second annual MUD and SURF 2K6!!!!!

Well, kids, it's that time of year again. Time to start thinking about the upcoming Mud Run this June and of course the surfing extravaganza. So, who's in?

I am!

And Mary.

Who else?

We really do need to start thinking about it because we need to register ASAP aka the first part of January. Who wants to be on my team? There will definately be pink jerseys involved. So let me know... STAT!

I'm so excited!!!

Yeah for Mud! And yeah for surfing!!!

Ambiguous post, but that's how I like it. . .

Don't you hate it when you're counting on someone and then she totally flakes out and it leaves you screwed?

I guess I need to pull together a Plan B, and quick!

rambly jo

Okay, so as I'm sure most of you have noticed that I haven't really been blogging much lately. Yeah. Who has time for that stuff anyway? I do, but I don't really feel comfortable doing it at work... Shopping online, yeah. But writing a whole bunch of "personal" stuff when anyone could be looking over my shoulder? Heck, no!

So I guess you all may be wondering what I've been up to in my absence. Here's some random tidbits.

I had a Super Cool Sweater party at my house and I took first place for the super coolest sweater (I have a blue ribbon to prove it). I only mention this because a few years ago I went to my friend's Super Cool Sweater party and tied for third place with the same sweater. I felt robbed and am still bitter about it to this day. That blasted Aaron Call and his tightly fitting little girls sweater... blast him! *shaking fist* Just so you know, it was my light blue, sparkly astro-turf sweater.

I've literally devoted my life to backcountry.com as most of you know. Who needs a day off anyway? BCDC for life! I was actually given fifty bucks today because I was one of the people that actually came in everyday--even both Saturday and Sunday-- like we were asked. I guess doing what your boss tells you to do has some perks sometimes. I hear if we stick it out and work all our ten's and the weekend through Christmas we'll get an incentive like this one... I hear it'll be 100 bucks this time. We'll see.

Katie Dickson told me this outrageous story about a man in India who doesn't eat food because he stares at the sun. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it and will hopefully have more information soon. I will probably devote a whole blog entry to this so get excited. (Becca, I'm sure you'll appreciate it.) Maybe humans are more like plants than we think. Is that possible? Stay tuned to find out...

I started playing soccer again. I'm so happy to be back kicking a ball around with my friends. It's not quite the reunion team, but Jared, Beth, Kevin, James, and Nate are on it so it's a lot of people I have played with at one time or another. It's fun. We're currently the numero uno team. (But don't tell anyone, we're in the lower co-ed division for Thursday nights. It's still fun, though.) And I even score goals. I love running around with a ball at my feet!

I haven't gone skiing yet, but I did buy some telemark skis for under fifty bucks. (Just the skis, mind you.) I have a feeling I might be going a few more times this year than normal. Best day of my life! *subliminal ski nanny message* Because I really love skiing. And I think more people should love skiing too. Especially young people who have time to develop their talents. I love sharing my love of the outdoors and god's creations with others *ski nanny*. Learning to ski can help you in other areas of your life as well. *ski nanny* It is an enriching endevour to say the least. *SKI NANNY* Yeah, anyway. I might be going skiing a few more times this year because I work at BCDC and can get hooked up with comp passes or at least half price passes. Now all I need is a day off...

Oh! I want to take a community class from East High School since it's right up the street from me. I'm trying to choose between a pottery class or this travel writing class for women. Or woodworking. I just don't know! Any suggestions? I just always think to myself that I want to take these classes, so now is the time to do it. I love life-long learning!

My roommate Natalie Cornell is getting married to Michael Bird in a few weeks. She's moving out tomorrow. Tonight we're having a sleepover in the pillow room. Katie Dickson is moving in January to Kansas. I'm going to miss those girls. At least I will still have Rui and Tori. And the two new girls seem way cool. I mean come on, we're going to freaking knit and crochet our faces off! DOMESTIC PARTY!!! Rumor has it Chelsea knows how to make beannies. (Let's be honest, when Katie Dickson tried to teach me a few days ago it didn't go over very well. "I'm going to be honest, I've been kind of avoiding this because I don't really remember how to do it... You just do this and you keep adding rows whenever you want... and then you just make it up, that's what I did." Her beanie did turn out way cute, but come on! Just "make it up?!")

Oh my gosh! Barb and Neil came over on Monday night to talk to the new girls. They stayed way too long because we all know how they love to talk. But they did tell us the story of our house. I guess some lady built the house in like 1978 and she lived there with her sister because she never got married. So basically we live in this Old Maid house... not a good sign. But there's hope, the story get's better--When this lady was like in her seventies she got married... to her dead sisters husband! Can you believe that? Don't worry, though, I'm not planning to marry Cade, Robert, Paul, or Chris in the event of any of my sister's deaths. Sorry guys! But yeah, I love my house.

Um, I found out last night that this guy in my ward has a blog too. He has mono. And he blogs about it. Check it out at www.ihavemono.blogspot.com

Is anyone even still reading this?

To anyone who cares, Marcus Wright is on the outs. It's about time, though. I've been holding on to this idea for far too long. We just don't have that spark. And I need some spark in my life.

I met a boy online. It's the second guy from ldslinkup I've ever met. The first time it turned out really well (let's get a shout out for Mike Eastman!) and I think this guy seems pretty cool too. I'm still not sure how I feel about online dating. I don't want to tell my kids I met their father on the internet, but I guess it is more socially accepted now days. Besides, it really just widens your social circle. But this guy seems very interesting and I pretty much might be going to Nepal with him in the spring. *I hope!* Yeah, he just seems like a cool guy. We'll see.

Oh, but I do want to tell y'all about the place he took me to. It's called One World Cafe. It's on 300 East inbetween South Temple and 100 South. Go there. Basically there is no menu or prices for the food. They cook everything fresh that day and it is all organic and from local places (ie they have a donated plot where they grow a lot of the food). The goal of the people who own this place is to end hunger. If you don't have any money you can go work there for an hour and in exchange get a hot meal. If you do have money you pay whatever you feel the food is worth, or you pay what you can. It's such a cool idea and such a cool place. I had heard about it before and always wanted to go so I was excited when he suggested we go there. There's a really cool ambiance as well. I really do urge everyone to go support this place. It's a social experiment and a testament to the human spirit. It's a magical place.

Well, I'm here at the Marriot Library with Rui and Katie. Everyone else here is probably way stressed and freaking out about their last finals or that fifty page paper they've procrastinated to this, the very last minute. I guess sometimes it's a good thing to be all gradumatated. Though I do miss being in school... sometimes.

Okay, enough!

The choice for me is gossip free!

You can tell this place is run by a man. Trying to solve one problem by creating a new one...

I don't think they've really thought things through, either. But I have. What's going to happen when you pull everyone over from Returns (even Anna Jo, the GearTrade Specialist) to help with Shipping? A huge backup of returns sitting in carts just waiting for someone to do something with them. AKA people are going to be pissed because they sent that stupid North Face shirt that they just didn't like back a month ago and why hasn't their card been creditted, they wonder? So we get behind and have to work overtime just to get caught up (this is what happened last month... a lot of stress on us poor little employees). But what's even better about this is that once Christmas is over the returns are going to come pouring in! Multiply this little problem exponentially!

To top it all off they have us working nearly 70 hours a week. Yes, that's true. Literally everyday of my life is now going to be dedicated to this stupid place. I hope they're prepared to deal with high rates of employee burn-out. Why can't they just hire more seasonal employees you may be wondering? Well, that would just make too much sense.

But I'm not complaining (even though I am); the overtime pay will be really nice.