The One with the 4th of July Weekend

Boy oh boy - where do I begin?

Thursday July 3rd 2008 - I got to leave work a few hours early on Thursday which was very nice because I had a bunch of stuff to do at my other work. I finished up in time for a nap before we headed out to meet the 'rents. On the way to Salt Lake City we stopped at IKEA and bought another bookshelf because my Scrapbook Trends magazine collection is quickly outgrowing it's designated space. We got a white "BILLY" bookshelf to match all our other bookshelves.
We met up with my fam at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. We walked around temple square (I forgot my camera so no pictures to show here) then we went and saw the Joseph Smith movie at the Legacy theater. Chris kindly volunteered to walk Sneakers the dog around while we saw the movie - Sneakers would have died of heat in the car so thank you thank you Chris! After the movie - which was incredible and inspiring - we went home and went to sleep.

Friday July 4th 2008 - I can't believe the hoopla (definition: excitement surrounding an event or situation, especially when considered to be unnecessary fuss) that goes down in Provo for the annual 4th of July parade. People were literally camped out on the streets Thursday morning. I don't know what I'd do for the 24 hours I had to sit in one spot just to watch a parade the next morning. Crazy crazy.

Instead of watching the parade like I've done several times in the past, we went up to the Warners (my mom's parents) and chatted with my family for awhile. I rode around on my bike that I got for Christmas. It doesn't have gears or normal hand brakes and I haven't ridden a bike in years so I was a little scared, especially since the Warners live on a steep hill. I put the saying "it's like riding a bike - you never forget," to the test. I definitely need to brush up my riding skillz.

I took my mom, sister and cousin Elizabeth out to American Crafts and they got some fun stuff. I always enjoy showing people what I do. When we got back we ate "lunch part one." Then we drove up to the family cabins in Sundance and ate "lunch part two." My cousin Leah is the cutest.

Here we are - Chris and Paige on the 4th of July 2008.
As we were about to leave I noticed a crowd gathering outside. There were four baby raccoons running around. Precious, or as I like to say, presh.
My cousin Elizabeth had two tickets to the Stadium of Fire - one for her and one for whoever wanted to go with her. I volunteered. So yes, I got to go to the Stadium of Fire. I have never been before and I'm thinking I'd like to go every year from now on, it was just that much fun. The festivities started with six parachuters falling from the sky. It was terribly windy and they were flying all over the place. I seriously thought they were all going to crash. But somehow they all maneuvered their way safely into the stadium.
The Stadium of Fire Dance Team draped these huge banners across the north end. It looked neat.
The Blue Man Group was entertaining. They are Performance Artists in my opinion. I didn't get any good pictures of Miley Cyrus, but man, that girl can rock! 15 years old and she can head bang her locks of beautiful brown hair and smash the microphone stand like it's nobody's business. I wish I was her :) And of course the fireworks were awesome. My favorite were the really really loud ones.
On another note, I've had my hair the same for like three years and I'm itching for a change. I saw my inspiration a few rows up in the stadium: dark brown hair with an unexpected streak of white-blonde.
Here is my sad attempt. The stuff I used to bleach my hair made it turn orange. I will get it fixed as soon as I can and post a better picture (hopefully) later.
Saturday July 5th 2008 - Shopping day! Allie and I have been planning this shopping day since April. Our first stop, the BYU Bookstore. I got some white pointed shoes and a cute colorful tunic. Next we went to Gen-X and I bought Chris three plain t-shirts that I'm going to screen print on Friday for a work creative activity. Then we went to Cozy, then Down East Outfitters, then a bunch of stores at the University Mall. My new favorite store is the Buckle. Way overpriced, but they sure have some cute clothes. We ate lunch at Chick-Fil-A because Allie had never eaten there before. She liked it as much as I thought she would. The only bummer was they STILL didn't put a tomato on my sandwich. Isn't that thing over yet? I've been getting tomatoes on my food everywhere else, why is Chick-Fil-A still out of the loop? I dropped Allie off at her friend's house then went back to the Warners.

Then Malm, Dald, Chris and I came to our apartment and my dad fixed some broken appliances. My chinchilla chewed through the air purifier cord so it didn't work anymore and our bathroom fan stopped working a year ago. An hour later both were back in business. Then we went and saw What Happens In Vegas and my parents actually liked it. We ate a delicious dinner at the Taylor house.

Sunday July 6th 2008 - We went to sacrament meeting with the Taylors then ate yet another delicious dinner. Then Malm, Dald and I headed up to Park City. I had no idea that complete bliss was only an hour away from Provo! I've been to Park City before, once when I was about 11 and too young to appreciate anything and a couple times more when the Olympics were in town in 2002.

Park City started out as a mining town and evidence still exists today. Old mining towers align with modern day ski lifts.
We checked into our luxurious Marriott hotel. This is the view from outside of our hotel room. I love ski towns and all the colors they paint the buildings.
Then we walked up and down Main street. I saw some American Crafts "Gift" product in the front window of a store. I always feel a little bit famous/cool when I see American Crafts stuff in the real world, even though I didn't design any of this :)
Here is a unique idea I saw: painting on mesh! The paint sticks between the squares, sometimes it doesn't stick, and a cool texture is created. I'm gonna have to try this.
Yes, this is a REAL LIVE OWL. Why would a small realtor office have a ginormous owl sitting in the front window? I don't know, but it was awesome. I've never seen an owl before, especially never this close.
Monday July 7th 2008 - Chris and I have only been apart one night our whole married lives. Sunday chalked up night number two. It's just unnatural to be apart from the one you love, as corny as that sounds.

I got up early on Monday and tried bleaching my hair again, it's now a slightly lighter shade of orange. Blast. Once Malm got back from jogging and Dald got back from bike riding, we headed out. The Alpine park wasn't open until 11 so we walked around and sat in a different Marriott hotel. We got tickets to ride the zip line and were the first ones to ride it that day. I made my parents go before me in case something bad happened. They've lived a full life and I'm just getting started! :) I took a video of my ride down, but it's a minute long and not that entertaining to watch. But, the ride was fun and I recommend trying it.
Another view of the zip line.
Then we got tickets to the Alpine Coaster. We each rode a cart up a long trail of tracks then went full speed down loops and turns and bumps. If you're in need of a rush of adrenaline, I highly recommend this ride.
We went back to the hotel and ate some leftover pizza from the night before then we went to the outlet stores. If you know my dad you know he's not much of a spender and definitely not a clothing shopper. You should have seen him today though, he was trying on "chorts" left and right and buying t-shirts to match. He even bought me and Malm some clothes! Here he is with his bags of loot.
We met up with some friends at Cafe Rio and then they gave me a ride back to reality.
I had a blast this weekend. Who knew the joys of Park City? Probably most people, but I'm usually a little late to jump on things (Twilight for example, which comes out soooo soon, I'm freaking out). And that's what I've been up to.