Random Week

This week was a mix a random things that we did. One day we had dinner at a friend's house (Ben Schilaty) because he made us baked Ziti and it was delicious. We then played a card game called fruit salad that I really enjoyed.

We went suit shopping on Friday and it was awkward because we talked to the clerk at Macy's (who we have talked to many times already) and he was talking about how we can fix the problem of the suit being a little loose around my chest. We walked with him downstairs to the taylor and they examined me for awhile. We came back from the mirror and they gave a report to the clerk that it can't be fixed because my chest is sunk. It was a little weird having them report this to a store clerk.

The next day I went up to Phoenix. There I helped move some cows from one pen to another. Cows are funny. They come running when it's time to eat. I also saw a dead chicken.

I liked this suit.

Pusch Peak

Josh, Phil, and I hiked Pusch peak. I was February 7 and like 80 degrees. I was really hot at the beginning of the hike. It was very steep. In one of the steepest sections we ran into some scouts. They saw my BYU hat and told us they were LDS. 

The trail kept going up and up and stayed very steep. The last little bit we had to bushwack. The view from the top was really cool. I bet you could see over to Mexico, and pretty far to the north as well. 

On the way pack I tried two types of cactus fruit. It tasted like a cucumber. I don't think it was fully ripe. We kept getting off trail on the way back. It was really pretty and had a good time. I was so very sweaty at the bottom.

Looking north.

Zinburger

I got a job offer this week! I was excited so we went out to another nice place for dinner called Zinburger. They sell fancy burgers there. So fancy they can cook them rare and you will still be safe. I was in a big spending mood so I bought fries as well.

We had to wait to get in because of course it was busy, it was a Friday night. Since there wasn't much around and it was actually raining, we went to Starbucks and talked about the big news. The food was decent. It's time I stop going out to eat for the weekly activity. Next week will be different I promise.

High roller. I don't order anything anymore that costs less than $20 (actually it's more the opposite).

Starr Pass Hike

On MLK day we didn't have school (oh wait I had a makeup class...on MLK day? Seriously?). So afterwards we went for a little hike out at Starr Pass, which is a really beautiful area. There was a lot of cactus that is for sure.

We were faced with many choices of trails, and I was like whatever, lets just go where our hearts tell us, who needs maps. We got to a junction that pointed to two trails with another trail unmarked so of course we took the unmarked one.

We took a break and saw a cholla cactus. We started throwing rocks at it. It had these dangling things on it that I called ovaries, just using my imagination. We tried to hit the ovaries, and we eventually knocked them down.

We kept walking until the trail didn't go any farther. It brought us partially up a little hill thing and we just sat there. We saw people hiking in the valley below. The acoustics in that place were incredible. We could hear people's footsteps way down below and to the north, as well as hear them talk. We could have spoken a little louder than normal and been heard over 100 yards away.

The views were incredible. I'm glad Mary was interested in going hiking with me, it made it more fun to have her there.

No explanation needed - my arms say it all.

Going out to get steak and coming back

Mary had a gift card to Outback and of course she used it on me. We went out on a Friday night and it was pretty crowded, so we got in line and then went to the mall.

It wasn't a very eventful trip, but it was fun. We were at a steakhouse so of course I got seafood. It was there, with a mouthful of medium rare steak, dripping blood out of her mouth, that she pledged her allegiance to me and my cause, which included unfailing love forever, and that she would do whatever I told her to do to the end of her days. I reluctantly accepted. (She didn't exactly say any of that with her mouth, but I read it all in her eyes. It's hard to speak with a steak in front of you.)

I'm not sure if she is angry or hungry. We'll just say hangry.

Thanksgiving Point Bike Ride

My activity this week was to go to Jordan River trail access near Thanksgiving Point, by bike, from my parents house. The total round trip distance was 20.2 miles. I had not really ridden a bike since before my mission (8.5 years ago, maybe even more). I was surprised how hard it was to pedal, but that could be because I was on the highest gear. But, riding a bike, is, well, "just like riding a bike".

I originally planned to do it a few days earlier, but the temperature was struggling to get above freezing and there was snow and ice everywhere. I waited long enough for the snow to melt, at least somewhat, and when on a day when it was clear and about 45 degrees.

My main problem was that I had forgotten that on my last camping trip up near Dollar Lake, during the night, some beast chewed on my camelback nozzel, the thing you suck on, so it was dripping everywhere. When I bent over, it went drip quite vigorously, soaking my pants. This caused two problems: less water, and cold pants. After awhile I figured how to position it so it wouldn't drip.

The trip was very fun. It was all downhill to the river, but that means uphill on the way back. I was determined to make it up the hill without stopping, aside from red lights, and I did. It hurt pretty bad, and I was on the lowest gear. But it was very fun, and I want to get back into biking.

The end of my trip, the Jordan River. It looks cold.

Do Something

Do Something

I made a new goal. This year as I evaluated my life, I decided to come up with different pillars to base my life. One of those is to "do." I want to be able to look back at my life and say that I actually got out and did stuff. Thus, to accomplish this, every week my goal is to do something out of my normal routine. It could be something large like go on a vacation, or it could be something simple like check out a new park. While I do it, I have to take a picture, and write about it on my blog. 

The first activity I did was visit my sister's family out in Eagle Mountain. Normally my nieces want nothing to do with me, but when I went over they actually wanted to play. So we played lots of Candyland and Princess Cupcakes. We also watched Jack Ryan, which was interesting, but I got too comfortable and fell asleep at the climax. This is a growing problem. I had a good talk with Mike about sports which helped, since I let sports bother me too much.

I was proud of myself for sticking it out all three hours at church when I had every reason not to. I planned on leaving at 10 or so and go to my parents ward, but Andrea wanted me to try a new recipe which wouldn't be done until 12. This would obviously mean I would miss my parent's church, and I had no clothes with me. Well Mike let me borrow some clothes, which were baggy on me, and the shoes were not big enough. I jammed my foot in, which squished my big toe, and went to church. For some reason I felt so lethargic and just did not want to be there, a new place, with clothes that didn't fit. But I made it through. If not I would have missed church for a whole month, between sickness, traveling, and that. Anyway, it was fun, and the pork recipe was really good.

Playing princess cupcakes with the princesses.

Lots of delicious cupcake options.

This picture captures the difference in Livy's and Emy's personalities well, at least from my perspective.