All kinds of heroes

I'd like to start out with a tribute to a best friend that had to leave me.

Thank you Blankie for all of your years of service! Putting Blankie into retirement is something my Mom has be hoping would happen for YEARS. I finally had to do it because every morning I would wake up and find pieces of Blankie on the floor. It wasn't fair to keep using him, it was KILLING him.

Our friend, Karen Findley, graduated with her Master's degree and we had a party to celebrate. By we I mean those of us that are from Vermont or have lived in Vermont and are now in Utah. It was really fun to be reunited with the three girls that I grew up with.

I haven't seen all of them (together) in a few years! From left to right we have Maureen, Candice, Jennifer and Summer.
Ah. The Anthrax scare. I work at a University (for those of you who don't know that, who are you and why are reading my blog). Recently a bag of white powder was found on a table in the hallway outside of the National Guard office. This caused them to shut down the ventilation system. As a result, particles began to fall from the vents in our office. Our office consists of Graduation, Transfer Credit and Veterans Affairs. Because the bag was by the National Guard office, it was thought that, perhaps, this was military targeted. Combining all of that information with the fact that we were relatively close to where the bag was found, we let campus police know.

I think they were afraid to come in because our office is mostly girls . . . just kidding! They came in and as a precautionary measure they kicked us out of our office while they checked it out.

What were we going to do?

Some chose to see it as an opportunity to get some Vitamin D. Here is a blurry picture of the back of the HazMat team. They looked like really big bugs. It was awesome!

Fortunately, what was falling out of the vents was just dust. Hey, it doesn't hurt to be careful!

Turns out the bag of white powder was baby powder. That's what I hear anyway . . .

I didn't know that such a thing existed, but it was recently Air Force Week. As part of the week there were big celebrations in three cities across the U.S. One of those cities was Salt Lake. Actually, not in Salt Lake but at the Hill Air Force Base. I drove to Erica's and then we took the Front Runner up to the base. We sat on the top level. :) Oh, here's the crew. Erica's friend Kieth (he'll try to tell you his name is Evan), Erica and her other friend Chris. I don't have any friends. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! I do. They just were unable to join us.

CUTE!! It's Erica, Chris and Jennifer.

There were some other people, but I didn't know them at all so I'm not posting the picture of them. HAH!

Oooooo. This is a Hornet (I think).

For those of you that prefer Sepia.

Ok, this is a really fun game. It's called Where's Erica. Apparently the guy in the red shirt is sad because he can't find her. (Oh, even if you who are reading this don't find it entertaining, I sure do. I can't stop laughing at that one!)A video of the Air Force Thunderbirds version of "Bombs bursting in air"


And a picture of the result. Pretty stinking cool, huh?

We're underneath at bomber. Some kind of bomber. Where I'm standing the belly of the plane is approximately four feet eight inches off the ground. Approximately. Another fun game. Which of these things does not belong, three are right the other is wrong. Three are tall and fly in planes the other is small and quite a pain.

Yep, I made that up myself. I thought it was funny because they are so tall.

Ah, Microbiology. I've labeled the picture so you can see where we got our samples from. I just want you all to know that people often throw their Frisbees in the pond and so the go swimming to find them. If I were them, I'd take a nice long soak in some Clorox after that!

Some more samples. Just for the record, Liz is the one who gets me sick and not the other way around. Sometimes we would debate about who was contaminating whom, but now I've got the proof. Also, I spray my keyboard with Lysol occasionally, so if you were wondering if the Lysol spray works or makes a difference, it does.

As for the scuttlebutt, yuck. I wiped it down with some Clorox wipes after I saw this.Utah has been having a LOT of storms. The other night I saw a double rainbow and thought it was cool. Then I saw April's picture of an upside-down rainbow and now I don't feel quite as cool. The moral of the story? God isn't going to flood the Earth again anytime soon.

The abundance of moisture has brought out some things that I haven't seen in Utah much. This snail. Let's name him Gary. (HA HA HA) Some of you will get that joke. For those of you who don't, I can only say "I'm sorry".

I found a Fairy Ring!!!! Kind of excited about that. For those of you who don't know what a Fairy ring is, it is a circle that forms where the Fairies danced in their circle the night before. If you find yourself standing in one (which I did) you make a wish and the Fairies have to grant it. I'd tell you what I wished for, but then I wouldn't get my wish! ;)Whew! That was a lot of catching up! I have my finals next week. One for Microbiology class, the other for lab. Wish me Luck!! Below I have posted some videos from the air show. Please watch them because it took me a really long time to upload them . . . oh, and I think you'll enjoy them.

There is one where they make a heart. They did this to honor our loved ones who are currently deployed and serving our Country. Nathan was deployed at the time we saw this and so I posted it for him, but also as a thank you to those who have served in the Armed Forces in any capacity. Thank you for what you have sacrificed so that we can enjoy the freedom that we have in this Country!