I really don't know what speed I am going...

I left work earlier this week and was on my way to my hair appointment when I looked down to the dash of my car and I first noticed my speed limit gage wasn't moving then I looked at the gas tank one and it was on empty so I start freaking out that I am going to run out of gas and I remember the time we ran out of gas on 2-15 and Dad had to walk to the gas station while we sat in the car :) Remember that Mom? You weren't very happy :) Anyway so I start thinking I am going to have to walk in this frigid weather to the gas station but then my brain gets over the shock and I notice none of my gages are moving. RPM's are at zero, Speed Limit is at zero and then I think my car is broken and it is going to cost us a million dollars but I realize it can't be too broken because I am still driving. I decided I don't live too far away and if I take the correct roads I will drive right past my house to get to the salon. I pulled over in front of the house and decided I would turn off my car and try and turn it back on, that way if it doesn't turn back on at least I am home. I slowly turn the key in the ignition a little afraid if I will ever hear the roar of the engine turning back on again and my car shuts off. I sit there for a minute thinking if it is like a computer I will count for 10 seconds until I turn it back on but it is a much larger piece of equipment so I better wait for a little longer. I turn the key again, closing my eyes because in some way if my car doesn't start if my eyes are closed it won't be as bad, and my car vrooms back on! The best part, all my needles worked! Dane and I chalked it up to my car just being way too cold. The sad part about this story is Logan hasn't even reached it's coldest days yet :)

Hey Cass, I just won!

Alright, Alright, I know I have been a gigantic slacker! In fact - it has been a month! I will try to be better blogging and will hopefully have all sorts of fun things to talk about during the holiday season. We do have some exciting news to tell everyone about...On Saturday Dane and I went to the USU vs Santa Clara game and Dane always enters a contest they have before the game starts to see if you can guess the right half time score. After we submitted our guess we went to our seats and watched an intense game! We chatted during half time then right at the end of half time when the teams were entering the court they announced who had won the half time score. I didn't really listen because let's be honest I tune out the announcer pretty well at all sporting events :) Then Dane turned to me and said "Hey Cass, I just won", I look up at the jumbo tron and sure enough DANE CAMPBELL is displayed in bright red! At this point I didn't even know what he had won but they told him to go to one of the tunnels to pick up his prize. When he gets back to his seat, I ask what he just won and he said an ELLIPTICAL!! What!?!?! That is awesome! I use that everyday (ok well almost everyday - there are lots of days that I am a slacker about going to the gym :) ) I was so excited! Reality soon set in that our little 300 sqft apt would not hold an elliptical no matter how 'space saving' it is :) My mom gladly volunteered to store it until we get a bigger place - in fact I think she and my sister are going to battle it out for who gets to store it :)

Pumpkin Carving

Last night was our families annual Pumpkin Carving! It was so fun, as it always is :) My sister finally announced her pregnancy so I can talk about how excited I am on the blog! She is a little less then 3 months along and will find out what she is having at her next ultrasound in December. Our pumpkin carving was a blast! We had some soup for dinner and had so many desserts, they were coming out our ears, but they were all so delicious and really what more can you ask for when carving a pumpkin, then some sweets to go right along with :) This year we had some new tools to put to good use. David pulled out a pumpkin drill he got and my dad had one too. It was pretty fancy stuff and did some stellar cutting! Bryce and Tyler were both fun! We had all kinds of pumpkins, Anna did Harry Potter, James did an awesome Haunted House, erin carved a pig, Grandma and Sarah made a really cute ghost, Lindsay made a really cute face with BOO underneath, Bryce made 3; one was Thomas, one was a skeleton and one was a ghost, Keri made two that turned out super cool, McKay did one of Miami Heat - I don't know if we can claim that one though!

The Famous Logan Pumpkin Walk

This weekend Dane and I decided to go to the Pumpkin Walk that is held every year. We figured we need to do all the Logan traditions while we still live here so we don't miss anything. We picked Friday which was good because it was a pretty warm night, although I still bundled up with my long-johns, mittens and scarf :) We parked at the hospital and took the lovely LTD to the park. There was a huge line to get in so I was getting pretty excited plus there was the cutest little girl in front of us dressed in a frog costume (yes Lindsay I think you need one). We enter the gateway to the pumpkin land and there are a whole bunch of different scenes set up with pumpkins used as props. The first one was Sesame Street and it was pretty creative, it had super Grover flying through the air with his cap and his pumpkin head painted blue. It had Big Bird whose legs were made out of lots of little pumpkins stacked on top of each other. It had a pumpkin popping out of a garbage can that was painted green. I have to admit right off that though this Sesame St scene was cute, it wasn't what I expected. I thought there would be loads of cool carved pumpkins, not just pumpkins used as props. We moved onto the next one and the next one and the one Wal-Mart did was really shabby - i guess it goes along with the store :) There were some good ones like a whole cowboy scene where the pumpkins were hand-painted and looked identical to Clint Eastwood, John Wayne etc, I wish I would have taken some pics just to give you an idea. Anyway it ended and I was a little disappointed but I thought maybe it is more for kids. Then I went to work on Monday and told my co-workers (who are true loganites-born and raised) about it and they said usually they are carved. One of my co-workers went on Monday night and came to work on Tuesday and said this year it was pretty bad. She said it usually isn't so long and it is usually full of carved ones and this year they didn't have any. I was kind of sad because it is a true Logan tradition and we didn't even see it in its full glory! I guess we just might have to stay another year in Logan so we can see what it is usually like :)

Oh Dane, you think you are soooo funny!

Every night I do what I like to call a "Spider Check" before I go to bed. This glorious basement apartment, though cheap leads to a lot of spiders so before I put my toes in the bottom of the bed, I fluff the sheets to see if there are in spiders lurking at the bottom ready to bite! Last night, I went through my regular routine of the spider check, when there it was a nasty snake in the bottom of the sheets I screamed and jumped to my feet faster then I thought was possible, then I hear Dane laughing from the other room. He planted the snake I had just gotten from my A&W kid's meal in the bottom of the bed to see what would happen. The sad thing is, first the snake doesn't look remotely real at all and second, like there would be a snake in my bed. I still believed it and I swear my heart skipped a beat when I saw it!

ahhh...nothing like a good work day

As I am sitting at work today looking around at people I realize every job no matter where you are always as the same 'people'. There is someone clipping their finger nails a few feet away from me and I want to scream because that is so annoying not to mention disgusting but it reminds me of working at the good ol' WorkingRx where someone would clip their finger nails everyday and I would always wonder how they could possibly have so much finger nail to clip! There are a couple of people who will never be happy, no matter what you do. One person who randomly yells things across the room and thinks it is funny. Someone is turned in her chair resting her head in her arms staring out the window - probably in a daze of some kind. One person that has his music up a little too loud but then is singing to it even more loudly. A girl in a bad relationship that always whines about it but will never change it. Then their is the aroma, the smells permeating from the break room as someone warms up their left-over dinner from last night, the Victoria Secret or Bath and Body Works Lotions girls put on so you have a nice mix of fruit and flowers. I think by far the worst is when someone burns their popcorn or toast :) ooh thinking of smells though I forgot to share a story that happened to me this week. I was coming back to work from lunch and rode in the elevator up to my floor, there was someone else in the elevator and then there was the smell...That's right she had 'poofed' in an enclosed space with a stranger! YUCK!! When the elevator doors opened I almost fell out of them so I could breath! Kind of brings back memories of the tram ride in Florida :)

The first snow (well slosh) of the season!

It's official, we had our first snow of the season yesterday!! It was crazy, the morning was nice but around 11 we looked outside and the snow was coming down. Then two seconds later the sun was out, then the clouds rolling again and the snow started - talk about the crazy weather of Utah! One of Dane's students kept trying to tell Dane it would be ok to fly in - what?? That is just crazy!

Gotta Love a Nothing Fight

Well I witnessed a nothing fight today and it was a good one! If you don't know what a nothing fight is, I will give a short explanation, it is when a couple starts a fight with each other over completely nothing. I went to the local grocery store to pick up some dinner items and I love the self check-out lines so I was heading over there when I was but a foot away and the workers announced they were all down. I looked at the three check-out lines that were opened and picked one to wait in. Of course it was a time I got milk and no cart, so I put the milk on the ground to move in the line with my feet. (yes my arms are vastly out of shape) Then I heard it, at least the beginnings of it, the nothing fight was beginning. Right ahead of me was a couple arguing about Cream of Mushroom soup or Cream of Chicken, which one was better ?? The girl in the couple was all for the Cream of Mushroom and the boy was all about the Cream of Chicken so that is of course what he put in the cart. They arguing ensued for awhile when he said "fine I will go trade it for Cream of Mushroom" (way to just give in :)) Of course he left to get the soup as the cashier was beginning to ring up their items and he wasn't in a hurry either. The cashier finished so the girl paid and was putting the groceries in the cart when he showed back up and my items were beginning to be scanned. She told him since he took so long he will have to wait in line and pay for the new can of soup. He gave the biggest eye roll to her I have ever scene and all I could do was chuckle inside and try not to let it out. Luckily I only had a few items so I was out of there quickly and I am sure everyone in the parking lot thought I was nuts because I was laughing and walking by myself out of the store. It definitely made my day though :)

We have returned

Well we made it back safe and sound from San Diego and all I have to say is, that it was AWESOME!!! Granted I was surrounded by crazy future pilots and every time a plane would land at the San Diego Airport they would have to open the sunroof and gawk at it, I have never seen so much drool in a small car as I did on this trip :) The trip itself was really fun, we stayed at a SUPER nice hotel on Coronado and when we checked out, it was kind of a sad realization that we would never be back because there is no way we could afford it :) Dane was lucky enough on Monday to go the Wild Animal Park and he loved it...we are thinking about putting this picture in Herbie's cage, so she has a friend :) He was also lucky enough to see two Padre's games and got to see Maddox pitch! His dream come true :) The rest of the week was setting up for the races. I arrived on Thursday night and we just got some dinner and called it a night. Then Friday the races started, it was the Disqualification Round where one of the pilot's (the one with the lowest score) would be eliminated. That night we went to dinner then relaxed in the sweet hot tub, that over looks the bay. The next day was the real race day. There were 4 rounds on Saturday and we woke up to a nasty storm! I was a little worried about how cold it would be and admittedly when the race started, it was bitter and was raining! Luckily enough, the storm cleared out quickly and it was good weather the rest of the day. I was able to get a front row seat with one of the guys Dane went with so I got some good pictures. I will leave some of the trip stories for the next blog but I thought I would let everyone know how much fun we had!

What?!? There are flamingos right outside....

This week my aunt Susan told me an interesting statistic, she said Americans will see more plastic flamingos in their days then they will see live ones. I think that is way true, expecially as soon as Dane and I own a house (don't worry mom, I will only put out a few so I don't bring the house value down too far :) ) Last night, Dane told me the most exciting news!!! Right outside the hotel where he's staying is a whole herd of flamingos!! He even sent me a picture to prove it! I am even more excited to flee Logan and get to San Diego then I was!! I am going to take loads of pictures and maybe even feed them :)

Red Bull

Dane left today for San Diego, he will be there until next Sunday working the Red Bull Air Races. If you don't know what it is (which I didn't until just recently), it is a pilots racing through a course. Here is the link to their website. http://www.redbullairrace.com/ I have talked to Dane a little today and he still doesn't know what he will be doing exactly but he will keep me updated and will send lots of pics :)

We're Clear for Takeoff

Sorry I have been a little bit of a slacker but last week we flew to Salt Lake for dinner! Well I guess I should say Dane's student flew us to Salt Lake but it was pretty cool. Last time I went flying with Dane was a long time ago and it kind of scared me a little, not because Dane is a bad pilot but because he pulled a little stunt called "Take my hands off the throttle and see how long until cassie freaks out", that wasn't such a fun game for me :) This time was pretty fun though, I was still nervous because it was really my first time in a little plane (I choose not to count the last time) and every little bump makes the plane go whew...but I would just look at Dane and he didn't seem to even notice the little whew so I assumed we were all good :) When we got to Salt Lake, we were landing at Salt Lake International and there was only one runway open - What!?!? Who knew an International Airport would only have one runway open but I guess they are doing maintenance on the other one. Anyway when we arrived, we are obviously a LOT smaller then the other airplanes coming in so we had to continue to circle until they gave the ok. We waited for a few 737's then landed safe and sound. We went to a delicious restaurant called Texas Roadhouse, which I would recommend to anyone who hasn't eaten there and likes bbq. As if the food isn't good enough, you can throw peanut shells on the floor and who doesn't love that? :) When we took off to head back to Logan we were in line in front of a HUGE Jetblue airplane that Dane tells me wasn't a very big one but oh man, that close up those things look HUGE!!! Everything else was smooth sailing and it was pretty fun!!

See what I live with every day... :)

Dane found this link that describes a pilot's personality. I laughed when I read it because it is so true :)

http://airlinepilotcentral.com/resources/news/the_pilot_personality_20070820246.html

Excuse me, what did you just say??

The weirdest thing happened to me at work today and Dane didn't think it was that weird so I thought I would share this information with everyone and see what you think...I walked into the bathroom this afternoon and one of my co-workers was washing her hands. I started opening the first stall and she said 'Don't use that one, I just pooped' I was so completely caught off guard I didn't really even react, I did that stutter thing and probably had a look on my face that said 'are you nuts'. I don't know if I should find it a complement that she feels comfortable enough to tell me that information or just completely weirded out because right now I am feeling more of the weirded out :)
You know those times when you do something then right after you do it, you think "Why did I do that?" Well that happened to Dane this week, oh yes, he lit one of the big garbage cans on fire at Lee's. (the grocery store where he works) The store was having a dutch oven cook off in the parking lot and Dane was helping to get it cleaned up. He thought the charcoals were cool enough to throw in the dumpster and low and behold they weren't. The fire department had to come, all the fire extinguishers were being used and the workers were dumping buckets of water on it. Luckily for us, it didn't cause any damage and just burned garbage. All I can say is it is a good thing his last day is right around the corner :)

The first of many...

Well it is official, we have joined the internet-savy bloggers of the world and have started a blog! :) I realized this week that nobody really knows what happens up here in Logan unless you talk to one of our parents. This week has been pretty exciting! Dane got a job using the skills he went to school for, at last he is getting paid to fly - HOORAY!! He just got hired as an instructor at USU and will have students under his wing (no pun intended) in a week or so. After 4 years of grocery store retail he was able to give his two week notice today and will be able to have weekends and holidays off! YES!!
This entire week has been pretty exciting, following Dane's great news about his new job, we were able to take a relaxing trip to the wonderful warm weather of San Diego. We had so much fun, saw some interesting things (like the crazy rat-walker) and got lots of sun!
As for me, this week I made jam for the first time! I have to admit I was scared out of my skin at first because I remember mom making it and it seemed like it took her all day, but I was able to conquer the task and finished one batch. Now I just have a lot more peaches to peel and a lot more batches to make. Man oh man, I had no idea it made so much!! I sent an email around work today asking if anyone wanted any because our freezer just won't hold all of it :)
I think that pretty much sums it up for our first blog. Enjoy and comment as freely as you would like :)