no boys allowed...

I went up to Island Park with 8 other gals this past weekend, and can I just say? It was stellar! Our weekend included:

*staying in a lovely waterfront cabin on Bill's Island
*Macks Inn dinner theater
*playing poker and gambling with candy
*a lovely walk around the island (to walk off our excess dinner)...
*a bike ride in perfect weather with perfect company!
*munching on pretzel m&ms and other such stellar snacks
*giggling...and more and more giggling
*falling asleep on the dock while reading in the sun
*other stuff

Aren't you jealous? You should be! I was in desperate need of getting away from this town where I live, in the company of some of the greatest gals on Earth. So yeah...just what the doctor ordered!

T and B at the dinner theater...

Jen and Jeanna...

Jenn and Janae...

Keri and moi...

...aaaand Brookie!

POKER TIME:

I was totally winning...
I figure "Go big or go home" right?
(Mostly I just got lucky...staying in with a pair when others folded)
(And yes, that is a cheat-sheet in the top left corner. We needed that cheat-sheet.)

But other times I really got lucky...
Like with two pairs!

...Or else a flush!

But then we decided to go all-in; winner takes all.
Keri played on borrowed candy...
then she traded her whole hand (all 5 cards) and ended up with a full house!
What the what?! (Clearly, Taletha thought Keri was cheating.)

A picture taken on the bike ride...
(I told you it was a perfect day!)

Janae playing on the dock...

My view from the dock...
(falling asleep reading, remember?)

Ain't I artsy-fartsy?
(This is Brookie's lovely head)

Thanks for the fun time, ladies! (Especially YOU, Jeanna! Thanks for the invite!)

la musica...

Real quick: I'm a guest blogger on over at screweduptexan.
It's true! I love this gal's blog, so I was super excited when she asked me to guest post!
Check it out, y'all!

I've been on an ABBA kick lately.

I recently acquired the vast majority of ABBA's albums, and so I've been listening to them. A LOT.

They've got some fun music. Truly, I like most of it. (Okay, so some of it's weird too, but really...)

Listening to ABBA put me in the mood to watch Mama Mia. Can I just say? I love that movie. Love it!

You heard me declare my love for the movie, but I gotta put in a little disclaimer: I love it in spite of Pierce Brosnan.

I don't have anything against Mr. Brosnan personally. I've heard he made a nice, sexy James Bond. (I do not care for Bond movies--don't hate.) I've also heard that he's pretty sexy all-around. Especially when you factor in his age and such.

The reason I say I love Mama Mia despite Pierce Brosnan is because...well...have you seen it? (Or rather, more appropriately, have you heard it?)

(Mm-kay, I found a clip on youtube, but they won't let me embed.
If you haven't seen the movie, please take 2 minutes and watch the link.)

My, oh my. Where do I begin? I guess I'll just be blunt: it hurts me. His voice, I mean. Unpleasant. His voice is piercing (heh heh!)...

The first time I saw the movie was on DVD in my own home, and I had to rewind his singing parts a couple of times. (Can you say "glutton for punishment?") Really, though, I was confused. Because Pierce is on key, and that's usually more than half the battle, isn't it?

Alas, this time, the horror comes in the quality of his voice; it's rotten is what. (Oh, and also, he looks like he is in physical pain when you watch his singing clips--a telling sign, perhaps?)

I have a rather broad (and somewhat picky) taste in music. My brother Vance introduced me to the likes of Tom Petty, Sweet, Bon Jovi, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, The Scorpions and Royal Bliss. I grew up listening to Kenny Rogers, ABBA, and Neil Diamond (oh, how I love Neil!). And of course, I adore Josh Groban, Michael Buble, OK Go, and Needtobreathe, just to name a few. (What don't I like? Most county music, R&B, and rap.)

Back to Brosnan, though...

So he's on key, right? That's been established. But his voice hurts us. And that got me thinking...last time I listened to Tom Petty (like, yesterday), I noticed his voice. And I realized it's not pretty. But I like it.

Isn't that weird? I love pretty much everything Petty does, including his older stuff (Mudcrutch--which is jam-y and kinda different) to his brand new album (Mojo--which is all blues-y, and I don't heart the blues).

Along that same vane...I recognize Celine Dion has an incredible voice, but I really dislike her music.

Don't even get me started on Bob Dylan. (Incredible song-writer; horrible singer.)

What are your thoughts...?

today is brought to you by...

pretzel m&m's. the large bag.

a nalgene full of ice cold water...

a dutch oven lunch...

this song...

(actually, all songs by needtobreathe. love them!)

baby jane...

my marshall...

this movie...
(just watched it for the first time today and kinda loved it)

and goose hugs...

my spur-of-the-moment trip to Zion has been great thus far!

v-v-v-vegas!

I like to think that I'm usually clever and witty...but I've been lacking lately in that area. Isn't that a bummer though? I think so.

I totally meant to post about my trip to Vegas with Lisa (for Janell's wedding!!!), like, last week. But I didn't. So I'm going to do that right now. When I'm lacking wit. (Here goes!)

Lisa and I left P-Town early on the morning of June 4th...and you know what? I've always scoffed at a place called Fillmore, Utah (mostly to bug my friend Jered who hails from there)...but guess what? It's actually quite stunning down there this time of year. See for yourself...

Fillmore-ish land...

We made it to Vegas by lunchtime. Our first stop was Trader Joe's, because we love that place. (We should've had lunch first, because it's always a horrible idea to go food shopping when you're famished. Just sayin'.) Then we hit our favorite deli in Vegas, Tropical Smoothie Cafe. They serve delish wraps and smoothies. Seriously, yum.

(As a side note...why do I have to be a dumdum and confuse buffalo sauce with BBQ? I love BBQ sauce so much, and don't really like buffalo sauce, so...I was very disappointed when I ordered the buffalo chicken wrap and figured out the hard way--for the 2nd time within a week or so--that buffalo is not synonymous with BBQ. Couldn't even finish the wrap, which hurts my feelings...)

My wrap sandwich tasted like burning...

Then we were off to the Stratosphere to ride the Big Shot! Wahoo! What a thrill! Lisa's hands were shaking for a few minutes even after we got off the ride. Ha!

This bad boy is 1, 081 feet up...

...with a 160 ft drop going 45 mph!

After a bit, we eventually made our way to the New York New York for the roller coaster there. But not before I developed a heat headache. Because it was something like 106 degrees, man. (In North-of-Zion where I reside, it was 55 degrees the day that I left. That's quite the difference in temperature!)

the Ginabean with a heat headache...
I tried valiantly not to be cranky...

Then we walked the strip and met up with my cousin Shanna and Lisa's good buddy Melissa at Margaritaville, where Lisa and I split a most delicious (not to mention uber expensive) salad.

And then we made our way to the Bellagio to watch Cirque du Soleil "O" which is a super awesome water show that is unreal and utterly impossible to describe. It was neato! (Lisa bought my ticket for my birthday present, how awesome is she?!) There is so darn much going on that I can't even begin to figure out how the devil anybody choreographed such a show. Amazing! They even had comic relief with these two clowns who, for reasons unknown, didn't scare the crap right out of me. Geez Louise, those clowns were my favorite part of the act! (Lisa's too, but don't anybody tell the acrobats, okay?)

We eventually made our way to Uncle Kurt and Aunt Kathy's house. (Thanks again for sharing your abode and playing the gracious hosts to us, you guys!) We stayed up late talking with Kurt, Kathy and Skyler. (What can I say? They are such fun!)

Next morning, Lisa and I thought of going to Red Rock State Park...but then thought better of it, because it was approximately 90 degrees by 9am. So we improvised, and we hiked around Mt. Charleston, up to a place called Mary Jane Falls. This hike was a stellar idea (planted in our brains by, I think, Kurt and Kathy the night before). The weather there was about 72 degrees, and it was just lovely!

To Mary Jane Falls!

Along the way...

It has to be said...once we reached Mary Jane Falls, we were disappointed. We came to the conclusion that it must look more impressive if you're smokin' doobies. (It's called Mary Jane Falls, people. Mary Jane.)

The...uh..."falls"

After our hike, Lisa and I made our way to the Cheesecake Factory. We were looking something that resembles homeless, but they let us in, fed us, and took our money. I was so grateful...

Luau Salad...
(Lisa's smile is quite genuine. The Luau has got to the tastiest salad of all time!)

Pizzette...
(Don't worry, that's mozzarella cheese, not tofu!)

CHEESECAKE!!!
(I got the lemon-raspberry, Lisa got the vanilla bean)

Then we headed back to Uncle Kurt's to shower and got ready for the wedding, which took place in the Las Vegas Temple!

Oh. My. Goodness. It was so awesome to see Janell, and to see her married to her love Bruce! Such an amazing experience...I wish them all the happiness in the world!!!

Bruce and Janell
(Isn't she about the prettiest bride you've ever seen?)

Happy Family!
(Bruce has 2 cute boys from a previous marriage)

Forever friends...

Beautiful bouquet...

After the wedding and pictures, Lisa and I made our way back to Zion...stayed at a hotel in Cedar City (and slept like a champ!), went to Sacrament Meeting at a random ward, and then headed homeward.

It was a quick road trip, but it was stellar!

the children...

Last weekend, I headed southward to Vegas for a friend's wedding (which will get its own post before too long). Since the land of my inheritance (Zion!) lies somewhere between here (North-of-Zion) and there (Sin City), I stopped in B-to-the-righam on my way there and back.

To visit my family, of course.

The saddest part about passing through town on my way elsewhere is that I didn't get to see Mr. Marshall at all. Not on Thursday, and not on Sunday either. SAD! On the other hand, I did get to see Miss Jane. And also, I stopped a bit further south to see Misters Jackson and Seth. (Also, I visited with Aaron and Amy. Of course.) So...I got to see 3 of my 4 children. (Crazy and exciting to think that within 3 months, I'll have another niece and nephew! One of each!)

Anyhoo...yeah. I got to see the chillins.

I love the chillins.

If you check out the pictures, you can totally understand why...

Aaron and I went for a walk with Seth and Luna.
Honestly, Luna ended up pulling Seth behind her.
Seth LOVED it.

But then Luna took off and (literally) dragged Seth behind her.
Seth did NOT love it...
(But I adore this picture with Seth and his pouty face!)

Handsome boy...

Up-side-down Jackson...

Baby Jane loves Gramma O so much.
She goes into this content little trance when Gramma tickles her arms and legs.
Like so...

"This is the way the lady rides."
Janie loved this...

Anyhoo, those are 3 of my 4 loves. You kinda love them too, don't ya?

dude!

The rest of my birfday present from Brooker came today. I just opened it. And do you want to see what it is that Brooker gave to me?

BEHOLD!

It's a Hurley bookmark!
Like, Hurley from LOST.

The Brookes and I have just begun watching LOST. (I know, we're so behind the times; we started a couple months ago, and we're now somewhere in the middle of season 3.) Turns out, it's a pretty cool show, and all three of us pretty much love it.

And although Jack and Sawyer and Jin are all prettier to look at, I pretty much love Hurley. I've even started using the word "dude" in my every day lingo. It just happens.

Turns out that Brooker found some gal's blog through a friend's blog (Rachel something) who makes Mr. T bookmarks. Brooker contacted this Rachel gal (with amazing talent!) and commissioned her to make a Hurley bookmark. Just for me and my birthday. How cool is that?

Thanks a mil, Brooker! And you too, Rachel (even though you don't know me or my blog)...

Aaaand my birthday joy was just extended...

"Dude..."

"DUDE!"