Weekend Recap.

Lets talk about the fact that I was in very close proximity to a tornado but didn't know it. Lets also talk about how I was driving a couple friends up to San Antonio when it started raining cats and dogs and my windshield wiper decides to break and fling itself across the windshield while we were in the middle of nowhere. Lets also talk about how my friend Travis stood out in the rain and tried to fix it but couldn't. Lets also talk about how I pretty much blindly drove to the nearest gas station and waited out the storm and feared tornados.

phew. That was an adventure.

Later that day we drove from San Antonio to Austin for a concert and then Travis realized that he had forgotten the concert tickets in Corpus Christi. So we had to buy more tickets. Then there was a mosh pit and there were so many people that I was basically suffocating because of the smelly man next to me. Then people decided to throw full beer cans and sweaty shirts across the crowd and I feared diseases and projectiles.

Basically my weekend was chaos and for that I blame Travis. But I actually had a really good time. Crazy adventures are not only comically fun but are also very good stories to tell your grandkids. And when I say "tell your grandkids" I mean "warn your grandkids".

What did you do this weekend?

Carli

Goodbye 2011...

I don’t think that I have ever really been nostalgic about years before. I am not sure if I will be about 2011. All these years have just felt like “my life”. Don’t get me wrong. There are memories that I am nostalgic about, but not a year. If I were to be nostalgic about any year I think that it might be 2011. Not that I did very much in terms of exciting events, but I do regaurd this year as sort of a growing period. At the begining of the year I started this blog, I moved away from all I have ever known, got a crappy job that turned into the best job I have ever had, started school at a major university, started a handmade business, and married off my best friend. I have had to go through some awfull struggles that have really humbled me. It has been a struggle to be so far from my family. It has been a struggle trying to figure out how to support myself financially. It has been a struggle trying to feed myself (seriously… I hate cooking). It has been a struggle dealing with the winter. It has been a struggle being social. So many struggles…

But I can’t complain. These struggles have taught me so much. They have made me so much more stronger, wiser, relatable, creative, grateful, spiritual, healthier, learned, inspired…I won’t long for the days of 2011 but I will always remember them.

Lately I have anxiously been awaiting the future. I have a feeling that this next year will be what I have been waiting for. My future plans dance around in my mind daily. I am excited. Finishing my basics & starting my career path. Moving to Provo in the fall. Spending a month and a half in Texas. Preparing to study abroad in Europe. Taking photography and sewing classes. Truly living a college life. Actually pulling the billions of ideas out of my brain and doing them.

2011 Flasback in Photographs:

In January.

Move to Utah in February. 

80’s Party.

Color festival. March I believe.

Camera for my birthday. In May.

Engagement of Courtney. In May.

Visiting home. In June.

The birthday of Courtney and the 4th of July.

Concerts in the park. July.

Lake day. We won the sand castle contest. August.

The wedding. August.

Dad in Utah. August.

The places I love to eat & the person I like eating at those places with.

Balloon Fiesta. October.

Dwight and Phylis. Halloween.

Zombie on Halloween.

Craft booth. December.

Temple lights. December.

Christmas in Texas.

Me today. 

Carli

Today I Flew.

My last blog post I talked about how I would choose flying as my super human power. Today I experienced flying & I definitely have not changed my mind. 

I have always had this fear of falling. I am not afraid of heights (hot air balloon rides have cured me of that), but falling really scares me. So this year when Courtney, Ben, & I bought season passes to Lagoon; Courtney made me promise that I would go on the Sky Coaster with her. The Sky Coaster is one of those rides that you have to pay extra to go on. Basically they harness you in and pull you up to the top of this 150 foot tower and you pull a cord and you just drop and then swing. I did NOT want to go on this ride, but somehow Courtney tricked me into promising her that I would. So today we were at Sizzler’s eating dinner and Ben mentioned that tonight was the last night of the Lagoon season. I was sad because I hadn’t been since the middle of the summer. So we decided to go!

We get there and I am seriously feeling like I am about to vomit due to a combination of dry mouth, anticipation of going on the Sky Coaster, and anxiety from the meanest prank Courtney & Ben have ever played one me. Jerks! We buy our tickets and wait in line for two hours. Finally they get us strapped into our suits and we are standing on the platform and I turn to Courtney and say “What the heck are we doing??!?!?!?” by that time she was thinking the same thing. The people that went before us were being taken down and were talking about how completely awesome the ride was. I did not believe them. They hook us up and drop the platform and we fall forward and Courtney seriously begins to cry. Ben is just hanging there all quiet, and I am yelling stuff like “Oh man this hurts! Why are we doing this?! I am freaking out! COURTNEY ARE YOU SERIOUSLY CRYING??!?!?!” They start to pull us up slowly and I watch the ground get farther and farther away. My eyes got wide with fear, my heart was pounding so hard I could feel it throughout my body, and I was yelling at Ben not to pull the cord. He did. 

What happened next was the most magical thing that has ever happened to me. I flew. I threw my arms out and yelled “This is the best ride of my life!!!” and “I am flying!!” and “This is so fun!” It was dark out so we could see all the lights in the valley. I wished that I could release myself from the harness and fly on my own like a bird in the night sky. I wondered what the worker would think when my harness came back empty. I thought about how I should probably fly down to the workers and tell them I am alright and that thanks to them I discovered that I could fly. I probably would have flown back to Texas just to tell my parents the news. Then skimmed across the ocean because I haven’t felt the salty water in far too long. Then I would have slept in the clouds. 

I was sad to get off the ride. I wanted to fly forever. We then left Lagoon. It was almost 10 and the park was closing. I don’t care that we only got to go on one ride. It was so worth it. 

Carli

Up, Up, & Away!

Balloon Fiesta History: The fiesta began 40 years ago in a parking lot of a mall. About 15 balloons were in attendance. It has now grown to over 1000 balloons (that was way too many for Albuquerque to handle), so it dropped back down to 750. Pilots come from all over the world to take to the skies with fellow balloonists. Spectators come from all around to witness the polka dot sky.The fiesta is always the first week of October and lasts nine days. If you are not a morning person I have to say that you may be turned off by the fact that in order to witness this spectacular event you have to awake before the sun. It is probably the most glorious thing you will ever witness. 

My dad has been hot air ballooning since 1972 and has been coming to the fiesta since 1977. I have been going my entire life. I am so lucky to be able to miss an entire week of school to spend my days soaring across the New Mexico sky.

If you have never seen & or heard of a balloon fiesta I highly suggest you look at the following pictures….

This year my dad was not able to bring his balloon due to an accident three years ago. His balloon was tangled in barbed wire during a windy landing. Suffice to say, it has a few holes that cost an arm and a leg to fix. So this year we came a spectators. Soooonot as fun as coming as a balloon crew. I was so incredibly jealous of all the balloon crews. Especially on the first day when I saw this guy holding the ropes which is MY job.  I even became somewhat emotional. The following is a list of things, in no particular order, that I was extremely jealous of because I was not part of a balloon crew. 

1. Staying in a really nice hotel for free.

2. Getting free breakfast and lunch from the hospitality tent.

3. Being able to park onto the field.

4. Being able to sleep in the car until the pilots get their weather briefing.

5. Getting to go to the zoo for a party with food for free.

6. Getting free admission to all balloon fiesta events.

7. Being that really cool kid riding in the back of the chase crew vehicle while everyone else stares in envy.

8. Riding in the balloon.

9. Setting up the balloon.

10. Chasing the balloon.

By the way. It is an awesome thing to be browsing the post cards and seeing your dads balloon on one of them. Rodeo Joe is the black balloon with the yellow longhorn.

Flying in a balloon is so amazing. It feels like you are flying. Once you reach about 100 feet it is silent. You don’t here the busy city noises any more. Just the sound of the burner warming the balloons air. It is so peaceful & awe-inspiring. A balloon ride is something everyone must do.

Carli

Friends in town.

I am so excited to have one of my all time best buddies in town! Last night we had an amazing time reminiscing and catching up on each others lives. It was way overdue. 

Although I had to be up for work at 6:15 AM I stayed up way past my bed time and talked into the night. Courtney, Kaitlyn, and I got to Skype with Andy and it felt like we were all together again! It’s gotten me to thinking about all the amazing times we have had. Like the long hot days on the beach basking in the sun, jamming out, and drinking our preferred beverages. Back then we would talk about the impending changes that we were about to face head on. Kait moving to Hawaii, Andy to Italy, Courtney to Utah, and me staying put for a little while. But I later got my self up to Utah. We had tons of plans and ideas about where we were going, what would happen to us, and who we would become. A lot of things changed. But for the good. It seems that everyone is happy, and I couldn’t be happier about it. 

Today Kait and I went to Liberty park, snacked on some chips, drank some beverages, and talked about life. I had a wonderful time. Plus I got to wear my new sun hat which I have been itching to wear! (see the above picture) It was such a beautiful day. The sun shining, birds chirping, and little baby ducks were following their mommies around. So cute!

Later we went to the Salt Lake City Library and took pictures of Courtney and Ben. We even saw a real beehive! Cool. You can walk onto the roof and look over the city. There is a walkway that wraps around part of the building and at the end (or was it the beginning) of the walkway there was a phrase written on the steps. It says “The begging. The End.” Depending on the way you were facing you were either finishing your journey or starting it. I thought that was cool, and very relevant to what I’ve been thinking about lately. I may come to an end of a part of my life but then I can just turn back around and start a completely different journey that takes me in a completely different direction.

Carli