The Post That Mom and Grandma Aren't Allowed to Read

This post is subtitled: "What Goes to Vegas, Stays in Vegas," or "The American Girl Who Went to Vegas With a Car...And Came Back Without." (yes, that's a slightly pathetic attempt to spoof a Hugh Grant movie)

Here's the story:

Jana was in Vegas on her very first grown-up business trip and since it's only about a three and a half hour drive from Claremont, I decided to drive up Tuesday after class and party with her. I packed a light overnight bag, hopped in my trusty, rusty '93 blue Oldsmobile "Brunhilde" (which, by the way, just a month ago drove all the way from Salt Lake to Claremont with NO problems whatsoever) and planned on getting to the Monte Carlo by 7:30. At about 6:30 I was jamming out to Journey's "Seperate Ways," a song which demands volume. I checked my rear-view mirror and saw that everyone behind me was merging away. I was a little offended until I noticed the smoke Bruni was puffing into their faces. Not. Good. I quickly pulled off onto the shoulder, and, assuming the car had overheated, let her sit for about thirty minutes or so. On the plus-side, there was a really cool sunset. Way to go, Sunset.

After a proper cool down, Bruni seemed ready to roll again. We set off with my eyes glued to the thermometer and ears pealed for strange noises. Such noises appeared around 7:30, just about half an hour outside of Vegas, and they were bad noises. Very bad. I pulled over again and knew she wasn't going to make it. I made some phone calls to Jana and AAA (thanks for the membership, Papa Bear!) and hunkered down to wait for the tow-truck. He showed up between 8:30 and 9 and towed me to Silverado Ranch, about 9 miles from the strip, singing country songs all the way. Jana had carpooled with her coworkers so she didn't have her car, and they were all at dinner west of Vegas, so I walked from the auto-shop to Walmart and bought a Lunchable to hold me over until Jana's coworkers finished dinner and could come pick me up. I don't know why a Lunchable, it just sounded good at the time. I decided to walk a little over a mile down to Las Vegas Blvd to see if there were any buses that could take me down to the strip. There weren't. Jana called and said that her coworkers were on their way and I should stay put so they could find me. I found a bench at a deserted bus stop and sat down to eat and decided to get some homework done while I was waiting. When John and Dave found me, they joked that they were excited to get home and tell their wives that they picked up a young blonde on Vegas Blvd. I assume they're going to leave off the part about how said blonde was eating a Lunchable and reading Kierkegaard....

I finally arrived at the casino around 11 and was reunited with my long lost sister. I dumped my stuff in Jana's room, we got a quick, LATE, dinner at the food court and strolled down to the Bellagio to watch the fountains. I liked 'em.

We wandered around a bit more and headed back to the Monte Carlo around 12:30 or 1 to find the guys deeply absorbed in the craps table and Diablo's Wheel. I decided to try my luck... :-) John had won about $500 at craps but lacked the patience to teach me how to play, so I just handed him 40 bucks and let him win it for me :-) I stood next to him and every once in a while he'd say, "we want a six...we really want a six" so then I'd cheer if a six was rolled. I'm real good at craps. In about twenty minutes John had turned my 40 into 125 big ones. I gave him a $5 tip for not losing my money, and happily pocketed my $80 extra. We stayed at the craps tables, with Jana playing wife/mother by holding on to the guys' winnings so they wouldn't blow them, until about 2:30 then called it a night.

I slept in the next morning while Jana went to class, then woke up and had to deal with grown-up things. No fun. I called the auto-shop and they told me that my engine was eating itself. Seriously, those are the words they used. They just laughed when I said "So you're telling me I'm not gonna make it back to Southern California..." Bruni was officially dead. Mad props to Jana for helping me be a grown-up. I booked a seat on a Greyhound back to Claremont and made arrangements to donate my dead car to some charity. Then some of the guys needed to go to H&M to get stuff for their wives, and Jana and I certainly weren't going to turn down that opportunity, so we went to H&M with about 6 of her male coworkers who told us that we had a twenty minute maximum. Ha. Mad props to them for not being too mad at us for going thirty minutes over our alloted time :-) They then took us out to the auto shop to clean my car out and for me to kiss her goodbye. Sigh. My poor girl.

Jana and I really wanted to go on the roller coaster at New York New York before we left so the guys, even though they really just wanted to get on the road, took pity on us and we all blew $14 on a roller coaster. That was pretty good times...maybe not $14 worth of good times, but good times nonetheless. Who knew real-estate appraisers could be so fun? I sure didn't.

After the roller coaster the guys dropped me off at the Vegas Greyhound station. I love Greyhound, it's such an adventure! Three years ago I took a Greyhound to Colorado and back for a friend's wedding and had a great time. I made a new pot-head friend named Zane who involved me in a deep philosophical conversation, bought me a Gatorade, and fell asleep on my shoulder. He was good times. As I was waiting in line to board the bus to LA, a man walked in the door, stumbled up to me and muttered something like "You look like the kind of girl who wants to go to Nashville," followed by some unintelligble grumbling. I don't know why I don't find things like that scary...maybe it's because we dealt with it every day in Germany (missionaries are crazy magnets...ask anyone). I rolled my eyes, took a step back, and said "Excuse me, sir," in my most bored voice. He stumbled off for a minute, then came back and said "I know what you're like...girls are all the same," and stumbled out the door. It was kinda funny/sad. I got on the bus and had a row to myself. There was a little girl in front of me who looked to be about a little over a year old. She kept offering to share her Cheetos with me and in the process smashed them all over the back of her seat. I love Greyhound. I turned on my iPod, listened to some amazing music (I have excellent taste, what can I say), watched another beautiful sunset, and had great views of the stars out my window. The rest of the ride passed without incident. We got in to Claremont around 9:45, and I debated about whether to call someone to pick me up from the station or not since my roommates are out of town. My stubbornly independent streak got the best of me, and I decided that two miles really isn't that far to walk through a little college town. I forgot I had two heavy bags and was wearing $3 Old Navy flip-flops. But it was a nice night, and I had plenty of time to think about the advantages of not having a car (more to come on that in a later post). I got home, fed the cat, and crashed. I was carless, out about $100, had sore, filthy feet, but felt that life was great :-)

A super big shout-out to Jana, for rocking it up with me despite the stress, and to the guys at Integra. Again, who knew that real-estate appraisers were so much fun?? Thanks, y'all!!

Soundtrack

So I started this blog with the idea that I'd talk about songs and other things that get randomly stuck in my head. Funnily enough, that idea didn't stick. (oh, I SLAY me!) Not that I post that often...or have really found a direction that I'd want to take...but I digress. A friend of mine just started a blog (and yes, I am blog-stalking you) and she posted about what her life's soundtrack would look like. Which got me thinking...which led me to peruse my iTunes...which led to THIS!!!!!!:



1-You Make Me Feel So Young, Frank Sinatra
2-The Unwinding Cable Car, Anberlin
3-Jupiter from "The Planets", Gustav Holst
4-Motorcycle Drive By, Third Eye Blind
5-Rose Tint My World, Hopefield
6-What About, Peter Breinholt
7-Jesu, the Very Thought is Sweet, Mack Wilberg and the MoTabbers
8-People Should Smile More, Newton Faulkner

9-Don't Stop Believin', Journey

If my life were played to 44 minutes of footage, this is what you'd hear. What you'd see, however, is a completely different beast.

And, yes, blog-stalked friend, I have two of "your" songs on my list. I hate to do this, but I'm going to have to play the "I'm older and probably heard them first" card. So there.

A Real Post!

I'm feeling a little nostalgic today. Maybe it's because I'm about to make a big move into the unknown, but a few minutes ago I randomly started missing Switzerland, a place I only spent a few days in this spring. When Dan and I were younger, I used to have to go and comfort him some Sunday nights before he went to bed because he missed the weekend already. Well, now I can empathize a little better. I miss April 20, 2008. So I'm going to tell you all about it :-)

After an uncomfortable night on a train from Rome (this trip, however, being much better than the night train from Frankfurt to Florence... instead of 7 people crammed into one cabin there were 3) Dan and I pulled into the still sleeping village of Montreaux. We pulled out our information about the hostel and realized the only instructions they had offered to help us get there were "situated right on the lake-front, about 1km from the middle of town." This place was breathtakingly beautiful, though; so beautiful that I only pretended to be a little grumpy to keep up my reputation as world's worst morning person. (Please note the semi-grumpy, semi-thrilled, definitely weird expression on my face.) It was no hardship at all to haul our backpacks down to the promenade along Lake Geneva, pick a direction to walk in, and bask in the gorgeous Sunday morning we had practically all to ourselves as the sun came up over snow-capped peaks. (I should write travel guides, I know.) This town is seriously amazing. I'm almost out of cheesy adjectives, hence the multitude of pictures. We wandered along at a leisurely pace for about half an hour watching the lake, the mountains, the tulips, and the random Ice Age characters made out of shrubbery, until we suddenly needed to find a bathroom--desparately. In order to protect myself, I won't say which of us needed this bathroom break (oh, wait, dangit!). The problem is, public bathrooms--especially in small towns--are few and far between in Europe. They usually cost money and are, well, in a word, disgusting. We still had no idea where the hostel was. All the businesses along the promenade were closed. The situation was getting hairy. Then, what do we behold, but the most clean, open, free European public bathroom I have ever experienced. This was the best morning ever.

Disaster averted, we finally found the hostel and checked in. We stowed our bags, and hiked up the mountainside to a church we had seen on our way in. By this time it was about 9:30 or 10 in the morning, so we figured we'd be sure to be able to catch some kind of church service, even though since we were in the French-speaking side of Switzerland we wouldn't understand a thing. We got up there, and it was completely empty. No pastor, no meeting times posted, nothing but an open, empty, old church. It was awesome! We explored a little, then plopped ourselves down on some chairs and decided to sing hymns to ourselves. The acoustics were incredible. We tried to sight read some songs from the little French hymnals we found, but mostly ended up laughing at each other's French, sight reading, or both. So we stuck to the old stand-bys: "Come Thou Fount", "Abide With Me", "How Great Thou Art", etc. The perfect Sunday morning--in an old, tiny, mountainside Alpine church, singing hymns with my favorite brother. We spent about an hour there and I'm still amazed that the only other people we saw was a couple from California that wandered in for a few minutes, also perplexed that there was no one around. We drunk in our fill of the atmosphere and the scenery, then headed back down the mountainside to the hostel so we could finally shower and look like humans again.

I'll skip the next few hours because they involved hunger, and though I tried to be as cheery as possible, we all know that a hungry Lauren isn't necessarily a happy Lauren. Sad truth. Needless to say, we eventually found food and a train to Champery. This is where the story gets good again :-) I loved this train. When we got back and people asked for the highlights of our trip, I immediately thought of this train. A little, rickety thing, this train chugged up the mountain from the little town of Aigle, through tiny villages and farms clinging to the mountains, all the way up to Champery. Thirty minutes of pure joy. Heaven is going to be a combination of Montreaux and Champery, I'm convinced of it. We listened to talks by Elder Holland on Dan's iPod and watched waterfalls, steep cliffs, clouds, sheep, hamlets, cows, and trees go by. We got to Champery and, of course, since it was a Sunday afternoon just about everything was closed. We mostly wandered around a lot and just loved it. I've decided that's the only way to travel Europe--to just wander. We found the hotel Dan stayed in when he was there in high school, picked out a restaurant to eat in the next day for his birthday, and wandered some more. After a while we got hungry again and decided to have a picnic of sorts. We went to a little grocery store and got a loaf of good bread, some cheese, a couple bars of chocolate, and some Mövenpick ice cream. We found a bench with an incredible view (not a tough thing to find) and had ourselves some Swiss goodness. I bet you can't get what we did next--yup, we wandered. Took some pictures, loved life, and meandered about our little Alpine village. It started to get dark, so we got back on the train, listened to some more Elder Holland, and loved life a little more.

In summation, I heart Switzerland. If anyone knows any good Swiss men, send them my way.

I Swear I'll Back off the Lists and Post Something Real....After This One

I found this sucker and liked it. I've italicized the ones I've done. You do it too. Now.

1. Touched an iceberg
2. Slept under the stars
3. Been a part of a hockey fight
4. Changed a baby’s diaper
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Swam with wild dolphins
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a tarantula
10. Said “I love you” and meant it
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
20. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment (Have you met me??)
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Bet on a winning horse
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Taken an ice cold bath
28. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Ridden a roller coaster
31. Hit a home run
32. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking (Have you met me Part 2)
33. Adopted an accent for fun
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment
36. Loved your job 90% of the time
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Watched wild whales
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Gone on a midnight walk on the beach
41. Gone sky diving
42. Visited Ireland
43. Ever bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited India
45. Bench-pressed your own weight

46. Milked a cow
47. Alphabetized your personal files
48. Ever worn a superhero costume
49. Sung karaoke
50. Lounged around in bed all day
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Done something you should regret, but don’t
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Been in a movie
60. Gone without food for 3 days
61. Made cookies from scratch
62. Won first prize in a costume contest
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Been in a combat zone
65. Spoken more than one language fluently
66. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
67. Bounced a check
68. Read - and understood - your credit report
69. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
70. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
71. Called or written your Congress person
72. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
73. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
74. Helped an animal give birth
75. Been fired or laid off from a job
76. Won money
77. Broken a bone
78. Ridden a motorcycle
79. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph
80. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (almost!!)
81. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
82. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
83. Eaten sushi
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read The Bible cover to cover
86. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
87. Gotten someone fired for their actions
88. Gone back to school
89. Changed your name
90. Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands
91. Eaten fried green tomatoes
92. Read The Iliad
93. Taught yourself an art from scratch
94. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
95. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
96. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
97. Been elected to public office
98. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
99. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
100. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
101. Had a booth at a street fair
102. Dyed your hair
103. Been a DJ
104. Rocked a baby to sleep
105. Ever dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all four
106. Raked your carpet (???)
107. Brought out the best in people
108. Brought out the worst in people
109. Worn a mood ring
110. Ridden a horse
111. Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap
112. Cooked a dish where four or more people asked for the recipe
113. Buried a child
114. Gone to a Broadway (or equivalent to your country) play
115. Been inside the pyramids
116. Shot a basketball into a basket
117. Danced at a disco
118. Played in a band
119. Shot a bird
120. Gone to an arboretum
121. Tutored someone
122. Ridden a train
123. Brought an old fad back into style
124. Eaten caviar
125. Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need
126. Ridden a giraffe or elephant
127. Published a book
128. Pieced a quilt
129. Lived in an historic place
130. Acted in a play or performed on a stage
131. Asked for a raise
132. Made a hole-in-one (Mini-golf...using my flip-flop. Proudest moment of my life.)
133. Gone deep sea fishing
134. Gone roller skating
135. Run a marathon
136. Learned to surf (This year!! New goal!!)
137. Invented something
138. Flown first class
139. Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite
140. Flown in a helicopter
141. Visited Africa
142. Sang a solo
143. Gone spelunking
144. Learned how to take a compliment
145. Written a love-story
146. Seen Michelangelo’s David
147. Had your portrait painted
148. Written a fan letter
149. Spent the night in something haunted
150. Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane
151. Run away
152. Learned to juggle
153. Been a boss
154. Sat on a jury
155. Lied about your weight
156. Gone on a diet
157. Found an arrowhead or a gold nugget
158. Written a poem
159. Carried your lunch in a lunchbox
160. Gotten food poisoning
161. Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission
162. Hiked
163. Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks
164. Gone to the opera
165. Gotten a letter from someone famous
166. Worn knickers
167. Ridden in a limousine
168. Attended the Olympics
169. Can hula or waltz
170. Read Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books
171. Been stuck in an elevator
172. Had a revelatory dream
173. Thought you might crash in an airplane
174. Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert
175. Saved someone’s life
176. Eaten raw whale
177. Know how to tat, smock or do needlepoint
178. Laughed till your side hurt
179. Straddled the equator
180. Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing
181. Gone to a Shakespeare Festival
182. Sent a message in a bottle
183. Spent the night in a hostel
184. Been a cashier
185. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
186. Joined a union
187. Donated blood or plasma
188. Built a campfire
189. Kept a blog
190. Had hives
191. Worn custom made shoes or boots
192. Made a PowerPoint presentation
193. Taken a Hunter’s Safety Course
194. Served at a soup kitchen
195. Conquered the Rubik’s cube
196. Know CPR
197. Ridden in or owned a convertible
198. Found a long lost friend
199. Helped solve a crime
200. Worked as a dog catcher

More Lists!!

Oh Happy.

4 things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Working at a cub scout camp
2. Obsessing about the Utah Jazz
3. Planning a super cool 14th birthday party at Lagoon
4. Obsessing about lots of things. Lots. lol

4 things I was doing 5 years ago:
1. Breaking up with my first boyfriend
2. Trying to find a summer job
3. Dying for school to start again so I could go back to Virginia
4. Loving my c3PO friends

4 things I did yesterday:
1. Went on a date
2. Called a friend at 6:30 a.m. to come jump my dead car
3. Was consequently an hour late for work
4. Got really excited with the girls at work for the new Batman movie.

4 shows I stop for when flipping through channels:
1. Friends
2. Ninja Warrior
3. What Not to Wear
4. Old-school American Gladiators

4 Biggest Joys of My Life Right Now:
1. Lots of sunshine
2. Things to look forward to
3. Good books
4. The ability to change and grow

4 things that you might not know about me:
1. I dip my Oreos in water, not milk
2. I am repulsed by practically all forms of jewelry
3. My favorite time of day is dusk
4. I have a 49% win percentage on Free Cell and it drives me nuts that it's not 50.

I guess I'm supposed to "tag" someone now. If you're reading this, consider yourself tagged. Yay lists!

I Like to Ride My Bicycle

So I stole Dan's bike last week and it has become my new best friend. I have discovered the pure joy of the Provo River Parkway in the late evening. If I leave my apartment around 8-ish, I can make it to Utah Lake to get amazing views of the sunset and back home without being stuck out in the dark. I've been learning some great life lessons along the way, and since I firmly believe in the list as a serious literary form, I present the nuggets of wisdom collected throughout the past week.

--Coming to a very abrupt stop on a bike twelve sizes too big for you hurts. A bike made for a Lauren-sized person, where I can actually touch my feet to the ground when seated, tops my birthday wish-list. It really hurts.

--Don't wear a white shirt unless at the end of the trip you want an accurate count of the number of kamikaze gnats that tried to take you down...and failed.

--Little kids on trikes are cool. A little dude wasn't watching and drifting into my lane. I slowed way down and said "Watch out, dude" in my best "you're a cute little dude" voice. He looked up, glared at me like he's too cool for school, and proceeded to make the screeching tire noise "Euuurr!" as he came to a complete stop and continued to stare me down. I want a little dude like him.

--It's probably not socially acceptable to exclaim "Racooooooon!" like a 10 year old upon sighting your very first live raccoon in the yard of an apartment complex where boys live.

--It's completely socially acceptable to analyze superhero movies in your head whilst riding, then wonder why no man finds you ridiculously irresistible yet.

--Old people strolling along listening to the same iPod are cute.

--Somedays I just really really want to be a hobbit. Like the days I'm a nerd and listen to the hobbit song whilst riding.

--Gustav Holst should be sainted for the theme from "Jupiter".

--PLEASE WATCH FOR BIKES WHILST DRIVING!!! That's all I'm going to say about that one.

--Biking makes me happy.

Proof that I'm not Dead Inside

I cry in movies, but not in real life. I'll leave that for the therapists of the world to figure out. But I've decided to publish proof that my tear ducts are in fact not frozen shut, in that I will now provide a list of movies that I've cried in.
Most recently: "Lars and the Real Girl"
We've all got a little crazy inside of us. Coolest thing ever watching a little town rally around a delusional dude.
Hardest cry: "Sophie Scholl: die Letzten Tage"
This movie destroyed me. About a girl in Germany in the resistance in World War 2, fighting for truth and right against evil alongside her brother. They get caught. It's set in the winter and there's a whole big sun motif throughout the film. Hmm, parallels to my life at the time? Watched it while on a mission in the winter in Germany. Sun-starved, fighting for truth and right, receiving weekly letters from my brother who was also on a mission. I really embarrassed myself with this one. Definitely the hardest cry.
First cry: probably "The Fox and the Hound"
Why can't we all just be friends? I'm a hound dog, a wroo wroo wroo!
Most obvious: "Schindler's List"
If you don't cry in this movie, you're obviously dead inside.
Second most obvious: "Life is Beautiful"
So devastating, yet so life-affirming. And the little boy! He kills me! Speaking of little boys that kill me...
Most tear-jerking actor: Freddie Highmore
This kid could read the dictionary to me and reduce me to tears. His scene on the bench with Johnny Depp in "Finding Neverland" ripped me to shreds. "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" was on TV last week, and just watching the scene where he passes around his chocolate bar to his grandparents made me all misty!! This kid almost made me cry in flaming "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"!! I only saw the first ten minutes of "August Rush" and was in full-out mock mode due to the worst dialogue ever recorded until this kid came on screen and started crying. It's just not fair, Freddie. My little heartstrings just can't take it.
Most epic: "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King"
I can't carry it for you, Mr. Frodo, but I can carry you. Come on! Oh Sam. You're fantastic.
The teenage angst cry: "Swing Kids"
Christian Bale turns Nazi, the pre-emo emo kid kills himself with his banned jazz records, Robert Sean Leonard gets sent to prison for dancing...Swing Heil!
Nerdiest cry: "Apollo 13"
Don't judge. This movie is powerful and had full sway over my life at age 11.
Cry I'm most embarrassed about: "Charly"
I was fully prepared and determined not to cry. I don't know what happened. Oh wait, yes I do. The grandma took off her shoes.
Inspirational cry: "Cool Runnings"
Derice, you dead? No mon, but I've got to finish the race. Go Jam!
I still am not sure why I cried, but I did: "Forever Young"
Mel Gibson gets frozen in a time capsule, comes back 50 years later, ages on screen while racing to his woman, and finds her. Lots of old person make-up. I think I had the flu. That's my excuse, what's yours?
Chick-flick cry: "Steel Magnolias"
I am a girl, after all.