My hairs are getting long again, Jiggity Jig

December/January '10/'11 - Before the big cut. 4 inches (and then some), Zooey Deschanel bangs and color to get rid of the red and bring it back, after all these years to natural color)

July 2011 in Denver, CO. FINALLY getting my length back. Love.

Music Monday - Old Alabama

For my first big Provo event I went to something called Stadium of Fire - heard of it?

It's a big deal in Provo... scratch that, Utah County... might be a big deal in the whole state but hey, I'm new here so I'm not sure.

David Archuleta and Brad Paisley performed this year, it was a fun show! We were lucky enough to have seats in the very top of the stadium (lucky? yes, I said it) so that as the sun was setting it was not shining on us and we could dance during the show and not block anyones view.

I had one request - "Oh, Mr. Brad Paisley, the hunk that you truly are. Please play Old Alabama?"

Yes. That was it. I've always had a thing for Brad but when Old Alabama was released, it rekindled that love. Guess what? He played it.

And that wasn't even the best part. When he sang American Saturday Night instead of saying "Live from New York..." he said "Live from Provo". That might have been my favorite part.

ANYWAY - In honor of my first Stadium of Fire, I have finally gotten around to blogging about Brad so here you go, Old Alabama!






She’d rather wear a pair of cut-off jeans than a fancy evening dress...

Goodbye Utah

I got your attention, didn't I?

Not to worry my dears, I am only leaving Utah for the weekend, and going here...

 

Know where this is? 

Music Monday - Dispatch

What could be better than Dispatch releasing new music?

having a job,
but that's for another post.

Dispatch - Broken American

On the Soap Box - Free Slurpee Day, 7/11 and The Town Crazies

Today Sam and I went on a quest to obtain one free slurpee from 7/11 on 7/11, a.k.a. Free Slurpee Day. We tried store #1 and they had a sign that said "Sorry, we are out of Free Slurpee sized cups". No big. We decided we would just purchase a 99cent one each and call it a day. As we stood in line a woman came in behind us, not knowing that they had run out of cups.

Never mind the sign on each of the two doors leading in to the store, written on white paper with a thick black marker.

She heard someone in line say they were out of the free sized cups and said to us "So, no free cups?"

Us: "Nope. Guess not."

Crazy Lady #1: "So... are you just going to buy one?"

Us, Thought: No, we'll just grab it and hope they think it's a free one, see if we can get away with it.

Us, Real Response: "..Yup"

Crazy Lady #1: "Do you think they'd just let me use my water bottle?"

Us, Thought: Hm. No. Probably not. Don't you think we'd all be doing that if it would fly with the 7/11 crew?

Us, Real Response: "Probably not"

Us, Thought: How desperate is this woman for a free slurpee?!

Two more women walk in behind us, who apparently knew the store owner. They chatted for a few minutes and said "Really? No free cups?" and he handed them two small styrofoam cups. They got in line behind Crazy Lady #1, Sam and I.

Crazy Lady #1: "He has free cups?!"

Normal Chicks dealing with Crazy Lady #1: "Well, not really. We just come in here all the time, we work across the street so we know him."


Crazy Lady #1: Walks over to the counter, strikes up small talk with the guy back there and comes back to the line, styrofoam cup in hand.

Really? Was 99cents plus tax too much?


Sam and I got closer to the slurpee machines to see that they were out of most flavors. I think they had Mountain Dew and ...something else left, but it was slim pickins'. We decided to head over to the other 7/11 in Provo thinking A- maybe they still had free cups? and B - if not, maybe they have more flavors so we could actually get something we wanted.

Little did we know that this store would have its own crazy.

We park and walk in and of course, they are out of free cups too. In fact, before we walk in some guy was on the sidewalk yelling "Well then, you should probably just close the store for the day!". Really? Just for the slurpee cups that they were out of. Hm. The workers looked tired, probably from dealing with crazed slurpee lovers all day wanting to know why they ran out of cups, like sidewalk dude. We get in line, and a few people come in after us.

The manager says "Sorry folks, just want you to know that we are out of the free slurpee cups."

I say "It's okay. The other 7/11 in Provo is too, we just hoped you guys would have more flavors, we're okay with paying for one".

I'm wondering if that was the most sane or kind response she had heard because she smiled. Poor thing. I don't want to know what her store looked like that morning.


Enter, Crazy Lady #2

Now, Crazy Lady #2 did not talk to us, but it was her actions that make it okay for us to deem her Crazy Lady #2.

We get closer to the slurpee machines and notice Crazy Lady #2 holding a 32oz slurpee cup (reusable) and an even larger, clear, reusable thermos type container.

Is she...? Was she thinking of...? No.... Wait, Yes.

She was planning on filling up these containers full of slurpee and then paying only for a refill. Really!? How desperate are we for reduced priced, carbonated, flavored, iced sugar beverage?

Crazy Lady #2 begins to fill up her first container with slurpee and because of its carbonation, and probably her enthusiasm about sticking it to the man by using a reusable container, it over flows the top all over her hand that is holding it. Blue slurpee all over. She shook it off on the floor. Cool. Then she proceeds to hand off the first container and take the larger thermos to fill it with slurpee. By this time Sam and I are at the machines and have our little 99cent cups ready to go. Mind you, she's already sticking it to the man and now she starts sticking it to us but shoving her large thermos in front of our teeny cups so she can fill it with SLURPEE!

BTDubs - Wish I had a better word for slurpee, but I'm pretty sure that's what they are called by 7/11 standards so I have to keep it up. I'm just tired of typing it.


We've got to "fight" a little to get in there so we can get our slurpees and go and then Crazy Lady #2 talks -

Crazy Lady #2: "This one is more liquid than the others, you might not want it" pointing to a certain variation of slurpee

Us, Thought: Hey Crazy Lady #2 - We've already dealt with one of you today, and now you're scamming on 7/11 on it's birthday. Real classy. Now let me pick my own dang slurpee. Thanks.


A part of me really hoped that when she got up to the counter they would call her on it, that maybe there would be a clause of some sort in the free slurpee day laws and they would say "sorry, full price" or something like that. I mean how desperate are we for carbonated, flavored, iced sugar beverage - right? If you really can't pay full price for a slurpee of that size, which for both of her might of cost her like $5, then shouldnt you be spending your money on real food for the fam? Hm.

They didn't stop her and we paid and got out of there with our triple flavored, 99cent slurpees. Thankful to have made it out of there alive and sane.


So here are my thoughts - If 7/11 runs out of cups on 7/11, calm down. They didn't do it on purpose, and if they did, they're genius because the majority of people who walked in still bought a slurpee in both stores. Even if it was in a reduced priced manner by filling up a reusable thermos and cup. So either way, thumbs up 7/11 and Happy Birthday.


And people of the world, knock off the crazy.





Really?! You want to fill your water bottle with slurpee?!

Stepping off the Soap Box

Life in Provo

*Warning - This post contains a good bit of jumbled thoughts, rambling and may be confusing to someone reading it at a normal hour. It's 1am and I can't sleep yet... this is what you get.


I am coming up on the two-week mark since my arrival in Utah. What have I been doing with my time? (You might ask.)

Well - I have been applying to jobs, like crazy. Most of my days are spent searching ksl, LDSjobs.org, and google-ing "jobs in Provo" and then weeding out all the sales jobs (no thanks, security companies) and call center positions. I love working with people and thrive on the energy of others so if it's possible I would love a job that has me working with the public, hopefully students. I'd love to get really involved in the education field because one of my goals is to teach business to high school students. I'll elaborate on that in another post... maybe. For now though, I just need a job. I like structure, and I like to keep busy.

I think I've been doing a lot of that since I have been here though. When I am not looking up jobs, I'm talking about jobs, or working on cover letters for jobs. If I am not doing that I am most likely talking about a car, or watching youtube reviews on that car, or looking up the kbb review on the car or US News reviews on the car, or pricing of the car or (here is a sweet one) dealership specials for recent college grads.

Once again that degree is coming in handy! First, and foremost, I'm the first college grad in the family so that's a pretty cool thing and second, being a student got me a nice tax refund this year that is going towards the car (after I get a job), and third, I get better interest rates on my financing. Cool stuff, kids, cool stuff.

Moral of the story: Go to college.


I'm pretty certain (read: totally sure) Sam is over me talking about a car, worrying about a car, and a job, and summer housing all at the same time. In fact, just the other day she said "Gina, I think you stressed yourself into being sick. Would you please just enjoy one week of your vacation. You've only been here for a week and you think you need to have this all figured out. Housing will still be available in a month, and you can't get a car until you get a job. Pick one thing to worry about, and don't think about the rest until that is finished"

Yup. Sometimes I need people in my life to tell me to slow down, and relax. So, that's what I've been doing. I'm still working on unpacking since I just received the last two boxes of "summer things" that Dad sent after I left. The room is slowly coming together, and it feels like home to be in Provo.

I really do love it here. I can't put my finger on why just yet, but it's been a great two weeks.

I mean, we've done some pretty fun stuff like....

*Eating - Cafe Zupas, In N Out, Burgers Supreme, Jamba Juice, "Free" 7/11 Slurpees, A LOT of Frozen Yogurt, JDawgs (2x now), Chick Fil A, SLAB, and more...
*Free Fun Stuff - Nik Day outdoor concert, Watched The Sandlot on the Capital Building grounds, Attempted to get free slurpees for 7/11,
*Weekly Temple Trips - This may be my favorite part of Utah. You can go to the Temple, and in most Utah Temples, you can just walk in and do baptisms. What the what? You heard me. East Coast Mormons - We can't just do that. Oh, I love Utah and it's many Mormons.
*Watched Monte Carlo
*Prepping for Harry Potter 7 - Pt 2
*Stadium of Fire and Freedom Festival
*Many afternoons spent at the pool
*Institute
and more.


**Also, I know Sam told me I could only worry about one thing at a time and I picked work but I happened to find that the apartment across the hall from us has an open private room for the next year so I snagged it. Now, I just need a job...

If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere

I'm in Provo.

Why?

Oh, well, I live here now. I'm in my room, and this morning I at my food, and the other night I walked my city of Provo with Sam so we could get my favorite - coconut and mango frozen yogurt with fruit and cheesecake bites (dude, so good).

I haven't fully unpacked or uploaded all of the photos I took on my cross country trip with the Dransfields but I'll get there. I did however discover the beauty of GAP sales and bought a pair of jeans for $30 that fit me well and I don't need a belt with them - so that's pretty cool

Being in Provo as a resident is weird. I think my mind expects me to be leaving in a week but I live here now. Crazy. It's also weird not having a car. I don't mind walking places but I will tell you my first order of business is getting a car.

Sam and I went to a free concert the other day. We ate free popsicles, did a lot of people watching and listened to Nik Day.


I think I'll update more on my fun... after I unpack and make some progress with other things.