Busy Bee!

This post title has two meanings:

A. I've been a busy bee
AND
B. I went and watched the minor-league baseball team, the "Bees" tonight.

The family I work with took a vacation to Colorado for some much needed R&R. So, of course that means I have extra time to be productive. Or at least try to be! I'm not sure how I'll fill my next few days off, but I'm sure I won't have any difficulties looking for things to do around here.
Today I went the the Department of Public Safety (not the DMV) to get my Utah Drivers License. To my pleasant surprise I got in and out of there within 30 minutes. It was a very quick process, the thing that took the longest was the Written Test I had to take, which I passed with flying colors :).
Sadly, they took my California License and put a big fat whole through my name. It was actually a bit painful to watch. I really am no longer a Californian. I even registered to vote in Utah, weird. But, I am one step closer to gaining Residency...score!
After my quick trip to the DPS and getting that taken care of, I drove around for AN HOUR looking for a darn Post Office or UPS store. Not even my Iphone could get me anywhere near one. It brought me here and there, but never to an actual place that I could send a package out of! I ended up to the west of highway 15 at some UPS freight warehouse. It was so overwhelming and a bit disconcerning. At one point I even asked "Do people in Utah even send packages!?" I was so annoyed!
Anyways, just when I gave up and decided to head home, I see a Post Office out of the corner of my eye. Amazing! And sadly, two blocks from my house. I felt like such an idiot. None the less, the package to my Grandmother is in the mail and I now know where the Post Office is for future reference...thank goodness.

I came to some realization today that my California "summer" clothes don't par up to what is needed in Utah for summer. It is SO dang hot and dry here that I can't bare to wear jeans, what my closet mainly consists of. So, of course that called for a trip to The Gateway, a mall in Salt Lake City, wahoo! I ended up scoring two pairs of cute shorts, that aren't too short, and a pair of capris! And they don't look too darn bad, if I do say so myself!

Tonight I went with a group to see The Bees, the minor league team for the Los Angeles Angels.
We scored some awesome seats by "sitting with a purpose". AKA we sat not where our tickets told us to, but where we wanted to, :). It was so beautiful, with the mountains surrounding us. It was a really fun evening, even though the Bees lost to Fresno!

Keeping Busy!

It's PIONEER week in Utah...

Which really is just another excuse for an awesome week of fun activities! They started the week off with an awesome firework show held at Weber State University! My roomie, Ashlee, and I went with a new friend, Darrin, and a bunch of his friends who we still didn't know well by the end of the night.
When we got there, the crowd was a bit over whelming! There were SO many people trying to find parking and a good spot on the lawns to view the fireworks. We finally found our group, after walking around the whole lake; it was like a game of Marco-Polo!










Anyways, the night was beautiful, or so we thought. Just around 9pm the clouds started to roll in and brought a load of rain with them that was dumped on us! I quickly ran for cover under a tree, until grabbing the blanket we were once sitting on, and used that as an umbrella.



















The band decided to wait out the storm and continue playing once the rain deceased. Of course it was a Utah Summer Storm, so it only lasted a good 5-10 minutes. The fireworks started going off a little after 10pm, and we soon realized we had picked the wrong spot! Our backs were turned to the fireworks, what a joke! We quickly grabbed our belongings, headed back up the hill and staked out a place in the parking lot as the other hundreds of people flocked to view them. They went off for awhile, they were quite exciting!


After the fireworks, we loaded back in Derrik's truck, (Darrin's friend) and TRIED to get out of the massive traffic jam. No such luck. It took us about 20 minutes just to get out of the parking space. We sat there for about another 20 minutes listening to country with the engine off. And finally we decided to make an illegal u-turn and head to the front gate. We still ended up waiting in huge lines of traffic. It was almost as if we were in NY city!



















In all though, it was a really fun night! I can't get over how warm it is. I'm used to stepping outside and needed a jacket. Not here! It's usually in the upper 80s around 9pm. Which brings me to another dilemma! The AC in my house hasn't been working for four days now! It's been yucky without AC! I didn't learn to appreciate the AC until it froze up on us! I guess we had it running too long as too cold of a temperature, so the pipe froze. So we are without AC until it unfreezes...boooo.


Thankfully, there are no other complaints here! I've made it a week and a half now. Wahoo! Everyday it gets a bit easier to be away from home. I'm meeting some really nice people! I'm headed to the Rodeo Saturday night....stay tuned!

Get Ready...Get Set...Go!

"The Only Thing Constant In Life Is Change"

I did it! After spending almost 20 great years in the Bay Area, I finally relocated to Utah! I'd always dreamed of getting up and leaving but I never pictured myself actually doing it! To my surprise, it all came together right before my eyes. I got a job and found a place to live within weeks of deciding to move, crazy how "timing" really is everything.

Kristie flew out to California to make the 12 hour drive with me. I really didn't believe all of my "crap" I had packed waiting by the front door was going to fit in my car. However, with the amazing packing skills my Dad has, it all fit perfectly...oh and there was room to see out of the back, what a champ he is!

I don't think it hit me until I was in Nevada that I was really moving. I guess it's still a bit surreal. It feels as if I'm on vacation, except I have all my belongings with me, I have a job, my own room, and no plane ticket home, yet. It'll be weird to "visit" California when I finally do.




My Mother HATES taking pictures, I don't understand why. She's really a Beautiful Lady, inside and out. Everyone says we look alike, heck, I don't mind one bit ;). Anyways, back to the main topic- My Mom! She is probably the one I miss the most (sorry, others) just because she's my Mom and who couldn't help but miss their Mom? I've never really been far from home for longer than three weeks, so this may get tough. BUT- my Mom is the BEST cook ever, you better believe it. AND she's just an awesome Mom. I know she doesn't exactly like the fact I moved to Utah, but she is happy for me and supports me, which has meant the world to me. I know this isn't easy on her being so far away from each other, but she's a trooper! I miss you Dearly, Mom!

I started my new job only three days after moving here. It's been an adjustment in itself because:
A. I am working 10 hour days.
B. I'm waking up at 5:45am and crashing by 10pm nightly. (Those who know me know I'm usually a night owl...not these days)
B. I'm caring for a 2 month old and 3 year old, both are extremely cute!
C. I don't really know the places to take kids in SLC, but I'm learning.
And D. I miss Kane and Carly, the kids I used to watch, a lot!


Although I haven't even lived here a week yet, I'm really enjoying myself. I like exploring new places, even if I do cheat by using my handy Map Quest, that's on the Iphone, to get back to my new home. I have found my way to WalMart and back without using the map, I would.

I know that this new and exciting chapter in my life is going to have bumps, curves, and straight roads ahead, but I'm ready for it all.

....And Away I go....