Star Valley.... Wyoming

A few weeks ago a large group of friends and I went for a weekend in Star Valley, Wyoming. Good food, good friends, and good fun. Not to mention the spectacular accomodations. So here is a look into my President's Day weekend.

Friday February 15, 2008

• 8:30 a.m. - Drive to Kwal House paints to pick up a stain sample for a client..
• 8:47 a.m. - Get a call from our director of operations that the power at our office was out due to a power line down on the next street. Power won't be on until 10:00 a.m.
• 9:00 a.m. ish - Show up at my office anyway to file the papers overtaking my desk and to get organized by the light of the window.
• 10:15 a.m. - Power still out.
• 11:30 a.m. - Nature calls.... take a candle and some extra matches to the ladies room. Have to use the facilities with the stall door open because the candle just wasn't bright enough to go through the door and it was, what we would call, pitch black in that restroom.
• 12:00 p.m. - Power STILL out.
• 12:30 p.m. - Decide that one can only do so much in these working conditions and head out for the rest of the day off. Nice.
• 2:00 p.m. - Pack and get ready for the weekend in the snow. Oh wait, I was already in the snow. Ok, pack and get ready for the weekend AWAY in the snow.
• 2:45 p.m. - Decide NOT to take my swim suit.
• 8:45 p.m. - Jump in the truck with Dave and Janice. Wait for Ann.
• 11:00 p.m. - Stop at Maverick for chocolate covered gummy bears.
• 1:00 a.m. - Arrive in Star Valley.
• 1:15 a.m. - Meet everyone who came and eat 1/2 a chocolate cake doughnut.
• 2:00 a.m. - Take a tour of the house and wonder when my ship will come in so I can get myself one of those.
• 2:30 a.m - Good night.

Saturday February 16, 2008

After waking up and chatting with the other girls in the room, I went downstairs just in time to grab some breakfast. (not entirely sure what it was, but it had egg, tomato, and sausage... so good) And since it's one of my greatest weaknesses... I ate another chocolate cake donut. My friends, Matt, Dave, Janice, and Kris were going out on the snow mobiles, so I threw on my gear and headed out for a ride. So fun. I think Matt and I got to 90 mph a few times.

The week before we went to Star Valley, I got a nasty flu and had been out of work for almost a week. Not cool. If I'm going to take a week off work, I'd rather be using my passport. So since I was still on the mend, I didn't stay out too long. Such a great weekend for hanging out by the fire, playing rock band, playing pool, watching movies, and having some great laughs.

Matt taking a stroll through the snow.

Dave and Janice. Having a moment. lol.

The group. Most of us anyway.

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Memory Lane Sunday of the Month

I don’t know about you, but I have never been especially star struck. With the exception of U2’s lead singer, Bono, there really is no one (at least in the glittery Hollywood world) who I would particularly care to meet. I am totally disenchanted with people who are preoccupied with their own self-importance… You all know the kind I’m talking about…. Perhaps you went to highschool with a few…

Anyway, that being said, there is one person who I have always wanted to meet... that would be President Gordon B. Hinckley. Have such a great respect for that man and considering his recent passing, I thought it would be a fun memory to write down; as it has everything to do with him. (Not that he was aware of any part of it.)

Now there have been a few instances when I have been in the presence of the Prophet, so trying to meet him never seemed totally far-fetched to me. My very good friend, Erin, and I actually may have had the opportunity years ago in June of 1997. We didn't really try to meet him then... there are always so many people around and there's a general understood respect for the Prophet...

So the story starts a few years ago, after I had graduated from the BYU, and I moved home to Arizona for a year. During that year I went back to Utah a couple of times... this particular time I came to see my very good friend Erin. And it was October 2002.

Before my flight back to Arizona on Monday, and since we had a couple of hours to kill, Erin and I thought that, hey, if we asked to meet the prophet, there's a chance we would be able to, right? I mean, members of the church back in Joseph Smith's day could meet the prophet... And not to mention, a very good friend of mine (after being informed by a maid in the Hotel Utah as to which room was his) got to meet President David O. McKay. Now that was years ago, but it seemed perfectly logical to us that it was at least possible...

So we went to downtown Salt Lake. Well, first of all, if one wanted to meet the Prophet, one would more than likely need to know where he was. We didn't have a clue. After inquiring in the Church Office Building (the most logical place to ask) the people at the front desk told us that the offices of the First Presidency are in the Administration building. (The building next to the Joseph Smith Memorial). Sweet. So we walked over there and went inside. (Here's where it gets good)

We walk into the Administration building on South Temple and there was a guy sitting at a desk. I'm thinkin, here's our chance. So I say, "Um, we were wondering if we could meet the Prophet." (I know, I know, it doesn't get more suave than that, does it?)

This very nice man looks at me and says, "Do you have an appointment?"

How 'bout that. An appointment. Hm. No. I look at him and say, "No, how do you get one of those?"

He says (now with a little bit of a smile), "From your Stake President."

Oh. Darn. Fresh out of a Stake President referral. I'm sitting there thinking, who gets an appointment with the propeht from their stake president. Crazy people? (Now, why would crazy people get an appointment with the first presidency? But that didn't stop me from asking my next question...)

So I say, "And how do you get an appointment from your stake president? Do you have to be crazy?"

He looks at me with a full smile now and says, "Does that include you?"

We all started laughing. It was hilarious. Sooo funny. We had a good chuckle for a minute and then Erin and I left. I love people with a good sense of humor...

So there you have it. If you want to meet the prophet, too bad. And no, I'm pretty sure that they do not let crazy people have appointments with the first presidency.

That memory always makes me laugh.

So, have you ever met the Prophet?

A Man For All Seasons

taken from remarks by President Thomas S. Monson at the funeral of President Gordon B. Hinckley. February 2, 2008

Photo of President Gordon B. Hinckley taken by Boyd Ivey

President Hinckley.

This man has had signifcant impact on my life.

Who he was, what he believed in, what he stood for.

I will miss him.

One Of My Favorites

“To every person there comes that moment

when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder

to do a very special thing unique to him.

What a tragedy if that moment

finds him unprepared for the work

that would be his finest hour.”

Winston Churchill

Memory Lane Sunday of the Month...

…because to be honest, there is just no time on Mondays.

So my track record isn’t very good for keeping this thing updated seeing as how this will make the 5th post in 2 years. No excuses. Ok, well, maybe there IS one. I work full time. I know what you’re thinking and though I would LOVE to share the many exciting adventures and scandals of my 40 hour interior design work week, it just wouldn’t be appropriate. Client confidentiality something or other. The other reason is, those 40 hours all have to be billed out which means if I don’t bill out the hours, I don’t get paid. Pretty sure my client’s don’t want to spend 75 bucks an hour for me to update my blog. I’m sure you can understand….

I can and will, however, write of things past. I happened to be hanging out with my very good friend, Andrea, the other night and since her husband is in school, we got on the subject of finals week and I remember thinking after reminiscing on this particular story, that I needed to write it down before all was lost and forgotten. So in an effort to recount this particular memory….

Finals week. April 2000. The BYU.

I have, like many people, a propensity for procrastination. This semester was worse than any other. I won’t get into all the reasons for this, just know that this was a particularly hard semester for me on many levels.

For a little background on my major….. That sucker was about 75 credits in just the major alone. Now, if one was a history major, one would take tests. And it’s basically objective. You either know the subject, or you don’t. With interior design, it is SUBJECTIVE and your dang project is either finished or it isn’t. It’s not like studying for a test with some flash cards and all that… In the Interior Design major, you DRAW. Perspectives, floor plans, elevations and at BYU, you draw them all by hand because you only get one class in AutoCAD. It's harder to guess your way into an A if you didn't have the time to render the floor plan or put the lighting plan together....

By the time I got to BYU, most of my general education credits were finished, so more than likely (keep in mind that my past class schedules are not something I detain in the forefront of my memory) I was in ALL design classes. And for any one in the arts/communications majors, you understand that the work load CAN by far exceed any test taking class I’ve ever been in.

This particular class was Intro to Drafting. I loved my teacher. Anna. She is one of the most inspiring people I have ever known. And her sheer nature made you want to be better, to succeed, to extend beyond. Have you ever had a teacher who made you want to reach the sky? She was not, however, what we would call an easy teacher. Anna expected a lot and, difficult semester for me or not, I wanted to produce the work she expected we were all capable of.

So, the final project was something like this. We were to measure the Brimhall Building (this became lovingly known as the BrimHELL with every passing semester) where most all of our classes were held. After measuring the exterior (with all of its ins and outs) and the interior with approximately 9 class rooms, 4 offices, 2 staircases, a restroom and an atrium on each level (3 levels), we were to draw that building (BY HAND remember and with all the appropriate line weights of a floor plan) on 24” x 36” sheets of vellum. So the assignment continued…

Draw the site plan (exterior walls and side walks with a couple of trees and bushes here and there)
Draw an existing plan (with all the existing walls and plumbing fixtures)
Draw a demolition plan (showing which walls are staying and which walls a coming down)
Draw a new floor plan for a hotel (of our choice)
Draw a lighting plan
Draw elevations of key points within the hotel
Draw a finish schedule

All drawings complete with labels and title block.

Ok then. Our final was at 7:30 in the bless-ed A.M. And if we were a minute late, we were docked a full letter grade. Yikes.

So I start working on it, but as these things always do, it takes WAY more time than I had anticipated. It didn’t help that my roommates were a kick in the pants and there was always something going on over at our hacienda. But it came down to the 5 days before the assignment was due and I am suddenly realizing that I better step it up, or I aint gonna finish. I decide it’s time for the all nighter. And anyone who knows me well, knows I’m a grandma and my bed time (even in my wild and crazy college days) was 10 – 10:30. Go ahead, laugh it up.

I get my self all situated on one of the drafting boards up at the Brimhall, turn on the tunes, and get to work. I draw. And draw. And draw. During the day I would have classes, but just as soon as they finished, I would head back to my drafting table and draw some more into the night. This goes on for 2 days and 2 nights. At this point, there is no time to go home and shower, let alone sleep and on the third night, Andrea, Jodi, and Danielle (roommates) brought me my favorite coldstone treat. Sweet cream, brownie, and peanutbutter goodness all in a nice little cup. Those girls are the freakin best. I couldn’t have survived those days without them… Little did I know how much I needed them. I would try and catch 2 hours here and there sleeping on benches in the freezing cold Brimhall, and though I may have caught some z’s, my body just never did shut down for sleep. Had to keep drawing.

The night before the final, I finished my drawings at 4:30 A.M. As finished as I could be at THAT hour because, Anna wanted them BLUE PRINTED. That meant that I could go home, sleep for an hour, get up, shower, get my junk together and head into Orem to get the drawings blue printed. I would have just enough time to make it there and back to campus before 7:30.

I was so proud of myself for having such a great plan.

I get home at 5:00. Set my alarm clock for an hour later and, since the alarm clock is sitting right next to my head, I push it as far away from me as it will go while still being plugged in and I think, “Great, that will work. That way I’ll have to get up to turn it off.” And then, I sleep. Really for the first time in 5 days.

Can you see where this is going?

I don't even remember turning off the alarm. The next thing I DO remember is my roommate, Andrea (who was in her final semester and had zero finals), saying “Jayna, don’t you have a final today at 7:30?” I bolt up in my bed and suddenly overwhelming alarm shoots through me. I try to get my bearings and then look at the clock which reads in red numbers: 7:15. Oh no. Plan foiled. Who’s idiot idea was it to sleep at all anyway?!? At this particular juncture, I have no time to get my plans blue printed. Who am I kidding, at this point, I don’t even have time to shower. Andrea says she will help me, so I pull out my long stretchy black Banana Republic skirt (these are the details I remember) and my taupe button down Express shirt. I try and make my greasy, sick hair look as presentable as I possibly could, throw on a little makeup and I grab my drawings. Since BYU at that point decided to enlist ‘checkpoint charlie’, she couldn’t drop me off right at the Brimhall, so she took me as close as she could, and then off she went to blue print my drawings for me. (Heavenly Choirs now... Thank you Andrea.) I ran to the Brimhall (with my drafting tube strung across me and the copies I had made at Kinkos the day before of what I had actually finished in case I never finished…. This was my back up) and walked into the room on the stroke of 7:30. At least I wasn’t late. As I walk into the room, as usual, everyone looks to see who has come in. And they sort of laughed at me (not unusal)… But it was only my good friend Mark who turned red, lowered his face, and said, “Um, Jayna, your button is undone.” Yeah, I look down and right there, not up by my collar, or down by my stomach, but right across my chest, is a button separated from it’s button hole. Well now, how long was that going on. I had just run across campus giving a little “good luck and happy finals” show to all the earnest students. Nice.

About halfway through the final, Andrea comes to the door with my blue prints. After presenting them to the class (and since they all knew how long I had been up and many of them had been my company over the last few days) most everyone, following my friend Melanie lead, stood up and gave me a standing ovation. Hilarious. And so fun. The best part of being in a small major (one had to apply once to get in the major, once after the first year to stay in the major, and once after the 2nd year to keep yourself in the major… this was no casual undertaking) is being able to be such good friends with the people you spend so much of your time with. With few exceptions, we started the major together and ended the major together and so many of my good friends came from this.

So, I’d like to thank Anna for making me want to be better than I am. I’d like to thank the interior design class of 2001 and 2002 for all the support, the good times, and all the laughs. I’d like to thank my roommates for being such great friends for 9 years now. AND most especially Andrea for not only EVERYTHING she has done for me but for also being my great friend. To you I dedicate my Brimhall Hotel.

100 Things About Me

1. I am an interior designer
2. I love karaoke
3. I have a motorcycle license
4. I don't really like watching tv
5. I love to laugh
6. I love skim milk
7. I am a big fan of sarcasm
8. I love chocolate covered strawberries from Cummings
9. I love warm weather
10. There is a part of me that has always wanted to be a rock star
11. My best friend is my mom
12. I hate to be cold. Heaven knows why I reside within my current zipcode
13. I don't play well with others when it comes to sharing desserts
14. I love to travel
15. My bedroom is painted Split Pea Green (Benjamin Moore) all four walls.
16. I have walked 150 miles in 2.5 weeks. In a dress.
17. I love to kick around on the guitar
18. I have lived in Nauvoo, Illinois
19. I love to read
20. I love photography
21. I have kissed the Blarney Stone... along with the other thousands of people. Could've thought a little longer about that before just going for it
22. I am a germophobe
23. I am learning to play the Orange Blossom Special on the violin
24. I have lived in London, England
25. I have over 75 pairs of shoes
26. Hanging out with my grandparents is a riot
27. If I ever have my finger nails polished, it's gotta be french
28. I always have polish on my toes. Favorite is french, next favorite is hot pink
29. I am currently learning how to ride a horse - english style
30. I am not a morning person. Or a night person. I'd have to say I'm more of an afternoon person.
31. I hate to cook.
32. In my line of work I would WAY rather design a commercial interior than a residential one.
33. I love to think of things that I will put in a house someday - for myself
34. I love contemporary design
35. I have long hair. Always have, always will.
36. I love the beach
37. I love the smell of rain
38. I love to sing. At the top of my lungs most especially in my car
39. I love my new gold fluidline eyeliner from MAC
40. I love the british accent
41. I would love to be a great dancer... though sadly, I am SO not
42. I love that I have the greatest friends
43. I love a full moon (the kind in the sky)
44. My jeans have a 35" inseam
45. I love design magazines
46. I love to shop
47. Saving money is hard for me. But I still do it.
48. My guestroom is about to be painted hot pink
49. I am actually pretty good with direction... a human GPS as it were
50. I LOVE the gospel
51. I am fascinated with the Church's welfare and DI organizations
52. In college I was involved in a humanitarian aid program called HART (humanitarian aid relief team) which targeted a situation mostley in Ghana dealing with the Buruli ulcer (a flesh eating ulcer... you get the idea)
53. I graduated from BYU in interior Design
54. Some of my favorite people came from that major - you know who you are
55. I only sleep about 4 hours straight through the night
56. I make lists. For shopping, for gift giving, for getting my work done.
57. Not such a fan of cleaning my house, but love it when it's clean.
58. I love to make things with my hands. Oh, that I had the time.
59. I love horses.
60. I hate dogs. I would be fine with dogs if they would just sit 3 feet away.
61. I love to swim.
62. I love to have things organized.
63. I hardly ever make my bed
64. I've never had a cavity
65. I love fashion
66. I love hanging out with my family
67. I don't like to speak in front of a lot of people
68. Zara is my favorite store
69. I love my down comforter
70. I love the fall in Utah
71. I've been to asia
72. I love most colors...
73. I hate the color peach
74. I have stayed up 5 nights in a row 2 times in my life. (darn that finals week)
75. I love my mom's potato salad.
76. I love my mom's enchiladas
77. I love playing games with my good friend Ann and her cousins. She has the most normal fun cousins I've ever met and her grandparents are a kick in the pants
78. I love to eat out
79. Laser hair removal was the best invention. EVER
80. My favorite new fragrance is Juicy Couture
81. I like gerbera daisies
82. I love the smell of plumeria
83. I took golf lessons this summer
84. Don't love golf
85. I took tennis lessons this summer
86. Love tennis
87. Took harmonica lessons and couldn't stop from laughing throught them, so I stopped going.
88. I own a Tiffany's silver harmonica. Because what girl would get a harmonica from Tiffany's?
89. My next big adventure will hopefully be this summer in Africa.
90. I hate to iron. So I bought a steamer.
91. Love peace and quiet
92. Love going to a rodeo or demoliton derby with a bunch of friends
93. Love when my hair is barrel curled, but man it takes awhile
94. Wish people would ask me first before they use the color taupe. Not because taupe is a bad color, but because if it's done wrong, it can look prosthetic arm pink.
95. Love visiting my good friends in Huntington Beach, eating at Ruby's, walking for miles on the beach, and hitting up disneyland from 5 pm to midnight.
96. Easter is my favorite holiday
97. Wish I could speak french fluently
98. I planted tulips for the first time in my yard this year
99. Love white Christmas lights
100. Am a big fan of magnetic poetry.

Passage to India

"We are stuck in traffic just outside Delhi. There are no real lanes, just opposing currents of vehicles, chaotic and random, as though they'd been scooped up in a Yahtzee cup and tossed haphazardly onto the asphalt. Every few feet, a cluster of cows has seemingly been Photoshopped into the mix: sauntering mid-lane or lying down in improbably calm, sleepy-eyed pajama parties in the median strips." Mary Roach, "Spook" pg. 25

I can't say it any better than that. As it would turn out, one of my travelling buddies came across that paragraph just as we were sitting in traffic. Guess where. Oh yeah, just outside Delhi....

I've had more than a few people ask, "Why India?" I don't know. Why not India? There's no place like it, that's for sure. Let's be honest.... who wouldn't love a little 115 degree heat while running around the red sandstone remains of some intricately designed mausoleum? Where else can you get women carrying HUGE bundles of sticks on their heads, elephant rides, clandestine escapes into the wilderness in your tour bus in the middle of the night because of possible civil unrest on the highway from Agra to Jaipur, absolutely NO phonecards, extreme culinary vigilence (don't eat dairy unless it's pasteurized, don't eat lettuce because it may or may not have been washed in the water that is contaminated, no fruit unless it can be peeled, no drinks unless you saw them come from a bottle or can), taxi rides in a buggy that is hooked onto the back of some guy's bike, a land where traffic lanes mean absolutely nothing, people who stare at you just as much as you stare at them, hagglers worse than Jamaica, hand carved marble, women dressed in colorful beautiful sari's, a MacDonalds that doesn't have any beef on the menu... ANYWHERE, a Pizza Hut that sells garlic bread that everyone in India puts ketchup on, AND the Taj Mahal?

My good friend, Rebecca, had stayed at the hotel during one of our late afternoon outings to one of the many monuments, because she wasn't feeling so great. (something about having a nut allergy... and WHAT were the chances of that muffin having that nano-nut?) When we got back to the hotel, we told her that all we would need to do to catch her up on the experience was to show her a picture of some red sandstone architecture and put a hair dryer in her face. But really, all in all, it was a great experience and well worth the 18 hours in the air to get there.... Definitely NOT in Kansas anymore....

Oh, and Smange, this is all for you.

Me at the Taj Mahal. (or the 'Dahge)

Doorway... in the Amber Palace

I took this picture while I was riding on the elephant that was kicking this elephant's trash going up the hill to the Amber Palace.

Hand carved and inlaid marble work at the Taj.

Red Sandstone Palace. Really, these things were amazing.

Monkeys. Everywhere. Cute little guys... from a distance.

Ladies at the Amber Palace

Remember that time cows were sacred. Yes, they are and they get to hang out whereEVER they please.


The traffice just INSIDE Dehli.

for the love

Ok, ok. For crying out loud. I'll WRITE on this thing.....

Step One...

... posting something. As for the blog set up, hey, everyone needs a journal of sorts.