blarney and friends

alright already. i'm back from ireland. does anyone care about that anymore, or has too much time passed that your anticipation of my recap from the emerald isle has all but diminished completely? well too bad, i'm blogging about it anyway.

first off, the trip was A-MAZING. it took me a little while to understand why everything was so expensive and so nice. up to now, almost all of my international travel has been to central america, or other developing countries, so it didn't occur to me right off the bat that i might not have to take my own toilet paper into the public restrooms. the wake up call was brutal, and came in the realization of the fact that my 6 euro breakfast yogurt (6 euros, really?) was actually costing me 9 bucks. breakfast: $9, lunch: $15, finally taking a trip to europe: priceless. wah wah.

rather than post a million pictures that would take 1.75 years to upload and then another .65 years to format- only to have them publish differently than i intended, i've put together an album with short captions to almost every picture. should you feel inclined to look at these 97 photos (this is pared down from about 365 that were taken on the trip), you can find them here. as i mentioned, i've included captions of what i would probably say to you about the picture if we were looking at them together.

and now, for a brief..ahem...rundown of the trip:

day 1: we landed in shannon at around 6 am, got our car, and tried our best to adjust to the no sleep drive through the dark on the other side of the car and the other side of the road. luckily, irelanders have fabulously marked roads, and various castles and other ruins to use as landmarks on your journey. we found ourselves in limerick right around sunrise. it was so beautiful. since we weren't able to check into our hotel right away, we decided to continue driving south toward the ocean. 2 hours later we found ourselves in killarney with very little will to go on. we ate breakfast, turned around and headed back. another 2 hours and we were pulling up to the manor house of our gorgeous hotel, the adare manor, and checking into our townhouse. a few hours nap and we were ready to hit the green. we took a carriage ride around the manor, toured the building, and received our first taste of irish hospitality. really, they were so good to us there- i never even had to pretend to be from canada! that night we went to a local pub, which turned out to be surprisingly empty. no one talked to us until we were leaving- one of the (very drunk) young men at the bar shouted after us, "wait! please don't leave!" like i said, real irish hospitality.

day 2: church. the branch in limerick was a quick drive away and unfortunately we relied to heavily on lds.org to be accurate. we ended up at church an hour early. no biggie, we met the sister missionary of the missionary couple at that branch and had a good chat. still jet lagged and now having spent nearly 5 hours at church, we decided to head back to our hotel for another day of rest and relaxation. the day was too tranquil to go on about it, but suffice it to say it was just as a vacation should be.

day 3: begin the marathon days of the trip. we headed out early (at least by vacation standards) to tour bunratty castle. see pictures for more detail. after that, we continued on to the cliffs of moher (a.k.a. the cliffs of insanity in the princess bride), and subsequently my favorite part of the whole trip. for some inexplicable reason we were blessed with plenty of sunshine and blue sky on this, the most crucial day of our adventure. i'm sure the cliffs still would have been beautiful under a sky of gray, but they were absolutely astonishing in the bright sunlight. i can't accurately describe my love for this place so i won't, but please go there if you're ever in ireland.

day 4: and day 2 of the marathon days, after another full irish breakfast, we headed back to the airport to hop a jet over to london for a day and a half. we arrived in the late afternoon and wandered around a bit before the general wear and tear of the trip forced us into the local mcd's for a coke zero (from the fountain- they have it everywhere!) and some fries. hey, guess what? our measly american dollars are worth even less in london. 4 pounds ($8) each later we were on our way to find our hostel, dump our bags, and see a bit more of london. the hostel, called the menninger, was located right across the street from the museum of natural history. first of all, i've never seen such a cool and huge building, and second, i didn't know there was enough natural history in london to fill such a structure. notably, they were holding fashion week there at the same time. how fashion is tied to natural history i'm not sure, but who am i to argue? anyway, nat and i headed back out into the crowds to find our way to the theater where we saw wicked. it was my first time and i loved it so much i very nearly cried. ok, i did cry.

day 5: the beginnings of the plague kick in. three out of four of us got sick the night before. how esther escaped the infiltration of germs in our private hostel room is beyond me, but somehow she got lucky. i'm not sure how i got the plague exactly; maybe it was when i fell into the moat at the castle...or maybe it was when that rat bit my face...or maybe it was just the flu, which is more likely i guess. nevertheless, we'd come that far and weren't going to let some stupid virus stop us from enjoying london. together we boarded a double decker bus and began our tour around the city. we. saw. everything. it was the perfect way to spend the afternoon and we were able to get on and off the bus at our leisure. big ben, westminster abby, buckingham palace; it was all very surreal and fantastic and i can't wait to go back sometime when i'm not hopped up on nyquil.

day 6 we were back in ireland for the grand finale. poor mary spent the day in bed, esther struck out on her own for some site seeing around town, and natalie and i did what anyone else would do- we went to the mall! ridiculous? you may think that until you see our awesome euro-style coats and scarves, and many other goods. and listen up family, don't knock it or you won't get your presents, capish?

day 7: back to the airport and 8 hours later we land in heavy snowfall in boston. everyone on the plane cheered upon landing, which i couldn't figure out. were they cheering for the pilot? were they cheering for the snow? were they cheering because i made it through the flight without throwing up? actually, i slept for nearly the entire flight, which is what good drugs and a sleepless night will do for ya.

so that's pretty much it. actually, no it's not. there were a million tiny details of the trip that made it so amazing. if you'd like to read/see more, you can do so here, here, here, here, and here- many thanks to nat for her fantastic blogging prowess, and thanks for making this trip happen. not to get too serious at the end of this lengthy post, but i have to say that i'm truly grateful for the blessing of a good job, good friends, and an all around great life.

with that, i'll end before i get any further inta ta wee hours of ta mornin.

o to the hio

i've been holding off on a trip update because mary really has the gems of our weekend in ohio on her laptop, waiting to be pieced together into some kind of wonderful blog. (yes mary, this is my foot on your back.)

suffice it to say that we had a great time. somehow it just felt right to be spending columbus day in columbus. we embarked on the usually 12 hour (775 mile) journey on friday night around 7 pm and arrived at my parents doorstep at 9 am on saturday morning. in my opinion we made pretty good time considering we sat for a few hours on the mass pike in stop and go traffic, took a pizza break, stopped every 200 miles for more caffeine, and slept an hour and a half in a parking lot in buffalo. still, we arrived with plenty of time to stretch our legs and prepare to sit a few more hours (well, let's be honest i laid on my bed) and be nourished by the good word. speaking of, wasn't conference awesome?

the weekend continued in the same manner. we left the house only once to go to dsw, and that was subsequently the only time i changed out of my pajamas and into real clothes. it nearly did me in. otherwise, my time was spent sleeping in, lounging on the couches and floor (they have carpet...mmmmm....carpet), watching movies, and partaking of the wonderment that is my mothers cooking. my parents were a delight, grandma was her usual fun 92 year old self, and geoff wasn't around to bother me (jk weff, i loves ya).

on the drive home we stopped in kirtland for a quick tour of some church history sites. this was shortly after we made a completely necessary stop at the local hardees for some hamburgers and fries. what was it, like 10:30 am? but come on, it's hardees! how many times i played in the ball pit of our local hardees as a child i can't count. there was no ball pit, and no fried zucchini, but we did experience the best fast food service this side of the mississippi, not to mention a good look at some sweet mullets. ohio is weird. anyway, and yeah, kirtland was cool too. the best part, which i almost forgot and am sure mary won't mention, was the challenge i gave her to tell me a story about making a peanut butter sandwich. this story, however, had to last for 40 miles. she did it people. let it be known that just when you think things can't get any less interesting, they can. well done, mar.

back on the road after kirtland, we still had about 11 and a half hours to go. deep breath, deep drink from my coke and 90 east for another 600 miles. done up right, mar. done up right.

i've still got 90 East on my mind.

not much to say

thanks to a good friend who blogs consistently, you can read about my last five weekends here, here, here, here, and here. suffice it to say i've had a lot of fun lately. i know that's kind of a cop-out, but really, i can't say it much better than she already did.

in other news, i woke up happy this morning. that hasn't happened in a while and i thought it was worth remembering.

do you like flock of seagulls?

seattle, wa: one of the most beautiful places i've ever seen.

i arrived hours before anyone else, so took myself on a tour of the city- including to the aquarium where i pet these lovely dudes above (maybe they're chicks, i don't know. do starfish have genders? and furthermore, how do they procreate? well, a blog for another day)

and saw this amazing mountain, which was definitely the tallest mountain i've ever seen, at least to that point (see forthcoming pictures from alaska...)

and another view. can't get enough.

this was a cool boat at the dock on the wharf. i was feeding the seagulls (as directed by the sign at ivans seafood).
marie and me.
this trip brought to you in part by jet blue airways and the deficit in my bank account, but mostly by the two lovely people above.

loved it.

done y done!

last week was spent in mesa, arizona watching these two people join in holy matrimony

we had breakfast the morning before at the t.c. eggingtons, only the best breakfast place in the country. someone has morning face!

preston getting cold feet? no, of course not.

i think we might be dreaming of our beds right now

okay, marie. let's take a good one.

no really, a good one this time.
we got manicures and pedicures and went shopping at the mall later that day. seth got me the biggest drink known to man. this one's for you peg!

then later that night preston's parents hosted a dinner for the family and close friends. this is marie and me in the car on our way. we clean up nice, no?

the ceremony was very beautiful, of course. i cried, of course. we then waited for them outside of the temple in the beautiful az sun. the couple emerges victorious!

all the friends: alyssa, cameron, jen, marie, preston, seth, julie, kylee, jared.

congrats you guys! i love you!

feeling hot, hot, hot!

the bahamas...

looked a lot like this:

and the water was clear and beautiful like this:

and as we walked along the beach we saw this:

then sitting on a dock we looked down to see this:

um...we looked like this?

okay, maybe more like this:

we spent a heck of a lot of this!

but when it was all over, we were like this:

and now for a more thorough report:

*

date: march 15th- 19th, 2007

place: nassau, bahamas

reason: none in particular

*

we arrived in nassau around noon on thursday, march 15th and took an extremely overpriced taxi to our hotel. we would soon learn that overpricing wasn't limited to transportation, but was actually a common occurrence among every consumable good from the vending machine to the hotel we were staying in. this was lesson 1 in the bahamas.

*

lesson 2 was soon to follow, which was that everything runs on bahamian time; at least 1 hour slower than u.s. time (which i guess is more like 2 hours slower than east coast time). i'm not talking about time zones, but rather the pace at which everything moves. after changing into shorts and t-shirts we wandered over to a little shack of a restaurant on the beach to get some food. the service was not bad, our waitress was friendly, but if during the process of putting in our order, delivering our food, and getting us the check she had moved any slower she might have been going backwards. what should have been a quick, maybe 30 minute meal became an hour and a half ordeal. not once was our water refilled. okay, point taken.

*

lesson 3 occurred concurrent with lesson 2 which is that the men in the bahamas are extremely friendly and flirty. when the waitress approached us about the bill she said, "that man over there will take care of you." of course we assumed we would pay the man over there. it wasn't until we stood up and turned around and realized she was talking about the customer that had been sitting at the bar ( the same one who sang along with every single song that played on the radio) as being the man that would "take care" of us. a little embarrassed and confused, but mostly flattered we thanked him as we walked out. in his bahamian accent he said, "you ladies enjoy your vacation." ...!!...

*

so lessons aside, we spent all of our time sleeping in, swimming, and basking in the beautiful sunlight and reading all day on the beach (i started and finished the book life of pi in 3 days. bnb 4ever!). we were able to wander into downtown nassau where the streets are lined with all kinds of high end clothing and jewelry stores which somehow thrive despite the fact that black market replica's of almost everything in the stores can be purchased at the straw market at one end of the street. In that area it's nearly impossible to find any decently priced meals-refer to lesson 1-and the streets are packed with tourists from all over the world. it wasn't until sunday as we took a 45 minute jitney (bus) ride to the outskirts of the island to go to church that we saw the real culture of the island. it reminded me of guatemala. at night we watched movies on my laptop and fell asleep to the sweet sounds of underage spring breakers partying at the pool below us. in the morning (okay, early afternoon) we awoke to the sound of a parade going down the street and steel drums playing the tune to "feeling hot, hot, hot!" all in all it was pretty awesome.

*

so, my overall impression of the bahamas was this... although it was a good time, it was waaaaaaay to expensive for what it was. granted, we were on the main island (the capital) which is bound to be more dirty, more expensive, and more populated than other islands. if you're going to go, may i recommend a different island than nassau. also, and this will explain why none of my peeps got any gifts, unless you have hundreds of dollars to blow on stuff for friends, don't expect to get anything for anyone. on that same note, if you want to shop because you do have hundreds of dollars to blow on yourself or people, this might be the place for you. but you probably don't, cause if you're reading this it's because i know you (well, maybe) and i don't think i know anyone who has hundreds of dollars to blow, but if you do let me know and i'd be happy to be your tour guide for the bahamas.

*

until next trip.

ohio take 9

i spent some time visiting with my grandma tonight. she's 90 years old, so i don't put too much stock in some of the things she says, but it's certainly interesting to hear her stories.

tonight she laughed as she told me about visiting the rock 'n' roll hall of fame in cincinnati about 3 years ago. she said that they (my parents, brother, and she) watched a simulated jimmy hendrix concert and she thought the whole thing was live. it wasn't until weeks later that she found out that he's been dead for a number of years. my grandma freaking rocks.

ohio take 8 (is this getting old?)

top 10 reasons i love being home:

10. free food (and my mom's cooking)
9. being re-united with the z
8. my dad's jokes
7. head pets and back scratches at bedtime (i know, i'm 4 years old)
6. heat! these people actually run their heat! and carpet! oh, how i miss it sometimes.
5. getting the best sleep of my life
4. my 90 year old grandma (who asked if the waiter at dinner the other night was married...then played it off like she was asking for my benefit)
3. giggling uncontrollably with my little brother as we kneel for family prayer- getting my mom going (or sometimes she starts it), and waiting for that totally predictable eye roll from my dad
2. seeing how much my parents are in love still
1. the wonderful feeling of being a kid again, if even for a few moments out of a few days

ohio take 6...er 7

so i had a day of rest, sue me.

yesterday -post church and stuff- my little brother and i resumed our old time tradition of disney movie fest. and when i say fest, i mean it. three in a row people! this is something we used to do on sunday's when we lived together, and i've always loved it. what is it about everything disney that is so magical? is magical even a word? whatever, i digress.

when it was all over, i sat there thinking about how all girls want a prince charming. then i thought about prince charming in snow white and realized, no we don't! seriously, what did that dude do throughout the whole movie? nothing! he just showed up at the end for a little action and then rode off into the sunset with his woman. and cinderella's prince? again- nothing! it wasn't he who was searching all night for the girl attached to the right size foot. but again, he shows up in the end to reap the rewards. and the beast? don't even get me started on that one...

anyway, it's late and i have little desire to go off on my diatribe of qualities i'd like to have in my prince. all i'm saying is that i think we'd all like someone in our lives who are a bit more proactive. someone who will fight dragons for us. you know, like sleeping beauty's bf.

ohio take 5

i used to have a dog that looked exactly like the white one. she was my favorite pet of all time. she was 19 when we had to finally put her to sleep, which is 133 dog years old...and i have nothing interesting to add...

goodnight.

ohio take 4

these are the gems i get from my little bro:

(sorry kids, i didn't want the video on the blog anymore, but you can access it here)

enough said.

ohio take 3

i used the expression "all up in my grill" today while talking to my dad. later on this evening at dinner my dad said something about someone being "all up in his rake". uh, yeah... whatever dad.

in other news, my dad also told me last night that i can't stay past the 13th because the 14th is my parent's anniversary, and he doesn't want me cutting down any of his action. whoa! too much information?

ohio take 2

today as we were walking out to the car my dad said to me, "did you just get off the ship?" then laughed because apparently it was a joke. nobody else laughed because nobody else got it. as he turned around to get his keys, my mom mouthed to me, "what the hell did that mean?"

come to find out, he was referring to my puffy coat. can anyone name the movie?

ohio take 1

today my mom and i were cruising through the neighborhood in her bmw z3. she breezed through a stop sign and when i turned to her with an incredulous look on my face she responded innocently, "what? they're just guidelines."

children- use caution.

you are now free to move about the cabin

some things i learned yesterday:

• i'm incapable of packing for a trip any sooner than 2 hours in advance
• i actually DO like taco soup
• though i may have sung a particular song well over 100 times, i'll still forget the words when i'm nervous
• when a dunkin donuts cup says that the contents are "extremely hot" they actually mean it (goodbye taste buds- i'll miss thee)
• i love jet blue airlines
• i'm totally a window person
• it's possible that i come across as an unfriendly traveller. i don't like talking to people, so i usually stick in my headphones as soon as I get settled in, or bury my nose in a book. maybe i should work on that.
• benedryl and an eye mask work wonders. i'm usually out before the plane takes off and don't wake up until we land. it does make for a groggy drive home though...
• i hate dollar car rental (sorry girl with lime green eyeshadow working the desk at 1 am. i know it's not your fault that your company sucks and i didn't mean to take out my passive aggressive drugged rage on you. i hope the rest of your night was better...)
• seeing the confused, then excited looks on my nephews faces when i woke them up this morning was priceless. i love them.

me...i want a hoolihoop

ok, so this trip has actually been really, really hard for me. i know that there were a number of contributors to this, and probably mostly that some of my own expectations weren't met, but there have also been a few things that came out of nowhere which have suddenly put me in a position to make some serious, life altering decisions...

nevertheless, today is Christmas. it was amazing to me how my concerns melted away this morning as i watched my darling nephews dig into their presents and have them turn around and give hugs and kisses of gratitude to their parents and to us. as a family this year we decided not to give presents to each other, but just to get them for the little ones. i'll be honest, it was a little hard to put away all expectations and desires, since we've always had a huge Christmas, but such a good experience to truly be able to focus on the real reason for the holiday, and the importance of our Saviour Jesus Christ. i know that this experience, as well as other life circumstances, truly humbled me this year and gave me a better perspective than i've ever had.

this morning i couldn't help but relate to the Ammon when he said, "Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you , there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began..." (Alma 26:35- read it, it's awesome)

truly, i have so many reasons to rejoice which i hold close to my heart. i am so lucky to have been able to be with my wonderful family during this time, and i'm so grateful to be part of an eternal family, for which gift i know there has never been more reason to rejoice.

to all who spent the time alone, including my beloved gefeeee, know that my heart goes out to you and that you were in my prayers. i love you all.

Merry Christmas.

snow

hooray! it snowed last night for the first time and i was here to witness!

















there will be snow angels, oh yes... there will be snow angels.

i love lucy too

the conference was exactly what i had anticipated. same thing every year...hug/love fest...food, alcohol, boring meetings, blah blah blah. fun? maybe.

it all kicked off on tuesday night with the opening reception. delicious hour devours, free booze, and reconnecting with business associates. i had a relatively good time talking to old friends and meeting some new, but it is always a little awkward. think munch 'n' mingle conversation, but this time it’s your job on the line, not your marital status.

wednesday was non-stop presentations from various divisions within oracle, all designed to make us feel like part of the "team" and unite us toward the common goal: make money for the man. whatever, whatever. thankfully the last presenter never showed so we got out of those a little early, just in time to run up to my room, change, respond to urgent emails, and head back out the door for the secret activity they had planned for us that evening.

i have to say that i have been pleasantly surprised the past few years with the activity they've done. this year i was a little more skeptical when i found out that we would be going to a vineyard in sonoma to do some wine tasting. not only was it an activity in which i wouldn't participate, it also gave my associates an excuse to get drunk even earlier on in the night and start acting obnoxious and unprofessional even before dinner. as we toured the vineyard i took pleasure in the beautiful scenery. it was everything you imagine when you think of a vineyard (picture to be posted): rows and rows of grapevines, rolling hills, beautiful sunset, and amazingly beautiful architecture. as our guide said, "look around. this is tuscany. now i've just saved you $3000, buy some wine." aside from sampling the wine, we also got to try their fresh olive oil (faaabulous!) and stomp some grapes with our bare feet. that was an experience. i guess if i had needed a reason not to drink, the fact that people's feet had been in my wine would have been enough. all in all the activity was...well...interesting and memorable. it's kind of funny for me to realize that i am old enough to be at a vineyard tasting (or abstaining from tasting) wine. weird!



this morning i had my final meeting, which is a one on one with our company and oracle. i wish i could say this was a hug/love fest like the rest of the week, but this is where we really get down to business. sparing the boring details, there is a lot of pressure on us to meet their sales quotas for us, something for which i am solely responsible. frustration.

after the meeting i said goodbye to everyone and after enjoying a delicious sourdough bread bowl full of clam chowder (new england clam chowder, ironically), i hopped in a cab back to andy and emily's place where i dumped my stuff off and headed back out on the town. i made my way to little italy where, upon seth's recommendation, i enjoyed coconut and milo gelato (2 flavors, not combined). i have now returned to the apartment, which by the way is freaking awesome (or fawesome, if you will) and am waiting to leave for floating sushi which will very deliberately be charged to the corporate card.

tomorrow- sacramento and salt lake ahoy!

i'll arrest your development...

yet another super successful weekend. read about, see pics, comment here. only sunday was left out, and sunday was definitely worth a word or two. so here's two... or set's of two...

grilled. pineapple.
salmon. mmmm.
sweet. ass. (pronounced "sweedas")
hate. cats.
whipped. cream.
sink. sprayer.
banana. stand.

so the short of the story is that on sunday afternoon i, along with mashed potatoes specialist christy, scrumptious salad superior sylvia, and master grill commander seth, prepared an absolutely fabulous dinner for the elders and some friends which included salmon and grilled pineapple (for which elder curtis did the fruit dance not once, but twice!). it was a huge success with much laughter and enjoyment, especially when christy spelled out the words s.w.e.e.t a.s.s when referencing our ice-cream scoop, which is most definitely a sweet-ass scoop. a mere two hours later i found myself at yet another masterfully prepared meal at kylee and marie's house (what is this, a stovetop commercial?) where i proceeded to tell marie of my hatred for cats and found my mouth full of spray can whipped cream. seth received the same punishment for the same remark. however, arguably the best part of the whole night, was when marie tied a rubber band around the sink sprayer in hopes of soaking some unsuspecting guest and it just so happened that she and i were talking in the stairwell with a perfect hidden view when someone was sprayed not once, not twice, but three times before realizing what was going on. ahh the joy of childhood pranks!

and of course, how can one refrain from mentioning that this wonderful weekend led to the union (for which i will take credit!) of one very deserving young woman, and one lucky s.o.b.

there's always money in the banana stand!

h'improv

details of the improv everywhere new york experience here.