Please?

Please please please!

Stop saying "eck-scape." Or "eck-specially." But eck-specially "eck-scape."

It doesn't matter if you do now...we can look past that.

Just change your ways. Repentance is real, people.

The word is escape. E-S-C-A-P-E. There is no room between those first two letters for anything else. I mean really, doesn't adding the letters make it more awkward? "Eck-scape" is much harder to say than "escape."

I know the English language has a lot of pronunciation-related tricks up its sleeve, but this word is not one of them.

Hey- I'm not judging or anything. If you love love love saying that word that way, more power to you. Everyone...prefers...different things. I, for example, have no problem ending a sentence with a preposition. In fact, it is something I am quite fond of. HA! But seriously, I screw up too. We all have our quirks.

Just...try to control that particular quirk in front of me.

please?

Counting sheep...

...does not work for me.

First of all, let me say that this is going to be a random, short post. I just don't have anything super exciting to write about at the moment...so random and shortness prevails!

So...counting sheep.

Does anyone else have a problem with this? I've kind of been having trouble sleeping the past few nights, and, as is usual with my can't sleep routine (especially when Dallin is dead asleep from a long hard day...poor husband), I just try counting sheep. I mean, it's an age old, time honored tradition, right? Kind of like holding your breath when you have the hiccups or looking at the sun when you have to sneeze.

So I try. I try and I fail. Every time.

Maybe it's my counting method. I've always wondered exactly how one goes about counting sheep. I mean, are they all in a row that just extends forever, and you just move on down the row? Or are they all bunched together in some ginormous field, just waiting to be counted? If that's the case, what if you lose your place? Do you just start over? Perhaps part of the reason counting sheep doesn't work for me is that I have this little argument in my head every time. I over analyze the sheep counting methods until I'm even more awake than when I started.

What I always end up doing is imagining sheep jumping over a little fence, one by one. I have no idea if this is normal, or even if anyone else in the world does this or has thought about doing this, but that is how I count sheep.

Last night, however, I realized that that could be the very thing that makes me immune to the sleep-ifying powers of sheep counting. I mean, sheep running and jumping...that's pretty active. Active and exciting. I mean, what if one of them couldn't jump high enough, you know? Now that would be funny.

Also, I never can really get a solid picture of a sheep in my head. I always try to start out with realistic looking ones (they usually look like the talking ones from Babe), but they always turn into cartoon sheep. So I'm going from counting real, soft, peaceful sheep grazing in a beautiful, wind-blown field to goofy, chubby cartoon sheep trying to jump over an animated fence that they may or may not have the ability to jump over.

Maybe I should just try warm milk. But you know, warm milk is disgusting.

Chichen Itza

For those of you who don't recognize the name...maybe you'll recognize the place?

If that still doesn't do it for you...WIKIPEDIA.

Also, to help you out with pronunciation...wikipedia gives this lovely contraption: /tʃiːˈtʃɛn iːˈtsɑː/.

If you know what to make of that...good for you.

We only had a couple days in Cancun, and Chichen Itza is like the biggest thing to do there, so we figured we just had to squeeze it in. We took off on Valentines morning to go check out these ancient Mayan ruins. It is amazing to walk around and think about people actually living and working in this city that is now basically crumbling stone.

"Let's see...where was that massive pyramid thing? I could have sworn I just saw it..."

The thousand columns

Ancient Mayan tic-tac-toe. Looks like the Os won.

There were lizards like this ALL OVER the place. I steered clear while Dallin got as close as possible to take pictures.

El cenote- used for religious and (depending on which tour guide you have) sacrificial purposes.

**side note: Dallin would not give me the camera. That's why I'm in all the pictures and he's in like, none. Side note over.

The famous Mayan Ball Game court. I have no idea how they got a ball through that circle using only their elbows, hips, and knees. Could they fly? They must have flown.

Finally! Proof that Dallin was there!

Anyway, this was a great little trip. We got back and Dallin and his bro rented some jet skis, while I took the calmer route and hung out on the beach. Hey, I even got to see a V-day wedding on the beach. Coolness.

Later that night, all of us went out to eat at Outback (American-ish, I know. Don't hate). This is the only picture I have:

And then we went to the only laundromat we could find, since Dallin's aunt and uncle had some laundry to do.

It was a little sketchy lookin, but it got the job done!

Since it was Valentine's Day, Dallin and I romantified our night a bit by taking a moonlit stroll on the beach. Ah, that's life.

The next day was Sunday, so we ventured off to church. We found a ward meeting at a good time, and joined them for sacrament meeting. It was pretty sweet, and I was very proud that I actually understood most of the talks. Ole!

After that, we hunted down one of Dallin's old mission companions, and they chatted for a while while the rest of us met some of the other members of his ward.

All too soon, it was time to go back to the airport.

The trip home was a little boring...we didn't have any problems getting on the plane or switching around luggage or anything. Where's the fun in that right? Also, we were flying standby and the plane was fairly full so we didn't get to sit next to each other. Boo. That gave me plenty of time to get some reading done for school. Yeah, The Autobiography of Malcolm X was just what I wanted to do with those 4 hours.

So that was our trip! It was fantastic. It was pretty short, yes, but it was a wonderful getaway and it was great as always to get to see my in-laws! We are grateful to them for letting us mooch off their vacation.

And now the saga of my trip from almost a month ago is complete. Holla! Maybe next time I'll write about something a little more recent...I guess we'll see.

Cancun!

After the adventure that was getting there, we made it to Cancun!

Initial reaction- humid. Hair's initial reaction to humidity- go completely limp. It was ugly, people. Let me tell you.

Dallin haggled en espanol to find us the cheapest possible ride to the cheapest possible halfway decent hotel. Dallin and our shuttle driver conversed en espanol for most of the 20 minute drive, and (prepare to be amazed) I actually understood most of it! I guess those 3 years of Spanish in high school stuck with me pretty well (Gracias, Senora Roth!).

We arrived at the Hotel Handall, a...charming...little place that would cost us about 550 pesos and some severe back pain. All part of the cultural experience.

After some fantastic food and a little sightseeing, we "settled" down for the night. As much as you can "settle" on a bed that's sitting on a block of cement.

Dallin got us some pastries from the grocery store for breakfast, and then we packed up to make our way to the Hotel Zone along the beach, to meet up with Dallin's family at the Hilton. Needless to say, the Hilton was a small step up from the Handall:

The beach was calling me, so we took a walk

Dallin bought these sunglasses off a Mexican's face. Literally. We looked for one of those beach vendor people selling sunglasses, but we couldn't find any. So we asked another guy selling candy or something where we could find some. He said they were a little ways away, but he'd be happy to sell his sunglasses. He wanted too much for his, but his amigo wanted 5 bucks. Sold. True story.

Love this sign.

This cup of Sprite at the hotel's pool bar cost us 4 bucks. But hey, we had to have something to wash down the 10-inch, $10 pizza. Sheesh.

We met up with Dallin's family, got them settled into their rooms, and went out to eat. Later, Dallin, his brother Dayton, and I hung out at a shopping mall-esque thing, and Dallin and Dayton got to wrestle in a big plastic ball...

Don't ever do this. Dayton ended up throwing up. Not in the ball, thank goodness...but still. They were both sick for like, the rest of the night.

So that was our first night and full day in Cancun! Tune in next time for...Chichen Itza!

Spring Break = Time = Blog

Love Spring Break.

And you know, with my pending GRADUATION and all, this will actually be my lastest Spring Break ever. Henceforth, in devotion and future memoriam, I am capitalizing Spring Break even though I'm not sure if it is supposed to be capitalized or not. Spring Break!

Although...if you can believe it and promise not to hate...Dallin and I have kinda sorta already had a very Spring Break-ish vacay. Valentines Day weekend, my super-hubby surprised me with a trip to Cancun! CANCUN, people! Dallin's family had a trip to Cancun planned for a while, so we just decided to step right in and join them while they were there. This was not a mistake.

So...getting there is half the fun. Or so they say. Sometimes getting there is all the fun. Sometimes getting there is a very small part of the fun. And sometimes, getting there is not very much fun at all.

Being a girl who was about to be in Cancun for 3 days, I, of course, packed for about 7 days. So, also of course, I needed a big suitcase. It wasn't stuffed, thank you very much, but it was...pretty full. So we show up at the airport about 1 1/2 hours before our flight with my big suitcase, Dallin's little suitcase, my semi-large tote bag thing, and Dallin's backpack. 35 minutes later, we have made our way through the check in line, only to be told that we are 5 minutes too late to check any bags. I believe that was the airport lady's way of saying "Bah Humbug to Cancun!"

After a few minutes of frantic running around trying to find a way to get the big suitcase on the plane, Dallin came up with a solution that I found quite inconvenient at the time, but now recognize as brilliant. We go by the elevators, take everything out of the big suitcase, and somehow- somehow- cram it all into the small suitcase, backpack, and semi-large tote bag thing, all of which were already fairly full. We left anything with a substantial amount of liquid in it in the large suitcase, since we wouldn't be able to carry that stuff on. This required a tearful parting with my hairspray. It just hates being alone...

So what to do with the big suitcase containing only things with substantial amounts of liquid in them? Why, leave it on the baggage claim, of course! Honestly, I don't recommend doing this. I am surprised that an unlabeled, untagged suitcase hanging unclaimed around the airport was not carefully examined by someone wearing rubber gloves before it was burned. My mom just swung by the airport later in the day and picked it up. No biggie. Huh. Who knew?

So we made the flight! It was close, but dude, we were so on it.

I think I'll use this as a metaphor for my next sacrament meeting talk: If someone tells you you can't take your "baggage" on the flight to heaven, get rid of it and leave it on the baggage claim.

Yeah, it could use some work.

Trip details in next post. This one's long enough...plus I gotta keep you coming back!