Yesterday, some friends and I went to Park City for a girls’ night out.  Actually, it was more of a girls’ couple of days out since we stayed the night there too.  Debbie’s parents have a timeshare there and we were able to stay in a double room for a great deal, especially since we were dividing the cost between us.

The nine of us ate at a not-so-good restaurant on Main Street.  We were trying to find something that all of us would enjoy and that wasn’t too expensive.  Unfortunately, in Park City, there isn’t a lot of inexpensive, good restaurants to choose from.  And, most of the inexpensive restaurants are fast food joints and we definitely didn’t want fast food.  However, even though the food wasn’t spectacular, the company was awesome and I’d eat there again if I was with the same friends.

After dinner, we went back to the hotel.  We were planning on playing some games, but we ended up just enjoying each other’s company by talking and taking pictures with my computer.  We laughed a lot and had a ton of fun.  Around 10:30 pm, Christie and Emily went home because they had other plans.  The rest of us stayed up until around 2:30 am talking and having a good time.

Today, we went shopping at the outlet stores.  I didn’t get anything and neither did anyone else really.  I guess it was between seasons and there wasn’t much to choose from.  Plus, I’m really anti-buying clothes right now.  I don’t want to buy something I’ll only wear for a little bit.  Corey thinks I should because I can’t keep wearing clothes that are too big for me.  Maybe, once my pants won’t stay up, I’ll go buy some new clothes.

It was so much fun to spend the evening and day with my friends.  I’m so lucky to have them in my life.  And, the trip was a much needed break from reality.

Happy belated birthday, Mom! Happy belated anniversary, Mom and Dad!

On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to meet a friend I’ve been conversing with for the last couple of years.  Kathy lives in California, but her family’s from Utah.  She was in town for Father’s Day and wanted to go to lunch with me and some of my friends so she could finally meet us.  Unfortunately, with such short notice, it ended up only being Tawnya and me, but we still had a great time.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to spend some time with my good friend Angie.  She and her family moved to Seattle four years ago and I haven’t seen her in two years.  She’s in Utah for a family reunion and wanted to see me so we went to dinner together.  Even though we only had a few hours together, it was so good to see her and my godbabies.  (I’m the unofficial godmother to her three children.  It’s unofficial because neither of us are Catholic and it’s actually kind of an inside joke.)  This was the first time I met her youngest, Cavin.

Happy belated birthday, Cassie! Happy birthday, Jeremy!

Like I said in the post Traveling, the thing I was looking forward to the most while I was in Las Vegas was seeing my good friends Alice, Cindy, Jamie, and Jen.  Jen used to work with me and was in my ward for a couple of years.  Then, she and her family moved away after Christian graduated.  I taught seminars with both Alice and Jamie and I spent a day and a half with Cindy while we were both in Kona.  I feel like they’re my moms away from my mom.  They’re so sweet and I love them like my own family.  I’ve enjoyed getting to know them over the last six years.  Anyway, it was so good to see all of them.  I wish it could be more often.

Unfortunately, I never have all that much time to spend with them because we’re always so busy with the conference or other work things.  This time around, however, I was able to spend some time with Jen on Wednesday night.  Some of my co-workers talked Erin and me into playing a game of bingo so I invited Jen to come along.  It was a lot of fun and it only cost $5.  None of us won anything, even though I was only four away from winning the blackout round. We also witnessed someone win $11,867.

When I decided to play, I thought it would just be like playing a game for entertainment.  But, I realized later that it’s gambling through and through.  About 2,500 people had to lose $5 for that guy to win his prize.  The only reason I don’t feel more guilty than I do is that I was able to spend some time with Jen.

Anyway, I had a good time in Las Vegas, but I’m super glad to be home.  I missed Corey and the kitties a lot and I’m so tired and worn out.  I feel like sleeping for the entire weekend.

Happy belated birthday, Emily and Matt! Happy birthday, Beth!

On my old website, I used to have a map and schedule that showed where and when I was traveling to next.  You’re probably thinking, “Wow, you must have traveled a lot.”  In 2004, I did.  I went to nine different cities in 14 weeks. I’d leave on Wednesday and come back on Sunday.  And, then do it again the following week.  As you can probably imagine, traveling got really old really quickly.

At first, I was really excited to travel, especially to some of the cities I went to.  But, then after not having any time to spend with Corey or to relax, I started to get burned out and homesick.  Plus, I traveled alone most of the time so I was very lonely.

Luckily, my traveling died down and I didn’t go nearly as often.  I started to travel only once every few months rather than every week.  And, then I didn’t travel really at all.  In fact, the last business trip I went on was about two years ago.

There’s a small part of me that misses traveling because I really enjoyed going to a lot of the places I went.  I just wish I could’ve gone with Corey and I could’ve spent a little more time seeing the sights rather than spending most of the time working.

So far, I’ve been on 24 business trips.  And, I’ve had a chance to go to Chicago, Anchorage, San Diego (twice), Albany, Kona, Omaha (twice), San Francisco, Atlanta, Nashville, San Antonio, Minneapolis, Tampa, Manhattan, Portland, Carbondale (IL), Phoenix (twice), Honolulu, St. Louis, Charlotte, Kansas City, and Seattle.

One of the things I enjoyed doing while I was traveling was visiting the temples.  I’d try to work out enough time so I could participate in a session.  If I didn’t have the time to do a session, I’d try to visit the temple grounds at least.

I’ve had the chance to participate in sessions at the San Diego, Portland, Mesa, and Seattle temples.  Doing a session at the San Diego temple was a dream come true! I had always wanted to go inside because it has been my favorite temple since I saw it for the first time almost 15 years ago.  It’s so beautiful, both outside and in.  I’ve also had the chance to see the Laie, Kona, Houston, and Winter Quarters temples.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to participate in a session while I was there.

The other thing I enjoyed while traveling was the chance to visit family and friends.  When I went to San Antonio, I drove the three hours to Houston so I could spend the weekend with sister LeAnn and her boys.  When I went to St. Louis, I had the chance to spend a few hours with my brother Jared and his family.  (Jared was in Manhattan at the same time I was so we were able to have dinner together and spend some time in Time Square.  It was a lot of fun! ) When I went to Phoenix, I was able to spend an evening with my niece Brittany and her girls.  I even helped my great-niece Tori with her math homework.  And, when I went to Seattle, I had the chance to stay and spend an extra day with one of my best friends, Angie.  It was great to see them and helped make the traveling more fun and enjoyable.

The Mall of America and the Empire State Building were the two most memorable places I was able to visit, other than the temples.  The Mall of America is huge!  There’s an amusement park in the center of the mall and over 200 stores.

The seminar I taught in Manhattan was actually held in the Empire State Building so I had a key to one of the rooms. I also had the chance to go to the top of the building. I really liked seeing the city from that vantage point and got a “small” glimpse of the Statue of Liberty from up there.  Other than spending some time in Time Square with Jared, it was the only sight I was able to see.

The most memorable experience I had was while I was in Kona.  I went a couple of days early because I wanted to spend some quality time since I was going to be in a place as beautiful as Hawaii.

While I was walking down one of the streets, I decided to go into a snorkeling rental shop.  I wasn’t planning on going snorkeling since I was traveling alone, but I felt like I should go in.  The shop owner started to talk to me and asked me where I was from.  After I told him I was from Provo, he told me his daughter had gone to BYU and his family was LDS.  He invited me to go to his ward on Sunday if I was still going to be in town.  He said they were having a “special” guest.

When I went to church that Sunday, I noticed Elder Nelson and his wife sitting on the stand.  I enjoyed listening to them speak and had the opportunity to shake their hands after Sacrament meeting was over.  Even though I was so far away from home, I felt at home while I was listening to them talk.  I think that’s the main reason I loved going to the temples while I was traveling.  I didn’t feel as lonely or as homesick while I was participating in something spiritual.

Next week, I’ll take my 25th business trip.  I’m not expecting anything huge or extremely exciting to happen while I’m in Las Vegas.  But, I’ll get another magnet to put on my overhead bin at work.  (I buy a magnet from all the places I travel while on business.)  But, more importantly, I get to see four of my really good friends: Alice, Cindy, Jamie, and Jen.  I can’t wait for that!

A few of my friends and I went to the library today for the annual Children’s Book Festival.  They have a ton of, usually local, authors come.  The authors spend time with their fans in classes and also take the time to sign books.

This year, Shannon Hale attended.  I just started reading The Goose Girl on Wednesday so I wanted to have her sign my book.  She’s very sweet and funny.  I’m glad I had the chance to meet her.  Too bad I couldn’t say anything about her books because I haven’t actually finished any of them yet. If she attends again next year, maybe I can say something a little more profound.

Brandon Mull and Brandon Sanderson were there too.  I’ve heard a lot of good things about Brandon Mull’s Fablehaven series and I wish I owned a copy and had read them so I could’ve had him sign my books.  I’ve also heard a lot of good things about Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series and, again, I wish I owned a copy and had read them already. Hopefully, they’ll attend next year since they’re local.

I also had the chance to meet an up and coming author Karey Shane.  Her book, Secret Speakers and the Search for Selador’s Gate, will be published in September.  The book has already won Textnovel.com’s Reader’s Choice Award.  Since I love fantasy, I’m excited to check it out this September.

It was a lot of fun and I’m glad I decided to go.  I enjoy meeting new authors and telling them how much I enjoy their books and how much they add to my joy of reading.  It’s also a lot of fun to share these experiences with such good friends and fellow book addicts!

Happy belated birthday, Kayla and Rachael!

As I stated in my review of Freshman for President, my friends and I invited Ally Condie to come to one of our parties.  Our party took place last Friday and it was a lot of fun!

My friends Debbie and Rachel planned the party and did a great job.  It was fun to have everything decked out in red, white, and blue.  We ate yummy baked potatoes and had ice cream (rainbow sherbet and frozen yogurt) for dessert.  (Rainbow sherbet makes a couple of appearances in the book.)

Ally was very sweet and funny.  We really enjoyed having her at our party.  We asked her a couple of questions about Freshman for President, but most of our questions dealt with the writing process and how she gets inspiration, etc.

After Ally left, we talked about other books we’ve read and gave recommendations to each other.  My “to read” list went from 731 books to 751 books!

Whenever my birthday has been on a Sunday, it has always coincided with Easter.  I liked having it on Easter because it helped make my birthday feel fun or more special since I can’t really go out and do anything on the actual day.  This year, however, Easter happened to fall on the Sunday before my birthday.  Since today’s my actual birthday, Corey and I celebrated yesterday.

Corey took me to a movie of my choosing.  I decided I wanted to see Monsters vs. Aliens.  I was a little disappointed for two reasons.  The first, and biggest reason, is that the sound died and we missed the first 10 or so minutes.  The second is that the story was good, but not great.  I still enjoyed the movie, though.  I really liked that Hugh Laurie played the mad scientist cockroach because it totally fit him.  And, of course, there’s nothing better than Stephen Colbert as the President.

After the movie, Corey took me to one of my favorite restaurants.  I prepared all day by only eating a very low number of calories so I could get whatever I wanted and still stay within my calorie limit for the day.  We went to the Bombay House, which is an Indian restaurant.

Later on, we went over to our friends’ house.  James and Meagan hadn’t seen the last Futurama movie or Twilight so we were going to watch those together, but our network was running really slowly and we couldn’t get the movies from our Drobo to our AppleTV quickly enough.  Instead, we played Monopoly.  I love Monopoly, but no one will ever play with me because it’s probably one of the most detested games of all time. But, since it was my birthday, Corey, James, and Meagan all humored me.  I lost, but I still had fun.  James ended up bankrupting us all.  I think I need a rematch.

Today, I’m just taking it easy by spending time with Corey and relaxing. I went to Sacrament meeting and then came home.  (I think my normal eating habits disagreed with all the eating out in the past couple of days).  I also went to choir practice for the first time this morning and I didn’t suck as badly as I thought I would.  But, I still need a lot of practice.

Corey gave me The Hunger Games and Graceling. I didn’t get my slanket ( ), but it’s okay since it’s getting warmer.  I’ll keep bugging Corey so I can get it for Christmas or something.

Yesterday, I received a couple of cards in the mail.  My parents-in-law gave me a gift certificate to Borders and my parents gave me some money.  I’ll be going to Borders tomorrow to pick up a couple more books!  Or, maybe even the Twilight soundtrack.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes via my blog, Facebook, e-mail, phone, text, cards, in person, etc.  I really appreciate it!