Hairstyles, part 2

Another hairstyle by my cousin Jackson. He does a pretty good job.



This is Jackson using my hair to make a mustache. Very creative! We had a fun weekend in Yellowstone with the Liesiks.

Award for Most Creative Vehicle

We followed this homemade vehicle for miles through Yellowstone park. We especially enjoyed watching all the construction workers and drivers of oncoming vehicles do double takes as it passed them. It certainly kept us entertained as we drove through all that construction.

Old Faithful

So I guess I thought Old Faithful would be more spectacular than it was, maybe something like the Bellagio fountains, I guess. Oh well, I guess I can mark it off my to-do list.

Old Faithful Inn

We stayed at Old Faithful Inn for one night in September 2009. This was my first "official" visit to Old Faithful and Yellowstone. My parents took me there when I was a baby (I think about 9 months old) but I don't remember it so I don't count it! The Inn is an amazing piece of architecture and I really enjoyed exploring it.



This is a picture of our room. We stayed in the historic portion of the Inn.


This is the radiator in our room. If you look closely, it has a bear motif across the top. Such amazing attention to detail!



This is the view from our window. If we crouched a little and looked between the roof and the deck, we could see Old Faithful from our room, and we didn't even have to pay any extra for that view. ;-)



I made Chris stand in our window while I went outside to get a photo so I could tell which room was ours from outside. It was such a good sport to play along.

Baby Bears

We spent quite a bit of time watching the precious little baby bears at Bear World. They were just so cute you almost wanted to take one home.



They liked to play and wrestle with each other.


Just like any young siblings do.



For an extra $50 per person, you could pay to help the trainers bottle feed the cubs. We didn't think that was worth the price, but we did enjoy watching from the sidelines. I think each baby bear eats six bottles at each of its feedings.

A Rare White Elk

This is a rare white elk that we saw at Bear World.

The Curator Tour at Bear World

I've been wanting to go to Bear World in Rexburg, Idaho for a few years and we finally made it. We stopped there after our trip to Yellowstone in September 2009. We paid a few extra dollars and took the Curator's Tour through the park rather than driving through it in our own car. I definitely think it was worth the extra money because we got to feed the bears. The bears are very much conditioned to know that when the Curator's Tour Vehicle comes through the park, they will get fed. This resulted in all the bears trotting over to see us. If you don't pay for the tour, the second best option is to follow one through the park, like the white car in my photo did. I'm sure we put on quite a show for them. Another bonus of taking the tour is you get to be in an open vehicle. If you go through in your own car, you have to keep your windows rolled up. The open vehicle is definitely better for taking photos.



This cute bear was floating on a log in a little pond. I wish I could have gotten a better photo of him but that was hard to do from a moving vehicle.




Looking over the side of the truck at a bear just waiting for a treat.


It turns out that the bears really like powdered donuts. They would come over to our stopped vehicle and sit up and beg like a dog for a treat. One of them would even clap to get you to throw him a treat. This bear is getting ready to catch a white powdered donut that one of us threw from the truck. His eyes are on the prize!



The other treat we threw to them was slices of bread. Although some of them would wait for a donut and leave the bread on the ground (they knew what they wanted) this one happily caught a slice of bread.

Dixie Red Storm

I finally made it to my first Dixie Red Storm game and got to see Tyler play for his college team. He and his team played a great game and it was a lot of fun to watch.

Sproost!

I read about a website (sproost.com) in one of my magazines. It's a site that helps you determine your design style. They show you photos of rooms and you vote on whether you like the photo or not. Then, it tells you your style. I thought it was a fun website.

I'm 100% Classic and here's what the site says about that:

Classic

What's old is new again! The beauty of Classic Style is how well it takes all of the beautiful forms, colors and textures of the past and reinvents them in a way that feels both fresh and inspired. The style itself is a mix of European influences and French, English and Italian antiques and replicas are often used together. Furniture is well proportioned and comfortable and the rooms give off an air of sophistication and grace. Oil paintings depicting a still life or nature scenes and emphasizing symmetry of pairs helps maintain the Classic nature of the room. Windows are often covered with opulent fabric shades and/or drapery. Classic rooms give off an air of history that seems to say: "I was here long before you, and will remain long after you've gone." And yet, even with this level of sophistication, the rooms are soft and inviting.

More >

Materials

Classic rooms are filled with texture and deep color. Walls are often saturated in color and many times have an old-world faux finish to hint of days gone by. Dark stained wood is very common and is often distressed. Additionally, gold, bronze and silvers have a natural-looking patina to them that softens their shine. Maps and animal prints are common, and fringe and tassels are often used to trim pillows, drapery and cushions. Genuine antiques are mixed with replicas and found objects become sculptural elements in the room. Wallpaper is a very popular way to bring additional color and texture to the room, and the patterns are usually reminiscent of traditional European styling.

Colors

Common colors are creams, and rich versions of traditional colors such as burgundy, dark green and navy blue. Golds and yellows are also popular as many Classic rooms have a very warm tone to them. That being said, greens and blues can also be tailored to take on the Classic feel. The color, whatever it may be, almost always has a regal air to it and many times you will see faux finishing to highlight the aged feel of the color.



I'd say for the most part, it's a pretty accurate description of my style. Give it a try, it was quick and fun.

Feelin' Pretty Good

I'm very grateful that my work provides us with free wellness assessments each year. Today, I did my annual assessment and I'm very proud of the following improvements I've made in the last year:

• Lowered cholesterol 11 points
• Raised HDL 6 points
• Lowered LDL 14 points
• Lowered Risk Ratio from 3.3 to 2.8
• Did 19 more sit-ups than last year (10 more than what's recommended for my age)
• Did 6 more push-ups than last year (5 more than what's recommended for my age)

Yep, feelin' pretty proud.

One Month Later and it Still Hurts

This is a sad and painful story, but there are some funny parts to it.

I was at the Albretsens house and we decided to sit in the hot tub for a bit. Chris and Codey were teasing the Mia (a cute black lab), splashing water from the hot tub on her and chasing her around the yard with a towel. After awhile, I decided I was done with the hot tub and went in the house to get my towel. I was standing just inside the door, on a tile floor, dripping wet, reaching for my towel when Mia came charging past me, sweeping my feet right out from under me, and sending me flying through the air. The first thing that hit was the back of head......on the wall about six inches above the floor. I hit so hard I put this nice little hole in the wall. Thank goodness I hit the *soft* sheetrock instead of the tile, granite countertops, glass door, or door casing! I remember hitting the wall (and hitting it hard) and then nothing else for a few seconds.



So, I'm sure it was a sight to see: me flying through the air, dripping wet, in my swimsuit. I was crying so hard, I think there might have been stuff coming out my nose. Chris and Codey got me up off the floor and on the couch and gave me some ice.

After a few minutes, I started feeling nauseated and the bump on the back of my head was huge. It had swollen up so much that I couldn't even put my head back all the way because the bump got in the way. So, off to the Emergency Room we go. Two cat scans later, I was diagnosesd with a concussion and some swelling in my neck and sent home.

Mia was so cute. She knew she had hurt me and she sat by my side for the longest time, just whimpering. It's cute how much dogs really know what's going on.

So, this happened on August 8th and it's been a whole month and I still have the bump (although it's significantly smaller) on the back of my head, my neck still has swelling, and I still have constant headaches. I've started physical therapy and I hope that makes a difference. My doctor said it would take about six weeks to heal. It is getting kind of old.

P.S. I feel really bad that Shawn had to patch this hole in the wall. Sorry.

Vancouver July 2009

In July 2009, we traveled to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for a work-related conference. This is the view outside my hotel room window. It's called Coal Harbour and it was gorgeous. This was taken through the glass of my room, so the colors aren't as bright as they should be.



Right in the middle of the harbour was a place where float planes would take off and land. We really enjoyed watching them.



This is on a huge suspension bridge (I think it was about 200 feet up). It's called Capilano and it's on North Vancouver Island (or North Van, as the locals call it). I did not think I'd have the nerve to cross it, but it ended up being not that scary at all. The views were gorgeous.



While at the conference, I was given an award that came with a $4000 check. Who doesn't want a big check? I was so excited about the check, I brought it home and it's in my office.


We actually flew into Seattle and took the train to Vancouver. It was significantly cheaper and I had heard that this is one of the most scenic train rides in the country. The track hugged the coast line for most of the way.

New Shoes

I custom designed these shoes on at Nike.com. I was able to pick all the colors and choose what I wanted the text on the tongue to say. Of course, I picked my name. I was so excited to finally receive them in the mail (they take 4-6 weeks to arrive after you place your order). I'm fully expecting them to improve my performance at the gym!

Seattle July 2009

In July 2009, we visited Seattle, Washington. This was my first trip there. Here is a picture of the very-touristy Space Needle. We didn't pay to go to the top; it just didn't seem like it was worth the price, especially considering we had just flown in to Seattle and had already seen the same view from the plane.



While we were there, we also saw a Mariners baseball game. This is the view from the roof-top pool of the hotel we stayed in. We purposely picked the hotel closest to the field so we wouldn't have to deal with parking.


Safeco Field has the best ballpark field I have ever found. I had sushi (the Ichiroll, cleverly named after Ichiro) and clam chowder in a bread bowl. It was way too much food, but I just couldn't decide between the two.



And of course, what trip to Seattle is complete without a trip to the Pike Place Market? Here is a photo from Pike Place Fish. I also saw the very first Starbucks store. It was so small and crowded, I wasn't even willing to go inside to purchase a souvenir.

City Camping - July 30, 2009

As I've said before, I'm more indoorsy than outdoorsy and that means I don't like to camp. I decided I could "rough it" though at an RV Resort in Park City in the Albretsen's motor home. That's as close to nature as I want to get. I kept calling it camping but I was repeatedly told that it was not even close to camping. We settled on calling it City Camping. This is a photo of our funny little propane-fueled campfire; we even roasted marshmallows on it!



One of my second cousins really likes to play with my long hair. This incredibly stylish look is a twist in the back with my bangs tied in a knot. Now, why haven't I thought of that before?