So my car caught on fire...and.....

Yep, it sure did!  My battery had been acting weird--all my power was going in and out in my car.  My friend checked it out and said the battery needed to be mounted better.  He wiggled it around and it worked for a couple days pretty well.

But then it started to act up again, so during my lunchbreak, I figured I would pop my hood open and wiggle my battery around a bit.  At the first wiggle, sparks FLEW!  Alright, not doing that again...

So after work, I got back in my car and drove home. I kept my radio off so there wouldn't be any extra power going through my car, and every time I hit a bump, I heard a little "sizzle sizzle"....naturally I figured my battery was sparking because the bumpy road made my car jolt around. (jolt...get it...bahahaha)

When I pulled in to my parking stall at my apartment complex, I thought, "Well, I think I'll pop my hood open and just look at it."  Why did I think that would do anything, I have no idea.  But I opened my hood nonetheless...and not a moment too soon!

Flames licked around my windshield washer fluid container as it melted into an hourglass shape of charred plastic.  In utter disbelief, I ran up my stairs, wishing I had a fire extinguisher, halfway hoping one would appear out of nowhere, and wondering what else I could use to put this fire out that was right next to my battery and some exposed cords....water would NOT be a good idea.  I told my roommate, who proceeded to bring a bucket of water downstairs, as well as some baking soda (thank goodness for elementary school fire lessons),  and we saw her boyfriend coming towards us.  

"What's up, guys"

"MASON!! MY ENGINE IS ON FIRE!! MY CAR IS ON FIRE!!!"

"What?"

"FLAMES! MASON LOOK, FLAMES!"

"Whoa..WHOA!! Your car is on FIRE!"

He blew, and he blew, and he blew that fire right out, and then hocked a giant spitwad and finished it off.

Thankfully, her brother is a mechanic AND an electrician...so he came right down and fixed it.

He said the current was so hot that it melded the bolts into this thing, and you can see the dent where the bolt was....

I am so grateful that the fire didn't get any bigger, and that I checked under the hood, and that I have friends that know about cars.  I tell you what, whoever my guardian angel is, thank you, thank you, thank you!  

(Alright, that flaming picture is just a little bit exaggerated......maybe...)

Story #2:
It was a chilly Sunday night, the first Sunday of our "new" ward.  Everyone was out after ward prayer, chatting and checking out all the new meat, I mean, new brothers and sisters in the ward....

And it was just the right kind of night to take a little walk around the complex. Alicia loves taking walks on Sunday night apparently, and we were already talking to each other, so she said, "Hey, let's go take a walk."

The sprinklers were going off, so we cut through the middle of the complex to avoid being sprayed with water in our Church clothes on this chilly night.  We came to this big mud puddle, and Alicia walked around it to avoid it.  Me, being a not so feminine kind of girl, thought the puddle wasn't so big, so I may as well step over it.  Besides, I was a dancer at one time, I should be able to leap across buildings, right?

My foot very easily stretched across the puddle...I gently placed it directly at the edge of the puddle, and consequently, in some mud. And then, I placed my leg in the mud, and then my hand, and then my entire backside.

This is not an incontinence problem....don't you worry.....

I got up as fast as I could and walked...briskly...back to my apartment, glad no one saw accept Tasi, Carly, Alicia, and some chick that offered me a towel (and praying no one ELSE would see my backside), but laughing so hard I almost really did soil myself. 

A Wind Blowing from the West...

Who is excited for Fall??  Today while on my lunch break I left the building, taken aback by the heat being blown away by the most perfect breeze.  It reminded me of Fall, and how wonderful a season it is.  I thought, Wow, I am really going to miss this part of Utah.  If I were to come back to Utah to visit, I would love to come in the Fall.  In fact, if someone in some future day were to ask me when the best time of year to visit Utah would be, I would say Fall.  Because, let's face it, Spring is gorgeous but you never know when some freak snowstorm is going to hit..you can't plan on anything.  And you have to dress in ten layers just in case.  And there's gross snow in blobs on the sides of all the roads, covered in grey and brown exhaust fumes and gas and dirt.  

NOT TO MENTION.....

..Kinda wishin I bought an All Sports Pass about now...le sigh.  

Draper Temple and Strawberry Salad

OH the joys of doing Baptisms at the Temple!  

On Thursday, me, Kleresa, Sara, and Kyle went to the Draper temple to do baptisms for the dead.  It was just what I needed.  I haven't done baptisms forever, and the Endowment is wonderful but much more complicated and I still don't understand a lot of things, so to go back to the sweet, simple, faithful, brimmingly happy Spirit of the baptistry was quite a treat.  So thank you Kleresa for bringing family names--and allowing each of us to do one!  And thanks Kyle for being our Priesthood! :) And thanks Sara for being just awesome!

Then we met up with Alicia and met her mom and her Interrogator...(literally) father.  We wanted to be interrogated, especially Sara, but he said that he could take one look at us and tell us if we were lying...gasp...

Then we went to Kleresa's grandma's house and she made us this amazing dinner, with brown rice, and chicken/veggies, and a picture perfect salad with only 4 ingredients:  romaine lettuce, blueberries, strawberries,and strawberry vinaigrette.  Delicious.

Kleresa's grandma is so sweet, so cute, and I can tell she has some sassiness in there as well.  She's one of those people whose eyes always are smiling.  You feel joy just being around her.  You would never know if she was having a hard day. 

(I think I was trying to suck in my food baby) And Kyle is very tall. The end.  

Layten's Day Out

Me and some wonderful friennies of mine decided to go visit our good friend Layten up at Utah State on Monday.  He knew we were coming and he had a "great list of exciting things to do" for us when we got there. Little did we know, his list included stopping at the post office so he could pick up a package, picking up his suit that he had taylored, and going to a garden that he had been working on...we suspected at this point that he just wanted to go water it and feed the chickens.

Relief Society arms...

Ha!  But despite all the errands, it was SO great to hang out with Layten!  We also went out to lunch, met a 92 year old lady who looks like she's in her sixties (and still keeps a very kickin' garden), hung out at the Logan temple! (it was closed because it was Monday--but since our friend Becky got married there, they put in a beautiful fountain and lots of flowers, its gorgeous!!) 

Check out these sweet stairs from this lady's house.....

So I look over and see Layten is making is traditional face.....so I thought, well, he isn't going to pull a fast one on me, oh no....so I am going to make the face too!  Well.....as you can see.....

Despite being like a million dollars this pizza was actually really good.  Yum.  

And this is what we had to deal with every time we were in the car.  Actually every time they were together.  

"Hey guys, let's take one of those circle pictures where its like, up above you you know??"  

"Gaaah!  My Eyes!  My Eyes! I Can't see anymore!"

Didn't they have such a cute little counter with old fashioney style?? Love it!

(yah, thats me, the special one in the lower left...I shouldn't have even admitted it.)

OH, and by the way, Kleresa wanted us to go to this place but couldn't remember what it was called or where it was, and thought it was a pizza place, so we trapsed around town forever looking for it.....And it really did exist!! 

It was such an amazing, refreshing, wonderful day! I LOVED it!  And we almost weren't looking forward to going.  But after getting this text from Layten:

"Oh boy!  It's almost tomorrow!"

(are you excited, layten??)

"You Betcha!!"

How could we even resist??

What a great day!

How to Cure Hiccups

So here I am, at work, answering phones at a busy escrow office, and all the big wigs decide to call when something awful happens...

I such in a HUGE gulp of air...and let out a loud squeel.  I'm not even that kind of a hiccuper, but it was huge, uncontrollable, painful, wretching of the stomach muscles.  You know what I am talking about.  And the more I tried to make them go away, the drinking of water upside down, the downing of sugar, the holding the breath until you almost pass out...well.  Nothing worked. They got BIGGER.  And then...people started calling on the phone. And I had to answer it, because it was my job, as the phone answerer.  It sounded like this:

"Thank you for (gulp, squeel, hiccup...) calling First American Title, how may I direct your (deep breath, contracting stomach muscles, wretch, squeel), call?" 

By this time the whole office was concerned.  "Did you try (insert remedy here)...???"

"How about _____________??" 

And then we all broke into laughter, because what else could we do??

Well, I found this hiccup cure today online at this site--and it totally worked!  Because, they came back....the terror!!!! AAAH!!! 

1.  Start by inhaling through your mouth until your lungs feel full and you cant inhale any more.  Keep the air in there, dont let it out yet. 

2.  Swallow.  You wont actually be swallowing anything, but without swallowing the whole thing doesn't work. Don't exhale yet.

3.  Breathe in more air...keep it in there.

4. Swallow again! 

5.  Repeat steps 3 and 4 about 3 or 4 times...when you think you can't swallow anymore, do it again.  You can do it!


It totally works.  The end. 

Dont you love days like this???

Ahh....Summer!!!!

A Contemplative Few Weeks.

So this is kinda long and Somewhat personal so you dont have to read it..haha.  But maybe someone out there can get something from it, if so then here it is!

So I prettymuch fail at blogging lately.  But I don't really know what to say, seeing as I have been very contemplative the last few weeks and not really feeling too connected with the world around me, ya know?  I suppose it all came from my trip home, and realizing just how much I've been missing. It's also made me think, yet again, about maybe what is going on in my own heart that is preventing me from feeling that same kind of love when I am away from home.   

I think we put these facade's up in a crowd of people--its like, let's try to be perfectly awesome in every way..and man is that DRAINING!  Though I've always tried to be a sincere person, but I've never been comfortable in big groups or when I feel pressure to be someone bigger and louder and more energetic or more "happy" than I really am.  I either totally clam up and dont say anything cause I am overwhelemed, or I try to take over and be the life of the party. I am much better on a one-to-one thing where I completely trust the person and can just open up and not worry about them not loving me if I say or do something wrong or boring or whatever.  So when I went home and remembered what its like to just be me, well, it was like a breath of fresh air.  It was so beautiful.  And it inspired me to be all the good things that I truly am inside. I know every time I go back just how wonderful it is to have a family, and a family that truly cares and shows it--and they know me for me, and they like it that way.  Maybe I just really appreciate them because of all the stuff we have been through...some doozy's, thats for sure! I just remember when I moved in with my cousins, that I felt distinctively sure that these are people I could trust completely and wholly.  And I think its cause I really felt the Lord there--it was wonderful and so warm and like something I had never felt before.  And that feeling eventually came a little bit more in my own family as they began slowly embracing the Gospel.  Still workin on it ;)  I hope I can be the kind of mom that invites that same feeling into my own home. 

I was so incredibly homesick when I got back, and I don't know if it showed, but its still kind of lingering. haha.  I've been noticing friends reach out to me more, maybe just a hello or a hug or a pat on the back or a genuine "I love being around you!", and I tell you what, it has made such a huge difference.  I really feel like the Lord has given me these friends, and I am very grateful for even the smallest thing. So thank you all of you!  I have a really hard time letting other people care sometimes, who knows why, but just know that you are very appreciated! :)  

Checklist--To Do Before Leaving Utah!

So I've lived in Utah for almost 7 years now..and I haven't actually done Utah-ish things that are only good in Utah.  So I've decided to make a list of goals of things I want to do before I move back to California.  So far, I want to:

1. Go skiing and snowboarding (yah, never done it!)

2.  Eat at the Pie in SLC (never done that either!)

3.  Buy a Bump-It (...........just kidding...)

4.  Hike the Narrows

5. See Bryce Canyon

(Manti) 

(St. George)

6.  Go to every temple in Utah (I think Manti and St. George are the only ones I have left!)

7.  Go to a rodeo

8.  Get my motorcycle license and take a long trip through Provo Canyon

9.  Join a bicycling club

10.  Learn how to speak Italian (just cause I want to go to Italy next summer..haha..that's actually Naples, or Napoli, where my relatives are and where my dad was born.)

11.  Learn how to sew! (yah, I could learn that anywhere but there are so many girls around here that know how!)  

12.  Eat at Red Iguana (Mmm....mexican!) 

And I am very very open to more ideas, so let me know what fun things there are to do around here, and let me know if you want to be in on any of it!!  :)  

Beginning to Wonder...

Yah, so, the photographer DID in fact look me up....and No I did NOT add him.  Maybe that is harsh, but when I see pictures of guys posing seductively with half naked girls, well....that's just a total turn off.  And I am not even talking about ONE picture...there was some other pretty crude pictures on there, as well.  I mean, I'm not even exaggerating here.  

What ever happened to the moral decency of this nation?  Of this world?  Look, I do not claim to be perfect, but come on.  Especially someone that acts all nice and good, and then you see what they are really like, and supposedly they are a BYU graduate--which seems to indicate that they have some morals, since they lived the honor code *supposedly*, LDS or not.....

Anyways, I'm beginning to wonder where all the decent guys are?  How come there are so many pervs out there...And, and.....even the girls.  I tell you a story....

At my sister's wedding, my aunt came up to me and told  me that they had written some crude things on the car.   For my aunt to be offended that is pretty bad....Anyway, so I go out there, faced about twenty people laughing and congratulating themselves on the car....Well, I said,

"Can you guys please take the dirty stuff off the car?"

"Like WHAT! There's nothing on there that is bad..."

"Oh yeah? What about that...and THAT...and THAT is awful!  At least take that part off.  Look I can erase it, its really easy.  Please."

"Don't you dare erase that, if you do, we will just write it back on there and make it worse."

"Look, that is my sister, I don't appreciate it.  Take it off."

"No.  We are not taking it off."

"Take it off, she's my sister."

"We aren't, and if you even try we will make it worse.  Don't you dare, that's not your car.  You've been in Utah too long."

I walked away, shot them some looks, and went inside before I blew a fuse.  

In comes the photographer talking to another girl, "That wasn't really that bad, the stuff they wrote on there.  I don't see what the big deal is."  (I overheard it..)  Then apparently they were talking about me for a long time afterwords, as my other sister went out to check out the situation, and laughing at me and telling my sister to guard the door in case I was coming out.  

Sorry, but this is getting really old when I see it over and over again.  

Where have all the real, decent cowboys gone?  Come out, come out, wherever you are!  lol

California, Weddings, Temples, And Cows...Am I Missing Anything?

This past two weeks I've been in CA and Minnesota visiting my family, taking my mom through the temple, and going to see my lovely sister get married!  What a GREAT last two weeks!  It has solidified my decision to move  home come April.  I figure, Why am I still in Provo when all my loved ones are back in California getting older and I'm just missing out on them.  Oh I love them sooo much!

1.  Visiting in California:

Quizno's...of all places. HA!  But we did go to a Mexican restaraunt later, that was quite delicious...this couple that was there decided to get engaged right there, in front of their whole family, and the manager on duty came over there and made the couple get up and dance and we all screamed and wished them luck.

I had fun taking pictures of houses in San Francisco...They are all so brightly colored and so squished together. I am glad I never had to live in the city.  

Yeah, you saw that right.  HA!   I bet a guy was driving it too...just sayin.....

More San Francisco stuff....A lot of businesses will have a huge mural painted on the sides of their buildings to prevent this kind of stuff, but it still happens.  Meh..

OH my gosh I LOVE tempura.  It's delicious.  Deep fried vegetables, how much better can life get?

This was the Mexican restaurant we went to.  That's it..there was one little area on the inside--it wasn't even as big as the Garden Room at Los.. but man was it packed.  I dont know how they can work with the tables that close together!  

                                        

But they DID have chips and salsa!! And SPICY salsa too! Holy cow my mouth was on FIRE!  It was good though!! YUMM!

                                        

We were waiting and making fun of all the stuff they had on the walls. Why, I have no idea maybe we were bored.

Case in point.  Chocholate....MMMM chocholate COFFEE TACOS, even BETTER! ha

That's my Grandpa Kingon.  What a hoot.  You can look him up on facebook, his name is listed as Pinky Kingon...someone in our family made it and its totally a joke.  But he's a real guy. haha

2.  My Mom goes through the TEMPLE!:  

Me and my little sister Kaitlin at Target helping my mom find some things she would need for her big day the next day.  Oh fun!!

And this is us on our way to the temple.  Haha..Kaitlin makes the best faces in pictures.

And thats my Mommy, endowed in the Sacramento Temple!  How exciting!  I was so glad I got to go through with her!!  And so glad Grandma got to come too! I love my grandma so much, and she was waiting all my mom's life for this moment!

3.  California State Fair!  Who knew California was so awesome? 

Then came the California State Fair.  Oh boy that was fun, lots and lots and lots to look at!  Like....

Happy California Cows!  Creepy....

Airplane cockpit practice planes! Pretty cool, huh! That is Robby Jr. My cousin's son.

These are my cousins in front of the blacksmith place.  That guy was AWESOME.  His hands were HUGE, he had longish white hair tied back, and was so burly! Totally looked like a blacksmith! And his work was amazing!

Oh I don't know what it is about the sound of revving motorcycles or the smell of the exhaust, but I LOVE motorcycles.  I love the sound, love the helmets and the chest guards and the big boots, I love the twisting of the throttle....kickin it up to a higher gear and feeling the wind blast.  OOOH yeeaaaahhh!!! Whh- Whh...WHAAAAAAAHHHHHHH something like that hahah

Ahem....back to the blacksmith.  So this is just a taste of the stuff he made.  This was the small stuff. So cool! If I had a house, and a lot of money, I would totally buy a bunch of it--they had fireplace pokers, things to hang stuff up on...it was amazing.

Aren't these little guys cute!!  I want one. Please!  (See, California isn't just beaches and fancy cars, oh no.  Most of the state is covered in farmland!  It's so great.  I will leave out the picture of the cow that just gave birth at the fair and was still covered in blood with the placenta coming out....I couldn't resist it was so interesting....)

4.  Now that you've been sufficiently disgusted....On to Minnesota! 

And finally, it was so good to visit my sister in Minnesota.  I stayed with her in-laws for a night, then joined my mom and aunt and sister and grandma in the hotel room.  Me and my sister and the bridesmaids did a little bit of SHOPPING.....;)

And then me and my sister got our nails done.  Definitely the best girls day ever!

Grandma and everyone finally got there, I was feeling so out of place without them haha....

These are Courtney's sister-in-law's kids.  So I guess they are her nephews now! So cute!!!

This was the big C getting ready for her big DAY!!!A team of women doing her makeup.  Gotta love it!  That is my aunt and my mom.

The final product...married and excited about it!  It's upside down because, well that is how she took it, and I thought it was just like her so I kept it.  Ha!

Sisterly love. How precious.  

Well I didnt even take a decent picture of the groom....what a dork I am, but I figure the photographer (Who, by the way, asked me if he could look me up on facebook....Heeeyyyyyaaaah!!! I hope he doesn't see this but yah....)

Well, back to provo life I guess.  For now, at least, until I can finally move HOME!! :)