i like my life...

Man, oh man...I hate it that I've gone nearly 2 weeks without posting. But at the same time...I've been kinda busy and having fun, so I won't beat myself up too much over it.

the Ginabean turns 28:

Mm-kay, so first off, my birthday came and went, and I'll have to tell you all about it. Because it's worth mentioning. (We experienced every season in one single day up here in North-of-Zion. Happy birthday. To me.) A group of my good buddies met up and we went to Mesa Falls. Even though it was early and the weather didn't look promising, we went. (My friends are so adventurous!)

Proof that we saw a bit of sun that day...

Along the way...

Lisa, Moi, Brooke...

Brent came along.
He made me do this pose.
He called it the Marky Mark...

A change in the elements...
(SNOW! Humbug!!!)
Looks like Jeanna wasn't too thrilled about it either...

Me and Keri...

When we got to the lower falls, I thought I'd snap a few pictures of Brent at the water's edge. Long story short: I fell in. For reals. But it was only my left foot and my right hand (because Skyler was there to save me from my death). Skyler really is a good fella; he gave me an extra sock he just happened to have in his backpack, then he took my wet shoe and dried it out as well as he could. (I later found out he actually gave me the sock off his foot! Who does that?! I felt bad afterward. Geez!)

Brent at the water's edge...

Skyler taking care of my wet foot situation...

The socks...

The entire group at the upper falls...
In no particular order: Lisa, Heather, Natalie, Beth, Cameron, Tara, Brookie,
Brooker, Skyler, Keri, Jeanna, Taletha, Bryan, Brent, Gina, Matthew, Chris

On the drive home, we bumped into very inclement weather.
Seriously, a blizzard. On my birthday.
I'd like to never say "It snowed on my birthday" ever again!
(This picture does the blizzard no justice at all!)

That evening (after the blizzard passed) we had a BBQ at Jason and Lisa's place. We grilled kabobs! So. Delicious. Approximately 300 people showed up...even a few people I didn't know! I felt oh, so loved, and I was content to enjoy a grilled kabob (or two) for my birthday dinner. YUM!

Bro. Kocsis workin' his magic at the grill...


SOFTBALL!!!

Our softball game was canceled on May 24 due to rain. Lots and lots of rain. But we played that Wednesday (5/26), and we totally won! Also, Brooker snapped a few pictures. (Thanks, Brooker!)

Up to bat...

Me and Brooker in the dugout...

Team huddle at the end...
(Do you like the attractiveness of our shirts? I sure do...)

Quick trip Home...

This past Friday morning, I went home to visit with the fam. It. Was. Stellar. I spent lots of time playing with Janiebug. And you know what's awesome? Abby puts Jane's hair in pigtails now, and it might just be the cutest thing I've ever seen. Seriously.

Also spent some time with Mom and Dad, Brent, Abby, Goose, Janel, and Marshall. I even talked Dad into making some Dutch Oven potatoes Saturday. (Oh MAN, Dad's Dutch Oven potatoes are some of the most amazing things in this wide world!)

A few pictures of my quick trip home...

Pretty little Jane...

Teeth!

She's totally asking for it (getting her little cheeks kissed off)...

Like father, like son...

Gramma helped Janie do a little dance.
While it was happening, this made me laugh till I cried...

IT HAS BEGUN!!!

Softball season started, everyone! It started today! We woke up to rain this morning. Lots of cold rain, here in North-of-Zion. It worried me, too. Because if it continued to rain, tonight's game would be postponed till the end of the season.

But it stopped raining and warmed up, y'all! And our shirts came too! And they look good! (I'll have to take pictures next game...)

We are G.O. Speech Therapy.

Those are my initials: G.O. (You probably wouldn't believe how many people still tell me what my initials spell. I'm about to be 28, and I'm utterly flabbergasted at how many people tell me, when they realize it, that my initials do, in fact, spell "go." Dudes, I've been literate for a couple of decades+, I realized it eons ago.)

Anyways...I sponsored our team. This is, I think, my third year doing so. It totally works, because my friends need a sponsor to flip the sponsorship fee, and it's somewhat of a tax write-off for yours truly. (It counts as advertising, see.)

Wow, I've gotten off-topic. Twice. (What would my clients say?!)

So, we won. But that's not even the important part. What's truly magical about this team is that everyone is fun! I daresay it'd be fun losing with these people!

I'm about to toot my own horn, mm-kay? I hit that softball beautifully into the outfield, right into center field. It was gorgeous. TWICE, I did that, people! I don't usually start off the season hitting that well! (I'm conveniently forgetting to mention that I also struck out. Twice. But I sincerely think it's because everybody starts off at 1:1 (1 ball:1 strike). That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!)

I have a good feeling about this season; win or lose, we're gonna have a blast!

"Go team!!!"

nacho, nacho...

Seems like I was on a roll there with blogging the first week of May. And then...nothing. Oh well, it's not as if I have tons of readers anyway; I just thought maybe my blogger's block had left. Looks like I was wrong.

This past Friday, Brooker had the idea that we should have a nacho/Nacho night; you know, where you eat some stupendous nachos, and then watch Nacho Libre? You're jealous, aren't you? I give you permission to copy us. It was great, I tell you...

Oh yeah, but first we went on a wee bike ride (because the weather was fantastic!). Friday evening was the first time I had been on my bike since last autumn, and it's really sad that I had forgotten how very much I [like] to ride my bicycle (I [like] to ride my bike). So maybe my bum hurt a little bit for the next day or so, but dangitall, it was fun, and I'll be sure to ride it a lot this summer, I will!

Brooker, Brookie, and moi...

Brooker, Brookie, and moi (at Bajio)...

Judge me if you will...

...but these nachos are worth getting excited over!

After consuming nachos, Brooke(s) and I went back home where we met up with Kylee to watch our show...

Me, Brooker, and Kylee...

NACHOOOOOO!
(image found here)

I think that's about it. I'm about to be older (officially), so I'll probably have some pictures of that once it's come to pass...

PS RIP, Dio. I really like that one song..."Rainbow in the Dark."

shine...

Yesterday, it snowed. That's right, it was May 6th, AND IT SNOWED! So I live in SE North-of-Zion; snow happens whenever the heck it wants. It's not really a shock, but it's totally a bummer. (Every time it snows after about mid-March, it makes me weepy...)

But today? TODAY THE SUN WAS OUT! Oh, and it was glorious, is what!

Look at that baby shine!!!
(Fear not: I didn't look into the sun while taking this picture; just aimed the camera and click!)

Since I had the day off, I decided to take advantage of the sun; after doing a session at the Temple and running a few errands, I totally waxed my car. All by myself. Again. (This just seems to be my lot in life, it seems.)

This is me sans makeup.
(That's how you know I mean business!)

I got my dad to agree to help me wax my car last time I went home for a visit (a couple of weeks ago). Alas, it was raining that weekend. (Of course it was! Ugh!)

Anyway, I totally waxed my car. And although it takes me longer to wax my car than it takes you to wax yours, and it tuckers me right out, and also I'm certain that my lil biceps are bound to hurt on the morrow...I totally feel a sense of satisfaction knowing that I made my car look all shiny and slick. All by myself. (You're welcome, Gina!)

Look at that baby shine!!!

The real bummer is that I can guarantee some sort of storm (be it rain, hail, or snow) within the next 24-48 hours. It happens every time I wax my car, didn't you know? I can't think about that, though, or I get annoyed.

At least today was lovely...

Moving on...

Whilst beautifying my car, I totally wore shorts. To trick my legs into tanning. And you wanna know something neat?! My one pair of shorts...well, they actually fit! (I didn't even try 'em on last year, because I knew it'd make me feel pudgy, and who likes to feel pudgy? Do you?)

The One Pair of Shorts...
Are they even in style any more?
(Not that it'd stop me if they weren't...)
(All I ask is that you don't judge the alleged girth of my hips in this picture!
It's a weird angle, okay? Anybody's hips are bound to look massive from this angle!)

Anyways...my legs, they don't really like to tan. And they haven't seen the sun since last July at Huntington Beach.

Do you remember when this happened?
I do. OUCH!

on this day...

Today is May 5th. It never meant anything special to me, not until Spanish class in junior high when we had ourselves a fiesta. (You know, for Cinco de Mayo.)

Even then, it wasn't anything special.

But then, for a few years in a row, something significant happened on May 5th.

2003: My grampa passed away. (Sorry if you were expecting some happy news.) It really was a blessing, as he had been sick for a couple of years with kidney failure and the likes. But still...he was my grampa, and he passed away on 05.05.03.

Grampa served an LDS mission in Sweden, and he used to sing Swedish songs whenever the mood struck. I loved hearing him sing those Swedish songs; it always reminded me of the Swedish Chef. (Now, whenever I see the Swedish Chef, I think of Grampa.)

2004: I flew up north for an Alaskan Adventure. I had just received my BS degree a few days before, and I figured Alaska would be a dynamite place to spend the summer before I sold my soul to graduate school. 05.05.04 is the day my Alaskan Adventure began.

The Adventure wasn't anything like I thought it would be; I thought I'd make all sorts of money and spend my time in exotic surroundings. (Well, "exotic" for a girl born and raised in Utah.) Alas, my friend Jamie and I went to Denali; and, pretty as it is there, it reminded me of the Unitahs, except in Alaska the mountains are bigger and the trees are smaller.

Oh well, it was still quite lovely...

That there is Mt. McKinley...

2005: My brother Vance married my good friend Abby. Seriously, I couldn't have been happier about this union! Abby and I actually planned it that way when we were roommates for the summer of 2001. (Neither of us actually thought it would come true:)

I still tell myself that the real reason I went to Alaska is so Vance and Abby could fall in love without me being there in the middle of their relationship. Three cheers for 05.05.05!!!

2006: I was hooded. I had been through 2 years of a hellish nightmare called graduate school, and on 05.05.06, I was hooded a Master. (Yeah, that was a good day...)

Since 2006, I can't recall anything noteworthy happening on this day. 4 years in a row is kinda weird though, isn't it?

Testimony...

This is Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.
He's an Apostle for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
What he says is true.

I know there are a lot of skeptics in the world, people who think that my lovely church is, in actuality, a cult. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but this opinion is grossly mistaken. The gospel of Jesus Christ was established to help bad men become good, and to help good men become better. It teaches principles of love and of hope. Jesus Christ is our example; He is my example.

I know that Jesus Christ lives, that He is my Savior, and that He Atoned for me personally. I know that I have a loving Heavenly Father who cares about me, and that He is involved in the details of my life. I know that prayer is real, that God hears and answers our prayers, even if its not in the way we think it ought to be. I know that divine revelation didn't die off with Christ's Apostles; the Gospel of Jesus Christ was restored in its fullness by Joseph Smith. He was a true prophet, and has been succeeded by prophets after his martyrdom. We are led by a living prophet today, President Thomas S. Monson; he is the Lord's mouthpiece. I have read the Book of Mormon, and I know of its truthfulness. It was written of old for our day; I have benefited from reading its passages; reading its contents has brought me hope, renewed my faith, and provided comfort, time and again. I have prayed to know if the Book of Mormon is true, and I can tell you that it is!

I love the gospel, and I'm grateful for the peace it brings to my life.

"Those who talk of blind obedience may appear to know many things, but they do not understand the doctrines of the gospel. There is an obedience that comes from a knowledge of the truth that transcends any external for of control. We are not obedient because we are blind; we are obedient because we can see." -Elder Boyd K. Packer