Right from the Horse's Mouth

I think at one point in every member of my family's life, we have each wanted a horse.

And in the past few years, anytime a horse decided to come visit us resulted in broken trees and an unhappy father, mother, or brother (not to mention the brown presents they left all over the place).

When there suddenly is either horses or cows in the yard it normally means our neighbor left his gate open, and I’d simply plop on the nearest shoes to me (sometimes flip flops and sometimes overly large boots) and chase the beasts out the same way they came in( ok sometimes I let the dogs or other family members help). Occasionally my battle cry of "For Narnia" can be heard (as I tramp through the weeds in the aforementioned oversize boots) and the cattle are dealt with without much fuss.

Let me preface a little more with a few nights ago. I heard a noise outside my window, ignored it, only to hear Princess (our fearless golden retriever) making a fuss a few minutes later (I ignored this too), and later I was informed by my dad (in an unhappy tone) that there were cows in the yard. Of course, chasing ensued and since my valiant father had stopped to put on a coat and actual shoes he was much less chilled to the bone and poked in the feet by weeds than myself and therefore he got to do most of the work. He was most unhappy that they had been in his garden. Looking back I think we should have taken full advantage of the free fertilizer that could have come of it all.

Last night, however, I was quietly retired to my bedroom delved deep into Harry Potter where I was celebrating Sir Nicholas De Mimsy-Porpinton's deathday at his lovely party with the gang when I head hooves running past my window...

Knowing that catching the animals before trees broke or the yard was covered in free manure was the best practice, I left the quiet of my room to investigate the noises I had heard this time. I told my mom who was also enjoying the company of a book at the late hour and we peered outside. We didn't see anything, but just as I was headed in I heard something so I scanned the backyard again. My faulty (out of battery power) spotlight didn't reveal anything though. I went back inside and my dad had decided to ask what we were doing. I peeked outside the back door and heard a large something, coming TOWARDS me. This “towards” word is really important as all the other animals to ever enter our yard have always retreated when a person was near. 

Thus this development  freaked me out and I closed the door quickly exclaiming, "There's something out there. I don't know what it is, but there is something out there and it was coming."  

To which I received the response, “Let the dog out.” 

Of course it was then my duty to exclaim, "I don't know what it is. What if it's mean and hungry and eats her." (Because clearly I am not overreacting and am completely in the right state of mind... but honestly who doesn't like to SEE what is approaching them in the dark? Especially after reading some Harry Potter?)

But I did as I was told and sure enough Princess went out barking away once she detected something out there (Edison our other dog who only wants in on chasing things when he deems them “cool” decided he’d like out of the house too and off he went only to be quite quickly disappointed). My mom went out on the back porch to look around and sure enough, two horses stood in our yard. But instead of running from the dogs, they walked towards my mom, super friendly-like. 

This told us that these horses were not out dear neighbors' who often raided our yard. SO my dad escorted them to where we thought they really went, tried opening the gate and startled them up the street. We called the owners, who said that they weren't theirs and then mom and dad went to look for them so as to keep them in our pasture for the night. They were nowhere to be found.

This morning though. Lo and behold. Two horses outside my window again, so we took them to our pasture and watered them and left them to graze (don't worry, there is plenty of food + hay in there) while we searched for their real place of home (which is proving more difficult than originally thought).   

So today I’m just enjoying watching them (I've also enjoyed hunting for our two baby fish that have managed to survive in our aquarium for weeks, which sort of reminds me of this commercial.) My day has been pretty complete I tell you. And that is the story of how I got myself two horses for the day... or so…

I guess I could get back to job hunting (or maybe just reading) now.

In the Words of James Brown

"I'm back!"

(beware this is an extremely long post)

Wow. The past few weeks have been insane.

Finals was . . . insane in a bad way 

BUT I am glad to say that I have officially graduated from college. . . 

Now what?

I guess anything is possible.

Find a dream and follow it!?!

Literally Right after my last final I ran out and hopped in a truck 

which whisked me away from the troubles and worries that finals left me with.

I was tired and the week of craziness taught me a lot about myself.

I hopped on an airplane or two and jumped aboard a cruise ship which took me to foreign lands and I learned the following:

1. I love the sun more than I thought.

Except when this happens BUT this rag thing really worked so all was well. :)

2. This book is unbelievably amazing.

3. Inadvertently playing a continuous game of  MadGab makes for a lot of inside jokes and even more laughs.

4. So does the fishbowl effect on some cameras.

 

That's priceless stuff right there.

 5. And pouring vinegar from the buffet line on your sunburns to take the heat out.

6. The water is beautiful in Cozumel, Mexico.

 7. Celebrity look-a-likes hang in the same places I went.

We found Waldo!

A little Dr. Phil?

Johnny Depp anyone?

8. Ziplining is fun (especially through the rain forest).

9. Coasta Rica bus drivers are fearless but sometimes their roads help them get stuck after rain.

Went right off the road and couldn't get out. Oops.

10. Ports can be somewhat boring places when you have a lot of time to kill - so you just take pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 11. People might just pretend their cars are taxis to make money and the nearest beach may be 10 minutes away by car but you can sit by the ocean by walking three.

12. Bus drivers in Panama are insane (as the traffic is too). You know you're lucky when they say, "Don't worry. We have the best driver in the tour, his average is one accident a month and his last one was three weeks ago so we are safe."

13. That same bus driver sees a sloth HIGH in the trees and backs the bus up while on the road so those on the bus (who are late back to the port) can see it.

14. Cashew nuts come from a fruit. 

15. The Panama Canal is C-O-O-L. Cool. Period. The end.

They let us touch the walls.

The gates closing behind us. :)

16. Seeing dolphins out your dining room window is a great gift to someone for Mother's Day.

17. Friends can be made in days and just through interacting around food. Also when you say thank you, hearing my pleasure in return is happy.

Our waiters and waitress.

Love them!

18. Grandpa's can be hilarious, birthday songs can be more fun than you think they can, and watching Grandma and Grandpa together is sweet.

19. I can say I have experienced a canceled, missed, and delayed flight within 24 hours. Airports aren't that fun of places after so long.

20. There's no place like home . . . too bad I didn't have one set up when I left.

*sigh*

Adventure. Is a wonderful thing!

I loved spending time with Shayna, BreAnna, Grandma, and Grandpa. 

That's where the treasure truly lies; the inside jokes we have, the memories we have together, and the songs we can't get out of our heads.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa ever so much!

p.s. as I found these pictures there are MORE so you will be hearing about this for a while or so. :) Happy Summer.

Little Toy Trucks

Remember the past two summers
how I have visited this great little place
called Minnetonka?

I went again and this year we took a much larger group.

And enjoyed the crazy cave formations.

As well as the great natural place to eat.

Here are some photos to tell the story.
Katie, Natalie, and I starting the journey
in the back of a police car.
(no worries, it was an ex-police car)
We took a few.
Katie and I touching the touchable stalagmite.
The group outside the cave.
We found out later that we missed one.
Here is the real whole group.
On the log . .. as is the tradition.
(believe me I had NO idea that's how my face looked)

Also following this photo . . . I may have fallen in a bit.

The City of the Salty Lake

Saturday I took off on a random adventure.

With the crew of friends below
which is what the "we" refers to throughout this post
(+ one unphotographed)
One of them I personally kidnapped for the adventure.

We drove to the above mentioned city
And pretty much did whatever we wanted.
This included:
Visiting the beloved Barnes and Noble.
Ate a pretty tasty lunch.
Shopped for some expensive furniture like pros.
Stopped in at a vintage clothing store.

Then we saw Jane Eyre: The Musical.
It was very well done.

And to top the evening off.
We were to Pho Green Papaya.It's great!

25/52

The Parade of Homes.

With Ashley.
It. Is. Amazing.
And need I say more?

Ok so I do.
It's SO much fun to just go from house to house,
walk inside, and love what you see.

Finding time to see them all was rough
working around open hours and both our work schedules.
BUT we did make it to ALL of the houses . . .
technically we only saw outside of the one in Hyrum . . .
but we would have gone inside if someone had been there
during the slotted time allowed for the house
AND we did go back to a house for a second look.
That counts right?

Nonetheless so great!

Splendid.

Ashley and I want to make friends with the people at
a few of the houses.

I'll let you know, how that goes.
Ashley found this small door and loved it.
Her own cupboard under the stairs.
Then we found an even smaller one in another house.
And can I tell you how MUCH I lOvE this chalkboard.
I am getting one for my house.
It just looks so GOOD.

(keep your eye out for one will you?)

heliolatry

that's just the word of the day at dictionary.com

and so it is this post's title as well.

As of late I have had a lot of fun
(as usual)

I have spent my time reading these:
Oh my goodness gracious incredible.
My emotions are entirely into it.
And I love it. See:
Then I saw this:
It too is emotional and happy.
AND amazing!
What a superb sequel? triquel?

I also got to have a picnic,
and while enjoying some of my favorite people.

I also got to enjoy nature and water.

23/52

Last week I got to watch Roy and Heather's girls

while they took off with my parents
and other aunts and uncles
and grandparents on a fantastic trip back East

I also got to play with Amberly.
I didn't get my camera out as often as I should have
but here are some pictures to enjoy.
We got snow cones and went to the zoo.
We also had a picnic this same day.
It rained.
We took pictures at the zoo.
We made chalk drawings.
C and A made a ladybug and an ant.
Then due to the video here,
they decided to sing about squishing their bugs together.
I hope one day to participate in an ImprovEverywhere.

My buddy and me.
CK wanted a picture of her doing something weird on my blog.
So there you go.

We did a lot more amazing things.
And more photos may be coming soon.