Greetings from NH!

It was a LONG journey here...but I finally made it Wednesday morning at 2:30am.

It all started when I missed my 6:40am flight Tuesday morning. $50 and about 30 minutes later, I was booked on a different flight getting me into Boston with about 1 hour to get to the bus station to make the last leg of the journey to Lebanon. After fumming and complaining to my mother, I plugged in my IPOD and deciding to let out my frustration by knitting. After about an hour, I wandered around the gate area and fantasyed about being in the lines for the planes headed to Amsterdam and Paris. Finally, with a serger for Juliann packed strategically in a rolly-bag, I finally boarded my "re-booked" flight only to discover that my bag would not fit in the overhead compartment! I wasn't about to give up so easily...not now! So, I finagled and manipulated the suitcase, the stuff in the suitcase, the serger...no luck. I tried under the seat in front of me...ha...that wasn't gonna work either! The plane is really starting to fill up, but luckily the seats next to me were still empty. Since plan A, B, C, and frankily all plans but Z didn't work, I did all I could think: I unloaded my suitcase and frantically pulled the serger out of the suitcase--since it was the source of my suitcase-storage-problems--pulling the thread out of the machine in the process. I heafted the machine up into the compartment, shoved my now nearly empty suitcase along side it, and flopped into my seat just as a young dad with a small toddler came to my row to sit in the window seat. The middle-seat passenger followed close behind in his torn jeans, scruffy haircut, and plugged in IPOD.

The flight went by rather quickly and before I knew it, I was in Detroit. I made my way to my connecting gate, but stopped to check the screens to make sure I was actually heading to the right gate. Well, the string of bad luck continued...the flight was delayed. Because of severe rain and subsequent flooding, flights into Boston were being delayed. With the delay, there was little to no chance that I would land in Boston with enough time to catch the bus to Lebanon. There wasn't much I could do but wait and hope the airport cleared up so we could leave on time. In the meantime, I rearranged my suitcase items so I didn't have another awkward situation with the serger when boarding the next flight. I spent about an hour arranging and rearranging all of my things, but finally decided that the best option was to shove all my carry-on items into the rolly-bag and carry the serger by hand. (Let me tell you, I didn't come to this conclusion lightly since the serger is quite heavy when having to carry it all over a large airport.) As the scheduled time for the flight came and went, I decided to treat myself to a smoothie, so I took a walk around the airport--serger in hand--and enjoyed all the funny looks people gave me. I decided that the weird looks were motivated by two things: either people had never seen a serger/sewing machine before and therefore were looking to try and figure out what the heck I was carrying, or they realized that I was carrying a sewing machine and had to double take to make sure that in fact I was carrying a sewing machine through the Detroit airport.

Okay...I'll cut to the chase. I landed in Boston, hurried as fast as I could to get the luggage that arrived with my originally scheduled flight, only to find out that I had missed the last bus to Lebanon for the next three hours. I talked to my mom, joked with Rob and Juliann and made my way to the bus stop to get my ticket. I got to the bus stop around 10:30, stood in line for a while to get my actual ticket, then waited to board the bus. I got on the sparsely seated bus, fought a stomach ache, and settled in for a nearly three hour drive in the pouring rain on an old greyhound bus. At 2:30am Wednesday morning, I got dropped off in Hanover only to find myself awkwardly standing at a street-side bus stop waiting for Rob to pick me up.

The best part of the day was Claire's cute little tired face when she jumped out of bed to give me a hug. I surprised her with the quilt I made and happy to say she drags it happily around the house for most of the day. :) That's just what an aunt loves to see!

Pictures (and hopefully more happy stories) surely to follow...

Birthday Update...

Yeah, yeah, yeah....I know....it's been a while since I last posted. It's been a crazy month of school! Most notable was my birthday this past Monday...I have successfully made it to 22! Woohoo! Only one person asked if I were turning 19...yeah...not so much, thanks. I just hope she didn't come to that conclusion because of the way I act. Monday was great!...okay...so I had to make my own birthday cake and I had to organize any festivities if I wanted it to happen, but it was still a ton of fun! I gathered a pretty good group and we went and had dinner at Red Robin together. Then we came back and ate yummy coconut cake and ice cream at my apartment. At one point, as I struggled to get around the crowded apartment, I realized that the apartment was FULL of guys....yeah....there were only 2 girls besides my 3 roommates and easily 15 guys! Most importantly, my REALLY cute home teacher came over (and did our dishes...so nice!). It was a great day! Thanks for the birthday wishes and boxes of goodies! I really can't say thanks enough! Yesterday night, my roommate Bethany had planned a birthday party for me...unfortunately it didn't turn out all that well. We went to one of the parks up Provo Canyon and played capture the flag using PVC pipes and marshmellows. I ended up eating most of my bag of marshmellows before we even started the game! :) Unfortunately, it was not nearly as fun as I had hoped; essentially Bethany asked everyone she could think of and had them bring friends so we would have enough people. As a result, I knew about 5 people out of 30 or so. Most of the people would walk by and ask who I was to which I thought, "Uh...I'm the reason you are even here....yeah...did you even know that you are here for someone's birthday??" Oh well. We still had a great time blowing marshmellows at each other while running around in the dark. Let's just say we had SO much fun that the squirrels, birds, and other woodland creatures will be hyped up on sugar until Spring rolls around! :) Things I learned about playing capture the flag with marshmellows: -boys will store marshmellows in their mouths for more "efficient" shooting, resulting in GROSS! white spots on your dark jacket after you're hit (great way to pass the swine flu...) -marshmellows hiting your face at point blank range HURT really bad -don't invite only couples unless you yourself have a significant other; makes running around and conversations very lonely...silly BYU couples up in the clouds :) -there are 100 calories in about 10 mini flavored marshmellows...*sigh*...i probably easily ate 50+ marshmellows -there is a great amount of satisfaction throwing marshmellows at your friends! -wearing a glow stick automatically makes one feel like you're invovled in some awesome adventure!

Man! Working out stinks!

Running shoes and workout clothes in hand, I made my way routinely to the women’s locker room to gear up for my usual Wednesday workout class. It started like any other workout—a few crunches, a heightened heart rate, but wait…what’s this…?...an extremely tall man next to me with an outfit that exposed more “guy thigh” than anyone could swallow. Bonus!: the three-and-a-half feet of exposed legs were covered in dark, curly hair…more hair than was on the combined heads of the other men in the class...(yes, there were about five other men). It was all downhill from there. What else surrounded me that could threaten my up-chuck reflexes?!?!?! Then, the call came—the next exercise was set--something I would never wish upon my most violent enemy; We all lined up along the mirrored walls, strung the handled exercise bands over the mounted handrails (technically called “barres”), took our stances and began rowing. To my left, the towering man with his shorts reaching the height of my hips at their lowest point. To my right, another man who may not have towered over me as greatly as the other, but who still added to my suddenly dwarfed appearance. There I was, silently rowing--back and forth, back and forth—as these two sweaty men huffed and puffed their way through the rowing intervals. Starring myself straight in the eye as I locked my gaze on my mirrored face, the smell of sweaty gym socks ripening as I rowed wafted through the air. My gaze became more fixed on the mirror, uncertain about the obvious disaster developing on either side of me; I struggled to maintain my squat, my space, and my serene expression as the smell worsened and the fan blew sweaty air around the room. The trainer called time not a moment too soon. Keeping my composure, I walked back to “my” spot and tried to soak up the air after convincing myself that it was more sanitary than the rest, which clearly has been contaminated by sweaty “work-outers”. I existed in this state of mind for the remainder of the class only to be grossed out momentarily by the puddles of sweat dotting the scuffed wood floors of the room. Most people will warn you, when working out in a gym, to wipe down the machines after you’ve used them, to bring your own water, and/or to use shower flip-flops; I’m here to warn you otherwise: Watch out for the un-deodorized man next to you who, post work-out, is ready to enter a wet t-shirt contest. Come prepared with hand sanitizer—a gallon of it should do.

The Not So *Amazing* Race...

A couple of months ago the Seattle YSA put on an "Amazing Race." For those of you unfamiliar with this TV show, the Amazing Race consists of teams following clues to destinations all around the world. The version we did was on a much smaller scale, but along the same lines. We were given clues to different Seattle landmarks, which as a team, we were to drive to before ending at Gas Works park. I was very excited to participate in this activity because I love the TV show and I already had a group of friends in mind for our "winning" team. The day of the race, an hour or so before I planned to leave, my friend called to tell me that I was on my own because he and the rest of our team changed their minds. Feeling a little high and dry, I frantically called some other friends to try and generate another team. No worries, there were plenty of people who still needed teams. At the launch location, we grouped up, decided on drivers, got our first clue, and headed off to the first location. Let me set up the scene: Driver=Garrett, Co-Pilot=Jessie, Backseat Drivers=Rachel, Alex, and I. It might also be good to note at this point that Garrett would be driving a manual sadan. Alright, we excitedly jump into the car and head to the freeway as I read the clue to the first location. It directed us to Golden Gardens beach/park in Ballard....now, I felt like I knew how to get there, but the other drivers in the car felt that it would be better to use the GPS someone had brought. After a few minutes of debating, I finally gave way and let the front-seaters decide. I let go and just sat back intent on enjoying the event. That goal was immediately threatened as Garrett began dodging and weaving through traffic and seriously pushing the speed limit. There were a number of moments when I felt that my safety, not to mention the other passenger's safety, was at serious risk and that I should get out of the car. Realizing that I had no way to get back out of Ballard, I just started getting really forceful about Garrett's speed and consideration for his passengers. It didn't help much...about as much as my directions helped get us to the location....He was insistent upon using the GPS. I will note, my directions would have gotten us to the park in a much shorter time along a more direct route, but too late now.

After what seemed like an eternity, we made it to the park, performed the necessary "challenge" there before receiving the clue to the next location: Dick's Drive-in on 45th. After buying a burger and giving it to a homeless man, we got the clue directing us to the Fremont Troll. We picked up litter there with an acting team practicing/performing all over the troll. The last leg of the race took us to a church building in Seattle, then to Gas Works park on Lake Union. To this day I'm still amazed that we made it to the park, in one piece no less. Maybe that's why they call it the "Amazing" race. :)

Highlights of the event: (1) burning clutch smell for hours after finishing the race (2) getting to visit cool places in Seattle (3) odd/scared looks back and forth between me and my friend Alex (4) The GPS taking us to a complex of apartments, rather than Dick's Drive-In (5) Garrett expecting me to unwind us after driving around in circles (6) Sitting behind Garrett's finance (Jessie) who says virtually nothing about Garrett's CRAZY driving (7) GETTING TO THE FINAL LOCATION AND GETTING OUT OF THE CAR!!!!

Once at Gas Works, I had a great time. It was a beautiful day to be at the park overlooking the lake and the city.

Summer Work

It's true...as Karrie has commented...ShareBuilder is now privledged to employ two Pelton sisters! How could one company get so lucky?!?! It's really nice to have connections and a couple summers worth of experience with a company! I will be here until the end of August when I go back to school. What's even better is that they are accommodating my breaks to be an EFY counselor. That's right...I just got word today that CES would like to hire me for at least two sessions of EFY. I will be a counselor for the first two sessions of the Tacoma EFY (at least so far)...Starting June 22nd and 29th respectively. I'm very excited! I loved my time at EFY as a participant and I think this will be a good opportunity for me to get my feet wet in terms of dealing with and working with teenagers...seeing as I will be a teacher for the same age group in the next couple of years.

Good News of the Day!

I have a job until I have to go back to school at the end of the summer! Woohoo!

Do Blondes Really Have More Fun...?

Do blondes really have more fun...? I don't know, but they get asked out randomly on a more frequent basis! Rob, you jynxed me!!!! Last night I went to a friend's wedding reception where, as I was walking out, on the way to my car, some random guy stopped me, proceeded to "tease" me obnoixously, then ask for my number. Uh...not my favorite pick-up technique, but I'm not planning to go out with him. Anyway, what's funnier is that as I was driving home, the guy from my last post (who asked for my number at the dance last week) called me up and asked me to go out. Get this though, he couldn't remember my name!!!! Who does that!!??!?! I went out with him...to a laser show in Seattle then to Dicks on Capitol Hill for some burgers. It was alright, but as we sat in his little Suburu in the parking lot of Dicks with big men with lots of tattoos crowded around us (as well as a memorable man dresses in a "mini" kilt standing next to a custom painted car complete with a skull and cross bone as well as some swords sticking out of it), I was "icked". According to Bonnie and Ben...when you are "icked" it means that there is no hope for you to really develop feelings for this person; they've done something that completely turns you off to them. No offense to Date #1 (he will remain annoynomous to protect his pride), but he would not have been able to defend me against any of the characters standing around there--the khaki blazer and computer programming hobbies tipped me off to that one. Needless to say, I would recommend to all those out there who are looking to start dating more--DYE YOUR HAIR BLONDE! Something about it....not sure....but it's brought me...luck?...well....it's brought me some interesting experiences. :) I'm sure this man has got some great game...just saying...go blonde.

What would you do....?

okay, so those who know me know that I LOVE Indiana Jones and specifically the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. I can't even begin to express my level of excitement as we walked through the front gates at Disneyland last weekend. It makes me happy just thinking about being in the park standing under the Indiana Jones ride sign. *sigh* What made this particular trip even better in regards to the Indiana Jones ride was our discovery of the "single rider" pass which allows you to cut to the front of the line at the expense of going on the ride with your friends/family. My opinion...the ride is 4 minutes long! i can handle sitting by some stranger for 4 minutes...i'm too deleriously excited about being on the ride to even take note of who i'm sitting next to. Well, this was my attitude until one fateful ride as a "single rider." We had gone on the ride numerous times as single riders up to this point and my opinion had held strong. This trip to the front of the line seemed like all the rest. I was pulled from the single rider line to fill a seat in the front row with 3 teenaged boys. As I stood in line with them waiting for our car to be emptied of its prior passengers, I overheard one of the boys plead to sit in the middle versus on the edge of the car. I smiled to myself, got in my seat, buckled up and let the excitement boil up. As we waited for the ride technician to check our seat belts, i started making small talk with one of the boys next to me to ease any of his potential worries about the ride. Through our conversation I came to find that he was at Disneyland for his 13th birthday. I smiled and wished him fun. I turned my attention back to the ride as it began. All of a sudden I noticed a small hand bumped up against mine as I gripped the handle bar in front of me. I looked down and then over at the 13 year old birtday boy who embarrassedly pulled his hand away. I shrug it off chalking it up to the bumpy ride. But wait, I felt that same hand next to mine again! So i scooted my hand over thinking that maybe I was invading this boys space...his hand moved over and again met mine. To save myself and this boy more embarrassment, I moved my hand over again, only to have his follow mine once more. "this is ridiculous" i thought to myself, "i'm missing this whole ride worrying about this kids hand touching mine!" About half way through the line he moved his hand (thank goodness!)....but wait! he moved it down to the seat and just gripped the seat rather than the handle bar. Fair enough right? Each seat is separated so I thought to awkwardness had been averted. NO! oh no! was i mistaken. His hand found its way to my seat section. I'm not a big girl, meaning there was space to my side for him to grip my side of the seat (since that's where his hand landed) without touching me. But right...he had to ruin the end of the ride (the best part I might add) by grabbing my portion of the seat right under the back of my leg! I could only scoot over and swat away his hand so many times before i got so frustrated at missing the entire ride that I just quit. When the ride ended, rather than wishing my seat neighbor a happy birthday, i sat there wish to get off the ride and away from this kid. Now i'm not quite sure what this kid was thinking or if he really even realized how uncomfortable he was making me, but needless to say....he added a whole new dimension to that ride to me. I'm a little hesitant to use the single rider line now...and i feel it is my responsiblity to share this unfortunate inccident with you, potential-future-single-rider-pass-users.

No title, but rather a disgruntled "URGH!"

ok...i have a confession to make...my name is Lauren Pelton, I'm 21 years old...*sigh* and i was just issued my first speeding ticket ever. I grudgingly confess this information because it was bound to come out sooner or later and I'd rather state my case upfront than having to set the record straight. here's the deal, anyone who knows me well or who has ever driven with me before knows that i am a freak about driving the speed limit. i'm not a backseat driver, but when it comes to speeding, i will not hesitate to speak up and tell the driver to SLOW THE HECK DOWN! here's a perfect example, driving to school with mom in september, mom drove most of the way. well, to be honest, i like sleeping on long drives and i wasn't completely confident driving my manual. come to find out i think mom secretly wanted to keep driving because she could drive 80+ mph while i would set the cruise control MAYBE 5 mph over the speed limit. now i know my lead-foot relatives are laughing right now, but i just think that getting a speeding ticket is completely unnecessary because the speed of your car is totally within your control! be responsible...well...i still hold that philosophy despite the recent turn of events. 

here's what happened. as the sole driver or my great- aunt and uncle's trailblazer on the way to and from rigby to seattle for the thanksgiving break, i spent a lot of time in the car behind the wheel. after driving strictly the speed limit all through washington and oregon into idaho, we took the arco route to rexburg from mountain home. BAD IDEA! not only was the road dark and winding, it was crawling with cops! as i proceeded down this somewhat intimidating tunnel of darkness, i kept strictly to the speed limit, going slower around the sharp corners. as we approached a little town, i slowed down to the posted 45 mph and proceeded carefully through the town keeping an eye out for the inevitable police offices stationed carefully behind unsuspecting corners. i made it through the town safe and sound without any police run-ins. ha! with a sigh of relief i stepped back on the gas to speed up to the highway posted limit of 65. well, in this nice, fancy, new trailblazer, it accelerated MUCH faster than i anticipated. suddenly i realized i was going pretty fast, so i looked down to check my speedometer. WHAT!?!? 75 mph!!! that's a speeding-phobiacs nightmare!!! ahhh! i looked back up at the road, moved my foot to the break....and felt my stomach fall as the car whooshing past me flipped on its lights. dang! a cop! of course. hate murphy's law!!!! the ONE time....and i literally mean the one time i was speeding, it was totally an accident!!! urgh! 

that's my story. there's nothing else to tell. i had no idea what to say, i thought for sure i wouldn't get a ticket as soon as he looked into the car and saw my gray passengers. for real! what kind of insensitive person gives a young girl who is delivering an elderly couple a ticket?!??! *(fuming from the ears)* it's okay...it was bound to happen. at least this way i can blame it on those silly idaho police officers. 

thanks for being on my side, because i know, after reading that, you must be wiping away the tears....i just want you to know that i am coping...i haven't glared at a cop in at least the past 24 hours...i mean...it was sunday....

My Weekend Rant & Rave (90 degree weekend)

Rant:

• It was so HOT this weekend...I honestly thought I would melt and I've been to hotter and more humid places than Seattle!
• Swimming at Waverly Park turned into a dangerous activity when Bryan stopped treading water, stood up on the bottom of the lake and cut his foot on a piece of glass...OUCH!
• We had to jump strategically into the lake at Waverly to avoid huge clumps of seaweed/vines--we all crawled out of the lake and up the ladder looking like creatures from the black lagoon.
• How are people so good at playing Ping-Pong?!? I mean, come on! I can handle playing a casual game with friends, but this doubles thing with rules and a specific way of serving...that just ruins it!

Rave:

• The water felt so good Saturday! Definately the best way to beat the mid-90 degree heat.
• Downtown Bothell is small and Main Street is short, but the lifesize cut-outs of Bothell's founders and early shop owners really makes for an entertaining Sunday afternoon. We even checked out the Bothell Pioneer Cemetery! We found some really old head stones and who we assumed to be and affectionately named "Father Bothell".

My Weekend Rant and Rave

Rant:

• The branch campout at the Ensign Ranch was noisy and windy (both were extremely distracting during our outdoor movie)

Rave:

• Saturday afternoon at the Ensign Ranch was sunny and the winds finally calmed down (at least a little bit)
• XXX in Issaquah had *GREAT* burgers and perfect rootbeer floats! Delicious dinner on the way to Cle Elum!
• Star gazing at the Ensign Ranch is my absolute favorite! It was a little cloudy, but we still caught a glance of one or two shooting stars.

Weekend Rant and Rave--Seaside, Oregon

Rant:

• The sun came out Sunday as we were driving home!
• We ran out of fuel for our camping stove as we were cooking breakfast Saturday morning. Runny, uncooked eggs for anyone?
• There was a really weird pipe in the middle of the water that would disappear as waves rolled over it and then would reappear as the waves receeded. This made boogie boarding really difficult because the current kept pushing me right close to it, but I couldn't see it until I had been pushed very close to it! Kinda freaked Bryan out a couple of times!

Rave:

• It only cost $20 to rent a wet suit plus all the accessories (suit, hoodie, gloves, and booties)
• Because we were swimming in the ocean and it was a chilly day, we were virtually the only people in the water! Made for better boogie boarding when you weren't concerned with running into other swimmers.
• Because we ran out of fuel for the stove, we got to go out to breakfast! The best part was that I got sourdough pancakes! My favorite!!!! YUM! (thanks to Aunt Linda for introducing them to me!)
• the S'more Bryan made for me Saturday night was PERFECT! I don't understand how he does it!
• Despite the wind and the cold, watching the sun set on the beach was very relaxing and beautiful

Weekend Rant and Rave

Rant:

• While sitting in the hot tub Saturday night, just watching some episodes of Arrested Development with Bryan, Andrew leans over the balcony above the hot tub and starts yelling something down to us. Apparently chemicals had been put into the hot tub earlier that day...not something you like to hear after you've been sitting in the hot tub for at least 30 or 40 minutes at this point! Since our skin hadn't burned off by that point, we decided to watch a few more episodes before hopping out. Unfortunately, three days later, I can still smell the chlorine on my skin!

Rave:

• Saturday night we had a great fire at Thomas' house where Bryan roasted me the perfect marshmellow, which made for the perfect s'more! Yum!
• Last night we watched a show on the Travel Channel called Bizarre Foods. Last night's episodes were all about odd foods from Southeast Asia. Having both been to SE Asia, me to Thailand and Bryan to Taiwan, we both were excited to see what odd things the host found that we had seen/tasted while in Asia. The host did a fantastic job describing the foods he tasted, highlighting the texture and smell of each dish. I would definately recommend the show :)
• Mt. Rainier was out in all it's splendor this morning as I commuted to work. That's always a nice way to start my day!