Hey you! Yes, YOU!

Alright here's the deal. Every time I post a new post that little page-viewer-counter-thing goes up a couple hundred hits; HOWEVER, I only ever have 1 or 2 people that leave comments. I'm fine with this but I would like to know who's out there! Who are you? Do I know you? It doesn't matter if you know me in person or not but I'm curious about who reads my blog. I understand not everyone has time to comment on every post... hell, I follow over 200 blogs (thank you Google Reader!) and there is no way I comment on all of them so that's not the problem. Well, there is no problem. I'm just curious. Who is out there? Do you have a blog too? Can I read it?!

Roll call!

P.S. I'm thinking about going private BUT if to many people read my blog then I won't because I know what a pain it is to "invite" everyone.

The big 26!

I had a crazy birthday. I started off at work in Tooele monitoring out on the pipeline.

The crew was excavating in an archaeological site (which is why I had to be there) that happened to be in a chemical dump site. The entire area smelled so bad and we were concerned about Arsenic and Lead poisoning.

I told the crew it was my birthday and I asked them to work as fast (and safe) as possible so that I could go home and be in Cedar for my birthday. The crew finished digging by noon and I was told to go home. Yes! I was so excited to get out of Tooele! I started the long drive home when I got a call from the pipeliners in Mesquite (on the far end of the 400 miles long pipeline). I was informed that I was need out on the line the next day. This was a bitter-sweet deal. As a result I ended up driving from Tooele to Mesquite in one day BUT Josh was working in Mesquite so I got to spend my birthday with him!

I never told Josh what I wanted for my birthday so I was really anxious to see what he got me. It turns out this guy really does listen when I'm talking to him! : )

He got me a Kindle and an old school CA Angels hat!

I had mentioned that I was sick of carrying around all my books (moving is hard when half of your boxes are filled with old books) and he interpreted this to mean that I needed a Kindle. I had never even thought about getting a Kindle but I'm glad he got it for me. I love it. I've already downloaded 26 of the classics and they were all FREE!

And one night we were watching Major League (the movie) and one of the players is wearing an old Angels hat. I mentioned that I would love one of those hats but then never said a word about it again (keep in mind that was months ago). I can't believe he remembered!

I was pleasantly surprised by both my presents.

[Side note: Josh also ordered me and Angels cover for my Kindle and Lord of the Rings in Blu-Ray but they both got lost in the mail... bummer! I'll get them eventually]

After I opened my presents, Josh and I went and got sushi from our favorite place in town.

Over all it was a great day!

I also got a Lakers purse from my parents, a Nightmare Before Christmas scarf from Katey, and a Lush gift card from Ryan and Missy. Thanks everyone!

Too cute huh?! I get tons of compliments!

A baby!

Don't you hate it when you write an awesome post and then forget to publish it?! I did that! Oops!

This post is from the beginning of July...

After a long wait, I finally got to meet Josh's son!

He has the chubbiest cheeks and the most beautiful eyes!

I love this kid!

*Pictures taken on Josh's iPhone

Ruby Jane

My friend Ani lost her sweet baby girl last night to a rare disease. They have been praying for a liver to save Ruby's life but it didn't come fast enough. This little girl is now in a better place. Her life was short but I know she touched many lives. Please go here to read her story.

Moral of the story: Please be an organ donor.

Change... and a lot of it!

No really...

Josh and I have the same strange habit: we don't spend our change. Instead we throw it in a change jar or bowl or whatever and let it pile up for a while (I think mine's going on a year!).

Josh has been working in Mesquite over the last few weeks and I've been bored. So to pass time while he is gone I decided to do a little project: count our coins.

[Disclaimer: I know I can just take our change to the grocery store and pour it in one of those machines BUT they end up taking 20% of your money just because the machine counted it! If you roll your own coins the bank will exchange the money for you for no fee!]

The results:

After three days of separating, counting, and rolling (keep in mind I still went to work), we ended up with $295.50!

Yep! That's right! All in coins!

200 bucks just in quarters!

All I need is 4 quarters and I'll have another roll of $10! That's $305.50 total!

We're going to go out to a nice steak dinner to celebrate. An no, we will not be paying in coins!

: )

Hoover Dam Visit

I went down to Mesquite for a few days to visit Josh while he was working. Luckily, the pipeline was moving slowly and Josh didn't have to work for a couple days. We took advantage of the time off (you tend to do this when you work 6 days a week and 12 hour days) and decided to make a quick trip to the Hoover Dam.

[The Mike O'Callaghan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge]

[Hoover Dam]

Is it strange that I just kept thinking about Transformers the entire time I was there? Where was Megatron?!

After a few hours of hiking around in the 105 degree heat, we started to make our way back to Mesquite. But knowing what I know about Josh and his love of spicy foods (he puts ghost chili pepper powder on EVERYTHING), I decided to take him to Buffalo Wild Wings before we left the Las Vegas area.

Buffalo Wild Wings is known for their amazing wings with their vast choice of sauces (something for everyone). I got the Honey BBQ boneless wings, while Josh went straight for the Blazin' (on the far right).

After a few bites Josh's lips were turning bright red and his eyes were watering. He was LOVING it though! The guy is outta control!

4th of July - Bryce Canyon Adventure

Yep! Cats outta the bag. I have a boyfriend. We've been dating for 5 months. His name is Josh. He's amazing and he's the reason why I've been so happy lately : )

Anyways, this is what we did over the long 4th of July weekend:

I've lived in Utah since 2003 and I've NEVER been to Bryce Canyon. Josh, on the other hand, has lived in Utah for a year and has been there three times. I need to get out more.

So we decided to go.

After a beautiful drive up the mountain, we arrived at our destination. Of course, Josh's camera ran out of batteries so I gave him mine (I'm not a big picture taker) so he could be the "camera guy" and I could be "the navigator".

[My studley man rockin' the farmers tan]

We started off at Sunrise Point.

Then, hiked over to Sunset Point.

At this point I noticed that there are two ways to experience Bryce: (1) Drive along the ridge, stop at the designated look-out points, get out of your car, walk 10 feet, enjoy the view, take pictures OR (2) hike down into the amphitheater and experience nature.

Obviously the first way is the easiest, but we like adventure, so we decided to drop down into the amphitheater on the Navajo Trail.

After hiking down the gnarly switch backs, through the slot canyon, and into the amphitheater we came across this sign:

3 miles? Easy, right?!

We couldn't be more wrong. The hike was beautiful but burley! And running out of water a mile into it and getting altitude sickness didn't make things any better.

[Tired and out of water]

[Half way there and holding strong]

[Almost done!]

After a long hike we finally made it back to the bottom of the Navajo Trail. And this is what we had to climb back up in order to get some water:

Of course we made it out just fine (I kept saying "baby steps, baby steps")

Next, we headed over to the general store and got some much needed water and hot dogs.

I still wanted to see some of the legendary look out points so we decided to drive to the different look out points and check out the views.

[Rainbow Point]

[Natural Bridge]

[Inspiration Point]

Overall it was a great day! I can't believe that this gorgeous place is in my very own backyard! Josh and I decided that we would come back again and do some more hikes but that time we would be more prepared : )