Summer...

You know what I love best about the summer? Can you guess?

It's not the sun...

It's not vacations...

It's not swimming and smelling like chlorine...

It's not BBQ's...

It's not sunburns...

It's not summer reading...

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It's tomatoes! Fresh from the garden! And on Saturday I went to the farmers market and they had some. They are starting to ripen! Hooray for tomatoes! Hooray for summer! You think I'm joking, but I'm not. I'll buy a whole bunch and probably eat 2 or 3 a day. So I've read that Greece has really good tomatoes...That's not the only reason why I'm going...

Snips and snails and puppy dog tails...

So my friend Jessica, who I have known since kindergarten (we played My Little Ponies and Lincoln Logs together) asked me to take pictures of her boys while they are out here visiting Grandma and Grandpa Nelson. I was really excited because I've never shot kids before (Oliver doesn't count because he just sits there like the baby blob he is.) It was really hard! But so rewarding.

Peyton is 4, and is such a ham. Brady is 2 and is much more solemn. Taking the pictures, I thought I would like Peyton's pictures best, but after editing, I think I love Brady's most! But the funniest thing about these pictures, is that they are so rustic and country, but they live in Los Angeles and don't like getting dirty. I get a kick out of this.

Kids are definitely a lot harder than engaged people. They came up Sunday evening and it didn't work out at all. Peyton wasn't too excited to be there, and Brady was more interested in the cats. So they came up Monday and it went SOOO much better. I was better prepared too. So thanks Jessica for letting me learn with your sweet boys!

Sing a song about the Heartland....

So Friday, July 17, 2009, I did something that I've always wanted to do. And I mean, always. It's almost up there with backpacking Europe. I got to see George Strait in concert. I know, you're thinking, really? George Strait? I thought this was the girl who listened to pretty much only singers that could appear on the Lilith Fair tour. Well, you're not wrong. I don't really like country, but I've always loved George Strait. It might have been when my dad ordered a pay-per-view movie called Pure Country. I think I was 13 or 14. Cheesy and corny, but it stars George Strait as a country singer who is just over the glitz and glamour and wants to get back to the music, his roots and, yep, you got it...Pure Country. I even own it DVD. I only tell you this to explain my love. I once worked with this girl named Adrianne at Convergys in Orem. She got it. We called him Gorgeous George.

Anyways...I talked Jaynie into coming with me. I don't know anyone else who would want to come. I was so excited. Even if I had to wait in the sun and 100 degree weather before they let us in the gates. It was so hot and sunny. We thought we were going to die from heat stroke. Thankfully they were selling blue raspberry snow cones. That saved our butts.

So the first act was that chick from Dancing with the Stars, Julianne Hough. I was not expecting a whole lot. I listed to previews of her CD at Barnes, and I was not impressed. It sounded like Minnie Mouse singing Country. I was so suprised! She is actually really good live. And she's cute...I hate her.

Blake Shelton was next. I actually recognized a few of his songs, so it wasn't too bad. He was pretty hilarious too. He sang the tune from the Free Credit Report.com commercial. It was hilarious.

Then came George! I was so excited. He puts on a great show. He didn't sing some of the songs I was hoping he would, but that's okay. He was just great. I can't say enough about him.

Now to the negative...I'm reminded why I don't go to big venue shows. You get a huge crowd of people together, and you get crowd mentality...you add a bunch of overpriced beer to the mix, and you get drunk neanderthals...The group next to us happened to fall into that category. I'm sure they are nice people. But they ruined the concert for me. They started stepping all over our bags and stuff, and when I asked them to watch where they were going, they got all pissy. I'm like hello, my very expensive camera lens and phone are in that bag. Whatever, I was over it until we turned around and they were kicking my bag and laughing about it. Bastards.

And to make things worse, it took over an hour to get out of the parking lot. And a guy in a truck almost ran me over in my little Hyundai Accent because he couldn't wait five minutes more to get out of the lot. Again, I say...Bastard.

So yeah, no more big shows for me...no more shows at USANA for me, either. But I loved George, and in the end I guess that was all that mattered. See ya next trip!

Update on me!

I'm marrying Michael Phelps...

I kid, I kid....but really, I've been swimming! I realized a few weeks ago that most of the places I want to see and visit in Greece are on the top of either a mountain, pillar of rock, or hill. So I have to get in shape! And since I hate running, I decided to start swimming again. I love it! And I've gone almost every day during the last few weeks. Well, until I got exhausted and had to give myself a break yesterday. I feel so good and energized. And I've always loved to swim, now I just need to get my stamina up!

The only downside? Naked old ladies in the locker room...NO JOKE!