Holiday roundup.

I can't believe how fast the time has flown. It seems like I just got here, but 7 days has already come and gone and now I am getting ready to leave Blanding and head on back to Baton Rouge. We will be leaving in about 2 hours and I have said my goodbye's to most of my family.

Some of the most memorable and fun moments have been the visiting with family and also the overnight softball tournament. It has been about seven years since I have played softball, and so Summer made me practice for the three days before the tournament, it was a good thing, because there was a bunch of rust to get off. It worked though, because I did a great job.....now I am not one to brag about myself very often, but I think that in these circumstances, I deserve a good old pat on the back. I played shortstop and caught/stopped almost every ball that came my way, one got by that I should've stopped....I was able to make throws to first with only one fairly wild throw that bounced in the dirt in front of Jim, who was our first baseman.

As far as hitting is concerned, I did well. I only fouled out once, singled once, but every other hit was a double or triple, with three homeruns during the tournament. (one was infield, two were over the fence). It was fun and I am so glad that it was a one-pitch tournament. I am glad because our pitcher was my brother in law who is a good pitcher and was consistent with his delivery....I got used to his pitches during our practices and it felt good to swing a bat again.

There were 24 teams that competed in the tournament and we ended up in fifth place. We started at 6pm and were eliminated at about 5am the next morning. It was the first time that I had ever played in that tournament and I hope to do it again next year.

For the next two days, I was soooooo sore....I had used muscles that hadn't been used in ages and am still paying for it a little bit as I type this.

One thing that I didn't get to do was visit as many people as I wanted to. It seemed like I had something going on every single minute of the day, but I got to spend the majority of time with my family and that was the best thing.

I love my parents, siblings, in-laws, nieces, nephews, friends and other family and wish that I had more time to spend with each of them. But, I have to go back to work. This time, I think that I will be a little sad leaving Blanding.....normally, I am eager and ready to leave after a few days, but this time it is different....maybe I'm slowing down and appreciate the small town life more, maybe I appreciate my family more, but regardless, it is harder to say goodbye this time around. ....I love the views here.....Blue Mountain to the North, Sleeping Ute Mountain to the East, Teec Nos Pos Mountains to the South, and Bears Ears to the West.....interspaced with beautiful, untouched, earth-colored canyons, mesas, and rock formations. Home is definitely where the heart is and mine has been refilled and expanded with new memories, laughs, and love.

Wednesday in Blanding

Wednesday morning started out early as my brother, dad, and I went to lift weights. I didn't want to embarrass them, so I took it easy...also I had to keep in mind that I would be playing in a softball tournament in two days and didn't want to be too sore. :)

Later on in the day, I watched a movie with my brother, hung out with my parents and then went to hitting practice...I think I should mention here that because I didn't bring any cleats, I had to borrow my sisters (we wear the same size) and so now I have black Nike cleats with a pink swoosh on the side. My nieces laugh and laugh and think that these shoes fit their Uncle Justin to a perfect tee.

That evening we had hobo dinners and a cookout at the parents. They turned out sooooo good and it was great to hang out with the family and do a cook out. Normally, I hear about it after the fact, because they all live in the home town and I live 2000 miles away.

Although it is great hanging out with the family and nieces/nephews, it takes a little getting used to....I mean, the noise, the constant activity, the crying, the laughing, the cooking, the cleaning, at home, I only have myself to worry about and I'm pretty low maintenance, or at least I'd like to think that. Here, there's kids underfoot, worried parents looking for/disciplining their kids, or me becoming a real-life jungle gym. It's fun though.

Home for the 4th of July

I have been lucky enough to come home for a week during the 4th of July. Today is my third day back in Blanding, and everything has been awesome. and I have kept busy doing things with my family ever since I got here and there doesn't seem to be much in the works of slowing down anytime soon.

I flew into town on Monday, leaving New Orleans, LA, at 7am. Jerome drove me to the airport and I made my flight to Denver, CO. After arriving in Denver, I took the short hop to Durango, CO, where my parents were waiting for me with open arms.

I love visiting my parents and my hometown. We stopped to eat at Steamworks in Durago, which is a brewery, unfortunately, because I was with my parents, I didn't try anything from that brewery. They don't drink, or smoke, or curse, or skip church on Sunday.....often. :)

We started with a mountainous plate of nachos, followed by a plain burger for dad, spicy chicken pasta for mom, and enchiladas for me. Mom and I are pretty much the only ones in the family that will eat anything spicier than ketchup.

Next was a rousing trip to the mall, and Wal-Mart, in Durango, and Cortez, before finally making the lazy drive home, via oft overlooked roads taking us through some beautiful desert canyons and mesas. I had forgotten how yellow/red/brown the landscape can be, especially during the Summer, and I enjoyed the view from my backseat window on the trip.

That evening, I got to visit with my siblings, nieces/nephews, and in-laws before crashing to bed....it seems every time I come home, I end up laughing so hard my stomach hurts, this time it was my youngest brother...he cracked up at the story of me falling asleep in a movie, "Karate Kid", and twitching, but slamming my arm into a little kid who was sitting next to me.

Day two (or the first full day), found us cleaning up around the house. Turner and I loaded two truckloads of garbage and drove it to the transfer center that is south of town. On the way back, the old blue pick up truck that we had broke down and we ended up walking about a mile to my sister's house to catch a ride home. Luckily, Turner and his friend are well versed in auto mechanics and they were able to get the truck running again. If it were just me, I would've left the truck where it was and moved on to another vehicle....my parents never throw anything away though, unless it is thoroughly rusted or broken into several pieces.

Later that evening, we went to the softball fields and hit the ball. It has been several years since I have played, but I did all right though. At least, I didn't miss the ball like I thought I would. Dinner was chongaho's, one of my favorites and fry bread, which I missed a ton!! More laughter and fun ensued, then I finally crashed with a commitment to go lift weights early the next morning with my brother.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

So, I have been a fan of Star Trek: TNG since I was in high school. I remember staying up late and watching it. It came on at 10pm and lasted til 11pm, but I wasn't about to miss it. Anyway, nostalgia has a funny way of coming back. Recently, I have discovered that TNG plays regularly on syndiation, so I have set my DVR to record it every day. What a wonderful way to relive some old memories and re-visit a favorite pasttime. I know it makes me a dork, but whatever.

Come out, come out, wherever you are!

Dear Blog,

It has been way too long since I have updated this thing and feel that I should throw at least a small morsel out for anyone who may happen across this thing.

I am still living in Baton Rouge, LA, and love the time I have been here. Can't believe that it will be three years in July of this year. It's good to have some really good friends around that make life fun and interesting. Work is going well, although I wouldn't mind making a little bit more money, but I think most people fall in that boat. On the plus side, work is not too stressful and aside from having a schedule that changes weekly, things are going pretty well.

The boys (Jerome, Lewis, Kevin, Michael, Todd, Mel-honorary boy) are getting ready to go on a cruise next week. They will be cruising on the Carnival Dream for Memorial Day week. I would have gone, but instead will be using my vacation time to visit the family during the week of the 4th of July. I'll miss the cruise and the fun I know they will all have, but will love to go home and visit the family.

My parents came out to Baton Rouge about a month ago and I LOVED having them here. It was the first time they had ever visited me since I left Utah nearly six years ago. We did a whirlwind tour of New Orleans and Baton Rouge, before they got in my old car and drove home. Yuck, not a fun drive. They got lost in Dallas, TX, for a while, but finally made it home after three days of driving.

I walked outside late this afternoon and saw a beautiful blue sky that stretched across the entire scope of my vision, touching bright green trees on the horizon and felt good to be alive. I offered a quick little prayer of thanks for the wonderful weather and scenery and just basked in the glory of that miracle. Sometimes, I like to just stop and look at the amazing world that surrounds me and tune out all the negative and horrible things that our news channels seem to pervade 24/7.

I have been haphazardly throwing out my resume to various places since I got my degree in February (finally), and wonder if anything will come of it. It would take a good increase in pay and great Mon-Fri schedule for me to consider leaving, and starting over isn't all that appealing anyway. Regardless, I know that I will eventually move somewhere closer to home.....I'm thinking SLC, ABQ, DEN, or PHX.

Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing the family this Summer and hope things continue to go well (knock on wood). Seems that facebook has kept me from updating this blog regulary, so, here's a quick update.

Regards!!

p.s. (afterthought) I need to find a good book(s) to read this Summer.

Mary Kay what??

Here's a quick post. So, my sister is a Mary Kay consultant and for the first time I have placed an order. Shampoo and some face stuff is on it's way. I justified it as a Christmas present to myself. LOL.

In other news, the Christmas tree has been put up and I am still addicted to Facebook. Other than that, everything is peachy.

OH, OH, OH, I forgot!!! I bought a Wii. It has been fun to play with Kevin, Jerome, and Lewis. I love the games, we play Mario Party 8, tennis, and rent games from Blockbuster. Lewis really gets into the tennis game and Jerome's arm is always hurt after we play, because they swing so hard. Hopefully, they never throw the remote through my TV.

Cruising on the Carnival Freedom

It's been a while since my last update, but felt that as I just returned tonight from my first ever cruise, I should write a little bit about it. First, the major facts:

*The cruise was 8 days long from August 1 to August 9
*We sailed from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to Cozumel Mexico, to Limon, Costa Rica, to Colon, Panama.
*I am still experiencing "sea legs" after having been off the boat for 13 hours
*I went with Jerome, Lewis, Kevin, Todd, and Michael.
*Took lots of pictures and will need to post them at a later time.

So, the cruise was awesome. As it was my first cruise, I didn't know exactly what to expect, but the experience became very clear, very quickly. Basically, you eat, go to shows, relax, and eat some more. There are tons of things on the ship to keep you busy, casinos, bars, discos, karaoke, suntanning, swimming, exercise, spa treatments, art shows, musicals, etc.

We flew out of New Orleans last week and landed in Ft. Lauderdale, where we met up with Ryan and Brian. Hung out at a beach and had dinner, then got ready for our cruise.

I have saved all the programs from the shp and will need to go through later and detail things, but right now, gotta unpack and get things ready for this upcoming week. I had a great time, though.