I put my new shoes on....

And suddenly everything is right.

So last week was so crazy that I forgot to write and post pics from our trip home from Mt. Shasta. I didn't even think about it until last night when I was taking some pics of pumpkins and realized I had all these cool pictures from the last couple days of our trip. So here goes...

On our last day of being in Mt. Shasta, Bryant and I went to eat lunch at the Billy Goats Tavern. They have really awesome food there and the ceiling is my favorite part.

On our way back home, we decided to stop at McCloud falls and take a little hike.
This was at the "Lower falls".
I'm convinced that I have to move here someday. It's just too beauiful.
This is the "Upper Falls." and I think this is a really cool picture of Bryant... :)

After the amazing hike, we continued on our way. And out of the miles and miles of nothing.... along comes a shoe tree!
Yup.. A shoe tree. Pretty much the grooviest tree I have ever seen!
I'm not going to lie though... It smelled really bad of stinky feet. Bleh.

So we then continued on our journey through the wasteland that is Nevada, arriving at home, tired but alive, and all the better because we had seen the shoe tree...

Grandma Bushell

Today was such a hard day. After a year and a half long battle with cancer, my Grandma Bushell (mom's side) passed away last Thursday and her funeral was today. We woke up really early (6:30) to make it down to the church by 8:30 where there was a viewing until 10:30. She looked so beautiful. Usually I can't handle viewings. I don't like to see people pale and cold. It just makes me sad. But my grandma looked so peaceful. She looked like she was literally just sleeping.

The Funeral was at 11:00 in the same church that the viewing was in. My mom gave a talk and she did so good. My cousin Heather and my two aunts, Pauline and Kris also talked. The only thing I like about funerals is that everyone always talks about how great the person was. My Grandma was such a great person. Every talk mentioned how much she enjoyed service. She never came first in anything. My Grandpa was a firefighter when my mom was little and anytime a house caught on fire, my grandma would be out, no matter how early in the morning or how late at night, collecting things that the family would need. My mom talked about how she remembers many times carting along as my grandma went to visit neighbors or family members who just needed a person to talk to or to bring them dinner. She made everyone feel so important.

Another thing I remember about my grandma was how much she cared for animals. At the cabin, she used to make sure there was food for the squirrels, and one pot gut always came around for a snack. My grandma fed him so much and he got so fat, that when he would climb up on the table to eat, he would just lay there all day, earning the name "Lazy Larry".

I remember at her old house in Orem, there was a little garden snake that lived in her back yard. She named him "Sneaky Snake". When they moved to Mt. Pleasant, she was so worried about Sneaky being killed by the new owners, that her and I found him and moved him to a big field a few blocks away. I remember I cried the day we had to leave Sneaky.

That was Grandma, worrying about everyone and everything.

After the funeral, we had lunch (which I didn't really eat cause I have been super sick to my stomach for a week now, bleh) and then headed down to Provo Cemetary. Her plot was in a very beautiful spot and it was perfect because the weather was sunny and warm and the leaves were changing color and falling. It was awesome because the weather stayed warm and beautiful enough just long enough for the service. She would have loved it.

When we got home I was pretty tired (funerals are exhausting I have decided) and I was still sick (mostly from the car ride). I was hungary because I didn't really eat lunch, but when I made mac and cheese I over cooked it and it was like Mashed noodles. I really did not have the energy to make anything else, and I was on the verge of a melt down. But I have the most amazing husband in the whole world and he came to my rescue! He rushed to taco amigo and then went to the grocery store to buy me stuff to make chocolate chip cookies. See? He's the best... And I got the whole taco down!

Today was really tough, but it's good to know that my grandma is no longer in pain. She's back with her parents and she told me that she was going to make sure that my future kids aren't causing havoc and annoying the big guy up there. She will be missed, but I know she's up there, giving my kids a big hug right now (and maybe a stern-talking to if they are anything like bryant).

Well i've never been to Oregon...

Until Now! I have officially been to Oregon! So I woke up this morning so excited because I have never been to Oregon and I'm always excited to go to a new place. Our first stop: Kaleidoscope Pizza! Bryant always talks about this place as being the best.
You can't read it, but my shirt says "Kaleidoscope pizzeria and pub" on it. Bryant's parents gave it to me for a birthday present and I love it because it's tie-dye.

So the pizzeria was a lot cooler than I was expecting. You walk in and it's tie-dye, lava lamps and grateful dead posters everywhere.

And as for being the best pizza ever??? I would have to say it's definitely up there in my list. It was amazing! We ordered the Protein shooter, which was pepperoni, Canadian bacon, sausage and bell peppers. Amazing! And the slices were so big that we both could only get through 1 slice!
We ordered the largest pizza they had so we could bring some back.

After lunch, we headed over to the mall because I wanted to buy something without tax! :) I found a really cool store with cheap records so I bought a few.

We had to get some gas and as soon as we pulled up to a pump, a guy came running out and asked us how much gas we would like. Apparently, every gas station in Oregon has to have a guy come out and pump your gas. I thought this was really funny and I even snuck a picture of the guy filling up the car in front of us.
After that we drove around a bit but the weather was starting to get rainy and it was getting dark so we headed on home. It was a short trip but super exciting! The next time we come to Mt. Shasta, we are going to try to come up really early so we can spend the entire day there, maybe even drive up to Portland for a couple of days.

Rainy California

So when you think of California, most people think LA, San Francisco or San Diego, Blue skies, beaches and warm weather. Northern California, however is very different. It is still VERY beautiful. I grew up camping and hiking in the mountains of Utah so I love places like this. Unfortunately, it has been pouring rain for over 24 hours Non-Stop! Bryant was determined to take me out and show me the town. The first time we came here was last November and it was super cold and we spent a lot of time with his family. The second time we were out here, it was for our wedding reception so we were very busy with that and didn't see much of the town, so this time, Bryant was going to take me out and about. So we layered up and headed out!

We first drove up to lake Syskiyou (I hope I spelled that right). It was gorgeous! It was a beautiful lake and we drove up fpllowing the river that fed into it. But there were rocks sliding into the road from all the rain so we headed back before we could make it very far.

Next we drove around the main part of town and showed me all the shops. We didn't go out and explore because of all the rain and it was really cold. We then decided to go to a pizza place called Say Cheese where they have these cool little pizza sticks. You basically choose what you want on a pizza, then they put in on some dough and roll it up and back it. Really yummy!

Next, I wasn't feeling very good so I made Bryant take me to the grocery store where he used to work in High School and buy me some crackers. They had some pumpkins outside so I thought it would be fun to take some home and carve them!

Bryant hard at work!
This is my pumpkin. I like this picture because it looks like a candle is in it. There isn't one but the light from the window made it look really cool.Bryant's pumpkin lost a fang, but still looks really scary! :)

I'm hoping the weather lets up because I really want to go to Oregon tomorrow. I've never been and we are so close to it so I figured, why not? Plus, I have heard there is an amazing pizza place there and i'm willing to drive to a different state for good food.

I hate Nevada...

This week was fairly uneventful until the weekend. Saturday Bryant and I woke up early and went to get my oil changed in my car, then went and got library cards and rented two books on tape. That afternoon we went to visit my Grandma. She has had cancer for the last year and a half and we think she may be at her last week. She looked really good, other than being extremal thin, and she seemed to be in a fairly good mood about everything. It was a really good day, my whole family was there and I was glad that no one was sad or upset. Everyone was having a good time visiting and everyone was happy to spend this time as a family.

The next morning Bryant and I left for Mt. Shasta California where he grew up and where his parents still live. It's fall break next week at my school and I was able to get it off work so we thought it was a perfect week to go out and visit. We left at about 9:30 in the morning and got there at 9:30 California time. It took us exactly 13 hours, which was really good time considering that we stopped twice to eat and a few times to get gas and get out to stretch.
This is Bryant enjoying an In-N-Out double double in Reno. I'm so excited because they are building one in my works parking lot! One of the first in northern Utah! Woo!

A twelve hour drive is not that bad. It's long but our books on tape kept us entertained and I was able to sleep a bit and play some games on the computer. But the thing that drove me nuts was that Nevada is so UGLY. There is just the same thing over and over for HOURS.
And its funny because Utah is beautiful and right now very colorful with all the leaves changing. Then you cross the Nevada border and its just dry and lifeless. Then you cross into California and it's instantly beautiful again. Especially here in Northern California.

But we made it and we are here and I love it here! Mt. Shasta is a really cool little town and tons of fun!

Advenures in Park City

This whole week had been pretty miserable. Last Monday I had woken up feeling a little under the weather, and since I had a lot going on at school at work, I figured I was just wearing down a bit and would be fine. By Tuesday however, I had a full blown cold and there was no way I was going to get out of bed. I had to work later that night and there was nothing due at school so I took the morning off to sleep in and rest up. By 4:00 that afternoon however, I realized I was not going to function at work either and called in sick (which was a pain cause no one would cover for me, which I'm sure made my managers a little mad at me). Wednesday was the worst of all and again, I missed school and luckily I did not have to work. By Thursday I was feeling a bit better but had lost my voice and by Friday I was feeling about 80% normal, minus a cough and still no voice.

Bryant and I had been planning to spend Saturday up in Park City all week and I was determined to go, despite the fact that I was hacking up a lung. So Saturday afternoon we jumped in the car to spend a chilly day in one of my favorite cities.
Bryant next to a moose sculpture. Park City is kind of an "artsy" town and for some reason everyone here really likes moose, so you find these moose sculptures everywhere, and they all have different designs on them. This, I'm guessing is a girl moose.
For lunch, I had to take Bryant to my favorite pizza joint. Main Street Pizza and Noodle!

We used to eat here every time we came up as a family when I was little.
So I think this picture is just about the funniest thing I have seen in a while. We were walking up the main street and we saw this in the window (the front was just a white fur patch over this mannequin) and immediately we HAD to go in and see this store. Come to find out, it was a really nice store that sold super expensive all fur coats. Not really something you go browsing for or impulse buy. So I asked Bryant why he thought they put this in their front window if all they sell were pricey old-rich people coats. He had a good point, seeing this in the window intrigued us enough to go in...

I really liked these posters that we saw in a shop. Park City is a tourist infested place for 2 reasons: The Sundance Film Festival and Skiing.
For our last stop of the day we had to get some hot chocolate. It was starting to get cold so what better place to have the first hot chocolate of the season!
Just a quick shot of the main street before we headed home.
On the way home I was having fun snapping shots of Provo canyon. All the leaves are changing and it was so beautiful! This is a quick shot of Bridal Veil falls.

All in all, Saturday was perfect and tons of fun! We came home, turned on the heater to warm up and watched Snatch. The perfect ending to a great day.

As for today, we enjoyed sleeping in and watching conference in bed while eating PB and J sandwiches.