So Amusing

Capitalizing on the long weekend, Lori, Heather, Nathan, Jacob and I took the opportunity to go to Elitch Gardens (an amusement park in Denver) yesterday. Spending the day at the amusement park reminded me of several things:

1) I love a good roller coaster!
2) I hate waiting in lines.
and
3) I am getting old.

We arrived at the park at about 10:30 and anticipated spending the whole day making ourselves dizzy on all the rides. We were pretty lucky to have really good weather and pretty short lines for most of the day. The lines started to lengthen at about the same time I came to become more aware of my age. At about 4:30 I realized I was tired, really tired. I remember spending all day at Lagoon as a kid and never wanting to leave. We would ride until it was dark. I'm pretty sure those days are behind me. My feet started to ache, my body started to rebel at the thought of one more ride, and my patience wore thin. We lasted until about 6:30 or 7:00 and I feel pretty good about that!

I continued to abuse my body as we stopped for dinner at Cinnzetti's on the way home. This is an all you can eat Italian buffet...and I tested the capacity of my stomach. Turns out I can eat a lot. I ate way more than I should have and payed the price the whole way home as I was groaning with pain...so much food...so much goodness!

I did enjoy the day immensely and I'm so glad Lori had the idea. I'm also glad that Nathan had coupons so we only had to pay $20 for the day. And...I am glad everyone had a good time, even those who may not have loved the rides.

Here are a few pictures from the day.

A view of the park...I clearly didn't take this one. There are some pretty good rides!


Heather, Lori and Nathan on the Carousel

Jacob and I on the Carousel

Heather, Lori and Nathan on the Ferris Wheel

Jacob and I on the Farris Wheel

Nathan and I

Jacob and Nathan after the water rides

Nathan and Heather sharing Gelato-Ah...so precious!

Happiness is...

Here are a few pictures of things that are providing some measure of happiness in my life at the moment, in no particular order:

1. German Chocolate Cake Ice Cream


2. Fall colors (there is one tree I pass regularly that is almost fully changed...just one tree)



3. Pay day AND a 3 day weekend!


4. Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband's most recent album (plus I discovered they are coming to Denver on October 10th. Anyone in?)


5. Jacob

The Olympic Spirit

Jacob and I went to a Rockies game tonight and I'm pretty sure one of the most enjoyable parts, aside from the Teddy Grahams, was the people watching.

I love hearing what people are talking about and it seems that all the people around us were discussing the Olympics. I think the best were the two grown men in front of us discussing the Chinese women (or girl) gymnasts. There was much debate, heated at times, amongst these men about if the little girls should be allowed to have their medals or if they should be taken away as a result of the "under 16 years of age" scandal. It was great. And apparently the folks that were behind Jake and I think Michael Phelps should really skip this next year of school as he is more likely to make a lot of money in promotions and such than any other year. They also maintain that he should be the next spokesman for IPod since it was such a big part of his pre-race routine.

And don't even get me started on all the craziness that ensues when sports fans become intoxicated. There were a group of dudes, yes they were dudes, near us who were heckling one of the other team members. The next time this specific player was at bat he hit a home run. A different drunk guy turned around and in a very serious manner yelled "Now look what you've done" to the other drunk group of dudes. Good, good times. Also...the man selling the beer. WOW...words cannot describe the level of weirdness there.

But my favorite part of the whole game experience were the peanuts, Cracker Jacks, and yes...the Teddy Grahams.

Timing

As I woke up this morning I found myself reflecting on a few things that happened last night. This may turn out to be really disjointed but in my mind all these things make sense.

I was thinking of the significance of timing. Partly because of the AMAZING 100 M butterfly race swam by Michael Phelps, winning by .01 second; partly because of a discussion in institute; and partly because of a discussion with Jacob.

In institute we were discussing the Pearl of Great Price and this quote by Neal A. Maxwell really stood out to me.

“God does not live in the
dimension of time as do we. We are not only hampered
by our finiteness (experiential and intellectual), but also
by being in the dimension of time. Moreover, God, since
‘all things are present’ with him, is not simply predicting
based solely on the past. In ways that are not clear to us,
he sees rather than foresees the future, because all things
are at once present before him” (Things As They Really Are
[1978], 29; see also Alma 40:8; D&C 130:4–7).

I wonder how much I limit myself and limit my faith in what the Lord can accomplish through and in me based on my finiteness, especially experientially. God doesn't make predictions based solely on the past, yet I so often do. I reason things in my life won't happen or can't happen because I have a terrible track record or significant lack of history. How silly of me! How faithless really.

And I am grateful for experiences I have that prove me wrong. Experiences that prove the Lord does know me better than I know myself and that His timing is the best timing. I need to trust when He promises something that it will happen because He can see it when I can't.

And the Winner Is....

So...the winner of the big haircut contest was officially number 2! Thanks to all who voted. BUT...I decided not to cut it like that.

I was looking through pictures of me with really short hair and I decided that I didn't want to go that short again. So I went to get it cut today and well...I ended up with short hair...and not like any of the pictures. I don't have a great picture of the cut and quite frankly I'm pretty sure I don't love it. But, it's just hair and it will grow back. Probably more quickly than I would like. So for now I will deal with the less than satisfactory cut. Here is a picture...please be kind in your comments because I'm pretty sure I already don't love it as it is and I probably have worse self-esteem than I let on...

Dreaming of Gold

I don't know what it is about the Olympics but I love 'em. I can't get enough of watching athletes compete for the gold. I'm not usually one to sit down and watch sports on TV, but when the Olympics roll around it's a totally different story.

I have really fond memories of watching the Olympics with my family as a kid. I remember watching with my family many of those famous Olympic moments, you know, the ones everyone talks about to this day. Kerrie Strug vaulting to win gold on the hurt ankle, Greg Louganis hitting his head while diving, Flo Jo and Jackie Joyner-Kersee competing in track, and don't even get me started on the Winter Olympics.

And, even though I'm not watching the games with my family this year, I am enjoying the Beijing competition just as much with my friends (especially on the big projector screen...amazing). I am particularly LOVING Micheal Phelps and his run for 8 medals. I want him to with those 8 golds so badly! If you missed the exciting Mens 4X100 relay you have to watch it! I was seriously yelling at the TV. And I wasn't alone. It was incredible.

And I also love the story of the Chinese women gymnasts who are faking their ages to compete. I wonder what makes winning gold so important for a country that so many people are willing to compromise their integrity? It fascinates me.

Memory Tag

Here are the rules:
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a lot or a little, just any memory you have.
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave memories for you.
If you leave a memory for me I'll assume you are playing and I'll leave a memory for you. If you don't have a blog I will email you.

Too many choices!

I often get mocked about my inability to make a decision without first polling the masses. I argue that it isn't really about not being able to decide because, as it turns out, I usually have my mind somewhat set on what I'm going to do. It is really more about my general curiosity and desire to know other's opinions. And what is wrong with having a little input anyway? Okay, maybe I seek out a lot of input. I probably wasn't too far from the truth when I used "masses" to describe the number of people polled before making a choice.

And in that spirit...I have decided it's time for a hair cut. Any who have seen me lately can vouch for the fact that I've been wearing my hair up for the past several weeks. Those a little closer to me may even be aware that my last hair cut was not that long ago. Those two facts together are a clear indication that I didn't love the hair cut and it's not been working for me like I thought it would. Thus, I must need a little more input. So, please, take some time and consider these options for my new hair and let me know what I should do.

Payment plans and porch swings

For those of you who knew me a couple of years ago you may remember my really winning "payment plan" for weight loss. It really worked well so I am looking to resurrect the idea as I have really let myself go. As you may also remember I'm pretty sure this plan's effectiveness would increase if I could find a financial backer. So for those of you who may not know anything about this plan let me explain. I have outlined specific goals around nutrition and health and pay myself for good behaviors while I lose money for less desirable behaviors. This plan's genius is that it also acts as a budget as I am not allowed to spend money on fun, unnecessary items unless I take it from the money accrued from the "healthy behaviors" pot. Brilliant, I know! However, like I said, this would be so much more effective if I wasn't paying myself...so if anyone is interested in supporting my desire to increase healthy habits, and hopefully slim down a bit, just let me know! I'm pretty sure as the financial backer you would derive satisfaction in knowing you were promoting someone's health and well-being. Think about it...

On a totally different note, I attended a housewarming party last night for my friend Nathan. He recently bought a really incredible home. When I first laid eyes on the place I offered to marry him just so I could live there, it's that nice. And did I mention he bought it fully furnished because it was the model home for the neighborhood. Not really the point, so...as I was hanging out at this party I came to realize something about myself. I am relatively anti-social. Once I have established my good group of friends I don't really see a need to let more in. Nathan, on the other hand, has very different ideas. He had this party and told everyone to invite whomever they wanted. As a result people were showing up that had no connection to Nathan at all. It was so weird! And he loved it. I however, spent the majority of the night on the front porch swing with a few close friends. I can't even tell you the names of any of the random people that came in and out. I could have viewed this as an opportunity to meet new people, expand my horizons and what not. But no...I stayed right in my little comfort zone and felt pretty okay about it. Actually, I had a really good time on the porch swing with a few close friends.

Concert Count-down!

My sister, Diana, called last night with an interesting proposition. One which I was happy to agree to. I haven't been to a concert in a really long time so I am pretty excited to report that I will be going to the Counting Crows/Maroon 5/Augustana concert at Fiddler's Green on September 24th. I have seen the Counting Crows 3 times before and pretty well enjoy them. My only concern for this particular concert is that I don't love the new album. So here's hoping they play some of the older classics! Speaking of the classics, if you notice the side bar you should be able to listen to a few of the reasons I love the counting crows.

Addendum: the music on the side bar has been removed. Sorry D...