Funday

So I hereby dub yesterday to be Funday. It was the best day ever! Usually sundays in slc are boring, everythings closed. But not on Funday! Garrett took me to this church, it was actually pretty fun and ive never said that about a church before. There was a band playing when we walked in and they had huge screens up with the lyrics, there were 2 drum sets an electric base a violin a guitar and some singers. Cool! Then we went out to this waffle place for breakfast mmmm. Then I went up to Herber Valley near park city where he lives and we drove up this sketchy little road up the side of a mountain with amazing views, but we had to turn back because we couldn't see the road anymore, haha. Then we went snorkeling in the Homestead Crater which is a hot springs in a volcanic crater cave, the only one like it in the world!! Its about 70 feet deep and the water refreshes itself every 4 hours or so so it was ok to drink, and it tasted pretty good because of all the minerals in it! The walls inside were cool because you could see more rock forming, the mineral water splashes on the walls and the minerals get stuck in little hair like formations on the rocks and harden in time. There was a cloud in the crater when we went because it was snowing so heres a clear pic.



Then we went to Park City (by this time a huge snowstorm had blown in) and ate some good pizza and got carmel apples (my first carmel apple ever!!), went into a bookstore, found the outdoor section and planned a bunch of hikes for the summer. #1 on the list is Mt. Timpanogos, elevation 11,749 ft



I think its the prettiest mountain in the Salt Lake area, its got a really long ridge and two peaks, legend says it took the shape of an indian woman who froze to death on the top.

Speaking of freezing, this storm was going crazy. The freeway that goes from Park City to Salt Lake through the mountains is the most dangerous road in the US. The radar was broken so there was no data on this huge storm. So we were looking at the road conditions and web cams online, they put up the flashing lights requiring everyone driving to have 4 wheel drive or chains and you couldn't even see the roads. There were at least 2 semis that flipped or crashed. It kinda reminded me of Ice Road Truckers. So I stayed over at Garretts, I didn't feel like dying last night, haha. Then we started a fire and had some hot cocoa. Awesome day!

That storm was still going on this morning, were getting another one tonight and it will storm until saturday!! You know what this means. Im going skiing sunday.

This is the village around the crater, it was settled by Swedish people so all the houses and buildings were pretty cool looking, almost like a little Switzerland with the mountains in the back!








Hot spring crater!


Theres a fence around the top opening so this guy doesnt fall 50 feet into the water!






Hes always taking pictures when im taking pictures, lol

Earth Hour

I hope everyone will be/is/did doing/do this today! from 830-930 turn your lights OFF. If you don't know why go here: http://www.google.com/intl/en/earthhour/2009/

I want people to know that this is not just a bunch of treehugger BS. Ive heard already from many people that "nobody does this" I feel stupid sitting in the dark" "This wont really help anything". Actually it does help. It DOES send a message, it DOES save a little energy, and it DEFINITELY cuts back on light pollution, if only for an hour. So go outside and enjoy the stars while you can see them! Go play scrabble or cards by candlelight! Tell ghost stories! From my sister in law, I even heard they're having candlelight cocktail parties in NYC! Heres proof that im not lying.

Sydney:


Toronto:


NYC:


Amazing, isnt it? All it took was a little global awareness...

Nationals

Yeah so after nationals I didn't write forever because were on our 1 month break from training till April 13th. Thats when I realized I have no life and have nothing exciting to write about! haha. I guess there are a couple things I could write... like the other night I went to my friends marimba/xylophone performance which was awesome. And this cocoa place Andrew Love told me about Cocoa Cafe is where I have been living since skating ended! I swear they put crack in the cocoa or something. Its so thick its like hot fudge, or as Andrew put it "Its like a chocolate bar committed suicide in a cup." Ohhhh sooo goooodddd.

Anyway here are the nationals pics. I got 5 medals, 2nd in the 500 and 1000m, 3rd in the 1500m and 1500m superfinal, and 4th in the team relay. I got 2nd overall :)



Andrea and me dukin it out in the corner.



Jun (coach) sharpened all our skated the night before and lined them all up we thought it was cute so Gabi took a picture, haha.


We ate ALOT of Jimmy Johns.


We went to this korean/chinese place for dinner.










And now..the 500m final. It was intense. After consistently getting 3rd there was no way I was letting this one go. I started in the middle, got passed, passed back, got dropped in the last lap but found a burst of energy and made a very sketchy pass in the last corner. The girl in front of me had her hand down pivoting and I skated right through her. I was lucky I didn't get a DQ but id rather have gotten disqualified then get 3rd again. It worked!











2nd place! BOOyaah.

Practice

Some pics Terri took during practice the other day! Shes an awesome photographer.


All the girls: me, Andrea, Vicky, Emily, Morgan, Gabi, KD


My failed attempt to make a serious face.


Second attempt didnt go so well either! haha


Vicky getting ready for her closeup!


Yun-Jae and Travis, they have so much lean they may as well just lay down and take a nap while theyre skating!


Chris ponders on the pads...


The funniest pic of Boudreau you'll EVER see!!!!


Jonathan has a model moment.

Ahhhh college...

Ok so last night I got to bed around 12 (it was movie night at Gabis). I fell asleep before I hit the pillow I was so tired. I usually pass out at 8:30. At 3am, I woke up (kind of) to this extremely loud buzzing and flashing lights. My first thought was "Shannon! turn off the alarm!" Then I thought..."Why are the lights flickering on and off? They must be broken. Why are the lights making so much noise??" 10 minutes pass as I try to figure out what it is after I try to sleep through it. We finally realize its the fire alarm in our room, so we run outside past a ton of smoke, no shoes or jacket, into 30 degree weather. We were the last ones out, haha!! When we get outside im realizing im running over broken glass from beer bottles, courtesy of the assholes who set off the alarm. Turns out they took the fire extinguisher and emptied it all in the lounge area in our dorm, thats what set the alarm off. I was SUPER pissed. We waited outside for half an hour freezing our asses off. The whole time I was thinking of ways to punish those little *#@$&*! if I ever found out who they were. They're just lucky I didn't have practice the next morning or I would have hunted them down then and there. Haha. Ha.