i know i know...

ahhh! i'm sorry! i don't work till tuesday at 11 p.m. and damon swears he's gonna finish his med school applications the next few days (after being gone so long, i haven't quite been able to stay away from him besides sleeping at our separate homes since wednesday night, and luckily the sentiments are matched, so needless to say i haven't spent much time online), so i seriously really definitely will put the pictures up by tuesday afternoon- there are just so many of them and i just finished editing the ones i liked best.

we had the best weekend, friday afternoon we went up to damon's family's cabin in kamas, us and about 10 of our friends. we had fun eating pizza, walking around in the dark mountains looking at stars, playing speed scrabble and some card game that i was really bad at. damon and i layed out on a picnic table watching the stars- it's incredible what you can see when you don't have city lights anywhere near. and then damon kept the whole house awake all night with his monstrous cough/hack. his motto: 'if i have to be awake, why should anybody else sleep? i'd be lonely!" ha. kidding. kinda. jacob and i had some girl talk while he did manage to doze for an hour or so.  (all of us slept in one room with 8 bunk beds in it. so fun...

the next morning we were awakened to the sound of this: (from about 0:55-1.10 is the noise) 

damon decide that this would make a great 7 a.m. alarm tone to wake us all up. i was NOT so happy about it. anywho, we woke up, some faster than others, ate, cleaned up the cabin, and headed out to the lake where our ward was having a big lake day activity. our bishop (who is the sweetest man ever) was so kind and woke up especially early to drive up 2 hours before everybody else was getting there just to take us out on the boat. so we went wakeboarding with him, dropped him off to meet up with the bigger group, and kept the boat another hour or so. we joined everyone else for food and a hot hot hot day out on jordanelle reservoir. that afternoon damon and i came back, took a nap (why is a nap after being out in the water on a hot summer day the most enjoyable thing ever?) and then got up and went to jenn's open house. it was sweet and we got to see the amazing bed that jeffrey made them. and he refused to make me one even though i said i'd pay him. ha. oh well.  we left there and met anna and robbie at the theater to see harry potter. (which was pretty good, but i'll admit i've never been invested in the books or other movies) 

today was church and another nap and spaghettie and meatballs (anyone excited for THAT movie to come out?? cloudy with a chance of meatballs?) and then went over to anna and robbie's so she could cut damon's insanely long (aka big) hair. later we watched (which means fell asleep to) pirates of the caribbean  with them.  best weekend to come back to after being gone so long! i might be able to get some pictures from the lake from damon. but knowing me, don't hold your breath! =)

i know i promised, but then i got called into work, and was there till 11:30 pm... (thanks late night watch!) so of course the thing that didn't get done was putting up pictures. but i did just upload them. and then a wave of tired came upon me. and i cant stay up any longer. but i promise (we know i'm bad at blog promises, but this time i'll try to do it right) to get them up tomorrow before we begin our weekend of fun... and i'm sure i'll have some pictures from that too! 

till then, see you soon!

guess who's back...

i got in after 9 tonight and promptly spent the next 3 hours with the boy i'd missed soso much. therefore i have not loaded pictures. because after soso went to bed sniffling his sad little nose (a cold, not swine)

i caught up with facebook.

which china had blocked over a week ago due to fighting  and secret combinations concerning Urumqi (pronounced "woo-loo-moo-chi", by the way).

i know, i know. priorities. tomorrow i will post pictures here and there and everywhere, and i'll try to call back all the peeps that tried to contact me and had no idea whither i'd gone or whence i'd return. that is, right after i get my paycheck. and deposit it. and do some grocery shopping. and do july-spring cleaning cause this crowded room is driving me nuts and i feel the need to downsize.

and make soup for soso.

then i will.

Moab

our quick part of the massive moab trip 09'... 

view of landscape from up and behind

they are so brave!
i was NOT about to stand up on that rock!
skyline arch? i can't remember them all
tyler, katie, me and damon
navajo arch

landscape arch
balancing rock and star trails

just a couple of the 200+ that came on the trip this year

Delicate Arch

so much to dooo...

i've got about 3 hours till i need to go to work (i love being prn, and the fact that this is the only evening i've worked since last week) and before then i have so much crap to do...

*oil change

*go get mascara (this seems dumb, but how crappy would it be to run out of the mascara you like - clinique high impact, thank you very much- in CHINA??? so sad!)

*get the rest of our food for moab, and distilled water and fish food so damon doesn't kill my fish

*clean out my car

*pack for china AND moab since i'm working the morning shift tomorrow and we leave right when i get out

*go to the library to print out our moab maps

*make any food we are taking down and pack up the car, also find an extra sleeping back and a tarp for us all to sleep on.

im soooooo excited. the massive moab trip of 08 was for sure the best thing i did all year, and made me more friends than i'd made in the past few years. this year we are expecting closer to 250 people, and i'm so excited to go with my handsome man and his brother tyler and tyler's girlfriend. even though we'll only be there like 24 hours. i can't wait!

i'll be sure to put up pics before i leave sunday afternoon for that one asian continent...

it has been raining like cray here the last couple of weeks... i think today is the first that it hasn't since my birthday or something. it's been pretty cool- in the 70's , and we haven't even hit 90 yet this summer, which is really odd. the rain has had it's fun moments though. the other night damon and i went and played in it... but only for a few minutes cause it was so freezing cold. 

best rainbow these storms has produced so far... i was going to get my paycheck when i was passing the temple and saw an ammAAAZIng rainbow, so i had to race back home to get my camera. by the time i got back, the rainbow had faded a little, but it was still cool

what summer is for... 

i want to do everything this summer. i want to drive to the beach (i'll even accept one in california) and go to disney world.

i want to go camping. thank goodness for moab, though i really hope to go many more times this summer

i want to see fireworks, i'm so sad that i'll be out of the country for my favorite holiday-the 4th...  just will have to make do with the 24th i guess

i wanna go on a roadtrip to anywhere new, drive with the windows down, sing the whole way, eat crappy car food 

i want to hold a tiny baby. asap. i just love how their soft little bodies fill your arms and they smell so good and they just stare at you and be sweet.

i want to go out on the water in a canoe ... or paddle boat.

i want to have a picnic (ok i've done that one technically, it was great. damon invented tacos)

i want to lay out under the stars away from the traffic noise and lights of provo

i want it to get hot already!

Um, today is cool...

some reasons why today has rocked so far:

1. i finally FINALLY got my passport sent to texas, so that it can be hand delivered along with my visa application to the China embassy in Houston by my oh-so-kind mother so that i can actually maybe possibly fly TO CHINA in 13 days. that's right. 13.  basically the passport/visa stuff has been a nightmare, caused tears, been pushed way too close to my travel date... but now it's done and i just have to sit fat and happy awaiting my visa. 

2. the sunflower farmer's market store in orem. the provo farmer's market hasn't really produced great fruits/vegetables yet, cause the harvest season is just not ready i guess. so i checked out this market i've been meaning to, and it's great! almond butter! (which i got $2 cheaper cause there was a problem with the barcode- and i don't even feel bad cause almond butter is so ridiculously priced) artichokes and plums! 3 pounds of vanilla almond granola on clearance! cantalopes were 3 for $2!!!  artichoke humus and pita chips! i know, i'm turning so green and stuff. 

3.  i finally got around to going to the gym. my moab/china goals have slipped away and i've been pretty absent from the place in the last month... or 2... but not anymore! i'm determined to be somewhat healthy before i leave for china... cause i have a feeling some of the food is going to do me in. 

4. i saw christian nielsen and oliver and nicholas at wells fargo. that's right. NieNie's husband. they bank with me. we're practically friends now.  he was as handsome as she reports almost daily on her blog. i felt butterflies, his long hair, big smile, sunglasses... i pictured him on his motorcycle and felt a baby bit jealous. he's hot for real. (and knowing how amazing he is besides his looks made it hard to concentrate on filling out my withdraw slip) so head on over to nienie's blog up there on the right to read her newest ode-to-christian post and see a pic of her... sorta. =)

(pic 'borrowed' from the nieniedialogues)