What I Did There

I went to Arizona this weekend. I will be completely honest. I have never had a favorable impression of the state of Arizona. This is how the thought process went in my head:

"Arizona = hot, brown, cacti." End of thought process.

But do you know what?!

There are trees that produce citrus fruit like tangelos, oranges, pomegranates, and kumquats . . . yes I just said kumquats! AND AND AND get this . . .

It snows there. SNOW . . . in Arizona. I used to think that I didn't live a sheltered life, but I am beginning to believe I am mistaken. Sure, I've been to Africa, England, Scotland, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Mexico, and Liechtenstein. But somewhere amidst all this international globe trotting I missed the memo that it snows in Arizona. Go figure. There are also mountains which I did not know about. But let's be honest here . . . the mountains did not quite have the same shock factor as the snow for me.

Oh, so back to the point of the post title.

What I did there:

I met the Torres family. And they are awesome. Just saying!

I went to a bridal shower.

I went to a bachelorette party.

I went to a wedding.

I did not catch a bouquet. Despite the fact that I was (1) supposed to and (2) in my I'm going to catch this or die trying stance.

I got really wet. I also clung to a tree for dear life to avoid getting completely soaked. If only there were pictures I might be inclined to explain this one further. Or maybe if someone asks nicely I'll consider it . . . maybe.

I discovered Jerome.

I whipped my hair back and forth!

Carrot Cake

For some reason still quite unbeknownst to me, Tony's favorite cake is carrot cake. I am a chocolate lover myself and cannot really understand why a birthday cake would be wasted on a cake of the carrot variety. However, it was not my birthday so carrot cake it was. BUT I've never cooked a carrot cake before. I came to find out in a hilariously awful way that baking carrot cake is not quite the same as baking regular cake. I rather pride myself on my cake baking/decorating abilities. This carrot cake essentially crushed my grandiose dreams of a future career as a cake baker/decorator extrodinaire.

For the first time in my life, I am ashamed to admit, my cake stuck to the bottom of the pan when I took it out of the pan. The entire bottom of the cake was stuck to the pan and I had to piece it back together in chunks . . . like a Frankenstein or Sally cake. Obviously that wouldn't do so I decided to flip it again onto yet another plate. Now this is where this experience got really mortifying. The top of the cake (which was on the bottom at this point) stuck to the plate it was on. It didn't just stick . . . this thing stuck hard. The entire middle portion of the cake (along with a good 2-3 inches of cake) stuck in a large chunk to the plate. So now my cake was Frankenstein on one side and giant gaping hole on the other. It was too late at this point to make another cake so I had to salvage the pathetic remains of my destroyed cake. I coated it in thick yellow icing and covered it in candles. It was without a doubt the absolute worst cake I have ever made in my entire life. I was so disappointed and marginally upset.

In the end it didn't look too bad (even though I was still not happy with it). And guess what!

It tasted just fine!

Shortly before Tony's birthday I received an e-mail from his mother outlining exactly how birthdays are to be celebrated in the Torres family. The cake, party, and pictures part I already had covered. It was the next little bit (which is definitely not a tradition in my family) that I was particularly excited about. Actually, I was a bit excited and quite a little bit guilty about it too. I wouldn't want this done to me on my birthday, but traditions are traditions. AND who am I to go against a mother's wishes?!

And this is pretty much my favorite picture right now:

Ice Castles

Even though the ice castles in Midway, Utah were somewhat underwhelming when I first saw them, it was a fun time anyways. Things just look so much smaller when you see them in real life as compared to pictures. Don't even get me started on the first time I saw the SLC temple. Anyways, it was a fun pre-birthday date . . . complete with delicious (and authentic) Mexican food.

The torta didn't stand a chance!

15.9

This past Saturday evening, Tony's roommate invited us on a hike to the hot springs. I have lived in Provo for about 6 years now, and I have still yet to make it to this particular activity. It was cold and I was tired but it was a short hike so I decided I wanted to go.

Little did I know I was in for much more than I had agreed to. Turns outs, the paved road to the trailhead is closed during the winter months when there is too much snow for vehicles to safely drive on it. None of us knew exactly how far it was from the gated road to the trailhead. (We were thinking maybe 2 or 3 miles) None of us brought any snacks or water on the trip because we were expecting a 5 mile hike.

Before I continue with this story, I need to show you the boots I was wearing for this hike.

These boots are awesome when it comes to keeping my feet warm and traversing through treacherous ice and slippery snow . . . but only for short distances. These warm, fuzzy boots felt like lead strapped to my feet towards the end of the hike.

Turns out we hiked on the road approximately 5 miles before we reached the trail head. By this time we were all exhausted, but we were much too far to turn back now. Plus I suspect, and I know it's true in my case, no one wanted to be the wimp that suggested we turn back. So we all persistently and perhaps grudgingly trudged onward.

I will admit despite the general tiredness and freezing cold, it was beautiful. There was snow, mountains, a river, and more stars than you can see in and around Provo. It was bright enough on the road to walk without a flashlight, so I felt as if I was strolling along in my very own black and white photograph.

Much to our collective delight we finally made it to the hot springs. It may have smelled like rotten eggs, but even the thought of a little warmth was enough to cheer me up at that point. After a grueling hike, sitting in the warm (sometimes extremely hot and sometimes really cold) bad egg-smelling water was basically heaven.

BUT then we had to get out.

It was COLD. It was oh so cold, and I was oh so wet and underdressed. I have never been so cold in my entire life (and that includes the time we swam against TSD and the heater was broken and my lips turned blue). My toes literally felt as if they would snap in two from the cold (I was still barefoot at this point). Everyone was too cold to even care that we were in mixed company, and everyone changed as quickly as they could. (don't worry nothing scandalous . . . we were all too worried about ourselves to look) However, others had it worse than me that night (right Tony?) and I am thankful I did not misplace my pants.

Luckily I have a good boyfriend who offered to carry my bag for me on this trip and made sure I did not tumble down the side of a mountain into the freezing water below. Those snow boots made my feet progressively clumsier as I got more and more tired, and I slipped and stumbled on more than one--a lot more--occasion.

Every step was painful the last few miles. My hips hurt, my back hurt, my toes hurt, and my face was numb. I have never been so happy to see a car in my entire life. I couldn't have been more glad the hike was over.

I went home ate a pop tart and proceeded to pass out until nearly 2 the next afternoon. I felt as if I had been run over by a train the next morning.

But you know what? I'm glad I went. I hiked about 16 miles in the snow! Let me repeat that . . .

I hiked 16 miles in the snow.

I've never even hiked more than about 7 miles at once before, and this was not only my longest hike ever but it was in the snow. I feel incredibly strong that I was able to finish this hike, and I am certainly more confident in my body's ability to do hard things. I am now determined to hike Mount Timp this spring or early next fall. I've always doubted whether I could do it or not, but now I know I can. And I'm excited!

Obsession

When I find a new artist that I like I tend to get obsessed. I listen to the same CD over and over and over. I am so in love with the new music that listening to other things is not even appealing to me. I went through this stage with Brand New, Bright Eyes, Paramore, Eisley, Jack's Mannequin, Silversun Pickups, Circa Survive, Bloc Party . . . you get the idea.

I have a new favorite. The entire CD has been playing on repeat in my car for going on a month now. I love them so much because they sound to me like the love child band of Bright Eyes and Flogging Molly.

How could that not be awesome?

Rewind

So first of all, let me apologize for the lame grad school edition of this blog. It turns out that undergrad edition (Posh Life) and L.A. working girl editions were much more interesting since I actually had time to write. My life is certainly not lame these days, but it is way too busy to blog very often (obvs). Since it is the new year (ok so I'm a month late on the new year's resolving but what are you going to do about it?), I resolve to blog more often. There are many, many exciting things going on in my life, and it would certainly be a mistake if I did not record them for all to enjoy.

First of all, let's turn back the clock and relive my Christmas break.

I had my first ever true white Christmas. It only took 23 years! It was a good break as evidenced by the photos seen above.

This semester is busy. It is basically kicking my butt.

And there are lots of exciting things going on that are better suited for a later post.
I just know you will be waiting on tenterhooks until then! I just know it!!!