Vegasmorgasboard

It's working out fairly well to meet up with Tony once a month. Sometimes he comes to Arizona. Sometimes I got to Utah. Last month we met up in Oregon. This month we went to Vegas! I found a great deal online for a $99 round trip ticket. I flew US Airways (Sorry Southwest!) and the flight was so short I barely had time to drink my cran-apple juice.

Explored the strip for a bit after getting some dinner at IN N Out. Met up with Emily and her friends at the Bellagio before heading to her place in North Las Vegas around midnight.

Didnt stay up too much later when we got to Emily's because we were headed to the REI members-only sale on Saturday morning! We woke up around 6am and got in line at the store around 7am. They eventually handed out numbers on slips of paper and we were # 33 and #34 in line and at 10am we were let "in" to the roped off area outside. We were able to walk around beforehand to see what kind of things were being sold. This is all stuff that had something wrong with it or was returned because the person didnt like it, etc. While we waited we practiced some knots and watched a movie on my laptop. I forgot my phone at Emily's house so I didnt have it ALL DAY! Stressful....

Finally! At 10 am we were let in and we took off seperate directions to grab stuff because the first 75 people were let in and we had 20 minutes to shop. The time went quick but I felt like together we found some great deals. Even better, when we went in to pay at the register, we found out how good of a deal we got!



My mouth has been watering all year and last year for a sandwich from Big Town Hero. They are just that good. Well, when we tried to go in Portland, they were closed early on Saturday and also because of the holiday on Monday. Darn. So I was excited to see on their website that they had a location in Vegas. So we went to eat there for lunch and walked in (they shared the space with a mexican restaurant) only to find out they had closed for the day and are no longer open on Saturdays or Sundays!! It was only 11am! Oh I was pretty ticked and very very disappointed.



Found a place to park at the MGM and went in to see the Lion exhibit and watched a tv show to rate it and get free food. Well, the tv show was called "The Vineyard" and it was all drama, a tv show like The Hills. We had dials we had to keep turning to show how interested we were in what was going on. Tony & I didnt rate it very high. It took about 45 min to watch and 15 min to fill out the online survey on a screen in front of us. The "free food" was actually buy one-get one. Darn! So we did the pretzel one and were going to do the ice-cream coupon but it was $7 or $8 for most of the stuff! No way! So all in all it was disappointing.



Next we went to the Hawaiian Marketplace...took awhile of walking to get there even though it wasnt super far down the strip but it was very hot! We saw a temperature board and it said it was in the 90's but it felt a lot hotter. We got to the Marketplace for the bird show at 3pm and it never happened! Anotherh disappointment :( They did have some nice cooling fans blowing out air and misting water so we took advantage of those...and kept walking



...to the M&M Factory! It was fun to go in there and see all the neat things they have and this time we watched the 3D M&M movie which neither of us had seen before. It was pretty cool and the room had effects like air blowing and our seats shaking. Kind of reminded me of Disneyland!



The Coke place was right next door. They had a lot of good stuff on sale so I took advantage of that and we got our pix taken with the Coke bear! Upstairs their cafe/diner had opened and for $7 you could try 8? or 16? different drinks from all over the world. So colorful in small cups, but when we saw the faces of people trying the different flavors, we opted for coke floats. I wish we had gotten the floats in different flavors of soda, 8 for $8. Next time!



We walked some more and checked out the Luxor (big pyramid hotel) because Tony had never been in there before. It was cool to see the inside but very dirty in the hallways!



Met up with my friend Emily around 7pm for a mid-singles Luau at a park by the church. It was windy so my rice and pork and chicken got cold fast but the fruit salad was good. It was fun to hang out with Emily and meet some of her friends. The fire dancers were really good too.

Headed to Emily's after a couple hours and I helped Tony fix an LCD monitor (he just brought the chip board and the tools to fix it) and we watched a movie until Emily and her roomie got home. We also laid out our goods from REI:



I got a REI pullover jacket and climbing shoes and gloves. Tony got a tent , backpack, head lamp, knife, camping pot-pan and snow shoes. Everything at face value equaled about $700. The discounts we got put us at $107. Tony had $84 of REI credit and so we paid about $23 for everything. The tent had a broken pole and a life time warranty so he gets a new pole for free. The headlamp was claimed not to turn on but after some inspection it turns out you have to hold the button down a second or two and it works perfect! So hooray for our great deals!



Sunday we went to sacrament mtg in Emily's singles ward. Then Tony & I wanted to go check out the Las Vegas temple so on our way out (after changing clothes) I needed to take a pic with this street sign!!! I wish I could live on cockatiel street! It'd be perfect!









After eating a delicious dinner Emily made in her crockpot of chicken and pineapple , we also had rice and asparagus. YUM

Then we packed up our stuff and got ready to head out but before we left so I could get dropped off at the airport, Emily took us for a drive in her fairly new Toyota Rav 4 and we went exploring and saw the sights of North LV. Went to a cool dinosaur park and took some pics...







It was very pretty with the lake, ducks and turtles. All the kids seemed to be having fun playing in the water and on the playground and digging up dinosaur bones

All in all it was a very fun weekend despite some disappointment (no Big Town Hero or bird show) and it was awesome to see Tony and spend time with him and of course see my friend Emily & hang out with her some on Sunday! Thank you too Emily for letting us stay at your house and eat your food!

Whazzup Homie

Okay so for all of you who are currently not my homie here in the state of Arizona, here's what I have been doing lately...

Hanging out with Brennen a couple Saturdays ago, working on my car ( maintenance to make sure its ready to drive to Sacramento at the end of the month! ) we washed our cars and Brennen's dad let us take his 1924 Dodge for a ride around the neighborhood! Pretty fun car

Free root-beer float night at Sonic a couple weeks ago with friends! In the first pic is my friend Spencer, my roomie Renee in the yellow shirt and Emily is in the blue shirt. She almost moved in with me, but then Ashlie did instead ...we stayed friends though! In the other pic, gray shirt is Krystal who is engaged and getting married in a few months, Brennen was the only guy that came..lol...Emily (pink hair) who Melissa (sitting next to her) they both work at Cold Stone and then my roomie Renee again. It was such a fun night because we enjoyed free dessert and I saw some people from my old family ward there too.

Went to Ocean Blue (fro yo place) and met up with friends there. Spencer came, then Sean, Tim, Emily, me and Melissa! Melissa's friend Emily, (pink hair girl) took this pic

Staying busy working...trying to sell stuff on eBay and Craigslist, hanging out with my cousin & his family in Chandler, going to YSA activities - this last wknd went to a birthday-swim party for a friend, to a dance w/Brennen and to ice-skating for only $2!!

(Steve Cox & I)

Sunday went to 3 different wards for church (combination 5 hours i guess) and then to my friend Randy & Chris' place in Gilbert for dinner & smores!

Road Trip!

I was gone in Portland the previous week. To keep up with my travels and my string of being out of town on the weekend, my friend Brennen and I decided it would be a good weekend to go to San Diego. My first district leader from my very first area on the mission was getting married in Chula Vista and I thought it'd be cool to go to see him since I hadn't seen him since 2004 at least! We started the trip Saturday morning around 7:30am or so. Leaving behind blue and sunny skies

To enter a cloudy and drizzly San Diego about 5 hours later. The buildings were so cool to look at. This is a part of San Diego I haven't spent too much time in.

We went to Seaport Village. Met up with Brennen's sister , Julie. She was really nice. They used to go here all the time as kids.



Got some delish pizza at at one of the shops and there were birds flying through and some came walking right in , asking for handouts! It was sort of funny. And sort of unsanitary.



We went to the water front and saw some cool kites flying and enjoyed the fresh air and smell of the ocean. Walked around more of the little shops and found a cool kite store and also a place that sold all kinds of hammocks!





This was my very favorite place because I found this:



and this fatty phatty chicken purse!



I loved loved loved the purple trees! And this flower type thing (bottom right) looks like it is related to the bottlebrush. I had never seen a purple one before though!

Headed to Blockbuster and I bought "The Italian Job" to watch on the way home. Also got a gift card for Johnny & Juliette. It took awhile to find their reception and we got there almost towards the end but finally we found it and he seemed pretty excited that I made it!



Drove to Vista , about an hour away, after getting some new windshield wipers for Brennen's car at Auto Zone. Stayed with my friend Melinda, we were in the same room at the MTC together (missionary training center in Provo, UT) but she went on her mission to Seattle , WA and I went to Portland Oregon. We have remained friends though and it was so fun to see her husband and her girls were sleeping but they were so generous to let Brennen and I crash at their place.

Early Sunday morning we were up and out and on our way back to Arizona. Got lost for about 20 miles (thanks a lot Lia! ) but eventually found our way and saw lots of pretty green on the way back home.



I took this pic while Brennen was driving. Impressed? I was. It is so centered I could not have done better if the car was stopped!



Back in Arizona I got a bit hungry for this...

Back to sun and fun in Arizona. Hopefully the next trip to San Diego will prove sunnier. And that we have time to go to the beach for reals instead of just looking at it from the sidewalk. It was a very worthwhile trip though and Brennen was a good sport to want to go with me. I already have another trip planned for the end of July. HECK YES!

Last day in the Place I Love the Most

Monday. Sad day. The last day to be in Portland visiting the green-ness and my wonderful mission peeps. But I wanted to make the most of it. So many people I had not seen yet but I was trying to do it all of course! First people we saw that day was my friend Manika and her mom Lynn and sister "Mrytle". We met up at Chili's for lunch where Lynn treated all of us! It was awesome to see Manika again as I hadnt seen her since 2004. I got to meet Lynn for the first time and one of her other daughters, Mrytle who was super cute! We had such a fun time visiting and catching up with each other.

Next we headed to Milwaukie to visit my friend Autumn and her kids Christion and Ari. Chris was there as well. Their garden was sooo cool , I loved the fence, made out of branches. I wish I had taken a picture of it. Autumn and I talk often online but it was nice to just talk face to face and see how her cute kids are doing.



Then it was time to drive to McMinnville to see some friends. We ended up getting there later than I had planned. The drive was a little more than an hour away from where we were. Tony and Pandy napped on the way while I drove. My camera taking skills while driving are amazing. LoL



Got to the Egan's and it was wonderful to see them! He was the branch president in my last area in the Dayton YSA ward. He was also my dentist. Pres Egan and his wife fed us often. They were so generous to us missionaries! I have tried to keep in good touch with them since leaving Portland in April 2005. Their new house is amazing and we went on a little hike behind their house and I saw a snake and a chewed down tree that a beaver had worked on. There was a lake there too and so many paths I am surprised we did not get lost. We ate some dinner, Pres Egan bbq'd and their son Doug came.



Left McMinnville without getting to see the Cymbala's or Ruby...got to see Sis Dykes briefly , she and her family still are the landlords over the apartment complex I used to live in as a missionary so it was fun to see her again! Got back to the Clackamas area and tried to see Christine Jones and her daughter Brie who we taught when I was in that area but nobody was home. Rachelle Wing, really wanted to see her but she was not home either although we did talk on her cell. So we stopped by Jeremy's house to hang out for a bit and return his sleeping bag and tent which Tony ended up not using.



Jeremy is airbrushing my motorcycle helmet and I am SO EXCITED because he does awesome work..



I cant wait until it is done! There are going to be some cherries on the back...

and here is a random pic of me at Winco in the bulk food section.

Got up early early to fly out on Tuesday morning, my flight left at 6 and Tony's left an hour or so after that. Had to fill up the rental car with gas and there were no gas stations by the airport! So going to try and find one (thank you GPS) almost made me late to check in but I made in just in time. Phew. Rene was so kind to pick me up from the airport and drop me off at work.

I'm sooo happy I was finally able to go to Portland and see many people I love and miss. I am already planning a trip to go back in September!

Sunday in Portland

Sunday morning I got to go to 3 wards for sacrament meeting that I had served in as a missionary from 2003-2005. First stop was the Clackamas ward which started at 9am. I got to see the Yates, Robertson's, Loves, Bever's, Baird's, Tucker's, Zink's, Sis Saathoff, and more people sorry if I did not list your name! It was a bit overwhelming but way awesome to see these friendly faces again and say "hi" in person instead of just on Facebook! I love the Clackamas ward. The people there are pretty awesome.

Next we drove to Cedar Mill, across the river about 30 min or so away. Tony napped in the car and I went to the first meeting where the Cluff's gave an awesome talk together and talked about geo-caching! nice! and I got to see the Murphy's, Fisher's, Kramer's, Banton's, and more names that I do not quite remember. Sat next to the "new" mission president which was cool but he left early so I didnt get to tell him who I was! So nice to see the people in the Skyline ward and it felt wondeful that they remembered me because I havent kept in such great touch w/everyone there.

Last but not least we crossed back over the river to go to the Hartley Park ward and we were late so we sat in the foyer. I saw the Schmidt's and the Wilson's who are now in that ward! Hartley Park ward has split somewhat recently I guess so I was disappointed not to see a lot of people there that I knew but I heart the Wilson's and Schmidt's and the other people I talked to there were super friendly.

Headed to the Portland Temple - one of my favorites! - to take some pictures...

I love the macro on my Olympus

Stopped by my friend Rachel's home to meet her for the first time. She lives in Beaverton and helped me with my online e-zine back in 98-2001 and we have kept in touch ever since. She has gotten married and has 2 kids now. It was fun to see her face-to-face. She is really nice!

Drove around the Cedar Mill area to try to see some people and drove by CMC (Cedar Mill Crossing) the most dangerous and scary (esp at night) apartment complex to be in as missionaries. Turns out the apartments are being remodeled so I had to take a picture just because I have a lot of memories there. Reading the Book of Mormon every week with a lady and her 2 little dogs that smelled, visiting the Lingles and less-active members and investigators (people interested in learning more)

I dont have a picture but Tony and I drove out to Forest Grove to have dinner with my friends Chad & Sara. We had burgers and ribs and fresh blackberries with ice cream for dessert. Sara and I are pretty close to the same age and I enjoyed working with her when I was a missionary in Cedar Mill. We've kept in fairly good contact since I returned home in April 2005.

Tony and I got back to Damascus around midnight and just crashed because we were so super tired. Chalk it up for another great day in Portland.

Caving - A Whole New World

While Tony was in Portland with me, he had also planned to go caving up in Trout Lake, WA and wanted me to come with him to try it out. I was really nervous and scared but very excited too because my dad has gone caving before and it always sounded kind of cool to try. The NCA (National Caving Assoc) was going from Friday through Monday but we just drove a couple hours to get there on Saturday morning and did a self-guided cave " Ice Cave "

Here I am suited up & ready to go



At the grand entrance to the ice cave



Did I mention it was an ice cave?



getting ready to slide down some ice - so cold!

It was very scary and very slippery inside the cave to me and it was hard! We only had 1 glove to share because we could not find the other 3 but other than cold hands I was mostly warm. Unless I sat on the ice too long.



Headed back to the camping spot where everyone was to practice the ropes and wait until the afternoon caving where a group of us had signed up to go to a certain cave. There were about 8 to choose from that day! Some easy, some hard. The weather was perfect. Not too cold and not too hot. I like the picture of our rental car. Looks almost like a car commercial or something.



Tony had planned to stay the night so we set up his hammock and a tent that we borrowed from my friend Jeremy.



The view was amazing. I wish I could have stayed to camp out too but I had a missionary farewell for my friend Adam to go to that night in Oregon City.



Oops! Doesnt look like I could be of much help - hehe -



I was not as nervous to go in Resurrection Cave as I had been to go in the Ice Cave.



So many cool formations in this cave. It was really interesting to see how they were forming. It was pretty crazy to think that you could walk right above this stuff with having no idea there is a cave underneath. We had to tramp through a lot of bushes and fallen trees to find the entrance of this cave and I wondered who in the world could have ever found it.









looks like gold or something



This is a picture of Mt Hood, one of my favorite sites to see. Tony ended up coming back with me to Portland instead of spending the night which I thought was totally sweet of him because he loves caving and was excited to be there with all the caving people. He said he'd rather spend time with me though so I felt super special when he said that and I was so happy he came back with me.

The Young's new house in Oregon City was amazing. I didnt get any pictures but we got there about30 min before the festivities were ending. I got to see the Bairds (She was the RS President in the ward when I was there and her husband was in the bishopric) and got to talk to Adam who is going on his mission to Mexico! Saw the other kids...Zoe, Chase and Max and it was just really nice to be there, sitting outside, eating some food and talking face to face with people who I havent seen for a couple years.

Then we went to WINCO!! Bought snacks and food to eat for Sunday and that was about it for our Saturday.

Just Because!

I am going to write about my Portland trip in the order of days that it happened. Why? Because if I wrote out my whole trip and uploaded all the pics I wanted to show in 1 post then it'd be way too long and you all might get bored. So I will start with Friday because that was my first full day in Oregon even though I flew in Thursday night. Landing at the airport was most exciting , the flight was fun too. Sat next to a girl and we watched Flight Plan on my laptop. Picked up the rental car with no problems - phew - and drove to Milwaukie, about 20 min from the airport. Tony had flown in Wed night from Salt Lake and was staying with my friend Jeremy. So I got to see Jeremy, pick up Tony and we went out to Adrianna and Josh's house in Damascus where we were staying.

Friday morning we got up and drove about 30 minutes or so to Multnomah Falls - one of my favorite spots in Oregon because it is so green, pretty, and you can hike to the top of a waterfall! I got some great pics of flowers along the way as well as the green and of us!

At the bottom & At the top

It was 1 mile to hike up and 1 mile back down. Tony was great and didnt push me to go faster than I could go. It wasnt hard hiking, it was just steep up hill a bit so I got out of breath and had to take my time.

Met up with my friend Cindy Angle who was a ward missionary when I served in the Clackamas ward in summer 2004. She treated Tony & I to Red Robin for lunch on her break from work. SO super nice of her and it was great to see her face to face and catch up on news, etc. She is wonderful!



Stopped by my old apartment complex just to revisit my missionary stomping ground. Lol. I saw fuzz in the air!! I think it comes from nearby trees but it was fun to see again.

Were driving around and went to Big Town Hero to eat but it was closed! I was super bummed because my mouth has been watering for it for a long long time. I mentioned to Tony - by accident of course - that I think Plaid Pantry is a dumb name for a store and I never wanted to go in. We decided to get Domino's for dinner and unfortunately there was a Plaid Pantry right next door and we had about 10 min to kill before our food was ready. This is me trying to frown but I am about to laugh at the same time because I knew where we were headed next.

The only happy thing I found inside were Go Girls!! Overpriced but there they were. Looks like I need one..lol.



Headed back to Adrianna & Josh's for the evening Pandy got into the pizza. Pandy!!!

So we just chillaxed, watched a movie and went to bed early so we could be up early to go to Trout Lake , WA on Saturday for caving!