Favorite Aunt!

It has been confirmed yet again that I'm the favorite Aunt! This past Thursday Ashley & Amber came and stayed for a night with me at my house. I believe this is mostly for my free babysitting services so that Amber could attend a bridal shower....LOL!

The night consisted of Ashley engulfed in an apparent favorite food (chicken enchiladas) followed by roughly 8 rice crispy treats. With all of this sugar in her body sleep was not going to come soon. We took a trip to Joann's for Amber which proved fruitless, however on the way back I proceeded to sneeze and have Ashley say "Bless you"......more like "ESSSS You" SO CUTE!!! Since Ashley was in such a good mood I saw no harm in letting her stay up as long as possible. Around 9:45pm I thought it might be time for bed. So we went into her bed, she reminded me to say prayers (how sad is that) and then she went to bed.

Amber came home 10 minutes later and got her out of bed for April to see her. Thus when she was crusty the next day I blame that on Amber.....she is the one that kept her up so late, not me.

And speaking of crusty the next day....Amber is also to blame for keeping me up until 1:30am :) Overall it was very fun to have Amber & Ashley stay at my house. Ashley is the first kid to stay overnight at my house. Look how happy little Miss Ashley looks.

I'm turning 22....oh wait, 32!

Some of you have heard this story, but about a month ago at NuSkin's convention I was hit on by a 16 year old. I, of course, did not know initially that he was that young (he was definitely younger than me). However, after discussing that he would like to me to come visit him in Hawaii & he would "skip school" to take me around the island on his scooter. That is when I learned that school was not the University of Hawaii, but was in fact high school. It was flattering that he thought I was young enough for him to hit on. I of course was not interested in "jail bait."

However, this past weekend I attended the Orem High Football game. You may be wondering why....originally it was because my friend Laura's husband, Sam (also my friend) coaches for the Orem Golden Tigers and she wanted to have someone to sit with. After attending the game I have learned it was for a significant ego boost. As I went to purchase my ticket I asked for a ticket & the girl at the ticket booth asked if I needed a student one or adult one.

Who cares if I'm turning 32. I'm apparently getting younger each year!

Blonde no more!

After years of being blonde I went dark on a whim! I'm not sure if I like it or not, mostly because I don't recognize myself when I look in the mirror. It is going to take some getting used to & then I can decide if I like it or not. This is actually my NATURAL hair color which pretty much tells you how long I have been dying my hair blonde (12 years).

Anyways, here is a picture so you can study it & memorize what I look like. I don't want you guys to walk right by me on the street & not even say hello.

World Traveler

Lately I have been taking my married friends advice & going on all the vacations I can before I get married. Not that marriage is anywhere close in my future, but hey, you have to take your opportunities when you get them so I am taking them!

My most recent trip took me to the beautiful island of Kauai, Hawaii. I know, I know I am pretty spoiled as I went to Oahu just 5 months ago. I can't help it that my roommates parents have a timeshare they don't know how to use!!! We couldn't let 2 free weeks in Hawaii go to pot. Unlike last trip we determined that this trip would be a "Girls Only" trip. The place we were staying was slightly smaller (only slept 4) and we thought that it should just be the girls.

Our trip started as NuSkin's convention ended. I literally left the Salt Palace in SLC and went straight to the airport. What a great feeling! We stayed the night in Portland (Thanks Ben & Angel!) and then we were off in the morning for Kauai.

Kauai is called the "Garden Island" for good reason. It is SO GREEN! There are waterfalls everywhere, trees, and red dirt (like the grand canyon). They also have a lot of gorgeous beaches. Since this was a "girls only" trip there was no need for doing our hair or make-up. We didn't think about how our pictures may reflect this choice, but man was it great to not do my hair or wear make-up all week! Our days consisted of this.

1. Wake up around 7-8am
2. Eat breakfast
3. Activity for the day -(Hike, go to the beach, kayak, boat ride)
4. Shower
5. Eat Dinner
6. Read or go to bed by 9. Yes, 9

I have posted a few photos on my flickr account (yes I know I work for Photomax, but it is easier to send you to a link to view them). I also have uploaded some videos to my Maxcast channel.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13973329@N06/
http://www.maxcast.com/jenbagby

Run, Jen, Run!!

This past weekend was my big half marathon. For those of you who don't know, I am not much of a runner. Up until this summer the furthest I had ever run was a 5K (3 miles). I am an aerobics girl at heart so I'm not exactly sure what possessed me to run the equivalent of running from my house in Provo, to my parents house in Orem, and BACK, but I did it and despite all my hatred of training I actually enjoyed the race.

I got up at 4am because I couldn't sleep. I assume it was not excitement to run, but more fear I would oversleep or possibly excitement for the run to be over in just a few hours. Jana & I arrived at the race at 5:45am to make sure we could board the bus since the race made a big deal about not missing the bus. Unfortunately they did not plan for the amount of runners registered (don't ask me why) and the buses had to make 2 runs to pick up all the runners. For those of us on the first bus run this meant freezing in the canyon while waiting for the other runners to arrive. After 1.5 hours in the canyon and 30 minutes after the initial start time we started running. The race is mostly downhill for the first 8 miles & Jana and I were cruising. We were running about 9:30 minute miles which is 2 minutes faster then we normally run (11-11:30 min miles). We were feeling good & just enjoying our music and conversation. After 8 miles the run flattens out, which after going at least slightly downhill for 8 miles flat ground feelings like you are going uphill. When all was said & done we ran the entire race (only walking through the water stations so we could actually drink the water) in 2 hours and 13 minutes, a 10:15 min mile. I was very proud of myself and almost shed tears of joy as I came to the finish line. It was great to have Mom & Dad there cheering me on. I'm grateful they came.

For those of you wondering I still have no desire to run a marathon, but I think I could maybe do a half marathon again. For all the boredom of training the race did make it worth it (sort of).

Movies, Movies & more Movies

The past week has provided me with a lull in my summer schedule. I have wisely (or not so wisely) been using this time to see movies that I have wanted to see. I have in the last week seen 4 movies in the theater. Fortunately all 4 movies have been worth recommending:

• Bourne Ultimatum - Wonderful, even better if you are in love with Matt Damon as I am. I have seen all 3 "Bourne" movies now and would rate this one #2 (the first one was the best). However for being the 3rd movie in the series it was great. So great that I saw it twice!
• Simpson's Movie - If you love the Simpsons you will love this movie. If you don't watch the Simpsons then you will not get most of the jokes. If you do then you will be rolling laughing.
• Stardust - A fantasy movie & chick flick. I had no idea what to expect with this movie, but it was definitely one of the better movies I've seen in a long time. It was funny, romantic, and had a very interesting plot. Good for men & women!
  
• No Reservations - A great chick flick and somewhat of a tear jerker.
  

Needless to say I need something else to fill my time. Good thing that this week I was lucky enough to book a vacation to Kauai, Hawaii at the Marriott for free. Thanks to Jana's parents who don't know how to use their time share and it was about to expire. Here is a picture of where I'll be staying. You are all jealous now I know.

I love the sun!

As many of you know I am somewhat of a sun worshiper. If there is a "false idol" in my life it would be the sun. This is why when a friend of mine invited me on an all expense paid trip to Lake Powell I didn't hesitate in saying yes! However, I had no idea that 3 days in August 2007 would make me into a "Lake Powell Snob."

Nicole and I went with our friend Adam and all his friends. Some married, some single. The guy in charge is loaded (and married) to say the least & we were not disappointed when we got on our houseboat and had a flat panel TV in every one of the 5 bedrooms (yes more bedrooms then my house). Since there were only 10 of us on the trip we had more then enough space to do whatever we wanted. They also had an awesome ski boat (16 passengers) that made getting up on the wakeboard easy. It also put out a huge wake to jump, if only I was skilled enough to dare to jump it. I also got to "surf" behind the boat which I found quite fun. Too see my mad skills behind the boat you can go to here.

We also were able to go to Rainbow Bridge which I have never done while in Lake Powell. It is a huge natural arch that goes over the canyon. It is honestly incredible to see it in person and to know that it was just made by water, but here is a picture.


Here are a few other pictures from the trip:

Houseboat Kitchen & Front Room:

The boys playing "Guitar Hero" video game....


Me at the top of our hike to the "cookie jar." I was very disappointed that there were not actually any cookies in the cookie jar. I had my heart set on oatmeal chocolate chip.




Needless to say I don't think I will experience Lake Powell like this again. I had a taste of being rich & I'd have to say....it is very tempting :)