The Curious Incident of the Ravens at Mid-day-time

HeLLLOOOO, Spring. Nice to see you. You make me so happy inside.

This past weekend, Joe and I got to go on a really fun camping/hiking/jeeping trip with my Uncle Dave, Cousin-in-law Mark, his 7-year-old son Caleb, Tom, and Lauren.

We left Wednesday night in Stella with Tom and Lauren in the back, while White Trash heroically carried Dave, Mark, Caleb, and seven peoples'-worth of gear. We got to Canyonlands (about 5 hours southeast of Provo) around midnight and therefore just set up our sleeping bags out under the stars. Which would have been awesome, except that it was 43 degrees. I didn't sleep too well because Joe and I had brilliantly decided to zip our sleeping bags together because then we could snuggle and be warmer, right? Well actually, it just made it so that we couldn't utilize the mummy bag feature of draw-stringing the top tightly around your head to keep cold air from coming in. The next morning warmed up real nice though and Joe made his famous Chambers' McMuffins (which don't, in fact, have anything to do with muffins. Or Mc.) of sausage, egg, and cheese on a hamburger bun for everyone. Next, we headed toward Elephant Hill with one goal in mind: TO FULFILL MY LIFE-LONG DREAM OF DRIVING STELLA OVER IT. Or at least that's been my dream since I got Stella 15 months ago. Well I am happy to report that my mission was accomplished (I only stalled like >4 times. Way less). And Lauren didn't die. Win-Win.


We then set up our campsite at Devil's Kitchen and went exploring in the rocks and cliffs nearby. I am always so amazed at the view, every time I go. It is so surreal and pictures just don't do it justice.

Well, when we got back from our little exploring adventure, there was stuff scattered all around. Lauren's bag was all opened up and spilled out on the ground, the paper towel roll was peppered with holes, and, alas, the 7 lb. bag of Black Forest gummy bears was being FEASTED UPON BY A MURDER OF RAVENS! I think "murder" is the term used to describe a quantity of crows, but it is fitting here. Even though we thought we had adequately sealed up all our food, it seems we neglected to read the posters at the visitors center which warned of ravens being very aggressive and able to unzip bags and knock lids off trash cans to find food. It was a sad, sad moment and the gummy bears were sorely missed.

I made taco soup adapted from Pika's dutch oven recipe for dinner and it was a big hit, although I later regretted putting so many chili beans in...

Friday, we jeeped over to the joint and hiked from there to Druid arch. It ended up being an eleven mile hike and I was exhausted afterward, but it was beautiful. For dinner, Dave cooked up canned soup buffet. It's amazing how hungry you get camping and I'm pretty sure we finished most of them off.

Saturday we went on a short hike and then jeeped over to the confluence (where the Green River joins the Colorado River), and then saw newspaper rock on our way out of the national park. The 5 hour drive home wasn't bad at all, as the weather was overcast and a bit rainy. Driving home in an un-air-conditioned car mid-day in the sun would not have been fun.

Overall, it was a really fun trip, and it was so fun to take Joe there and hang out with Tom and Lauren, Mark, Dave, and Caleb.

Yay for camping!
Yay for Stella going over Elephant Hill!
Yay for the rat poison we injected into gummy bears and left for the ravens!

Ok just kidding about that last one... we forgot to bring rat poison so there's no way we could've done that. Only imagined it fondly.

Peace.

"OSAMA GOT JIMMERED"

Darn. I had forgotten I was supposed to be back in the habit of blogging again. Hmm. So much news to share, I don't know where to begin the update.

Well, I am officially signed up for graduation in December when I will be walking. Yay! It will have only taken me 5 1/2 years to do so.... I am taking one class right now for spring term, and then summer term I have my internship, and I will take my last few classes in the fall. I am really excited to start my internship-- I will be an editing intern for Cedar Fort, a book publishing company located in Springville.

I cut my hair off. Well, I didn't, but a nice lady at the mall did. It's all gone and I love it. Kara kind of gave me the idea, but I had been wanting to do it for a while.

So... if you're not familiar with driving around Provo lately, there's this bridge that goes over University parkway, and there are often messages written in plastic cups in the chain link fence that you can see overhead as you are driving west on University Pkwy. Usually they advertise Elder Smith coming home, or Gertrude's 16th birthday. Well yesterday as I was driving to work, it said, "OSAMA GOT JIMMERED." My first reaction was profound hilarity, but then it kinda just seemed morbid. If you don't know the back story behind "jimmered" becoming a verb, check out:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Letter-besmirching-Jimmer-inspires-hilarious-Fac?urn=ncaab-318567

And then:

http://dreamcatchermedia.com/jimmered

Anyway, after many well-spent hours reading some of the Provo Jimmer obsession, getting "jimmered" really just has become an everyday verb in my head like "facebooking" or "texting," and you hear it all around Provo. But to have it so taken out of context to apply to a long-time hunted tyrant made it seem like a joke. I know it is a good thing he is dead for the benefit of everyone, but I have a hard time reveling in the death of anyone, especially in a light manner. Maybe if I had had a close love one die in a terrorist attack like 9/11 for example, I would feel differently though. I did really like President Obama's remarks and I am grateful for this bag step in the fight against terrorism. I think it was important that he differentiated that we were fighting tyrants, not Muslims or any other religions or peoples.

So... Prince William and Kate, huh?

Joe's been making some good progress on his book that he is writing (sci-fi). He has been letting me help him brainstorm and edit parts of it. I am hoping to use some sway during my internship and try to get it published because I think it is very worthwhile. If any of you out there have book projects you are working on, let me know, because I would love to help push some projects through.

I should call it a day here, but here's to the hope that warm weather will find us soon. Happy belated Easter and Earth Day-- go see the movie "African Cats."

Emily