Zions Trip

I traveled to Zions this past weekend with my brothers-in-law, Dave and Mark, my cousin Rich, and his roommate Joe. We did two hikes back to back: the Keyhole and the Subway. Keeping up with four guys took its toll by the end of the day. There were several rappels and swims (one was probably the coldest swim of my life) in both hikes, and a lot of scrambling over rocks. While I like to pretend that I am tough, I realized by the end of the day that sitting for hours in a classroom at school has not been keeping me in shape. I could barely walk the day after our hike, but it was worth it. The slot canyons were beautiful, the day was cloudless and sunny, and the company was great.

D.A.M # 5

Radio Rage n. - A blind and dangerous rage induced by listening to music on the radio.

For those of you who don't know, I drive a nearly prehistoric car. No cd player, and no, I don't own an ipod (shocking I know) so I listen to the radio when I drive. I drove to school today and inevitably the song that was playing got stuck in my head. It played in my head as I walked to class, it played over my teachers lecturing voice, and I couldn't help but humm it out loud as I walked back to my car. I thought to myself, at least there will probably be a new song on the radio to get this one out of my head. WRONG! I got in my steaming hot car, turned the key and what do you know? The same song was playing AGAIN! What are the chances? Well, actually, I've found the odds are pretty high. Most radio stations that play music have about five to ten (ten is being quite generous) songs that they repeat over and over and over and over again. Well, you could just change the station right? You might think that, but change the station and you are likely to hear the SAME songs you heard on the previous one. Honestly, with all the music out there you'd think radio stations could play a little more variety. As a recording artist I would feel the radio stations were doing me a disservice. You get one hit song on the radio and it is played so often that soon everyone in their right mind hates it with a passion and no one wants to buy your album because the one song they know they also hate, and they have never heard of any of the others. Some blame people who download music illegally for hurting the music industry---I blame the radio. Hearing the same song for the tenth time during a twenty minute drive also makes me inexplicably angry. Looking for an outlet for my anger I am often tempted to step on the gas when an innocent rodent or small animal attempts to cross the road. You hear about accidents and confrontations due to road rage, but I think many of these are due in fact to radio rage. Combine the two and we have some crazy dangerous, angry drivers on our hands. So I plead for radio stations to please stop playing the same songs over and over again. Put a limit at two times a day or something. I am sincerely worried about the safety of our fellow citizens (and small animals).

A Shoulder to Lean on

Just one reason I love my sisters.

Some Random and Maybe Weird Things I Love

1. Driving fast
2. The smell of new books
3. Maple Sugar Candies
4. Taking pictures
5. Making faces in the mirror
6. Singing in the car
7. Singing in the shower
8. Sitting on my front porch
9. Looking at the stars
10. Scaring people
11. Candlelight
12. A soft bed
13. Crying in movies
14. Getting dirty
15. Laughing
16. Making other people laugh
17. Going to plays
18. Time to think
20. The sound of Sandhill Cranes
21. Seeing the irrigation water come into the field
22. Back scratches
23. Playing with my nieces and nephews
24. Flying high in a swing
25. Sleeping outside
26. The silence when it snows
27. Looking back
28. Making hay forts
29. Finding a new favorite song
30. Pop's pork chops