The Amazing Race!!!

For those who know me well, know that I LOVE the Amazing Race.  It is one of the few shows that I've seen almost every episode.  I even told my Home Teachers once that they had to go home so I could watch the show.  THAT is how much I love it!  My coworkers know that at least a couple of times a week I find a way to incorporate the Amazing Race into our conversations.  And those who know me REALLY well, know that I applied to be on the race back in 2006.  So in honor of the 22nd season I've posted my sister's and I audition.

Let's be honest, I think there is a reason why they didn't pick us.   I dont think they got past the first 10 seconds.  Stick around till the end because that is the true gem of the video.  Don't judge too harshly. 

A Quick Little Visit to Utah

Sean and I recently went to Utah for a wedding and to visit friends and family.  It was a great trip!  It had been super cold the week leading up to us being there so we were super nervous that it would be ridiculously cold.  But we brought the nice warm southern California weather with us and it was quite pleasant.  It did snow a couple of the days which made Sean's ski trip with his brother excellent.  We went home on a snowy day which was not so nice.  It took us about 2 extra hours. 

We stayed with Sean's grandparents who were gracious hosts.  We went out to dinner to Brick Oven with Sean's brothers, cousins and grandparents.  On our way to the restaurant we drove past the Smith Fieldhouse where I saw Taylor Sanders walking out to his car.  Sanders is on the volleyball team.  That sort of made my day since I LOVE watching BYU Men's volleyball.

We spent some time with my cousin Carey.  We had a very yummy lunch and spent time playing on the wii.  Sean really loved playing Mario Chase with Carey's youngest on the Wii-U.  We busted out the Just Dance and enjoyed acting crazy.  They live really close to the Oquirrh Mountain temple so we stopped by to take some pictures.  We really enjoyed the visit. 

The main reason for our visit was to go to a wedding reception for a very good friend.  Sherstin and I were EFY co-counselors during my first year of EFY and we instantly clicked.  I just LOVED this girl.  I almost felt like she was a long lost sister or something.  She had an AMAZING reception with this old world travel theme.  In fact I loved it so much we came home and bought similar decor for our home.  Since she was an EFY friend I knew I would see other EFY friends.  I was not disappointed.  Afterwards I realized something poignant.  Sometimes when you get together with old friends all you talk about is the past--the things you had in common.  With these EFY friends we actually didn't talk about anything about the past.  It was all right now and the future.  I felt like that was a good sign of our friendships--that we didn't have to rely on the past to keep it going. 

Our next visit was with Sean's family.  We had a great visit with his grandmother.  Daniel, Sean's brother, joined us for the visit which was a nice surprise for their grandmother.  On our way to her house we saw a rather large snowman.  We had to stop for a picture.  Grandma Ann was super sweet with the room set up for a nice visit.  She had water and snacks all out waiting for us.  She had some good stories to tell and we really enjoyed the visit. 

After that we headed over to Sean's Aunt house where we met up with more extended family.  It was a very entertaining night with a scrumptous dinner, games and entertainment by the younger kids.  Sean's cousins are really funny and we had a blast watching them dance to pop songs.

Sean spent the next day snowboarding with Daniel at Sundance.  He went just after the film festival but didn't spy any celebrities.  Oh darn!  I guess its a good thing we live in Los Angeles!

While Sean went snowboarding, I visited with some friends.  First, I spent some time with some Hanfordites, Alicia, Amber and Breanne.  It was so good to catch up.

Afterwards I headed to my BYU, which has changed a lot since I attended there.  It is a bittersweet emotion.  I went to the Wilkinson Center and walked by my old job, the Information Desk.  The people working there now didn't look as cool as I am SURE I looked!  :)  It was a very good job.  I can thank my brother Peyton for getting it for me.  I met up with my old roommate Casey.  We were roommates freshman year and loved each other so much that we roomed together throughout our Junior year.  We missed senior year because I went to live with my sister first semester and Casey left for a study abroad second semester.  We had so much fun together during college!  Seirously she is one of my best friends!  She now has a sweet little boy which she brought.  While we were talking we saw a girl we both knew.  Evie was from Casey's home ward and I knew her when I was living in Boston (seriously, the world is so small when you are a Mormon!).  We had a great time catching up with Evie.

My last visit was with another old roommate, Heidi.  I was thinking about it the other day and I thought how I ended up as Heidi's roommate was interesting.  Heidi lived directly below us freshman year but I never really got to know her.  When I was working at the above mentioned information desk people I sort of knew would stop by to talk.  That is sort of how Heidi and I's relationship bloomed.  She would just stop by to say hi to a girl she sort of knew.  Then one day I told her, we need another roommate, you interested?  And she was!  That is how Heidi came into my life.  And boy did she bring spice in our lives!  Probably one of my best years was when Heidi, Casey and Liesel were my roommates Junior year!  It was the best year!  Heidi also has a sweet little baby.  She was adorable (even though she got a little cranky because it was her bed time).

That was all our visits.  End result = a very good trip.

Disneyland!

Sean and I realized that even though we go a lot we havent paid for Disneyland tickets since college.  The reason for that is the generosity of my brother who works as an Imagineer and as such gets us in for free.  Since this generous perk we've always gone with singles or family.  We've never gone with a family with young kids.  A friend of ours who is a Disney employee invited us and one other family to Disneyland.  We were so excited to experience Disneyland with new friends and especially little friends!  It was a very fun day taking it slow and riding the little kids rides.  Our first ride was Peter Pan soon followed by Dumbo, It's a Small World, Gadet's Go Coaster, Nemo Submarines, and Pirates of the Caribbean.  I was very disappointed to see that my favorite ride (Thunder Mountain) was down for upgrades.

We ate at a fun little outdoor restaurant between Fantasyland and Frontierland.  The comfort food (ribs, chicken, sausage, cornbread, sauerkraut, baked beans) was served family style.  My favorite touch was our beverage glasses were actually mason jars.

We're grateful for our friends for the good time we had. 

Cleopatra and New Years Eve

My new sister-in-law had new nephews she hadn't met so for the Christmas break she flew out to the East Coast to spend time with the new additions.  This left my poor brother to fend for himself during New Years Eve.  Being the ever so nice sister, I invited him to spend New Years Eve and Day with us.  I had heard about the Cleopatra exhibit at the California Science Center and learned it was in its last week at the museum.  I booked my tickets and we all drove down to Exposition Park.  I used to work at the Natural History Museum which is next door to the Science Center.  I hadn't been back in two years and I was amazed with what they've done to the area.  The museum has added on and there is a metro extending out past the museum.  The exhibit was pretty cool.  It focused on some underwater archaeology that has been done in recent years to better understand Cleopatra.  It was a great history lesson.

The evening consisted of games, pizza, crab, watching TV, and toasting with Martinellis. 

 

I've come to the conclusion that New Years Eve really isnt that big of a deal.  Unless I get invited to a party next year (which is unlikely) or I host a party (probably just as unlikely) than I am going to go to bed at my regular hour.