My Adventurous Journey Home

Can I just tell you how much I LOVE vacation! I have enjoyed sitting around doing pretty much nothing for the last week (or so). I am also VERY grateful to be alive and to have actually made it to my parents house. I almost didn't make it here alive. Let me tell you of my adventures home.

Last Thursday morning at about 8:30 am, Asa, Claire (Asa's friend who had been visiting Asa and staying with me) and I all headed for Richland, WA. The drive home typically takes between 9 and 10 hours. We decided to leave fairly early so that we could make it through the one major mountain pass (Blue Mountain's Cabbage Hill) in the daylight hours. It was snowing when we left Provo, but we knew there were clear skies ahead (or at least that is what the weather stations were reporting). The roads weren't too bad, but traffic was crawling at a snail's pace. I had considered stopping by and visiting my friends at the Dirge, but had decided to just head home, trying to get ahead of the storm and make it home sooner. However plans changed when it took us 1.5 hours to get from Provo to Midvale (about 35 miles). It was ridiculous. Claire needed to use a bathroom so I decided to stop by the Dirge and say hi.

It was great to see everyone. I really miss all of my great co-workers there. They are such funny and fun people. I don't really miss the work at all, but I really miss my friends there. They are really a part of my family, after all I worked with them for over 4 years.

We finally got back on the road again about 11am. The roads continued to be a little snowing until about the Salt Lake county line. Then the skies cleared and the roads were dry. We took advantage of the dry roads and clear skies and made really good time to Boise, the 1/2 way point. I then turned the wheel over to Asa. I needed a break from driving. We kept on driving and the skies and roads were clear. I was talking to Abe on the phone and he was asking me how the roads where and I said great. I hung up with him and as we rounded the next bend, it was almost a complete whiteout. You could barely see the reflectors on the side of the road. I called home to get the weather forecast for the roads up ahead. We made it to Baker City then pulled over to clear the windows and decide if we were going to forge ahead in the crappy weather. We decided that we would continue on to Le Grande and then assess the situation there. We inched along on our way to Le Grande (I took over the driving once again.) I was a wreck with Asa driving in the snow. I had a Kung Fu Death Grip on the door and my seat. I know Asa is a good driver, but I was freaking out because I wasn't in control, but I was still responsible for getting Asa and Claire home safely. Plus, let's be honest, I am a control freak. We finally made it to Le Grande. It took forever!! We decided that if we were going to go for it (the Blue Mountains & Cabbage Hill were in front of us) we would need chains. We drove around Le Grande looking for the Walmart and got some chains. The special highway radio station said that the winter storm would pass through by 9 pm. Since it was about 6:30 I suggested that perhaps we find something to do in Le Grande (watch a movie, eat dinner, something) until 9 pm and then continue on our way. Asa and Claire both wanted to continue on. I hate driving Cabbage Hill in the summer, in the middle of the day with perfect weather conditions. I told Asa that if we were going to do it, he had to drive. We topped off the gas tank, said a prayer and away we went.

The weather was not great, but it wasn't awful. We drove about 30 mph and made our way safely down Cabbage Hill and into Pendleton. We were now in the "home stretch." The worst part of the drive was over. We were 70 miles from home and been driving for over 11 hours. Just as we were beginning to relax and I had relinquished my Kung Fu Death Grip on the tire chain case, a semi pulled out in front of Asa. Asa braked and the semi went back to his lane. As Asa braked we started sliding straight for the under belly of the semi. I was within inches of my face meeting the back corner of a semi, when Asa got us out of the slide, but over corrected, which sent us off in the median on the other side of the road. I am not sure that any of us knew what had happened. We were okay and the car was fine, but we were stuck in snow up to our knees.

We climbed out of the car and got busy trying to dig ourselves out of the snow bank. We keep at it for about 30 minutes, when decided we had better call mom and dad to have them come and pull us out. (I tried to take pictures, but unfortunately my camera battery had died :( ) As we were talking to my parents, a snow plow pulled over to see if we needed help. Unfortunately he didn't carry any chains to pull us out, but he called a tow truck for us. We waited and waited while he waited to see if someone could come and get us. After about 30 more minutes he had to go take another lap. He told us that someone should be coming, but no promises. We called a few towing companies on our own and were told that someone was on their way, but that if we didn't hear from them in 30 minutes to call them and they would come get us. Thankfully We had filled up the tank and so we had plenty of fuel to keep the car running and the 3 of us warm. Just as the 30 minutes were about to expire, a pair of Russian Semi-drivers ( we'll call them Vladimir & Lenny) pulled over to see if they could help. Bless their hearts, they had no clue how to pull a car out of a snow bank. They wanted to hook up to my wheel and try and pull me out sideways. Thankfully "Big Bubba" pulled up in his truck next. Big Bubba embodies WT. He was wearing a Coors coat and had two (or maybe even 4) front teeth missing. He had a tow rope. While they were all trying to figure out where the pop out where you screw the tow hook to my frame was, another guy, 'No-Name John" pulled up on his tractor (we are talking John Deere kind of action) with a plow on the front. Before I knew what was going on John had hooked up Big Bubba's rope and had us out of the snow bank. It took about 60 seconds. It was now 11 pm. We had left Salt Lake 12 hours earlier and we still had 70 miles to go. We continued to inch along thanks to the fog and black ice. We finally made it home at 1:30 am (MT). It took us 15 hours of drive time, averaging just 46 miles per hour. It was torture, however I am VERY glad that we made it here safe and sound, thanks to our new friends, Lenny, Vladimir, Big Bubba and John.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and safe holiday travels!

Merry Christmas!

I Survived....True Stories of a 1/4 MBA

Hi Friends!

Happiness abounds today cuz I finished my first semester as an MBA student, survived finals and am now one quarter of an MBA! Hooray! Adding to my joy is the fact that I ended finals on a high note. I think I probably did the very worst on my first final and did progressively better with each subsequent test. I think all in all I will probably pull out B's all around in my classes, which is actually great. There are SO many brilliant people in my class that I feel lucky to be even middle of the road, bottom half with them.

My stress level has also greatly diminished now that finals are over, RB-H is at the Mayo Clinic and HG is recovering from her brain surgery last week. I am no longer forgetting important meetings that I have responsibilities to attend. It really is amazing the weight that is lifted off of your shoulders when school is done!

I am off to pack. I am headed home tomorrow for 2 1/2 weeks of doing absolutely nothing! I can't wait!!

Everyone raise your glass to the end of finals! Cheers!

Laugh or Cry?

I am not really sure if I should laugh or cry. It has just been one of those weeks... you know the kind where you have a million things going on every day and it is somewhat difficult to keep track of everything going on. The kind of weeks where you are grateful for things like your BlackBerry, Google Calendars and Microsoft Outlook, because without them things would definitely fall through the cracks. Add to the end of the semester craziness one of your best friends having heart surgery and some family drama and it has been one AWESOME week! (insert loads of sarcasm here).

In typical fashion not only have I got school work and crazy personal things going on, but I have also (without thinking, obviously) been nominated and/or volunteered to head up a few school activities as well as host a potluck this week. I knew today was going to be super busy and my scheduling had to be just right or something was going to fall through the cracks. I had a group meeting scheduled until 6 pm, but I knew I would need to duck out a little early as I had a finance review session at 5pm and a club meeting where I was responsible for the treats at 6. I decided last night that I just couldn't swing the finance review session at 5 and get the treats on time so I decided that I would leave my team meeting at 5 and run to the store to get the treats and be back on campus around 5:45 to make sure I had enough time to set out the treats before the speaker arrived.

Thankfully me team got done a few minutes early so things were looking good. I headed off to the store to get treats and just as I was getting in my car with the last of the treats to head back to school I got an email on my phone. I checked the message and this is what it said,

Connie, Not sure if we missed you or you forgot, but we didn't see you in 264 tonight. Bryce

I quickly responded with:

"Please tell me it wasn't at 5! I thought it was at 6 and was just picking up the treats! I had it on my calendar for 6"

Apparently sometimes even with a BlackBerry, Google Calendar and Outlook, you can miss important events, especially when you put the time in wrong. I am sure that I will some day think this was funny, (I can see the humor in it now but it isn't funny yet) but right now I kind of just want to cry.

Lesson to be learned - you can't be everywhere and do everything....some day I will actually remember this.

I sure hope your day was better than mine!

Just for fun

My Friend Colleen had an iTunes tag posting on her blog and since it was highly entertaining and I needed a SERIOUS break from studying and school, I decided to play along. The instructions, etc are below. It turns out it is pretty entertaining....I may just do it all again to see what happens. Here are the result:

1. Put your iTunes on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write that song title down, no matter how silly it sounds!
4. Tag your friends who might enjoy doing the same!

If someone says, "Is this okay?", you say...
"it's not your fault..." Head Over Feet - Alanis Morisette
What would best describe your personality?
Somebody to love - Queen
What do you like most in a guy/girl?
All Summer Long - Beach boys (T-shirts, cut-offs & a pair of thongs)
How do you feel today?
A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More "Touch Me" - Fall Out Boy
What is your life's purpose?
Crazy For You - Madonna
What is your motto?
Don't Cry For Me Argentina - Me First & the Gimme Gimmies
What do your friends think of you?
L-O-V-E Fisher
What do you think about very often?
Sam's Town - The Killers
What is 2 + 2?
Dance Inside - All-American Rejects
What do you think of your best friend?
Our Lawyer Made Us Change the Name of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued - Fall Out Boy
What do you think when you see the person you like/love?
Change your Mind - All-American Rejects
What is your life story?
This Time - 3 doors down
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Accidentally in Love - Smashmouth
What will you dance to at your wedding?
Fall Away - The Fray
What do your parents think of you?
I'm Still Here - Goo Goo Dolls
What is your interest/hobby?
Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice
What is your biggest secret?
Somebody Told Me - The Killers
How will you die?
Walk Away (Maybe) - Good Charlotte
What makes you cry?
Leaving on a Jet Plane
What makes you laugh?
The Boys of Summer - Ataris
What scares you the most?
Everybody Hurts - REM
If you could go back in time what would you change?
Fat Bottom Girls - Queen

Hope you all enjoyed this as much as me. If you want to play along, well then I tag you.