So last weekend we hiked up to a lake in the Uintas with Karl's friend Brad and his family. We planned on fishing and spending the night. The lake was full of moss and covered with lilly pads and there really wasn't any fish so that part of the plan didn't work out. We were left with leeches and mini frogs.
Shawnee & Lizabeth
Alex on the beach
A layer of hail from the rain storm that kept us inside one afternoon
Chris & Lizabeth with one of her catches
Dad showing off his mad kite flying skills
Hangin' out by the fire
Alex and one of her many catches of the day
Karl & a fish.......are we seeing a trend here? He has more pictures with fish than with me!
Steph & Belle
Dad, our fishing guide
Ok, so I've had my fair share of tickets. Mostly speeding tickets back when I was young and dumb. Not once did I ever get pulled over and NOT get a ticket. Every time I was pulled over it was inevitable I would be getting a ticket. (Last year was the first time I've ever gotten pulled over and not been given a ticket. Interesting...considering what happened last year :) as some of you may know) I have never tried to talk myself out of it, just give me the ticket. I'd take the ticket and pay the fine. It's been almost 5 years since my last ticket. That is a huge deal for me, considering at one point I was thisclose to having my license taken away. Yesterday I was driving home from Costco, (which was a pointless trip anyway because the pharmacy was closed!) and got pulled over. What for? Failing to yield to a pedestrian (in a wheelchair). Now before you go and think that I'm the worst person in the world for not yielding to a pedestrian, let alone a pedestrian in a wheelchair (are they still called a pedestrian if they're in a wheelchair?), let me explain. Oh, and by the way, it's not like I hit her or anything, I just didn't stop to let her cross. 
Anyone who is familiar with the North Salt Lake, Woods Cross, Bountiful area knows that the intersection at the 2600 S I15 Exit/Entrance is f*cked up. That is, when you're heading west on 2600 S you go under the freeway and must either go left onto 1100 S or right onto 800 W. I was going left through the green light and by the time I saw the lady it was too late for me to stop and let her pass. I could have slammed on my brakes and stopped directly in her path, making her veer further into traffic to go around me. I obviously didn't do this and just kept going, as did the car ahead of me. It's not like I wasn't paying attention and didn't see her at all. People going East were stopped at the light, so she was crossing behind these stopped cars therefore blocking her from my view until I started into the left turn. And remember she's in a wheelchair so it's not exactly easy to see her crossing behind stopped cars if she's not taller than the cars. Another thing, this is happening right at dusk, heading West into the sun. So the cop pulled me and the car ahead of me over. I honestly didn't think he was going to give us tickets given the circumstances. He asked me if I saw the lady in the wheelchair trying to cross the street and I said yes, but by the time I saw her I was looking at her through my driver's side window and didn't want to slam on my brakes right there. So he took my info and brought me back a ticket. I have never fought a ticket in my life. That's because I know I have always been in the wrong. I will fight this ticket. I'm not going to f*ck up almost 5 years of ticket free driving for a failure to yield to a pedestrian ticket that isn't completely justified. The point is no, I didn't yield to this pedestrian, but how do you yield for somebody when by the time you see them you are already past them? And it's not like I hit her! Had she been in my direct path, ya I would have seen her and stopped! She wasn't exactly crossing in the smartest place. She could have crossed in a different spot that would have not been nearly as dangerous for her, or for us drivers.
So about 2 weeks ago Karl and I went fishing up around Christmas Meadows. I had never been to that area before and it was really beautiful. The fishing wasn't great but it was still kind of fun. The fish were sooo small! I would yank them clear out of the water and launch them flying into the air when I would hook them after they took the fly. I caught the first fish and I know Karl was secretly jealous even though the fish was only the size of my hand. Anyway, we were walking upstream because someone had told Karl that the fish get bigger the further up you go. We didn't wear our waders because we walked through some stuff that can snag or rip them up. The river wasn't that deep and wet wading isn't bad especially when it's hot like it was. We were walking up in the river and I started to slip and almost fell about 3 times so I decided to get out of the river to walk along side of it. As I was making my way to the shore I slipped and got my foot wedged into something and just kind of ended up sitting down in the water. It was pretty pathetic because it wasn't even like this huge, dramatic slip and fall with a big splash. I just kind of lost my balance and was forced down into a sitting position. My camera was in one of the lower pockets of my backpack and it didn't make it. I was pretty pissed at that at first, but as the day went on I was more pissed that I had to hike around in wet underwear. Gross, it is the nastiest feeling ever!
I finally ordered a new camera yesterday and hopefully I'll be posting some new awesome pictures that I'll take with it in the near future. I am trying to salvage and post the 2 or 3 pictures I took before the fall so everyone can see how cute and little the fish were.
Here are some of the pictures me and my sisters had taken a few months ago to give to our parents for Mother's/Father's Day. Thanks Toby & Denise!
My adorable nieces
The Pugliese Family
The Cartwright Family
The whole fam
The whole fam again
The Ariotti Sisters
I love this show. The video quality kind of sucks, but watch it anyway because it's hilarious! Steph, you really need to get Bravo.
Utah State agencies are going to start implementing a 4 day work week. Awesome right? Wrong! A 4 day work week means a 10 hour work day and I don't know if I can handle that. I can barely make it through 8 hours! I'm sure I'll get used to it and will eventually grow to love the 3 day weekends, but it might take awhile to get used to. Our new hours will be 7-6, I already come to work by 7:30 so getting here at 7 won't be too bad, but I usually leave at 4, so staying until 6 will be a stretch. Although, I think I can keep my 30 minute lunch break and be able to leave at 5:30 instead. Now that I think about it, it might not be so bad. Sometimes I work 13 hour days when I get sucked into working at the high school and I somehow manage to survive that.
I did. Okay, so it wasn't this exact toilet but it was almost just as bad. Karl and his roommates paid me $100 to clean their house. Their first offer was only $80 and I said it would have to be at least $100. Let's just say I'm glad I've had all my shots and I think they definitely got their money's worth. It took me 4 1/2 grueling hours and I wouldn't be too suprised if I develop a flesh eating bacteria or get gonnorhea because cleaning a bathroom that is used by 4 guys cannot be good for your health.
I have killed another plant. I learned a long time ago that I don't exactly have a green thumb but come on, how hard could it be to keep a bamboo plant alive? This little guy lasted almost 2 years! I'm still gonna try to nurse him back to life but he's brown and kinda crunchy so I don't have much hope that he'll make it. I try, I really do, but me and plants just don't go together.
I love this stuff so much I have to tell everyone about it! It's Minute Maid Pomegranate Tea. I guess it's not really my new favorite drink anymore since I've been drinking it for 5 or 6 months now. It just always hits the spot when I am thirsty for something other than water. Minute Maid also has Pomegrante Juice and Pomegranate Lemonade which are also really good.
*Oh, and if you're ever at Fashion Place Mall go to the Nordstrom coffee shop, they make a killer pomegranate iced tea.
