Smothicate!

I figured it was probably time to post about Diana and Casey's trip out to Fort Collins and Denver and the subsequent adventures.

Diana and Casey flew in on Tuesday night and Jacob and I drove to the airport to pick them up. I took the toll road for the first time and found it to be a much more efficient route, even with the slight, accidental detour... And it was a good time chatting it up with Jacob on the way down. Then it was a bit of an adventure actually finding Diana and Casey...and perhaps even more tricky relocating Jacob. But we all made it safely back to Fort Collins and even learned some new vocabulary. "Smothicate" is the word of the day and should be used as an expletive. Really comes in handy!



The next day was the day of the concert. Diana and Casey brought lunch to me and we enjoyed a Big City burrito. Well, some of us enjoyed a Big City burrito, others may have suffered through it. And I was lucky enough to have my two afternoon appointments cancel so I was able to do a little shopping in Old Towne with D and Casey and then we enjoyed some Walrus Ice Cream before heading to Denver for the concert. The concert was fantastic! And it got me thinking about all the concerts I've been to. So I'm going to take a little detour from this narrative and list all the bands I've seen live...at least all the ones I can remember!



Counting Crows (4 times now)
Sugar Ray
Wallflowers
Matchbox 20
Harry Connick Jr (3 times)
Maroon 5 (3 times)
Indigo Girls (2 times)
John Mayer
Beach Boys
Dave Matthews Band
Kenny Loggins
Augustana
Sawyer Brown
Nickel Creek (2 times)
Toby Keith
Simon and Garfunkel (2 times)
Martina McBride
Petula Clark
Mandy Moore
Tori Amos
Lonestar
Good Charlotte
Sum 41
Xavier Rudd
Alison Krauss (thanks for reminding me D, and I'm choosing not to include Fru Fru.)

Thanks for indulging me in that. I'm pretty sure I have forgotten a few but that's the best I can do for now. If any of you have been to concerts with me and can remember more, feel free to add to my list!


So the concert was good and the venue was nice. Diana had the unfortunate experience of sitting directly behind a giant but she was good about it. Augustana were really good and come highly recommended by me. Maroon 5 put on a fun show and were a good time to sing along with. I think my favorite part of their set was when they started singing Chris Isaac's "Wicked Games" as an intro to my new favorite song of theirs "I Won't Go Home Without You." I'm pretty sure many of the teeny boppers that were there didn't know what song that was and were probably wondering where that was on the Maroon 5 album. Counting Crows were decent. I'm pretty sure I've seen them enough times to say that they can either be really good or really not great. I've had two experiences of goodness (the best ever being the Big Freebie!) and two experiences of not greatness. This was a good one! I was pleased. I appreciate when musicians aren't so stoned you can't even recognize their music any more. All in all a good show and a very entertaining evening. Oh yeah! I was also pleased to see the same great beer salesman from the Rockies game I went to awhile back. He was less fun because he couldn't be yelling over the music. Too bad!




The next day we went to Denver again to visit the candy factory and down town. I had a good experience at Hammond's where I got 4 candy canes for the price of 2 because I kept breaking mine. Not to mention knocking over the baskets...it was a difficult moment for me. Good thing I can laugh at myself.


I am glad I don't have to drive to Denver again soon. Three days in a row was about all I can take! But I'm glad I got to spend time with these fun gals. Thanks for the visit Casey and D!

Rumors Revisited

Okay, first of all, judging by the comments many of you made about the rumors flying around my ward, the point of the post was clearly missed. So to clarify one more time...the reason the house buying rumor was so funny is because there truly is NOTHING gossip-worthy about Jacob and I.

And, turns out my trail of tar was totally off. I now have no idea where the rumors started. This makes me a little nervous. It was all fun and games but now I'm not so sure...

Copy Cat

My Day Book

Trine always has good ideas so I'm copying her post as I am killing time before picking Diana and her friend up from the airport.

I am wearing gray stretchy pants and a black shirt. I'm basically good looking when I get home from work and put on the lounge-around-the-house clothes. Seriously attractive!

I am reading not a whole lot actually. I just finished A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and I'm trying to decide what to pick up next. But I do read a lot of blogs.

I am hearing a movie in the background, cars driving outside my window, and the dryer.

Learning all the time about myself through the work I do, my friends, my family, and this new relationship business.

I am thankful for the fall, sweaters, jackets, my job, and the amazing people in my life.

I am hoping that I will be able to finish all I need to before Monday and spend some time with my sister while she is out here.

From the kitchen cream of vegetable soup. I made a big old pot of it on Saturday and I will be eating it for the rest of my life! Good thing I love it...yum!

Bringing beauty to my home by trying to keep it clean. It's an uphill battle with me. I'm pretty good about most areas but my bedroom is usually pretty disastrous.

Around the house probably a lot of cat hair. Also way too much candy. It's the beginning of the holiday season with Halloween approaching and that means trouble for me...lots and lots of trouble.

Outside my window is crisp Autumn air. And pretty much NOTHING is better than that. Have I mentioned how much I love the fall?

I am thinking about way too much work stuff and that is not great. I can't wait for this week to end! And maybe next. I should be less busy by then and that will mean way less stress. All very good things!

One of my favorite things is enjoying the sunset, shopping, hanging with friend, watching TV or movies, so many favorite things. (Who wants to start singing..."raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens...")

A few plans for the rest of the week...hmmm...COUNTING CROWS concert tomorrow, work, work, work, work, work...and maybe very little play.

Rumors

Have you ever seen the Mormon ad that depicts gossip as tar? I heard a rumor about myself this evening and followed that tar trail back to it's origins, and had a few laughs along the way. So, because I have such a good sense of humor about it all, here is the juice...


I went to Family Home Evening tonight and found out that I was buying a house with Jacob. That's right folks...I am officially ward gossip. Jacob and are are actually NOT buying a house together, but it's nice to know we are being discussed...maybe.

One of our friends in the ward (we'll call him S) mentioned he heard we were house shopping together (which, by the way, is not untrue but a little misleading as Jacob is looking to buy a house and I just happened to be with him one day) and then S told Jacob all about hearing the rumor. S said he didn't believe the gossip, but I think he's probably spreading it just the same. It turns out he probably heard this little rumor from another friend, we'll call her K. K heard this juicy morsel from ANOTHER friend we'll call L. L was well intentioned in her discussion with K but things do tend to become misconstrued.

So to squelch any further rumors...
1. Jacob and I are not buying a house together
2. We are not engaged
3. We are not getting married in October, or before the end of the year for that matter

The moral of this tale: don't believe everything you hear.

The Sting

So...it has been a little while since my last post and I was getting a little grief about it, primarily from Shannon, so this one is for her. And the rest of you who choose to sit through this read can blame her.

I have had a bit of a frustrating week at work. One of my main responsibilities is to evaluate and assess each client entering the program to determine treatment recommendations. The past two weeks have been so slow I have even been willing to file to keep busy. So you can imagine that I was sort of looking forward to this week because I had 8 new clients that all needed evaluations. They were all scheduled and my week was booked pretty solid. I was talking with a coworker about how busy I was going to be and that he probably wouldn't be seeing much of me this week as I was going to be cooped up in my office evaluating away. Turns out, instead of super busy, I sort of became the joke at the front desk. That's right, of all 8 appointments scheduled this week, 4 showed up. Sweet... This is especially interesting because a few weeks prior to this my supervisor was marveling at my amazing percentage of kept appointments. She was chalking it up to my mad skills of engaging clients very quickly in the short time I initially meet with them to set the eval appointments. Apparently I have lost my touch... And worst of all, this means next week probably will be crazy busy just as Diana comes for her short visit. Hope I can still swing some time off for hanging with her. Here's hoping!

On the plus side, my group went amazingly well this week with one fellow coming to the profound realization that he only stopped using substances because the system made him. You might think I am being sarcastic when I say that, but in actuality that is the most insight this guy has EVER achieved. And it is treatment gold. Game on. I do like my job!

And in other news, I got stung by a wasp or something tonight. I never actually saw the critter that got me but I sure felt it. Weird. I'm just glad it wasn't a spider. Because, Diana, "what would you do if I died?"

One of the best things about the fall...

I love the fall for oh so many reasons and one of those are all the new tv shows. I usually get really excited about the premieres and have my schedule all printed out. I am usually very up to date on all the spoilers and have thoroughly researched critics opinions and all. I am typically very prepared.

This year I haven't done any of these things. It's weird really. I only know the premier date of The Office. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I'm not sure if this means I am growing as a person or if I am just too busy to care about things I used to. I'm pretty sure it's a little bit of growth or at least a change in priorities. It also might have a little something to do with the fact that I don't have cable at my new apartment. And it doesn't look like we are going to get it any time soon.

I have kind of enjoyed the freedom of not having television. I still watch many things, but they are more thought out and less mindless surfing. I have netflix and I watch some shows online. But both of those things take some effort and require forethought. I find that I only make time to watch those things I truly care about.

I'm not sure that I have become more productive or anything with my increased free time. I think I just found other ways of wasting time. Perhaps to experience true character growth I should substitute more productive uses of my time for the television viewing. Hmmm...something to think about.

What new or returning shows are you excited about?

Rocky Mountain High

So...I might be a mountain snob. I took a little trip up to Rocky Mountain National Park with Lori, Heather and Jacob and really enjoyed my day. But I found myself constantly comparing the Colorado Rockies with my good old Provo Canyon Utah goodness. I'm pretty sure there were a couple of moments when Lori was going to pull over and kick me out of the car because I couldn't be "in the moment." I was too busy missing Utah.

Don't get me wrong...the mountains are lovely. And I was able to enjoy the scenery and had a great time with great people.

I think the only thing missing from the day was a little John Denver.

Sunset approaching

Me, Lori and Heather...directionally challenged...

Heather is pensive

I was freezing...so cold up near the top of the Rockies!

Lori...strike a pose, vogue

Heather, me and Lori

Heather smelling for vanilla in the pine tree...silly Heather!

My boyfriend (is that official enough Mare) Jacob and I- he had just made a terrible joke about Brittney Spears and I am laughing. Not the most attractive picture, maybe, but what can ya do?

Heather, Lori and I

They really are such beautiful, enormous mountains. It's hard to capture in a picture just how big they are.

Heather and I