Seven Canyons Fountain

So Liberty Park is one of the coolest parks I've been to lately. They have really improved it over the past few years. I remember a couple years ago when Marcus and I went out, we were waiting for a show at Brewvies so we decided to get Slurpees and go to Liberty Park. Neither of us had any idea how cool it had become. We played on the swings for a while and then started wandering.

We came upon a new interactive playground with musical instruments and different things to experiment with. It had a huge fountain for kids to play in during those hot summer afternoons. The ground was the bouncy, rubbery stuff made from old tires not the sand or woodchips I had played on as a kid. There was so much to take in.

We kept wandering and found a cool little area with all of the canyons of the Wasatch Front. We went through and named them all. City Creek. Red Butte. Emigration. Parleys. Millcreek. Big Cottonwood. Little Cottonwood. Yes, and there's the Jordan River flowing from Utah Lake toward the inland sea of the Great Salt Lake. And look, over here is State Street. And these squares are the city blocks! It was all here; A visual represention of the Wasatch Front: Canyons, streams, rivers, lakes, roads, buildings. It was truly amazing.

I don't think most people truly appreciate the Seven Canyons Fountain. What it represents, what it means. We took the Club Uters there today and I got to teach my "canyons" lesson. It was really a place-based lesson on watersheds, stormwater pollution and our role in it all. The lesson plan was pulled off the Storm Water Coalition's website -- Fred the Fish and Urban Stew. The kids were really into it, and I hope some of them came away with something. I hope they will make a concious effort in keeping our streams and rivers clean.

Even if they don't fully appreciate the meaning behind the fountain--I mean, come on, they're kids!--at least it's a fun place to play. I even took my shoes off and played in City Creek for a bit!

WBR for life!

I think the Wasatch Back Relay is a lot like pregnancy. Well, running in general is a lot like pregnency, I believe, but especially the Wasatch Back. The team hadn't even crossed the finish line yet and I was already starting to plan next year's race. I am even willing to be the team captain again. Next year we will have matching shirts and our vans will be decorated, not to mention the fact that the team will actually train together sometimes. Maybe we could even do it in 24 hours?

I guess I just forgot what I went through to get us there. The stress of putting the team together. The pain of actually running the thing. I am left with the good feeling of being done and the memories of hanging out in a van for more than 24 hours and running a ridiculously challenging race. What I went through was worth it in the end. I am willing to go through it again.

Soccer Camp

I've been walking on campus today and a Ute's Women's Soccer Camp is going on. It really makes me miss the days of my youth and wonder where the time has gone. Those girls are me over ten years ago. I lived for soccer. I would go to camps. I was in love with the game.

All these years later I still play every now and again. I've played a lot of indoor since High School. I played for Snow College and intramurals at both Snow and the University of Utah. Sometimes I wonder if I could have ever taken it farther; realized my untapped potential. Parts of me wish I had gone further, been better, but then again I think about all the other opportunities I have had in my life. Ultimate Frisbee is now almost my second love, and I appreciate so much the ability I have to run. But there is still a yearning in me to push a ball through the grass; to make that perfect pass; to tap the ball right past the Keeper into the back of the net. Sometimes it's almost magic.

Soccer was a major part of my life growing up. I know it shaped me in more ways than I realize. I look at these young girls out kicking a ball around on a sunny summer day and hope they appreciate the game and their potential. Maybe there is a Mia Hamm lurking in all of us. We just have to be brave enough to let her out.

Hungry Hungry Hippos

So next year when the Wasatch Back Relay comes around I do not want to be a team captain. That's all I'm trying to say. I do not need this added stress in my life. I just want to run my three legs, sit in a van with a bunch of other sweaty runners, and have myself a good time.

Basically the WBR is this weekend. Currently, we do not have one female runner and possibly two male runners. We still need a second van. I have to coordinate when and where the two different groups are meeting on Friday. Oh, and if we don't find one more volunteer to sign up with the race director we'll get disqualified.

I have a team captain meeting to go to tonight. When will this madness ever end?

B & E in P-town. . . Footie Club???

I guess you could say I'm a fugitive from the law. Okay, so the law was never involved, but I guess you could still say I'm now a criminal. I was party to a small amount of breaking and entering last night.

See, we have a theory. Rob can only know the things he knows because he has somehow hacked into Cyndi's email account. We had a mission to find some hard evidence proving this theory. The plan was as follows:

Cyndi and Lindsay were going to go to Rob's apartment and get him out of there for a while. Every time he leaves, he opens his bedroom window. Natalie and I would be waiting, peering behind a lattice fence waiting to see them leave. We would be a screen away from breaking in.

But we didn't even have to break through the window to get in. Rob wasn't home and his roommate let Cyndi and Lindsay in. The weird thing was that he didn't lock his bedroom door, which he always does. So they got the pink cowboy hat back and then sent us in to do the dirty work. We were to log onto his laptop and go to the yahoo mail website. We figured if he had been doing some hacking her email address might be left on the screen since it would have been the last one logged on. It was a no go. The fields were blank. We got out of there quick because we knew Rob had to be close--he had left a candle burning.

Before we went through with operation b&e, we tried to hack into Rob's email account. We ran in to trouble. What does Footie Club refer to? At least Cyndi's secret question is easy--What town is she from. I can't figure out footie club for the life of me! Especially since Rob is a pretty random guy.

Though phase one of the plan wasn't as successful as we had hoped, I am still confident we will get to the bottom of this sooner or later. This is a multi-level plan we've put into place and the next phase is going to be kind of fun. Let's just say my new "boyfriend", "Jake", and I are pretty much going to be "engaged" by the end of this week. Hey, I'm just trying to beat Lisa Bayley! ;)