Winnemucca, NV Balloon Glow

 

 

 

I got to attend a hot air balloon event in Winneucca over the weekend, because I was invited by my friend Kylee to crew for her at the balloon event. The event started a bit before I got there but I arrived in time for the balloon glow Friday evening to find out that Kylee wasn't glowing so we helped our friend Erica a little with her balloon because once all the balloons inflated on the field.

 

Dinner & Treats in Utah

 

 

I took Reese and Riley to In N Out for some dinner. Reese had fun and got creative with his In N Out stickers.

 

Next we went to a place Tony's cousin told me about called Bubbles. We've been sad ever since a different drink place closed in West Valley that we really liked. Reese and Riley picked their own drinks (same one) and I got something different. Mine was the Pink Dragon with peach fruit pearls on top.  The boys' drinks were called Shark Attack.

 

We also tried the S'mores cookie which was really yummy. Nice and soft!

The employees were friendly and we didn't have any issues. There was actually nobody inside the building besides us and the people working!

FanX Volunteer Experience in Salt Lake City

 
Had to document each day where I parked so I didn't forget!

I found out on Monday I was on the list to volunteer at FanX (like Comic-Con) in Salt Lake City after applying last year! Luckily I was able to arrange things and make the drive from Boise over there and I spent parts of the Thursday, Friday and Saturday volunteering on "Team Doom" basically doing whatever was asked of me which I didn't mind. It was fun to switch things up a bit.



Part of my volunteer time was spent checking people's badges as they came in, sometimes out. Everyone had a wristband to scan at these stations with iPads. I got to see what kind of pass they had and make sure it was valid. Overall, it really went pretty smoothly plus it was fun to see all the cosplay costumes! Some people go all out and get really creative.

When I wasn't volunteering I got to walk around a little bit and snap some cool pictures and do some shopping. Mostly taking pictures. While there was soo much cool stuff to buy, I am trying to save towards some bigger ticket items I'd like to get before the end of the year.

 

While I was sitting at the First Aid tables with band-aids, this group of characters was standing nearby. Fun to watch and listen to them interact with people. They were very in character.

 

Something I really wanted to do was get some henna which, if you know me, is one of my favorite summer traditions but I wasn't able to find a place to do it yet all summer! Luckily there was a booth at FanX and I was able to get a spot in line to get this totally awesome owl in henna on my hand.

I didn't get to sit in too many panels because there was so much I wanted to do but I was able to make it to the Cobra Kai panel which was really fun and also one with Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys and Joey Fatone from N'Sync.

 

 On Saturday I was volunteering from 4-7pm and then got asked to stay and help with the Cosplay Costume Contest. This sounded really cool and I was able to stay and help! The above picture is of the grand ballroom filling up with people who want to watch the costume contest.

 

 Me and another girl were backstage on both ends of the stage. There was a line of people in their costumes and I offered to hold their mask if needed while they were up on stage. A few took me up on this offer and I would take their mask and drop it off to the girl at the stage exit.

Then! We were asked to get everyone together for the awards. We had a sign with 3 characters on it and we went to the area where they were all waiting. We gathered our 3 winners (they didn't know what place they had won) and brought them backstage again. Then we were asked to actually go up on stage with 3 of the winners to present the awards. What what! I was in my volunteer shirt and pants, nothing fancy...got to give the 1st place award in the novice category. Super cool!

This woman was the grand prize $5k winner of the night!

 

 

And...that's a wrap! The room cleared out pretty quickly, it was after 9pm so a very long day for everyone, especially if you were there all day.

If you want to volunteer with me next year at FanX, let me know and I can put you in touch with the right person probably. It's a fun experience with a few cool perks. Be aware, you do need to pay for parking. I ended up parking at the garage for City Creek mall and it's free for the first 2 hours then $2/hr after that. I think the most I paid was about $12. Can't wait to attend again!

9th and 9th Street Festival

 

I took Reese and Riley to this street festival in 2019 and was so excited to take them again this year! We walked around and looked at all the booths, got churros, played games and had a fun time people and dog watching. In the photos, how many differences can you spot? Hehe. We stopped at a booth that had cool headpieces and the girl with the Fohn Event Venue and Florals put these flower crowns on Reese and Riley. So funny.

Some Time in Portland, Oregon

 

After my time in Rockaway Beach for Tony's family reunion, everyone headed to Boise and I had decided I was going to stay, go to Portland to visit friends from the mission and take a few days just to soak in the areas I served in from 2003-2005. 

Camp Ritchie - Day 2!

 

Breakfast for the day! Pancakes, fruit, bacon and milk for me...

Birthday Deals 2021 Edition!

Pictures of some of my birthday food freebies!

 I know I did this in the last year or two but I can't help myself. This is fun to put together and it stays current when I just do it every other year or so. SO! Are you ready?! My birthday month is just about over and it's been soo fun taking advantage of birthday deals! The deals below are a mix of restaurants and other shopping. 

Camp Ritchie ~ Monday!

 

Feeling like dreams do come true sometimes! Being invited back up to Camp Ritchie - where I've been camping with the LDS Woodland Stake since 1994 (?!) has definitely been a dream come true this summer. Thank goodness for my rappelling skills because I no doubt got invited back because of that.

Ward Girls Camp ~ Final Day!

 

 

It's now the final day at girls camp at Diaz Lake. I finally got a good night of sleep with no bugs. Hooray! It seemed to warm up even faster than the previous day and all the shade tents had been taken down and put away so for breakfast I went and ate my breakfast burrito by the teardrop camper where it was slightly cooler and I had some shade.

Ward Girls Camp ~ Day 3

 

 The previous night, I made a bad mistake of hanging one of my solar lanterns in my teardrop so I could find it easily in the night. The teardrop was full of gnats when I got in for the night! I spent too long trying to kill them with wet wipes and finally fell asleep in exhaustion with my hat pulled down over my face, my shirt pulled up over my hat and wet wipes to cover my ears. Ugh. It was not fun. But check out this cool bridge from the parking lot into the tent area of camp. You can see my teardrop there, so small, in the middle of the photo.

Ward Girls Camp ~ Day 2

 

 Tuesday was a hiking day so we could get out of the heat for a majority of the day! Woo-hoo! At over 10,000 feet up, this was going to be a much better temperature than at the campsite. I was looking forward to getting outside and moving my body again in a hiking type of way. I brought 2 hiking sticks and shared one with my friend Heather. The road up to the top of the mountain was steep switchbacks. She did a great job managing to get us all up there safely in her sweet ride.

Ward Girls Camp ~ Day 1

 

It happened. It finally happened. After months of planning, Zoom meetings, changes, adjustments, trying to collect paperwork and figure out rides for everyone - ward girls camp for the 2nd ward and Lone Pine branch happened this past week. I was so so nervous leading up to camp with not knowing what to expect. I've never been to this campground before. I've never ever done a ward girls camp before, only stake. I was nervous about the lack of bathrooms and the heat.

My Experience at Touch of Disney

 

I figured I needed to blog about this event at California Adventure called Touch of Disney sooner than later so I didn't forget any details. My friend Mari and I were able to go together which I was really happy about! We had limited days we could go but Thursday worked best for our schedules so I picked Mari up by 9:30 and we started the drive. It takes about 3 hours to get to Anaheim from Ridgecrest.  We stayed busy chatting pretty much the whole way. We did eat some beef jerky and I had some Pringles chips but didn't want to spoil my appetite for all the good food in the park.

Christmas in Color - Idaho Experience

 

I was able to go to Christmas in Color while Tony & I were here in Boise, Idaho and this was really my first time going to something like this. I know Utah and other states do it but I just never took the chance to go.

 

Day 2 - CES 2020

Hey Google! And hey, good morning from CES 2020 on a bright and cheery Tuesday. Woot! Was super excited to start the day out at the main Convention Center and see some new things.  Keep reading to see what cool stuff I got to see and experience.

Day 1 ~ CES 2020

Another year, another great time being able to attend CES. I drove to Vegas Monday night and stayed with my friend Emily. I picked up my friend Marie at the airport and everything worked out so perfectly with that which I was relieved about. Usually, the Las Vegas airport is pretty lowkey and easy to navigate through compared to other airports I've been to.  We dropped off our belongings at the resort - they were so kind to let us check in early! Summoned a Lyft ride and we were on our way to the Sands hotel to start our day.

Luminaria Experience at Thanksgiving Point

Heading in to Thanksgiving Point there was a huge light up board that said the tickets for Luminaria were sold out and I worried so hard that we didn't have a chance of seeing the lights after driving about 45 minutes from Kearns to get to Lehi. I had tried to buy tickets online but the link wasn't working or the page just kept refreshing. So odd.

The Forgotten Carols - Re-imagined!

I met my friend Christine at the high school in Murray to watch The Forgotten Carols. This year had a new spin and we were able to see the "Re-imagined" version! Our first time getting to see this and their first year doing it this way. I wish I had taken a picture with Christine - she's a fun friend and always down to do something interesting. 

Cool Utah Lights

After going to Luminaria we stopped by a cemetery on Redwood Road and got a picture of this amazing tree covered with lights. Kind of made up for not going to Draper to see the "Tree of Life" this time.

Death Valley Day Trip

On December 16th I drove to Barstow to the train station where I picked up 3 girls who were living in the USA , studying, all the way from Russia! Kate (kind of the leader for the group) found me on Couchsurfing a month or so in advance and that's how we got connected. I think we were all a little nervous but we soon warmed up to each other and after a bathroom break, we all got in my zippy car and headed out to Death Valley for the day.