Proud to be Japanese but Scottish seems nice!

The Utah Highland Games was held at Thanksgiving Point on June 13th. I went with a few of my friends and got to see the Wicked Tinkers, the parade of clans, and Citrine (a couple of my friends are a part of the music group). We also did a little shopping of the booths and I got some homemade rootbeer and tasty fish and chips before the BIG rain storm hit. I was completely drenched by the time I made it back to my car! At least it was a warm rain! I didn't see much of the athletic events but there sure is something about those bagpipes! This was my second year attending and it's become a fun tradition. I'm always tempted to purchase some Celtic jewelry but I always feel a little weird - maybe I just don't want people to think that I'm a confused Japanese woman pretending to be Scottish. Looks like I can't post a video with the bagpipes (just keeps processing, maybe it's too long for the blogspot to handle) - just know that it sounds GREAT and makes you feel like you're in Scotland!!!

Race for the Cure!!!

My friend Bev and I participated in the Salt Lake City Race for the Cure in May. It's something I always try to do since both my mom and my sister had/have breast cancer, plus it's a good cause and good exercise. Although, I'm a walker and not a runner. Someone once asked me if I run. My response was "Only when chased!" The only other time I run is when I play sports - perhaps that's why I mostly stick to volleyball lately! Part of the enjoyment is watching the other participants - now that's pretty good free entertainment! I hope that one day they do find a cure for breast cancer and that it's during my lifetime!

Indian Cinco de Mayo

I know, it's July, but I've been reminded (aka chided) about not updating my blog, so here's the quick catch-up. I have a group of friends we often get together to eat Indian food! We always reminisce when Lynette ordered the butter chicken and when the waiter came out to deliver our food Lynette asked everyone "Who ordered the buttah chicken? Buttah chicken? Oh, butter chicken, that's me!" Our last time we went out it was Cinco de Mayo. We were worried it would be crowded because, of course, everyone gets Indian food on Cinco de Mayo! But it was delicious and great quality time with friends (L-R: Holly, Lynette & Anthony, me, Teresa & Greg). Maybe we should make this a tradition. Don't worry, I'm still a fan of Mexican food and don't feel contrained to only celebrate their independence day on the 5th of May!

Baseball with the nephews

My brother Lane came down to Utah and wanted to go see the UofU vs. SDSU baseball game up at Lindquist Field in Ogden because SDSU has the best pitcher in college baseball. I met them up in Ogden and Lane promptly asked the boys if they wanted to get a hot dog with Aunt LeAnn. Sure, I'll take them to get hot dogs. We stood in line for over 40 minutes because they didn't have full concessions and they weren't prepared for the crowd. The boys actually were really good and patient despite the long wait. Lane even gathered up all of our stuff to come check on us - after watching several innings and a home run he started to wonder if something bad happened or if he was on candid camera to see how long it would take for him to go looking for his kids! I was unsuccessful in convincing them to get a hamburger instead of a hot dog because those were ready while the hot dogs were frozen. So we continued to wait. Luckily they were only $2.50 each and we still got to watch the last couple of innings! SDSU beat the UofU 11-2 and even though we weren't able to get any autographs from the pitcher or the coach Tony Gwinn after the game, it was fun just to be hanging out with the boys!

I Just Want to Fly

One of my good friends Ann (front left) wanted to go indoor skydiving for her birthday. You know that I'm always game for a good adventure so I didn't even think twice about joining the group (Darren M, Ann G, Steve G, Tracie E, and Darci A)! I was issued the bright yellow and purple L.A. Lakers jumpsuit - apparently the dark slimming jumpsuits are only available to shorter people! Indoor skydiving is quite a different experience from outdoor skydiving but ironically, our instructor Dusty was the same guy that was tandem with a friend when I went outdoor skydiving several years ago. We had two rules: 1) Chin up and 2) Hold still. If you have a neck or shoulder injury, no flying for you. If you weighed over 250 pounds, no flying for you. If you don't pay the fee, no flying for you. Luckily I was able to pass the restrictions and fly. Check out the website for a demo (http://www.iflyutah.com/). I wasn't able to get live action photos - didn't have the camera setting on "action" so they turned out kind of blurry. We did two 1 minute flight experiences and the air flow surprisingly sucked you up from the top of the tunnel room rather than blew you up from the bottom. One minute actually is a very long time when you're trying to hold still with a HUGE grin on your face while you fly. I definitely recommend this experience - it was truly a BLAST!!!

Sushi! This is the way I roll!

As my birthday treat to myself, I decided to sign up for a sushi making 101 class through the UofU Continuing Education. It was held at Orson Gygi on April 6th and it was so much fun. I learned that my mom taught me to cook rice like the sushi chef - wash and rinse the rice a few times until the water is clear and then add water by placing your hand on the flattened rice and fill up to where your wrist bends. Works great for sticky rice! I learned how to make a california roll and a spicy tuna roll. Here's some pictures of a salmon nigri and a couple of rolls I made on my own - one with crab and avocado with salmon on top and a tuna roll. I am definitely not a very good roller! But the best part of being able to eat/take home everything you made! I discovered that I really like fresh tuna! I also learned how to make various dipping sauces but I'm definitely NOT a master sushi roller! So I can't perpetuate the stereotype that all Japanese know how to make sushi! I better stick to my favorite gyoza!

Yurting is fun!

This past weekend I went on my first yurting trip. It was fantastic fun but I realized that I'm not really in good shape. I guess you have to exercise regularly to really claim to be in good shape. I snowshoed in with a few other sisters from my ward with the late departure group. So we trekked in to the yurt in the dark. The stars were incredible and even though it was kind of cold and we had to rely on our headlamps, it was so much fun. My RS President goes on several of these trips every winter but this was my first experience and I thought it was great fun. We stayed at the East Fork yurt near Evanston, Wyoming. The next day I snowshoed up to Lily Lake - some cross-country skied. Despite my blisters on my heels, my sore legs and arms, I would definitely go again. We had a really fun group - 10 women in total. We had assigned meals and carried in our own gear. At night we fluctuated between very hot sauna-like experience for those on the top bunks and freezing cold after someone didn't close the door all the way when they came back from using the outhouse. Luckily it was just one night as far as sleeping goes - but it was the first time in a very long time that I actually remembered my dreams! I only wish I had remembered to take my camera with me. Luckily I can probably get some from my friends.