My Boring But Recently More Intersting Summer

It's hard to believe that so much time has passed by over the summer. I blame it mostly on the fact that the daily grind gets so monotonous that you lose track of time in the norm of things. I find that I've learned a lot over the past few months about myself, about others, and about hidden talents that I didn't know I had.

If you are reading this blog, you probably know me well enough to know that I've been working construction for the summer. There's a lot included in that. I've done everything from drilling pilot holes for structural beam studs and laying down storm drain pipe to compacting raw earth for road base and grouting out manholes. Needless to say that this summer has been surprisingly varied as I'm not usually doing the same thing every day. The actual title of my job is a "pipe-layer." That means I spend most of my days in a trench with a shovel and a 4' level installing pipe for drain systems. I'm on the excavation crew for Hogan Construction. I get to drive a front-loader a lot. It's pretty fun. At least it gets me into an air-conditioned cab of a vehicle instead of slaving away in the hot sun. One plus side, though.....I have an amazing farmer tan.

Most recently, I've had to drive an hour south to get to an area called Eagle Mountain (west of Saratoga Springs) at 5:00 am!! Yeah. I get pretty tired.

This past weekend was amazing to say the least. Probably the best this whole summer. My wonderful girlfriend, Jennie came for a visit. Not only was it a great excuse to get three days of work off, but I love having her here. I think having her here far out-weighed the off-time from work. We had a great trip to Bear Lake with the singles branch where we got ripped to shreds on the tubes and also got her a ride on the jet skis. Great time. (You can see a little bit of that farmer tan referred to earlier.)

After the trip to Bear Lake where we all got very very tired, Jennie and I hurried home to get ready for a dinner-double-date with my parents. We spent the night eating at the Roof Restaurant at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. The food was incredible, as was the view and the company (of course, I'm not biased). We ended the evening with a wonderful walk out on the terrace at Temple Square and even got to take some pictures out in front of the temple by the reflection pool. Unfortunately, the young man using the camera didn't get it quite right. But I'm not that picky.

So, as if the weekend couldn't get any better, I got to celebrate my sweetheart's birthday with her. Yep, it's official. I'm no longer dating a teenager. Jennie hit the big 2-0 this weekend and did it very gracefully. We had a great evening with all the family together. We played games, had cake and ice cream, and even sang a great rendition of that Ostermiller classic version of the Birthday Song.

Sadly, early early the next morning I had to say goodbye on my way to work. I loved having her here with me. Just to set the bill straight, there are no plans of a wedding. Jennie and I just don't know yet what's going to happen but we're enjoying the time we have together.

So there's a not-so-brief update on what's gone on in my life this summer. Lots of fun. Lots of good things happening to me that I probably don't deserve, but I'm greatful for them anyway.

Love to all! To my friends, I'll see you all in a month back up at school.