Live life happy...

Summer Visitors!

2010-05-27T08:45:00.001-07:00

Blogging is too time consuming and doesn't work proficiently...I don't know why I even have it! But since I do, I thought I'd upload some cute pictures of my adorable niece! My mom sent Addison an Easter dress and she's just about the cuttest little girl in the WORLD! Darrick Kellie and Addison are coming out to visit for the whole summer and I'm beyond excited to see them tomorrow!!

Touring...

2010-03-30T12:53:00.000-07:00

I am on top of the world looking down on creation....(do do dooo..)
Jentry and I went touring a few weeks ago behind Alta in Big Cottonwood Canyon and WOW... what an amazing tour!! He took the photos, what a great photographer huh? I had tons of energy and felt really good. This was only my third time touring this winter but I've been able to stay in shape throughout the season skiing on weekends... shocker isn't it? Too bad winter is drawing to a close... or is it??

Vancouver 2010

2010-02-26T08:27:00.000-08:00

She's got the whole world..in her hands!

One truck, 4 friends, lots of skis and Olympic fever! Here's a little update of our Vancouver trip last week. I'll try to write more later...

Kevin, Mel, Neal & Me - Vancouver Skyline

WHISTLER/BLACKCOMB

eVERYONE HAS THE rIGHT TO:

sEND iT, sQUIB iT, jIB iT, lIVE iT!

(yes Mel and I both got gold medals for being being awesome ;)

We started the trip in Seattle for a day and a half, took a ferry to Bainbridge and explored what part of Seattle we could in our short time. Monday we were off to Vancouver where we got to ski Whistler, see a USA-Norway hockey game, a few medal cermonies and concerts which included Matisyahu and Feist (would not recommend the later..SO boring!) The streets were filled with Olympic fever. I've never been to Mardi Gras, but I imagine it was similar except for all over the city. Canadians are so friendly and we found such great people up there! The only down part to the trip was getting to any on-hill events. They closed the canyons from 6 a.m. - 6p.m. daily, so our whistler treck started at 4:00 a.m.! I haven't paid for skiing in years, but it was 110% worth every penny! Whistler is such an amazing resort and we just happened to get up there after a storm which dropped about 10 inches of fresh snow. The trip ended with another ski day at Mt. Baker 2 hr.s south of the Canadian border in Washington...State. 30 + hr's of driving, 4 states, 2 countries, 2 ski resorts and a whole lotta foreigners= a great trip! (More pics to come...)

Tree Trimmery 2009

2010-01-19T22:48:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79QvG7CG0fw

Holiday Cheer!

2010-01-19T22:15:00.001-08:00

Addison was born this year and is now 6 months old! The holidays were a blast this year!!

Me and Addy!

Grandma and AddyIn case you didn't catch the previous video (you should go back and watch it...Jentry is pretty savvy with videoing) Jentry's and I drove up to Idaho with some friends and skinned up to a place with permits to where we could cut some trees down. We also got a few fun turns in but I was wasted...first timer backcountry skiing! Woo woo, we found some great Christmas trees and skied them out. Tree lots are for losers! ;)

J-Hole & Y-stone

2009-10-06T20:17:00.000-07:00

Jackson Hole

Mel, Jules and I headed up to Jackson Hole & Yellowstone a few weeks ago for the Teton Gravity Research Ski Premier and had a blast! We met up with on of my Sales Reps for Rossignol, Scott Harmon and his sweet wife who treated us to Sunday brunch and showed us around Jackson a bit. The premier and after party were fun, but to be quite honest, the highlight of the trip was Yellowstone! The pictures don't even do justice.. I'll have to expound later...

YELLOWSTONE

Uintas Bday Trip

2009-09-01T15:34:00.000-07:00

People use the word great to difine many things... sometimes it is overused and sometimes it's over emphasized. In this case, I genuinely mean to say that I have great friends and a great family. This weekend trip was so relaxing and so perfect, I haven't been this happy in a long time. Something about being in the cool, fresh mountain air surrounded by good company and indulging in some incredible dutch oven food put me in a place I wish I could always be, so content and so at ease with life. I could almost say I wouldn't change a thing about my life... well maybe one or two things, but those can come later. We rock climbed Saturday up at one of our favorite places to climb, Ruth's Lake, and I soon found out that I really do have a fear of heights...something I've never admited because impulse and pride always seem to override it. Jules and I cleaned two climbs that couldn't be more than a 5.8 and I let fear take over and I almost didn't follow through. 25 mins later, I cleaned it and felt quite accomplished if I don't say (completely silly I know) but hey, I'm 25...no time to woose out now! My family joined us Sat. night and we played some hilarious games around the campfire following dirty boy chicken.. mmmm! I love the Uintas, I love summer and I love my friends and family. Thanks again everyone!!

Music is my escape

2009-08-12T13:46:00.000-07:00

I've had a mix of several different emotions today and I found myself changing my playlist to fit my mood. While doing this, I realized that music is my escape... (Nice picture eh? None of this music makes me hate anyone.. I just thought it was creative.) Last week was Fleetwood Mac and this week I'm on a big kick with the Killers (particularily their album Day & Age.) The song 'This is your life' has some interesting lyrics and I found myself relating to them as I drove the canyon this morning to work. "The sky is full of dreams...but you don't know how to fly." Lately I've been feeling short on chasing my dreams and can feel something about to give, but I don't know when where or how. I wish I had the creative mind of song writers, sometimes I find they can say it better than I can put into words. However, sometimes I'm disappointed by lyrics. Take for example "Arizona" by Kings of Leon... one of my favorites, the rhythm, the guitar solo and the drums just do something to me., but the lyrics are about a whore house in Arizona... Gotta love those kinds of lyrics. Anyway, enjoy the selection I've created...maybe you too can find your escape ;)

Havasupai

2009-07-01T21:02:00.001-07:00

An Oasis in the middle of the Grand Canyon

Ahhh yeah!! Talk about one heck of a hike!

Nate, Me, Mowgli and Nicco in front of Havasu Falls

What a sight for sore eyes! After a 10 hour drive, 3 1/2 hours of sleep in the parking lot beneath an array of endless stars and an 11 mile hike in with packs on our backs, this was our destination!Havasu Falls up close and personal...

The Crew in front of Mooney Falls

Thanks to Mowgli for putting this all together, it ended up being such a fun weekend! We camped down river from Havasu falls between two small rivers. There were tons of people down there and we found out after 9 miles in, that you can helicopter into the village just 2 miles from the campground for $85.. talk about a cop-out! Good thing we took it HC (hard core for those of you not on the trip) and packed in like mules! There was plenty of fun to be had away from people and we wore ourselves out the entire time. I don't have room to post all my pictures here, but I will create a slideshow of the rest. Our journey to Beaver falls on Saturday was probably the most fun I've ha d all year. We hiked down river about 3 miles wading in and out of the river and pretty much the whole day was spent cliff jumping, rope swinging, sliding down waterfalls, crazy stallions and cheating death with my lousy back flip attempt. I'd say that day topped my charts!
Anyone interested in doing this trip, I give it two thumbs up!! Word of warning: get in shape, it's not an easy one! I figured throughout the whole 4 days, we hiked about 32 miles if not more and I thought I was in pretty good shape... Not so! You can bet we crashed the second we got out of that canyon. We drove straight to Kingman for In and Out burgers. Ahh, food never tasted so good...yeah I pounded two, not one, but two fully loaded burgers...mmm. I miss the trip already!

MOAB ROUND 4

2009-06-22T09:03:00.000-07:00

This is our 4th annual girls moab trip and there was no better way

to hit it off than a night at the brewery getting wing' faced!

This is a picture from Suzette Baird's blog.

I LOVE MOAB!!

For sake of keeping up with my sisters on the blogging, I had to steal these two photos off Suzette Baird's blog since I never blog when I get home (hope you don't mind Sue!) This years adventure brought 7 of us down to Moab this time; Mel, Jules, Jen, Mady, Suzette, Terrin and I (and Jude...I guess that's 8). We rafted the river which was an adventure - rain, getting stuck in eddies, floating up stream, bailing half way down the river.. oh what fun! The food was good, the company was great and we even stopped at Goblin Valley on the way home, something I've always wanted to see! Mel, Jules, Jen, Jude and I hiked Little Wild Horse canyon. We didn't hike the whole 8 mile loop because of the dog and thing for fear of flash flooding. Anyone in for another weekend adventure let me know!!

Winter Fun!

2009-04-14T09:17:00.000-07:00

Which of the following statements are not true:
A: Nichole loves to ski
B: Nichole loves birght colors
C: Nichole loves mustaches

If you answered C you are correct! Although it may appear in the picture above that I love mustaches... I really don't ;) But I have such a love for skiing and this season I've been fortunate enough, after using the same skis for the past 6 seasons, to finally updated my ski garb - Thanks to my great job working for the Rossignol Group. My choice of colors...very bright like the rainbow.

This winter has been fun-filled and very social. I just moved into a new house in Sugar House with three of my good friends and you can imagine, I don't get much sleep! Every Saturday has been mandatory Canyons ski/ride day due to the fact that I work M-F 8:30-5...yeah, I'm growing up big time! Skiing has definitely been just for me this winter and I don't cringe at the thought of being obligated to teach for the first time in 3 years. I have much to catch up on so stick around, there's more to come.

2009 DO IT RIGHT!

2009-01-27T13:59:00.000-08:00

Hostess with the mostest!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I don't know why we felt the need to throw another party but this one about did me in! Jules, Mel, Jen and I threw another party at Rice Eccles Stadium (who are more than difficult to work with.) It was a lot of fun but very stressful and time consuming. I would not recommend using that venue to anyone! Now our DJ Matt Bell...whoa hold the phone! He did such a great job and I would recommend him to anyone. It was a fun way to ring in the new year. But nothing would top the first few days of the new year (most of which was spent in the car...but totally worth it!)

N*O*L*A

UTAH vs. ALABAMA 31-17

Destination: New Orleans
Travel time: 56 hrs
Total driving distance: 3600 miles
States traveled: 7
Days off work: 4
Trip total cost:$150

I found out a year ago from my good friend Chelsea Clouate from Louisiana, that New Orleans was also referred to by the acronym N.O.L.A. which is my first name. Little did I expect to visit the crazy city one year later. About 4 hours after our new years party, Jen and Mel dragged me out of bed and into the car headed for Louisiana. I was anything but bright eyed and bushy tailed at the thought of spending my four-day weekend in a car. But I have, what Mel refers to as FOMO (fear of missing out) and couldn't pass this up. We drove 28 hours on merely 3 hours of sleep, ran out of gas in Texas, (nice one mel!) and entertained each other with random gas station purchases... candy cigarettes and whoopie cushions to illustrate some. We detoured through Durango and Ouray which made for quite the scenic trip and made it to our ghetto hotel on Canal St. only a few hours before game time in time for some good ol' southern ribs and jambalaya.

GO UTES!!!

The game was incredible!

We scored tickets for $30 outside from a scalper. Of course we didn't sit where the seats were, we stole into the lower bowl near Jules and Covey who had flown down the day before and enjoyed the victorious win from the 20th row. We were only about 9,000 strong in the arena but out cheered Alabama. The sound of our fans cheering "UNDEFEATED" was enough to make me cry! Oh I love my Utes! After the game, we the fans flooded to Burbon street, where we met up with more friends, ate pizza and stayed out till 3 in the morning. Oh what a trip! Less than 10 hours later we would head back 28 more hours of driving to Utah. Oh what fun it is to be 24 in 2009!

Happy Holiday Cheer!

2009-01-27T12:18:00.000-08:00

Christmas time! I know it's been a while, I thought I'd throw a few pics of the holiday cheer before I started into 2009. The whole family was here and we celebrated christmas in Park City at mom and dad's. The most exciting part was finding out the Darrick and Kellie are going to have a girl! Oh yeah...they're pregnant.. I forgot it's been a while. I'm going to be an aunty!!!

SNOW!!!

2008-12-14T11:02:00.000-08:00

Prays were heard, the night was still,
A small shriek from my lips did spill.
Snow is falling all around,
Hearts unhappy cannot be found.
Christmas songs all in full play,
Words like "pow" and "gnar" we often say.
New skis, fresh snow, lift tickets and more,
Ski season is here and we're out the door!

If you can't tell, I'm cheesy and excited that winter finally showed up again! Some friends and I hit the Canyons yesterday with about 8-10 inches of new snow. Not much of a base underneath it, but enough for a good party on the mountain! I am unable to download pics right now, but as soon as I can, Ill post pictures from yesterday.
Happy Holidays!

CHANGE...

2008-10-10T15:13:00.000-07:00

Change is the name of the game for me and I decided to blog about it today.

I start my new job at the Mountain Center up in Park City for the Quicksilver Rossignol Group tomorrow, so I am enjoying a day off inside away from the COLD! Due to the change of seasons, my days of being a Garden Girl came to an end Thursday. It was a fun day working with my boss Sarah and the whole gang. This job has been physically challenging but very rewarding. I will miss it!

With the change of the weather, the leaves and the length of daylight, I feel my life has taken a turn as well. Some days I'm excited about change, other days I wish I could step back in time. I didn't get my dream job earlier this summer, my parents no longer reside in Maui and I recently jumped back into the hideous scene of being single. Life is as spontaneous as ever and so unpredictable...

Amidst all this change, I found hope. The new job infects me with ski fever and I have every hope of finding my niche. My parents finally live close enough for Utah to feel like home again and despite the disappointment and heartache, I learned a lot and treasure the experiences I've had this summer. This past weekend of General Conference I found wisdom in a talk given by one of the General Authorities. He said, "hope has the power to fill our lives with happiness," and that "it is the foundation of our faith." Another one of my favorite talks was Joseph B. Wirthlin who quoted a phrase his mother used to say "Come what may and love it." The perfect motto to the rest of my year...come what may and love it! Between the two talks, I realized that there are certain things we can't control in our lives but with hope and faith, we can learn to love it and move on still loving life and hoping for the best.

More changes reflect in the fact that I recently became a big fan of the color pink. Not just because it's girly, more importantly because it signifies Breast Cancer Awareness. I don't know why I'm interested in being a dedicated supporter, but I have since collected quite a few pink ribbon items. My nalgene bottle, camera case, gardening gloves...even tic tacs.

Here are a few more pics...
My sis, my boss Sarah and me (garden girls gone wild my last day) Arden, the little gal I tend on Wednesdays and a sneak peak of some hard work this summer...Many of you may think I didn't do much this summer but play However, I did learn a few trades one of which happened to be rock work.

MY TRIP TO CHILE!

2008-09-11T21:59:00.000-07:00

" AND TAKE YOUR MONEY..."
Some of you might think this irrelevant, but my theme song for the trip was paper planes by M.I.A. and this picture is in lieu of it. Oh this is Portillo by the way... The first shot is of me and the second is Cory at Valle Nevado (let's pretend it was a sweet landing ;) It needs to snow soon, I can't wait for the season!

Skiing on my 24th BDAY!

2008-09-06T22:17:00.000-07:00

Friday the 22nd I turned 24 and what better way to spend my 24th than on the slopes? Corey and I took a ski shuttle an hour and a half from the Santiago to El Colorado Ski Resort in Farrellones through one of the sketchiest canyons. I was laughing the whole time...these drivers are crazy! If you've experienced the road to Hana in Maui, imagine a more barren, steeper incline along with some crazy Chileans who pass on blind corners, (a fellow traveler referred to it as Chilean Chicken)...and that should paint a rough picture of this experience...it was awesome! I couldn't get over how tall the Andes were and how high we were! The skiing was surprisingly good and left ear to ear grins on our faces. Skiing mid-summer in Chile?? Who would have thought...this is going to be an expensive habit...

WELCOME TO CHILE!

2008-09-06T21:39:00.001-07:00

Dramamine, earplugs, three seats to stretch out across and an eye mask makes for an incredible 9 hour, red-eye flight! There's no better way to fly. I passed out about an hour after take off and woke up to this...Good morning Andes!! I believe this peak was Mt. Aconcagua - the tallest peak in the Andes mountain range. I was more than thrilled to finally arrive! Chile is currently on my top 3 fav. countries! I hope this blog illustrates why..
(I have way too many great pictures to post in one blog so I made a slide show, you can check out all the pics by selecting "view all images.")

The first few days were spent in Santiago, (with the exception of my birthday which I posted above.) with my friend Ximena Dona and her family. When speaking of great people, I will always think back to this family and how hospitable and welcoming they were. For the time being, we were family and I will always consider Ximena my Chilean sister! The first day we arrived, we were treated to a home cooked meal complete with a birthday cake for me! What a surprise! They also invited us to their cousins 18th birthday where we met several relatives and ate more cow than I thought was edible. If Cory's face didn't approve I replied as her uncle came around with the bowl of meat "No carne, gracias!"
The next week we headed up to Farrellones (for detailed road conditions see the previous post) where we stayed at the cutest A-Frame hostel (aka Tribeca A-frame hostel for rockers!) It was owned by Bryan from New York and ran by the coolest couple from Tahoe, Jerimiah and Andrea. I have to admit, I was refreshing to speak and understand English for a few days. The hostel was so cosey and warm, we had so much fun up there! My only complaint was the failed hour and a half attempt to hitch hike. The Chileans up there would drive around us and pick up the locals...unbelievable! The next day it dumped about 5-6 inches and we skied powder all day! Thanks to the Brits who gave us a ride, we were able to enjoy a whole day of faceshots!

The last stop was Portillo. We caught a bus from Santiago to Mendoza, Argentina where we got off a few miles from the border in Portillo. This resort topped the charts! Its nestled between towering cliffs just aside a frozen lake and the view was absolutely breathtaking! We scored a bunk, two days skiing and four gourmet meals for $180. Try that in Park City...I don't think so! The snow wasn't as soft as Valle Nevado, but the terrain was steeper and we found some killer lines. My favorite was the rocket rope tow that shot us up the steepest mountain at mac-90! I laughed so hard I almost fell off several times. Ski Magazine was also doing a photo comp. that week so we were able to sneak a peak of the slide show and upcoming photos for February's edition. We also got to meet and hang out with the skiers and photographers who were a lot of fun. Ironically enough, Jason West was there shooting, Cory and my old boss's husband from Solitude. It was a fun weekend!

The last town we visited was Val Paraiso, a port town two hours north of Santiago. This town was very unique complete with graffiti art and smelled of fish. We found a decent restaurant where we were serenaded by a cute Chilean man in a white dining coat and had some killer Chilean Sea bass. I love this country! I highly recommend it and already can't wait to get back!

Time for an update...

2008-08-07T01:31:00.000-07:00

I'm terrible at keeping up at this blogging business for reasons such as this...it's past 2 a.m. and I can't put this down! So here's my update... I've spent most my summer working for a company called Garden Girls where I play with plants and dirt all day while working on my tan...or skin cancer for that matter. I decided to post a picture of my favorite plant right now, Echinacia. It's not only beautiful, but it's used for medicinal purposes as well. I also love lilly's, crocosmia and lavender. My boss Sarah Clemensen is a riot to work with and I get a high working for her. I've also been able to stay in shape and love being outside! My sister Aarika and I work together and we can't figure out how the two of us never run out of things to say during our long work hours. She and her husband Rob live only a few blocks away and it's been loads of fun hanging out with them! I've been on the job search for sometime now and haven't had any luck. All this college grad hype is overrated! It's been a challenging year thus far, but I've been fortunate to stay busy playing with friends and taking short weekend trips. This weekend I am running a triathalon in Logan with Craig and his sister. I like to dedicate my finish to my good friend Rich Alley who ran a marathon with about as much training as I have put in...wish me luck!! I hope I don't die.. In less than two weeks, I fly to Chile with my good friend Corey Heintz to ski for 10 days! I guess you could say I've started checking off my bucket list...this is definitely one of them and I'm stoked! I can't complain...life is GooD! Sometimes life throws you curve balls but I'm glad I have great friends and family around to remind me that life is short and to live life happy!

St. George

2008-08-06T22:35:00.001-07:00

Jules, Mady, Suzette and I took a short trip to St. George a couple of weeks ago for a little R&R. We stayed at Mady's grandparents condo (thanks Larsens!) where we biked, swam, read and challenged each other to some mad mexican train dominos. Mady and I also learned to ride dirt bikes, thanks to Suz and Jules. It was definitely a therapeutic trip for me! I had high hopes of landing a job I'd been dreaming of and the earlier part of the week was rough. All this college grad hype is overrated! So I am still in pursuit of a career. This summer has been fun regardless and it's not over yet!

Summer FUN!

2008-08-06T21:22:00.000-07:00

MOAB 2008

2008-08-06T20:34:00.000-07:00

This was our 3rd annual Girls Moab trip and let me tell you, it gets better every year! This year consisted of Jen, Jules, Mel, Emmaliegh, me and Jude (mel's dog). YAY for Emm who drove clear up from AZ! The trip began at the Moab Brewery with to-die-for wings! This year we found the greatest campsite along the river and the exact location is a secret so no one can steal it next year! haha! Jk, but really it was the best camping spot yet! We hiked negro canyon...at least I think that's the name of it. When we got the the little oasis at the end, Mel found a rope and of course turned it into a rope swing that left us with battle wounds after swinging out through the trees. We also worked on Yoga poses. That night, Jen and I drove up the canyon and watched the stars.. WOW! I miss that about living in the city...you just can't see the stars like you can out in the brush. The next day we blew up our hefty Coleman rafts, borrowed some life jackets and paddles (thanks Western!) and headed up the canyon to float the river. We heard rumors that the river was high and when one of the river guides told us there were 12 ft. rapids, we got a little nervous.. But of course that didn't stop us. We started the adventure with a prayer and yes...Humorous Emmaleigh snapped a photo of us praying that we wont die down the river! Jen charged the river on her wave attacker complete with water gun (if you can see in the pics). I have to admit, I thought she was going to die! Turns out they weren't 12 ft. rapids and we missed the best ones taking the guys advice to steer left past the ranch...we were bummed. But the float was fun! Mel and I made it through all but one of the rapids and totally flipped in front of the first pull out with tons of people...it was hilarious! The trip ended with the traditional Moab diner greasy food and ice cream....mmmm! Can't wait for next year!

Girls Girls Girls

2008-05-21T11:27:00.000-07:00

These are a few of my favorite girls!

Kayaks in coves with sweet tasting mangos.
Bright shiny sailboats full sail when it blows. Hikes through bamboo over bridges that swing, My girls in Maui's my favorite thing!

Cream colored ice cream and crisp sho you chicken
Palm trees and coconuts, cheeseburger in Paradise...to be continued... I am no poet.

Basically this was an action-packed week complete with wake boarding, kayaking, hiking, beaching, shopping, bbqing, and lazy nights staring at star-filled skys. Oh if we could turn back time!

Maui sweet Maui

2008-05-10T03:29:00.000-07:00

I'm a sucker with no job, no obligations or responsibility so why not spend a few weeks home in paradise? What a rough life. I've been home for almost three weeks now and find it hard to think of going back to Utah. If it weren't for the third wedding, I'd be tempted to stay.

Pond Skimming

2008-04-15T13:50:00.001-07:00

Jules, Jen, Mel, Terrin and I rockin out the last week at the Canyons and the annual Pond Skimming event...what a riot! Oh how I love this culture! I sure didn't get any of this back east!

Can anyone up this?

2008-04-15T13:30:00.000-07:00

If anyone can find a cuter picture of a 3 1/2 yr. old in ski garb, let me know! After putting on her own skis, I looked back to see what was keeping Emily... Ducky -who had to come with us- was being tied to her coat. You better believe she skied almost the whole day like that too. I was laughing so hard and everybody else seemed to be quite amused. She was a rock star on the mountain after 5-6 days of back breaking lessons... well not quite back breaking, but my back is way out of whack and the chiropractor is heaven sent! It was a rewarding way to end the season teaching. I am sure going to miss it...the good parts. It's been a rough season teaching and I am actually glad I got a few days in here at the end.

Weddings weddings weddings...

2008-03-13T18:04:00.001-07:00

Wedding # 3 Aarika and Rob Branham

Aarika and Rob were married in May and will be the last for quite some time. My parents had to take a deep sigh of relief after this one. Three weddings within 5 months of each other...go figure. My parents are rockstars!

Aarika spent a summer in France and has been taking French classes since high school so it was only right to have her wedding luncheon at La Callie here in Salt Lake. It was fun to have my family fly out once again and crash with me, I am so spoiled! I hate to be biased, but I loved being Aarika's brides maid the best because I love my new shoes! The dress is hot too...love the dress, love shoes, love everything!

Wedding # 2 Natalie and Joey Worthen

Natalie and Joey were married on March 1st 2008. I have to admit, I miss my sister :( Natalie and I have shared a room our whole lives with the exception of probably no more than 4 years...you may think I'm joking but, seriously, we were inseparable these last few weeks together. I love Joey and am so excited to have him part of our family and know they will have a wonderful life together. I guess the sad part was the fact that they moved away on Monday. Yeah that's it...come back you two! Anyway, here are some pictures from the dinner the temple and her reception. It was lovely and so much fun!

Wedding # 1 Alise and Chris Allen
And the last shall be first...
Yes, my little sister, Alise (19 yrs.) was the first of the four Hatch girls to get married. Crazy huh? She married Chris Allen, a great addition to the family from Park City.. Alise and Chris met in Physical Science class at BYU...haha! I love that story! It was a beautiful wedding and we are happy for them!

Nic needs to update!

2008-02-18T22:12:00.000-08:00

I have to admit, I've been preoccupied with the online "post your resume and make yourself look good" program, Facebook, and haven't checked my blog in quite some time. (Apparently blogging is way more popular than I was aware of! This is great!) I'm amazed at how these online programs have opened communication. Pretty soon, we won't need real friends! Just the other day I taught a few kids who used the terms "brb" "lol" and "omg" when talking to each other and I had to laugh. Online abbreviations are becoming part of the next generations' vocabulary...awesome. Anyway, since I've been back from D.C. I haven't updated my blog, so my goal when I get my new laptop is to continue. (My computer is currently possessed and I get a headache looking at the multi-colored screen.) As I said earlier, I teach kids to ski at Solitude and love my job! Well.. most days.. (although, with a Bachelor's Degree it's kind of depressing each week I get paid.) But I am working toward some sponsorships and career jobs this summer, wish me luck!! I guess it's finally time to grow up...well almost ;) It's so fun to see everyone and what you are doing with your lives! Sorry I've been blog-inactive for a while. Send me links to your blogs and I will add them to mine!

UTAH vs. BYU

2007-11-30T07:39:00.001-08:00

Utah may have lost down at the LaVell Edwards Stadium, but here at the Van Ness UDC soccer feild, we rose triumphantly beating the BYU interns in an intense game of flag football the weekend prior to Thanksgivng. Thanks to Utah intern, Taylor Morgan, we held and hosted the first annual flag football game and hope to be able to continue this tradition in the semesters to come. BYU was a good sport and even though they lost, they still shared cookies and a few phone numbers with us after the game ;) Representing the Ute women were Randi, Erin, Emily and myself...boy did we get a lot of playing time. Randi was laid out by one of the interns and I collided with another, giving us major headaches for the remainder of the game... we still won :)

UTAH!

2007-11-20T11:01:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my wonderful friend, Jules, I was able to fly home over Veteran's Day weekend to spend a few days with my cute mom and sisters. From left to right; Natalie, Aarika, Mom, Alise and ME! Boy did we have a good time! We also cooked a turkey Sunday night and celebrated an early Thanksgiving. Thanks Mom and Jules! (p.s. nothing beats the Utah mountains!)

Southern Virginia

2007-11-20T10:33:00.000-08:00

This post is a little out of order, but I completely forgot to include it. My roommate Randi and I took a train down to Buena Vista (pronounced byoona vista by the locals) the tiniest college town where everybody knew everybody's business. Shea drove us through main st. the whole 100 yds of it and I couldn't help but notice the Welcome to Buena Vista sign Population 6000 and 3 drunks. I was definitely far from D.C. We came down to see Shea and Graham play in their homecoming football game and ended up having a blast! They won their game with two amazing touch downs by Shea and Graham...just for us :) Then later, we crashed their homecoming dance which gave me flashbacks of high school dances. Everyone we met was really nice and I almost grew envious of the small town life. Living in D.C. gets a bit too much for me. The photo below is in Panther Falls near Shea's house and at the game is Craig (Shea's awesome roommate) Me (Shea's awesome friend) Randi and Chelsea (two awesome girls ;) I hope you all find the humor in that. Anyhow, it was a really fun weekend! Thanks boys!

Halloween

2007-11-20T10:17:00.000-08:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! This year I only spent $14 on a sheet and some paint to make up my Greek goddess costume, what a deal! Emily was a flapper girl, while Erin and Randi played comic characters- Batman and the black Spiderman. Georgetown was crazy! Not quite as creative as Halloween on Front St. in Lahaina (that is still my favorite) however, Blades of Glory was the all time greatest costume this year. I would have given them first place in the costume contest.

The Dalai Lama in DC

2007-10-23T11:42:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday, I had the opportunity to see the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, receive the Congressional Gold Medal here at the Capitol Building. Although I wasn't able to attend the ceremony inside, I, along with thousands, gathered outside the west front of the Capitol Building to watch. Afterward he came out to greet the public and I found it to be one of the highlights of my internship thus far! I was so excited to see him! Another guest was Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner who spoke in behalf of the ceremony along with the President, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid. Later, Pretty Woman's one and only, Richard Gere, took a shot at introducing the Dalai Lama to the public. It was a gorgeous day which only added to the nostalgia of my experience here in D.C.

Colombus Day Weekend!

2007-10-08T17:15:00.001-07:00

Sunday night, a group of us went to see the memorials lit up (in my opinion they are much more spectacular at night.) Aarika and Shea came up to visit this weekend and since this blog kind of runs backward, you'll see more of them on the following posts. It was such a fun weekend and it was full of spiritual nourishment as well being that it was The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' General Conference weekend. We got to see three of the four sessions and boy, do I love this time of year! I love this church! The First picture is of Danny, Randi, Shea, Bryn, Me, Aarika, Jake and Erin in front of the Korean Memorial...kind of ironic to be smiling for a photo in front of this memorial...it was kind of sobering. The next photo is of my favorite memorial and President, Abraham Lincoln... I love this memorial! The last one is me in front of the Supreme Court.

More visitors!!

2007-10-08T16:52:00.001-07:00

Those of you who have the opportunity to see the Bodies exhibit GO!! It's well worth the money! I was flabbergasted and almost grossed out ...but mostly fascinated. The human body is incredible.

Aarika came out to see me and we had a blast running around D.C. Eating out at Paparazi was probably the highlight, killer lasagna!!

This is my game face in front of ESPN hot zone...

2007-10-08T16:45:00.000-07:00

Omar, the boss and I went to the T.H.A.N.K.S. USA gala wednesday night. Great food, great event!

Book Festival

2007-09-29T16:47:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd post another gorgeous picture of our nations capitol building. I am still shocked that I live here among so much history and the headquarters of our nation!

Today was the National Book Festival by the Library of Congress and Laura Bush. What a great festival!! The old man book signing is the one and only, Mercer Mayer! You may ask yourselves..."who is Mercer Mayer? and why am I was I so excited to see him??" Well, do you remember the little critter books? "Just a mess...Little critter sleeps over...Just a daydream Little critter..??" They happened to be some of my favorites as a kid and he is one of the first authors I became familliar with. So I was thrilled to have seen him in person! But I was bummed to find that you had to wait in line for almost 2 hours to get his book signed. That...and we got stuck on the metro for 45 minutes on our way here due to technical difficulties...just my luck! The man speaking is Michael Oren, an American-Israeli scholar, historian, and author best known for his best seller "Power, Faith and Fantasy." Michael spoke about the history of the relationship between our countries and how he had become affiliated and interested in the two countries. He was a very good speaker and I was fascinated with what he had to say. I intend to read his book next, but resisted seeing as I recently started 4 books and am currently reading "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Housini (excellent so far!) I highly recommend it.

Visitors!

2007-09-23T21:33:00.000-07:00

JULES!! Fun fun fun! Jules, one of my greatest friends in the whole world!) flew out on Saturday to spend the weekend here and boy do we know how to have fun! (in all reality, she flew out for the KINGS OF LEON concert Monday night...YEEEEHAW!!! We can't hardly wait!!!) But running around DC was definitely on the menu.

And running around, or riding around, is what we did!

KINGS OF LEON!!!!!!
This is us getting trashed before Kings of Leon Monday night....or um actually...is that VOSS water? Alright, we didn't get trashed, but we were treated to some excellent sushi at Mate' with Bryan and Danny! mmmm....I love sushi! Kings of Leon was the BEST concert I've been to! They pretty much rock my world and in fact, they sounded better live...either that or I was too stoked to care. WOW! What a night! I could have died a happy girl :) Those of you who don't know Kings of Leon, check them out! They are a sweet band. (but they didn't let us take cameras in and I am a little peeved about that.)

Feelin Hot Hot Hot!! This is Shea Owens, my bestest friend from high school, me, his roomy- Graham, and Jules. Jules and I spent almost 2 hours getting to George Mason University Saturday night to see them play football against them. (George Mason.. stick to your basketball team!) SVU whipped some booty 40 -6!! YEEEHAW! After the game, we spent another hour and a half getting back to DC where we ate dinner and crashed at my place. Slumber party! Oh by the way, Shea is getting a head start on his mustache for the annual mustache party in Buena Vista... if you ask me, I think mustaches are of the devil and should be frowned upon.

The metro is so much fun, we loved riding it and getting stranded at random bus stops... The rest of the weekend was full of laughing and eating yummy food. Nothing beats good company!

Graham, me Jules and Shea

Go SVU!!!

BOSTON!

2007-09-16T18:05:00.001-07:00

Hello BOston! So the only rainy day this week had to be the only day I had to tour Boston- the coolest city on the east coast! (in my opinion.) My greatest friend in the world, Rich Alley, flew out for a short business trip this week and I was able to fly up for the weekend to hang out with him. Boy was it good to see a face from home... I have to admit, I've been missing Utah a wee bit this week. So we started the day with the Freedom trail; a 2 1/2 mile walk about that passes through historical places througout the city. It was awesome even in the rain and thin slippers. By the end of the day we had almost worn through both our locals.

This was the bridge that crossed over to where bunker hill was. I love harbors and this was a highlight of the trail. When we got to the location of the battle of bunker hill, we tried to run up the obelesk- 294 stairs... I'm still sore from the attempt. I don't know why I didn't take pictures. The view was definitley worth the climb!

It doesn't get much more Boston than this! Rich and were following the red brick freedom trail when we came across a little tavern and got sucked in by two men, Frankie and Joey, the heart of Boston. If I ever imagined a Boston accent, this was it. These guys had us pinned for twenty minutes taking pictures with them and expounding upon Utah and Poligamy. We tried to explain that that wasn't in practice anymore with our religion...but that was a waste of hot air. They were awesome and definitely made the day genuine! Open air market, smelled like fish.

Who wants Bartley Burgers I DO I DO!! Talk about the sluttiest burger you've ever fantasized about...this was it! Bartley's is a nation wide favorite, famous for their burgers. We had to wait in line outside for almost 30 minutes at lunch time. I've neve had a burger that was an inch and a half thick. If I die this week, you'll know what it was from. Mad cow disease or something..

FENWAY PARK
Oh yeah did we ever! Rich got this bright idea to sneak into Fenway park, so we did. And you know what...it never pays to be sneaky! We totally got caught and rudely thrown out even after trying to bribe the little snot with $100. I think I have to change my status from a Red Sox fan to a Yankee fan...What a laugh though!
Instead, we got to ride a pedicab to the the other side of town and almost died! Our peddler was crazy! I was laughing the entire time and so was Rich.

The Internship..

2007-09-16T17:58:00.001-07:00

Rayburn House Office Building
Just thought you'd like to see how gorgeous the building I worked in was. I am starting to really get the hang of everything here in D.C. I love my internship, I work with great people who like to have a good laugh and keep it real in the office. I really lucked out! Riding the Metro is definitely not my favorite mode of transportation and I swear the weirdest things happen to me. I saw a guy fall head first down the escalators and almost kill himself and two ladies pass out...public transportation...what can I say??

My roommate Becca invited me to a Latino magazine gala that noticed highly achieved Latino women. It was a neat function and of course, great food and entertainment as well.

Soccer!

2007-09-16T17:51:00.000-07:00

D.C. United vs. REAL Salt Lake

Yes I know, I know, I betrayed my team by wearing that $5 United Shirt...but hey, it was 5 bucks! The game began outside of the stadium where we scored $2 hot dogs rather than pay $6. mmmm!! Jen I thought of you while I ate this one ;) Danny, Ben, Oddie, Bryan, Emily and I all went. Thanks for the tickets Bryan!

Tennis Anyone?

2007-09-16T17:28:00.001-07:00

US OPEN

Wow! What an opportunity of a lifetime! Ed, my dad and I were lucky enough to go to the tuesday afternoon match here at the Aurther Ashe stadium. I think tennis is my new favorite rich people sport... does that mean I have to become rich??

Aurther Ashe Stadium

Dad, me and Ed...12th row courtside...not bad eh?

Moya

Gulbis

Moya takes the match. I can't believe how intense and quiet the stadium can get. This match lasted 2 1/2 hours!

NYC!

2007-09-16T16:20:00.001-07:00

WEELLLLCOME TO NEW YORK CITY!!

Over Memorial Day weekend, I caught the China Town bus up to NYC with my two roommates, Emily and Randi. That was definitely a cultural experience! Yikes! But well worth $35... I met up with my wonderful parents who flew in for business with good friends and business partners Ed and Kathy! Yes I was a fifth wheel this weekend, but it was well worth it! My parents were kind enough to let me crash the party ;)

Emily, Randi and Me shortly after we arrived.

We all went to see Spelling Bee on broadway, thanks Ed! What a funny play, we nearly wet our pants. I recommend it to anyone who wants a good laugh. (the only picture we got was blurry so I made it small..)
My cool dad and I after the show in Times Square. Bright as daylight...surely the city that never sleeps.

Sight-seeing in style!

NYC Skyline

Statue of Liberty...need some binoculars?

SHOPPING IN SOHO

Ed and Kathy after a long day of sight-seeing and shopping.

Monday night ended with Little Italy! I don't think there is a bad restaurant on this street, but man did we luck out with some killer Sicilian food... Oh Fay, oh! I think this was my favorite eatery the whole trip...yep it was. I love those Italians!

Washington D.C.

2007-08-31T12:52:00.000-07:00

WELCOME TO D.C.!!

Here I go again, I just can't get enough of these internships...
Actually it's quite interesting how this all came about. I applied for this D.C. internship last fall when I was offered to intern in Scotland. So when I spent memorial day out here, a series of events lead me to run into my friend Alia who worked with Congressman Chris Cannon last spring and she helped get me the interview that later qualified me for this internship. Thanks Alia! My internship consists of giving Capitol tours, secretarial work and constituent services. Anyone who believe's it to be a hopeless cause to write or call your congress-representative...think again! I see to it that all the mail, faxes, emails and calls get logged and attended to and it's a lengthy process! Anyway, I hope to keep you posted on the exciting semester and hope it ends with greater opportunity!

My sister Natalie came to visit me my first weekend here, what a rock star! I love my sister!

My awesome roomates! Rebecca, Emily, Me, Randi and Erin on the metro on the way to celebrate my b-day in Georgetown. This is such a cool city, I love it!