A night at the Sundstrom's Annual Chili Cookoff and Croquet Tournament

So, late last week I got a call from my brother, Dave, asking me if Jill and I would be interested in attending the annual Chili & Croquet cookoff that he and Kim have hosted at their house for quite a few years. I said we'd love to attend, committed to making my best batch of chili for the chili cookoff competition. Once Jill came home, I relayed the invitation to her and informed her that I'd told Dave that we'd bring some chili. Translation: "Jill, you need to make some chili for the cookoff". On the day of the event, Jill made our favorite homemade chili and we headed on up to the Kaysville Sundstrom home. We had a lot of fun, despite being eliminated early from the Croquet tournament. It was good to be able to spend a fun evening with family, old friends, and even meeting some new friends.

Overstimulation

I think that overstimulation is a word - the definition I found of it referred to overstimulation of the pancreas, that isn't what I am talking about though. I am talking about, when you have worked so hard, and had so many things go right, and had so many opportunities in one week that your mind is done. Not because you are tired but because it is full, and needs some time to process.

That is what my week has been like and don't get me wrong I am not complaining, in fact it is hard to describe my mood as anything besides extremely pleased.

The week started on Monday, it was our friend April's birthday, so following work we went with her and some of her other friends to Desert Star Playhouse to see James Blonde. It was very funny.

Additionally this week, I was in charge of putting together our annual staff retreat, and in conjunction with that since we would have staff from all of our offices in town, we organized several mini trainings. The first training was hosted on Tuesday, with two more being hosted on Wednesday. I got home both nights so tired, but also excited because the trainings went so well.

Thursday, was the day of the staff retreat, the Utah Olympic Park hosted us for a very discounted price. The training was good, then we had the opportunity to watch the flying ace skiers -


After the retreat concluded about 5 of us stayed up at the park to take advantage of the highly discounted ride package we were able to purchase a Gold Package for $45, regularly $90.

The package included a bobsled ride, two zip line rides and the quicksilver Alpine Slide ride.

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I was so proud of myself, the bobsled was rained out so I will have to save that for another day, but I can't believe I did the zip lines, and they were awesome.

All of this activity probably would have caused slight overstimulation anyway, but then Steve and I topped the night off by attending Cirque de Soleil - Saltimbanco performance at the E-Center. Wow!!! It was amazing.





I would highly reccomend the show to anyone, Steve actually got pulled up on stage at the beginning of the night, he pretended to be very nervous about the whole thing, but I think secretly he enjoyed being tickled by the clowns in front of thousands of people. I love you sweetheart!

I wish that I would have had a camera for all of the days extreme activities, but I am so glad that I had the opportunities.

Long Drive Home

So earlier this week, I had to go to St. George for work. My boss and I drove down on Wednesday, had some meetings, conducted some interviews and then planned to come home Thursday. When we planned the trip, we thought it would be nice to go before the Holiday, then if we got home a little early on Thursday, we would be able to start the Holiday weekend a little early. Unfortunately, things don't always turn out as planned. We were making good time, and had just driven through Filmore, thought about stopping for lunch but then decided that we weren't that hungry yet, and maybe if we made it to Nephi we could have Wendy's.

Unfortunately, just as we got back on the freeway we saw this...


After, 1 1/2 hours, sitting on the side of the freeway watching emergency vehicles pass, they opened one lane, and we drove past this.



It was a scary but amazing site, if you can't identify the items that were left from the truck it was apples and broccoli, all the packaging had burned off, and there were no traces remaining, but the fruit and vegetables were still there.

The accident, was caused when one semi truck rear ended another, and they both started on fire. So even though our early start to the weekend actually turned out to be a late start, we were grateful that we were safe and not involved in the collision.

A night at the Alaskan Inn!

Jill and I went on our first date on July 9th, 2005. I was late for the date because I decided to buy a car that day and severely underestimated the amount of time that the car buying process takes. Luckily, Jill was patient and understanding when I called her to let her know that I was going to be a "little late". As will come to be a constant fact of our relationship from that point on, I put Jill's patience to a test when I called her a 2nd time to inform her that I was even going to be "later than I thought originally". Wait a minute, did I even call her at all? I can't remember. What I do remember is that she DID wait, and we had a great time getting to know each other that day. Since then, we have made a point to do something special on both of our anniversarys, our "First Date Anniversary" and our "Wedding Anniversary" (November 2nd! See honey, I can remember some dates!!!)

This year, Jill informed me way back in early March to keep my calendar free, as she had made plans for July 9th. When the day came, Jill started driving northward. Our first stop, however, was at the IHC InstaCare in Bountiful, as my left eye was itching and watering profusely. I had once suffered through a short bout of Pink Eye, and feared that this may be what was coming on again. Sure enough, as soon as the doctor looked into my left eye he confirmed that this was exactly the case, and prescribed some antibiotic eye drops. Hooray! He did say that it looked like I had came in early enough that it was still in the early stages and hopefully wouldn't be "that bad".

Anyway, back to the trip. My mind wandered. Where were we going? Lava Hot Springs? Yellowstone? Some quaint Bed & Breakfast in Small Town, Utah? As she started driving up through Ogden, I remembered that one of Jill's friends had told her about a place called The Alaskan Inn up in Ogden Canyon. Sure enough, that's where we stopped. As we checked in, we were giddy with anticipation of the fun evening we had planned. As we entered the room, Jill was shocked by the realization that our room didn't have a shower. No showers? It couldn't be. Sure enough, the room only had what their website had described as a "whirlpool tub", although it had a bit of dingy look to it and we both decided then and there that we would be bohemians for the night, and postpone any bathing/showering until the next day when we reached the paradise that is our home in West Bountiful.

The night in Ogden was a lot of fun. We went to dinner at the Timbermine Restaurant, and then walked along the Ogden River Parkway for about 3 miles. After that, we decided to go for a drive, and drove eastbound up through Eden and then a bit south, heading into Huntsville. We drove up through Huntsville towards the Huntsville Monestary, as we had heard that it was a neat place to visit, however by time we got to the front gate of the monestary, it was closed for the night. (It was only 9:30 pm! What the heck? Those monks must have an early bed time.) The next morning, we had breakfast and then headed back home.

It was a fun outing, but I'm sure that both Jill and I would suggest staying somewhere other than the Alaskan Inn. I think next time we're up there, we're going to look at the Snowberry Inn, which we found near Pineview Reservoire.

I'm so lucky to be married to such a loving, caring, beautiful, and above all, a patient woman. She's the love of my life!

The Indigo Girls

About 3 years ago, Steve took me to an Indigo Girls concert at Red Butte Garden, as a celebration of the one year anniversary of our first date. I know it sounds a little silly, but, that is an important day in our lives. Four years ago on July 9, 2005, both of our lives changed, for the better. Well on Tuesday of this week the 7th of July, the Indigo Girls came back to Red Butte Gardens. I actually didn't know they were coming until a co-worker mentioned that she was going up to the concert with a friend. So I did some quick searching and found some tickets being sold for less than face value on KSL.Com. I quickly called, gave them my credit card number and hoped that when we arrived at Red Butte two hours later, there would be tickets at will call, rather than the realization that I had been taken. We got there, right about the time the concert started and it was a great night. While they probably aren't my favorite band, I do enjoy just listening to them. There is something about their music that you just get caught up in. Steve and I both share a love for live music, and what could be better than enjoying it outside on a beautiful summer night.

4th of July

I hope that everyone had a very Happy 4th of July. We had a great weekend.

I love long summer weekends, let's be honest I love long weekends no matter the season. This weekend started with a short hike in Mueller Park Friday morning, some shopping and lunch at Costco, followed by a date night with Steve, we went to CPK and then to the see the movie The Proposal.



Saturday, we went up to my Grandma Johnson's and I swam for a bit with my cousins, and Mark. We had some great fried chicken (thanks Grandma), and enjoyed good company.

Then we headed over to Steve's folks for a BBQ and fireworks with Steve's parents and Kim and Dave and the Boys.




Here's to more summer weekends !!!

Taylorsville Dayzz

This past weekend was Taylorsville Dayzz, which is a pretty awesome celebration, held each year one weekend before the 4th of July.

On Friday night Steve and I had come down to Salt Lake to take my parents to dinner for Fathers Day. Well if you don't already know my dad is a die hard when it comes to Taylorsville Dayzz. The celebrations include three nights of concerts and fireworks, the biggest night being Saturday. Well Friday, Mark and I went over with him for the concert, even though the weather was looking pretty iffy. Steve and my Mom showed better judgement and stayed at my folks house to watch a movie. Below, is the picture of my dad trying to get his pancho on before the torrential downpour. It was hilarious, he looked like a little kid playing in a plastic bag and Mark and I were laughing so hard we couldn't help.



Saturday night we tried again, with a much bigger group. My parents invited their friends Andy and Judy. Andy got a little excited during the Jay White "Neil Diamond" performance.

Steve and I were joined by his parents, and Kim and Dave and the boys, and then Mark and CJ came as well.

All in all it was a great night, with good music and incredible fireworks... can't wait until next year!!!