Lately

Danny's family ran a firework tent through July, and gave us a few fireworks, including this huge one. So finally, last week we decided to set them off.  This big one was epic--I can't believe they're legal and I can't believe people will actually pay $130 for one!

Danny's little sister Gracie while we were watching all of the kids a couple of weeks ago. She was out so fast!

Danny, Connor, and Gracie.

Connor showing off his Superman costume.

We went on a hike up Rock Canyon--I love that we can walk five minutes from our apartment and be somewhere like this!

On our way home one day, we saw a free garage sale kind of thing. Danny saw this lazy boy and immediately pulled over. It was free and comfortable, so Danny gave me the keys to drive home, picked up the chair, and literally carried it the rest of the way back to our apartment. He is one happy boy.

This was from quite a while ago, but we went to a Real Salt Lake game earlier this summer-so fun! So glad Danny's getting into soccer :)

Explosions and Family

On Thursday night, I switched work around and we got to go with some of our friends to a FREE Explosions in the Sky concert! What's better than a free concert? Every summer Salt Lake does a thing called the Twilight Concert Series, and every Thursday night for seven weeks there's a free concert at a park.  Last year Modest Mouse came and apparently there were over 60,000 people--crazy! But, I was super excited for Explosions in the Sky to come. They're completely instrumental, but their music can be pretty powerful. Way chill music, so it was perfect for the concert being at such an open park.

Last week Danny's entire family came over. Yes, his entire family.  Plus a friend and a cousin. We had 15 people packed into our tiny little apartment.  Danny's mom, Christine, brought down island pork and coconut rice (one of my favorite meals of all time!), I made homemade Clam Chowder (which was actually also quite a hit), and for dessert--my mom's famous Cocoa Pink Cupcakes! It was all so so delicious. Afterwards we all walked over to Rock Canyon Park.  It's basically a giant crater in the ground, and right now because of the bizarre weather we had in the beginning of the summer, there's a stream running through it. 

 My little brother-in-law Connor is my favorite.  He's six and he's a little trouble-making nature boy. He was so excited to be at our apartment--or rather, he was excited to be in a new place to explore.

When we got to the park, all of the little kids were down the hill and wet before you could count to two.  The little kids loved having giant hills to roll down, and it's always fun to play in a big field when you have a soccer ball, a frisbee, and little kids of all ages to play with.

Fainting

So, before last August, the last time I remember fainting was when I was nine years old and a boy named Chris Reed threw an ice chunk at me during a snowball fight.  Since last August though, I've fainted four times. Four times! To me, that's outrageous and a little pathetic.

The first time was when I was down in Lake Powell and I flew off a tube.  Everyone claims I went at least 15 feet in the air--I couldn't tell ya whether that's true or not, but from how I felt, I believe it.  I hit the water--possibly another girl that was on the tube with me--and hurt my back.  My back hurt for the next two months.  Danny did a heroic lifeguard dive in after me and got me into the boat because I was having a hard time moving. When we made it back to the houseboat, I ended up fainting while Danny was trying distract me from the pain.

The next time was January 1st at about 2am.  Danny and I were in the hot tub at my parent's house and apparently I overheated? I was having a hard time breathing, and when we finally got out I made it to the kitchen but then collapsed on the kitchen floor. Don't worry though! Danny caught me.  Happy New Years!

The third time was when I was on my way to Delaware to get married.  We were on the plane and I was kind of bent over sleeping on Danny's lap.  I woke up, and I remember my entire leg being painfully asleep.  Maybe I sat up too quick? Not sure, but yup, I fainted again.  Luckily, Danny stopped me from falling forward so the guy next to me didn't even notice.  I ended up being sick the rest of the plane ride throwing up--it was awful. Worst plane ride of my life! I was fine as soon as I was on stable ground though.

The last time was just the other day.  I got a kink in my neck. I know, I know, it's not a big deal.  I've had them before, and they always hurt, but they go away.  This one was so tight though and I couldn't move my neck at all.  Danny suggested he try to massage it, and the last thing I remember before passing out was yelling at him not to because it would hurt too bad.  Next thing I knew I was on the ground with Danny yelling at me to wake up.  It's the weirdest feeling--I swear I was having a dream in the 10 seconds that I was out.  It felt like I had just had a whole night's sleep!

So, the first time I'm pretty sure I was in shock.  The second time I overheated.  The third time it was maybe because I sat up too fast or emotional stress from the wedding? And the fourth time I think I had a bit of a panic/anxiety attack.  Ask Danny--I hate to feel physically restricted and tend to freak out a bit when I can't move.  I was also blessed with my mom's extremely low blood pressure (hence the reason why my hands and feet are always cold).  So I'm sure that has something to do with it, but why am I suddenly fainting all the time?? So weird. I don't understand. I guess maybe I should go schedule a doctor's appointment. And no, as my dad teasingly suggested, Danny is not the cause of my fainting.  I'm just lucky that he's been there every time to catch me!

Happy 4th!

The 4th of July didn't go quite how we expected it to.  BUT, that's okay because we saw an amazing firework show the Saturday before at the Stadium of Fire.  Not only were we 50 yards away from where they were shooting off the fireworks, but we got to see six guys with American flags para-glide into the stadium, hear the entire concert, and we didn't pay a single cent! I don't know why people pay so much money to be inside of the stadium.  Anyway, my friend Rally and her soon-to-be-husband, Jon, met up with us when the fireworks started. Rally was my first roommate in college so it's always so fun when we get to hang out and I 'm so excited for her to get married next month!

So we got to see an awesome firework show on the 2nd.  However, on the actual 4th, Danny had work from 2:00 until noon, and I had work from 6:00 until 4:00. To add to that, Danny had work at 2:00am again the next day so we couldn't be out super late. SO, we had from about 5:00-9:00 to do something.  We ended up going over to my sister's in-law's house to swim and BBQ.  But of course, as soon as we got there we found out that Kerry and Wayne, my brother-in-law's parents, got their car stuck up in a canyon. So all of the guys went to go save them, and all of the girls hung out and waited for them to get back.  It was interesting, but they got their car out and it ended up being a pretty fun night!

Next year though, Danny and I are definitely both going to get off work, and we are going to have all-day festivities. Can't wait! I love America!