I did!

Decisions

Should I or shouldn't I? That is the question...

Crazy Day!

I wasn’t going to blog about this as to spare the poor family greater embarrassment, but as it was on the news I figured it was ok. Plus, the experience was a reminder to me that the Lord uses us in small ways to be His hands.

Yesterday I stayed late at work to get some homework done. I had a meeting later and knew I wouldn’t have time to make dinner and I was starved so I decided to order take out from Olive Garden. I never order extra breadsticks but thought I would this time to share with my sister and boy. Around 6:00 pm as I arrived to pick up my meal, I noticed commotion around the Shade store that shares the parking lot. I looked over to see this:


That’s right, a minivan inside the store. The vehicle was not intended as a display if you know what I mean. A teenager was practicing driving with her mother and when she went to park she kept hitting the gas instead of the break. By the time she realized what she was doing, she was in the back of the store. Miraculously no one was hurt. My boss’s wife owns the store and he sent me the picture. When I got there they were just starting to back the car out.

Curiosity led me to check out the scene and as I was leaving I noticed the distressed mother sitting to the side on the lawn. I stopped to see if she was ok or if she needed anything and she asked me to sit with her. I stayed with her and chatted for quite a while and helped her calm down while her husband cleaned glass off the car and dealt with the authorities.

When he was able to sit with her and I was able to get my meal, I realized why I had ordered extra breadsticks. (Oh, and in Olive Garden I ran into a bunch of old friends which was fun and also unexpected.) I took the poor couple some breadsticks to hold them over until they could go home. It wasn’t much but I’m grateful the Lord was able to provide her a friend and food when she really needed it.

After that craziness, I went to a neighborhood safety meeting because there have been shootings right by my house. It’s quite unnerving to think that we live in a warzone. We don’t really but there were three houses shot within a month in drive-by shootings. Once again, thankfully no one was hurt, but we are all on edge in the area. Hopefully they will solve this one soon.

Great Date

Eks and I like to go on exploratory dates. We take off without a plan and see where the wind takes us. A few weeks ago it carried us to the hang gliders. I've always loved driving by the Point and looking up to see the sky dotted with brightly colored parachutes but I've never taken the time to actually stop and watch. So I made Eks stop with me. We ended up driving to the top of the hill and discovered the Flight Park where the pilots practice, take off, and land. We had front row seats and a personal commentator on the action. We ended up talking to an avid flyer for about an hour as he told us about the thrills, the dangers, and the possibilities, including cross county flights. It was awesome!


After our mountain adventure we continued driving to see what other exciting things we could discover. We happened upon this:

This is the backyard of a normal sized house in Riverton. It was right next to the Jordan River and they must have tapped into the water to create this lake. As you can see, it was literally a miniature lake complete with buoys, canoes, a pavilion, a beach, paddle boats, a plastic elephant and horse (is that typical of a lake? ;), a picnic spot, playground, and water slide. Everything you could ever need at a lake. I need a yard like this :)

Who's up for a ride? Not me :)

Yesterday I bought a bike. What was I thinking? I am SO not a bike person. I didn’t even learn to ride until I was eight or nine and even then, I have probably only mounted a grand total of 13 times in my entire life! Ok, maybe a few more but not much. Remember the blessed moment in While You Were Sleeping where the kid is delivering newspapers and falls off his bike? That would be me.

But Eks loves to bike. In this New Economy, it is the better way (at least so he’s trying to convince me). Until now, I’ve had an excuse not to ride—I don’t own a bike. But no longer! I gave in and am now stuck. It even has a speedometer and distance tracker to prove how desperately slow I am riding and how far I don’t get. Oh dear, what have I got myself into? At least it was a cheap, used contraption so maybe it will break down and I’ll have my excuse again :).

Snow Camping

A few weeks ago I had my first, and quite possibly my last, experience snow camping. We went to an area in Emery County and found ourselves a beautiful, secluded spot surrounded by beautiful cliffs and red-rock formations. We hiked some incredible slot canyons and took a moonlit night exploration through the crevices by our campsite. The trip was rounded out with tin-foil dinners, temperatures in the single digits, a coyote spotting, and a visit with my grandma and Madge. I also learned the positive power of the Barton name in Emery County :). It was certainly cold, but Eks did his best to make sure I was as comfortable as possible and gave me the nice tent, all the sleeping pads and blankets, and had a fire ready for me when I got up in the morning. In the end it was another great adventure and I can check snow camping off my list (not that it was there in the first place :).

The beautiful backdrop of our site.


Me at the slot canyons.


Mountainman Eks building us a fire with his hatchet.


Me totally bundled up. I could hardly move.