my state of mind

Doyle Christmas music video 2011...

2011-12-26T11:21:00.000-07:00

I do not have all of the videos filmed this day, so the music video is not yet complete, but here is the OFFICIAL TRAILER for "ICE CREAM AND CAKE"

DoyleLife Documentary

2011-12-04T14:01:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving Day:

Mark had questions prepared and cameras set up in the study. With the aid of steph, they interviewed all the children, in the Dennis Doyle family, about their experiences with the Journal writings of their mother Mary Kaye Deschamps Doyle. The answer to these questions and some other footage made it into this 5 minute presentation. There is at least an hour of good footage still left on file, so hopefully a longer version will be presented in the future.

New York City vs. the Doyles Day 1

2011-10-15T10:18:00.000-06:00

Thursday September 29, 2011 11:30pm

Mark and steph enter Jet Blue flight 92 to New York. The seats are refreshingly spacious and the amenities are better than expected. 4 hours later, the two are safely on New York soil, tired but excited! Enter Mindi Winters.

Mindi arrived 2 minutes prior to the Doyles and the two groups met up in the Terminal, just in front of the restrooms, where Mark takes a nose blowing break. Mindi and steph hug and quickly catch up whilst waiting for Mark. Off to the City at 5:45am!

Taxi service is available and efficient and the three are off to the Crowne Plaza on Times Square in no time. Omar gave us eating tips and a little history on the Twin Towers rebuilding project. He grew up in New York his whole life - don't eat anything unless it's in the West Village area... especially PIZZA!

Crown Plaza checked in our baggage and sent us on our way. 6:30am. The three of us wandered Times Square in search of something to do, that is when we spotted the Police officers standing on the corner. Mark amused himself by making jokes with the locals, "you guys probably love the publicity and come out here to get your pictures taken... I bet you're not even on duty..." New York officers do not take kindly to that kind of talk and he waved his coffee at Mark and retorted something to the effect of "We work hard, I'm ON duty!" We smoothed things over by asking his opinion on breakfast. He sent us down and to the left, Cranberries is the name.

We loved ordering among the "regulars" as the cook called them all by name and gave them their "usual" then looked at us like, "who are you?!" but did allow us to order! We took our tinfoil wrapped egg sandwiches and $5 drinks to a set of red metal table and chairs on Times Square and people watched for awhile. Mark was shooting pictures of everything in sight for his class documentary, I think he had 100 pictures before breakfast.

While strolling Broadway, we noticed a hub-bub of folks gathering in the median in front of Good Morning America. We needed to be apart of that crowd, all the while Mark is yelling "I'm walkin' heyah", in his best New York accent, to every taxi that passed. We weaseled our way in among the fans and pretended we cared who walked past us. Mark made it onto the big screen, while Mindi and I were ushered into the staging area amongst the camera crew. We were living on the edge.("what not to wear" HOST).

While pointing out something interesting, Mindi was accosted by a New York man , decked out in suit and fancy shoes - speed-walking full speed ahead. He back-hand karate chopped her outreached hand, sending her iphone flying and leaving both of us speechless as he continued on his way without even a second glance. The memory still makes me laugh loudly.

Enough time had passed that New York began to look alive. We joined others in line for the Empire State Building view. Mark struck up a conversation with two ladies from Belgium, in French, and enjoyed every second (just like his dad) - steph smiled and piped in a few words here and there, but mostly just stood back and listened (I LOVE FRENCH). The lines weaved all around, but there weren't enough people to fill them, unlike Shrek we walked in and out, in and out... to the front. Mark flirted with the workers and got us on a less crowded elevator because it is his first time to New York. Gusting winds kept the clouds away, allowing us a gorgeous view of the city. The 12 story buildings look tiny and the 18 story buildings look like "cottages". New York is SO BIG, it is difficult to describe or imagine. Mark eeked his way to the front of every side and captured the city on film... digital film. People of every language and body type fought their way to the best photoshoot areas, pointing, gabbering, and shooting pictures (just like us). I'm super done with the jersey mini-skirt/dress things - ughh!

Hunger expedited our plans to head down from the view. Mark had his heart set on Lombardi's Pizza, so steph Googled the address and the three were on our way to Spring Street (via the Subway). Upon exiting the Subway, we spotted a postal worker. He was a typical New Yorker, to us. We ask him how to get to Blott Street and he threw down the bag of mail (literally hailed it to the ground with a crunch) and, with a heavy accent, proceeded to point in all directions while talking outloud. All the while, steph is Googling the address again. 35 Spring Street. "Oh" he says, "that'll be that way... all the way down" pointing in the opposite direction he was sending us a few moments prior. We were on 191 Spring Street, so ALL THE WAY DOWN was right! We passed several shops, one in particular made us laugh (all weekend). Rice to Riches, a rice pudding shop. The window was covered in quotes. "Dad spelled backwards is dad, mom spelled backwards is mom, and brother spelled backwards is rehtorb" ha ha ha! Mark is a rehtorb! (I'm laughing even as I write this!) ha ha ha!!

Exhausted and quite warm, we finally arrived at Lombardi's Pizza. It looks like it is set up to house people in line all the way down the street. We were lucky to have to only wait a few moments before we were seated. Mark and Mindi laughed about the restrooms, the toilet touches the wall on three sides and the door touched your knees when you sat - space saving I suppose. We ordered the in-house pizza, the Margarita Pizza with half pepperoni. The pizza was the size of a small town, and it tainted Mark's idea of a regular pizza for the rest of the trip. We ate every piece - YUM! Mark preferred no crust and steph preferred more crusts - our plates looked silly next to each other, because you couldn't make more pizza slices out of our left overs. Delicious.

We made it back to Times Square in time to purchase tickets for some shows. Mindi and Mark took our coupon to buy tickets to The Addam's Family for Friday night, while steph waited in line for discount tickets. The scalpers were out announcing tickets to sold out shows, like Wicked, for over $100. We decided not to go. Guys tried to talk us into a comedy club after trying to get us tickets to the Yankees Playoff Game 1 and to Wicked. Both were expensive and he wasn't really cheaper, so we skipped his deals. He did try to sell us on the Book of Mormon show. He said it was by far the best show on Broadway! It has won several awards and everyone does rave about it. We told him we were Mormon's and probably wouldn't enjoy it. "Its about faith in the end, it promotes faith... sure it pokes fun at you Mormon's but its all in fun and it promotes faith, which is what its all about..." after his rave reviews I almost felt like I had to see it! Everyone around tried to sell us the Book of Mormon show, we resisted.

Our hotel room opened up around 2:- HOORAY! We were feeling gross and a bit tired. We checked in, got our luggage, took naps/showers and waited for Andy's arrival from Newark. He arrived around 5pm. We lounged around watching t.v. and getting ready for the evening. We chose to eat at ROXYs, a recommendation from cousin Jenn. We were seated after passing a glass window of giant patisseries. We split some orders - Mark and Andy split a Reuben Sandwich and a plate of fries, while and steph split a Turkey/cranberry sandwich Mindi and mashed potatoes. It is a good thing we split our meals because they filled the entire table. I would agree with Jenn, the food is delicious and I would recommend it to others! Plus it was less than a block from our hotel and our play. We had plenty of time to eat, walk around, and head down one more block to The Addam's Family (with Brooke Sheilds).

We took photos in the lobby, in our seats, of the theatre, and then the ushers scolded us for taking pictures. The production was great. We laughed throughout for each character! They all had their own sense of comedy and it made for an entertaining show. Pugsley was a curiously bizarre little boy, Wednesday had an amazing voice, Lurch was SO BIG and quietly funny, the grandma was out of her mind hilarious and caused a few of the actors to break their stoic cold facials ("I peed."). The only let down was the boyfriend - he was not strong at all so when he and Wednesday sang duets, we only heard Wednesday's voice. (You'd think, out of all the people trying to be famous there would be one boy strong enough to hold his own on stage). We loved the show! Our seats were dead center in the balcony. The drunks to our left were a bit handsy, but other than that they were perfect seats.

We stayed a few minutes after, just soaking in the feeling of a Broadway show. As we exited the theatre we were acosted by rain. Not Utah rain, mind you, but down pouring never up letting New York rain. Our little group hopped from one dry area to another before arriving 3 blocks down to our hotel. Steph wanted chocolate and snacks, so she convinced everyone to venture out into the rain once more, but not until AFTER we watched BYU squeak past Utah State - whew. Steph had a mini-travel umbrella, but that was about it. Andy did eventually purchase a large $10 umbrella off a street vender. Steph's unfailing ability to misunderstand directions, even with a GPS guide, lead them away from any kind of convenience store... and civilization. We saw Radio City Music Hall and took rain pictures of each of us. A garbage truck drove by, almost hitting Mark, and he yelled "HEY I'M WALKIN' HERE!" The truck kept going but one guy hit the top of the truck in retaliation. On our tour back to the hotel, we happened upon a small store - HOORAY! We bought some water, pretzels, chocolate, and $3.00 candybars! WOW! We were cold and stopped in a Starbucks for some hot chocolate and cider. We were addicted for the rest of the trip (thank goodness there is a starbucks on every corner!). We were soaked, but still very happy!

BY FARS: BYU wins, Mindi's phone chop by New Yorker, Chatting with LOU, Lombardi's great pizza (but no re-fills), 2 midget cops, Addams Family! - especially Wednesday's voice - hilarious grandma - Pugley's voice and mannerisms, Good Morning America (GMA) - Mark's face on TV, Mark documenting everything, Salted Carmel Hot Chocolate or Carmel Cider (Starbucks), GMA letting Mindi and steph in the restricted camera crew area, Mark offending the first New Yorkers we talk to (the cops), "The Cranberry"breakfast - YUM, Empire State Building's view, the postman throwing mail to the ground (useless and lost), the subway, walking the streets of New York (even in the rain), jackpot grocery store, Mark blowing his nose :)

Quotes: The infamous: "HEY I'M WALIN' HERE!" - Mark
"Am I in that?!" - Andy says while looking at a picture of himself
"THIS IS AMERICA!" - Andy's response to the fact we have no wi-fi in our room
"We've got to somehow eliminate that noise tomorrow..." - Mindi in reference to Mark's nose blowing
"...Or its a giant woodpecker going after wood and concrete..." - Mark in reference to construction
"dad, mom, rehtorb..." HA HA HA

Autumn is Awesome!

2011-09-28T21:49:00.001-06:00

I do love a good walk in the mountains when the leaves begin to change. This year the colors seem so vibrant and alive, I was excited for a Sunday afternoon stroll with my camera (and a couple friends for my photo shoot practice).

I need to take a class on how to use my camera more effectively, but I just haven't yet!

Finally Done with Vacation 2011!!

2011-08-10T17:17:00.003-06:00

June 24 - Athens to Home

We docked at Athens port hoping the power strike was over and we could fly home. Our bus driver took his time winding through the more scenic parts of Athens along the coast. We had no difficulty finding our luggage and heading to our plane. Steph indiscreetly paid Rachel her tips in a mixture of US dollars and Euros, because we couldn’t find an ATM. We said goodbye to Rachel, Mississippi, Ali (who was flying to her parents in Germany) and Amanda (who was flying home on another airline). We felt uncomfortable with only six of us, like we were missing people. Most of our group flew on the same flight and with another EF group as well. The Lisinksies had to pack and re-pack a few bags before being allowed to continue on.

Security was pretty uneventful and we waited to board our plane playing Speed Scrabble. It was so popular we had to rotate people in and out of the game. Scrabble champion was beaten by Tanya game 1. She stood proud and left the game. The plane was below fair and we didn’t even have our own TVs or choice of movies. Bummer. We arrived in Atlanta and collected our bags. A security dog sniffed around and pinpointed Amy’s carry-on as dangerous. Her beef jerky set him off. She was given a green folder and sent to another area. Exhausted we slept in a little freezing corner and waited for our flight in 4 hours. Soon after, the airport announced it was closed due to a storm. Our terminal was changed. Mandy found us some airport blankets, with a little detective work, and we no longer froze. Hours later we took off 0 around midnight or one in the morning and didn’t arrive home until 4 a.m. Chelsea’s dad picked us up – so kind! Welcome Home UTAH!

By Fars: Hanging out in the back of the plane, old man dancing down the aisle, being in the US of A, airplane ice cream, speed scrabble with our friends in the airport, flying with all of our friends home, Amy getting green foldered, being connected to the internet.

Final By Fars - Greek Yogurt with honey!!!

Favorite Foods:

Ali: Gyro (Athens)

Amanda: Briam & stuffed tomatoes (Olympia)

Amy: Gyro (Athens) / Pizza (Pompeii)

Chelsea: Bread pudding (cruise) / gyro (Athens)

Mandy: Gyro (Athens) / breakfast at the Crystal City Hotel (Athens)

Sandra: Pizza (Rome) / saganaki (Mycenae)

Steph: Gyro (Athens) / Pizza (Rome)/ Yogurt & Honey (Greece)

Tanya: Fried cheese & Zucchini balls (Delphi)

Favorite Moments:

Ali: Running in Olympia

Amanda: Running in Olympia

Amy: Olympia

Chelsea: Olympia

Mandy: Theater of Epidarus

Sandra: Acropolis at night from Mars Hill

Steph: Running in Olympia & the night at the Pantheon

Tanya: Olympia & Trevi Fountain and night at Mars Hill

Favorite Place / Destination:

Ali: Mykonos

Amanda: Mykonos

Amy: Mykonos

Chelsea: Mykonos

Mandy: Mykonos & beach in Rhodes

Sandra: Mykonos

Steph: Mykonos, Santorini

Tanya: Mykonos

June 23, 2011

2011-08-09T16:20:00.007-06:00

June 23 - Heraklion, Crete / Oia, Santorini

Calypso sailed through another night on the Aegean Sea to Crete. The sea rocked us kinder this time. Mandy spent wee morning hours with Odgen in Knossos – home of Minos and the Minotaur. The rest of us slept in and awoke to a glorious morning. Utah ladies led the walk from the port to the city of Heraklion; we walked with purpose and others trusted our confidence. They were not led astray. We walked around the city, shopped, and spent tine in a small shady park. Amanda spent a special moment in an old wooden swing with Sandra pushing, but refusing to use a teeter-totter due to a bad experience. We felt the “sea-legs” as we waited for the shoppers. I swear the island was swaying!

More eating back on the boat – Lunch – as the ship sailed along to Santorini. (our waiter had some toothpick tricks to show us!)

Tender boats shuttled us to land (to avoid a disaster, like previous ships sinking) and a bus wound up and around the narrow roads of the town of Oia. Picturesque cliff top views of sea, volcano, and beautiful pastel box houses stacked atop one another. We couldn’t stop the photography as we wandered through the quaintly perfect streets straight from a movie set, and saw the start of the sunset.

The film “The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants” filmed here and we happened to take a few group pictures in front of the home where which they stayed. Amy wore our own travelling pants to commemorate our friendships. Then a winding trip back through the mountains and small towns then down the switch backs to the tender boats. We sat on the upper deck of the tender boat with our new best friends from the EF Tour and enjoyed a relaxing sunset trip back to the ship. It is over too soon, yet the anticipation to return home sounds good too. The news of protesting and power strikes in Athens makes our families at home nervous, but we are oblivious to the threats out on the ship. Tanya was done with the three-hour dining room meals and left us for the buffet style dinner and a nap.

Knossos Κνωσός (Mandy's tour): The palace is about 130 meters on a side and since the Roman period has been suggested as the source of the myth of the Labyrinth, an elaborate mazelike structure built for King Minos of Crete and designed by the legendary artificer Daedalus to hold the Minotaur, a creature that was half man and half bull and was eventually killed by the Athenian hero Theseus. Labyrinth may have come from labrys, a word referring to a double, or two-bladed, axe.

the Grecian sea water is so CLEAR!

By Fars: shuttle to port, windy walking, Mandy’s mythology mixed w/ archeology tour, the park, Chelsea’s throw-down toys from the street vendor, new jewelry, sitting atop the tender boat on the way back, Our group!, we are UTAH, steph taking pictures, toothpick tricks at lunch, specialty drinks, Oia fun-facts ("fun fact #1..."), sunset, Big-A chicken @ dinner, being “helped” into the tender boat.

June 22, 2011

2011-07-30T11:49:00.010-06:00

June 22 – Rhodes

We sailed to Rhodes in the night, it is fun to wake up to a new city! Another sun-scorched day. We walked through the medieval town of Rhodes where the Knights of St. John ruled around the 1300-1500s. The walls still stand and shelter a quaint little town with pebble streets and gates to the harbor. We met Michael, one of Rachel’s friends by the Palace of the Grand Masters and took a walking tour through the city and down the street of the nights. Michael was a no-nonsense guide and kept us in order and on task. He did a magnificent job explaining to us that we pay for their lives in Rhodes – being tourists and all. More shopping, obviously, then back on the boat for lunch.

our guide.

We rested and prepped for fun on the beaches of pebble. Rachel hooked us up with a special ride to a small private-like beach… 25 minutes away. Steph brought a black beach ball to play with, but the wind made that optional null and void, but she used it to float around and donated it to Andy later. The blue boardwalk leads us to the umbrellaed rest spots, paid 4 Euro each to rest, and on to the water. Once in the water, the depth was deceiving through the clearest water imaginable. The salt buoyed us up with little to no effort… though some had a difficult time staying afloat (too skinny?). Steph preferred napping under the umbrella while the rest responded to the call, “DO THEY DANCE HERE?!” - A spontaneous flash mob in the sea! At the moment our internal thermometers clicked “done” the buses arrived to return us to our ship. Chelsea stepped onto the pebbled beach and sunk to her knees in rock. When she retrieved her leg, no sandal remained. She searched until Ogden joined the search and found it in no time. The rocks were both a blessing and a curse.

Dinner was a black tie affair and we dressed to the nines.

We waited in line, for the first time, to eat in the dining room. The Captain joined us for dinner – at the Captain’s table we ate at the night before. Tanya was slaphappy silly throughout dinner, Ali felt ill, and the rest of us just giggled non-stop at all of the silliness. The waters were wild and the boat teeter-tottered throughout dinner. Many of us were feeling slightly motion sick by the end, while steph felt terrified of the rocking boat. She stared out the porthole, white knuckled, awaiting certain death by drowning in our own miniature Titanic experience.

Ali, turning green, took leave from the table just prior to the lights going out and the dancing waiters entered the dining hall. They sang and danced with dessert on fire!! We whipped our white napkins in the air and yelled “OPA!” at undetermined intervals. Joy and fun filled the atmosphere, enough to distract us from the length we had to wait for our food. With smiles on our faces we laughed and retired to our beds, walking like drunks down the swaying hallways. Sandra and steph’s room felt the brunt of the wild waters throughout the evening. Steph never fell asleep, even after iPod, regular earphones, noise reducing headphones, prayers, and meditation. The rest slept like logs.

By Fars: Ali’s bless you, tour guide in Rhodes, Medieval Rhodes, pebble beach, beach umbrella, Chelsea’s lost shoe, Tanya’s card in the rocks, Steph’s white pants sprint to the bathroom, Amy’s carrot soup, gelato and sorbet, floating in the water, flash mob in the water, sleeping in and post breakfast nap, clearest water ever, dressing up for dinner, McConaughey paparazzi, Amy’s straight hair, banana hammock, imitating Titanic off the back of the ship, eating w/ the Captain, games on deck.

June 21 - TURKEY and Patmos

2011-07-26T15:18:00.010-06:00

June 21 - Kusadasi, Turkey / Patmos

From Italy to Greece to... Turkey! The Calypso sailed to Turkey in the night, entering Asia. Turkey flashed green vegetation as we zoomed by on our bus. This is where the Virgin Mary lived the rest of her days, hidden in the mountains of Turkey. We visited the chapel of the Virgin Mary and drank to health, wealth, and good life before writing our wishes to Mary on tissues and placing them on the special wall. Fascinating to visit ancient places where the apostles walked, Mary walked, the city of Ephesus; home of the Ephesians.

This way to Mary's house! For baptisms. Mary's home/chapel rebuilt.

The wishing wall. The holy water.

Amazing ruins show what an advanced society once lived here -toilets, running water, sewer pipes, and air conditioning. Imagine if they hadn’t been conquered and destroyed over and over again. We oohed and awed over original white marble streets and amazing remnants of buildings; especially the library of Celsus. More theatres and buildings still being discovered, the ruins are still covered in the hills with archeologists discovering more information.

The toilets. The Library - with AC and everything! Me and some ruins. Our guide and the marble streets. Mosaic floors. <--They are still excavating these hills. Rocks and flowers... ruins. Ruins.

Trapped in a Turkish carpet store where we were encouraged to buy Turkish rugs after a demonstration of rug flipping, a small price to pay for a small drink of apple tea and air-conditioning. The expectations were high for the Turkish bazaar and it was disappointing, but that didn’t keep us from buying random stuff. Back to the boat.

Turkish rugs. How they make the rugs. The Turkish market.

We boarded and sailed to Patmos. A small boat waited outside, called a tender, that shuttled us to the nearest port. and walked to the nearest beach in the small town of Skala. Enjoyed the water, Chelsea saved a life and Tracy put us to work searching for sea glass. Back on the boat and dressed up for blue and white Greek night. Complete with Karoke, the Captain dancing and glow bracelets.

Blue and White night - Greek Night. Dinner at the Captain's table on Greek Night. Our Captain. Our specialty drinks - all sugar!! steph dancing with the Greeks. The Great 8 - UTAH!

By Fars: Chelsea saving Lee, Tanya’s dinner photos, Turkey, Ephesus, reading on the beach, an afternoon of no plans, dolphins, blue & white night, the library of Ephesus, Karoke, dinner guests, Mandy’s ladies, the beach, the Captain dancing at Greek night, dueling Bazooki players, Greek music, glow bracelet dancing, sitting at the Captains table for dinner.

June 20, 2011 Cruise - Mykonos (REAL Greece)

2011-07-23T12:03:00.008-06:00

June 20 - Athens to the Calypso to Mykonos

Bye-bye solid ground, time to take it to the sea. The boy bodyguards watched our stuff again while we packed up for the port of Piraeus. Welcome to the cruise, on a small scale, and we had our photo taken and waved to our friends (elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist, wrist) as we boarded the Calypso.

Our cabins were spread all over the boat - Sandra and steph were moved to the front cabin on the 2^nd floor, Amy, Amanda, Ali, and Mandy were on the 3^rd floor then Chelsea and Tanya were at the back of the boat. We donned our orange life vests for the emergency drill, headed back to our cabins for naps, booked it up to the Captain’s lounge for dance lessons, and poolside activities that involved kissing “Matthew McConaughey” and some booty shaking. The boat docked at Mykonos, our first island.

waiting in the Captain's Lounge Life vest drill - exhausting.

Luckily we didn’t have to walk because we took a shuttle to town. FINALLY! This is what Greece is supposed to look like - White houses with blue trim. The whole town is white washed twice a year and is a maze of pristine white buildings, blue doors and skinny quaint streets. Rachel led us on a short walking tour through the streets.

Sandra and steph, lost in perfect photo shots, lost the group. While the others continued on to the famous windmills, Sandra and steph had their own tour of the back streets and ended up above the windmills and looked down to see the group at the bottom of the hill - whew.

The sunset, casting candy hues on the glowing houses and water. Under that beauty we had some time to eat crepes and shop, 2 things we do well. We outstayed our welcome and made it back to the boat for dinner. We took the time to eat in the dining hall and were rewarded with a delectable meal one course at a time and two hours of rest.

By Fars: Prank calling Sandra, Ali and Mandy winning the room lottery, long naps, floppy hats, crepes, SUNSET, kissed by Matthew McConaughey, Rob Low eyes, walking around Mykonos, dance lessons, Matt carrying Amanda’s bags, hanging out on the pool deck with Tracy, Steph and Sandra’s new room, Tanya’s shorts @ dinner, young girls staking out the Lisinski boys, steph and Sandra lost in Mykonos and finding the windmills, whitewashed everything!, luggage in the elevator alone going up and down, pippi (“pee pee”) steph, Japanese man walking into steph/Sandra’s cabin while they napped.

June 19, 2011 Delphi

2011-07-23T11:31:00.007-06:00

June 19 - Delphi & Athens

Up and early, we were rejuvenated with a tasty breakfast – just in time for our speedy 3-hour bus ride to Delphi with Ogden and Mississippi. Rachel talked non-stop for the entire 3 hours, while we tried to listen to a special reading of “The Golden Goose” by Julio. Along the way we stopped at a war memorial. The two soldiers on the end are hollow to represent the missing soldiers of war.

We stopped for a photo stop in the Greek Park city, Arachova - individual shots as well as group shots. Delphi was melt your brain hot but also fascinatingly wonderful.

steph, Ali, Amy, Tanya, Amanda, Sandra, Mandy, and Chelsea

Our guide Angelica was smart and funny. Delphi was the place of ancient spiritual pilgrimage where the people came to talk to The Oracle and learn the path of their life.

"The Oracle" The "bellybutton" of Delphi!?

The walls were like newspapers of ancient times with Greek writing covering every inch of the stones. Angelica showed us how ancient Greek is similar to today’s Greek, so she could read us a few words here and there.

photographer steph.

Our group split up after photo shooting the gas hole many call the Oracle. Some continued up to see the amphitheatre while the others went back down for fresh water. Without taking pictures of people, we were allowed to visit the museum and saw the famous bronze Charioteer statue and the Sphinx.

The Charioteer.

Temple remnants.

The Sphinx.

We ate lunch at another fabulous restaurant and then slept while Cosmos sped back to Athens - making it in record time, played speed scrabble in the hotel hallway with our friends and then had dinner in the hotel buffet. Sandra, Tanya, Amanda and Mandy went with Cheryl and Matt to see the Acropolis at night perched atop Mars hill.

By Fars: Fried cheese and zucchini balls, Acropolis at night, sitting on Mars hill, street musicians at night, scrabble in the hallway, stadium @ Delphi, charioteer statue with eyes, the Golden Goose, Internet!, reading, super clean metro, Athena’s temple, fresh squeezed OJ, woman or man?, late night chat in hotel café.

June 18 - Athens

2011-07-18T10:54:00.005-06:00

June 18 - Athens

Protestors litter the grounds of Parliament in Athens. Rioting on the news made our friends and family fear for our safety, but we didn’t see anything. We took group photos and a stray dog joined in. The changing of the guard drew us in. These guards did some amazing legs kicks, accentuated by the pompoms on their shoes. It is hard to take these guards seriously. Rachel ushered us back into the bus for a short bus tour around Athens. Since we are in Greece, it only seems appropriate we stop at the Olympic stadium, which was built completely of marble for the 1896 Olympics and where the archery event was held in the 2004 Olympics. Ali picked up a new headdress of olive leaves that she wore the rest of the day. The olive leaf crown made for a fun photo shoot in front of the stadium.

Onto The Acropolis of Athens. Because it is so famous, it can be simply titled, The Acropolis without any qualification. Under an olive tree, our guide Maria explained what fake idols meant to the Greeks. The Acropolis consists of 7 buildings that took 30 years to build total. (The Parthenon took 9 years to complete). Parthenon -Old Temple of Athena -Erechtheum -Statue of Athena Promachos - Propylaea - Temple of Athena Nike - Eleusinion - Sanctuary of Artemis - Brauronia or Brauroneion - Chalkotheke - Pandroseion - Arrephorion - Altar of Athena - Sanctuary of Zeus Polieus - Sanctuary of Pandion.

Like most of Europe, it is in it’s 9^th restoration right now so there is scaffolding all around. The original marble was carried in from over 16KM away and hauled up the hill. AMAZING, Sandra and Mandy love HISTORY! With umbrellas in hand, we clambered over the rock mountain and viewed these amazing remnants of millennial old buildings and air. 300+ pictures later, we left The Acropolis and wandered down through the busy streets of the plaka. Utah joined some of our new friends for our first true Greek lunch - at a street café - Gyros with fries inside for 2 Euros!

Each of us had individual needs, so we split our ways with destinations in mind. Tanya had her eye on the H&M store, steph needed a camera charger, and Amanda just came for the walk. Ali, Sandra, Chelsea, Mandy, Tracy, Amy, Cheryl, and grandpa went looking for souvenirs. Amy and Tracy found cute carry-on luggage. Tanya bought some cute pants, but steph didn’t find any camera stores. Andy sent steph to a Best Buy, just above the Starbucks. Best Buy turned out to be a strange kind of flea market, bummer. After a scare of a missing Ali, she met our EF group and we left for a walking “tour”.

Amanda was kind enough to go with steph for one last-ditch effort in finding a camera store to buy a battery charger. Sandra equipped steph with her map and directions to meet up with the group, or meet back at the hotel if necessary. The first half of the tour led us through quaint pretty spots of Athens while the 2^nd half of the tour wasn’t really part of a tour but a walk through the ghetto to our hotel. Amanda and steph went to several places recommended by people, but found nothing. By chance (actually a real blessing) they happened upon a small store that had everything camera. Steph bought a charger, prayed thanks to a loving Heavenly Father, and the two of them sprinted through the town to find the others. Amanda and steph took some funky turns, but ran into the group as they turned a corner. Another blessing. Leaving behind the charming part of downtown, our ragged group trudged through the ghetto of Athens to make it back to our hotel (instead of of taking the metro?!). Many of us arrived with heat rashes and sunburns. We took a break in Sandra and Tanya’s room watching eclectic Greek music videos and eating all of our American treats... and sleeping. We took Benedryl and lotioned our legs, steph changed into swim trunks even. Tracy joined us for a game of speed scrabble on the roof while our friends went to Greek evening. The night ended with an unexpected gathering around a group stuck in our elevator - Lou, John, and Tammy.

By Fars: Lunch (cheap and delicious gyros), top of the acropolis, steph’s new camera charger, steph and Amanda using the map, spending time with our group friends, Mandy’s 1.70 $ coke and candy bar, Matt’s impersonation of Lou, free time!, Amy’s new bag, Matt coming to hangout in our rooms, champion crown, Athena Ali, the H&M and pantalones, Utah Jazz guy, music videos and the shark!, missionary experiences, naps, bus tour, parliament with pom pom shoes, pretty Greece, sitting in the square of the placa.

June 17 - Ira, Epidarus, Mycenae, Corinth Canal, Athens

2011-07-14T13:33:00.006-06:00

June 17 - Iria, Epidavrus, Mycenae, pottery demonstration, Corinth Canal, Athens.

Fresh fruit, honey and yogurt, cereal, and bread = our first amazing breakfast of the trip and it was eaten overlooking the beach. It ended as quickly as it started and we again piled all of our belongings into the bus and headed to Epidaurus (Επίδαυρος). Epidaurus is home to a 4^th century BC ancient amphitheater. This theatre is still used today, 3000 years later! It holds about 35,000 people and has naturally amazing acoustics. You can hear the sound of a pin drop from anywhere in the theatre so we had Sandra test it by singing. It takes a lot of pushing and prodding, but she always gives in and shares her amazing voice with us. Lou, from St. Louis, joined her and talked her into singing a duet, which was amazing until they forgot the words and laughed. The rest of us tested our dancing skills, “Do they dance here?!”. Steph started the moves to some guy’s ipod (he was testing the acoustics and we took advantage of the music). The others joined in, just like we practiced. FLASH MOB GREECE!

Peloponnese (Πελοπόννησος), I love saying it... Peloponnese, Peloponnese. The bus maneuvered through the Peloponnes to Mycenae. Our skin melted as we piled from the bus to visit the tomb of Agamemnon. A group of artists stopped to quickly sketch the large opening and triangular opening. Steph’s camera battery died in the blackness of the tomb, with no charger she was out of luck for the rest of the trip. Legs burning topping off the sun’s burning rays describes our next tour through, and by through I mean UP, to the ancient city of Mycenae 1200’s BC. Some recent finds point to graves as old as 1600 BC. Archeologists have discovered pieces of history about the Trojan war era.

The tomb. UTAH and the Lisinksi'sBurial site A?steph's FREEDOM pose. Greece has the best fresh squeezed orange juice!!

Usually we are on our own for lunches, but Rachel has provided only one option each day. Luckily, they are always delicious! Kolizeras, the fanciest restaurant EF has every introduced us to, had J amazing food and the prettiest bathroom in all of Europe. SAGANAKI!

just a bunch of posers!Sandra, Ali, and steph at lunch.

yogurt and honey - our favorite! stuffed tomato! Greek salad...mmmm

After lunch we went to a pottery demo. A charismatic, tall, dark and handsome man led us to the demonstration. Another guy created a vase in less than 2 minutes. Cool. Flirting with all of the ladies, the good looking man took us to the store where we spent more money than we should. Ali flirted right back and bought some souvenirs on the side. George was adorable as he flirted with Tanya, and we were all jealous. Watermelon satiated our overheated rest stop over the Corinth canal. Sheer cliffs on both sides of the canal made for an impressive view, the bright turquoise water made an equally magnificent view. Later, Tracy and steph had a seed spitting contest, steph won and only a few people were caught in the cross fire.

Onto Athens. Upon arrival to the Crystal City, our hotel, those on the right side of the bus witnessed some kind of mugging - nicely dressed men beating up an older nicely dressed man. It scared the kids. The Lizinski boys stood watch outside the bus in their Top Gun sunglasses. Pickpockets steal luggage from unsuspecting visitors, right outside (or just inside) their hotels. Thanks to our boys, we survived with no casualties. The rest of the evening was relaxing, low-key.

Dinner was on the Mezzanine floor and delicious. Ali made best friends with the other groups. Chelsea and steph tried unsuccessfully to access the free wi-fi while Matt tried to catch Amanda’s eye through Ali’s friendship. Matt successfully talked Amanda and Ali into a late night walk through Athens. Tanya and Sandra returned to a room soaked in the smell of Weed. We worried about the girls out past midnight, so when they returned Tanya scolded them for their inconsideration and stupidity - as the group leader she can do that - and everyone then slept safe and sound.

By Fars: George and Tanya, breakfast! Lunch! And Dinner! Awesome food today, breakfast on the beach, the theater, Flash mob!, duet with Lou, pottery demo, fancy bathroom at lunch, Saganaki (fried cheese w/ lemon), Mycenae, new jewels, flirting salesman, shower doors, new hotel, watermelon on the road, Lou hitting the spider off Angie, Ali/Amanda garbage man check

Rome to Athens June 16, 2011

2011-07-07T19:08:00.004-06:00

June 16 - Ferry to Olympia to Iria

Worst breakfast ever! A hard boiled egg with a stale piece of bread and orange flavored water. We met up with others from our group ordering second breakfast at the coffee counter. Delicious hot chocolate and a pain au chocolat – YUM! We invited others to join us for our flashmob dance practice on the deck. A group of ladies with a few token male participants joined us for the fun; people passing by though steph was leading an aerobics class of misfits. The Ionian Queen docked in Patra and we happily exited ferry. WELCOME TO GREECE! Speaking Italian came more easily now that it was useless to the Greeks.

Me mellow on the deck - soaking in the sun!

From ferry to bus, another long commute to Olympia, arriving around 3 pm. Rachel has more connections in Greece, so we had lunch at her friend’s restaurant where Chelsea and Sandra got to go down into the kitchen and see what was cooking. Our first Greek meal was a success. Sandra had suggestions (after her kitchen visit) and our table ordered family style. The food tasted divine and every morsel was devoured. Souvlaki, Mousakka (“moose caka?!”), Briam, stuffed tomatoes, yogurt doused in honey, some kind of lemon cake, spaghetti, and French fries, and 2 Greek salads. Rain came in through the windows as we paid our bill, and continued to pour for the next hour or so. The restaurant exit led us to a souvenir shop where we easily spent money on Greek paraphernalia while waiting for the sun to show. Our favorite guide, soaked from her previous tour, changed into a shirt from Rachel and happily shared her knowledge about Olympia. Water did not hinder us, the things we did to stay warm and/or dry made for unflattering photos.

Our guide, Marguerita, was so explicit in her information that it was not difficult to imagine the Olympians preparing for the games right before our eyes. We saw the temple of Zeus (like he really had anything to do with anything), Marguerita explained that we are said to be created in God’s image whereas the gods at that time were created in the image of man – hence the weaknesses and problems of the gods (who would want to worship human gods, blech?!). Standing under trees when possible, we kept as dry as we could while she showed us the exfoliation process (oiled bodies covered in sand – Amanda tried it later and was a fan), the original eternal Olympic flame remnants and the original stadium. Statues of the cheaters and winners lined the entrance to the grassy stadium. Amanda and steph took off running in the mud, others followed soon after. How cool to say you ran in the original Olympic Stadium?! Neat though dangerous in the slick mud.we were so fast, we are now tiny and far away...

Olympia - wet I found out my vegan, yoga mat flip-flops... sud when wet.

Another 4 hours in the bus to get to our hotel in Iria on the beach. We arrived around 10:15pm, exhausted and hungry. Luckily our meal surpassed our breakfast a hundred fold! We drew our roommate sticks and found our big rooms with bunk beds at the Iria Mare hotel/resort. It was our shortest stay and the one with the best views and breakfasts. honey and yogurt! YUM

Rome to Athens days 3-4

2011-06-29T18:11:00.004-06:00

June 14 - Rome

Visited the Colloseum, the Roman Forum, the Vatican, and the Pantheon.

Carmine drove us on a simple tour before our actual venture through Rome by foot. We were able to see many sights from the comforts of the air-conditioned bus, Rachel talking non-stop, sharing her wealth of information with us… mocking Italian laws all the while. The bus emptied onto the sidewalk adjacent to the Colloseum and the adventure begins Whispers plugged into our ears and Rachel’s voice in our heads. Every view is picturesque and we took as many as we could before moving forward. The group gathered at the designated spot and eventually left Mississippi who willingly waited in a long line for an Italian bathroom. Our guide was full of information but lacked enthusiasm or personality, we left her and did our own thing… which was taking more pictures. Ali’s camera fascinated us with its panoramic capabilities.in the ColloseumThe Forum

The heat increased exponentially as we walked to The Forum. Those of us that took this tour in 2009 found new information with the informed questions and responses of others. Out came the umbrellas (parasols), providing shade for our hot, sticky selves, while others rolled their skirts up enough to show us their skivvies, yikes. Amanda enjoyed the fresh water fountains when available.

steph

Our group has yet to gel, though we had begun our own investigations and name memorizations. The bus transported us to lunch and the Vatican. Utah girls split for the first time. Some picked up food at an out of the way sit down restaurant that allowed take-away while the rest resisted killing each other and made it to a pizza place that lacked American style order. In the chaos, Mandy finally made it to a place of ordering food among the pushing and shoving Italians. Tanya, Chelsea, and steph ended up with what we thought was pineapple pizza - turned out to be potato pizza. Interesting, but delicious to our starving selves.

Another purchase of water for all of us and onto the Vatican. Tanya, remembering the hot security guys from last time, pulled out her makeup and primped a bit before entering to the enjoyment of the rest of us. We melted for longer than we expected and finally made it inside with only slight delays. Our guide spoke with magic, we loved her. Vatican City buzzed with people, but significantly less than I remember, we were able to stay with our umbrellaed leader and learn all there was to learn along the corridors and statues. The Sistine Chapel is being restored and looks amazingly colorful. Steph took an illegal photo of the ceiling while we asked questions and learned about the individual stories painted by Michelangelo above us.

St. Peter’s Basilica amazed us as the rays of sunshine cast a romantic ambiance through the cathedral. As the guide explained one painting, in particular, as a mosaic she immediately recognized Mandy as a non-believer and called her on it – “Doubting Thomas” go see for yourself – it was truly a mosaic, wow. The clouds came quickly, threatening rain, but allowed time for pictures of the Pope’s window, the Piazza, and the basilica. As the rain came down, we tourists purchased Nativities in the shops meant to be religious souvenirs to be blessed by the Pope later. The bus finally arrived to pick up our tired, wet group. We thought the night was over, but no, more walking. We traipsed through the quaint Italian streets as the sun diminished. We arrived at a closed Pantheon, but enjoyed live accordion music and romantic ambiance only Italian sunsets can provide. We retraced our walk under Italian street lamplight and called it an evening upon entering the bus yet again!

The Pantheon

June 15 - Pompeii to the Ferry to Greece

Mandatory early departure with bagged breakfast – consisting of chocolate filled sad-excuse-for-a-croissant, nutella we stole from the breakfast room, and a juice box. Fernando, our new bus driver, safely drove us 4 hours to Pompeii. Rachel spent the morning on the phone, rectifying our tardiness and the theft of Tanya and steph’s iPods the previous night. Rachel assured us a wonderful lunch with her friend, an Italian mobster if we chose to… it was unanimous. All 46 of us sat among friends in the fanciest restaurant we’d yet experienced. Lunch satisfied our hungry stomachs – fries especially. Fernando and Rachel called me pee-pee (for pippi longstocking), but it didn't sound like pippi...

Roberto, our Pompeii guide, used sarcasm and humor to keep our attention before we even departed for the entrance. This older gentleman kept us laughing as we hiked through the ruins of Pompeii. The rock and chariot driven streets led us to the center of commerce, the bakeries and their modern brick ovens, mansions, bath houses, and the like. The time came to see the ash preserved part of the city. We stood in awe as Roberto explained the petrified artifacts and petrified living creatures – a dog, a pregnant woman protecting the unborn child, small children, and grown ups – all preserved in their final living states of horror.

Tents of souvenir shops drew us Americans in. Tanya searched for a jersey, the salesman gathered random men to find the perfect fit for Tanya’s dad, “is he this size? How about him…” while Sandra used our new friend, Tracy from St. Louis, to help her haggle the price of a necklace down to 10 Euros – “Her husband won’t give her the credit card”. Back to the bus. 5 more hours. The race to beat the other EF group to the Ferry in Brindisi begins. We win.

We head to the Ferry (the Ionian Queen) with our luggage in tow. The security boys (literally young boys) did less than just wave us through, a very thorough security check. Ha. Semi-trucks were being easily backed onto the Ferry like sports cars and we were finally guided up the same ramp as the trucks into a doorway and up two escalators to a line of waiting EFers and lounging truckers – many ABFs and SBFs were being called out! Our rooms were nice enough and we immediately turned the coolers on… to no avail.

The air kicked on once the boat moved. We took our cameras an explored this ferry. We ended up doing the wave with some others from our bus and made friends with the 70s man and his three boys, who were older than we thought. We were exhausted. Dinner was at 9pm, nothing to write home about. Ali and Tanya somehow talked us into a nightlife even after we had showered and were in our jammies. Mandy and Amy were smart enough to go to bed.

quotes by steph, by fars by sandra, silliness by Ali and Tanya...

Tour group bonding begins. Sitting on the top deck overlooking the sea off the back of the boat, we met our new friends from St. Louis. Sandra and steph said goodnight and others joined them in retiring around midnight, but they were sidetracked with music coming from the discotech. We gathered the others and we danced our little hearts out until Tracy introduced the idea of a flashmob. We learned the quick little dance and couldn’t wait to teach others. Finally we went to bed, exhausted. Our AC worked far better than expected and most of us froze through the night. We woke up in Greece!

Rome to Athens 2011

2011-06-29T14:58:00.002-06:00

June 12 - Airport:

Salt Lake to Dallas to Amsterdam

Our 7-man crew flew from Salt Lake to Dallas/Fort Worth and had a 4-hour layover in a pentagonal paradise of chairs – our fortress for the day. Sandra introduced Mandy to speed scrabble and she LOVES to spell, while others slept, charged iPods at the special stations, and some were not “of” the game. We left DFW for Amsterdam and had a great flight over except aliens possessed Sandra’s headphones and screeching children awoke us on more than one occasion. Ali sat by herself on both flights because she is a loner J with a different itinerary, thanks to her stay in Germany. When we got to Amsterdam we encountered the slickest customs and security process ever! Compared to years past, this was an uneventful travel experience.

(steph is 1st class)

By Fars: upgraded to 1^st class (Tanya, Steph and Amy), the 9 inch curtain, sitting around our cove in the DFW airport, what do I do with the hot towel?, Chelsea falling exiting the plane, banana cake, Fuddrucker’s, speed scrabble, charging at a non-working outlet for hours, steph the alcoholic, Ali by herself, Sandra’s alien headset, fastest ever passport and security in Amsterdam, Ali’s pilot - Violet.

June 13 - Amsterdam to Rome

Flew from Amsterdam to Rome on a miniture plane with more space than the transatlantic flight we just exited, we were joined on the flight by the Australian Beach Volleyball team headed to a tourney in Rome (Sandra made quick friends with them by laughing uncontrollably at their Spanish). We gathered our baggage, quick as easy (I’ll keep this joke to myself), and met up with Amanda, who flew on her own dime. We waited a short time and met up with a random lady that let us know Rachel, our guide, would be back shortly with the rest of the EF tour of Americans. Last is best of all the game, so I suppose Mississippi is best, they were the only group to arrive after us – after 3 transatlantic flights YIKES.

We joined a small group from Ogden, a larger group from St Louis, Mississippi and a group from “fake” St Louis (Illinois) on the bus. First tourist stop, the Trevi Fountain - we had about an hour free time to visit the fountain do some site seeing in the area, plus grab some grub. This is where we had our first Italian pizza of the trip and also our first gelato. We paid for this delectable pizza by weight. After our quick jaunt, we met back as a group and visited the Spanish steps. By this time Mississippi had made it to the airport, where the women took a potty break, a water break, and then we all headed to the Hotel Presidente, just outside of Rome. It was an average hotel, probably a motel by US standards. We had our first pasta and mystery meat dinner in the hotel restaurant, feeling the exhaustion taking over we then retired to our rooms on the third floor – Yay for elevators!

By Fars: Laughing at the Australians trying to say 20 in Spanish - “bang me”, Trevi fountain, 1^st gelato, PIZZA!, Chelsea locked in the bathroom and Tanya’s tool kit, rooms close together, the great 8!, zoning out during dinner, sister missionaries on the Spanish steps, knowledgeable Rachel, ethnic Rachel, Ali as a horrible pick pocket, Rachel’s introduction to the 2 new “secret pockets” for women.

apparently I threw the coin with a hint of "the West Side" (last time's coin was to return to Rome, this one is for a LOVER)

Ali, Amanda, Chelsea, Amy, steph (me), Sandra, and Tanya

We found MISSIONARIES :)

Rome to Athens 2011

2011-06-23T14:38:00.000-06:00

June 12 - Airport:

Salt Lake to Dallas to Amsterdam

June 13 - Amsterdam to Rome

Ali, Amanda, Chelsea, Amy, steph (me), Sandra, and Tanya

We found MISSIONARIES :)

Trapped in a Bucket!

2011-04-17T23:39:00.002-06:00

Today was my day for sharing time in primary. I was teaching about the Atonement of Christ through an object lesson: jar of water, food coloring, and bleach. Easy Peasy.

We began by learning the 3rd Article of Faith: We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. The children found the words in the room and hidden under their chairs, then they lined up in order and we repeated the article together.

It was difficult to get through the lesson because they had seen the jar of water on the table, and that preoccupied most of their thoughts. They simply couldn't focus on anything else. So the time came to introduce the object lesson.

The water represents us, clean and pure. The food coloring represents bad decisions we make, or sins. As I dropped in the food coloring, it made really cool swirls and shapes... it was quite fascinating. I dropped in a few different colors and it began to turn black, yuck. I asked what happens to us when we sin and a small child in the back yells, "we get trapped in the bucket!"

Sometimes it is just the timing, the circumstance, or just the kid that makes the answers so funny, but I burst into laughter. Not the quiet kind that I can recover from quickly, but the loud giggly kind that just gets funnier the more inappropriate it is...

I'm standing in front of the jr. primary (with the substitute teachers and all) laughing uncontrollably. I tried a few times to recover, but ended up staring down at the dark water taking deep breaths and crying tears of laughter. A quick glance around the room found the pianist on the floor behind the piano wiping tears and shaking, the rest of the presidency trying to suppress laughter, the teachers looking at me with wonderment, and the children utterly confused.

It took a good 3 minutes to gather my wits. I proceeded to explain how the Atonement of Christ, through repentance, cleans us of our sins. I poured in the bleach (the Atonement) and waited for the miracle of cleansing to begin. Nothing. Finally the color lightened to a light blue. I was talking and explaining the repentance process, praying the color would bleach already. Whit handed me a fork and I stirred all while I spoke. The kids were so helpful and kind to pretend it was going as planned, "look Sister Doyle, it is getting lighter..." "... look it is almost clear blue..." until finally it did eventually clear up. Whew. I have no idea if the object lesson will make sense after all of the chaos, but I got the stomach work out of the day! (and the substitutes are thinking, "this is who is in-charge of our children?!") :) lucky you!

One, One, One-One

2011-01-01T21:12:00.007-07:00

The new year plans had been avoided until the eve of eve. Who knows what to do on the most anti-climatic holiday of the year?! I've been alive long enough to enjoy or regret enough new years to not want to put any time or energy into another one. Ali voiced the opinion that we try something fun and new (and what would that be, I thought). 3VE - the downtown Salt Lake City new year's party... but with a twist - get a hotel room. FUN! (hopefully)

Julio, Sandra, Ali and I headed into the heart of Salt Lake for the first activity of the evening - Broadway Sing-a-long at the Conference Center. We walked through bitter cold winds and snow, with Julio mumbling complaints the entire excursion.

The warmth of the theater rejuvenated our party enthusiasm and we sang broadway tunes to our heart's content. Julio grumbled about the singing and the cold, but found the Bounce House on the schedule and lead us straight there with enthusiasm (and me warning him continuously that we wouldn't be allowed in because we're older than 12). My attitude would not deter him and we ended up at the Salt Palace, next to the Grand Ballroom, with the bounce arounds.

AWESOME!! We placed our shoes in the shoe corral, like kids, took off our doubled-up coats, gloves, hats, scarves, extra socks and ran to the first bouncey toy we saw.

We were gladiators knocking each other off of pedestals, climbing dangerous air ladders to jump down giant slides, racing through an obstacle course, and enjoying Sandra and Julio's boxing match in the air ring.

Exhausted and thirsty we moved to the next exhibit... in the ballroom. Literally the Ball-Room.

2011 beach balls filled the ballroom, equipted with a DJ and video screen. We kicked, punched, juggled, spiked everything around us. The balls were sized from the small to over 6 feet high. We lined up the 3 foot balls and Julio ran and roll surfed across as many as he could. I was pelted in the face a plethora of times by random children and my friends alike. I loved the ballroom!! (my by far!) We'd spent hours in the bounce arounds and ballroom, having yet to experience the majority of activities on the schedule.

By this time more people were arriving to the party. The snow fell with vengeance, but I loved every minute of it. Outside the Salt Palace stood 20 million pounds of snow for the ski/snowboard jumpers. Through the snow we could see jumps and flips of skiers and snowboarders. Noah, a reporter from channel 4 news, came over and asked to interview me. Of course I brought Julio and Ali with me for the shot and who ends up on the news?! Julio, of course, yelling "dude, this is the place to be!" (or something like that) :)

As people arrived we took our dinner break and walked a mile to the Gateway for pizza at the Pizza Kitchen - YUM! Our waiter, Brad from Sandy, kept us entertained through dinner. We thawed the best we could. Post dinner plans took us to the Planetarium for a free laser show, which was full (and had been for hours, apparently), so I walked on the moon and studied the Earth then took a free ride on Trax. Laughing Stock at Off-Broadway was the next free show on our list and Trax dropped us off right in front of the theatre... into a line of people. We snuggled close in line and froze anyway. Luckily, we got in! Improv is hilarious. I laughed and laughed and laughed. Improv is unexplainable, but I HIGHLY recommend it to everyone.

We drank nasty hot chocolate to keep warm while we anxiously awaited the count down to 2011. The air invaded my warm clothing. It made its way through two coats, two pair of socks, boots, gloves, scarf, and hat. By the end of the bitter cold night, we cheered to fireworks and music and headed back to our hotel, happy not to have to drive home :) (sorry Julio, who had to risk the frozen roads home).

Laughter. Stomach wrenching laughter. Over nothing. That's what makes it awesome! This is going to be a GREAT YEAR!

WELCOME TO 2011 steph.

"Smurfette" by Lauren and Emma

2010-12-25T22:26:00.009-07:00

After eating fondu, decorating cookies, and opening family gifts, we did what most families do... we made a music video and a stop motion animation video :)

You Think You're Cooler than Me!?

2010-12-25T21:56:00.003-07:00

Oatmeal Breakfast

2010-11-02T17:43:00.002-06:00

I got to sleep in almost an hour today because I had a training at the district office (and they don't do anything before 8:30am). I placed my oatmeal and mixed berries breakfast on the roof of my car whilst I placed my laptop and schoolwork in the front seat. Normally I just throw it across the seat when I get in the car, so it was unusual to have my breakfast on the other side.

As I drove away, nothing happened.

Half way down 10600 South I heard a loud noise. I looked in the rearview mirror and noticed the mush running down the back window and the mug tucked against my spoiler. I pulled over and grabbed the mug. I decided that it was necessary to wash the oatmeal off before it crusts and causes issues later.

I was 20 minutes late to my training... yet it didn't really matter. It still makes me smile. Funny stuff!!

LIFE - really?!

2010-09-29T19:19:00.002-06:00

I did miss teaching math. Who knew?!

SPYHOP - Film School.

2010-08-14T17:20:00.002-06:00

Training for school, unpaid, 50+ hours, summer time early morning to evening ... sounds like a horror movie! Luckily, I loved every minute of it.

This past week a few teachers from Matheson were invited to participate in Spyhop training. An arts education grant paid for us to attend these workshops on how to incorporate film making into our curriculum, or to enhance our curriculum rather. Because I already love film making, this was a wonderful experience. We made short films about a box, a Public Service Announcement (PSA), a book trailer (like you'd see for movies), stop motion, and a short documentary.

Now when I see a movie or commercial, I can see all of the makings in motion. I feel like I would like to make a documentary about school and children, but I haven't moved past the desire stage yet (well, it has only been ONE day...).

Our documentary, "I Sleep with a Nightlight", was about Tanya and my dreams/nightmares. Tanya is afraid of Zombies and I am afraid of the dark (and many other things). I didn't see it coming together in such a short amount of time, but we pulled it off and I'm pretty confident ours was coveted by other people :)

Hawaii - the Oahu one.

2010-08-07T13:05:00.006-06:00

Island 1 - Oahu (Sunblock 70SPF everyday!)

Flew to Honolulu on the 4^th of July, picked up mini-van, and headed in crazy traffic to our hotel/condos: The Royal Kuhio. Angie, Mark, Levi and Dallin in one room, steph, Lauren and Luke in the cool room J We toured our area a little to find out what was around. McDonalds across the street, IHOP down the road a block, ABC stores, Starbucks, souvenirs, and that is all we could see from our balconies. We were starving so we ate dinner/lunch at IHOP with the “Despicable Me” minions. Food never tasted so good and our moods were much improved.

We tried swimming; I made it to my middle and never went deeper. The kids didn’t seem to notice that it was FREEZING! They played and played until their lips were purple. My room stayed up and watched the amazing fireworks over the buildings and some in the reflection of other buildings. They were spectacular!!

We headed to Kailua Monday morning. We looked for the scenic overlook, but ended up chasing chickens and going the wrong way. Finally we made it! The extended Vostis were there, as well as Auntie Lolie/Dave and his family. We played for hours in the ocean and on the deserted beach. We were practically alone. The water was clear and refreshing. We boogie boarded and buried Dallin. After a few hours we ate sandwiches at Auntie Lolie’s before heading back to the beach with everyone else. I took a nap with a shirt on my head (no need to sunburn on day 1). Dinner was deliciously BBQed ribs and corn. (A lot of fish in salads and ravioli!) It was a packed house and we ended the evening with a ping-pong tournament. I held my own against Tim (who took second place). Ryklyn won, but no one was surprised. There were a lot of laughs and much mocking! I spent most of the time tickling backs, ears, and heads. Lots of chaffing.

July 6 - We ate breakfast – yogurt, cereal, and toast… then headed to Pearl Harbor. Vosti went golfing while we went to tourist stuff. We arrived around 8am and received tickets for 11:30am, so we went to see USS Missouri. We got iPod touch headsets. There was a tour and video to go along with the entire ship. We went up top and down below, it was fascinating! I hadn’t realized that it was used in Desert Storm. It was enormous, but at the same time so claustrophobic (small and cramped spaces).

We finished the tour with Dippin Dots and root beer. The rains sprinkled us, but never enough to cause problems. The sun was ever present and soon shone strong… enough to cook us! I took pictures left and right, and nobody objected, always posing when I asked and smiling big. We bought souvenirs and then waited for our turn to boat out to USS Arizona and the memorial site. There were ginormous ships all around (the Reagan had planes and helicopters – HUGE). There was oil still leaking from the sunken ship (60 years later) and members from that ship can still be buried there, with a gun salute and everything out in the water. They are cremated and put into an airtight capsule and scuba dived down. One crewmember had passed away just a few months ago. We did our reverent observance and then headed back.

We met Mark back at the condo (super happy Mark... who shot an EAGLE!). We wanted to sleep the rest of the day away, so Angela started with 2 choices… “To go, or not to go” and Levi chose “not to go!” Ha ha! The choice was whether or not we hike Diamond Head, a volcano crater with a gorgeous view of the ocean. I could have slept, but thought that I should see what I could see and do what I could do. We hiked a steep mountain side in the blazing sun, sweat dripping and Angie claiming to be dropping the McDonald’s fries from her hips left and right (and I was too)! We climbed the switchbacks then a stairway to heaven and through barracks to the top. The view included the oceans several colors blue, from turquoise to navy, a lighthouse, and a beach town. Angie was terrified of Levi jumping to his death, so didn’t enjoy the beauty as much as we did. As we descended, a rainbow appeared in the bright blue sky.

Hanauma Bay – 7:30am. Because of Angela’s perfect planning, we beat most of the crowds and found good parking, grass for our home base and snorkeling before it became too murky to see the fish. We watched a video on how to take care of the plant life (coral) and to be kind and not walk on it. Several people still did, idiots. I took about an hour to warm up to the idea of snorkeling. I went out with Angie and Lauren. We found several species and enjoyed pointing at them and giving each other a thumbs-up for our discoveries! We swam around with our heads under water for a long time. I felt too close to nature sometimes and tried to keep from hyperventilating, remaining calm for Lauren’s sake. At one point I was a foot above a dark hole that had tentacles coming in and out – an octopus. I froze. Remained calm. Slowly I forced myself to propel away from it. PHEW! I didn’t alarm anyone, but we did get out shortly thereafter.

Luke and I snorkeled a bit later… he was terrified, but did a great job. At one point we were pointed out the glowing clear fish when out of nowhere a fish, on its side, elevated from the ocean floor and swam a few feet, covered in sand, and disappeared back on the floor. Luke and I smiled at our discovery and called it a day. The boys chased pigeons and chickens for hours and Angela fed us with delicious egg salad sandwiches. Lauren, Luke and I played made up games in the waves and the beach, by trying to stay in one place. We ate pizza at Auntie Lolie’s.

The Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) July 8 (happy birthday grandma Ruth)

Our first stop was the Dole Pineapple plant. We saw their acres of pineapples, some regular with others mixed with different fruits. We didn’t stay long. Just enough to take pictures talk to a couple missionary and learn the distances to cities around the world.

Hawaiian Temple was closed for remodeling and construction. We were still able to visit a little of the grounds and take pictures. The welcoming missionary gave us flowers for our hair (or nose, if you’re Luke). Lauren took some great photos with my camera! It is a beautiful place! Some tour buses pulled up after us. We drove through BYU Hawaii, and I wished, deep down, that I had gone there for a semester back in the day. Lastly, we ended up at our destination – the PCC.

The Church just knows how to make places successful and organized. The grounds are beautiful. The park is split up into different Islands – Fiji, Tahiti Tonga, and Samoa, Hawaii, New Zealand… The sun hung high and hot! We were melting. We visited a few countries – tasting Poi (tastes like bland oatmeal), tattooing our arm, neck, leg, or foreheads, playing games with jumping or sticks (Angie and Mark are competitive), and finally sitting a moment to watch the canal parade of cultural dancing. Each boat represented and island and their dances and costumes. They were amazing. We didn’t finish it because we couldn’t stand the heat anymore. SNO CONES!! They were $4.00 big, and we could barely finish them. HEAVEN. We learned the hula, watched the funniest comedian ever explain how to make fire, open a coconut, get the juice, make the milk, and how to climb a palm tree.

We ate a buffet dinner. Everyone got what they wanted and enjoyed sitting in the air conditioning. We were exhausted. The big show HA was later that evening, so we watched the IMAX movie of the island’s story before heading to the outdoor theatre. The fire dances were eye catching and awesome. I slept through some of the quieter dancing. It was a production!! Loved it!

We slept in and relaxed Friday. Souvenir shopping at the outdoor market/International Market. The crazy trees were fascinating and we commented on them each time we saw one – with roots growing from the branches and into the ground all around it. Straight out of The Hobbit or something. After each kid got their souvenir from grandma and grandpa Doyle, we got ready for the beach, Waikiki Beach. Just to say we did. We had to go through the hotels to get to it. Everyone was towel to towel packed on the beach. The kids played with the rest of the world, while I sat under a towel and took pictures (and a nap). We watched the line of the sun slowly move the shade across the beach until it finally encompassed all of the sand. We packed up and headed home. More chaffing.

Early morning flight to Kauai!

Chelanigans (Part 2)

2010-08-06T14:30:00.007-06:00

We had a little get together planned at the Kelly’s home with friends Brisa, Lindsay, the Kellys (Linda, Pat, Brogan, and Anna), and a visit from Jo Anna too. They live in a perfectly quaint neighborhood and home. It overlooks the water and made for a wonderful view during dinner (minus some of the threatening clouds and sprinkles of water). They had a delicious dinner set out – chicken, cheese, drinks, crackers, European styled everything. It was perfect! We laughed all evening. Lindsay’s baby entertained us for hours (adorable). In the middle we went to see Anna sing at her recital, she is amazing. The whole family is amazing! It was late, we were exhausted, and the kids had school, so we parted for the evening… as Brogan searched for weed outback…

We ate a delicious breakfast at a farmhouse – Blueberry Farms. They had fresh everything that makes a perfect breakfast, whilst overlooking beautiful countryside. We had made plans to see Stehekin, but it would take all day and we wouldn’t be able to see everyone and hang out, so we saved ourselves some money and went to the Jr. High/High School of Chelan.

The seniors were practicing for graduation (that evening) and we were able to see a few of the kids we rode on a bus with through Europe. It was funny to see them glance over and startle a little, “hey, it’s Utah!” Then wave. The rest of the school has to continue to go to classes for another week! Half of the school is the high school and the other is the jr. high. We visited Brisa’s Spanish classroom – and her HOT substitute Mr. Pearl. We had to drag Ali out of there!

We walked around the adorable little town and met people around the way, played at the lake then ended up at the famous pizza place – Local Myth’s Pizza (with the statue of David throughout). It was delicious. Pat and Linda joined us. We have such easy (and hilarious) conversations I feel like we’ve known each other forever. We purchased some Chelan attire and went our separate ways.

Sandra and Amanda prepared a delectable BBQed dinner. We sat out on the deck, overlooking the lake, and elegantly ate the magnificent meal. We ate garlic sprouts (like asparagus) grilled in butter and limes, grilled pineapple, chicken, and fish that we purchased in Seattle (at Pike’s Place). We felt foolish after realizing our conversation revolved solely around the food: “These limes are so juicy” “I love these onions” “The flowers are really good” “I like pineapple…I LOVE pineapple” but it was all true, so it was hard not to.

Ali and I wanted to take a night swim. The weather was warm and so was the pool. It was calling my name...screaming it actually and I couldn't wait to swim. We rolled back the cover quickly and efficiently - Ali and I are a good team - as we pulled the last foot out of the pool, I squeaked a scream and jumped away from the pool. Ali mocked me before realizing that her "pine cone" was a dead mouse. It was white and wrinkled. i scooped it up with the pool scooper and dumped it into the bushes below. I didn't want to swim anymore.

Saturday was for relaxing. We slept in, ate French toast for breakfast, read books, swam, and lay by the pool. "Alejandro" (our pool boy) came and cleaned the pool. I don't know his real name, Jason or something. It was another perfect day. We swam and swam. Brogan and Anna called and wanted to visit. So they stopped by with Andrea and we took them on a tour of the house then played by the pool telling funny stories.

That night we ate dinner at Tin Lilies with Pat and Linda. Brogan and Andrea (his jr. high girlfriend) came later. It was an adorable place (we took pictures of the bathroom and made sure everyone took their turn seeing it in person). We also requested t-shirts from them. Many quotes made it into the quote book that evening!! After dinner we strolled through town. The new graduates were out and about. We stopped in to see a band play at the local coffee shop. After a little while we noticed that Linda knew everyone. She is the person to know in Chelan J

Church on Sunday was half way between our house and downtown Chelan. Before sacrament meeting started a nice woman came and welcomed us to church. We explained why we were in Chelan and whom we’d come to visit and to our surprise she responded “THE Kellys?!” Like they were the Donald Trumps of Chelan or something. We felt cool, yeah, we know THE Kellys. It was a good meeting; love the church everywhere you go!

We stopped by to say goodbye to the Kellys and head to Seattle, but ended up spending all day with them! They took us through old Chelan, up and through the mountains, rivers, and old buildings. We saw a water snake skipping across the river and a beautiful waterfall of turquoise water. It was a gorgeous tour! They told stories of old and legends and pointed out everything they could see. We learned about the apples orchards being bought out and how they are now a vinery country with expensive wines and grape juice (they’d always throw that in for our benefit! So kind.) We visited the homegrown stores and some beautiful reception buildings. We loved it! So sad we had to head home already.

Ali got sick on our trip back to Seattle so I drove the rest of the way through the Cullen’s lands. Levensworth, a town similar to Midway/Heber, was a stop on our way to Seattle. We had a $100 gift card we needed to use. Ali slept in the SUV while we window shopped and ended up with little trinkets to take home. We also ate in a dim lighted place with delicious food.

We arrived at our hotel late into the night. Ali was starving and ordered room service. Grilled cheese and Fries. They came with mini ketchup and mustard, so cute. She was still sick L and went to bed. We stayed at the Hilton, and felt like queens! Fancy! Too bad we just fell asleep and left bright and early (4:30am I believe – to get people home to go to work).

I want to live in Chelan!

Seattle so soon!

2010-06-30T17:43:00.003-06:00

I flew to Seattle (via Spokane) on Thursday. My friends were running the 1/2 marathon and I would be taking their pictures crossing the finish line :)

Sara, Mary, Britt-Marie, Jason and Kerry would be running, steph, Mindi, Sam, Kemi, and Chris would be cheering them on!

We all stayed at Mary and Sam's house... a five minute walk from the Space Needle. We saw all of the sights and were a very silly group. We laughed and played games every day.

Mary's kids were off their schedule, but still had fun with us.

Mia (4 1/2) talks with a really low raspy man-voice and Trevon (2) walked around and giggled (though he didn't like me until the day I left). We ate at all the cool places in town and took pictures of everything.

I learned to play NERTS, a stressful game of SPEED/SOLITAIRE/SKIPBO all mixed together with our group of 10!

It was sunny and beautiful every day we were there, apparently unusual, but both times I've been there this month were beautiful! Makes me want to live there... but I couldn't handle the rain and grayness!

Good Friends and Fun!!

Chelanigans (part 1)

2010-06-15T17:47:00.008-06:00

European Reunion in Chelan, WA

Last summer my friends and I took a trip through Switzerland, Italy, and France with a busload of crazies... I mean, people... (read about it on my blog - which this is - so this blog, just earlier) and loved them. SO, we decided to make a trip to this small town of BIG personalities and see what it was all about.

I think I'm moving there ;)

Day 1 - SLC to Seattle

The plane takes off, a little low for my comfort, into a lightning storm. I watch the lightning strike over the Great Salt Lake and wonder if we’ll be hit soon. As those thoughts are going through my mind, I’m also noticing how low we are still flying and we seem to be struggling, but again, I’m not running this show – what do I know?! After we are lost in the gloomy clouds I relax and sit back with dad’s noise cancelling headphones keeping me company. It isn’t long until the turbulence kicks in. The plane is being tossed around like I’ve never experienced. It would drop suddenly over and over, and at times I was in the lap of the, not so hygiene-happy, guy next to me. I tried to remain calm, keeping my eyes closed and my fists clenched. I imagined my funeral.

I wondered who would come and what it would be like. Hopefully bright – no black allowed – short and sweet (who wants to sit there forever) and everyone would know I was in a beautiful place (fingers crossed). Then I realized my friends were on my same plane. Would we have a joint funeral? Would our other friends have to go to 5 different funerals? That would be tough on people. I figured my death would be pretty clean since I wouldn’t leave any kids without a mom or husband or anything. So I said my prayers and repented of anything I could think of, and made my peace. Then the skies calmed and I fell asleep, arriving safely over Seattle. I could have said safely in Seattle, but the landing was crazy wild! We skidded all over the runway, LITERALLY! Again I made close friends with my smelly neighbor as we swerved hard to the right. The announcement at the end “be careful, luggage may have shifted in the flight” was met with loud NO KIDDINGs and YOU THINK?!s (yes, I was one of those). We lived.

The shuttle took us right to the Holiday Inn Express (thanks Andy) and we entered our suite. It was sweet! A kitchen, front room with pullout couch, 2 queens and 2 TVs (in case Amy wanted to watch her own). The hallway was musty hot and a bit smelly, but the room was lovely. We set up camp, ordered pizza and drinks, and watched some TV. I forgot my jammies.

Amy, Ali, Amanda, steph and Sandra.

Breakfast was delicious; cheese omelets, toast, bagel, yogurt, juice, cinnamon roll, muffins, cereal… anything! YUM! Sandra and Ali went to pick up the rental car from a guy named Ali (Ali’s new best friend). He made them laugh, mocking their idea that 5 girls and girl luggage would fit in the Malibu, and talked them into an SUV. BRILLIANT! We fit perfectly and enjoyed the upgrade. Off to the market.

I helped Ali park in a stall made for compact cars!

The flowers were GORGEOUS and inexpensive (notice I didn’t say cheap… they weren’t cheap in anyway). We made mental notes to come back on our way out. We tasted all the fruit as we passed the samplers, tasted the bread and vinegar, the dried fruit, the pasta… who needs lunch after that?! We needed a sweatshirt for Ali, she is a sweatshirter when it comes to vacation. We found a shop on the corner where you pick out the item and then the design and they make it for you right there. I found some yoga pants (for my new jammies) and printed TEAM JACOB down the side – its not Forks or La Push, but I’m in the right state at least.

lucky pig.

As we walked back past our sampled areas, we purchased those delicious samples for our time at the lake house. Sandra and Amanda bought fish just to see the hot guys yell and throw them across the counter. A counter, mind you, that Sandra can’t even see the over… it is above her head! Then we stopped at the pasta place, the fruit stand, the vegetables, the delicious dried apples and the gorgeous bouquets of bright flowers. We would be fine dining in Chelan (of course, Sandra is with me, so it is always fine dining).

We ate lunch at a little soup, salad, and sandwich shop before hurrying back to our time limited parked car. (We were entertained by some street singers and people watching while we ate).

(I promise I did go on this trip, though there aren't many pictures to prove it!)

I love the laid back atmosphere. I love the fresh food and the fresh flowers. I love that it isn’t even expensive for quality stuff. Where is MY market in South Jordan? Where are MY fresh flowers every day?

The drive begins. Over the mountains and through the woods singing to our homemade mixed tapes (CDs), Glee, American Idol, and other favorites while watching the weather switch from gloomy clouds to sunshine to clouds to sunshine…

At one point I notices the fog and darkness and I KNEW that is where those vampires must live, it totally makes sense.

We were quick and efficient – Ali our driver and Sandra our GPS – and rolled into town right on time.

We slowly drove down the main street and found ACE Hardware, where the Kellys are known to be, and found a grocery store right away… the Safeway. These locals know we’re not from town and looked us up and down with warm smiles and nods. We raced around to pick up the few items Sandra assigned us and met at checkout, all with our adorable matching purses. Ali gave them to us as travel gifts – adorable. As we headed out to Manson (the town that houses our house) we saw this:

mmmm.

THE LAKE HOUSE – the Blair House (Sounds a bit creepy doesn't it?!)

We parked in the carport (made for several cars) and walked up the stone entrance to the house. The keypad opened on our first try and we now had access to our home for the weekend. It smelled like a grandma’s house, or a rental, which it is so no worries. Our rooms each had a theme.

Amanda got the brightly feathered room,

Amy, the Victorian master bedroom,

Ali, the animal wild room, and

Sandra and I shared the Nautical room (or the kid room – my bed had a plastic cover on the mattress…nice). We took a quick look around – pool table, foosball, pool, hot tub, and VIEW OF THE LAKE. Ahhh. It takes your breath away.

Life's a Zoo!

2010-06-04T21:20:00.009-06:00

We planned a girl's day for our "birthdays" (covering 5 months of time!)

Lunch and Hogle Zoo!

It was an overcastly beautiful day. A nice breeze kept us alive and walking. Poor mini Rios couldn't enjoy our day to it's fullest because of the several shots he had the day before. His legs were swollen and sore, I felt bad for him. He was a trooper and rode in the stroller (unless I was carrying him around).

The zoo is not like I remember it as a child. Many of the animals are scarce - no zebra, no hippos, no polar bears, no lions... it was a little tear-jerking. Though they have made some of the habitats (like the elephants) cooler.

We took a tour on the carousel and then a short train ride (now that was EXACTLY like I remember it) around the same old story row. Mini Wade and I sat right behind the conductor. We couldn't understand a word or breath, but loved every minute staring at the train engine!

But the kiddo's real highlight was the playground!!

I had a wonderful time. It's fun being an "adult" :)

Breast Friends (girl's nite part 2)

2010-05-09T23:09:00.004-06:00

THE RACE:

We awoke around 6:15 am. Some of the girls showered for the race, hmmm. Angie wore her "old" capris and forgot a shirt. We got ready and headed to the car. We left Ashley behind in the bathroom. 10 minutes later I returned to the hotel room to check on her. She wasn't there. In the back of my mind I rememebered the creepy guy that entered the building a minute ago and tried to recall any details about him. I came back to the car and she wasn't there either. I called her phone and no one answered. I freaked out a little in my head. Then she called. She was in the lobby.

We arrived to the bustle of Breast Friends, Ta Tas, 2nd basers, boobs etc. I love the ambiance of the race. Its quite spirited. I tried to retrieve my Chevron pink car, but another survivor ahead of me took the last one :( (with a little shove and a "I was here first" growl - she did not enjoy cancer I guess, she seemed really grumpy). My stomach was doing crazy things and I didn't feel so good. The mexican food was coming back to haunt me.

We met up with Andy and Tyson, Kevin and the boys, Ali, Sandra, Amanda, Brittany, Devon, and Corey. Later I ran into the Szymanski sisters (I sprinted up and kicked her in the bum) and my former students, Shelby and Aubrey (their mom has breast cancer too, I see them every year now - Shelby was my emo student I always worried about)!!

We headed to the starting line and I needed a bathroom RIGHT AWAY! It was an emergency, but with 18,000 people the restrooms were crowded with more than 50 people each! We walked to the starting line, where there were promises of more bathrooms, and there was another huge line of people waiting for port-a-potties. Just to inform you of my fear of port-a-potties, I've used probably only 3 in my life. I stood in line, ready to die. Beads of sweat were forming, I felt faint and really delusional. The feelings would come and go. I didn't think I'd make it and I prayed for help.

I was devising a plan of how to cut in line, so I didn't have an accident, when I saw Angela waving frantically for me to follow her. I did. She had found a random potty with only 4 people in line. When she had asked what they were in line for, they eyed her curiously and pointed to the potty, like it was too obvious for her to miss. It wasn't special or anything so she tried to flag me down from the line, gave up, and just ran and to get me. I was 8th in line now and knew I wouldn't make it. When there was only one person a head of me, I almost tackled her and pleaded for me to go ahead of her. She looked shocked, but allowed me to go! WHEW! I barely made it... and I felt better. I thanked my Heavenly Father for answering my prayers... and Angie for listening.

Andy, Tyson, and Ashley took off with the gunshot. I met up with the girl's and Kevin. We walked for a bit then Kevin took the lead with his 2 kid stroller and we trailed single-file behind him. He clipped a few walkers and cut off some wheelchairs, but he was persistant and we kept a steady pace. I believe we all ran more than the 3 miles because we cut across three lanes of traffic back and forth the entire time. I thought it went easily and quickly. I guess the company, music, and atmosphere made running feel easy.

I lined up with the other survivors and we stood around for 45 minutes. Old ladies cracking jokes about surviving cancer and dying in line waiting for the SURVIVOR'S parade. I have graduated to the next group - 6-10 year survivors! HOORAY! We got a pink carnation and a white one. One for us and one for those who support us! We walked through the thousands people and the cheered us on. My Breast Friends cheered super loud and waved!

We crammed hundreds of us onto the steps and got a group SURVIVOR picture taken (like we do every year). It is a very emotional time for most of these ladies. I just think its fun! They play the theme song and I dance along waving my flowers while others cry around me. One 84 year old lady told me to keep dancing because she was following my lead! Adorable!

I had another emergency potty stop (at a real bathroom) before I met up with my group again. Then we headed back to the hotel. Ashley went home with Andy - not feeling well.

SHOWER AND LUNCH:

We arrived at the lobby at noon (check out time) and asked for an extension to shower and get ready. They gave us until 2pm. She asked for our room number and seemed shocked. "We've been trying to get a hold of you since 7 this morning. You said your toilet was clogged, but had a do not disturb sign on your door" ha ha ha. So we checked, and sure enough our toilet was clogged - Ashley Janell and I were all suffering from the same thing... though we have no idea what that is. Mary took Heidi home and she went home to shower and get ready. We showed and got ready at the hotel and checked out by 1:30 pm. We met Mary at her house and went to a Bake for Hope sale (for breast cancer). We bought some goodies and met up again at Zupas.

I order my new staple (thanks to Mark) Nuts about Berries and turkey cranberry (no sprouts) pannini. DELICIOUS. Angie spilled her some of her soup, but ate like it never happened. We continued talking about stuff until our eyes started drooping... so tired. Another successfully fun GIRLS WEEKEND!

Girl's Nite (weekend)

2010-05-09T23:07:00.001-06:00

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOM!!

Girl's Weekend:

PEDICURES: We met at the hotel, in the lobby, at 3:00pm. We all arrived within a few moments of one another, except Ashley because there was no direct communication about the outline, just assuming she knew. We were checked into room 245 at the Hyatt in Sandy. We dropped off our stuff in the suite and headed to 106 South for our pedicures at the spa school.

Some of our girls were better than others, mine was lost. She spoke very little English, though she was fervent in asking me questions. I avoided eye contact and made sure to keep up conversation with my sisters in the room, in hopes that she would leave me alone. Ali told me that the rule is to ask 2 questions and if that doesn't strike up a conversation, stop asking. She did, eventually.

My feet soaked in the foot tub, luke warm at best, while everyone got situated. Aubrey finally realized that her lady had set up camp at the other end of the room, setting up her station, completely unconcerned that she didn't have a client. Aubrey gathered her stuff and moved for her.

My pedicurist was rough with the tools and light with the files. I held back the cries of pain and tried to relax in the vibrating chair.

The conversation moved quickly from Levi stories, to primary, to last year's funnies and to the planning of next year's girl's weekend... "Mom will be here next year!"... "That's what we said LAST year!" :)

Next came the WAX. The girls kept talking about how EXTRA hot the wax was but then proceeded to put everyone's feet in it. Heidi foot burned on the first dip and she was VERY reluctant to put it back in, but eventually did. I saw that the wax was being done over my shoes, so I leaned down and moved them back away from the wax. The ladies didn't seem to notice...or care. It was my turn and I dipped my feet into the HOT wax. It WAS HOT!! I just sucked it up and did the 3 dips. After my first foot she was supposed to put my foot into a plastic bag, but instead she set it on the towel (where the wax came off immediately) and then dipped my second foot. She put the plastic on my second foot and then tried to put one on my first foot...

She noticed the wax had come off and made me dip one more time in the wax. She then lost control and spilled the wax onto my chair and the floor. I looked down and saw some wax on my new shoes, sad. I pushed them behind my chair (who knew there would be crock pots of wax uncontrollably hovering BETWEEN our chairs?! Only later to find that the wax spilled on everything I owned!

I found it IN my shoes as well as all over the outside, on my CANNON camera, and on my VENEZUELAN purse. I've been peeling wax off of my things to this very moment. Luckily I am a very calm person and I don't put too much emphasis on material items.

We left with soft feet and bright toes. Delightful. We picked up Ashley and some swimsuits then were on our way.

DINNER AND SHOPPING -PARK CITY

We headed to Park City in Mary's van and talked the entire ride. We don't seem to ever run out of things to talk about. I do love girl's weekends every year! We ended up at Loco Lizard for dinner. It sounded delicious and wasn't too far out of the way. We sat next to the family that walked behind our moving vehicle and glared at us the rest of the way into the restaurant. We ate the delicious homemade chips and two kinds of salsa before ordering waters and lemon... well except for Heidi, who made it very animatedly clear that she was not be assumed to order a water but would be drinking an actual drink! :)

Onto the OUTLETS. We made a plan of stores to hit and then scrapped it and started at the bottom and worked our way up. Shopping after dinner is a good deterrent for purchasing clothing. Who enjoys shopping when FAT on mexican food?! NOT I! I didn't try on anything until the NIKE store. Then I purchased an outfit at Zumiez. I ran into my Vice Principal and his family. I thought he went to give me a hug, but I shook his hand instead... kind of awkward.

We ended our outlet shopping at DownEast Outfitters. It was closed and we had Angie, Heidi, Aubrey, and Ashley running in and out of the dressing rooms with so many wonderful finds! Aubrey felt she was wearing clothes that the others were buying so when she saw Heidi come out of the dressing room with the shirt on that she had in her hand, she nonchalantly hung it up on the return rack. We talked Angie into purchasing an outfit that she couldn't believe in, but we did. We talked Heidi into a $10 skirt, though she looked great in everything.

Angie got a free accessory with her outfit purchase. We picked out a bracelet for her and Heidi laughed out loud. She took it anyway. We all laughed. Apparently it was DownEast's opening night! We were happy to have helped them open up! We were a bit delerious by this point and everything was silly and we were giggly. Heidi was hilariously spacey and it continued to get worse :)

GROCERY STORE:

We ended up back in Sandy at Target. We piled out of the van and walked toward the now closed store... it closes at 10 pm. We then drove to Smiths on 13th. There was a moment where we thought it looked closed, but we planned on breaking our way in regardless. Heidi noticed the Arbys and requested we stop for a shake on our way out, we were all interested!

We meandered around Smiths looking for odds and ends, without any idea of what we were there to purchase. We each came out with some breakfast items and Angie, a case of water. Ashley was in and out and lost for a bit, cute boy alert or creepy... I can't remember. We stopped at Arby's for shakes... "shake machine is broken" WHAT?! "Peel out Mary!! Just peel away!" yelled Heidi. We laughed and Mary drove away. We headed down to McDonalds for shakes. Aubrey and I ordered Parfaits and the others got shakes. It all worked out. YUM!

We made the full circle back to our hotel and parked. Ashley looked around, "we're not in Park City?!" HA HA HA!!

We set up our beds and got things ready for the run in the morning. We moved the bench away from the wall and built a cozy watching the movie area. Most girl's nights involve a chic flick, we chose Sherlock Holmes... and then fell alseep about 15 minutes into it. Angie and I looked around at all the sleepy heads, stopped the movie, and called it a night.

I forgot my quote book, so here are some quotes I wrote in my phone:

"I guess you'll just have to have one tomorrow" - angie "I'm done with tomorrow, we should get something we want today" - Heidi

"Angie will want to shop at Bass" - Heidi

"I don't even know what Imodium does" - Angie

"That's unfortunate" - Heidi

"Hey look Chico's is opening soon! Angie knows all about Chicos... remember her story..." - Heidi "they're CHINOS" - angie

"I don't even have cheek bones" - steph "nope just dimples" - angie "it can go in your dimples" - heidi

"I FORGOT MY CABOODLE!!" - angie (followed by hours of laughter) "what's a caboodle?" - ashley "a tackle box of makeup" - aubrey

"It was a special group of crazy people" - ashley "did you tell them you were boy crazy?!" - steph (angie's uncontrollable laughter... to tears)

"this isn't Park City!?" - ashley

BY FARS: the sliding doors in the hotel.

the crooked door in the bathroom.

walking around in the fake flip flops from the pedicures... Heidi poking my toe to make sure I could put on my regular shoes without smudging my nail polish.

the frantic trying on clothes at DownEast.

The driving miles around Sandy looking for an open grocery store.

carting around water bottles and finding the exact ones at the race.

green bananas... in angie's pocket... in Heidi's pocket... in angie's car...

sunshine and laughter.

the "hot" waiter at Loco Lizard. - ashley

ashley not sure what she ordered, but smiled and nodded anyway.

Don't get all "cheer mom" on me...

2010-04-15T19:03:00.003-06:00

"Cheer mom sexted pictures of her daughter's rival cheerleader..." "Mom stole daughter's identity and became a high school cheerleader..." "Cheer mom sues team..." WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?

This is a typical East Side story, not Magna's. I've heard the horror stories of THE Cheer Mom, but I've never truly experienced it... until NOW.

One day a crazy lady attacks the principal with allegations of Ms. Doyle's lack of morals and vulgar dance moves. Of course, if you'd ever met Ms. Doyle you'd know that is completely untrue, and the principal said so. This lady visited the principal's office on several occassions with random complaints about Ms. Doyle's dance program and her daughter's talents (which were lacking, believe me). Several teachers avoid her, at all cost, because she is loud, rude and overbearing. Who wants to deal with that if you don't have to?! (yeah, me neither).

She had always been very polite to Ms. Doyle and continues to be polite, to this day. Had she not heard the horror stories from the principal, she'd have NO IDEA there was an issue. (Ms. Doyle only found out because the principal had to clear up the allegations... which she did, easily).

Cheer daughter, we'll call her, did not make grades to tryout for cheerleading. whew. She set out to fix the grade issues... along with her mother. They bullied teachers into allowing cheer daughter to turn in late work - post 3rd term grades. Her GPA raised from a 2.3 to a 3.2. Ugh. It did make some sense because she had a broken arm, but she used that as a reason to get out of work until she realized how badly it affected her grades, then she tried to play victim.

The principal spent MANY hours discussing cheer daughter issues, with the principal keeping her ground. Finally, it came down to the "Eligability Committee" meeting deciding that she would be allowed to tryout for Dance Company (2.5 GPA required), but not cheerleading. Ms. Doyle had to inform cheer daughter of the verdict. She was not happy.

Cheer mom called Ms. Doyle. She was polite and the conversation was calm and Ms. Doyle blamed everything on the "Eligability Committee"'s decision. Poor principal got to spend a few more hours in annoying meetings with crazy cheer mom and dad. LONG STORY short... Ms. Doyle had to assure the principal that she had very thick skin and couldn't care less about what parents say about her... especially crazy ones. Allow the girl to tryout and avoid all of this chaos. Cheer mom manipulated and threatened the school with lawsuits and hassles until the principal had to cave to her demands... though she let her boil until half way through tryouts before allowing it.

cheer daughter made it. Too bad she was really good! :)

I better not have to deal with this... oh wait, I haven't dealt with it yet. THANKS AWESOME SUPPORTIVE PRINCIPAL!

My filming debut

2010-03-21T19:19:00.012-06:00

I have always dreamed of making a movie. I have no skills or training that would make me good at it, but I have wanted to none the less. I wrote a short story and began the filming of that story yesterday.

I had a vision of what I wanted and made a script and storyboard to help me fulfill my vision. I also gathered a crew of geniuses. Sandra for my costumes and set design , Ali for hair and make up , and my actors: Amy is Barbie ("Milli") Julio is GI Joe (Joe) and Ken (Carson) is played by Blake . Who wins Barbie's heart in the end? You'll have to see the movie to find out!

I had made all the arrangements and decorations weeks in advance. Saturday morning's shoot was to begin at 10 am. I had all characters ready and had some extras to be at the party. 10am comes and I receive texts and calls from flakey friends who "had something come up" and I was left with 2 extras. Lame. Luckily, well an answer to prayer, my family showed up unexpectedly. Ashley pulled up with 4 kids in her car and later Matt also came with 2 kids. My original plan has now turned into something a little different.

We dressed them in the costumes we had for my other extras: Pippi Longstockings , Bob the Builder , Barbie's mom , Barbie's sister, Skipper ,Darth Vader and a storm trooper , Harry Potter , some Bratz dolls , Matt will be found in most shots as Waldo , Andy showed up later and we put him in the Alvin costume , and a homemade Cabbage Patch Doll made a quick appearance .

It was a fun couple of hours and I got about 8 minutes of footage in that time. Now I'm onto the editing process, which is more difficult than I had planned. My newer Mac has the new firewire connection and I couldn't locate the right wire yesterday. Now it is time to organize a photo shoot of Barbie and her two beaus, some wedding shots, some catching butterflies shots, picnics etc.

My goal is to have a film in the Gangrene Film Festival next September! I'll keep you posted.

The Over exaggerated Locker Room Incident by steph doyle

2010-03-12T23:07:00.002-07:00

It was 2nd period at Matheson Jr. High School in Magna Utah. Ms. Doyle was preparing for her class while the dancers were getting dressed in the locker room. As she does every day, Ms. Doyle takes a stroll through the locker room... checking for graffiti and sluffing students, and to tell her girls to hurry to class. As she approaches the door a small 7th grade student runs out with a friend, "there's fighting in there" then continues to run away. Ms. Doyle storms in yelling "HEY! WHAT'S GOING ON?!"

Scattering feet is all you can hear, no voices and no other noises. It's eerily silent. She sees her three students, roughed up, blochy red skin and eyes, and a mix of terror and anger in their expressions. One girl is on her phone with her mom, blood on her hand from a scratch and hair a mess.

"What happened?"

"They jumped Citali, Ms. Doyle! We weren't just going to sit there... we had to help... three on one... we had to protect her...self defense..." She rambled on and on. Ms. Doyle nodded, of course you had to help. She would too if it had been her friends, though she does not condone fighting.

"Who was it?"

"We don't know them... I swear!"

Ms. Doyle makes sure everyone is okay and walks into the hallway, the other girls fled minutes ago and could be anywhere. It doesn't help that they don't know who they are, but someone does and she would find them. Just then, two little 7th graders walk by nervously. Ms. Doyle looks at them and the little blonde one bursts out with, "Our teacher said we had to change that's why we were in the locker room we had to change our teacher said we had to so we did..." "Okay," Doyle says flatly, "did you see anything? What happened?"

"we don't know, but a girl in our class recorded it on her phone."

"who?"

"Kimberly... or Michelle... one of the twins" and the girls continue to discuss which twin is in their class as Ms. Doyle heads to the gym, ignoring them.

Ms. Doyle walks in the other gym and sees Michelle hunched over with a friend. Ms. Doyle assumes she must be showing off her little video. She quietly sneaks up behind them and says, "I'll take that please" Michelle, not knowing that Ms. Doyle knows what is on the phone, swears under her breath and hands over the phone (thinking she'll get it back at the end of the day).

Kelley and Doyle watch the video. It looked like it came straight out of a movie. One girl walking around the corner, three little girls jump on her, throwing fists like gangsters do in the movies. Then her friends each take one. Hair flying, blocks, punches, and bodies being thrown into the walls. It was a little frightning to see, though there was no blood - whew.

Ms. Doyle walks a shakey, teary eyed Michelle to the office with the phone and has Coach Kelley take the 3 girls from my class up to see Officer Lee. They head down to the gym and pick up the other girls... tiny 7th graders.

(None of them are here today, so I don't know how it was handled. I had a "quiz" in my classes - What should you do when you see something in the locker room? - I chewed them out about not coming to get me and that if it happened again, I would charge each of them with accessory to the assault. I can be mean, and I was mean.

There you go. Sorry, no Ms. Doyle on YouTube).

Thanksgiving Stuff(ing)

2009-11-28T22:05:00.024-07:00

THANKSGIVING 2009

The kiddos and I made name tags for dinner the night before Thanksgiving (at the guitar store). No one questions the name places and sits where their names are, on the plate. We decided NOT to write their names, but adjectives that begin with the first letter of their names.

A scrapbooking AngelMarathon Runner

Dude who likes to textLoyal to Softball

Legendary FootballerLocal BreakdancerAwesome Dad - ChefAmazingly talented - sister, friend, guitarist, singer...Outstanding Video Gamer Loving and Looney Bin friendlyJammin fun UncleAwesome Aunt - cooks, plays... Outspoken PreschoolerLearner - potty training, words, playing, readingSweet AuntKreative and KindJustly good tastes - for food too.Really ShyAdorably hard headedMuscular and punches usHeavenly shopper - Hot sizzlin'

We missed the Matt/Mary clan and Grandma/Grandpa, though we made them cards too!

We all pitched in for the dinner. I made yams for the first time. I was so nervous that I ended up making 5 different kinds: regular, 2 brown sugar and butter, yam crisp, and marshmallow topped. The yam crisp was deliciously sweet, like dessert for dinner - every kids' dream! We had delectable turkey, honied carrots, green beans, creamed potatoes, 2 kinds of cranberry sauce, home made rolls, mmmm I could go on and on. YUM!

We played video games, guestures, celebrities, and guitars:

I am grateful for a wonderful family! I know, you're all jealous!

Looney Bin Reunion 2009

2009-11-28T21:06:00.004-07:00

I'm not very good at updating my blog. So, this will be Looney Bin Lunch, Thanksgiving, and Turkey Bowl (BYU vs. Uof U) all in one fell swoop!

LOONEY BIN LUNCH:

I was blessed with a perfectly looney group of ladies, that have blessed my life for more than 15 years, as my BYU freshman roomies. We still meet for lunches and have planned for future get togethers with families, like my parents do with their mission buddies (FEM group).

It was a snowy snowy day! I LOVE THE SNOW!

STOP THE WAR ON MYRACK! BOOBASH 2009

2009-10-08T23:27:00.007-06:00

My life is full of amazing people. From family to friends, I am blessed with good, uplifting peeps. As many people know, this September I celebrated my 5 year mark. 5 years represents, in the breast cancer world, the end of cancer as I knew it! I am considered cancer free. No more too regular doctor's check ups, no more tamoxefin, no more hot flashes, and a hope for weight loss :)

Many months ago, my friends and I discussed celebrating this wonderful occasion. And we did... Sandra style! Pink tables, pink capes, pink shirts, pink candy, pink cookies and treats, pink drinks, pink games, pink center pieces... you get the picture. She and Ali went all out for this party, for me.

I'm not too good with a lot of attention and I diverted most of it to the boys with the cones tied to their chests.

Unknown Anthem, my very own band (I am a groupie), played over a half an hour. Thanks to Ali, who knows many famous people. I sat back and enjoyed the music, then took some time to dance. Especially when they played "I'm a survivor" first, because I love the song and then eventually I realized it was because I am a survivor (duh), then I enjoyed it even more and laughed a little to myself.

My brothers, John and Matt came with their families, despite the fact BYU had a football game and who invited all these Utes during their football game?! ... talk about true steph fans :) To be honest, we've been celebrating this 5th year all year and I'm kind of glad to be done with it. I cut off my LIVESTRONG bracelet with a knife and threw it at Sandra (Jenn gave the bracelets to my family when I was diagnosed - 2004 - and I've worn it everyday since). People may stop buying my book, but I'm okay with that... I hope the copies that are out there will reach the people that need it and the rest are used to get me a husband who thinks I'm hilarious (and a hot baldy).

Gangrene Film Festival!

2009-09-06T20:03:00.002-06:00

One of my favorite experiences is the Gangrene Film Festival in Layton. (I think my brother Matt needs to enter a film some day). Some of my favorite movies in the past were "The Help Desk" and "The Mole and the Weirdo". Both well done and hilarious. This year I had a few favorites and had a difficult time voting for my audience favorite, "I'm a...Cuban", "The Nemesis", and an animated one, "Skylight". They can be found on Comcast something...

Al Gladiatore and other specialties

2009-08-02T16:29:00.012-06:00

June 22, 2009 The Longest Day Ever!

Enzo drove us Italian style into Rome. He stopped in the middle of the street and we ran for our lives. We met our guide, Paula, at the base of the Colosseum. Her heavy accent made it difficult for us to follow all the details of the day through our Whispers. The Coliseum took only 8 years to build in 80 A.D. by Roman slaves. We explored the 2^nd level, without a guide, on our free time, we had to imagine the seating and the floors, but it must have been enormous.

We next walked to the Roman Forum, a magnificent valley of ruins. There were original buildings that were still in use and some of the stone streets were original as well. It was fascinating to imagine the civilization that once ruled here before 50 B.C. Paula spouted facts and figures that no one understood, so we stood around taking pictures, pretending to know of what we shot. The sun bore down on us and we sweated out our daily intake of water. Luckily we found those water fountains, all over town, to refill our water bottles (Amanda was so happy).

Piazza Campidoglio, originally designed by Michelangelo, became the new center of political power for Roman politics. It started in1535 and took a century to complete. The ginormous statues at the top of the Cordonata steps stood naked and proud, but we ladies turned our heads. Today we spent much of our time walking. Enzo picked us up across the street from the piazza and drove us through the crazy city, to the Vatican. Well, two blocks away.

While waiting to cross the street, Amber got the famous bum grab from an Italian. She shrieked. We laughed. And now it’s a great story. We saw a fancy lady, dressed up with heels, put her helmet on then drive off on a scooter. Italians make everything seem so much more chic. Finally we made our way to the outer wall of the Vatican City. We waited, along with tourists worldwide, in the security line to enter the city. We waited for our tickets in the lobby of the museum which was more modern and westernized than we expected. Tanya wanted to go back and get searched by one of the security guys checking bags. “I should have left something in my pocket!”

Lunch was downstairs, cafeteria style. We bought Tanya sandwiches and half of our Utah group went upstairs while we waited for our Panini’s to cook. As Tanya, steph , and Sandra mounted the stairs to join the other girls the security guard sent them back to the cafeteria to eat. They finished their lunch standing at a table while the other girls wondered what happened to them. We all ended up sitting under a nice tree, relaxing our feet and eating hot tamales. Amanda filled up her water bottle.

Like cattle we shuffled toe to heel through a museum of amazing paintings, mosaics, and sculptures over thousands of years old listening to a million facts in rapid Italian accented English. Paula walked quickly, weaving in and out of the people, with her guide umbrella high in the air. At one point that umbrella was but a speck of blue in the distance. With the Sistine Chapel next on the agenda, the group waited for everyone to rejoin before continuing down the stairs. Whew. After lunch we had a quick overview of the artwork of Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel. The heat made many of us sleepy, so I’m not sure we all got the full extent of information that was available to us, but we knew the basics. Upon entering the Chapel, we were herded to the center and left to mull around with millions of other people. We all commented on the fact that if the Catholics ran this place like a Mormon Temple Open House, it would be better for everyone. What they’re doing now is simply inefficient and under appreciative of the marvelous works that lie in that place. We looked up… for a long time.

“NO PHOTO! NO PHOTO! SHHHH!” yelled security guards to disrespectful tourists snapping pictures and talking loudly. It was far from peaceful. The room was smaller than movies and photos make it look. The Finger of God blended into the ceiling’s other paintings and didn’t stand out like it seemed to in our minds. We exited the chapel through the back right door and entered St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest cathedral in the world.

Michelangelo’s Pieta stood to our right, upon our entering the cathedral. Truly awesome. It now stands behind bulletproof glass, having been attacked by a hammer in the past. Most scenes were made from glass, approximately 1cm, creating beautiful mosaics throughout. They look like paintings until you look close up. Michelangelo designed the church using centuries of architectural geniuses prior and created a masterful plan combining several of their ideas into one. The dome is the third largest in the world, behind those of Florence and the Pantheon.

We took our pictures in front of the Swiss guards, dressed in their silly costumes (aka uniforms). We walked right out onto St. Peter’s square. Unlike everything else, this looked just like the movies. Steph kept saying, “…in Angels and Demons that’s where…” pointing out key points of the movie and where they were in the square. By this point our patience was exhausted, but we ate gelato and it all worked out. Amanda left Sandra alone in the gift shop (where you could have your souvenirs blessed by the Pope and sent to your hotel) and was reprimanded by steph, “where’s your buddy, no one leaves their buddy?!” Amanda obediently found her buddy before we left. We met Texas and Chelan under the obelisk, in the shade, and waited for our ride.

Our free time consisted of about an hour and half to fit in every other Roman tourist spot. We talked Vera into guiding us (as a friend, not a guide) to Trevi Fountain, where you are to turn your back to Neptune put the coin in your right hand and throw it over your left shoulder in hopes to return to Rome (or make a wish…still waiting on that one). The group could go anywhere, but they all followed Utah to the fountain. Yeah, we are THAT cool! Every tourist in the world packed into that place, we had but a few seconds to take our pictures throwing our coins one at a time. Ali tossed her coin and almost fell in, which made us laugh.

We would have liked to have sat around and enjoyed our surroundings, but off to the next attraction, walking/running to the Pantheon.

After 2000 years the building still stands strong. The dome is one of the largest domes in the world. The light inside the Pantheon is provided by one hole in the middle of the dome, called the oculus whose diameter is about 29.5 ft. The hole is always open and the drainage system is the same today as used by the Romans. 118 A.D. was when the construction began, in 1608 is was transformed from a temple into a church.

We huffed ourselves back to meet the group at the Piazza Venezia, nicknamed the Wedding Cake for its white exterior and stacked looking façade. Vera allowed us to arrive late to dinner at Al Gladiatorre, where we had the best potatoes ever. The restaurant, located directly across from the Colosseum, has been open since 1903. We ate with the patio doors open to the Colosseum and were served the best food on the tour!

DJ Jazzy Brisa put her ipod to the microphone for a fun ride home. We sang our hearts out. At one point Enzo put the bus in park, in the middle of traffic, and searched for a portable microphone. The traffic moves on, but Enzo is in no hurry. He hands the microphone to Ali, who is singing the loudest, and invites her to put on a show. Which she did. Ali danced up and down the aisle. She used her best dance moves and threw in some jazz hands. This wild show, which may one day end up on YouTube, ended with Ali laying across the “emergencies only” bus bathroom. She’s always wanted to sing on a throne! We sat in awe, not knowing what to think about this show. This dance/sing party bonded our different groups with performances from Will and Brogan from Chelan, Amanda, and two shakes from Tanya. Apparently, Maryland put the show on mute and did not participate in any way. They did not want to bond. Enzo stopped and started the bus at will, not paying any attention to traffic or our safety, but we did let him play his “Mambo #5” several times.

We met at the top of the hotel, overlooking the city, to do our By Fars and quotes for the day. The sun set over the distant mountains, leaving a deep red and orange sheet of color over the buildings and trees. Anna and Joann joined us for the beautiful view and stories of the day. The longest day, by far, but also the funnest.

Quotes:

They didn't let you cross the border? - Theresa to Tanya

It's like making love right here on the 2nd row - steph

I can have a baby now, I know what real pain feels like - Brisa

Hurry Ali...oh wait - sandra

I should have left something in my pocket - tanya (at the Vatican security)

I need a little sugar to offset the alcohol - sandra

Is God wearing glasses? - lindsey (in the sistine chapel)

A kick in the face?! - steph (keeping the faith)

Salad seems like you're just passing time - doyle

I'm all... that's and ugly sound - sandra (Z trying to get us to stop saying I'm all...)

I think she ate it - Vera (whisper microphone)

You can't stop this - Brent (about country music - Achy Breaky Heart)

How many ladies... ONE?!... shhhhhh Enzo's on the phone - DJ jazzy Brisa

She got two shakes - Amanda (tanya's dancing)

You gotta be like me... wait for the whole group - tanya

She's no longer grandma Ali, she's COUGAR Ali - sandra (Ali dancing with the boys)

...mine was to sing on a throne - ali (kareoke on the bus bathroom)

Come to my room, I show you how to use gel - Enzo to steph

And then we drive to Nappy Valley?! - ali

Whats her face and what's his face - tanya (claire and brent)

I just drew on my boob - Sandra

BY FARS:

Towel warmer. Enzo fixing steph's hair. Dinner - potatoes, dessert, lasagna. Hot Vatican security. Hot Italians in suits, scooters...anything. Colosseum. Ali almost falling in the fountain. Singing on the bus. DJ Jazzy Brisa. Ali on top of the bathroom. Learning about the Sistine Chapel. Bathroom door hitting steph in the face. Toilet seats. Polka clarinet in the street. Enzo's secret microphone. Enzo out of his seat six or seven times while driving. steph's gondolier shirt. This (the sunset on the patio). Tanya and Ali's palace. Fresh water fountains...again. Tanya's booty shake (2 shakes). steph imitating Ali. steph's asian hair (the guy at the Vatican with big hair). Amber's but grab by an old Italian man. Being muted by Maryland.