Stranger Danger?

I ran into my friend Heidi at institute this morning and she offered me a ride home. I was by no means going to refuse the offer...considering we live in the same apartment building.

She told me of her love of parks...and I rejoiced! In fact, we rejoiced together.

"Have you ever been to Angel's Landing Park?"

I have, in fact, never been.

"I'm taking you there."

Done.

This park is fabulous. And within that little block, there lies a total of three jungle gyms, a zoo, and a swimming pool. I'm quite sure I will be frequenting this area much more often. I didn't even have a chance to explore the entire "vicinity," which, of course, means I will be returning ASAP.

Heidi and I ran immediately to the teeter-totter, and began...uh...tottering. And as we did so, we were approached by a little boy and a little girl who wanted nothing more than to totter with us.

It's a good thing I'm a stranger who presents no danger...because I was asking these little kids all sorts of questions and they were telling me of their five-year-old lives. They were telling me what their names were, how old they are, and who they are related to of all the kids in the park...I probably shouldn't have been so friendly...but I adore little kids.

As Heidi and I continued to totter with these little kids, we pretty much became the coolest kids in town. Soon we were bombarded by three more boys. The little girl left us to go home, but we continued to totter and shoved all four boys on with me and Heidi.

They were 5, 5, 4, and 3 years of age. One boy had Spiderman shorts on, his brother had a Spiderman shirt. One boy had a broken arm (because a girl pushed him down the slide...or something...heh heh) and the Original Boy who asked if he could teeter-totter with us had a little water bottle. They rocked my world. We played "high" and "low" and Fast&Slow. :) I could have gone on for hours, but Heidi had enough after 20 minutes of extreme thigh workouts. Who could blame her?

And as Heidi and I proceeded to explore the park, we were followed by an entourage. :)

Good day.

Next time I'll have to go to the park and start up an epoch game of "Lava Monster!"

The Jardine Juniper Trail

On Friday night, Chris sent out a text asking to see if anyone was interested in hiking the Juniper Trail on Saturday afternoon. It just so happens that Bill was walking me home to my apartment when we both got that text. I read the message and became very excited about the idea of hiking to Old Juniper. Bill looked at his phone and groaned. I laughed.

At that moment, a hike was one of the last things Bill ever wanted to do, but I told Bill that I was going to text Chris back and tell him I wanted to come along, whether he did or not. Bill sighed and knew he'd probably end up going out of peer pressure...so he consented anyway. (Pushover...heh heh)

On Saturday afternoon I attempted to convince Taylor that she wanted to come along with us, but alas, she had some studying to do, so I left her alone and made my way over to Bill's apartment. That girl is one of my ultimate examples - I tell you what!

Turns out that Chris, Bill, and I were the only ones going on the hike because of various reasonings and plans amongst people. But I was okay with that! I remember walking up to Old Juniper when I was a little kid, and I figured this hike wasn't going to be very long. We stopped to look at a map before heading up Logan Canyon to find the trailhead, and then I called my Pops for more clarification.

We found it easy enough (thanks Pops!) and parked the truck. We looked at the trailhead and it said the hike was 5.2 miles...Chris and I both looked at each other. Neither of us remembered it being that long...in fact, the parking lot didn't look familiar either. But the trailhead distinctly said Jardine Juniper Trail! So we set out on our course.

It was hot...really hot...but we plowed on and talked a little here and there, but mostly we were focusing on breathing and not stumbling into the person in front of us. We came to a mile marker saying we had four more miles to go, and Bill was a little miffed. It was hot...really hot... ;) I begged to let us keep going on ahead, and he agreed.

Chris

We made it a couple of miles further and then Chris was wearing out too. The men talked about turning around and I sighed. I put in my plug about "how great we'd feel by making it to the end of the hike" and I nudged a little here and there. Ever the annoying optimist. But then I agreed that if they wanted to turn around, we could certainly turn around...I guess I must have guilt-tripped them both because we kept on going anyway.

Bill

We were nearing the top of the ridge and we ran into a Grandpa with his two grandsons. We asked him how much further it was to the tree and he gave us a pretty thorough overview of what was to come. He was so wonderful. But he also made it sound like we had a lot to go...and Bill was not excited about this. We were almost there - no use turning back now! So we kept going... :)

Along the trail, you come to a fork where you can take the "shady route" or the "scenic route." I suggested the scenic (because that's what the Grandpa suggested) and we started off to the right.

At last we came to where the two trails convened and it was a "straight shot" to Old Juniper.

We made it!!! Here's what trails.com has to say about the the tree.

The Old Jardine Juniper is a curious sight. Anchored tenaciously above the craggy cliff-lined walls of Logan Canyon, the stoic cedar clings to life—even after 3,000 years! Grossly twisted limbs stretch from its weather-tortured trunk. Although the tree appears dead and decaying, a small garland sprouting from its crown confirms that the conifer is very much alive.

It's amazing to me that something can be so old and still be living. 3,000 plus years old! Imagine everything this tree has seen. It was here when Christ came to this Earth, and it was also here when the Earth wept over His death. Not to mention all the storms it has withstood, and the changes that have occurred in the landscape! If only this tree could talk...

Old Jardine Juniper

I pulled out the book you can sign to show the accomplishment you've made by getting there. I walked back up to Bill and Chris, who didn't come down to the tree, and had them sign the book with me.

Then we started our descent...which was a whole lot cooler, and a whole lot less strenuous than before. Bill perked up and I thanked Chris and Bill over and over again for sticking to it.

Yes. It's true. The 5.2 miles to Old Juniper was not the mileage of a round trip - it was one way. We hiked 10.4 miles in 5 hours. Not bad! I was impressed with our little group. :)

We were all wiped out and extremely sweaty by the end, but I felt great. I thrive off that sense of accomplishment!

But this hike made me realize many a great thing. I need to remember that hiking is certainly not everybody's forte...like it is mine. Not everybody is in the same physical condition, so it's important to be able to sympathize with others. And men's moods are heavily influenced by their stomaches. ;) Next time we will prepare for a longer hike - and truly know what we are getting ourselves into...but I also happen to thrive off spontaneity. This hike totally made my day and I have Chris and Bill to thank for being great friends and sticking it out with me.

Aw...Troopers through and through!

(Side story: That Saturday morning, as I was weeding at Reva's, I had chewed a piece of gum for four hours - to the point where the gum lost all chew and was starting to dissolve in my mouth. The next day, out of all the reasons I had to be sore over, it was my jaw that ached. Heh heh.)

Thank You Mr. Schmidt

Yes. It is true. I'm on Jon Schmidt's e-mail list...and every once in awhile someone will send off an e-mail and inform us of Mr. Schmidt's life and activities.

And it just so happened that Mr. Schmidt's life and activities included a concert in Nibley City on June 19 at 7:30 PM...for free! There was no doubt in my mind that I would be attending one way or another. Jon Schmidt is my hero, Nibley is only 10 minutes away, and it was free. Done. What excuse do I have not to go?

But seeing Jon Schmidt in concert is so much more fun when you can share it with friends...especially since I have seen him in concert/church firesides at least six times prior to this event. What good would it do me to go by myself?

So I asked Bill to tag along with me. :)

One day Shanna and Ashley sent me duo texts trying to bribe me with popsicles to come down and see them back home. They said that they saw more of me when I was in school than now -- when one would think I have no life. I couldn't help but laugh...for this was very true. But I had plans for that weekend to see the free Jon Schmidt Concert...wait a minute! What a perfect excuse to see them!

I tried to convince Shananaba and Ashery to bring dates up this way so they could go along with me and Bill, but they flipped it on me and asked me to find them dates. Then they would come. Fine. :) I had Bill who knew people. We could set them up on blind dates.

And so that's what came to fruition!

Shane and Ashery

Shananaba and Weston

Bill and I

We made it to the park in Nibley where Jon Schmidt would be performing and we laid out a picnic blanket on the hillside. We bought some Little Caesar's pizza and poured carbonation into cups. Pizza and piano music. Excellence in many forms.

With my seeing so many JS conerts prior to this event, it's no surprise that I have all his routines memorized. Jon Schmidt leads into each of his songs the same way each time, so I found much entertainment in ruining the surprise for everyone about what song was to come up next. (Sorry guys...heh heh)

We laughed and joked and talked and listened to the piano music that evening and were given the opportunity to be in each other's company. I was so content with the world!

And then we were astounded with a surprise announcement: Fireworks!!! What a bonus! We realized halfway through the concert that the whole reason Jon Schmidt was in Nibley was because the city was celebrating their "Nibley Days." Of course "city days" ALWAYS have fireworks!

At the end of Jon Schmidt playing through his music, we picked up our blankets and moved to the opposite side of the field to get a better view of the fireworks display. The family that sat behind us had these adorable little kids (who snatched our pizza boxes!) and ooed-and-aahed over each burst of a firework. It made us all laugh and reminisce over the excitement we all had as a kid...and then it dawned on me that I still have that sort of excitement for fireworks.

Hooray for good times. I got to see Ashery and Shananaba at last, I got to know Shane and Weston (Ash and Shanna's dates) better, and I got to spend time with Bill.

Thanks for the lovely evening Mr. Schmidt! I have you to ultimately thank.

Waka Waka...and FHE

Bill and I ran to the bank on Monday, and after helping our friend Mandy with changing the oil in her car, Shakespeare Bon Jovi, we stepped inside Bill's apartment to wash up and relax until it was time for Family Home Evening.

Wally, Bill's roommate, was on the computer creating a happy songs playlist on itunes, and he had on the most fabulous song. It's the theme song for the FIFA World Cup this year in Africa. We listened to it in both languages, and then he proceeded to show us the music video. This song is so blissfully happy...and ridiculously catchy.

Wally also became determined to learn the dance moves to this song. After pulling out some crazy moves, the only pieces of the dance that any of us can even manage to pull off is the "Waka Waka" and "eh eh" portions - demonstrated below.  

"Waka Waka"

"eh eh"

We listened to it on the way to the church for FHE, and we listened to it as we drove up Green Canyon to our final destination. Wally is determined to share it with the world. And why not? It's worth sharing! :) You can't help but smile!

At FHE, we had a testimony meeting, and spent the rest of the evening roasting mallows, bread dough, starbursts, and making banana boats. :) It was fun to socialize with everyone and mingle. There was a cave up on the mountain side that a few of us hiked up to and then a crew proceeded to climb up the mountain side like mountain goats. The sun was starting to set, the air was cool - it was simply a perfect evening for a group outing!

Bill and I on the hike to the cave

After our lovely and brief hike excursion, we went back down to the FHE group. And then we played Ninja Destruction. This game is absolutely hysterical to watch...and I completely suck at it, so I'm always out at the first - but that's ok! Because then I get to enjoy the stellar ninja skills that everyone has. ;) Rolling and leaping and posing in precarious ninja stances are all required for strategy in this game. I'll have to teach it to you sometime. ;)

When FHE was said and done, we went back to Bill's place and showed everyone the Waka Waka Music Video. We're all addicted to this song. Not only is it constantly stuck in my head, it is constantly stuck in everyone else's head. We catch each other casually humming this song throughout the day. When the tune is heard, we all break out into the "Waka Waka, eh eh" move. It totally makes my day!

And that is my reasoning behind why I spent $0.89 and bought that song on Amazon.

Snaps

I was at the Wal-Mart,
     the universe of our world,
our central light and beacon to all things that our body's
               need and necessitate,
with my friend Taylor,
               my confidant, my roommate -
                   the one who keeps me sane.

We happened upon...no.
We stumbled upon...no.

We lighted upon a rack of clothing,
    with folds of drapery and colors varying along the spectrum of
          infinity. *Snaps
They were of a price range of respectability for a child
   ne'er penniless...
          a false accusation, but surreal in idea.

Aye. There was the beauty. A Jammer's sweet surrender.
A shirt that warped and wriggled in design
     crossing over
                  a black canvas
                             of not quite ultimate velvet...
                  but of ultimate
                             stretch.

This shirt could feed me three meals.
Five dollars paid to the Little Royal Caesar of Rome -
or five dollars paid to my inner poetic desires.
             A debate for all seasons.

The debate was weak. I knew I could not resist this whimiscal,
flapping piece of material.

So it was settled. I caved. I crashed. I may even burn for this.
Call me a Heretic...or call me human.

Or call me - the Poetry Jammer - for my costume for Halloween is in the makings.

My Car was Plowed

Lex is my beater car baby. He's 16 years old and has been through a lot of rough times. Since he has been in my posession (which totals three years this month), Lex has clipped garbage cans, smashed Ashery's mailbox with her father watching, dropped off a curb, had a rock chip or two, had his engine rebuilt, struggled with spark plugs, had a cracked boot, guzzled oil (and continues to do so), and I'm sure other various things that Lex would chastise me for if only he could speak...

But...

Last Saturday I was weeding Reva's yard in Brigham City and as I was enjoying the lovely sunshine and the dirt stuck in my gardening gloves, all of a sudden I hear this crushing sound and the revving of an engine. I look to my left and see my "parked car" being pushed along by another car, like a bulldozer pushes dirt. And then the thud of Lex crashing into a tree and the squeal of my sideview mirror scraping up against another car. Oooo...why does something strike me as "bad" about this whole situation...?

This is a basic diagram of how things looked.

Red is where all the cars began initially.

Blue indicates where all the cars ended up.

I walk over and pull off my gloves. I suppose I was in some state of shock. I didn't know what to do. I just kind of stood there observing everything. My car had hopped the curb and was resting peacefully alongside another Ford Escort. A lady came rushing over from the yard sale across the street. Reality hit her. She was screaming out, "My baby! My baby!!!" Oh man. I was sick. This woman had left her baby in the car? The car that had hit mine, causing the accident, flipped a U-turn and semi-pulled into Reva's driveway. She got out of her car profusely screaming, "I sorry. I sorry! It was an assident. It was an assident!" The first woman had opened up her car door asking her child if he was ok. He responded that he was fine. She was hyperventilating. Then a crowd gathered at the scene. In retrospect, I must have looked really dumb...I just stood there, the entire time...just watching...nobody talked to me (which I was completely fine with!)

The woman who had hit my car was wide-eyed and shaking. "It was an assident! My brakes! They wouldn't work! My brakes!" It was clear that besides being in a state of hysterics, this lady was about to pass-out. The crowd was helping her out. Her name was Maria.

Sissy, the woman with the child in the car, had calmed down. Her "baby" was actually an older handicapped boy that said he just felt the car shake and only his hands moved. He wasn't too worried. :)

Now you have to realize, that this all sounds very dramatic -this lady plowing my car into another car and a tree?- turns out that there wasn't a whole lot of damge. It could have been so much worse. All cars involved were absolutely fine. Lex got the butt end of everything, but considering, he only had a few paint-swap scars.

A police man showed up at the scene of the accident. He gathered up all the necessary papers...and Maria was not able to provide proof of insurance at that instant, although she claimed that her husband had it. By then, I had definitely been noticed. People had talked to me and asked me how I was doing. I was completely fine - don't worry about me! I'm not the one who hit a parked car! Maria was in tears. She had two little kids in her backseat that were crying and everyone was watching after them. I just stood there as Sissy and her sister tried to provide some comfort to everyone around. We stood around forever as the police man filled out the paper work.

I wasn't really in a talking mood, but we struck up very light conversation. Sissy was such a sweetheart and looked at the bright side of everything. I was grateful to her. Maria was scared. She wanted her husband, but there was no way of contacting him. She had the only cell phone between the two of them.

Eventually the police man comes back and gives us all our paperwork. He asks Maria what happened. She was talking really fast, and was pretty terrified. She said she tried to stop, but her brakes wouldn't respond. So the police man had her get back in her car and backup slowly to ensure that her brakes really did work. They were fine. When Maria left, the policeman approached Sissy and I. He asked us to explain what happened...because he couldn't understand everything she said. I pretty much saw the entire thing so I gave my shpill on what had happened. After discussing things, we decided Maria was probably entirely distracted by the yard sale, and with her eyes not being on the road, she plowed into my car. If Sissy hadn't turned her wheels in toward the curb (because we were on a hill), my car would have hit hers, and hers would have probably continued to roll down the hill and hit another car....causing a domino effect of all the fellow yard sale shoppers' vehicles all the way down the line. Most excellent right? Good thing it didn't happen.

Then came the tricky part: Getting my car away from Sissy's car without further damaging it. I had to crawl through the passenger's side. I'm wearing these old raggedy pair of work jeans. As I cross from the passenger's side to the driver's side, I feel this rip in my pants near my back pocket. Oh yes. How perfect! Heh heh. My sideview mirror left a lovely scratch on Sissy's car. My front left light had been cracked and there was a pretty decent dent in Lex's fender. I parked my car to get out, but as I tried to exit my vehicle, it became very apparent that my door would not open. The fender had crunched inward, pinning the hinge that my door relies upon to open. Dang. I had to crawl back out the way I came in...and my pants ripped even more. I was past caring.

After that whole fiasco, I called up my dad and told him the news. Nothing super serious...the whole situation made me laugh. I was not expecting any excitement like this! I told him the only real problem was that I couldn't open my door. We talked for a while and then he suggested I run to my uncle Chad's house to see if he could help me out, since Chad only lives a few blocks directly below Reva. So I did!

I pulled up to Chad's and Chad and Kaleb were outside working on the sprinklers. Kaleb immediately started gabbing to me about the purple glue that daddy was using to stick the pipes together. :) Then I told Chad of my lovely dilemma and asked if he could look at my car. Chad and Kaleb came around and Kaleb noticed my cracked light. He poked at it with his finger and a piece of plastic fell off. "What happened?" he asked me. "Oh some lady smashed into my car," I told him.

Chad didn't have the tools to really help me out, but I was grateful that I could come to him and that he was willing to look at things for me! Then Shallen and Tyler came outside to say hello. ;)

My poor Lex. He truly is a college student's car. I love him.

So I called up my dad and he said to bring the car over and he'd try to fix it for me.

On my way home, I got stuck in traffic. Traffic in a standard whomps...just so you know. I had my windows rolled down and I was talking on the phone with Bill to tell him what happened and cancel a date we had together that afternoon. Then this train comes blaring by with it's horn. It scared the tar out of me. With the rate of the traffic, I stayed in perfect sync with that train...horn blowing all the while. Oy. This day! For real?

I get home and dad and I had a wonderful talk. I called up my grandma with some insurance questions, and come to find out, that I'm going to have to be the responsible one and track Maria down if I want anything on my car fixed. The police officer didn't provide us with any phone numbers, and Maria lacked proof of insurance...who knew if she really even had any! I had her address. That's really helpful. That police officer did me a real favor, I tell you what.

So I told my pops the news grandma had told me. We talked about all the many ways I could go about this situation. To track down Maria and bug her, or let my beater car remain a beater?...that was the question. I'm not an agressive person, by any means, and I felt so bad for Maria! She was such a wreck. She had many things to worry about. But she was the one being careless...ugh...I'm such a softie.

Then mom and Jord came home and were surprised to see me there! I told them the story all over again, and they joined in on our insurance conversation. Boo. I hate the cost of life!!! It's so stressful! But I feel very informed and aware of the importance of auto insurance. :)

Dad took a crowbar to my door and we pried away the frame so that my door could have some flex room to open and shut again. It was by no means a pretty fix, but at this point, I didn't even really care. I'm just glad I still had a car! Then we fixed my light by using packing tape...and electrical tape. This just adds to the cardboard and aluminum foil also being used to help my car stay in shape. ;) My dad looked at all the pannels of my car. All but one panel has a good ding in it. Poor Lex. He's been abused in a very loving manner! And guess what? My registration is up at the end of this month...my car needs to be inspected. Oh my life! There's always just one more thing...

Me and my dad just laughed the entire time he sat there fixing it. This day was so wretched, it was funny. I really wasn't put out about the fact that it had all occurred. Now I had an excellent story to share with the world!

And it really was nice to come home unexpectedly and visit with my family. We had some good laughs and just enjoyed the day together until I needed to head back up to Logan. :)

Lex is doing just fine. He runs just as stellar as he ever did, and for that I'm eternally grateful. He has a lot of character now! Well...more so than he did before. ;) Crazy things happen all the time and they're never convenient, but I've realized that life wouldn't be life without those struggles. It's best to just take them on with a positive attitude. And so I'm trying! And that's good enough for me.

Dude. One word: Wakeboarding

Dude. It was like totally righteous. On Memorial day, Tay-Chick and I met some buddies down at Utah Lake and we like totally went boating...on the water. Sick right? Wally's grandpa's boat made some sick wakes, and I...uh...like totally managed to get up on a wakeboard. It was pretty tight. I got wicked tired though...and didn't really stay up for like more than a few seconds. But dude! It deserves a pounder right?

Thanks Wally-Man! You. Are. A. Great. Instructor. Dude.

Jessa-Me and Tay-Chick

Dude! I made it up! I made it up! Righteous! Righteous!

Tay-Chick and Wally-Man

Wally-Man

It's a Bill!

Watch out for Shurtz...him and Wally-Man got skillz

Hellraiser learning to drive da boat