NYC

So I'm currently in a hotel in NYC, in Time's Square. It's pretty legit. I'll have to write a big entry on the trip so far, especially chronicling our adventures and all the crazy people we've met, but I'll have to do it when I'm on a computer with a keyboard and not Mark's iPad. Anyway, just a short update to know I'm alive :) the next entry will include our random acquaintances, adventures, and such. Be ready for an update of awesomeness:)

Bored much?

It is currently 2:09pm Mountain Standard Time.  I've been sitting at this desk for six hours, with three more to go. I lead quite the exciting life. To entertain myself I've read every interesting news story on MSN, AOL, and Yahoo, read two magazines, blogged about man capris, organized my emails, and made a packing list for New York. It's been nice to have Mark's iPod touch (he let me borrow it while he's in Europe), because I can listen to it without headphones. I'm glad no one was in the front office when Julian Smith's 'I'm Reading a Book' came one, that would've prompted some odd looks.

Steph just came down to say hi and ask what kind of treat I want. Her jet lag's finally hitting her, so she's running an errand to avoid falling asleep.  I brought the book 'Emma' to read, but I'm afraid Jane Austen's writing might put me to sleep right now.

Two guys that are here several times a week just signed in.  They're a pretty funny pair. Apparently when Sandy's gone they're glad I'm down here, because someone else who covers for her doesn't have a sense of humor. Glad they like me :)

So, Steph just came down (much to quick to have gotten treats already) and told me that my mom just called.  Apparently April's (Heath's wife) sister was in a horrible car accident yesterday.  Both her and her husband have very serious injuries, and their five-year old boy was killed.  Luckily their 7 month old daughter wasn't hurt. I can't even imagine how hard that must be, for everyone involved.  Both parents are in the hospital, and their little boy isn't coming back. When things like this happen it makes me all the more grateful for the Plan of Salvation, and our knowledge of Eternal Families. It's just so sad for everyone involved. Prayers are definitely needed for April and Heath, and especially her family.

That kind of news always puts a damper on the day.  Besides that, it's been a boring, but good day.  The weather is gorgeous outside, which does make it harder to sit inside this office. There haven't been many phone calls, and no weird people have come in, which is definitely a bonus.  I really hate it when I page someone and they don't pick up the call.  Often they're not here, or can't hear the page, but I hate making people wait.  I don't have much control over it, so I hope the don't think I'm just putting them on hold and forgetting about them.

Just submitted a maintenance request form - I actually feel like I'm doing something when I do those. Yay for being helpful :)

Usually it's quite cold in here, but today's it's too warm. Lame. . . . . Just found out the air conditioner wasn't one, we'll see if I flipped the right button to fix it.

Maybe Steph's never coming back with treats . . .

Bored much?

Too bad my spinney chair isn't as comfy as the other chair in here

Oh! So, Steph's surprise was I cleaned her room, and got her some shoe organizers for her closet. It took me around 5 hours to clean it. It was kinda ridiculous.  I also changed the light bulb in her closet so she can actually see what she's doing.  A picture of the beautifully clean room will be posted when I get home :)

It seems to be getting cooler in here. . . . maybe it's the placebo affect.

For some reason this sticky note makes me want to touch it, just to see what happens. Delirium is setting it.

I am so tired of sitting here.  I have the strong desire to go running, probably because I can't right now. Lame.

Man Capris?

A couple of weeks ago Kathy and I were sitting outside the men's dressing room at JC Penney while Mark tried on pants.  We were taking about how guys can't wear shorts for 'business casual'.  I commented that girls have a lot more options, because they can wear pants, skirts, dresses, or dressy capris.  Kathy then decided that it was more appropriate for girls to show their legs, because they're not hairy.  We then joked that they don't make capris for guys, but some guys wear their shorts so baggy and low that they kinda become capris.  Right at that moment we looked to the left, and lo and behold, there was a guy wearing super baggy shorts that hit halfway down his calf.  We looked at each other and busted up laughing.  It was a great moment. 

While in Park City I made a strange discovery - they make guy capris! No joke! We walked into the Calvin Klein store, and there they were! Actual capris for men. Who'd have ever guessed?  I certainly don't know any guys that would ever be caught wearing them.

Don't they seem super feminine to you? And I'm pretty sure I have bigger calves than this guy.

Weekend Adventures

Is it horrible that I don't leave for a week, yet I want to start packing already? Maybe I'm a little bit excited . . . . I'm also a compulsive list maker. I'm pretty sure I make lists for everything in my life.  Does anyone else feel super accomplished when they cross something off? When you make a packing list you get to cross tons of things off, which could be why I like doing it so much :) It's also how I don't forget anything.

I got to Skye with Mark on Friday! It was so good to actually be able to see and hear him.  It was Saturday morning for him, and Friday night for me. He told me all about Armenia, and showed me his super awesome hotel room. The bathroom was huge! Someday I'll go to Europe :)  He kinda made fun of me for my lack of social life.  Eh, I could be more social if I chose to, but I've actually been accomplishing a lot, which is good.  I get to seem him next Tuesday, which I'm so excited about.

Friday I went with my mom and aunt to Park City. The resort we stayed at was super nice and fancy, but our room was so tiny! I'm pretty sure our living area was the size of Mark's hotel bathroom.  They also had the noisiest sheets ever! I swear you move the tiniest bit and it's ridiculously loud. 

We didn't have any strict schedules, which was nice.  We sat in the hot tub and did a lot of shopping.  Originally we were supposed to pick Steph up Friday afternoon, but her flight was canceled, so we had to pick her up Sunday at 12:15am - more on that later.  We found quite a few good deals at the outlet stores.  For fun we took the opposite way home, through Heber and down Provo canyon.  We then went to Ikea, which is always a bit of a long stop.  I did get a new wavy mirror since my last one broke and became a dangerous weapon.  I also got a rolling pin! This is big for me.  For the past two years we've been using a Pam can. Yay for inventive college students! We then went to my aunt's and just hung out until Steph's flight got it.

So I just had a huge story about Steph's flight, and I hit publish, and nothing happened. I'm a little upset with you blogger, for you only saved 1/3 of my post. booo!

Originally Steph and Elina were supposed to leave Japan at 5:30 their time on Friday, and arrive at 4:08pm Friday our time.  They booked Elina a two-way flight because it's cheaper than a one-way (stupid, I know). The booked it from SLC, to Osaka, and back to SLC. Sadly they didn't realize that if you miss the first part of your flight, they cancel the rest, so Elina's flight back was canceled.  After several angry calls to Delta, they 'did the best they could' (voice dripping with sarcasm), and they only charged her $550 more to get on a flight next week.  After realizing that was all they were going to do, they took Steph to the airport Friday afternoon.  Steph ended up spending 9 hours at the airport after her flight was delayed and then canceled for mechanical problems.  After waiting forever they bused her to a hotel for the night.  The next day she found out her schedule to get home: a flight at 5:50 pm to Tokyo, followed by a 5 1/2 hour layover.  Leave Tokyo at 12:30 am, and arrive in LA at 7 pm Saturday.  After another 2 hour layover, she'd arrive in SLC at 12:15 am on Sunday.  3 days of traveling! Elina's mom called and yelled at Delta, and tried to get them to put her on a direct flight from Tokyo to SLC which had open seats.  They refused, so Steph had quite the adventure getting home. She swears she's never flying again, and certainly never with Delta. I'm flying with them next week, well shoot!  My dad made a good point about their customer service.  He said when their company causes a problem for a customer, they pull out all the stops they can to make it up to the customer.  Delta in no way did this.  They gave her one food voucher, but she had to pay for the rest of her food, not to mention the additions to her phone bill figuring it all out.  Needless to say Delta has the WORST customer service I've ever seen. If at all possible, avoid flying with them, because they will do absolutely nothing to help you, even if something's their fault. She didn't even have it the worst. There was a group of college students from Ohio state that kind of adopted Steph throughout all this.  These kids flew from Osaka to Tokyo, then to LA, then to Atlanta, and finally to Ohio, where they arrived at midday on Sunday.  Originally they didn't even have them ending up in Ohio! Quite ridiculous, I must say.  Steph's now home, and she's never been so happy to touch American soil :) We finally made it home at 3am.  She did make some hilarious v-logs while stranded, so I'll have to post one here.

Today Steph gave us all our souvenirs. She got me a gorgeous fan and picture frame for my room.

 We also went to our friend Brady's homecoming talk, which was really nice.  We then had an awesome steak dinner for Father's Day.  Can I just say I have the best Dad in the world? I really do. He's one of the most charitable people I know, and he's so modest about it.  He just does stuff for people, and hates it when people notice.  He works hard all the time, and I swear he knows everything.  He can fix or make anything, which is definitely a quality I'd like in my future husband.  He's always so supportive of everything we do, and he truly cares.  He's not big with using words to express how he feels, but you always know.  We laugh all the time, and he's such a dork and I love it.  Thanks Dad, for being amazing at everything you do. I love you so much, and I'm so eternally grateful that you're my Dad.

Blogger's currently taking forever and a day to upload anything, so I'll add pictures tomorrow after work. It'll be another fun filled adventure at the front desk, so we'll see what interesting things happen with that.

Thank you for Calling

Last week was interesting for me.  I didn't go to work Wed - Friday. Instead I was helping my mom out with some projects around the house, and working on a surprise for Elina and Steph.  When they get here and see them, I'll post pics here :) I'm quite excited about them, I really want them to get back so they can seem them.

The past two days I've been filling in for our receptionist at work who's been out sick. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be saying "(Insert place of work) Logan Division" when I answer my cell phone. For some reason every time I want to say "Thank you for calling", I'm not sure why.  I really don't know how she does it every day.  I quickly run out of news articles to read on the Internet, and you can only do so many Sudoku puzzles before your brain turns to mush.  Luckily this has given me plenty of time to look up things to do in NYC for my upcoming trip.  I'm so excited, it's quite ridiculous.  It's going to be epic :)

Besides working and projects, my life has been pretty boring.  Thursday I was able to go watch the final dress rehearsal for this year's Bandito show at Pickleville, which was hilarious.  I went with Heidi, and it was so good to spend some time with Aubree.  The show was hilarious, and I'm so excited to go again.  Besides that, it was a boring week.  I was really, really missing my friends.  Rachelle and Kathy are home, Rachel's in Connecticut, Steph and Elina are in Japan, Kaylee's doing an internship, and Mark's currently in Armenia.  I put my facebook status as something about missing my friends Sunday night, and I tagged them all in it.  Ten minutes later my phone rang.  I almost didn't answer it because it was a number I didn't recognize. When I answered it I was surprised to hear Mark's voice on the other end.  He saw what I had posted on fb and called me! (From Armenia, mind you).  Seriously, it made my week.  It was Sunday night for me, and he was just heading to breakfast Monday morning.  We didn't talk long, but it was so nice to be able to talk for a little bit.  Mark's one of my favorite people to talk to, which I've definitely missed since he's been gone.  We're going to Skype sometime this week, which should be awesome.

Later that night Steph also called me.  If you think about it, it's really quite amazing that I can talk instantly with someone in Armenia and Japan. Sometimes technology blows my mind a little bit . . .We talked for nearly an hour, because after a week and a half we had a lot to catch up on.  It seems like she's having a lovely time in Japan.  I wish I could have gone, but oh well.  Elina and Steph get here on Friday!!! I'm so excited! We're also spending the weekend in Park City :)

I seriously love my friends and family so much.  It really meant a lot that Steph and Mark took time to call me, when they're both busy in exciting places.  It was exactly what I needed, and I'm so grateful for them.

Wow, work is so boring, it's crazy.  I've received a whole two phone calls in the past hour.  There's also this creepy pink finger puppet thing that's been staring at me for the past two days . . . .

Luckily it's 4:24, so that means I get to leave in 36 minutes.  It's been a little bit of a shock to my system working full time for two days when I haven't worked since Tuesday.

Another thing I did last week was sew a star pillow and finish Aubree and Mckenna's aprons. (April's is almost done).  Now I get to start on one for me.  At least I've been productive since I've had no friends to play with.

A phone call! That makes three in an hour, we're moving up in the world people, slowly but surely.  Never mind it was someone here just wanting our HR manager's extension, it was still a phone call ;)  Some guy has now been standing in here reading a magazine for at least 10 minutes . . . you think he'd at least sit down.  Hmmmmm . . . . odd.

I think I over-use the words definitely and seriously.  And probably awesome as well, but I blame Mark for that one.

The man just left, and I'm alone once again.  It's actually quite awkward when it's just you and another person sitting in here in silence. This one guy was in here for half an hour earlier.  It made me want to open up a word document and start typing random crap so it at least sounded like I was busy. 

Anyways, as exciting as this has been, I've run out of boring things to write about.

Win a trip to Paris?

So, Jordan Ferney from  Oh Happy Day is giving away a trip to Paris for 2. It includes your hotel, and airfare for seven days! This could be the best thing I ever win :)

http://ohhappyday.com/2011/06/goes-to-paris

-Michelle

The adventures of Michee and Chancho

Heidi and I had quite the adventure on Saturday, and she wanted to make sure we wrote it down, so here you go Heidi, the Story of our epic adventure . . .

Heidi (aka Chancho) met this guy swing dancing, and he invited her to go boating Saturday.  Not wanting to go by herself, and because I'm super awesome, she invited me to go with her.  We both had some things to do in the morning, so she drove out to my house around 1:00.  We were meeting this group of people we don't really know at Newton Dam.  Heidi had never been there, but I had, so I figured it'd be easy to find.  I called my Dad to make sure I knew how to get there, and we headed off on our adventure.  Little did we know what an adventure it was going to be.

We drove to the Maverick in Richmond, and then headed West.  It's pretty much a straight shot from Richmond to Trenton, and Newton is just over the hill after that, so it shoulda been simple.  We made it to Trenton in no time, and we were quite happy when we saw a sign that said 'Newton Lake 2 miles'.  Hooray! We ignored the incorrectness of the sign (it's not really a lake), and kept driving west.  Tons of bikers, all of them women, soon were headed straight towards us.  They were everywhere!  We passed the road that wraps around the mountain in front of Newton, and kept going, looking for any sign of water.  The next sign then said 'Clarkston'.  We worried that there wouldn't have been a turnoff and we'd end up in Clarkston (the land of great nothingness), so we turned around and took the road that wrapped around the mountain.  This road led us all the way around said mountain, and then finally into the quaint town of Newton, Utah.  We then drove aimlessly around the tiny town until Heidi spotted a sign that pointed us right, and said 'Newton Lake'. They really like to call that Reservoir a lake.  As soon as we turned down that road, we were again surrounded by bikers, but hundreds more, and they were going the same direction as us.  Well shoot!  We continued down the road, going about 10 mph on average.  Occasionally we got lucky and were able to drive down the wrong side of the road to pass the bikers.  It was just like being in England!  After going for what seemed forever, we saw a dirt road on the right.  Hallelujah! There wasn't a sign, but we knew we had to go right eventually, so we took it. . . . Big mistake!!! This road turned into not much more than a four-wheeler trail, with a drop off on the right side.  There was mud everywhere, and we were slowly being wound around down into this random gulch, with no sign of civilization anywhere.  We gosh darn!  Heidi and I laughed hysterically the entire way, wondering how we were ever going to turn around on this tiny road.  Then a stroke of luck!  We saw the south side of the dam straight ahead.  Somehow we managed to get on the side of the dam without water, lucky us.  Our dirt trail then led us to a paved road, where guess what!  There were the bikers!  It was the exact same rode we'd been on previously, and right as we pulled up we saw the same bikers we'd been behind when we turned off earlier.  After waiting forever and a day for a break in the bikers, we were able to get on the road, and drive about 2 minutes to the parking lot.  Philip (my lovely car) was completely covered in mud, which was quite hilarious.

Now that we were there, we realized we had no idea what type of boat we should be looking for, or really what the people looked like.  We were certainly in Hilly Billy heaven now.  Heidi called the guy who invited her, only to find out they were being towed in from the other end of the reservoir because they'd run out of gas. Heidi and I just looked at each other and shook our heads.  Of course, why would we have expected anything else?  So we waited around with these people we don't really know while one of their brothers brought us gas.  There were three guys and two other girls.  Turns out all the guys graduated '03.  Quite old, if you ask me.  Eventually we got gas in the boat, and then Heidi and I rode the tube.  It was tons of fun, but I definitely forgot how much it works your arms! We both ended up in the water, which wasn't nearly as cold as I thought it would be.  Some other people tubed, and then I slalom skied.  It felt so good! It's amazing how you can go 8 months without skiing, and it comes right back.  It was so fun, but I definitely felt it the next day.

Here's a video of Heidi falling off the tube :) Normally when boating I film everyone to ensure I get the best wipe outs, but I didn't film anyone else because I don't know them, and that might qualify as creepy . . .

Heidi's on the far right. I apologize for the shakiness, it's quite hard to film while on a boat.  Also, ignore the crappy music, cocky boy picked it.

We then watched as some of the other people wake surfed and wake boarded.  It was fun, and they were nice, just not people I'd really choose to be friends with.  One of the guys was super cocky, and even asked Heidi for a good luck kiss.  Her answer was a swift, probably not.  Rejected! It started getting cold, and it was almost five, so we decided to head in.  The guy who invited Heidi then decided he wanted to wake surf one last time.  Bad decision.  They ran out of gas, again.  Seriously, who does that? Apparently they don't know how to read a fuel gage.  Once again, Heidi and I just looked at each other and shook our heads.  We sat on the back of the boat and dangled our feet over the water as some nice boated towed us in.  After the tow, we made it back to dry land.  Heidi and I had to make about a 20 point turn to get out after someone parked behind me, but we succeeded  When leaving we decided to try he opposite way.  About two minutes later we were to the spot we'd been at earlier in the day when we turned around.  We had been two minutes away, and we ended up driving for an extra half hour, drove through a gulch, and got trapped behind hundreds of bikers.  We laughed the entire way home :)

Heidi and I are only beginning our summer adventures, for which I'm quite excited.  We'll have to see what tomorrow brings :)

Catching Up

Wow, I'm super behind on this blog.  I don't even have a good reason to be, well besides laziness . . .

So, I graduated! Weird, I know. It still doesn't seem real.  Of course I don't have my real diploma yet, it comes in the mail this summer.  Maybe then . ..

Graduation was a bit crazy, a bit boring, and fun.  The morning grad ceremony with everyone was actually quite boring.  It was hard to stay awake, especially since we'd stayed up super late cleaning our apartment.  For lunch I went to Great Harvest with Mark and his sister Ashlee, Steph, Kathy, Rachel, Daniel, and Caleb.  After that we all went back to the spectrum for my actual college graduation.  I'd say it was quite successful, there was no tripping involved!

After graduation everyone came out to my house for a graduation party.  Rachelle and I did it combined, which was fun.  We ate tons of good food, and just talked and laughed.  Of course we had a cake, and of course Mark shoved our faces into it :) Thanks to mom for capturing the perfect moment,

After most of the family left we played volley ball in the front yard, which was tons of fun. 

The rest of May is a bit of a whirlwind.  The week after graduation Rachel, Rachelle, and Kathy came up to visit.  We had a dance party Friday night, and then went to Health days with Mark, Daniel and Caleb on Saturday.

 Gotta love awkward dancing pictures

 Mark super excited to jump on the trampoline thing

 Snowies! Mark's is as big as his head

 After FHE we were bored and decided to chalk Mark's apartment - Here's Unis the Unicorn :)

 We went and saw Pirates in 3D - Oh and I chopped 6 inches off my hair

 Mckenna's lovely birthday cake. Happy 20th birthday Kenna!

 At Jordan's farewell we the four girls all together in the first time in forever! Pictures ensued.

 Happy 19th birthday Jordan! He got his 'cool' cake the day after his birthday. Love the misc candles.

 Saturday the 29th I spent about 4 hours shopping with Mark for things for Europe.  We also ate lunch at the Crepery with Andrew, Daniel, and Caleb. We then decided to buy kites from the dollar store.  Needless to say, 50 cent kites don't fly to well .. . .

Sunday night Steph and I went over to Mark's to say goodbye.  We talked, watched him pack, and played Mucks and Hand and Food.  It was tons of fun.  I'm checking a suitcase for Mark when we go back east, so he was taking it down to my car and accidentally locked himself out.  This was quite bad, because it was after midnight and he was supposed to be leaving for Europe at 4:30 am.  Luckily Daniel was there and he climbed up the building and was able to card into the balcony door.

Mark leaving was the beginning of everyone leaving me this week. He left Monday morning, Jordan left Wednesday, and Steph left Thursday.  Mark and I did tons of things together in May.  We saw Thor and Pirates, we went to lunch, discovered the Crepery, played Poole, lots of Poole, watched some movies and my house, and played Racquette ball.  He's one of my best friends, and I miss him tons and he's only been gone a week :(

 Bella modeling our 3D glasses

(Cody's the second drummer in the front on the left)

 Tuesday Cody played at Sky View's graduation.  This makes 5 years in a row I've gone to graduation, and we'll be there next year for Cody.

Wednesday we had the opportunity to take Jordan to the MTC.  We at lunch at Sizzler before with my Uncle Matt, Aunt Abbie, and their four kids, along with my grandma Nelson.  We were then able to meet my Dad's sister Nettie at the Temple just before we drove Jordan in.  It was good, and I didn't cry as much as I thought I would. I guess we all got our crying out the night before when he was Set Apart.  The Stake President set him apart at our house, and it was a really neat experience.

Jordan will be at the MTC for approximately 3 weeks, and then he flies out to West Virginia.  It'll be tough, and we miss him tons, but he'll be such a good Missionary, and it will be so good for him.  I love you Jordan!!!

After we dropped Jordan off at the MTC we dropped Steph off at Mckenna's Grandparent's house so Mckenna could take her to the airport the next morning.  Needless to say I've been super bored!  I had a dance party by myself while I cleaned the bathroom, that's how bored I've been.  Other than that, I've just been working, which isn't too bad.  Anyway, it's late, so I'll have to write out Mine and Heidi's Saturday adventure in my next post, which will hopefully be tomorrow.

--Michelle--