It's Been A Slow Monday Night To Say The Least

This is just really funny... if you are a facebook slave like me, you'll enjoy it

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Wisdom Wednesday

We just got back from Utah. Because my mom got some deal for Lagoon tickets and a hotel room for a good price in the mail, we embarked for a four day journey starting last Sunday and ending a few hours ago. The trip was fun, but the part I'd like to impart wisdom about today has to deal with the accommodations we had the first night at the oh so chic Hilton Garden in.

WW18- The Wonders Of Wi-Fi Internet

Okay, it's true the Balls live in the Stone Age- we live off ONE ethernet internet port. When I use my computer I simply unhook the internet from our family computer and transfer it to my laptop, which kinda defeats the point, but it works. Well, evidently we've been deprived, because the first thing we did after stepping into the room was connect to the Wi Fi. Here is the picture to prove my point.

PICTURED: Payton on the PSP and Lindsay on the iTouch. NOT PICTURED: Me spending 4 hours on my computer that night, only stopping to eat more pizza and plug it in when the charge failed me. Pitiful, nah.... we were just a little vegetative. But hey! That's why it's called VACATION, right?

Fruit Fear Factor.

If you ever read this post you know about a flaw I possess... food fears. Last week Kurt and Diana decided it would be a good idea to break me of some of these fears before I go off to school soon, and potentially have to break out of my apples, bananas, grapes, and strawberries groove. Shudder. They took me to the fruit stand and compiled a basket of fruits I'd never really eaten. 

Needless to say, I was not that interested and just wanted to take a nap in the sun... 

And quite frankly, I didn't care to try ANY of these devil fruits. 

And all Diana wanted to do was take a trillion pictures. 

The first fruit was a cherry. I think I've had one before. I think my face and nose plugging shows how I felt about the first fruit. It was NOT good. 

The next one was a plum. I inspected it for a couple minutes, took one bite, and gave it to Diana and Kurt. Ewww I bet I wouldn't like prunes, either. 

Diana decided to get all creative and artistic with my camera, so this shot really emphasizes the bite I took out of the plum. Aren't you proud of me? I didn't even spit it out. 

Here's Diana and Kurt, inspecting the bite I'd taken. Really they were just glad I didn't like the fruit, because then they just ate it. Diana tried to convince us to wash all the fruit off in the drinking fountain at Ivywild Park. We quickly struck down the idea. I'd rather eat dirt on my fruit that get an infectious disease, thank you very much. 

The next fruits were an apricot, a nectarine, and a peach. Again, Diana had to get some art in before she'd let me work up the courage to "chomp" it, as Kurt kept saying to me. 

And once I did "chomp" it, I couldn't chew it. The distraught look on my face was caused by the extremely fuzziness. I felt like I was chewing on a caterpillar! I did finally get it down though... not bad. Peaches took the top spot on the list.

The red plum was disgusting. That is all that needs to be said.

And Diana just couldn't get enough of the "Twilight-esque" imagery as I inspected my fruit for strange blemishes. 

Next I tried the pear. I think they might show up in a nightmare along the lines because that bite was traumatizing. Here I am, spitting out the disgusting rubbish. I very much hated it. Couldn't and wouldn't chew it.

As the next picture depicts, not even Kurt or Diana enjoyed the pear.

The final fruit was a mango. By this point I was a little more than tired of "chomping" foreign foods, and this picture just shows how fed up I was with the way Diana felt it necessary to document every. single. moment. 

The mango turned out to be good. I will admit it. 

So, as you saw through this photo montage of a summer afternoon, I am stepping OUT and facing my food fears. Who knows what I will try next?!

Happy Birthday to YOU

This is so creepy. I love it.

Well, I forgot my blog's birthday. As of June 15 he was 1 year old. I feel kinda like a bad parent... or a demensia stricken senior citizen. Anyways, it's the thought that counts, right? Here's to many more fruitful years of blogging! 

TGIF!

You know your life is good when Fridays feel the same as Mondays feel the same as Saturdays feel the same as Wednesdays. Oh summer! Nevertheless, since it's Friday I knew it was time to break out this beauty:

The Tie Dye TGIF shirt.

 Last summer my friend, Rachael, and I decided it was extremely necessary to tie dye matching shirts. She goes to Utah State, and since I was stuck in Boise and we rarely see each other, we figured if we both wore the same shirt every Friday it would be like we were never apart! We did. They're gorgeous. We made one for our Skyler, too, and our only hope is that underneath his shirt and suit coat at the MTC he's sporting the tie dye TGIF. 

Happy Friday!

Wisdom Wednesday... Thursday

I just didn't write yesterday... this week has just been too fun and adventure-filled. Tuesday night was especially good, however I cannot disclose most of the information about our escapade. It's one of those, "if I told you I'd have to kill you" scenarios. Sorry :) However, I will supply you with this little picture, (unless you are Britni or Diana and have been invited to my secret facebook album hahaha) and leave you with this word of wisdom.

WW17- Dumpster Dive

You will DEFiNiTELY not know how reward it is until you do it.

And yes, those ARE donuts. 

Nifty Gifty

I've got some good news to share with everyone.

Ready? Ok. 

The Ball family welcomed a new member to the family on Friday- is is still nameless, but is a member of the Apple family. That's right people, my laptop has arrived. And I love it.  The only thing that could possibly make the experience of blogging from my very own computer would be if I was able to do it from my bed. Or couch. Or hammock. You see, currently we have no wireless. So I just unhook the internet from our family computer and plug it into mine.  It's quite funny, actually, watching the screensaver of good ol desktop while I type away on here. But alas, I think while I was away tonight some of my family was also basking in the glow of my new illuminated keyboard, for my battery is almost dead. Time to charge... must... get... off... computer...

So productive

I'm at work. But not really working all that much.. In fact in the last 2 hours all I have accomplished is making this rad bowtie handle for our tip jar. All out of money. Oh yes the joys of working at TCBY

Wisdom Wednesday

Seeing as I haven't posted for a few Wednesdays, I guess I should begin again. However, I really have NOT been feeling too full of any kind of wisdom. In fact, someone should give me their wisdom on what to do with myself during alllllll my free time this summer. I feel like I'm just wasting time and have only suceeded in ONE cool thing thus far. So, without further ado, my sub par

WW16- Embark On A Day Road Trip!

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon. Diana and I were riding out bikes, the breeze was blowing, and State Soccer was happening in Pocatello. To make a long story short, we decided it would be fun to go to watch our friend, Kurt, and Diana's friend, Marco, play on a totally wild hair. After begging our parents (Dad said yes, Mom whimpered, Diana's Mom yelled and finally said, "do what you want!".. I don't think she really wanted Diana to "do what she wanted". But she did anyways.)
So here is the story of our day trip to Pocatello starting at 5:30 AM and ending at 11:30 PM.
Here we are taking off... We were so excited! Both teams were playing at 8, so we knew we'd miss part of the games, but thought it was alright.. soccer games are long, right? We were really excited for our small adventure... if you can't tell by our documentation of the FIRST bug splat.
The drive was great- we sang, talked, ate, and everything was going well... until about, oh Rupert. I hadn't gotten any gas when we'd left Boise, figuring I'd just get some later. As we were crusing along a long and vacant stretch of highway I looked down to see we were close to empty. And then the gas light came on. I freaked out. My mind raced and jumped to horrible conclusions. I could just see Diana and I stranded on the side of the road, calling my Dad, walking the rest of the way to Pocatello, collapsing from heat stroke as we walked to Pokey, dying... you get the idea. Should I turn around or keep driving and hope we'd hit a gas station? I expressed my fear to Diana very colorfully and loudly. It was then that I turned my head to see a sign on the other side of the freeway telling me Burley was 16 miles back- without hesitation my rebel came out as I broke the law and went over the "emergency only vehicles" median road. I was still freaked out we wouldn't make it, but thankfully we found a gas station. It is an understatement to say that we were pretty excited.
We filled up on gas, and then it was back to the wide open road. We kept driving, and 3 hours later we were in Pocatello... and lost. Completely. Maybe it's mapquest's fault, or maybe it was me not knowing right from left. I guess we'll never know. All I know is that we drove around in circles for about an hour, as I dodged Diana's admant requests that I go to the trailer park over "there" and ask the guy outside for directions. As tempting as that was, I decided I'd rather be lost and alive! :) As we battled one way streets, a little bit of hopelessness on our parts, and closed roads, the
soccer game pressed onward, and we ended up missing it... but we finally stumbled into the complex as the teams were walking off the field. Just our luck! There was good and bad news. The good news was that we found Kurt and Marco, Diana's friend! The bad news? They'd both lost. The even worse news? They weren't playing again. The ironic news? Turns out the two teams would
have played each other in consolation, but since they both lost, neither team wanted to play. We were stranded in Pocatello, ID and it was 10 AM. Some people would panic- not us! We had a bigger and better Plan B- my 2nd favorite town in all of Idaho! Idaho Falls. Without a 2nd thought we got back on the freeway and continued on for a surprise visit to my friends and family in IF. But not before taking another stop at Dad's Truck Stop to take a picture on our friend the Sinclair Dinosaur. I guess the self timer didn't think our heads were all that important.
When we got to IF, we first visited my aunt, Julie. Boy was she surprised to see us! Then we visited some of my other friends and my grandma. From there, we visited my cousin, Lexi, at work, and then met up with Diana's friends, Albert and Marco. They were awesome. Maybe I think this because they fulfilled my biggest Idaho Falls dream. To see the windmills. If you've been to IF you've probably seem them from a distance, a dozen large windmills up on a hill. Every time I go there I tell everyone we should go, and we never do. May 26th was different! When I told my posse we needed to see the windmills they agreed and we were all there in a matter of minutes. It was great. They are HUGE!
As you can see, Diana and I shared some of our jumping skills with our new friends. They got a hang of it nicely. Oh, and notice the windmills in the background and Diana's skills, especially.
It was definitely a good time all around!
After hanging out with Diana's friends, we met back up with my friends at Blacktail Reservoir for a freezing boating adventure. I didn't get in, but some of my friends did... sadly I was too cold to remember to take pictures. It was fun, but all good things must end... especially when it's 6 PM and you've got a 4 hour drive ahead of you to complete before midnight. Oh boy.
Actually the drive didn't go too badly, and we ended up pulling in around 11:30. It was definitely a good day road trip, and something I will definitely remember for a long time. So that is my wisdom to you. Be sporadic. Take a day road trip. Drive over 650 miles in one day. It's totally worth it.

Shady Business.

As you all know, I've been on the job hunt for some time now. It's like fishing- some days I go out and just sit- put my rod out into the water and wait... and wait... and wait. Other times I feel this huge tug, reel and reel with all my might, and then at the last moment the fish breaks free. However, yesterday I cast my line, quickly feel something snare, reeled in forcefully, got real excited with fantasizing the size of my fish, and then moments later found myself lagging a big smelly boot onto dry land. Not a fish. This boot was called, "Cutco".

Okay enough with the conceits. First off, let's just put it out there that I am getting really DESPERATE for work. TCBY isn't bringing home the bacon I'd like with the 17 hours a week I'm given. So, when I saw an ad for "Student Summer Employment! A 15$ Base Pay! Internships! Flexible Schedules!" I baited my line. I went to the website, filled out the app, and in an hour's time an interview was scheduled for 5:30! This was great! I really had no idea what I was going to an interview about, but I mapquested the place, and showed up early to fill out another application. I walked into the building and up to suite 219. Why were there so many people here? I was handed an application and prompted to another room, filled with folding chairs, a "variety" of individuals to put it nicely, and Bob 96.1 FM. Interesting. I filled out the application, turned it in, and returned to my seat. As I sat, a guy kept taking small groups of people out into another room to interview. Some came back into the room, some did not. I continued to sit, and then looked around the room. My eyes rested on a plaque in the corner- "Cutco" was the first word that caught my eye. I panned to another poster. "The Cutco Experience!" My eyes darted left, but were tackled by yet another banner proclaiming Cutco opportunities until my eyes bled. I looked for excuses for why there was Cutlery all over the room... maybe "Vector Enterprises" shared an office space with Cutco? My name was called in for an interview, and my fear was reality. I was in a Cutco interview. I was applying for a knife sales position. I tried to be positive- maybe it would be... fun? After the 1st interview I was asked to go back to the waiting area to do the 2nd part of the interview... lasting about 1.5 hours. That was a lot of information about knives I really never cared to know. I think the little Cutco Seminar had some witchcraft involved, because the more I listened, the more I told myself that maybe Cutco wouldn't be so bad... I was even a little bit excited. Man I was reeling in hard. I jotted notes, used big words on my evaluation sheet at the end, and then was given a job by the Cutco man on the spot. The fish/boot was almost to the surface. I left the office in a daze... I was going to sell knives? What? I told my parents. They were... supportive? I definitely did not know what to think.

Last night I had dreams about knives. I had nightmares about selling them. In the morning, it was reality. As I rode my bike I thought about this boot I'd reeled in. After a little bit of examination I realized it definitely was not a fish, nor would it ever be a fish. I left it on the dock. I am NOT selling knives. No thank you.

So, today I go to a different stream to cast my line. Any suggestions?

Chester Cheetah's wife? Biggest Fan?

On the first day of us all being home for summer Mom and I went to Winco and witnessed this little number.. Winco shoppers have so much class!

Free Bird!

As of June 1, 2009 I am officially GRADUATED! Now when applying for jobs I can check the "YES" box when it asks if I have a high school diploma, when I driving by Timberline I can say, "hey! I WENT there," and now I can officially be cliche and hang my tassel from my rear view mirror. Happy day!

Oh, Graduation Day was great! Because we were all a little overeager, we headed down the the TBA around 6:30 to take pictures before the ceremony. (It was a precaution to the dreaded cap hair I might suffer after the ceremony...) Grandma Virchow, Morgan, and Drake came up from Utah to celebrate with us from Friday- Tuesday, and it was awesome seeing them. The actual graduation ceremony was actually really good- we had two awesome speakers, Senior choir and Encore sang a selection from "Wicked", and when walking across the stage to receive my diploma (cover) nothing embarrassing happened.

Haha I am somewhere in the front row of the picture above.
When the ceremony finished, I came out to find a surprise visitor- my Grandma Ball! She wasn't planning on coming, but my saintly uncle, Jeff, picked her up earlier on Monday. It was so fun to see her! So, here I am with both grandmas.
You may wonder why my father is in none of these pictures- funny story about that. Well, actually it's kind of sad. Dad came home from work Monday morning not feeling too hot. He went to bed, and didn't wake up for about 5 hours... and when he did he could hardly move. Yeah, I don't know what was wrong with him, but he was SICK. In fact, we kinda wrote him off for coming to the ceremony. However, he was able to muster the strength to come see me walk across the stage, but left promptly afterwards to go back to bed. Poor guy- what rotten luck we had in that department! Oh well, that's what photo shop is for I guess?Madison and I are going to the Y in the fall... I don't know if Utah is ready for us!Here I am with some of my best friends...Some of the seniors I probably won't see much ever again but will missAnd Britni! Ahhh she is the best. And can you tell we were sick of the blue gowns? :)
And here is Gordo, Lizzie, and Miranda. The only thing we are missing is our fish that we kept in Kurt's locker, named Kate Saunders, for 4 months. Best friends ever!
So now I am officially a student at Brigham Young University- the place I will begin a new life in less than 3 months! It is crazy how fast time goes... like my mom said, it seems like just the other day I was going to Owyhee Elementary in my pink Esmerelda shirt! :) Okay, well not really. It actually seems like a long time ago. All I know is that is was fun, and that I will always remember high school as a fun time with some great people. But now I just say
WELCOME TO THE FIRST WEEK OF MY NEW LIFE!

So this is a man...

I've always said short shorts don't look good on ANYONE. This sight at Costco has solidified my belief. I think this guy hemmed these himself!

The Latest

So you might be wondering why I haven't written in a while. Well, actually you may not be wondering, in fact I don't even know if there is anyone who reads this. BUT if there is, the thing that has been keeping me away is this little phenomenon in Boise called the "Graduation Party".
Never heard of it? It seems the more people I talk to from out of Boise, the more foreign the concept seems. Here is the basic rundown of a "grad party" for you graduation party newbs.
When one graduates, it is a joyous time, right? Right. So what is the best way for parents to celebrate their child's right of passage? Why, invite all their friends and their child's friends and have a party! In Boise this is very common. In fact, it seems all seniors in high school have one, because in the last 3 days, I have gone to over 10 different parties. In fact, this a very low estimate. At each "party" you go to, there is lots of food, fun, and usually if they are in Wood Duck or Lakewood, there is a plethora of pools and coolers full of beer and other alcoholic beverages for the adults... leading to many tipsy adults and funny moments. :)
Sometimes these gatherings get a little out of hand... a handful of the ones I have been to are restaurant catered, and I commonly hear my classmates trying to one up eachother on how many parties they've gone to in one day. (I think the record is 8 or 11) It's pretty comical.The best part of grad parties is I can truthfully say I have eaten 3 meals at my own home this weekend due to the surplus of parties I've had to go to, since everyone and their dog has had a party... I don't think I've ever eaten so many strawberries and potato salad in my life! Much less graduation cake from Costco... but don't get me wrong, I am definitely not complaining. It's been really fun to be able to just go to people's homes and have them feed you while looking at all their embarrassing childhood pictures and hearing the same cliche graduation songs on various slideshows. I love it! In fact, I adore graduation parties so much that I had one of my own! On Thursday Britni Ward and I had our own little grad gathering, sans the pools and alcohol, but nevertheless it was a good time! I got to see some of my friends I NEVER see, and it was just really fun! I think I owe it to my mother... she knows how to plan a party. :)
So, that is basically the deal. TOMORROW I recieve my diploma. Yes, I will be a graduate! Grandma Virchow, Morgan, and Drake drove down this weekend to see me finish, and I am so happy they could make it. I'm way excited to be done, and stay tuned for pictures and tidbits later!