So I keep checking my blog like all of you hoping a little blog fairy might come do my Texas post for me with all the pictures. Well that has yet to happen. I've been so busy, when I think about doing it I"m usually at work and don't have all the pictures to upload. I decided I'd still do a post updating you all on my recent outings and adventures. School is insane that's enough said haha. Everyone is trying to pile it on before spring break in a couple weeks. I've had papers due, presentations to prepare for, exams, and many other random assignments to work on. Work has also been picking up. I've been going to one elementary regularly to help put together an engineering club, about once a week. Even today we had a group of high school students here doing some competition. I was designated photographer with a very very not so good point and shoot. I was like please give credit to a three year old for this not me. Haha I also shot the Jazz game Monday. We blew the Hawks out of the water, it was a good game. We're ranked 8th if we went to playoffs now, but another poll ranks us 5th right now for how on fire we've been beating the Celtics and Lakers. It's been exciting to be around it all. Last night I went to the Draper Temple open house. I highly highly recommend for everyone to go, especially if you don't have a recommend or can only do baptism's. It is soooo pretty, I could hardly believe it. I wish we could take pictures, but I know it wouldn't do it justice. Even just the detail in everything is insane. Haha funny story we had like the world's oldest shuttle and it broke down on our way back. We sat there for a few minutes and he was able to get it started, luckily I was with Cameron and said you can walk back to that church and come pick me up in the car, no way could I have walked there in my shoes. We also drove by President Monson's house after driving by all those crazy big houses up in Draper. That is another funny story one I won't post for sake of his embarassment. We then went to Olive Garden for dinner. We were going to do McDonald's kids meals since he let me choose but last minute switched to Olive Garden haha. I feel like there is so much more, but really I'm just a boring person who only goes to work and school haha. Anyway, enjoy the update hopefully the Texas picture one will be coming soon. I also am possibly getting my hair done tomorrow so I'll post a pic, any suggestions blonde, red, dark brown highlights?? Oooh and I scheduled my appointment to get my passport next Friday so here I am becoming a little International traveler.
So here is the much anticipated Texas trip post! You can check out my Facebook for every picture I took, I"ll just include a few on here. So I left on Friday morning and after a layover in a not so clean New Mexico airport landed that afternoon at the Houston Hobby airport. Little did I know such big cities have really bad traffic. Since Lidia had to work and didn't feel quite comfortable asking her boss to get off early since she just started, had her brother pick me up. It was interesting. I was on the phone with Lidia and she was talking to him on another one. We finally figured who we each were and I made him wave before I just jumped into the car. One of the first things I noticed when I got off the plane was how humid it was. I literally was sweating like crazy and could hardly breathe. I had to ask someone if this is how it is. He's all yup girl you're in Texas. I'm like oh lucky, but then he said actually it's just really bad inside, you'll be fine. So on our way. The traffic was insane and took like an hour and a half to get to her house (keep this in mind for when I left) It also was insanely confusing, he was giving me the tourist guide including that George Bush senior lives right by a hotel he works at and he even got to drop a senator off at his house (he didn't know this until he got there and security kept stopping him) Hillary Duff also lives on this street (Cameron, I totally forgot to tell you that haha I should have taken a pic for you :) anyway, it's huuuuuuuuuuge. I was almost in a culture shock. I took so many pictures of just the buildings. He said it's like there's four downtowns, but it's more a business place not someplace a lot of tourists come to visit. We get to her very lovely house and they have a guest room just for me. I couldn't believe it! They were all very nice. Lidia's brother who's 20, mom, dad and her live there. Her parents speak only a little bit of English and before this trip I though I forgot all my Spanish, but I think I did really well towards the end at least in remembering some basic things, it will get me ready for Guatemala. Oh I forgot this part, by the airport getting on the freeway there were all these people with coolers of water selling them on the side of the street. I sat there shocked I couldn't believe they did that, but I guess if you make money what the heck. So Lidia got home and she had told me about this outlet mall in Katy (right outside Houston where her house is) that doesn't even compare to Park City's it's so big and all inside. We decided to go there since we were going out dancing with her brother later that night and most of my pants have holes in them. It was huge. I found some pants, a shirt and jacket in about an hour or so, pretty good timing I think. So we go home and shower, I literally have been sweating this entire time my makeup is like off and my hair is so greasy it looks like I haven't showered in weeks. I then had to get approved by her brother on what to wear, including shoes. I was planning on flip flops or my skater shoes. Well apparently in Texas they'll turn you away if you aren't in heels. Don't ask my why but I actually packed a pair. It was an interesting experience, definitely different then the LDS stuff you see in Salt Lake. The next morning we, well I slept in haha, the time difference through me off I think it was about 9:00 their time 8:00 Salt Lake time. Lidia's mom made a very delicious breakfast of eggs, meat (I think like steak) and beans. I actually really liked it. Oh and she tried to make me like a vegetable drink with carots and celery. It was ok, but not something I could do everyday. Sorry poor Lidia. After, we decided to go down to Galveston, supposed to be about 45 minutes away where the Gulf of Mexico is. Hurricane Ike wiped it out last year and let me say it was so sad, I can't imagine the devastation Hurricane Katrina caused. On the way down one thing I noticed was there were multiple people camped on the side of the road with tables and things for sale. It was Valentine's Day so mostly bears and well hugemongo bears and whatnot. It was like a yard sale but just randomly on the side of the road. Most random and weird thing I've ever seen. I even took a picture. You know what I just decided I"ll do the pictures as a separate post, that will be easier. Anyway, traffic was pretty bad and in Texas it will rain then downpour then stop then again all within like 5 minutes. It kept doing this and we'd have to slow down in the downpour, you could hardly see the car in front of you. It was raining a little in Galveston, we went to this Aquarium since that's basically all that was open. It was cool to see my favorite the penguins and different fish. Even a stingray which you couldn't touch there. We then went to see the beach. It was raining so we decided to just stop and get out on the side of the road to see. We kept hearing all these sirens. We got worried thinking oh no its like a hurricane let's get out of here, when we realized it must be a parade or something. Mardi Gras was the next weekend, but they wanted to celebrate early apparently. We went down the street it was on to find we were at the endof the parade and people were going crazy for beads. I took some pictures of them, but fireman were sitting on the top of firetrucks throwing them out and people were going crazy for them, it was actually pretty funny. After a sonic diet coke because I wasn't feeling well I think from the sea smell and altitude change we headed home. I rested for awhile then got ready to go out with Lidia's parents at a real Latino dancing place for Valentine's. Oooh before this her mom made the best shrimp soup ever. Everyone knows I love shrimp and man oh man this was amazing. It was cool to see a place like this, although no one spoke in English there just Spanish, but it was a good experience to work on it. I even danced a little. There were sooooo many people we were squished into the wall! I got a seat eventually and sadly enough fell asleep (it had been a long two days) we rode with LIdia's parents and it was about midnight and we decided to head home. I went right to sleep and the next day we decided to go to San Antonio, about 2 to 2 and a half hours away. We went to the Riverwalk and to see the Alamo. The Riverwalk is pretty cool. There's these taxi ferries that drive around on the actual San Antonio river and you walk right beside it. Some parts aren't even fenced in and you could fall in, although I doubt its very deep. It definitely had a different feel then Houston. We then decided to walk to this I think called Rivermall that had all these authentic Mexican shops. We bought some things and after walking like 30 minutes to get there thanks to Lidia thinking it was two streets away :) sorry Lidia, we went back. We wanted some good Texas food and steak sounded really good, so we found this place called the Lonestar on the Riverwalk. Let me tell you don't eat there. The steak was gross and service was bad and when we got the ticket it was like a different name then the restaurant was called. All in all it was a weird experience and they set us under a tree with birds up in it. We then walked through the Alamo briefly and got a few more souvenious and headed home. Wait first we stopped to get gas at a station just off the freeway right outside San Antonio. One intersection had like 30 different lights pointing to everything, it was crazy and the gas station didn't have Twizler bites, I'm like who doesn't have those its a staple driving food. We then got back to Houston and decided to get a good steak to make up for it. After that we drove around to see some of the schools there. They were huge like bigger then colleges here I couldn't believe it. We then went home so we could sleep and get up early to catch my flight. My flight left at 7 and we decided to leave at 5 since it took so long before. Well we got there in like 20 minutes and I got through security and everything in like 20 minutes. So I was left to wait for an hour. I got on the flight and then realized we had to stop in Denver, grr I hate the stopping and starting part. On the way there some guy was farting by me and it was soo gross I almost puked. I was able to sleep most of it though. Anyway, all in all it was a good trip and glad I went. I'm excited to go to Guatemala in May even though Lidia's brother tried to scare me with it. Well I'm going to the Jazz game now, but I promise the pictures will be coming! Oh PS I checked my phone on things I forgot. Some guy was painting a sign in the rain, their stop signs are sideways not up and down very confusing, some guy was giving divorces out of his van at the gas station, people there don't know how to drive and everyone has their house on blocks on the coast.
Well hello everyone. I'm giving you all a very small update so you know why my Texas post hasn't come. I had my wisdom tooth out on Wednesday and have been so out of it ever since. I got back Monday and had started to feel the tooth hurt a little on Sunday. Well, it just wanted to be in my mouth or something. It hurt soo bad and Tuesday I finally called to make an appointment. They were able to get it out Wednesday. Last time I let one go my gum got infected and I had to get it quickly taken out on a Saturday so I was avoiding that. In addition to this I still had all my catch up homework due this week. I even still had to finish a three page paper after I had it out, but before the novacaine wore off. It was pretty intense. He didn't give me any prescription pain meds after my request because it just makes me sick, but I am still sooo out of it. Today I walked right past my car even. I've also been sleeping a ton. I'm not sure if maybe since I'm taking so much of just over the counter, like to the max of what you can and normally I don't do that. Anyway, I'm sure this is crazy too but just letting you all know that's where I've been.
Well hello everyone I am finally home after a very early and long flight this morning. I made it safe and everything is good except being insanely tired, having a ton of homework and of course laundry/unpacking. I plan on doing a full out post in the next few days when I have more time, but I had more observations of coming home. Also I just read something about me that upset me really bad and I knew typing this would get my mind off it. If you want to know email me or call, I really don't feel comfortable typing it on here.
So here goes some from my last night there others on plane here. Oh and sorry the last post had so many typos I was doing it while talking to my family haha.
-diet coke on an airplane for some reason tastes really good
-it sucks if the person you're sitting next to on the plane has gas
-a lot of clouds create an extremely "textured" ride
Houston Hobby airport is extremely efficient and only takes ten minutes to get to your gate
-Lidia's brother will try and scare you about Guatemala
-I LOVE my iPod
-blueberry breakfast bars are kind of nasty
-it's almost impossible to sleep on an airplane although not totally if you're tired enough
-some people are very ignorant
-it sucks sitting next to someone who is sick on a plane and across the aisle a single mom with a little baby and toddler.
Well that one was short I promise I very exciting post is soon coming!
My family is dying to see pics I'll explain them later. One is the night I got here us going dancing the other is in front of the Alamo
Here is a list of notes I've made while in Texas. I'll post more when I get back, but I've been typing this into my phone on observations I've made while in Houston, Katy, Galveston and San Antonio.
-roads here are insanely confusing
-penguins are awesome
-change in altitude sucks
-there's no such thing as raining on your parade in Galveston
-Mardi Gras is a really really big deal and people will do anything for free beads
-there's always traffic in Houston no matter what time of day it is
-you can't get on the freeway without passing an accident
-it rains like a downpour then stops for two minutes then again then slows down
-people think its cool to put blue lights on their car
-Salt Lake's spaghetti bowl only has one noodle in it compared to Houston
-blinkers aren't cool here
-Sonic diet coke can solve altitude and sea sickness
-the humidity can do wonders on dry skin
-SLC downtown skyline is nothing compared to Houston
-Walker Lane doesn't compare to Memorial Drive
-my bug would flood here
-Latin and techno dancing are two very different things
-I'm on average 6 inches taller then Latin people
-apparently I can be turned away from certain places for wearing my skater shoes or flip flops
-I'm a whimp when it comes to staying up late
-Bigrig trucks are pretty much the only people getting pulled over the check their weight
-So everyone in Texas has a million stickers on their windshield I thought oh maybe it's a parking pass no it's their tages instead of being on license plates weird huh
-they have textured pavement not rough roads
-it's a necessity to travel with an iPhone
-if ever in San Antonio on the riverwalk do not eat at the Lonestar
-If ever you let Lidia read a map don't believe her if she says somethings two streets away
-bumps on the road are larger then they may appear
-Aliens will invade Texas first
-it's very possible to get a sunburn in February
-there is such a thing as a bad diet coke
Most of these will be explained with pictures haha but there you go. I promise details to come, I have to catch a very early flight tomorrow!
It's finally here!!! I am going to Texas tomorrow and absolutely cannot wait. It's been snowing most of the week in SLC so it will definitely be a nice change going to 70 degree weather! I haven't done any packing and still need a few things at the store, but I've been trying really hard to get caught up on school work. I've done pretty good on getting the internet stuff done, but I do have two papers to write, I can always just work on those on the plane. It's crazy I'm only going to be gone for a few days, but I want it to feel like a real vacation and not have to worry about anything here, like school and whatnot. Also today I officially decided I'm going to Guatemala. I've almost bought my plane ticket. I'm still waiting to see what seats Sam wants in case she's already booked hers, but yeah. All in one year I'm going on two very awesome trips on an airplane!! What I've wanted to do for years. That's pretty much the only exciting things going on in my life right now. I shot the Jazz/Laker game last night which was pretty awesome oh and I found out how many I sold from the last game. I can now say I'm a professional photographer, in some ways which is exciting. School and work are going good, we're going to a lot more schools and my videos have been put on hold until I do some interviews, probably next week sometime. Newsbreak is just kicking up for our first show. I"m missing that class tomorrow with demonstrations on how to run certain equipment. I stayed an had one of the lab people show me which was nice and hopefully I'm not missing anything. Oooh my political science class I got my paper back the one I thought I bombed. Guess what I got a 90! Can you believe that, I sure as heck couldn't. I have another one due next week as well as one for my telecommunication course. I did my almost last radio show last week. I had to run the soundboard on it since the other person was out of town. It went good, only mistake was trying to get the audio consistent on our commercial segments. I know I'm going to be asked to fill in every now and then but it feels amazing to finally have my Saturday mornings back. Well, I'm at work now I think I"ll keep this one short and sweet. I'm taking my camera to Texas so expect lots of fun pictures on my adventure!!!
I feel like I have to apologize to my blog. This past week has been insane plus I do the same thing everyday and feel its not totally blog worthy. I still check it everyday for the comments sadly enough I haven't had any, but its ok I forgive you all. I know you're probably mad at me for letting this go almost an entire week. I also got really sick of that creepy teddy bear so I found this Japanese style and decided to try it, it looks kind of cool. I also tried to upload a playlist. It was too big with how this template is formatted and you couldn't read the first post. With my awesome web page building skills I tried to fix it, but it was a slightly different code then I understood and ended up looking possessed so I just deleted it. I truly don't know what to put. I did another Jazz game, it was a late one on Thursday started at 8:30 you can go to that same website to see. I taught primary the sunbeams yesterday. I had two new little girls and one boy visitor in addition to two regulars who are slowly transitioning in, with a lot of sitting on my lap, tears and being told it's almost time to go get mommy and daddy. I feel bad their attention span is maybe 30 seconds. The lesson material maybe 5 if I stretch. So we color and sing most of the time. I try to do games, but am not very creative I"ve looked on primary sites, but there's all this crazy prep work which I'd love to do but generally don't prepare the lesson until a few hours before church and just don't have time. So if anyone has any ideas I'd love to hear them remember they're between 3 and 5. I actually really enjoy it minus the headache I usually have at the end. It still hasn't kept me from wanting twins (when the time is right and I"m married) I also have been in crazy prep mode for Texas. I'm trying to get a lot of homework/work stuff done so I can try to just relax and have fun this weekend. I have three big projects due right when I come back, plus doing all the stuff I need to this week so its been crazy. I also am considering going with Sam and Lidia to Guatemala in May. If I can pull the money together, get a passport and just everything in order. It can be a graduation present to myself, plus if I don't have a job by then or one I can take off. I'm actually really excited furthest away I've been is California, soon to be Texas. So this would be a really good opportunity for me I think. Plus having someone like Lidia who knows her way around would be perfect. Well I have this huge poly sci quiz tomorrow so I'm going to get back to my studying, but thought I'd give you all an update!
I"ll try to make this one quick. So last night was my first time actually shooting for the Jazz fan website. Go here my.utahjazz.com click on Fans photos then it'll take it you a new site. I'm the orange one. Now keep in mind its my first night and I did a lot in auto, but I thought some turned out pretty good. Probably my favorite is the one with Jazz Bear and those two ladies, just because they were all looking and smiling, not the best shot since I had to shoot into the stands, but oh well. I also really lucked out wtih it. I was standing in one of the opening things and he was coming up to give someone flowers for their birthday right where I was. He's pretty good about taking a minute to pose and I know my camera is going to get better shots then most camera phones. The other ones didn't work out the best because not everyone was looking but that's alright. I also like a lot of the little kid ones, we'll see if any of them get bought. I'm sooo tired. I left during the 3rd quarter, but had to pick up a book from JJ's house, come home to upload the pictures and work on a paper due in about an hour. Man I do not love this class, but at least its done, not very well but its done. Well I just wanted to give you all an update of where to go, maybe I'll post more stories specific later today when I'm not so nervous. I have the possibility of giving a presentation with this paper. He draws names and we each have to go one out of four times throughout the semester so I have to be prepared today if I don't get called then still keep preparing for later dates and guess what I'm not ready at all haha. Well have a happy morning!