Monday, September 28, 2009

My old life

An ode to my old life.
Oh where, oh where did my care free life go? Oh where, oh where can it be? Sleeping in, watching HGTV, making cookies, time to blog and blog stock, staying up late watching movies and cuddling, going to lunch and playing with my mom. Those are all just a brief memory, for now I am in graduate school and I am sentenced to studying and reading and practicing and reading and commuting to Provo and still working and being tired.
But wait, I must remember that I did this to myself!


Monday, September 14, 2009

IT'S NOT CEMENT!

Hello Blogosphere! Yes, my time has again come to impart to you a smidgin of my vast dam knowledge (by mandate). First, I want to thank all of you for the tremendous support you have provided this blog - despite our outrageous views and friends. It continues to grow at a rapid rate, and will soon be rated in the top million (or so) read blogs.
If I might indulge myself - there is a little piece of engineering knowledge that all the world needs to know: CEMENT IS PART OF AN ENGINEERING SYSTEM CALLED CONCRETE! Cement is the material that binds the sand and gravel together. So the next time someone tells you they like your cement you can politely correct them, and let them know that what you have is concrete - something infinately stronger than plain old cement!

Now that I have scared off the non-die-hards I will let you in on my little concrete story. It has been a little over a month since canessessary gave me a job to do - put in an automatic plant feeding system for our bushes. Some people like to call these things "drip systems". Well a drip system works best if it has its own designated valve. I was able to free up a valve for our front yard plants, but was a little perplexed as to how to free up a valve in the back.

Leave it to the engineer to fix the problem! While Canessesary was off at breakfast with her mother, I realized that if I were to add an additional lane to our driveway I could free a valve in the back by abandoning the set of sprinklers that waters that part of our lawn.

I was excited by my genious, and quickly went to work digging out grass. The grass was heavy, but not as heavy as my heart was soon to be. Upon her return to our little castle, I was greeted by a look of disgust - which indicated to me that I had made a mistake. The next step was a quick solution to the problem I had created - I was told to put the grass back. That is easier said than done - and I still kind of liked my idea.



As you might suspect these are decisions that should be made as couple - mostly its a money issue. Well - since I started the project I had to finish it - and I didn't get to hire a professional. I have never really worked this much concrete...... Thankfully I had some great help from some buddies. This little picture explains how I was feeling - no it not a pose. BUT I did feel like a poser.

Concrete work is for concrete people. Dam work is for dam people - Personally I think things might have gone better if it were dam concrete - hmmmm, it might have been???


Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Miss Iron County

I have always wanted to judge a "beauty" pageant and this August I was able to do so. I was invited to be the novice judge for Miss Iron County 2009. The pageant was held in Cedar City and 12 contestants participated in the pageant. Since Miss Iron County goes to Miss Utah and Miss Utah goes to Miss America I had to read all sorts of information from the Miss America organization and go through a judges orientation. There is so much more that goes into these pageants then just the beauty part. The 2 directors in Cedar City have spent months with these girls helping them get ready for the pageant- mock interviews, learning how to walk in high heels, choosing the best evening gown and swimsuit and polishing their talents. I spent weeks reading over the contestants bios, platforms and deciding on questions to ask them during their private interview. We ended up crowning Delaney Westfall (photo) as the new Miss Iron County. I know that pageants aren't for everyone but my experience with being the D-Queen and in the Days of 47 royalty has been nothing but rewarding. I got scholarships, I made lasting friendships, got new clothes, I learned to feel more comfortable on stage, answer questions with both small and large audiences and I played my flute much more than my mom ever thought I would. :) If anyone has ever been interested in doing a pageant I would highly recommend it...what do you have to lose? Nothing, in my opinion.