Heidi&BP

Over achiever...

2011-09-12T11:46:00.000-06:00

I think I have an issue! Apparently I like to take on just a few activities to keep my self busy. This is my task list for the week....

Work out more and eat right (always number one on Monday :))
Prepare dance lessons for 4 classes Monday, 4 Wednesday, and 2 Thursday night
Prepare a zumba class for Thurs night
Work my full time job and stay sane
Prepare and spread the word about the first up coming 10 year reunion planning comitee meeting (http://jhs2003.blogspot.com/2011/09/call.html)
Cook and clean like a little housewife
Finish construction on my masterbathroom, so I'll actually have one
Make 20 calls for a service assignement at church... and actually get called back!
Do quality control on the diaper bags I plan to sell on Ebay and ensure shipping is all set so they actually make it to my house
Pray I survive it all :)

By no means is this a complaint. I like the madness. I just wonder if it likes me back sometimes! The funny thing is, that on top of this I am looking for a hobby. Any ideas?!!

Ha ha

The King of California

2011-07-22T11:01:00.000-06:00

We found this little gem one night when we couldn't quite seem to fall asleep. As Brian frequently refers to California as the "Promised Land" I thought it might be a hit. Suprisingly it was, but not for the reasons you would think.

The begining is rather slow, but sit tight. Soon enough the suttle gems of entertainment arise. Imagine a young 16 year old girl who lives with her quite literally insane father. They have no money. She works at McDonalds to pay the bills. Life is rough. And now someone wants to take their home because it doesn't fit in with the surrounding new townhome development.

As a solution to the problem the Dad remembers some research he'd done during his stint in the mental institution. There's a burried treasure from a spanish conquest and he has a journal outlining the details on how to find it. Where might they find the buried treasure? Only 6 feet under the floor dead center in the middle of a Costco.

They hire on a team member who has skills in breaking security alarms. Thank heavens for him as he adds to the undertoned humor. During the planning of this adventure paths cross with a party of swingers, a run in with the cops, and a deep sea dive below Costco's floors.

The end is so classic I can't give it away. Take a look and let me know what you think. I gave this movie an 8 pm rating. That's when you're bored enough to watch it, but still awake enough you won't fall asleep!

Here's a trailer from Rotton Tomatoes to give you a visual.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/king_of_california/trailers/10888405

Happy watching!

The joy of Netflix

2011-07-17T17:43:00.000-06:00

I have come to the realization that I am terrible about blogging about my life! I have a GREAT private journal that I don't miss a week in writing, so maybe I think my public writing is a double dose of extreme documentation of my life.

So I thought I would try something a little different. Bri and I (in all our spare time between 2 jobs, teaching dance, remodeling our home, church callings, and social events) have found a delight in searching our instant view Netflix subscription for some hidden jems. This all began with the realization that there is SO many activities to do in Houston. We can go ..... eat or ...... watch movies..... or eat some more? I think this is why we have an obesity problem! There are no hills, lakes, or nearly anything to play on, in, or around. Not to mention it is MUCH too hot to even sit oustide let alone move about frantically doing any type of physical activity. Brian described it perfectly one day by saying that when he opened the door to go to work the heat litterally kicked him in the diaphram making him lose all his air and causing him to fall backward into the house gasping for air! The air is thick here people....really thick.

Back to our new job. Reviewing wierd unknown movies. This happened when - after owning Netflix for an entire two years - we realized, they aren't adding anything new. Unless of course it's something that was made before 1999 and is something no one has ever heard of before. And since all I want to do during the summer here is crank the AC to 65 degrees and not move a muscle, this is the perfect new time waster. I hope you might be inspired to watch some yourself (Warning...these movies are only any good if you already expect them to suck.....reeaaallllyyyy bad).

First hidden gem: "The Thrid Wheel". Imagine wanting for 2 years to go on a date with someone and when you finally do how pressured you feel to make it be perfect. Except within 2 minutes of havnig picked up your date you run over a homeless guy, who also seems slightly mentally challenged. Not only do you feel like an idiot but you need to show your date how generous you are. They go to the hospital to make sure he's okay. You explain to the injured that this has to be the perfect date, and the soon to be 3rd wheel decides to take it upon himself to make this the best date ever.

I was SO entertained by this movie. I think one of the bigger suprises was the number of actors that appeared in this film! Fun to try to remember all the shows they are all from. If you're a Netflix viewer and have run out of movies to watch, definately through this in your que.

Happy watching all!

The countdown to 2013....

2011-02-03T16:39:00.001-07:00

Confession.

The thought of planning a 10 year reunion is turning my hair grey. Every day that ticks by makes me more and more nervous that I won't be able to find everyone, or I will pick a place no one likes, or that somehow I will get stuck with a $5000.00 bill to a giant dance hall and will be the only one to show up. Boo. (Small bit of info to those of you out there- no we do not have a "class fund" for this stuff so we are starting from scratch here! And donations are always welcome.)

This definately is not something one person can do on their own so what have I decided to do about it? Blog! Transparancy is key! I figure, the more I tell people what I'm working on the more they can give input and or help right?

Plus! With me having now moved out of state it's going to be interesting finding a location, etc. Anyone have any thoughts?? Let me know by emailing me at Jordanbeats@hotmail.com. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear from you :).

Here are my 6 month goals for the reunion:

1. Get at least 15 people committed to join the planning comittee by May 1st 2011
2. Meet (via internet) with comittee and divide out tasks and titles to get things rolling.
3. Decide on an exact date, location, and cost for the reunion

So far so good right? If you or anyone you know is interested in joining the planning comittee let me know! It's going to be tonz of fun :). Ha ha!

The things I get myself into....

This is a first!

2011-01-09T18:44:00.000-07:00

So there I was sleeping at a cute little inn near Aransas Pass when I was awaken at 4 am by howling sideways winds and constant thunder and bursts of light filling our tiny room. I quickly turn on the tv to see nothing but tornado warnings and severe thunderstorm warnings. I hid under those cheap covers with my shoes on the nightstand ready to take flight for a full half hour. Finally the winds and hail ended and the tornado warning cancelled. It was by far the most insane weather I've ever seen. Not too much damage but definitely gave me a big fright. Pretty sure I have even more respect for survivors of natural disasters. I had a mini panic attack over sideways wind and hail! I have been demoted to pansy...

Happiness is....

2010-06-13T20:42:00.000-06:00

So I came home from a long day at work on Friday ready for some play time, and didn't know what to expect as it was a MILLION degrees outside! I got home and my cute man suprised me! So as many of you know (or don't) my birthday is December 13th and it has always been a sad ordeal for me. I know, I sound pathetic, but December is just not the best month for a birthday. I'm not saying I'm ungrateful for being born, I am SOOO greatful, just sad I have to share it with Santa Clause and Christmas, as it usually gets shoved on the back burner. Trust me, I agree Jesus should be celebrated for a whole month so I'm used to just letting him take the spotlight on my big day :)

Back to Friday. My husband in-prompto decides it's my new birthday! June 13th (okay Friday was the 11th, but close enough) is my 1/2 birthday and here forward, my new day to celebrate my birth. How cute is he that he didn't want it to be forgotten! So he took me out for Sushi - which I have been craving for some time- and then let me shop till I dropped! Then home for as much cookies and ice cream I could handle. (I've been on a diet for awhile and he's been a big help in keeping me on track, so the cookies and ice cream voucher was AMAZING!)

Anyway, I love my new 1/2 Birthday Celebration. Yay for Brian and his cute and thoughtful suprises. LOVE YOU!!!

Random Church Signs....

2010-06-10T20:42:00.002-06:00

cans still have wisdom. I passed one today that said "7 days without God makes one weak". True - I think, and keep on driving.

Thanks to Texas....

2010-03-17T20:29:00.000-06:00

Here is my list of things I may not have got into had I not moved to TEXAS.

1. TENNIS: Yes.. this difficult sport has become a weekly event for me. I am aweful at this game, but due to current repetition I can finally return some of Brian's shots. (yes, of course he's good at it.. what isn't he good at!).

2. PAINTING: After the move, most of my favorite artwork didn't survive. Brian suggested we go to the art store, buy some canveses and start painting. Mine turned out like a 4th grade finger painting, but yes, I love it :)

3. BAKING: i've done more and more experimenting with food than normal. Recently I mastered homemade oreo cookies. YES!

4. EATING: Houston is the CENTER of food. There are so many different people here, they have to match, mix and swirl all types of food types together! Our latest favorite, Tornado Tacos. They are a tiny taco place off the 1099. Their advertising boasts "Delicious Tacos of Mythical Proportions". And yes they are.... YUM!

5. I LOVE APARTMENTS: I was worried about moving back into a tiny one bedroom apratment. But look at the new benefits! I have MUCH less space to clean, a free 24 hour personal gym membership, a free pool, hot tub and so much more! The complex is nearly empty and I never see anyone, so most of these amenities truely are just for me :)

More to come. Here's to trying new things!!

The Big Move to TX

2010-01-17T08:24:00.001-07:00

Well, if you didn’t know by now, I no longer live in the “Best Snow on Earth” state. We decided that life might be interesting if we sold everything we owned, cram all our stuff in a 6 X 12’ trailer and see how we would fair in good old Texas.

First thing I learned about TX is that within the year I will be 300 lbs. There are food places EVERYWHERE! I have heard that per square mile, Houston has the most diners anywhere. And since there is such a variety of people here, you can imagine the mixtures of food cultures!

Here is the first new thing I have tested. A Kolache. This delicious treat is made at many of the donut shops down here. It is like an unfrosted donut, with breakfast meat and cheese in the middle. HEAVEN!

So, when ya’ll decide you might want to come visit, I will have a nice warm plate of the ready for you to snarf!

Just a weee 3 years ago….

2009-11-16T15:27:00.000-07:00

Yes. It’s been 3 years. Is this when the honeymoon is supposed to wear off?

Hmmm.. Not yet! Still love ya sweety pie :)

Leaf Elves?

2009-09-29T09:01:00.001-06:00

Last night we finally got to take a ride on our bikes down the beautiful Alpine Loop. Apparently everyone else decided to have an FHE adventure there to take family photos and stand dumbfounded in the middle of the trails at all the amazing colors the leaves were presenting. We ran into (literally) a few old friends from the Belmont days and raced down the hill on our bikes as hikers continually ignored us and decided NOT to move off the trails. In other words, it was a slow ride :)

Classic Brian moment: On the way up to the summit I kept insisting I smelt paint and for the life of me couldn’t understand why! Brian looks over so matter-of-factly and says, “Have you seen the leaves? They don’t change color by themselves, the Leaf Elves paint them!”. HA HA HA! I LOVE him :)

PEZ

2009-09-23T11:40:00.001-06:00

It started out as a gift…. And grew into this!

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I love how you never truly know everything about someone. They will always find some magnificent way to surprise you. When I met Brian's family they told me about the amazing PEZ collection. It wasn't until his cute mom left a giant box on our porch Aug 19th, 2009 did I truly understand the intensity of this collection.

Apparently back in the day Brian had accumulated a few PEZ dispensers as a gift. He proudly displayed them in a glass case in his room. Anyone who came into his room soon after immediately thought of him when they saw PEZ at the store. Slowly his collection grew as the gifts kept coming. I’d say it was quite an easy hobby eh?

Each PEZ character had been wrapped in tissue paper and placed in separate plastic baggies for protection. Here is the wonderful result of the unwrapped adventure.

I would be lying if I did not think this was quite the accumulations. Now we just need to find a way to display them or auction them off. Any bidders?? :)

Jackson Hole!

2009-09-08T11:55:00.000-06:00

7/4/09 Day 1:

Attendance: Heidi & Brian Phillips, Devin Lindahl, Dayna Larsen, Ciara & Ted Bell,

Got stuck at work until 6:30 pm. Late start for a midnight drive. Met at the Bell residence by 7:35 (miracle). Got to Jackson by 12:15 (miracle). Placed tent in the middle of night 5 feet from a cliff (miracle I didn’t fall in).

7/5/09 Day 2:

Woke up and got food at Yankee Doodle. AMAZING pancakes - got me a full stack. Ted showed us what the photo of the bikini chicks in the boys bathroom looked like saluting the American flag (see pose below). Found out Spam has a 'season' (aka didn’t want to go to the store to get it today). Hilarious. Returned to camp and got dressed for Kayaking!

(Ted in background with the Salute!)

Oh Brian….

The Double D’s

Skipped lunch. Ate early dinner at a sports grill in Jackson. Watched the Oklahoma vs. BYU game. Ashley and Ty left to have a happy anniversary night in a real hotel (not the wild outdoors).

Stopped for ice cream on the way to camp at the Chevron in Alpine. They really know how to scoop ice cream. Ask for Jack. Brian was told he'd get his free if he ate it on the spot. Mission accomplished. (He felt bad and paid anyway… good boy)

This cone weighed at LEAST 3 lbs and was made of 4 different layers of ice cream!!

Went to camp FULL.

7/6/09 Day 3:

Woke up LATE. Had breakfast at Yankee doodle again. Stole Brian's English muffins and switched them with Pancakes. Sad boy, happy wife. Egg sandwich was delicious. Back to camp to prepare to ride.

Hit Jimmy's mom about 2 pm. Rode it twice. Good times.

Ate dinner at a little Mexican place in Jackson that had salmon burritos. Delicious. Then roamed the streets of Jackson for entertainment. Ted replaced his Shants much to Ciara's displeasure..

Jackalope siting.

Went back to the Alpine Chevron for another round of ice cream. Made our selves sick playing on the BIG kids playground! Giant swings, Giant teeter totter, giant monkey bars and more!

Had a bonfire and roasted the mellows.

Fell asleep soundly. Massive rainstorm at 2 am. Dirty dirty rain….

9/7/09 Day 4:

Woke up by 9 am. Ate at the Yankee Doodle - again. Last round of pancakes! Determined 56* was too cold for Kayaking part 2. Packed up quickly and set off for home 11:30. Got to Ted and Ciara's by 3:30.

Ran up to Kaysville for the annual Phillips/Meaders croquet tournament! Big deal. Nicolai won for the second year in a row!

Drove home. Slept like a log.

End transmission.

Inspiration from Julie & Julia

2009-08-15T12:20:00.004-06:00

If you have yet to see the movie "Julie & Julia" I highly suggest it. I went in with extremely low expectations, mostly because I hadn't seen any previews and the description I was given seemed quite dull. 5 minutes in and I was sitting there with the biggest grin on my face ready to burst into belly wrenching laughter at any minute. First, Julia Childs is a riot. I had never see her shows before the movie and had nothing to compare the acting to, but I must say she was portrayed PERFECTLY.

Anyway, the story is about a girl who is nearing her 30's and doesn't know what happened to her life. She had ambitions to be a writer and in the twist that is life she ended up working in a small cubicle being yelled at on the phone all day. Happy life eh? Well, one day she realized what made her truly happy... cooking! (Oh of course, why do we always find comfort in food...) So she set herself a goal and decided to cook every recipe in the Julia Childs cook book (some 500 pluse recipes) in 365 days. She started a blog and slowly got quite the following. Anyway, in the end her blog was a huge success and she ended up writing a book about it and that book was turned into the movie I watched.

Okay, so I know I'm no fabulous writer. Half the time I reread my sentences and try to figure out where my brain was going and how the one before it was supposed to somehow connect! Reguardless, my inspiration from the movie was all about this blogging thing. I'm not wanting to create some big following or anything, but I think it would be fun to have some goal to blog about. I have been a slacker at blogging because, quite frankly, I don't think many of my adventures are things people would actually want to read about.

So the countdown is on... what should my next goal be, and how do I blog about it. First thought? Lose weight. I'm 3/4 through a P90X regime right now so timing is off. Anyone have any other suggestions? Maybe I should learn to sew, or learn a language or cook! (Brian would be pleased with the last one I'm sure, however, I can see it countering my weight loss goals...)

Anyway, I'm an open suggestion box. Anybody have some good ideas for my new goals in life??

Oh the Chaos of life....

2009-07-31T15:34:00.005-06:00

Tme for a quick moment on my soap box for the day. Instead of harping on the pure chaos that I currently survive daily, I would like a moment of praise amazing people who can create functional SYSTEMS and STRUCTURE. These mechanisms can always be created, but it is those amazing few people in life who can make them law and fully explain them to all who would use them that I appreciate. Mini shout out to people who have their ducks in a row.

I can't say there is anything I appreciate more than people who know what they want, where they are going and can explain such. The forethought that it takes to do things in life effectively never ceases to amaze me.

So here's a thank you to all of the mom's, bosses, and other leaders in the world who can whip their children, colllegues or minions into shape and make life easier by laying down structure and systems for them to follow. Thank you for letting us work things out on our own by letting us know up front what is good and bad, acceptable and not acceptable. It makes us feel clean and less handicapped!

THANK YOU! (Oh, and would you please come work with me :))

JULY 11, 2009 A NEW MECHAM

2009-07-11T11:47:00.000-06:00

CONGRATS TO MIKE & ASHLEY!!

Wedding highlights:

Poor Ashley woke up to a dress used as a latrine by her puppy and no one to help! Thank you to emergency work, her dress was clean and ready in time for the wedding and she looked AMAZING!
Flawless ceremony.
No crying or whining from the bridesmaids about the adorable dresses. No hair fiasco's either.
The amazing fiddling Moore's took center stage at the luncheon and blew the socks off people!
Ashley's dad wrote her a song and somehow made it through without crying to death.
Best dance EVER at the end :)

My brother is the luckiest guy in the world and couldn’t have picked better. I couldn't have asked for a better sister-in-law! - Okay, drop this "in-law" business. I'm just gonna call her sis :)

My First Award!!

2009-05-09T15:48:00.007-06:00

This week I got to go on my very first business trip! For the past two months I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get 8 new prototypes ready for the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas. I am proud to say that I work with some amazing people who continually make miracles happen. The hard work is going to be making these products actually come to life in a matter of weeks post show! Wish me luck!!

Anyway, we got to stay at the Hard Rock Hotel. WAY NICE! Being the only girl I got a whole room to myself which I was pretty stoked on. Our rooms overlooked the pool. PS, if ou ever go to Vegas this is definately a pool you must go to. It had a few nice sandy beach areas where the sand would lead into the pool. There were a bunch of cute cabana's for sunbathing or sunhiding depending on your skin type :).

We got in wednesday afternoon (a day after the show started) to go roam around and see what new stuff was coming out this year. When we reached our booth we were greeted like rock stars! Apparently one of our older projects had won an award the first day of the show and everyone was asking who was behind the project. Tada! I'd like to say it was us, but we caught the tail end of the project as a few others left the company. Either way, it's always fun to get an award!

This is a photo of our Innovations group. Me (the coordinator), Ryan (the engineer) and Steve (the industrial designer). Huge group eh? You'd be suprised what we can do! We constantly suprise ourselves :)

Many Trips to St Gerorge

2009-05-03T15:28:00.005-06:00

So as you know I am married to a man who gets cabin fever during a 10 min rainstorm. Being inside is NOT his favorite thing in the world. I think it's rubbing off on me, because I seem to be more antsy about life now too. I used to be able to sleep a full day, and now sleeping in for me is waking up between 7:30 and 8 am!! Never would I have guessed I'd be a morning person :)

This being said, in order to maintain sanity we take frequent trips to the warmer climate of St George as soon as we hear the snow has melted. Brian checks the weather forecast daily to make sure there is no rain for 2 weeks so we can have clear trails to ride. Trust me, pushing a bike 12 miles through mud isn't the sort of thing you'd like to do on a vacation (Trust me!! Experience is the worst way to learn these things. I nearly threw that 100 lb bike caked with mud and clay off the top of a cliff. Luckily my sanity grabbed a hold of me as I realized I was NOT going to die of starvation on a trail only 15 miles from a city).

Needless to say, I'm still an average mountain bike rider. Nothing too special here. I enjoy going, and occasionally kicking my butt trying to catch up with those boys cruising 25 miles per hour down those trails (Not sure if that speed is accurate. In fact it may be too slow! I will track it next time for a more concise number. Either way, they go too fast).

I am always impressed at how brave these boys get when it comes to jumping. Brian has been eyeballing a few of these jumps since our last trip down. Luckily we ran into the most carefree rider on the trail this trip. I wish I would have taken video of some of the drops this kid took. He didn't even flinch! He would look at it, smile, shrug one shoulder, throw on a helmet and race to his death. Oh to be so bold.

I finally caught Brian on tape some random jumps. My angles make them look a lot less scary than they are. Standing at the top of these you would be SURE you'd break a few bones. But then they take them and they look so smooth and easy.

While he was jumping abroad I was daydreaming and noticing the cool colors that form on the rocks! I'm a dork. I wish I was a better photographer, I'm sure someone out there has the skills that would make this look really cool!

Anyway blogger friends, I will try to be more vigilant in my writing. Mind you, this event was at the end of February, so I'm not too far off :)

Laters!

I suck at this...

2009-02-15T21:20:00.003-07:00

When I started this blog I thought, "Hey, my life is way exciting. I should totally share my adventures for others to enjoy". Turns out there is a problem with this, what I didn't realize was that I would rather be out doing stuff than writing about it. Plus I fear my writing talents have slowly been swirling down the drain. I have become the queen of short sentences and too many comma's! So if you can ignore all of this, I hope you enjoy my silly and sporadic updates.

Lately I have been wondering what on earth I did growing up! I grew up less than 15 minutes from Little and Big Cottonwood canyons. Yet I'm pretty sure I still can't tell you which is which or what you would find should you drive up there. Pathetic....

On top of that, I am pretty sure I rarely snowboarded, skied or did any sort of snow activity until late high school. Strange.

So what is my point? Well, I saw the movie Yes Man in the theater yesterday and I realized I need to start saying YES to many more activities. I've experienced the fun of wakeboarding everyday for a full summer. I've had some crazy adventures on my mountain bike going down trails like "Lithium" and "Jimmy's Mom" (yes, that's the real name of this trail. Best part is, Jimmy is real and I hear if you go to the bar at the bottom of the trail and make bad jokes, he might put up a fight!) in Jackson Hole. "Bobsled" and "Squaw Peak" are frequently bringing even more adventures in Utah.

What's next?? The summer is full of amazing and fun activities. But what is it that could make winter just as fun? Snowboarding has been fun, but my skills and wallet are limited here. Snowmobiling is also entertaining, but again brings the wallet back into the issue.

Well, I have the answer for you. Puzzles. Yup! Ridiculous as it sounds I have become subject to $2 puzzles from Allen's and they make up hours of entertainment. Have you ever had 6 friends gathered around a table giggling for hours over the most frustrating puzzle you can imagine? I have! I have to say thanks to Ashley for starting the old man's puzzle club! You have saved winter entertainment!

On an unrelated note.... if anyone seriously has some good ideas for winter fun I welcome any ideas!!!

Cows CAN swim :)

2008-08-24T12:19:00.003-06:00

I have some serious difficulty getting these pictures to do what I want them to . So we'll just deal with it for today :) Yesterday me and Bri went boating with Mike and Ashley and we had sooo much fun. We forgot to bring the fat sacks so our surfing wave wasn't quite big enough to catch. But it was fun holding the rope and goofing around anyways! Mike and Brian were doing all sorts of stunts. Anything from riding the surfboard with their feet parallel to jumping straight down onto their butts and riding it like a sled! It was soooo much fun. To top it off, we headed off to the ski course at the end of the day. When we were driving around the perfectly smooth water we noticed something very odd. COWS!! Yup. Right there in the middle of the lake!! I don't know how they got there, or even why! Ashley w

anted to ride one and Bri hoped on his surfboard to paddle to them. It was soooo nuts! They ran away t

oo quick for us to catch. Probably for the better. So no

w I think I know the real reason Utah lake smells soooo bad. It's the cows!

Biking Adventures

2008-08-03T17:33:00.004-06:00

Hola All-

This story is rather old, but for you all it may be new :) So my husband is into Downhill mountain biking/freeriding and has got me into the sport as well. Why is this so fun? Because you basically go ONLY downhill. Who wants to exert energy and go uphill anyway when you could be flying super fast down hill and be done in 15 minutes and still feel exhausted! Anyway, here is the story of our adventure on Payson Mountain.

Last year this trail was by far my favorite. It was super fast and had a bunch of little jumps that made you feel like you were really good when you landed them. (In all actuallity I probably never got more than a foot off the ground, but lets rub my ego a bit and say I got some sweet air!!)

Well, after a burly winter the Payson trail has been severly flooded. Everytime we go the trail is ruined by horse tracks or just merely the fact that a stream now lies where the trail used to. So we gave it a few months to dry off before we tried it again. The top section was super fun, we had a few run ins with some runaway streams but nothing terrible.

Now comes the fun part. When we were riding there were 4 boys ahead of me, cuz they go faster of course, and then one girl riding behind me. Good old Bizzle. As we are cruising down the bottom section I am finally picking up some speed. I am feeling good and wheeling around turns better than I had in awhile. Then I turn one sharp corner where I face a 2 foot drop located directly between 2 large trees (meaning, I can't go around the drop). Normally this would not be a big deal, except this drop ended in what looked like a small mud puddle. I quickly found this not to be true. Knowing there was no way I could stop in time I decided to ride straight through it and hope momentum was on my side. WRONG! I went down the drop and while my body continued to move forward, my bike decided to stay right where it was and slowly sink more and more into the mud. Needless to say, hit my head on another bike stuck in the mud, completed my front flip and landed squarely on my back. When I looked up I noticed 4 more bikes of all the boys ahead of me strewn about the mud puddle. The riders themselves stood around the pit, some covered in goo and some squeaky clean.

Biz must have heard the laughter from when I hit the ground and was the only rider not covered in the muck! It was pretty funny. Later I found out that all the boys had hid in the trees one by one to see everyone fall. I definately won the best fall award though!

We rode the rest of the way down the mountain and were gawked at by all the campers hiking to spots. I was basically one color from head to foot! I'm pretty sure we won't be riding that trail for quite some time!!!

Wild Dolphins

2008-06-30T19:25:00.000-06:00

Hello all!

So, I'm going to try to do this whole blogging thing. I haven't quite figured it out yet so no laughing :) I just realized I finally have a story good enough to post! So here goes.

Brian and I got to go to his home town of San Clemente CA last weekend and had a ball. I'm learning how to surf and having a blast at it. Last year I could barely catch a wave and this year I caught nearly everyone I went for! It was really neat.

So on our last day of surfing we decided to go to San Onofre. To surf at this beach you tend to paddle out super far from the shore. We were out for only 30 minutes or so when Brian caught a wave and surfed his way in. I was left in the middle of the ocean with only my 9 ft long board to float on. (And of course the swarms of other people surfing ;)).

Like the little inlander that I am I started to think about how deep the water was. I distinctly remember thinking to myself, "Do I want to know what's swimming under me right now??". Quite litterally 2 seconds later I found out. No more than 2 feet from my board pops up a dark grey fin! I had a mini heart attack thinking "This is the end for me!!". Then the guy on his board next to me yells, "Waters clear! Dolphins are here!". And they were everywhere! There were four of them swimming over top each other right next to my board. They would get so close it was nuts!

The coolest part was watching them surf! As you floated in the water you would see the next wave raise up in front of you and inside the wave you would see the outline of one or two little dolphins riding it out!

Probably the neatest thing that has ever happened to me. Brian was all cool about it, "That happens everyday out here". Oh geez, I am from the desert aren't I!

Here are some pics of us at our Bonfire on the beach. Of course I forgot my camera but our friends Chandler and Crystal are always prepared. Let's not forget Phil who ALWAYS has his camera :)

(Left-back row: Amy, Phil, Summer, Crystal, Chandler. Front row - Me, Brian)

Toodles!