Deer Valley and Shawn Bradley

In 2004, Robyn, Joe, and I took a ski class together. We went with an instructor up to Sundance every Tuesday for six weeks and went from not being able to get off the ski lifts to actually enjoying the skiing experience.

Robyn and I liked it so much that we decided to try a non-class ski trip to Brighton. One night, probably a Friday, Robyn and I drove up to Brighton with some friends and tried our luck at the slopes without an instructor cheering us on and correcting our style. It was a horrible night.

None of us really enjoyed Brighton. It was cold, windy, dark, and crowded. We were surrounded by skiers, amateurs and experts, but that wasn't the worst part. We were being danced around by snowboarders. It was at Brighton that I decided I really didn't like night skiing and that snowboarders and skiers really do belong on different mountains (they're like oil and water).

By the end of the night at Brighton, the girls had cold feet and that's not the least of it. On my last run down the mountain, some idiot was skiing backwards and ran into me. He was wearing a helmet, we knocked heads, I briefly blacked out, and he skied off, leaving me flat on the ground with my goggles ten feet in one direction and my skis ten feet in the other direction. When I tried to sit up, the pain I felt pointed only to one thing: a broken rib. I hope to never go back to night ski at Brighton.

Yesterday was as far away from Brighton as I could get. I went skiing with 40 of my closest friends at Deer Valley, which is consistently rated number one among ski resorts in North America. What's more? All of our lift passes were free!


You can't beat this!


The morning started at 7:30 AM. Cody and Marianne showed up at my door ready to drive up to Deer Valley. We stopped at McDonald's for breakfast, and then we were off. We were on the slopes by 10:00 AM, ready for a day of the finest skiing in the world.

The resort was great in so many ways. It had innumerable lifts and runs and no snowboarders. The sun poked through the clouds throughout the day, and everyone on the slopes was very friendly. I can't stop thinking about how much I need to start my new life as a ski bum in Park City. Enough of Sundance, I need Deer Valley. To quote Homer Simpson, "Why eat hamburger when you can have steak?"


My roommates Adam and Rod and me



The classic thumbs up



Marianne and me



A closer look at Marianne's wicked hott sunglasses



It was my roommate Justin's first time on the slopes. He couldn't have found a nicer mountain to fall down.

Oh yeah, I had to work last night at 5:00 PM. I wanted to stay on the slopes 'til five, but I had to leave at 3:00 PM to be back for work. Apparently, I was indespensible (I tried getting a sub, but they wanted me). Anyway, it was a good thing I went to work, because I served Shawn Bradley. I didn't recognize him at first, but I guess when you see a 7'6" guy, you can probably assume it's him.



We exchanged words. He was supposed to only take one candy bar during halftime, but I told him he could take as many as he wanted. He took three.

I'm All About the Tradition

After putting it off for a few weeks, I guess it's time for an update.

The weekend after the Disneyland Trip, an opportunity arose that I could not let pass by...a SKI TRIP.

Last year, I made it on the slopes a total of once. In order to make it a tradition, I had to do it again this year. Remember, I'm all about the traditions.

We went up the road to Sundance.


Me


Cody


Sarah

Before we hit the slopes, we stopped at McDonald's (another tradition).

What's more?

A few weeks ago my bishop surprised us when he told us at ward council that he had about 100 free day passes to DEER VALLEY. So this Saturday, we're taking a ward ski trip to the highest ranked ski resort in North America! I'll have to let you know how it goes. Maybe sometime in March...JK. If you're lucky I'll let you know before another month passes.

It's an Official Tradition

(Last year)

For the last six months or more I have been looking forward to the Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend. Last year, 11 of my friends and I piled into three cars and headed down to sunny California for an escape from Provo to the beach and to Disneyland.


(This year)

This year, our numbers had dropped by two, from 11 to 9, and we had one less car, but it was an unforgetable weekend and the official proliferation of a tradition.







We left Friday at about 4 pm, which put us in CA at about 12:30 am early Saturday morning. We made it to Disneyland around 9:30 am, where we met with the people we had lined up to sign us in FOR FREE. We spent the day hopping between Disneyland and California Adventure, and ended the night with the world's greatest firework show at 9:30 pm and a mad dash through Fantasy Land from 10-11 pm. We made it back to La Habra around midnight.



Sunday we went to Sacrament meeting in La Habra and then to the beach. We actually went to Balboa and parked and then took the ferry to Newport. That night we had dinner together and watched The Sword in the Stone. What a funny movie.

Monday, we woke up and made it to the road at about 11 am. 12 hours later we made it back to Provo, where we were greeted by snow, cold air, and HOMEWORK.

Check the rest of the pics out here.

"Great BIG Sled" - The Killers

25 things!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
I just bought some really good Mexican hot chocolate at the Nordstrom Cafe. It's this season's best.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree?
Santa wraps the presents, unless it's a dog or a bike or a basketball standard. If it's a dog, he keeps it in your parents' room, where the dog and your father can bond from the very first night. If it's a bike and basketball standard, he keeps them under a blanket to be found when you get home from Christmas vacation in Utah. He will tease you, however, by wrapping up a helmet and giving it to you on Christmas day...sans bike. You will be very confused until you get home and find your new bike under a blanket.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
I really like white lights, but both have their place.



4. Do you hang mistletoe?
'Tis the season.

5. When do you hang your decorations up?
If I were to follow in the tradition of my mother, I would have to break them out somewhere between December 21 and 24.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
Though it only happened once, I REALLY loved the prime rib made by my mom a few years back. I've begged since then, but apparently you can only make prime rib when the sales are right at Sam's Club.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?
I loved singing carols as a family and extended family. I also loved going to see the lights in Brea.

8. When and How did you learn the truth about Santa?
I think my parents and sisters still think I believe in Santa Claus. When I was in middle school I figured out that my parents kept our gifts in the trunk of the Stanza, so on one or two occasions I snuck out there and found what Santa dropped off early for us. It was always interesting figuring out who all the gifts were for, however.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Pajamas. Mom and dad would always pretend that it wasn't going to happen, but then it always did.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
Lights, an angel made by a kindergarten teacher, and a varied collection of ornaments...and some baubles that are probably older than I am.

11. Snow? Loved it or dread it?
Love it in January, hate it by February...except on the slopes.

12. Real tree or fake tree?
Real. Always real. I am unforgiving to those that go fake.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
My "sister's" dog Dutchess was probably the best gift. I also liked the working train that I got when I was four. Unfortunately, we took it back for some reason, and I ended up with a Brio wooden train instead (which was still very cool). The bike helmet was good. I also liked the Game Gear and the Play Station. What else? Oh, the ski clothes, the digital camera, and many many more.

14. What's the most important thing about Christmas for you?
Being with family and remembering how much we have, compared to so many people out there with so little.

15. What is your favorite Holiday dessert?
I love See's Candy, and all other Christmas candies, for that matter.

16. What is your favorite tradition?
I liked rabbit hunting the day after Christmas. I love going to the ultra-busy malls. I loved it when the Plett's would take the whole neighborhood caroling, and I would always be home alone and have to listen to them and then make an excuse as to why I could not go with them...I could have used some back-up on that one, mom and dad.

17. What tops your tree?
An angel made by a kindergarten teacher.

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving?
I love finding the "perfect" gift for other people and giving it to them. Receiving is also very nice!

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
I really like "Christmas Time Is Here" from Charlie Brown. Also, "Someday At Christmas" by Stevie Wonder. For a full listing, see this blog.

20. Candy canes, yuck or yum?
I like the fruity ones. The other candy canes are the equivalent of the candy I would eat last in my Halloween bag.

21. Favorite Christmas Movie?
Home Alone, Mr. Krueger's Christmas, etc.

22. What do you leave for Santa?
A wish list for next year. I don't think we ever left him anything growing up. We weren't a very "snacky" family, or at least our mother didn't think we were.

23. Do you have a Christmas morning tradition?
Growing up we would always eat Christmas breakfast at my grandma Johnson's house with all of the cousins. When we were at home, Robyn, Kimberly, and I would sleep in the same room, and they would get mad at me because I couldn't sleep, or I would make too much noise. I would usually wake up sometime around 4 AM and go look at what Santa had brought. That reminds me...Santa also hid a guitar under a blanket one year. He wasn't a very creative wrapper of big objects.

24. Do you prefer to shop on-line or at the mall?
I like getting ideas online, but I love big crowds at the mall. My favorite memory is driving to the mall in California after my first semester at BYU and listening to "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" by The Darkness. Not a Christmas song, but still a good memory.

25. Christmas letter or Christmas card?
Christmas letter folded inside a Christmas card.

A Bad Habit

Today I decided to travel light to my 9:30 AM class, so I left the backpack at home and walked to school with my folder, book (La familia de Pascual Duarte), cell phone, keys, iPod, and wallet. Walking up the hill without the added weight of my backpack (that probably weighs 5 lbs. when empty) was really nice. It was even better at the end of class when I didn't have to pack up, but could just stand up and walk out.

The problem is that I have a tendency to unpack my pockets when I sit down. I can't stand having keys, phones, iPods, chap stick, or wallets on me when I don't have to. When I got to class today, I left my phone and iPod in my coat pocket, but I put my wallet on the floor under my chair. When class ended, I got up, picked up my coat, folder, and book, and left the classroom, leaving my wallet behind on the floor.

I didn't realize I had forgotten it until I got home, when I decided I wanted to get something to eat and needed my wallet to buy it. I searched my room, not knowing if I had just misplaced it at home, but could not find it. I then walked back up to campus to look in my classroom, but there was a class in session, and I did not want to be like the girl that came into my D&C class a while back and stopped the whole class so we could all look under our chairs for her phone. When no one could find it, she gave her number out, and a couple of guys all raced to be the first one to call it. She found her phone, and gave out her number to a bunch of guys. I didn't want to repeat that process with the class sitting with my wallet under one of their chairs. If they found it, they would probably look at my drivers license or ID, both of which have terribly embarrassing pictures.

Anyway, I didn't go into the classroom, but I did go to the lost and found. No luck there. I went back to the classroom after my 1:00 PM class, but there was another class in session. Still avoiding embarrassment, I came home. I checked my email, and there was one from my professor/dean. He had the wallet in his office. If only I had gone there at 11:00 AM, when I was desperately searching.

I know that purses are not socially acceptable for men, but something must be done. I'm not about to strap my cell phone to my belt, and even if I did, what would I do with my keys, wallet, and iPod (all of which must be carried constantly)? I need something accessible, acceptable, and practicle to prevent any future wallet-losings when I empty my pockets.

Any suggestions?

PS

I am disappointed that no one in my family has posted a Thanksgiving blog. I've been checking EVERY day, and nothing... Come on!

Michael's Car Driving Follies (I've been tagged)

1. In high school when I needed a break from homework, I would take my Civic out and race it through the hills around Skyline Drive. That's where those brakes and tires went, dad. I thought I was the real Michael Andretti.

2. My friend Amanda and I used to follow people in their cars (that we knew from school but who didn't know it was us) until they would either freak out because they were being followed or play a car version of tag (also, that's where those tires and brakes went).

3. When Amanda got her new car with 4-wheel drive, we took it out into a muddy construction lot and played in the mud until her car got stuck. So her mom wouldn't find out, we first called a friend with a Jeep and a wench. When that didn't work, we called AAA, and they pulled her out. The car was covered with mud (inside and out), so at about 1:00 am, we went to the car wash and tried to spray all of the mud off. For months after that, every so often we'd be driving along and clumps of dirt would fall off and bounce behind the car. Her mom never found out (as far as I know).

4. One day after a choir concert, I went to Del Taco with James, Amber, and Amanda. We went inside to order the food. Amber and I were the first ones to finish, so we took Amanda's keys, and I got into the driver's seat, and Amber took shotgun. Amanda and James then came out, and she sat behind me, and James behind Amber. We pulled out of the parking lot onto Rose (my license was still provisional, meaning I wasn't supposed to have passengers in the car with me while driving) and the light was red at Imperial. While we were waiting for the light to change, James suggested we open the doors and let them close themselves as we accelerated. The light turned green, I floored it, the doors shut, and then the sirens turned on and the lights flashed in my rear-view mirror. The cop came up to my (the driver's) window, asked me what I was thinking. I said something dumb, and then he asked whose car it was. I pointed at Amanda, and after questioning her at her window, asked her to step out of the car. The cop gave her two options: either take a $100 ticket or he would call her mom. She didn't want either, and managed to talk her way out of both. She said, "I'm a good girl, I get good grades and I'm a Girl Scout, and he's a good guy, he's Mormon, and a Boy Scout..." She was out there with him for what seemed like forever, but it worked, and none of our parents ever found out (until now). We went back to my house, we walked in the door, and we all hugged each other and fell on the floor with relief. It seemed so bad when I was 17.

5. Landon, Alan, and I used to call ourselves the Citizens Auxiliary Police. Landon had a stupid red flashing light that plugged into the cigarette lighter. We would wait by obscure stop signs for people to blow through them. When they did, we would plug in the light and chase them down until they stopped. We would then give them a friendly reminder not to blow through stop signs in obscure places. (I can't believe I'm telling this.) Luckily, the real "po-po" never caught us.

6. Another time, Landon, Alan, and me were driving by the Church late at night, and we noticed a car parked in the back of the parking lot. Being the Citizens Auxiliary Police force, we decided to check it out. We drove back there, and realized that the windows were a little foggy. At that point, we became the Morality Police. I parked my car along side the questionable one, forcing the guy in the other car to hop out with his pants around his ankles. He cursed, I sped away, and proceeded to call our colleagues, the real police. Two cop cars showed up, but we didn't realize that the perpetrators had sneeked out. For a while, we thought something was going down in the parking lot, but we didn't want to go back there and find out while the cops were still doing their thing (for fear that they might think we, the Morality Police, were also up to no good), so we drove around to the back side of the parking lot where there was an ally connecting it to one of the other side streets. We couldn't see the cops from there, so we made Alan jump a fence (trespass), and see what was up. It was then that we realized the cops were just chatting and there was nothing going down. We then went home and watched a movie or something.

7. One time I was driving fast down Yorba Linda Boulevard late at night (Robyn knows this one), and apparently it was fast enough to make a cop car do a complete 180 at full speed. Luckily, I saw him and slammed on my breaks before he could get a good look at my speed. I am so glad that when the cops scanned my plates, it said (Uncle) Honda and not 17-year-old Michael Johnson.

At the request of Devon, I tag him. He asked for it, so he can have it. These are the confessions of a reformed (somewhat) 22-year-old. I still drive fast, but I definitely keep the doors closed all the time.