I Love to Camp!

Friday night I got to go camping for the first time in a long time!! I had such a good time. I went with our friends Mike and Lisa and my brother Jason. The one thing that would have made it even more perfect is if Eric would have been there.

Mike and Lisa went up on Friday afternoon to scout out a spot for us. They went up the Alpine loop near Sundance to find a spot. Turns out there was a wedding going on up there that week-end so a lot of the spots were taken. They ended up finding a space further up, but it didn't have a bathroom! Good thing it was only for one night. Jason and I joined them up there after I got off of work. Lisa made delicious tin foil dinners that we ate right after setting up our tent. Eric and I got our tent for Christmas 2 years ago and have never used it. It was fun to set it up. It's a good one!

After hanging out for awhile we decided to bust out our dough boy sticks. For those of you who don't know what dough boys are, they are a camping dessert that people from home do. Pretty much it is a little personal pie made out of a biscuit. They are DELICIOUS!! We sat around the fire eating them and just chatting. After awhile we heard some noises in the bushes. There was a deer walking around right by our camp. It even came out of the bushes and was hanging out not far from where our fire was. It was cool. I'm just glad it wasn't a bear! We stayed up late into the night chatting, but we sure weren't the only ones. There were some loud people there.

We woke up early the next morning because Carter, Mike and Lisa's son, is an early riser. It was fine though. It was nice to relax before the sun came up and made it hot! After we ate breakfast, we took down our camp, and headed out to Cascade Springs. I had been there before but never walked around the whole thing. It was not as cool as I thought it would be. It was still pretty though. After that we all headed home. We were all a little tired from staying up late and waking up early. Plus, Jason had to work at 11, so he needed a nap.

Overall, it was a GREAT camping experience. It was nice to get away for a night and just relax outdoors. Plus, I love to see all of the stars. I definitely need to go camping more often. Eric and I have never gone together. That is going to have to change pretty soon here...

Here are some pictures:

Mike and Lisa:


Jason by the camp fire:


Me and my buddy Lisa:


Making the dough boys:


The most awesome picture of Jason. Check out his face:


Cute Carter eating his breakfast:


Our lovely tent:


Walking around Cascade Springs:


The End!

New Hair

On Saturday I went in to get a hair cut from my friend Rachel(who gives great hair cuts BTW.) I was thinking I wanted to do something a little different this time, and what I had in mind wasn't really that different, just a little shorter than normal. Well, this is what the end result was:


I guess I was feeling a little daring that day. It is definitely different, but I like it. I'm still having to do double takes when I look in the mirror because I don't really recognize myself. It's fun though. Here's another picture:


Let me know what you think. Are you digging the bangs??

I DID IT!!!

I finished my first sprint triathlon on Saturday! It was a lot of fun. I am so glad that I was able to do it with my good friend Lisa. It was nice to have someone with me so I didn't have to feel so dumb that I didn't really know what was going on. I finished in 1:45:03 or something close to that. For experienced triathletes that is probably a time to be laughed at, but for my first one, I was quite proud of myself. My real goal was to finish and to do it in under 2 hours. So I did it. I have definitely caught the bug and will be doing more in the future. I'll work on getting faster times for those ones.

Lisa and I had a lot of support which was AWESOME!! Mike(her husband), Eric, my parents, and my brother and sister were there. It was fun to see them at the beginning and at the first transition, but it was even better when they were there screaming for me at the finish line. They were the loudest fans there!

I'm going to go into more detail below so that I can remember everything. So if you don't want to keep reading, I won't be offended. Just know that I had fun and would do another one next week if I could. I am now a triathlete! Here are some pictures to prove it:

Lisa and I in our wetsuits ready to go:

In the cold water ready to swim:

Right after I got out of the water:

Heading out on my bike after the 1st transition:

Our fan club walking over to the finish line:

Rounding the bend to the finish line:

Almost there!!:

Lisa and I in front of the finish line. We were so happy to be done!:


Now for the detailed overview:

Night before: Lisa and I went and picked up our wetsuits at BYU. They were only $10 to rent which was much cheaper than other places. They weren't the best wetsuits but they worked. Then we had to go pick up our race packets in Lehi. We got a little bag of goodies and a nice shirt. We also had to get marked. Pretty much they write your race number on both arms, and then your age and distance on the back of your legs in permanent marker. You could have had this done the morning of, but I didn't want to get there any earlier than I had to. Well, turns out it might have been a good idea because it faded a lot and my sheets now have black marks all over them :)

Morning of: We got there at about 8am. You were supposed to park in town and bike to the reservoir, but people were parking all down the streets so we did too. It made the bike ride in much shorter. We got to the transition area and felt kinda dumb because we didn't really know what to do. We figured it out though and got spots right by each other. At 8:45 we all had to be out of the transition area because they were making the timers live. It was nice because we got to hang out with Mike and Eric for awhile, and then got to say hi to my family when they get there just in time for me to start.

Swim (1/2 mile/750 m): Our wave started at 9:30. I was really nervous. The water was really cold, so I was glad that I had the wetsuit. When I heard start I just went dove in and started swimming. It was a little crazy because there were a lot of women swimming in one little area. It was hard to see in the water too. After a little while I kinda got used to the craziness and kept going. There was driftwood all over that I would run into. We had to follow these big buoys in the water, but they were hard to see until you were closer to them so I just followed where everyone else was going. It was so much different than swimming in a pool. I knew it was going to be but that still didn't prepare me for what was to come. Eventually I made it to the end and boy was I glad.

Transition 1: This was a rough transition. I actually felt dizzy and weak after getting out of the water. After I got a little water and sat down, I started to feel better. I just wanted to get on the bike and relax a little. It didn't take as long as I thought it would to get into my bike stuff and then off we went.

Bike(about 14 miles): I felt pretty confident about the bike ride going into it. Lisa and I had gone up to scout out the trail a month or so ago. Boy was I glad that we did. It was nice to know exactly where I was and what was to come. Even though I knew the route a little bit, I did get confused at one point. There was a hairpin turn that just the sprint distance had to take. Well, along the main road there were quite a few of these turns that it could have been. I didn't think we had made it to the turn yet, but then all of these people started turning around saying that we had missed it. I got a little confused and stopped to wait for Lisa. Turns out I was right, so I kept going. That did waste a little time, but it wasn't a big deal. After that I just kept going and felt good. The only problem was that the speedometer on my bike wasn't working so I didn't have a clue as to how fast I was going. I wish I would have known. Looking back now I think I could have pushed myself a little bit more. I was just concerned that I was going to use too much of my energy. Good thing we had these Power Bar gel things to eat. They really helped me to sustain some energy. Overall I felt good about the bike ride.

Transition 2: I rode into the transition and then right away started to change my shoes and get ready to run. Lisa pulled in just a little behind me, so we got to start the run together. This transition was an easy one. I could definitely go a lot faster in the future on this one, but fast transitions were not my focus.

Run(5k/3.1 miles): The run started out rough. My calves were SO tight, but as I kept running they loosened up a little bit. Most of the run was uphill. The first part was a gradual uphill which led to a bigger uphill, then to a downhill, then an uphill, then another uphill, and then it was flat. It was a pretty hard run for just a 5k. I'm not a fast 5k runner in the first place, but I definitely was going slower than normal. I was fine with that though because I had just swam and biked. We had to pass over this bridge close to the end, and as I got over it I saw Eric and everyone else. That motivated me to keep going and I knew the end was in sight! As I got closer I could hear them cheering for me and it was awesome. I was so happy when I passed over that finish line!

Post-race: After I crossed the finish line I went and got some water and some snacks and then went over to see everyone. Right after that Lisa was racing by so I got to cheer her on. After she got her snacks we walked over to stand in line for a massage. Well after about 20 minutes and the line moving very slowly, we decided to get our backs adjusted instead. That was quite the experience. I had never been to a chiropractor before and had no idea my back and neck could crack like that. After that we walked back to get our bikes, rode them up the road to meet up with Mike and Eric, and then met my family at Granny's Ice-cream shop in Heber. I wasn't quite in the mood for ice-cream but it was fun nonetheless.

Well there you go. That's my triathlon in detail. I'm excited for my next one, whenever that may be. This one was such a good learning experience. I now know what to expect and can work to get a faster time next time. Now I just need to save a lot of money to buy some new equipment:)

Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave a message even if I don't know you read. I like to see who reads this!

Catching Fire

Soon after reading The Hunger Games, my friend brought me the second book of the series, Catching Fire. I told myself I was going to get some other things done before I started it. That lasted about 3 hours. I started the book on my lunch break and read all week-end long. Every spare minute I had, my nose was in this book. How could it not be? This book was just as good as the first one!! I loved it. The story was developed even more. The love triangle got even more interesting, and now I'm even more confused as to which boy she should end up with. Oh, and the ending!! Leave you hanging much? I think so. Good thing the 3rd book comes out in 2 months or else I would be even crazier than I am now. I just want to know how it all ends!!

Like I said before, if you haven't read these books, you must! They are so good. Oh, and my co-worker and friend Emily made a good point. These books are categorized as young-adult science fiction. Let me tell you, me and science fiction do not mix. Therefore, I think this is a terrible categorization.

You all need to read these books. End of Story.

The Hunger Games

I have a new obsession. It's this book. I had heard about it from numerous people and for my birthday back in Septemeber my brother and sister-in-law bought it for me. I have been refusing to read any books lately because I am taking an Independent Study class that I need to finish. Well, over the Memorial Day week-end I decided to take this book with me for enjoyment on the plane ride. Little did I know the affect it would have on me. It had my attention from the beginning. I didn't want to put it down. I read during my entire flight to Long Beach. While visiting Eric I didn't really read much because I wanted to spend time with him. Well, on the plane ride home I got even more into it. This nice girl next to me was really chatty. Usually I am ok with that on plane rides, but this time I was not. I wanted to read, and read I did. I probably would have stayed up all night that night to finish it, but I had to go to work. I think I stayed up too late for the next few nights just to finish it, and it was so worth it. I loved the book. It was suspenseful and thought provoking, at least for me. I loved the characters and just the whole story. My friend is bringing me the second book for me to read. I can't wait. I hope the second one is as good as the first. This same friend told me that they are making it into a movie. AWESOME! I am definitely going to see it. I feel like a nerd writing about how much I love this book. If you haven't read it, get up from your chair RIGHT NOW, go to the nearest library or bookstore and get this book. You will thank me. I promise. Anyone else out there love this book as much as I do?

So Excited!!!

Tomorrow night I get to see this handsome man:


I sure have missed him! We are going to hang out in LA tomorrow night and then spend the rest of the long Memorial Day week-end down in San Diego at his grandparents. It's going to be a grand ol' time. I just can't wait!!

He Graduated!

On April 22 and 23, Eric graduated from BYU!!! I am so very happy for him and so very excited to move on from the BYU student life. We just have to get through this summer and then hopefully Eric will get a great job, and THEN we can move on. Back to the graduation... Eric's parents, Carly and Zeugschmidt grandparents came out the day before commencement, and so did my parents, Heather, and my DeLange grandparents. Jason lives here so here was around too. We all went to Commencement on Thursday and enjoyed hearing from Elder Christensen. After that we went up to Sandy and ate at Pei We(yum!) The next day, Friday, was Convocation, which just so happened to be a 8am. Seriously, who does that? I had to wake up at 5:30 to get ready because there were 5 adults getting ready in our 1 bathroom. Yeah, that was crazy!! I had to have Eric on campus by 7:15 and then go in and help save seats. It was a good little ceremony. I loved seeing Eric walk across the stage. I was so proud of him!! After the ceremony we went in the lobby area and took some pictures. It was really crowded inside because it was raining outside. Utah would... Anyways, it was great to have family here to celebrate with. We really enjoyed our time with them. It was fun to have both of our family's here. I'm glad that they can get along. I have a great family!! I got really lucky. Well, here are some pictures:

Eric with the grandmas:



Us:


Eric with some of his professors:






I have a whole lot more pictures but they aren't all that exciting, so I will end by saying that I'm so proud of Eric. He's going to do great things!

Two Years!!

Today is our second anniversary!! I can't believe that it has already been two years. They have definitely been the best two years of my life. I am so grateful that I met Eric and that I was able to marry him in the temple for eternity. I couldn't imagine life without him. He means the world to me. We have already experienced a lot in our short two years and I really look forward to the many years that we have ahead of us. I'm really excited to see where we are going to end up in the next few months. This is sure an exciting time for us. Anyways, I don't want to make this too mushy, but I just wanted to let Eric know how much I love him and how grateful I am for him. He's the best husband a girl could ask for!! Here are some pictures of the past year together. Oh but first I must show you two things. 1. The awesome purse and wallet Eric got me for our anniversary. I love them:


2. The beautiful flowers that my in-laws sent to me today. It was very thoughtful of them to send them on our anniversary. THANK YOU!!


Ok, now for a couple of pictures:












I love you Eric. I wish we could be together today, but we will just have to celebrate when we go to Hawaii (hopefully)!!

Fondant!!

On Wednesday nights in April I did a fondant and gum paste cake class with my friends Lisa and Becca. My friend Kirsten was going to do it too, but ended up not being able to. I did the class at the same place where I took my first class in January. Look in my previous posts if you don't know what I'm talking about. I was really excited to do this class because I really like how fondant looks. I was actually kinda nervous because I knew NOTHING about fondant. The teacher was great though and gave us a lot of tips about fondant and how to cover our cakes. She also gave us a recipe for marshmallow fondant which I think tastes a lot better than a lot of other fondants that I have tried. It's really not that bad to make either. I was quite proud of the first cake that I covered in fondant. It was nowhere near perfect, but for my first attempt I was pretty proud of myself. The first class we just learned a whole bunch of different decorating techniques. I just covered my cake in things that we learned to do in class that night. Therefore, my cake looks really random and a little weird. I took it to work the next day and everyone liked it, so I guess it wasn't that weird. Here it is:

And another one:

The third week of class we didn't have to make a cake because we were just learning how to make some flowers out of gum paste. I ended up making a pretty good carnation and some daisies. I didn't take any pictures of them so you all will just have to believe me. For the fourth and final class we had to bring another cake covered in fondant. This one didn't turn out as good as the first one. I think it's because I was in a hurry when I did it and probably a little stressed out too. It turned out fine though. For this class we learned some border techniques and how to do some cute cut-outs. Here's my final cake. I think it turned out pretty cute:


Another view:

I really had a lot of fun in this class and I'm so glad I took it. I feel like I learned a lot about fondant and can now make some fun cakes. Of course I'm going to have to practice a lot before I make amazing cakes, but I have plenty of future birthday's to practice on. The classes were a little expensive because of all of the supplies you had to get, but I think it was worth it. Like I told Eric, "It's an investment in our children's future birthdays!!"

I'm a Terrible Blogger..

I can't believe that it's been almost 2 months since I last blogged. Time has gone by so fast. Both Eric and I have been pretty busy. Eric more than me I would say. He is currently a full-time student with a job and an internship. He's a busy guy. I work 8-5 like I usually do, but I am also taking a class right now that I am trying to get done before long. It's been fun. Well, I feel like we've done a lot in the last 2 months, but I don't have many pictures to prove it(I've been bad about that too.) So here's just a few to review the last 2 months.

For my brother's birthday back in February, we took him to the Jazz/Nuggets game. We decided to go last minute and therefore had seats at the very top. By very top I mean the VERY LAST ROW! It was still fun even though we were so far away:

Eric and I:

Jason and his date:

For Jason's birthday he wanted to go to Texas Road House so a whole bunch of people met up there. This is the birthday boy riding a bull:

Since Valentine's Day was on a Sunday, I decided to make Eric a fine meal. I made crab legs and hush puppies. I would say that is one of his favorite meals. I had never made hush puppies before, but I got a recipe from my friend, and they turned out delicious. It was a great meal and a great Valentine's Day. You can tell from the picture that we really dressed up for the occasion:

We went to dinner with our friends Mike and Lisa, and Dan and Katie. Mike and Lisa's little boy Carter is so cute. Here's the proof:

Eric's sister Carly came out to visit us for her Spring Break. We had a good time hanging out. Too bad we weren't on Spring Break too. The Saturday when she was here we ran a 5k. Here we are pre-race:

Me post-race:

Carly finishing the race (she's in a grey shirt, black pants and has a yellow head band):


In other news without pictures:

1. My dad got a job in Denver!! My parents will be moving out there sometime soon. Not sure of all the details yet, but that is great news for my family.

2. Eric is officially graduating in April. We thought it might be August, but everything worked out for April. Some of his family and some of mine will be coming out to celebrate. I'm very excited!!

3. Although Eric will be done with school, he took a second internship for the summer. He doesn't have to be a student to do this one. His internship is with Edelman PR at their office in LA from May until August. Edelman is the #1 Independent PR firm. This is a great opportunity for him. Hopefully it will help him get a job. The only hard thing about it is that I won't be going with him. I know you must think we're crazy, but we've thought a lot about it, and it makes the most sense for us. Here's their website for those who are interested: Edelman PR

4. My friend Lisa and I have decided to do a Sprint Triathlon on June 26th. For those of you who don't know what a sprint triathlon is, it's a 1/2 mile swim, 20k bike ride, and 5k run, back-to-back. It's going to be fun. I just need to train a lot. It's at the Jordanelle Reservoir here in Utah. Here's the website for those who are interested: Rock Cliff Triathlon

That's all! Thanks for reading.