November activities

I started off November with the Moustache Dache, a 5k down at Thanksgiving point.

The morning was crispy chilly, making it my first real cold weather run.  It was pretty fun running in hat and gloves, instead of being hot and nasty in the middle of the summer!  I was just happy it didn't snow on us.  I had a pretty sweet mustache, but it didn't cooperate well, so it only made it about a half mile in.  After the race we hung around in the nice fall weather, and rode the mechanical bull.  Check that one off my bucket list!

Me and the ladies with our medals and 'staches!

Just running through Thanksgiving point.

I'm starting up a collection of race paraphernalia.

Check out my bull ride!

Moving on from Halloween, Thanksgiving never really feels like an actual holiday to me.  This year especially felt that way since I was scheduled to work the Friday after Thanksgiving.  Because I'm lazy, and driving back and forth to Cedar for one day is a total pain, I had planned not to go.  Instead I had multiple very kind-hearted people invite me to join their families.  I have never felt so loved as I did when I realized I had way too many dinner offers to possibly take advantage of!  Besides, I had already planned out a collection of activities to fill the day, including a Turkey Trot 5k, pulling out the Christmas decor, baking, and marathoning Lord of the Rings!

I was all set to eat with Rachel's family when the other dentist at my practice offered to fill in for me.  We had previously set up a deal where I would work Thanksgiving, then I could take Christmas off.  Apparently he didn't mind working both holidays this year, so I decided to take him up on the offer!  That meant I didn't do a 5k on Thanksgiving morning.  However, I got to head down to Cedar and enjoy Thanksgiving with my family.

Cooking was a bit of a family project with my dad cooking the turkey in a deep fat fryer, and I made my favorite sweet potato casserole.  True to the Jones family tradition, we had way more food than the six of us could possibly eat!  After all that deliciousness Blake and I passed out on the couch.  That night me and the bros decided to check out a few Black Friday deals at Wal Mart.  Hooray!

Calvin getting all set to eat dinner.

Blake getting the fancy china down.  Good thing we only use it once a year.

Testing out the home-made cranberry sauce.

My dad decided to cook the turkey in the oil fryer out in the back-yard.  Too bad he had three dogs to beat off when he was pulling it out!

Because Utah still hadn't got much snow, we decided to shoot clay pigeons, and go for a little hike.  What a fun trip!

On a hike with Russen.

The bros with Lucy.

Russen chasing sticks down a frozen river.

Mom with her hiking sticks.

All Hallow's Eve 2014

I thought I better finish off my Halloween posts for the year before the year actually ends!  Anyway, I had an excellent October, and an even more excellent All Hallow's Eve!  This year I really got the hang of celebrating the holiday for the entire season.  Halloween was nice this year because it was on a Friday.  We worked a half day, and I brought my pumpkin-shaped cheese ball, and we had delicious goodies to snack on all day.  Also, I actually dressed up for work!  My costume was such that I could comfortably wear it, and cover it up with a lab coat, and I don't think it stressed my patients out too much.  I think the best part were my pointed elf ears.

Because we only worked a half day, that gave me most of the afternoon to do whatever I wanted!  I had purchased a pumpkin for a party earlier that month, but didn't actually carve it at the party.  Therefore, I decided to go ahead and watch Ghostbusters, carve my pumpkin, and hand out treats to the neighbor children!

Pumpkin-shaped cheese ball.  Yum!

Some of my decor.  Halloween and Christmas are really the only holidays I decorate for.

Because I had no time constraints, and no one was harassing me, I settled on an overly elaborate pumpkin design!

One Pumpkin to rule them all.
For those of you who haven't read Lord of the Rings, and can't speak Elvish, this says "One Ring to Rule Them" because I ran out of room.

After carving my pumpkin, and farming out a good amount of candy to the neighbor kids, I dressed up and headed over to my friend Marilyn's place for ice cream, pizza, and a round of Clue.

Marylin being a zombie!  (We didn't take that many pictures…)

I then decided I really wanted to see the new Dracula movie, so I headed over to the Megaplex at the District all dressed up as Link.

While I was purchasing my Diet Coke, someone definitely recognized my Link costume, which brought joy to my heart!  (I spent most of the holiday being mistaken for an elf, which really isn't all bad.)  Also, I loved the cute old lady taking tickets who was dressed up as a laundry fairy.  Despite being about fifteen minutes late, and missing the beginning of the movie, I loved the Dracula movie!  It was a perfect end to my favorite holiday.

Happy Halloween!

Comic Con Sept 2014

Just checking out the Tardis.  It's bigger on the inside!

Recently I started telling some random story to the girls at work, and they started laughing about how nerdy I was.  Honestly I've know this about myself for a while, but apparently it's escalated a bit as of late.  I've decided now that I'm out of school and my mind isn't consumed with the next upcoming midterm, I've picked up all kinds of random hobbies and interests to fill in my "spare time."  One of these hobbies rapidly became my running, gym rat obsession (see "run day" post).  The other thing I've gotten into is the strange and exciting world of fandoms, whatever that is.  Apparently that's what the kids are calling it these days when you really like a movie, TV, or book series, and you know an inordinate amount about said series.  Anyway, almost a year ago when Comic Con was going on in Salt Lake, I was really bummed out that I didn't get to go because I was in California.  (I live a really hard life…~heavy sarcasm~)  I was really just sad because at the very last minute Sir. Patrick Stewart came as a guest star.  Honestly, he's a pretty big name.  That being said, I decided early on that I was definitely going to Comic Con's next big event.  It was mainly for the chance to bump into some famous actors, but it was also so I could hang out with people who enjoy some of the same things I do!  Disclaimer, this is going to be tons of pictures, and me freaking out about famous people.  So… just… be prepared!


Awesome Outfits

Comic Con was September 4-6, and I actually bought tickets and took off work a couple months in advance.  Yes, I was excited.  Also, as we have already established, I really like to dress up.  I started collecting items for my costume way in advance.  Thanks to my recent obsession with Doctor Who, I decided that I was going as a character from the show.

 

For those of you who didn't catch the 50th Anniversary special of Doctor Who, I dressed up as Bad Wolf girl, played by Billie Piper.  Believe me, people familiar with the Doctor loved my outfit!  Also, if you want to watch this, come on over and we'll have a party.  I was just super proud of myself because I saw dozens of Doctor Who characters, but I only saw one other Bad Wolf girl.  (I ran into her on Saturday.  This was a random bonding moment.  I almost made it the entire time as a completely unique costume!)

Bad Wolf girl with David Tennant, or the tenth Doctor.

On Friday I wore my Jedi costume from Halloween a couple of years ago.  This was a fun costume because it was really comfy to just walk around in.  And believe me, most of Comic Con is just walking.  Seriously, I probably walked at least three miles!

Events at the Con

For Thursday and Friday, I ended up going to the Con on my own which stressed me out at first, but honestly I had a blast.  Saturday my three brothers drove up to hang out with me, and check out the Con.  This was the first time I'd ever been to an event like this.  I was blown away by just how crowded this event was, as well as how crazy awesome people's outfits were.  I ended up waiting on the sidewalk outside of the Salt Palace for probably an hour before even getting into the building.  This was somewhat distressing because I had purposely purchased a VIP ticket so I could skip such trifling things as lines!  Haha.  However, by Friday they had sorted a lot of these issues out.

Okay, apparently there is a thing called cosplaying which means "costume play."  I'll be honest, I think that name is super lame, but I can't argue with what people do with that!  I saw a huge variety that ranged from extendable wings, huge weapon props, full home-made armored outfits, and all of them in incredible detail.  Honestly, despite all my costumed efforts at Halloween, I was on the conservative spectrum when it came to costuming compared to what I saw.  It was amazing!

Anyway, I spent most of the con just walking around identifying and appreciating other people's interpretations of their favorite characters.  It was hilarious, and I loved finding other people who love dressing up as much as I do!  I took lots of covert (and less than covert) pictures of people as I wandered around.  I got lots of costume ideas, and I really enjoyed just chatting with all kinds of fun people.  Honestly, I couldn't get over how generally friendly people were.

This storm trooper in a kilt was pretty awesome.  There is an entire legion of stormtroopers based in Salt Lake, so these guys were all over the con.

There were so many awesome Batman people.  Huge groups of Batman characters, Batmans in full armor, and Jokers that were almost too realistic.

The most terrifying Ronald McDonald.  Ever.  Wanna play a little game?

We want.  A SHRUBBERY!

Captain Hook from Once Upon a Time.  I couldn't get over how much this random person looked like the actual famous person!  I just found him while we were going through this very crowded area, so I barely managed to snap a picture.  He was a pretty good sport.

There were tons of events going on.  They had an entire floor with booths selling comics, artwork, tshirts, toys, food, books, and pretty much anything else you can imagine.  There were several neat props scattered around including the trolls from the Hobbit, Han Solo in carbonite, Smaug the dragon, the Delorian, several different Batmobiles, and the Tardis!  There were also panels where random topics were discussed, or panels for celebrities.  I quickly figured out that my favorite thing to do was check out people's costumes, and to sit in on celebrity panels.  I caught part of Cary Elwes (Princess Bride), Sam Witwer, and Alan Tudyk in their panels.  I really didn't get too much into the panels this time around.

Smeagol.  There were a few other LOTR props, including Smaug.

Han Solo in Carbonite.

The brothers with the Batmobile.

Meet the Celebrities

I will be the first to admit that I'm a bit of a nerd.  However, I'm really not into comics, and the main reason I was at the Con was to meet celebrities!
When they first announced celebrities, Sam Witwer and John Barrowman were the guys I was most excited to meet.  I know Sam mainly from Being Human, Smallville, and voice roles on The Force Unleashed, but he also appeared in The Walking Dead, Dexter, Battlestar Galactica (I haven't seen this), and voice role on Star Wars: Clone Wars.  I admit I ooged out a little bit when I first saw him!  I attended his celebrity panel, and I loved that he is actually a huge Star Wars fan.  Anyway, I can only hope he didn't recognize me, because I was a tiny bit of a stalker!

This was my professional photo op with Sam.  I tried really hard not to be a groupie, but I did tell him I was a huge fan! 

After getting my autograph.  Love him!

Here is Sam in the Walking Dead.  First season, he's the zombie inside the tank with Rick.  This is probably where most of you guys would have seen him.

The con had actually set up different booths where you could get an autograph and chat, or you could get a professional photo done with your favorite celebrity.  You did have to pay for each of these, so I only picked a couple of people I wanted photos with.  Sam was the only one I got an autograph from, and he was actually nice enough to sit and talk with me for a couple of minutes!  I was seriously impressed with how nice he was.  Also, random side note, I've been catching up on the last season of Being Human (Sam plays a vampire named Aiden), and I'm still freaking out that I got to meet him!

Michael Rosenbaum with the brothers! 

Michael Rosenbaum.  He plays Lex Luthor in Smallville, a TV series about Superman's teenage years.  Seriously, he was the best part of that show for me!  I was an annoying fan, and I made a witty comment to Michael that he looks really great with hair (because Lex is completely bald).  He seemed to appreciate that!

Alyn Tudyk.  I know him mainly for his role in the awesome series Firefly, as well as A Knight's Tale. He has actually been in several films recently, and he voiced the Duke of Weasilton from Frozen.  Hooray!  His panel was hilarious, and by the way, seemed like a really genuine kind of guy.

Stephen Amell.  He plays Oliver Queen, or the Green Arrow.  I really only got into this show because I knew John Barrowman co-starred, and I figured I couldn't miss the chance to meet this guy.

John Barrowman.

I got to hug Captain Jack Harkness!

I nearly missed my photo op with this guy because I was stuck outside the building!  John Barrowman was actually the guy I was most excited to meet because of his role in Doctor Who.  He plays Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who, and the spinoff show Torchwood.  He now has a role in Arrow as the Black Archer.  Anyway, he was hilarious, and obviously the most fan-friendly one of the bunch!  Of course I was wearing my Bad Wolf girl outfit.



I had such an excellent time!

FedEx Sucks

Tis the season to complain about the postal service, right?  Not only that, tis the season for theft of multiple valuable packages that apparently FedEx still thinks it's okay to leave out on the porch!

So here's my story, get ready for my rant.  Last year I bought an Xbox One, and it's been having some minor issues that, since my warranty was nearly up, I decided to do something about.  After spending nearly an hour and a half on the phone with Microsoft, they decided to send me a working console and kinect.  Once I received it, I just needed to send back my console, or they would charge me the cost of a new Xbox.  Side note, this wasn't the first time I'd tried correcting my console issues, but the fact that you have to go through multiple levels of annoying, and time consuming, web pages and automated phone recordings had kinda deterred me from doing anything serious.

Long story short, my two rather valuable packages were left on my porch on Black Friday.  A day when I was out of town, get this, spending the holiday with my family.  I got back into town by Sunday night, at which time there were no packages.  I've complained before that my apartment's office refuses to take packages for the residents any more, so now the postal service normally leaves a note, and I go pick up my package at the post office.  This was the first time I had something like this just left on my porch.

Since realizing my $500 Xbox was lost somewhere, I've spent multiple hours on the phone with both FedEx and Xbox, neither of whom want to take responsibility.  The first time I talked to FedEx the driver reported he left the package "behind a fence," and the box "had a bow on top of it."  The second time I talked to FedEx they told me the driver said he "saw someone open the door and pick up the package."  Wrong on all counts because I was out of town on the day they reported delivering it, and I have no fence.  I also talked to the office, and both of my neighbors, and no one knew anything about it.  FedEx couldn't have been more anxious to get me off the phone.  Microsoft just told me to figure things out with FedEx.  When I asked for Microsoft not to charge me the $500 dollars, they told me they'd do me a favor and send me some shipping labels, and all I had to do was mail my Xbox into them.  Oh, so you idiots lost my packages, charged me $500 (plus like $30 I already paid the have them shipped to me in the first place), and now you want me to send you my Xbox?  So I'm out $500, with no Xbox.  I've now filed a police report.

To add insult to injury, my brother had the same problem with his Xbox.  However, he purchased his from Game Stop, not Walmart.  He boxed his console up, took it to Game Stop, and they just gave him a brand new Xbox One.  That day.  No charge.  Oh yeah, and I bought a $50 insurance policy from Walmart that turned out to be basically worthless.

Moral of the story.  Never buy things from Walmart.  Never trust FedEx.  Oh yeah, and if you ever want something from a large corporate company, better be prepared to spend lots of time on the phone… with no results.

Here's hoping your Christmas packages arrive on time - or at all!  Hopefully I'll have better things to report come next week.

October Fashion Show

October was a busy month for me.  Halloween is basically my favorite holiday, it's also my favorite month with the cooler temperatures, and turning leaves.  On a random side note, Christmas is a close second as my favorite, but it actually really bothers me how Christmas seems to show up earlier and earlier each year.  I've decided the main reason I don't like it is because I still want to enjoy the fall weather before jumping into Christmas.  But I digress.

It would seem that this October I set out with the goal to dress up as many different things as I could!  This was aided by the fact that I basically had some type of Halloween-related activity going on every weekend.
October 4th was the Run or Dye, which was also Conference Weekend.  I was up by 6 am on a Saturday morning so I could drive into downtown Salt Lake, which is completely unheard of for me.  I'll count this as a dress-up, because I did wear a rainbow-colored tutu for the run, and it took me most of the rest of the day to clean all the chalk off myself, my personal effects, and my poor car!  Later that night I got to have a ladies night with some old college friends, including my friend Catherine who was visiting from medical school.

My hair.  Don't worry, I had permanent stain on my forehead and scalp for at least 24 hours after!

Tuesday, October 7th I went with some friends to the Castle of Chaos, a haunted house in Taylorsville.  In most haunted houses, there are actors dressed up as zombies, etc, to harass event-goers.  At this particular place you could do different levels of interaction with these actors, and my friend and I decided to try out the "Hands on Horror" level where the actors could actually touch and harass you.  It was pretty intense, especially when Freddy Krueger and Jack the Ripper got all up in my personal bubble.  This was probably one of the best haunted house experiences I've had, as far as scariness.  Hooray!

October 11th I thought it would be a good idea to go get my nails done for the holiday.  I went in wanting Nightmare Before Christmas nails, but instead received some fabulous Batman nails!

I loved my Bat nails, but they didn't hold up for very long.  I ended up getting my Jack Skellington nails like a week before Halloween!

October 18th I had the Haunted Half up at the State Capitol.  This saw me once again up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday.  This was a fantastic run because I got to dress up for this activity.  Also, I got a kick out of seeing everyone else in costume - while running!  The race was started off by the headless horseman on an actual horse (creepy).

I dressed up as Ariel with fun makeup, scales, and bright red hair!

Later that day I had a party with my friends Rachel and Shane, and a bunch of their friends.  I wore my actual Halloween costume to this party.  It wasn't quite finished yet, but people could pretty much figure out who I was.  I was pretty proud of this day, because I was basically in costume for almost the entire day.  If you're uncertain, I was dressed as Link from the Nintendo game Zelda.

Link has three different colored tunics.  He's usually in green, but I decided to go with blue. 

Just in case you didn't know what I was going for.

It was a "brinner" party (breakfast for dinner) with a costume contest, and fun games.  I also brought along this massive red velvet cake from Costco.  (Just for future reference, red velvet is my favorite.)

Just a little blast from the past with Scrubs!

Rachel's family dressed up as Utes, including their cute little girl as a cheerleader.  I stuck around for a little while, then ended up meeting some other friends to go to the Haunted Forest in American Fork.  The funny part was I ended up going directly from my costume party to meet up with my friends, meaning I didn't change out of my costume.  I showed up at my friend's house and there were about ten of them that shouted "surprise!" when I walked in the door.  It was pretty entertaining because it scared the crap out of me, and of course I was the only one in costume.  We had a fun time going through the haunted forest, except for the rando guys with chainsaws that kept harassing me.  I guess I was an obvious target with my pointy "elf" ears, and the fact that I tend to freak out when chainsaws are nearby.  Haha.

This is the only picture I took.  This creepy pumpkin creature in front of the "forest."

Sunday I drove down to Cedar City to hang out with my family while my brothers were on Fall Break.  I got to take off a couple of days of work, and I stayed in Southern Utah until Wednesday.  More on this later.

October 24th we did Witches Night Out at Gardner Village.  I went with my friend Rachel, and we both wore our fancy witch hats we got last year when we went.  Basically Gardner Village is a bunch of cute little novelly shops, and on these particular nights it's a ladies night where everyone dresses up as their interpretation of a witch!

Hooray, another reason to wear a costume and bust out my crazy boots!  We basically just wandered around, enjoying other people's costumes, and the live DJ.  We didn't stay long because we were both pretty pooped from working all day.  Saturday I did the Hero Dash.  I finally got to dress up as Batgirl, but I really didn't take very good pictures.  After some stalking on the Facebook page, I found this beauty!

Me at the start line.  You can't tell, but I've got a cape, and Batman socks. 

This is why I love Comic Con.  It brings out awesome people like this!  (These aren't paid actors.  They just like to cosplay!)

If you really wanted to know, you can see my elbow on the far left.  Anyhow, I'm pretty sure this guy made his armor himself.  Just like the real Tony Stark!

Seriously.  Later that night I got together with my friend Dave, and we carved a couple of pumpkins with his niece and nephew.  So before we even got to Halloween, I had already worn a grand total of five different costumes.  Hooray!

Yes, I have a problem.  I admit it.  Haha.