4 Wheeling in Monte Cristo

Last Saturday I woke up at 4am and rode my bike to the Frontrunner station in Woods Cross to catch the 6am train to Ogden. Kyley picked me up in Ogden when I arrived at 7. We stopped for fuel at the Maverik and McDonald's for breakfast and then headed up to Monte. On our way up we passed a pull off on the side of the road and Kyley noticed some people outside of their truck looking through binoculars. With his good eyes he saw what they were looking at....A MOOSE! I love moose. So we pulled over on the road and Kyley got his binoculars out and we looked down the hill to where the moose was standing. Then it started running toward us. It was a very safe distance away so it didn't worry us. Then I gave the binoculars to Kyley and he was watching the moose as it ran toward us from far away. We watched if for a while and then I started getting anxious...it was STILL running directly toward us up the hill.
We just stayed where we were and the moose ran all the way up the hill and crossed the road less than 100 yards from us. I was freaking out so much that I almost missed the opportunity to take this awesome photo. Needless to say this was a HUGE moose. I have seen several moose before but never one of this size. It was such a great way to start the day.

When we got up to Monte we unloaded the 4 wheelers, jumped on and headed out on our ride. We had decided to ride to Randolph....a little town in the middle of nowheresville....and eat lunch at a restaurant there. The restaurant was called Gator's and it was the tastiest, greasiest food I've had in a long time and I loved every bite.
Hahahaha, the trail was so dusty that every time we stopped and took our helmets off our noses and cheeks were covered in dirt....everything was covered with dirt! It was worth it, the day was great and lots of fun. I hope to do it again before winter comes.

Nancy Hanson is AWESOME!

This lady is an all-star! To me she always has been and probably always will be. Last night Annaleesa and I went to the Brigham Young park downtown to see Nancy play with Peter Breinholt and David Tolk. It was great. We had dinner at KFC first and then went to Smith's Marketplace for "concert treats". We got to the park an hour and a half before the concert started...I like to be early to these things. The atmosphere there is so serene and relaxed and last night the weather couldn't have been more perfect. Usually the sun fries you at those things but last night it spent most of the time behind some clouds before it eventually went down and the temperature was just right...not too hot, not too cold. While we waited for the concert to start I read some of "No Doubt About It" by Sheri Dew (yes, I'm reading it for the third time this summer) and Annaleesa played Sudoku.

Eventually the concert started and it was fabulous. Nancy and Peter sang my favorite song from her album "Drops In a Bucket" which they recorded together on that album. AND they also did "Grow Old Along With Me"....I LOVE THAT SONG! I learned that Nancy sang/played that at Peter's wedding reception. He said that it made everyone cry and that was when he realized they HAD to play and record it. Also, when Nancy was introducing her song "Don't Know What It Is" she told the story of how it came to be. She wrote it for her husband when they very first met which was on a biking trip with their Single's Ward and he was wearing bike shorts! Hahaha, sounds like my kind of activity.

A Fantastic Week Ahead

It's only Monday but the coming week is jam-packed with pure awesomeness! As a matter of fact it could be one of the best.

Top Ten Reasons Why This Week Is the Best:
10.) My work schedule goes back to the normal Monday-Friday (6am-2:30pm). The past couple weeks I've been working some crazy shifts and such to help cover for two other supervisors who are on vacation. I'm looking forward to my old routine....I'm spoiled but I hate working nights and Saturdays. :-(

9.) I got a new floor pump today for my bike. Now I can keep her tires properly inflated for optimum performance on those 70 milers (which are becoming more and more frequent). Next on the list of bike accessories that I am in need of is a new headlight. I discovered last night while riding home from Centerville that my bike light is NOT bright enough for me to see when there are no street lamps! After trying so hard to focus that my eyes began to water I realized I need a brighter and stronger headlight.

8.) Nancy Hanson is playing her annual concert at Brigham Young Park tomorrow (Tuesday) night. Seriously, folk and bluegrass music does not get better than my all-time favorite, Nancy Hanson. This year she and Peter Breinholt are playing together which will be a totally awesome show. Nancy Hanson was my inspiration in buying a guitar on my mission (although it has only taken me three and a half years to begin learning how to play it). And I can play three notes on one string...that's all folks!

7.) Saturday I am going 4-wheeling with Kyley. We are going up to Monte Cristo...one of my most absolute favorite places on earth! I haven't been there since 4-wheeling with Justin in the spring of '03! 5 years...that's a long time. It is so beautiful up there and I am really looking forward to going.
6.) It's my last 5 day work week until the second week in September! I'm turning a quarter of a century old on September 4th. It is customary to celebrate my birthday for a week each year. However, this year I feel it appropriate to celebrate for two weeks marking my passing such an important milestone. So, I am taking half a day off work next Friday which means I will be off work at 10am in order to begin the "opening ceremonies" of my birthday celebration. I have not yet decided what activities this will include but whatever they are they will be fun. The following week I have taken Thursday (September 4th) and Friday (September 5th) off to have nothing but pure fun for 4 days straight! It will be epic. I have not yet planned all the events or their dates but they will include: Hogle Zoo, Lagoon, Maverik Frozen Yogurt, Pizza, Fun, and other cool stuff.
5.) Hilary Weeks finished recording her new CD today!!! I have been anxiously anticipating it's release since she announced it at Women's Conference in May. She said it will be released in no time and I have a gift card to Deseret Book that I have been saving for this day! Yeah for Hilary Weeks and her amazingly inspiring music.
4.) I got to go to lunch with my dear friend, Ashley Clawson today. I love her!

3.)I've started reading my all-time favorite book for a third time. No Doubt About It is the BEST book I've read (excluding the scriptures of course). It is more motivating to me than anything else to make me want to be a better person. Two thumbs up for self improvement!
2.) I watched Season One of Intervention in it's entirety yesterday. That show is so awesome.

1.) Jo Ann is coming home from Washington DC this week! Yippeeee!!!

Exciting Things Are Happening

Life has been busy lately and many good things are taking place. I moved last week, that was exciting. Well, the act of moving itself was not exciting (I HATE moving) but being in a new house with three new roommates has been great. It is quite refreshing to live with happy, functioning people who are content with their lives.

Jo Ann and I went to the Jordan River Temple a few weeks ago, that was a wonderful experience. I can't think of a better place to be or better company to be there with. I hope that we can go again soon.

Jaymee and I went to the dollar theater and saw Prince Caspian: The Chronicles of Narnia. It was GREAT! I actually enjoyed it better than the first Narnia. I know that some will disagree but that is my humble opinion. SEE IT!

I have gone out with a boy named Dallas a couple of times. On our first date we went to a Nada Surf concert. I love Nada Surf. They are a little 1994 but I still love them anyway. Then last weekend we rode his motorcycle downtown for dinner at Biaggi's in the Gateway. After dinner we rode up Millcreek Canyon and had planned to hike. It was later than expected when we got there and VERY dark. We weren't prepared with a light of any type. We decided to go for it anyway. After hiking in for a few minutes I totally started freaking out. I'm going to blame Cindy and Jo Ann for this but thoughts of all the horrible things that could happen to us started running through my head. And I kept hearing Jo Ann the time she told me I couldn't sleep outside because the bears would get me. Then as we were hiking, off of the trail there was a huge boulder and I saw it's outline and thought it was a cougar and I jumped and screamed...it was a rock! That was when is suggested we turn around and come back another time when we have a light and are better prepared. Dallas agreed, I hope he doesn't think I'm a weenie!

Last night Jaymee and I went to a Mercy River concert in Farmington. That was really fun. All three of the singers are pregnant! At one point they jokingly called themselves Maternity River. They also announced that they can be booked for youth groups and other events so I turned to Jaymee and said, "MY BIRTHDAY!" :-)

That is some of the awesome stuff I've been doing lately. This week will be another FABULOUS week. Nancy Hanson is playing a free concert with Peter Breinholt at Brigham Young Park Tuesday night. Jo Ann will be coming home from Washington DC this week. My work hours will go back to normal this week. Saturday I am going 4 wheeling with Kyley in Monte Cristo. The week ahead will be lovely.

It's been a while...

As far as the blogging world goes I have been MIA for over three weeks now...that's bad! To have been too busy to blog, I must have been pretty busy having lots of fun right? RIGHT! In all of that fun I have failed to be good at photos however so I'll do the best I can.

First item of business that comes to mind...I bought a beautiful new road bike. It is AMAZING and so fast! I am absolutely in love. I'll insert a picture from the web. This is exactly like my bike but it's not MY bike. :-)


There she is. I'm going to get some pictures of mine this weekend so you can see her in all her glory. Oh yes, I have given her a name...Edna. Pure awesomeness. In the last week I have ridden 212 miles, not bad. I did the alpine ride again which was 65 miles and I loved every minute of it. There really isn't anything more beautiful to me in the Salt Lake Valley than Alpine. It truly has the small town atmosphere that I enjoyed growing up and its' nestled against the mountains. There is no busy freeway or highway near Alpine. It is tucked away in seclusion and that, I think, is what I like about it. Well, that and the fact that it has the BEST longboarding hill EVER. Starting at the top of Main Street in the church parking lot and going all the way down the street through town with only one 4 way stop in which to navigate and avoid being run over.