Snow White Witch Costume

Halloween is pretty big at my work. My first Halloween there I simply dressed up as a farm girl with overalls and a straw hat. Little did I know. I soon realized Halloween is intense! People had elaborate costumes and the costume contest was a true competition with some serious cash up for grabs. So I decided that in the following years I would try harder. Last year I thought of my costume a couple months in advance and Caleb and I spent hours making it. I was the house from the movie UP, balloons and everything. And the work paid off, I won 1st place in the creative category.

This year it was the week of Halloween and I still didn't know what I was going to be. I wasn't sure I wanted to try for a prize again since it was a lot of work and it was a lot to live up to. But the Tuesday before Halloween I decided I wanted to be the witch from Snow White. I figured I could do it simply enough and originally I had not thought about competing. So that night I went to Wal-Mart and bought some great black fabric and to a costume shop to get some makeup and a fake nose. I went to the library and picked up a book on special effects makeup. My sister helped me with the hood and robe and on Halloween morning I spent a little over an hour on my makeup and face. The result:A lot of people couldn't even tell it was me. And if I do say so myself I was pretty scary looking. I didn't think I could compete until I saw how well the makeup turned out. There were several kids at work who thought I was the real thing too and sadly (and I totally felt bad about this) a couple of them cried when I got too close. I had a nice humped swagger (pillow safety pinned to my back) going on and was always offering my apple to people. In the end I won 1st place in the scary category, a $200 prize, and an extra $5o for being an executive pick. Needless to say it was a Happy Scary Halloween.

Jackson's Quiet Book

Back in April or March I got materials to make a quiet book for my nephew. I didn't actually start it until the end of May and now that it's August it's finally done and in Kentucky (courtesy of my sister). Here are the pictures of how it turned out. [Note: I got all of these ideas from other bloggers and modified most of them to fit my amateur sewing/crafting skills. Seriously anybody can make one.]

I know there should be an apostrophe on this page, but there weren't any on the iron on letters sheet that I got from Jo Ann Frabics.

On this page he can match the shapes or keep them in the pouch.

This page features velcro apples that can be put in a bushel basket.

Caleb thought this page was a little girly, but it teaches little kids how to button (the flowers button on and off).

The barn page is by far my favorite. Maybe it was growing up on a farm or perhaps it's because of what's inside.

The cow is my favorite of the finger puppets.

Learn your ABC's. The only problem with this page is I used a different kind of velcro, one that has some adhesive but that you have to iron on as well. It did not work as well. It may need some tender loving care in the future.

I know it's kind of limited to Halloween but I couldn't resist putting in this Jack-o-lantern page.

And last but not least he can build an ice cream cone.

Those Fourth of July Pics I said I'd post...

On July 3rd we went to Stadium of Fire and saw Carrie Underwood. It was a fun way to celebrate and the fireworks were so close.



On July 5th, Caleb and I went on a hike. As we were leaving our apartment guess what we saw...

That's right. Smokey Bear was right outside, up close and personal.

Here are some pictures from our hike.

We saw tons of yellow flowers on the hike, I was thinking someone should hike up and take some family photographs or engagement pictures. But by the time you're to this pointt you're most likely pretty sweaty.

Rainier Expedition 2010

I decided to put my Dad's pictures and mine together and make a video of our climb. Hope you like it and that it can be made bigger than what I am looking at right now

New Spice | Study like a scholar, scholar

Most people have seen the Old Spice commercials that have gone viral. Here's the BYU Library version. This was posted last Thursday (July 15th) and by today (July 19th) it has been viewed over a million times on YouTube!! Way to go HBLL and BYU. Also Fourth of July and Stones family reunion posts coming soon.

How did I miss this??

Did you know that there's a vault in the Arctic where seeds from all over the world are being kept? I had no clue! But there is and it's called the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Check it out on Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard_Global_Seed_Vault. This seems like something out of movies. But at least we know if something ever does happen in this world we've got the seeds in a bunker up north. Talk about food storage.

Embrace Life - always wear your seat belt

I watched this video for the first time yesterday and I absolutely love it. It has over nine million views on you tube. Not surprising. I think the US should pay whoever made this video over in the UK to broadcast it here as well. Great message delivered with an impact. (It obviously had an impact on me considering this is my first post since my kentucky one back in February, Caleb thankfully kept our blog a little more updated)

Graduation

This is my last week at school. I only have two more days left in college, well at least for my bachelors degree. I hope to return in a couple of years to get my MBA. BYU has been a great place to go to school. Attending football games and soccer games has been a blast. Intramurals have also been fun, especially since I played with a bunch of guys from my home town. I would recommend going to BYU to anyone. The classes and tests are challenging, but the education and experience are worth the hardship. Most of the students are great and the teachers teach the material based upon gospel principles.

I remember when I started at BYU being so nervous and thinking that graduation seemed so far away. Well, it's here and it has been a blur. College has been a lot of blood sweat and tears in the classroom, and a lot of fun doing everything else. It's sad that my college days are coming to an end, but I'm excited to start the next chapter of my life, like getting a job and making money.

A few more hours in the classroom and some brutal tests are the only things separating me from graduating. I can't wait.

Christmas Vacation

I know it's already April, but I was going through my pictures and saw these and thought it would be a good idea to put them on our blog.



The first pictures are of a campground that was on a small island outside of Seattle.



My parents thought it would be fun for us to do something different this year over the holiday break so we went to Seattle.



My parents rented out some small cabins for us and we had a blast. We only stayed one night, but it was fun. We took a walk along the beach and tried to stone a few ducks out in the water.



We also found a really cool log that was sticking out of the ground. We tried to get as many people on as possible without it breaking.



Later that night we all crowded into one cabin where we played a game called "NINJA" and also Catch Phrase. We of course had to play boys vs. girls. Unfortunately the ladies just aren't very good at this game and lost every time. Anyways, the next day we cleaned out our cabins and headed to Seattle.



We have always wanted to go to this restaurant called the Crab Pot, so we did. This was Rachel's favorite part of the whole trip...seriously.









It was fun, but the Sea Feast was a little too fishy for Rachel. After that we once again piled back into the cars and headed to a Leavenworth, aka "Christmas Town."



By the time we got there that night most of the shops were closed, so instead we decided to go sledding down this little hill that was covered in ice and a little skiff of snow.










We had a blast. We then spent the night in Leavenworth and the next day we went through all the shops. Looking back on the trip it was pretty fun, now that I have forgotten most of the driving that we did in between.

Job Search

Well, graduation is drawing near and the job hunt is on. So far I've applied to over twenty different companies, and applying to more each day. The major response that I keep hearing from different companies is that they are waiting on a job and if they get it they'll start hiring again. This is pretty frustrating especially when I'm only three weeks away from graduation. I have, however, been very fortunate to get a couple of interviews these past two weeks. My first break came when I was contacted by Jacobsen Construction, a huge contractor in Utah, for an interview. I was nervous, but my first interview went well and I was called back for a second one. The second one was nerve-racking, but I think I did well. I am now waiting to see if they will offer me an internship for the summer. I really hope they do because working for Jacobsen would be my dream job, but I can't put all my eggs into one basket and I continue to apply for jobs each day. My next big break came when I attended an info session for PCL. I arrived early and sat in the very front. I also, helped the recruiter with the computer and overhead, so I was hoping that would help me get an interview. When the recruiter wrapped up he said that he had only two interview spots left and that he wanted to know who wanted them. Twenty students raised their hands. I handed my resume to the recruiter and left, thinking there was no way. A little after 9 PM I received a phone call from the recruiter informing me that I had been awarded the last interview spot. I was so relieved, because I thought there was no way that I would be given an interview with so many other candidates. I had my interview first thing in the morning at 7:30 AM. The recruiter also asked if I would check in for him online at Southwest Airlines, so I did and printed off his ticket as well. I arrived there five minutes early and found the room locked, but fortunately for me I had become friends with the main guy at BYU's career center in the weight room and he just happened to show up at 7:30 AM and he unlocked all the doors for me. Anyways, my interview went well and I felt relieved because I had done everything that I could have done and it paid off. There's still a lot more work ahead that I need to do to find a job, but at least I'm heading in the right direction.

Lone Peak

For this months blog I was looking at some of our mountain climbing pictures and I came across a couple of pictures of Lone Peak. This is my favorite mountain to climb in Utah. Not very many people climb it, and the trails at the top aren't very good. These pictures are of the second time we climbed Lone Peak. We had tried the year before, but from the Alpine side. Sarai was with us on that climb and it was brutal. It was even steeper than the Draper side and we had to do a lot of bouldering. These pictures are from our last hike from the Draper side up Jacob's Ladder. Jacob's Ladder is a super steep trail with no breaks for about 5 miles. Then once you get to the top you make your way to a meadow and then from there the trails stop and you have to make your own way up. The reason why there aren't any trails is because the top of the mountain is granite. There's a valley rimmed by vertical cliffs of granite. To get to the top you enter must get on the ridge. The ridge is pretty steep and a little scary in some places because you have steep drops on each side. Once you get close to the top the drops become even more dizzying, with thousand foot drops on both sides. Rachel didn't feel inclined to go the last 100 yards because it's super dangerous. I, however, could not be restrained. Must be that Stone's blood I have in me. The very top of the mountain is a flat piece of rock about the size of a table. On three sides there's a vertical drop of over a thousand feet. It's pretty nerve racking, but it's awesome. I would recommend this climb to anyone, but you better be in good shape. It's a long hike in and even longer hike out. The hike took us about 12 hours. On the way down I came way too close to a rattlesnake. Luckily I had my ski poles out in front and was making lots of noise, so it heard me coming and decided to get off the trail.

Basketball

For those who don't know, I have been playing on an intramural basketball team here at BYU. Suprisingly the team I'm on is made up almost entirely of friends from Moses Lake who graduated with me. David Lawson, Reece Baker, Brayden Willis, and Brad Grant are all on my team as well as a couple of other friends from BYU. We started the season in the lowest bracket and hoped that we would be able to do better than last year. Last year we lost one regular season game and were placed in the third division for the tournament and won three post season games. This year everyone improved and we ended up winning all of our games by ten or more points. We found out this past week that we had moved up and that we would be playing in the second division for the playoffs. Our first game is tomorrow and we hope that we can do well. There is only one division above ours and only 16 teams are allowed to compete in that one, whereas there are about 100 teams in our division. We have a pretty good team and look to go far in the tournament despite the fact that we moved up one division. To tell you the truth I was glad we moved up because we weren't being challenged in the lower division. I don't say that to brag, but it's the truth. We're not the best team, but we do have an advantage in that the majority of the team has been playing together for years and we know how to play together. We'll see how we do tomorrow.

Job Hunt

This past month has flown by. I can't believe that in a month and a half I will be graduating from BYU. I don't feel old enough and definitely don't look old enough. Every time I go and play basketball and I meet somebody new, they always ask me if I'm a freshman. I like to see the look on their faces when they here that I'm a senior and will be graduating in April. Anyways, I have a lot to get done before graduate, like get a job. This past month, much of my time has been spent researching companies and submitting applications. I am hoping that something will turn up. There are still companies hiring college students, but the market appears to be overcrowded. For every job opening there's a hundred people waiting in line. I'm hoping to get a job with a large commercial company to get some experience. It appears that the residential market is stalled and will remain so for a while longer. Also, my main goal is to be a part of the building of a temple and to do so I would need some commercial experience. I am going to be calling MATT Construction tomorrow and I hope the call goes well because they are a great company with high standards. The representative that I met at the competition I went to in Reno, said that many of their standards were based off of the Church's standards. They also said that they cared about the family and flew the wife in for interviews. I've also applied to quite a few other companies, so if tomorrow doesn't go as well as planned, there's always another company. Well I better get to bed tomorrow is going to be another busy day.

Canada v U.S. or U.S. v U.S.

Canada versus The United States in hockey was kind of a joke. It was a good game, but in all reality it was the United States versus the United States. I checked afterwards to see how many of Canada's players actually played in Canada and only two members of their team actually played on teams in Canada. The rest played for teams in the United States. I know the players have Canadian citizenship, but I think it's safe to say that if Canada's players didn't play in the NHL that the Canadian hockey team would not be as good as they are. Also, I know that it's cool to go and play for the country where you were born, but they're not the one's paying you to become a better hockey player, the American sports fans are. I guess that's our own fault though, because if we didn't recruit them to come and play for our teams, the Canadians wouldn't stand a chance against us, because their players would not play in as competitive of an environment. The same holds true for the rest of the teams as well. The Russians were also loaded with NHL stars. The Olympics were pretty much the NHL v the NHL and a few other guys thrown in here and there. Canadians can say all they want, but hockey is not their sport anymore. Almost all of their players play in the U.S. and the best hockey in the world takes place in the U.S. Sure Canada develops good players, but they don't stay in Canada. Anyways, if you can't tell I was pretty bitter about Canada winning gold in hockey, basically because I felt those players were traitors to the country who had helped them achieve their level of talent. If anything they should be playing for the country in which they live, but I guess if that were true, most of the Olympic athletes from around the world would be competing for the United States since most of them train here. I hope that in four years we will dominate the Canadians at their own game. We were so close to winning that game. I also felt it wasn't a true gold because we had already beat them once. If anything they should have had to beat us twice, because the series is tied 1-1. Anyways, that's how I feel about the whole hockey issue, which is probably more than you ever wanted to know. I just hate to lose at anything, but hey at least we won the most medals overall, so that's good.

The Weekend

This past week was very hectic. Having been gone for most of the prior week in Reno, I had lots to do. I had three tests and a ton of homework to get done, but somehow I survived. Despite being hectic, this week was also a really good week, because we were finally able to pay off my school loans and become completely debt free. Between our large tax return and Rachel's bonus, we had more than enough to pay off my school loan. We have quite a bit in savings, so we weren't worried, but it was sure nice to be able to pay off the loan, especially when we were able to do it with money that we weren't expecting. To celebrate being debt free we went out and bought a game we've been wanting to buy for a while called Dominion. We first played the game at Rachel's twin sister's house and have been wanting it ever since. We counted it as part of Rachel's bonus. The game is different from any other game I've played and changes each time you play it, so it's a good investment. The game also won game of year in Europe. It's hard to explain the rules, it's one of those games you just have to play to understand. We're actually going to play it tonight with some friends, so that should be fun. I would recommend this game to anyone, because it's a lot of fun, but at the same time you don't get upset when you lose. You'll understand what I mean once you've played the game. Anyways, I have to get some stuff ready for when our friends come over, so I better run. I love Sundays, because you are forced to rest and take a break from work and school, which was what I needed the most.

Kentucky

So while Caleb was at his competition I went home to Kentucky last weekend. I flew out early in the morning on Feb. 10 and I got to Kentucky that afternoon. On Wednesday night I just hung out with my parents and my sister and my incredibly fun nephew (whose favorite hymn by the way is "Teach me to walk in the Light," which he will mumble the words to quite often). We went out that night to Marshall's which is basically a TJMaxx. On Thursday we slept in and time our time in the morning. Then Mom and Sarah and I went to Half Price Books which is a discount book store that I haven't seen out west. Then for lunch we went to Flag Fork Farms which is a little lunch cafe/boutique of sorts. I had a yummy BLT with some cut veggies and a cup of potato soup. Then I bought a shawl there with is light purple with a flower pattern. Caleb says it's something old ladies wear but I think it's pretty and wore it to work this week where a few different people complimented me on it. After that we went and saw the movie Leap Year at the dollar theater. It's a pretty decent chick flick. On Thursday night Sarah and I took Jackson in for a hair cut. It was pretty funny, any time the scissors got close to his ears or the back of his neck he would squirm. But he survived with the help of a sucker. On Friday my mom and I drove over to Bybee pottery.
Bybee pottery has been around for over two hundred years. My mom used to take us there when we were little. It was so popular then that people would line up outside at 6 in the morning just to get in and get some pottery. It's less popular now but it's very affordable. This time I got a few pieces to start my own collection. After we got back from that we went with Sarah and dad to my old elementary school which has been turned into an antiques mall.
It was fun to look around and remember where everything used to be. One of my favorite things that I remember from elementary school are the carnivals, particularly the cake walk. I loved doing the cake walk and hoping I'd be on the right number in the end to get a cake. After that my mom took me to Chipotle, one of my favorite places to eat. I always try and go when I'm there. They have one here in Utah but it's up in Midway I think, so it's a bit far to drive just for lunch or dinner. Then Friday night was the stake valentine's dinner and dance. So I went with mom and dad to that. Ammie, one of my best friends from back home was there with her husband so we took the opportunity to catch up. Then we went back home to catch the rest of the Olympics opening ceremony. On Saturday morning I went with my mom and Sarah to go shoe shopping for Jackson. He thought it was a lot more fun than the hair cut. Then we did some grocery shopping and headed home to relax for the rest of the day. I think I was super lucky to get to spend the weekend in Kentucky and it was infinitely better than staying home alone. Caleb picked me up from the airport on Sunday morning and we got Valentine's day and President's day to relax before going back to school and work. Lucky us I say.