I know it's been a little while since my last adventure....or since I've written anything....but I'm going to catch up...eventually...we'll start with my little trip to Arkansas...
So your first thought may be....who takes and trip in Arkansas....what is even in Arkansas??? I mean those were my thoughts before last July when my dear friend and roommate of three years got married and moved to Arkansas for her husband's job. So after my Tallahassee adventure I knew I had to follow it up with something exciting....so I chose Arkansas. I decided if nothing else Laurel will be there to watch cheesy and Nate (Laurel's husband) would be there to watch sports so it couldn't be a complete disaster. I bought a plane ticket to Tulsa, OK and I was on my way.
My trip started early early early Friday morning. I thought I gave myself plenty of time to get to the airport and get to the plane....yeah....make that barely enough time. I got to the parking place and it took them forever to pick me up and take me to the airport, then I realized I forgot my boarding pass so I had to print another one. Not a big deal....until I got to security. So I got into the security line at 6:15....my flight was leaving at 6:45....and the guy at the back of the long line said it would take at least 30 minutes to get through security...yeah I was a bit panicked. Then he said we could try terminal 2 because their security line was only 15 minutes long. So I, along with some other brave travelers, made my way to terminal 2....knowing time was limited I starting preparing myself for security...you know...taking off shoes and jacket taking out liquids....praying I didn't have some hidden weapon in my backpack. I got through the line fine and took off back to terminal 1 to get to my flight. I had the brilliant idea to run without my shoes on because it was too hard to put them back on...yeah that was silly....you run faster in shoes than in socks....just in case you wanted to know. I'm sure people thought I was crazy as I weaved my way through the terminal toward the gate but I made it....at 6:40....yeah I was one of the last people on the plane....the last was a guy who was behind me in security line. Now I mentioned before that my flight was early...so I was hoping to catch some sleep on the way to Phoenix (yeah it was one of those Southwest flights) but since I had a nice little walk I had way too much energy to sleep...oh well....
The rest of the flying was pretty uneventful...although I will use this time to talk about the birds in the Phoenix airport. I have no idea what this is all about but there are birds that seen to live in the Phoenix airport. I have never understood why they don't do anything about them. The first time I was there I thought it was funny but after that I just felt like it was weird and unclean. So bizarre....
Anywho....I arrived in Tulsa ready for adventure. Laurel picked me up at the airport and we made our way back to Bentonville, AR. This is the part where I praise Laurel for picking me up and not making me find some sketchy shuttle....yeah she's awesome like that. We arrived in Bentonville and I immediately knew who everyone worked for....Wal-Mart...there is even a Wal-Mart museum....I didn't get a chance to go inside but it was there I promise. We went to Laurel's cute house and hung out until dinner at our classic spot, Olive Garden...so good. Laurel and Nate were in a Christmas program things so we went to that next. It was really cool. They had a live nativity along with all kinds of nativities set up on the gym of the church. Then they had a program with all kind of people from the community singing and playing instruments. They had some middle school choirs and an acapella group of older ladies (which was my favorite act). Then they had a huge Ozark Mormon Choir which was pretty legit. There were way more people in it than I thought there would be. Apparently Wal-Mart hires a lot of Mormons....who knew???
Then we went back to the Shepherd house and we watched Laurel's Christmas present to me....a fabulous Hallmark movie. Nate wasn't really into it but Laurel and I loved it!!!!! I just can't get enough of those cheesy movies....sigh....
The next day we went on a hunt....not an animal hunt but a people hunt....well more of a house hunt which sounds way less creepy. The Duggar family...from the TLC show 19 kids and Counting live a mere 30 minutes away from Laurel's house. How could we not go and look for it?? Apparently Laurel had been wanting to go but Nate wasn't really into it. I was so game! So with the help of Tom Tom (the GPS) we made our way out. It was quite exciting when we found it. There was a security guard out front so we thought it best not to stop and get out so we took pictures from the road. The house was just like on TV......amazing. And they had so many cars!!! I guess if you have 19 kids you have to having something to transport them in. After our successful venture we headed to Wal-Mart. This wasn't just any Wal-Mart it was the Wal-Mart where the Duggars have been spotted. Laurel called it the "Duggar Wal-Mart".
You really do have to specify which Wal-Mart you are going to because they are everywhere. I went to three different Wal-Marts during my stay. Store 100, which is the 100th store, the Duggar Wal-Mart and a Wal-Mart grocery store. So many Wal-Marts so little time!
After our adventure we made Christmas treats and watched the BYU basketball game. The game was followed by another Hallmark movie. Yeah Laurel and I are that into Hallmark....Nate....not so much.
Sunday was filled with Sunday like things....we went to church, ate a delicious dinner prepared by Laurel and then Laurel and Nate had another concert which was just the Mormon choir and once again it was fabulous!!
Monday I packed up and headed back to the airport. It was an uneventful trip back....except an hour delay in Denver.....and I made it back to Provo safely.
So just so you know Arkansas is a great idea....especially if you love Wal-Mart....but seriously it was such a blast. It was nice to do things just "Erin and Laurel style". I'm sure Nate wasn't super excited but what can you do?? I was so grateful for the chance to go and have a fabulous host and hostess!!!!
Coming next.....a year in review....which I will write once I remember what happened this year....
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Cross Country Adventure....
So the title of this post makes it sound like I daringly trekked the country in a car with only a few provisions to sustain me....that is definitely not the case. A few months ago I decided I wanted to go to Florida for the BYU vs. FSU game. It was kind of a long shot because tickets were so expensive and as it got closer I thought all hope was lost until when my aunt and uncle graciously gave me some of their frequent flier miles to come with them to the game. During this time my sister asked me if I wanted to go to Disneyland with them as their nanny of sorts. Of course I said yes to that one in a heartbeat. As plans were made and flights set I realized these two events fell in the same week. How crazy is that???
So the week started with a trip to Disneyland. Because of the second trip of my week, I was going to have to leave Disneyland earlier than everyone else so I headed up to Salt Lake and met the Paulson family at the airport. Getting through the airport with children is always an adventure no matter what the child/adult ratio is. (ok that's not necessarily true...if the ratio is like 4 to 1 you should be good) We made it to LAX and then took the shuttle to the Disneyland Hotel. This was the first time that I had stayed in a Disneyland property and it was very cool.
So the week started with a trip to Disneyland. Because of the second trip of my week, I was going to have to leave Disneyland earlier than everyone else so I headed up to Salt Lake and met the Paulson family at the airport. Getting through the airport with children is always an adventure no matter what the child/adult ratio is. (ok that's not necessarily true...if the ratio is like 4 to 1 you should be good) We made it to LAX and then took the shuttle to the Disneyland Hotel. This was the first time that I had stayed in a Disneyland property and it was very cool.
We headed into the park the next morning and I didn't know what to expect.....I mean I've been to Disneyland plenty of times but never with little kids so I didn't know how they were going to react. We had so much fun!! So many rides and so little time...Nikki had planned the trip so that we would be in Disneyland with her friends Kelly and John and their two kids. So basically there were five adults and six children. We weren't with Nikki's friends the whole trip but it was fun for the kids to go on the rides together.
So now we get to the major theme of trip....the bathroom. For those who are a little queasy (or a lot queasy) you may want to skip this paragraph. So on the trip we had three kids who went to the bathroom (Kate, Ashley, and Rachel) and only one diapered child (Sophie). Turns out having the diapered child was the easiest to deal with. Now Kate didn't have any problems but it seemed that as soon as we got to the front of any line Ashley or Rachel had to go to the bathroom. Okay that's a bit dramatic but it seemed that way. We had other miscues, including a crying child on the plane who decided she needed to go to the bathroom right as we starting taking off, one having lack of pooping troubles, one wetting the bed, poop on a bathroom floor, and someone having to wear a 3-6 month jumpsuit who wasn't Sophie (some happened after I left).
So after that adventure...which included 4 rides on Dumbo and fabulous water show at California Adventure, I packed my bags and headed back to Salt Lake to start on the second leg of the adventure.
The next adventure dealt with a lot of flying, a lot of humidity, and a football game.
Early Friday morning Aaron, Kaylee, and I drove up the Salt Lake airport for our trip to Florida. We spent most of the day on a plane or in an airport. From Salt Lake to Atlanta and then from Atlanta to Tallahassee (one educational thing that came out of this trip was that I am now able to spell Tallahassee, yep it counts as an educational trip then). We got to Tallahassee in time for the football team snack which is their last meal before bedtime. It was about 8:30 in Florida but I was still on California time so it was a perfect dinnertime for me. We ate and then my aunt invited the Samuelsons and Brother Atuaia to come see a laughing alligator she had purchased at the gift shop in the Tallahassee airport. It was one of those things where you walked by it and it starts laughing and rolling around. It was a hoot and a half.
Anyway.....we get in the elevator to go up to our room and two other people join us in the elevator. One of them, an offensive lineman from the team, joked about how when he was in the elevator previously and it had gotten stuck....we all chuckled and I hoped the same thing wouldn't happen again.....yeah of course it got stuck. It was kind of an awkward moment. There we were in the elevator with no A/C it was like one million percent humidity and we were all sweating bullets. We called the people downstairs and luckily we were in there too long. As we got to the bottom of the elevator our two new friends (or awkward acquaintances as the case may be) left and the rest of us continued up to the room looked at the alligator and continued to bed.
The next day was game day. Now Saturdays in the fall always have a special place in my heart because it means you can watch college football pretty much all day long. So we got up and ate breakfast, chilled for a while and then headed to the football game. Because of ride situations, we ended up on one of the team buses to the game, which meant we got there like two hours early. As we drove through Tallahassee it was interesting to see the fans realize who was in the bus and then either flip us off or do the "tamahawk chop". The stadium was BEAUTIFUL!!! It was like a shrine built to college football. I had no idea. As we were pulling up one of the players sitting behind us said "man, I should have brought my camera". It probably wasn't a good sign that the players were as mesmerized by the stadium as we were.
It was an amazing experience to watch something that you see on TV in real life. I loved it!! It was so hot and so humid that I'm surprised more players didn't go down with cramps or something. As we were getting to our seats, FSU fans just kept telling us to drink water....and lots of it...and they were so right!! I'm glad I had had a lot to drink that day (even if it did mean frequent trips to the bathroom). The game, as we all know, was not so great. I didn't expect us to win so that wasn't a major disappointment. Even though it was a lousy game it was fun to see all of the BYU fans that showed up in support. Even Coach Edwards was out there battling the sun with us. It was awesome!!!!
After the game we got a ride home from someone who works for BYU and trekked up to the Waffle House for dinner. Little did we know alot of BYU fans had the same idea. It was kind of fun to see the post game crowd come in still wearing Cougarblue and still smiling. By the end of the day we were tired, sunburnt, and craving more college football. Since we were on the east coast, football games lasted until 2 in the morning so we all fell asleep to the sound of college football....and what a pleasant sleep it was!!!
The rest of the trip was not eventful. We got to the airport in Tallahassee with all of the other remaining BYU faithful and staff (including I might add Greg Wrubell, who was also on our flight to Tallahassee) stopped in Atlanta and then headed back to Salt Lake.
After such an eventful week it was nice to be back in the comforts of Provo. It took me a couple days to get back into normal life and I had tons of work to catch up on but I wouldn't have traded that week of experiences for the world....
So now we get to the major theme of trip....the bathroom. For those who are a little queasy (or a lot queasy) you may want to skip this paragraph. So on the trip we had three kids who went to the bathroom (Kate, Ashley, and Rachel) and only one diapered child (Sophie). Turns out having the diapered child was the easiest to deal with. Now Kate didn't have any problems but it seemed that as soon as we got to the front of any line Ashley or Rachel had to go to the bathroom. Okay that's a bit dramatic but it seemed that way. We had other miscues, including a crying child on the plane who decided she needed to go to the bathroom right as we starting taking off, one having lack of pooping troubles, one wetting the bed, poop on a bathroom floor, and someone having to wear a 3-6 month jumpsuit who wasn't Sophie (some happened after I left).
So after that adventure...which included 4 rides on Dumbo and fabulous water show at California Adventure, I packed my bags and headed back to Salt Lake to start on the second leg of the adventure.
The next adventure dealt with a lot of flying, a lot of humidity, and a football game.
Early Friday morning Aaron, Kaylee, and I drove up the Salt Lake airport for our trip to Florida. We spent most of the day on a plane or in an airport. From Salt Lake to Atlanta and then from Atlanta to Tallahassee (one educational thing that came out of this trip was that I am now able to spell Tallahassee, yep it counts as an educational trip then). We got to Tallahassee in time for the football team snack which is their last meal before bedtime. It was about 8:30 in Florida but I was still on California time so it was a perfect dinnertime for me. We ate and then my aunt invited the Samuelsons and Brother Atuaia to come see a laughing alligator she had purchased at the gift shop in the Tallahassee airport. It was one of those things where you walked by it and it starts laughing and rolling around. It was a hoot and a half.
Anyway.....we get in the elevator to go up to our room and two other people join us in the elevator. One of them, an offensive lineman from the team, joked about how when he was in the elevator previously and it had gotten stuck....we all chuckled and I hoped the same thing wouldn't happen again.....yeah of course it got stuck. It was kind of an awkward moment. There we were in the elevator with no A/C it was like one million percent humidity and we were all sweating bullets. We called the people downstairs and luckily we were in there too long. As we got to the bottom of the elevator our two new friends (or awkward acquaintances as the case may be) left and the rest of us continued up to the room looked at the alligator and continued to bed.
The next day was game day. Now Saturdays in the fall always have a special place in my heart because it means you can watch college football pretty much all day long. So we got up and ate breakfast, chilled for a while and then headed to the football game. Because of ride situations, we ended up on one of the team buses to the game, which meant we got there like two hours early. As we drove through Tallahassee it was interesting to see the fans realize who was in the bus and then either flip us off or do the "tamahawk chop". The stadium was BEAUTIFUL!!! It was like a shrine built to college football. I had no idea. As we were pulling up one of the players sitting behind us said "man, I should have brought my camera". It probably wasn't a good sign that the players were as mesmerized by the stadium as we were.
It was an amazing experience to watch something that you see on TV in real life. I loved it!! It was so hot and so humid that I'm surprised more players didn't go down with cramps or something. As we were getting to our seats, FSU fans just kept telling us to drink water....and lots of it...and they were so right!! I'm glad I had had a lot to drink that day (even if it did mean frequent trips to the bathroom). The game, as we all know, was not so great. I didn't expect us to win so that wasn't a major disappointment. Even though it was a lousy game it was fun to see all of the BYU fans that showed up in support. Even Coach Edwards was out there battling the sun with us. It was awesome!!!!
After the game we got a ride home from someone who works for BYU and trekked up to the Waffle House for dinner. Little did we know alot of BYU fans had the same idea. It was kind of fun to see the post game crowd come in still wearing Cougarblue and still smiling. By the end of the day we were tired, sunburnt, and craving more college football. Since we were on the east coast, football games lasted until 2 in the morning so we all fell asleep to the sound of college football....and what a pleasant sleep it was!!!
The rest of the trip was not eventful. We got to the airport in Tallahassee with all of the other remaining BYU faithful and staff (including I might add Greg Wrubell, who was also on our flight to Tallahassee) stopped in Atlanta and then headed back to Salt Lake.
After such an eventful week it was nice to be back in the comforts of Provo. It took me a couple days to get back into normal life and I had tons of work to catch up on but I wouldn't have traded that week of experiences for the world....
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Raining Chaos....
I'm normally a big fan of a good thunderstorm....thunder, lightening, the smell of rain these things make me happy, until it starts raining outside and inside. It's even better when it rains inside on one of those days when you just want something to go right.
I came home from work expecting to pack and clean so I could go to ABQ the next day. When I got home my roommate's stuff was everywhere and I knew something was up. She informed me that there was water leaking into our apartment. Nice....I thought it would just be a little water, no big deal.....huh....yeah.....I was wrong. A steady stream of water had come through her ceiling for the two hour previous to my homecoming. Also the sliding glass door had water coming through it. It only got better from there. Eventually there were three leaks in River's room (yes, it's somewhat ironic that the biggest leak was in River's room) and the living room was like a water feature. All we could really do is sit and watch water fall from the ceiling. The onsite maintenance guy kept coming over and poking holes in our ceiling to keep the whole thing from collapsing....awesome. Eventually water worked it's way into the other two rooms in the apartment through the windows. Luckily that damage wasn't extensive....well the damage to my room wasn't bad....I'm not sure what happened in the other room other than a lot of things getting wet.
After a while I realized that I wasn't going to sleep in the apartment so I called my sister and thankfully she let me come stay at her house. I quickly packed a suitcase and got the heck outta dodge. So obviously I'm a person who likes to be in control of a situation. I like knowing where my stuff is and that it's in good condition. So me leaving all of my things while my ceiling is leaking is NOT something I would normally do, but there is always room for change. I left for home from my sister's house with no clue how things had ended up the night before. I told my roommate's fiance that if my stuff needed to be moved to move it....yeah I did that. It was one of those pray and have faith that everything works out for the best situations. Luckily it did...
I arrived back in Provo not knowing where I was going to sleep or if I was going to have to guy all new stuff or what the deal was. I walked in to a new ceiling and the assurance that the leakage was fixed. My other roommates moved out sometime after the flood happened. My stuff was all there and untouched....well except for the paint dust everywhere. Yeah...they apparently painted my ceiling without moving anything....whatever. My apartment was supposed to be painted over the break anyway so they are just starting a little early. It's sort of strange I'm just in my apartment and random people keep showing up.....but if I get a freshly painted apartment with new carpet pads and clean carpet I can live with that.
Throughout this whole process I have remained very calm and optimistic which is definitely a blessing. From the reactions of the people I've talked to it seems like I missed some drama with my former roommates threatening to sue and such. I'm glad I wasn't there. Hopefully this will all be over soon, until then I live among boxes, paint, tape, and furniture in random places......
I came home from work expecting to pack and clean so I could go to ABQ the next day. When I got home my roommate's stuff was everywhere and I knew something was up. She informed me that there was water leaking into our apartment. Nice....I thought it would just be a little water, no big deal.....huh....yeah.....I was wrong. A steady stream of water had come through her ceiling for the two hour previous to my homecoming. Also the sliding glass door had water coming through it. It only got better from there. Eventually there were three leaks in River's room (yes, it's somewhat ironic that the biggest leak was in River's room) and the living room was like a water feature. All we could really do is sit and watch water fall from the ceiling. The onsite maintenance guy kept coming over and poking holes in our ceiling to keep the whole thing from collapsing....awesome. Eventually water worked it's way into the other two rooms in the apartment through the windows. Luckily that damage wasn't extensive....well the damage to my room wasn't bad....I'm not sure what happened in the other room other than a lot of things getting wet.
After a while I realized that I wasn't going to sleep in the apartment so I called my sister and thankfully she let me come stay at her house. I quickly packed a suitcase and got the heck outta dodge. So obviously I'm a person who likes to be in control of a situation. I like knowing where my stuff is and that it's in good condition. So me leaving all of my things while my ceiling is leaking is NOT something I would normally do, but there is always room for change. I left for home from my sister's house with no clue how things had ended up the night before. I told my roommate's fiance that if my stuff needed to be moved to move it....yeah I did that. It was one of those pray and have faith that everything works out for the best situations. Luckily it did...
I arrived back in Provo not knowing where I was going to sleep or if I was going to have to guy all new stuff or what the deal was. I walked in to a new ceiling and the assurance that the leakage was fixed. My other roommates moved out sometime after the flood happened. My stuff was all there and untouched....well except for the paint dust everywhere. Yeah...they apparently painted my ceiling without moving anything....whatever. My apartment was supposed to be painted over the break anyway so they are just starting a little early. It's sort of strange I'm just in my apartment and random people keep showing up.....but if I get a freshly painted apartment with new carpet pads and clean carpet I can live with that.
Throughout this whole process I have remained very calm and optimistic which is definitely a blessing. From the reactions of the people I've talked to it seems like I missed some drama with my former roommates threatening to sue and such. I'm glad I wasn't there. Hopefully this will all be over soon, until then I live among boxes, paint, tape, and furniture in random places......
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Post Graduation Life....
So I have officially entered the "real world". I'm not sure what world I was in before but not that much has changed....except for the no homework thing...which I miss at this point. I moved into a new apartment and a new ward and I'm currently trying to make the best of it. Tonight obviously is not going well. I've learned a lot about myself in the past year and am so grateful for every opportunity I have had. No it's time to put all that learning to use. I am determined to make the most of the new adventures I've had...no matter how hard or lonely that road may be. One thing I'm grateful for is that my parents haven't completely kicked me out on my own. Which is a double bonus because I haven't quite gotten the whole working full-time thing down. I will figure it out eventually. Luckily I've been able to pick up some work baby-sitting for my sister and driving my parents around Utah. Yes, I count driving my parents around as a job....part-time but the pay is fabulous! Soon I've got to figure something out and find some kind of future in life. I can't just expect things to magically appear in life....it's time to make decisions....so scary...and hopefully so rewarding....
Sunday, February 28, 2010
5 Things....
I just returned from a fireside where Richard Paul Evans spoke. He is the author of a lot of books including The Christmas Box and Grace among many others. He gave 5 things that every person should know...
1. Know who you are
2. Forgive Others
3. Do it--go after what you want--if you fail, fail big
4. Appreciate Adversity
5. Choose to Love
Okay so I'm normally not the person to say this but this talk was EXACTLY what I needed to hear. I have been so confused lately about my future and why things aren't working out and what I've done to deserve all of this and such. He helped me, along with the Spirit, to realize that no matter what I have to go forward and do what the Lord has planned for me. I know it will be scary but I will learn so much if I just do what the Lord wants me to do. I have learned so much throughout my life and will continue to learn so much more from my trials. He said that we aren't who we are despite of our trials but we are who we are because of our trials....simply AMAZING!!!
1. Know who you are
2. Forgive Others
3. Do it--go after what you want--if you fail, fail big
4. Appreciate Adversity
5. Choose to Love
Okay so I'm normally not the person to say this but this talk was EXACTLY what I needed to hear. I have been so confused lately about my future and why things aren't working out and what I've done to deserve all of this and such. He helped me, along with the Spirit, to realize that no matter what I have to go forward and do what the Lord has planned for me. I know it will be scary but I will learn so much if I just do what the Lord wants me to do. I have learned so much throughout my life and will continue to learn so much more from my trials. He said that we aren't who we are despite of our trials but we are who we are because of our trials....simply AMAZING!!!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
So Tired......
You know when you are so busy and stressed and then so not busy and stressed and you crash...yeah I'm so there. For some reason I've haven't been sleeping well. I mean I've never been the best sleeper but last semester I slept so well. Now I haven't had a good nights sleep in about five days....and today it hit....hard. I'm sitting in class and I am soooo tired I can't believe it. I keep having these moments where I feel like I'm pulling out of it and then I crash again....definitely no bueno...
Monday, January 11, 2010
The Last Semester.....
So holy cow....I can't believe that I've finally got here but here I am. The only thing is no one really prepares you for what you do after you graduate. I suppose I should have been more proactive than I was in the whole graduate school process but I just couldn't fathom going to school anymore. There isn't much I can do about that now so I am looking forward to a little time off to work and just plain have some fun. The past four years have been crazy. As I think of myself when I was a freshmen and who I am now it's amazing how much I've changed. Within that I think of how many things have stayed the same. I love the same things, although my priorities may have shifted a bit but I still them. As I serve in my calling I have these random "wow I'm really old" moments....I'm really not that old but everyone in my ward is so young. They are so sure that life is going to turn out exactly how they plan it....it's kind of refreshing. Anyway....we'll see what the next few months holds but I'm sure it will have some major changing and growing for me....as every semester does....
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