Zion National Park

Sometimes living in one place for so long, we forget to actually travel to the surrounding areas to really experience the beauties that truly surround us. So, Jack and I decided to check out some cool sites in St. George and we headed to Zion National Park to take a looky see. The day started off pretty rainy and cold.
But thankfully the sun did decide to come out for part of it and we did enjoy a fun hike. We actually did make it to the top and enjoyed a beautiful view of Zion Canyon. The climb was dangerous ;o)...exhilirating...and freezing for most of the way...but what a great day to truly be out in nature for an entire day to see so many different wonders. I kind of went crazy with the camera of course, and Jack got super annoyed that I was taking so many pictures...as you can tell by his expression on the right here. But he had to admit he did end up having a good day as well. It's hard that amidst our busyness and everyday lives that we kind of turn into these desk people or 8 to 5 people, when we really weren't like that to begin with. Jack and I are definitely pretty active and outdoors-y, but we have not had a chance to even go out and do anything outside the city limits in months and months! We are losing our identity a little bit when we get so caught up in the everyday and lose sight of the beautiful things that we can still experience just a short drive away. So, after this weekend, I'm determined to find our "true" identities again and make sure we're going out to enjoy doing those activities and seeing the sights that we want to see...well at least I want to see. :o) Jack's a good sport for indulging me when I get an urge to go and see something different...whether it be a play, or a national park. I'm glad I always have a ready and "mostly" willing partner to enjoy things with. It's fabulous! But to all you desk people and 8 to 5 people...Don't lose your identity! Go out and enjoy the things you want to enjoy! We know we all work hard, but don't forget to play hard too!

Canadian border crossings

Imagine my surprise when I was walking through the Wal-Mart in Utah and I came across this little number--Herr's Ketchup chips. Finally, at last, Ketchup flavored chips have made it across the border! I simply had to buy them...and unfortunately, I have to say it was very far from the classic ketchup chips from back home. My review is as follows:

• Scent as soon as the bag was opened was quite potent, not unlike the classic Old Dutch flavor. +
• Chips were not drenched in red powder as the classic Old Dutch variety are. -
  
• Flavor was not very ketchup-y strong.-
• It was ketchup flavored after all and it was available in the US...thus I didn't have to pack it down with me from Canada...meaning the chips were actually intact by the time I wanted to eat them. +
• It was cheap! I'm assuming most people who are not used to the ketchup-y goodness of the original Old Dutch ketchup chips would think this flavor is kind of gross. +

But ahhh, good memories of home! :o)
Some other things I think would be awesome if it made it across the border would be:

• Perogies

• The Real Canadian Superstore
• Poutine
• MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-Op)
• And last but not least, and of course my most wanted Canadian border crossing...My parents

Well, that's all for my random ramblings for today.

Addictive past time

Well, since my blogging days on blogger have begun, I've been quite addicted...yet, not with the whole writing and posting necessarily, but trying to figure out how to actually make this thing mine...or "ours" I guess. You have all these choices of templates, but you know EVERYONE else out there has the same one as you...so you HAVE to try and change it to make it different somehow. And well, once you get caught up looking and analyzing html coding and stylesheets, it's pretty much over from there.
So, well, I've done some things, but I'm not really sure what I think. It's hard to really make it feel like mine...while still taking full advantage of a cute template. So, basically what I've decided is that I'm basically going to have to just use a reeeeeally simple template and then mess around with that...then hopefully I won't be messing too much stuff up. But we'll see...in the meantime, you can keep looking to see if I've done anything wild and crazy! :o)

Starting a "real" blog

Ok, so I have to say I'm a little disappointed with the actual "customizability" of these blog sites. For those of you who don't know, I've been trying to keep our personal "blog" up to date on our home page (http://madsen.redeeze.com/news2.htm), but I've been told that it is much easier to actually blog on a blogging site, rather than kind of fake it on our home site.

Pros of our own site blog:

• Well, first off, it's of my own design...which I think is pretty darn cool. :o)

• I know how to actually read the html language on my own page.

• I even figured out how to post movies and audio files on my site along with the pictures.

• Hey, it's MY OWN site. :o)

Cons of our own site blog:

• Ok, I have no idea how to set up a comments thingy so people can post comments.

• My layout gets a little messed up every time I try to put too big of images or something weird.

• Jack doesn't have access to it so he can never post anything...if he would ever feel so inclined to do...who knows, he might. :o)

So, what should I do?? I guess best thing is to try it for a while...but now I'm all torn because I have a lot of great blog entries on our home page, and I haven't even gotten started here...so, next time I want to put up an entry, where do I go? Here...home page...here...home page...Any thoughts? :o)