zions + vegas = legendary

(R-L: Chas, JC, Kjell, Ellie, Rach, Anthong, Mattie, Bridget, Brad)

So last Friday our "Adventure Club" (so named because we supposedly go on wild adventures a few times a year) drove down to St. George to stay in the condo of Anthony's gracious grandmother. We got up early Saturday morning (not too early, we were still two hours behind schedule of course) and went to Zion's National Park to hike Angel's Landing. Now for the unfamiliar Angel's Landing is 5785 feet tall. The trail is a five mile loop with a 1488 foot increase in altitude. The trail is strenuous and littered with sharp drop offs and narrow paths. People have died while hiking the trail atop the steep narrow cliffs. However, the views from the end of the trail are spectacular and well worth the climb. This is a sign showing how not to accidentally walk off a cliff.

This is the end of the trail, four feet to the left or right and you'd sky-dive sans parachute 1500 feet.

This is a bridge at the beginning of the trail; Zion's has an amazing red hue in the rocks. The mountains are overwhelmingly massive but gorgeous. The other pictures is a little cave on the trail; we couldn't resist the disgustingly cute photo op.

These are our two "dangerous" pictures. That's me swinging my legs over the ledge, and Brad doing his best Spiderman impression, this looks a lot more dangerous than it was...

So after the hike we decided to do Vegas: Couples Style. We found it a little ironic that the three married couples chose to venture down to Vegas on a Saturday night while the three single people stayed in St. George to get fast food and play cards (reportedly they actually had a rip-roaring time and stayed up until 6:30 AM in an intense game of Tarot). What, you might ask, is there to do in Vegas when you are LDS, married, and poor? Not a whole lot. We went to the Cheesecake factory (yum!) walked around Caesar's Palace (excellent decor, they've really spruced the place up recently), and walked over to the Ballagio to watch the fountains (not running due to high winds). This is the best picture we came up with after we found the most non-camera-stealing looking person we could find to take the picture... :) The blurry effect really says a lot about Vegas.

All in all an A+ as far as Adventure Club trips go... next up we are going white water rafting on the snake river in the spring.

st. louis people

And they are finally rollin in... Brad just got a call from Southern Illinois and they want to interview him too (not one of our top choices but we'd still get in-state tuition). The school is down near St. Louis which reminds me of a story:

When Brad & I were on our way to Chicago last summer we flew Southwest. As most of you know you pick your seating when you board the plane. So at the last minute this family boarded and their kids had to be scattered all over in various vacant seats. Their seven year old son sat next to us and we enjoyed his lively conversation, he was hilarious. At one point he asked us (now I don't know how to say this the most pc way, but he was a little black boy from the city so imagine it in that kind of an accent) "Where you guys come from?", so we told him we were from Utah but we were on our way to visit Chicago. He paused for a moment and considered this and then said "Oh, I thought you was from St. Louis". We asked him why and he responded "You look like St. Louis people!", we laughed and hoped it was somewhat of a compliment. Now I don't know what "St. Louis people" look like, but at least we'd have the seven-year-olds fooled!

We'll keep you updated as we hopefully hear back from more schools!

dental school update

So we've been completely unnerved while awaiting any kind of a response from the 10 (yes 10!) dental schools we applied to in June. Too bad they take their sweet time because Brad and I have been on edge for the last month eager for good news. Well yesterday we finally heard from our top choice UIC (University of Illinois at Chicago) and Brad has an interview! Not only is this our top choice it's probably one of the hardest to get in to of the ten. This doesn't mean he's been accepted but it's a great start, they only interview a small percentage of the top applicants. To us it seems like the hardest part is over (waiting) but I can tell it's only just begun. Hopefully we'll start hearing from more schools and we can get some of the interviews scheduled for the same trip.

UIC is our top choice because it's an excellent dental school and it has a one year (as opposed to two year) medical program that Brad will go through to specialize in after the four year dental program. Additionally, we'll be eligible for in-state tuition! Brad grew up in Illinois and though we aren't thrilled with the idea of being away from the mountains & our normal outdoor activities we are certain we can make it work. It will also be nice to still be close to family.

Brad's interview isn't scheduled yet, it will probably be within the next few weeks so we'd appreciate any available prayers thrown our way :)

bear down, chicago bears...

I don't know I must be in the football mood... my friend Ellie just convinced me to sign up for a girl's flag football team. Our first game is Thursday! I know there will be unintential comedy galore, we'll see. Apparently these chicks are intense, they have plays! Hmmmm...

So with football on my mind I came across this picture last night. This is all of Brad's brothers and his dad wearing shirts I made them. They say "Ditka, Polish Sausage, Bears". I for one thought it was a clever ode to SNL, and what better way is there to win over your new in-laws then with sports paraphenlia?

Left to right: dave, chris, charlie, ken, brad, ross

******************************************

By the way, while we are on the football track, it's probably appropriate I make a few shout outs:

--- To Chris for always providing us with a large screen viewing of the Bears games (whether in his own home or another)
.
--- To Chris's dog maggie for the amazingly foul smells she produces from such a tiny body during the Bear's games
.
--- To our sister-in-law Brooke (& Dave) for usually providing an amazing Sunday (and sometimes Saturday) meal for us... to prepare us for the Bears games
.
--- To Griese for not making a complete fool of himself, Tillman for his forced turnovers, and Lovie for his awsomeness... the whole season is now worth it since we beat the Packers (sorry Favre!)

hail to the chief

So Brad & I took a quiz to see who we should vote for in the next presidential election. Pretty interesting results. Apparently Brad & I should vote for Fred Thompson. Yeah, that Fred Thompson. What? Loved your work in Curley Sue Fred! Mmmm we are addicted to Law & Order, maybe there's something there...

I'm just a little worried, does he know that if he's elected he'll actually have to be the president, not just play one?

Here's to you D.A. Arthur Branch... you've got two votes. Maybe.

vampires...

It's funny how I only learned to love to read when I was finished with school. College nearly ruined it as I was forced to read pretentious short stories and 'classic' novels. Not all of it was bad, but for some reason a situation where I was forced to read a so-called intellectual novel because it had an obviously existential theme and then forced to discuss it with a room full of drabbling idiots who liked the sound of their own voices while trying to impress our grad student of a teacher put a bad taste in my mouth. Funny how that works, huh? Now I can choose what I read (even if it's still the so-called intellectual novels, at least it's by choice) and quietly consider my own conclusions and deeper meanings. So my point is, now I really enjoy reading.

After recently finishing the marathon of a series on the life of Josephine Bonaparte I felt like I had lost a friend. That is until my sister-from-another-mister Kristin got me hooked on the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer.

Now for those non-believers out there, yes it's technically written for the young adult crowd (but so is Harry Potter, so that can't be a reason not to read it) and yes the love story is a little over-the-top (that's completely true and I have no excuses), but there is so much more to enjoy! There is this whole other vampire world hidden from humans while they live among us, and just like Harry and the magical world, now sometimes I forget that vampires really don't exist. So, since I read all three books in about 8 days it's kind of been on my mind a lot and now it seems like everything reminds me of vampires. So here is some recent evidence that I came across last night. He's my own little Edward!

Point of this blog... I like to read, Brad looked really cute as a three year old vampire :)

sweet justice...

Dear guy who controls the temperature at work,

I'm not sure whether you think sitting at desk all day while 12 degree arctic air forms icicles off of my computer will inspire me to work more efficiently or if the power you wield has all gone to your head as you show us all who's really in control. Either way I defy you! I applaud your effort. Better luck next time.

Love,
Bridget




Dear Lasko Ceramic Heater with adjustable thermostat,

I love you!

Love,
Bridget