A Long Overdue Update

I know. It’s been a long time since I last wrote. Probably you have given up on even checking my blog (except you, mom) and I can’t blame you. The past several weeks have been a whirlwind of trips, birthdays, moving, sickness, and the usual summer mayhem.

I don’t really know where to begin so I think I will just highlight what’s been happening.

Oregon

In the middle of July, just when the heat of our lovely semi-desert was becoming unbearable, our family loaded up the car for a beach vacation on the Oregon coast. It took a million hours to get there, but luckily no one cried, threw up, wet his/her pants, or yelled the whole way there. In fact, we were all pretty good. Things only got a little tense when we were looking for Interstate 20 and got lost because Oregon does not believe in clear road signs.

Highlights of the trip include discovering Rainer cherries (yum!), spending a week in a beachside condo, walking along the ocean, visiting the Newport Aquarium, whale watching (we saw two), Tillamook cheese and ice cream (best chocolate peanut butter ice cream I’ve ever had), beautiful scenery, a trip to see Harry Potter when it was foggy, playing games, eating crème brulee with Maren and Camille at a fancy little local restaurant, listening to the ocean, and visiting Cape Perpetua, which is a spectacular peak that overlooks ocean and forest.

I really love the ocean. This is probably because we do not have one in Utah (although some people here think that will change if California legalizes gay marriage). Anyway, all in all, the trip was a blast and I’m glad I got to spend a whole week wreaking havoc in a different state with the four people in the world I love best.

Las Vegas

Just three days after returning from the cool Oregon coast, it was time to head to sizzling Las Vegas for a birthday weekend. I was a Vegas virgin (and I still am a virgin, by the way—just not a Vegas one), but I went with my good friend who had been a few times before, so she knew what she was doing.

I wasn’t really prepared for Las Vegas. For some reason, I thought the Strip was MUCH smaller than it actually is. This means I brought all the wrong clothes and definitely the wrong shoes. I’m pretty sure I was the only person in Nevada wearing long pants. Yes, I was uncomfortable, thank you very much.

But we had a great time. Highlights include walking the Strip (which included being dazzled by the glitz and glamour), visiting the dolphin and tiger habitat at the Mirage, sharing a frozen hot chocolate from Serendipity 3, winning $2.25 at the slot machines, driving to Primm to ride this giant roller coaster, attending the Tournament of Kings dinner show at the Excalibur, visiting a really neat Titanic exhibit (no, Leonardo was not there, the locket was not there, and Celine Dion did not sing), watching my friend ride the rides at the top of the Stratosphere because I’m a chicken, walking down Fremont Street, enjoying excellent conversation, and sleeping really well because our hotel room stayed dark in the mornings.

I do not love the desert. Probably because we do have one of those in Utah. But I enjoyed my visit to Sin City and I thank my friend who abandoned her baby to come play with me for the weekend.

This blog post has run on too long as it is so I will just briefly mention that I had a lovely birthday thanks to family and friends. Fast forward to last week, moving week. Unfortunately, I started feeling unwell on Wednesday, but these guys in my new ward had a truck that could move my bed on Thursday, so I had to just do it. On Thursday I had a nasty fever and a stomach ache, but thanks to some truly celestial people, I got moved. I got to know my new place really well over the weekend since a terrible virus declared war on my body and I spent the next few days sick, sick, sick. I should give a shout out to my new housemates for supplying lots of Sprite and patience. You know who you are! Thanks!

Anyway, there are the past few weeks in a nutshell. I’m going to go take a nap now because all this typing made me tired.