That One Concert

Through various random happenstances, my aunt Mindy had free tickets to the Dave Matthews Band Concert down at the USANA amphitheater...and she was willing to give them to me. Thanks Mindy!

I called Ashery and Shananaba up and we headed out to the boondocks of West Valley.

I had never been to the USANA amphitheater before...and it beats me on the head as to what USANA actually stands for (I just spent 15 minutes trying to research it...but apparently they are a company that creates science-based nutritional products and their headquarters are based out of West Valley...this I did not know, but makes a lot of sense...but what does USANA stand for?!?!)

I was so excited by the idea of "free tickets" that I didn't even think about paying for parking. We pulled up to the parking lot and were greeted by people in laser-lemon vests wanting money. It so happened that my mom had paid me back $2.00 the day before and that I now had a total of $10.00 in cash on me at that moment -- which is how much it cost to park my car in their dirt parking lot. Thank you mom! Or else that could have been awkward...heh heh. :)

As we approached the entry, they had me shake out my Winnie the Pooh blanket and checked inside my Aggie bag. Ope. No cameras. No waterbottle for Shanna. Must return to car. But they didn't say anything about my giant box of cookies! Which I thought was strange...but since they didn't say anything...

So we took a picture in front of the USANA amphitheater for memory's sake and continued to march back to the car. Nevermind that everyone in the audience has a camera on their phone!...I could have shoved my camera into my pocket and they wouldn't have gotten after me...but we're honest folk. ;)

Me, Ashery, and Shananaba

Round two. The ushers beckoned us to come through their gate, but they weren't the same ushers as last time. So they promptly had me shake out my Winnie the Pooh blanket and checked inside my Aggie bag again. Ope. No cookies. "But the ushers over there didn't say anything..." I attempted to mutter and they just looked at me and told me, "They lied to you. They can't come in." And the boy my age quietly mumbled, "But those look like good cookies!" Meh...don't try to make me feel good. There went our dinner. I gave the blanket to Ashery and Shananaba and they went to go find a spot on the lawn. I would walk back to the car...yet again.

I got to my car and realized it was completely pointless for me to be carrying anything whatsoever. So I walked back to the gate for round three and waltzed in without so much as a look from the guards.

Our spot on the lawn was lovely. And everyone around us was drinking "ice cold beer for sale!" But Ash, Shanna, and I sprawled on the lawn and played the Alphabet-Movie-Game that a few guys at Ash's work made up. We each took turns thinking of movies that started with the letter A.  If you couldn't think of a movie that started with that letter, you got a point (points are bad) and the group would move on to the next letter. We played this for a solid hour...I have no idea who sang at the pre-show...they weren't super fabulous by any means, and we were doing anything we could to kill time until the concert...including taking pictures on our phones -- just for spite. ;) 

A dove flew over our heads. It didn't fit in with the present company...nor did we. ;) But we sat around and watched as the stadium filled to maximum capacity.

At last, the Dave Matthews Band entered the stage and the audience went wild. The ladies in front of us were thoroughly drunk and reverted back to the age of 17 rather than that of 40. I think we got more entertainment out of watching these chicas than we did watching the concert! Haha. I do love people watching. :)

And the concert rolled on, and we knew none of the songs being played. There was a happy drummer, and a man with a sweet electric violin! And Dave Matthews was anything but sober when he exclaimed, "You guys are like Italy. You taste so good!"...or something along those lines. ;) And then the overwhelming smell of pot drifted our way. Gag. We looked at our phones and decided 9:45 would be a good time to leave. So we did.

We beat the crowds, we beat the traffic, life was so good! We opened up the cookies that they wouldn't let me bring in, and scarfed the entire box in a matter of five minutes...I kid you not. We needed sustenance -- off to Little Caesar's, where they gave us the most buttery crazy bread I've ever had in my life. It was delish!

Then I somehow managed to miss the freeway entrance...which happens more often than not when I travel down South. But we managed!

~~~ We sang "Soul Sister" by Train at the top of our lungs, ate pizza, and felt totally at ease as we flew down the freeway towards home. That was definitely the best part of the night. Forget that one concert, we can make our own memories. :)

So Long Autumn Hills Cove

School is just around the corner...almost quite literally...and I've been bumming around doing practically nothing...quite literally.

So you would think this would be great quality time to catch up on my blogging (because I feel so behind!). It is quality time. But might I remind you, I've been doing practically nothing...quite literally.

I'm in Limbo. I was booted from my Summer apartment, and cannot move into my Fall apartment for a period of two weeks. Thankfully, time has passed over rather quickly...but I feel helplessly bored more often than not. To kill the time, I wake up late, shower late, check Facebook every half hour, and constantly check for blog updates. But most people do have a life during the middle of the day, so all this constant checking of Blogger and Facebook are mostly fruitless endeavors.

I miss Logan for so many reasons. I cannot tell you the excitement that ensues with the thought that I'll be back there this weekend -- in a new place, with new roommates, with old friends, with classes, with Bill...I'm anxious.

Autumn Hills Cove was a fabulous summer apartment. Our apartment was on the lower level, constantly engulfed in shade. There were things to complain about, but I was happy. The apartment came with a kitchen table, and a couch. The place was baren and longing for...less emptiness. So over the course of a few weeks our living room gathered a collection of furniture.

Phil let us borrow his TV, which we originally stood on an upsidedown pink plastic storage container. Then Bill let us borrow a side table to replace the storage container, and he let us borrow a coffee table. The room felt a little more homey. Then Will got a free couch from his boss. It was a lovely little loveseat...that had no home because Bill, Will, Wally, and Jared's apartment already had three couches and a lovesac. One weekend when Will went home, the roommates tracked the couch over to mine and Taylor's apartment. Thus, our living room was complete thanks to Phil, Bill, and Will.

But the only problem with moving it all in, means we must eventually move it all out. So on Friday night, with the help of Loraine, Bill came to collect his coffee table and Will's couch. It fit ever so nicely into the back of Bill's truck, Trixy.

Bill, me, and Trixy

That night, I walked into my apartment and flipped on the kitchen light. Taylor had already left for a family vacation to Yellowstone, so all her belongings were packed and gone. And the majority of my things were packed into my car, ready to leave after check-out at 9:15 the next morning. The living room was flooded with the light from the kitchen...and that single and solitary hideous couch was the only thing left in the room. It kind of made me sad. Yet, then again, the place no longer felt like the place that I spent the summer in. It wasn't what I remembered, or cozy like we had made it. So leaving in the morning really was no struggle by emotionally-attached-means.

But I miss the people that surrounded me. That apartment was the idealic place for Taylor and I this summer. It was a growing experience, and a secluded place to be. Yet there were people that I met there that have changed my life for good. They helped me grow and recognize things about myself -- so to all those people, muchos gracias. Thank you.

Meteor Shower

So thanks to my friend Meisha, I had known about the Perseids Meteor shower and had it marked blatantly on my calendar at least a month or two prior to the actual event. August 12 crossing over into the wee hours of the morning of August 13. I wasn't going to forget it. I've always wanted to witness a meteor shower -- I wasn't going to miss this one.

But as time rolled around, it also came to my attention that the peak of the meteor shower was on Friday morning around 2:00 AM...the day before I had to move out of my lovely (and very missed) summer apartment.

There were star parties going on all across the valley. I could have gone with Meisha, I was told about one at the American West Heritage Center, the ward went on a boating activity and was just going to stay on the beach that night. Yet through the hecticness of the day, through cleaning and packing and life...Bill and I stuck close to home.

We went up to USU's amphitheater and crashed alongside the hill around midnight -- along with various other couples and groups dotting the grassy area. I tell you what, the amphitheater continues to grow deeper and deeper in meaning for me all the time, and this event furthered its magic. It was the perfect place, with the hill facing the Southwest, where most of the meteors would be visible.

Bill and I sat and talked and talked and talked while listening to the mumblings of other conversations behind us...some in different languages, some unitelligable prattle. It was so steep that I was constantly slipping down the hill and battling to keep myself up. But what I loved most was the fact that we were all there, gathered together, watching the night sky. Everytime a falling star shot across the sky, there was a shout of acclamation from the onlookers and fists punching through the air pointing out that last blaze of light that you might have missed.

About 12:30, a group came wandering over to the amphitheater and settled on the hill near some trees fairly close to us. Bongos. Guitar. Harmonica. A strange combination of instruments to throw together. They sounded terrible. Haha :) But despite their inability to keep a strong rhythym and blend their sounds, they made my whole night. This group of guys sang and jammed together without a care in the world. It changed the ambiance of the evening, and definitely solidified this already extraordinary event into my memory.

Bill and I left about 1:30 AM or so. We had seen some stellar meteors shoot across the sky! And by now, most everyone on the hillside had left from what I could tell. So we went back to Bill's apartment and had hot chocolate in August. Lip-smackin' good. Drinking the hot chocolate reminded me of how excited I am for the bitter winds and changing of the leaves that come along with the Fall. Oh how I love the seasons. Oh how I love nature.

Park Tour 2010

Forty-One. That's how many we went to.

Yes. Forty-one parks lay within the Logan City boundaries.

Yes. We visited all forty-one.

Yes. We need jobs.

Taylor and I picked up a map of the "Logan Vicinity" at our local Holiday Inn Hotel and clearly marked out each and every individual park in said, "Vicinity." We looked at the map after each park had been clearly labeled and it appeared to be a mass of red ink...no rhyme or reason to the madness. Taylor and I looked at each other and laughed. We were insane.

But the adventure was far too tempting. How could you expect us to make a discovery - like Logan having so many parks - and sit around and do nothing about it? You're right, you couldn't expect us to do nothing. So we did something! I called Jordan and told him to bring me his Indiana Jones hat for when we went up to visit at Grandpa's Mountain that Saturday...this adventure would certainly need a hat.

I'm here to present to you some of my fondest memories of the tour with many pictures. For if a picture is worth a thousand words...between Taylor and I, this excursion would be worth 40,000 words and counting...It was hard to consolidate and not bore you to death with every blooming detail. And if you ever had any doubt in my loving parks, I believe this just sealed the deal.

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Monday, August 9. 9:00 AM. Park Tour 2010 began.

We drove out to "Beyond the Edge of the Map" to the future 6th South Park...and it is still  in the future. Nothing exists out there.

Actually, the enitre morning was spent visiting future parks in South Logan...except many of them had been leveled and were indeed in the embryo stages of parkhood.

We're so cool, we even visited the skate park...which is a legitimate park. We just felt like absolute fools sitting there staring as a boy, a girl, and a "he-she" were skateboarding, and we were sitting on the bench trying to look inconspicuous...which I'm positive we failed at.

Rendezvous Park has some excellent little trails to explore, but we only had so much time in a day!

And Kilowatt Park? Oh ho ho...well, the park itself is fine, but if you go across the street thinking you are following a walkway (which you may...or may not be doing), you will find a fabulous tree house to invade!!! And wildflowers to take pretty pictures with. :)

Come the afternoon, our dear Mallory joined us in our park adventure (she had a meeting with her advisor up on campus and was in the area -- such perfect timing!) We stopped and made BLTs before furthering our exploration.

We decided it would be wise to visit the parks down in the Island.

Here a pocket park. There a pocket park. Everywhere a pocket park!

Pocket parks are all the little pieces of land that the city owns that they have nothing better to do with than throw in a flower garden and an occasional sign with someone's name on it. But they sure were pretty!

Merlin Olsen park is a whole square block with monstrous trees and benches placed into a stone wall. We will certainly be returning. Certainly.

Pioneer park? Beware of electrocution as you enjoy your outdoor fireplace.

And Garff Wayside Garden has a gazebo, a rose garden, little red benches, an exceptionally tall Narnia lampost, and an "Alice In Wonderland" hole.

Don't judge a park by it's playground. Although Jens Johansen Park has a sun bleached playset, it has a sweet chicken you can ride! (And it would be a lovely place to bring a blanket and listen to the rushing water.)

Denzil Stewart Nature Park is a serene place. It's quiet because it's encircled about by trees. When you enter, you are essentially pulling yourself away from the suburbs and encountering nature in all it's simplicity. And across the street is some Private Property that your not supposed to play around in...oops.

 

There seems to be a reoccurring pattern amongst most of the parks in Logan -- they're accompanied by flowing water.

There are mean geese that open their mouths and look at you funny at Ray Hugie Hydro Park. (No more guff Taylor. They were scary.)

Quail Bluff Park DOES NOT EXIST. Or atleast...it's a future park with a cool car or two.

The "Temple Park," which really isn't known by that name, but we knew it existed near the temple, is an awesome park! It's like the Most-Awesome-Park-In-The-World Park down in Cedar City, or Ryan's Place Park in River Heights. A lot of students at USU helped build it last fall, including our roommate Kelsie, and it is most excellent. You will recall the chicken of Jens Johansen Park -- The blue whale is where it's at when it comes to this place.

 

At this point, Mallory had to bid us farewell in order to make it back home before it was terribly late. But Taylor and I still had ten parks to find and discover...which, of course, we did.

We drove around the block at least two or three times trying to find Brookside Park, until we realized it is simply a bench. Yes, this is a pocket park.

And Canal Corner is marked by a single picnic table along the side of the street.

Taylor almost died as she attempted to run with the squirrels on a barrel at Morningside Park. ;)

And it would seem to me that Logan City mows all their parks on Mondays. Haha.

Our park tour ended at Bridgerland Park. It was a beautiful sight to see because it meant we had done it. We had visited all the parks on our wrinkled and beloved map! We were wiped out and a little rosy from the sun...so no immediate celebrating ensued.

Taylor and I have absolutely no reason to ever be bored again. We only half-visited every park in Logan, and there are more yet to come. We have so much more exploring to do! But this epic adventure tops the charts at one of the coolest and most memorable things I did this summer. Try not to be too jealous. ;)

A Day Spent in Paris

My cousins from Nebraska were in Idaho up at Grandpa's Mountain a couple of weeks back. So after much coordination and scheduling, Bill and I picked all the best things to do that Saturday and had an epic day!

When we arrived up at Grandpa's Mountain we were instantaneously greeted with Fred screaming, "Bill's Here! And Jessie!" (We all know who is truly loved - haha) and smothered with hugs a plenty. Hugs went out to John, Tim, Elizabeth, Rebekah, Hannah, and Ben and introductions were made all around to Bill. Although it goes years in between each family visit with the Noker's, it seems like we always manage to pick up right where we left off.

Jordan brought me his Indiana Jones hat, as requested. And I rejoiced. *Note this for future blog post*

Uncle Allan managed to wrangle us into helping him clear wood from an area, and appeased us by giving us a ride in the back of his truck around the property. :) The grand tour, as it were. But not only did this happen once, it happened twice! Did we learn from Uncle Allan and his sneaky suggestions? Of course not. ;)

Grandpa Sorenson suggested that we make our way to the Paris Ice Caves. I've been a couple of times prior, and from what I could always remember, it wasn't that exciting. True, a limestone sink hole would seem appealing to most individuals who had not been there...which was very true of the Nokers and Bill, but as for the rest of us...okay, me...I wasn't sure about all this. But how else were we going to pass the afternoon? So I was certainly game.

Grandpa, Grandma, Alicia, and Jeff in the truck; the Noker's in their 12-seater van; Bill, Val, and myself in Lex; and my family in the Subby -- we formed a monstrous caravan up to the Paris Ice Caves. ;)

The Family!

We arrived and had a family photo op and continued on to the cave itself. In the past, I stick my head into the cave and ooo-and-aah over ice and a cool breeze rushing by my face, but never had going inside through the narrow passageway been an option. But in August and with flashlights! By gum -- we went into the cave! And then it became very evident how cool this limestone sink hole could really be. :)

Jeff and Alicia

We ran over to where a beam of light shown through and climbed up into the opening. It became the ultimate challenge. Jordan, Ben, and Bekah manuevered over the rock and disappeared out of sight. Now it was John, Tim, and Bill's turn to crawl up the rock face. A bunch of us stayed below and goggled up at the boys as they tried to figure out how to pull themselves out of the hole we were all in. Then Pops went up after them. Man...if only I had better shoes with grippage! So I took pictures instead and helped Valerie back through the icy cave.

Bill, John, and Tim

Pops

When we popped back out, the boys had made it out. We then began to scale the rocks that weren't nearly as frightening and that my non-grippy shoes could semi-handle. It was so fun! I found a random match-container in a little cubby hole as Bill stared down a hole at some green rock. I asked him what he thought the container was, and we opened it up. We found a geo-cache without a GPS...that's how cool we are. ;) We signed our names and Marshall stuck a plastic purple jewel (that he had found in some parking lot and had been carrying with him for some time) inside the geo-cache as his contribution. :)

John, Tim, Madre, and Bill

The Mountain Goats

Elizabeth and Hannah

Val Gal and I

Bill and I hopped down inside the green hole and then Pops and Val joined us. Ben and Jord and Bekah, the mountain goats, came and met up with us from a wholey different direction. Whopatcha! We scaled the rock face and felt genuinely adventurous and skilled. It was incredible! I have a completely different take of the Paris Ice Caves now! I feel bad for ever thinking anything negatively of them. My apologies dear cave.  

Ben, Me, Bill, Jord, and Bekah

Fred

The Noker's

My Family and Bill

Grandma and Grandpa Sorenson

But alas, good times must come to an end. But good times are always ahead! Bill and I had plans to visit his family and join them for South Weber Days, so we bid my family adieu.

We took the loop around Bear Lake and stopped for some LeBeau's! For as busy and crazy as it was, LeBeau's is always worth the wait. ;)

And it came to pass...that we made it to Bill's home and visited with his family! Bill helped his mom with her phone and I sat and laughed to myself about the irony of all her Mama-Mia ringtones that were so fitting to each caller.

We headed over to the South Weber Fire Department and met up with Bill's dad and brother, Ben (who volunteer at SWFD). And because they are volunteers, we had sweet connections. In the past, Bill and his dad had been the ones to help set off the actual fireworks. (Thus, Bill's love for the explosives are explained.)

The firework display was doubled in everything. Double resonating booms, double bursts of light from every firework set off. Our view from the station was the place to be. :) I had never witnessed this side of fireworks before. It was fun to listen to all the firefighters communicate to one another and what was causing delays and such. And it was slightly frightening to witness a firework explode before it had the chance to gain some air. But nonetheless, it was exhilarating...even if my body was completely drained of all energy from all the going-ons of the day. *Whew!