New Water Adventures

Well, I did something new today. And on the water. The combination of those two things are enough to send me into an anxious spiral, but I lived! It’s my friend PJ’s birthday today, and for her birthday, she wanted to go stand up paddle boarding. As part of her gift, I reluctantly agreed to it. We booked a spot at Jordanelle Reservoir for an hour (plenty of time) and off we went.

It wasn’t too bad. I had small panic attacks while getting in and standing up, but once you’re standing up and stable, it’s not too bad! But every time a small wave would come, I would just hug the board on my knees and pray I wouldn’t fall in. By the end of the hour, my legs and feet hurt from being so tense and standing in the exact same position. But I looked pretty cool:

And obvs PJ looked cool too:

Shout-out to the random stranger in a kayak on the water who took the picture of us and sent it to my phone. I may do this again in my life, I may not, but at least I can say I tried it once and I didn’t die! (or cry, that’s important too)

Living in the Airport

This morning, we were supposed to fly out of Denver at 12:05. We ate a hearty breakfast, then filled the rental car up with gas, returned it, and we were on our way into the airport on the shuttle bus, but there was a lot of construction going on in the Denver airport lots, so there was a lot of traffic that was just sitting there, waiting our turns to be let in. We sat in the terminal lot, just watching the time tick away, for about 20 minutes. Then we finally get in there, (they dropped us all off in the wrong terminal, and we had to dash across the entire airport to get to the right one) the line to check into flights was the longest line I’d ever seen – and I’m not exaggerating. So we get in the line, and we’re slowly slowly moving, watching the time tick away. We are told by a worker in line that we can check in at the self-check in stations and then just drop off our bags. We left the line to do this, and then learn that we can’t do that, because there’s less than an hour before our flight. So, we get back in line, and slowly make our way to the front. By the time we get to the front of the line, our flight is leaving in 5 minutes. They had to book us onto a different flight, the 9:06 one. There were no seats available in the 2:45 flight, but they put us on the standby, in case some seats opened up. They sent our luggage on the 2:45 flight, though, in case we got on it. So, with the new tickets in hand, we went through security (There was no one in line, so had that line not been long, we would have been golden) and then sat at the gate for the next 2 ½ hours. Finally, they’re boarding the plane, and people are disappearing. Finally, they’re looking at the standby list, and they say my name. I was jazzed, but I had PJ as a traveling companion, so I asked if there were two seats, and there weren’t, so I declined the seat, and we prepared to stay in the airport for the next six hours.

Our first order of business was to eat, since we hadn’t in a while. I had a delicious bacon cheeseburger with onion rings. After eating, we just walked randomly around from terminal to terminal, from concourse to concourse. When we got to concourse C, we found a spa there! So, since I was going to file my nails when I got home (If I had gotten home at a reasonable time), I decided to get a manicure, and PJ decided to as well. I sat in an awesome massage chair, and got my nails painted, whilst charging my phone, because it drains so quickly that I was at 30% already. I got it charged to about 95% while we were there. The end product:

After the manicure, we walked around a little bit more, before finding a toy store. I had hoped to find some card games or board games or something, to pass the time, but the only thing there were some face cards. So I bought a few of those, and we had about 2 ½ hours before our flight was going to leave, so we just found a piece of carpet that wasn’t occupied, and played a few rounds of Grump. Finally, as we were checking on the flights status, we found that the flight out had been delayed by 20 minutes, ARGH! But time was getting closer, so we stopped playing, did the last pre-flight bathroom break (Just in case!) and stood in line. When they announced our section was seating, instead of waiting until the flight is usually almost filled before getting on, immediately I got on to get into my seat. I was taking zero chances with not getting a seat. Finally, we board, and everyone is on, and I’m jazzed. Then we learn, to my great horror, that there was a slight mechanical issue, and we wouldn’t be taking off just yet. GAH! This was just not my day. After about 20 more minutes, finally, we were in the air, and before I knew it, we had landed.

Since they had sent our luggage ahead of us, we had to go specially pick it up. Sadly, there was no one in the office there to help me get it, so I had to wait. And wait. And wait. At 11:30 at night, when I already just wanted to be out of there. Finally, someone came, and I got my luggage, and we drove out of there like a bat out of hell. And thank goodness, finally the day was over. After nearly 12 hours in the airports, I was ready to go home and get some sleep. I finally know what Tom Hanks felt like in The Terminal. I felt like I had been there forever.

Colorado Adventures

I went on a short weekend trip today with PJ, we went on our annual Colorado trip to see RSL play for the Rocky Mountain Cup. We flew in yesterday afternoon, and spent the evening finding a restaurant, and then finding our hotel and getting some rest. This morning, we had a run in a local park, and then we just spent the day visiting local favorite places to go, the park, the cupcake store Big Fat Cupcakes, and then went to a shoe store, I was interested in finding some flip flops, and I found some there. As I was perusing the clearance section, I happened to find a pair of running shoes – my exact running shoes that I get, in my exact size, on clearance. I couldn’t believe my luck! So I snagged them up, and as I was checking out, PJ had a $10 coupon she gave me, so I got my running shoes for half off! Lucky day! After the shopping, we got some dinner at a pizza place, which was so good. Then, off to the game. We got in the car, and looked at the weather, and wouldn’t you know it, there was a tornado warning given. In Denver. Whaaaat? We looked at the sky, and it was BLACK and stormy. We thought it may be a good idea to run back to the hotel and get our jackets. On the way, there was a train passing, and I genuinely could not see the end of it, we sat there forever, getting later and later.

Luckily, we got our jackets, and got to the stadium with minutes to spare. This year, instead of standing in the group of drunken idiots, we bought seats that were the next section over in the front row. It was sprinkling ever so lightly when the game kicked off, and then, 7 minutes into the game, lightning was going on near the field, and they stopped the game. They told us to leave our seats, and go to the safety of the overhangs. We declined, and sat there. And sat there. And sat there, getting rained on. It wasn’t very heavy rain, so we just hung out, but after about 30-40 minutes, it started to POUR and we finally had to admit defeat, and leave. The sky was looking super shady at this point, so it was probably a good idea. We went up to the overpass, and hung out for a while longer, then after a bit, they started the game again. The delay was 62 minutes long. At this point, my shorts were soaked.

The rain was still pouring though, so we didn’t return to our seats, we stayed up in the overpass to watch. We spent the rest of the first half there, halftime, and then about half of the second half up there, trying to dry off. Finally, when there was about 30 minutes left, the rain stopped, so we went down to our seats. The game ended in a tie, 2-2, but we sadly lost the Rocky Mountain Cup. I’m not entirely sure how, something about the point system and all that, but that’s ok. Finally, the game was over, and we ran to our car, cranked up the heat, then went and got our post-game ice cream, then back to the room to take off all my soaking wet clothes. However, we were lucky in that there was no tornado.

Zip Line

Adam’s Grandmother Jan and sister-in-law Chantelle were going to go zip lining, and we got invited along, so of course I took it. We met nice and early Saturday morning – 8:00. It may not sound that early, but on a Saturday, yes. I didn’t wake up in enough time to run, sadly, but that’s ok. We met, all of us, and then drove up into the canyon. We were getting set up, being put up in our harnesses, and the gal helping us said that we needed to have a parent sign for the girls, since they’re both under 18. We told her the parents were no longer with us, and Chantelle even told her, they passed away 2 months ago. She said that Jan could sign for them, and as we were putting on our harnesses, she asked where our parents really were. We had to awkwardly explain that we were serious, they did pass away just barely. She apologized, then took a phone call and walked away for a minute. When she came back, she asked some questions about them, and then realized who they/we were, and it was weird for a minute, she teared up and everything. Finally, things were ok, and we were about to get going.

This is all of us, waiting to get going. Don’t be jealous of how awesome I look in that helmet. So, we were driven up to the top zipline, where we got to do some practice runs down. It took me a minute to psych myself up to jump off the platform, but finally I did so. We zipped down 5 lines; we went from one platform to the other, and zipped all the way down to the bottom, to where our car was. It was awesome. There was one that you had to take a running start off of and jump, and we had all decided that when we jumped off that one, we’d shout something, just for fun. I had decided to shout “I believe I can fly!” and everyone else was deciding for themselves. Chantelle’s sister, Danielle, was going to shout “For Isengaard!” (Points if you get the reference). When she went to run and jump off, she accidentally grabbed the brake, and shouted “For I-“ and then came to a short stop, and hung there for a second, before she had to be brought back in. I was dying laughing at it, and then finally, we all had jumped off. I was glad I went, even though I was afraid at first, I’m glad I did this. I recommend to everyone that they do this.

Lost in Scofield

Today, I went to Scofield, I was going to meet the author of a book I like, My Loving Vigil Keeping, Carla Kelly. Unfortunately, things didn’t go well, and I didn’t end up getting to meet her. I went with PJ, she had set the visit up through her boss, but when we got there, we couldn’t find the building we were supposed to be meeting them. After driving around, and getting lost, and ending up in Camp Mia Shalom, then down the canyon into Fairfield, we gave up, being an hour late, and having zero idea how to get to where we were supposed to be, we gave up and went home. Alas.

When we were in Scofield, we arrived about a half an hour early for our meeting time. Since we hadn’t had breakfast yet and had time to kill, we stopped at the town’s festival, and partook of their breakfast. This is the meal I got for 7 dollars:

Quite a bit of food, actually, I couldn’t even finish it all, but it was all delicious.

After we found our way out of the canyon, and were about to get back onto the highway and make it home, we passed an ice cream place that had just opened minutes before. Of course, being 11 in the morning, it’s a perfect time for ice cream. I was kind of jazzed, because I love to try local ice cream places everywhere I go. I get in there, take a look at the selection and realize...its all BYU creamery ice cream. Miles from home, and I’m eating ice cream that I can get 2 minutes from my house. It was still delicious.

Mason Jar o’ Fun

For the year 2013, I have vowed to have more adventures. Since I’m such a sissy with everything, I usually turn things down, and don’t want to do things. Let me specify. Husband is very outdoorsy, he likes to river raft, and all sorts of things like that, and I don’t care for things like this. I don’t want to die, is all I’m saying. So I promised him and myself, that I would do more adventurey things this year. After I said this, I saw a thing on Pinterest that is going to help me keep track of things.

What you do, is take a mason jar. A plain ol’ mason jar, and every time during the year you have a great experience, or a memory of any kind, you write it down and put it in the jar. Then, on New Years Eve, you take it out, read all the slips, and have a walk down the memory lane of the previous year. So, I thought this was a great idea, and I decorated this jar:

Now, I know that you’ll notice right away that it’s sort of sparse, and yes, that’s true. I couldn’t really figure out exactly how to do it, so I just kept it small. And I ran of out sticker 2’s, so I had to substitute a Z for it, but I think it works. And Chelle helped me cut out small pieces of paper, so I could have them right next to the jar, should anything good happen. I put it out on the mantle:

Kyle there is holding the pen, I like that. Now, I hope that many good things happen in 2013, even if I have to make them happen myself, and I wish a good 2013 to all!