Artist Now

Ok, so I'm not a real artist (yet), but my first art project has been completed and will be turned in for grading tonight.  Overall, despite the tears that may or may not have been shed during the course of the first few weeks of school (I broke down into sobs after my first class and had to go home for some comforting from the mom), I am very happy with the end result.  So I took a photo and sent it to my mom.

My first art project...I'm so proud

What you are seeing is 3 objects that have been reduced to their simplest form but are still recognizable.  Basically, we had to create symbols.  What do you think?  Can you tell that there is a book, city scape and truck?  Let's hope so otherwise my grade won't be that great. Oh and yes that blank square is supposed to be blank.

I'm seeing a theme

Without many weekend plans I ended up watching a few movies that had been on my list for awhile.  And apparently I like the outdoors. 
Friday night I watched "Touching the Void" a movie based on the book, based on the real life story. 

The story is about 2 climbing partners, Simon and Joe who attempt Siula Grande in Peru.  On the decent, Joe breaks his leg.  Simon trys to lower him, but when Joe is lowered over an edge and Simon's begins to lose his position on the mountain, Simon is forced to cut the rope holding them together and Joe falls into a crevasse.  Believing Joe to be dead, Simon continues down the mountain back to camp.  BUT Joe survived the fall (and because it won't be giving away the ending because it is a true story) he is actually able to crawl, shuffle and pull himself back to camp. 

Great movie if you aren't offended by the "F" word which is used about 30 times in a 30 second period.

On Saturday, a couple friends and I went to the zoo.  So after starting school it has become very apparent that I'm horrible at drawing.  The trip to the zoo was to help me relax and have a fun time sketching (frustration free).  I am not sure if it had that exact effect, but at least I got to go to the zoo.

I finished the evening with 2 of my favorite things, slacklining and movies.  We went to Liberty park to slackline.  After we had our fill of the line (well I really can never get my fill) we headed to the Clark Planetarium to see "The Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest."  Some of my climbing friends had seen it and so I was excited to go check it out.

The movie was great.  But then again, I pretty much like any movie that has mountains in it, especially the mother of all mountains.  It was the story of George Mallory's attempt to be the first person to climb Everest and his resulting death.  George Mallory attempted the summit of Everest in 1924 almost thirty years before Sir Edmund Hillary became the first man to summit in 1953.  Mallory died on Everest and no one knew if he reached his goal.  Climber Conrad Anker found Mallory's body in 1999 still on the mountain. With much of his clothing and gear still intact (he even had hair on his head) there was one important thing missing.  Missing from Mallory's body was the picture of his wife he promised to leave at the summit.  The movie then follows Anker as he climbs Everest to see if it were possible for Mallory to have summited in 1924. 

Cool movie with great shots of Everest.

So do you see it, the theme here?  I see it.

Bikes and Bands

Yesterday was simply FABULOUS!  It started out with my boss saying he would pay for my schooling (hence the last post).  I had a great lunch with two of my close friends. Upon leaving the parking lot to return to work I saw the Live Strong U-23 Team car (under 23, yes they are babies).  I sent the photo to a few biking friends, Dan sent me a text that made me giggle so I'll share... "Knock on the window. 'Lance. Come out, baby. I know you're in there!"  HAHA.  I was kind of tempted.

Live Strong Team car in SLC.
 Lance really wasn't in there, but the plates were from Texas

After work we walked down the street to the Capitol to watch the Prologue of the Tour of Utah.  It is a 6 Stage, stage race thru Utah.  It is a professional race (maybe not Lance worthy, but still a good race).  It is "Arguably the most difficult non-UCI stage race in the States."  Levi Leipheimer, who rides on Lance's team is racing this year.  Read more about Levi and TOU - http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/08/news/leipheimer-versus-the-world-at-tour-of-utah_134583

Bissel Pro Team, I think

Almost passed

I went to a couple stages of the TOU last year and I hope to get to a few this year, especially the last stage which ends up Little Cottonwood Canyon at Snowbird.

Yesterday's stage was a short 2.8 mile time trail around the Memory Grove loop.  The top time was just over 6 minutes.  They were so fast most of my photos came out blurry.

This guy, I don't know.  But he was trying to tempt the riders with money.
He was nice enough to give this little girl a $1

Chase on the Live Strong team.  He is a Utahn

We didn't get to watch for long, because we headed off to the Dave Matthews Band concert.  Yes, I said Dave Matthews Band.  It has been 12 years since I have seen him live and he is even better than I remember.  The first time I saw him they had just released their album, Crash.  My sister, Kelly took me (she is a good older sister).  It was my first rock concert and we sat on the hillside of Wolf Mountain (yes it was that long ago, not called Wolf Mountain anymore).

Our view

This year tickets were free.  DMB has had to cancel the last two years for various reasons so this year they opened up tickets to previous ticket holders for free.  Lucky for me, my friend had extra tickets.  Traffic to USANA Amphitheater was insane so we missed the opening band, Brett Dennen (lucky I already saw him last year).

Dave is so hot...yummy

Dave didn't disappoint.  It was a great show.  He played a great mix of his new stuff and old classics, songs like: You & Me, #41, Gravedigger, Sister, Jimi Thing and more .  I was really excited that he played some stuff from his solo album, Some Devil, which is my favorite album.
Next year, I'm going to fork out the $60+ to see him again.

I love the drummer (on the right screen).

Backpack of the SCHOOL variety

It's official.

Student # received.  Tuition paid.  ID photo taken. 

I'm a college student again.  I have enrolled in classes at SLCC for fall semester.  I'm just part time only taking 2 classes this semester.  I'll be working on a graphic design certificate over the next few years and I'm really excited to start (just ask Mark at work who saw me do a little gig).  Ultimately, I hope this will help me further my career in marketing specifically art direction and design.

Now to purchase a computer (yes I have never owned my own computer), buy Adobe design software (yes I have used this) and pick out a great first day of school outfit that says I'm a cool, creative person, but who isn't trying too hard (maybe that is trying too hard).

Backpack and not the school variety

Friday night our not so small ward got together to do an overnight backpacking trip to the Unitas.  Almost 40 people showed up.  We headed up to Kamas and made our way onto Mirror Lake Highway to the Crystal Lake Trailhead.  Besides a few slow hikers and a couple people who decided to order a pizza before we left  (at least they didn't try hiking in with it) we all made it to our destination, Island Lake. 
The 3 mile hike is moderate with a 30lb backpack.  I would describe it as a rolling hills type of hike.  No hill was ever too long, but what goes down also goes up.  The last 0.5 mile is what some consider to be the hardest part.  It is a slow hill climb up to the lake.  What makes it less difficult are the long switchbacks.

The major problem with a large group is that everyone has different hiking levels and the group will naturally get spread out.  This was probably exaggerated Friday night by said slow/pizza hikers.  As the leader I made sure everyone made it to the lake where I discovered we had set up camp outside a campsite and were upsetting our camp neighbors.  Unfortunately, I had to a little bit of a bad guy and ask everyone to move, but overall I think we ended up in a better location.
It was a lovely evening and we were exceptionally lucky to have a meteor shower that weekend.  The next morning before hiking out a few brave souls jumped the nearly 30ft cliff into the cold mountain lake water.
A trip to the Unitas wouldn't be complete without a stop at Dick's drive-in in Kamas.  It is an Unitas tradition.  I love me some onion rings.
The trip was a success even with angry scout leaders, moving camp at 11pm and Bishop getting lost on the trail (don't worry he got there, just after hiking an extra few miles).

Bonding Roommate Style

Last Friday night me and the roommates headed out for a little roommate bonding.  The Salt Lake Art Center had a really awesome exhibit and it was FREE.

"The Salt Lake Art Center is exhibiting Contemporary Masters: Artist-Designed Miniature Golf, 18 fully-playable works of contemporary art like you’ve never seen before. Contemporary Masters features original creations by top artists from Utah and around the nation that explore diverse ideas (the current immigration debate, the fragility of personal identity, and the meditative value of Donkey Kong) in equally diverse media, including woven fabrics, video installations, and shredded paper."

My golf skills are scary.  I consistently got the worst score.  It even took me two shots to get a "par 1" hole which was nothing more than hitting the ball and watching it roll down the hill into the hole.  There was really no way you could miss.  Oh I did.  My ball got stuck right next to the hole, but never dropped in.  If I couldn't do this one you can only imagine how I struggled with the rest of them.  There were a couple "Infinity par" holes and a few more that should have been.

One of the Infinity holes

One that should have been

After golf we walked down to the gateway to grab some ice cream.  Talena and I saw some friends from high school which was surprising enjoyable.  Usually I hate this awkward, "What have you been doing since high school?"  "Yep, I'm still single," conversation, but this time it was far less painful. I'd dare say I wouldn't mind actually hanging out with said high school friends. 

Overall, it was a lovely evening.  The best part was that we live so close to everything we walked.  No car needed.  I love living in SLC.

A bonding moment at the SL Art Center

I don't speak German

Apparently, when you travel to a foreign country everyone thinks you must speak the language.  But lucky for me it is not a prerequisite for international travel.

I love German homes. Check out those flower boxes

My trip was inspired by the fact that my brother is currently living with his family in Germany. I never pass up an opportunity to get out of the country and explore the world.  The trip was planned as a mini-family reunion.  Our reunion consisted of my Mom, Dad, Aunt Nan (my mom's only sister); brother Erick, his wife Tera and their 4 kids, Joey, Bailey, TJ and David (who was born at the end of our trip); as well as my sister Kim, her husband David and their 2 kids, Emily and Jackson.  We were missing 3 of my siblings and their families (I say families but both Matt and I are families of 1).  As you can tell we already had a large group for international travel so I think it was ok not to add another 10 people.

Mom and Dad and the view that would inspire me to view...love the Alps

My trip started with a 7 hour layover in Atlanta.  I didn't want to seat in the airport the entire time so I took the metro out into Atlanta.  My first stop was to the World of Coca-Cola for a little Coke tour and taste testing.  It was actually really fun.  I would recommend it to Atlanta travelers.  You got to see the Coke Happiness Factory short film which was expanded off the Coke's  Superbowl commercial. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwCn-D5xFdc

(I like the giant lip monsters that kiss the bottle)

I also got to taste test Coke drinks from around the world.  Don't be confused; these are not different versions of Coke bottled international these are actually different drinks, like Sprite and such.  I did get to taste the drink for Germany; Lift Apfelschorle which tastes like a soda pop version of Martinelli's.  I would  drank a lot of it on my trip.  After the Coke tour, I headed to the Atlanta convention center to meet Ashley for lunch. It was really fun to get a chance to hang out with my roommate on my layover. She was there for work so it was perfect timing.

Tasting

Back to the airport and on my way to Munich, Germany.  I watched 3 movies on the plane and slept. I landed in Germany 9.5 hours later (+ an 8 hour time difference) and had my first German breakfast; hot chocolate and a chocolate muffin (Hey, I'm in Germany what did you expect).  Tera picked me up and we drove to Garmisch where everyone else was waiting for us.

Our home for a week

We stayed at the military recreation camp in little cabins.  Our first day was relaxing as the kids got to play with their cousins and the adults went to the store.  It was Sunday so we decided to have a little family home evening about baptism (Jackson had just been baptized and Joey will be baptized in a few months).  The kids performed a very entertaining song, "Father Abraham."  I should have taken video of it.

The performance of "Father Abraham"

Next day the real trip began.  We headed out for a salt mine tour which involved awesome jumpsuits, train ride, and slides. Mishap #1 - TJ's leg rubbed on the slide and he lost a large section of skin.  It was an extreme rug burn.  We would have several mishaps during the trip.  It actually became so entertaining we created a list.  I'll only tell you the major mishaps.

Jumpsuit sweetness...kids look cute, adults look ridiculous

After the mine we headed to the Eagle's Nest.  This was Hitler's vacation home on top of a mountain.  It is supposed to have an amazing view, but due to its elevation it is often covered in the clouds.  Today was no exception.  We thought it was a clear day, but alas not at the Eagle's Nest.

Nothing!

Proof we were there since you can't see anything thru the clouds

Tuesday, we visited Neuschwanstein, aka Sleeping Beauty's castle.  Walt Disney visited this castle and was so inspired he used it to design the Sleeping Beauty castle at Disneyland.  This was one of a few sites I had seen on my previous trip 9 years earlier.  Although, I saw a few of the same things it was fun to be with my family and to experience Germany as an adult.  Mishap #2 only half of our group made it to the castle tour.  Usually they have buses that take you up the hill to the castle, but today they were not operating.  Due to old feeble bodies and one pregnant body there were a few who opted to wait for a carriage ride which unfortunately did not get them to the castle in time for our tour. 

Sleeping Beauty maybe?

Post castle tour we headed to a park for a picnic lunch and a little adventure.  The park had an alpine slide.  I love the alpine slide.  I used to be scared of the alpine slide until my last Germany trip when I discovered it wasn't the scary ski jump ramp.

What I thought an Alpine slide was

What I discovered it actually was...much more my speed

Mishap #3 Kim and Bailey were taking their last run when they crashed.  A stupid teenage boy had stopped in the middle of the track right after a corner.  Kim and Bailey were booking it down the slide and ran into the boy at full speed.  All parties flew off the slide.  Kim had a sprained ankle and both her and Bailey were scraped up.  This led to Mishap #4. 

Mishap #4 we had already been at the park for awhile on the hottest day of our trip.  We were all tired and after the crash Kim wanted to head home.  Erick, Tera and Dad had taken a gondola to the top of the mountain to watch the paragliders.  We had 3 cars and thought we only had keys to 2 of them so we headed back to the cabin without 3 of our group.  When we returned we discovered we had both Erick and Tera's cell phones and their car keys.  We had abandoned our family in Germany.  Now don't go all thinking we were stupid, there was a lot of confusion and some miscommunication which resulted in us thinking everyone was taken care of before we ditched them.  David returned with their car keys and everything worked out.  But on the upside I BBQ some killer burgers that night.

The elusive one...castle that is

Wednesday was our relax day.  We spent the morning swimming and the evening we headed to Oberammergau to shop. Yes, Oberammergau is where the Passion play is preformed, No we didn't go to it.

Thursday we visited Herrenchiemsee castle.  King Ludwig II was the king of Bavaria in the 1800s.  He built several castle's during his reign, 3 of which are very famous; Neuschwanstein, Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee.  Nine years ago I visited 2 of the 3, missing Herrenchiemsee at the last second.  It was definitely on my list of things to do in Germany.  We took a ferry to Herrenchiemsee which was built on an island.  The castle is a tribute to King Louis XIV of France and is designed as a replica of Versailles complete with the hall of mirrors.  Herrenchiemsee was never finished because Ludwig ran out of money, but he got enough done to interest me.

Entrance to Swarovski art exhibit...I should have known

On our way back to Garmisch we stopped by the Swarovski crystal factory.  We thought we were taking a factory tour, but it turned out to be a crazy art exhibit.  I think this is how they get tourist to see the exhibit, because the art was a little weird and I probably wouldn't have gone if I knew what it was.  But the crazy art didn't stop me from buying a couple pieces of jewelry.

Art at Swarovski exhibit

Our last day at base camp (Garmisch) we drove to Dachau.  Dachau was the first concentration camp established during WWII.  I had visited Auschwitz on my previous trip to Europe so I really wanted to visit Dachau.  I have always been very interested in the Holocaust.  It was incredible to me the new things I learned about the Holocaust at Dachau.

Rows of barracks

Jews weren't the only people forced to wear symbols on their clothing. This art shows colors/symbols for other groups.

Saturday we headed up to Weiden where Erick lives.  This was a relaxing travel day and we just hung out at home.  Sunday we drove to Prague which is only 2 hours from Weiden.  I love Prague.  It is a very busy and beautiful city.  My favorite thing in Prague is actually the Jewish cemetery.  It seems a little weird, but it is really beautiful.  There are so many gravestones.

View of Prague.  My Mom loves all the red roofs

Streets of Prague, I love the streets in Germany

Famous Astronomical Clock in Prague

Jewish Cemetery in Prague

Monday we walked around Weiden and shopped and packed.  Tera went into the hospital Monday as well to have her baby.  Baby David didn't want to come just yet so he made Tera wait.  He was born Tuesday morning.  It was awesome to get to hold him before we left.  I won't see him for 2 years.

I'm his favorite Aunt and I love him already

It was a short hospital visit before we hopped on the train and headed to Berlin, our last stop. After checking into the hotel we headed into the city to see as much as we could in 6 hours.  Our flight left the next morning so we didn't have a lot of time to site see. 

Me and Dad on the train to Berlin

I may have gone to fast for too long because after visiting Checkpoint Charlie, the Holocaust Memorial and the Brandenburg Gate I got sick and threw up in a Berlin garbage can.  I tried to recover so I could see the last 2 things on my list (Berlin Wall and Berlin Dom) I sadly couldn't and threw up immediately when we got back to the hotel.  I went all the way to Berlin and never saw the Berlin Wall.  I guess I'll just have to go back to Germany for round 3.  But I did get to see the Holocaust Memorial.  It was amazing. An entire city block dedicated to large rectangular stones.  All in rows at varying heights.  I only explored half of it, but I could have wandered for a lot longer if I had time (and felt better).

Holocaust Memorial...so cool

So many blocks

Brandenburg Gate

Our flight left the next morning and I would return home. It feels good to be home. But I am already planning my next big trip...Africa (keep your fingers crossed, it has been 2 years in the making and has been postponed twice).