And I have filled my workout quota for 2008

This past weekend I went with a group of friends to Coyote Gulch. What? You don't know what Coyote Gulch is? Yea, well, either did I. And what? You don't know where Coyote Gulch is? Well, I still don't know that. I just know that it is far away. Like 6.5 hours away. And 1.5 hours of that is on a washboard dirty road.

So, if you know me, you know I am not really that outdoorsy. Yes, I love being outside. But I don't like camping. I don't like being dirty. I don't like sleeping on the hard ground where bugs can crawl on me and where I have to pee out in the bushes. So, what was I doing driving 6.5 hours to camp in the freezing cold and then hike 11 miles the next day?? I seriously don't know.

But there I was, driving south after a long week of work. I was grumpy. I was tired from staying up to 1:30 the night before (don't ask me what I was doing - because I still couldn't tell you) and I had barely eaten the whole day. Tired and hungry does not equal happy Natalie.

So anyway, after about the longest drive of my life, we reached our camping spot at 2 am. And of course, I had to pee. Oh wait, there were no facilities. That meant that I hiked into the wilderness in the cover of darkness and dropped my pants. It's a good thing i didn't know this before hand, but there were hundreds of these creepy crawlers all over.

Do you see why I don't like camping???

Anyway, my sleep my crappy but I actually woke up excited to hike.

Here are some fabulous pictures from the hike (all of from my friend Brady who has a fabulous camera):

The group:

My very favorite picture of the trip:

Now, at the end of the hike, I was told there was a narly hike out of the canyon. What people didn't tell me is that this "narly" hike consisted of scaling a HUGE wall without any gear. Yes, I almost had a panic attack when I started slipping down the wall. Luckily, my friend Steve was right behind me and he literally grabbed my butt and shoved me up the wall. Normally, I would assume he was just trying to cop-a-feel, but then I realized if I slid down the wall I would have taken him out. So, I guess his intentions were good.

What? You don't believe me when I tell you that this wall was more than intimidating.


Did you just throw up like I just did looking at these pictures? Oh, you did?! Awesome. Now you know how I feel.

Ok, so I make it to the top of this hell wall and think that the hike was done. Nope. I was wrong. The hike really was just beginning. After the 9 miles that I just hiked, it was all cake compared to what i was about to do. Hiking up hill and then in sand was not my idea of how to end an 11 mile hike. I thought I was about to die. And then I realized, I just hit my workout quota for 2008. And I smiled and realized that it was all worth it.

Flashback Friday - Monster Mash 1997

I have a feeling my flashback pictures are not going to be the greatest quality for a while. I have resorted to taking pictures of pictures from my scrapbook. It's blurry. I know. Just go with it.


I find great joy in this picture. Only because each and every person in this picture is just growing out of that really awkward early teen puberty stage. Anyway, if you can find me, you win a prize. Yes, I know it is blurry, but click the picture to blow it up. Take your most educated guess and post a comment. No cheating and looking at other people's answers.

Anyway, this was Monster Mash 1997. My date was Kevin Davis. None of us were 16 at this point, and so we had to have our parents drives us. And of course, my mom had the "take home" shift. Yep, that means I had my first awkward door step scene with my mom parked 20 feet away. I was mortified. I think it has ruined me for life and I will label this as the one single event that steamed rolled itself into a life time of singleness. So now, when I run into people that I haven't seen in a long time and they go, "why aren't you married?" I will launch into this story and they will wish they had never asked.

I don't remember much from this dance other than that fact that we had those dog tags made specifically for our dates. Mine probably said, "Natalie + Kevin". I wonder if I have it lying around somewhere?

A day in the life of Natalie..

Some of you might ask what I do everyday - well here you go. Honestly, I just typed out my whole day and I am bored with myself. It's quite long and rather boring. You can stop reading now if you want to. But, if it is late and you are trying to read something that will put you to sleep, read on. I would be surprised if you make it all the way through.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

7:23 - Alarm goes off. Hit Snooze.

7:30 - Alarm goes off again. I consider getting up to shower and wash my hair, but realize that I am not fooling anyone and hit snooze again.

7:37 - 8:22 - Alarm goes off. Get out of bed, shower (don't wash hair), drink a glass of orange juice, finish getting ready and head out the door.

8:22 - 8:35: Drive to work. Love that my office doesn't open until 8:30 and that most people don't roll in until 9. Traffic is much better at 8:30 in the morning.

8:35 - 8:45: Start up my computer, check emails and grab a notepad and head to a video shoot.

8:45 - 8:55: Drive to video shoot. Get lost because the place was in the ghetto and the address was hidden. Cussed only once.

9:00 - 9:50: Watch video shoot. This isn't an account that I am working on, but it was a good experience to meet the people that ran the studio and see how it runs. Make mental note to use them for upcoming voice recording that one my clients has.

9:50 - 10:00 - Drive back to work. As I pull into the parking lot I see 4 large groups of people standing outside. I think to myself "Did the fire alarm go off? Why are all these people standing outside?" I park and soon realize that all these people are smoking. Wow, guess smoke break is from 9:45 - 10:00. Make a mental note to not leave the building during that time ever again.

10:00 - 10:30 - Prep for client meeting (talk to graphic designer of project, collect necessary presentation materials), check and send a few client emails.

10:30 - 11:30 - Present wireframes (much like a blueprint) of clients website we are creating to client and discuss next steps for project.

11:30 - 11:57 - Recap previous client meeting and create a statement of work for another client. Look at my soup that I brought for lunch and become a little depressed.

11:58 - Get a text from my friend Brandie asking if I have lunch plans and if I want to meet somewhere.

11:58:05 - Text Brandie back and confirm lunch meeting place. Soup can wait for another day.

12:05 - 12:15 - Drive to meet Brandie at Subway. Cussed multiple times because it took me ten minutes to drive 7 blocks. Stupid downtown traffic.

12:15 - 12:30 - Wait in line at Subway. Get agitated that Subway couldn't staff more people through the lunch hour. At least I have Brandie there to chat with.

12:30 - 12:55 - Eat lunch, discuss life and secretly wish that I only worked part time. But, all is well in the world because Subway has Coke. (Side note: I used to hate Subway because they used to have Pepsi).

12:55 - 1:05: Drive back to work. Happy that I refilled my coke before I left Subway.

1:05 - 3:00 - Work on a variety of random projects. To be honest, I can't remember. This time was probably spent writing more statement of works (document that outlines a project, how much it costs and what we will do under that cost), talking to different graphic designers about projects they are working on for me and answering clients emails or phone calls. Thrilling, yes!

3:00 - 3:30 - Met with all account executives for our weekly account services meeting

3:30 - 4:00 - Have weekly call with client to discuss projects

4:00 - 5:00 - Listen to voice talents for upcoming recording we have for 10 videos we are making for one of my clients.

5:00 - 6:00 - Create timelines for upcoming projects and send them to clients.

6:00 - 7:00: Leave work, drive home, talk to my friend Alisa and wish her luck on her upcoming lay off. Eat dinner. Change clothes. Head out the door.

7:00 - 10:30: Go play bunko with my hair lady Tiffany and a group that she plays with. While there, realized that my life is completely different from almost every woman at this event. 1) I am not married 2) I do not have two children and 3)I am the only one that had to be up to go to work in the morning. Have fun nonetheless. Bunko is cool!

10:30 - 11:15: Arrive home and have a day de-brief session with Mackenzi. I haven't seen her all day and we have many things to discuss. Work, stupid boys, lack of children, bunko, who's dating whom...you know, the important things. Get ready for bed.

11:15 - 12:15: Watch Survivor and The Office. Can't go to bed without watching my favorite shows.

12:15 - 12:50: Check blogs, send some emails, read scriptures, pray and lights out.

You made it!!! Good for you! You get a gold star!

Flashback Friday - Ride of Death

Wow, my scrapbook sucks! Yes, I took this picture from my phone of my scrapbook. First I just noticed that I actually scribbled something out. Why I just didn't throw the paper away and use a new fresh sheet is beyond me. But, please notice the caption, "Waiting for my death". That phrase was no joke. I almost died. Of embarrassment.

I was just tall enough to be in my own car. I didn't have to ride double with my parents. I was so excited. Now, these are the silly little cars at Disneyland that ride ON A TRACK. No matter how you steer, you will still end up going in the right place. Well, no one told me this. I was eight - and apparently not that smart.

As I got in the car, I realized that I couldn't push the gas peddle in and see over the top of the car at the same time. I panicked. My car inched forward as I stretched my leg as far as it could go, but pretty much I wasn't moving. All of a sudden, I heard someone yelling. I turned around and OMG, there was a line of cars, full of people all waiting for me to move. I swear I remember one guy yelling, MOVE!! PUSH THE PEDDLE!!! I think I might have started crying. Because all i remember was that I practically laid down in the car just so I could push the gas all the way in. I even remember going past one of the disneyland workers and almost yelled out to him, "help me!" But I was too embarrassed.

I was seriously traumatized from this experience. And whenever I go to an amusement park and see one of these car rides, a flood of memories return to me and I relive the most horrific day of my life.

NOTE: This story is not made up or exaggerated. Just wanted to let you know.

The babe was returned unharmed..

My friend Diania trusted me to watch her little boy while she went to pilates class tonight. I used to be invited to attend pilates with her and Miranda, but they soon realized how lazy I really am and finally stopped asking. I thank them for that.

Since the weather today was so fabulous, and since I didn't get to enjoy a lick of it because I was stuck inside working all day* - I took the baby, spread out a blanket, opened up Photobooth and documented the great time that baby had while playing with his Aunt Natalie.




Until next time baby.

*Note: Work is great. I love it. I just don't love it on the first nice day of spring.

At least the children will be well dressed.

About a month ago Mackenzi and I decided we needed to do an overhaul of our closets. Now, if you remember this post, you will remember that my closet is the size of a shoe box. I am surprised I haven't been suffocated by my clothes as I look for long lost items.

As I cleaned my closet I thought, "ah, room to breath!" However, not two seconds later i thought, "My closet looks a little bare. I think I need some new clothes to fill all this empty space!" I now realize my mental health might be in jeopardy.

We loaded up Kenzi's car with all the clothes we were donating:

What?? Do you think we could have donated more?

We drove over to the Boy & Girls drop box by our house and started unloaded the car:



At one point, I turned around and saw this:

I couldn't stop laughing.

As we were mid-unload, a lady drove up and said, "leave room for my stuff!" I turned to her and said, "better luck next time B, we were here first!" Ok. Ok. I really didn't say that. Maybe I just thought it. But the best part was, the lady got out of her car and opened her trunk and pulled out one shirt. ONE! Seriously? Seriously??? Did she really think her ONE shirt wasn't going to fit in the bin? She then continued to tell us that she was donating her husbands old shirt and that she, "hopes he doesn't want it anymore."

I smiled, gave her a hug and thanked her for letting me know that when I get married and my husband wears ugly clothes, I can just take them when he is not looking and donate them to charity.

Now, let's go shopping...

When I think things couldn't get any better, I had the most exciting thing happen last night. I cheered, I laughed, I cried. And you wonder what this wonderful thing was? It was Kansas winning the NCAA Tournament. That's right.


Not only did I win my family pool ($60), but I also came in 3rd at my office pool ($10), in which I was the only girl. There is nothing like beating a bunch of men at something sports related. Oh, they get so pissed. I got the following text message from my brother Austin last night:

Me and Dad agree that we are tired of seeing you woman win the freakin' pool

I had even received the following voicemail from my dad earlier in the day:

THE MEMPHIS TIGERS ARE GOING TO DESTROY THE KANSAS JAYHAWKS! YOU'RE GOING DOWN!

I capitalize this only to demonstrate the awesomeness of the situation....

And so last night, as the males in my life went to bed mad, I cracked open a Coke, sat on the couch, thought about my new found money and shopped for shoes online.

The madness is coming to an end...

Ok, so yes, I might have abandoned my blog this week. I might have not even thought about it. AND, I might have not had a problem with it. Normally, I am a blog obsessed woman. Everything and anything that happens to me usually is processed in my mind as Blog Worthy or Not Blog Worthy.

However, I do have news. I GOT A JOB! And I couldn't be more thrilled about it. After two hellish long months, about a trillion interviews (honestly, I should count, but I went on at least 20), and only a few emotional and mental breakdowns, I am starting my new job on Monday.

First I want to say, interviewing is seriously the worst. I like to compare it to dating. All the companies that wanted me, I didn't want them. And then the companies that I wanted, didn't want me back. I sometimes feel like I am the butt of every joke. Not cool. Not cool.

Now, as to protect myself from Internet stalkers I will not reveal the name of my new employer. I am still working in account management at an ad agency. It's a fun industry and I am so happy to be staying in it. However here are the job facts: 1) I will be making more money 2) I will have a much cooler boss and 3) there is room for me to advance my career. Three very very big pluses in my mind. HOORAY!

If you know me well, you know that I like order in my life. I like things planned and I like structure. I blame my lack of blogging on the fact that my life has been all out of whack the past couple of months. I see the craziness subsiding soon. Bare with me. I apologize for my lack in Flashback Friday posts. My lack of pictures. And my lack of posting in general.

But, I will leave you with a funny conversation I had with my friend Justin tonight. Mind you, Justin is my former home teacher and current executive secretary in my SINGLES ward:

Me: Wow, Justin, you have like no hair on your legs.
Justin: That's because I shaved them
Me: Really? Is if for cycling?
Justin: No, it's for sex.

That's awesome Justin. I didn't know this was allowed. Maybe my bishop is lenient on some rules? I'll have to check into that.