Traffic School...

"No officer, I did not come to a complete stop at the stop sign back there. Yes I slowed down, yes I could have stopped, I was probably going .0002 miles an hour as I turned, but no I didn't fully stop." This was a three way stop mind you. There were no other cars around and I endangered no one. Nevertheless the laws the law.
Consequently I spent and hour and a half on Monday evening at traffic school. Quite honestly it wasn't that bad. The instructor was entertaining and we basically watched youtube videos the whole time.
This is what I learned:
-There are a lot of crazies on the road, and no matter what you do you can't always avoid them.
-You don't need to leave two car lengths between you and the car in front of you at a stop light (although a lot of people in Utah think you do)...but you should leave enough space to see the back wheels of the car in front of you hit the ground.
-Getting thrown from a car really stinks and usually does your body harm...wearing your seat belt is a good idea.
-Talking on the phone/eating/texting/or any any other distraction while your driving can be very dangerous. Starting next year if you're doing any of the above and get pulled over for a violation or accident it will result in an added major violation/ticket for careless driving being added to your record (but you still can't be pulled over for doing any of these things on their own).
-The average person's perception/reaction time is 1.5 seconds. Don't follow too closely or you won't give your self enough time to get out of the way if there's an accident in front of you.
-If you see an ambulance/police car/fire truck/or any other emergency vehicle behind you with it's lights on move out of the way! Pull off to the shoulder and let it pass. We watched a video taken from one of these vehicles and NO ONE moved, it was insane! They kept honking but everyone just kept driving like normal. It took the emergency vehicle almost 5 extra minutes to get to it's destination because nobody yielded to it. And the person it was going to didn't have an extra five minutes, it cost them their life. Can you believe it? Sad.

In high school my friends used to tell me I drove like a grandpa because I was so slow and by the book. It looks like I should revert to my old ways: full stops, no speeding, and patiently waiting for all the slow pedestrians/students to cross the street (living South of campus is a nightmare sometimes). Here's to me being a better driver, cheers!

Yard Sale Finds...

This morning on the way to take Mitch to work we saw a huge yard sale off 900 East. Even though we only had about 3 minutes to spare we stopped by to look around and learned that all the profits were going to a young girl with diabetes. As you know Mitch and I are currently trying to get rid of stuff, not trying to accumulate more. But sometimes you just can't help it, especially when it's going to a good cause...right?

Here's are loot:













Now I just need a dresser to put this on!

Is it wrong?...

Is it wrong that a part of me was happy when my car wouldn't start (again!) this morning?

NO CAR=

• no work
• getting to spend the day at home with Mitch (which of course prevented him from studying or doing anything productive, oh well)
  
• eating a nice, fresh lunch (nothing frozen or left over)
  
• laying out in the park
• reading a book
• taking a nap
• cleaning the kitchen (something that had been on my to-do list for a while)

Maybe I should pretend my car won't start every day.

Moab...

We went to Moab for the holiday weekend. It was a perfect spot for a little get away. We drove down early, early Saturday morning (we got up at 5am-I don't know what we were thinking) and headed to Arches National Park. After spending the morning hiking we had a little carside picnic and by afternoon we retreated to our campsite to swim and set up. We spent the rest of the afternoon checking out Indian Rock art around the city and walking through the shops in town (the rock art was pretty amazing but none of the sites were well marked which was disappointing. If you ever go down to see them you'll want to print off a locater before you go).
A nice big storm rolled in that evening providing a nice show of lightening and strong winds. After making sure our rain fly was secure we attempted sleep. Sunday morning we headed back to the park and enjoyed the cool, stormy morning. Overall the trip was excellent and despite the heat the first day I think we both loved it. Sometimes it's just good to get away, even if you're not going very far. Happy Labor Day!

Congrats to Jonathan, Kimberly & Audrey...

My little brother Jonathan and his wife Kimberly and little girl Audrey were all sealed in the Houston Temple at the end of July. Mitch and I weren't able to go but my parents sent me a cd of pictures and I couldn't help but post a few of them. Doesn't Kimberly look like a princess? I love Audrey's pretty little white dress too. I'm so happy for them all!After going to the temple my family was able to take a quick trip to the coast too. Now all the babies have taken a dip in the ocean.