The world has turned and left me here. Thankfully.

Last night I saw Weezer. Not like at the mall, but you know, in concert. At The Joint. And it was, in a word, amazing.

Weezer is currently on their "Memories" tour, in which they play the entire Blue album, song by song, followed by the entire Pinkerton album. It's like one of those can't miss moments in life. Our new friend Danny, who we met in the crowd, explained it this way. What if 10 years ago you had the chance to see Michael Jackson play his entire Thriller and Bad albums. You would go. And, in 10 years you would never remember what you did otherwise, but you remember the concert. I like this for 2 reasons, one, because he compared Weezer to Michael Jackson. And two, because somehow I think he insinuated that Weezer would die in 10 years. But, he said all this while wearing the actual tour t-shirt from THIS TOUR with plaid shorts. He can't be wrong about anything.

But, beyond the outstanding music, this concert was full of amazing moments.

• In between sets, they had a slide show, narrated by bass player Scott Shiner, showing early pictures and flyers. It only made me love them more.
• In probably my most amazing concert moment ever, I started a slow clap that was slowly joined by those around us, and then, the entire Joint. That's right, I started a slow clap that spread to 4,000 people.
• We saw a Chinese guy wearing a full suit in a mosh pit.
• We discovered Weezer's #1 fan. And, I had no idea he would be a short, overly muscular man with a shaved head and goatee.
• River Cuomo had a costume change between sets. He went from khakis and a t-shirt to wool gabardine and a white button up. He makes nerd cool.

We ended the night with dancing and friends. Really, who can ask for anything more? Love you Weezer, and I hope you make it long past Danny's 10 year expiration date.

Beach cruisers, slurpees and awesomeness, oh my!

I have joined a gang. My reasons for joining a gang are similar to others, reasons heard time and time again. I was searching for identity, recognition, power. I needed excitement. Self-worth. Status.

We are the Weekend Riders.

Beach cruiser bike gangs have rules, like any other gang.

1. Respect higher-ranked members and follow their orders.
2. Never bring outsiders into the HQ and don't tell anyone where it is.
3. Respect both our allies and rival gangs. Don't do unnecessary things to get us into a war. Any problems with other gangs should be brought to the attention of the bosses.
4. Always have a gun.

We also have fun t-shirts and really yummy snacks! Plus, all rides end (or begin) at 7-11 to fulfill all of your Slurpee needs.

Our gang is recruiting new members. Of course, there is an initiation process. No one is guaranteed entry. However, one thing is inflexible. You must have a beach cruiser.

The Weekend Riders are looking to develop allies and/or rivals. We are looking to challenge street bike gangs, skateboarding gangs, other beach cruiser gangs, etc. So, if you and your gang would like to challenge us, let us know!

Oh great, another boring resolutions post.

Normally I don't make resolutions. Not because I have anything against them, mostly because I forget. I can't remember to do anything unless I write it down, and even then it has only a 50/50 chance of getting done. I am a surprisingly inefficient person.

Anyways, I decided this year I would actually make resolutions, and write them down in the hopes that 50% of them will actually happen.

1. Blog more. I am hilarious, and more of my thoughts need to be out there in cyberspace. Plus, because I am terrible at actually keeping a journal, this should be a record of all the awesome things I do so one day my posterity can look back and think, "Dang, Grandma was crazy."

2. Go viral. This may sound wrong/bad somehow, but I mean viral in the YouTube sense. I want a video I am in to become an Internet sensation. This can only be accomplished by creating and posting many, many videos. Which leads to #3...

3. Make videos. Lots of them. I was already in one music video, and the world should see more. Plus, it is high time webisodes of the Weekend Riders (go to #4 for explanation) were finally shown to the world.

4. Dedicate more time to the Weekend Riders. This happens to be my beach cruiser bike gang, and yes, it is as awesome as it sounds. Our gang will challenge other gangs. Blog post coming on this one.

5. Do something I love (or at least something I really really like more than a friend) every day. Miss Cropstar mentioned this to me, and I decided to make it my own. We only have one life, and I have decided wasting it away is just no longer an option. Besides, as my last post mentions, I am the granddaughter of Ray Zobrist. He lived life large, I have a legacy to uphold.

So, welcome to 2011 all my blog friends! Let's all hope it kicks 2010's trash!

We miss you Wild Man

Ray V. Zobrist

September 27, 1927 - October 13, 2010

My grandfather, Ray "Wild Man" Zobrist, was one of a kind. The head of our Zobrist clan, he taught us nothing is more important than family. He was my example of how to live life, and do it well. As my uncle Mark said at the funeral, Ray Zobrist lived life large in 30 minute increments. We will miss him dearly, but nothing can be more reassuring than knowing he has been reunited with my grandmother after 12 years apart.

It seems odd she has been gone so long, but luckily they were sealed together forever so the rest of us can be too.

I thought in order to pay proper tribute, I would share some of my favorite memories.

Each and every time I saw my grandpa, he would say "You get prettier every time I see you. You look more and more like your mother every day." Even though I knew he said this to each of my female cousins (to the boys he said "You get uglier every time I see you. Get over here so I can paddle your canoe."), my grandpa made me feel pretty, even during those horrible teenage years.

Another of his favorite sayings was "It's tough to be poor and have to work for a living." Luckily, Tyson has decided to carry this one on in our family.

My grandpa loved food. Two of his favorite places, Weinerschnitzel and Wendy's. I think my love of hot dogs comes from him. When grandpa cooked chicken, he would check to see if it was done by taking a taste, meaning before it was fully cooked, he ate raw chicken. And, when you sat next to him, it was pretty certain he would be taking a bite of whatever you were eating. But, he also shared. I remember sitting next to him as a child, watching him pour his Pepsi over ice and giving me sips. Even when my mom said no.

Grandpa came with us to the Luxor Steakhouse one year for my mom's birthday, and ordered the prime rib, because he loved prime rib. The waitress brought out a bowl of horseradish and placed it in front of him, and warned him to be careful, it was especially spicy. About a minute later, grandpa looks over, sees the bowl, takes a big spoonful, and says "Is this cheese?" After eating a large spoonful, he was unfazed. This story is legendary in our family. Just ask my brother in law. He has heard us tell this story and laugh hysterically probably 100 times.

One of the things I admire the most about my grandpa was the fact that had the same best friend his entire life. Dr. Al Noorda and my grandpa have been best friends since the 2nd grade. They went to school together, they served in the army together, they went to college together, and even served missions to Holland together (I still maintain my grandpa rigged this somehow. I mean, what are the chances?). They raised their families together, retired together, and were best friends until the day my grandpa died. I think this says a lot about these two men. You don't have that kind of friendship without making an effort.

But, I know nothing in this world mattered more to my grandpa than family. My grandpa loved his wife, loved his 7 children, and loved his 34 grandchildren. Everything he did was for family. I am proud to be his granddaughter, proud to be a Zobrist, and hope I can lead a life that will make him proud.

My eyes are closed. I know.

And I'm Proud to be an American!!!

Europe. Awesome. Amazing. Incredibly frustrating. It was the kind of trip you would classify as the best of times, the worst of times.

Before I show you all the good, just a some of the bad:

• Hopelessly lost while driving around Basel, Switzerland, unable to read signs. The police officer who stops us for parking on train tracks trys to give us directions, and tells us "wow, that really is difficult to find. Good luck."


• How I spent my birthday: Try to fly to Madrid, but brother has lost passport. Luckily flight gets delayed 6 hours, so we have time for the mad dash to the US embassy in Bern to get him a new one. Get passport, drive like crazy to get back to airport, only to find our flight was delayed another 6 hours! Yay for striking in France! Only food source available in airport: coffee kiosk with 3 day old sandwiches.


• Our bank decides due to high fraud in Spain, they are shutting off all debit cards. However, they fail to inform us of this. Span is pretty much cash only. We had to take a cash advance on a credit card just so we would have food to eat. Thanks for all your excellent service Credit Union 1!

But, then there is the good. Switzerland, a magical, wonderful, beautiful country. Fairy tales come true in Switzerland, woodland creatures can talk, and elves live in trees making cookies and shoes. It so clean, we took a picture of the only trash in the street we found. A small sampling of pictures, if you want to see the 1,000's more I have, please just let me know. I'll come over with my slide show.

I mean, come on, it is beautiful! This picture was taken in Brienz, which is the town my Zobrist roots originate from. (That's right folks, I'm Swiss!) I am not quite sure why they left...

Of course, there was frolicking in fields. The only thing missing is our Lederhosen.

We stayed in Interlaken, which might be my new favorite place on earth. One day I plan to buy a cottage in Interlaken, and make room for my new horse friend, Steve.

One of my goals in Switzerland was to take a picture with a cow in a field. I didn't realize cows were so scary. But they are. They have the look of the devil in their eyes.

I love Swiss food. The chocolate, the breads, and oh my, the cheese. My new favorite food? Rosti, or Swiss Potatoes. Don't they just look so yummy sitting next to my wienershnitzel?

We made a trip to Bern, where we saw Bears. Bears in Bern. Who would of thought?

It only took being lost for an hour and driving by the same McDonald's three times (no exaggeration) before we found the Bern temple, which apparently was visible to us the entire time, if only we had looked. I am seeing an object lesson in there somewhere...

We also got to see the temple in Madrid, which is on the MTC grounds and we met funny missionaries, who were the excellent photographers for this shot.

My favorite food in Spain, churros con chocolate.

The obligatory jumping picture in front of the Palacio Real.

After having a somewhat relaxing time in Madrid, we headed to Barcelona, which is honestly one of the coolest cities I have ever been to. In Barcelona, we went to a bullfight. Before going, I did my research, and knew the bull would die. However, I didn't quite realize how traumatic this would be. Or that in actuality, 6 bulls would die. Horrific. This is Cropstar and I after seeing our first bull die.

Barcelona is a city big on bikes. They have a public bike system that works similar to Redbox. All we wanted to do was ride the bikes, but we never could quite figure it out. PORQUE!!!! PORQUE!!!!

We had a great time, but, as usual, traveling overseas gives me a great appreciation for the country we live in. I am proud to be American!

We might be the coolest people you know...

This is what I did on my summer vacation.



More details to follow, but as you can see, Europe was awesome.

Church of Switzerland

Remember that one time I went to Europe and it was AWESOME!

Yeah, I'm doing that again. Jealous?

You should be.

See you in 10 days!