blog template, any suggestions?

My look a likes...

So I got on here and tried the look a like test as well, not one person really stood out, except Barry Williams, who I was too embarrassed to include in the photos. You know him, the oldest son of the Brady Bunch...yeah..

I have been tagged...twice!

So I have been "tagged" twice now, so I guess I need to let you all know the six things you may not know about me. Hmmm...

1. I'm pretty scared of heights. My hands get really sweaty and I get really nervous(sounds more like a date:) when I'm up on a high ledge or sometimes even in airplanes. The heart rate gets really fast the higher up I go. I actually didn't go on an upside down roller coaster until my senior year of high school, because they went so high up, the smaller wooden ones were okay.

2. My best ideas come in the shower. My "Ah hah" moments are those early morning moments when nothing else is on my mind and thoughts can just come...problem being, I'm still not awake enough to remember every fantastic thought that came, but sometimes those gems make it through.


3. I LOVE horses. I never had one, didn't take riding lessons or anything, but my cousins had horses and I loved hanging out at their house during holidays, riding the horses and feeding them. When I was younger I even wanted to be a horse, I'd go galloping up and down the hallways, ruining my pants by putting holes in the knees; watch, "The Black Stallion" and "The Black Stallion Returns," just classic movies about a boy and his horse and wish I owned one...the memories.

4. TOP GUN PHASE: In 6th grade, I wanted to be a fighter pilot. Not sure why, my best friend and I went so far as to talk about the free ride to college if we joined the Air Force. Right before graduation from high school, I even applied, interviewed and did the physical testing to get an ROTC scholarship. Got it, but didn't accept it, decided it wasn't really for me. I know surprising, can't you see me in the flight suit?


5. You may know that I am a history nerd, love it, love re-enactments, love American history type movies and books. The American Civil War is my particular focus, love it. I wanted to be Scarlett O'Hara and have the hoop skirt and huge home. I would love to be a re-enactor sometime. Weird...I know.

6. I love sports but one little known fact-while playing your normal sports in high school, I also was a shot putter and discus thrower on the track team all four years. Yup, kind of a random part of the track team that people really don't think about, but I did it. I actually made it to the Northern California Meet of Champions my senior year, but couldn't quite make the state championships, there were a few other bigger girls who could throw quite a bit farther than me. But fun times...kind of scary to look back at that actually:)

San Diego Fires

On Sunday, I was walking out of church and noticed big gray clouds up in the sky and there was fine ash falling. Fire season was starting in Southern California. This last weekend and week was an amazing time in San Diego. At one point there were 11 fires burning in San Diego County, the Santa Anna winds were blowing them fast and moving into areas that were heavily populated. On Monday morning, my roommates parents were evacuated from Poway and they came to stay with us. While the fire was still at least 10 miles from my house, the evacuation orders kept moving south and for the first time in my life, I had to see if I was prepared to evacuate my home and what I would take. It was a sobering experience for me. Gratefully, the fires didn't get down this far and I didn't have to leave. There has been a lot of smoke and ash falling all around. My work was cancelled for the week due to air quality and the need to conserve power. Power lines were being affected by the fires, with the possibility of rolling brown outs happening if any of those lines went down.

On Tuesday, after one day of sitting at home glued to the news, my friends and I bought a bunch of supplies like water, granola bars, wipes, toothpaste, toothbrushes and other items to take down to the main evacuation center, Qualcomm Stadium. We arrived with our car loaded and waited in line for 2 hours to drop off our donations. It was so AMAZING the amount of donations that were pouring into that place and then being farmed out to other evac sites. I am honestly impressed with the amount of generosity the people in this area have shown. The news in the morning says what is needed and by midafternoon, they get it. I haven't heard of extreme shortages anywhere. It is amazing. The church sent down supplies as well and those made it to those in need. Members of my ward donated time, money, and items to help out. I am so impressed at the response to the tragedy faced by so many.

I have been off work all week and have been a little stir crazy with not much to do. But I am so grateful that I didn't have to evacuate. My roommate has heard of a number of people she knows in Poway who have lost their homes, my friends boss lost his home, there are so many who have lost so much, yet we are taken care of.

My future vacations...

I was thinking last night while working on my homework, about possible future vacations. Those tend to revolve around where I can stay with someone, yes I'm that cheap(not really, just budgetary restrictions require that:). So my future trips are:

1. Nashville. My grandparents live back there. My family had a reunion there while I was a junior at BYU, and I'd like to go back. There are so many sites we didn't see. Maybe take in more of downtown, back to Mammoth Caves, more of the Southern plantations homes that have been restored...I'm heading back there! And I need to see my grandparents!

2. Northern Bay Area. Yes, I'm from there, but one of my favorite places on earth is there and I have not been to this particular place in a while. Muir woods, one of the places on the northern california coast to preserve the coastal redwood trees. I love this park. You can hike around the enormous trees, take in the grandness of the forest. I love it. And down the way, is Muir Beach. A nice little rocky beach with tidepools, good hiking...it's good. One place I have never been, even though I live in the area, is Napa. It's more famous for the vineyards, but I would love to drive through and see the hills with the vineyards and stop in to eat at a fantastic little restaurant. Then go into San Francisco and hang out. I love that area and could go back and play the tourist part. This will most likely happen in April, so if anyone wants to put it on their calendar, Hotel Christensen has rooms!

3. Later next year...2008 will be the year that I FINALLY go to the east coast. Yup, I will take a trip to Boston, up the New England coast, checking out the fall leaves, seeing the early colonial American history, checking out the lighthouses in Maine. I WILL do it!

All this reflection came about when I realized I have 16 vacation days stored up and 17 sick days. Why am I still here! Oh yeah...schoolwork. (And yes Maren, I saw that you tagged me, my 6 things about me will be coming shortly...)

Da Vinci Code...and other random thoughts.

Random thought 1: So I read this story(link below) regarding the Knights Templar and other interesting facts about them. What is interesting to me, besides all that history stuff, is that it was the Catholic Church archives that opened up these files. The Catholic church has really old archives! I love stories that validate my profession!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071012/ap_on_re_eu/vatican_knights_templar

Random thought 2: Let me describe a coworker of mine. She is an older lady, probably around 55, she just graduated from law school last May, just passed the bar and is now looking for jobs. She also is a very heavy smoker and has a very low, raspy voice. So I've noticed over the last few weeks, that she talks to herself. Her cubicle is just across and down from mine. I stared hearing a low pitched hum coming from that direction and upon further investigation, I realized it's her talking. Sometimes she'll talk about something she's working on, something in the news or even, a continuation of a conversation she had with a few of earlier that morning! It's kind of funny. But it got me thinking, would I be more productive and better organized, if I spoke my ideas/plans out loud? So I tried it a little bit yesterday(our office is so quiet there are 5 people gone right now) and I have to say, the thought processes worked better, I organized what I had to do better. I probably won't do this all the time, but sorry if you catch me from time to time!

Random thought 3: I had really good pumpkin spice swirl cake with cream today at friday forum at the institute. Oh my gosh it was fantastic!

Oh, the joy of apples

When I was in high school, I worked summers on my aunt and uncles' farm in Utah(I might have to find some pictures of my farm life! Me on a tractor is fun!). It was a fruit farm, where they grew mainly cherries(the tart kind), as well as apples and peaches and had their own U-pick vegetable garden. Working on that farm has been a highlight of my life so far. From that experience, I learned to love apples. My parents have an apple tree in their backyard, it's a pretty mature tree and produces sooo many apples every year. We're not sure the kind of apple, but I think I've narrowed it down to the jonagold variety. In any case, every September we harvest apples. Recently(like the last few years), my mom and I have tried to figure out how to use as many of the apples as possible, before they go bad. We give some away(we can't possibly eat that many, it really does produce a lot, even after I've thinned the tree), but last year, my mom and tried a few new things. We made homemade apple butter, which was fantastic and became our Christmas gift to people and then we canned a bunch, turning them into apple pie filling. Just add a few spices and other ingredients and voila-ready anytime apple pie filling. Last weekend, my mom brought me down some jars of this apply and cinnamony goodness and I made apple crisp with it this weekend and it was really good. But what was even more great about it, was using something my mom and I had made. It was so satisfying to use something we had grown, harvested and canned ourselves. It was great. My mom said the tree produced even more apples this year, so more apple butter and filling is on the way! Anyway, I love apples!


This picture is of the big red barn in Santaquin UT, where my uncles family sells their produce, it's kind of fun, stop there next time you head up off the South Santaquin exit on your way up I-15.

Mariah and the Fam

I love this picture of my dad and Mariah, so sweet! Well, this last weekend, my whole family(sorry about Tyler not being there:() got together for Mariah's blessing. It was great. It was wonderful to see my Dad, my brother, Steve, his dad, brother and uncle all in a circle blessing Mariah. It was great. I love my fam! Soon my brother goes into the CHP Academy, we won't see him till he graduates in April(maybe at Christmas, we're not sure), Brigitte will have her baby, it's just the expanding and constant changing of a family growing up and doing their own new things.

stress busters

This blog is somewhat inspired by Julia, and her all apologies idea. I'm not sure what happened to me yesterday, but I feel I may have been a little mean. If I was offended by MYSELF, I'm sure others were as well. So I am going to try to find those I hurt and apologize. I thought I dealt with stress well, but I guess I don't. So yesterday, I had class after work, and I got home in time to go play basketball. I think I should have listened to my little shoulder angel telling me not to go. I had other stuff I could have gotten done. Stress brings me down and last night, I was a downer. I snapped at people, I got frustrated and stormed out of the gym for a minute, then felt like a fool coming back in. I couldn't make a shot or defend to save my life, just not good all around. I don't like myself when I'm that way. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, my inner demon rears it's ugly mean head and I don't want it to. So, I'm looking for stress relief tips. I can see in the next couple weeks, the possibility of more stressful moments, so any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Changing of the Colors

One of my favorite time of years is almost here. I love the fall, the season where it gets a little cooler, the red, yellow and orange hues come out, the leaves fall off the trees. I love it. I love pumpkins, apples, apple pie, anything Halloween and Thanksgiving. I might have to say that the holiday period between Halloween and Thanksgiving might be my favorite. I love Christmas, but I love the other two also. I was reading an article about the leaves changing colors in New England, something which I've always wanted to see, and I was a little bummed that it doesn't happen like that here. But then I came across an article that made it all better. CNN's travel section mentioned that the fall colors in Southern California are later(of course) than the north, changing about the 1st week of November, so I can see the changing of the colors! One of the places they mentioned was the drive between Ramona and Julian, out Rte. 78. So anyone else who loves this time of year, give me a holla, grab your hot apple cider and we'll go foliage peeking!

What am I doing to train you ask?

Since I asked for Mud Run training ideas, I should probably post what I am doing already. The run is 6.2 miles. I have never run that far before. I can do about 4 miles right now. Some may think that isn't a lot, but for me, the non-runner in my family, this is a milestone. Really, I wasn't a runner, still am not, but I've gotten better. So I've been running some trails near my house, just down near the railroad tracks, near the freeway and around. I just added some stairs into the mix as well. A park below my house has stairs leading up to my complex, so I've been running those. That's about all I've done. So, I know a few of you run marathons or have one coming up, any ideas? 6.2 miles isn't 23, but it's my marathon:)

Mud Run Help

So I'm in need of a little help. I, along with a few others who might read this blog, signed up to run the Camp Pendleton Mud Run on October 20th. I had thought I would get away with not doing it, but thanks to Pam calling me out in Relief Society yesterday, I am now for sure running it. I can't quit now that people know! But I need some training advice. What can I do to make sure my legs will continue to move up and down through the deep mud pits, over the tire obstacles and the wall/mud lake? Any ideas besides dropping down dead right now?

"Oh Don't Worry, You'll be Back"

...the sign said it, but I'm not quite sure if I will, but our Saturday trip to Julian-turned-Santa Ysabel was fun nonetheless. Jenny W., Bryonny, Amanda and I were so excited to drive out to Julian, to enjoy apple pie and the bluegrass festival that was happening this weekend up there. We got ourselves going, driving along the windy Poway Road/78 out to Julian(everyone look straight ahead at the road, no looking at cameras in the back seat, was the phrase of the drive), looking forward to the fun afternoon. Well, we got to a town called Santa Ysabel, population 463, when we were stopped and turned off the road to Julian. We had noticed on our drive, that there was gray-black smoke rising from the direction of Julian, but I had looked the day before to check on a fire near Cuyamaca and knew that fire wasn't near Julian, so we should be fine. Well, a new fire had started in Julian that morning and the sheriffs, highway patrol and police were just then shutting down the road to all, except residents who were able to grab their stuff then evacuate. That would be such a scary thing.
But anyways, we stopped in Santa Ysabel, a small four corner town. There was a Julian Pie Company, where we indulged our need for apple pie and cinnamon ice cream, an antique store we looked around, and the world famous Dudley's Market. I guess it is a great bakery, but they were remodeling, so their baked goods weren't all out. Bummer..but our greatest find was on the way home where we stopped at a fresh eggs shack, and found out that it was a DRIVE THRU! What a fantastic idea, a drive thru egg shack! Saves all the time you might have used looking for your perfect dozen eggs.
Well, while the adventure was not what we set out for it to be, it was a fun Saturday afternoon with the girls. Hopefully they reschedule the Bluegrass festival!

Rise all loyal cougars...

"...and take your challenge to the foe. We will fight, day or night, rain or snow...Oh Rise and Shout, the cougars are out.." So I sang the cougar fight song a few times, but no one else really joined in with me! On Saturday, a group of us went to watch the UCLA Bruins take on the BYU Cougars at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. We all gathered at my house to divide up and carpool up to the big game. We were all excited to go and cheer on our cougs! Well, little did we know, the drive would take us almost 4 HOURS! Two accidents on I-5 backed us up, then once we got onto I-210, we hit game traffic. What a crazy drive. I like short road trips, but 4 hours was almost my max. So we finally get there, then see that we are parking on the green of a golf course! I wonder what the golf course owners do while UCLA football season is going on, guess not golf.
But there we were, game time, we were a few minutes late, but thanks to Maren and Bryan, we got some great seats in the North End Zone.

I had brought along some SPF 70 sun screen, yes they make it that high, everyone was shocked! But it's a good thing, we were in the sun for most of the game. But the view of the field was great, we had a pretty good perspective on what was happening on the field. Some fun comments being thrown at the BYU fans from the UCLA fans, were "Go back to Utah," "Go back on your missions." I love those. But, BYU fans have their phrases as well. Pam heard, "Come on refs, use the power of discernment!" Fun times.

Now a little about the game, BYU started off really rocky during the first half. They threw an interception, fumbled, just couldn't get in a rhythm. So at the end of the first half we were down 20-3. Seemed like we were headed for a blowout. But when the 2nd half started, the cougars were out in force. We drove for 2 straight touchdowns, bringing the score to 20-17. We held UCLA through the whole second half, until the last 2 minutes, when our Quarterback fumbled when he was hit(or some may have called it an incomplete pass, it looked like it was going forward, but make your own call), and UCLA scored their last touchdown (the clock was at 0 after there 25 seconds to get the play started, so I think there should have been some call there, but there wasn't) winning the game 27-17. We were so close, yet little things tripped us up. I like to parallel that to our lives...j/k.
So some pics:


So we all headed out of the stadium, bummed that we lost, but feeling good about our future conference prospects, to see the incredibly long line of cars lined up to get out of the golf course-turned-parking lot. When we had arrived, they had parking attendants telling you where to park. While we were trying to leave, I saw there were no more parking attendants to help you get out, so it was a free for all! Make your own lines to get out. Notice all the red tail lights, each car was it's own line!

After a stop at In-n-Out, another stop to switch drivers (I was sooo tired), we got home 3 hours after leaving. What a day, it was fun but so long. I can't wait until BYU comes to SDSU, closer to home, another fun game with fun people, and maybe someone will sing the fight song with me.
"...Ra Ra, Ra-ra-ra, Ra Ra, Ra-ra-ra, Goooooo Cougars!"

Tiny like a doll

So I went to see my sister and brother-in-law yesterday and of course the new baby, Mariah Mae Jordan. Cutie!! I got to hold her while she slept for about an hour. She was so tiny, her legs were these skinny little things, but she had cute feet and fingers. She has auburn hair! I love that! Anyway, it was a weird feeling to be looking down at my sister's baby, not quite sure why, but it was amazing to think and see that my sister has a baby. Once I figure that sensation out, I'll try and describe it. So here are some pics of the cute little girl(meaning the baby:)

I'm an Aunt!

My sister Shelley had her baby yesterday! I was hoping she would have come on September 2nd and we then we could have shared birthday's, but nope, she wanted her own day. So my birthday week got even better because I have a niece now! Mariah Mae was born at 1:39am Thursday morning, weighing in at 7lbs, 7oz and looking quite alert. She has brownish/auburn hair(Shelley has red hair, so I was hoping for a red head niece), blue eyes and long fingers, all the better for sports and piano playing. Fun times! Let the competition begin for favorite aunt, between the 9 of us entered in(Steve's and Shelley's sides both included), it should be pretty fierce, but I'm willing to go that extra mile and buy her the cutest outfits, accessories and teach her from my wealth of knowledge!

...the WEDDING:)

My roommate Nicole got married this last weekend, after dating her now husband for almost 2 years. It was such a great day, my friend Allison came into town also for the wedding and we got to see other people we hadn't seen for a while. It was a perfect, sunny day, with only some wind that created some issues at the temple(I thought my skirt was the kind that wouldn't blow up, alas I was wrong) but the day was perfect for them. The reception was fun with dancing, different appetizers to eat and a dessert table that had fruity desserts, chocolate desserts, cakes, fruit bowls, just all around good food. Rachelle did the flowers, so of course they were beautiful. And to top it all off, I got the bouquet. It wasn't your usual throwing of the bouquet, more of a hand off from the bride. I'm not sure what that means, but later on I was told a hand off means that not only would I be the next bride, I only have two weeks! We're almost to the end of week one, nothing yet:) So here are a few pics of the day!

Break time coming up!!

So for the last two months, I have been taking classes at night towards a paralegal certificate. They have been really good. I have learned a lot. I feel like I have the basics down at least. My second class has it's last meeting this Thursday and we will be turning in our last paper and taking the final. I am really excited for this class to be done. I have had a writing assignment due every week for this class as well as a lot of reading. My lunch breaks have been used to read up for this class, no more reading my favorite novels:( I have had a good time being back in school. I've missed the learning, the feeling that I'm moving towards a goal and completing something, instead of sitting 9-5 at a job where I do the same thing every day. While I don't necessarily like giving up my nights to classes, I think I can handle this until next July. Yup, I will be done next July my friends, only 10 more months! During the month of September, I don't have any classes! Then I start three classes in October and go until July, with the exception of December, which I have off as well. So it should be good. Lawyers I know have already told me to look them up when I'm finished with the program, so I think I will be able to find a job quickly. Yea for new things, new challenges, time management...fun stuff!

Lump of coal that will turn into a diamond

My roommate, Pam Pam, showed me this video and I think all should see it too...

Shelley's baby shower...that was some good punch!

So my sisters, mom and I threw a baby shower for Shelley a couple weekend ago. It was fun times. Shelley is due in 3-4 weeks, anytime now really. She received a lot of cool things, but some of the coolest, blankets my mom made for the baby, we didn't get pictures of. Bummer. But they were cute. Here's some pictures of the gift opening and of my sisters and I. There is one sister, Brigitte, up in Utah who didn't make it down. Missed her there!

Kid Nation?

So I just saw an ad for a new reality television show, "Kid Nation" premiering tonight on CBS. I think I may have to watch this one. The premise is 40 kids, running an old western ghost town, they are divided into color groups, they elect one member from each group to be on the town council and they have town meetings every three days to decide if things are going well, do they change the councilman, that sort of thing. Apparently they don't vote anyone off, but if a kid wants to leave, they can. Every day they have competitions, like sheep wrangling, to see which group is in charge of chores or food preparation for example. It looks to be a modern day Lord of the Flies, which kid is going to step up to take charge and make sure they don't fight eachother off. Looks kind of interesting. But it also makes me wonder, how many more original reality shows can we come up with? Honestly, everything is "reality." What if I no longer want reality, but fiction? Give me some made up story!

I LOVE Sports

I love sports, that's about all there is to that. I love going to baseball games. I know the hot dogs are made from ingredients I don't want to know, but I love baseball game hot dogs. I went to a Padres game a few weeks ago and it was Tony Gwynn night. Everyone got retro visors to celebrate San Diego's beloved sports hero. Exciting times, if only the Padres could have won. At least the game had hits and runs, not like the 1-0 game I went to earlier in the season.

Then last week, I went to a Chargers pre-season night practice and saw all those huge, pro football players. That was pretty fun. The practice ended with the first team offense and first team defense scrimmaging. I loved the smell of the fresh cut grass and the sound of the protective pads crunching when the players hit each other. Who knew that could be exciting! All in all, I love sports and can't wait for the event I've been anticipating all summer, UCLA vs. BYU college football. Yes, I am going with 9 other friends up to UCLA to see this game. Go Cougars! This time of year with MLB, NFL and NCAAF is just the best!