SLC Maddens

Packing up.

noreply@blogger.com (CarrieAnn) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 21:51:00 +0000

We are so excited to get to Cambodia, but between here and there is a lot of packing and organizing. We can't wait for this part to be through. Last night I was going through all my non-digital pictures trying to get them scanned so that I can take them with me wherever I go and I found some pictures from our trip two years ago.

For Ankor Wat we needed to get small pictures of ourselves to go on our passes (or so we thought). We stumbled across a glamour-shots photostudio and I thought it would be fun to get our pass pictures done there so that I could also do a Cambodian photoshoot with the background pictures and poses and everything. It didn't sound fun to Matt, but he indulged me. And it was fun. Really silly and really fun! For a few dollars, this is what I got:

They had me put on some makeup and then sent me in a backroom to pick something to wear out of some boxes of clothing. There were a group of young teenage girls poking their heads in to watch me get my pictures taken, so I invited them to come in and they picked some backgrounds for me and told me which poses to do. Those girls were the best part.

Also there to get her picture taken was a baby with the chubbiest cheeks I've seen in my whole life! I wanted to pinch them but I didn't.

And here's the close-up

Sassy Cambodian girls

noreply@blogger.com (CarrieAnn) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 23:07:00 +0000

I was going through some of my old pictures and decided to do another post about my trip to Cambodia a couple of years ago. I never shared much about my trip with any of my family or friends, other than the accident story. In this post I want to share one of my favorite things about Cambodia: Sassy cambodian girls. I mean sassy in a good way, as in "lively, bold, cheeky, and full of spirit."

I ran across so many adorable girls and young women. I wouldn't have had any idea how adorable they really were if Matt hadn't been there to interpret what they were saying.

We came across this young lady selling fruit at a bus stop on a bus ride from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville. We also saw her on the return trip.

First of all, she has the most charming smile. As soon as we walked up to the stand to look at the fruit, she started talking about Matt and I, not knowing that Matt spoke Cambodian. She said I was pretty before she knew we could understand what she was saying, which melted my heart of course. She and Matt began speaking and she was so full of spunk, teasing Matt and giving him a hard time about various things. I told Matt to tell her how adorable I thought she was, and then I took this picture of her.

On a bus ride from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, we were greeted by a whole group of girls at a bus stop. In this particular area, these big spiders are gathered from the jungle for food. Fried spiders are a snack food. So, we got off the bus and this whole group of girls were there trying to get money from us. They wanted us to pay them a dollar to hold a spider. I didn't get any pictures of some of the younger ones. These girls were so smart, so precocious, and so charming with the English they had learned just hanging out at the bus stop trying to earn money from tourists. They were very aggressive in their marketing tactics, but I declined their offer to hold a spider for a dollar. There are so many people asking for money for so many different things, that you can't say yes to all the requests. We started talking with the girls, and they were very excited to speak with Matt in Cambodian. They asked him how he got his eyelashes so white and he said that he soaked them in water buffalo milk. They thought that was the funniest thing ever. At that point one of them decided that dollar or not, I was going to hold a spider. A cheeky little girl placed one my hand without even asking how I felt about it.

Having the spider on my hand made me a bit nervous because that thing had fangs and I didn't want to make a wrong move and have it bite me, but I didn't have to worry for long because one of the girls moved it to my shirt.

Things were going well until it started crawling upward. I was happy to have it lounging on my shirt, but I didn't want its fangs anywhere near my face. I wasn't sure how to pick it up in the right way so that it wouldn't bite me, and I wasn't having much success redirecting it. Just as I was starting to get a bit nervous one of the little girls reached up, put her finger on the back of the spider, and said "stop!" (in English) in the cutest authoritative little voice I have ever heard. The spider stopped climbing towards my face.

Here are the spiders they were selling, all fried up and ready for snacking.

The last Cambodian girl I want to mention was probably about my age and is in the picture above. This was in Siem Reap, the major tourist destination in Cambodia since it is near Ankor Wat. As we walked down a street lined with food vendors, we were intercepted by this woman. She owned the very first stand. She was so aggressive yet so charming, and she seemed like the grown-up version of the little spider girls we had met during our bus break that day. She spoke very little English though. We looked at her menu, and she was selling fried rice which is what we wanted, so we sat town at one of her tables.

As dinner progressed, we watched her alternate between serving her customers and recruiting new ones with so much efficiency and confidence. She was doing the job of at least 3 people and I was really impressed. Matt spoke Cambodian with her to order our food. When some English speaking customers arrived that she was having a hard time communicating with, she did not hesitate in assigning Matt to interpret. Once when she accosted a couple of tourists on the street who seemed slightly confused, I motioned enthusiastically from the table for them to come over to eat. They came over, I endorsed the food, and they stayed. Our hostess loved that, and I was having fun too. We had a system going for a couple of minutes where I would try to convince the tourists she had captured that eating there was a great idea. I was feeling pretty happy because I felt like I had recruited a couple of customers for this really great woman.

Then I decided that in the spirit of cultural tourism, I would like to give it a try, so I took one of the menus and had Matt ask her if I could go out on the street and take her place as the recruiter. She agreed, and I had a lot of fun trying to intercept the passers-by with similar tactics. I am clearly not as charming as she is because everybody just seemed irritated with me and I did not get a single customer. My job as recruiter ended after I strayed too far down the road into competitor territory. I heard Matt and a couple of other people yelling at me to come back, so I went to see what the fuss was. Our friend was making fists and little punching motions to indicate that I was going to get myself, or her, beat up. Though she was smiling and the people whose territory I had invaded just seemed amused, I decided to put away my menu and finish dinner. She gave Matt and I free drinks for our services. The picture above is of me with a menu, waiting for someone pass by.

Capitol Reef

noreply@blogger.com (CarrieAnn) — Mon, 09 May 2011 02:19:00 +0000

Matt and I went on a little camping trip to Capitol Reef National Park this weekend. It was really fun, but we are both a little sore today. Yesterday we went on a 15 mile hike through Upper Muley Twist Canyon, definitely the longest I've ever hiked in one day. It was a record for Matt too. It was getting pretty painful by the end! Though much better for me than a 10 mile hike we made on a backpacking trip last summer carrying a 40 pound pack. That pushed me to my limit.

Our campsite just outside Capitol Reef

We decided to sleep under the stars rather in a tent so we could watch the meteor shower that night. We saw a few shooting stars, but missed most of it because we were too tired.

While we were playing around the campfire I made a torch using a big glob of tree sap. In this picture I was pretending to be in an angry mob. (I probably associate torches with mobs due to all the church videos I've seen in my life.)

Matt giving me some attitude the next day at the trail head. We had to hike in 3 miles to get to the trail head, which added 6 miles round-trip to the 9 mile loop.

On the trail

We had to do some scrambling at various points, which slowed us down some.

The reef

Nearing the end of the loop. We were happy to return to this point because it meant only 5 or 6 miles to go.

What a wonderful sight to behold!

That evening after our hike we packed up camp and drove part way home, staying the night at Matt's parents' home in Venice. Before Venice, we stopped at the Walmart in Richfield. After three hours in the car we were so stiff we could barely move. We were laughing hard because we looked like we were doing a slapstick Balky and Larry routine just trying to get to the store entrance. Going with the cart was a no-brainer.

Me the next morning in Venice, after a shower and a good night of sleep, barely worse for the wear.

A huge thanks to Matt for once again planning a great adventure!

Baby mice, free to good homes!

noreply@blogger.com (CarrieAnn) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 21:39:00 +0000

Matt got me two little mice for Christmas, Mopsy and Mitzy. They have been the best little pets and I love them. They both had babies last month, but only Mopsy's survied. Mopsy's 11 babies are adorable and they are nearly weaned. I am keeping a few but the rest need a home. They will be ready by Easter and would be a great Easter gift! If anybody is interested in taking one or two, or knows someone who might be, let me know! Please send the link to this post to anyone who might be interested.

Mice make charming little pets. They are inquisitive, acrobatic, and full of personality. I also like them because they are only 1/10th the size of rats and 1/3 the size of a hamster, meaning that they require less space, there is less cleaning up to do, and they are (in my opinion) much cuter. They are very easy to care for.

These babies are extremely tame because I have spent a lot of time handling them. If I stick my hand in their cage, 11 little babies run over to see if I have a treat for them and they all try to run up my arm because they want to come out and play. It is fun to watch them groom themselves like little cats and try to climb all over everything like little monkeys. They are high energy, playful little guys.

Here is a video showing how tame they are:

And another video with them playing by themselves in their cage:

And here is a slide show that includes pictures of them from the time they were born through today:

Right now there are 8 babies available, all males: 4 pure agouti, 1 agouti with white patches on his face, 2 pure white, and 1 white and black. If you are interested, let me know if there is one in particular you want and I will save him for you until he is ready to go (a week or less, by Easter for sure).

From what I have read, males need to be kept by themselves because they fight with each other when they are adults. I have heard that sometimes males do get along living together as adults if they are from the same litter and have never been separated, but sometimes they still do fight and that you have to be prepared to house them separately if they do. So if anyone with a lot of experience with animals wants to take two boys, I would be willing to let you do it. Otherwise, I would recommend one.

These mice are going to make great little pets. Don't miss out! :)

Supplies you need for one mouse include:

1) An aquarium or a cage of some sort: A5.5 gallon aquarium would be large enough for one mouse, but a 1o gallon would be even better. You can get a 10 gallon aquarium at Walmart for about $12. If you use an aquarium you also need a cover. Here is a link to a cover that you can buy from Walmart.com for about $6 (Walmart doesn't sell them in stores). I have that one, and it works well. Or, you can just go to any pet store and ask for a screen cover, though they are a bit more expensive at petstores.

2) Bedding: You can use paper bedding or aspen shavings. Mice can't tolerate wood shavings that contain cedar or pine. There are aromatic oils in those woods that harm their lungs. They sell tiny bags of aspen or paper bedding at most grocery stores or walmart, but it is way more cost effective to buy a huge thing of bedding from a petstore. I got a huge container of aspen shavings for about $15 at a petstore a couple of months back and I have barely started to make a dent in it.

3) Water bottle: I have a couple different water bottles and I like the one I got from Walmart the best. It was about $2.

4) Wheel: Mice absolutely need a wheel to run in. They have a lot of energy to burn off, and they would go nuts without one. I recommend the "Silent Spinner" which most pet stores sell. It is a good one because it isn't squeaky, like a lot of wheels, so it won't drive you nuts, and also, it is a solid surface wheel which is easier on their feet. Silent Spinners are a bit more expensive than other wheels though, about $10.

5) Food: A food mix designed for rats/mice is best, but they can do well on hamster food also. Don't get the huge rat/mice pellets that they sell at Walmart. Get a mix from the petstore that has seeds and corn and other items included. Mice really enjoy variety. And after they are first weaned, those huge pellets will be too big for them to break apart anyway.

6) Hiding spots and toys: Mice need a secure, hidden place to sleep. A tissue box or some other little cardboard box will work perfectly, or you can even buy a little house for them at the pet store if you want. Placing items in their cage like toilet tissue rolls and other things to climb on and chew on is also important so they don't get bored. It's good to mix it up a little bit so they have some variety in their environment.

Caring for mice:

Mice do not overeat so it is best to leave plenty of food in their cage at all times. Make sure when you feed them each day there is at least some food left over from their last feeding so you know that they aren't going hungry. They also like fruits and vegetables as treats (though citrus is bad for them). Parakeet seed (millet) is also a good treat. I change out their water once weekly and also clean their cage once weekly. Usually, cleaning the cage consists of changing out the bedding and wiping down anything that has gotten dirty. It doesn't take long at all. Every few cleanings I'll wash the whole aquarium with dish soap and dry it off. It's really easy.

As far as playing with them, mice don't like to be grabbed or chased and they don't like to be picked up by their tails. If you do these things, they'll start avoiding you. You have to wait until they come to you and jump in your hand in order to take them out, which if you treat them well, they will be excited to do (as long as they are awake). Once they are out of their cage, if you can tell they are feeling anxious and want to go back in their home, put them back or they may be reluctant to come out next time. If they don't want to come in your hand, bribe them with treats. Or put a little cardboard tube in their home and gently herd them into it. Pick up the tube and place it on your lap and let them come out on their own time. Playing with them often will keep them tame and will help to prevent them from becoming bored.

First Cambodia post...

noreply@blogger.com (CarrieAnn) — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 05:27:00 +0000

I've been wanting to share stories and pictures from our Cambodia trip last year for a long time, and now I'm going to finally do it! Lots of fun stuff happened that I want to post, but I'll start with the story of our accident (the least fun part) because it makes for a good story. And now, almost a year later with all my plastic surgery finished and my face back in shape, I have a lot of good memories from that portion of the trip.

I am inserting a slideshow because I've included some gory pictures of my face that some people might not want to encounter while they are reading. There is a warning slide before the gory part starts in case anyone wants to see the pictures up to that point.

The accident happened about 10 days into our trip. We got up early that morning so we could be at Ankor Wat, the largest tourist destination in Cambodia, at sunrise. Our driver Sophorn, whom we had hired the night before to take us around that day, picked us up at our hotel in his tuk tuk. Going to see the sun rise at Ankor Wat is the thing to do. There were tons of tourists, most of them Asian. We were amused because three Cambodian men who were sitting near us waiting for the sunrise were bundled in their jackets, discussing the cold weather. It was probably in the low 70s, but Matt said that was as cold as it gets in Cambodia. In the days following our accident, Cambodians would see me all bandaged up and hobbling around and would ask what happened. Matt would tell them and they would give their sympathies and add "and in the cold season too!" as though that added insult to injury. We thought that was pretty funny.

We spent a couple of hours at Ankor Wat that morning while Sophorn had fun playing hacky-sack and hanging out with other drivers while he waited for us.

After the main temple complex, Sophorn drove us to a couple other little temples for a brief visit. Then we set off for a mountain named Kabal Spean that had some ancient river bed carvings Matt had been wanting to see for a long time. We planned to return to Ankor Wat that evening for my benefit (Matt has seen it multiple times). We expected it to take about an hour driving through the country side to reach the mountain. I was really enjoying the ride in the open-air. The country side was so pretty and so interesting with lots of huts lining the road and beautiful rice fields.

It was not a good driving day for Sophorn. It wasn't long before he was pulled over by the traffic police. A station was set up near a tiny section of road that was designated as a one-way street. Sophorn went the wrong way down it and got a ticket. Matt was worried the police were going to try to extort a payment from us, but they didn't. Sophorn borrowed $2 from us to pay the ticket. A little later he borrowed a bit from us for some gas from the side of the road. This was all to be paid back once we paid him for his day of service. Sophorn had nothing but that tuk tuk and motorcycle. He was just living day to day.

Multiple times I saw little tiny kids pedaling these big grown up bikes. Most of the time we were speeding by too past for me to get a good picture, but finally I was able to get one.

We reached the turn of to Kabal Spean. I took a picture of the sign indicating the turn off, just seconds before the accident. It is an eerie picture to look back on now. As Sophorn pulled into the middle of the road to make the left turn, I heard Matt say "We are going to get hit. It's coming. It's coming." His voice was very calm.

A pick-up truck was trying to pass us on the left at full speed when Sophorn pulled into the middle of the road. Sophorn didn't look behind us to make sure no one was coming, and he didn't have a signal on his tuk tuk. The truck hit the breaks but could not stop in time. We were hit on the back left corner of the tuk tuk, the part I was sitting in. The tuk tuk was pushed forward through the air and then tipped on its left side, dumping us on the ground. The truck was rendered undriveable. Matt and I never got a look at the tuk tuk after that to see how it fared.

The impact was very loud, though I didn't remember at first. It took an incident where I teared up after a loud crashing noise a few weeks later to remember the sound. I vaguely remember the feeling of being propelled forward after we were hit, but I don't remember going from the upright position to ending up on the ground. It happened so quickly, it felt like I was suddenly transported to the asphalt.

I had landed face-down on the road. I lifted my head up and I was dripping blood. Matt later saw a large pool of blood at the spot where my face had been. I checked my teeth with my tongue and was relieved to find them all there. I knew I was hurt, but I didn't really know what my injuries were. My body was pinned to the ground by the tuk tuk. I tried to struggle for just a moment, but it there was no way I was getting myself out. I couldn't budge it at all. I wasn't in pain, but I knew I wanted that thing off of me as quickly as possible. I have a permanent dent in one of my legs where it pinned me.

We still aren't sure the mechanics of the whole accident, but Matt was able to stand up off the ground immediately afterward. We think he probably fell on top of me, and that may account for his lack of injury. I like to say that I saved his life. :) He stood up he looked down at himself and found that he had a little bit of road rash. He wasn't alarmed until he looked over and saw that I was laying face down on the ground. I heard Matt's voice say "Sweetie, are you okay?" He told me he leaned down over me and put his hand on my back. My impulse was to say "NO" because I was upset about being pinned down, but I knew I was alive and okay and I didn't want to upset Matt so I said, "Yeah, I think so, but I need this tuk tuk off me now." Matt was relieved when I answered him because he hadn't seen me move. When he heard my voice, he knew everything was going to be okay.

I noticed that I couldn't see at all out of my left eye--it was completely dark. I wondered if it was because my eye was covered in blood. I wiped at my eye to make sure it was clear, and I still couldn't see. Several minutes later I noticed the vision had returned. The initial shock of the head trauma must have caused it.

It seemed like I was trapped under the tuk tuk for a long time, but Matt says it was probably less than 30 seconds before a man came and lifted it off me. We later found out that it was the driver of the truck that had hit us who lifted it off.

There were people along the road side that came to our aid. After the tuk tuk was moved off of me, people helped me to sit up. I couldn't understand what they were saying of course but I heard Matt say "they want you to lie back, they want you to lie back--lie back, they are trying to help you" I resisted because a lot of blood was running down the back of my throat and I knew that lying back could increase the flow. I said "I can't, I'm gonna choke" Matt asked them if they would move me from the middle of the road. They helped me up, and moved me to the edge of the road where I sat back down. Again, they tried to get me to lay down, and I had no idea why at the time. The best they could get me to do was to lean back. Matt told me later that they wanted me to lie back so they could pour medicine over my wounds. Cambodians keep an oil mixture around that has menthol and cinnamon and other things. They use this oil mixture to treat just about everything. When I leaned back, they poured the oil over my injury. I couldn't feel it at all and had no idea that was what they were doing. Then someone handed me a t-shirt. Matt told me they wanted me to hold the t-shirt on my face and not take it off, and so I did. I thought that was better advice. I found out later it was a sweaty t-shirt that Sophorn had in his backpack, but it did the job.

While people were looking after me, there was also a man looking after Matt. He had Matt bend down so he could pour some oil on a head gash that Matt had which was bleeding badly.

It was while we were both being tended to that Matt saw my facial injuries. Someone said "look at her eye" and he looked over at my face and saw a deep gash that went through my eyebrow and one that went down through my forehead. He didn't get a good look at it because my face was soon covered with the t-shirt.

As soon as possible, Matt gave me a priesthood blessing. I was so grateful that he thought of doing that for me. The blessing was short, and he blessed me that I would have minimal scarring and that I would be able to feel patient until we could get to the hospital. It was comforting then and during my recovery. I definitely think it was fulfilled.

After the blessing, I realized that I probably had significant facial trauma. Matt had such a calming demeanor though. He smiled and said in an upbeat way "Sweetie, we are going to need to take you to the hospital, you are going to need a few stitches on your eyebrow and your nose." He was careful not to cause me anxiety or stress.

I asked Matt if he would find my camera. It had been in my hands at the time of impact. He found it on the road without problem and retrieved it for me. I would have been heartbroken if I had lost our pictures. It wasn't damaged or even dinged up very badly, though the case now has blood spots on it. Sadly, I lost the little book that I had been using to keep track of my Cambodian vocabulary and the Cambodian lessons that Matt taught me. It must have flown out of my pocket.

Matt was able to find a bystander who owned a car and he agreed to take us to the hospital. People helped me walk over to the car. I felt lightheaded and weak and I'm not sure if I would have been able to walk on my own. Matt and I got in the backseat of the car, with me in the center. The driver's wife then got in the back seat, and not very delicately. She rammed herself in next to me, bumping me and jostling me, which I didn't appreciate, but she was a total character and kept things interesting, so I forgave her.

I wasn't in a lot of physical pain as long as I didn't try to move around, but I was physically uncomfortable and also very mentally uncomfortable. It was hard to feel patient knowing that we had an uncertain journey ahead of us to get to the hospital with my face in the condition it was, and then knowing that there would be painful poking and prodding once we got there before I would be able to really rest. Matt was good about about describing the conversations that were going on in the car to keep me distracted.

The driver's wife had been trying to get Sophorn to drink urine since before we got in the car. After the crash, Matt saw Sophorn laying sprawled on the road. He was laying so still that Matt was worried he was dead. There were no visible external injuries on Sophorn, but he was moaning a lot and definitely acting the most injured of anybody, so I think this is why the driver's wife was so concerned about him.

She claimed he would stop breathing if he didn't drink some urine and she was on quest to get him some. Matt declined her request to provide some pee for her bottle. Then she asked Sophorn himself to provide some pee. Sophorn also declined, saying that he couldn't pee. The fact he was so injured he couldn't even pee further proved to her the seriousness of Sophorn's condition, and increased her determination to find him some pee to drink. Her pee-drinking campaign continued in the car, and with Matt interpreting for me, it provided some distraction and entertainment.

We were worried about Sophorn though. Until we got in the car, we hadn't had any contact with him. He kept his eyes closed and was moaning quietly. One of his legs was in pain and a bystander had declared it broken.

While in the car I also had some time to think about suffering. I had been reading a book about life under the Khmer Rouge and had just seen in person the gruesome high school prison and a famous killing field outside of Phnom Penh. The sufferings of the Cambodians were fresh on my mind. It really blew me away that any Cambodian I saw that was my age or older had suffered so greatly. I thought about how if I had been under the Khmer Rouge regime and had an accident like this I would probably be forced to go straight back to hard labor in the fields or be killed. I thought about how minor my little bit of suffering was with this accident, particularly in comparison with what happened to the Cambodians. Then I thought about how the Cambodians suffering, as great as it was, was not as great as what Christ suffered for us during the atonement.

Matt was concerned about the possibility of us getting in another accident on the way to the hospital because the driver was going so fast. Something else happened instead. Several minutes into our travel the car began to make strange noises and Matt said "oh no, the car has broken down." And Matt was right. It soon lost power and slowed to a stop. The driver asked Matt if he had any money so he could get his car towed. Matt gave him some money, probably $20. It was a bad time for a breakdown, to say the least.

Matt left the car so he could find some help. When he returned, he said there was an ambulance on the way. He found someone with a cell phone who called for one.

The ambulance arrived and I got to have another behind-the-scenes tourist experience. I'm not sure how Sophorn got in the ambulance, but I had to climb in. There were two stretchers that Sophorn and I laid on. The ambulance worker took the t-shirt off of my head and wrapped me in some gauze. It was a bumpy ride on a bumpy road. The worker held Sophorn securely. I was able to hold myself on the stretcher without trouble, and Matt was also there if I needed him. An unconscious or severely injured person could have been bounced right off onto the floor if someone wasn't there to hold them on. The stretchers had no belts to secure patients on with. I asked for a blanket because I was cold, but they didn't have one. I don't think they really had much of anything. But we weren't worried about those things. I was more comfortable laying down in the ambulance than sitting up in the car and it was good to know that the ambulance would be able to turn its lights on and travel faster through traffic than a car could once we reached town.

I told Matt that under no circumstances should anybody be allowed to give me an injection in the Cambodian ambulance, and he completely agreed. The most common method for hepatitis C to be spread in many third world countries is through medical injections with unsanitary needles. This fact was burned into my mind because I had recently done a couple of big projects at work involving hepatitis C. Matt had told me that Cambodians love injections. If they have a cold, they'll go to their doctor and get some IV fluids. I could picture them wanting to give me something intravenously. I'm not sure what the other infectious possibilities could have been, but I didn't want to take any chances. Sophorn kept his eyes closed and continued to moan occasionally. They eventually gave Sophorn a big shot of something in the arm.

While in the ambulance, it really hit me that our lives had been spared, and I started to cry for the first time. Things could have been so much worse. We had said many prayers for protection before we left on our trip. I realized that we hadn't been forgotten--those prayers had been answered after all.

The ambulance took us to the hospital it was associated with. The ambulance personnel tried to convince Matt that we should be treated there. It was a Cambodian hospital, and there is no telling what it would have been like. There are some really scary Cambodian hospitals. It was a blessing that Matt brought a tourist guide of Siem Reap with us on our excursion because it noted that there was a hospital with international standards, an extension of a Thai hospital, in Siem Reap. Not surprising since Ankor Wat is the biggest tourist destination in Cambodia. Matt had be very stern to convince the ambulance driver to take us to the Thai hospital. They insisted that we pay them before they would take us. Matt was very frustrated because this was an emergency and Matt wanted to get me help as soon as possible.

After Matt paid and filled out some paper work, we were taken to the Thai hospital. In the end, It took about an hour to get there. Not bad considering how far out in the countryside we had been and also the car break down that had occurred. That hospital was an amazing blessing. If the accident had happened on some legs of the trip, we would have been forced to take our chances at whatever facility was available, quite possibly with substandard sanitation and poorly trained staff.

This hospital was beautiful and sanitary, and not Cambodian. Thailand generally has a much higher standard of medical care. Another blessing was the doctor at the hospital who treated me. At that hospital, there was only one surgeon and he was only there part of the time. Some days, he was in Thailand. Thankfully, he was there that day. On top of that, his training was in microvascular surgery, so though he wasn't a plastic surgeon, we were grateful to have someone who was trained to do very delicate work operating on my face. I don't really know what would have happened to me if he hadn't been there.

He and the rest of the staff only spoke Thai, so neither Matt nor I could communicate with them freely. We talked with them in very basic, broken English.

I had blunt trauma injuries on my head/face, including a broken nose. I also had large areas of bruising and contusions on my body, banged up knees, and road rash on my legs and feet. Matt and some road rash and a gash on his head that bled a lot but he did not require any stitches. His most significant injury was whiplash.

Matt and I were separated and I was cared for by a rather strict Thai nurse. She cleaned up the road rash on my legs and feet where I had some deep wounds. That was painful. I can still remember which wound hurt the most! The doctor was wonderful though. A very kind-hearted and warm man. When he took the bandages off my head to see my facial trauma for the first time he made a sort of wincing face and shook his head. I took that as a bad sign, coming from a surgeon who is used to blood and guts.

Over the next couple of hours I was transferred to different rooms and onto different beds (the transfers were somewhat painful) to have various x-rays and CT scans done to check for broken bones and internal injuries.

I spent a lot of time just waiting, laying on hospital beds. During that time, I felt so much gratitude that I was alive and I kept getting teary eyed. I felt like I had come close to being separated from my husband and family, and I was so happy that I was still going to be with them.

I tried to communicate with my strict nurse about my husband. When I found out he was done being examined and was laying in a hospital bed in another room, I asked if he could be brought into the room with me. She told me "no" with a decisive head shake a couple of different times. Eventually, I was brought into a room and was told that my husband was in the next room. Again, the nurse denied my request to bring him in the room with me, but she relented when Matt and I began shouting to each other through the walls, probably disturbing the whole hospital. I was so happy to see Matt when he was wheeled in.

We were told that Sophorn was going to be just fine. I was the only one that needed medical intervention. The ambulance planned to take him to a Cambodian hospital, but we offered to pay his medical bills so he could come to the better hospital with us. Before Matt was brought into the room with me, Sophorn's mother, who had arrived at the hospital, came in the room to see me. She was so tender and sweet. She held my hand and was so nice to have her there for a few minutes, though we couldn't communicate.

Even though Sophorn was physically fine, he also suffered from the accident. His tuk tuk was confiscated by the police as "evidence". Eventually, Sophorn was sued by the driver of the truck. The police ruled against Sophorn, and the tuk tuk either stayed in the hands of the police or was handed over to the driver of the truck as partial compensation. In reality, I think both parties were probably at fault in the accident, but the police generally rule in favor of whoever has the most money to pay them. The truck driver was relatively wealthy. Sophorn lost his entirely livelihood. I wonder how he is doing. We couldn't keep in contact with him because if the police and the driver of the truck had any reason to think we were in communication with Sophorn and that he had access to our money, they could very well have tried to use our relationship to extort money from him and make his life even more difficult.

About 5 or 6 hours after the accident I was taken into surgery. Matt and I asked the surgeon if he would take my camera into the operating room and take some pictures of my facial injuries before he fixed me up so I would have a chance to see what they had been like. The surgeon said he didn't need to take our camera and he would have someone come take pictures.

The operating room was nice. Along with the surgeon, there were two adorable Thai nurses, one with braces. None of the three spoke English very clearly, but we could do some very basic communicating and they were very friendly.

I wasn't given any general anesthetic or pain medication during the surgery. I am guessing that if I had been in the United States I would have been given IV sedation and wouldn't have been conscious for the surgery.

The doctor wasn't kidding when he said he was going to have someone come in and take pictures. A man with a very nice looking camera showed up right before the surgery started and took pictures the whole time. In the end, I was given a CD with about 70 pictures for my souvenir in fulfillment of our request. I remember him taking several pictures at moments when my face was all contorted with pain and thinking what a doozy of a picture that was going to be. The photographer clearly edited out all of the pictures where I looked like I was in distress before making the photo CD for me, however. On the CD, I look serene and content in all 70 pictures. But that wasn't the case. At any rate, I'm glad the picture guy took his assignment seriously because I would never have known what my injuries were like.

The first thing the surgeon did was to press down on my skin to line up the edges of all of my wounds and to press the slack out of my torn up skin so I could be stitched together properly. It was very painful having him press down so hard on my face and forehead where I had been injured.

Then he began giving me shots all over the margins of my wounds to numb the areas before he began stitching me up. This portion of the surgery probably qualifies as the most painful experience I've ever had. I was given dozens of injections of local anesthetic before he began sewing me up. It doesn't seem like this memory could possibly be accurate looking back now, but it felt like a solid hour of continuously receiving injections. It wasn't like other times I've gotten local anesthesia. Usually, the first injection to numb an area hurts a lot, and then any additional shots are much less painful because I am starting to become numb. All of these shots were very painful though. More so than I expected.

The injections were so painful that I desperately wanted a distraction. In between injections, I began begging the surgeon and two nurses to sing to me. I think they were surprised with my request and they all started giggling. At first one would shyly sing a few words from a song they knew in English (Happy Birthday, Jingle Bells, ABCs, Que Sera Sera) and maybe the others would join in for a few seconds, but then they would all start giggling and stop singing. I would be giggling too because it was so funny to see them all shy about singing and to hear their cute English songs. Then they would think they were off the hook. Something really painful would start happening again, and I'd demand "Keep singing! Keep singing! Sing! That was good what you sang before! Keep going!" and they would start up again, and I would be laughing and wincing and gasping all at the same time, but then to my disappointment they would peter out again after a couple of lines. Finally, after they realized I wasn't going to stop pleading, all three of them got going and belted out a whole verse of "Que Sera Sera" in English. I was surprised that all three of them knew this song, especially considering the generation gap between the surgeon and the nurses. It must be an English classic. Having three asians singing "que sela sela" with their accent was extremely endearing, and it did really help me endure the pain. I'll never forget it. The words of the song were especially poignant under the circumstances: "...Will I be pretty, will I be rich, here's what she said to me. Que sera, sera! Whatever will be will be, the future's not ours to see..." I also asked one of the nurses if I could hold her hand and I probably squeezed it too hard. I really loved the surgeon and his nurses.

After the initial round of injections wrapped up, the stitches began. That part was painful too at times, as the injections didn't completely numb some areas. But it was much less painful than it would have been to have more injections to numb the area, so I didn't worry too much about it. Then I faced another round of injections before he started sewing each remaining section of me up.

At one point, probably an hour and a half or two hours into the surgery, I felt like I was going into the really early stages of shock from the pain. My extremities felt cold, tingly, and were beginning to go numb. I decided that if this was going to go on for much longer, I really wanted some sedation. With the language barrier, I had a hard time communicating about this with the surgeon and nurses and wasn't sure how far into the surgery I was. I told them I thought I was experiencing the early stages of shock and asked if they had Valium. I think Valium probably came to mind because I was given that as part of my sedation when I had my wisdom teeth out as a teenager. It is very quick-acting, inexpensive, and wouldn't require an IV, and perhaps I also thought they might recognize the English word for such a common drug. I felt like it would help calm my system down and decrease my body's fight-or-flight response to the pain as well as make me more comfortable. In the end they were able to communicate to me that they knew what drug I was asking for, that they had it, but that I was almost finished so it would be better not to give it to me at this point. One of the nurses said "you scare of needles?" with a big smile on her face, likely thinking I wanted Valium purely for anxiety. I said "not scared, hurt very much!" I don't think they realized how painful the injections were for me.

When the surgery was over and they told me I was all done, it was a relief. One of the nurses kept asking me if I wanted to see a mirror. She kept insisting that I looked good. I firmly turned her town every time she offered. It is totally uncharacteristic of me not to want to see something like that. When I'm getting a cavity filled, sometimes I ask the dentist if I can hold a mirror and watch. I've had the chance to witness open-heart surgery in person, and I thought it was amazing. I'm not squeamish at all with blood, and I am very interested in medical things, especially my own. And it wasn't that I was too afraid of what I was going to look like to see a mirror, though I was concerned about my appearance. What deterred me from looking in a mirror was just that I felt so extremely fragile, so breakable, so mortal, so prone to be tossed around like a ragdoll by the forces of nature at any moment. I didn't want to reinforce that feeling by facing in the mirror what had happened to me. I didn't want to be reminded of landing face down on the road. The first time I looked at my stitched up face was right before the stitches came out, about a week later. I thought it would be quite a while before I wanted to look at the pictures that were taken of my injuries. But, by two weeks or so after the accident I was becoming my old self again and I realized that I really wanted to see the pictures of my facial injuries. The initial traumatized feelings were gone and I was able to look at the pictures without being upset and just appreciate what a gnarly souvenir I got to bring home with me from Cambodia. Actually thinking about the mechanics of the accident and picturing it in my mind did remain emotional for me for several months to come. I was prone to start crying if I let myself start thinking about it.

With the surgery wrapped up, one of the nurses asked me if I wanted to walk downstairs or if I wanted to go in a wheelchair. I was surprised. That was definitely different than in the US. I wasn't in any condition to be walking around the hospital, so I asked for the wheelchair. Also, I noted that they didn't monitor my blood pressure or temperature, something they would have done routinely in the United States.

Despite the painful surgery and some other differences in the standard of care, I truly am thankful for the great medical care I got at the Thai hospital in Siem Reap, and especially for the surgeon who took care of me. He did a great job. Things couldn't have turned out better. When I returned to the United States, my face was in great condition for the upcoming plastic surgeries. The doctors I saw here said I had been sewn up well.

When I was rolled out of surgery in the wheel chair, I looked like a caricature of someone you'd expect to see in the emergency room with Mr. Bean. I was exhausted. I hadn't cried during the surgery, but as soon as I saw Matt I burst in to tears and told him that the surgery had been really painful. The surgeon gave Matt instructions on bringing me back to the hospital to have my wounds cleaned. Matt also asked the surgeon if he thought my scarring would be bad (Matt was much better at communicating with the staff than I was). The surgeon said no because I hadn't lost very much skin and because I had Caucasian skin. He explained that I had a big flap of skin which he had reattached to the surrounding skin. I was rolled out to the car and the surgeon came outside to see us off, which I thought was really nice. The driver of the truck who hit us took us to the hotel in another vehicle he owned.

Matt and I went back to the hotel. The hotel staff was kind enough to move us to a room on the main level so we wouldn't have to attempt the stairs. It was difficult to hobble to the bathroom and get off and on the toilet, but I was glad to find that I could do that. I wasn't sure if I would make it at first. My knees were banged up and painful to bend, and that is what made getting around the most difficult. I even managed to try to wash some of the blood from our clothes in the bathroom sink while Matt was gone getting some food and other supplies for us at the gas station. Poor Matt, even though he had significant pain from whiplash, he had to run around and do errands for the remainder of the trip and take care of me. It was dinner time and I hadn't had food or water since 6 or so in the morning, but I couldn't eat very much of the food he brought back. I had no appetite for a couple of days.

That sums up the day of the accident. A year later we are both fine and totally back to normal. I had my last plastic surgery in August. My face doesn't look exactly the way it used to, but most people wouldn't have a clue that I was ever injured. We both feel very blessed.

Salsa

noreply@blogger.com (CarrieAnn) — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 23:12:00 +0000

My husband and dancing, together at last! Matt and I started taking a salsa class together recently and it is so much fun to dance with him. He is learning so quickly.

This is me performing with my salsa company about a month before I met Matt. I'm the tallest girl, and start out second to the right.

I spent a lot of my 20s dancing and made a lot of great memories with the two groups I danced with, Obatala Dancers (in the video) and Utah Rhythm and Dance (A ballroom team). I loved both the people and the dancing so much.

Now I'm making lots of fun dance memories with Matt. It is the best thing in the world to have a permanent dance partner. You are the best Matt!

Cuteness

noreply@blogger.com (CarrieAnn) — Sat, 15 May 2010 02:38:00 +0000

My niece and nephew and I went to the planetarium on Wednesday. We admired all of the drain pipes on the way there.

They are lucky I didn't return them to their parents with their faces covered in little pinch-marks because they are just so darn cute.

Toast

noreply@blogger.com (CarrieAnn) — Thu, 13 May 2010 23:46:00 +0000

I woke up this morning and said to Matt "why does it smell like toast in here?". I forgot about my loaf of bread in the oven last night and went to bed. This is what 450 F for 7 hours looks like.

A few memories from Christmas '09

noreply@blogger.com (CarrieAnn) — Mon, 03 May 2010 01:36:00 +0000

We visited Matt's family for Christmas and had a great time with his Dad and Mom Colleen on Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning, and with his Mom Paula and Mark after that at their cabin. I was still sore from the accident, but well enough to have a good time.

Matt looking charming in his snow gear. This is the only picture I got at Dad and Mom Colleen's house unfortunately.

Matt and I arriving at the cabin from the parking lot

Matt, Mike, Mom and Mark

A cute twin picture

A few of my favorite presents:

Matt got me a butterfly kit. It came with caterpillars and we got to watch them turn into butterflies. Our cats have never been so entranced. Usually in the morning they are crying at our door. The first morning after some butterflies emerged we awoke to a suspicious silence. All three of them were sitting motionless just staring at the cage. They wouldn't even budge for breakfast.

Mom Paula made Matt and me frog pajama bottoms. I love them! They fit perfectly and they are the first PJ bottoms I've ever owned that are long enough.

This is from my Mom. She actually carved this for me from a piece of wood! It is a Christmas tree ornament to commemorate our trip to North Carolina.

A different angle that shows the mouth she carved :) I love it.

From the department of ironic hobbies...

noreply@blogger.com (CarrieAnn) — Mon, 03 May 2010 00:02:00 +0000

I love learning new do-it-yourself-for-cheap skills, so I thought it would be a fun project to learn how to do acrylic nails on myself.

I had never had them done professionally before and didn't even have a concept of how it was done when I started. My first tries were with a kit that you can buy at the grocery store, then I upgraded to beauty supply store stuff. I watched some videos on YouTube and read some guides on the internet.

Matt was skeptical. There were several evenings that I spent experimenting on my nails, and when Matt wanted to see the results I would insist that he inspect them from a distance of several feet. Sometimes it was so bad that I think Matt was amazed that I kept trying.

Even when I began to get some marginally acceptable results, I would always take the nails off within the next day or two to try again. I found that I like trying to put the nails on more than actually wearing them.

I haven't accomplished anything that has looked anywhere near professional, but I'm going to post a couple of pictures of my best effort. This set looked pretty good from a few feet away. Even so, it was only a couple of days before I took them off.

I had better luck sculpting the acrylic on with forms than I did using acrylic over tips.

Here is my masterpiece sitting on a red pillow. This is about as close as anyone should look.

After a run of several months, this hobby is almost dead. But I think I'll probably keep using the acrylic supplies to give myself pedicures. Nail polish stays on a long time with an acrylic base.

Produce

noreply@blogger.com (CarrieAnn) — Sun, 02 May 2010 22:50:00 +0000

This is the first blog post I've done since our trip to Cambodia back in November. I've been intending to blog about that trip, including our accident and recovery, for months. But I haven't even finished writing about the details of it in my personal journal.

I'm going to stop waiting to get caught up on Cambodia before I record other things, so here is something little and manageable to get me started again.

Before we left for Cambodia, I decided to start getting produce at a food co-op called Bountiful Baskets every other week to help us get more fruits and vegetables in our diet. I only had a chance to do it couple of times before the trip, and then things were so hectic after we got back that I haven't tried it again since.

You pay $15 in advance and then on the designated day you show up to the location of your choosing with a basket or box to take your share of produce home in. I liked this particular co-op because you only have to pay for it week by week. No commitment. I went to a location in Bountiful, but I think now they have a location closer to downtown Salt Lake that I'll try next time.

It is really fun because it is a surprise every time as to what you'll be getting (I love surprises). It is also fun to figure out ways to use up all the produce before it goes bad. The first time we got tons of carrots, so I ended up finding a recipe and making a big pot of carrot curry. We've also gotten things that neither of us had even eaten before, like persimmons.

Another great item was guava. It was the second time in my life I'd tried it. The first time was in Hawaii while I was visiting my parents. I went hiking in the mountains and there were guava all over the ground. They were so fragrant, you could smell them before you saw them.

We got most of this batch eaten before anything went bad.

North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains

noreply@blogger.com (CarrieAnn) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 04:27:00 +0000

We had a wonderful trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina with my parents.

The place we stayed was great:

This was taken from our balcony

There was an on-site lake with paddle boats you could ride around on. Matt took me out on a paddle boat and then stranded me on this island without supplies. He had a change of heart and came back for me later.

There was also an on-site miniature golf course.

Mom won!

My favorite thing about this place was that the lake was stocked with fish. We brought two fishing poles and Matt and I had so much fun trying to catch fish. I wanted to fish all the time. We even went out in the middle of the night once. If I look very excited in this picture, it's because I am. If you look closely, that tiny thing I'm holding is a fish. The first fish I have ever caught in my life!

This picture is from our middle-of-the-night fishing venture. No, Matt isn't flashing a gang sign, he is indicating that this was his third fish so far. We each caught four or five fish, all very tiny, and not worth eating...

This trip was extra great for me also because I got to spend time with my wonderful parents and my wonderful husband both at the same time, which has never happened before:

The whole vacation crew

The Matt & CarrieAnn birthday dinner to celebrate our upcoming birthdays

I love this picture of Matt

Mom and me

Posing for pretend engagement pictures

Ha ha! Dad was making me laugh the whole time. :)

I always really enjoy meeting local people when I travel, observing the local culture, and also just witnessing the funny, endearing things people do in general:

The man I'm standing next to gave me some fishing pointers and also gave Matt and me some corn to use as bait. And he had the best old-timey southern accent. A really fun guy.

This picture was taken on a trail on Labor day, so there were a lot of local people out that day. There were so many people hiking with their dogs. Way more than I am used to seeing when on a hike in Utah. The thing about it that was interesting to me is that we didn't see a single mutt. All pure-bred dogs, and a lot of them not the rugged outdoorsy type you'd expect to encounter on a hike. This woman was carrying her poodle to avoid muddy paws.

And here, at the entrance to the same trail, is a man who is about to go hiking with his cockatoo. He takes his cockatoo everywhere. I had to ask if there was a chronic problem with bird-poop on everything, since it seemed that would be the biggest downside of keeping your pet bird constantly by your side. Not a problem though. This bird is actually potty-trained. He sits on the edge of the toilet! If there is no toilet access, he goes on demand on whereever his owner indicates. The pet thing definitely has a different flavor in this area of the country. Fun.

This woman was taking copious pictures of a nature movie playing in the visitor center at Grandfather Mountain. Some might suggest that my Mom and I are quick to the trigger with our cameras, but this takes things to a whole new level. Of course I had to take a picture ;)

One of my favorite destinations was Grandfather Mountain:

The suspension bridge

Mom and Dad at the bridge

Grandfather mountain has a mini zoo. We went to the otter enclosure several times, but the otters were napping under a pile of pine straw and couldn't be seen. Multiple times per day, all of the animals have "enrichment time." The animal keeper shakes his keys so they know he is there with a treat or something interesting to play with. So we go to the otter enclosure for enrichment time. The keeper shakes his keys, and the otters pop their heads out of the pine straw to see what treat the keeper has in store. Then the next picture....

...They start to leave the pine straw when drowsiness overtakes them....

....They decide that maybe a treat isn't worth ending their nap after all, and they back plop down. It was the cutest thing. Otters are a new favorite of mine. Eventually they got up and came after their treats and frolicked together in their pond, which was also incredibly cute.

The bears were also very cool. At Grandfather mountain, they actually let you feed the bears! The bears do all sorts of charming things to try and capture your attention so that you will throw a piece of chow to them. They sit up on their haunches, stick out their tongues, etc.

Matt and I feeding the bears.

Another highlight was a visit to a section of the famous Appalachian Trail, which extends continuously from Maine to Georgia. A couple of weeks later for my birthday, Matt got me a book written by humorist Bill Bryson called "A Walk in the Woods." He documents his attempt to hike the entire Appalachian Trail. We've been reading together at night and it's good stuff. There are some extremely funny parts.

Matt posing next to a trail marker. Love his red beard starting to peak through :)

Dad on the trail, about to enter dense forest.

It was a beautiful place:

The mountains

Lots of road-side stands

Quaint little homes

Butterflies

One of the prettiest wild flowers I've ever seen. This picture doesn't capture how bright red it was. It was almost neon red I'd say.

More flowers

Thank you so much for the wonderful trip Mom & Dad!

The End of Summer: Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (CarrieAnn) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 01:20:00 +0000

Matt and I went on a little backpacking trip in the Uintas the weekend of August 28-30. He made a map of the route we took using Google maps when we got home. You can see it here if you want to check it out. We saw so many beautiful little lakes.

On the trail

Campsite at Wall Lake. I got Matt those green backpacking chairs for his birthday. I ordered them online, and the package showed up with pictures of the chairs plastered on both sides of the package. ARG! I was a bit upset they sent them that way, because Matt got home before I did and picked up the package. On the bright side, since the surprise was ruined, we got to use the chairs on this trip, well before his birthday.

Matt in Hidden Lake, final destination. The water was really cold. I ripped the bandaid off quickly and completely submerged myself first thing. I didn't last long at all though. Instead of adapting to the water, I felt like I was getting colder, so I got out. Matt went the slow-torture route, but once he was all the way in, he stayed for quite a while.

Me fishing in Hidden Lake. I had never really fished before, but I always thought I might enjoy it, so Matt got me a collapsible fishing pole for this trip. My fishing stance there is pretty great. Even though I didn't have any luck, I thought it was fun to try. Once I got going, I didn't want to quit, but Matt coaxed me back to camp once it got dark. No fish nibbled, but the bats that came out at dusk were interested in the line and the float.

Hidden Lake in the evening. We didn't see a single soul while camping there. So peaceful.

I was so excited about the early signs of autumn that I posed for a picture with some fall foliage. Not only is "fall foliage" beautiful, it is fun to say.

Some pretty wildflowers. Dad, do you know what type of flower this is?

The End of Summer: Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (CarrieAnn) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 03:48:00 +0000

Last week we barbecued in City Creek Canyon for dinner. Matt made a fantastic dinner. Stake, salad, and scout bread with jam. After dinner, a round of Scrabble by campfire light.

Thanks for the great evening Matt! :)

The End of Summer: Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (CarrieAnn) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 02:15:00 +0000

My brother Alan and his wife Maren invited us over to their backyard to have a wiener roast. Their yard is so fantastic. Lots of flowering vines with hummingbirds all around, fruit trees, a fireplace, and a swing. Matt and I had a great time with them.

Matt and I enjoying the swing while trying to avoid small, moving objects

Isn't that fireplace lovely? On the table are fixins' for Chicago-style hot dogs

Our charming hostess, Maren.

Little Ivan, who bolsters my hopes of having a red-headed child, and Princess Katherine, who carried her marshmallow scepter the whole evening. Both cute to the max *pinching cheeks!*

The 4th of July

noreply@blogger.com (CarrieAnn) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 03:09:00 +0000

My super adorable husband who took us out to float in the Great Salt Lake.

Me in the lake for the second time in my life. The first time I was nine years old and didn't float this well. A little body fat goes a long way. Very cool.

Away from the sand fleas

Mikey with the little blind puppy at Grandpa Uttley's house. "Take me home Mikey!" That little pup pulled out all of his cutest maneuvers, but it didn't work. Mikey ended up rescueing another dog in need, so it was for the best.

A front row view of the fireworks in Richfield from the back of Grandma Uttley's care center. The twinlets and their Dad all in plaid. Mom Colleen is in the green shirt, and my brother-in-law Dan is the red.

My spot for the fireworks show.

Going "Hard-Core" in the San Rafael Swell

noreply@blogger.com (MM) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:05:00 +0000

We set out for our Memorial Day Weekend backpacking adventure on Friday afternoon. We were apprehensive that forecasts of possible thunderstorms and potential flash-floods might ruin the trip. Our apprehension increased when we the saw the ominous clouds that hung over the San Rafael Swell.

The San Rafael Swell reef protruding from the desert floor

Ominous clouds and (it turns out) the wrong road

We tried to reach our trailhead and make camp before dark, but after a late start and a wrong turn the sun set before we got where we were going. We pulled over to spot with a fire pit just off the side of the dirt road and quickly set up our tent before the darkness and rain arrived. We cooked our beans and rice in the pitch dark and the rain, then retired to our snug little tent to eat it.

Our first campsite

It rained all night long, and in the morning it was still raining. Some water had gotten into our tent, wetting not only our tent but some of our clothing and our blanket as well. It was cold, our gear was wet, it was 6 a.m., and there was mud on everything. We tossed our went tent and beds into the car and took off, concerned that the dirt roads would become impassable mud bogs for our little Hyundai.

We couldn't imagine spending a whole weekend in the cold rain with wet gear and a wet tent. Before giving up completely and heading home, we stopped by Goblin Valley, which CA had never seen before. We were surprised to be the only car in the parking lot on a Memorial Day Weekend Saturday. It seemed we had the whole valley to ourselves.

Goblin Valley

In the relative cleanliness of the parking lot we were at least able to roll up our bed mats and pack our wet tent into its bag. After a week of planning our wilderness trek, I felt like a total failure for turning home already. We didn't feel very "hard-core," and that was painful.

But before we set out for home, my good little sport CA let me at least try to find the trail head to Wild Horse Window and hike about a little bit to see what there was to see. We found it easily, and I hiked about in my yellow rain poncho and investigated the trail a bit while CA stayed in the car to keep warm from the cold drizzle. That's when things got fun.

Can you spot me in my yellow poncho, scouting out the trail? Wild Horse Window is in the upper right.

Leaving the car, I walked around through the gullies and washes and then onto the trail up the rock of San Rafael Reef toward Wild Horse Window, and I started to get excited. The scenery was thrilling and I warmed up fast. I saw a place where an overhanging cliff made a dry spot on the ground, big enough to fit our tiny little tent. Watching (and photographing) my adventures from the car, as the morning chill started losing its edge, CA decided to venture out and join me. I showed her the dry spot, and we decided to stick it out another night. We felt a new sense of hard-coreness returning, and it felt nice. We returned to the car, packed up our packs, and set out.

Can you spot our little tent nestled under a dry cliff? (Taken from the trail on the Reef)

We set up our tent in the little dry spot without the rain fly and let the air blow through it dry it out, then set out on a fun adventure. The day become comfortably warm, and the clouds kept it from getting hot. The constant slow drizzle actually wound up creating a magical day. Crystal-clear water flowed down the Reef in rivulets and waterfalls and collected in hundreds of fairy pools all along our trail.

Wild Horse Canyon

Stone, waterfalls, and fairy pools

CA in Wild Horse Window (click here for better pics by other people)

We turned from the trail to explore the mouth of Wild Horse Canyon, then hiked up the back of the reef to Wild Horse Window.

We returned to a dry tent in time to make a leisurely dinner of Tuna Helper in the evening light and settle down in the lee of our cliff for a long, dry, and undisturbed night.

Surprisingly, Sunday morning dawned sunny and blue-skied. We packed our swimsuits and a lunch and went for a short day trip up Wild Horse Canyon to a pool of water at the mouth of a grotto that we had found the day before. The water was cold but refreshing, and we made friends with a pair of frogs that lived in the pool. We sunned ourselves on the bare rock and ate a lunch of Macaroni and Cheese with dried beef.

A picture of our pool and sun lounge, taken the day before when it was raining

We returned to camp just in time for a big black thunderhead to roll in from the south. We stayed dry in the shelter of our cliff as the rain and hail poured down and the lightning flashed. The heavy storm lasted for about 20 minutes then turned into a regular drizzly rain as the thunderhead moved on northward up the Swell. We lay in the tent and listened to the rain outside. Soon there was a loud rushing sound which grew louder and louder until the sound of knocking, crashing boulders joined it. We emerged from our tent to see that a flash flood had turned the dry wash near our campsite into a violent torrent of muddy water and crashing boulders, about 5 feet deep. We weren't concerned; we were dry and safe, and the flood was exciting to witness. A stranger on the opposite side of the the wash wasn't as fortunate--he was stranded on that side while his hiking companion stood on our side.

Within a couple of hours the water level had a dropped a couple of feet and the man was able to make it across. The water continued to flow all afternoon and evening and through that night. In the night we heard some loud crashing sounds as chunks of rock broke off of a cliff and crashed to the ground not far away. By morning the wash was dry again, but the landscape had changed noticeably. We packed up our things and went home, content that we were sufficiently hard-core after all.

One of the funnest parts of our wilderness adventure was the wildlife. Over three days and nights we saw five frogs, four pronghorns, a stink bug, some crows, and bunch of naughty little lizards. How foolish do you think I feel for telling CA she could never catch a lizard?

Logan

noreply@blogger.com (CarrieAnn) — Fri, 22 May 2009 02:47:00 +0000

Matt took me on a surprise date to a Logan farm a few weeks ago to see the baby animals

Hugging a goat

Babies hopping and peeping

The bunny wasn't so sure about this. He tried to make a run for it later.

Another cute specimen

After the farm, some time at the Logan Temple

Licorice ice cream (my favorite flavor) from a Logan dairy.
As you can see, it matches the color of our car.

Thanks for the fun date Schweetie!

An Engineer's Guide to Cats

noreply@blogger.com (CarrieAnn) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 22:41:00 +0000

Hold out for the cat yodeling.

One year!

noreply@blogger.com (CarrieAnn) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 15:00:00 +0000

Today marks a year since Matt and I decided to become a couple. We had been dating, and I ran into him unexpectedly at the institute building. I was really happy to see him. I ended up going to institute with him, and going to his house afterward. Before we went to his house, I told him that I didn't want him to get sick of me from spending too much time together. He said that he was feeling quite the opposite about spending time with me. We were talking on his couch and Matt said that he had a friend who wanted him to give a defined answer as to the status of our relationship, and that he told his friend that it wasn't defined. I took the opportunity to ask him if he wanted it to be defined. We decided to date exclusively. We've seen each other every day, except for one, since we have been together. It has been a fantastic year together. I love my Matt.

You have to try this

noreply@blogger.com (MM) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:40:00 +0000

Posted by CarrieAnn.

Our carpets were looking REALLY BAD. I wanted to get a carpet steam cleaner, and Matt thought it was a good idea too, so we did some research, shopped the sales, and ended up with the Hoover F914-900 SteamVac.

I was really excited to try it out, and I was not disappointed. It is so much fun and so satisfying to suck all of that dirt out of the carpet.

The before and after!

The best Autumn on record

noreply@blogger.com (CarrieAnn) — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:24:00 +0000

This has been one of the most fantastic fall seasons I can ever remember. Not only do I have a wonderful new husband to share it with, it has been much longer and warmer than usual. Sometimes in Northern Utah it seems like Autumn is over before it begins. It is my favorite season.

From a fall drive a few weeks ago:

Birthday #30 for CarrieAnn!! (Part II in the birthday week series)

noreply@blogger.com (CarrieAnn) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 22:44:00 +0000

Birthday week was great. My family made my birthday so much fun.

On the actual day, my parents sponsored a birthday dinner for me at the Garden on top of the Joseph Smith building, since they couldn't be here. I loved the food an the atmosphere.

While waiting for the food, my cute date consented to a sassy photo shoot. What great company!

That weekend, Matt threw a birthday party for me. It was fantastic. He had our house all decked out in birthday decorations, and he made great snacks. I saw friends I hadn't seen in ages. (Thanks Matt!!!!)

Here is me in my birthday gear--crown, glowstick necklace, 30th birthday blue ribbon--pretending to be the birthday queen (the balloons were my loyal subjects).

Alan and Maren, a necessary addition to any great party

Mike, Kellie, Lukifer, and Matt. Doesn't get better than this.

Celina bonding with Rufus

A slight snack mishap. These tricky mini corndogs came back to haunt us about a month later when a forgotten batch of them were found in the oven, burnt to charcoal!

Birthday Week Part I: The Twins

noreply@blogger.com (MM) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:26:00 +0000

In mid-September we had Birthday Week. CA's birthday is only 2 days after mine (and my twin brother Mike's). For Mike's and my birthday, CA made a yummy dinner for us while we played MarioKart on the Wii. It was a baked deli sandwich--meats and cheeses baked inside a shell of bread dough--with baked asparagus and taco-flavored fries on the side. Yum!! It was followed up with some delicious orange-flavored birthday cupcakes.

After dinner I opened my presents from CA. I got Taboo, which is my favorite game but which I have never actually owned; a jacket; and a new copy of the first CD I ever owned as a young teenager, but had long since lost: Staring at the Sea: The Singles by The Cure. (She had been holding on to that little nugget of information since January or February.) Earlier, Mike gave me the new Coldplay record and Radiohead's classic Kid A, both on vinyl. Mike got a subscription to Gospelink.com.

Then CA blindfolded the birthday boys and led us through the streets of SLC to a surprise location. It turned out to be the Broadway Theater, where we watched a documentary called Man On Wire. It was something that I had mentioned wanting to see weeks and weeks before after reading a review, which CA was cool enough to have remembered even after I forgot. As anyone can see, CA is a super-thoughtful and sweet birthday planner and gift giver.

Courtrooms, Condos, Confections and Coinkadinks

noreply@blogger.com (MM) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 02:55:00 +0000

In got subpoenaed to testify in August for a court case I worked on back when I was a full-time translator. The bad new was that I would have to be away from home for a few days. The good news was I was put up in a vacation resort condo on beautiful white-sand island in Florida, all expenses paid, and CA got to come with me for only a hundred bucks!

The gulfside beach of Okaloosa Island behind our condo

On Sunday morning we picked a local ward and went there for sacrament meeting. Of all the Mormons in all the world, who do you think would be speaking in that random ward on that very morning? It was Kelly, one of CA's best friends from High School. We were beyond shocked. I mean, seriously, what are the chances? Here's a picture of the girls to prove it:

Among our various activities, we discovered one of the South's hidden secrets: The Waffle House. In all our excitement, we overdid it a little bit:

Before Waffles

After Waffles

In between my judicial duties and sampling southern cuisine, we had a little time for snorkeling and walking around on the beaches. Unfortunately, we didn't happen to have our camera when we saw the sandpipers, dolphins, herons, crabs, fish, conchs, or jellyfishes; but here's some toes on the beach: