Archive for the ‘This One Time...’ Category
June, the Wedding Season! A Few Tales…
It’s been a very hectic & busy June for Steve and I. The main reason? It’s wedding season! Love is blooming and making itself known all around us.
Steve, being a professional bass player, has been kept very busy being hired for weddings across the state, and beyond. One of the bands he plays with, Marmalade Hill, gets frequent super-fancy wedding gigs through the summer, many of them in Sun Valley, Idaho… a 5 hour drive away.
These gigs sporadically began in April, and he’s spent a couple weekends on the road with Marmalade Hill playing a Friday Night at Whiskey Jaques, then a wedding the next day, to return home on Sunday. But this month it’s been almost EVERY weekend that we’ve had a wedding.
Wedding season began for me on Memorial Day, where I took the 2 hour drive north to Logan, Utah to photograph the wedding of my sister’s childhood friend, Kristin to her boyfriend Corey. Their wedding was held at a park, and the weather was just perfect. My sister was also a bridesmaid, and I had a lot of fun taking photos that day!
The first weekend in June was our one and only *free* weekend. We celebrated my 32nd birthday by having a BBQ with friends on Saturday, then on Sunday (my actual Birthday), rowing on Oquirrh Lake in the morning, doing some shopping and relaxing in the afternoon, and going to a family dinner that evening.
The next weekend was the wedding of my dear friend Cindi to her longtime boyfriend Jason. Their wedding took place in Moab, Utah at a place called the Red Cliff’s Lodge, which overlooks the Colorado river rushing along giant red rock cliffs. We left early Saturday morning to get down there before the wedding began. I toted along all my photography gear… (because really… I can’t go to a wedding without it), and went a little crazy taking photos, while trying to stay out of the way of the photographer she had hired, the beautiful & talented Sarah Drown of Sparkle Photography. Their ceremony was one of the most emotional and touching I’d ever witnessed. We had a fabulous time!
After Cindi & Jason’s wedding on Saturday, we crashed at a hotel on main street in Moab. We woke the next morning ready to explore. We had planned to get together with all our friends and hike Delicate Arch in Arches National Park. The weather was scattered thunderstorms that day, though, so most people opted out of the hike. The only ones who ended up going were me, Steve, Sommer and Mike.
It was such a weird day, temperature wise. It would rain, then the sun would come out, then go back to rain again. I opted for pants instead of shorts, because cold breezes kept ripping through the canyon, and I really really hate being cold. Halfway into the hike, though, I really regretted the pants. Part of the Delicate Arch trail is a huge slickrock hill. It’s completely exposed… there is no shade or trees at all, and the sun absolutely beats down like you can’t imagine. I was so hot I was tempted to just take the pants OFF and hike in my knickers. 
That area is just so gorgeous, though. I kept stopping to take photos. I could take photos in Southern Utah for hours and hours and never get tired of it.
After a long day of hiking, Steve and I packed up and drove home. We got home Sunday late evening, and pretty much crashed.
The very next weekend, I didn’t have to work anywhere… but Steve had a wedding gig he was playing in Sun Valley. This one was for some College Football star (whose name has slipped my mind) and it was some big fancy shindig. Steve and his band left early Saturday morning to make the drive and get there in time to set up by 2pm.
That evening, just as the wedding had started, I get a call from Steve. “You’ll never guess who I just spent the last 10 minutes talking to,” he said. “Guess. Someone famous.” Obviously, that’s too broad of a clue. I had no idea. So he just told me.
“Rush Limbaugh.”
Auuugh! Gross! I proceeded to laugh and ask questions… we both absolutely LOATHE that man. Steve has a real knack for only running into celebrities he hates. [Tangent: last month his band ran into Kobe Bryant while the Lakers were in town to play the Jazz in the playoffs. End Tangent.] Rush was a guest at the wedding… a friend of the Bride’s father.
“Why can’t I run into someone cool, like Jeff Bridges or something,” Steve asks. Then he sent me this phone pic. Rush is the disgruntled looking dude in the gray suit.
So Steve and his band spent the whole evening chatting with Rush on and off. Despite how much we dislike him, he said he’s perfectly nice in person. I had to text my Pop, who’s a Rush Limbaugh fan, and he told me to have Steve tell Rush that my Dad is a total “dittohead.” So Steve did. Rush liked that. (I guess a dittohead is someone who loves Rush’s show.) Steve also enlightened us all with a few fun observations. Rush is a horrible dancer, but will not hesitate to be in the front of the crowd dancing anyway. Rush is a chain smoker. He smoked cigarettes allllll night long back to back. (When Steve asked him why he wasn’t smoking a cigar, Rush told him they ‘take too long’.)
And finally… Rush is totally deaf. One hundred percent deaf! He has a cochlear ear implant that allows him to hear at all. He told the band that if he takes it out he can’t hear a single thing. Dan, one of the members of the band, being a total smartass replied, “Well, can you still hear YOURSELF talk?!”
Everyone laughed, but the joke went right over Rush’s head. He replied. “Yeah! I can hear myself.” Hah! [Another tangent: Dan is also the member of the band that said something so offensive in the microphone at the bar when they met Kobe Bryant, it caused Kobe & his entourage to storm out of the bar. But that's a story for another time!]
Steve got home that weekend late Sunday night. Again, exhausted, he crashed and got ready for another week of work.
Then, finally, to wrap up the weddings of June, last weekend I traveled to Moab again to shoot the wedding of Angela and Chris, the cute couple whose engagement photos I took in a lavender field last summer. Their wedding also took place at Red Cliffs Lodge… the same as Cindi & Jason. I was glad, because I was now familiar with the spot, and knew just how to prepare. I took Lindsay with me as my photo assistant. Steve had yet ANOTHER wedding he was playing on Saturday, but in Lehi. So again, we had to spend the weekend apart working at weddings.
Lindsay and I left early Saturday morning. We made great time and got to Moab with plenty of time to spare. We checked into our hotel, walked around the shops, and stopped to get ice cream and cupcakes. After filling up on sweets, we got dressed for the wedding and made the short drive up scenic UT-128 to the lodge.
Angela & Chris’ wedding was phenomenal! We started shooting photos at 3:30pm, and didn’t stop until after 10:30pm. Needless to say, I took thousands of photos, and my hand was totally cramped by the end of the day, but it was so worth it! Angela & Chris hired the band Great American Taxi to play their wedding… which featured the lead singer from Leftover Salmon. The band was just AWESOME and they played under the clear starry sky with a full moon. They also had a campfire set up, and even a fire thrower. Those two sure know how to throw a party!
I’m still working on editing the photos from that wedding, so I don’t have any to share here yet. But hopefully this week I’ll have them done and up on my Flickr and Portfolio site for all to see! They’re some of the best photos I’ve ever taken, I think!
Now, it’s July. And, with a sigh of relief… we’re finally relaxing. *whew!*
Thank You, Airbag.
Yesterday afternoon I kissed my sweet husband goodbye for the evening. He was going with his band to play at a wedding at a golf course near Park City. The bridal party had reserved hotel rooms for the band members so they wouldn’t have to drive down the canyon after the reception, which was scheduled to go late.
The band drove in two cars – Steve with the guitar player Ben in Ben’s truck, and the other two band members in another vehicle. They all arrived at the Glenwild Golf Club around 3:30 to set up their gear and get sound-checked. By 4:00 they were finished, and went to chill in their hotel rooms and wait for the reception to start, when they’d head back up and play their set. Steve called me around 6:30 to say hello. He was just hanging out in the hotel watching TV, and the other band members were taking naps. Wild bunch, those guys.
Around 7:30 they all hopped back into their vehicles to drive back up the long winding road to the golf club. Ben and Steve chatted lightly while driving up, just enjoying their time. When the road curved West, the sun was just setting. The sun was hanging just at the crest of the horizon – right in the perfect spot to blind any driver traveling west on that uphill road.
Ben had slowed to around 15-20 miles per hour, due to being so blinded by the sun. He squinted and could easily see the double yellow lines on the road about 20 feet ahead. He just couldn’t see them directly in front of the truck. So he kept his eyes on the yellow lines, and slowly traveled up the road, waiting for the next bend so he could see again.
Suddenly, they hit something. Steve had been watching the road too, and had no idea what they had hit. Neither of them had seen anything. Not a single thing. But suddenly, Steve felt his body fly forward, being stopped only by the force of his seat belt and a massive airbag smacking his face, and the entire front of his body.
By the time Steve realized that they’d been in an accident, the airbag was already deflating. The nose of the truck was about 8 feet in the air, the back tires still on the ground. His head was a high-pitched loud ringing, and he could hear the constant sound of a horn going off, stuck in the honking position. Steve sat, stunned, taking an assessment of the situation. Am I hurt? Can I feel my toes? Can I move my neck? What the hell just happened?!
Ben reacted differently. After about 5 seconds of being stunned and frozen, he opened his door and rolled out – falling a good 5-8 feet to the ground, landing on his knees. Then he saw some sort of fluid dripping out of the truck, and smoke. He immediately ran to the other side of the truck, and tried to open Steve’s passenger door.
The door wouldn’t open. It was stuck. It must have been adrenaline, but he pried the door open, and yelled to Steve. “Get out! Get out now!” Steve finally unfroze and ripped off his seat belt and jumped out of the car. As soon as he, too, saw the liquid draining from the truck, and all the smoke, he too ran to get far away from a truck that could be about to explode.
Thankfully, no fire or explosion happened. Turns out the fluid was some sort of fluid associated with the airbags deploying. But they still stood, aghast in what had happened. They had plowed directly into a giant stone pillar in the middle of the damn road.
It’s hard to tell from the photo how large these pillars are. They’re a good 10 feet tall, and Ben’s truck had driven right into and ONTO the one inconveniently placed there in the center of the road. Blinded by the sun, neither of them had seen it. AT ALL.
And once they looked around, it was obvious why. This was private property, owned by the HOA of Glenwild Country Club. They had taken the yellow line below the pillar, and jutted it out to the right. Then the yellow line abruptly stops, and begins again 10 feet to the left. If you’re driving up that road, and can only see the line about 20 feet in front of you, it’s guiding you directly into this stone pillar.
As you can see more clearly in this photo… the sun would absolutely BLIND anyone on this stretch of road when the sun is setting. And when that happens, you can’t see directly in front of you… you can squint and see about 20 feet ahead. Look at that yellow line down the road. If you follow that, you’ll drive right into this ridiculous obstruction. The yellow line just breaks – and jumps to the left. It’s a total hazard. It is absolutely infuriating.
Thankfully, Steve and Ben escaped with only minor injuries. They are 100% sure that the airbag saved both of their lives. The airbag, from the impact of Steve’s body, had broken the windshield in front of him. Without the airbag, he’d have gone sailing right through, or at the very least gotten a horrible head injury or worse.
The police came, and had an ambulance on the way, but canceled it once they checked the two of them out and found them to be okay. Steve got hurt the worst. His knees are both badly bruised and scraped up. His elbows are both badly bruised. His right forearm has a bad abrasion – almost like a rug burn from an airbag. His chin is scratched. But the worst is his left hand. It took the brunt of his impact, and he has a huge swollen bump on the back of his hand. It’s all bruised up, and he has a big cut that was bleeding a lot right after the crash. His left wrist is all cut up and swollen, too. His whole body aches. Every joint. His neck, his back, everything aches.
The police officers on the scene were really great. The band didn’t want to ruin the wedding reception, and were determined to make it up there and play, despite the grim circumstances. After about 15 minutes, they were finished with the police, and the truck was being towed away. The band all piled into the other vehicle, and drove up the rest of the way to the reception.
When they walked in, everyone cheered. They must have all been running on pure adrenaline – because they hopped on stage and played until about 2:00 in the morning. The wedding party had an amazing time, and the band put on a great show. Steve played the whole set with an injured hand, but said he didn’t care. After such a close call, he just stood on stage feeling blessed. Music sounded better. Life felt better. He had a true appreciation for the close call they’d just had. He is sure that the airbag saved his life.
Needless to say, the bridal party tipped the band very well at the end of the night.
Steve woke up this morning and his hand was swollen and blue – and he couldn’t move it. They elevated it and he took a bunch of Ibuprofin and pretty quickly the swelling went down and he’s able to move it – but it hurts.
I couldn’t WAIT to get him home and into my arms. Car accidents are so so so scary. I can’t even fathom losing him. I slept all night just having nightmares about having to sleep alone in my bed without him forever. It made me want to vomit. Now he’s home, upstairs sleeping off his aches and pains. I’m so thankful for that airbag. Without it, not only would his life have maybe been over last night, but mine would have been over too.
Don’t Mess With Us. (The story of how a cheater was exposed.)
My step-sister Erica is truly a bad-ass. Not only is she the best hair stylist in the valley, and the best Mom to her dog I’ve ever seen, but she stands up for her friends like nobody else.
Which brings me to this awesome story:
Over the weekend we had a run-in with her friend Sarah’s recent ex-boyfriend, Morgan. We had met Morgan a few months back, and immediately suspected something weird was up with him. He was a gardener, and Sarah really liked him. They dated for a couple months.
Then one day Sarah was at work, she’s an Esthetician, and she was tinting & shaping a new clients eyebrows. This new client was talking about how her cousin is going to be glad she’s finally getting her eyebrows done, cause eyebrows “totally make the face”. This client went on to talk about how her cousins boyfriend is all “into eyebrows” cause that was the first thing he said to her: “You have the nicest eyebrows”.
This peaked Sarah’s curiosity, cause that is the first thing Morgan said to her, too.
Her client went on, to talk about her cousins boyfriend, about how he’s a gardener, etc etc. Sarah thought she was losing it, cause this client was describing in perfect detail her boyfriend.
She stopped her and asked, “What, now, is your cousins boyfriends name?”
“Morgan.”
She practically dropped her tweezers. They went on to really uncover that her cousin was dating her boyfriend too… and how amazing it was that she found out this way.
Needless to say, when Sarah confronted Morgan later that evening, he was shocked. “How did you ever find out??” he asked.
He went on to make excuses, and through all the resistance from Erica & myself, she decided to give him another chance.
About two weeks later, she was at his house and discovered a lovey-dovey card hiding on top of his fridge… from another girl.
She confronted him, and of course he just back-pedaled out of it. “It’s like 5 months old, it’s nothing…”
But then his phone rang, and Sarah jumped to answer it.
It was a girl on the phone, asking for Calvin. At first Sarah thought it was just a wrong number, but then after talking to this woman for a bit (who was sure she had dialed the right number) she realized, this was Morgans girlfriend too… but he had given this other girl a different name!
Needless to say, the shit hit the fan. It all came out, and was exposed. Morgan had been dating MANY girls, all under different names. Morgan wasn’t even his real name! His real name is Mike! And what’s worst, he had been sleeping with all of them.
“This is just a weird point in my life right now, Sarah…” he whined. She slapped him, and told him to never talk to her again, and left.
Since then he hasn’t left her alone. It’s been 2-3 weeks of him texting her, sending her cheap jewelry, and begging for another chance. She has threatened him to stop contacting her, but he will not respect it at all.
Ok, so this takes us to last Friday night.
Erica & I were at the Circle Lounge, just hanging out, when in walks Morgan, with some girl. You’d think he’d blush and avoid us, but he flaunted that girl right past us, and waved.
That was about all Erica could take. We decided to expose him to the people he was with for the ass he is. We followed him to where he was sitting with his girl and some guy, and sat down.
“Hi Morgan, or Mike, or Calvin, or whatever the hell you are going by tonight…”
He looked shellshocked. His friends said, “He’s Calvin.” Ha.
Erica went on to tell this girl and the other people he was with the whole humiliating truth about this liar & slimeball they were hanging out with. She told them everything about Sarah, and how he totally screwed her over. The part about his real name being “Mike” seemed to sort of make their jaws drop even more.
Morgan then started getting defensive and stood up. Erica got up and threw her full Cosmo in his face and got in his face telling him if he ever contacted Sarah again he’d be sorry. We sort of made a scene.
After we went back to our table, a bouncer from the Circle Lounge came and asked us to leave. We had made a scene, and it wasn’t cool.
But he wanted to know what happened. When we told him what Morgan did to our friend, and the whole story, he instead kicked him and his friends out, and let us stay.
Talk about sweet justice.
Don’t mess with Erica, or her friends. You won’t get away with it.
