More Firsts with Brooke

So I have this great friend named Brooke who I am glad lies to me. Because of her lies she gets me to do things that I would normally say no to. I will give you a few examples. She was trying to get me to hike Mt Timpanogos and I wasn’t so sure I was up for the challenge. She tells me that it is pretty much flat going up and it is just like walking most of the time. She always finishes with, “It really isn’t that bad”. Yea, ten hours of hiking a mountain “isn’t that bad”. This is also how she got me to run a half marathon. Well this last weekend she used her lies on me again. She got me to go sledding face first down a hiking trail along the side of a mountain at 20 mph. Just so you understand there are some real risks here, there was a guy on the trip riding down the trail who flew off the trail and into a tree. He cut up his face and probably injured his back. Anyways the bottom line is that I am glad she got me to go because it was pretty fun.

We rode down on these things called airboards. Who would have guessed that you would pay hundreds of dollars for a sledding toy? They were very nice and they did actually help you steer as you are flying down the mountain. I also got to go snowmobiling for the first time. They were fun but not so easy to get started. I had to put all I had into it. I love this shot of Brooke trying to start the snowmobile.

Then to finish off our winter getaway, we had a good time jumping off things into the snow.

I am hoping I get invited up to the cabin again because it was AWESOME!

Really Good Day

Yesterday I had a really good day. The bad days make you appreciate the good ones. Over the last week I have been dealing with a lost purse, lost camera and lost cell phone. It has been a pain to say the least. I called the places I went, the mall, the movie theater, the post office, the police department and all of my credit card companies. I was in Minnesota when it happened so I had to pay $35 to get my roommate to FedEx me my passport so I could get home on the plane the next day. There was no fraud on my cards so I really hope that it eventually turns up. The whole thing is a mystery to me that is yet to be solved. Anyway, yesterday I was able to make it to the Licensing Bureau about 45 minutes before they closed and was able to be one of the last people they helped right before they stopped handing out numbers. Since it expired in three months anyway, they just gave me my renewed license so I didn’t have to pay any extra for that. Then I had to replace my school ID and they recently just changed those too so I didn’t need to pay the $20 replacement fee for that either. Then my brother called and said he had two free tickets to the Nutcracker for me. Then I checked the mail and one of my replacement credit cards was in the mail so I could finally do some online shopping. Then as I was going to bed I get a text message that said, “Saw your blurb in the Ensign! You’re famous. xoxo emily”. I submitted somthing two years ago and they said it would be published in 6 months. I thought they decided not to publish it after all. Click here to read it My favorite thing to do is listen to it, and hear someone else reading my story. It cracks me up a little bit.

Plastic Planet

I watched this documentary called "Plastic Planet" a few weeks ago. It was rather disturbing. We all know that plastic is everywhere and used in everything from clothing to carpet but what I didn’t know is that it is floating at the top of the ocean and has been carried by the wind to remote forests.

They had a few families around the world take everything out of their homes that had plastic in it and a lot of people were moving the majority of their household items on to their front lawns. So it is piling up in landfills and that is nothing new. We all know we are going to die someday and leave our carbon footprint on mother earth yadda yadda yadda. What’s the big deal? Well the biggest problems with plastic is that its formulation is not regulated very well and there are chemicals added to it that can be very toxic and carcinogenic.

Since watching this documentary I have been trying to not buy any plastics I don’t need and finding replacements made of wood, stainless steel, cotton, glass, ceramic, leather, bamboo, wool, and corn. Yes, that is right I said corn. I found that you can buy disposable utensils made of corn that are compostable and can withstand heat up to 200 degrees. Sure you might spend $.05 instead of $.03 for a fork but those $.02 extra cents I am spending make me feel a whole lot better. You can get these World Centric utensils at Whole Foods in case you are interested.

There are things that I can’t imagine living without. I am sure I will never live 100% without plastic but I am glad to see that there are now some better alternatives to products that are just going to pile up in landfills and never decompose.

I am pretty sure I am not going to miss vinyl. The shoes and bags I have had made of vinyl never last, and they end up looking crappy before long. It isn’t even a good financial investment when you think about it. I have had a leather bag that I have had about 15 years and it is still fashionable and in really good condition. I have vinyl bag that I just bought about 6 months ago and it is already falling apart. Vinyl just isn’t worth it. Plastic is cheap and lightweight but I am getting tired of living in a disposable world where we just get used to throwing everything away, and never wondering what happens to it in the years that follow.

LONG LIVE SQUASH!!!

I believe there is a grave injustice being done to winter squash these days. I have recently discovered its merits. It is filling, delicious and nutritious but the problem is that there are more people who want to use it as decoration for Halloween than want to enjoy eating it.

When I go to the store and load up with squash, I am often asked, “What are you going to do with all of this squash?” When I tell them I am going to eat it they almost seem shocked, as if they hadn’t even considered that option. There is a selfish part of me that doesn’t want to tell everyone how great it is because then there will be more for me to eat at a lower price, you know the whole supply and demand thing, but I guess I also feel responsible to share the good news.

So why is squash so great? Well it is loaded with antioxidants which help fight cancer. Aside from fighting cancer it has also been shown to be anti-inflammatory, helps with sugar regulation which can prevent diabetes, contains phytonutrients which fight disease and may also help your cardiovascular health and prevent heart disease. It is mostly fat free except for the healthy fats found in its seeds. For more info on this amazing food see this... http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=63

I have been on a mission to try as many varieties as I can while they are on sale. So far my favorites are delicata, carnival, acorn, sweet dumpling, butternut and banana. I am not such a fan of hubbard, kabocha, spaghetti, and turban. There are still some more I need to try like ambercup, autumn cup, sweet meat, and buttercup. Hopefully I can find them soon.

SUPER Glue to the Rescue

So Wednesday night I sliced open my thumb. It was across the top, down my nail and about a ¼ inch deep. I’d share pictures but it is pretty ugly. I tried to stop the bleeding with ice and then scab powder but neither of these did the trick. I was debating what to do next. I was wondering if I was going to need to go to the ER to get stitches but I thought about what a pain that was going to be and how it was going to keep me up all night. I also knew that I needed to get it to stop bleeding. I got my insurance card out to see what my options are and noticed that I had a $75 co-pay for an ER visit. I remembered back on my mission when I saw woman superglue her daughter’s forehead closed, after she split it open on their coffee table. This woman worked with horses and she said that the vets used superglue all the time when the horses got cuts.

Since her wound healed well, I decided I should give it a try. So far so good. I have had very little pain since and I didn’t need to worry about it bleeding while I slept. It looks like I am not the only one with this idea. http://adventuresinwoodworking.com/2008/05/09/super-glue-safe-for-treating-cuts/

DJ Disobedience

I am getting really tired of bad DJs. The last three dances I have gone to have had BAD DJs. For those of you who are not sure what makes a bad DJ, let me explain. A bad DJ plays lots of music that has too slow of a beat to really get your grove on or they play techno music, which for me is totally not dancer friendly. I guess it works for robots but NOT ME! They also don’t take any requests so you have no chance of even getting one good song to dance to. They play music that is overplayed all over the radio. They also sit behind their tables and wait for their playlist to run through on the computer. They are not dancers themselves, they are just there to get paid. When I made my request to the last DJ he responded with, “I’ll see if I can work it into the mix”. I would have preferred if he just said no, so I could leave and not waste my time with him.

A good DJ on the other hand will play non-offensive music that has a fast enough beat to actually dance to. They are found behind their tables dancing themselves, or at LEAST nodding their heads and tapping their feet to the beat because the music moves them. The best DJs are the ones who can’t stay behind their tables because they want to be out with the crowd getting their grove on. They play music with words so people can air-mic it and pretend to be rock stars. They also have paper out for you to write down your request but reserve the right to not play your songs because they know from experience that they are not crowd pleasers.

This is my plan going forward. The next time I go to a dance, if I don’t see the signs of a good DJ, I am going to bust out my iPod and do my own thing. Most DJs at least have good lighting and effects even if they don’t know how to select good music. That will be my way of telling them they could work on their skills without getting in their faces. I also think it is a better alternative to sitting Indian style in the middle of the dance floor in protest, which I have been known to do in the past. I might look like a freak show who fails to move with the crowd but I am just beyond the point of caring about such things anymore.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

I finished reading Aron Ralston’s book “Between a Rock and a Hard Place”. This is the story of how he had a rock fall on his arm while hiking in Blue John Canyon in Canyonlands National Park in Moab Utah. It was a very inspiring story about overcoming insurmountable odds but it was also a story of a spiritual awakening.

There were two quotes from the book that I thought were particularly moving and I wanted to share. After being trapped under the rock a few days and feeling there is nothing more he can do for himself he finally reaches a point of total helplessness and he says, “I’ve recognized a great truth: Some other marvelous force is in control, and has been all along. Give it whatever name I want, all I know for sure is that I don’t have to sweat it out anymore, because I am not in charge.” Perhaps we all have to reach this point in our lives when we finally surrender and begin to admit that we are not in control of what happens to us in our lives and we look to God and recognize his power.

Finally in the end summing up his experiences he says, “For all that has happened and the opportunities still developing in my life, I feel blessed. I was part of t a miracle that has touched a great number of people in the world and I wouldn’t trade that for anything, not even to have my hand back. My accident in and rescue from Blue John Canyon were the most beautifully spiritual experiences of my life, and knowing that were I to travel back in time I would still say “see you later” to Megan and Kristi and take off into that lower slot by myself. While I’ve learned much, I have no regrets about that choice. Indeed, it has affirmed my belief that our purpose as spiritual beings is to follow our bliss, seek our passions, and live our lives as inspirations to each other. Everything else flows from that. When we find inspiration, we need to take action for ourselves and for our communities. Even if it means making a hard choice, or cutting out something and leaving it in your past.

Saying farewell is also a bold and powerful beginning.”