All Things Relate Back to Anne Shirley

Last night when I got home, I found my sisters Kaylin and Alicia, Alicia's roommate (I think her name is Megan), and Mindy all sitting on the couch watching TV.

Kaylin turned to me. "I wish you had been here earlier. Troy (our landlord) came over and asked us for advice and I was weirded out."

Turns out Troy had dropped by for a little house business and then wanted to lament over the fact that a guy he knows who is about our age proposed to his then-girlfriend with a pearl and not a diamond. According to Kaylin he said, "Can you believe that? A pearl! I saw the ring and it was just this round thing sitting on a ring. Seriously, can you believe it?"

Kaylin and Mindy were nonplussed. They didn't exactly see the problem, but that could have something to do with the fact that we so rarely see engagement rings these days. Although I think he has a point...a pearl?

"Well," I pointed out, "Gilbert Blythe did propose to Anne Shirley with a pearl."

Kaylin just stared at me, confused and a little irritated because she knew I was being retarded, but Alicia definitely knew. As the only other redhead in the family, she knew the Anne of Green Gables reference.

And then Alicia's roommate said, "Who's Gilbert Blythe and Anne Shirley? I guess I don't know these people."

Ha! This Is Funny!

My sense of humor came back to haunt me on Saturday.

My cousin Tracy just bought a house and I spent Saturday helping her move and painting her kitchen. Tracy is so organized, all of the boxes were nicely labeled and eventually we had a good system going as to where to put each box.

It came as something of surprise when I saw a box with my handwriting on it--I'd forgotten that I had helped her pack a few things when she moved out of her first house last November. (Read here if you'd like a good story from when she moved out.)

And then it came as even more of a surprise when I saw what I'd written:
Fragile: must be French.

Please tell me you've seen A Christmas Story.

Good Times

Hanging out with my friend Carlye while up in Boise last weekend. Don't ask why we're sitting on a chair that says "The Naughty Spot." It's an incredibly long story. Oh, wait, that's never stopped me before...

A Few Late Bday Pics

I had two parties this year for my birthday--one with my cousins and one with my friends. I guess this is the perk when you reach the fantastic milestone of 30. I just liked these pictures and thought I would post.

More proof that I cannot take anything in life seriously. Check out that bruise on my arm!

Summer brought a new addition to our family--a bbq grill. We're grilling machines these days. Kaylin gave me an apron with the phrase "I turn grills on." She didn't realize its full meaning until I pulled it out of the plastic. I thought it was hilarious.

The world's best chocolate cake...and I don't even like cake!

With some great friends, Rachel and Annie.

LOTOJA--Or The Thing I Am Lusting After

Saturday, September 11 was one of those epic adventures. No, I didn't do anything interesting or impressive. But my friend Russell did! And I was there to witness it. Seriously, I'm still marveling over it.

The LOTOJA race is a 206-mile bike race from Logan, UT to Jackson, WY. Russell rode 206 miles in 13 hours, suffered 2 bike flats, and 1 exploding tire. This man is THE MAN. It was just so exciting.

Kaylin and I and his friend Adam were his support crew. We basically drove to each feeding station and made sure he had food to get him through to the next stop, changed out his water, and basically acted as his cheerleaders.

This is just outside of Afton, WY and is was SO.FREAKING.COLD.

Although I felt like a bit of a voyeur, I had to take a picture of this super tall guy. Look at him! He just towers over everybody. Turns out this guy is Shawn Bradley, one of the tallest NBA players...or at least that's what I'm told.

One of the feeding stations. We were such amateurs helping Russell--we put his food in grocery bags and fumbled to give him what he needed when. Instead, other people showed up with shower caddies with food neatly laid out. We looked ridiculous next to them. The other sad thing was that a couple of times Russell actually beat us to the feeding stations. We felt terrible. Not only did he arrive at one more milestone in his race only to discover that his friends weren't there, but time was a-ticking, and he needed his food so he could get back on the road.

(If you're wondering why he actually beat us to a feeding station, imagine 2000 bike riders with 2000 (at least) support crews. Traffic was not always quick and efficient. Sometimes cars were diverted to a different route so the riders could have the road all to themselves.)

I imagined that as we reached each feeding station we would have an hour or two to kill while waiting for Russell. Not so. There was barely any time for us to rest because Russell was always hot on our heels. With each destination we would get out of the car, load up our food and water, and walk to the feeding station. Each time, Russell would show up mere minutes later. Even though it was fast-paced and rushed, it was also so cool to see that Russell was just killing it on the ride. He just brought it.

Consider me support crew, maybe Team Mom. I took a picture of Russell at each feeding station. I truly thought that with each passing station Russell would look more and more fatigued as the day went on. I was so wrong. He smiled big for each picture and always looked ready for more. Again, I was just wowed.

When we finally got to drive alongside the riders it was kind of exciting to see. Riders race in packs because they can draft off of each other which makes them go faster.

An unexpected flat. Good thing we were right behind him when it happened! We were able to quickly reach him and pull out the bike pump.

Again, just all smiles. I would have been pissed if I'd been struck with such bad luck. (Oh, wait, I was, and it wasn't even a race, it was a ride. Shows you I have a bad attitude.)

The End! Almost 24 hours later (in the car, no less!) we pulled into our driveway. I don't know how I made it to the end without falling asleep at the wheel because my eyelids were definitely having a hard time staying awake.

Russel is such a rock star. I know this sounds cheesy and a tad overdramatic, but I was just so inspired by this ride. Maybe it was the energy of the race, but I wanted to be out there so bad. I'm going to do it next year I've decided. I won't do the whole 206 miles, but they do do a relay and I think I can put together a team for that. Training starts...now.

Russell's going to be on my support team.

Just A Regular Day At Work

Sometimes I get lucky. Last week my boss invited me along on a helicopter ride to take aerial photographs of the freeway. Granted there was a professional photographer to the real pictures, but I think I got a couple good ones anyway.

I have a real fear of heights and flying (NieNie anyone?). I guess the good thing is I had to face my fears to a certain degree. But by the end I actually felt kind of comfortable. Result!

Hey, These Questions Matter

I'm hanging out with in Washington with my parents and all of my sisters this Labor Day weekend. We're boring people. We eat, watch movies, and have actually just spent the last hour and half watching YouTube videos. Check out The Battle at Kruger if you want to see something really gnarly.

If you didn't know, my sister Hillary is hilarious. She kills me.

Friday night my mom was telling me about her trip to the podiatrist because her feet were hurting.

"So, Melissa, I went to the podiatrist because my arches have been killing me. The first thing they did was do an ultrasound on my foot."

My mom was about to go into more detail when Hillary interjected, "Did it have a heart beat?"