Uinta Basin Wedding

Last Friday, Bevan and I went to a wedding of my good friend, Anika, from CEU. It was at the LJ Ranch in Altamont, out in "the basin." What a fun wedding! The road through the ranch to get to the cabin should've been classified as 4WD (fine for trucks, but not my Civic). The groomsmen had black swede jackets with matching stetson hats. "Restless Heart" played from an Ipod broadcasting over some speakers. We feasted on hamburgers and BBQ sausages. They had wedding cupcakes instead of a cake (it's actually getting more popular). Anika looked so beautiful in her dress! The best part about it was that there was a "chocolate lady." A lady who's one duty is to prepare the exquisite chocolate fountain. I guess she does it for a living. The Belgian chocolate was superb and there was every item you could think of to dip! I even took a picture of the display, I was so impressed. I think that every wedding... no every EVENT should have a "chocolate lady": baby showers, birthday parties, family reunions, funerals, and even Sunday church. Wouldn't this world be able to solve all it's problems if we had more chocolate? Anyway, the wedding was a blast and I was able to see some old friends. It makes you appreciate being married, and having somebody automatically to attend these events with.


Me, Anika, Cindy, and Melissa

The Fabuous Display...

Bevan, wondering how big the fish are

What a handsome lineup!

Amendment

I was not thinking when I published my last post. I was incredibly insensible and unfeeling towards my wonderful husband. I wrote all my aspirations for the summer... without mention of him. The most embarrassing part was that HE had to point it out to me! I assumed that all those activities would naturally include him, although it may not be obvious to the rest of the blogging world. I'm sorry Bevan! He's been totally neglected while I spent those hours at home studying for my test, instead of spending time with him. I can't wait until we can start having fun again. That's one of the perks of being married: a full time friend, road-tripping buddy, fishing buddy, and running partner. My life is so much better because he's in it. Love ya honey!

If you had all the time in the world...

I'm sitting here at Mom and Dad's updating my blog because I don't have anything else to do! I haven't been in this situation since after finals at USU. I just took my landscape architecture licensing exam at the Redwood Campus of SLCC. Actually it was yesterday and today. 5 hours each day. If you include travel time, set up, orientation, clean-up, then you're looking at 6 1/2 hours! Even the AP tests in high school weren't that long. It is amazing though, how quickly the time goes and how you wish you had more time. Basically, they give you 4 "vignettes" (11x17 sheets of paper with site diagrams on them and transparent overlays that you draw your solutions on). It'll show a piece of land, contour lines, existing trees, water bodies, etc. and they give you a list of elements you need to draw in, such as parking lots, buildings, sidewalks, detention ponds, etc. It doesn't sound that complicated... but it is! Especially when you have to draw in new contour lines. It's funny sitting for a landscape architecture test and you don't have to draw one tree! I don't know why plant placement has fallen off the testing requirements. It's all I do at work!

But now, it's all over. I just have to wait 10-12 weeks to get my results (hand graded, of course). Now I can do all those things I've been waiting all summer to do. Let's see... um... what was I going to do? Train for the 10k, study Spanish, plant dozens of wildflowers at the cabin, listen to more books, hike some mountains, go cycling more, etc. I'll do it all!... after I take a nap.

This is a vignette "problem"...

This is a trace paper overlay with a "solution"... (sorry, it's hard to see)

Triple Threat!

Waiting for things to kick off.

Our friends, Devan and Teresa joined us!

"God Bless Texas!" (Little Texas)

"Goodbye Says It All" (Blackhawk)

It's hard to find an affordable concert these days. Bevan and I like to patronize older country bands. Well, we hit the jackpot. 3 bands, one night, fireworks, and only $15 per person. A real bargain! It was a grassy amphitheater on a beautiful June evening in Eagle Mountain. The three bands were Little Texas, Blackhawk, and Restless Heart. They were all huge in the late '80s / early '90s. That translates to "attack of the mullets"! We were not disappointed! These band members don't like to change a thing decade to decade, except the things that can't be avoided... age and WEIGHT. Hehe. Lots of beer bellies to go along with the mullets. The night was so entertaining. The only drawback was that they had 2 opening bands, plus theirs, plus fireworks. The whole event last 4 1/2 hours! Per hour, we definitely got our money's worth. Does anybody else think that music concerts have gotten slightly expensive? Let's blame it on the price of gas!

Desolation Canyon!

Me and Bevan with some cool petroglyphs...


Last Day of Desolation Canyon...


One of the many day hikes...


Bevan sunning himself on a rock...


Setting up for camp...

Last week we went on a river trip with our friends, Lizzette and Theral through Desolation Canyon. For those of you who don't know where that is (I didn't at first. I knew it was in Utah) it's the stretch of Green River from Duchesne to Green River, UT. It's about 84 miles and we did it in 6 days. I guess you can do it in 3 days, if you want to spend every moment in the boats. Lizzette knew better. There was so much cool stuff to see: old ranches, petroglyphs, mountain sheep, moonshiner cabin, horses, and tons of lizards. No technical mosquitoes, although the gnats likes to take a bite every once in a while. The mosquitoes got swapped for cooler weather the first part of the trip. Alright, it was downright cold when you were in nothing but a wet swimsuit with rain and wind blowing against you. Luckily, it warmed up to the perfect rafting temperature.

Isn't adventure food supposed to be nothing but bagels, oatmeal, and meals in a bag? Not this trip! Lizzette prepared gourmet meals that put civilized cooking to shame. Even Bevan mentioned to me, "Why don't YOU ever make stuff like this?"

Our rafting comrades were such fun people. Theral's bro-in-law, Mike was always making us laugh and was never hesitant to start a water fight between the boats. Heather and Mike Young were a couple from Lizzette's ward. Mike did the ENTIRE canyon in his kayak and Heather was always there to hand him dry clothes or energy bars. And of course there was Captain Theral and Captain Lizzette who always chose different routes through the rapids. Let's just say, Lizzette's boat was usually the safer one. I liked riding in her boat.

It's hard to come back from a rafting trip like this. We got back Thursday night, so we were all looking forward to a one-day work week... until my boss suggests that it would be a good idea to come in Saturday to get caught up. Well, so much for that idea. Oh well, can't complain. It was an awesome experience.