Friday, June 28, 2013

Word Faux Pas

So this will be short post, but hopefully you get some good laughs out of it.

The first story I'd like to share is the first time Lauren and I went Christmas tree shopping. We wanted a legit Christmas tree, so we went to a little farm where folks cut the trees down in the mountains and brought them into town. We showed up and the fellow who ran the joint greeted us and asked if we knew what we were looking for/wanted. I assured him we'd be alright and could find a tree ourselves because we were from Oregon and knew what real Christmas trees should look like. He nodded his head and I asked him one final question before we set off to pick our tree. "So uh," I started, "Have you got any evergreens?" He kind of smirked and said, "Well, they're all evergreens." I sure felt like a dummy and Lauren slyly walked away chuckling under her breath so I wouldn't feel like too big of an idiot! Oh boy. That was round one.

Round two happened the other day when we went to try out a new place in town; Black Sheep Cafe. We heard the food was great and it's reputation of authentic Southwestern/Native American food sounded worth trying. We showed up and had a delicious appetizer, followed by a pork chop sandwich and green chile taco. The meal was great and we are glad we tried it out, but we probably won't go again anytime soon. A little expensive for mexican food if you ask me. Anyway, before the meal even started the waiter explained that the sous-chef was offering a new bison and duck entree. I must have heard him say "new" chef so I didn't think much of it and figured it would be super expensive because it wasn't on the menu.  But, at the end of the meal, the waiter asked if we were going to get desert and, again, stated what the sous chef was cookin' up in the kitchen. This time I heard him say sous chef and, seeing as how it was a native american restaurant, asked if the man cooking in the back was a sioux indian. Well, now I know one additional reason, other than price and general classy-ness, that Lauren and I don't frequent nice restaurants like Black Sheep very much. With a grin on his face and Lauren's face buried in her napkin, the waiter explained to me what a sous chef is and that, in fact, there were no native american chefs in the kitchen.

Just in case any of you less-cultured readers out there don't know what the sous-chef is, he's the guy second in command, right below the executive chef. Yeah....



So what I did might not qualify as a  "faux pas," but both experiences felt pretty socially clumsy!

Hope you enjoyed!

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Eric's Surprise


June has been quite a busy month – especially June 14th-16th!  My parents love to make things special, and this time they wanted to really surprise Eric, just for fun.  On the 14th, my momma’s birthday, they threw the poor kid in the back of the truck and said, “here we go!”, and I am sure he was excited for the first hour, maybe two.  But after 12 HOURS of driving he got a little less patient and a little less excited. 

We all met up at the USANA Amphitheater, and seeing Eric’s confused face made me realize he still didn’t know what was happening.  We walked through the gates, and made our way to the pre-show dinner.  He still didn’t know.  Then, we finally let him have it – “ERIC!! We are here to see Tim McGraw!!”  Sadly, the hours of anticipation and frustration wore on him, so his reaction was a little disappointing.  Luckily, by the time Tim started singing some of Eric’s favorite songs, the pal started to dance and sing and the drive he said was “pretty much” worth it!

Eric spent the rest of the weekend with Ryan and I, and we always have a good time.  The next morning after the concert, Ryan and I rode in our bike race while Eric spent time with our good friend Natasha.  When we finally met up with Eric, we were toast but had promised we would see the new Man of Steel movie he had been dying to see!  The only showtime not sold out was the 10:40pm showing...so, we all set our alarms and decided to take a nap before the movie.  After snoozing the alarms one too many times, we shot out of bed, saw it was 10 minutes to show time, ran out the door and made it just in time!  We magically stayed awake until 1:30am to finish this great show, and made it home alive.

The next day (Father's Day & Alison's Birthday)was probably our favorite day with Eric – especially our Sunday lunch.  Ryan and I really enjoy loading our meals with veggies and eating wraps and salads, but I knew Eric was not as big of a fan.  So, I decided to do Hawaiian Haystacks.  Bad idea.  When Eric bit down on a piece of celery, you would have thought he just bit down on a bug or a rock! His face was priceless, and luckily, we caught it on camera.  Since he is a stud, he managed to choke down the rest of the meal (and let us know several times that he was, in fact, choking it down) after he dowsed it with a few healthy capfuls of ranch.  

Gotta love him.  




    

Monday, June 24, 2013

Sun & Water


Ryan and I rolled out of bed this morning with cricked necks and aching backs, reminding us of the immense amount of fun we have had the last few days.  Ryan’s aunt and uncle, Todd and Jennette, were kind enough to invite us down to stay on their houseboat for a few days and join in on the family fun!

We drove down Wednesday afternoon, and enjoyed the rest of the evening eating Hawaiian haystacks, visiting, and enjoying the incredible nighttime weather.  As this was our first time on a houseboat, we didn’t know quite what to prepare for, and learned quite quickly to ask for a blanket the following nights – our towels just didn’t cut it!

Each day we were there, Ryan and I along with Todd and Jennette woke up around 5:30 or 6, snuck onto the boat while the rest of the gang was sleeping, and enjoyed an hour to two of the untouched water.  Jennette is a master at the slalom, Todd can wakeskate like nobody's business, Ryan threw in a few backflips on the wakeboard and I….got up on a slalom?  And got some serious (inches of) air on the wakeboard ;)

We had the best time fishing with Jackson, tubing and cliff jumping with Brittany and Braedon, exploring with the kiddos and just being with everyone.  Those Watts are a hoot.  Ryan and I definitely want to be parents who are gamers, and raise kids who are too.  Coming into the office was a little harder this morning, after a weekend at Powell.  We can’t wait to go back!





Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Rookie Ridin'

Lauren and I rode the Huntsman 140 last weekend. It's a fundraising ride for the Huntsman Cancer Institute and offers rides ranging from 25-140 miles. We decided to ride the 75 mile out-and-back from the University of Utah to Saratoga Springs and back.

It was a really sweet ride and we are super stoked we did it. Lauren, for the second time in her life!, rode the whole thing with clip-in shoes and finished like a champion. I'm lucky to have such a tough lady to run, ride, and travel with.

Some of the tough parts of the course included the killer uphill climb at the midpoint and toward the finish line. Also, after sitting on a small, hard seat for nearly 5.5 hours, the application of one of my favorite physics equations came to mind. The equation for pressure is force/area. My big bum on that tiny seat created some serious pressure and both Lauren and I were so relieved when we got to rest our bums on nice, big cozy seats. Also, seeing as how it was only Lauren's second time riding with clips, she had a few spills but got right back on the bike and kept grinding away.

The layout of the day went like this. We got up early at Uncle Brad's after hardly any sleep. Lauren saw a concert the night before and I went out with the boys to see Superman. We hopped in the car, drove to Huntsman, geared up and went to the start line. At 8:30 we took off with the group and cruised through the streets of south salt lake until we got to 9800S. Then, we crossed under I-15 and rode 20 miles on Redwood Rd to the midpoint at Westlake High School in Saratoga. After a delicious lunch of pork sandwiches and PB&J, we tenderly mounted our bikes and headed back.

Check out the fun pics!








Monday, June 10, 2013

Nock the Rock


My dad served his mission in Scotland, and one of his companions lives in Soda Springs, Idaho.  His brother tragically passed away a few years ago, and in his memory the “Nock the Rock” Half Marathon was created.  At the start of the run, there is a giant rock with an engraving that says “peace like a river” in Gallic, and it was tradition to “nock it” as you finished the run.

So my brother, dad, friend Natasha, Ryan and I all ran in the race together, with my mom cheering us on every step of the way!   The atmosphere was something I don’t think can be matched at any other race, with the whole town coming together to support Wade.  Not only this, but the scenery was breathtaking.  We ran through an elk ranch, on jeep trails and around lakes, with bright green rolling hills and trees as our view.  At the end of the race, we all jumped in the giant pond in Wade’s yard and enjoyed the chance to cool off after an incredibly hard, hot and high (6,000ft) run! 

Afterward, we drove to Logan to enjoy Frederico’s Pizza, a classic.  We also took a few minutes to check out the Pepperidge Farms factory as well as the Aggie Icecream Creamery.  I miss Logan so much :(

We are so happy to have ran together as a family, and really enjoyed the atmosphere and exercise.  We are already excited to do it again!







Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Jam Packed

The first week in June and we are already filling up the calendar.  Colorado and Moab have been crossed off the list, with a half-marathon and the Huntsman 70 mile bike ride filling up our next two weekends!

We plan to visit the Narrows and Angel’s Landing in Zions, along with a potential road trip to Southern California with some dear friends.  A family reunion here, and a family trip there, and we can already see September looming in around the corner. 

Ryan and I decided there is nothing like an Oregon summer, and it is this time in the year where we get antsy to be anywhere but inside.  Although nothing beats the Rogue River or Lost Creek Lake, we are finding good substitutes near our Utah home.  Who knows how much longer we will be in Provo, and when the time comes to leave, we want to be able to look around with satisfaction and say, “We really made the most of it here.”