Mags is Here!!!

My very best friend (I am very blessed with a few very close girl friends) finally came home to Utah for the first time in 6 years. We were lucky enough to meet up in Paris almost two years ago. That was the only time I've seen her in the last 6 years. 7 years ago this past July, Mags did something most of us don't have the strength to do. Her dream was to move to Germany, so at the age of 26, she moved there, after just one semester of German at the University of Utah. Now, don't get me wrong. She didn't just up and move to Germany without plans. She received her masters degree from the U in Education and received her English Second Language Certificate enabling her to teach in other countries. Then she moved. And, often we tease her that she was a huge Alphaville band groupie and followed them to their home town. But what she did as a single female took so much courage. I'm very proud of her, even though I miss her terribly.

On Monday I was so antsy. The opening scene from "Love Actually" (If you haven't seen this movie, it is AMAZING, you must see it!!! One of my favorites.) at the Heathrow Airport where Hugh Grant is talking about how love is really all around us and one of the best places to see this is the airport kept playing in my head. The truth of this really hit home to me as I was thinking all day long about seeing Mags come down those escalators and getting to meet her husband, Danny, for the first time. Obviously, I arrived at the airport twenty minutes before her plan even landed and waited FOREVER until she and Danny finally came down that escalator 50 minutes later. Afterwards, I went to her parents' house with them so that I could visit. It was really great to talk to them. I really like Danny. He is hilarious. This is his first time in the United States, so it is so interesting to see things from his perspective. (Like the fact that this past weekend they drove to San Francisco and he was fascinated with the desert of Nevada. He thought it was amazing- they don't have anything like it in Europe.) I finally left Sandy at midnight.

Then on Wednesday evening they came to our house so that they could see the house and meet our dogs and Danny could meet Chris. It was a lot of fun. Once again we talked until midnight. I felt so guilty because I didn't want them to leave, but I had to work in the morning. Like I said above, they have been in San Francisco for a long weekend, but I am excited to see them again this Tuesday night and more pictures are sure to follow. The dogs loved Mags, as you can see below:

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

For those of you who may not know (fam in CA) the 24th of July in Utah is a HUGE deal. State Holiday celebrating the day the Mormon pioneers came into the Salt Lake Valley and decided to settle here. It's a good thing I wasn't a pioneer. If I had just spent months walking across the country and this is where we decided to settle- on what is usually the hottest day of the year and the scenery is all dried up and brown, I would have been PISSED! (Sorry mom and Dad) Seriously pissed though, over the years people have come to realize Utah has some great attributes, especially if you are an outdoor enthusiast (although I do not experience any of these attributes first hand, people tell me about them...)but none of that was around in 1847. I'm not criticizing, mind you, due to the fact that since those pioneers decided to try to create a Zion in this desert Chris and I had the day off. Also, the days of '47 Parade is the 2nd largest parade in the country, the Rose Bowl Parade being the 1st. During the parade I took advantage of everyone watching it and went grocery shopping, great experience! the store was EMPTY!

For the evening we did have big plans. This year we decided to take my sister's two oldest kids to the Salt Lake Bees game. They have never been to a baseball game and there is always a great fireworks show after the game on the 24th. My parents decided to join us as well, which was fun. I think the kids enjoyed going somewhere with no parents or little siblings more than actually seeing the game. We bought them hot dogs and my parents brought Cracker Jacks. Chris and I got "Chicago Style" hot dogs. Which, for the record, was to the best hot dog I have ever had. The hot dog line took an entire hour, but luckily there was a lady in front of me who was really nice and we talked, so it went by much faster. Plus, Chris and I totally scored- The Portland Beavers got sick so the Bees game had to be cancelled. They had 2 high school all star teams play. And, to make up for the fact that we didn't see the Bees, we got 12 tickets to future Bees games, 6 tickets to Miller Motorsports Park and 6 preseason Jazz tickets! That's 12 free date nights! Below are pictures throughout the evening:

Happy Freedom Day! blah blah blah...

Forgot my camera for the whole day. But I found this pretty awesome picture below to make up for it:

I would spare you all from the 4th of July post so you don't have to read another one amidst the masses, but we did have a pretty fun day, none of it included waving flags, BBQ or parades. Totally unamerican, I know. As many of you know, Chris and I are not the most devout patriots. We're glad we live here because of our family and friends, but not necessarily because this is the greatest nation ever. I know, I should go to confession this week...

Saturday morning we did my favorite 4th of July tradition, we went to the Sugarhouse Arts Festival. Held every year on the 4th. This year it was especially fantastic because the weather was so nice. We found this local photographer who had amazing pictures. We bought a couple prints of Paris for a specific spot in our living room. We'd been looking to get some local original art. You should check him out. His website is http://www.waltzphotography.com/. He and his wife were really nice. We also bought a bandana for each dog from the No More Homeless Pets booth. After a few hours we went home and had fantastic Saturday afternoon naps. Then we went to my sister's house to have food and watch the fireworks with her kids. Fireworks are much more entertaining with kids around. They are so much more excited about it. Plus her house is really close to Riverton Park, so you get a great view from her front yard. Chris played a silly game with them where they had to duck and hide from the green fireworks or they would be poisoned. The kids thought that was the funnest idea ever. Then Chris and I discussed what big fireworks shows around the country we'd like to experience on the 4th one year. Me - Disneyland, Chris - New York City. Yeah, we all know who the more cultured one of us is...

Lazy Dog Contest - We Have a Winner!

Yes, folks. I had to take a picture of this. Sally insists on having her food bowl on her dog bed and then she lays down to eat it. I tried moving it across the room once and I watched her pick the bowl up with her mouth and move it back. It was full at the time and she didn't spill one piece of food from the bowl. Seriously, laziest dog, but I guess, if you can't get someone else to pamper you by breakfast in bed, you might as well pamper yourself!

weekend getaway

This past weekend Chris and I had sort of a little getaway which was nice. As many of you know because of facebook, family and the massive text I sent around, I have recently gotten a job. Hallelujah! I am the sales/events coordinator at the (are you ready for the ridiculusly long title) Homewood Suites by Hilton Salt Lake City - Downtown Hotel. You can get a hand cramp just writing that, but that's the official name. I really enjoy it. My time off involved a lot of soul searching and coming to terms with some things in my life and I am so glad I realized that I belonged back in the hospitality industry. 2 years ago, I swore I would never say that, but at least this time I know what I'm getting into.

Anyway, Hilton requires that you stay at the property you working within the first 30 days of employment. This way you can better relate to guests when they have questions about the hotel. Fabulous idea. And, because I've been there less than 30 days, it doesn't quite feel like I am staying at my work yet. Here are some pictures of our room, it was really nice. The beds are awesome and it is huge even though, this is the most basic room because they are all suites.

That evening there was a crazy thunderstorm that came in fast and furious. Afterwards though, we had the most amazing view from our hotel room:

(You can just barely see the 2nd rainbow in this pic)

Friday night was fun. We went to Iggy's for dinner, which is in the same building, and then we relaxed in the room. All suites have a DVD player and you can rent movies for free from the front desk. We decided on a Will Ferrell night with "Semi-Pro" and "Stranger than Fiction". the 2nd is one of our favorite movies. On Saturday morning, we got up and went to the Farmer's Market which is right across the street. Then we went to the Himalayan Kitchen for their lunch buffet. Chris had been there, but I hadn't and it was so good! I swear that middle eastern food is the only food that can be good from a buffet! After that we went over to the Arts Festival which was nice, but it was really small compared to previous years. Chris and I wanted to get something for our house, but we couldn't agree on anything. We walked from the city library back to the hotel to get our car. On the way I found this spray painted into the sidewalk, I get a kick out of these things, because I think they are so random.

Baby Blessing Part 2

So in June, my sister's youngest was blessed. It was going to be April, then May and things kept coming up. Being the 5th, there wasn't a huge family get together, but we did get an ok family photo and since this is as close to formal as we're going to get with everyone in it, it's nice to post:

Oman Family Reunion

Lots of things have happened the last few weeks. Everything feels like a whirlwind. A good whirlwind though! On May 31st Chris' mom's side of the family, the Oman family, had a reunion. We had a lot of fun, the whole family gets along really well. There was great food, a white elephant exchange, gift exchange for the kids, Bingo, knife throwing contests and more. Chris and I took my sister's oldest daughter with us. She had a lot of fun. It was great to have her for the day! For the knife throwing contest, the boys upped the competition by making the loser eat the same amount of pork rinds that the winner stuck knives into the target. Thank goodness I managed not to lose! Did you know the only ingredients listed on a bag of pork rinds is fried pig skin and salt? Gross!

My niece holding the stuffed tiger she got during the gift exchange

(gift exchange)

(christella during the knife throwing contest)

(Candy BARELY didn't lose the contest)

(Cory losing and eating the pork rinds :P)