THE NEXT 30 DAYS, PART 2. Day 6, 24 to go

Pieshakes!!

There is a place in Provo I have driven by many times. The sign out front of it has always caught my eye: "Famous Pie Shakes". Yes, it's Sammy's. I have never been before but have been wanting to try these famous pie shakes for a long time. I mean, come on. Pie. Shakes. Together. How can you go wrong? My friend went there recently, also for the first time, and raved about these shakes. I decided to amend my list and try one out. I got a banana cream pie shake, and my roommates wanted an oreo chocolate cream pie shake.

It was delicious! They use real pie in the shake and there are yummy bits of crust that add some yummy crunchiness to an ice creamy delicacy. I highly recommend picking one up. But don't take my word for it.

THE NEXT 30 DAYS, PART 2. Day 5, 25 to go

The ABC's of me

Today, I wanted to do some introspection and compile a list of my favorite things. Rather than use the same old list that circulates around, my roommates helped me by compiling an A-Z list of things to write about. Thanks roomies!!!

A: Animal cracker shape: giraffe
B: Bath and Body Works product:  coconut lime and verbena wallflowers
C: Car freshener scent:   Anything lemony or pine.  - I love fresh scents.
D: Doris Day movie:   Pillow Talk (the only one I've seen)
E: Easter Candy: caramel filled chocolate eggs
F: Full House episode: the one where Jesse and Becky get married (particularly the song "Forever")
G: Girl Scout Cookie: Tag-a-longs
H: Harry Potter Character: Ron Weasly
I:  Immigrant: Craig Ferguson
J:  Joke: "Have you heard about the new pirate movie? It's rated "Arr"
K: Knick-Knack: The Globe Theater in my mom's Dicken's Christmas Village
L: Leading Man: Robert Downey Jr.
M: Magazine: People
N: Neal Diamond song: Coming to America
O: Favorite Ocean: Atlantic
P: Pasta: Cavatappi
Q: Quirk: Watching TV to fall asleep
R: Ride at Disneyland: Tower of Terror
S: Showtune: I Could Have Danced All Night
T: Temple: Laie, HI
U: Underdog: Raj Koothropali from The Big Bang Theory
V: Volcano: Mt. Saint Helens. I was there when it erupted and we have a jar of ashes at my parent's house.
W: While You Were Sleeping Quote: "I like mass in Latin. It's much nicer when you don't know what they're saying"
X: Xanthic object (xanthic means yellow) Yellow rain boots. The shiny, slickery kind.
Y: Yogurt: Danon Light, Strawberry and Bananas (minus the actual strawberries)
Z: Zipcode: 90210

THE NEXT 30 DAYS, PART 2. Day 4, 26 to go

Beer me a city council meeting.

Last year I wanted to go to a city council meeting, but it didn't work out for various reasons. This year I was determined to make it work. As I set off to go to the Provo City Municipal Council meeting, I had a lot of expectaions. I expected to exciting words like "zoning" and "taxes' etc. I expected it would not be a short meeting, nor an exciting one. I was wrong.
My roommate warned me to be careful not to catch the political bug. I was not worried about that at all.

As I arrived, I was surprised to see that there were a lot of people in attendance. Most notable were about 15 fireman... Not too shabby. There was a stand with several chairs with mics for each of the council members, just like I had been picturing in my mind.

The meeting began with a prayer and the pledge. Someone was a little emphatic saying the phrase "under God", he practically yelled it. That was my first clue that this was no ordinary meeting.  The fireman then gave a presentation about the upcoming Fire Prevention Week, was very interesting and enlightening. Apparently 5 people have died in fires in Provo during the last 2 years.

After that presentation , the floor was open to the public. The first man was an older gentleman who was a bit confused. We couldn't understand him very well, but I heard something about homosexuals and a parade... then the moderator told him to talk into the mic, and I could hear him better. He began to talk about 2 signs of the second coming: the destruction of Abinidi and Sodam and Gamora, and that our society now is so accepting of things that were once illegal and immoral. I was shocked to be hearing about these things at a city council meeting. There were a lot of other people who talked about repealing the ban on beer sales on Sunday in Provo which was on the agenda for a later vote in the meeting. Some in favor of repealing the ordinance and several not. Lots of religious and moral comments, which again, I was surprised to hear at this meeting. After the public floor was closed, they moved on to 3 other things to vote on, and then to the biggie. Repealing the ban on beer sales on Sunday. They asked if anyone else wanted to comment on it. One man, Howard,  who already commented earlier stood up again. The moderator told him he had alread had his turn to speak on the subject. Howard said no he hadn't, but the moderator said the council had already heard from him. Howard continued to argue saying he spoke when the floor was open to the public and not when they asked about the ordinance specifically. The moderator got pretty angry and told Howard to please sit down. Howard was not happy and walked away from the podium asking other people to make their comments to the council as well. The comments went on for about 20 minutes. people were talking about freedom, about what makes our city unique... etc. In the end. the council voted to repeal the ban and adjourned.

While I did not catch the political bug, the meeting was extremely interesting. I think I picked the best week to attend and I think that other meetings would only go down from this one.

If you have never attended a city council meeting before, I recommend checking it out. You never know what drama may be there.

THE NEXT 30 DAYS, PART 2. Day 3, 27 to go

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL!!

In preparation for an upcoming adventure on Saturday (hosting a football party) I thought it would be a good idea to resarch and learn a few things about the game... and its players.
Here are a few things I didn't know before. (Don't laugh at what may be considered ignorance) and correct me if my research led me astray.

A kickoff happens at the beginning of hte 1st and 3rd periods, and after every touchdown

A punt is usually made on a 4th down when the offense has to surrender possession of the ball

A 2 point conversion is when the offense, after scoring a touchdown, gets the ball on the 2 yard line and gets the ball across the goal line.

A safety is 2 points, and the most important thing is impetus (an offensive player that gives the ball momentum...) The defense gets a safety if the ball goes into the opponents endzone and it becomes dead without changing possession. It can also be awarded because of a penalty or when a blocked punt goes out of the kicking team's end zone... still a bit confused about a safety, but learned more than I knew before.

The ref's sign for 4th down is raising his fist above his head.
Loss of down is both hands on the back of the head (looking like he is about to kick back and relax...)

If the QB is standing about 5 yards behind the center, there's a 98% chance he'll pass the ball, otherwise he'll pass to the running back.

And lastly, I decided to get to know a few of our local BYU Cougar heroes. Ok, maybe that's a little optimistic given their past performance, but they still deserve recognition, right?

Jake Heaps, QB
Bryan Kariya and  JJ Di Luigi (is this Mario's brother???)  Running back
Graham Rowley and Eathyn Manumaleuna, our defensive ends
Cody Hoffman and Ross Apo- our wide receivers Going long. chasing those beautiful passes

Well, I think I learned a little bit more about this game and am somewhat more prepared to host a football gameday party at my house on Saturday, If you want to come, let me know - I'm providing french dip sandwiches. Also, if you can think of anything else I need to know about this great American pasttime, leave it here.

THE NEXT 30 DAYS, PART 2. Day 2, 28 to go

Happy Trees... (and mountains)

Today marks the first TRULY new thing to add to my list for this month. Now, I am many things, but an artist is hardly one of them. I have only ever painted for school, and I hated every minute of it. I decided that I would try my hand, literally, at painting. My good friend Tifani, in a great showing of support, provided my with my art supplies. Armed with (3) 5x7 canvases and numerous paints and brushes, I was ready to make some happy trees. Talking with my family about what I should paint, I decided on a "Fallscape". I began my first painting between conference sessions.

Messy, but hard at work

I had fun mixing colors and creating my own interpretation of autumn.

 I decided after finishing it that I would probably just do that one painting. Not because I didn't want to do another one, I just couldn't think of another thing to paint. Many ideas were thrown out there: Joseph Smith and Thomas S. Monson, the golden plates, the "Hot Dog Dance" from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse... That led us to Disneyland. When my sister said that I should paint all of the mountains from Disneyland, I immediately said "Challenge accepted." This was a little more challenging - there are a lot of colors and textures in some of those mountains and I don't know how well I captured them, but it was sure fun. Probably the most fun I have had on any of my new adventures I have ever done.

Can you tell which mountain is which???

THE NEXT 30 DAYS, PART 2. Day 1, 29 to go

Spontaneous Feng Shui

I must begin this month long adventure with a confession. My new thing for today, was actually done last Saturday. So, it appears I am starting off a little unorthodox. Oh well, deal with it! It was something I have wanted to do for a long time and I felt too good about it to leave off of this list.

Last Saturday was one of those super productive Saturdays where I got the job done. I did some major grocery shopping, all my laundry, cleaned my bathroom, bedroom, and basement, cooked up some chicken and hamburger to put in the freezer. After this was done, I got out of the shower and looked around my bedroom. Newly vacuumed and dusted and cleaned, I thought "What else can I do in here? I know, I'll rearrange my furniture!" I have been living in my apartment now for 3 years and realized at the moment that I was ready for a change in my somewhat small bedroom. Moving a dresser, bed, and bookshelf by myself in a small space was a bit challenging, but I got some good exercise in and moved everything around. I must say I am very happy with it! Rearranging mybedroom brings the feeling of starting over again and an inspiration to be a little more organized and productive. It was the perfect end to a successful work day! Saturday truly was a "special day".

My newly arranced room

Long time... no blog...

Once again, I notice I have been seriously slacking in keeping up my blog. I think that 30 days of new adventures project may have been something of an overkill and I kind of quit cold turkey. No excuses.

Well, to play a little bit of catch up now with more to come later (as my mom would say "a lick and a promise"*) here's a rundown of the last six months of my life:

Christmas was possibly one of the best ever. It was our year for the whole family to be together and we also had the cabin. Family + cabin = AWESOME times. We had so many fun activities planned and it was just so good to spend time with everyone.

During the rest of the winter, not much exciting happened (snow, school, more snow, more school...) but with the spring came a grand adventure: EUROPE! This is where I give the aforementioned "lick and a promise". I will write in much more details about the trip later when I have my trip journal in front of me. Suffice it to say for now it was fantastic and unforgettable.

May brought a couple of noteworthy events. Once again, another school year comes to a close. This completes my third year of teaching. Wow! I am now ready for a level 2 license!!! Wahoo! If only that meant more than essentialy a $120 piece of paper and a lot of work creating a portfolio. You do what you gotta do to stay employed, right?

To add to the end-of-year celebration, the night before school got out was the long awaited U2 concert. It was supposed to have been last June, but poor old Bono hurt his back and they had to postpone the show for a year. It was worth the wait. It was one of the best concerts I have ever been to. I went with my friends Andrea and Amber. I knew Amber in high school, but haven't seen her much since. The funny thing is that we actually flew to Seattle together in highschool to see U2. Oh, my U2 buddy. The stage: awesome!

The music and performances were just phenomenal. If you haven't seen U2 in concert, I highly recommend it. Your life will never be the same!

Now that school has been out for a few days, it's been uneventful. We have had an extremely wet and cold spring and no summery, sunny weather to speak of yet, which makes pool time nonexistent. Tifani and I tried to use our season passes to Seven Peaks yesterday only to find out that they don't open until 4:00 this week while most kids are still in school. Oh well. Plenty of time left.

Well, stay tuned for more info about the Europe trip. Coming soon...