Coney Island

I love summer. Except for a few miserable weeks, the weather has not been that unbearable here (maybe I only think that because I now have a fan in my room- thanks Aunt Kathy!). One summer weekend my friend Sabrina came to visit me from Connecticut, so we grabbed our friend Sara and headed out to spend the day at Coney Island.

First, we rode the Cyclone. I think this roller coaster can be described in one word: painful. Seriously, wooden roller coasters are just rough. This one even had squishy padded seats (the most padding I've ever seen in a roller coaster) but even that's not enough for your head to not feel like it's going to come off. That being said, it was still fun... I just don't feel the need to ride that particular roller coaster ever again!

Ready to ride the Cyclone.

 

We're a bunch of wimps who can't do pull ups.

After the roller coaster we had Nathan's famous hot dogs (see how smart we are- hot dogs AFTER the roller coaster. This is why I have a college degree) on the boardwalk. Then we headed down to the beach to pretend to relax and pretend like the sun was shining. (Apparently it only rains on days when I have plans to do something outside). After we adjusted to the temperature, we waded in the water, built a sand castle, and relaxed on the beach. Eventually the sun came out and we were brave enough to venture all the way into the water (it was cold!). After swimming we laid out on the sand and relaxed some more (I LOVE the beach).

Then we headed back to the boardwalk to finish up our Coney Island Adventure with a ride on the Ferris Wheel. It was such a fun summer day!

Apparently I'm having a blast and Sara is terrified. We might have coerced her into coming on it with us...

 

Back to Bluff, Part 3: Fun

Remember how I was going to be telling you all about my Bluff experience? And then summer happened and I got busy having too much fun... Well, I'll attempt to continue to fill you in on my Bluff semester while I tell you about my life in NYC. Life is good :)

Lest you think all we did was work really hard (don't worry we did plenty of that), I'm dedicating this post to the fun things we did while we were in Bluff. There were a few things we didn't do that I wish we had (really, I drove past Arches National Park 3 times a month for 4 months and NEVER went in! Stupid. I'm going to have to fix that some day), but plenty of fun things we did do!

In January a balloon festival (hot air balloons) takes place in Bluff. Once upon a time in middle school I got to go up in a hot air balloon, but it was tethered to the ground so I didn't really count it as an "official" ride. Anyway, this balloon festival happens every year, so every year the new students at Design Build Bluff (DBB) go volunteer to crew the hot air balloons- in the hope that after being on the crew you'll get a ride (which usually happens). We got up really early on the appointed day and went to the community center where we waited for pilots to come request volunteers.

My buddy Hoku and I got selected to join a team and off we went to the elementary school which was their assigned launching ground. Here's what I learned: Hot air balloons are really, really, really big. We're talking a lot of fabric. And the equipment is really heavy. And you have to set up everything just right or you'll be in trouble later. Also, January is a really cold time to launch a hot air balloon. When it came time to put the air into the balloon Hoku and I had to hold the strings apart so they wouldn't tangle as the balloon filled- it was early January and it was one of those clear, freezing mornings- now add a constant powerful stream of air on your fingers and we were in serious pain. Eventually the balloon was filled, our fingers burned (we'd reached the it's so cold you're fingers are now on fire! stage), but we were ready to go.

First we were on the chase team, driving around in the truck keeping an eye on the balloon during its first flight. After they touched down, it was our turn to take a ride. I don't like heights, but this was so much fun! And surprisingly not scary. Really, I felt totally fine when we were up there- even when another balloon bumped into us. I would totally go for another hot air balloon ride- I'll have to see if there are any festivals around here where they need experienced crew members ;)



View from the sky

 

 

Since we were living in the middle of an incredible landscape as part of our history class we took hikes (some with guides) to explore the area- we saw ruins and petroglyphs and other remnants of past cultures and communities. It's incredible how every place has such a unique and identifiable history, we're lucky to live in a time when we have people who can study these things and teach us about them- and recognize that there's so much more to learn!

 

One of our earliest hikes was out to Comb Ridge where we had this incredible view:

 

 

 

 

 

Another time, after an (almost) full day of work we visited the Sixteen House ruins on the Navajo Reservation.

 

 

View from the ruins. Smart ancient people.



We took another day off to go hiking with a local guide who showed us more petroglyphs and ruins, and told us more about why they were there and what they meant. It's always nice to have a knowledgeable person there to tell you about what you're seeing!

 

I don't think I've ever appreciated the beauty of the desert southwest as much as I did during the semester I spent in Bluff. It's just so different from other places in the world, and it's impressive and stunning in its own way.

Monument Valley in the distance.

 

 

Our biggest adventure of the semester was the camping trip to Chaco Canyon in New Mexico. So much fun. It's definitely another place I want to go back to. There are so many ruins to explore, and they're just incredible when you think about how long ago these were built and with what tools and methods they used to create them!

 

We had a blast relaxing outside, hiking, eating yummy grilled food, playing games, etc. Hoku, Sonal and I had fun having girls night with games and yummy snacks in our tent every night. It was so great to take a break and be outside (and not be doing construction haha).

 

So cool, right!

Ancient steps.

My best friends at DBB- Hoku and Sonal :)

Not all of our fun activities were outside... like the time we had a Luau at the Scorup House (the pioneer house where we lived). At the beginning of the semester we had all been split into pairs and assigned a cooking night. The cooking team for the day either stayed back from the site or came back early so we had a yummy meal every night (As a side note, you eat a LOT more food when you're doing construction- 2 full plates of pasta was not unusual for anyone there- girls included (even the boys were impressed with how much we could eat). We had to learn to adjust our eating habits when we came back to SLC!). Hoku and I were cooking partners, and Hoku is from Hawaii, so naturally everyone was clamoring for us to make Luau food. We had to do some planning to make it fit in the budget but we finally had a Luau one night, complete with Hula lessons from Hoku. It took a lot more work than most of our meals, but it was a success! Delicious and so much fun.

 

 

 And sometimes... sometimes we just had fun on the site (always after working hard of course).

 

 



Fun with the Fam

Have I mentioned that I love visitors? Well, I do. Yes, that is a hint that you should come visit me. So come!

My aunt Kathy and my sister Callie came to visit me over 4th of July weekend. They flew in on Tuesday night and were there until Monday (Callie) and Wednesday (Kathy). It was so much fun to have them here! And I didn't have work on Thursday or Friday which meant I had 4 work free days in a row- awesome!!! That hadn't happened since January so I was pretty excited :)

Wednesday I still had to go to work- remember that last post about it being tough to be a grown-up? Haha. Anyway, they took a bus tour during the day then we all met up at the Gerswhin Theater to see Wicked! I'd seen it before and loved it- and it was just as great and fun the second time around.

Obviously I still haven't solve the iPhones take terrible indoor photos problem.

Thursday was the 4th of July. We got up and did a little pre-picnic grocery shopping then headed to 5th Avenue to do a little back to school shopping for Callie. After the morning's success- thanks to my recent discovery of a store called Joe Fresh (it's awesome)- cute clothes at a decent price... a rare find in NYC ;) After shopping we headed back to my apartment to prepare our picnic lunch and head to the West Side Highway for the night's fireworks display. We expected it would be standing room only so we were going to picnic at a nearby place then walk over, but were pleasantly surprised to discover that we could picnic at the fireworks viewing location. Yay! So we spread out my trusty picnic blanket (thanks Grandma!) and had ourselves a delicious dinner while we waited a few hours for the fireworks. They have 4 barges out on the Hudson River participating in the firework show, so it was a good one :) Lot's of fun, so glad we went!

The feast.

Friday morning Callie and I got up super early to head to Central Park to see Imagine Dragons perform as one of Good Morning America's summer concert series. Even though we were soooo tired we had a blast. They were fantastic live- Tina had seen one of their concerts in Utah and told us it was going to be good, and they did not disappoint! After the concert we met up with Kathy for brunch at Sara Beth's (both brunch and Sara Beth's are NYC staples), then headed to take the tram to Roosevelt Island to go exploring. That evening we headed down to Brooklyn for Grimaldi's famous pizza. It was delicious as usual, even if you do have to wait for it. We finished the night off by walking back to Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge- I love the city skyline at night.

It's 6am. Don't worry about it.

Oh Cal.

 

Love the red, white, and blue lights on the Freedom Tower!

 

Lucky Callie and Kathy- they arrived just at the beginning of what's been the hottest couple weeks of the summer. Don't they have good timing?! ;) This humidity is a killer. But that didn't stop us from spending lots of time outside! Saturday morning we rented bikes and rode the entire loop of Central Park. I didn't realize how many hills there are in Central Park, or how big the hills are. There's a hill at the northwest corner of the park that was just killer (fittingly it's named the Great Hill or something like that), but we survived. I may have to rent bikes more often, it was a lot of fun. I was pretty scared before we started- it's been at least since high school since I've ridden a bike, and to be honest I don't even remember riding in high school so it may have been middle school! But I guess you don't ever forget how to ride :) Saturday afternoon meant an adventure to Costco in Brooklyn to exchange for a new air mattress since the one we had deflated in the middle of the night after three nights... Moral of the story, I officially decided Costco is too far away to make it worth getting a membership. Anyway, after that little adventure we took a refreshing harbor cruise and checked out the city sights.

I'll admit it. I'm a little bit proud of this picture ;)

Sunday we headed to my ward for Sacrament Meeting- we had an alarm clock mishap but we made it. Then we headed up to Harlem to visit the Riverside Church and take a tour. I thought it was really interesting to learn about the history of that church and that building specifically. It just about killed Callie haha, architecture is not one of her interests ;) We spent afternoon in Central Park- my typical Sunday plan. Kathy read a book by the lake, Callie and I wandered around the park chatting. Such a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

This is how Callie felt about visiting the church.

I had to force here to smile for this picture ;)

The light green in the foreground of this picture is not grass- that's Turtle Pond which is currently green from algae (I assume).

This sea lion at the Central Park Zoo had the right idea. (This is the only exhibit you can see when you walk by the zoo)

Monday morning meant I had to go back to work, and Callie left :( So I spent the next few days working and then Kathy and I would meet up for dinner and dessert in the evening, Tuesday night we even went to a 10:35 movie at the theater around the corner from me- my first time there!

I'm so glad they came, it was so fun to spend time with both of them. Thanks for coming to visit me! :)