New Adventures Ahead!

In the words of an inspired young artist, "It's Friday, Friday. Gotta get down on Friday!" ...Yeah. Today promises to be a good one. Lots of cleaning, finally taking my final, and applying for lots of jobs. If you know of any jobs, give me a holler. I'm on the hunt! I'm sure you're wondering what happened to California. Don't worry, I'm still planning on it. It just might have to wait a year. As it turns out, I'm actually going to be staying in Utah, albeit in a different area. Sorry, you can't get rid of me just yet. On the other side of the canyon is a plethora of new adventures. Exciting! It's been so crazy trying to think of what to take with me and what to leave behind. I'd never really thought of that before. Thus comes the spring cleaning of my life. Lucky me gets to plunge into the world of sorting, tossing, and donating. It's a dangerous journey into the back of my closet, but I can make it through. I think. Should be interesting at the least. Right now seems to be the time for new adventures. With the semester over and spring/summer just getting started, there is that feeling of promise in the air. Congrats to my many friends who are graduating from college this week. How they survived that place is beyond me. I get to try it again in a year or two, but for now I'm just going to work. College and I didn't get along very well. Another crazy thing is marriage. I can't even begin to count the number of bridal showers and weddings I have gone to in the last month. And there are even more to come! Apparently there were some people listening to Elder Scott's conference address. Like I said, there is something about spring that promises a fresh start. Props go to my cousin who chose to make her fresh start by going on a mission. In less than a week, Summer will officially enter the MTC and start working on her Spanish. Looks like I'm going to have to find a new lunch buddy. New adventures. Aren't they the best?

Colorful Death by Baklava

Post? Yes, I think I shall. The requests are in: color festival, baklava making, and near death. But I think I'll throw in opening day for good measure. You ready for this? Okay, here goes nothing.
The Color Festival
In India they celebrate a holiday called Holi. Spring is welcomed in with a burst of color. Literally. Hundreds of bags of colored chalk/paint are thrown up in the air and, subsequently, a massive game of color tag breaks out. Of course, the holiday is usually celebrate by Indians in India. However, it has become a fun cultural experience for people all over. The diversity department at Weber State organized the one I went to with my friends. It was quite fun! It was also Erin van Komen's birthday and how better to celebrate it than with a giant, colorful party? Exactly. Fun, fun, fun! Note of caution to those planning on attending a Holi festival in the future: keep your mouth closed while the color throwing is going on. That stuff does NOT taste good. Just sayin.
Baklava Making
Mmm..Baklava! Don't know what it is? Know what it is, but never had it? Well, you are missing out my friends! It is..it is.. Well, I don't know how to describe it, but heaven-on-earth might come close. I had a project on the country Turkey and I needed to make a little treat to go with it.  Google informed me that baklava is actually a Turkish treat. I know what you're thinking, "Baklava is from Greece, not Turkey!" Well, friends, they're right by each other on the map. Same region, same treats. Yeup. Anyways..As tasty as baklava is, it is mighty expensive! For one little piece it costs a whole $2. Multiply that by the 50 I needed for my class and that's a whole lot of dough. So while consulting with my dear friend, Erin, I decided to make the baklava. That's right, we made baklava. And dang it is tricky! I couldn't have done it without Erin. She is mega pro. You have to work very fast or you have issues. It's also important to know how to work with phyllo dough. Yeah... Let's just say that it didn't all survive. But after a few mistakes and a whole lot of learning, we managed to pull it off. And it was tasty. VERY tasty.
Near Death
Let's play a game. How many times can Alex almost die in one week? Answer: two too many. Friday, I was on my way up to Weber State for a lil' party shindig when I had an oh-so-fun experience. Imagine going 65 on a highway with your foot on the gas pedal, accelerating to get up a big hill. Then imagine a car coming straight toward you in your lane. Scary? That doesn't even begin to describe it. With less than a second to react, I swerved into the next lane over (thank goodness nobody was in it!) and watched as the oncoming car narrowly avoided hitting the guy who had been riding my bumper. As if one near-death experience wasn't enough for the week, the very next day I had another. With a green arrow, I started to turn left from the highway into my neighborhood. I didn't make it very far before a white van blew through its red stoplight, nearly hitting me. Again I swerved, avoiding a collision. In both instances the speed was such that the impact would have left one or both drivers either dead or critically injured. What did I learn from this? A) Slow down going up the hill to Ogden and B) I'm destined to die by car accident (although hopefully not any time soon).
Opening Day
"There's only one Lagoon!" Aren't amusement parks the greatest? They are. It's especially fun working at one. Lagoon opened yesterday with fairly good weather and a decent crowd. Yours truly got to be one of the first to work the new roller coaster. You've got to love new rides. There are always a bunch of faults you don't recognize and little unexpected problems you don't know how to solve. But it was pretty neat to be one of the first people to work the new ride. Special!
There you have it. My little adventures. I'm sure there are more somewhere in there that I've missed. In fact, I know I've missed some. But general conference is on and I want to watch it. Thanks to the snow, Lagoon was closed. It's a little miracle that I'm extremely grateful for. Yay! Have a great day friends!