I can ride a bike with no handlebars...

Well, almost. Even though I'm a runner, and nothing beats the great feelings I get when I run, sometimes, I like to switch it up. Today, I wasn't in the mood to run and I thought, you know, a good long bike ride would be a good way to exercise without killing myself. I say killing myself, because the last few runs I've had, I accidentally have been doing some crazy ones. I think I'm turning down a road I've been down before, only to find out after a mile or so that I have no idea where I am, and the way out is still a couple of miles away. But I don't turn around, as we all know. So instead of a super long run, I wanted to keep it simple today.
I loaned by bike to Rory recently, (ok, a while ago) and I had to get it back. When we got to her house, she led us to where she had it, and as she started to pull it out, all I could do was gape in shock. She had dismantled it! The two tires were off, as was the seat. As I stared in disbelief, she noticed my expression, and told me that the only way she could transport it was to take it apart, but assured me it was very easily put back together. Not believing her, but having no other choice, I stuck all the pieces in my car, and hoped for the best.
After I unloaded it all, I took a look at it all, and thought maybe I could do it. Enlisting my dad (of course, I'm so dumb when it comes to this sort of stuff) we tackled it, head on. Well, it was not as easy as I was told. We got the seat on, of course, that was easy. We got the front tire on, but couldn't get the brakes hooked up. After a few minutes of trying that, we moved onto the back tire. We found out pretty quickly that we were missing a nut or a bolt or something, I don't know the difference. We tried to get everything all set up back there, the chain, the tire, everything, but no dice. We sorta got the tire on, and kinda got the chain on, but we still didn't have that piece. And of course, we couldn't get the brakes back there hooked up either. After fiddling with the thing for a while, we came to the conclusion that I wouldn't be riding tonight. With a heavy heart, I shoved the bike into our bike shed, and went inside. I am sad I can't ride, and I'm hoping I can get somone to help me stick that thing back together. I had to run tonight, after all, but I ran inside, on the treadmill, so at least I can control the distance and time. And I felt so retarded after the whole thing. I can just imagine all (4 of you) that read this, laughing at my inability to put together that bike. Even though its a "quick release" (Rory spouted off that phrase when telling why she dismantled it) bike, I have absolutely no idea how to put it together. I'm either going to figure out who to bribe to put it together, or buy a new one, and sell the old one for scraps. Any takers?

There's a party in the stadium parking lot...

Today was a great day for kids of all ages. Real has been building their stadium, and it is nearing completion. Of course, by that, I mean, there is the basic set up, and a bunch of seats are in, but they finally got the sod in! Today was the day PJ and I had to go to the new stadium, and pick out our tickets for next year. We got to take a tour, complete with hard hats and orange vests. Now, I understand, hard hats are not a fashion statement. You're not supposed to look good, and the hats are one size fits all. Unfortunately, my head is on the small side. And not just slightly, I mean, freakishly small. So putting the hat on, it was way too big. I had to hold it every time I move, it shifted constantly, and it was just ridiculous. Thank goodness nothing bad happened, or else I'm pretty sure I would have just died. That hat would not have helped at all. We walked around for a while, looked at the view from many of the seats, and (at least, in my mind) imagined what it would be like to watch our boys play there.
After the tour, we played a little foosball while waiting for our turn for the ticket guy. Turns out, I am really bad at that game! Dang those little men, and they're being stuck together at the waist, its not helpful in a game situation at all! When we finally got into the ticket room, we were able to meet and get our picture taken with a player, in our case, it was Matias Cordoba, a newcomer to our team. He is way cuter in real life than he is in any of the pictures I've seen of him, or the tiny version I've seen of him playing on the field. I was pleased with the player we got. And I got to touch him-which was awesome. We chose our seats, which are not at all bad (but in this stadium, there really isn't a bad seat you can get!) and now, I cannot wait for the stadium to be done. Of course, I was already excited for the new stadium, but now that I've seen it, its real to me, which ups my excitement level by even more!
It is a really long time until we get into the new stadium, and when we make the move, the games will be so much better to watch. Plus, we'll be closer to the players! That means, when I give them directions from my seat, or scold them for making a bad play, I bet they'll hear me! And follow my directions.

Red yellow green red blue blue blue...

This past weekend, I had a pedicure. I usually don't get these-I have a thing with the filing of the toenails that they do. It's not natural. But, PJ wanted to get one, and its nice to feel pampered, so I went. I was not disappointed. I had a massage chair, of course, I used the heck out of that. It felt awesome! They handled my feet nicely, and I didn't get any of the filing that they do. I chose, for my color, a bright blue, it looks quite lovely. I do feel, with the crazy bright polish, that my feet are on display. Since my attention is drawn to it always, I think everyone else's must be also, even though I know that isn't true.
My fingernails keep breaking. I used to get fake nails put on every couple of weeks, and a few months ago, I quit doing it. For many reasons, and I'm glad I stopped. It's nice to have natural nails. Because they're not yet strong yet, they will all get a little long-ish, then break quite suddenly. It makes me angry-I hate when my nails are too short. I thought that maybe if I painted them, they would maybe stick together a little, and then grow to be more strong. Because my toes are so bright, I thought my fingers could follow suit. They're not as bright as the blue, but I chose purple. It's like a deep purple, not like, crazy purple, and I like it. I am so awful at painting my fingernails, though, that it took me a long time to paint them. But at least they look all right. I don't need them to look picture perfect! In fact, I just literally finished painting them, but I wanted to get this (really exciting blog!) written, so I am taking a really long time to write this. I realize know that I should have written before I painted, or tomorrow, but oh well. I never really think things through.
I know this is not a very interesting post, but way to make it through reading it. When you see my nails though, don't be jealous.

I should be out playing laser tag, being awesome.

I always thought I was good at sports. I excel at soccer, that's my sport of choice, but I can hold my own in other sports. I don't know if we're definining this as a sport, but I will. I have played laser tag before. Not often, only like, three times, but I always had good times playing, so I assumed I was pretty good at it. I went to a ward activity (right? Me at a ward activity?) on Saturday, because it was a laser tag activity. There were 36 people that showed up, we were divided up into two equal teams. We were given our vests (I was on the red team) and we were on our way.
Turns out, I really suck at this game. There was a lot of people, and I don't really know any of the people in my ward, so I didn't know who was on my team and who wasn't. I pretty much stayed out of the big fighting in the middle of the thing, shooting people when I happened upon them. I thought I was doing ok, though, I thought I was at least hitting them. After the game, we got our sheets that had all of our stats on them, and I was...27th! I couldn't believe it-I thought I would be more in the middle, but no. At least my team beat the other team, but still. I was a little disappointed in myself. I'd like to be able to say I'll practice and be better, but...I know that's not true. Laser tag is fun, but I'm uneasy playing a game in the dark like that. I like to see my opponents when I take them on. I know that I probably will never be good at this game, but at least I know I enjoy the game as I'm losing it. And maybe someday, I can move up in the rankings!

This is why I have the rules!

When I bought my (gently used) new car about three years ago, I instated all sorts of rules. I wanted my car to stay nice and clean for as long as I could. Some of these rules are still intact today (no pets in the car) and some of them; I bend the rules a little bit for when it suits my purpose. One of them is no food in the car. I can’t tell you how many times, in my old car, I would spill food all over the place. There’d be crummies everywhere, and a place that was a little sticky from where I spilled a drink or two, and I vowed that in my new car, such things would not occur. And for the first year or two, I stuck to this rule like crazy. But some things change...
Real played last night-and ended in a 0-0 tie, it was such a crappy game! I was so irritated. But this is beside the point. After every game, PJ and I get ice cream, usually from the Baskin Robbins. As we pulled into the Baskin Robbins, we noticed there were policeman and police cars there, blocking the entrance. Hesitant to go in, we had pulled in after a couple, and when they were denied access to the store, we left. Feeling that we would not get our traditional treat, we drove on, saddened. After a few blocks, we noticed a Sconecutter, and decided we should get a shake. (And a scone-so delicious) After placing our orders (and them getting messed up-sorry Peej) we were satisfied with our choice. Well, sort of satisfied, since PJ didn’t actually get the shake she ordered.
At the end of the night, I was getting out of my car, and had a bunch of stuff to take with me. My shirt (I changed into a Real jersey for the game) a jacket, scarf, purse, and the bag that contained the garbage from our snack. When I picked up the garbage bag, I didn’t have a good handle on it, and it flipped out my hands. Which usually wouldn’t matter, but one of the cups had the melted remainder of ice cream in it. When the bag flipped, so did the cup, and melted ice cream sprayed all over my car! As I watched it, the only thought that went through my mind was, “This is why I don’t allow food in my car…”
I ran inside quickly, and grabbed some wet wipes and paper towels, and proceeded to clean my car. Because it was night, it was dark, and the light from my car wasn’t very helpful, so I cleaned what I could, and hoped for the best. This morning, you couldn’t tell that I had dropped anything, so thank goodness. I will probably continue to allow food to be in my car (on a situational basis) but when it comes to taking stuff out of there, I’ll be more careful in the future!

Any man can be a father, but it takes a special person to be a dad

Today is Father's Day-as everyone should know, and in honor of this day to celebrate fathers, I will celebrate mine.
My dad is amazing. Growing up, I was always scared to death of him. I'm not sure what it was exactly, but he made me so nervous. Whenever I wanted something, I would ask mom for it. When she said "Ask your father" I was out. Go ask dad? You might as well have told me to walk on glass-too frightening a concept to think of. Luckily, I have grown out of that. I now have no problem asking him for things. (Thanks, dad!) He is very strict and firm though-and you do not want to be on his bad side. When he gets mad, I know to run for the hills, even when its not me he's mad at.
He has a great sense of humor. We can joke about anything-and we do. I don't think everyone gets our jokes, so a lot of the times, we're laughing about things, and other people are looking blankly on. He makes these incredibly corny jokes all the time, and I'll be damned if I'm not starting to find these funny. I used to roll my eyes whenever he made of one these jokes (especially as a teenager-but come on, when you're that age, parents are never cool) but now when I hear one, I laugh for so long, and I'm mad I'm laughing at it!
He is super supportive. He, like my mom, as I blogged about earlier, came to every one of my soccer games. He would go to any game, no matter where it was. He brought food, and treats, he would buy every stupid thing I would have to sell for school. And now that none of his kids are in school anymore, he is nice to the little neighborhood kids, and buys stuff from them when they swing by the house.
I think he's a softie-which he'll never admit to. He hates being touched, but I know (with all evidence to the contrary) that he loves when I spontaneously hug him. Even though he stands there stiffly, I know in his brain he's hugging back. And even though he says he hates my tiny Troop, when he thinks nobody is watching, I'll catch him petting her.
I'm slowly getting him to watch all the stuff that I like. He's doing the same to me, though. I have watched all sorts of things that are just...weird because he's told me to, and I'm getting him to watch my "girly" shows (like Gilmore Girls, I think I almost have him to watch that) and he gets me to watch all these random shows from the 80's. (Yes, I have seen Sledgehammer.) We have such similar tastes in stuff, we watch a most of our TV together at night (mostly during the fall, when stuff is on) usually while one of us is exercising. (you know, the treadmill, an exercise bike, this sort of thing)
To talk about everything I love about my dad would take too long. I'm glad that today we had a day to honor him-and I hope that everyone today honored their own dad!

I've got a thing for that...

You always hear about how men favor one specific body part of a girl. They're a leg man, a boob man, a butt man. Whenever I used to hear this, I would laugh. I never understood how one body part could make someone crazy. I appreciated the entire male, I didn't separate it into the bits I like best. This has now changed. I am addicted to one specific part-the calf.
The calf is a fantastic looking thing. It has to be muscled-I prefer the calves of soccer players. I do appreciate the calf of the bike rider though-that is one good looking leg. This morning, PJ and I ran on the trail of Provo Canyon, and every bike rider or runner that would be pass us, I had to check out his legs. I'd like to be able to say I'm ashamed of this...but I'm not. There were a lot of guys this morning with some good looking legs. Even when someone was going the opposite way of me, I would turn around to check out his legs. I feel like an ogler!
The calves that I like the most (to date, this list could change at any time) belong to Jason Kreis and Dema Kovalenko, both on my beloved Real Salt Lake (which got their first away win this weekend! Good job, guys!). They are perfect specimens-not too big, as to be grotesque, but big enough to let you know what you're looking at. Soccer is the perfect sport for someone like me-the legs of any player are just fantastic.
I know this is a weird thing to blog about, but after having been checking people out for two hours this morning, it was on my mind. Maybe someday, my obsession with go down, and I won't look at the legs of (literally) every guy that passes me in a pair of shorts. And until then, I'll just enjoy the view.

It's my bed!

I have a twin bed. It's very small, granted, but I love it. When I stretch out, I cover the length of the whole thing. It is, of course, wider than I, but not by a whole lot. Sometimes, I let Tiny Troop sleep on there with me, but only if I'm willing to change the way I lay. When Troop is on there, I have to sleep on my side, knees bent, and Troop sleeps in the little crook of my knees, it's quite adorable.
My dog, Gretl, however, takes up the entire bed when she's on there, which she isn't really allowed to be. She's a German Shepherd, so of course she's big, and she's the same as I-when she stretches out on the bed, she takes up the whole thing. Last night, I was all ready for bed, and went into my room. Lying upon my bed was Gretl, but not stretched out, she was curled into a ball, which meant she only took up half of the bed, the lower half. I thought it was cute, and I was too beat to move her, so I just got into the bed also. I laid down, and my legs were right next to her. I shifted so that she could stay the way she was, which made my legs hang slightly off the edge. After I moved my legs down there, she kinda growled a little, and I of course wondered why she was growling, seeing as how it's my bed. I should be the one growling!
Because of how much room she was taking up, I didn't get to put my pillows flat, so I was sleeping in a semi-sitting up position, which wasn't too bad, but not a good position to sleep in. I fell asleep at about eleven, then woke up at one, being not at all comfortable. I was half hanging off the bed, with my upper body still sitting up. I shifted, to bring my feet back up, and Gretl once again made a menacing noise at me. Having had enough of this, I sleepily asked her why she could complain at me, when she was a visitor. (Yes, I realize, talking to a dog isn't smart, but come on. I was tired, half asleep, and she was taking up all the room!) She moved a little, to move her paws, and I took my chance. I shoved her a little with my legs, and finally, she got off the bed. Laughing at my victory, I stretched out, put my pillows in the position I like 'em best, and went back to sleep, all comfortable like.
The lesson I am taking from this, is that no matter how cute I think Gretl is, I really am going to kick her off the bed before I try to make us fit on there together. I need my sleep more than I need to be sharing my space with an overgrown puppy.
Please excuse the creepy eyes she has in this.

Vacations. Never long enough...and I need another to recuperate.

Well, readers, I am back! It was a great week, and while it would be awesome to share all of it with you, I will only do the highlights. I did actually have intentions of writing in here a couple of times while I was on the vacay, but turns out, by the end of the day, I was exhausted. It was like, as soon as we got back to the hotel, brushed our teeth and laid down, I was out. Every other day I'd wake up at like, one in the morning, and we had left the TV on because we fell asleep to it!
Disneyland was fantastic. I love that place too much. And there is so much food there to eat that I love, it's hard to fit it all in. The churros, frozen chocolate bananas, cookie ice cream sandwiches, etc. And this time I got a new favorite, the chimichanga. I'd never had this here, but always had seen it. And let me tell you-it was so delicious. I almost wish there were more meals in a day, so that I could eat more down there!
I got a farmers tan. It never occurred to me to roll my sleeves up to avoid this, and by the time I realized I was getting one, it was too late to reverse the damage. At least I have the summer to correct it out still. I do have a lovely tan around my neck and face-and thats about it. My nose was bright red the first three days, non-stop. Luckily that stopped, and now it matches the color of the rest of my face. And I have my tan of the summer-the flip flop tan line. I swear, I can never get this one to go away!
I got a new Hard Rock shirt! It's teal (which probably means its one PJ should have bought, loving the teal, but no, I got this one) We went to the HR in Hollywood, which marks another one off of our list. Only 122 more to go! (roughly)
There is a lot more stuff that happened, this is only the basic of the basic. I have been busy today, catching up on writing in my journal, doing laundry, trying to even out my tan a little (I really don't think I did, I only managed to sunburn other parts of me) and trying to watch some of the 36 hours of TV I managed to rack up during this week of vacation. (To be fair, I know it'll take me a while to watch it, and most of it comes from the Band of Brothers) I have watched some already, and some of it (my Daily Shows and Colbert Reports) I didn't watch all of the episodes, just the parts that interested me. I got through those really quickly!
And now, since I haven't had a good one in a while, I need to go work out. I look forward to breaking a sweat!