hey juder

april showers...

2009-04-13T20:22:00.000-07:00

well actually January and April. Here are some more wedding flowers I have done this year.

First - Lee & Lisa's wedding in January:

The only thing I regret about these flowers was using hydrangea leaves in the bouquet. They didn't last very long. Oh well. At least they were easy to remove.

And just recently, my friend Kristi's wedding:

This photography was done by Greg Neil using my little point-and-shoot camera before the reception started. I think he did a good job considering the equipment.

and here is one of the bridal bouquet for her bridal photos that I took with my phone camera:

and the bouquet on her wedding day. I still need to get better photos of this one:

are you happy in your heart?

2009-01-11T19:57:00.000-08:00

Guatemala is amazing. I just returned on New Year's Eve from a humanitarian trip there. We flew into Guatemala City on Dec. 22nd and the next morning we got on a bus for about a 7 hour drive to the mountains. Our group included the Stone family from Farmington, UT - Dave, DeAnn, Ann, Jaymes, Phillip, Jared & April (Pop - pronounced pope in Q'eqchi), their friend and now our friend Juan Cervantes, my friend Cynthia and the Chen family from Guatemala City - Jorge, Martha, Jorge Jr. and Juan. Yes we had jokes about 2 Juans. Which Juan? The big Juan or the little Juan?

We stayed on Santiago's land. Santiago can't be taller than 4'8" or 4'9" I would guess, but he's the man. He adopted us all into his family. We stayed in the building that was built for Choice Humanitarian on his land.

Our commute each day was about a 40 minute ride standing up in the back of a truck. Bugs in the teeth, eye, etc. and fun rides in the rain. But man oh man - the views. The pictures don't even come close to capturing the 360 degrees of pure glory that is the lush mountain area of this Mayan land. We traveled to the nearby village of Sepamac to help finish construction on a new school building there. There was a group that was supposed to work on this project back in August but tragically the expedition was never carried out because of a plane crash. Most people in that group died and it was important for us to carry on their work to soothe the fears of the people there that we would still come to their country and villages despite the tragedy.

Christmas Eve was uniquely special as there were a couple of tree-planting ceremonies to honor each person who was killed in the plane crash. Santiago became emotional as he dedicated a part of his land where the trees were planted saying that those people will always be remembered - that as those trees grew so would the memory of those who came before. He said this land would be a special place of reverence and reflection for all who visit. It was very touching.

After the tree-planting ceremony we ate a wonderful meal of tamales with Santiago's family and friends. Then SURPRISE - Santiago stood up and announced that it was time to give gifts and that if your name was called that you should come to the front and open your gift for all to see. Well guess who got all the gifts? Our group. They gave each of us one or two gifts - things they had made. Santiago said that these gifts were small but they were from their hearts. It was all we could do to keep back the tears. How nice. I got two gifts - a drinking glass/ vase made from clay and a purse crocheted around tab tops from aluminum cans. After that we went to the LDS church that was just up the street for a program of singing and talks - turns out we were part of the program. Then at midnight there were fireworks and the lighting of special mini hot air balloons - also in honor of those who died.

One day before we went to the school construction site, we stopped in Nueva Concepcion where they showed me the water system that was finished with the money that was raised through THANKS FOR WATER. They were able to complete a holding tank and extend pipes down to the village for each home to have a tap. Later we visited a little store and the owner - Sebastian took me down to his house to show me where his water tap was just outside his house. It made me so happy to see this and to meet the people who are benefiting from something that I started. It is something so simple and yet makes a huge difference in the lives of these people.

We went to the LDS church on Sunday and WOW. We had some translation from Jorge who speaks Q'eqchi and Spanish. He would tell someone in our group in Spanish what was said and then they in turn would translate to English, but there were a few of us so it was hard to get the word out to everyone. But I got the gist of it. Then in Relief Society with just the women there was no translation. But we were all in tears because we felt their love for us and after the meeting there were hugs and kisses from most of the women. In Q'eqchi, the main greeting is "Ma sa la cho'ol" which means "Are you happy in your heart?" and I think that says a lot about these people. They don't have much but they are happy in their hearts - very humble, very pure, very sweet and loving.

Our last night in the village Santiago sang and played a song on his guitar that he dedicated to us. What an amazing experience.

The next morning we loaded up our van / bus at 4:30 in the morning and we left around 5 a.m. I still can see Santiago standing outside the bus and waving as he was holding one of his twin baby girls swaddled in a blanket in the dark of the morning before dawn.

Cynthia and I stayed with her aunt in Guatemala City for the next couple of days. We took a trip to Antigua and while we were there we met up with our group again and took some pictures. Antigua is the original Spanish capital city that was later abandonded, but the architecture remains and now it is kept as a remnant of the past. Some of the buildings date back to the 1500's. Amazing.

I want to go back. I probably will.

A couple of funny things that I forgot - in the pictures you'll see some multi-colored Christmas lights. I don't know what it is about these lights, but the people just love them. They not only light up but they play a high-pitched tone of jingle bells on endless repeat and they keep the volume up - even when someone is talking or singing something else. They were at Santiago's house and at the church. I think they are desensitized to them because they don't seem to hear them. It was so funny. Also - Santa came to visit the church during the Christmas Eve program. He was so creepy / funny. He was wearing velvety red pants, a red old navy sweatshirt and he had a blue bandana on the back of his neck. He had a santa hat on his head and another santa hat around his neck. I couldn't stop laughing. He walked around to everyone there and handed out menthol candy and fruit candy. Luckily I got the fruit candy. Santa really does know what I want.

Thanks for TV

2008-12-12T11:43:00.000-08:00

Guess what? It's almost the year 2009 and I'm already giddy because some very important things will be happening:

Well - at least I hope PR happens - there is some kind of a lawsuit going on, but people, people, let's put our differences aside so that we can all enjoy watching fashion happen. Even if the U.S. Project Runway doesn't happen, I just found out from my friend Katie that this exists:

I will for sure check this out and even some of the other countries' versions too. This is bound to be good entertainment.

So 2009, I welcome you with open arms and to all of you I give you the gift of 2009 - a printable calendar that I found out about from another blog I follow. You just have to sign up for the mibo mailing list and they will let you download and print this CALENDAR. enjoy! I wish you all the best year yet.

are you thankful for water?

2008-11-19T20:37:00.000-08:00

www.thanksforwater.blogspot.com

please help me fulfill my dream of building a water project in a third world country every year for the rest of my life

pushing "Pushing Daisies"*

2008-11-17T17:37:00.000-08:00

have you seen this show?

It's Pushing Daisies. It comes on abc on Wednesday nights. If you haven't seen it then you are missing out. The word that I would use to best describe this show is "delightful." And that word reminds me of my friend Alina - because she uses it a lot and Alina is also delightful so I guess it all makes sense. So maybe this post is inspired for her. But really anyone and everyone should check this show out. It is so visually stunning. I love that it is different and quirky and cute. I get super scared when I hear that it might get canceled so I thought I would do my part to spread the word to try to keep it alive.

What's not to like? - there is pie, crazy aunts, reviving dead people, a girl named Chuck and cute Ned. If anyone can find me a Ned I will bake them a pie.

*this post is dedicated to my friend Amy - sometimes dreams really do come true

happy voterween

2008-10-31T13:14:00.000-07:00

I am a voter for halloween. No really. I voted today and I have a sticker to prove it.

Where else in the world would you find fairies and clowns and cowboys and living dead creatures and star wars characters standing in line with you as you all cast votes for representatives for your country / state / county?

It's great to be an American.

flower girl

2008-10-10T23:30:00.000-07:00

here are some flowers I have done for recent weddings:

iphone reunion

2008-10-07T22:31:00.000-07:00

Greg's iphone and my iphone met just over a year ago - back when they were all shiny and new. So when Greg's iphone came to town for a visit we decided they needed to go on a hike. This is what they saw:

san francisco treat

2008-10-07T22:02:00.001-07:00

This last weekend I went to San Francisco to see Sigur Ros and to hang out with friends there. Danny and I flew out on Friday morning. Our flight was delayed a little so by the time we got to the city we were starving so the first order of business was lunch. We found a nice looking Indian restaurant. The food looked and smelled really good and it actually tasted okay, but soon afterwards we were burping up mediocre Indian food and it was like a rock in our stomachs. This is Danny's "oh no. What did I just do and what is it doing to my body?" look. But we braved the stomach pains and kept walking around shopping and looking at cool buildings like this:

and this:

And then I had reached my limit and I so wanted to purge myself of that food. You want to know the nicest place in San Franciso to purge? This place:

Because it is so beautiful:

And just down this hall is a bathroom clad all in marble and your purging noises can be amplified all throughout the city for all to enjoy:

After recovering we met up with our hosts - Betsy & Steve and then Shawn & Robyn joined us for dinner before the concert:

This is how excited we were that we got to the outdoor theater just in time and Brigham and Dan had saved us some awesome seats and it wasn't raining:

until......the encore performance when the song was starting to build and get louder and suddenly and perfectly on cue the heavens started to pour down in synch with the song and it was a magical moment. And even before it started raining the city was glowing pink behind the theater. It was so beautiful.

In the morning Betsy and Steve made us earn our breakfast by hiking up to Coit Tower. The best part of all was that for the longest time while we were trudging through the city my pants kept falling down and I finally figured out that in order to keep them on they kind of need to be zipped and buttoned. It was a minor wardrobe difficulty but I got it figured it out. I guess it was worth it because there were views like this:

The rest of that day they kept making us eat more and more and I protested during lunch but by dinner time I was able to wolf down some bbq. We went to an art exhibit before dinner and then also visited some girl's house that she is remodeling and I was just a twinge jealous that the architecture in this city is way more interesting than where I live.

Then the day that we left we got to have brunch with the Grovers. Turns out the grovers had been spending time in a grove the day before. That's just like them.

good-bye San Francisco peeps. I love all your guts so much. Thanks for making this trip so much fun!

loopty loop

2008-09-29T17:04:00.001-07:00

I had the best day yesterday. My friend Danny and I went on a drive up to Mirror Lake and then detoured through the Alpine Loop on the way back. I had never done that drive and it was so amazing. I don't really have pictures of the most pretty areas because there were so many other cars that we couldn't really stop to take pictures, but I did get a few including some of Provo Falls (is that what it is called? and why did I not know it exists?)

Everything was seriously so amazing. I was speechless and I can't even describe it - especially the fall colors on the back side of Timpanogos. I really want to hike up there because I just couldn't get enough. It's so fun to discover new places and be in nature.

thanks, Danny!!!

did I do that?!

2008-09-25T21:58:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while I do something that amazes me. Like the other night I was craving this salad from Oasis Cafe and I had a lot of the ingredients from my farm share so I decided to try to replicate it. I marinated red onions in olive oil & balsamic vinegar and then broiled them with some sliced purple and yellow potatoes. Then I made some hummus and home-made dressing. I sliced up some tomatoes and feta cheese and added some fancy olives from my grocery store's olive bar, plated it all on a bed of chopped romaine and then I went to heaven. I seriously wanted to kiss myself.

Amazing feat #2:

The other day there was a power outage at my house and when I came home from work my computer at home would not turn on. I remembered this happening to a friend so I was pretty sure the power supply had gone out. I could have paid someone to order & install a new one but I thought maybe I would try it myself. I rush ordered a replacement power supply according to the specifications on the existing one and then I opened up the computer and disconnected the old wires and connected the new ones.

In case you ever need to do this I will share this handy diagram that I drew for myself:

you're welcome!

oh - and don't worry I got P7 hooked up okay otherwise I wouldn't be posting this.

so you think you can dance

2008-09-13T09:19:00.000-07:00

this is about the best thing I have ever seen ever:

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

here is the actual page location:

DANCE!

thanks, Joel!

fishing for fun

2008-07-31T21:46:00.001-07:00

I just got back from the annual fly fishing trip. This is pretty much what happened:

- riding cowboy style in big trucks

- bodily functions and jokes about them

- "don't tell your mom"

- hiking, hiking, hiking until your feet bleed

- beautiful scenery and beautiful cut-throats

- 2 flat tires on the same truck

- patching tire leaks with gum, then with a mixture of tar & cinnamon bear

- scary car repair place in Mountain View, WY that reminded me of the car place on "Adventures in Babysitting"

- a blanket of stars

- sleeping with a hat on

- hearing coyotes howling in the night

- driving a pontoon boat for the first time = going in circles

- renegades & woolybuggers

- sexy waders

- watching "Big Daddy" for the 5th time in a row

- giant windmill farm east of Evanston

- singing along to "Lean on Me"

- a big welcome home from Cosmo

NILBOG

2008-06-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

Saturday was one of the best days of my life and it all started back at Halloween. I went to my friend Danny's house to watch ANTM and he insisted that we watch the movie Troll 2. I protested. I wanted to leave, but I stayed out of pure curiosity since it was filmed in Utah. My life changed. I fell in love. This movie has to be the best movie in the world because it is so bad. It has everything a bad movie needs and more - bad acting, terrible plot and script, a name that has nothing to do with the movie, peeing on food, stretching, pink shorts, choreograhpy in garfield jammies, cornography, etc.

Fast forward a few months and I heard about the most incredible opportunity ever. There was going to be a film festival over the weekend just for this movie - in the small town where it was filmed - Morgan, UT. I had driven through Morgan as a kid on our way to go camping and I even recognized the Devil's Slide in the movie. But I had never actually been to the town.

I told Danny that we had to go to the festival so we made the drive and went to a cast panel. It was a crazy thing held in an old dance studio. The director and writer (married couple from Italy who hardly speak any English) came in and that's when things got entertaining. I still don't know for sure if the director understood that people were making fun of the movie for being so bad. He kept making hand gestures that I'm pretty sure are obscene in Europe. But his wife was cute and she seemed to go along with things. The funny thing is that some of the cast members had never even seen the movie and the ones who did were horrified - not because it was a horror film, but because it was so bad. Except for the grumpy old shop keeper. He was serious about his role and was mad at everyone else. He was wearing sweat pants tucked into his socks with tennis shoes. He was great.

I don't want to ruin the movie for you but I have to tell you that there are no trolls in Troll 2, but there are Goblins and that might help you figure out the name of the town in the movie:

It turns out our friend Tasha is from Morgan and her grandparents own most of the buildings downtown on commercial street. These buildings were part of the movie. There are a couple of mink farms nearby so Tasha's family incorporated that theme into the window art of their cafe:

Yes. That is a Coyote ready to eat a decaying bird and a mink holding a fork - all on a log.

There was some time in between the panel and the screening of the movie so we met up with some other friends to have dinner and then Tasha showed us around Morgan. Look how amazing this place is:

And here is an old abandoned, haunted church that was part of the movie:

Then we went to the Morgan Rodeo for a bit:

And....... the moment we had all been waiting for - the screening of the movie in a field behind Commercial Street on a giant inflatable screen. People came from all over just for this event. There was a guy from Austria, a couple from Chicago, a group from North Dakota and a bunch of others.

It also turns out that there was a girl there that I know from college and she is married to the guy who played the part of the son - Joshua in the movie. There is actually a scene where he pees on the food his family is about to eat so that they don't turn into Goblin food. Don't worry they don't show anything graphic - it's all inferred. This guy is now making a documentary about this movie called "The Best Worst Movie"

I haven't had a day like this in a long time. It was nearly perfect.

to kill a mocking bird

2008-06-20T12:23:00.000-07:00

I am feeling a little guilty because I have had a few hard feelings against a certain blue bird. Let's call him "Jay". Well I like to get as much sleep as I can because I work hard, right? So the last thing I want to happen is to be woken up before I'm ready. Jay has started clacking so loudly almost every morning that it wakes me up. Some birds have beautiful songs, but this blue bird has the most obnoxious "CLAWK, CLAWK" I have ever heard. It's annoying to hear and even more annoying to be awakened by.

He also hates Cosmo. If I am outside in the yard and Cosmo comes out suddenly Jay starts yelling at Cosmo. It has been so annoying. Who does Jay think he is? It got so bad that I even told someone I wish I could get rid of that damn bird.

Well last night I came home and found this inside my house by the dog door:

I don't know if Cosmo killed it or if he just found it and thought it was a toy. I don't think it's Jay because it's not blue enough, but I suddenly felt so sad for this little life that had been lost and I felt bad for saying bad things about Jay. It was dark by the time I got in, but I felt the need to give this little guy a respectable send-off. I dug a little grave and said a prayer for the spirit of the bird and Cosmo and I said good-bye. Now we'll see if it really was Jay or not.

in your face

2008-06-19T11:56:00.000-07:00

I teach the nursery kids at church (age 18 months - 3 years old). I made this game where there are parts of the face that they velcro onto the blank face on a folder. I was holding the folder and had each one come up and pick a part of the face from my lap. Well this one little girl came up and picked a button on my skirt (of course it was attached) and I'm like, "nope - that's a button on my skirt. Now pick one of the parts of the face" So she picks an eye. I tell her to put it on the face and instead she walks over to the wall and tries to stick it to the wall. yeah. It's hard not to laugh.

airplane light, airplane bright

2008-06-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

tonight I wished on an airplane. I hope that means my wish will come true faster.

I find myself doing this all the time. I make a wish and then I notice that the star is really an airplane.

use your head

2008-06-11T21:41:00.000-07:00

I literally used my head to dislodge the battery pack from my grass trimmer last night.

It left a mark.

I'm special

2008-05-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I was reading through this community education booklet and I was seriously looking for some classes to attend this summer. There were some awesome selections like “Fork Bending” and “Ghostbusting” and “Buttons to Brooches” and there were some normal ones like "Sewing" and "Cooking Indian Food." So I was reading through a few and there was one called “Snack Attack” and I thought “oh cool” and the description read something like “learn how to make snacks for when you get the munchies." and I'm like, "oh yeah- tell me more." and then it said, "Refreshments will be provided in the cost of the tuition" and I'm like, "well yeah- of course." and then it said, "for Mentally Disabled Adults who sign up for this course.”
I was actually looking seriously at signing up for a “special needs” class for Disabled Adults. I didn’t even see the HUGE heading that said “Special Needs” right over the “Snack Attack” title. I just think it would be funny if I accidentally signed up for the class and then I get there and they are making ants on a log and I’m looking around thinking, “wow. I feel like the most advanced student in the class.”

Then just on Friday my friend Emily came over to watch a movie. She was nice enough to bring some treats which included a bag of peanutbutter cups. Not the regular-sized ones, but the miniature kind - the kind that are sized just right to pop the whole thing in your mouth. So we are watching the movie and enjoying snacks and I reach for a peanutbutter cup. I have eaten them before probably hundreds of times so I know they have a wrapper that must be removed. I removed the foil wrapper and then popped the whole thing in my mouth. Then I was chewing and noticed something besides peanutbutter and chocolate in my mouth. Turns out there is also a paper wrapper inside of the foil wrapper. I guess I got so distracted by the movie that I forgot to pay attention to the details and it took chewing for a while to realize that I was actually eating the paper. ah well. fiber.

make a better earth

2008-05-26T14:47:00.001-07:00

behold, I now present:

http://makeabetterearth.blogspot.com/

holy places

2008-04-28T12:05:00.000-07:00

There is nothing like listening to beautiful music in a beautiful place. I have been going to the Sunday night performances at the Cathedral of the Madeleine. Last night was Verdi & Vivaldi.

I love all of the bright colors enhancing the intricate architecture. One of my favorite things is the angels painted on the vaulted ceiling at the front of the nave. I hate that it's called a groin vault, but that's what it is.

spring!

2008-04-13T20:54:00.001-07:00

today we snuggled out on the front lawn and soaked up the sun

just yesterday we were hiking in the snow in the mountains behind us

for the love of peanut butter

2008-03-16T12:53:00.000-07:00

hey Cosmo, do you want to lick the last of the peanut butter jar?

how was it?

purse-o-nal property

2008-02-25T17:15:00.000-08:00

Hi. My name is Judy and I collect pens.

I was at the movies on Friday and I was looking for some lip-gloss. I had a hard time finding any because there were so many things in my purse.

This is what my purse looks like:

Well I started pulling out all the pens because they were tricking me into thinking they might be lip gloss but it became a bottomless pit of pens - like one of those magic tricks when all of the kerchiefs keep coming out. Turns out I was carrying 10 - count 'em 10 pens, 1 pencil and 1 architect's scale:

The funny thing is that earlier that day I was running to a job site and I needed to leave a note for the building owner so I was thinking as I ran out, "Oh shoot. I should have grabbed a pen."

White Christmas

2008-01-07T16:17:00.000-08:00

suggested serving

2007-12-21T12:57:00.001-08:00

I realized today that my typical lunch for the past two weeks has looked somewhat like this:

proctocality

2007-12-10T18:32:00.000-08:00

Today I shook hands with a proctologist. Then I washed my hands.

fancy ketchup(catsup?)

2007-11-14T11:35:00.000-08:00

I'm not a big fan of ketchup, but I can't think of an occasion when I wouldn't want it to be fancy.

love affair

2007-10-30T07:54:00.000-07:00

My love affair with Millcreek Canyon continues......

shark & elephant

2007-10-24T14:28:00.001-07:00

enough said

well.....and maybe this:

snow on fall

2007-10-07T18:28:00.000-07:00

I went hiking yesterday in a wonderland that I like to describe as "snow on fall"

peaches for me

2007-10-07T18:10:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I had to drive to Brigham City for work. Brigham City is between Ogden and Logan. As a child I used to travel to Logan to see my grandparents. Since we lived in North Ogden we would always take the old highway through Perry and Willard. This happens to be a road famous for produce stands.

I had driven up on the main highway but I decided to detour on my way out using the old highway. I stopped at the first big produce stand that I saw and look what I found:

millions of peaches - peaches for me!

Brigham City is famous for their peaches and they are darn tasty so I bought some of those and some fresh okra, a purple pepper (yes purple!) and another pepper that was orange and green and yellow all at once - it was a magic pepper. I also bought some limes which I'm sure were not grown in Brigham City but the rest of that was local. This is not your ordinary produce and I wish I could shop there every week because it was so fresh and beautiful (not unlike myself)

and - guess how much that all cost? no really - guess.

well you're wrong because it was only $4 - that's right 4. I felt giddy about this whole side trip. Not only was it riddled with produce stands but it's actually a better view of Willard Bay than from the main highway:

to top it all off I got to pass by Smith & Edwards Country Boy Store. I didn't go in but man I used to love that store. It's the only place I know of that you can buy an army surplus jacket and bulk candy all in the same place. I think one of these days I'm going to go on a trip to Pleasant View just to go to Smith & Edwards. Okay I might visit my family while I'm there. maybe.

safari

2007-09-25T20:31:00.001-07:00

After a relaxing day at the hotel in Mombasa we had to wake up bright and early to catch a charter flight to the Masai Mara.

We landed on a nice landing strip and then let some people off the plane, but it turns out we were headed to a different destination - an even more remote landing strip.

BUT

it had an arrival & departure lounge:

as well as a duty-free shop:

Some jeeps came to pick us up and we headed to the lodge. It turns out that this is one of the nicest places to stay there and after our village living we felt like royalty.

We were given juice while they gave an orientation and then we were shown to our "tent"

It was a little bit chilly there so every night our room attendant would turn down our beds and place a hot water bottle at the foot of the bed under the covers which made our beds so warm and cozy. Then every morning he would awake us with a friendly "Jambo" and bring a tray of warm tea or hot chocolate and cookies and set it on our nightstand. Then we would hear the sounds of the birds and the hippos from the river below us echoing up. The sound of hippos is kind of like a mixture of a chainsaw and a fog horn. It seems like it would be annoying, but it's kind of nice. These creatures also seem like they would be gentle giants but they are actually responsible for more human deaths there than any other animal. It's because they are so unpredictable and they are very defensive. I loved watching and listening to them. This guy was right outside our balcony:

We went on several game drives and were able to see a lot of animals in the wild. It was so so so amazing.

We were also able to visit a Masai Village. This is a tribe who respects the animals and because they haven't killed them all off there are many to enjoy on their lands. The men used to have to kill a lion in order to reach warrior status but they don't do that anymore. The lions stay away from their bright red clothing because they are known to be a danger to them. The men go out with the herds of cows everyday and walk for miles. The cows wear bells so they will know where they are at all times. The men are also known for their ability to jump extremely high - much higher than a white man can jump.

After they showed us their village and how they make fire from sticks, they showed us some jewelry and crafts they had for sell out on blankets. As I was walking around the blankets I heard one of the women turning off her cell phone. The service provider in their area is called Safaricom. no joke.

more animals:

We spotted that lion couple earlier in the day and on our way out we saw that the woman had brought home the bacon (wildebeast) and Mr. Lion was enjoying a feast:

THE END

(toilets are at the rear)

for all the pictures you can:

CLICK HERE

and here is some video:

Out of Africa

2007-09-23T21:20:00.000-07:00

I just flew in from Kenya (and boy are my arms tired!)
Sorry. I can never resist that joke. I wanted to briefly chronicle my journey so here you are...

It went a little somethin' like this y'all:

Flight #1 - SLC to Minneapolis

What's that? You forgot to bring your ipod? No Problem! The Minneapolis airport has ipod vending machines:

"Yes I had a pesky layover and I was bored and starving so I picked up an ipod and a snickers bar"

I'm just kidding. I had brought my own snickers bar because those vending machines are so overpriced.

Flight #2 - Minneapolis to Amsterdam

Cool airport with cool architecture:

They also have a few sleeping lounges that are dead quiet. I like this airport a lot:

Flight #3 - Amsterdam to Nairobi

Flight #4 - Nairobi to Mombasa

Mombasa is on the eastern coast of Kenya - right on the Indian Ocean. I didn't know this before but it is an island. During high tide it is surrounded by water and at low tide there are locations where you could walk to it from the mainland.

So we kicked it at a somewhat nice hotel on the Nyali coast. Too bad the beach is too dangerous. There was an armed guard who stopped us from walking down there because we were carrying bags. You can't take anything down there or it will get stolen. But it's a nice white sand beach (not the nicest I've seen) and I put my feet into the Indian Ocean just to say that I have. We stayed there and bought some native clothes to wear in the village.

We rode in a van out to the village (about 2-3 hour drive). I wasn't sure exactly how long.

We arrived in the Mwagoni Village in the Vigurungani area of the Kinango District. The people are from the Duruman Tribe and speak a mixture of Duruman and Swahili. The women greeted us with hugs and kisses and then performed a dance.

During the ceremony we were given Duruman names. Mine is Jinyavu. That is what I was called the entire time in the village. There is another girl in the village with that name. Here we are - the Jinyavu's:

We stayed in the house of the village leader - Mdune. Their houses are made of sticks and mud. We brought in our own cots and mosquito nets. The mosquito net saved me from some mutant wasp attacks. (There was a wasp nest in our room)

Our Project in the village was to help the women build a boarding house for teachers. They want to run this as a business that will generate money for developmental work in the village - hopefully soon bringing water pipes to their village so they don't have to walk a kilometer to a pond with buckets to get water.

We helped dig a foundation with pick axes and shovels and also helped with some babysitting - although most women have their babies on their backs with a kanga cloth even while they are working. The babies hardly cry because they are always close to their mothers.

We also helped to make bricks out of dirt and cement. The women would get a special dirt and carry it in buckets on their heads and then we would break up the clumps, mix it with cement and a little water and put it into a press. We could make at most about 150 bricks a day.

We got them started and they'll continue to keep building and working until it's done. The rest of the time in the village we spent visiting their homes and playing with the kids.

We had a celebration ceremony the night before we left. It was similar to the welcome ceremony.

And that was the end of village life for us.

After a week of no cold beverages in the hot hot sun, I enjoyed the most delicious Coca-Cola™ I have ever tasted in my life.

stay tuned. next time: safari in the Masai Mara

MORE HERE

Dog Lake

2007-08-12T20:42:00.000-07:00

Cosmo has been bugging me to take him to Dog Lake, so on Saturday we decided to head up there:

He is in much better shape than I am so he kept looking back to make sure I was still there

The first order of business once we arrived at the lake was to get a little wet:

Then some more advanced swimming:

Cheetos™ break:

More swimming - this time with competition:

Next - obsession with big stick begins:

but Cosmo is not alone in the obsession....

and even more dogs join in on the fun:

Hey, Cosmo - It's time to go home now...

until.....some guy decides to throw the big stick to the middle of the lake:

This time that stick is NOT getting away:

The stick made it all the way to the trailhead

and then we made it safely down the trail without the stick

Thanks, Cos. It was a fun day.

YELLOW

2007-08-11T17:34:00.001-07:00

Yellow? What is yellow? To me this truck is not yellow. It is orange even though it is telling me it is yellow. I see these trucks all the time and it bothers me. I want to yell out my window, "hey you are really orange - stop frontin"

Another yellow thing that has always confused me is this:

What flavor exactly is yellow? What does yellow taste like? Why isn't the chocolate cake mix just called "brown"? Also - moist. ew. I'll save that discussion for another day.