A Craven Thanksgiving

1.  7th Annual Pie Night: friends, family, and undercover vegan bean pies.

2.  Impromptu Christmas jams with Steven and Co.

3.  Foregoing Black Friday shopping with an impulsive trip to Angel's Landing.

4.  Of course, lots and lots of family time!

Pixelmator: Headswapping, backgrounds, gloom effect, and more

I've been getting a lot better at photo editing.  Just wanted to show you some of what I've been working on for my mom's Tapestry website.

I'm most proud of this one, in which I swapped my mom's head.  The other stuff is fairly commonplace - removing background, smoothing skin tone, etc.

The group really liked this picture but as you can see it's a tad overexposed.  This was a lot of fun too because you can see that I removed the car on the left side of the picture.  I also think I did a fairly good job of fixing the exposure and the levels.  I got defeated by that lens glare in that lady's hair in the background... I'm still learning.

This stuff is a lot of fun, and I'm getting faster at it - learning all the shortcuts and such.  Recently, I've discovered that a lot of my photo edits are ending up on Facebook as profile pictures.  I wouldn't know, since I deleted my account months ago.

Vacation - Rochester, NY

Rochester is a beautiful part of upstate New York.  Settled right on the coast of Lake Ontario, this city is home to University of Rochester School of Medicine, where I attended a medical school interview.  The entire stay was wonderful and I had a great time interviewing as well!

Big, big sky somewhere over Iowa (hello missionaries!).

Ben and Celeste were ideal hosts, and cooked for us every night.

My friend Dave and I interviewed one day apart from each other, so we decided to spend the weekend there together.  While Dave was in his interviews, I wandered around in downtown Rochester, eating at the delicious Dinosaur Grill, visiting the Eastman School of Music, and photographing interesting architecture.

The colors in this photo are my favorite.  Also I enjoy the rhythm of the windows and staircases.

Ugliest building in Rochester.  Like a car accident, I just couldn't tear my eyes away from it.  It says "Times Square" above its gloomy double doors.

Rochester used to have a subway system, which has been abandoned, leaving behind some cool looking bridges.  I saw some amazing graffiti in there but was too afraid of getting mugged to photograph it.

Construction scaffolding at the Manhattan Park (even though Long Island is 6 hrs away from Rochester)

Dave and I both had a great experience in our interviews, and would be very happy to attend Rochester for medical school.  After Dave finished up his interviews, we rented a car together and did a little sight-seeing!  First, we drove out to Niagra Falls, then doubled back through Rochester to visit Palmyra, where the LDS Church has its roots.  We spent time in the Sacred Grove, Joseph Smith's home, and at the Hill Cumorah.

Niagra Falls!  There's Canada in the background.  We rode the Maid of the Mist, but naturally I kept my camera well-covered.

The Sacred Grove in Palmyra.  I was surprised to see how close it is to the Smith Family Farm.  You can tell you walk upon hallowed ground amongst those trees.

That's the Palmyra Temple you see through the trees.  They had to cut out a hole in the foliage so we could see it from where I'm standing on the Smith Family property.

Dave and I on our way home in our SWEET rental car!  Thanks Hertz!

Vacation - Moab

When was the last time you went to Moab?  Rafted a river?  Saw Delicate Arch?  (Your license plate doesn't count!)  I've been with my family a couple of times, but it was sure a lot of fun to do it with my friends this time instead:

Our campsite:  I slept on a picnic table and it was AWESOME.

Aleah catching some sunshine on the drive into Arches Nat'l Park

Our crew.  There were a LOT of us!  Good kids and solid new friends.

I am astounded by the enormity of Delicate Arch.  Here I am standing underneath it's  monstrous pillars with good friends Gordy and Steve

Some of God's creations simply cannot be confined to a photograph.   I tried anyways.

Since we came in the morning, the Arch was backlit. 

Beautiful color.

Isn't it remarkable that Native Americans lived in such a desolate area?  Who knows how much you have to love those sheep to immortalize them on a rock.

Okay.  A little out of focus, but Jon... you hat is... indescribable

This was carefully, mysteriously, placed upon my car overnight.  Phantom giant underpants.

We went rafting, but naturally I didn't take my super-nice camera on the trip, so no wet swimsuit pictures for you.

What a picture to close on.  Abuelita Gordy and his new Go Pro!

Gordy's 25th

Utah State Fair

Fresh-squeezed lemonade, corncobs dipped in salty butter, rides on the ferris wheel (or not, because the line is so long and there is so much to see), petting donkeys, plugging our noses around the pigpen, and sharing a block of fudge while perusing the shops for keepsakes.  In short, an All-American Thursday night!  Gotta love the State Fair and the friends who make it memorable.

Labor Day

Today, I caught myself wondering to myself, "why do we celebrate Labor Day?"

Wikipedia tells us this:

"Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September (September 5 in 2011) that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers."

And here is a little history as to how it came to be:

"The first big Labor Day in the United States was observed on September 5, 1882, by the Central Labor Union of New York.^[1] It was first proposed by Peter J. McGuire of the American Federation of Laborin May 1882,^[2] after witnessing the annual labor festival held in Toronto, Canada.^[3]
Oregon was the first state to make it a holiday in 1887. By the time it became a federal holiday in 1894, thirty states officially celebrated Labor Day.^[2]. Following the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. military and U.S. Marshals during the Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland reconciled with the labor movement. Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congressunanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike."

I spent my Labor Day with my fam, and I'm surprised at what we were able to cram in:

breakfast of waffles and bacon, skiing on Deer Creek, swimming at the pool, watching the US Open, lunch on the go, a motorcycle ride up to Guardsman's Pass (very pretty this time of year), 9 holes of golf at the Wasatch Mountain Golf Course, then homemade pizza before coming home to my singles ward Family Home Evening.  You just can't argue with free donuts.  And now, it's time for all of us to admit to ourselves the truth of this last excerpt from Wiki:

"Labor Day has come to be celebrated by most Americans as the symbolic end of the summer. In high society, Labor Day is (or was) considered the last day of the year when it is fashionable for women to wear white."^[

Happy End of Summer, folks.  I am not returning to school this year, which is weird, but it feels like summer is ending just the same.  I'm pretty excited for football season though - I hope my Cougs have a good first year playing independent!

Sommer, wunderbar Sommer!

You know, my mom used to live in Germany when her father, my gramps, was a mission president there.  They lived in a palace.  Literally a palace.  It is sooo cool.  I've always felt a little bad that I've never learned German.  But that's beside the point!  I want to show you some pictures of my AWESOME summer!

Summer began with Ashten's return from Cedar City.  Hooray!

Lots of laughs whenever I'm around my crawdad friend Jenna.  This is us before the Bruno Mars Concert!
You really should check out her blog:  http://mouthofthesouf.blogspot.com/

Always love a visit from Marci and fun in Midway!

Janessa invited me to volunteer at the Utah Valley Marathon.  GOOD JOB, GO RIGHT! We yelled for an hour.

Rock Climbing at the Slips!  Tristyn is always a good climbing buddy.

These are some of my students - I helped them prepare for the MCAT!   Here we are blowing off some steam in the mountains.

I've joined the Jon Burgoyne Band.  We've recorded some good stuff and played some fun gigs!  This is Steve putting together a track for Clawson's wedding.

Lots of family time, which is best spent at RSL games!  Go Real Salt Lake!

Andrew and Robyn got married and it was beautiful!  This is us, waiting for the Andrew & the Guys pictures, at the Salt Lake Temple.  Later that day, we ate at the Lion House and got drenched in the rain.

Setting up to play at the Oakridge Country Club.  Loved it, not to mention the free dinner!

Lots of hikes in the canyons.  Here we are at Dogwood Lake.  Thanks Ashten!

Clawson came out of his cave (planning his wedding) to do lots of boating.  We never have many pictures 'cause we're too busy having FUN!

Practicing for Clawson's wedding.  Lucky braved the hot weather in a sexy cardigan.  A slave to fashion, that boy is.  Never looks anything but sharp.

Bear Lake Boating Trip with my singles ward!  Holy smokes it was fun, and I met some amazing new friends!

Sommer, wunderbar Sommer.  I haven't left the state, but I tell you what - I've been finding out about all the fun close to home.  I wish it wouldn't end!

Life Lately

Canyon Climbing!

Gordon climbing in Provo Canyon

Getting my belay on!

Lauren learning her knots.

Alaina and I, storming Dogwood Crag.

Such great heights!

One of the tallest climbs my 60 m rope can handle.

Exploring the slips with Janessa and Co.

Coleslaw keeping me on the wall.

Look at the view!

There are SO MANY things to love about climbing:  the physical exercise, the outdoors, the friends (and how you trust them with your life!), the thrilling views, and the challenge, to name a few.  It's my goal to climb somewhere every single week of the summer, so if you want to get involved - come climb with me!!