Solar Powered

Lessons learned from Marilyn Monroe and church

2011-01-30T16:47:00.000-08:00

Just updating my blog and watching "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." Here's what I'm finding out.

1. Gentlemen do in fact seem to prefer blondes. Note to self, make an appointment to get my hair dyed.

2. Diamonds are a girl's best friend. Note to self. Get some diamonds.

3. It's just as easy to fall in love with a rich man as it is a poor man. Really, all I'm looking for is good health insurance.

I also picked up a tip from one of the sacrament speakers today. He held up a book that he had written. He said that it was a book of instructions in case he ever lost all of his memory. Some instructions were very serious like where to find happiness (the gospel) and some were funny like what not to believe from his parents. He said they would try and trick him into moving back in with them and marrying this girl they really like, but she doesn't like him and he doesn't like her. I was dying laughing. It made me think of what I would write down. I think it would have to be..."You do not like Sarah Palin." Remember that she is crazy and you are a moderate! I would also write down the passwords to my email account. I hate to think of me missing out on the eighty eight junk mails I get every day.

My last story comes from Sunday school. We were talking about giving and taking offense and I raised my hand with a little story. You see, I know this boy who I've been on several committees with over the past two and half years, and he ALWAYS spells my name wrong. I don't normally get upset, but when you've had two years to figure it out...Well, I decided to try spelling his name wrong in every email. I know, I know, really jr. high of me. The boy was actually in the Sunday school class but I guess never got it because I received a text today that said, "Hello Vicky! We will be meeting upstairs today."

I shared it because in many cases, more offense is taken than is ever given. I mostly believe that he isn't doing it on purpose. :)

ghost of christmas past...

2011-01-16T17:58:00.000-08:00

Oh Christmas Tree! We found this little beauty at Smith's Marketplace. We strapped it to the roof and had gone just up the road when I saw the police lights come on. Apparently my tail light was out. No ticket was served which was a Christmas miracle because I didn't have my license.

Here's a shot of what the tree looks like with present's, a model train, and Miss Somebody's bust on the tv in the background. That's how I keep the blog edgy.

I've been told that no Christmas is complete without a visit to Temple Square to see the lights. I guess I've had 27 incomplete Christmases...Oh well. The two little chicas are my Little Sister (from big bros & sisters) and her friend.

My roommate Cherelle was kind enough to help me out this year with a little project. My little sister from the picture above wasn't going to have anything for Christmas, so Cherelle offered to organized a sub for santa with her work. It was a huge success, and so much fun shopping for them!

The final photo is a real gem! My brother-in-law Ben, myself, and my sister Toni playing the dance game on the Wii. I chose this particular shot because you can really see my hip action. It's clear in the photo that I had the best moves, but somehow Ben won. He only ever moved his arm.

Truths for mature humans...

2010-11-30T06:33:00.000-08:00

My friend sent this to me in an email. I think it's pretty funny....

Truths For Mature Humans

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

17. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

18. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

19. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

20. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

21. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

22. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!

23. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974.That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important.

German card games and pheasant

2010-11-17T21:21:00.000-08:00

If you've never heard of Ligretto, that makes you completely normal. I hadn't either until it showed up at our house one day with my roommate's brother. I wasn't sure that I could trust a German made game what with all the WWI and WWII trouble, but I remembered that I my first car was a 1972 VW bug, and that helped me give the Germans another chance to win over my heart.

Ligretto is a fast paced card game that involves a lot of yelling, but not because yelling is an established part of the rules. Yelling is involved because you get very upset with the people that take your plays. I made the rule that you can only swear in German, something had to be done because people were acting a lot like arschlochs. Here's an example of the dialogue, when a winner is chosen he yells, "Ligretto."

Player 1: "AHHH, that's my red four!"

Player 2: "More like that's your mom's red four!"

Player 3: "LIGRETTO!!"

Everyone else who didn't win: "ARSCHLOCK! How did you win?"

Any who, this week's installment of Ligretto also involved us all eating a pheasant that was shot and killed by our friend Dane. Ha Ha. For the record, pheasant isn't half bad, even with buck shot. One boy that was eating it kept saying, "Down the gullet." As he swallowed the pheasant and buck shot. I wonder how he's feeling?

Here is a video of some random Youtube stars playing, sometime I'll have the presence of mind to video our crew. We are much more entertaining.

in sickness and in health

2010-11-07T18:16:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, I recently changed jobs from working at the hospital with very cute and cuddly babies, to working for Millcreek Home Health and Hospice with equally cute senior citizens. I love these guys! They are some of the sweetest and at times grumpiest people I know, but I they teach me so much. It is great to see how every person has a story.
My new employment made the following video give me great excitement. I found it on the youtube link side when I went to a video posted by a friend on facebook.
It talks about a family touched by Alzheimer's. I love the dedication of the husband to his sweet wife who probably doesn't even remember him. That is love.

Are we like sheep?

2010-10-08T06:22:00.000-07:00

Back in my Snow College days, I remember walking to class and arriving late for a very real and somewhat unusual reason. The streets were full of sheep! The picture to the left is a shot of them in front of the humanities building.

Last night I had another experience with sheep. I went to the Salt Lake Temple with my friend Heidi Hughes (you can catch Heidi's blog link on the right side of my blog: Yahoo) We had forgotten that there was a giant protest going on around temple square.

As we entered the temple gates, the protesters kept shouting, "Baaa, Baaa, Baaa" at us. They were upset with what Boyd K. Packer had said in general conference (I doubt that they watched the whole session :) and they assumed that we were blindly following him.

It made me ask my self the question, "Are we like sheep?" Is being a sheep so bad? I have been on many a hike with no markers or trails, and I'm always relieved when someone knows where we are going. I would get us lost.

Sheep ultimately trust their shepherds. I think there are times when they may not always agree with Shepherd or aren't sure that he knows best, but chances are he knows better than your average Vicki Tracy, or Joe Protester out on the street. It's in the Shepherd's best interest to keep his sheep from harm.

Humble Pie

2010-09-28T04:59:00.000-07:00

I wonder if humble pie tastes good. It doesn't right? You only get to eat it when you are getting humbled?

About two weeks ago I went to a fireside with Elder Andersen. He shared an excerpt from a talk given by Clayton Christensen to Harvard Business school's class of 2010. Greatest talk ever! It's entitled "How Will You Measure Your Life." In it he asks and answers three questions:

1. How can I be sure that I'll be happy in my career?

2. How can I be sure that my relationships with my spouse and family become and enduring source of happiness?

3. How can I be sure I'll stay out of jail?

He goes on to give some insightful advice. I was really impressed with a particular point he brought up regarding humility.

He would ask his students to tell him about the most humble people they knew. He said one thing humble people all have in common is that they have a high self esteem. They know who they are and they feel good about who they are. Humility isn't defined by self-deprecating attitudes but by the esteem with which you regard others.

Generally you can only be humble if you feel really good about yourself and you want to help those around you feel really good about themselves.

I had never thought about humility in that way before.

facebook.com

2010-09-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

I often wonder how much time I spend on facebook.com. I hope it's less than I think, but I will find myself looking at a friend's picture and see another friend in the picture, then click or her name, then find out that she's a famous hair dresser, then find out she dated my ex-boyfriend who is now in Georgia...blah blah blah.

Well, the other day on facebook.com I noticed that I was no longer friends with a certain individual. I realized it when I typed in the first letter of this person's name, and their name did not appear as it usually does at the top of the list. I wasn't even trying to go to this person's page.

I get that sometimes you delete people. Maybe it was some boy you met at a party who you thought was cool, but then you found out he was a vegetarian...any who, this person had actually blocked me.

Why would somebody block me? I don't consider myself to be anymore than the normal amount of crazy. I haven't spoken to this person...It kind of hurt my feelings and it made me consider the pros and cons of facebook.com.

Pros: 1) Everyone in Chile uses it, so I keep up with all my mission friends.
2) I like to log in under my mom's account and leave funny messages on my siblings' walls
3) People share informative and entertaining links.
4) It's great for getting word out about parties
I'm sure there are a lot more. Feel free to share.

Cons: 1) Big waste of time. As mentioned above, it's easy to get lost in a maze of names and photos.
2) Sometimes it takes the surprise out of people. I like to know that a person loves baking when they tell me themselves (hopefully with a baked treat in hand). Rather than just reading about it.
3) I take it personally (obviously) also I requested this girl to be my friend and she rejected it. I also feel bad if I feel like a rejecting a friendship.

Just some thoughts on facebook.com

East of Eden

2010-09-14T21:53:00.001-07:00

Where have I been? Seriously. How have I gone 28 years and not read this book? I'm in love with it! In high school and college I mainly stuck to British literature, but there is something about American literature that is so simple. Not better or worse, but it brings me down to earth in a way that the lovely Jane Austen never could.

Here is a prime example. Please enjoy the following passage taken from East of Eden. It is an exchange between two men who are farmers and friends. Samuel and Adam.

Samuel said softly, "I wonder you do not feel a shame at leaving that land fallow."
"I had no reason to plant it, " Adam said. "We had that out before. You thought I would change. I have not changed."
"Do you take pride in your hurt?" Samuel asked. "Does it make you seem large and tragic?"
"I don't know."
"Well think about it. Maybe you're playing a part on a great stage with only yourself as audience."
A slight anger came into Adam's voice. "Why do you come to lecture me? I'm glad you've come, but why do you dig into me?
"To see whether I can raise a little anger in you. I'm a nosy man. But there's all that fallow land, and here beside me is all that fallow man. It seems a waste. And I have a bad feeling about waste because I could never afford it. Is it a good feeling to let your life lie fallow?"
"What else could I do?"
"You could try again....I know that it might be better for you to come out from under your might have beens, into the winds of the world. And while I tell you, I am myself sifting my memories, the way men pan the dirt under a barroom floor for the bits of gold dust that fall between the cracks. It's small mining--small mining.You're too young a man to be panning memories, Adam. You should be getting yourself some new ones, so that the mining will be richer when you come to age."

Wow right? I especially like the farm analogy. I can't think how often I have been with my parents or grandparents and have heard them talk about a piece of land going to waste from poor management.
I have often seen men and women go to waste from poor management. I find the use of hurt as an excuse very interesting as well. I recently felt the victim of abuse from someone I had trusted. The annoying thing about being a victim is that you walk a thin line between being harmed and doing harm. You actually sometimes become the on who does the victimizing. Meanwhile all the good things around you that really deserve your attention get left uncultivated and eaten up by the weeds of neglect.
I guess the good news is that you can always pull out the weeds and start growing things again.

So much wisdom in farming...

Jack Johnson is still as attractive as ever...

2010-08-15T20:15:00.000-07:00

I took my brother Sam to the Jack Johnson concert on Friday. It was a dream! It made me want to move to Hawaii. I think I will make my kids live in Hawaii for at least one semester. They will also have to learn to play the piano and at least one other instrument. My mom sent all seven of her kids to piano lessons and not one of us plays now. What a shame. We were all kind slackers and skipped lessons, didn't practice...you know the drill.

Family. It's about food.

2010-08-01T14:50:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for a good time, then come on down to the Blue Mountain Dude Ranch for the Tracy family reunion! This is just a little recap of thte events. The photo below was taken at random. My niece Ellie was giving us all a rather detailed tutorial on the proper way to make flowers for our hair. You'll notice how intrigued I look.

The talent show was a real doozey. Here I am sleeping and playing the guitar at the same time.

No family reunion is complete without a club house/fort. Sometimes it was a girls only club, sometimes it was a boy's only club. Aunts were allowed in whenever they wanted.

Some banditos that live in the hills. These guys were pretty merciless with their water guns.

Here we see my nephew Addison after a hard day (more like 15 minutes) of playing.

The local riff raff building a dam.

My sister Jodi wore the greatest shirt. It says, "Good things come to those who mate." She is due with her fourth boy. Good luck with that.

Arts and crafts! We all made t-shirts with stencils of drilling rigs (my dad was a driller) My nephew Oliver is seen here trying out every color on his shirt.

I like to measure the success of events by the amount and quality of the food served. My family reunion was big winner! Here are a few of us eating up some pulled pork and coleslaw.

if you like pina coladas!

2010-07-14T20:28:00.000-07:00

That's right, if you like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain, then you are going to love this story!

I recently switched employment to work for a home health company. I travel from home to home selling snake oil. Just kidding. I do a variety of things for the patients, but mostly I just sit there and LOVE them! They are so funny and great. One patient asked me what my husband did, I explained that I didn't have a husband and he replied, "Well, are you looking for one!" I love getting proposals at work! Another lady was so mad when I came because she said all she ever does is sleep. I asked her what she wanted to do and she said, "Dance Dammit!" We danced our guts out! The best part is that she could barely walk but she kept getting mad at me for not doing more fancy footwork. She ended up being happy and so was I! I LOVE my job! Old people rock!

Now where do pina coladas come in? Well, every day on my way to a patient's house in Kearns, I see a sign that says "Exotic Juices and Churros." I became so curious, that today I finally stopped in to see what it was all about.

The owner is from Brazil and he will make you six smoothies until you like what you taste. I chose the pina colada and he only had to make me the one, it was great. The churros were fabulous too! He also sold crepes, pizza, and pretzels. To tell the truth, I'm a little worried about his financial status. I was the only one there. So, if you are ever in Kearns, stop in and support your local exotic juice/churro place!

tomato paste and self-tanner

2010-07-04T14:03:00.001-07:00

It's not often that I get down to my local Walmart. It's probably only four or five miles away, but the Smiths is much closer. However, there comes a time when you want to buy bug spray and cilantro, and Walmart comes in handy...

So the other day my roommate and I decided to pay Sam Walton a visit. She needed some self tanner, and I wanted to buy a dress I had seen there...for five bucks! Love Walmart. We also found some other items that we probably didn't need, but wouldn't have the luxury of finding at a regular grocery store.

In the checkout line we were behind a guy that was making some rather interesting purchases. He had several cans of tomato paste, two loaves of the cheapest bread, a package of chicken drumsticks, and some pieces of meat that did not look like something I had ever eaten. He was a college student and packed all of his groceries in a backpack for transport. We checked out and then got in the car I asked Jenni if she had noticed the boy. She had and as we turned the corner I saw him walking. I suggested we offer him a ride and Jenni agreed. I said, "Don't worry, we're normal, you don't have to ride with us if you don't want to."

He got in. He was a student at LDSBC named Inny. He was from Nigeria, and he lived with several others from there. He seemed like a really nice person.

It made me remember when I was in school buying oatmeal and beans. Those were the days. Now I buy greek yogurt, blueberries, and self tanner.

I ain't sayin' she's a gold digger...

2010-05-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

Gold Digger. It's a great song sung by Kanye West. I've recently put it on my ipod for running purposes, and it's stuck in my head all day/night. The other day at work I was singing it to the baby I was rocking.

Well, it makes me think of two things. 1) The Modern Family episode where they call Jay's new wife a gold digger, but the little boy gets it wrong and says coal digger.
2)This saying that my sister's neighbor used to say about his roommate's girl friend, and I quote, "I'm not saying she looks like skeletor, she does look like skeletor, but I'm not saying that."

Just to give you a visual, here's a picture of skeletor. I'm not saying she looks like him, she does, but I'm not saying that.

on the way to emmaus

2010-05-27T01:52:00.000-07:00

Luke 24:32

"And they said one to another, Did not our hearts burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? "

I love Easter. Easter to me is green grass, red tulips, picnics with my cousins, Bluff, skinny dipping, church in Navajo, filling eater eggs with dirt, and lots of good food.

I think the significance of Easter is pretty heart-warming too. The idea that Christ lived again so that we might all do the same...

This really hit home with me this week. I work as a nurse in Maternal Newborn. Everyone always thinks it's so happy, and for the most part it is. However, when it is sad, it's really sad.

Without going into too much detail, I had a baby die the other night. The parents knew that she wouldn't live long after birth, but it didn't make it any easier. I dressed the cold, little body, placed it in the body bag, and wrapped it up in quilt so that no one would know what I was carrying down the hall on my way to the morgue.

Sometimes I think we forget about what is really important, we need the occasional "heart burn" to remind us that there is hope. I'm grateful for my knowledge that these parents will see their baby again and she will look perfect.

Perhaps my favorite apostle gave a great talk about this very subject called, "Sunday will Come."

ron paul underpants: musings on the republican state convention

2010-05-13T22:50:00.000-07:00

The following is an account of my experience at the Republican State convention. For those of you who don’t know, Utah uses this convention to narrow down the candidate pool. Delegates are chosen from geographical precincts and then they vote at the convention. The top two are put into a primary unless one candidate can get 60% of the vote, then they are the chosen one! It’s dumb. Please see this article for more info. You'll see a nice photo of my vacuumhttp://www.sltrib.com/ci_15015987?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com

I woke up at 5:30am on May 8th, rushed into Cherelle’s room and woke her up, and then the two of us headed down town for the State Republican convention. We hurried in hopes of getting the really cool complimentary items from the candidates, we were not disappointed. The Bennett room was handing out tote bags filled with snickers or m&ms, water bottles, mints (in case you have bad breath while arguing with the Lee delegates), and ten bucks. Okay, just kidding about the ten bucks.

Bennett’s team immediately put us to work carrying signs. Strategically placed on the busy street corners, we held signs that said “honk if you love Bob Bennett.” And honk they did. Some gave the old thumbs up, some thumbs down. Two homeless men on a buss yelled at us but their driver honked. It was a very good time! The highlights were when Peter Corroon drove by, stopped, rolled down his window, and said, “I love Bob.” I got all excited and said, “Hey I love you Peter Corroon!” Also, Mitt Romney did a drive by and was honking his guts out. He endorsed Senator Bennett at the convention.

Oh! The absolute best part was when I saw one of my old high school teachers crossing the street who also happened to be a delegate. I talked to him and we both affirmed our loyalty to Bob. I then pointed to a boy I knew from Blanding who was holding a Mike Lee sign. My teacher turns around and says, “You want me to kick his ass?” Ha ha ha! Love that Bruce Adams!

Inside the convention was nuts. Signs every where and volunteers handing out millions of flyers. Lots of free t-shirts were floating around; too bad I didn’t want any from the other crazy candidates’ teams. Oh. Congressman Jason Chaffetz was there. He looks like an illegal immigrant. Can’t stand the guy.

So I’ll give you a list, photo, and brief synopsis of each candidate’s speech. (just the senate ones). You can also watch them. I HIGHLY recommend the Fabiano Speech. Very CRAZY!
http://blog.utgop.org/sites/2010/05/

Mike Lee aka: Captain Constitution. He would wave a copy of the constitution around and the crowd would go nuts. He was very whiny. "Oh everyone picks on me in this race." I wanted to give him a wedgie with his Ron Paul underpants.

Tim: A nice enough person. He still drops a few "founding father's" remarks, but his main platform is that growing up in a trailer park makes him a good choice. He got most if not all of Bob's votes during the 3rd round.

I can't make the pictures line up right, so here's the low down.

Cherilyn Eager: Only woman, always trying to do her hair like Sarah Palin. Her speech sounded like a church talk and she almost cried. Something about a kid who loved his globe and his dad took it away and the kid says, "what are you doing with my world." At this point my friend Dave Andreasen and I broke out into "Heal the world, make it a better place..." That old Michael Jackson fave. Pretty sure it went over real well with all the Lee supporter's who were surrounding us.

Bob: Endorsed by Mitt Romney who himself drew a few boos from the crowd. Just the unreasonable ones so...Lee people and few bridgewaters.

Fabiano: White haired guy. Jon Cox and I think he's in with the mob. His talk can be summed up with the following. Constitution pyramid scheme using that book, The 500 year Leap.

Chiu: Not pictured. He loves Sarah Palin.

Friedbaum: Photo at the top of the post. Craziest of all. His opening line was a church hymn. That's fine and well for us Mormon-types, but not everyone is getting that. I admire the guy though. In the race for governor a few years back he ran and fasted for 39.5 days. It seems like he should have just tried for the full 40.

It is a shame that less than 1% of Utah's population gets to have the final call. Bob has the majority of the general population's vote. Cherelle and I started a write-in Bob group on facebook.com. I doubt he will do it, but it would shake things up a bit!

dixieland delight

2010-05-02T00:45:00.000-07:00

I have always loved a good road trip.

Last weekend I headed down to Utah's Dixie for my sister Jodi's birthday. I was just outside of Salt Lake when I decided to call my sister in California and invite her down for a birthday surprise. I told her, "I'll pay half." I meant it too, but then my mom offered to pay all, so that seemed like the best deal. The rest of the trip I kept offering to pay half on everything. Boy, that can really break a girl's bank...

One sister down, two sisters already there, so that left Rachelle. Rachelle is kind of a home body...she is reading this right now, so I have to be careful. She always says things like, "I have to make four hundred root beer floats for the ward whatever, so I can't come." This time though, I'm proud to say we got her for close to 24 hours!

The five Tracy girls (six with mom) together at last!

Southern Utah had a spring in its step. All the grass was greening up and it looked so striking against the red-rocks. My roadtrip soundtrack consisted of Paul Simon, Patty G., Brooksley Born, Brandi Carlile, Ingrid Michaleson, and many more. I was singing my guts out!

One great thing about road trips is the treats. My family has always been big on treats. We would always head to Colorado or New Mexico for the day and stop at the Dove Creek Supperette to fuel up. I usually picked up some beef jerky and oj. These days I love a good Dr. Pepper Fountain Drink with the jerky.

The weekend was a dream of a dream! We went to the spa all day Saturday and I got my first facial. Heaven. We also did the usual Tracy visiting where we pretend we are on talk shows, or selling something for an infomercial. My all time fave. infomercial gig was when we were trying to market modern appliances to polygamist women. We kept saying things like, "cash in the trash." You have to have good catch phrases in order to reach your audience.

The only let down of the weekend was not seeing my friend Danger Dane. Dane makes a welcome addition to any Tracy gathering. "What not to wear while your gardening" just wasn't the same without him, luckily Rachelle came a little more appropriately dressed this time.

Below are some photos of the day. The last one is of my grandparents with the newest family member, my nephew Lafe. I'm pretty much his favorite aunt.

back in the saddle again...

2010-04-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

I’d like to think that at the tender age of 28 I’ve had a lot of experience with politics. It all started in sixth grade when my best friend Emmy Lou ran for something…I don’t know what, but I was chosen to be her campaign manager. Our theme: Wayne’s World. I remember the following line for the top ten reasons to vote for her, “If she were president she would be Baber-ham- Lincoln.” Perhaps the theme was a little out of our audiences grasp, but whatever the reason, she didn’t win. We should have promised chocolate milk every Friday. Kids are suckers for chocolate milk.

My next campaign venture came when my little brother ran for sixth grade president. I remember one sign that we taped to the drinking fountain that said, “Kenny Tracy for President? I’ll drink to that!” That seemed to win the hearts of the people, along with continued chocolate milk Fridays.

My sister Jodi was the next to get involved in the fray, she ran for Student Body President at MHS. The rules were that she could only have two signs up, so we came up with the idea of making one sign out of a roll of papertowels. It stretched long and far! Displaying sayings like, “Jodi is a part of the Western Family—famous knock off brand for you out-of-towners--.” Her ending theme was Return of the Jod-I and I helped choreograph a rather entertaining dance for the final scene. She won in a landslide!

Now it was my turn to run. I chose Student Body Activities Chairman. Bad choice because all you do is work your guts out. Any who, I wrote a song to the tune of Let it Be called, Vote for me. I played my guitar and sang, and I must have sung my way into their hearts, that along with our group’s final skit of 90210 the musical where we actually snuck my Volkswagen 1972 beetle on the stage and did something with it? I don’t remember. I won. It was fun.

My favorite slogan came from my Snow College election for Senate. “Vote for Vicki, you might as well.” I was trying to appeal to the apathetic voter. You know, the one walking by the election booth who said, “Hmm, I might as well vote for Vicki, I’ve got some time to kill.” My friend Nate helped me build a giant tunnel over the humanities building sidewalk that was wall-papered in clever slogans. After I won we had a huge bonfire and burned it in the back yard. Good times.

I took a break until my recent election to Republican State Delegate. I know, it sounds impressive, but really only my roommate and I showed up for our precinct. We like to say things like, “Oh yeah, you are the cutest girl in the precinct.” Or, “you come from the wrong side of the precinct.” This last one is usually directed at our friend Jon who is a delegate from the neighboring precinct.

A precinct has to stick together.

Snapshots of Chile Lindo!

2010-03-17T20:14:00.000-07:00

Drunk History...

2010-03-09T17:05:00.001-08:00

As many of you may know, I graduated in History before I became a nurse. I love history, and just when I thought it couldn't get any better...Drunk History came along and changed all of that. My friend TR showed me these clips. The basic idea is that they find a historian, get them drunk, and then the historian recounts a historical event. Meanwhile his interpretation is acted out. Please enjoy the video below. There are three swear words, two right at the end and one in the beginning. History can not be edited! :)

The Unexpected...

2010-03-03T09:16:00.000-08:00

So I was worried about the approaching February. I was rather depressed about my ex-boyfriend and February in general is just such a cold month. Well, I was pleasantly surprised.

First: Met a boy on superbowl Sunday at church. 6'6" and very attractive. Turns out, he is funny too. Valentine: Check. I wrote him one about asthma. It was clever and he loved it.

Second: Chile. Who doesn't love seeing wonderful, lovely people? Chile was summery and such a break from my wintry despair! I got fried (apparently the hole in the ozone is a big deal) it's fading nicely into a tan though. I also ate my guts out! Empanadas with crab and cheese? Yes please! I'll take seven! The bad news of course is that there was a giant earthquake in Chile. I still haven't heard from one family, but I pray for them everyday. I am comforted knowing that they have the church support system so they won't be without like so many are.

Last: Well actually we broke up the JCrew model and I. Dave. His name is Dave. No hard feelings and no sad feelings. It was just so nice to have a distraction that pulled me out of the rut. I feel like a new person! If you want to see how well he sings (the first night we hung out he made up some song about me with a flower in my hair--how could I not kiss his face off?) here is his website. He is the lead singer and guitarist. I think he is a rockstar. http://www.brooksleybornband.com/ You won't soon regret it!

Tacos and toilet paper...Mexico City.

2010-02-27T04:09:00.000-08:00

Don't get too uneasy, the tacos and the toilet paper have nothing to do directly with each other. Before we arrived in Chile, we had a six hour layover in Mexico City. When the plane touched down I glanced out the window and my eyes landed on a neon-pink sky-scraper. I thought to myself, "Oh yeah, we are in Mexico."

I remember taking a trip to Copper Canyon in the state of Chiuaua in May of 2002. I had gone for a service project with some friends of mine. One of them made the following comment, "I don't judge a country's advancement by it's economic progress, or education, the only factor I look at is if I can successfully flush toilet paper down the toilet without causing some kind of flooding disaster." I'm here to tell you. In Mexico you can not flush toilet paper down the toilet; however, they do have some killer tacos...that may or may not also cause toilet problems.

NOT leaving on a jet plane...not yet.

2010-02-13T21:51:00.000-08:00

So if you wanted to fly to Chile today, good luck getting there. We arrived at the SLC airport this morning only to find that all flights to Atlanta had been canceled. The lucky part was that I was with my friend and former mission companion Heidi. She is as easy going as I am. We just chit-chatted it up with the rest of the disgruntled passengers.

One girl we met was from Georgia, she had come to Utah to for freight worker training. She kept telling us that she was making a pretty penny. At first we didn't know what the heck she was talking about. Heidi even said, "wait, I'm confused. What are you talking about?" She had had a hard time adjusting to Utah. No sweet tea, no waffle houses...she was ready to get home. My favorite was when she offered us some Oreos. I said no at first, but then I saw that they were double stuffed so I dug right in. Here are some photos of the lovely young lady, Heidi, and myself just having a grand old time.

Once we got to the front of this line, we had to deal with Dan. Dan was the man. I mean it! He tried every route. At first we weren't going to be able to fly out until Wednesday. After Dan got through with us, he had tried every option, even routing us through Paris. No such luck, but we were able to get through the next day on a flight to Mexico City, then on to Chile. He was really happy because we weren't rude or complaining. He even said, "Wow, at least you girls are having a nice time in line." He was right. Dan the man was awesome. He would talk on this red phone and we kept saying, "Oh boy, he's getting out the red phone." Dan loved it. We are recommending him for a promotion!

So we had no choice but to go back home. We were starved so Jenni picked us up and we headed to The Other Place. It's a dope eating establishment that we often frequent. We got so much yummy food. Lemon Chicken Rice Soup, grilled turkey sandwich, and the French toast combo! Too fat not to eat it!

The final adventure for our staycation was dying Heidi's hair! We bought bleach at the local beauty supply store and hunkered in for long night of making dark hair light. What a time. It all looked good except the front part. It was pumpkin patch orange! Ahhh...So we kept reapplying the bleach. Man. There is a video on her blog if you want to see it, I can't figure out why it won't upload. I wish I could have gotten her first reaction, we were both laughing so hard and shw was screaming. Priceless!

2010-01-30T00:12:00.001-08:00

Blog, Schmog. Am I right?

I'm taking a vote

2010-01-26T18:13:00.000-08:00

I'm getting my hair done on Saturday. Below are a few options. Please feel free to give me your input. It might be hard to choose, but please do your best.

If you seek perfection in sugar confection...

2010-01-25T23:08:00.000-08:00

Today my Asian friend Hanna and I went to lunch at Normandie Cafe in Holiday. Now, you make look at Hanna's pic and say, "She is red headed and white." She is indeed. She is really just Asian at heart. She recently returned from a year if teaching English in Taiwan and she absolutely loved it. She says that the thing that amazes her most upon her return is how big everyone and everything is here in America. That's us. Supersized and too big to fail! Please see the photos below for the most amazing treats ever. Oh, and I would also recommend the French onion soup, but only if you like fried cheese, French bread, and onions. I love them all.

Here is Hanna looking quite Asian and attractive

The Chocolate Mousse lava cake

Here I'm showcasing the raspberry tart. Please note the crutches in the background. That is Hanna working her magic cellphone camera skills. I think they really bring it all together.

I'm so glad to have Hanna back!

those were the salad days

2010-01-13T21:49:00.000-08:00

My Salad days,
When I was green in judgment, cold in blood,
To say as I said then!
--Anthony and Cleopatra: Cleopatra

My dad is an interesting person. He drills wells, has a loaded SKS in his truck, reads mystery novels, and loves green salads. I can still remember sitting at the counter while he would carefully cut the lettuce and cabbage. He would cut of pieces of cucumber, salt them, and then hand them to me. The man loves vegetables. It's probably the only reason he is still alive because he also loves red meat.

He passed on that love to his children. What can I say? I get really excited about avocados.

Those salad days were pretty carefree. This week I had a patient who was sixteen and had just had her first child. Her boyfriend was also 16 but looked about 13. They would fight over who was going to change the diapers. The worst part is that I would hear the baby screaming for over 15 minutes. Then I would go into the room to help and see that both were sleeping, neither one aware that the baby was even awake. I asked the mom if she wanted to feed the baby and she said no. So I asked her if I should wake the boyfriend. She again replied no. So I said, "Moms feed their babies. It's their job. It's what they do. Wake up and feed your baby." I actually said it in a much nicer way.

Those two are missing their salad days.

a row to hoe...

2010-01-04T12:06:00.001-08:00

Summer nights as a child were very exciting. They usually entailed falling asleep on the trampoline with visiting cousins, and a very smelly, cuddly dog named Raphael. The night sky was unpolluted by street lamps, car lights, or any nearby homes. We would stay up telling spooky stories and listening to coyotes and our dog bark at one another. The nights were fun, but the mornings left something to be desired.

"Vicki, Jodi, it's time to get up." This said by my older sister at 5am. "We have to hurry so we don't work in the sun."

Then at 5am on a perfectly nice summer morning we would jump out of our sleeping bags, choke down some oatmeal and head off to the bean fields. Hoe in hand!

My grandpa's family came to San Juan county to dry farm. Dry farming means no irrigation. You just plant your crops and pray like heck for rain. One crop of choice was the pinto bean. There is a pinto bean field pictured above. The pinto bean capitol of the world is only 10 miles from our home in Dove Creek, CO, so it seems only natural to grow a few.

If any of you know farmers, you know they hate one thing in this world more than anything else, and that is the weed! They will search high and low with a spray gun strapped to their back anhilating any weed that dare put up roots in their fields and take their water. Farmers are crazy like that.

So our summer job was to hoe bean fields, acres and acres of bean fields. This is how that works. You start walking down a row, and you are assigned two to four rows on both sides of you to watch. When you see a weed, you kill it. You don't just chop a little, you get down to the root. Easier said than done.

Bean hoeing was hot, dirty, and sometimes surprising work. We generally hoed with siblings, cousins and a few hired Navajos. Sometimes you would see snakes. If you were lucky you wouldn't. You could always find pottery and once in while a throwing stone or grinding stone used by the ancient inhabitants of the area. The worst part was working with some of the city kids that would come to visit and whose parents thought they could use the farm experience. Man. They know nothing about getting the root.

I've thought a lot about hoeing and what I learned from those hot summer days. I learned that even when I closed my eyes to go to sleep at night, I could still see bean vines tracing their way up the walls. I learned that you might as well get up and get going in life or you will just have to do the same work but in the hot sun. I learned to love singing with my sisters and making funny jokes (funny perhaps only to us). I learned that unless you get to the very root of problems and pull them up, they will come right back up.

I kind of miss hoeing beans.

The kind of parasite everyone wants to have!

2009-12-05T18:10:00.000-08:00

I'm beginning by giving the credit for the subject of this blog to TR. He is the one who told me about this. TR is my friend and foe at the same time, a sort of hookworm himself. You can catch his blog on the righthand side of the screen. Enjoy.

So let's talk about Hookworm...........

First, do we all know how a hook worm gets inside of us? The answer is through the feet. Those chompers go right through your skin until they find a nice cozy spot in your blood stream. But Vicki you say, why are our feet anywhere near these worms? That's a little more tricky. Hookworms come from...poop. Yep. A little fecal matter goes a long way for these little guys and you poop them out and then they find another cozy blood stream to inhabit. Gross you guys.

The hookworm was studied when scientists (this was all motivated by John D. Rockefeller's desire to tap the resources of the south*) placed a pile of infected poop in the middle of a sandbox. The hookworms traveled one foot in one day, two feet in two days, three feet in three days, and four feet in four days, then they died. So, next time you dig your outhouse, make sure that it's deeper than four feet and you're safe.

But I'm actually writing this blog to convince you that having hookworms might not be such a bad investment for some.

A man by the name of Jasper Lawrence was getting fed up with his allergies and asthma attacks. He did a little researched and noticed that in many African countries the people did not suffer from these symptoms. He did a little MORE research and realized one thing these people had that he did not was...you guessed it, hookworms.

So he goes to Africa and walks around in the outhouses until he has cultivated a nice supply of his own hookworm. He returns to the states and BAM! He no longer suffers from the horrible allergy symptoms.

Pretty cool and gross at the same time. It gets worse. He now SELLS hookworm that he harvests from his own poop to people online!

I'm including the link to the radio program that interviewed this guy. They talk about some other parasites that are pretty dang cool. I heart NPR.

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2009/09/25

*Dickson Despommier tells us the story of how the insatiable millionaire John D. Rockefeller turned an eye to the untapped market of the American South and ended up eradicating the hookworm (and, in the process, a number of other awful afflictions) with an ingenious contraption.

bright copper kettels and warm woolen mittens

2009-11-22T14:56:00.000-08:00

These are a few of my latest favorite things.

Greek Yogurt! Now, the brand pictured here is not the healthiest choice, there are many brands that don't have fat, but this was the first one I tried and it was a dream! The honey flavor is the only one I know, but it has a lot less sugar than your standard yoplait. Throw in some berries or cereal and you won't regret it.

Clorox wipes! They kill the Swine Flu unlike Lysol wipes which only kill the seasonal flu. All I can say is that I haven't gotten swine flu yet, but I guess I could chalk it up to having gotten vaccinated. Regardless, these little guys make me almost want to clean.

Amy Butler Journal! Amy Butler is a fabric designer, but she also has a great line of paper products. Who doesn't need a good journal?

Quinoa! This grain is a great replacement for rice or couscous. It has a different flavor, but it is much higher in protein. You can eat it with fruit (and greek yogurt) or with savory dishes. Love it.

The Brothers Bloom! This is a great movie. I was pleasantly surprised.

So when the dog bites, when the bee stings, or when you're feeling like you have swine flu, give these things a try. Speaking of swine flu, I'll add my last photo. It's a picture of me dressed up as the swine flu for Halloween. Now that you know what it looks like, you can watch out for it!

The Milkman, the Paperboy, even TV...

2009-11-10T19:46:00.000-08:00

For about a year now I have had a half gallon of milk and half gallon of orange juice delivered by the Winder Dairy Milkman. It's more pricey than the normal milk at the store but I keep getting it because I feel like I'm stimulating the economy.

It's the same story with my Salt Lake Tribune subscription. I can read the paper at work, but I keep receiving it because I think young boys should learn work- ethic and being a paperboy is a great way to do that.

So my question to you the blogging public (the three people that read this) should I keep getting the milk and paper or should I save my money?

The kind of Pot everyone should have...

2009-11-03T09:57:00.001-08:00

Tis the season to get sick! Last year I went to the doctor for a sinus infection and she told me to use one of these little Neti Pots. My life has never been the same. I highly recommend them. They are a little weird at first, but you get used to them in no time. I think they are at Target. I got mine at Whole foods. Happy Potting!
Go here for more info.

I have always relied upon the kindness of strangers...

2009-10-14T22:39:00.000-07:00

I know. You read the title to my blog and imagined an image of the lovely Scarlet O'Hara. Then you probably started thinking about how attractive both Scarlet and I are, then you lost all interest when you started reading this part...Keep reading!

This blog is not demonstrating how Scarlet and I are both Wiley temptresses, rather it actually deals with the kindness of strangers. I recently listened to the radio program, "This American Life" which is show that chooses a theme and then tells true stories related to that theme. The particular shows theme that I have in mind was the kindness of strangers.

Some people have their houses burn down (Jodi I'm looking at you here) and they receive huge demonstrations of kindness. I've never had such a drastic experience, yet I look back and see many little acts that have really made my days + days + days =life! Just recently I had to purchase ten watermelons at Costco (don't ask) and some guy in the parking lot saw me with them and loaded them in my car and then returned my cart for me! He didn't work for Costco, he was just passing by. It was a dream! I could go on and on with stories like that.

One more thing that got me thinking about random acts of kindness was this mormonmessages video on youtube. I know, it's a little cheesy, but I love it anyway. There are lots of them on youtube my personal faves I may continue to post. Sorry all you non-churchy pants. :)

Enjoy and you may cry a little.

'Till My Dyin' Day...

2009-09-14T15:01:00.000-07:00

So I recently attended a Brandi Carlile concert down at the Depot. All I have to say is that I think that if I hadn't gone the whole, nursey nurse route, I would have liked to be a rock star like Brandi.

I first started singing old cowboy songs with my sister while my dad would play the guitar, then in the fifth grade, my mom made me take lessons. No one besides my siblings played the guitar, none of my friends...it was a little embarrassing hauling it around and my fingers hurt. For some unexplainable reason, I kind of stuck with it. My next teacher was some kind of crazy hippie that lived in Blanding. I went there with my sisters and she taught us "Morning has Broken." I think she got mad at us. Or was that my smocking class? Probably both but that smocking story will have to wait. Anywho, it wasn't until I took lessons from Mark Galbo that I really grew to love to rock out.

My friend Heather and I (I met some people that played the guitar) started together with him, he had moved from New York and was very...intense. He made us record our lessons and practice and pay. Weird. Most of my tapes are of us all laughing our faces off. Our first song was let it be...So fun. Mark now owns a rock and roll academy in Telluride Colorado. My kids are so going there and they will rock out.

I just wanted to include a video from one of Brandi's concerts, she played this at the Depot and it was very inspiring. I'm in the process of learning it as we speak! Oh and check out Mark's Academy at MarkGalbo.net

Runnin' on Empty

2009-08-08T23:09:00.000-07:00

This isn't a blog about how cool I am because I'm going to run a half marathon in a few weeks; however, I am cool and I am running a half marathon. Like I said though, this is not a blog about that.

This IS a blog about how I don't have an Ipod but am thinking of getting one. Today while running I used my mother's ZUNE. The microsoft version of Ipod. The following tracks played: Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash) Dixie Land Delight (Alabama) Conference Talk 2007 (Boyd K. Packer) Catch a Falling Star (Perry Como) Conference Talk 2007 (Uchtdorf)....You get the idea.

So I wondered, what does everyone else like to listen to to get pumped up for running, cleaning the house blah blah (any task you don't really want to do but know you should).

Try to pick songs that you think will help me with the half marathon or rather, will help me survive the half marathon.

a free calculator eh...I'll take it!

2009-07-09T20:59:00.000-07:00

So I got the new car a few weeks ago. My brother inlaw had some MTC hookup that really worked out for me. My favorite feature: the calculator that the previous owner left in the car, along with a few receits. He bought a lot of fiber-laden products.

It's a 2006 Suzuki Grand Vitara. I know I know. It wasn't one of the choices. No one could have been more surprised than me. I was just so tired of car shopping and Parker was really wooing me with the extra features like, "privacy tinting." What is that?! Whatever it is, I'll take it. And take it I did.

Here are some photos for those of you like me who had never even heard of this car.

This one's an action shot

I guess engines come standard, so that's nice.

I know that you're all anxiously awaiting to hear the fate of the Ford Tuarus. You'll rest easy when you find out that she is alive and well in Dove Creek, Colorado. I think she'll really class up the joint, which isn't too hard to do.

Diner!

2009-06-17T20:56:00.000-07:00

No, I did not misspell 'dinner' Cherelle (Cherelle is my roommate who just read the title to my post). Gosh. I'm entitling this blog "Diner" after my mother. Her name is Diane but we call her Dine, Diner, or Dinesky. She loves it and so do we. When I say "we" I mean of course my siblings and a few close friends. Don't think that just because you are my brother's girlfriend for a two months that you can go around spitting off nick names. That comes much much later, if ever for you.

Any who. I was waiting for the bus stop today and adjacent to my bench there is an unkempt yard, surrounded by an unkempt fence, lined with unkempt roses. Well, these roses also needed dead-heading. For those of you who weren't forced to dead head from the time you could walk, it is a process where you pull off the heads where blossoms used to be. That way the rose bush will blossom more.

Well, while waiting for the bus, I couldn't help but start pulling some off. That's when I realized how deep my mother's blood runs in my veins. It doesn't matter where we are, if she sees a plant in need of dead-heading, she will do it. You could be at the Temple, planned parenthood, or even at a garage sale. She will get the job done.

Luckily, my bus came before I gave in to my desire to pull any of the weeds.

PS. I love Dine!

While I have no pictures of my mother on the computer, I do have some pictures of other people named Diane. They look nothing like her, but you can imagine if they did.

Survey Says...

2009-05-26T07:08:00.000-07:00

I'm considering buying a new car. Not because I don't love my 1997 Taurus, but because the old girl is starting to make some interesting noises with which I think she is trying to tell me that she is on her way out. The odometer reades 192,829 (or something like that, I didn't actually walk out to check) and that old car has been a real gem. I've narrowed down my choices and am wondering what you (the blogging public) think about my selections.

#1 The Toyota Tacoma (4 door of course). This selection is for fun mostly. It is by far the most expensive and impractical. However, some neighbor boys informed me last night that, "girls always look hot in trucks." And that, "A four door truck says, 'See boys, I want a family but I'm also hot.'" It was quite a converstaion.

#2 Is the Subaru Outback. I like this one because it is cheaper, has heated seats, heated windshield wipers, and decent clearence. It also gets a lot better gas mileage and rides more comfortably than the Toyota. Plus the Toyota salesman was kind of non-negociating and the Subaru guy kept throwing in extras. However, the afore mentioned boys informed me that I would never get married if I bought this car. None of them of course are married or even have a car, so I don't know why I even listen to them.

#3. The Hyundai Tucson. I have yet to test drive this one, but I've seen them around and like the looks fo them. That's all I can say.

#4. Last but not least. I think the picture is self-explanatory.

Don't Fence Me In

2009-05-20T09:53:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Eastland Utah. I'm just finishing up a visit on the old Rancho. Things are going pretty smoothly. I made the usual trip to my Grandparents for Sunday night games. We had a rousing hand of UNO. My family really gets into UNO. Many a cousin (myself included) has been known to come away crying from the UNO table. But we just keep coming back for more don't we.

The highlight of course was the trip to see the Bar-D Wrangler's Chuck Wagon Show In Durango Colorado. It's pretty much the chuck wagon sensation that's sweeping the nation! The night we went there were a few different chuck wagon bands. I have to say, even if their jokes are a little too practiced and routine, I still quite enjoy sitting in the Durango evening with family, yummy food, and cowboy songs. I love cowboy songs. This stems from a childhood of being forced to sing a cowboy song whenever any of my uncles were around. They along with my dad grew up on a ranch in Colorado and they would always grab me and rub my face with their whiskers, then ask me and my sister Jodi to sing "Little Jo the Wrangler" or something like that. My dad always provided the accompaniment with his guitar. Good times. One of my favorite songs is "Don't Fence Me In." Hence the title of the post.

I've included a photo of the Bar-D and some audio of Don't Fence Me In.

A Mother's day message from Mr. T!

2009-05-11T07:57:00.000-07:00

Throughout the tender years of my life, I could always count of Mr. T for some sound advise like stay in school, drink milk, get eight hours of sleep, etc...This is just a little ditty that my friend Laura sent me yesterday. I think we can all learn something from this music video whether it's cool new dance moves, hairstyles, or how to treat our mother's right!

i love a good infomercial!

2009-05-01T19:44:00.000-07:00

I own about 17 things that I've bought from infomercials including the magic-bullet. I hope to add the innernette to my list. Plus, who doesn't love a special appearance by Dr. Steve Brule. Those tips for living on your lonesome are pure genius.

Tips to stay in school and be cool...

2009-04-25T15:19:00.000-07:00

Oh, I'm a canyon wall about 900 ft tall, I'm made out of solid rock, sandstone it's called...

2009-03-24T10:23:00.000-07:00

Well, I couldn't help but notice how I haven't updated the blog in a while. I think it's the night shifts. They really screw up my regularly productive schedule.

This post is also going to be a little dated, but you get what you get and you don't throw a fit.

On March 7th, a few comrades and I went down to my hometown in Monticello (Eastland) for the Blue Mountain Triathlon. There were about ten of us in all. Mandy, Megan and I were on a team, and TR, John, Jon, Robb, and Clay all did the entire Triathlon themselves. Below you see Mandy who did the skiing portion, Megan who biked, and then me running in the finish with them by my side. What a team! My only regret is eating all of that beef jerky while waiting for Megan...

We received 2nd place in the "All Women Teams" division. They gave us this little pottery thing that resembles a coaster...Pretty cool coaster if I do say so myself. The figures are supposed to be little Kokopelli running, skiing and biking. Those dang Kok0pelli...

Here is the whole group (except John Hoyt who is taking the picture) at Natural Bridges National Monument.

On the right and below is Sipapu Natural Bridge. I'm including the night picture only because John and Clay spent like seven hours trying to figure out how to program the camera to try and take it.

Some other highlights of the trip included Navajo Tacos and getting ancient tattoos in Bluff, UT, visiting Hovenweep, and eating some very tasty chia seeds that my mom kept offering us. John Hoyt really piled them on his food. I think that is why he did so well in the race.

We also stopped in Moab. Which is where I got the picture on the bike. We were looking for a place to eat when TR suggested the Moab bakery and pointed across the street. We walked over, but upon arriving in front of the building, we noticed that it was actually called the "Moab Barkarey." We didn't feel like eating dog food, so we went to a great deli on center street instead where they were playing some remake of the Jon Bon Jovi song "It's my life" but sung Frank Sinatra style. Kind of weird.

Punctuation and Pioneers

2009-02-10T09:41:00.001-08:00

I can't figure out how to line these photos up....

One is of my great, great, great grandpa Benjamin Perkins when he did a little jail time for being a polygamist. He was a coal minor in Wales but when he was 17 he decided to come to Zion. When he was leaving a young girl caught his eye and he asked her if she would come to Zion if he paid for it. She said sure. Little did she know...

After living in the Cedar City area, Brigham Young called a group of people to settle the San Juan Mission in present Day Bluff, Utah. Ben was called and he and his wife set off. They also took the wife's sister to help with the children. Later, Ben would be called to be a polygamist and he felt impressed to marry his sister-law. That caused a few problems...

Everything turned out okay. They had a pretty rough go of it through the stretch of trail called "Hole in the Rock." There is a picture below. It's the one with Lake Powell in the back ground. Imagine getting your wagon down that sucker. Ben designed the road, so he was the first to go down. I guess he made it.

The last picture is where the punctuation issue comes up. This is a place between Monticello and Moab. Albert Christensen carved a 14 room house out of this giant sandstone monolith. It is a great place to stop and visit and you can't miss the sign that says, "Hole n'' the Rock." I'm not sure why the apostraphe is on the right side of the n, and it isn't even an apostraphe, those are quotation marks my friends. As long as I can remember it has been that way.

The main thing about this post is that I'm grateful that the people before me carved holes in the rock and did all of the hard work before I came along. That saved me some time.

Blue Mountain your azure deep, Blue Mountain with sides so steep, Blue Mountain with horsehead on your side, you have won my love to keep...

2009-02-05T07:28:00.000-08:00

So about every six years, I get motivated to participate in something more athletic than my usual workout video. It's that time again, and I think that I'm going to do the Blue Mountain Triathlon. Not all of it. Mainly just the running part. I think my roommate's brother is going to bike for our team. Now all we need is a skier...Any takers?

I'm pretty bad at skiing myself. I took a cross country ski class during my blessed days at Snow College. On the last day of class I fell and had to hang on to my instuctor while he guided me down the mountain. Then I went to Sanpete Valley Emergency Room and after some x-rays was outfitted with a very becoming blue leg brace that I sported for about two months.

During those two months some friends of mine and I went down to San Felipe, Mexico for a little fun. I know what you're thinking, "Could Mexico be that fun in a leg brace?" The answer is a resounding "sort-of." The local merchants were quick to spot me and learn my name, so each day you could here their greetings, "Bicki, Bicki Hello teacher!" That was definately fun but on the flip side, it was soemtimes hard to get comfortable in Steve's 1989 Ford Amazing star minivan that was also filled with five other people.

Long story short-- I just want to do the running portion of the triathlon.

let us turn our thoughts today to Martin Luther King...

2009-01-19T00:28:00.000-08:00

I'm not sleeping so well these days on account of working night shifts so I might as well update the blog. Nothing fancy. Just some thoughts on MLK. Once I asked my nephew Dallin if he knew who MLK was. The then five year old replied, "Uh...that black guy that wants world peace?" Close enough. Here are some music videos of two MLK songs I like. The first is James Taylor and th second is Patty Griffin.

James: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p18qu4Te9j4

Patty: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh-DgLX4fVs&feature=related

It's a Sweater!!!

2009-01-02T15:37:00.000-08:00

Remember on the Three Amigos when El Guapo opens his birthday present from his gang of banditos and he holds it up and shouts, "It's a sweater!" Well, this Christmas I received not one but TWO scarves and I was just as excited as El Guapo. Every time someone opened their present we would all guess what they were getting. I always said, "a scarf" then when it was my turn, I really did get a scarf!! I also scored a way cool water filtration system, and a rockin' skirt! I've posted some of the photos below of my holiday celebrations! Here you see me and President Eyring bonding over a Christmas message.

Hot yoga eat your heart out! It's time for the new winter yoga. Here you see my old pal Dane, Mellisa, Carolina, and me warming up for the upcoming biathlon. Actually out of the four of us, I was the only one to participate...

Holly taught us a fun new tradition of eating snowballs. It's a big coconut ice cream ball with hot fudge and a candle in the middle. You have to eat your ice cream without letting your candle go out. A very tasty tradition!

And least but not last! My scarves! Do you see that my face is genuinely smiling?

With presents like these, I think the new year is going to be pretty great.

summer lovin' had me a blast...

2008-12-20T19:12:00.000-08:00

It being so cold today, I couldn't help but think of some warm summer memories. Here's one now...

Picture this, Me, talking to a creepyish librarian in Monticello.

The Librarian asks, "How long are you in town for?" (while he's got one leg up on bench of the pic nic table where I'm sitting)

Me: "Just the summer."

Librarian: "A summer babe huh?"

Me: "Yep, that's me, a summer babe."

It was a very awkward conversation and subsequently, I couldn't bring myself to go to the public library for the entire summer.

The picture above is of some summer babes, my niece and nephew Ellie and Addison. Great kids.

Sisters do as sisters should....

2008-11-30T13:40:00.000-08:00

Expecting a photo of my sisters? Lawernce was always like a sister to me...

Here is a little video that really took me back to my old Lawernce Welk days. I wasn't on the show, but had I been alive I think I could have pulled my weight. My grandparents used to make us tapes of the Lawrence Welk show. What can I say? We had like two TV stations growing up. Why not watch LWS? Well, I think SNL hit this right on the head and I wanted to share it with any fellow LWS fans. I know you're out there. Please follow the link and enjoy!

http://www.hulu.com/watch/37752/saturday-night-live-the-lawrence-welk-show

P.S. A big thanks to Ben (brother-in-law) and Heather (Feather) for helping Jodi and I put on this little number the other day. We were short two people.

Hard Times Come Again No More...

2008-11-23T08:28:00.000-08:00

"Let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many tears,
While we all sup sorrow with the poor;
There's a song that will linger forever in our ears;
Oh Hard times come again no more. "

Just feeling reflective today, it's Sunday but I am working so I have to think of my own spiritual thoughts today.

I guess that there have always been hard times, but I have never noticed them quite as much because I just lately started investing in mutual funds? What a time to start right? I know, but I started being a real grown up when I graduated from nursing school, so now that I don't have homework to worry about, I have started worrying about the economy.

Speaking of being a real grown up, I also have health insurance now. I feel so adult-like when I look at my pay check stub and see that I have money taken out for so many things! I am going to have to start cutting back on a few things to compensate...myabe only pay 7% tithing? (Heads up Bishop).

Back to the topic of Hard Times, I think that general conference covered the topic rather well. I particularly enjoyed Brother Cook's talk entitled, "Hope Ya Know, We Had a Hard Time..." He talks about Hard Times, being prepared, and seeking comfort. I highly recommend it. That was my sacrament meeting for the day...

A Generous Thought

2008-11-16T15:15:00.000-08:00

Today in church my friend John Hoyt gave a talk in which he quoted Bonnie Parkin, who I think was actually quoting Camillia Kimball. Technicalities aside, it was a great quote. She said, "You should never suppress a generous thought." I liked it.

Later in Sunday school, they talked about the people in 4th Nephi and how there were no "ites" among them. I thought that the two thoughts could be related. I say, get the "ites" out of here and get doin' the generous.

I know that that is a lot of "churchy" talk. I could actually say more about what we then learned in RS. I'll save it for later.

Crazy Eights

2008-11-05T09:56:00.000-08:00

So I guess Peggy "tagged" me. I assume that I will receive 10 years bad luck if I don't follow through so here goes nothing. Also, my computer is going through some tough times so don't mind any spelling errors. My fear of spelling is greater than my fear of heights and my fear of people dressed like cats combined. I am just no good at it. Please keep that in mind when you come across a wrongly spelled word.

8 favorite TV shows: 1. The Office. 2. Mash. 3. SNL. 4. Flight of the Conchords. 5. David Letterman. 6. Jeopardy. 7. Ellen. 8. Matlock.

8 favorite restaurants: 1. Chipotle. 2. Orange Peel-Bubble Tea. 3. Line Camp Steak House. 4. Bajio. 5. Wagon Wheel. 6. Chilean street vendors. 7. Red Lobster. 8. Market Street Grill

8 things that happened yesterday: 1. I studied for the NCLEX. 2. I almost got hit by this crazy driver. 3. I voted. 4. I walked all around our neighborhood in the rain (trying to find where I was supposed to vote). 5. I ate at MAZA-a Middle-Eastern restaurant. 6. I watched Baby Mama. 7. I slept on the couch while my friend spent 4 hours fixing my computer that I didn't even know was broken. 8. I took a bath.

8 things I am looking forward to: 1. Work. 2. Seeing some visiting family. 3. Cleaning my room. 4. Being done with the NCLEX. 5. Seeing how this new president does in office. 6. Utilizing my new health insurance. 7. Lunch. 8. Taking a nap.

8 things on my wish list: 1. Endless supply of Pomegranates (also know how to spell pomegranates). 2. To pass the NCLEX. 3. Toyota Tacoma (extended cab). 4. Snow boots. 5. Good health for those I love. 6. For beaming technology to become real (like "beam me up Scotty") then we can travel wherever we want in split-star trek seconds. 7. Never to get a flat tire. 8. Never to get a spare tire around my waist...too late.

8 people I tag: Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones, BeBop, Rocksteady, Master Splinter, Shredder, April O'neil, Casey Jones...

Looking for some blood donations...

2008-10-26T04:44:00.000-07:00

Here is a little photo of the boy and me. "The boy" of course meaning my younger brother Ken. He stopped by our Halloween party last night--pretty much the best party ever. My room still looks like a dungeon/dance floor

Just like a Japanese ham sandwich

2008-10-16T20:16:00.000-07:00

I know what you’re saying, “what the heck is a Japanese ham sandwich?” I said the exact same thing for the thirty day duration of my yoga challenge. I now have the answer. I am a Japanese ham sandwich.
So this phrase is courtesy of every yoga instructor at the studio. There is a certain pose you do, and while you are in position, they say, “there is no air or light, from the side you look like a Japanese ham sandwich.”
I have included a photo of the pose, not done by me of course.
The challenge went well, I lost five pounds and felt really good. However, I usually wanted to cry before, during, and after class. Sometimes I laughed though, usually when the teacher said, “from the side you look like a Japanese ham sandwich.” Once I was with Heidi and we couldn’t stop laughing for a while. Joy is frowned upon at the Bikram place...

Yoga update

2008-09-13T14:57:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots of our favorite poses from the Bikram series. By favorite I mean least favorite.

You've got your backward bend pose, tree pose, standing bow pose, and a camel pose.

You see us smiling in the photos but we basically cry at class on account of it being hotter than Hades. Plus they frown upon having fun or smiling at yoga...

1 day down, 29 more to go...

2008-09-04T14:06:00.000-07:00

Here's the deal. Heidi and I decided to do this 30 day Bikram Yoga Challenge. Bikram is a heated yoga so it is pretty much like working out in a sauna. The classes are an hour and a half long and today was our first. I pretty much wanted to puke the whole time. Maybe that is how you lose weight, not from the sweating and excercising, but from the puking! Now I get it!

Insert Me....

2008-08-06T12:04:00.000-07:00

That is a nurse getting kissed right? Well I graduated from nursing school so I expect the kisses to start coming in. I think I better work on my flexibility...

Ambivelence

2008-03-01T22:54:00.000-08:00

I don't really support ipods, texting, and blogging. Well, maybe I do...

I decided to finally embrace the technological craze of blogging. Why you may or may not ask? I don't know. It is almost midnight and the Holy Ghost is snoring his guts away. I should be too but with the Holy Ghost in bed, I can do whatever I want! Yahoo! Do you really think that the Holy Ghost would support blogging? No way Jose. Time to live it up.

My first order of business will be to spell check this puppy. Hmm. Looks like, "ipods" and "texting" both get a big question mark from the spell check. I couldn't agree more. I don't think ipods exist either because I don't have one. While I do text, I often use texting to avoid reality so if I don't want to finish this sentance I can just say, "brb." Does that mean "be right back?" I don't really know, but that is what I wanted it to say.

Now then. That is enough for the first post. I figure I will go a little at a time and see if this blogging thing will actually take.