Better Living Through Chemistry

My uncle generally uses this expression when talking about drugs but...I'm talking about ice cream! My roommate Marie is a chemistry major and really enjoys playing with liquid nitrogen. She brought some home this weekend and we spent some time making ice cream with it on our kitchen floor. It was pretty entertaining.

Marie's pretty into it. It's awesome.

Sneak Peek

This weekend I got a preview into what my summer is going to be like. And I definitely liked what I saw. Good ole Western River invited the Moab Adventure Center (MAC) new hires (that would be me...) down for the weekend to experience some of the "adventures" we'll be selling on the job. It was awesome. A bit chilly but...great.

The trip started out with a sunset hummer tour. This was way fun. And our guide was hilarious. He should be a hoot to work with.

On Saturday morning we took a guided hike through the fiery furnace in Arches National Park. Before letting us in, the park service made us watch the most threatening informational video I have ever seen. But that's another story.

I was surprised by the amount of small spaces we had to go through in the park. However, I was also surprised at how not freaked out they made me. It probably had something to do with the fact that you could see the other side through all the cracks and people much bigger than me were in front of me. Always a good rule of thumb.

Saturday afternoon we went "canyoneering". Which I found out this weekend basically means you do whatever you need to get from point A to B. So we hiked a little, then rapelled down a couple cliff faces and hiked some more. It was, of course, amazing. The second rapel was especially awesome because it was off of a natural bridge. That means you just hang in the middle of the air and let yourself down. It was so sweet.

And these are the kids that come August I will either love to death or hate. I'm banking on the former. These are all the new hires. And I know, my helmet is ridiculously crooked. Can you believe no one told me until after this picture? I'd had that helmet on for a good 45 minutes before this too. Geez, some friends.

So bring it on! Summer 2010!!!

Broken Things

Last night, while playing tennis, I snapped Marie's tennis racket in half. Still not sure how that happened. And yes that's our carpet. It's green. Forest green.

Then this morning, while in the shower, my loufa exploded. I have never seen a loufa do that before. And yes--that is also our carpet. It's a colorful place to live.

So basically...if you need anything broken or ruined in the near future--I'm your girl. Just bring it over (or mail it) and the deed will be done with the touch of a finger.

A Contact Sport

So I've been blogging a lot lately huh? I suppose it's because I don't have so much to do that I'm totally swamped and don't have time for anything else in my life, but I have just enough to do that I constantly look for ways not to do it all...thus the blogging. And it's been pretty random thoughts too. So...my apologies. But today is no different.

I hereby dub racquetball a contact sport. Are you supposed to touch each other? No. Do you? Definitely. Especially if playing doubles. Like I was this morning when I got a ginormous bloody lip. I attempted to take a picture of it to post on here but...I decided I really didn't want anyone having access to that close up of a picture of me. So sorry. No picture. But, the point is--I decided this morning that we wear our "eyewear" for a reason. Had I underestimated the wingspan of my opponent even more, I could have been hit with a racquet square in the eye instead of the mouth. And that would be not good (name that movie...).

The big swollen lip is an added bonus because tomorrow I get to meet about thirty people for the first time. Nothing like a sagging lip to make a great first impression. I'm sorry that I haven't officially informed the blogging world of this but I got the offer at a crazy time. This summer, I will be working in Moab for Western River Expeditions! Talk about a dream job. I unfortunately will not be a full-time river guide but instead will spend my days selling merchandise and jeep tours to unsuspecting tourists while picking up random day river trips whenever possible. It should be awesome. So tomorrow we have a big employee meeting in Salt Lake and I get to meet all of my co-workers. With a bulge in my lip. Awesome!

So this turned out a little smaller than it looked online but if you look closely, in the midst of all of that awesomeness there's a glowing building: Moab Adventure Center. And that--is where you can find me this summer. So exciting.

How Did I Miss These?

I am amazed. I watched the Olympics religiously for two weeks and never once saw a single one of these commercials. If you haven't seen the P&G commercials about moms please watch them here at my friend's blog (Maribeth hopefully you don't mind that I'm totally giving your blog address to all three of my readers that probably already know you anyway...). It's the "Feeling Olympic" post. If you are me they will probably make you cry. And want your mom. So mom--even though I'm not a US Olympian, you're still the greatest. Thanks for always being there.

WARNING: THIS IS ME VENTING

I. am. so. angry. It is 11:15pm. Tomorrow, I am taking a final for my block class that just ended. Have a studied for it? No. Not really. Why? Well, because Aspen Ridge, my stellar management company, decided that even though they haven't required one of us since we moved in here in August, they would email us on Friday and inform us that they would be coming Tuesday (that's tomorrow) to do a cleaning check. At least they provided a very specific time frame they'd be coming over: between 9am and 5pm. Now, cleaning checks are no fun anywhere but really, they aren't always that bad. However, when they suddenly decide that an apartment that hasn't been under stringent cleaning guidelines for years needs to be completely spotless in a day's time--that's just ridiculous. Ridiculous. And we can't have cleaning checks on a Saturday? Like the rest of Provo? But on a Tuesday, the middle of the week, the middle of the semester, and it's not like you can clean a few days in advance because just the mere act of living for 24 hours will make the apartment too dirty to pass a cleaning check Aspen Ridge style. All I can say is, if I fail my test tomorrow, or get fined for "not doing my cleaning" (which I've spent the last four hours not doing...) Aspen Ridge will be hearing from me about it.

So maybe it's late, maybe I'm tired, maybe Aspen Ridge doesn't deserve all of this flack and maybe I'm just angry because the Olympics are over, but...my official statement? Cleaning checks are ridiculous. Sure, come on over, make sure we aren't living like complete pigs and that we're not breaking every appliance and piece of furniture. But besides that--does it really matter how clean my baseboards are? Or if I took a q-tip to the cracks in my bathroom counter? Not a bit.