LDS Confrence Center Salt Lake City : My First Big Mormon Adventure!

Here is the photo of me in the LDS Conference Center for the  General Relief Society Meeting that took place on Saturday, September 24, 2011.  This was my first big LDS adventure out here in Utah!  All I can say is "WOW".  It was such a great experience for me.  I could have stayed all night long.  I can't wait to take my family there for a tour.  It is such a beautiful building.  I've linked you to a site that gives all the details about the conference center.    It was so amazing to see it packed with women.  I think other than the wonderful talks the best part was standing up and singing with all these other people.  It was just really wonderful for me to do that.

Here is a photo from the outside at night.  This is what I saw as I left.(well except for on the ground not in the air!)  My photo did not come out as good as this one that I found on the Internet!  There are gardens at the top of the building so I'm told.  I want to go and see them.  But isn't it just beautiful?!  I have read that this is the largest theater-style auditorium ever built.  When we got to the Conference Center their were masses of women standing in line to get in.  I was amazed at the amount of people there.  I'm not sure if it was filled to capacity, but it seats 21,200 people.  That's just amazing!

Here is a nice photo of the inside that I found. I had a seat way up in the top of the terrace section.  I was supposed to be in the balcony, but I walked in with a member of my ward who was handicapped so we got closer and better seating.  The speakers were so far away that they looked like little dolls.  I was told I missed the most exciting part, (as I went to get water for my friend.)  I missed the Prophet walking in.  I was told the whole place becomes totally quiet.  All the talks were wonderful.  But to make my experience just the top for me was that my favorite speaker gave a talk.  President Uchtdorf was the last speaker.  I just love to listen to his talks.  And his talk had a reference to flowers!  Could my night have been any better?  I don't think so.
After conference I rode with my friends to burger restaurant.  It was nice to have a night out with the women of my ward.  I hope at some point to get to go to General conference at the conference center.  That would just be a great LDS Utah experience for me!

You've Got Surveys: Can you really make money with online surveys?

Ah life in Utah, where it never seems to rain.  Here is a photo of one of my friends roses.  I could just stay at her house and photograph roses forever. 
So for the past month I have been unemployed and at home playing on my computer for a lot of my time.  So you know how you get those emails..."Sign up with us and do surveys on line and make money".  Well having nothing better to do and thinking I'd be able to share my opinion and make a little extra money I signed up for a few.  I can say this it's a good thing I got my night job now! Can you make money doing online surveys?  Probably, but from what I have found you are not going to make very much, and most of the so called surveys are just companies trying to get you to sign up for their product.  One site which I'm going to cancel out of e-mails me daily with a supposed survey to take.  You click to take the survey and they want you to actually sign up for a different companies product.  What is funny is they will pay you $1.50 to sign up for a product that will end up costing you $10.00 to $20.00.  Or they ask you to sign up for a chance to try out a new laptop for free, but when you get to the end of the survey to be able to proceed you have to sign up for two other products that cost you money.  So in the end at least with this survey company you would end up parting with more of your money than you would actually make.  I always end up closing out of the surveys early, I'm not that stupid!  There is one other company that sends you e-mails.  I think I've figured out you get paid two cents for each e-mail you open.  Again it's all a way to try to get you to purchase some other companies product. Through this web-site you can also watch video's which pay you three cents, or take other surveys.  They also want you to play on-line video games which you somehow would get paid for.  The attempt there I think is to get you to think you are a really good video game player and then make you want to play and bet money.  Not into that.  So I've watched some of the video's and I've been opening the e-mails.  Hey that's not to hard.  And I've made so far about $6.00.  Now I'm not too sure I'll ever see that $6.00 but I'm definitely not going to go to far with my survey taking money am I!  Seriously I thought I'd be asked some grand questions about products I used and that I might get some little reward.  I have to say it really just isn't what I thought.

Here is a photo from behind my daughters school.  You can't see it but the mountain is starting to get red blotches all over it.  Fall is coming.  I'm not sure how many trees on the mountain change color and how many are evergreens.  It will be interesting to see the first snow on the mountains.  Vermont won in that category as my mom has said their is snow on the mountains. She thinks that means it will be a hard winter.  My children are very excited to have snow.  To go for walks in the snow.  I guess it is good that they have something to look forward to.  I hope that the road crews are good out here as I work nights and I don't look forward to driving home in snow storms. 

Well I hope you had a good week.  I kept very busy.  Tomorrow I get to go to the Womens' General Relief Society meeting.  I actually get to go where it will be occurring.  I'm very excited about this.  To be in the same room as the Prophet of the Church.  How greatly blessed I feel. I hope I can get a few photo's to share. Oh if you know of a good survey site or if you have made real money on surveys let me know.  As I'm quiet convinced it's all a big scam!

Have a great weekend:)

I survived my first Night shift in Utah!

Here is another photo of going down the mountain. I need to find out what the name of the mountain is that I keep traveling over.  I got to drive over it again today.  All the little shrubs are changing color.  It will be interesting to see what the mountains look like in the different seasons. 
Last night I had my first night shift at Kohl's.  It was also my first time alone in customer service.  And I had no clue where anything was, I had forgotten how to do things, but thankfully I had help and I my brain figured out the rest.  I was supposed to work until 11:30 but didn't get out until 12:30.  Makes the Christmas season that is looming scary.  If you get out at an hour later than you are scheduled does that mean soon I'll be getting home around 2am?  Ugh.  Guess I'll be doing a lot of napping while the kids are in school.
I have to say "I LOVE THE UTAH MOUNTAINS!"  I can't wait to go places and learn more about them.  I'm truly enjoying our move and learning about this state.  Because I've slept most of today I don't have much to share today.  I look forward to having tomorrow off and doing a little more investigating and just learning about my surroundings. Oh since I work night I got to see the "Valley"  in the wee hours of the morning and can I say it's beautiful.  It is also very lit up even so early in the morning.  The moon looked so beautiful last night too.  I like to drive home in the middle of the night as there is no traffic. Talk to you soon:)

Driving over the mountain another Utah adventure.

Some of our friends live in Highland Utah.  To get from where we live to where they live you have two driving choices.  You can drive along the highway which is flat and straight.  Or you can drive over the mountain.  I like driving over the mountain.  Despite the fact that when I'm the passenger I get a little car sick. 

When you go up over the mountain there are so many cool things to see.  I tell my husband though that I would not want to live on the mountain.  Our friend told us there are about 1000 houses up on the mountain.  They had planned to build 8000.  But then the housing bubble burst.  I just would not want to have to drive in the snowy weather up there.  I can imagine that it might be a bit colder too!

This is a view of the salt lake valley.  It's not the greatest photo as I'm in the car and my husband is speeding along.  We were running late so I didn't make him stop.  So all the photo's are from the passenger window.  I should have sat in the back where my daughter sits she had much better views.

Here we are heading down the mountain towards Highland.  It's amazing how you are just surrounded by mountains out here. One thing I'm noticing is that people take their football very seriously out here.  Everyone was wearing red on Saturday for the big football game.  And Everyone was wearing Red again on Sunday.  I take it the "U"  won the game Saturday night.  Those who were fans of  the "Y"  were hiding out and wishing they had a little more red in their closet.  Being totally unaware of the school colors I wore all blue.  Well it's my favorite color.  I hope no one thought I was a "Y" fan.  I'm not a football fan at all!

One other thing I learned.  There are parts of the mountain that look red now.  I was wondering what that was.  My husbands friend told us that it was the shrubs on the mountain changing color.  I also thought that watering your yard would cost a fortune, but I've found out that it only cost about $17.00 a month.  They collect the water that runs off the mountains and then pipe it through the neighborhoods and allow you to tap your sprinkler system in and charge you $17.00 a month unlimited use.  Or at least that's how much our friends pay.

Well off to learn more about Utah.  Hope you have enjoyed.  I start work tonight and I'm a bit nervous. I'll be glad to have my first day over with!

Dimple Dell Park, our first family adventure in Utah!

In New Jersey it took me awhile to go out and check out the parks.  As we began our  move I made the decision that I would not wait to find some great parks to check out and go for walks at.  Of course our favorite park in New Jersey was Dukes Park.  It had paved walk ways.  Well today my family took our first adventure out in the wild lands of Utah.  Or at least it felt wild to me.  We went to Dimple Dell park.  This is a very big park with lots of dirt trails.  We started up on the top of the park and descended down to the bottom where their is a dried up creek.

My husband and the kids had a great time looking for living creatures.  We saw lots of big black beetles, and dragon flies.  Thank goodness we did not see any snakes, or scorpions.  I'm not sure they really live in this area, something I need to look up.  Some of the locals that were on the trail said that it would be very rare to see a rattle snake in this area.  That made me feel much better.  He did say you might see a water snake but they  are much smaller.  I stayed on the path.  My adventurous family left often to investigate.

I'm not sure what these flowers are.  I think they might be wild sunflowers.  You see them everywhere right now.  I think they are very pretty.

Here we are on the path I thought we were going to follow.  The nice "Wood Trail" .  But no we had to go on the paths that went all over the place, through mud, and pricker bushes.  Adventure!  My husband thought it fun to walk behind me and throw little pebbles and see me jump thinking a snake was out in the grass.  My son loved looking at all the rocks hoping to find a dinosaur fossil.  My daughter liked to lead us on the winding ever changing trails.  I was glad we got back alive.  We did see alot of horses too.

If you are new to Utah or visiting and want to know about trails in the area the book to get is " Hike Trails (& walk paths) In Salt Lake Valley.  By Howard L. Nuttall.  Someone gave us this book as a gift and I'm going to use it alot!

We also have found a favorite ice cream shop.  Farr's Fresh.  You get to fill your own ice cream bowl and put your own toppings on.  You pay by how much your cup of ice cream weighs.  I tried the Pumpkin Pie Ice cream.  It was actually very good.  I think my daughter likes to make her own bowl.  I was surprised she could eat all that ice cream.  But she did.  She also likes that she can get mini marshmallows and M&M's on top.

Have a great weekend:)

UTAH CURIOSITIES...What I'm learning about my new home!

So when you move to a new place how do you learn about the new world around you?  Go to the library and take some books out on your new state.  I got the book :"Utah CURIOSITIES.. Quirky Characters, Roadside oddities and other offbeat stuff.  By Brandon Griggs.   Here are some interesting facts I have learned:
1.  When the Mormons first settled out here in 1847,  they called their provisional state "DESERET"  Deseret is a book of Mormon term meaning "honeybee."  I didn't know that.
2.  Up on the mountains you see these big letters.  I asked my husband what are those letters for?  The book gave me the answer.  In Provo you see a big "Y".  The letter was built in 1906, it represents Brigham Young University, which students and alumni call "the Y" for short.  The "Y" is 320 feet high it's the largest in the nation.  50 miles north there is a big "U"  For the university of Utah.  From what I read there is a big rivalry between the schools.  To the students the letters are symbols of school pride. 
3. I have finally learned where the numbered street system came from.  It is very hard to figure out the streets here, and then people shorten the numbers also.  Go down 7th east,  there's a 700 east where's the 7th?  Well they all just take the zero's off.   It all boils down to Joseph Smith.  And I was told by other's Brigham Young, but guess he was just following orders.  So Joseph Smith decreed that all Mormon settlements should be laid out in a numbered grid with a temple in the center.  Brigham Young, followed the Prophet's order when he got to Utah and established the street system in Utah shortly after founding Salt lake city in 1847.  Another thing if there is a town that was settled by people other than Mormon's in Utah, you know because the streets are not done by the grid system.
Well I hope you enjoyed reading a little of what I'm learning out here in Utah.  And for my mom " Yes there are tree's and grass and flowers.  And it is even raining today.  I hope tomorrow is nice, I want to get out and take some new photo's.  We are hoping to go to the Dimple dell park.   I hope to share more of what I have learned soon. Have a great weekend:)

A Chance to Grow...

Last night amidst some very strange dreams I met a man, and asked "Why did I have to move?"  He said to me "It's a chance to grow."  I woke up after that feeling calm and happy.  It was my answer.  I'm here to learn and grow.  With everything so unfamiliar each day I have to stretch and grow and push myself forward.  There's a part of me that would love to just hide under the covers and pretend I was back in New Jersey.  But then my husband would wonder why no meal was cooked.  The little apartment would become a disaster fast.  And I'd eventually get very lonely.  I find each day brings so many new experiences.  Every grocery store is different.  Trying to figure out what brands of food are similar to what we used to eat is a challenge.  The roads and streets are different.   The weather is different.  It's cold in the morning and then pretty hot in the afternoon.  I continue to wonder "Does it ever rain here?"  I'm guessing not much with the amount of sprinkler systems that are all over. 
I'm excited though to be on this learning adventure.  As I learn about Utah, the place, the people, the environment, I grow and change. 
I'm definitely looking forward to growing closer to Heavenly Father in all of this.  I'm looking forward to going next week to the Women's conference.  And what luck, the ward I'm in has tickets to go to the conference center.  I was a bit nervous that I was not going to be able to attend as next week I start working.  But was so happy to find that my schedule is for only two days!  I have next Saturday off.  I get to go to the conference center and see the women's conference live.  What an exciting thing for me.  I know it will just be wonderful!
I'm reading a really good spiritual book " I need thee every hour"  By David P. Vandagriff.  It has been such a nice book to find and ponder about.  One thing I love about the book is all the quotes taken from hymns.  I love to listen and sing and ponder about the hymns.  There are so many great quotes I could share from this book.  Here is one I just opened to" ...trials are often spiritual training exercises designed to change us, strengthen us, and encourage us to grow.."  Any way if you have not read this book you should.  It just brings the spirit right to you! 
The other book I'm reading is called "Rebecca."  it is a Gothic romance novel.  It was written in the 1930's.  It's very interesting to me because the main character is much younger than her husband.  With Gothic novels there is some evil about.  You always have a hint that it is there, but you are not sure what it is.  I connect with the main character who you never learn what their name is.  I can understand all that she goes through as being much younger than her husband.  She is very much younger than her husband than I am.  But I understand how she feels as her husbands friends look at her and think "What was he thinking?"  I am my husbands opposite, and I think that was very hard for his friends to deal with. He is the life of the party, and when we met I was quiet and shy.  He is loud and funny, I'm quiet and serious.  He is always late, I am always early.  It's funny for the most part we do very well together, we balance each other.  But I know that his friends had a hard time with our marriage.  I just hope out here we can find friends who accept us both.  I think we already have found a few, and I hope it continues.  It's very nice though to just be together.
One thing I've been doing which is fun, is seeing how many people I can get to smile at me.  Today as I left the library, I looked at this woman, and gave her a huge smile and she smiled back.  What a small way to make a persons day a little brighter.  How about you do you ever just smile at people to see if they will smile back.  To have some small connection with someone you don't know.  Try it you might find it brings you a little joy.  Have a wonderful day:)