Angels in Saint George

This is going to be a long story so let me give the overview to those of you with short attention spans:

Tried to drive to San Diego for Christmas.

Broke down in Saint George.

Slept in the van, brrrrrrr.

Went to the temple, met angels there.

Ended up with new wonderful friends.

Got “rescued” by Ivan’s dad.

Van miraculously started working again.

Ended up back home for Christmas after all.

So a little while before Christmas we pull into the Wal-Mart in St. George around 7 pm Thursday night. After purchasing some snacks and munching on them a bit we got ready to head out again (hoping to make it at least to Mesquite that night.) Well to our surprise the car would not go into any gear, it was very stuck in 3^rd gear. We couldn’t even get it onto neutral. We messed around with it for about half an hour before deciding to hold the clutch while rolling it out of the parking spot, then driving it in third across town towards a mechanics shop.

Well, about 10 blocks from Smiths the battery/alternator gave out and we rolled to a stop in front of a random person’s house, where we spent a chilly night. The next morning we leisurely walked to Smiths, and the library and stopped by the mechanics shop to ask questions. When we got back to the van by the afternoon we saw some guys a few houses down jumping a car so we asked them for a jump. While getting ready to jump the car, Ivan noticed that the belt was missing off the alternator and happened to have a spare in the van. Well a new belt and a jump solved the power problem, but we still had the transmission problem. We somehow managed to make it to several mechanic shops in 3^rd gear, who told us that they couldn’t really look at it till Monday, but it probably needed a new transmission which would cost $1000 for the part plus $900 for the labor. Sheesh!

So we drove to the smiths and parked. After hanging out in the cold we decided to go to a session at the temple where it would be nice and warm. We hadn’t been to the temple in a very long time and we both happened to have our recommends on us. So we went. I actually enjoyed the session and being at the temple more than I ever have, for no particular reason. It was very nice. Then afterward a guy named Steve approached Ivan, he said “you look familiar, do I know you?” Ivan said we’re not from around here, we’re from Provo. And the guy invited us to dinner and asked how long we’d be staying and Ivan awkwardly explained that we were broken down and would be in Saint George until we figured out what to do. This is when we learned that Steve and his wife Carmen were angels in disguise. They insisted that we stay with them when they learned that we had slept in our van, they bought pizzas, borrowed a queen sized bed and put it in the baby’s room for us to sleep on and moved the baby into their room so that we could have the room to ourselves. We were embarrassed to be so fussed over by strangers yet so touched. The next day they made us a big breakfast and offered to take us sight seeing, they invited us to their ward party (it was a blast!) and insisted that we stay as long as we like. I have never met more welcoming people, I felt as though I were visiting family. We also talked and played games and got to know each other. “Help yourselves to any food in the fridge or to a shower if you like.” By the time Ivan’s dad came to rescue us Sunday morning we were sad to leave our lovely new friends.

Then after driving around pricing Uhaul trailers, we found one that was open on Sunday and found a rental for $150. I had remembered that one of the mechanics had managed to get it into reverse, so I insisted that we go try getting it into 4^th (there is only 1-4 on the van) before renting a trailer and making Ivan’s dad’s truck pull it up that big hill. We to my surprise, despite some stickiness, I was able to get it into ever gear except first. Hmmm, that’s weird. So we drove it back to Provo, with Ivan’s dad behind incase we got into more trouble. I’m so grateful for awesome in-laws (and friends and family, we had so many people offer to come get us when they heard

This experience, which seems so inspired, has really got us second thinking about driving down south. I also think I’ve figured out what I came back for (something amazing happened, which I will definitely be writing about later) and it wasn’t Christmas, although Christmas turned out to be not so bad after all, it was pretty awesome being with family and all the Christmas cheer we had to put up with was tolerably ( ;

So as for our trip to Central America, so many things have gone wrong, we were supposed to leave MONTHS ago. We are still thinking about flying, but it's hard to say at this point. I hate to disappoint, but there's a pretty good chance that the trip will be postponed indefinitely.

Christina and Ivan have left the building...

Well, provo anyway, we're in southern Utah. No time right now. More later ( :

Happy Birthday Rebecca!!!

Ivan's other mom, Rebecca had us over last week for home made sushi. It put all the other sushi I've ever had in my life to shame. It was to die for! I ate until I was ready to explode. Rebbecca is the best cook. She so sweet and fun and feisty. We love her <3

zoo lights at hogle zoo

Yum!

We went to the new raw food restaurant in sugar house a couple nights ago.

We met up with my raw food friend Farmer Dave there. Dave actually grows a lot of his own produce. (fun fact) He also sews a lot of his own clothes (like the pants he's wearing in this pic) which I think is totally cool!

Everything was DELISH!! All fresh oraganic living foods. I only wish I had had room for desert (it was very filling!)

I had a bit of a fling with raw food a few years back. It is a hard diet to maintain but man it feels good!

We had the;

Raw Pasta (which was much better than it looks in this pic)
A lovely blend of tomatoes sauce, basil garlic pesto, and alfredo nut
sauce, mixed in with zuccini noodles, tomatoes, red bell peppers onions, olives, topped with avocados, our famous seed/nut cheese and Love.

Lebanese Wrap (yummy!)
Our famous sprouted hummus, topped with tomatoes, avocados, onions, olives, red bell peppers, olives, parsley, homegrown alfalfa sprouts and
Love. Served wrapped in Collard greens, or on cabbage and lettuce.

Seaweed ’n’ Noodles. (my favorite!)
Seaweed marinated with namashoyu and ginger, served on zucchini
noodles, topped with avocado, tomatoes, celery, red bell peppers,
onions, and Love.


Bean Burrito (I didn't try this one but it looked good)
Beans consists of a puree of Tahini and sunflower seeds mixed with Mexican herbs, spices, and Love. Topped with macadamia nut sour
cream, sprouts and served wrapped in collard greens, or with crackers, lettuce and cabbage.

The universe hates me.

Just when you think the universe had dealt you enough trials, and was going to give you a break. *sigh*

Tiss the season for car troubles.

Ivan finally fixed the problem we were having with the van. (yay!)

And then the Honda breaks down, which we so did not see coming. (boo!)

Not to mention a slew of other frustrating, time/money consuming things that have gone wrong this month.

I'm starting to think I'll never get out of here.

And we are so close too.

I'm not giving up yet, but definitely discouraged.

Is this trip meant to be?

Will Christina be able to escape before Christmas?

Stay tuned, same bat time, same bat channel.

To be continued...

Beyonce wannabe

So I've totally be practicing my Beyonce moves, I was thinking up uploading a video until I found this one on youtube. It was like looking in a mirror, only she's just a little better at some parts than me, otherwise this is pretty much what I look like stading in front of my computer doing the Single Ladies dance. We even have the same hairdo almost!

body worlds exhibition

It was AMAZING! I seriously love anatomy. I was so excited to find out this came to Utah because I've wanted to go to the one in Vegas for years. It's a pricey display but it was worth the $. We weren't able to take any pictures inside but I found some online. I went with my mom which was lots of fun.

All the specimens were real human cadavers (except the real camel cadaver) preserved with some kind of process using a type of plastic.

One of the coolest parts was the real fetuses at different phases of pregnancy.

The smoker lungs were crazy disgusting! If I were a smoker I totally would have quit.

The whole show was beautiful and well put together. I highly recommend!

Meet the backup plan

This is our van. We haven't named it yet. Feel free to submit your suggestions.

This blue baby is going to carry us south of the border (hopefully, hah!) as soon as we get the new title in the mail (probably Monday since we registered it yesterday.) The motor home may make a last minute comeback but at any rate we are still getting out of here soon.

People must be sick of seeing our faces because they keep asking us when we're leaving (; Soon enough dears, soon enough.

Brooklyn Boy webcam video

So I picked up the guitar for the first time in YEARS (seriously, I'm surprised I sort of remember how to use it!) to learn a song called "Brooklyn Boy" by Kevin Devine. I'm actually not very skilled at the guitar despite having owned one for almost 10 years now.

This was after hours and hours of practice and very sore fingers!

I also used the opportunity to demonstrate on of the several cool special effects my laptop's web cam came with. I may demonstrate them all some day, they're pretty funny. This one is called Elvish Ears.

The sound is way off track and the sound quality sucks, but at least I posted something this week!