Six Flags: Marine World

Dave, Matthew, his two friends, and I went to Marine World on Labor Day. We spent the whole day there and had a grand ol' time. Matt has a season pass and because of him we were able to use coupons to get in for about half price. Coupons are the greatest. Anyway, here are some pictures of the exciting day.

Dave and I went to the Dolphin show.

The dolphins look so polite.

Then we went to the whale show. As you can see, we sat in the splash zone.

Cool tricks.

We went on the log ride. Do you remember the TV show Step By Step? In the opening credits, the family goes to an amusement park and the mom stands on the bridge and gets soaked from the log ride that comes down right in front of her. Well this is a ride just like that except we got soaked on the ride and then tried to see how wet we would get standing on the bridge and didn't feel a drop.

Here's a picture to show that I was actually there. And I got wet.

I opted out on the spinning rides (it makes me queezy) but I got some great pictures.

Another spinning ride.

They have this butterfly room. It was pretty cool actually and there were humongous butterflies. This is one of my favorites.

And yet again, another spinning ride. As you can see only two of the group went. The rest of us preferred to keep our food down.

Early Christmas?

Yes, I got an early Christmas present. It was the only way I could convince Dave to let me get the 3 DVD set of the Jurassic Park movies. I have been wanting this forever and it just so happened that when Dave and I decided to waste some time before a movie at the mall, the first store we walked into was a movie store and it had the set. I was so excited!!! That might be an understatement. The first movie is the best, the second not the greatest, but the third is a nice surprise. I'm also hearing rumors about a Jurassic Park 4, which to be honest, will most likely suck, but if the rumors are true, I'll probably see it. There's something about dinosaurs. Or maybe it's the suspense in the movies. There's always a scene where the girl barely gets out of reach of the velociraptor's jaws. It makes me squeal inside. Also, the shaking jello scene gets me everytime. And you can't deny those are some incredible special effects considering how many years ago that was. Anyway, I know I sound like a dork but Jurassic Park just makes me happy. That's all I have to say about that.

Hidden Talents

I found some more pictures I meant to post awhile ago. Dave showed the family a talent he has been working on since the days of sitting in long boring lectures. Dave and his brother used to put a pen in their mouth, flip it out, and try and catch it in their mouth. As you have probably guessed, I like to take pictures. So naturally, I wanted to catch Dave practicing his awesome talent. It needs some practice and I have yet to see him catch the pen in his mouth, but I have faith that he'll get it eventually. Anyway, here are some of my favorite pictures catching the intensity of this new skill.

Preparation

Wait for it. Wait for it.

You almost got it!

Oh, he was so close.

Buffalo Wings and Face Off

Here are some pictures I took awhile ago but I forgot to post them. A couple weeks ago we had buffalo wings and well you probably know they are a messy meal. So when we had them, I couldn't pass up a picture. The parentals were out for the night so mouths were not wiped off immediately, which made for even better snap shots.

Dave and Mike

Matt and Mason

Mike's final count was 16.

Another night for the FHE activity, we played a game called "Up Jenkins." It's kinda like "Button, Button, Whose Got the Button?" but different. Anyway, Michael and mom had a face off. She was trying to keep a straight face, which she did a pretty good job of, while Michael busted up into tears trying to break her "Poor, Poor, Kitty" face. Tears were shed and laughs rung through the house, and I got a picture of it.

Weekend Getaway

This past weekend Dave and I escaped the heat and headed back down to Monterey. On Friday night we stopped in the bay area first to visit some friends who were in CA for their sister's wedding reception. That night we stayed with the Hales, Dave's uncle and aunt. Then Saturday morning we went back over to visit our friends so we could see there little boy who was asleep the night before and actually do some talking since it was really busy at the reception.

The Ricks and the Smiths.

We headed the rest of the way down to Monterey and went to the beach with our friends, Jordan and Sunshine. Dave and Jordan went skim boarding while Sunshine and I laughed at their skills. They actually weren't too bad. Sorry, no pictures. We went out to dinner at Jose's, one of Dave's favorite Mexican restaurants in the area. That night we watched the movie Inkheart. It was enjoyable but a little bit of a let down at the end. Sunday we went to church and it was great to see some of our old friends. It's crazy how much the ward has changed in 3 months. Afterwards, we went to a BBQ at our other friends, the Homa's. It was a great visit. So that's all that's new in our neck of the woods. Sorry for the journal-like entry but I thought I'd share the weekend with you.

Work At ClearBags

So here I am at work. It slows down by Friday. It probably seems REALLY slow for everyone else but I've been pretty busy since everything takes me triple the time to do since I'm still figuring it all out. I enjoy the work and the coworkers. I feel bad having to ask so many questions but obviously I'm not going to get it all the first two weeks. In fact, I probably won't feel super comfortable until I've been here a few months. It's nice to be busy. I started answering phones last Friday, and that's what I do all the time. I take care of customers with orders, returns, samples, etc. The hard part about it is there are so many steps to everything. And sometimes the steps change with different situations so it can be frustrating because I feel like I should know how to do it but then it's different. Also sometimes I just forget. Oh well, I'll get it soon enough. Anyway, I just wanted to update everyone on the new job. I like it but I have lots to learn.

New Jobs

Well I finally got a job. Well two kinda. First, I started helping Dave's grandma. She needs help getting up in the morning and from naps and then going down for bed (she's in a wheel chair). The rest of the time I'm with her (and grandpa) we read, make sure she takes her pills, and drinks her Ensure.

Second, I started working for a company called ClearBags this past Monday. I am a Customer Service Representative. That means I will be answering phones and taking orders from customers. There seems to be so much to learn but I'll get the hang of it. They have pretty cool stuff. Check out the websites at http://www.clearbags.com/ or http://www.clearenvelopes.com/. I don't know what else to tell you yet. I'm learning lots and am a little overwhelmed but the best way to learn is to just do it. Tomorrow I start using the phones. YIKES! But I'm sure that will help out a whole lot. Everyone seems really friendly and Dave's old bishop is the owner of the company. I've enjoyed it so far but like I said I feel a little overwhelmed.

So with the two jobs I'll be working about 60 hours a week. It's a big change from my summer of vacations but I'm glad to be busy and feel productive.