Favorite Mountain

My favorite mountain of all time is located in Utah.  It is Mount Timpanogos.  At first glance, it may seem like an ordinary mountain, but it really is different.  First, there is a dead Indian Princess across the top (see diagram below).  I grew up hearing two different legends both ending in her death.  One was that she sacrificed herself to save her tribe. The other one had to do with being so sad that the love of her life was killed.  It is a fun story and makes the mountain easy to identify, but that isn't the only great thing about the mountain. 

The second thing I love is the Cave, which is a national park.  The formations throughout the cave are so interesting and the hike to it is great for all ages.  Seeing the mountain again has definitely been one of the highlights of this trip.  Perhaps, I'll have to come back in the summer so I can take the kids on the hike. 

Stuck in Utah

Friday night, I was driving back from a friend's house (who lives about 2 hours north) to the place where I am staying here in Utah when my car suddenly started beeping and warning me that it was overheating and that I should shut the engine off.  I managed to pull over to a gas station and pop open the hood.  There was definitely smoke or steam coming out of the engine and the plastic tank where the coolant/anti-freeze goes was empty.  Fortunately, I had lots of offers for help (one good thing about Utah).  I dragged the kids into the gas station and bought anti-freeze.  A few guys helped pour it in and one told me that I should be good to go. 

I set off again and didn't get very far before it happened again.  I pulled off to the side of the freeway to let it cool off and started making calls for help/advice.  Fortunately, a friend offered to come help even though I was about an hour south and it was freezing cold.  He found me on the side of the freeway.  He looked under the hood and the tank was empty again!   He filled it up and helped me get to the next gas station with multiple stops because of more overheating warnings.  Once there, he opened up the radiator and saw that it was completely dry.  He put anti-freeze directly into it.  He told me that it should take care of it.  Then, he said goodbye and to call him if I have ANY more problems.  I was able to drive all the way back to where we are staying without more overheating warnings thanks to him.  One good thing about Utah is the nice people.   I am sure he had better things to do on a Friday night than freeze his butt off with me.  

Anyway, the check engine light is still on so I do not want to head back to California until whatever else is going on with the vehicle is fixed.  Can you imagine being stuck in Death Valley with two little kids?  My car is being towed up to the Saturn Dealer in Salt Lake today.  Who knows when I'll get to go home?  Once again, I am very thankful my friend and her family here that have made me feel so welcome without any signs of being sick of our LONG vacation.  I was sure they'd want to kick us out by now.          

Haircut

When I first saw my friend that I am staying with in Utah, I loved her hair.  The more I was around her, the more I liked it.  She offered to cut my hair like it.  I know I am a little old to be letting a friend cut my hair, but she has always been great at hair.  Plus, her mom is/was a beautician.  So...now my hair has layers and a bit of life in it.

Freeeeeezing

We're in Utah and it is COLD!  (...For us anyway)  The highs are in the mid 30s and the lows in the 20s.  I think over a decade in warm climates has comletely ruined me for cold weather.  Plus, I have learned that winter gear and carseats don't mix at all.  Last night, I was thinking about how nice it will be to get back to California.  On the other hand, we are having a lot of fun and there is so much more that I want to do.  I haven't even started seeing all the people I wanted to catch up with.  I need to start packing our schedule.  That or stay a few more weeks...  nope just too cold.   

Cold Blast

Tomorrow, I am taking the kids on a road trip. They have been asking to see snow for a while. There are a few places around here where it snows occasionally, but I decided to take them to a place where there is lots of snow …Utah.

I haven’t been there since 1998.  That was just for a weekend wedding. Actually, I haven’t spent any time there since I graduated in 1996. I still have quite a few friends and family members there.  Lastely, I have been chatting with a few of them on facebook and one asked me to come.  The offer was extra tempting since I am only about a 10 hour drive now.

It is going to be weird to see how much it has changed and how much all of my old friends have changed.  I think one of the strangest things will be seeing that most of my friends are parents to teenagers.  A lot of them got married young and had kids right away. 

Well, we are setting off to have fun in the cold.  I realized this past weekend that Southern California is NOT the place to buy winter gear.  We went to several places and felt lucky to get the kids coats and mittens.  I will have to shop for boots up there.  It should be interesting.

Turdy Seven

Today is my 37th birthday.  I am not bothered by age much, but I don't like to think of being in my late thirties and a single mom.  Mostly, I am happy about where I am in life though.

Lexi Turns Four

My baby is growing up.  Lexi's fourth birthday was yesterday.  While I can't believe she is already four, I also can't remember life without her.  Isn't it amazing how that works?  She is becoming quite a little artist.  She is getting lots of practice during her "craft time," which is also the time that Jordan naps and I try to get some work done.  I will have to post a few pictures of her masterpieces soon.  

It's Not You, It's Me *REALLY*

Prior to setting a goal to try online dating, I remembered how much I hated dating when I was single.  I figured that I should give it a try though because I don't have any friends here in California and I still want to believe that I can find someone special to share my life with. 

Well, I have gone on three dates and now vivid memories of exactly WHY I hate dating have been rushing in.  All three guys were nice, decent looking, able to converse well, and very into me.  The problem is that I just wasn't interested in being more than friends.  Maybe that means that I am not ready to date, but more realistically I have never fallen quickly for anyone.  Back to the problem - I had to tell them that I wasn't interested.  I HATE doing that. 

I consider myself a nice person.  It is horrible to have to tell another nice person that you aren't as interested in them as they are in you.  I always do my best to let them know right away in the nicest way possible.  Being too nice about it though, often just encourages them to try harder.  I need a great way to tell them that it just isn't going to happen without hurting them.

I have told them I just want to be friends, which was true.  I just need a guy friend.  That way I would have a friend, but not have to deal with all this.  Oh and I don't mean a friend with benefits.  I just want a guy to talk to and hang out with once in a while.  Is that too much to ask?  Probably...guys have a one track mind, right?

Remembering Haiti

Last week, most Americans probably couldn’t pick out Haiti on a map. Even fewer can actually say they have been there. I have.

Back in the summer of 2000, I worked for an engineering company that had a contract with Royal Caribbean. We were working on what they refer to as the “private island” they named “Labadee.” It is actually a strip of land on the northern coast of Haiti.

My company hired private planes to fly down almost every other week. Somehow, we were asked to assist them with a huge insurance evaluation. Someone from our firm needed to go down to take pictures and note everything on the “island.” Most people in the office did what they could to avoid going there. Since I love to travel ANYWHERE, always want another stamp in my passport, and would be crazy enough to do it… they asked me.  Of course, I was thrilled (and I would go again).

I flew down on a 10 passenger jet plane with a few of the guys overseeing construction from our firm and a couple of employees from Royal Caribbean. We landed in Cap-Haïtien, which is about 80 miles from Port-au-Prince (where the earthquake hit). It was a small airport that didn’t even have a paved runway.

 We stepped out of the plane and were ushered into a bullet proof passenger van by two armed guard that were hired to escort us around. To get out of the airport, we had to go through a security gate because the entire airport was surrounded by huge prison like barbed-wire fences. When we finally emerged, the van was swarmed by beggars. It was covered like flies. I was honestly scared that one would get run over. Of course, our driver was used to it and didn’t really care.

 I knew that Haiti is known for its extreme poverty and military upheavals, but you can never be prepared to witness it in person. I don’t have the words to clearly describe it, so I found some pictures on the internet (http://www.traveladventures.org). I didn’t take any of my own because we were in a van and because I felt like I would be another American gawking at them.

This week, all the news coverage has brought back memories of that trip and the sadness I felt just witnessing their daily lives. I can’t begin to imagine the added horror that the earthquake has brought upon them. I can only feel a sense of relief that two of my friends/former co-workers who moved back to Haiti (one in Port-au-Prince) are reported to be “fine.” As for the one in Port-au-Prince, I am guessing that means he and hopefully his wife and kids are alive.  I am hoping it means they still have a house and at least most of their friends and family are alive.

Flash Back

For my long time blog readers, you might remember the heading above. I had it a little over 3 years ago. It was resurected tonight when I realized that the comments problem I noticed a few days ago wasn't going to go away on its own. Apparently, HaloScan wants to charge now. While I am sad to lose all those comments, I am not too sad about switching back to blogger. There are a few advantages to blogger comments. Mainly, that they work more often. Since I had also dealt with problems uploading graphics, I realized that the easiest solution would be to just use blogger's templates & just upload a header. That works for me. At least for now. I know I need to do some cleaning up and add links, but this will have to do for now.

The thing that make this switch HORRIBLE was that I didn't save the old template. I thought I had a copy of it or at least the links to blogs I read. I don't though. Please leave a comment, so I can find your blog and add it to my sidebar.