HELLLLLLLOOOOOOO!!!

So many of you might be thinking that I have gone the way of all the world. This is not true. I have just been slacking a LOT! But I am back in Utah and I have had many wonderful adventures getting here and being here. So I promise I'll post pictures and stories SOON. I love you all and thanks for getting on me to keep up!

Magic Happens

I got a text from Pa a few days ago as a "friendly reminder" that if I didn't get a lobster dinner I wasn't allowed back home. That was a no-brainer and here are the fruits of my labor!!
Doris is my funny roommate from El Salvador. You've heard the stories, now here's the face. She readily agreed to join me for a night of lobster bliss!
His exoskeleton isn't going to save him now
The poor little guy just seconds away from going down the hatch.... No pun intended, but still kinda funny ;) He didn't stand a chance
He kinda looks cute and peaceful on a bed of corn on the cob and steamed red potatoes
And this is all that was left after we went to town. The coleslaw and clam chowder didn't even survive. We took no prisoners!!

Celebration gone awry

So I was having a really good day yesterday. I did four massages at the salon then I went to the yacht and did two more. I've been there a few times now and everyone is just so nice!! The owner is amazing and I just laugh as she talks about things that are so normal for her but completely unrealistic for me and most of the world. She talked about growing up with maids like I talk about growing up with the family so close. Completely different worlds! The staff and crew on the boat are so nice too! They are kinda serious but you can tell that they have fun and after hours they can let loose and be crazy.... Totally my kind of people!! Anyway, I was just feeling really good about the day and I was thinking about what Dad had told me the day before about getting over to this amazin seafood place and getting a lobster dinner before I left. I'm saving the lobster dinner for another night, but I went and got Thai food to celebrate being as awesome as I am! I also got a movie to chill with and some ice cream for desert (if I'm going to treat myself, I'm going to do it right!!!) The Thai food was spicier than expected and I ate more than I should have. Not like I haven't done that before, plus I've got an Oakeson stomach so I can handle anything without being affected. WELL.... Around two a.m. I got the strangest feeling. It was like someone was trying to get to my stomach with a rusty spoon to rip my insides out. I alternated paying my dues to the porcelain king (which I'm ok with on account of I don't ever get sick like that) and laying on the floor because the cold tiles made my head feel like it would stay on my body. I returned to my bed for the best - and shortest - night's sleep of the year. I did five massages today and I feel fabulous! Tired of course, but fabulous still!! I think it's a built in mechanism of the Oakeson stomach that if something does manage to get a glitch in the system it fixes it right as new in no time! Thanks to all my ancestors for building a tolerance to pretty much anything and everything and passing it along to us! We will forever love you for it!

HIPPIES!!!!!

Nantucket is a very different world than what I'm used to, especially coming from Logan.... That pretty much goes without saying. I know I haven't lived in Logan very long, but I have grown quite fond of the scruffy, walking stick yieldin, campin gear carryin, mountain climbin, subaru drivin, hummus and tofu eatin hippies of the valley. In more ways than one I absolutely LOVE them!! Nantucket beaches and streets are usually filled with vacationing businessmen and their families with young (and old) preppy kids with carefully cropped hair, popped collars, and faded "Nantucket Red" shorts. There is definitely a very specific style out here. Well, I was riding my bike home the other day when I was temporarily blinded by the sight of a handsome young man with the coolest beard and shaggy hair I've seen in a long time! I literally almost ran into a tree staring at him. Sure, he was a good looking kid but more importantly he brought back memories of my beloved home. How I miss everyone!! The best part was I saw two more guys that fit the hippie description before I made it home. I vote YES for facial hair!!

Out of touch

I have to tell you all that I read everyone else's blogs religiously. Sometimes I check them every day just to see what's new. It helps me feel like I'm connected to everyone back home even though I'm (literally) thousands of miles away. Recently, there hasn't been much activity on the blog front. I shouldn't complain too much on account of my own lack of blogging. Just in the last day or two everyone has started to re-emerge and are posting again. I haven't laughed this hard in a while and it's all because of the Twilight Saga. It seems that everyone is completely caught up in it all. Don't think I'm pointing any fingers because I'm just as guilty as everyone else! I've stayed up till 3:30 in the morning (unless Dad or Mom is reading this then seriously, it was only like 11, 11:30 at the absolute latest) reading "just one more chapter" until I've read the whole dern book. Which might be ok, but there are four books..... Each one longer than the last. But it is a nice little escape from reality. I've sat down to write what was new in my life but it all seems so boring compared to dashingly handsome vampires, fast cars in Italy (#1 on my list of places to visit), near death experience, triumphal victories, love conquering all, etc, etc, etc. But then I think, my life is pretty stinkin AWESOME!! So here's the top five goings ons of my last week or so:

#5 PINKY, NO!! That was the theme of our last Family Home Evening. We went turtle hunting at the little pond on the other side of the island. You tie raw chicken legs to a string and let them into the water and the snapping turtles latch on and you can pull them up...... Sometimes. The boys got really into, laying down on the docks and grabbing the turtles from the water..... "Johnny, you want me to hold your legs?" Pinky is Luis' little dog who kept trying to get to close to the SNAPPING turtles. They were bigger than the little one and could have easily bitten his leg off or head or something.

#4 This past week alone, I've had offers that if I moved to Chicago, D.C., Atlanta or Tennessee I would be kept very busy from people I worked on here and all their friends. So I guess I'm in the right field of work.

#3 My room is REALLY clean! I mean, pull the bed out and vaccum under it kind of clean. So refreshing and wonderful!!

#2 Luis, a young man from church, invited us all over to his house after church last sunday for dinner. He's pretty hilarious. Anytime there is any kind of occasion he insists on bringing the ice cream. It's kinda cute how his eyes get all wide and excited when someone mentions something and he says, "and we can have ice cream too!"

#1 I was called back to do another outcall on a yacht. The thing was insane! It wasn't the biggest one there, but they had a room that was all set up specifically for massage. How nice would it be? "You need a massage? Oh, no. Don't worry about the stress of going into the spa, just come by the yacht and I'll get our massage therapist to work on you." I have to admit that the best part of that morning was I only ended up doing one massage but they still payed me for the four they contracted me for. I got to go and play on the beach the rest of the morning!!

July 31st

For some reason I'm really excited for August to be here. And for some other reason (or maybe it's the same reason, which would be kind of sketchy) I completely forgot there are thirty one days in July, not just thirty. So all day today I've been excited that it's August already. I've had deep thoughts and conversations with myself about the signifigance of time moving so swiftly and what I want to do with the rest of my life because it'll be here and gone before I know it. But it's not August yet. I feel like I have all the time in the world!! It's not moving faster than I can keep up. I still have time to procrastinate accomplishing what I really want to do with my life. It's still July

Before I made this astonishing discovery, I went to pick up my bike from getting a tune up and the fellow was on the phone with someone. I didn't have anything else to do while I waited for my bike so I listened in on his side of the conversation and tried to imagine what was going on on the other end. The guy on my side said that he would send a bike over tomorrow and confirmed that it was the first of August. "Poor guy," I thought to myself. "How can you run a business when you don't even know what day it is?" I didn't want to embarass him in front of his other customers so I didn't say anything. Several hours later I was the poor soul who found out after an entire day Augustness that it was all a scam. So friends, enjoy July while you can, but be so grateful that tomorrow is really, truly AUGUST!!..... Unless they decided to tack that extra day for leap year onto July and tomorrow is really the 32nd, in which case we're all doomed.

P. S. Sorry Mr. Island Bike Man for having a good little chuckle in my head at your expense. You were right. I was wrong.

Bad hair days

A woman woke up one day and noticed she had three hairs on her head. She said, "I can wear a braid today!"

The next morning she woke up and there were two hairs on her head. She said, "I can wear pigtails today!"

The next morning she woke up and there was only one hair on her head. She sighed and said, "Look's like a bad hair day."

I'M GETTING MARRIED!!!!!

I just wanted to give everyone a heads up that I'll be getting married on May 26th, 2009! So mark it on your calendars!!

I live with a 60+ year old woman from El Salvador and she thinks one of the church boys likes me. She's very adamant about this. She is also firm in her belief that he and I will be getting married next May... The 26th to be exact. This isn't just a fun little joke. This is dead serious! So, since this is DEFINITELY going to happen I thought I would give everyone some advanced notice.

I love you all and thanks in advance for all the help with the wedding plans!! Today's shout out goes to Doris!!

Inactivity

So I got a text today from the Relief Society President in my ward up in Logan reminding me about the activity they are having this Saturday at the Bishop's house up in the mountains. I'd been up there for another activity and it's a beautiful area and he has a beautiful house. There's going to be bike riding and frisbee and food and other various outdoor activities. Well, I just got off the phone with a very nice young man from the ward who called to tell me about the activity as well. Maybe I'm reading too much into it and they are just super excited about this activity OR I'm on the "inactive" list and they are trying to help a lost sheep come back to church through games and food.... They sure found my weakness!! If I was inactive the surest way to get me back would be the promise of food.... Food and available, attractive young mens. HA!! I love it!!

It's well..... AWESOME!

I got a package from my most awesome and amazing sister, ONGE, today!! I laughed so stinkin hard!! It had some great stuff, some cool stuff, and some downright knock-your-gum-outta-your-mouth-super-fabulous stuff!! She told me earlier that she was sending me something but she said it was kinda lame so I shouldn't get my hopes up. Well played Onge! Way to throw me off the awesomeness by saying it really isn't awesome and then I get it and it's more awesome than I could have imagined!! Oh she's a sly one! John Deer fruit snacks.... That's all I've got to say about it! Today's shout out goes to Onge! I love, Love, LOVE you!!!

Tip # 57 for a fabulous evening

Grab your BFF after work one day this week and ride your bikes to an awesome local. Giant pickles are optional but highly recomended. Have a fabulous time with fabulous people. Whilst riding home in the rain, pass your friend a few marshmallows every now and then.

Lost and found

I lost my phone yesterday morning. I thought I left it in my room but I may have put it in my pocket and it may have fallen out. That's the recent guestimate in my long line of conspiracy theories. Some of you may be wondering how it is that I am even able to survive without my phone attached to my ear (or my thumbs), but I'm here to tell you that I am still alive. It's been a whole two days and I'm still kickin. I've come a long way!! The major drawbacks are I never know what time it is and I don't have an alarm clock anymore. I went and bought one today and was so excited about it... But, I failed to get batteries for the silly thing. Here's hopin I wake up in time for work tomorrow ;)

Can I just say that I really, really LOVE my family and all my true friends out there. Ya'll are such an inspiration to me. I'm so blessed to have amazing people like you in my life. There are so many out here (and anywhere in the world) that are lost and don't know who they are and don't have anyone solid that they can trust and confide in. I feel so grateful that I have so many people that would do anything for me. Thank you so much! I love you all!!

Happy Fourth!!

So I finally cleaned my room and got it all set up and organized how I want it. Now everything has a place. I think part of me doesn't want to be here so I didn't want to unload everything and make it nice and liveable. It feels SO AMAZING to have a clean space that's just for me. It makes me so happy!

I hung out with some wonderful people on my day off. Chelsie, Ozni and I went to the beach but I didn't bring a suit or anything so it was kind of sad sitting there looking at the fun waves and not going in. Then we went downtown which is always fun (especially now that the season has officially started and it's getting wicked packed with all the people!) The best part for me was fireworks on the beach. Technically they set the fireworks off on a boat a ways off the shore and we kick back on the beach and enjoy them. Something always goes wrong (they cancelled the show completely my first year out here on account of weather. The sky went ablaze on the fifth) and this year was no exception. They started the show on time but it just so happened that they were right under a massive cloud. I thought it looked so cool!!! You could see color spewing over the cloud and under it with the faint blob of reds, blues, and greens showing through the cloud. It was amazing to me but I don't think others liked it too much. They shut the whole thing down and we waited and waited. Finally we decided to leave but they moved the boat and the wind blew the clouds away so they started again. We caught a bit of it while we were leaving.

Happiness

Random act of kindness: My dear friend, Eva, from the island, suprised me today by showing up at my work right as I was getting off, saying she had a suprise for me. We rode our bikes for a short distance and sat on a bike path in the shade. She pulled out our traditional Nantucket dinner which consists of: One Stubby's hamburger, one order of criss cut fries (extra done), one lizard drink, and one giant cookie!! Obviously there were two sets of the famous dinner. It was seriously the best thing that could have happened in my life at that moment! She is just the sweetest!! You rock my world Eva!! Love ya!!

Nuclear attack or alien invasion??

Yesterday was such a crazy day!! I went to church which is always awesome on the Island then I just sort of took it easy doing Sunday appropriate activities. It came time for bed (which is one of my most favorite activities) and I couldn't sleep at all. I decided to go for a little walk. Well, it's been a little creepy on account of all the fog we've had lately. Last night was no different. As I was walking down the street I started to hear this buzzing/siren/horn noise. I felt like I was in one of those old war movies and they were sounding the alarm for a nuclear attack. I promptly cut my walk short as I saw police lights in the not-so-distant distance. Needless to say my nerves were slightly on edge from the whole scene. I was finally able to drift off to dream land when I was suddenly awoken by the loudest thunder crash I've ever heard. My eyes were wide open to see the next bolt of lightning which appeared to be right outside my bedroom window. Sure enough, a fraction of a second passed before the next eardrum-bursting thunder came. I really didn't get a whole lotta sleep last night but that's ok; some of my old friends from last year are back and I got to see them today, and tonight is F.H.E. and we're having a BBQ at my place.... I love food!!

FABULOUSNESS!!

I think sometimes we get way too caught up in everything that's going on around us. There is so much drama and junk that takes up a lot of our time and attention. Work has been crazy. It's the "pre-season anxiety" time and everyone can feel it. I go in every day and I can count on quite a few people to complain about something or other or gripe about this or that. It's intense that's for sure. Well, I choose to look at the good stuff.... And there's plenty of that too!! I went to church yesterday and found so many people that I have missed and that I absolutely LOVE!! There's Louis and Renee and the Shehab family: Porter, (her husband who I can't think of his name right now.... Sorry Brother Shehab), Pedilla, Leila, Rockwell, Cricket and Owen.

Tonight was Family Home Evening on the beach. Who gets to have FHE on a BEACH?!?!? It was stinkin awesome!! Sure it rained and it was a little windy but the Spirit was there as well as those five kids running up and down the beach. I rode my bike home in the dark in the pouring rain. I just laughed the whole time and tried to hit as many puddles as I could. There are fireflies on this island. As I ride my bike home at night I can see random bursts of light. It is amazingly beautiful!!

I am a firm believer in the fact that life is what we make of it. I choose to make it a happy place for myself and for those around me, and to concentrate on how blessed I truly am. Cheesy, I know, but life is a whole lot better when the cup is half full!

Like unto a MULLET

One of the nice things about working at a salon is that there are lots of wonderful people who want to trade services. This is the third year I've worked with Jared and he's basically addicted to my massages (honestly, can you blame the kid? Sometimes I feel bad about leaving a trail of addicts in my wake as I move on to new adventures.) One of the first things he said when I got to the salon was, "So, you got any clients today? Wanna give me a massage?" I gave him one and he did my hair. What happened next was extreme..... Even for me. I kinda feel like I'm sportin a mullet...... Business up front.......
And a PARTY IN THE BACK!!

A little Nantucket in our lives

Greetings!! So ya'll know that I am currently in Nantucket, MA. I was riding my trusty steed home from work today and had my camera in hand. I thought I'd show you what it's like for me every day.....

This is just the other side of the road from my work. It's nice, they have a few bike paths so I only have to take my life in my hands when I need to go shopping or buy stamps or wander around downtown...

I can't very well take a picture of myself looking awesome and riding my awesome bike. This is as close as you get....

It looks a lot like the mainland. The only difference being the ocean on all four sides.....

I know I probably shouldn't be taking picutes whilst I ride my bike but hey, it was fun. Plus, I'm not so much a "Joy in the Journey" kinda gal, and leftover pasta was calling my name so I couldn't really stop to take all the pictures.....

By the way, the pasta was FABULOUS!!! Few things in this world make me happier than taking out a container from the fridge, poppin it in the microwave, waiting a minute and a half and eating. It's great!

Father's Day 2008

This is Sarah and Joe coming over to wake up Ma, Onge and I for Father's Day breakfast. Dad made breakfast for himself and for everyone else. We're basically horrible children. Pa is the best ever!! Be sure and check out the very, very end of the video.... It's the best part

Here I am folks!!

This one is new to me.... He is very pretty