moab rocks....

Moab was amazing! the weather was perfect. still slightly on the cooler end for moab, but still just wonderful and warmer than ogden. we had to set the tent up in the dark cause we left a little bit later than we had intended, but it didn't take that long to set up. it's sad to think that one week ago today i was on my way to wonderful warm moab. sleeping on the hard ground is something that i think i will never really enjoy. it wasn't that bad, but i do prefer a bed if possible. camping is great though, and i love the outdoors. thursday we got up, ate breakfast, packed lunch and headed to arches national park. we were out to go hiking and perhaps a little exploring to new trails we hadn't ever done before. we walked around balanced rock, hiked windows, and then proceeded on to delicate arch. the view was just breath taking. the fresh air, and the open wonder of nature cannot be copied. we were hoping to hit delicate arch just before sunset and get great sunset pictures of delicate, but then we realized none of us had brought a flashlight with us and we didn't want to be hiking in the dark. but hey, did you see the full moon? it was absolutely incredible! we had hobo dinners thursday night. they actually turned out really well. i can't believe we forgot to put the bacon in, but they were still really tasty. friday we had the day to do whatever. so we took our time getting up and went shopping and laid out in the sun by the pool at the campground. we found some great bargains and i think we were all satisfied with our purchases. dinner was tacos in a bag. i burned the meat, but other than that, it was really good. i am always amazed at what you can cook without a stove and or camping stoves. i, of course, was the pyro expert so i lit all the campfires. it was great. then the other lisa joined us and we went to bed fairly early cause saturday was the long hike through devil's garden.

we got up at 6am...not early for me, but early to everyone else. and left camp just after 7am. the sunrise in moab is even more breath taking than sunset. almost everyone sees sunset, but not everyone sees sunrise. lis got a few pictures. i thought i should slow down on my picture taking as i was already at 70 something... the five of us were the first ones to devil's garden. none of us had done this trail before. we took our time, and decided that we should take the shorter trail of 4.2 miles round trip rather than the 7.1 miles round trip. we agreed that someday in the near future we are going to go back and do the full 7 miles. the higher we went, the more amazing devil's garden got. definitely worth the hike up there.i really love moab. and now, it sucks being back. but hey...life goes on. and in other news, i am actually becoming more of a snowboard fan. i am learning slowly, and plan on going again monday after work. i went boarding last saturday, before moab, with seth. he is teaching me. i know how to ride on my heels, but not my toes yet. i kept falling on my face every time i tried to ride my toes. but now that the season is coming to an end, i will definetely pick it up again next winter. but for now i am stoked for spring and summer. more camping & hiking & spelunking & being outside!

hooray spring is coming!

greetings. i haven't blogged for a while and thought i should catch up. my life hasn't been that interesting lately. i get up, go to work, come home, go running, hang out with a friend, go to bed, and then repeat. most exciting news, i actually own real running shoes. (a must have for marathon runners cause they really do help) i bought them from peak performance. i love having littler feet. i love good service too. i went in with lis to get her shoes and just look at some for me. immediately this guy sat me down, measured my feet, watched me walk and brought out a pair of shoes to fit me. he put the shoes on me and had me walk around. they were really nice and comfortable, but a little too snug for running in. the arch in my left foot is much flatter than my right and because of this reason, i have to have as much arch support possible. the women's shoe wasn't right for me because my feet are just a bit wide. all women's shoes are a little on the slimmer side, but not all women's feet are slim. he brought out a pair of little boys shoes (size 4) and put them on me. the fit was amazing, but the arch support wasn't there since children don't necessarily need arch support that young. so he brought out an insert and put them in my shoes. i can't believe the difference real running shoes really make. i own GT 2140 running shoes. (it doesn't mean much to me either...) the greatest part of it all: since i got little kid shoes, i paid less than half the price of the women's shoes. the women's were in the hundreds. i paid about 50. cha ching! score! wahoo! and the coolest part of it all; the design is called flame. hee hee hee. i am such a pyro. when i first saw them, i thought "they look like fire. awesome!" then i actually read the box, and they are called flame. hee hee.
and that is about it. don't you just love this warmer weather though?! i went running in shorts yesterday! it was fabulous. today is overcast, but it is still on the warmer end of winter. spring is coming! hooray! on the tragic side of things, i think my allergies are back in almost full force. i will have to go buy some allergy pills here shortly. if it means winter is done, i will take it! i hate being cold. in other news, i am totally stoked for moab next week. lis, mary, laura, and i are going camping in moab wednesday after work to sunday afternoon/evening ish. i am so excited to take a vacation. we are going to go hiking, maybe biking, and just relax and have fun. it is going to be great. and here i leave because i don't feel so good. hopefully i am not getting sick. that would just plain suck. i am thinking it is my allergies cause i don't have stomach aches or anything. and here i leave it as well because i really need to go running. i have been slacking in miles, but at least i have been running everyday i can after work. the marathon will be here before i know it. May 16th remember. it is a saturday. put it on your calenders.

bringing it back to poo

i need to say a few things. first, i am not sure why, but at every single date night we have had, somehow poo gets mentioned. i think it may be a tradition now. we bring it back to poo. second, last night was a lot of fun. i haven't laughed that hard in a long time. i was laughing so hard, i almost choked on my food, i squeaked, and my eyes watered. not all exactly at the same time, but i did all three at some point in the evening. third, a GPS showed up on my doorstep. i heard someone come down the stairs and knock on the door. it was about 5-530 pm. my first thought was, "who is coming so early for date night?" so i went to the door and looked out the blinds. no one was there. i opened the door and saw a brown package. i could see my name on it and thought, "what did i order?...nothing. so who sent me a package?"
i read on the box: to amber taylor from Chrysler service promotion. i opened it up and inside was a Garmin nuvi 255w. the invoice had printed on it prepaid. i don't recall ordering a GPS from my dealership where i bought my jeep. i am not sure i didn't get charged for one. i read through my paperwork and didn't see anything in there. the invoice states that it was ordered feb 16 and was to be shipped feb 17. i got my jeep dec 28. talk about weird. i am pretty technology stupid so i would and could use some advice on how to use a garmin. i took it running today...i only went maybe a mile. i am highly confused and the instruction manual isn't very helpful. i read through the three booklets that were in the box. anyway, i am bringing it back to poo now cause i got to run. ha ha ha ha. actually i am going to the movie with lis.

snowboarding and date night

snowboarding was not as bad as i thought it would be. i stayed on the littlest hill, but for the most part, i stayed upright. the ski patrol guy that was watching the conveyor belt said that for a first timer i was doing really well. i think i will attempt snowboarding again, but just when i actually get a board of my own and money. my boss was kind enough to let me borrow her board and snow pants. mary tried to help me get things figured out, but the ski patrol guy said that since she didn't have a board or skis that she couldn't be on the hill. oh well. she showed me a few basics, and i figured out other parts on my own. at first, i tried going with my left foot forward, but it felt too awkward, so i put my right foot forward, and i did a lot better. so i guess i am a goofy boarder. whatever. it was fun.

date night was fun. i actually cooked. yes i still know how to cook. and it was delicious. i made sweet & sour chicken. the side is snow peas and carrots. i made a lot more food than i thought i would use. we had 8 people so i tried to make sure i had enough. only a few of us had seconds. it turned out really well, and i have left overs... hee hee for lunch tomorrow. i suppose i should tell who took who. i took dax. ok, we did date night at my house, so dax came here since he lives in west bountiful.

mary took thayne.

lis took ryan.he didn't really pose for a picture. so i didn't get the two of them "together" in a picture.

and we set terri up with chris. it was a fun night. we ate dinner. talked about quite a few very random things. had dessert: strawberry shortcake, and laughed and got to know each other. i am very tired now and my computer doesn't want to work completely correctly so i am leaving for now. good night.

valentine's bon fire

lis had a bon fire at her house on saturday night. it was a lot of fun. the roads were solid ice, but other than that, the few people who showed had a great time. the people who came were eric, chan, mary, steve, lis and me. i made a great fire, even if it took a little bit to get started cause the kindling was wet....and some of the wood we used was wet too.... oh well. we roasted chocolate vanilla marshmallows and made smores. they were quite yummy! and then we put the fire out with snow. we went inside and watched adam sandler in billy madison. then i drove back to my place on the icy roads. i should have just spent the night at lis' and then i wouldn't have had to drive back to north ogden for church sunday. oh well. nothing really very exciting has happened since saturday. i went running yesterday. i need to start running everyday. the marathon is getting closer and i am still not quite ready. this week should be pretty good. tomorrow is ad day, so i will be up at 2am to be to work at 3am. yuck, but the job won't do itself. thursday i am going to attempt to go snowboarding. the ward is having a ski/snowboard night at wolf mountain and i have been told that i am going. we shall see how many times i can actually stay up. i am sure a great majority of the time will be spent on my face, butt, and back. hopefully i won't break anything,,,esp my bones. then friday is another date night. we are so far planning on doing a pajama date and i am cooking dinner. that's all we have at the moment. yikes! saturday will be a day of cleaning my apartment, doing laundry, and getting in a 10 mile run. not sure where i am running yet, or if the weather will cooperate. i was going to run today, but the snow kept me from outside, and i didn't want to drive to the gym. i will have to make up for it tomorrow. i am ending it now cause i should try and go to sleep. pictures will be posted shortly.

last night's date and today's demo

last night was fun. i broke out of my usual group and went out, or rather stayed in ish, with a total stranger to me. hoppe set me up with his friend bret. we ate dinner at hoppe's house and watched a movie in his theatre he built in his basement. hoppe's girl made chicken alfredo and salad for dinner. it was amazing! for dessert she made chocolate cheesecake over cookie dough. it was also really yummy. bret is very well dressed. and he smells really good. he is tall. i had on 4 inch heels and still felt short. welcome to my life. everyone is over my head. oh well. back to bret. he has blue eyes, darker hair, nice straight teeth, and plays the piano. he has composed music.... really amazing music. i felt slightly out of place because bret, hoppe, hailey all know each other since forever. they talked about all these different places they vacationed to and all these really cool places to shop and designer shoes, clothes, and watches. i had no idea who any of them were or where they were even at. to sum it up, they make a lot of money and like to spend it on top of the line name brands. i never have had a whole lot of money, and realisticaly probably won't. in fact, i really hate money. i wish it didn't exist.
so, after dinner and dessert, we went downstairs to hoppe's theatre. hoppe likes to remodel and build things. he never knows what exactly he is going to build until he finishes it and steps back to see what he has created. hoppe's theatre is seriously like being in your own private theatre. no crowds, no sticky seats or floors, and no one blocking your view. very, very cool. we watched a movie, i can't think of the name of it. i didn't really care for it. parts of it were funny, but i doubt i will watch it again. oh, so bret smells ridiculously good. i put my head on his shoulder for the movie. i am not sure whether to be impressed or distressed about bret not making any kind of a move during the movie. i am a huge cuddle bug and like to watch movies cuddled up to someone. bret didn't try to put his arm around me or hold my hand or anything. i put my head on his shoulder part way through the movie and that is how we stayed until it was over. bret did help me fold the blanket after. we walked out to the cars, we just met at hoppe's, and bret said, "i will call dennis and we'll go bowling. drive safe." and that was my date last night.
today: ok i am seriously getting sick of snow. thankfully the roads were not too bad this morning. i was still sliding, but not out of control. i got to work at 1030 and jumped right into getting everything ready for my demo. the meat department asked if i would be kind enough to demo a shrimp dish for valentines. so yesterday my boss & i made up a recipe for sweet & sour shrimp. it is so simple, but tasted like it took all day to make. truly, i don't really cook much anymore, but this was so easy i made it, and sold it. ok really i just sold the ingredients to people. i didn't push anything on them, but the food spoke for itself and they bought. it was a lot of fun, and i didn't do a whole lot. i mostly just stood there and smiled and asked shoppers if they would like to try some sweet & sour shrimp. i only had one person, a child, who said they didn't like it. i also had some stupid mexican argue with me about whether this was a mexican dish or a more oriental dish, and if i was some mexican pushing oriental food. i flat out told him i am chinese and he said, no you're not. what an ignorant pig! he said my eyes are not almond enough to be oriental. i hate that i am so racist, but really i hate being called mexican, especially by the mexicans! i live in freakin america and i speak stupid white girl from idaho! my mother was from Taiwan and my grandparents are from china! why is that so hard to believe?! ugh i really hate being called mexican! so other than that, today was a lot of fun. i wish i could have more hours, or at least overtime, so i could do more demos. that sweet & sour shrimp was delicious! and now i am going to end because i am hungry...i can't eat while i am doing the demo...it looks bad or something. ha ha ha. and then i am going to lis' because she is having a valentine bon fire. for all of us without someone to spend tonight with. eh, oh well. being single isn't all that bad.

recent ish times

i was thinking i haven't really blogged as of late. hmmm... let's see what has happened. last friday night we had another group date. it was so much fun. there were 4 couples. lis & jake, mary & adam, sarah & mitch, and taylor & me. we went out to west haven to sharon & gus' house. they have a huge basement and were gracious enough to let us borrow it for the evening. we made pizza and played card games. the pizza turned out fabulous. i ate like a pig. actually, all the girls ate. we put the boys to shame. it was quite funny. but whatever. it was good food, and hey, i never pass on good food. the night went really quickly. i am always amazed at how fast time flies when you are having fun....and we had fun. i have decided i really like dates when there is no pressure. i like taylor. he is a great person. i also like that i don't have to worry where things are going between us. if it goes anywhere beyond friends...it is his call. and no we haven't kissed! (lis i know that's what you were thinking...) ;)
last saturday mindy was in town, so lis & i got to hang out with her. we went to joann & justin's house and played pit. i love that game! it is so much fun. then we had to take mindy back to charlie so they could get some sleep before driving back to minnesota. thanks to the snow...they didn't leave as planned, but they spent time with their families that are out here. let's see...what else has happened..... monday i got to see twilight again. we found a discount theatre here in ogden. so on monday night after body attack at the gym, lis & i took mary to twilight. she hadn't seen it. it was exciting to see her see it for the first time. mostly i think lis & i annoyed her because we were quoting the movie and singing along with the background music and sighing whenever edward (for lis) and jasper (for me) was on the screen. mary likes emmett. so there is one for each of us... hee hee hee. hmmmm... what else has been going on....
oh! i have a date friday night! my good friend hoppe is setting me up with one of his buddies, bret. hoppe's girl is making dinner and i am not sure what else is on the agenda, but i am actually really excited. i just don't know what to wear. from what i hear, bret dresses really well and is also an amazing musician. two big bonus's right off. he is 27? (hoppe couldn't remember) this is, i am reassured, a fairly casual date and doesn't have to go anywhere beyond perhaps a new friend. who knows though right?. regardless, i think it will be a good thing for me to break out of my usual lame ish life. ok, i really can't think of much else....
work?...eh. it is the same ol thing. i get frustrated with stupid people. for example.... monday night, and my boss and i know it was night because it was after we left for the day... someone came in our office and got on the internet on my boss's computer. very bad idea! the last few months our computers were attacked by a virus that almost crashed our corporate computers. a few stores were completely crashed by the virus that was downloaded from the internet. since then, the internet has been strictly banned except for the storelink. however, they can't truly put a good enough block on the internet, so people keep getting on. well, thankfully nothing has happened to my boss's computer. if a virus were to get in, our entire store would be shut down. no one could ring anything up at any register and it would be very dangerous because this virus was one that downloaded all information that is on the computer and transmits it to the source of the virus. very bad!
they have been talking of installing cameras in our office because the last few months we have also had a huge problem with people stealing and people messing with the other computers in the office. whoever it is or multiple people have come in our office has been helping themselves to the food we have in there. monday night someone came in the office and ate all of my boss's m&ms. it was a gift from the meat guys for a happy valentines. the package was tied to balloons and had a note on it for my boss. whoever it was tried to hide the evidence. the empty wrapper was in the garbage under all of the papers we had put in that day. and the balloons were paper clipped to old price tags and also in the garbage. upon further investigation, we found a half eaten m&m on the floor. who actually has the nerve to do that?!
my boss & i have tried telling everyone to lock the door in the past, but we aren't sure who actually has keys to the office. we talked to the main manager, when my computer had issues because someone was messing around on it, about changing the lock and getting keys for only certain people. that was more than 2 months ago and nothing has changed. now we flat out have someone clearly breaking the internet rules and stealing! my boss & i have actually come to the point now that unless a scanning person is in the office, that the door remain locked all the time. meaning, i have to always have my key on my person while at work. annoying, but hopefully it will solve the problem for now until the culprit is caught or they decide to actually change the lock or put a camera in. who knows what will really happen. the last office they put a camera in, they were not very sneaky and within 2 seconds of pulling out the ladder to "fix a vent" everyone knew exactly where the new camera was. hence, we think, the reason they came to my boss's computer to get on the internet. dark office, and no cameras, and no one to know...except we totally do know! just not who...yet. well...that is really about all so i shall close for now. until next time...