{Updated} Inexpensive Utah Activities

No need to spend a lot on entertainment. Check out these inexpensive options:

 

Comedy

 

• Quick Wits- Fri and Sat Nights 10:00 PM at the Midvale Main Street Theatre… $6 for students
• And…Go!- Wednesday Nights at the Murray Theatre… $5 if you drop the name (Clint, Gavin, Ian, Taylor, John, Melissa or Kurtis)

 

Local Theatre

 

• Murray City… $7
• West Jordan City …$7
• Empress Theatre in Magna… $9-11
• Sandy Ampitheater… prices vary on event
• Desert Star Playhouse… $13.95 for students

 

Games

 

• Game Night Games (2030 South 900 East, suite E)- Try new board games! Check out their calendar on-line for specifics on events, but Wed and Sat. nights are open board game nights… FREE-$5

 

Sports

 

• Salt Lake Bees… $7.50 general admission, $50 season student pass
• Grizzlies… $10.00
• Ice Skating at the Olympic Oval… $4 admission $2 skate rental

 

Outdoors

 

• Midnight hike up Ensign Peak…FREE
• East Canyon $9 car entry fee; canoe rental… cheap!
• Jordanelle $7-10 car entry free; canoe rental… cheap!
• Alpine Slide… $11 for adults, $3 for children (child is determined by weight :p )
• Snow Bird… varies on activity

 

Art

 

• Gallery Stroll, every 3rd Friday of the month… FREE
• Church History Museum… FREE
• Utah Museum of Fine Arts… FREE (for BVU students)
• Broadview University Open Lab, Tuesday 7:00 PM… FREE (must be 18 or older, because there are usually nude models)
• MOA at BYU… FREE
• Broadview University Movie Nights… FREE

 

Festivals

 

• Living Traditions Festival, May 20-22 at the Salt Lake City County Building… FREE

 

Architecture

 

• State Wide Masonic Temple Open House, May 21st 10AM- 2PM… FREE, please bring an item of non-perishable food for the food bank

Guided Tours through the Utah Heritage Foundation… Free-$3

 

• McCune Mansion
• Marmalade District
• Kearns Mansion
• Salt Lake City and County Building
• Meditation Chapel at Memory Grove

Self-Guided Tours through the Utah Heritage Foundation… FREE

 

• Tracks to Trax: Connecting Communities Audio Tour
• Historic Downtown Salt Lake
• Historic South Temple
• Historic Buildings on Capitol Hill

 

Don’t forget the Farmer’s Markets at Pioneer Park and Murray Park will soon be coming as well as Free Concerts in the Park! If you have any questions on these activities or want more information contact me!

Baby Whisperer

This is the nickname that Jordan has given himself.  Jordan and I would both love to be parents, but this is not the right time, so we borrow our friends' babies or pitch in whenever we can.  I was helping my friend, Katie, study for her PRAXIS exam and Jordan tagged along to watch her new baby, Jared.  Needless to say, we got in a ton of studying without any interuptions.  Jordan even put the baby to sleep. 

The next night Katie came over to our house to study again while Jordan was at his own test reveiw at the U.  Jared started to get really fussy and started crying.  I took him so that Katie could keep studying.  I took him to the laundry room in our complex so I could change the laundry and I kept talking to him and bouncing him and cuddling him (all while moving the laundry around, mind you) and he kept wailing.  Jordan got home and saw us.  He took the baby and within a minute Jared was quiet.  Jared didn't make a fuss the rest of the night. 

Babies and kids just love him.  I am really luck to have picked Jordan to be the father of my children.  I know he will be a really good daddy some day. 

Here's us with Baby Jared at his blessing

Healthy Living... We're gonna give it a go.

So both Jordan and I have gone to the doctor's this last week for completely non-related reasons.  The verdict for both of us.... Exercise.  Dr. Boud told me that in exchange for some jiggeterizing/energizing magic pills that he will give me I in turn have to devote my life to exercising.  Seriously, 6 times a week, every week, for the rest of my life.  (After about a month the goal is to not need magic pills to have basic motivation.) Then he said while I'm at it that he's also prescribing Jordan to follow the same advice.  Hee hee hee. 

We are also dedicating ourselves to being better eaters.  Already today, Jordan turned down buying 3 delicious cookies with a Subway sandwich for $1.29 and I brought all the cupcake cookies that I baked this weekend to work.  Baby steps, everyone, baby steps. 

Here's my biggest problem with exercise, though.  It bores me.  So we would appreciate any support, love, freshly grown vegetables from your garden, that you can give us.  This is the rest of my life we're talking about afterall.

My New Favorite Thing...

Cupcake shops. I wanted to find Jordan the perfect red-velvet cupcake for Valentine's Day.  (I had gotten the idea from my friend, Katie, who had done it for her anniversary).  And so my quest for the perfect cupcake shop began.  One friend suggested Costco (which to be honest since I'm craving cupcakes so badly I may just go buy a 6 pack Red Velvet special), Katie suggested The Cheesecake Factory, another friend suggested Mini's and then I found a bunch more on the internet.  I have now been to So Cupcakes and Mini's.  Both were fantastic.  I will be trying the rest as my blood sugar and pocket book allow. 

For my friend, Lauren's birthday, I got her the "Tiffany's Box" cupcake from Mini's.  Check out the picture below for how stinkin' cute it is!  Also, ignore me... I look like a goober. 

My little sister has a dream to one day own a cupcake shop.  I heartely support this cause.  Especially since I can't bake a cake to save my life.  It is not a talent that was endowed to me in this life- so I will just spend my time enjoying those that others make.

Also, I LOVE the flowers Jordan got me, and no blog right after Valentine's would be complete without a shout out to an amazing husband.  Give thanks to the really good ones!

2 month Recap

It's been a while since I've last blogged so let me recap what's happened.  Right before Christmas I got offered a job by Broadview University in their Financial Aid Department and instead of starting in January, they me to start training right away.  It was a great blessing because we weren't planning on that income and they were still going to let me take off for a week so Jordan and I could spend some holiday time with the Grooms family.  So my new job is great with wonderful people (you know it's going well, when you're not constantly checking the clock for your breaks or doing the math on how many vacation days you've accrued, when you can take them and if anyone will notice if you're gone.)  Relief!

So in Montana we spent time with Jordan's siblings and mainly just, ate, watched movies and played bubble shooter.  One of our highlights of the trip was going to Canada.  First we grabbed a quick lunch at Dairy Queen, where I was very disappointed that they do not have butterscotch dipped cones.  Really?  I mean, don't Canadians love butterscotch too?  Anyway, I still got lunch and then we went to the Cardston Temple for a session.  Then we went out to dinner with Jordan's cousins, Mike, Lindsey and their cute daughter, Maddie.  The next morning we headed back and had the hardest time finding a gas station (seriously a 20 minute detour to even find more that one or two houses next to each other) and then we got in the wrong line at the border and poor Jordan almost, well, something embarrassing would have happened if we had had to wait another 2 minutes.  I was also a little disappointed because my passport didn't get stamped.  Let it be known that (even if there aren't stamps to prove it) for the first time in my life my passport has been used  more than once!

Back in Montana Jordan and I took up a project of re-doing one of the bathrooms in his parent's house.  We painted it a beautiful green that is supposedly one of the top ten Man Cave colors.  Jordan changed out light bulbs and hardware and his siblings had no idea he was so handy.  Then we celebrated New Year's and the next morning it was time for us to leave.

The snow and ice were really bad on the roads and just outside of the Montana border I hit a patch of black ice.  We were sliding and I turned the wheel and the car didn't respond.  I turned the wheel the other way and nothing happened.  Then I had the thought, "Hit the breaks."  And I said to myself, "No, we'll spin."  "Hit the breaks" came again to my mind.  So I did.  We spun, and spun and snow flew around the windows, I thought I had rolled the car as we flew off the road.  Finally we stopped.  We were stuck in the snow, but only a few feet off the road, facing toward it.  Jordan couldn't open his door if he tried, but we were safe.  He pulled out his phone and called 911 and then Triple A.  An hour and 10 good Samaritans later we were back on the road, with absolutely no damage.  As we looked back, we realized that if I hadn't hit the breaks one of 2 things would have happened: either we would have careened off the road straight into a mile marker at 65 + miles per hour and flipped the car, or the tires would have gripped on the asphalt and my over correction with the wheel would have sent us into on-coming traffic.  Needless to say after we were back on the road I spent the next half hour in tears, and in prayers of gratitude.  The Lord and his fast flying angels were looking out for us. 

January has been fairly uneventful.  Jordan got a new calling and was set apart as the Elder's Quorum 2nd Counselor.  He is going to do an amazing job. 

On Sunday, it had been one year since Jordan and my first date.  He had taken me to the symphony and, obviously, we hit it off really well.  Yesterday he surprised me with a bouquet of beautiful orange roses with hot pink tips and voluntarily taking out the garbage.   We've had a long, hard year to get to where we are, but it's also been a very joyous journey.  I love you, Jordan.

                                   

When It Rains, It Pours- but every rain cloud has a silver lining

So many of you know that the day Jordan and I came back from our honeymoon my work told me that I wouldn't have a job as of January 1st.  A week later they changed their minds- and now I am free.  Seriously, other than having to be careful about getting too bored (which leads to depression for me) I am in a better atmosphere and get to do more things that I love.  Of course, I gotta find a job, and soon, but  in the mean time I've enjoyed volunteering at West Jordan High School and helping them put together for their set, getting my house in order, and spending more time with brand new husband.

Of course, when you have a situation that can lead to a lot of stress, such as trying to find a new job that will pay enough and be enjoyable, other things go wrong.  On Friday, Jordan was baking biscuits (cute, I know) and we heard a POP!  He went to check it out only to find our oven on fire because the coil had broken.  The greatest tragedy isn't that it is an added expense that we just can't fix right now, but that we've been trying to not eat out and the stove and oven were my best cooking allies.  So now we have to get creative and work with super fast methods (microwave) or super slow (slow cooker) to eat anything other than a sandwich.

Aha!  I just remembered that we have a BBQ grill.  Okay, we'll be fine, because for our wedding we also got a toaster oven, so Jordan can still make his biscuits.

Well, there are two more things that have really added to our trials.  First of all Jordan has a full blown cold.  Which since he's the only one bringing in money, he really can't miss work right now.  So I'm keeping him on full doses of alternating NyQuill and DayQuill.  Then the trial that broke the camels back was Jordan woke up and was at the U of U yesterday by 6:30 am for Marching band, sick as he was, and then the Utes didn't even try to win.  The depression was palpable in our home last night.  Jordan lost his voice to boot trying to cheer them into a victory.  It just wasn't enough.

Keep us in your prayers and send us your good energy and love!

Jordan Proposing

How Jordan and I got engaged.

Over the Pioneer weekend in July, Jordan came up with his family for a family renunion.  I was really glad to see him again and to get to meet his extended family.  Up to this point we had not discussed marriage in any way, shape or form, though my roommate was really rooting that he would propose that weekend.  Well, it all started to evolve.

First, as we were driving up to Lagoon, his sister, Alex was in the car chatting about what she wanted at her wedding and Jordan slipped, "Do you think that President Monson would do our sealing... I mean- YOUR sealing?"  Noted :)

Then the next day I got mercilessly interviewed and teased by his entire family about Jordan and I.  I think during that day they decided for us that we were going to get married.  By Friday night we had established that it was not a matter of if, but a matter of when.  I confessed that I was secretly hoping December could be a good when.  I had dreams of an awesome New Year's Eve Party as a reception/open house....

Someone over heard that and I got asked numerously about December plans by his cousins and uncles.   Surpisingly, not the aunts or Grandma....  Really, it was the uncles. 

Then I'm not sure what really happened but we were looking at rings on the internet on Sunday, and his vacation extended a week and Jordan was trying to figure out if he was brave enough to talk to my dad.  We decided if he talked to my dad AND my mom, it would go a lot better.  On Tuesday, he asked them for permission to marry me.  My dad said, "No", my mom overrode his decision and said, "Jordan, welcome to the family!"  Good thing, he had already boughten the ring.  (But I didn't know, that was a secret)

Then on Friday I knew something was fishy because Jordan planned a date for us.  When I found out I ran home, changed clothes, put on make-up and did my hair.  Then, I, of course, ruined it by over booking the evening.  It wasn't intentional, it's just the way it happened there ended up being a lot of stops to make and they each took longer than anticipated.  But eventually, we got to the Garden Park Ward and stood on the little bridge.  He said he had something for me and pulled a little wrapped package out of his pocket.  Darn those baggy cargo shorts!  I had been looking to see if he had a ring on him all night, and he had hid a whole box!  He wanted me to see how cutely wrapped it was, so he let me un-wrap it and look at the ring and he asked if I would marry him.  I said "yes", and though I can't remember, I'm guessing I hugged and kissed him.  I them started to panic and thought, if anyone were to some how get this ring thrown into the stream and NEVER find it again, it would be me.  So we moved off the Bridge and into some light so I could look at the ring.  I loved it.  It is a set and I had him put them on my finger, and only (very grudgingly) later that evening did I give him the wedding band back.  Yeah, I get to have it in 3 1/2 weeks!  3 1/2 weeks!  I need to get invitations out...

That's our story :)

Interpretation....

My mom wasn't really quite sure how Jordan and I met... so the long story short (for the longer story see previous post)...

I set my roommate up with Jordan (whom I did not know, but saw in church at the right moment).  We had this group triple date thing and my date was a disaster.  He talked about all sorts of weird things and started to only talk to Jordan, )  Well, right before he left he told me how I would be a cat lady for the rest of my life and if I was lucky I would be a temple worker.  Just like his mom, whom by the way, is divorced a few times over and will NEVER get married again.  Seriously. 

Anyway, Jordan saw his moment and swept in to comfort be and restore my self-esteem.  Actually, I was trying really hard not to pee my pants from laughing.  Couldn't believe someone actually said that to me.... and now we're engaged, so HAH to you weird date guy who brought poppy seed lemon cake cuz he got 2 for 1 deal and this one wasn't as good as the first one, I won't be a cat lady! 

How I Met My Groom(s)

Once upon a time, in a land really not so far from here lived a young maiden who was throwing a ball.  Her dear friends arrived and they started to have a jovial time.  After not much longer one of the young men shed his disguise and reveled himself to be a foolish wizard!  The Wizard tried to enchant the ladies with his magical words to make them fall in love with him, but he spoke the spell backwards and only caused them great irritation.  He then tried his spell on one young gentleman at the party.  However, this was no ordinary gentleman, but a knight of the greatest nobility.  He fooled the wizard into thinking that his spell was working on him so that he would leave the fair maidens alone, while remaining immune to curse.

The Wizard sensing his spells were unraveling tried to cast one last curse before midnight, when it would be at it's greatest power.  He chose the fairest of the maidens to place his curse upon and started the incantation of turning her into a old cat lady.  He could tell her will was strong and if perhaps she could break that curse he set upon her a second- one that would cause her to work in the temple for the rest of her years. 

The young Knight knowing this poor lovely maiden's future happiness was at stake came to her protection.  The Wizard cast the Knight aside as he continued speaking his terrible curse.  At last, the Wizard left hackling to the moon.  The Young Knight went to comfort the poor maiden, but he knew the only way to truly free the maiden of this curse was to ask for her hand in marriage. 

He did so six months later.  The end. 

p.s. They will live Happily Ever After. 

Relief Society Highlights

Okay, it's been a ridiculously long time since I've blogged. So I want to share some highlights of this last year through the next few posts. Seeing as how I just got released as Relief Society President in a student ward I want to share a few of those favorite moments:

One time I was helping a young man in our ward fill out a welfare order. We got to the section for commodities and listed were feminine napkins. He had read that there were napkins and felt like he could use some of those. I told him no. He looked at me weird when I told him he didn't want those kind of napkins, but I figure I saved him some embarrassment later on.

Bishop Monson got up in sacrament to do the announcements and to recognize a young man who had just gotten engaged. He started it out with, "Who would have thought that out of everyone in that apartment that you would be the one getting married?" Bah!!! As soon as he said, "Who would have thought" I knew something borderline offensive was coming. (No one was offended.)

Hanging out in the clerk's office teasing and getting teased by Chris Cullimore.

I went to the psych ward where one of our girls was because she had tried to commit suicide. She was frustrated and felt like she couldn't feel the Spirit and was disconnected from the Lord. She told me to pray for her becuase maybe He would listen to me. We said a prayer together and the words were given to me... I figure that's what giving a priesthood blessing is like.

The first time I went to fill a DI order was amazing. It was a lot of fun, they treated the girl receiving it with so much love and respect. It was like Christmas and it gave me a testimony of asking for help and the Church's welfare system.

We were on Relief Society visits and just dropping off notes. I had one to drop off on my way home. I almost waited til Sunday because I was alone, tired and it was dark. I couldn't see the house numbers because it was so dark so I parked and walked down the street thinking I was an idiot for being alone. The apt I was looking for was the only one with a light on. I wanted to just stick the note in the door and leave but thought since I was there I might as well knock and see if the girl was home. I raised my hand and felt self-conscious, I was being such a dork, what would I say? "Hi, I'm here to visit you?" How presumptuous was I? Then I decided, oh well, a dork I would be... She answered right away and we ended up talking for an hour. She had prayed me there.

Seeing some girls visit teach for the first time.

Hearing the most incredible testimonies.

Being bestowed with a gift of love and acceptance for every member in the Relief Society.

Working with the Bishopbric wives. They are the most amazing ladies. Working with the Bishopbric. I love those men. And working with my counselors who I could trust impecably.

It was a blessed journey.

Christmas is in the Air

Christmas has got to be one of the most wonderful and awful times of the year. Here's my breakdown.

Things I hate about this season:

Thoughtless Chrismtas gifts
Too much crazy family under one roof
The haunting of Christmas' past
Claymation Christmas movies (seriously, they're creepy)

Things I LOVE about this season:

The Christmas Story
Singing Carols
Super classy yet sassy Christmas decor
Snow to slide around on (it's fun on a sled or fishtailing in your car)
A Handsome man keeping me warm when I walk outside, or anytime I pretend to be cold
Christmas lights
Awesome knee high boots
Mistletoe
Wrapping presents better than the department store
Seeing the smile on the kiddies' faces when they open the Littlest Pet Shop Puppy Palace with bonus puppies
Watching "While You Were Sleeping"
Hanging Mistletoe
Being able to eat as much junk food as I want and no one notices how fat I get, 'cuz they're getting fat too!
The smell of pine trees and cinnamon
Hearing Matt Jensen say "God bless us, everyone".
Christmas bonuses
Mistletoe Ornaments
The sound of snow crunching when I walk over it
Icicles that stretch from my roof to the ground and make excellent swords
Mistletoe and Holly
My Grandpa Clavells snowy village- only his, though
My brothers come home
Playing Christmas music on the piano
A whole sacrament meeting filled with music
Lights and Nativity at Temple Square
Using Mistletoe

I'm sure I could think of more. Hope you love this season as much as I do!

Deja Vous and Dreams

Two nights ago I dreamt that I was in front of a bunch of trees in Idaho surrounded by a linked fence wearing a long sleeve white shirt, a red puffy vest, and skinny jeans. I was planning on visiting my cousin that weekend in Idaho, so I figured I would pack that outfit just for the sake of it. I wore the outfit on Saturday and was really excited when we talked about going to an orchard and picking apples fresh from the trees. I had completely forgotten about the dream until the next day and realized that the entry to the orchard is what I had dreamt two nights previous. However, in the dream I was talking to two men, that didn't happen in real life.

My roommate and I have also been having a ton of deja vous. In fact, the other day I needed to go up to the institute to print some reports. As I was thinking about going up there that evening I pictured my friend, Brad, sitting in the bishop's nook, even though I knew it was Ben's night to be there as the executive secretary for meetings. When I went up there, Brad was there filling in for Ben. Then as I was chatting with him I couldn't tell if we had had that conversation before about him serving his mission in Vera Cruz, Mexico, or if I just was having deja vous. I'm pretty sure we had this conversation before, but he didn't say anything like, "Don't you remember me telling you this?"

Regardless, I believe there's a lot to be said about dreams and deja vous. Whether it's our spirits saying, "Hey, you're on the right track, you've been here before". Or if it's our subconscious minds that are constantly picking up so much more than we normally comprehend and every now and then it manifests in a way that our conscious minds can comprehend.

Yet, even though I can rationalize away these feelings and say that they are imaginations of an overactive mind, I can't deny that there is a sense of destiny in the air. I believe that big things are going to happen, and soon. Good things.

10 Easy Ways to Get a Girl to Dump You

1. Text someone else the whole date- especially another girl.
2. Have the girl pay and brag about how she won't let you pay even if you wanted to.
3. Pick something really expensive for a date that only you like to do and then make her pay for it. Never say thank you.
4. Mention how she missed a spot or two while shaving her legs.
5. When you go in to kiss her, mention that her hidden mustache isn't as prickly as you thought it would be.
6. Slap her on the butt so hard that it bruises her and tell her how much she likes it.
7. Make fun of how much food she eats.
8. When she wants to hold your hand just tell her that's it weird to hold "man hands".
9. Don't wear deoderant, don't brush your teeth, don't wash your clothes. Cuddle.
10. Start playing footsie and casually mention getting over a foot fungus.

Any one of these should send a girl running, but if not try combining a few.

Never Wait Til You Need It

I've come to the conclusion that there are only two things in life that you need to keep handy. Everything else can wait until you actually need it. So just remember always, always, ALWAYS, have Toilet paper, and a toilet plunger.

True to Utah Date Ideas

Everyone, there is no excuse for dates to consist of only movies and dinner. So here's a bunch of date ideas that are super cheap, super fun and let's just face it, if the date was with me, super.


Quick Wits- Comedy Improv Fridays at 7:30 at Studio 600 2 for $5

Game Night Games- Play Board Games 6-10 on Wednesdays FREE
6-11 on Fridays $3

Church History Museum- M-F 9am-9pm FREE
Sat. & Sun 10am-7pm

Joseph Smith Movie- Every 2 hours til 9:15 FREE

Community Theatre-
Empress Theatre in Magna $9-11
Murray City Ampitheater (Summer) $7
West Jordan Sugar Beet Factory (Summer) $7
Sandy Ampitheater price varies
High School Plays and Musicals(Fall) $7
Desert Star Play House (spoofs) $13-15

Midnight Hike to Ensign Peak- So Romantic and So CHEAP

Midnight Snowshoeing- Solitude Trail, renting snow shoes is cheap

East Canyon State Park- Entry fee is $9
Jordanelle State Park- Entry is $7-10
Rent canoes, paddleboats, etc. for CHEAP

Alpine Slide- Park City $11
Snow Bird (Fall) $8

Home made Pizza- buy pillsbury or french bread for the crust CHEAP

Sports Games-
The Buzz- general admission $7.50
The Utah Grizzles- cheap seats $10

Ice Skating-
The Olympic Oval $4 admission $2 skate rental

Dollar Store Kites and a Picnic- Sugarhouse park, Murray Park CHEAP

Donut Falls Hike and Donuts- Big Cottonwood Canyon $1 maybe

Social Awareness

Do you ever wonder if that guy who thinks he can get that girl knows that he's that guy and can't get that girl?

My brother and I had a cassette tape of the Lion King soundtrack that our babysitter had recorded over a comedy show and then given to us. If you let the tape run to the end you get past the singing animals and to the comedian whose first line was, "Pigs don't know pigs stink." Of course, our five and six year old minds thought that was hilarious.

Now, not only is that saying not hilarious; it's horrifying! I mean, what if you are obnoxious and you don't know it? What if you're the person that everyone feels like they have to be nice to. What if you're someones social charity case? Because, I swear, that girl that laughs way too loud at the party at some dude's joke, doesn't know she's being too loud. And that guy who thinks he can get that girl, really thinks he can and will.

Yet we reinforce a lot of these socially retarded attributes because we're nice people. We don't tell an ultra nerd to bug off because we're nice girls. So we let him take us on a date and then hint that we really shouldn't go out again. Then we say that at least we got to know him a little better and didn't judge on our first impression to feel better about wasting his money, time and dreams. The poor guy only got his hopes up and we crushed him and tells all his friends that we're only pretty on the outside, when we're really just trying to be nice. Because he's THAT guy and we're THAT girl.

This is my first blog. I've succombed to the cyber pressure of exposing my life on-line.