Southern Style

Matt's Mom & Aunt Lovie came to visit us the other week & we had SO much fun! We shopped till we dropped (and couldn't possibly fit any more in the suitcases), probably gained 5 lbs each with what we ate, & toured the state -- Salt Lake, Utah Valley, Midway, Park City, and even St. George. Everywhere we went people would ask, "now, where are you two from?" We suppose the accent gave them away :) Kay & Lovie even spoiled us one night with an authentic southern meal - chicken & dumplings, cornbread, pinto beans (w/bacon grease, of course), fried (battered and fried) squash, and last but not least, strawberry pie! Mmmm mmmm mmmm. Here are some pictures from the week taken at various places - Park City, Salt Lake/Temple Square, St. George, and Zions National Park!

You're only as old as you feel...

Matt mentioned a few weeks ago that he had never been to a circus before (don't ask me how this topic came up), so when I heard the advertisement for the Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey, I knew instantly that we had to go. It was a struggle, but I managed to keep it a secret and I am quite convinced that he didn't have a clue where we were going that night.

Of course, I was obsessed with the animals... I don't know how they train them to do what they do... and I'm pretty sure I don't want to know.

Backing up a bit

Here is a quick tribute to the BYU Football season beginning: rain, sleet, snow, winning, or losing - we'll be there.

Singing Moon, Wine Moon, Elk Call Moon...

Most likely unbeknownst to the general public, these are many names of the Harvest Moon... which is the Full Moon closest to September 23rd (or around that - the autumnal equinox). Thanks to Ellie, we learned of and ended up going to the Harvest Moon Lift Ride at Sundance! The funniest part for us was watching/listening to the lifts that were passing us in the opposite direction - people trying desperately to cuddle on an awkward lift & others having some random conversations (someone was using the word 'arbitrary' in a very matter-of-fact way while talking to their date - very romantic, etc). So, Matt made a game of coming up with some elaborate, fairly nerdy sentences to throw out as people passed us... haha, needless to say, even if the other lift didn't think it was funny, we got a kick out of it. Unfortunately, it was near impossible to get a picture, so this following sentence will have to suffice as a description. It was really cool. I highly suggest that anyone in the area check it out... next year, because Thursday night was the last ride for 2007. http://sundanceresort.com/

One Last Fair For The Year...

With our track record thus far, we couldn't help but go to the State Fair! Luckily, the state fair proved to be 100x's better than the county fair - no exaggeration.

<~~~When we saw this, we were sure we must be back in the South...

Matt is quite excited about his candy apple...

When Matt got off he said, "Whoa! I really got thrown..." Enjoy! ;)

Our Trip To Hispaniola

Well, we've now been home a little over a week. The laundry is done, we've gone back to work, school has started up, and Sammy has finally stopped whining for attention (as if he is ever deprived). I guess it is time to blog the trip!

We have SO many stories, so in an effort to not completely overtake the blog with this one post, we'll be trying a "rap sheet" method. Here it goes!

A Few Reasons We Love The Dominican Republic And Our Trip:

1. Dominican traffic rules are nonexistent (seriously). It is a two lane road? Ah, we can easily fit three, so we do! Red light? Ah, no one is coming, just honk your horn and hit the gas! In the right lane and needing to make a left hand turn? Shoot, just honk your horn and proceed to turn left! (see a tiny example below)

2. It is BEAUTIFUL! The mountains, the beach, the water, all of it.

3. "Do you know Bill Clinton?" asks the bank teller. Oh yeah, had him over for dinner the other week...

4. Mangos the size of your head - and the BEST mangos you have ever tasted. Also huge avacados that are soooo good.

5. Tang that is made twice as strong as it should be (burned your throat).

6. Being asked to direct music at church a cappella... without knowing the words or the tune of the song (the entire time).

7. Bucket showers & no flushing TP

8. Freezing cold water showers! WoOo!

9. Getting to make a game out of using as much electric/getting as much done as you can before it turns off.

10. Discovering the English translation of words (ding! light bulb): i.e. lechosa = papaya

11. Any American music you happen to find on the radio is from the 50s or 70s

12. Starting into a nice conversation in English with a Dominican on a beach to only discover he is trying to sell you drugs (marijuana? oh! no, 'soy Mormon')

13. Jordyn trying to communicate with people using Spanglish and Sign Language ("estoy full").

14. Green tomatos - for whatever reason, they never have red tomatos

15. The guy sauntering around the gas station with a sawed off shotgun. Having a serious looking weapon in public is commonplace.

16. Dominican directions & signs - if you don't know where you are going, you better pray you get there sometime. We saw one sign that had one arrow pointing left and one arrow pointing right for the same location!

17. Bags of water. You cannot drink anything but purified water in the DR and sometimes you get it in a sealed plastic baggie - just bite/rip the corner off with your teeth and squeeze it into your mouth!

18. Minefield roads... while driving break neck speed. The roads are terrible - huge huge huge holes (the kind your car might disappear in) and everyone drives as fast as possible - and passes each other whenever they wish (on a blind corner, on the shoulder, etc).

19. Scuba Diving -- talk about gorgeous!! After smuggling ourselves into a resort in order to get to a beach, hiking down the beach to find a dive shop, and managing to not lose our cookies on the boat, we experienced pure beauty.

20. Bargaining will occur anywhere - the market, the rental car place. Our car insurance rate went from $80 a day to $20 a day in a matter of seconds.

21. Hearing a Dominican say/sing the phrase "I'm from the country and I like it that way" (in reference to Matt's southern accent he had when he first got to the DR).

22. McDonalds = fancy. McDonalds is a really nice place to eat in the DR, so everyone goes there dressed up (not like prom dresses - but like you would for a nice date). We felt a little shabby in our shorts and sandals.

23. Fresh, really good, fruit juice. Pear, Passionfruit, Mango - you name it, they've got it and it is sooo delicious!

24. Hotel showers that make you feel like you're in the pool because the water smells so strong of chemicals! At least it is clean :)

25. Last but definitely not least - THE PEOPLE! even without being able to communicate, they radiate warmth and affection that translates perfectly.

To See Pictures, Click HERE!! http://picasaweb.google.com/JordynSpann/RepublicaDominicana

Wedding Bells Are Ringing

We went to TN a few weeks ago (whoa, a little behind on blogging) for a wedding of two great friends that we both knew from home – we Tennesseans keep it local it seems :) It was great to be home and see a lot of friends and family and the wedding turned out beautifully!

My parent's place... extremely dry

(note the horses! hooray!)