Rafting Pics

These pictures are backwards as far as chronological order. I was amazed at some of the pictures I got with my cheap little digital camera. I kind of messed with it a bit to get more light in which was kind of cool. Enjoy


Our whole group: Carrie, Tyler, Melanie, Jason, Me and Loralee




Jason trying to throw Loralee into the River

Rafting on the High (wait, make that very low) waters

Went rafting with friends this last weekend down in Green River (the town) and we actually camped for two nights. That's a record for us. I had never been to Green River before and we arrived late on Friday night at our camping spot. We set up camp by flashlight and then we all pretty much went to bed, we were really tired. Since I have been told that I snore, I try to stay awake until everyone else is asleep so that they won't hear it. So I was reading and since Loralee is reading the same book she said I should read aloud. So I read a few chapters until everyone was seemingly asleep, but they really weren't. No one made any comments about my snoring though this trip, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen.

Next day we made ourselves some breakfast. Our friend Jason is an expert camper and has great amenities to make the trip comfortable. So we had eggs and ham and fruit. Very good. Then time to go to the river. As we were driving by the river looked extremely low and extremely brown. Not very appetizing at all, but we were determined to go rafting anyway. Jason has his own raft too. I had my camera and video camera to get some good footage.

Going down the river was quite relaxing except for this guy, Tyler, wanting to get all of us girls in the water. But I tried to constantly have a camera in my hand so he wouldn't push me in. Worked like a charm. It was kind of nice not having too many rapids because I was able to have my video camera out for a long periods of time. That is until the lightning and rain came. We tried to stay on the river as long as possible but it felt too dangerous with the lightning so we pulled off to the side to wait it out. It was really cold with the wind and the other girls were all really cold because they had all gotten wet. We sent Tyler off to get the truck in case the rain lasted longer than we would like and we went back out on the water to meet him at a put-in once it was safer. But soon the sun started to come out and we wanted to finish the trip. And the water was really warm now. So Tyler rejoined us and again tried to get me in the water but I had already decided to but would not give him the satisfaction of pushing me in. So I jumped off the boat. The water was perfect. And I floated and swam along for a while.

Then as we all got tired we just spent the rest of the time hanging out in the raft as Jason rowed us to the end. Man was my hair was so gross. Me and Loralee hung out at the campsite while everyone cleaned up the boat. We would have helped but they had left us and it was a little too far to the take-out, plus we had got all cleaned up (well as clean as we good). We also walked along the beach. The plateaus were so cool looking with the sun shining on them. Got some great pics. Then we went to Ray's Tavern because Jason said they had great burgers. He was right. Really good.
Then once we got back to the campsite we got ready for bed and a few of us looked for constellations but only for a bit because we were really tired and to get up early the next morning to get home for church. It was a really fun trip. Next year we'll have to do it earlier in order to get better rapids.

Will post pictures soon.

I know, I know you're sick of them!

Hey everyone! Guess what? I have a new blog. It's one that is devoted to movies. Since I love to talk about movies I figured why not. So check it out.

Five days of shear will power

So this week I started a new workout regime. The first part is that I actually workout. I go to the gym and do some exercise. But amazingly enough that is not the most astonishing part of this new regime. The astonishing part is that I get up at 5:00 in the morning to do it. Why? or more like WHY!? you may ask. Well, for one thing I haven't been very good about going at night especially this summer. Once I get home from work I don't want to do anything unless maybe it is fun (most of you should know that to me, exercise is not fun) and even then sometimes I pass. I just want to relax. Prepare myself for the next day of work. So I figured going in the morning would be better.

Pros Cons
Should give me more energy Waking up at the crack of dawn
Health and all that other crap Having to go to bed early (10:30)
Everyone being in awe of me that I Exercise
am actually doing this.

And so on and really there were a lot more cons than pros but in this case I just had to go against myself. I don't want to be dragging around Europe. So here was my week:

Day 1
Didn't get into a deep sleep the night before so woke up incredibly easily and headed out to the gym. Walked on the treadmill for 20 minutes=1 mile. Stationary bike for 10 min. and 75 crunches. Got home by 6:00. Lots of time to get ready: shower, hair, makeup and even iron my clothes. Ran to the store to pick up some lean cuisines and was 10 min. early to work. Pretty tired by the end of the day but refused to take a nap. Got to bed around 10:45pm

Day 2
Definitely slept better this time making a little harder to get up. Loralee came to the gym with me wanting to be supportive. I didn't ask her, she volunteered. Did the eliptical machine for 10 min. Treadmill for 20 min. Bike for 10 min with some quick crunches. Ready for work by 7:15 so checked a few blogs. Again pretty tired at the end of work, my eyes felt red. Had a hair appointment which was extremely relaxing and then went home and watched a movie. Asleep around 10:45.

Day 3
Woke up a little later today about 5:10. Went by myself to the gym. Loralee decided it wasn't for her to go that early she goes at 7:00. Did the treadmill and bike again. I like the bike because I can read while I do that. The treadmill goes faster when I watch the t.v. while I am walking especially if one of the t.v.s is on HBO and I can just watch a movie. Today it was Collateral. Didn't do any crunches because my stomach was sore from the previous two days. Got home around 6:10 and got ready for work. I dragged a little today so I was a little late. Still haven't gotten over the whole red eye feeling. Even while driving to work this morning I felt it like I could fall asleep right then. Went visting teaching when I got home and then to my bookclub meeting. Sometimes it runs late so I was hoping that wouldn't happen this time. Got to bed around 10:30.

Day 4
This was definitely the hardest day to wake up. I didn't leave the house until 5:20. Did my usual workout. This time I watched Saved by the Bell. I was still debating whether or not to call in sick to work. I have been wanting to do that for a long time. Got home and hopped in the shower. I was sore and a little crampy so I called in sick. But I did not go back to bed. I cleaned my room, did laundry, sewed fabric strips together for my piano teacher, and took my car in for an oil change. I got done with all this around 2:00. It felt so good to get all that done. Then I watched my recording of the finale for So You Think You Can Dance while I folded laundry. Practiced piano and then went to my lesson. Fell asleep around 11:00.

Day 5
Another hard day of waking up but got to the gym a little earlier than the day before. I tried out this new treadmill machine that the tread is split into two parts so each foot is on each strip and they move slighly up and down to give a feel of walking on real terrain. It was too hard so I went to a regular treadmill and watched Kingdom of Heaven. I got pretty much already except for getting dressed and still had about 40 mins until I needed to leave so I laid down on the bed and listened to my radio and dozing off here and there. Now I'm at work and my eyes aren't feeling too bad today. I'm sure they will later. But I did it. A whole work week of getting up at 5 to go workout. I'm giving myself Saturday and Sunday off. You have no idea how much I am looking foward to sleeping in tomorrow. And since I got so much stuff done yesterday I can just play. Hooray!. Next week I'll do it again and I think I'll up my walking to 2 miles and go to the gym on Saturday (after sleeping in) to do weights. We'll see. I'm not promising anything on that.

A little chuckle brought to all and seriously depleting my checking account

So last night I went to Cafe Med for a birthday dinner for a girl in my bookclub and ward. I was sitting next to Loralee and we were just chatting with other girls as they arrived. We already had our glasses of water and all of us were drinking our share. As we are chatting and looking at the menu our waitress brings over several carafes (they are the pitchers of water, I just clarify because I didn't they were called that until recently, but I'm sure you all are much smarter than I am) and sets them throughout the table, one near Loralee. As we are chatting I look over at Loralee and see that she is drinking right out of the carafe. I watch her for a few seconds and then she set it down but then within another few seconds she picks it up and again and really drinks from it. I am not the only watching her do this. So after getting over my amazement, I voice my confusion. "Are you drinking out of the carafe!?" Which yes is an obvious question but hey Bill Engvall wasn't around (who got that reference?) so I felt it was okay. So anyway Loralee looks down at what she is drinking out of and gets this shocked followed by embarrassed look on her face. We all bust up laughing especially as she tries to wipe her lipstick off the rim. We had a good chuckle about it for about ten minutes and were sure to tell others the story as they arrive. Good times.

For the second half of the title see my book blog: Scads of Books
(A blatant ploy to get you all to visit all my blogs)

Cousinly Love

I was thinking about my cousins tonight while I was in the shower. Yes an odd place to be thinking of them but it mainly stems from a conversation I had with my cousin Julie. She offhandedly told me how she thinks it very important to clean up well when guests are coming (especially the bathroom) and that I hadn't done it when she and Aly came and visted me one time. She wasn't mean about it by any means and I wasn't offended. I appreciate all she does when I come and visit. So now when I am in the shower I think to myself, is this clean enough for Julie and Aly to come stay with me? And I remind myself that when they do come I will clean the bathroom.

So anyway this put me in mind to dedicate a post to my cousins, not to just the ones mentioned above but to all the ones I have grown close to over the years. When I was young, it was really hard to be friends with my cousins because I was the baby of the family (at least until a certain other cousin came along) and they were all older and didn't want anything to do with an annoying kid like me. When I got to be their age I completely understood, but back then I wanted to hang out with the cool older kids. Not that they always left me behind. I have great memories of playing "guns" (I guess that's what we called it) in Grandma's upstairs. (The balcony closet was always the prime spot)

Well, once I hit college it all changed. I found myself becoming the best of friends with one of the much older than me cousins (12 years I think go figure). Brett. Our friendship was odd at times, bordering on ....well its hard to explain but most of you know the story. Well, then he got busy with girlfriends and eventually getting married so I was forced to moved on to the next cousin. I seem to have a parasite type personality when it comes to friendships. I cling to one person until I've gotten all I can or they are able to remove themself from me but I move on to the next usually the one that is closest in vicinity. But I usually still keep a good friendship with each person even after our lives have diverted ways so to speak.

So next came Jason (well Jason and Brett were interspersed) but I didn't get to see him as often for as long since he went into the military and went to Iraq and then got married right after he returned. Next Kevin R. He knocked on my door one night and I was completely shocked to see him (having had no idea he had moved here from Virginia). The next few months we hung out from time to time and through him I became better friends with Scott. They hung out alot as they had common interests ( not that common! (: ). I was sad the day he moved back to Virginia, though it was a very good thing for him to do. We still chat now and then.

And now I have become great friends with Julie and Aly. They are like the older sisters I never had. I love our visits with each other and how we feel comfortable to talk about anything. I love talking about trips that we'll take someday or not but just the thought of it is so much fun. Already we have in mind: New Mexico, Europe, Canada, Zion. Looking forward to all of them.

Even though I'm not close to all of my cousins I love them all and the many different things they bring to my life. I think these friendships with family are extremely important and come at a time in my life when I need them the most. So who knows maybe you will be the next cousin to join Cassie's best friend club. I can't wait.

It turned out alright in the end!

So this last weekend, I had heard that some people were getting together to go camping. It sounded kind of fun but I wasn't sure that I was in the mood for that. I was looking forward to my nice comfortable bed and sleeping in on Saturday. I knew I wouldn't get any of that going camping. But then I thought I have been a little anti-social lately and I should just push myself to go because most likely I would have a good time. Well, I was half right.

Friday night I got home still debating even though I was packing as if I was going. It's never a sure thing until you are in the car. Well, my roommate went to get food at the store planning on leaving as soon as she got home. She was really anxious to go. A few people were already up at the camping spot and we needed to go early enough to find them. Well, there was only one hitch. The guy that my roommate is dating is extremely slow. He'll say he'll be fast but to him fast is an hour. So we waited almost two hours for him and then it seemed that he would need to drive his own car because he needed to be back in town early on Saturday. Well, L was extremely frustrated because she wanted to stay and do things on the mountain. Well, she decided she would rather drive with D and then bring him home early then just go separate. Oh and for those who care they are kissing again. Apparently, they've been kissing for a while. Their abstinence only lasted for two weeks. Sneaky little buggers.

Anyway so the whole drive up there L is apologizing for being grouchy and frustrated and then complaining again about how late its going to be. So its a constant back and forth of "I'm Frustrated!" "I'm sorry I'm so Frustrated" "I'm Frustrated" Anyway there wasn't too much conversation on the way up. I tried but in the end I got frustrated too because she was frustrated at how unfrustrated D was for making us late and so on so forth. Well, we got a little lost because we were trying to strictly adhere to the mapquest mileage so we turned earlier than we were supposed to. We asked directions twice and finally after driving back and forth a couple of times we found the place. It was 10:30 at night and really dark so we drive around the campground trying to find the girls. But no luck. We figured the campground was full when they got there and so they went camping somewhere else. But we had no way of contacting them. Well more frustration ensues. Well, where should we camping we don't have any supplies?

Well, low and behold we pass by our friend J who is driving up to meet us and he is mister boy scout. He knows all the good camping places so he leads us to a place and we finally set up camp around 11:30. We get a fire going and hang out trying to get J to divulge what L said in her sleep the last time we went camping together. Apparently, it is a little risque, but after giving small hints he wouldn't budge.

Poor L got no sleep that night but hey she said I didn't snore that loud this time. Yay! I'm getting better. D and I slept a little longer, until L made us get up.

Well, I wandered around. It was really a beautiful spot. The trees and wildflowers. I read a little in the sun and J cooked us some breakfast. I took some pictures and then took a little nap in the tent.



Next thing I know L is telling me to cover my ears because J is about to shoot a really loud rifle. A 50 calibre black powder rifle to be exact. It was pretty loud. Then he is showing L how to load the gun and it is right out of a civil war movie. You pour the gun powder out of the powder horn down the barrel and then stick in the lead ball. Get the long stick that is attached to the side of the gun and push it all down to the bottom. A few more things and then the gun is ready to be shot. L was scared and didn't want to actually shoot it. But I decided to. It was cool. Hardly any kickback.

I talked L into giving it a try.
She couldn't really lift the gun so she sat down and had the barrell resting on a chair. We all took turns and it was great fun. Well, then it was time to come home. Hopefully to a nap but other things came up and I only spent about thirty minutes at home before I came home to go to bed at around 12:30. I slept all day the next day. Oh it was good. Yet I was still on awnry but that is another story.

In the Dark

Just a little blurb into my life. We have had a power outage at my house everyday this week since the big storm. They only last about 20 minutes or so, which makes it extremely annoying. It happened twice the other day, one time while I was taking a shower so I had to finish in the dark. Another annoying thing is that across the street doesn't lose their power. I guess they are on a different grid then us.

Don't know if it just residual damage from the storm or from doing repair work in the area. All I can say is that I am getting really tired of it.