< quality >

The Mediocre Muddlement of a Best Friend Named Ash

2011-05-31T18:03:00.002-06:00

Hi. My name is Whitney. I haven't posted anything for about 8 months...but don't worry! My best friend Ashley has taken the reigns and has decided to post for me. You see, I coincidentally must have signed in to my blog/gmail account on Ashley's computer at some point which left it vulnerably open for her to pillage and plunder in all matter of maliciousness. Luckily she is a very nice friend and she would never say anything embarrassing or at my expense.

Mostly she just wanted to say that she knows there are more people than just herself(Ashley) that want to hear from whitney on a regular basis. Because if you can't be near her, then you just wanna hear about her, right?

If you haven't spoken with Whitney lately then you might want to call her...because she has taken a few grown up steps lately...and you'll probably want to know about what's growing inside of her. I won't tell you her little secret tho.

All those who want to hear from Whitney on her blog need only comment "hear hear!" We'll see if all those waiting to hear from her have been potentially cut off. Maybe if we show her how much we care..she'll start writing again! So leave a comment if you will. Yes, Lindzi, that means you too. and thank you all for taking the time to read this post!

Love, ash.

Ps. The title doesn't make sense. And I know it. But it sounds REALLY good:)
Pps. I also think muddlement is probably not a word. But that's the joy of writing.

Thank you, Whitney, for leaving your blog open to be sabotaged!

confused and in love

2010-10-23T12:22:00.002-06:00

monoboards, giant hampster balls, rafts, helicopters, explosives, skis, dragons, trains and radicals...i like it!

fetish

2010-08-25T21:01:00.003-06:00

i have just had something (well two things) on my mind lately. so constantly, so obsessively, that i have to tell everyone!

symphony bars with almonds and toffee bits

and paradise bakery chocolate chip cookies

i just want some SO freakin bad all the time. this is a bad idea, i'm looking at the mirror behind my computer and sensing a slight double chin coming on. i sincerely mean that. 200 calories and 14 grams of fat for an afternoon snack will do that to ya.

yes FOURTEEN grams

ps-i am not soliciting that you give me these things. once again FOURTEEN!

the end

2010-07-25T23:31:00.003-06:00

well folks! this is it...no more skiing for the 2009-2010 season (5 weeks overdue). what a great season it was! i haven't said one word about skiing on the blog, but don't worry i will make up for it now.

first i would like to say thanks to a few people who made it possible for me to even be on the mountain:

mom / dad / kevin (boss 1) / greg (boss 2) / dick bass / snowbird / red tram / blue tram / mother nature / UTA / lady from water district / cute guy at powderbirds / joe's ski shop, MT / lifthouse / backcountry / earl middleme...(whether i like it or not)

and now a thanks to a few ski buddies...

pro brady / cait / ashley / lindzi / sarah/ /terese / kenjiro / tele brian / crazy ray / sam fox / schmidt / query / piper / mom / dad / megan / todd / buddha / greg / bryant / pat / rick / daryn / norrona / anna / eon / caitlyn II / adam / steve / mark / mccall / jb / molly / aaron / hailey / holland / schweppe / chuck / kate III / jeff / matt / scott / herk / cody / peiter / lis / josh / shawn / alex / courtney / jason / mark / clay / blake / zach / thor / ben / russ / tyler / john / kyle / brett / spence / chris / carly / shogo / kylie / anyone else i forgot / the list was quite long

i hit a personal record ski days in a season this year. nothing like some other people, but pretty good for working 5 days a week. grand total...66 (but I think I forgot to record a few days, so I will round up to 70!)

as boring as this will be to probably 99% of the people who read this, i know there is 1 (maybe 2) of you that will like this. every day i went skiing i wrote a sentence about the day. if this bores you to death, skip down to where it gets interesting again (when the text stops and the photos start).

Nov 14-Midnight hike to Alta-Thanks for the ride snow making dude!

Nov 20-Snowbird opening day

Nov 27-Abandoned

Dec 12-First air of the season

Dec 16-Found a ski-Lost a ski

Dec 19-First run on S7. True love.

Dec 23-Powder panic for 3"-GAY!

Dec 25-New fam tradition. Head first down Silvy!

Dec 26-First hike to High Baldy

Dec 28-First day from top of Great Scott

Dec 31-Three POWDER runs

Jan 2-GREAT Scott-GREAT Scary

Jan 6-Hardest fall EVER! Right next to the slow sign. What?

Jan8-WAY FUN DAY! Lots of little cliffs w/ Cait/Brady. Landed ALL. GREAT

Jan 9-So Tired! A couple Wilbur Chutes-Last Tram-Tram Club

Jan 13-Me, Mom, Dad. Snow all blew to Alta. Silvy blown to buff.

Jan 15-Solo-Silvy, Forbidden, GS to Cool Whip to Tower 3

Jan 16-Park City with EVERYONE!

Jan 20-Mom and Dad

Jan 22-Powder run X3 on P-Dawg

Jan 23-Are you effing kidding me? Go home people!

Jan 26-Birthday ski for Brady with Sam Fox

Jan 27-All alone. Heavy snow from the weekend.

Jan 29-Tram closed. Skied alone.

Jan 30-Brady and Team Mgr/Tele Brian. Powder-Thunder Bowl X2

Feb 3-Skied with Sarah Mercedes. Very good lil' skier!

Feb 5-Blah

Feb 6-Skied along and hard. Sad day :( But fun skiing

Feb 10-Don't really remember, but I know I went!

Feb 12-Cait and Brady in the morn. 2 North Baldys. AWESOME

Feb 13-Not busy, powder, holladay. WEIRD. Little airs & over the handle bars.

Feb 15-Sansom Family ski day. Really fun and perfect day for shin bang!

Feb 17-Familiarize with West Baldy. Shin bang! Spin class this morn KMB!

Feb 19-Mom, Cait, and Dave-I ate it A TON. Very wet, very fun day!

Feb 20-Skied w/ the UFS Crew-Apres Hot Wings with Japanese friends.

Feb 24-Mom, Dad Bryant-Snow not so great-Ride w/ Ray on the bus home.

Feb 26-BRIAN HEAD-Beautiful fun day with Adam and Steve.

March 3-Legit dust on crust-Caught a ride home with Cort and Mark

March 5-Thank you to North Baldy for the deepest pow of my life. I love it!

March 6- Zoom@Noon but missed it for epic Silvy, NB and N. Chute.

March 10-Pretty good day

March 12-Living the dream. West Baldy inspection with Brady

March 13-CRAPY morn until snow. WB inspections w/ Cait...BUTTERFLIES...

March 16-Inspection day. Not-so-awesome

March 17-FREESKIING WORLD TOUR. Ate it 2X. Last place. Morale hurt.

March 20-Took 2 runs all day. Watched the Semi's of the FWT. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

March 24-Beautiful blue day. Skied the last run with Eon who is stoked on life.

March 26-Late season storm. Aweseome! (minus a few awkward moments)

March 27-Bell to bell. SO MANY TRAMS! Blue bird powder day!

March 31-72mph gusts. Blown smooth? Nope. Blown to nada!

April 2-Wait? April 2nd? Is that right? 12" overnight. Take my breath away!

April 3-Right place,right time. 3 mind blowing laps in MB. met up with Terese

April 9-No sign of the 4' from two days ago. Oh well! Happy to be there :)

April 10-Afternoon lap out past Thunder Bowl. No crowds. I'm happy!

April 15-HELI in AK! Take I!BLUE SKIES! SO AMAZING!

April 16-HELI in AK! Take II! RHINO is where it's AT!

April 18-HELI in AK! Take III! Eaglecrest. So windy (I <3).>

April 24-Spring day-Traverse beneath the luge & lame jibbing down the gully.

May 1-Awesome powder day on May 1. Skied a new spot from Alta into Snowbird.

May 5-Don't remember but pretty sure I went.

May 7-Three runs-Great Scott/Jaws

May 8-Jaws was great. Skied with Cait and her lil bro. Keys locked in the car-oops.

May 15-AK reunion with Kate and Parker. Deepest slush ever in MB.

June 5-Spring day before the floods-Jack and Brady

June 12-Last ski day=JUNE POW!!! Perfect way to end the season.

so there you have it. a little taste of the ski season. it was a great 8 months and no matter what the snow was like, i was always happy to be in the beautiful mountains that are only two bus stops away from my house with happy fun loving people who are just as excited to be there. in the end, it's always the memories i made with other people while skiing, crammed into the tram, hiking up baldy, or sitting on the plaza that make me want to go back for more.

read on for more details on two memories from this season.

ski ya later!

apres hot wings with kenjiro and his buddies from japan

pipers birthday bypass bbq

being cool on hidden peak

skiing with the besties for the first time in 6 years!

day 48-compliments of eon jarvis

*i need to let off some steam about how much it bugs me when the format gets all screwed up. IT REALLY BUGS ME! I WISH ALL THOSE DOUBLE SPACES WOULD JUST GO BACK TO WHERE THEY CAME FROM!*

alaska

2010-07-25T23:22:00.008-06:00

i went to alaska! cait works for bluehouse ski company and they were taking a little company ski trip up to alaska to go heli skiing. they needed 10 people for the trip and they had an extra spot which cait offered to me. in my typical fashion, i said maybe, then no, then maybe, then back to no. two weeks before they left i decided i actually did want to go, and lucky for me they still had a spot for me.

quite honestly, the conditions were not epic alaska like you see in the movies (as i learned, those fresh snow, blue sky days are actually hard to come by. especially for mid april in juneau) but it was still the greatest trip! flying in the chopper and in skiing big mountains with no one else in sight was awesome. i LOVED it! so did the rest of the crew and before the week was even half over we were planning our trip to haines next year. the people, in the end are the ones that made the trip so memorable and fun. i only knew one person well, but by the end of the week we were all friends.

the people are the ones that have to make a trip like that, especially when you spend-as chuck described it-3 days in the gnar, 4 days at the bar. it rained...A TON. in juneau when it's raining there is really nothing to do besides sit in your hotel room, or sit in a bar. even though i do not drink and spent 4x more time in a bar that week than i have in my whole life, it was a great time. who knew they have Wii, pool tables, karaoke, and so much more going on at a bar in the middle of the day.

so the skiing and travel comrades were great, but the people and food of juneau just added to the experience. the people there were absolutely incredibel. so nice, generous, friendly, weird, fun, and interesting. i really think i learned something from every single one of them. one thing they all taught me was what good food tastes like. bbq's, bon fires, pub food, and brunch. all of the food was A-MA-ZING! we got a hotel room with a kitchen in so we could cook...and then we ate out almost every meal.

the locals we met also gave us some great suggestions of sites to see, despite the rain. my favorites were the shrine of st. therese and mendenhall glacier. the rain just made them even more of an adventure and more beautiful!

so i went on a ski trip to juneau, alaska. if i went back there, it would be for the food and the people, not the skiing. and that doesn't bother me one bit. i have pictures of the trip on my picasa album. click on the 'check out my picasa album' link or the picture below it on the top of the left menu. enjoy!

freeskiing world tour

2010-07-25T23:20:00.003-06:00

the freeskiing world tour is a ski competition that has 6 stops throughout the ski season this year the tour hit: la parva, chile / revelstoke, canada / telluride, colorado / crested butte, colorado / kirkwood, california / snowbird, utah. i have watched the tour when it has come to snowbird many times and this year i decided i wanted to enter the qualifying event at snowbird. my friend cait talked me into entering the one at telluride too. a week before telluride, i chickened out and decided not to go. competing for the first time at a mountain i had never been to before got to my nerves. i worked all season both in the gym and on the mountain to improve my skiing and i would say i did. maybe not to a competitive enough level, but i definitely improve.

without getting into too much detail, the comp works likes this. there is a start gate, and a finish gate, and a boundary of where you can ski. you decide where you want to ski between the start and finish and are judged on 5 categories. line choice / control / fluidity / form & technique / aggression & energy.

my day to ski on the qualifiers was march 17. the snow was not good...as is typical for qualifying day on west baldy. icy bowling balls and daggers. my mentality all morning was to get down the mountain without falling. for some reason when i started skiing my mentality changed, and i just wanted to ski really aggressively and charge my line. unfortunately that didn't last very long. about thirty seconds into the run i had a spot i had to come out of with a little speed and i just couldn't hang onto it. i fell and lost a ski...maybe both. after getting back into the bindings i decided to keep skiing my line and ski it well. unfortunately i hadn't quite skied it with that speed and missed the spot i meant to go to which sent me into a very fast run out into the the moguled flats. once again loosing control and a ski...or two...and my iPod shuffle. even though i totally sucked it up, i was happy when i crossed the finish line. over the next few days though, my mind kept going back to my horrible run and it took me a bit longer than expected to shake it. i am way glad i did it despite the out come (which was last place, did i mentiont) and am still contemplating if i want to enter it again next year or not. at least i know the only worse i could do is DNF.

my friend Cait made it to the semi-finals! i was so excited for her! unfortunately she fell on that run, but she's still the #1 ripper in my book.

after cait's run in the semi-finals at snowbird

brady / cait / john / steven / taylor

west baldy the snowbird qualifying event venue

and where i totally blew it

Subaru Freeskiing World Tour Highlights from Subaru Freeskiing World Tour on Vimeo.

potato salad-food for thought

2010-06-08T01:11:00.005-06:00

relationships (of all sorts-family, friends, lovers) are a lot like potato salad. no matter what you put into it, you can never make everybody happy.

so do you make people pick-around the stuff they don't like, or leave the hard boiled egg out just for them? who knows...

even this potato salad couldn't satisfy everyone. it was close though. and a round of applause goes out to papa mike for actually trying it. maybe next week i can get you to go real crazy and try a PB&J.

pop-tart!

2010-05-08T02:29:00.002-06:00

made the homemade pop tarts. twice. you definitely need to make them! be sure to use the unsalted butter. made all the difference between batch one and two.

this video is titled 'poptart'. so it only makes sense to put it here.

time on my hands

2010-04-28T20:43:00.004-06:00

honestly, i have had a lot of time on my hands lately. so much time that it feels like i spend most of it trying to decide what to do. i'm really bad a making decisions. here are a couple things i have finally decided on doing lately (thanks to my friends).

i realized the other day that lindzi and ashley (bff's) are into holidays. this is a good thing. unlike me, they give you gifts at christmas, send you cards on valentines, dress up for halloween, and celebrate easter for three sundays in a row. i didn't do ANY of those the last go around. that's pretty pathetic. since i didn't celebrate easter for three weeks this year, i have to thank lindzi for inspiring me to celebrate it at least once!

she had ash, terese, and me up to her house to decorate cookies and easter eggs. i learned one thing this night...i should stick to eggs, cookies aren't my thing. lindzi posted all the pictures up on her blog, and since i struggle with uploading photos on this thing, i will just direct you her way for the bulk of the photos. there is one you need to see though.

exhibit a: why i should never ice another cookie

terese, lindz, and ash didn't help with my icing skills either. they totally put me to shame. at least they will never forget what mine looked like. there was the one with a half inch of icing, the bunny with a goatee, and the play-it-safe-polka-dot.

luckily my icing skills did not spill over into my dying skills. thanks to LIVING (not martha, you know she's not really the one doing it) we had some cool dying techniques. this is totally snobbish to say, but my eggs were pretty awesome. i was so proud of myself, the next night (saturday, i'm cool) I dyed eggs by myself pretty much the whole night.

so i guess i actually celebrated easter for TWO nights.

now onto the bread...two of my old roommates, terese and bryn, and i had talked about making bread for months, but we were all talk. one fateful night, WE ACTUALLY DID IT! and guess what!? it wasn't nearly as hard as i thought it would be! we used my aunt lisa's bread recipe which you can find on my cousin jake and his wife amanda's blog Call Me Cook (check it out!). we came up with really creative name for us...bread club. next bread club recipe? i vote on homemade poptarts! not exactly bread but close enough for me.

perfect solution to typically boring and disappointing holidays

2010-03-02T01:42:00.007-07:00

halloween-new years-valentines

i think these are usually the 3 most disappointing holidays of the year. lots of hype and excitement, but usually you end up pulled over for suspected drunk driving (girls are just bad drivers...not me of course), standing in the rain--unable to get into a totally rad party, or being kissed by complete strangers. yes all 3 of these things could and possibly may have happened on any one of these holidays.

THIS YEAR the traditional celebration for these 3 holidays was forgotten.

HALLOWEEN
first thing, one of my bfs, Ash LOVES halloween and I really have had good times with her revolving around halloween, especially when we dressed her up like Cruela Devile. second, my other bf, Lindzi, and I have spent 1 or 2 halloweens at porcupine in our pjs which was right up my alley! so despite the negative attitude i already put out there, i really have had some fun halloweens. this year, i got to do something totally different though.

9 or 10 us did a little road trip
bear lake to snake river to jackson hole to firehole to west yellowstone-all done in two days

at bear lake we stayed at my friend adam's cabin, made pumpkin cookies, sat by the fire, played old records, watched 10 minutes of an absolutely trashy movie (vampires, i think), and then watched a river wild instead.

it was a perfect movie selection to pump us up for the next day. 6 of us went on a halloween snake river run. the temperature outside was about 40 degrees i think and 30 something in the water. i had anxiety the whole 2 and whatever hours down the river...completely terrified that i would tip in this very chilly water. luckily i didn't! katie wasn't quite so lucky. she went over twice and got seperated from her boat for a while. she is my hero. i think i complained more than she did and nothing more than my toes got wet.

the crew-ben-brady-whit-justin-adam-katie

despite the literally FREEZING temperatures, the scenery was breathtaking!

proof it really was freezing. frozen stream dumping into the river!

after the less than toasty river run, we all went to bubba's in jackson for a much needed warm and delicious bbq dinner.
then we headed up to yellowstone. i should probably be vague here, but some people may have got in some very warm water to warm up from the river. i kept a lookout
after the 'hot tub' we drove to west yellowstone (it's about 2:00 a.m. at this point) where 9 or 10 of us slept in a 2 bed hotel room. the tricky thing here was that there were only 4 rooms in the entire hotel that weren't vacant. that made sneaking 6 extra people into the hotel room a covert-op.
it was a fun and different trip. if i go again on halloween, i think i might skip the river though. if i didn't die from hypothermia, i was afraid i was going to die of a heart attack due to abnormal amounts of anxiety...

NEW YEARS & VALENTINES

for both new years and valentines, i went with some of brady's friends up to a yurt in millcreek canyon. you cross country ski into the yurt and it takes about 2 hours. on new years i made the mistake of going fast without stopping, eating, or drinking on the way up. by the time i got there i was physically and mentally DEAD. i don't really remember much of what happened, but i vaguely remember a lot of martinelli's, fire crackers, and an american flag speedo.

brady's pack-mule roommate, mark, brought up a full-on stove and made us all french toast for breakfast. so good!

steve-adam-lauren-katie on the bunks (new years) i think there were 14 of us in all up there

the valentines trip i took a little slower up. good idea! we had a smaller group too. adam-brady-me-caitlin-justin-carly. brady made us omelets in the morning. he actually put 18 eggs in his pack-NONE of them cracked. that's skill

justin's feet missed the floor when he jumped off the bunk and his head hit the stove instead. EEK!

me-brady-caitlin ready to head back down the canyon

for some reason i decided to write this post at oh 1 something in the morning...weird how that happens. it's now 2:57. i know there are super boring, incomplete, and LONG parts of this, but frankly i am too tired to care and if i don't push 'publish post' right now, i might never do it.

more updates (hopefully more interesting) to come...peace

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRADY!

2010-01-27T21:38:00.002-07:00

it was this guys birthday on monday, january 25.
this year he turned the ripe young age of 32.
congratulations-birthday kit-just add bread.
what did he do to celebrate? this of course

(does anyone know where my ability to 'justify' my alignment went? i need help)

no direction here

2010-01-27T21:09:00.008-07:00

oh hi. remember me? probably not, i remember you because i have probably been reading your blog, but when i think about posting something on mine, there is nothing that seems to be quite so daunting.

like the new look? (you need to turn on your sound to get the whole effect). that thing up above was my christmas card i spent hours on and then gave to like 5 people (boss, boss, parents, newtons, marjorie). so to all my friends who i never gave a christmas card to (all of you) MERRY CHRISTMAS! thanks for not holding it against me. or you can, that's cool too, i understand.

so here is a pic i just took of me...covering my face.

umm, i went skiing today and i think that the tram driver alex is maybe a little annoying. leslie is cool though, i like her (although i have never spoken to her).

for the last 4 days my email inbox at work has been empty by the time i leave. LOVE that feeling.

pretty sure that i never mentioned i went to newport with brady's family in october. it was way fun to go on a trip with them and so nice of them to take me.

i flew from ca to fl to go to sarah mercedes wedding to patrick floyd. the wedding, sarah's family, and their house on the lake were rad!

i didn't take a single picture of california OR florida. so sorry i can't share them with you, but i remember them and they were both the best!

the camera and i have not been friends lately and sadly my memory is no longer my friend either. i have no idea what's happening.

BABIES! there have been a ton of babies lately. i hate them all...

that's not true at all, it's all a rumor. i love all my friends babies very very very much!!!!!!

this sarcasm needs to go away, it's getting pretty annoying.

attitude adjustment taking place......please stand by

river surfing

2009-10-01T10:50:00.007-06:00

i had the chance to run the snake river a few times this summer. i had done it before in larger rafts, but this summer i went in some smaller vessels, including a torrent (sit-on-top personal kayak). it was such a different experience! i absolutely loved it!
when we were there in july we saw some people surfing on the lunch counter rapid. it is one of the coolest things i think i have ever seen. when i watch this it makes me so excited, i don't know what about, it just makes me excited. hopefully it will make you excited too!
ps-if you want to watch it in a bigger size you can check out the video on grindtv

just to clarify, no i did not do this, i cannot surf AT ALL, but i should have some photos and video of my trips to the snake river to post soon!

having-a-brain-cramp

2009-09-24T21:38:00.004-06:00

does this really need any explanation? when canoeing the provo river; watch-out for the banks, they're dangerous and may cause you to tip over the canoe...a couple times; avoid the bridge post thingers, again, capsization; and if you hit a tuber, it's like winning the daily double.

(for the record, my canoe never tipped, i would be a pro canoest, if there were such a thing)

rad and ritzy

2009-09-24T20:47:00.007-06:00

THE RAD my birthday buddy/team manger, brian, runs the bobsled up at the olympic winter park. he told brady and i to come by one day and he would give us a ride. my 78-year-old boss gave me a little heads up that it is pretty intense, yeah he went on it a couple years ago, no biggie, 78 and all. so with a warning from the boss-man, we took a rad ride down the bobsled. i felt like my teach were getting pulled out. no kidding.

THE RITZY i received a restaurant gift certificate from a very nice park city real estate agent a few months ago. it's this spot called shabu on main street (whose website has apparently expired). after watching some awesome little homies on the ski jumps (including brady's good friend carston) and a chicken nugget appetizer from wendy's, we headed to shabu and some ritzy sushi and beef tenderloin. it was good food, not my favorite, but good.

i felt kinda weird eating at a nice restaurant, i def feel more at home at the winter park

brian / brady / me

i love fun free fridays!

140 days

2009-09-24T20:39:00.002-06:00

that's how long it took for me to realize it. i NEED a schedule, a routine, a goal!!!! that's all...

it's happening...

2009-08-16T11:57:00.002-06:00

i made a deal with lindzi a few weeks ago. we would sign-up for facebook when my boss asked me about it...he will be 78 next month. about two weeks ago lindzi admitted that she signed-up while i was out-of-town. well the next week, sure enough, i got a phone call from kevin (my boss) and he sounded very concerned. "whit, could you tell me about facebook?" i was trying not to laugh so he wouldn't think i was laughing at him, but i was dying inside.

it's a couple weeks later i am finally getting around to it. buddha is sitting here with me for this momentous occasion.

two-wheel-drive summer

2009-07-22T15:49:00.004-06:00

EMAIL #1--BEFORE
out in the west desert northeast of wendover, UT, lie four huge concrete tunnels about 9 feet in diameter and each about 18 feet long, built for a land-art project in the 70s. they are set up in such a way that on the summer and winter solstices the sun sets exactly down the middle of the tunnels. there are also holes along the top of the tunnels which, I am told, correspond to certain constellations.

and this sunday is june 21st, the longest day of the year and the summer solstice. some peeps and I are heading out there on SATURDAY afternoon so we can be there for the sunset.

i was there 3 years ago and barely made the sunset, so hopefully we can get there with more time to spare this time. The one major variable will be the weather. If it's dumping rain, we may not want to go, especially since there is about an hour of travel on dirt roads. That will have to be a game-time decision. Just gauging interest now.

let me know if you're interested.

DURING
EMAIL #2--AFTER
many of you have inquired as to whether we went (we did) and whether there was a sunset (there was).

not since rocky has there been a story this epic, this heartwarming, this empowering... against all odds, brady, whitney and summer tempted fate, and fate this time was placated.

in a world where right is wrong, where rain falls like... rain, these three individuals, inexorably connected by their desire to witness something amazing, drove through miles of dirt and mud in a 2WD passenger car. they arrived, sliding and fishtailing through the mud bog, minutes before the sun set.

this is their story told in a few simple pictures. perhaps next time you'll have the faith required to follow these three brave individuals on the road to adventure, muddy, rainy or otherwise.

*thanks to brady for writing these emails. it made this post very simple!*

there are just a few things that were left out of the email that i would like to add
1. do you remember how much and how often it rained in june? when i left home to head out there, the rain was pouring out of the gutters and across the street.
2. we had to drive through a few spots on the dirt road where water had covered the entire road for about 25 feet. remember, we were in a honda accord.
3. about 15 minutes to sunset and we reach an impassable point in the road. the mud was just too thick and heavy. we could see the tunnels in the distance. we were so close!!!
4. we took the accord 4-wheeling. off the road, through bushes, rocks, tree logs, mud, holes, and near entrapment...but we made it through
5. as we fishtailed towards the tunnel minutes before sunset, there were two trucks already there. i wish i had a picture of everyone's faces. complete and udder disbelief that our little 2WD car had made it. i was in just as much shock.
6. props, once more to brady on the pictures (and incredible driving)
7. i decided afterward that it was such an amazing sunset because it was the first day of summer, and we had summer with us. thanks for coming summer!

redemption

2009-06-26T18:54:00.005-06:00

in an effort to have a more positive summer vacation experience, i took a couple more days off work, after being gone for two weeks and home less than a week (i have the coolest bosses ever). my family was going to lake powell so i went to spend a few days with them. we went to rainbow bridge, which we haven't done for a LONG time. it's so amazing, i can hardly believe that things like that actually exist! my friend brady and i saw kate, one of the ticket scanners at snowbird, at rainbow bridge! what a small world!!!

we didn't get a ton of boat action because the wind just wouldn't let up, but it was still fun. i mean how could it not be, it's lake powell!

and pictures...

the sansom crew at rainbow

brady-whit-todd

megs

todd

mom

cousin itt...i mean jane ;)

ryan

nappi...danny nappi

mike

luke and buddha

the bill

2009-06-26T18:27:00.007-06:00

just got a phone call. they wanted to make sure i received my bill. what bill? the one from the hawaii medical ER. dang-it, i had forgotten about that.

as you can already tell, my trip to hawaii didn't turn out quite as planned, but it wasn't all bad. i did spend quite a bit more time in bed than i was planning on, but what a better way to get over bronchitis?! i didn't have one thing to cancel or be to, no homework to do, or lessons to teach. i just got to relax in a really nice condo all by myself for six days, without one thing to worry about. doesn't that sound refreshing? it really was. when i wasn't lounging around in bed i did get to do some cool stuff.

my top 3 were...

1) the point that 'dreamboat' (ashley's hawaiian crush) took us to where we could jump into the ocean. he said it is the only point on the island where there is more than a 180 degree view of the ocean.

2) jumping off waimea rock at sunset and seeing ashley finally do a backflip!!

3) getting to meet ashley's ridiculously awesome family. they were so hospitable and nice, i hope i can be at least half as welcoming to my relatives and their 6 bum-ish friends.

needless to say the trip wasn't a total failure, and it was really fun to be there with all my friends. the crew included lindzi, aaron, ashley, terese, JT, and tyler parris neal (yes that's one person). i only took about 10 pictures during the whole trip, so if you want some good photo documentation check-out lindzi's blog. but here is my favorite picture i took with my phone. for your enjoyment...and my embarrassment

hawaiian bong?

i'm tri-ing

2009-04-30T22:48:00.002-06:00

next week i'm doing a triathlon, just a sprint (.75k SWIM-20k BIKE-5k- RUN). i had been 'training' since september, but my efforts have been pretty week the last 6 weeks or so. last night ash and i ran 2 miles, this morning we swam 1400ish yards, and tonight i biked 28 miles with one of my buddies. i'm pooped, but feel good. wish me luck next week. i'm gonna need it.

the last thing i want to do right now, write two 8-page papers and study for a law test. grrrr...it's almost over.

pipe please

2009-04-25T12:13:00.005-06:00

we had had our eye on pipeline all season, hopefully waiting for the day it would open. i got an email from brady on tueday as i struggled to stay awake in the library saying it had been open that day and would probably be open on wednesday. problem-we both had class the next morning. solution-meh, forget about school.

we headed up the canyon on wednesday morning with our egg mcmuffins and hashbrowns, but without bradys foot beds. he decided to be totally hardcore as usual and do the hike and line without them. the hike was crazy steep! like climbing up a ladder! but it really wasn't all that bad looking back on it. after 40 minutes of climbing, we enjoyed a minute, maybe a minute and a half of skiing! the snow was really nice at the top and on the south side of the shoot where it was in the shade.

we were back on the deck eating, again, in no time. luckily the morning was pretty uneventful. snow was nice, weather was great, company was prime, and all was good!

brady brought his camera and took some great pictures. thanks so much!

we started hiking where the red line heads straight up on the left side of the picuture, and skied down the blue line on the right.

before you even have to comment or ask--i know the coat is WAY cute...it's Terese's :)

dear lindz and buddha

2009-04-01T21:37:00.012-06:00

to my two loyal, and only blog readers, this is for you. and since i speak to you on a semi-regular basis (my fault), this will mostly all be a repeat, so rather than doing it in words i will do it through pictures. I also can't think of anything that has been happening in my life and have to rely on pictures i have taken on my phone to jog my memory. if you consider a picture to be a thousand words, this could be considered a rather long book. maybe you should just stop now lindz.

first of all...i am alive. here is a picture of me i took moments ago

there is no order or reason to these pictures, in fact i think they are chronologically backwards. so unlike me. i fit in my parents new dryer, so does todd, but he told my parents that i climbed in it.

been skiing a lot. i don't remember why, but this was a good run down silverfox, so i took a picture at the bottom. no surprise, silverfox is always awesome. one day my wrist got stuck around the rope at the top of the gate and i was dangling an inch above the ground. someone had to untwist me, it was awesome!

i bought a plane ticket to hawaii leaving on may 10, returning may 22, that's about all that is planned for the trip. traveling buddies: ash, terese, tyler parris neal, and hopefully lindz and aaron.

my job has been bringing me lots of new experiences. today, i tried on chicken heads at a costume shop.

last fall i planted bulbs for the first time (also at work). they bloomed, then it snowed.

then i went skiing, and it didn't snow (until this week :) this day at deer valley with lindz, aaron, and pro brady was way fun though. the beach and people watching made up for the lack of powder and first tracks.

the u.s. freeskiing world tour was at snowbird a few weeks ago. my friend kenjiro matsuo from japan, had an awesome run in the finals and stomped the landing off this huge cliff! unfortunately he markered-out in the super finals. he took the same cliff even bigger, but unfortunately didn't stomp it the second time around. he totally deserved the SICK BIRD AWARD. i left a comment at '5 guys' that night in honor of him. you MUST watch it for yourself!

yet another day at work...i organized this stuff all awesome, then the selves collapsed :( i picked it up off the floor, but haven't put it all away still

my mexican friend karlos can stand on big rubber balls FOREVER!! isn't that more of a chinese sort of talent?

i moved, this is my kitchen, and those are my palm tree lights

one day at church the power went out, but the dude who was speaking was NOT stopping. my friend katy had a little light on her keychain, so she took it up to him so he could read his talk

i went to vegas and SIA with lindz, aaron, and a bunch of other love birds. it was fun and so nice to get away for the weekend. you should check-out lindz's post for better coverage of the events. it was my birthday the last day we were there, so it was very appropriate that at 1:00am on my birthday i was doing my favorite thing to do in vegas. the BIG SHOT (exciting music, na na na na na da da da do do de de na na!!!!) then i assisted a minor in gambling...

i have two nephews, soon it will be three. way to go meg! and i apologize that your children will never have cousins their age.

i have ate at cafe rio a bunch, as usual

and last, but not least, in fact, probably what i have been doing the most of lately "homework" *wink*wink*

there, i've done it. it was exhausting. but i now do not have to blog for another quarter.

i worship buddha

2008-12-29T20:07:00.004-07:00

not the lil' guy wit the big belly, but the buddha who once lived next door, who is barely tall enough for space mountain, and who i sometimes call sister. she suggested i write a new post (however, she's not one to talk), and since i don't have much else going on right now i thought i would share some memories and photos of my lil sis...buddha.

there is probably no body that i am more myself around than buddha. i hope that the same is true for her. if everybody saw the "real" her, she might find it a little easier to keep all the boys away, and a little harder to find friends. here are a few things about her that only i would know.she loves the smell of her armpit. i thought i had seen her take abnormally long whiffs, but she would always deny it. i finally caught her in the act one summer day. you can just see the guilt and embarrassment in her eyes.
after sleeping for nearly 27 hours straight, she woke-up to a horrible sight. her face had actually flattened on the side she had been sleeping on and her eye would no longer open all the way. we rushed her to the ER where they spent countless hours trying to reconstruct her face. unfortunately they were unable to restore it completely. you can still tell the right side of her face is slightly flatter than the left.
when she gets really hungry her mouth opens so wide that she can fit her fist into it. she can then put so much food in her mouth that she regularly gags or chokes on it. one time at a restaurant she coughed up a dozen french fries she had lodged in her mouth. they landed on the table next to us.

i hope you enjoyed learning a little more about buddha. if you have any other memories or stories about her please feel free to share!

2008-12-10T21:36:00.000-07:00

WHAT SHOULD I DO NEXT?

what's to come

2008-12-06T20:15:00.008-07:00

i have always loved skiing, but this season feels different. i opened up a backcountry.com email a few days ago and got butterflies in my stomach and had to catch my breath when i saw the picture of the skier standing at the top of a mountain with his ski tips hanging off the edge. BUTTERFLIES!!! how awesome is that.

so while it might not look like there is much going on in this picture, the important part is what's to come. what's it gonna be. a groomer down reg, silverfox to anderson's, or maybe stepping through boney rats nest to great scott. in a few weeks hiking to the baldy traverse may be the run of choice. whichever it is, it's gonna be great!

the rejuvination of my love for skiing came at a perfect time too. 46% of the votes for what to do next in my life went to becoming a ski bum. the runner-up was starring in my own MTV reality show. whitney port is already taking care of that for me. anyone up for 'the city' party at my house on dec 29? but what's this about 'bromance'? i'm not so sure about that. wow...this post got way off topic.

i love ski

i prefer blue bunnies

2008-11-10T21:18:00.006-07:00

school has been a great security blanket for the past half-a-decade, but i just put a big whole in my blue bunnie blankie while trying to keep my big brother and sister from taking it, and now my mom is throwing it away.

what should i do next.....? i have NO idea. please help me out and vote.

the OCHO (minus 1)

2008-10-30T20:33:00.011-06:00

seriously, i'm pretty excited about being tagged. lindzi tagged me and you have to check-out her blog because she is freaking hilarious.

UNO-i LOVE peanut butter & jelly sandwiches! most normal people get burnt out of PB&J when they are learning how to do long division and play dodgeball on a regular basis. well i can't remember how to do long division and would still love to play dodgeball on a regular basis, and i still can't get enough of peanut butter & jelly. eat one of mine and you will be hooked too.

DOS-i always take my shoes off when i drive. it feels weird to leave them on. one day when i was leaving home i just carried my shoes because i would just be taking them off in the car. i set them down to pick-up something else and didn't realize until i got to school that i was shoe-less.

TRES-i have slept in the same bedroom for almost 23 years. pathetic i know... but it's a nice little set-up. plus it's free. it's a no-brainer.

CUATRO-i own more helmets than heels. even if you count each shoe on it's own rather than in pairs. there's really no need to own more than a black and a brown pair of heels, but a black, gray with pink accents, and white camo ski helmet are all MUSTS!

CINCO-i have a specific way of eating circle shaped food. hamburgers, large cookies, sandwiches, and other round-ish foods have to be eaten in a specific way. i always eat all the way around the edge, then eat the middle. the middle is the best part, so i want to save it for last. there's nothing worse than getting to the last bight of your burger and finding that the edge is burnt crispy! i try to do this with donuts too, but it doesn't work so well.

SEIS-i have no socks that AREN'T multi colored, striped, poke-a-dot, plaid, or patterned. there's a reason for this. i hate it when you put on two socks, and although they are the same color, they are not pairs. it drives me crazy if one is a little tighter than the other or if they hit me ankle or leg in different spots. by having no plain socks, i can always easily spot it's partner! my mom always makes fun of me because my socks never match the rest of my clothes, but at least they match each other!

SIETE-i sat on a crocodile. yes, it is a real croc! we walked toward the pond, the croc's (three of em') walked out, and then that dude in the red shirt told us to come sit down....i don't know what i was thinking. i'm glad i did, but i probably wouldn't do it again.

now for you lucky people who have been tagged and are now stuck in the mud...stephanie & christian (you are hilarious stephanie, i love reading about your lives!), my fav little bird audrey & nate, and the bro and sisters (todd, meg, and buddha).

head banging

2008-10-30T19:34:00.003-06:00

my sleeping schedule has been all over the place since fall break. i get tired at 9:00 am and about 4:00 pm, but midnight comes around, and i am still not asleep. it's really annoying, especially since i wake up at 5:15 a few days a week and am up by 6:15 on most other days.

as soon as i sat down in my first class today, i wanted to fall asleep. by the time i hit my marketing class three hours later, i was toast. in an effort to stay awake through our guest speaker, i bought a coke from the vending machine. i don't even really like coke, i just hoped it would do the trick. i stayed awake while i was drinking it, but when i was done...i was DONE. i tried to position myself so when i unexpectedly fell asleep my friend josh wouldn't make fun of me for jolting, drooling, or dropping something.

our speaker was the marketing guy from intermountain healthcare and i was really trying to stay awake, but i just couldn't do it. he played a bunch of their commercials for us, and i would always wake-up for a sec when he started them, then against all efforts, fall right back asleep.

i was finally starting to come back to consciousness when he started this commercial from their LIVE campaign. how embarrassing...and appropriate. josh and i couldn't stop laughing.

oh yeah...that's why...

2008-10-21T22:22:00.003-06:00

i was wondering why everyone seemed so obsessed with fall lately. then i walked through a pile of leaves that had fallen on the sidewalk and i remembered. i also ate an ENTIRE loaf of pumpkin chocolate chip bread at work. i know it's delicious, but use some self-control, trust me.

AZ anyone?

2008-10-21T21:29:00.012-06:00

ashley, buddha, and I took a quick trip to AZ for the weekend. here are some of the highlights.

this kept us entertained for about an hour of the ten hour drive.

(ok so that's supposed to be a vid. you would think i would know how to do this considering i am taking a web design class. check back, cause it's going to rock your socks. queen anyone?)

we went '80s dancing on friday night with our friends rich and dave.

that's where I met robin from the bachelor: london calling

(she's cooler in person than she seemed on the show)

ash and buddha brought some attitude to the climbing gym.

at the arizona state fair, we went to the weezer concert, where dave and rich played the guitar and the didgeridoo (yes, that's right) on stage with weezer.

what did you do this weekend?

potato + beer + cheese = german heaven

2008-10-14T02:30:00.002-06:00

i knew there was a good reason for oktoberfest...the beer. not so much the beer all on its own, but when it's mixed altogether with potato's, cheese, and some other really healthy stuff. it is some seriously amazing soup! porcupine's is delish, but lindzi's is probably better (i haven't tried it yet).

Don't forget your...down coat?

2008-09-29T09:23:00.003-06:00

For weeks, Todd and I have been trying to take the boat out. Last weekend we decided we were going no matter what. The night before we left, there were only three of us going, and it was windy and raining. The next morning it was still rainy and cold, but we had a whole crew show up. I think the water temperature was about 58, and there were some big ole' rain clouds covering us most of the day. Despite the less then prime weather, we had an awesome time. No one was too chicken to get in the water and there was some serious glass to be had.

Todd and Russ both had there sweet cameras and we got some pretty cool pictures. I think the winning photo is the one above of Clayton wiping-out on the wakeskate. Check-out Todd's web album for all the other pics.

time and money well wasted

2008-09-17T09:39:00.003-06:00

on the left of my blog i have a list of some sites that i manage to waste plenty of time and money on. i'm a college student, that's what i do best. i just wanted to call your attention to it because there are some pretty awesome things sitting right over there, just a mouse click away and i don't want you to overlook them.
as far as money wasted goes you can find four totally sweet sites that sell one item at a time until it's gone at a HUGE discount. steep and cheap, whiskey militia, chainlove, and tramdock. it's all outdoor/recreational wear and totally worth checking out. in my opinion these sites are the greatest invention in my lifetime.
and for time, i can waste plenty of it checking out 'post secret' and 'we feel fine'. i have this mysterious fascination with the small world theory or six degrees of separation, and these sites really link to the idea that we are all a lot closer than we think. 'post secret' is a site that is updated just once a week (thank goodness). people mail postcards with their secret on them to post secret, and then they are posted on a blog for everyone to read. it's just interesting getting a glimpse into someones life, their secret (warning: as can be expected, not all secrets are G rated). the other site, i actually haven't wasted much time on...yet. i just learned of it yesterday in my non-profit lecture class (which i love). this guy jonathan harris created it and it is absolutely amazing!!! it is called 'we feel fine' and i can't explain all of the way-over my head details of how it was created, so i would suggest you check out his presentation on ted.com (oooo, i need to add that to my list). once you get an idea of what it's all about, go to wefeelfine.org and get yet another glimpse of ever bodies life. it's fantastic and inspiring (for some reason), well at least i think it is.

Monet to Picaso

2008-09-14T21:14:00.004-06:00

The only time I had ever been into the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA or just oom-fa) was to go to the cafe inside for lunch. On Thursday night though I went to actually look at the art. I thought it would be a kind of fun, different (for me) thing to do. I actually REALLY enjoyed it though. There is a special collection there right now with well-known works of art and artists. These were my two favorites.

The Red Kerchief by Monet

The Poplars at Saint-Remy by van Gogh

Check out the UMFA Special Exhibition website for more info on these two paintings and the whole collection.

Conquer My World. Check.

2008-09-13T10:08:00.009-06:00

I had just finished telling Gavin about my triathlon training class and how I don't know if I will be able to do a tri because my knees are bad and I can't run.

He said "So you probably don't hike much."

"No, not at all. That's just as bad as running."

"Well shoot, I was going to see if you wanted to come with some of us on a hike next weekend. We have an extra permit."

Curious to know what hike they were doing that required a permit I asked "Where are you going?"

"Mount Whitney...actually."

Seriously, what were the chances that he would say that. I had never met anyone who had hiked Mt. Whitney, and frankly I knew nothing about the hike or the mountain. All I knew is that about two years ago I started making a list of 150 things I want to do before I die and the very first thing, as cheesy as it sounds, is to visit all cities, landmarks, or notable places having to do with 'Whitney.' I thought it would be a good way to see or do a wide variety of somewhat random things. The list had been very neglected over the past year and I had pretty much forgotten about until a few days prior to this conversation when I came across it on my jump drive.

I was SO TORN!! I really didn't know if I could do the hike with my knees, but then again, they wouldn't be getting any better. I kept thinking back to two winters ago when my friend AJ called me on his way to Wasatch Powder Birds to go Heli skiing. His Dad's buddy was sick as a dog and they needed someone to fill-in, all paid for and everything. I said no because I had to write a paper. I realized after that, that missing a day of work or a not so great grade on a paper doesn't affect you in the long run....at all. Lindzi told me that I HAD to do it, and probaby made some threat like she would "kick me where it hurt" if I didn't. So despite my hesitations I decided to go.

Well it turns out the Mt. Whitney is the highest peak in the lower 48 states measuring-up at 14,505 feet (used to be 14,496, it's growing I guess) and 22 miles long round-trip. Considering people typically train to go on that sort of hike and I literally hadn't hiked in two years, I was REALLY nervous.

We left at 6:00am on Thursday the 4th and drove for about 11 hours through the exciting Nevada deseret. We picked-up our permits and everything, set up our tents, packed our packs for the morning and went to sleep. At 3:30am we woke-up took down camp, packed everything in the cars and drived the 15 minutes to the trail head. We started hiking at 5:00am. Hiking in the dark was actually nice to start with, but it got light pretty quick. The sunrise was beautiful. The rock is granite, but it's more green or yellowish than the granite in Utah. The first lake we came to was about 3 miles up the trail and called Lone Pine Lake. It was so spectacular. It's just nestled in the mountain side and the reflection of the mountains on it was gorgeous.

We were really lucky with the weather. I don't think it could have been better. No clouds, but not hot either.

After about four or five hours of hiking, we stopped at Crater Lake for a break and some fuel. By the time we got to this lake there was no more vegitation, which also means no bathroom break coverage. You have to pack EVERYTHING out with you, even #2. They give you these nice little things called WAG Bags to do that. Luckily I never had to rip it open.

For about 2 and a half hours after lunch I hiked by myself. We all just went at our own pace. This was the section up 97 rocky switchbacks. I put turned my iPod on and literally looked at the ground for an hour. When I finally looked up and looked at what I had just come up I felt pretty good about myself. Then I turned around to see how much further I had and I felt sick. I wasn't even halfway up the switchbacks.

At the top of the switcbacks you get to Trail Crest. It is at the summit of 'a' mountain and the elevation is 13,600 feet. It is also where Inyo National Forest and Sequoia National Forest meet. When I got to this point I felt great, and there was only 900 more feet vertically and just over 2 miles to go.

From this point on Gavin and I stuck together. We thougt it would probably be about an hour to the summit from there. It ended up taking us almost 3 hours. We both started getting light headed and headaches and the trail was terrible!!! It was basically a gigantic bolder field. It was unbelievable how hard the hike became all of the sudden. We talked to a few people on their way down who said they got altitude sickness and couldn't make it to the peak. They were between ONE to a HALF mile from the peak! We were determined to make it, so we went really slow.

After about 8 or 9 hours of hiking, we made it to the summit!! I immediately felt better. It was so exciting to be up there for the view and the simple amazement that I had done it!!!

I pulled out my phone because I wanted to take some pictures with that too. Amazingly, I had service. I sent a few people a picture message and was kind of chatting with a climber who had just come up the face of the mountain. He asked if he could possibly borrown my phone to make a call. He called his wife and home and was so thankful because it won him some serious brownie points since he had left his wife at home with their four kids for a week.

When we left the peak, I pulled out my grandma's hiking sticks she let me borrow. They helped so much on the down hill!! But still it was hard.....actually more painful. My knees started hurting pretty bad within the first hour. Coming back across the boulder field was the hottest part of the day and I was almost out of water. We went down the switchbacks as fast as we could and got to the bottom of the probably around 7:00 o'clock. Most people will camp at Base camp which is at the bottom of the switchbacks, but we had decided that we didn't want to carry such big pack so we were doing it all in one day. I was kind of jealous as we walked past camp. Everyone was sitting around little stoves making dinner and relaxing, and we still had 5 miles to descend. It got dark around 8:00, which was no big deal because we had hiked in the dark in the morning and the trail is really easy to follow down low. But after hiking a couple hours in the dark and my knees were hurting like crazy, I was seriously DONE. It felt like it was never going to end, and since it was dark when we had hiked up this portion of the trail, we really had no idea if it was 20 minutes or 2 hours to the bottom.

When I was at the very, very, very end of my sanity, we could see car brake lights. We came around one more corner, and were finally there!!!!! I was SOOOOOOO happy.

The hike was 22 miles round trip and took us from 5:00 am to 11:00 pm, 18 hours total.

We drove out of the canyon, found an empty camp sight and went right to sleep, not bothering to put a tent up.

Gavin wanted to get up early to leave so he could get to the Ute game. Sun was just rising when we woke-up and it was so beautiful.

The aftermath of the hike seemed not bad at first. I got a sunburn on my left arm, and my calves hurt, but my knees actually weren't bad. It's been a week since I got home now, and my knees hurt so bad I can't walk...but I can swim and ride a bike, i dunno. I think I should go to the doctor. If anyone wants to diagnose me, it's the outsides of my knees that hurt, it's like I can't bend them when I walk.

This was really, really too long, but honestly I feel like it might be one of my greates accomplishments. It feels so good to cross it off my list and gives me motivation to work on the next one. It's probably going to be skydiving, a long trip to South America (anyone want to come), or a triathlon next spring.

Campaignin'

2008-09-01T10:26:00.001-06:00

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

i'm sure (or hope) i'm not the only one

2008-08-16T19:45:00.005-06:00

it's no secret that i DO NOT tan. it's not that i don't want to be tan, it's that it is imposible!! my cousins on the other hand came out of the womb with beautiful brown tans. every year when we go to lake powell i hate that they are so tan and i look like the abominable snowman! that's where this wonderful little thing called 'mystic tan' comes in. i first heard about spray tans from the issue of seventeen magazine with paris hilton on the cover, which dick benton gave me when i had appendicitous in high school. i was reintroduced to it by bubba's sister who refered to it as 'air-brushing herself'. to make a short story, which is becoming long, shorter...i mystified myself today so that i don't feel so sickly next to my cousins when we go to lake powell this week. it looks better than any tan i could get from the sun. he only negative is the shower cap line across the middle of my forehead.

BOR-DUMB

2008-08-14T21:19:00.003-06:00

this is how bored i am. i jumped online to pass some time while babysitting mandy's dogs and thought i would post a blog while i had nothing to do. i couldn't think of anything good to write about so i came up with this BRILLIANT idea to google my name and see what the most interesting hit was. by the time i got to the SIXTH 'o' i realized that i can't even find anything exciting associated with me or anything that resembles me on the internet.........THE INTERNET!!! seriously.....

is your name any more exciting?

i am pretty much the luckiest person ever AND some serious irony

2008-07-30T18:56:00.007-06:00

this post is so important that it had to have two titles. first things first, i am the luckiest person ever! i can not believe how many AMAZING people i have in my life. it blows me away every day. i have had sooo many people over the last month show me the kindest, simplest, and most sincere, acts of love ever: sweet notes, trips for ice cream, walks with the dog, thoughful text messages, great advice, awesome flip-flops, and lots and lots of food! i am really blown away by the outpouring of love that people have shown me. i don't think i can express how much it has all ment to me. i hope that i can learn from all of these great people.

the second part of this post, which is directly related to the first part, and my last post (about typewriters of all things), is seriously ironic. i mentioned in my last post that if you know me, you know what my favorite sound is and what drink makes me happy. well last night when i got home from school my mom told me there was something for me in the fridge. i opened it up and there was a big thing of chocolate milk (the drink that makes me happy) from her. she is so sweet. (jerri, who i used to work at the lifthouse with, calls her mrs. nice, ha ha ha). THEN when i got home tonight, after a day filled with two final exams and a crazy afternoon at work, there was an awesome looking package on my desk. unexpected mail is the best!! it was from my cute cousin jane who is in virginia/DC for the summer. she had gone to hershey's world last week and saw gigantic york peppermint patties, which immediately reminded her of me. she obviously knows me well, because she knows that i LOVE the sound of peppermint patties when they are split in half. i seriously love that girl.

.....but wait! the irony doesn't stop there. jane also sent me a note written on a card that had wonder woman on the cover. well probably six months ago, bubba and i were at dan's buying something, and the cashier (who kind of reminded me of the manager of the grocery store on malcolm in the middle) turned to bubba and said, "you know what's weird, i have never seen her and wonder woman in the same room at the same time." it was really awkward at the moment, but i laugh about it whenever wonder woman is brought up now. so thanks for the laugh janey poo!!!

(the more i look at the wonder woman card, the more i realize that being called wonder woman might sound cool, but looking like wonder woman is definatly NOT cool)

a new love

2008-07-25T15:40:00.004-06:00

if you know me well, you know there are a few random things that i just love. for example, do you know what my favorite sound is? or what drink makes me all happy inside? well here is a new one.
at work sometimes i have to type on a typewriter. it's a big black ugly thing, but i seriously LOVE using it. i can't explain it, but typewriters are just really awesome.

i really want an old red or turquoise typewriter now and i found this little online store called three potato four that sells some nice ones which i could hever afford. don't they just make you feel happy?!

the same old grind

2008-07-24T11:45:00.004-06:00

wake-up. school. work. (sometimes work. school.) home. eat. homework. sleep.

that's all i really have time for. i spend most of my time sitting at the computer writing papers and i am afraid i have left a butt mark in the chair.

life isn't totally boring though. it's nice to be busy and i have done a few fun things lately. i went rock climbing with mady from the lift house and her friends jewls and mel. it was so nice to just be up in the mountains!!

i also went to jordanelle with my family last saturday. megan's little boys were so funny on the boat. especially jack who told my dad to get off the boat so he could drive. i'm sure megan we'll post some pictures soon, so check out her blog.

OH...the agony!!

2008-07-12T13:33:00.006-06:00

I bought a roadbike in April and have really been enjoying it until...the end of May. That's when my life got out of control. I hadn't rode for 7 or 8 weeks, and this morning I decided to go for a much needed ride. I decided to give Big Cottonwood Canyon a go. On the 4th of July my friend Audrey Bird showed up at the Brighton Breakfast on her bike and it made me want to do it. In April I went about 5 miles up the canyon before my fingers were numb and I had icicles on my nose, it was freeeeezing.

So today I went for it. I was doing really well but started to get tired right before the Silver Fork Lodge. I decided to try and make it to Solitude. I got off of my bike at Solitude for the first time since leaving home, and I really didn't know if I could get on it again.

By some complete miracle, I pushed myself past Solitude, up the hottest stretch of the ride, past Guardsman and up to Brighton. I know lots of people do this, no sweat, but there was definately sweat involved here. I was so pround of myself and looking forward to the ride down.

Well I must have bad form, or maybe just a bad back, because my lower back was killing me the whole way down.

I didn't really take in the scenery very much, but it was beautiful up there, and a great temperature. However, I don't think I have ever been in so much pain while doing something, or immediately after. Usually it seems like I wake up the next morning and just ache.

I am not looking forward to waking up tomorrow, that's for sure.

2008-06-19T23:16:00.016-06:00

It's my mom birthday!!!!!!! She is really, really awesome. Let me tell you why.....

1. She makes the best darn food (especially cookies)!

2. She could out run me any day (which really isn't that hard, not to take anything away from her)

3. She could also out ski me any day (which is a little bit trickier)

4. She will give up ANYTHING to make someone else happy (for example she has spent many a birthday's at girls camp, as she will be doing this year.

5. She still offers to make me a PB&J when I have to go to school.

6. She has shared her Sunday birthday dinner with Father's Day for many years and always makes dinner for everyone else. (Not this year thanks to her eldest and kindest daughter)

7. She has a drawer for her ribbons (that one was for Lindzi)

8. She is the peacemaker (it's OK mom, I am too ;)

9. She has more shoes than anyone I know.

10. The worst thing I have ever hear her say is 'oh my heck'

11. She wasn't that mad when I sat on a crocodile.

12. If it weren't for her, my wedding would consist of plastic lawn chairs and Peanut M&M's

13. Which reminds me, she can eat an entire party bag of Peanut M&M's and not gain an ounce.

14. She has taught me how to cut everything I eat in half and that somehow makes us feel like we ate less....go figure.

15. She endured as the mother of Todd Sansom and only hit him once (hahahahahahaha)

16. I have never seen a tidier home (that's why they can't get me to move out).

17. She drives a car that is 100x her size and doesn't complain about it.

18. She gets more done in a day than I do in a week (It's amazing)

19. Her hair is silk, not like silk, it IS silk.

20. She has four kids and a husband who are VERY VERY VERY luck to have her!!!!!!!

So as you may be able to tell, I love my mom. She rocks my socks.

I took a little picture on the computer for her, but I'm not very smart and didn't take into account the fact that the computer takes mirror image pictures. Hence the backwards sign.

Bubba wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY too! He was just a little tired.

Just to clarify, her birthday is on June 20. I just got a little ahead of myself. What can I say, I am REALLY EXCITED for her birthday!!

Cheech and SarBear

2008-05-22T11:33:00.004-06:00

I am sure you all recognize this picture since it has been at the top of my blog for a few months now. Well after the last week, I thought I had better make it a permanent picture on the blog. This is Rachel and Sara (Cheech and SarBear). They are my cousins, not my nieces. Their mom and dad went to Alaska for 10 days, and they came and stayed at my parents house. They are so hilarious! The other day Sara asked my Dad if he could stand on his head. He leaned against the wall and stood on his head. Then she asked "What are those?" (pointing to his feet). He said "they are bunions," and she replied "but why do you want those on your feet?" They are both super smart and talented. Rachel has been practicing the piano the whole time and she is awesome! Sara has been writing stories about her make-believe friend Geranamoe. They are pretty funny. It's been fun to have them, and I will miss having little sisters again when they leave. Atleast I will have my bathroom, bedroom, and bed all to myself again!

Let me finish...

2008-04-22T09:39:00.004-06:00

I was writing this big long blog about all the fun stuff I did this winter, when I got frustrated and quit. I need to finish it now, because there were a few very important things that I left out. First thing, my birthday was in January, and I had a great time with my family, bubba, and friends. Bubba took me to dinner at one our favorite restaurants, Porcupine. A bunch of our friends were there and we all ate together. The funny part was that my sister Megan and her friends were there eating, my aunt Angie was there with one of her friends, and when my parents heard we were all there, they stopped by too! For my birthday Bubba gave me a day of snowmobiling with my friends Lindzi and Aaron. Due to a few unfortunate events, we weren't able to go until the end of March. It was so much fun!!! I had never been before so I didn't know what to expect, but it exceeded my expectations. I think that Bubba might have loved it even more than me. We also went skiing and snowboarding a bunch, which was also awesome. Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment....or maybe you won't enjoy them, I don't know...

Oh and I almost forgot!! I have to thank Lindzi, Aaron, and Lindzi's parents Orion and Sue. We stayed at there house the night before in Woodland, UT and had elk burgers for dinner and biskets and gravy for breakfast. Some seriously awesome country food. Then Orion and Sue were our snowmobile guides out in the Uinta's. Thanks again!!!

The whole crew taking a little break

Bubba and Whit

Lindz and Whit

Aaron coming up a steep hill

The goal by the end of the day was to get me stuck because I was the newbie. So not fair!!!

Orion teaching me the trick to getting up this hill alive

Will i ever learn...? Probably not

2008-04-20T22:28:00.005-06:00

For some stupid reason, every couple years I decide to cut some bangs when I go in for my semi-annual hair cut. I don't know why. Some people look good with bangs...I am not one of them. Ontop of the fact that my face looks weird when it is partially covered with hair, I am incapable of styling hair...(or applying make-up).

Six out of seven days of the week my hair ends up like this, which is totally within my "hair-do ability level". Would you all do me a favor and remind me in a couple years that bangs are not for me. I would REALLY appreciate it.

I love winter

2008-04-10T14:27:00.006-06:00

If you know me, you probably know that I love winter time. The cold air is alright, but I love bundling up, the snow falling, all of the winter time holiday's, skiing, and just how beautiful the snow is. As strange as it is, it's still a little bit winter outside. Yesterday I went skiiing and it snowed atleast six inches, that's not your typical April weather. Well this winter has been great as usual, and I just wanted to share a little bit about this winter...way back from the beginning. (My blogs have to cover months at a time because I am so horrible at keeping it updated).

In September Brandon (AKA Bubba) and I went on an early winter hike above Brighton Ski Resort. It was a pretty weak hike because my knee's don't hold up too well, but it was the first glimpse of winter. There was probably three inches of snow and even more than that in the shaded areas.

Christmas time was a blast as usual, especially with Megan and Ryan moving back to Salt Lake, those little boys are crazy . We had Asian Star on Christmas Eve with my cousins the Wilmarth's.

Christmas morning was fun at Megan and Ryan's and then back at my parents house. Bubba gave my Mom and Dad remote control helicopters which are loved by all the little kids, and my Dad, Todd, and Bubba :)

Of course with winter comes skiing!! This was a great winter for skiing too. At Snowbird they have received 528 inches of snow THIS YEAR! That's 44 feet of snow that has fallen, and a base depth of 157 inches. Thirteen feet, how insane?!?! There were lots of good snow days to be had. What made this year a little fun and different for me was experiencing now resorts and trying tons of now ski's (thanks to the great perks from my winter job). I have always love Snowbird, but I love Snowbasin almost as much now. Some of my favorite ski's were the Nordica Enforcers, which I was on during an epic Alta powder day, the K2 Tough Luv's which any woman will absolutely love, they are easy to turn and super stable, and I have never had a powder day be as easy as my afternoon on the K2 Pontoon's on another powder day. the Pontoon's are a reverse-camber ski which mean it basically bends more like a water ski than a snow ski. I skiied plenty of days by myself, which I actully really enjoy, but I also spent days with Mom and Dad, Bubba, the Hansen's, Jess and Mady (who I work with), Ashley, Lindzi, Aaron, Todd, Greg, Rick, and some other's I'm probably forgetting (sorry).

These posts are starting to frustrate me, I just want to load pictures and it's taking forever and then looses connection or something. I'll finish the rest of this winter later... :)

Sad Realization

2008-02-26T17:37:00.003-07:00

All of the sudden, I realized that I had made a critical spelling error in my last blog. I wrote that you should watch 'Rome' because it will change your life. Maybe there is somthing called 'Rome' and maybe it could change your life, but what I really ment to write was 'Roam', which is a completely different kind of roam (or rome). Sorry about any confusion. I want to post my favorite clip from this movie, but who knows if it will actually work, so if it doesn't just go to Google Video and type in 'roam north shore' then select the third one down 'Roam-North Shore Segment.' ENJOY!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2759810928105568969&q=roam+north+shore&total=23&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=2

Frustration!!!!

2008-02-18T21:32:00.003-07:00

i just spent 15 minutes writing a sweet blog for the first time in a month. i pushed the save now button a couple times and it appeared nothing had happened, so i clicked on view blog and lost it!! now i realise i was supposed to push publish post.
here's the shorter version of my post. i was able to go to two demo days for work and ski on all the new ski's for next year. it was a complete blast and i was lucky enought to demo most of the days at snowbasin on a powder day. so sweet!!
i have this awesome boy, his name is brandon, or bubba as most call him. he has an awesome family that got a pretty good christmas present, and decided to share it with me. we all went on a cruise to mexico and had a blast. we stopped in puerto vallarta, mazatlan, and cabo san lucas. the picture above is when we went to see his aunt's condo in puerto. i think we will be visiting very soon. last thing, if you have never gone parasailing, you must, it will change your life (if you're afraid of heights, watch 'rome' it will also change your life.)

Consistency and Shampoo

2008-01-04T10:26:00.000-07:00

I read somewhere that a good blog always has consistent entries. When I read that I decided that I would post once a week, on Friday's. Well the first Friday came and went and I still haven't posted anything, so I think I'm going to lower my expectations and aim for every other Friday. Atleast it's still consistent.

On a completely different note, awhile ago I made a very interesting observation about my shampoo and conditioner. I hate it when I run out of one faster than the other, usually it's conditioner first. When I realize that there is a lot less conditioner in the bottle than shampoo, I will usually start using ridiculous amounts of shampoo so that they will run out at the same time and I can go buy some more shampoo and conditioner. Never once in my life have I thougt "Oh, I'm running out of conditioner, I should go buy some more". And then waited until I ran out of shampoo to go buy some more shampoo. For some reason, in my mind I have to buy both of them at the same time and throw them away at the same time.

On second thought, I guess these two thoughts are related. I need to be consistent in my blog writing, but not so much on my shampoo and conditioner buying.

Hard to beat

2007-12-21T00:45:00.001-07:00

My first blog entry ever is going to be pretty hard to beat. I was actually speechless when this happened. I know a lot of people say that they were speechless in certain situations, but I was even beyond speechless. Flabbergasted wouldn't be an exaggeration.

I work at little shop called the Lifthouse. Today I was standing near the front door when a little boy, three-or so, walked up and was trying to push the door open. He was just a little guy with no parents in sight, so I asked him where he was going. He just looked at me and walked outside. He took about three steps outside and then it happened. I honestly couldn't believe it. Right infront of the front doors, this little kid pulled his pants down and peed!!! Right infront of the parking lot and street, he just did it, right there-right on our sidewalk!!! Wow. The kid pulled the door open, and walked back in like nothing happened.

Where were his parents? Did they know their child did this? Did they teach him to? What was going on!?!? It was so hilarious, I could hardly stand it.