A Great Friend

Ag week at USU will has had a bitter-sweet feel to it and this year is no different. I love the time of the year and the sites and smells but a part of me will always look at it as a time where I lost one of my best friends. Curt or as most of you knew him as "mad dog" died 2 years ago yesterday in the tragic USU van roller over accident. It's the only time of year that I associate my thoughts for him and this school. The Ag department always parks tractors around the campus and all of the pictures I can remember of Curt on his mission were of him next to a tractor. I first met Curt in Garland Texas. He was companions with a very high strung elder and so was I. We both felt if had the other not been there, either one of us would have gone crazy. Curt and I stayed friends throughout the mission. I bought a lot of phone cards to keep in touch with him when he was sent out East. I returned home and and met Emily who was returning to Logan to go to school. I knew that Curt had ventured up here and I knew he would open up his room for the occasional visit. He lived in a room by himself not much bigger than a walk in closet and when I would visit I slept on the couch. Soon after Em and I started dating I decided to move up to Logan where Curt with open arms opened up his room for me to stay in until Em and I got married. To say the least that room wasn't big enough for one full-grown person let alone two. Curt would joke around about it and I am sure we bugged him a lot but he was always grateful to have us around. After we got married Curt hung out at our place a lot and he always managed to show up around dinner. I always had someone to hang out with and talk to when Em was working late. I knew I could call Curt for anything and I know he felt the same. I tried to talk curt into going fishing with me the night of the accident but he felt like he couldn't miss class. There's not a week that goes by that I don't think about him and the profound impact he had on our marriage. We miss him and we want his family to know our thoughts and prayers are with them this week.

Obviously not much...but come to think of it...maybe there is something

Obviously there has not been much in the last two weeks to shout about. But come to think of it maybe there has been.

On the 15th we, along with The Logan Clarks, and others attended the last demo derby of the season. Don't knock it 'til you try it. One car ended upside down! This event held a special treat of a truck demolition round. They were SO fun. people came from Idaho to participate. They have a lot of dead space in the rear that the drivers are more willing to crumple up. They were bigger and faster and the crashes were louder. CRASH!

USU lost another home game. Which was B-o-l-o-g-n-a! There was no reason for them to lose. They played well until the 4th quarter and they even pulled ahead for 90 seconds. ARGH!
It was very nice that Brad and Tahnie could come and try out the Ag Day BBQ. The food was great and I wish the weather had been a little more picnic friendly.

And oh yeah, Drew quit his job at ICON. He had been at ICON for a long 3 years and held many positions and in the end it was his wife who made him quit. This is an intense semester at school and work was becoming too stressful and time consuming. It's my chance to give Drew the gift of "full-time student" status. And I am a "sugar momma".

school isn't half bad...but I am not saying it's good.

This year I am taking a couple of the core classes. I have always looked at them as being dumb and really haven't liked many of them. I am trying to change my attitude this year and have a brighter outlook on those classes. I have taken Chemistry in the past with the same professor, last time I took it I had a hard time staying awake. I have never seen someone so excited about chemistry and I probably spent more time asleep in his class then I should have. I'm taking the class with Josh Huff and that seems to be helping out a lot. I still am a little nervous about the screwballs he'll throw in the exams.
I am also taking Geology 1010 and now I wish I would have paid more attention when pops was going off about rocks and how they form. We had a lab today and I was able to spit out most of the names for the rocks that were shown. I don't know how many countless hours I listened to my dad spout off about rocks and "how cool" they are. I think that some of it did sink in.
I am also taking intermediate hand-building and I have the chance to make some pretty cool stuff. This is the first time I will have a different professor teaching my class. He gives great insight and a very different view of the world of ceramics. So everybody needs to expect some very different pottery from me this year more organic and rigid and less exact and uniform.
I am also taking an institute class this year first time ever on my own. I went for the first time this week and I loved it. I'm taking the Acts-Revelations so as you can imagine the class is packed all ten of us cramped into a fifty seat classroom.
And for the grand finale the class I like the most but counts for the least is my weight lifting class. Finally a class I feel comfortable in! It's like I am in high school again...minus the Tighty Whites short shorts and awkward grunting it's like I am lifting after football practice. I missed the atmosphere, the smells and the feeling of being the "big man" in the weight room.
If our football team can look half decent out there on the football field maybe even win a game or heaven forbid two. I think this aspiring student can get excited for chemistry, heck maybe he can even study two days before a test and attend class on a regular basis and yes folks even pass stats. In the words of a very intelligent almost three year old, "GO AGGIES!" -Ethan Clark

Apple Days Parade

That's part of the charm of living in Cache Valley. Every couple of weeks you can attend a different parade celebrating different but natural themes. In May we went to the Black and White Days parade in Richmond (dairy cows), on the 4th of July we went to a traditional parade in Hyrum and this past weekend we went to celebrate Apple Days in River Heights. I'm glad that Andrew has taken an interest in knowing the local holidays and invites us to come with.

One of the sections I really liked this weekend was the walking section. The group of young kids and parents who meet at the start and walk or bike or skate down the route. It reminded me of Magna and all the years we dressed up in a costume way too hot for July or spent time wrapping our bikes in crepe paper. One year Aaron had to be warned not to squirt us with his headband water gun. (I know it wasn't a gun but it shot water and it fit on your head.)

The Apple Days Parade even included a local dentist driving a truck with young teeth following behind. That's the one time I remember sleeping at Granny and Grandpa's. Aaron was armed with an oversized toothbrush and Dusty was decay attacking all his younger cousins, the teeth.

Next year, Wellsville Days and Trout and Berry Days in Paradise.

We'll Always Have Mesquite

Drew and I had a great time with his dad and we have a great picture to remember the fun we had. giggle

The Naus-a-naus

We heard that San Diego Zoo is one of the best and neither of us had been there, so we went. We wanted to share a couple of our favorite animals with you. Especially the rhinoceros.

At Balboa Park we also visited the Art Museum, with an impressionist exhibit, the history museum, and the Japanese Friendship Garden, which was more about the pots than the plants for us.

We were pleased to see a visiting artist. (Drew Roska and his Gorilla, which is which?)

When I become a millionaire

Before we left Brad and Tahnie had told us to make sure we visit Coronado. It's a little island with a bridge connecting it to San Diego. It seemed like all of our attempts to go were a failure. The last night we were in San Diego we finished up with Sea World and our original plan was to head to our hotel and eat left-overs. I told Emily that we should go eat off of the pier in downtown San Diego and she agreed, but really I was going to take her to Coronado. So after our driving to towards downtown and Emily getting mad at me because I kept "missing" our exit I told her where we were going. Emily took some beautiful pictures off of the Coronado bridge.
I instantly fell in love with this place and once I become a millionaire I will buy a place here. Or unless someone wants to go in on it! We took some pictures overlooking the San Diego skyline and we ate at a little cafe called the Bay Side Cafe. I had lamb and Emily had the Salmon. It was great. We were able to see the firework show from Sea World from where we ate dinner, afterwards we took a walk out onto the pier and we watched some people fish. What a wonderful way to end our stay in San Diego! This was our favorite picture of me and the skyline!

Drew sees ocean. Yada,yada,yada. Very dissappointed.

Sailing the High Seas... or Maybe Just the Harbor

Searching online Drew and I found this really neat harbor tour you can take in San Diego. You are on a boat with several other people and the captain narrates about the significant items in the harbor. Each North and South are one hour long so we did both. We picked a great day to go. The sun was shining, the breeze was cool and the water was calm. Not to mention we met some really great folks from Utah.

We boarded the boat and chose some seats on the upper deck where we could watch others have their photos taken and board the boat. Drew commented about one attractive couple having their photo taken and that they represent what we want to be like when we are retired.

Soon thereafter a couple came to sit next to us. She very nicely asked, "So where are you from?" "Utah" was our response. Then they told us they were from Vernal. Isn't that funny. So we got to chatting and they were on a cruise that was ported at San Diego. And chose to do some activities their kids at home wouldn't mind missing, like the harbor tour and USS Midway instead of Sea World or the Zoo. For the first hour we would chat here and there and I noticed the cute couple at the photo opp were also on the upper deck.

In between the North and South hours I asked the husband where they were from. "Glendora, CA." Didn't mean much to me but they were sure nice. When they found out I was from Utah Vernon asked if I went to church in Utah, you know, "Are you Mormon?" Yes and so were they. The six of us introduced ourselves and found that common bond and instantly we had friends. Turns out the four of them were on the same cruise.

We finished out the tour all together and took pictures of each other and went on to the USS Midway for lunch. As we shared stories, we found out that Vern was part of the Wandamere Ward many years ago. That's the ward Drew grew up in. The stories turned to the golf course on 7th East and how they had both gathered golf balls. It was so much fun to have friends to gather with and share the experience.

When we parted it felt like we were saying goodbye to family instead of 3 hour friends. We swapped e-mails and hope to keep in touch. Thank you to our friends.

A whole new world

Growing up I thought my life was much like the Truman show. I was always being told I would go on vacation here or we would see this but it never happened. I thought I lived in a bubble the size of Utah and would never get to see the "outside world." Minus the mountains and the temperature differences Texas is a lot like Utah so even then I really didn't feel like I got to experience much. That is until my wife took me to California. Our first stop in California was the Wild Animal park in San Diego.
After taking this picture we went to the petting zoo and we got to pet deer! They were a little timid, but after a few scratches on the back they warmed right up. We then headed down to the bus tour where we sat and listened to a narrated tour by the driver. He told us about the several different programs they have had for reproduction in their facilities. The one that stuck out to me was of the rhinos. they had brought in several male and females into the park and let them out in the open land to reproduce. The males were unable to reproduce because they were too young so they borrowed a male from the San Diego Zoo and he went to town fathering 59 rhinos in a short time! Below are two pictures to show how big the park is where they let the non- aggressive animals live.

Next it was off to the lions and I really liked their home. They had a 4runner that they had "lion proofed", they even filled the tires with cement so they couldn't push it around. As you can see they really liked it.
Next we went to the elephants. Just in the one enclosure they had over 12 elephants. They had 2 really small ones that ran around and played a lot, they were a lot of fun. The giraffes we a lot of fun as well. The big tall one had eaten all the leafs off of the trees to a certain height so the smaller ones couldn't eat them!

I sure hope we get a chance to go back one day it was a lot of fun.

Sea World

Thursday we went to Sea World. I've been a couple of times but would often choose Sea World over a Zoo. The shows are fun, the animals are different, and you have the possiblity of cooling down with a big splash from Shamu and his friends.

And of course Drew wanted to sit in the splash zone. He said it was like taking a child to Anaheim and asking if they wanted to go to Disneyland. I should have known he wanted to get soaked. He even wore his flip flops and swim trunks. He never wears his flip flops.

In preparation for the soaking I took a before picture (as seen above left), planning to take an after picture as well. We came very close to Shamu and his killer whale friends and saw the show twice. 1. The show was good and 2. We didn't get wet at all the first time around.

In the mean time we did lots of fun things, like check out other shows and pet sea stars and stand in the park's "Photo Opportunity" areas provided by Fuji Film. That makes me laugh a little. We cooled off inside watching the polar bear and the penquins. The penquins actually became one of our favorite exhibits. We watched them eat and run and swim and fall into the water. We found out that Ethan was tutored on the art of running by a flock of penquins.

In the end there was no soaked picture. As many times as we sat in the soak zone, not once did we get wet. Thank goodness we didn't pay for a poncho!

San Francisco Giants

Drew and I decided to extend the vacation one day. We found a cheap hotel just outside of San Francisco and bought tickets for a Giants Game. The drive was a longer than expected and the game was a lot colder than we had prepared for but it was a ton of fun. It's the first "Major League" anything I can remember attending and it's fun to say we saw Barry Bonds play the same season he broke the home run record. And he hit a home run while we were there.