Corey’s New Computer

Because Corey needed a quicker and more reliable computer for school this fall, he bought his own new desktop. But rather than buying a computer all put together, he made the PERFECT computer with the exact parts that he wanted for his computer. He bought an awesome graphics card, and i5 intel core processor, and a HUGE fan to make sure that the computer stays cool. The computer tower was also really cool because it looks like a decepticon form transformers. It has red lights and two of the MANY fans on it have red LED lights that glow when it spins. It is pretty cool looking :) Corey also bought a very nice flat screen and keyboard to top it all off. 

So on the 24th of July Corey, Matt, Jared, and I put all of the parts together in the case so that it would be ready for this fall semester. It took a while to figure out how some of the things went together and I helped figure out something that they couldn’t... showing off my computer skills haha jk, but I did learn a few things from watching dad and Jeremy my whole life.... but I was able to help by reading the manual and giving instructions when they got stuck. It was a lot of fun putting it together and getting it to work :) It took a few tries to position the HUGE fan (this thing was a wide as the case itself) but we got it together and working. Corey and Matt ran through the BIOS program and have overclocked it a couple times. They have now programmed a ton of games and stuff onto it :) It is a pretty great computer because it boots up really fast and works awesome! :) 

Now Corey has taught me to play Starcraft with him and Matt. This fall we have played a couple times together and we have had a lot of fun :) Its just a nice way to relax and is a good break from school.. so I totally understand why people play video games because it kinda just takes you away from the stress for a little while. They were both very understanding when playing with me and helped me understand the game before letting me go on my own so it made it more fun for me to play :) 

Dinner at Rodizio Grill

Happy Pioneer Day! 

Corey and I decided that we wanted to go out to eat for dinner tonight so we went to Rodizio Grill. We both really like the style that they use to deliver their food because we get to taste all of the different types of meat and grilled pineapple (which is my favorite part!) :) Because it was a holiday, they had a special with appetizers, meal, and dessert for an inexpensive price :) We enjoyed our dinner, but they wouldn’t let Corey change out a coffee for one of their desserts in the special so we were a little upset but dinner turned out to be pretty good and we enjoyed getting out and spending time together :)

Catching Chickens

Because Martha’s chickens hatched a new batch of chickens, there were too many in the backyard to feed. So she gave some to Paul, Nick, and the neighbor. Tonight Corey and I waited until sundown and caught 5 chickens for Paul. Corey was the one who grabbed the chickens from the chicken coop. I held the door shut as Corey ran in to the unlighted chicken coop and came out with two chickens upside down in his hands at a time. Corey is definitely pro at chicken catching :) We put all 5 into the dog crate that Paul sent home with Corey and Paul picked them up the next day. 

The unfortunate thing about this is the fact that 4 of the 5 chickens that we caught for Paul ended up being roosters... haha. It was practically impossible to tell which were hens and which were roosters when they were young, but once they started roosting and competing with one another, it was very apparent.. oops.. 

Corey Sold his Yamaha WR450F

Because Corey and I haven’t rode our dirtbikes at all this summer and because his Yamaha WR450F, although a nice bike, wasn’t exactly what he was looking for, he sold it today. It was kinda sad watching it go, but when the time is right we will both buy a dirtbike each so I don’t have to continue borrowing one. With Corey taking 18 credits and with my 16 credit hours this summer, we haven’t had much time to dirtbike together. BUT we still both have all of our gear so that step is over with and when the time is right we’ll get new bikes to ride together :)

Sunday Breakfast with Paul and Bonnie

This morning before work, Corey and I went and had breakfast with Paul and Bonnie at their house :) Bonnie made us some really good wheat pancakes and eggs. She had just recently bought a new photo editing software program, called Lightroom, and I helped her set it up this morning after breakfast. She and I had a really difficult time finding the specific number on the case that we needed to register the product and when we called apple support the guy wasn’t much help because he couldn’t figure out what we were looking for. We finally finished installing the program online after hanging up with the guy on the phone because he wasn’t any help. Bonnie also gave me the program on my MacBook Pro so that I can use it to edit my pictures too :) 

Horseback Ride in Willow Park with Martha

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! :)

Since we all had work and school off, Martha took me on another horseback ride :) We rode from Martha’s house over to Willow Park in Lehi. I rode Dee, a very pretty gray horse with white spots, and Martha rode Abbott. We had to stop by Lee’s house to drop something off first and then we were on our way. We rode down 1500 E first and at the end of the road before getting to willow park we found out how Scary Llamas are... man was that eventful.. haha it took a lot of convincing to get the horses past these llamas.. and they were just behind the fence but they must be stinky and scary because the horses would not budge for a long time.. each step forward they went they jumped back three steps when that llama moved. Martha finally got Abbott to move forward and held onto Dee and walked us past the scary llamas. After that we rode on the trial through willow park and just enjoyed ourselves and enjoyed being outside :) Dee kept sneaking bites of grass as we went along and I had to make him keep going when he stopped to eat. It was a lot of fun though and it was a really nice ride :)

Sunburn :(

I got sunburned today :( 

I have been running a lot this summer along the Jordan River Trail in Lehi. It has been a great accomplishment for me because I have been able to run between four and five miles without having to stop and walk :) I run between a 10 and 11 minute mile pace and it has been a great way for me to relax and enjoy being outside. Another awesome benefit is that I also have been able to get rid of my farmer’s tan.. YAY! :) I invested in an underarmor workout tank top that breathes well and is great to run in :) 

HOWEVER... it also exposes more of my skin to the sun...which is GREAT for getting rid of my farmer’s tan, but not so great when I forget to wear sunscreen. Today I felt the consequences of it. I didn’t even realize I was sunburned until I left work and put my backpack on my shoulders (and had to immediately take it back off). But it will go away soon and I learned my lesson, which is all that matters :)

Planting Flowers at Martha's

Corey and I went and visited my dad today to have him help Corey put a volt-meter on his motorcycle so he can monitor his battery power while he is driving. While they were doing that, Lexi and I went to Home Depot and flower shopped with Martha. Since a good amount of plants grew back from last year, including our lilies :), we didn’t have to buy as many this year. We did get our share of petunias and found matching flowers for ones that died off from last year. Lexi even picked out some flowers to plant, they were these interesting triangle-shaped red and orange flowers. We also bought two peony plants to place on either side of her climbing rose in the front to add height to the flower bed :) 

After we got back from Home Depot, Lexi helped Martha and I plant all of the flowers :) Martha recently bought this great flower pot from an auction, it is huge and has purple grapes carved into it, so we bought those cool pointy green plants that are in the middle of a lot of flower pots and smaller flowers to put around the edges. It was a lot of fun again this year and the flower beds turned out great :)

Hike to Timpanogos Cave

Today Corey and I hiked up to Timpanogos Cave. To get there, we rode his motorcycle up American Fork canyon, which was a lot of fun :) I love going on motorcycle rides with him, its one of our favorite things to do together. After we got to the station at the bottom of the trail to Timp Cave, we picked up our tickets and we had about 50 minutes to hike up to the cave. They usually suggest leaving about an hour to hike up, but Corey and I made it a challenge to walk up quickly :) The trail gains 1065 feet in altitude in 1.5 miles... So its pretty steep. Some parts of the trail were more steep than others, but it was definitely manageable, and wouldn’t be a problem for anyone, even children were hiking up and there are a lot of benches along the way to stop and take breaks. Corey and I only stopped once to situate my pack a little better. We made it up to the cave in 45 minutes :) At the top we snacked on cliff bars before going into the cave.

The cave was a lot of fun because we had a really energetic guide, a ranger named Molly. Timp Cave is made up of 3 different caves, which were all discovered at different times. The first cave was discovered by a man who was logging up AF canyon... something Corey and I decided would be really difficult because of how steep the mountains are. So this guy found the first cave, which was later mined and isn’t very pretty anymore. The second cave is cool because there is a really skinny part in which the original discoverers came down through and there is still a ladder that you can see way up above in the crevice. The third cave is my favorite though because it is the one with the most formations and has been preserved the best. There are a lot of stalactites and stalagmites, some that look like straws and others that look like popcorn. There was also an interesting formation that had a green tint to it because it contained Iron... So cool :) Corey and I were both impressed with the formations and found it really interesting watching the stalactites drip water onto the stalagmites below them, which will eventually form more of the rock/mineral compound and will eventually touch. There was a formation shaped like a huge heart and another shaped like the face and ears of a dog. We were definitely impressed with the cave and loved our guide because she answered all of our questions and told us neat stories. One of the stories include one day when a ranger found an old ticket stub from the 1920s in the cave but when they brought it outside of the cave it just disintegrated. 

After our tour of the cave, we hiked back down to the bike to head home. The hike down was much faster than the hike up because it was all downhill :) Overall, it was a very fun day for both of us and a great activity for a beautiful Friday afternoon in the summer :) 

Paul’s Birthday

Today we went out to dinner to celebrate Paul’s birthday :) Bonnie took us all to La Caille. Once we got there, we all found the menu humorous because under some of the dishes where the pricing usually goes there were comments such as “Financing available” and the description for the lamb that I ordered had a funny saying about wolves. Overall, it was a very nice dinner and we all enjoyed our dinners :) 

After dinner we went back to Paul and Bonnie’s house for cake and presents. Corey bought Paul these really nice horse books and I made Paul a cake from scratch and decorated it with frosting roses :) The chocolate cake recipe I found makes a more fudge-like thicker cake and I thought it was great because it was much easier to layer than the crumbly cakes :) I’m getting a lot better at decorating also and can make roses look really nice now and I am really glad that Paul loved the cake :) 

Bonnie's cat Zoey the "bitchy kitty" meows/complains a lot when you're not petting her right... Well she decided she needed a piece of cake too and came right up to my plate :)

Corey’s Olympic Weightlifting Competition

This weekend Corey and I went down to Cedar City together because he was competing in an Olympic Weightlifting Tournament. He recently has been lifting with the Praxis gym in Salt Lake and this was his first competition :) There are two lifts that he competes in: The Snatch and the Clean and Jerk. 

Last night we weren’t able to leave until late because I went to my cousin Lauren’s wedding reception and said hi to all of my family members for an hour or so and then Corey and I were off. The drive down was a LOT darker than I was expecting... Once we left the larger cities and were past Payson, it was pretty much pitch black and our headlights were the only lights helping us see until we reached Cedar City. Our directions got us lost for about a half hour and then we finally reached our hotel at like 12:30 in the morning.. Needless to say we were both pretty tired. 

In the morning we were excited and ready for his competition. He was competing in a local junior high gymnasium, but once we got there we were informed that we had to go to a building in SUU to register and then come back for the competition... So we got into the car and raced to register him to compete. It all went pretty smoothly in the end and we got back in time for him to weigh in and warm up. I was really excited to watch him lift because I don’t normally get to see him when he’s lifting. I thought he did GREAT! and I was really impressed with his lifting abilities because the lifts he did were really hard. 

The Snatch was first. With this lift, you pick the bar up from the ground to straight overhead and then stand up. It is a really difficult lift because the technique has to be practically perfect. He did great! His first lift of 45 kilograms had Perfect form and was Amazing! I was super impressed :) With the Snatch his highest in this competition was 48 kilograms :)

The Clean and Jerk was next. This lift is all about picking up the weight to shoulder height, standing, and pressing it overhead until the arms are straight. Corey was great at this lift :) His highest was 72 kilograms which is his bodyweight. I was WAY impressed because not many people can press their bodyweight over their heads. Corey did GREAT! :) 

After he competed we got lunch at Cafe Rio, which is our FAVORITE restaurant, and went back to support everyone else from team Praxis. Overall it was a great trip and I was really glad I got to see Corey lift :)

And of course on our way back we had to stop at the Chevron in Beaver :) We stopped here the last time we came to Southern Utah... in like 2009... for my birthday where we spent the weekend in St. George :) Except last time I was too chicken to sit on the oversized chair right in front of the convenience store... but this time I had the guts to do it :)

Dinner at Bohemian Brewery

Tonight Paul and Bonnie took us with them to the Bohemian Brewery on 7200 South. This place was really neat because they brew their own beer and it had an old pub feel to it with wooden paneling and green ivy around the bar. The waiter we had was actually the manager of the store and he was Awesome and very friendly :) He helped us decide which of the specials to order by describing them in detail and stating that there was a competition between the two chefs to see who could sell the most dishes that night. Corey and I both got the past special, which was AMAZING!! :) Definitely one of the best dishes I’ve ever had. Bonnie had the other house special which was a salad and Paul ordered the meatloaf because it was his favorite dish there. BUT... we all know that a brewery isn’t just about the food... They had an amazing little sampler of all of the types of beer that they serve given in nine mini mugs of the BEST beer ranging from very light to very VERY dark. Corey and I both agreed that the chocolate dark beer was the best :)  It was a great dinner and we had a Great time eating there with Paul and Bonnie thanks to the wonderful food, company, and entertaining waiter. 

Grandpa and Grandma Richard’s 50th Anniversary Party

Today, Corey and I went and celebrated my grandparent’s 50th anniversary at the Scera Park in Orem. My grandpa reserved a small picnic area and invited my Mom’s family. It was a lot of fun because Corey and I were able to visit with all of my Mom’s brothers and sister’s who we don’t get to see very often. Randy and Susan and their kids were there, Roxanne flew in from Minnesota with her family, and Ray and Cindy drove up from Vernal. It was really nice to get to see everyone again :) A week before the party, I went to my aunt Rickelle’s house to help her, Lexi and my mom decorate a replica wedding cake for my grandparents. It was a lot of fun because I have recently been learning how to decorate cakes and was able to make a bunch of frosting roses and mix color dyes to get the correct peach and rust colors to match their original cake. It ended up looking great! At the party, Marcio cooked the chicken and everyone brought a salad or side dish to share. Corey and I enjoyed talking to Grandpa about future careers and the economy while we were waiting on everyone to get there. Overall, I think it was great and Rickelle, my Mom, and Roxanne did a great job decorating and putting together pictures and displaying Grandma’s handmade wedding dress. It was a very nice occasion to celebrate and visit with everyone again :)

 

Today Martha and I went horseback riding up Provo Canyon with Twig. He was in town and Martha knows that I like to ride horses so she set up a time for us to go with him :) So Martha, Twig and I loaded up the horses and drove down to Provo. We rode up South Fork in Provo Canyon. It was SO pretty up in the mountains! :) Martha and I met Twig and helped him load up the horses, the horse I rode was named Dude, and then we were off. We unloaded the horses at the base of the trail and then rode for the next few hours. We went up muddy trails, through trees and out into an open meadow area. It was beautiful :) the trees were so green and there was still snow on the mountains :) We went up and down and I learned how to sit right in the saddle and lean different ways when going up and down hills. It was a great learning experience and a lot of fun to take a break and enjoy the beauty of nature on a majestic creature :) Thanks Martha for taking me with you! I took a lot a pictures, enjoy:

U2 360° Concert at Rice Eccles

So yesterday was my second day of my internship with Utah Health Policy Project and I was in the office working on stuff and the director asked me if I would like Free U2 tickets for the concert today... and I was like... YES! (Amazing the connections you get in the most unexpected places) So Corey and I went to the U2 360° Concert today at Rice Eccles Stadium :) It was a lot of fun because Dad and Cami had tickets for the concert so I drove up with them from Lehi and Corey met us there right after class :) The Fray was the opening band and although I love The Fray, they didn't do as well as I was hoping. I saw them in concert a few years ago and they were much better alone because they're more mellow and not exactly right for the opening of U2, but it was made up completely when U2 started playing :) They had an awesome stage that looked like a HUGE green claw with a large screen in the middle of it that was made of panels that moved up and down throughout the concert. The light effects were really cool and the stage had two rings with two bridges that connected them... and the bridges moved too. It was pretty cool :) One odd thing happened, though. During the concert, Corey and I swore we saw some UFO off in the distance because there was a red and blue lighted thing that just hovered in one spot.. very odd. However, the concert was a lot of fun.. very loud... but we had our ear plugs to help mute out the static so the music was clearer :) Overall, it was definitely worth going to the concert, I love Bono's voice, and I heard my favorite song "Sunday Bloody Sunday" :)