The last day I was 28... and preceeding events

So, this summer... well seems like it has been a busy summer, but I haven't really gone anywhere... at least not compared to last summer. I gotta say though, on that note, I am so happy that my life has changed so much since this time last year. I am really loving where I'm at, and loving the people in my life. I feel happier and much more content with myself and my situation. Anyway, so this summer, so far, I went to Vegas for a couple days to meet up with Randon, who was there for work, and then went to Lake Powell for a couple days right after. That was a busy weekend. Vegas was fun, though we didn't do any of the normal Vegas stuff. We went hiking, and running, and had lots of good, needed conversation and quality time together. It was so wonderful to be with him, laughing, playing, having our relationship just like it used to be. I was very glad to have those few days with him. I've been getting to see him a little more often lately and it is always such a treat. Powell was a blast. I met up with new friends. Cory Mon and the Starlight Gospel was headlining a concert there so we got to be on a huge houseboat for the stay. I got to meet lots of really cool, fun, interesting and downright likable people there. When I got there most everyone had been there a day or two already, and had been having a wonderful time. We spent our time getting in and out of the water, I didn't need anything but my swimsuit and a towel to lay out on. It was delightful! The air was just hot enough to make the water refreshing and the water was just cold enough to not want to stay in for too long. We just played all day long! The concert that night was a lot of fun and afterward we all came back and made our beds on the top of the houseboat where we watched the stars and saw the moon rise over the lake. That was a magical moment... one that could not be captured by pictures or words, and was a perfect moment because of that as well. We drove home the next afternoon and what should have been 4 hours was a lot closer to 7 because we stopped to take pictures of every little thing and we got snacks and stuff. We sure had a great time though! That trip changed things subtly, but in such a good way. The following week I discovered a place that will be a favorite place as long as I am in Utah. It's called Pirate O's and they sell chocolate from all over the world. Devin and I spent 40 bucks on chocolate that day... hmmm... I just ran out yesterday. The party was fun and the food was great! A week and a half later my adorable niece came up to stay with me for 10 days. That little girl is so much fun and I am just loving seeing her grow up. She is such a good-hearted and sweet little girl. She is seven, and I lived with her until she was almost a year old so she and I have a special bond. She likes a lot of the same things I do, and I have no doubt that her excitement over sparkly things comes from when I would dangle my necklaces over her as a baby, and put enormous rings on her tiny little fingers. She loves doing super girly things with me and I just melt because she has such a perfect flair for it all. It was cute, when she first got here I asked her if she was hungry... she said she was, and I asked her what she wanted to eat. She said, "In Arizona there is a place called RA, do they have that here?" I told her no, and she said, "Well, is there a place here that sells sushi?" I laughed and said yes, but that we weren't going to have sushi for lunch. She was disappointed until I suggested In&Out. I could tell then that it was going to be a lot of fun... and pretty expensive. :o) After we ate we went shopping. She has a knack for finding me cute clothes I never would think to put together, so we had a deal. We'd each pick out an outfit for the other. She found a really cute pair of shorts for me... which I'd been trying to find for some time, and I found her an adorable outfit. It was a black, white, and gray shirt, with black cropped pants with little studs as fringe, a black sequined vest, and silver sequined shoes. She looked so stinkin adorable in it that when I saw that it was 5 times as much as my shorts I couldn't help but get it anyway. I told her though (it's all about life lessons) that if you are ever going to spend way too much much money on clothes you have to make sure that you can wear each item with lots of other clothes you already own. :o) The next morning we did the weekly rounds for meals on wheels and had a great time visiting with some of the seniors. One of the gentlemen gave her some flowers from his yard and some chocolates and she loved that! Later on she and I went to the pool and played mermaid... which I have not done in years!!! :o) It was fun, I was the Mom mermaid and she was the daughter and we pretended sharks were trying to get us. Later we went to the rodeo. Anaya loved the motor cross intermission. And she was not pleased that the cowboys were roping the poor little calves and knocking them over. After thaaaaat, just to round off the day we went to Velour to see Patrick's band play and then there was dancing afterward. She loved the fog machine and the colorful strobe lights. I loved watching how excited she was about everything. She was a blast and is such a little charmer! The next day she and I went to the Lehi Days Parade. She got gobs of candy and fun stuff, which I made her eat somewhat responsibly. :o) We had vegetables for lunch which she swore she was going to hate, until she took a bite... and then she ate them all. She made a huge fort for the puppy while I was getting ready for the day and did an exceptional job of cleaning it up when we were ready for that. I was impressed. I don't remember being that good of a fort-taker-downer when I was that age! We went to the movies and saw Toy Story 3 in 3D. I quite enjoyed it, and I just loved that she was all cuddly in the parts she thought were scary. After that we went to a huge carnival in West Valley City or something like that. We went on tons of rides and I realized rides I used to be fine with now make me sick. She loved the Fun Houses the most. We watched fireworks, and she was wiped out by the time we got to the car. The next day was Sunday. We went to church and then went to the Mt Timpanogos temple. We had a very wonderful experience there and I felt like I finally was able to do some of what she asked me to do. She asked me to teach her about God and Jesus Christ, and as we spoke she had so many questions and it was really an amazing experience for both of us. Then we went to "the big temple" as she called it and we saw as much of it as we could before it closed, but we could have spent a lot more time there. We had a really great spiritual conversation on the way home and I just felt so privileged to have been able to share it all with her. I was impressed at her understanding of concepts and her insightful questions. That was my favorite part of the trip because it was so special and I know that is the part that will last forever. The next day, Monday, we went on a picnic and she discovered that contrary to her former belief, she really does like chocolate milkshakes :o) She was a little apprehensive at my suggesting it but she sure came around after just a sip. Then we went to the Biggest dinosaur museum in the world... really, the very biggest one! It was fun and she loved getting to do the hands on stuff. When we got home she built yet another fort (I never saw so many forts in so few days) and she came visiting teaching with me. I had told her also that we'd get some frozen yogurts and that seemed to be a great time for it, so we ate them as we watched UP! The next day, Tuesday, we went to the Aquarium and had a blast there too! My favorite part was all the little seahorses and I think her favorite was when she found out you could feel the electric shock of the eel she hung around a while stopping everyone who came near and showing them how to do it. It was adorable! Afterward we went to go buy her a dress for a wedding reception. We found several she loved but only one that fit. I could spend a fortune shopping with that little one! The following day Wednesday, was pretty low key in the morning, just watching tv, then when the sun was debating whether or not it was really going to come out or not we decided we'd give it a shot and went to a big, colorful water park called Cowabunga Bay. We went with my neighbor and his little brother and we all had a great time even staying only a few hours. The wind picked up so we got some rainy day passes to come again when the weather was a bit better. We really had a great time anyway, playing on the slides and in the lazy river. She has such an imagination and a smile that is just so contagious! After the water park we figured we needed some Cold Stone, and we got the biggest size and that was a great treat! When we finished, we came home, got cleaned up, and met up with Aaron and his brother again and finally went for sushi! The next day, Thursday, we went on a hike to Bridal Veil Falls and hiked right up the front of it. Who needs a trail? I had her go first in case she fell I would be right behind her and she did really good! She did just what I told her and made it to the top perfectly fine. When we got up there she decided she wanted to go over to the side with all the mist and she was going to do it the hard way. I let her, and when she realized it was really hard that way I showed her how to navigate it and she did fine. It was colder there though, with the spray and being in the shade a bit, but it was fun because as we looked down we could see a rainbow in the mist. Anaya was so excited to be on the top of a rainbow and she was looking for a pot of gold. We didn't see one, but she said there was silver all over. As she went down a little ahead of me it almost looked like she was going to walk right underneath it. Too fun! After that we went to the Homestead Resort in Midway where we got to go inside the crater and feel the warm water. We went to Granny's on our way back and got the best shakes in the world! They really are, they must have more cream in them or something. She got cookie dough and I got mint chocolate chip. We saw two deer munching on someone's lawn in the middle of the day, which was quite a delight for Anaya, and when we got back home we headed right back out to Cowabunga Bay again, and we went on the slides and I got to sit out in the sun for a while, which I quite enjoyed. We stayed for several hours and then went home and Anaya set up a little nail salon in my room. We did her toes pink with flowers, and her fingers sparkly purple with swirls, and dots, a star, a heart, and other pretty designs. The next day, and last real day of the trip was Friday. We got up and delivered meals again for meals on wheels and this time we stayed and visited with a couple of seniors for several hours. Our last stop was at a couple's house where the wife just loved that Anaya asked for more flowers as she'd received last week. They had bloomed so nicely, and were so delightful! She had her husband take Anaya out to the yard and show him the ones she wanted. She came back with a bundle and the wife said she needed more. They went out 4 times until the grocery basket we had was stuffed full of beautiful flowers! Then Anaya played with her lovely figurines and snow globes and such till her hearts content. We all enjoyed it very much! When we got back home I did laundry and got Anaya's things packed, and did all the mundane stuff that has to be done at the end of a trip. She made forts for the dog and played all afternoon. Towards the evening we got ready and went to my beautiful co-worker's fabulous wedding reception. She looked amazing, the food was delicious, it was all picture perfect, and we had a lovely time, though we didn't stay long. We had gotten a late start and I misjudged the time, and we still had one more stop before she could get to bed! We headed over to Velour. Now, for those of you who have never experienced Velour, I would recommend it. This particular night, and for a few nights prior, Corey Fox, the awesome owner/operator had changed this hot-spot local music venue into a vintage flea market of sorts where you could find all kinds of fabulous things vintage. Anaya had no idea what all of that meant, but she had ten dollars and by golly, that was where she was going to spend it. I didn't have any cash on me, though I wish I had a record player, because if I did I'd have bought some records for sure! I ended up chatting with Corey while Anaya ran back and forth picking out things and coming to ask him if she had enough money to buy it. She came away with her hands full and a stuffed purse to show for it. I enjoyed that. Corey said to me, Wow, you coming here tonight is a lot different than when you were here before! I see you guys have been keeping very busy, and (basically) you look tired. :o) I was tired! I don't have the energy for non-stop all the time. I took that cute little bug to the airport the next morning where we met up with Gramma. She had brought most of the flowers from the day before with her and she was just the cutest happiest little thing bouncing along with her flowers poking out the top of her back pack, and her little cowgirl hat on her head. I was really bummed to get back in my car and not see the cute girl in my back seat. I had really gotten used to it, and really liked it. It was a wonderful trip, and I wonder as she gets older, what she will remember of it. I loved it. Later that day, I went to the Freedom Festival. We ran into Dustin, and met up with Corey later. It was a lot of fun, and quite good too because I learned of a political party that is pretty much aligned right up with my political beliefs... so i joined it. It's called the Constitution Party and if you've never heard of it... look it up. I was surprised to learn that it is a bigger party than the Libertarian party and though it is even so, still small, I feel good knowing that I can finally put my vote behind what I believe, not just the option that is closer than the other one. The next day, Independence Day, I was well on my way to being sick. Even so, I went with a bunch of people, to Park City to watch the fireworks. The crazy thing about that is it was 60 degrees! Ok, I don't know what kind of cruel joke Al Gore is trying to pull making half the U.S. population believe that the world is about to melt, but I have a feeling it has something to do with creating some kind of clout since nobody believed the whole 'I made up the Internet' thing. Who gives out the Nobel Prize anyway? I mean really... I'm going to ask them for one for MY significant contributions to to the world. Anyway, I was wearing a long sleeve shirt, another shirt over it, and a sweater and still was freezing half to death. The fireworks were nice, and within days I was diagnosed with bronchitis. I have been laying low in the last 6 days since. I have only been to the Modest Mouse concert, and a date. I know, I don't usually log about dates, but this one I should say a word or two about. We had dinner, went for a walk, (which I quite enjoyed) and spent the next 4 hours at the Draper City Cemetery. It was one of those nights I hadn't expected to happen, but thoroughly enjoyed. We found some really awesome gravestones and were there till about 2am. We layed on the grass for a good long while talking, looking at 'constellations' and just enjoying each other's company. After the week I'd had with not feeling well, not getting out, and with my birthday looming mercilessly, I really needed that. Tomorrow starts something new... it's the last birthday I'll ever have... or so I'm told. I'll be 29. So, today is the last day I'll be 28. Nothing is going on today that I particularly ought to write about, though there are a few things I could say about current events. They're not positive though and I'm sure in a month they will be forgotten. No need to remember. So 29 huh... Are there brakes I can apply for just a while to stop it from being just mere hours away? I'm not ready for it! I have things to do first, like travel, get married, and have a couple kids!