SOUTH DAKOTA!!

Crystal and I took a road trip to South Dakota so I could visit friends and take a break from work and school. We left early early on a Weds morning and rolled back into Utah late the following Monday night. The drive was shorter on the way out because we did a lot of sight-seeing and took 2 days to get to Sioux Falls. On the way back we drove the 15 hours straight thru, so we were definitely ready to be home! We have a running past of keeping track of funny random quotes, and this trip was no different. We had our quote book for the trip and got some good laughs over them as well....so I've included a few for your laughing pleasure!

Crystal and I at 5:30 am bright-eyed and bushy tailed :)

Detour through Wyoming at Independence Rock
Quote from me: "I can't smile, my face is shivering!"
It was about 35 degrees so we were very cold as we hiked out to the rock, and then we also had a picnic lunch.....silly girls!


Devil's Tower in Wyoming - It was super super windy!
Quote from Crystal "We'll pass another crazy woman!"

And Crystal was right - we did pass another crazy woman....sign at least! We stopped randomly along I-90 to take this photo and got honked at by some guys in a U-Haul.

We also detoured through the Badlands and took lots and lots of pictures. I got pretty good at driving and snapping photos. We stopped at most of the lookouts to get pictures as well.

We ended up in Rapid City on Wednesday and then Thursday was filled with sight-seeing Jewel Cave and Rount Mushmore (that's a quote from me - I kept messing my words up!)
Awesome Mount Rushmore

Scenery from Jewel Cave - it was pretty cool!


We also stopped by Wall Drug in Wall, SD to experience that. We walked around the shops and looked at lots of touristy stuff. There are billboards for Wall Drug ALLLL along I-90, basically all the way across South Dakota.


We got into Sioux Falls late Thursday night - an hour after Garmina told us we'd get there. My uncle Terry let us borrow his Garmin (it's a GPS system) so we nicknamed her Garmina and had conversations with her during our trip. ha ha! It was really nice to have - I think I want one for my birthday! :)

I went over to my best friend Jackie's when we got in and I was there till the wee hours of the morning! It was so great to see her and catch up on things! Crystal and I had a list of things we wanted to do while in Sioux Falls because it was also a vacation for us.

We stopped by Falls Park, for which Sioux Falls was named, and had fun walking around and taking pictures. Here's a view of the falls from the observation tower that you can climb up and look over the Falls. It's a pretty cool place!!

Another quote that Crystal caught me saying was in relation to the below photo. I had taken a seat by the buffalo and Crystal thought it was a sexy pose and she said something about it. Without thinking I responded "I don't want a sexy pose by the buffalo!" I've been teased endlessly about it since then!

We ate out basically for lunch and dinner both Friday and Saturday - so lots of good food. We met Jackie and her son Blake for Chinese one day at the BEST place in the world! He is THE cutest kid - I'm glad I got to meet him. We had a fun time trying to get some pictures where he was cooperating.

Auntie Liz and Blake :)

Friday night we went out to Granite City and had great food and great company. My closest 3 friends were able to come out and have dinner with me. We had some great conversations and laughs. I felt bad because Crystal didn't have a clue what we were talking about, but luckily she quoted to me "I can watch movies in my mind" so I think that's what she did while we were talking and catching up on the last 2 1/2 years :)

Me, my friends Robin, Jackie and Denae - I sure miss those girls!

We also toured the Great Plains Zoo and got some good laughs there as well. This sign was outside of the Rhino pen - we were looking at the rhino until he started turning around......

Cute little giraffe trying to get a drink!

Very very large turkey!

We went to the Washington Pavillion and the Kirby Science Discovery Center in Sioux Falls to see some exhibits and do some fun science stuff. The Science center is kind of like the Discovery Gateway, pretty fun. Crystal and I went to the 3D IMAX movie that was titled "Extreme" but we both fell asleep, so obviously it wasn't too extreme! ha ha ha I wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up, so here I am fulfilling my dream!!

We drove out east of Sioux Falls and went to the EROS Data Center. Since Crystal is a geography nerd she was very excited for this place. :) It's the Earth Resources Observation Systems data center, they take pictures of the earth and lots of stuff with maps. And as we were driving there Crystal let me know "I LOVE the smell of maps!" I'm glad I'm now privy to that information.

Me with a big globe out at EROS

While we were there, we drove over to Garretson, SD and checked out Devil's Gulch. This is the famous gulch that Jesse James jumped over with his horse to escape authorities from Minnesota after he and his brother robbed a bank. We walked around the trails and took lots of self portraits.


We didn't have to jump over the gulch, we just walked over the bridge :)

It was great to see everyone and be able to do some sight-seeing and vacation while we were in South Dakota. On the way back home Monday, we did make one detour through Mitchell, SD because we couldn't leave without seeing the famous CORN PALACE!! Too bad it wasn't open that early! :)

We stopped in Chamberlain, SD to take some photos of the Missouri River. Crystal thought it would be a good idea to take a little hike down to try and get closer to the river.....so we hiked down and down and down and really didn't get anywhere. But it was fun!! :) Here's a pic of Crystal and I in the middle of the forest 'closer' to the river!

All in all it was a fantastic trip! Definitely not long enough time to spend in Sioux Falls seeing everyone and doing everything we wanted, but it was nice to get away and enjoy a break from work and school.

A few other quotes that made us laugh are as follows:
Crystal often has eruptions of sound as she called it and she had an eruption of sound as she tried to say "I have a tootsie" referring to her tootsie roll pops. ha ha ha

As we were in traffic somewhere I was caught quoting the following "You're lucky I didn't honk buddy, because when I honk I shoot darts out of my car!" ha ha ha - this is what driving in a car ALLL day long will do to you!

As I was driving again, I felt the need for us to go faster, so to warn Crystal I said "Ready? Warp speed! (insert warp speed sound effect here)"

It was a fantastic trip and a much needed break. Thanks for a great time Crystal!!

BRIAN REGAN

For Christmas Rachel and Shawn got me a ticket to see Brian Regan - the funniest comedian alive!

Rachel and me before the show - hence my cheesy grin!

3rd time's a charm for pictures - here's Shawn and Rachel waiting in anticipation for the show

We were informed while we were there, that this was the night they were doing the 'live' recording of the show! That was pretty cool.

Here's a few links to clips of Brian Regan on Youtube

Seatbelts, Log trucks, Blasting Zones, Evel Knievel

Horns and Windshields

You Too and Stuff

The show was awesome, I was laughing SO hard!! We had a great time! Thanks Rachel and Shawn for the ticket! :)

My girls!

Stacy and Meg are my two bestest friends ever! Meg got married back in January and also quit working at Harland Clarke, so I don't get to see her very often anymore. We planned a girls night and got together for some good food and girl talk! :) We were laughing so hard we were crying and we couldn't hardly breathe. I'm so lucky to have met these 2 girls and I'm grateful for their sweet personalities and great examples in my life!

Adria's 4!

I had the chance to go up for the last little bit of Adria's birthday party last month. I had school stuff, so I finally made it up there about 6:30. They had already gone out to eat and were opening presents when I got up there. I can't believe she's 4! It's been really fun living so close to Rachel and her family these past 2 1/2 years. I always get great big hugs from Adria when I visit! :) They're the best!

Cute little birthday girl

Adria and me with her My Little Pony present I got her

Rachel makes the most awesome cakes for her kids! Here's Adria's Ariel cake.

I love Adria's little grin in this picture - she's so cute!

I had a good time visiting for Adria's birthday. Since it is the middle of March, Cade's birthday was on the 17th, but I had class till 9:00 so I didn't get to make it up for his birthday party. I can't believe he's 11!! Time is going by so fast. I can remember when we visited him in Kansas when he was tiny tiny. He's growing up fast too! It's fun being able to be so close to these kids!

Ogden Fun

I'm a bit behind on my blogging....work, school and the gym are keeping me busy. I went up to Ogden a while back and enjoyed hanging out with Crystal and Alicia. We had lots of treats, went to see Sherlock Holmes (which is way good!!) and played lots of games. We had a great time!

Crystal and I demonstrating how to properly eat oreos with forks - this way you can dunk the whole oreo and not get your fingers messy. It works great! :)

My Grandma Frieden had The Christmas Game and I loved playing it with her. Alicia found this one online and had purchased it, so we played a game. It brought back lots of memories of Grandma Frieden and all the fun things I did with her.

We had lots of yummy treats and had Cafe Rio before we went to our movie. I love hanging out with these two girls - we always have such a blast!

Are women born this way?

I was cleaning out some e-mails this morning and I came across an e-mail with this video that my Grandma had sent me a link for. I had to laugh, even though I had already seen it numerous times. I thought I would share and add some humor to your day! Enjoy!
VIDEO: "are women born this way?"

Weekend Fun

I'm a bit late in posting these photos, but here they are. A few weekends ago I went up to Ogden on Friday afternoon to hang out with Alicia and Crystal. We made pie tin pizzas and the most delicious dessert.....brownie pudding!! Yummm!!! It was SOOO good! If you'd like the recipe just ask!

Crystal enjoying the brownie goodness!

Alicia and I with our Sequence cards - it's a really fun game

Strategically placed chips, board, and box

We also played Cranium. One of the options is to sculpt something out of clay. I can't remember if I chose a card that said elephant or if I just picked it. As you can see, I'm quite talented when it comes to modeling clay :)

My elephant got attacked!

I left Alicia and Crystal's on Saturday morning and made my way down to North Salt Lake to spend most of the rest of my day with Rachel and the fam. I watched the kiddos while Rachel and Shawn went to the temple. We had a good time - and for those of you wondering, NO I didn't spend the whole time playing the Wii - I played with Adria too! I had to leave early evening to go ice skating at the Olympic Oval. Adria was sure sad that she couldn't come ice skating with me. We'll still have to go another time!

It was a Regional Single Adult activity at the Olympic Oval, so Shelley brought her boys and we skated for quite a while. Parker didn't really like it much, but Carson loved it, especially after he got to use the little walker thing. He did really good. Shelley doesn't skate, so I got to help the boys - well as much as I could since I'm not the best skater. It was pretty fun though! We had a good time!

My roommate Shelley's cute boys - Parker (the little one) and Carson

Carson wasn't very excited here that I was helping him

Parker and me trying not to fall - his feet kept slipping and I was trying not to loose my balance - what a great pair we made :)

Here we are again - doing a bit better though - we were stopped ha ha

Carson is a bit more happy now

It was a very full weekend and I had lots of fun! I'm glad I've got a schedule that allows me to spend time with everyone and keep myself entertained. Thanks to you all for a great weekend!

New Year's Eve

I went out to the Miner's on New Year's Eve after work. We got all dressed up and went sledding for a bit that afternoon. Alicia and Denelle had snowboards, but I don't snowboard, so we didn't really have any other sleds. Then BJ came and brought a sled, but it was all torn up on the bottom, so it didn't really slide nicely over the snow. Needless to say, it was an interesting time :) BJ and Denelle's little girl Madison was with us, and she had a great time! She's so cute! Then we headed back to the warmth of the house and played games, watched movies and had lots of snacks. We counted down the New Year and then toasted with some 'bubbly.' I can't believe how fast 2009 went! We stayed up way to late playing the Wii and then we slept in late and then played the Wii again in the morning :) I headed home and then went to a party at a friend's house (a lady I work with) and had fun chatting and playing games. I still can't believe it's 2010, but I better believe it, because before I know it, it will be 2011. Happy New Year!

Christmas

I went up to Rachel and Shawn's on Christmas Eve after work and we had sandwiches from Honeybaked Ham with a gift certificate I had gotten from work. After a late lunch, we went downtown to the Planetarium and saw a movie in the Dome Theater - they played the movie on this domed ceiling. It was a light show set to Christmas music. I must be getting old, because the scenes moving around so fast were making me sick...not a good sign. :) Then we watched the Nativity movie Christmas Eve after doing our ornament exchange game. I couldn't sleep in the back room because Santa might not come or I might see Santa, so the boys bunked in Nathaniel's room and I slept in Cade's bed. I saw the clock a few times during the night, and the last time I looked it was 3:00 am and I thought 'oh, I've got lots of time to sleep.' Then before I knew it, Cade and Nathaniel came barging in the room, "It's 6:01, it's 6:01, let's go see if Santa came!" Rachel and Shawn told them they had to stay in bed till 6:00 - so we didn't wait much longer than that! We all ran downstairs and saw what Santa had brought us. The kids were SO excited. I loved watching their faces. This was a really great Christmas.

Me and the kiddos on Christmas morning

I love her little face! It was a Cinderella Pez dispenser :)

I love how they're all standing in a row, tallest to shortest

Cade with his presents from Santa

Nathaniel with his presents from Santa

Adria with her presents from Santa

Me and Adria with her Princess book - I took the pictures from Disney on Ice and made them into a storybook - it's super cute!

Rachel modeling the Snuggie her kids got her - She looks really 'giant' because I was sitting on the floor leaning back to get her all in the picture :)

The best part of Christmas was very last, when Shawn still had 1 present to open and had the kids come help him.....it was a Wii! You can see their faces - they were SO excited! I even think excited is an understatement!

Fuhriman fam with their Wii and accessories - I think they'll have fun!

They also had my name for Christmas and I got some really great things! I got a book I've been wanting for a while, a handheld guitar hero game, and a Harry Potter Trivia Game. Rachel also found a great book about temples, which I'm so excited to read! She also made me a magnet board with cute clips and magnets - I love it! The board in the back is padded and then you can slide pictures, notes or what-not under the ribbon and hold it there. AND I also got a ticket to go see Brian Regan in Salt Lake on March 12th!!!! I'm SO excited! Rachel first introduced me to his stuff, and since then I've listened to some additional video clips on Youtube, and he's hilarious! So Rachel, Shawn and I are all going to the show. It will be great!

It's nice to have some family close, but I really missed being able to be with the rest of the family for Christmas. Maybe we'll be able to get together one of these years. Then Christmas day afternoon, I exchanged gifts with Shelley and her boys and then headed out to the Miner's for the rest of the day. We had great food and played lots of games. It was great to be around family and enjoy some days off work!