Home Again

We made it back from Hillclimb number 2 and it went pretty well.

What I learned:
*You can't always rely on having a cell phone with service to keep you occupied when you have to sit in a car for 6 hrs.
*Sled racers can get very competitive and dramatic.(But only if they are riding an Arctic Cat)
*You can't please everyone.
*If you take your schoolwork out of the car/trailer it may get dropped in the snow and get ruined.
*Keep your mouth shut and just listen if the run up the hill didn't go as planned.
*Bring lots more food than rice cakes and bananas.
*Don't drink pop cause its not worth the extra trips to the port-a-potty
*You better keep yourself busy because having too much time to think and evaluate things can get dangerous

Round 2

Alright people. Here we go again.

Hillclimb number 2. Bear Lake. Except its not at Bear Lake. Its in Bear Lake County.

Be prepared for more picures and updates when we get back..

I know that my blog is probably boring because that seems to be all I blog about but there is much more going on!

School is going pretty good. I got a little distracted for a while but I am back on track and ready to roll.

I am LOVING my job. I don't work too much anymore because I need more time to focus on school but I really actually look forward to going to work and it really is because of all of my co-workers and the neat people that come to my window everyday!

My life hasn't changed too much. Oh have I announced yet that I am Going to DISNEYLAND?!!?

March 14th. And yes. That is my birthday. I love it when spring break falls on my birthday! I will be eating at the Blue Bayou in New Orleans Square on my 22nd birthday. yay!!

I have some pics to post of when Carson and I went to kade's basketball game..he has quite the team..lol.

There is not much more I can think of to update on. Sad, I know.
Be back Sunday, wish us luck! :)

Snowmobiles, Hillclimbs,and more snowmobiles

I wish I blogged more often so it was more of a journal rather than a show-off-what-we-have-been-up-to-lately blog... but I suppose it is better than nothing.


A couple weeks ago we went up to the mountains with Chris and Todd (Ellingford relatives that are more like an aunt and uncle than the distant cousins they are). We went to their cabin and went on a ride through the huge new subdivision Carson and Brett have developed (and when I say developed, I mean literally start with a tree covered mtn. and build roads and trails and lots for future developers) over the past couple years.

After the ride we went back to the cabin, roasted hot dogs in the fire and played around on the really old Elan ski-doo sleds. Those things are a work out!!!

It was so beautiful around the cabin..I wish I had a real camera to capture it!

The boys had to have the elans so we had 8 Sleds for 7 people..

How is this picture for a Ski-Doo Advertisement?! I think I am going to submit it.. haha

Todd was sitting like this waiting for everyone to catch up to him so I had to snap the creepy model pose...haha

I wish I could remember what they were laughing about, but they had fun roasting hot dogs for lunch..we were starving after our long day of riding!

So this last weekend was the official beginning of Hillclimb Season! Let the traveling, early rising, all day snacking, watching anxiousness, and excitedness begin!

We started the season off in Preston,ID where there was no snow all month long until THIS past WEEKEND..which was a good thing when you are part of a snowmobile sport....but it made for lots of fog, and wet time-keeping papers.

Angie showed me the ropes of being the supportive partner in the sport and it really was fun! After getting all bundled up, I kept surprisingly warm through out all of the snowfall and wind. Let me tell you one thing, the portable-pottys are not fun to use when you literally have 4-5 layers of thick heavy clothing on...I think I am getting the hang of it though!

So want to know how the hillclimb sport works? Okay, I will tell you!

Well, I will tell you my definite amateur knowledge of what I learned at least...

Day 1: Qualifying Races. They race by class. Class is determined by the Sled you are racing and then if it is stock,modified,improved,etc.. This gets very complicated people!

-Anyone who enters can race and then they narrow it down to a certain number within each class to race the finals the next day, depending on times.

-So they start and the bottom of the hill and have to make it through every gate(which to me, is dumb that they call them gates, because it is 2 flags you go between..like skiing...) and IF they make it to the top without wrecking or tumbling down the hill or getting thrown off their sled or having something go wrong with the sled, their time is recorded and the fastest racer wins! Tada...

Day 2: Finals. Yikes. These are the ones that count! So if you qualify to be able to race in the finals, you race in each one you got into and now instead of only going 3/4 of the way up the hill..you race all of the way to the tippy top of the huge mountain...it makes my stomach turn just typing it.

-My job: keep times of each racer in Carson's class so I can know if he has made it into the top 5 before the 'official' release of each races placers. I love the job, it makes it easy to love when he does so well! But I will tell you this, it is scary to watch. I was almost grateful that we could only see half way up the mtn because of the fog... (granted it went away throughout parts of the weekend, but still..)

So Carson raced in 600 stock, 600 Mod, 700 stock, and 700 Mod.

He qualified in all 4..and placed 2nd in 600 Mod, 3rd in 700 Stock, and 4th in 600 Stock.

Colton raced too and placed 5th in 1000 improved. They are awesome riders and always do so well, I am so proud of them!

Here is a look at the pit..

Colton and Angie..here is a look at how we bundle up.. haha. And check out his AWESOME helmet. I love it.

Brett and Cars in the trailer..this is where I will live for the next few months haha. Its so warm in there!




See those time clocks? That is what I stare at ALL DAY long! See Cars on the left ready to go?! Yikes...!




This is only half of the hill people! The rest is covered in fog..

See the yellow bee helmet far off on the left and the blue Pepsi helmet on the right? That is how I know who they are in the never-ending sea of racers..

I snagged him for a picture in between races..

Brett in his RMSHA "Official" Jacket haha.

So there you have it...a look into the completely new and different life I am leading.. Kind of fun huh? I am loving every minute of it.

SnoCross

Last Saturday we went down to Salt Lake to go to the SnoCross.

So awesome. Seriously.

We drove down with Colton and Angie and went to lunch and then headed straight to the Rio Tinto Stadium and we were there from about 2:30pm to 10:30pm! This is how my day went..

2:30ish-It is the middle of the day and it was nice day, so I didn't put anything on for warmth except my puffy coat,gloves and beanie/headband.

3:30ish-After realizing how freezing cold I was getting, Angie and I head to the car to grab some more clothes. We grab pit coats(which are these huge coats that go down to about my ankles) and decide we don't really need anything else right now.

5:30ish-Although the pit coat is MUCH warmer than before, I am STILL freezing. My nose is getting more bright red by the second.

6:30ish-Before the finals start at seven, we head out to the car again for even more reinforcement. Snowpants. I put those babies on and it was like I stepped across the ocean to Hawaii. Now, keep in mind that all of this clothing is made specifically by the one and only SKI-DOO so it is top notch... So now I have a puffy coat, a pit coat, my headband, gloves(handwarmers inside the gloves), snowpants, boots, and just to top it off..TOE warmers inside my boots! (warmers compliments of much-prepared Angie)

7:00ish-I go to the bathroom for about the 10th time since we were there and now I really have the art of: take-your-snowpants-then-your-pants-down-and-don't-pee-on-your-three-huge-coats down.

10:30ish-A SKI-DOO racer wins the final race, the Pro Open. Which tops off an awesome day.

And the family told me that this was only a glimpse of what life will be like at Hillclimbs..let the fun begin!

I love that smile of his!


Don't mind my disgusting-ness..it was a long day


Can you see the snowmobile in the middle of the air? And the guy totally just standing on his seat?!


Another amazing trick


The snowcat thing pushing the snow on the track


Another view of the track..

Life, Thoughts and Music

As a Man Thinketh.

Ever read it? I did. Well, most of it. And it isn't even that long.

I wish I could say it changed my entire way of life. But it hasn't. We are all so set in our ways and we don't realize it until something happens that makes us wake up and realize it. What the book did do for me, is put the thoughts in the back of my head, that I control everything in my life. I really do! And it all starts with thoughts. As I am writing this, I am remembering that I already blogged about this. Ha!

So I will get to my point. I am trying to get back on the positive thought train. And speaking of trains... we (and by we I mean, my mother,father,me, Garrison,Alexa(the new girlfriend),and McKade) were all sitting in the kitchen Tuesday night, acting pretty hyper and laughing up a storm and Mckade, all of a sudden says "I think I just bought myself a ticket to the crazy train.."

I love that kid. He is going to be the most amazing human being.

Back to the positive thought process.. ever realized how influencial music is? It may not be to some, but I am really one of those people who could say music IS my life. No, I am not one of those who have all of the great artists and songs of all time in their iTunes(that would be Abi) but I am one of those who could not live without music. It is on EVERY second I am in my car, in the shower, in my room etc.. and I realized today(after I stole a ton of music from Abi) how listening to REALLY good music completely changes my mood and outlook on things haha. I love how I can find a memory or story from my life to fit almost every song I listen to and I really love how happy a good song makes me! Any one else ever feel the same way?

As for life.. doesn't it move to quickly? I wish I could press pause for a minute and look and where I am going, because while my life is flying by, it is hard to decide and choose a path..It feels like I am supposed to jump out of a car that is going 75 Miles per hour. Not so appealing. I am sure everyone with kids is thinking "wait until you have kids.." but I don't have kids yet. And I promise my life is flying by just as fast. And the truth is, I don't know if I truly believe we have to "decide" what we want to do with our life..isn't traveling the road supposed to be half the fun of it?

So much to think about. Had to let some of it out.

The Rest of December..

I seemed to have disappeared from the blogging world for the past few weeks. I will do my best to update you on what has been going on in my ever so exciting life in Wyoming.

Ever since I last made a post I have done nothing but work! It has turned out to be a really great job for me and I am enjoying making new friends and meeting new people all the time!

Christmas came way too fast(especially since I was pretending that it wasn't coming at all), here are a few pics from our Christmas this year. I went down to be with my family and Carson stayed home with his.

We spent Christmas Eve at Grandpa Scott's..I love my sweet brothers.


Bayli,me, and Savannah..sweet cousins


My new favorite tradition..


When you roll doubles you get a chance to unwrap the present..but you have to wear the oven mits!


Garrison wrapped the present..it was the most amazing wrap job EVER. A gift card wrapped at least 15 times over in the most creative ways! Thats what made it so fun.


Christmas morning with mom and dad by the tree


Kade in our heaping mess of wrapping paper


Mom and her new VitaMix, state of the art blender. Oh man.. that thing is INCREDIBLE!


Kade got the same electric train my dad got when he was his age. It was really neat.


Another shot of the awesome mess. Kade said "thats what makes it Christmas!"

I came home after we opened presents and played Sing It Wii(LOVE THAT GAME) and spent the rest of the weekend with my family up here in Evanston. We had Christmas dinner, played games, and spent lots of time laughing. It was a really good day.

It is tradition to go ice skating at the Gallivan Center around Christmas with my dad's side of the family. It was really fun this year! We took hot chocolate and treats and spent lots of time on the ice taking pictures!

Can I just say..we took THE best pictures this night haha.


We look good.. haha


Mmm..Hot Chocolate


Kade and Cars.





I love this picture!


Okay awesome story..I was trying to take pictures in action while we were skating and my face was SERIOUSLY frozen... and everytime I would smile decent, Carson would make a face like this...oh, and my smile is so not decent here, but I love his face.


And when he would smile decent, I would make a face like this...


And that has about caught you up to where I am now. Of course I have skipped a few things like New Years and the awesome snowmobile trip Carson and I took after Christmas. But those stories will come later in the year.

Now school starts tomorrow and I am freaking out but I will try and be better about blogging more frequently and about more exciting things too.

This Weekend's Happenings..

So now that school is over, I have all of this free time on my hands and it is really freaking me out!! I have sure found ways to keep myself busy though that is for sure..

Friday Carson came down to Layton and we loaded all of my stuff up in the snowmobile trailer and moved me up to Wyoming!

Being the organizing freak that I am, I unpacked and organized EVERYTHING that same day and I love it! I really feel at home here and my room is so cozy! (Oh and can I just tell you, there were framed pictures and 2 dozen roses waiting for me in my room when I got there!!)

So before all of this moving though I watched this show with my family in Layton and LOVED IT!

And ever since watching it, I have wanted to make Bruschetta..and Saturday night I did just that! Everything was FRESH and SO yummy! Here are the results:

Has anyone ever noticed that pictures never do food justice?!


Saturday afternoon Cars and I went to the mountains to get a Christmas Tree!! I took LOTS of pictures of that.. here are my favs:

After I made him follow me around for a good 20-30 minutes, I finally picked out a baby tree for my room! He went to get it and came back with an even better one than I picked out..I did not find out that it wasn't the one I picked until later...haha

Here it is in my new room all lit up :)

Here is a shot of our tree out in the front room.. long story short, we both have A TON of Christmas tree decorations but didn't want to dig them out of storage, so we bought a few bulbs and made a ton of awesome snowflakes to put on our tree!

And to be honest, the fun we had making the snowflakes and the effort we both had to put into it made it that much better when it was done! I loved it!

That brings us to today, also known as Sunday. The snow has been falling, and yes, the wind was definitely blowing! We had a fire going, tree lights on, and watched Julie and Julia(yes, AGAIN. Told you I love that show).

And now, I am going to bed extra early because it is my second, first day at work tomorrow! Now I will be going to work everyday, counting money and typing away on the 10-key... Wish me luck!

Love and Miss you all.