Seagulls like Sun Chips

Summer is almost over (thank goodness) and I was just reflecting on a particular summer about 5 years ago. This was the summer that ruined my perfect legs and caused me to be self-conscious about them for the rest of my life. I will NEVER again think that putting sun tan lotion (SPF 2) on my white pasty skin while at the beach is a good idea. Especially if I am tired and think I might fall asleep.

Don't let the smile, and warmth of the sun fool you . . . he's dangerous.

White-pasty skin + the sun + sun tan lotion + 19 years old + friends that were "doing it too" + falling asleep on the beach = SUN POISONING!!

Now, I am a major freak about putting sun screen on before I do outdoor activities.

I use SPF 50 now. Although I did see that they make SPF 75 and 100. I'll have to try it.

This particular summer, my 2 best friends from high school and I decided to go to San Diego.

The Incident

We decided it would be fun to pack a lunch and go play in the ocean the first day we were there. We packed sandwiches, sun chips, a few other snacks, and water. I was so excited for the Sun Chips. (They were my favorite chip at the time). We ate some snacks and then left our stuff to go swim.
When we got back to our stuff, we noticed that there were quite a few seagulls flying around our site AND someone had clearly been messing with our stuff. We searched our things to make sure nothing was missing. Sure enough, the sun chips were gone. I was so sad. I was really looking forward to eating those. We ate our sandwich and that's when I looked up. It was a little unnerving to have seagulls circle us like vultures. But, I pushed it out of my mind. After a little while, I noticed that the seagulls were slowly closing themselves in on us. We were completely surrounded. And that is when I saw it. I saw it in the beak of one of the seagulls! "A sun chip!" I shouted, "That seagull has our sun chips!!" That's when I grabbed a fork, and started digging in the sand, right where the seagulls were trying to go. Guess what I found? A whole pile of chips. Sun Chips. The bag was missing though, so our conclusion was...

The seagulls saw us leave our site to go down to the water. They probably figured they had 20 minutes or so to rob us. They crept up to our cooler. Opened it. Took out the Sun Chips. Pecked with those ferocious beaks of theirs at the plastic bag (which at this time was not the really noisy recyclable bags) until it tore open and sun chips went everywhere! They saw us on our way back to our site. In a panic, they buried the Sun Chips hoping to cover up that it was them. Then, thinking we weren't watching them, they tried to creep close to us to reclaim their treasure.

Don't let their innocent looks fool you. They are a sneaky bunch of birds.

It's funny because I thought I saw a sun chip bag blow by us while we were walking on the beach and I thought, "Why would someone litter on a beach?" Turns out it was the seagulls the whole time. They are smarter than they look. Watch out.

Consequences of Stupid Actions

It wasn't until we got back into Mesa that I realized how sun burnt I was from laying on the beach. As the days went by, it got worse and worse - until it was so bad I had to go see a doctor. My legs were so swollen that I couldn't get pants on OR shoes. Not even flip-flops fit. My legs were a bright purple color and I waddled when I walked. For the first two days of being back from vacation, I called in sick to work because I couldn't walk... it was that bad. I finally saw a doctor. He said, "Hmmm... ya, that's bad. It looks painful. I'm going to prescribe some steroids for the swelling and something else for the swelling." (I can't remember what it was). As I tried to get up and waddle out of there, he stopped me and says, "You know what -- I'm going to give you 2 weeks worth of pain pills." He looked me up and down, "Make that a month's worth of pain pills." Yea! I never would have made it through without those pills. My family and co-workers/bosses made fun of me for awhile after that calling me elephant legs. So rude. I learned my lesson. Sun screen, sun screen, sun screen!!

Sister Fun!

This weekend, my little sis and her hubby decided to come visit me! . . . and I guess they came to see the rest of the family too. They live in Salt Lake and I hadn't seen her since my wedding.

They arrived in Mesa on Thursday night. Lyndsie, "CW", mom, dad, Seth and I all went out to lunch on Friday afternoon. "CW" really wanted what he called 'jiros'. I was confused, then I realized he meant, gyros (Pronounced: yuros). Ha ha - but he's from Colorado/Utah so we cut him some slack. He claims he was just trying to trick his wife - - sure, sure. :)

After lunch, we went back to my apartment (while Seth went back to work) and we relaxed and watched "Psyche." "CW" played video games until we were bored watching him, and then we went to look at houses.

Seth and I spent the night in Mesa because Lyndsie and "CW" were only going to be in town for 2 full days! Friday and Saturday. Friday was a good day, and Saturday was going to be a good day too.

Saturday morning, Seth and I got pre-qualified to buy a house! The lender came over to my parents house and we talked about finances. He didn't tell us anything we didn't know. But, we are so excited to start making offers on the homes we like.

After we met with the lender, Seth went over to his parents because his brother and family came in town, while my family headed off to Tuscon to visit my older sister, Kaylee, and her family.

I played with my niece, Theresa, for most of the time we were there. She followed me around and wanted me to play with her. It was so cute! It ALMOST made me want to have a baby. Almost . . . Anyway, Theresa and I danced, while my dad gave the nephews piggy-back rides, and the rest of the family talked.

Talked?? Did I say talked? I meant, steal my camera and take photos of themselves.

Ha ha-- if I didn't know they were 8 years apart, I would think they were twins. I think it is safe to say that they did not plan those facial expressions, they just happen to be the same.

Landon was so cute. He wanted me to keep taking pictures with him holding a tire to his face. He was laughing so hard.

We had a lot of fun talking and spending time together. We left at 3:45. We got home 3 hours later. Tuscon is a 2 hour drive. I guess there was an accident. We were stuck on the I-10 for 45 minutes. 30 of those minutes we were just sitting . . stopped. Not moving. So, we found a fun way to pass the time. "CW" and I switched seats (partly because I was complaining how hot it was with the sun shining on me - - what a sweet brother-in-law). We switched in the middle of the freeway. It was kind of fun to get out and walk around on the I-10. We also took pictures of ourselves. We tried to capture our "bored" and "tired" look. I think we did well.

Later that night, we got to talk and hang out some more. They left Sunday morning. It was a fun weekend. I haven't gotten to spend time with my whole family like that in a while. :)

So You Think You Can Dance?

Last week I had the opportunity to go to a "So You Think You Can Dance?" Concert! It was entertaining. I went with my future roommate, Miranda, and her friend Sara. The concert was in Glendale.

We were 8 rows from the front on the floor!


We ate at "Which Which?" They serve sandwiches there. I liked it and I would eat there again.

Ha ha. Miranda and Sara closed their eyes for the picture. So cute.

The Performance

These are the Season 5 dancers.




Here are the boys!


This is Brandon. I wanted him to win . . . but he didn't. Oh well.


I wanted a picture by the door that said "Authorized Personnel Only", but right as I got up to the door a worker came out and yelled at me for not being where I was suppose to be. So, I got in trouble! But, after she left I went and got a picture of it anyway.



A video of the last dance!


After the concert we went to Red Robin. . . but they were closed! So, we settled for Chile's and we each ordered our own individual desserts. I ate a whole chocolate cake by myself! Well. . . I guess it was a piece of chocolate cake, but still... Chile's desserts are pretty big.

Old Memories and New Memories

My little sister is all grown up and off to college. She is going to the LDS Business College in Salt Lake City, UT. Last weekend, my parents and I drove with my sister up there to drop her off. It was really difficult for me to leave her there. I wanted to make her come home with me because she is my best friend and I'm going to miss her so much, but I know she is going to have more fun and grow the most over these next two years.
I had a lot of fun visiting Utah again. I saw a lot of old friends that I hadn't seen in 8 months! I loved visiting, but it didn't feel like home. I was a stranger in the town I lived in for 3 years. A lot of the people I used to know moved to different states, got married, or are on missions. Speaking of missions, I was walking around Temple Square on Sunday night and I ran into one of my good friends who is on her mission at Temple Square!! It was so random. I loved seeing her again. She is so cute and I can tell that she loves serving the Lord.

Anyway, in Provo I got to see my friend Ben Li (who ran and gave me the biggest hug when I got there) and Hayley (who is a really good cook and she used to make me this rice chicken stuff - so, in honor of me visiting her, she made it for me! It was even better than I remember.) I also saw my old roommate Erin! I miss her. She is such a cute girl. I went to church with them, but the ward was completely different. They were the only three people I knew. I also got to see Brother and Sister Adams who took me and Mollie to a Carrie Underwood concert one time. It was so fun. I have missed them too. AND I saw my old Bishop and his wife whom I love and have missed as well. They all gave me a big hug when they saw me. It was so good to see them and talk with them. I also saw my friend Paul. We talked for an hour in his apartment before I had to go to church. I only spent one day in Provo so I didn't get to see every one that I wanted, but I had a lot of fun with the people I did see.

I also saw my friend Preston! Preston was one of my favorite people when I lived in Provo. He was in Logan when my family was up there visiting my grandma and aunts and uncles so we invited him to go to lunch with us so I could see him. My aunt told one of my uncles that me and Preston were engaged as a joke and never corrected him. He later congratulated me on my engagement. It was kind of funny. And then my aunt asked Preston how we knew each other and he said we dated. She loved it and ran with it. So I wouldn't be surprised if my other aunts and uncles call me up and ask when the wedding is. . . maybe they'll just send money. :)

Preston dropped me off at my cousin Michelle's house in Salt Lake Sunday night. Michelle just had a baby. It was so good to see her and Tyler and baby Ethan. They are the cutest couple I know. I wouldn't mind living by them someday. Hopefully they will move to Arizona when Tyler is done with school.
Well, back to my little sister . . . Her dorm room that she is living in is actually a hotel. My sister is living in a hotel! That's so cool!
Her room looks like a dorm room with the twin size bed, desk, and tiny closet inside. It's just when you walk outside the room that you remember it's a hotel. The Traks are right outside the hotel and can take her right up on campus. Temple Square is right across the street too. She lives in a great part of the city. I'm so excited for her and this new adventure she is having . . . college! It almost makes me wish I was back in school ... almost. :)
My grandpa told us a really cool story about his grandma. She grew up in this house, The Devereaux Mansion, which is located near LDSBC. She fell in love with one of the carriage drivers that worked for her family. Her family disapproved of this, of course because he was lower class, but she didn't care what they thought and married him anyway. I thought that was a sweet story.

I got to see my grandparents again as well. I have missed them so much. I used to go visit them in Clinton, Utah once a month when I lived in Provo. I usually stayed with them for 2 or 3 days.

This is my grandma and me. She is so great!

On our way home from Utah, we stopped at Glen Canyon Dam . . . ya, I said Dam, Lyndsie . . . Anyway, This is the front of the visitor center. I love the red rock. It is a pretty place.

Having Fun in the Sun!

This summer has been a blast. Last month, my family went on vacation to California. We explored cities we've never been to before: L.A., Hollywood, Burbank, Universal, Beverly Hills, Long Beach, Catalina Island, Malibu, San Diego (which we've been to several times), and more (but because we got lost, not because we were trying to visit these cities.) We had so much fun together.

We drove around for, seriously, five hours looking at the Hollywood sign and trying to see how close we could get to it.

We went to the Kodak theater and the Chinese theater. My sister loves Hugh Jackman, so she was very excited when we saw his hand prints and footprints in the cement. I love Will Smith and looked everywhere for his prints. They were no where to be found. I couldn't even find his star on the sidewalk. I was very disappointed.

We went to the Wax museum which was awesome. The wax figurines looked so real. Especially Samuel L. Jackson. I was half expecting him to reach out and scare me. . . but he never did.

After the wax museum, my family decided to go to the Guiness Records Museum across the street. Here is the tallest man in the world . . . well his statue at least. My parents teased me and said, "Finally! A man tall enough for you." Haha.

Universal Studios!! This is the ball right outside the entrance of Universal Studios.

Here is me a Chucky. There is a haunted house at Universal Studios. We walked through it. the scariest part for me was when the chucky doll jumped out of a corner and scared me. The scariest part for my sister was the end when the butcher tried to cut off her head. She was not happy with him. Let's just say, it was a good thing my dad was there or he probably would have gotten a good beating.

The Simpsons! They also had Homer and Marge walking around somewhere. There is a new ride at the studios staring the Simpsons. It was our favorite ride.

Warner Brothers Studio!
This is us in front of the visitor center at the Warner Brothers Studios. This tour was probably one of my favorite parts of the vacation because we got to see where some of my favorite movies and T.V. shows were/are filmed.

This is on the set of the hit T.V. series Friends.

Catalina Island!
My family took a boat over to the island. It took an hour to get over there. I got a little sick from the up and down motion of the boat on the waves, but I survived. We saw packs of dolphins on our way over as well. Dolphins are so fun to watch.

The island was so cute. Everyone who lives on the island drives around in a golf cart. Some of the carts were custom made to look like trucks, mini vans, topless convertables, ect. It was so cool.

Sea World!
We went to Sea World. I thought that Sea World was going to be so lame because I'm not that big on animals and I'm 23, but I was wrong. It was a pretty awesome place. They have a new ride there that my family went on four or five times in a row. It's called Journey to Atlantis.