Mexican Riviera Cruise

This fall I'm going on a cruise with my brother, niece, and 2 nephews. I'm pretty excited even though it's a ways off yet. We'll be going to the Mexican Riviera via the Carnival's cruise ship, Splendor. The reason why I'm posting this now is that I hope that people who have gone on this cruise will know of all the best excursions to take in each port city. The ports are Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas, and Mazatlan. So if you have any suggestions, please feel free to share. :)

Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House

Yesterday our singles family home evening group attended the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. It was interesting to see a second temple open house so close to viewing another one. Our FHE group also attended the Draper Temple open house a few months ago.

The Oquirrh Mountain Temple was similar in a lot of ways to the Draper Temple. They are smaller temples comparatively speaking. I also noticed how much they used darker neutral colors through out. And again the furniture was very modern just like the Draper Temple. The most noticeable difference was the use of lots of floor tile. It seems like it might make for too much noise. I know that it definitely contributed to the noise during the open house. But I am sure that it will make cleaning and maintenance so much easier.

After the open house several of us stopped by the Red Robin for smoothies and some appetizers. It was a great time.

Friend Request

What do you think the chances are that I actually know this "friend"? I can't imagine where I possibly could have met her! :) I'm just going to ignore this one....

Ben Kweller in Concert

Saturday night I went with my friend, Brad, his wife Elizabeth, and another friend Kimber to attend a Ben Kweller concert in Salt Lake City. I wasn't terribly excited about it. I've seen Ben Kweller three times now including this last time. But I wanted to go because it's one of the few times I get to hang out with Brad. Since the ticket was cheap, I figured, "Why not?"

Beforehand we went to the Reg Iguana to eat dinner. My last experience there was not a good memory but it was also a long time ago. Ten years ago when I last tried it, the service was horrible, it wasn't very clean, and when they brought me a glass of water there was lipstick on the glass and floaties in the water. Eeek! Well, I'm pleased to report that it has much improved. (ie. no lipstick!) Actually it was quite good. I ordered the Mole Negro. I love mole. Or better yet I should say that I love El Azteca's mole. Even though the Red Iguana's was pretty good, I'm still saying that El Azteca has the best version.

After dinner we headed to the Avalon to see Ben. Before Ben, the warm up band was Jones Street Station and as far as warm up bands go, they were great. Very talented. Ben came out and I once again realized just how talented and likable he is. I ended up thoroughly enjoying the show. The highlight of the show had to be the second encore which featured his 3 year old son playing drums. I was glad to see that someone had posted that song on YouTube. You can see it below. The kid is amazing!

Get the Massage

Two few weeks ago I went for my first real massage. Well it was at the massage school. Can that still be called my first real massage?

I've been a little skittish about it. I'm not entirely comfortable letting just anyone touch me. So you can see why I might be a little hesitant. But I was determined that it was something I wanted to try and that it would probably be something I would really enjoy if I could just get by the initial scare of it.

When I went to make the appointment I found out that it was 2 for 1. So initially I invited my brother to come along. When he couldn't come, my sister-in-law came instead.

Being a newbie, I didn't really know what to expect or what to tell the massage therapist that I wanted. I ended up getting a full-body massage. My lower back had really been hurting and I was hoping that a massage might just be the trick to fix it.

I got a very professional young lady who completely made me feel at ease. She talked about what would happen and then left me in the room to get ready. When she started massaging several times she asked how the pressure was. Each time I told her she could go harder. On about the 3rd time asking, I told her just to go as hard as she could and I would let her know if it got to be too much. There were a few times when I almost had to "cry uncle" but in the end I toughed it out. I thought the massage was wonderful and that I got a great student. I will definitely be back!

Arrgh, Where Be Me Bird?

So a few weeks ago I was walking over to the church when I kept on hearing this bizarre noise. I couldn't really figure out what it was. As I got closer to the church I thought it must be a bird but it was making noises unlike any bird I hear around these parts. I started looking up into the huge trees that border the church when I heard the noise again. I turned to look at the playground back on the other side of the fence and I spotted a beautiful huge parrot just sitting in the playground house. If you look closely at the photo above you can see it. I was freaking out because this was a big bird and I'm pretty sure a very expensive one. I thought someone is really missing it. I took a photo with my iPhone just for proof. After I got to the church I found the camera I use for photographing new families and went back to get a better photo. By then there was a man with the bird. Apparently the bird wasn't there alone. I was relieved that at least he wasn't lost. The owner told me that the bird is worth $12,000 and can't fly anyway. Well at least I got a good photo of it. And I was happy that he wasn't lost.

Winter Song (Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson)

It seems every year on So You Think You Can Dance I am introduced to a new artist or song that I really love. This year is no exception! Last night I was watching the auditions from Memphis, I think, and at least two of the contestants danced to this song. I used my iPhone to determine what the song was and who sung it. I'm familiar with both Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson but had not heard the song. It's off of a Christmas CD. So it's not exactly new. This morning I had to purchase it on iTunes and have listened to it several times. I'm not sure why I love it. Check it out and see what you think.

Sara Bareilles - New Music - More Music Videos

Winter Song - Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson

UPDATE: Okay. My niece reminded me that she performed it at our family Christmas party. I loved it then and meant to look it up. But my short term memory prevented that. Bri, thanks for reminding me where I first heard it.