Spring Break Road Trip

Our trip was a rip-roaring success! We had loads of fun as we crossed five states (Utah, Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Oregon), stayed in one hotel (Missoula, Montana Motel 6) did work in four temples (Spokane, Seattle, Columbia River, and Boise), dined with four families (Jensens, Russells, Sorensens, and Folletts), visited five attractions (Radio Flyer, Hat 'n Boots, Public Market, Space Needle, and Fremont Troll), stayed with three families (Hatches, Jensens, and Folletts), rode a carousel (Spokane), took a ferry (Bainbridge Island), and took pictures in front of my old house (Moses Lake, Washington). Let me hit some of the main points in greater detail for y'all:

We dined at Scotty's on Friday night on our way to Missoula. It was only my second time eating there and I have never been extremely impressed with it but anyone in Idaho Falls will tell you how wonderful Scotty's fries are. Cassie and Colette can now both agree with that statement.

We took pictures in front of the giant Radio Flyer wagon in Spokane. Sadly enough, it was blocked off for renovations. Quite a disappointment for Cassie but we took pictures anyway. We also rode the carousel and walked around the falls while we were at Riverfront Park. After the park we had our palms read. It was quite the experience-more like a fun story. We attended the temple that evening before heading back to Justin and Ashley's house.

On the drive to Seattle, Cassie and Colette said it would be great to stop in Moses Lake and take pictures in front of my old house. What a wonderful trip down memory lane that was!

When we arrived in Seattle on Sunday evening, my Great-Aunt Marilyn planned a large dinner for everyone. Cassie and I enjoyed dinner with Skip, Marylin, Stephanie, Antony, Camdon, Calvin, Camille, Amanda, and Trevor. It was great fun. Camdon and Calvin gave us a tour of the Lego Room. We got to enjoy Nordy bars and introduce Camdon and Calvin to the glorious game of darts!


Once in Seattle, we took pictures in front of Hat 'n Boots, spent time at the Public Market (where we were asked to be part of a crowd for a movie they were working on for the UK), Cassie and I went to the top of the Space Needle, and we took fun pictures in front of the Fremont Troll (it really does exist, I promise). We finished that day with a dinner at the Russell residence. It was a good time visiting with my cousins and aunt and uncle.

On Tuesday we took a ferry to Bainbridge Island and spent the day walking around Poulsbo. We concluded the day with a trip to the Seattle Temple and dinner with Cassie's friends that used to live in Salt Lake.

My favorite thing about Seattle was eating at the Athenian Inn. For those of you who don't recognize the name of this restaurant (I didn't either) it is where Rob Reiner and Tom Hanks ate a meal while they discussed Tiramasu. It was so exciting to eat there! We all ordered fish (salmon) and chips (which were delicious).

At 7:00 Wednesday morning we hit the road and headed to Richland where we attended the temple and took more pictures. I saw my old fourth grade teacher while we were at the temple. That was a really neat experience. After a wonderful and very long drive, we arrived in Boise.

We dined with the Folletts and headed to the temple for yet another session of baptisms and pictures. We finished the night with an exciting game of Apples-to-Apples and "Dan in Real Life".

We arrived safely back in Logan on Thursday afternoon. After hours upon hours of driving we covered 2,202.9 miles, took over 300 pictures, and created inside jokes to last a lifetime. For more pictures, visit Colette's blog.

Where is Spring?

Since we're extremely cheap college students, we have decided to save money by using the heat sparingly, a.k.a: never. Our thermostat is usually set between 55 and 59 degrees. If we have layered our clothing and are shuddering beneath two fleece blankets and we're still cold, we'll turn the heat on. Right before Christmas break, we were all cold but not cold enough to turn the heat on. So we layered up in warm clothes, squished together on the love seat, covered ourselves in a blanket or two, and read for an hour or so.

There were a couple of weeks in January that were in the negatives so we decided to use the heat then. But we definitely tried to use it sparingly. Cassie couldn't handle it anymore so she broke down and bought a space heater. We didn't use the space heater sparingly though and we ended up not saving any money. We keep the space heater in the living room; so come bedtime, it's all about the layering and getting under the covers quickly. I feel like I have mastered bedtime warmth:

Here's the breakdown:

Clean, dry socks

sweatpants

Hooded sweatshirt complete with tightened hood

Once I have my warm clothes on, it is time to crawl under the many layers of blankets (I have labeled the layers for you). One thing to keep in mind, there's a little box next to my bed that just doesn't quite keep out the cold air.

Layer 1: pretty worthless-after all it is just a sheet, but what kind of bed would it be if there wasn't a sheet? Not a normal one, that's for sure.

Layer 2: a fuzzy blanket-I can use these again now that I understand that picking fuzzies ruins blankets

Layer 3: a down blanket-it's really nice, but I question its warming abilities

Layer 4: a quilt-my grandma made this one, it's got childhood written all over it and again I question its warming abilities, but it's precious to me

Layer 5: a rag quilt-I made this one and I don't question its warming abilities because it's made of flannel

Layer 6: on really cold nights I use this blanket to wrap around my stockinged feet, although the last couple of nights it has been warm enough for me to just lay it on top of everything else

There are two more blankets in the picture but those aren't for keeping warm. Those are for cuddling purposes-which is equally important to warmth in my book.

I stay warm at night. But I'm sick of these layers. I want my basketball shorts and T-shirt! The sun comes out each day, melting a little here and melting a little there. I think "Ahhh, spring is coming." And then the sun goes down and I realize it's still winter.

Spring break begins today. We're leaving for Missoula, heading to Spokane, driving to Seattle, staying in Boise, and looping back to Logan. I know, I know: you'd think we'd head somewhere warm; but no-we're going north. Hopefully we'll stay places where peoeple believe in using their heat.

Happy 24th Colette!

Today is Colette's 24th birthday. We first met when Kim and Colette were neighbors in Bullen Hall their freshman years of college. After Kim got married, I moved to Hillside where Colette resided and we bonded. She moved to Salt Lake and taught high school and a year later decided to come back to Aggieland and get a masters degree. I'm glad she's back in Logan with me where we currently reside in a basement apartment just below campus. In honor of this special day, I decided to list five things about Colette.

1. Colette loves to sing whether it's a real song to she makes it up. She has sung entire conversations.

2. Colette doesn't measure. "It takes the adventure out of cooking!"

3. Colette has fantastic hair. She can sleep on her hair and wake up without any kinks.

4. Colette enjoys the word "fabulous". You can tell when she is really pleased with something because she will say "I think that's fabulous."

5. Colette's three favorite condiments: peanut butter, fry sauce, and ketchup.

Time to Say Goodbye to the Scotsman

Last night we attended the final home game for the Aggie basketball team. They honored the three seniors: Kris Clark (I will miss watching his handsome face run up and down the court) Steve DuCharme (good riddance) and Jaycee Carroll (he started playing my freshman year; it will be really weird to experience Aggie basketball next year without him on the court).

I thought about it last night, and next year at this time, I will be doing the Scotsman for the last time as a student at Utah State University. It's a bitter/sweet yet very welcome emotion.

In my college career I have had two goals for Aggie basketball games:

Goal #1: To stand within the first five rows. CHECK

I accomplished this goal at the beginning of the season because Gil had the hook up for good

seats. FOURTH row baby! It's a whole 'nuther experience bein' that close to the court.

Goal #2: To either be the person or be friends with the person who catches a Domino's Pizza Frisbee right before half time. CHECK

This goal was met last night when my neighbor, Cameron, caught a Frisbee right after he told

his girlfriend "I never catch a Frisbee. I am not even going to try this time." He was kind

enough to share with those who saved him a seat.

We (Colette, Cassie, and Brady) went to Angie's-"where the locals eat"-after the game. I enjoyed a delicious scone; Colette and Cassie had pancakes, and Brady attempted to "clean the sink" all by his lonesome. He didn't come close even after a little help from the rest of us.

Now that I've accomplished my goals and it's time to put the Scotsman away for another season, it's now time to focus on some different goals-like finding someone to make me a True Aggie...

Snow Mobiling

So this weekend my roommate Cassie headed home to Idaho Falls with me. It was a fun-filled weekend that began with a delicious dinner of stack-ups. The night continued with an excursion to Winco to stock up on nuts, dried fruit, and granola. Winco has an amazing bulk foods section that just cannot be found anywhere in Logan. We concluded Friday night with the viewing of "Say Anything..." starring John Cusack (one of my personal favorites. The movie had two wonderful lines which I quoted the remainder of the weekend: "She's gone. I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen." as well as "I draw the line at seven unreturned phone calls."

On Saturday morning we (Dad, Julie, Clark, Cassie, and myself) headed to Island Park for a little snow mobile action. It was Cassie's first experience on a snow mobile and I was pretty excited for her. We mobiled our way right on over to Mesa Falls (a first experience for everyone) and took some wonderful pictures. The wind was horrendous and the snow came down quite fiercely. We completed our trip in safety and enjoyed the scenery around us.

After a delicious lunch of turkey sandwiches, grapes, Cheetos, carrots, and Crystal Light, we bundled up for one last ride. We rode to Big Springs where a man offered me a moldy bagel to feed the ducks and a swan. After filling the ducks, we scooted our way down the lane to a nearby meadow where we played and sped our way through the packed powder. After we had all satisfied our desires we headed back to the cabin to load up and head home. Upon arrival, Mom started assembling two delicious homemade pizzas.

Cassie and I made a delicious batch of Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies and ended the night watching "Win a Date with Tad Hamilton".

We attended church, broke our fast with yet another delicious meal (chicken cachetori, Caesar salad, bread sticks, and Dad's famous chocolate cake for dessert), and concluded the stay in Idaho Falls with watching the CES Fireside given by Sister Julie B. Beck. She spoke about (you'll never guess...) MARRIAGE! It was an excellent talk.

We returned to Logan in safety and are now doing fun things like homework and laundry. It was a good weekend to lead into a busy week of school and preparation for our spring break road trip to Washington.