No storm can keep me from a Rodeo...

So, I went down with my ward to the Lehi Rodeo. It was an adventure!! There was a storm that decided to show itself. We endured big winds and rain for like 30 minutes. We got drenched!! Luckily I brought my umbrella just in case. But it didn't do much good because it is hard to fit multiple people under 1 small umbrella. My hair may have stayed dry, but my back and legs were soaked. I only had a little jacket :( ...Why didn't I prepare better ? We spent the majority of the Rodeo huddled under the umbrella and trying to keep it from blowing away, that we didn't see much until the storm stopped. So, once the storm stopped, we were able to enjoy the Rodeo. :) It was a good time. We were wet and cold, but it was still fun. Towards the end of the night, they had two stunt guys doing motorcycle tricks in the air... it was amazing. I wonder how people don't get hurt more when they are doing these crazy stunts. I tried to get one trick on video... I posted it, but it is a little hard to see. Oh well. It was a fun night, but the best part was leaving early to go get some hot chocolate and warm clothes!! :)

Me and Em...freezing under the umbrella

This shows how crazy people are about Rodeos...they stick it out whether it is sunny or stormy...look at all the umbrellas!

Video of the last stunt the motorcycle dudes did...if you are interested :)

“TOTO, I DON’T THINK WE’RE IN KANSAS ANYMORE…”

In January, I had the opportunity to play Dorothy again in the Wizard of Oz. This was put on by Rodgers Memorial Theatre up in Centerville. It was double cast so I didn’t have to do perform every night- thank goodness. It was an absolute blast!! I met so many people and I loved performing. I didn’t get to do it with my own dog this time, but the little terrier I worked with was almost as good.

Me and Toto

My "Over the Rainbow" friends

I did 12 performances and I believe they were all a success. Sometimes I went home with bruises- slipping on stage, getting hit in the cheek with a broom…. It was always an adventure. A couple times my hair fell out and my shoe(s) went flying off my feet on occasion. (at least it made the audience laugh) I worked with some amazing people and I am so glad that I did it. It was hard not to have a life for about 3 months, what with rehearsals every night and performances. But, it was worth it!! I love performing and doing plays, I just wish it wasn’t so time consuming.

Thank to everyone for the support they showed me and for coming to my play!!

Here are some pictures of the fun that I had....

My first business trip!

I went on my first business trip, the first week of November, to New York. Another trip to New York within two months!! How could I be so lucky?!? The business trip was for a tradeshow/convention and it was only for a few days. I went with my co-worker Kristin and it was very fun.

The night we arrived, we took a tour of the M&M Store.


We spent two days walking around the three floors of the convention talking to different vendors. I was still trying to understand what my company did (since I had only been with my job for 3 months) so it was very intimidating. I learned a lot, but let my co-worker do all the talking. Aren’t I nice? We got all kinds of free crap and I ended up leaving half of it in my hotel room- it wouldn’t fit in my suitcase.

We could not resist taking our picture with this guy because of his shirt. He was hilarious!

There was a booth, at the convention, that had a machine called the "cashinator". You step into this machine and there is money everywhere. They turn on the fan and it blows the money all around. Whatever you catch, you get to keep. I think I ended up with $18 (most of it was $2 bills) My co-worker was so entertained...she even got a video of it. It was funny- but a little embarrassing.

One of the really cool things of my trip was having dinner with my cousin Aaron. He was in New York on business as well, so we met up for dinner. He took my co-worker and me out to dinner. I can’t remember the name of the place, but the food was enormous!!!! It turns out my cousin is in the same sort of market my company is in. I had no idea. Now I have someone who understands what I do (well, I don’t understand too much, so it isn’t that hard to know more than me)

My Sandwich- Insanely big!!

I try to live by the following...if you go to New York, you have to see a Broadway play!! We stayed an extra night just so we could catch a play. We went and saw the Little Mermaid. The whole show was done on roller skates to give that “swimming” feeling. The vocals were amazing and it was so enjoyable. I also took my co-worker to Serendipity. She loved it as much as I did my first time. We both had the frozen hot chocolate and it was so yummy!

Mmmmmm....

26 Years Old!!

I know my Birthday was in September, but I wanted to share what I did anyway

I am 26, and still look like I am 20. This year my parents surprised me with a trip to New York for my birthday. I took off a day of work and went for the weekend. My present was seeing three Broadway plays of my choosing. We saw Wicked (of course), Mary Poppins, and A Tale of 2 Cities. I had seen Wicked before, but it was more spectacular than I had remembered. However, my parents and I fell in love with A Tale of 2 Cities. It was in its premier weeks and not very popular, but it was incredible! It was similar to Les Miserables, but twice as good. I totally cried and we all left the theater emotionally drained. (It is sad though that because of the economic situation… it had to close. It was only open for 2 months. It was a very sad day when we found out it was leaving Broadway.)

Instead of taking a taxi- we chose to ride in rickshaw's. It was very interesting, but we did get to the places we were going a lot faster!! Those little things can squeeze through all the cars. I did get to go to Serendipity. Their frozen hot chocolate was divine!! I had an awesome birthday. Thanks Mom & Dad.

Family Vacation

Two days after returning from my trip to the Holy Land, I left for a family vacation in Hawaii. – My body did not know what time zone it was in until a few weeks after I got home from Hawaii… too many time changes.

My whole family was able to go to Hawaii. It was a trip that had been in the works for a while. We started our amazing trip in Oahu. We visited Pearl Harbor, the Polynesian Cultural Center, and the beach. I don’t know when the tradition started, but the last few years when we go on family vacations… one day is dedicated to wearing the same shirt. (One Christmas we had matching shirts and Santa hats- we were the grizwald family!!) This time Chris designed an awesome shirt that we all wore to Pearl Harbor and the PCC. People knew we were together!! It was entertaining to see all the cousins getting along and having a blast visiting the different villages at the PCC. We experienced a real Luau and the food was delicious.



After a few days in Oahu, we traveled to Kauai for the remainder of our trip. My parents were amazing and arranged for us to have three condos at the same resort. Since I was the only one not married or with kids, I had the opportunity to pick the place I would stay. It didn’t really matter- I’d have the pull out couch no matter what. It worked out great though!!

The best part of the vacation was the adventure we took as a whole family. It was a packaged deal that included Kayaking, Hiking, and Zip Lining. It was awesome!! We did a few rope swings and the zip lining was the absolute highlight. All those who were old enough to go went- even my mother. Bless her heart. She is so afraid of heights, but she showed great courage and our guide enjoyed giving her a hard time. Laura wasn’t able to go because she was pregnant- she got to watch all the little kids while we had all the fun. ☺ We also enjoyed visiting the beach and swimming in the resort’s pool. The hot tub wasn’t too bad either ☺

It was a great trip and so much fun!! I wish we could all get together more often- well at least with my brother and his family. Miss you guys!!

My adventure to the Holy Land

I thought I would be better at this whole blog thing, but I guess I was wrong. I even had stuff to blog about, but life got in the way. So, I will have to catch you up on my adventures.

I had the opportunity to do a two week travel study tour to the Holy Land. It started in Cairo, Egypt and ended in Jerusalem, Israel.

Some of the highlights include:

• TRAVELING DILEMAS

• Our group was meeting in New York and flying to Paris and then on to Egypt. My friend Jamie and I took a flight California and then a flight to New York- it was cheaper. Our plane would get into New York with about 2 ½ hours to kill before meeting with the group. Luck was not on our side. Our flight to New York from California was late taking off; then we took a longer route to avoid a major wind storm; then we diverted to Atlanta to refuel, and finally landing in New York with 40 minutes before our flight was scheduled to leave. I was a complete wreck and a stress case. I had no idea what to do. We arrived in New York and RAN to catch the air train to go to the correct terminal (after getting our bags from the baggage claim). We arrived and found Air France (the airline) workers packing up for the night. It as 10:30pm their time. I frantically tried to find someone to help us. He didn’t think we would make it, but as luck would have it… our plane was delayed an hour. THANK GOODNESS!! We met up with our group finally – after making a short stop in the restroom to fix ourselves to be somewhat presentable after running through the airport will our luggage - and tried to have a good laugh!! I have never been so happy as when I sat on that plane… heading to Paris.

• My trip didn’t start out great- with almost missing my flight- so why would it end easy? Our flight home from Paris to New York arrived in New York late. (Of course- just my luck) We checked our bags with only 30 minutes before our flight left for SLC. We stood in the security line for 20-25 minutes…and ran to catch the plane. They held the plane thankfully. So, I made the flight with 5 minutes to spare. I have never been so stressed traveling in my life!!

• EGYPT

• Spending somewhere between $50-$100 on bottled water. We had to be careful in Egypt because of the Nile, so we would buy bottled water to drink (obviously), brush our teeth, etc.
• We could only eat vegetables that were cooked and fruit that could be peeled. It’s a good thing I packed some snacks from the US.
• I’ve never been so HOT in my life!!
• I got to see the Valley of the Kings. We got to go into 3 different tombs…including King Tut’s.
• Saw the 3 Great Pyramids of Giza. Our guide worked his magic and got us the last tickets to be able to go into the biggest pyramid. (Cleops’). **they only allow 200 people a day to go in**. We hiked up into the very middle of the pyramid where the sarcophagus room was. We were the last people there, so we were able to spend some extra time. We sang, “I am a child of God”. It was incredible.
• Saw the Sphinx. I thought it would be bigger than the pyramids, but it is smaller (still large though).
• I got my picture on a camel!!
• We were able to take carriage rides along the Nile in Luxor before catching a flight.
• Got up at 1:00AM, loaded the bus at 1:30AM, and made our way to where we would start our hike to Mt. Sinai. Most of us rode camels two-thirds of the way to the seven hundred stairs at the last leg of the journey- others hiked the whole thing. I had planned to hike the whole thing, but that morning I was just plain tired and had no energy. Climbing the seven hundred steps was enough of a hike!! At the top we found some rocks and awaited the sunrise. It was breathtakingly beautiful!! We reluctantly had to leave the beautiful sight and made our way down the mountain.
• Experienced a 3 hour change in borders.
  

• JORDAN

• Visited Petra
• Saw the famous treasury- as seen in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. One girl had the music from Indiana Jones playing as the treasury came into view, and it made it even more exciting.
  

• ISRAEL

• Went snorkeling in the Red Sea
• Stayed in a Kibbutz on the shores of the Sea of Galilee **Swam in the Sea of Galilee
• Went to Nazareth
• Went to Meggido (where the battle to end all battles is prophesied to occur). Trekked down into the shaft and tunnel of the ancient water system.
• Went in the Mediterranean Ocean! - Okay well I stuck my feet in. Some people were getting stung by jellyfish, and I didn’t care to have that adventure.
• Saw the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. **Saw the original Isaish scrolls on display at the Israel Museum (it was the 60th anniversary of Israel so the originals were on display)
• Swam in the Dead Sea- every little cut I had stung, but once all the salt was washed off my skin was nice and soft. The coolest thing was floating.
• Saw the Western (Wailing) Wall and the Dome of the Rock.**It was amazing to see so many people expressing their beliefs.
• Hiked through Hezekiah’s Tunnel- the water was very cold! We all wanted to do it again, but there was no time.
• Toured the BYU Jerusalem Center.
• Went to Bethlehem and sat in a shepherd’s field.
• Walked around the Garden of Gethsemane
• Went to Bethany and saw Lazarus’ tomb.
• Visited the Garden tomb. This was the greatest experience of all!! We did this our very last day. We were able to take some pictures and walk into the tomb. There was such a sweet peace there!! I could have stayed there all day basking in the spirit.
  

• THINGS I’LL ALWAYS REMEMBER

• Being sick in Petra
• Staying up late with my friend Jamie- when we should have been asleep. We always had to be up by 6:00 – 6:30 AM.
• The desserts- I got the “most desserts consumed in one evening” award!! And I’m proud of it!! ☺
• The friends I made – even though I don’t have communication with most of them anymore
• Riding a camel- it HURTS!!
• The feelings I felt at all the different sites. – I can’t remember what most of my pictures are or what certain places really looked like, but I’ll always remember how I felt.
• There are so many things… I think you get the idea.

My first summer adventure

My first adventure this summer was a trip to San Diego with two of my good friends-Adam and Jessica. We had a fabulous time walking on the beach, checking out the swap meet, attending a San Diego Padres game, enjoying the fun of Sea World, and loving a few days away from work. It was a great way to kick off my summer!!