Rugby Movie - Forever Strong

I really enjoy rugby. I don't fully understand it, but all of my brothers play, make it the final four championships every year and give me a chance to fly out to Palo Alto to see the play offs and a few relatives. This is the first year in a while where no brother will be playing. But, when Brett comes off his mission, I'm sure he will be back on the playing field and I'll have another trip to look forward to.

A new movie will be coming out in September - Forever Strong. It's based upon a true story about the Highland rugby team (Utah high school) , but that's about all I know. Oh, wait, that's not all I know.

My brother Craig is in the movie playing rugby. He, along with a lot of other All-American rugby players from BYU and University of Utah in 2006, are real rugby players in the movie. The town they filmed in is outside of Toelle, Utah. The town is smaller than Toelle - so it might not actually be a town. I know, I was there. At least for one day. Believe it or not, I had to sleep in my rental car at a truck stop the night before because Salt Lake City had so many conventions that week. All hotels were booked in every direction. After driving around Toelle type towns (late at night- spooky feeling) and finding no hotels (not even Bates hotels), I finally realized I'd have to do the Hawaii vacation trick. That would be putting t-shirts over all the windows and trying to squeeze my six foot frame into the backseat of the smallest size rental car. Those kind of experiences are only good for journal entries at later dates. Anyway...off topic at hand.I sat next to this dummy in the stands and pretended to cheer. We weren't allowed to make any noise while we cheered. Silent cheer. I guess I had nothing else to do while I sat and waited for my brother to finish playing in some rugby scenes.

The players received free food for their efforts...and some exercise and bruises. Some of the volunteers that sat in the bleachers won free iPODs. I'm not sure how free that is after you've had to sit in the sun for 8 hours, but it was amazing to see the characters that came out of the woodwork to participate and await the chance to possibly win an iPOD and receive an over baked hot dog.

The main characters didn't know how to play rugby when they started shooting the film. Craig said they were told to be a little gentle when the main characters were running with the ball or being mauled. I would say tackle, but not sure if that is a rugby term.

Anyway, it should be a good movie. If anything, you will get to hear and see the rugby players doing a hauka (hakka?) dance at some point which is always interesting.

Other links:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMsVEyesEeM


• http://www.rugbymovie.com/


• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forever_Strong


• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigham_Young_University_Rugby_Team


• http://www.byurugby.com/

Memory Lane - Squaw Peak hike

While I was in Utah a few weeks ago, I told my brother Scot that we had to go up to a little park near the mouth of Rock Canyon in Provo.

I stop by this spot every time I visit Provo.

Back in July 1997, I went on a blind date with another couple and we went on a fairly robust hike that started in Rock Canyon and took us up to the top of the Squaw Peak (7876 feet elevation). Now, I've never been quite sure which part is the actual peak, but this was the area where couples do not go up and park the car. The area we hiked actually had a traill most of the way, mountain meadows and a few tough rocky spots. However, we made it to the top and were located in the area that is almost exactly above my head in the picture.

The view was obviously incredible, but the amazing part is that we forgot how dangerous the front of the mountain looks from the ground. This is not a little mountain. The look from the ground can be deceiving as well. From our view it looked like you could descend down the front of the mountain through natural little trails and somehow arrive at Stephen Covey's home. Or, at least I've been told that is his home (the white house that sits highest on the mountain in the picture and has 6-7 fireplaces).

Anyway, the other couple said they were going to go down the mountain the way we had come and my date and I decided to race them by going down the front of the mountain. We didn't have a bad feeling and started to descend. It was around 5 or 6 p.m. at night. At first we were fine winding down, but then we got to some parts where you had to jump down 3-4 feet to get to the next layer of ground. Then there were little gravely areas that we had to pass over instead of slide down because the end of the gravel slide would be a 30-40 foot cliff.

We followed in this pattern until about 9 p.m. when we arrived at a spot where we could find no possible way to go down. We were surrounded by 30 to 40 foot cliff drops. My date thought maybe we should try to go down one of them and I said absolutely not. It was further down than it actually looked. We knelt and said a prayer and then decided we could do nothing that evening and so we just laid on a little ledge and talked, semi-slept and talk and semi-slept, etc. We were surprisingly calm considering the situation. Below we could see a big party taking place at the Covey house and we could see police cars over near the Rock Canyon parking lot, but no yelling would help. After all, when you are thousands of feet above them...the voice doesn't really carry. You are really alone.

After a long cool night, it started to get light and we decided we had to go back the way we came - except now we were going up instead of down. This meant that every place we had jumped down, we had to climb back up! Now, I'm afraid of heights, but for some reason I was calm. He helped me get up over those 3-4 foot drops and we kept climbing away until we got to a spot near the top of the mountain where we literally had to hold on to huge weeds to pull us up the last 20-30 feet of the mountain.
When we were about 4-5 feet from the top of the mountain, we saw rescue crews spread across the top of the mountain and they were yelling in mega phone that they could see us.
Whew! All of a sudden all of these three wheelers appeared and they were popping candy into our mouths. I guess we hadn't had anything to drink or eat in over 12 hours and so they said it would help with the blood sugar. Finally, one of them said - what did you think you were doing? Yes, what were we doing. We explained about how we didn't realize how bad it was and thanked them for helping us.

They then informed us that we were the 11th and 12th persons that had been rescued from that area that year AND that 8 of them had been dead rescues! Few lived through this experience!
At that point I actually began to shake for the first time on the entire excursion. The reality of what I had been through came to bear...and thank goodness it hadn't even 1/2 an hour earlier because it would have prevented me from getting up those parts of the mountain where one panicked moment would have taken my life.

So, I guess this explains why I don't care much for hiking and have no need to prove my skills in repelling or mountain climbing. It also helps to pay respect to the mountain each time I go to Utah. It's a reminder that sometimes we need to use our head and not just follow the heart.

Some of us have only one chance to conquer a mountain and I feel like that was mine.
I still have anxiety when I think about that event and even had a nightmare about it before my trip. And, I still have a deep sense of gratitude for being spared from a horrible experience or from leaving this life.

P.S. The great part of this story is the fact that a few years later, in Pentagon City, we were having a "Cupid Passover Party" and a friend of mine told a story about a couple that got lost and had to be rescued on a mountain while on a blind date. As the story unfolded I realized that I was the woman in that couple she was talking about - small, small world!

P.S.S. Note - the newspaper article stated they rescued us, but remember -they found us on the last 4-5 feet of the mountain and we were at the top when they actually got to us. Love the news!

Non-Bates/Roach Hotel - La Quinta - Orem, Utah

Kudos to La Quinta!

After a series of roach hotels, it was refreshing to pay triple the amount and have a beautiful Frank Lloyd Wright inspired room at the La Quinta hotel in Orem, Utah. The guy at the front desk had anticipated me (thanks to my Orbitz reservation) and handed me my room card and information before I could even say my complete name. It was a refreshing change from the dude duds that had been surrounding the desks at the other locations.

These pictures don't really do it justice. The interior design materials were far superior to what I had seen lately and since I'm not someone who appreciates anything ornate, this was my version of luxurious sleeping.

I loved the style of the room. La Quinta isn't the lap of luxury, but whomever owns this particular hotel in Orem has a sense of style. I felt like I was in a more expensive room than the $100 I was charged. OK, I guess that is still a bit. There was no cheap floral bedspread. I swear they just keep rotating those awful bedspreads around the cheap hotels - kind of like the fruit cake of bedspreads. You know - no one likes them, but instead of feeling guilty about throwing them out they pass them on to some unsuspecting soul.

There was a very functional table that ran the length of the wall that I found useful to lay everything on (laptop, gadgets, clothing, etc.) compared to the little desks with multiple useless drawers that one typically finds in a hotel. Everyone tries to cram everything onto the desk because the floor is just a gross part of any hotel. Plus, the carpets are typically dark and who knows what lurks there with the lighting that comes from the dim lit bulbs they use to create ambiance or to hide the grossness?

The bed had those pillows. The kind that are at the Charles Hotel in Boston ($350 a night) that are of the fake down variety that are actually more comfortable than down. The flat screen TV and the full wall mirror were helpful (and not distorted) so that I was entertained AND didn't get low self-esteem from my personal image.

And, the bathroom was actually stylish, functional and clean.

I will stay there again and if you go to Orem, Utah...I suggest you do the same.

Friendship

My weekend was amazing! I traveled out to Idaho for Ann's wedding, but along the way I was able to catch up with good friends that I've made over the last 20 years! I can't believe I'm using that number now!

These are the weekends where I go home with a deep sense of gratitude for the people that I claim as friends. Some I hadn't talked to in over 10 years, but we were able to pick right back up from where we left off. Each has experienced their own set of hardships, joys, sorrows and lessons as life moves forward. It's comforting, in a way, to know that we are all in this together and each get our own specially tailored growing experiences. Sometimes I get the feeling that we all think the lives of others are perfect, but our own has something more to be desired. Not so. It seems like we all get dibs on difficult experiences.

I am grateful that the Internet has brought many of us back together in different ways and hopefully these renewed friendships will continue to grow as we support each other virtually.

Without further adieu, meet my Utah/Idaho friends:

• Pam, me, and Ann - I got to drive with Pam (OK, she lives in L.A. not Utah) both to and from Idaho. We had some great conversations about life, technology, men, marriage, life, technology... We've had these conversations in DC before as friends and on a few fun vacations in different parts of the world. Ann, our friend that got married, was also part of the DC experience at one time as a roommate in Arlington and in graduate school at GMU. She had a beautiful wedding and I'm so happy that I was able to witness the event of the lovebirds.


• Shirley - one of my first roommates from Pentagon City lives out in Utah now. We spent a few hours talking and going out to eat some Mediterranean food. It reminded both of us of the eclectic DC food. Shirley was the original Pride and Prejudice fan that is delighted that I have given the movie a chance (finally) and love it.
  (can't find picture, but will insert)


• Laurel - we met at Ricks College a long time ago! Laurel and I were avid members of the "Nerd Herd" and would make runs to Brolums grocery store for Twizzlers licorice. In the last 15-16 years I've periodically opened up my mail to find a bag of licorice reminding me of those good times. Laurel is always the first person to laugh at my jokes and was a great friend through those difficult times as a resident assistant.
  

• Raschel and Melynda (Melynder) - These sisters were my roommates toward the end of the BYU experience. We had some good times worrying about boys, taking walks, having long talks, and just enjoying each others company. Melynda worked through the night as a nurse and she would get home around when I woke up and so we had great conversations around 6 in the morning. Both Raschel and Melynda were always positive and fun to be around and I was reminded of that in the few minutes we had together.

• Karen - wow, we go further back than anyone else I met up with, except for my brother. Karen and I met freshman year, were resident assistants together the next year, came to BYU, left on our missions at the same time, came back to BYU, became roommates toward the end of college and in general shared a lot of happy and hard times. We both worried way too much about who we would marry and would talk for endless hours about lots of different topics. Despite her best efforts, I am still a walker and she can outrun most anyone I know.


• Scot (Scotty) - OK, my brother is family, but I do consider him a friend. It was great to see him and go out with some of his roommates for some big burgers. Yes, my friends, there are still some good young guys in the world. They were great to talk with even though I could be there mother...or close to it anyway. I went on campus to see where Scot worked and the cool architectural software he uses (Ribit? or Revet?) . He is implementing his architecture/construction management skills into the "Becca House." I think I will do a separate entry about that, but it's been fun to work with him on the design of my future house over the past couple of years.


• Vincent and Freda - All of my sisters and I knew Vincent at Campus Plaza at BYU. He would always come on group activities with us and ask for advice about career, marriage, career, marriage, career, marriage, etc. Freda came along a little later, but we all knew they should be together. Now they have a beautiful family and we of course had a chance to sit and chat about the same things again - career, marriage, career, marriage. (-: Wonderful friends!

• Mike, Ann and Patti - so, I finally have a picture of Patti to put up here. Patti lived in DC for a while and I'm realizing that I didn't get to know her that well now that we've had a few conversations on facebook, blogs and at the wedding reception. Here she is with Mike and Ann. Mike became a new friend too since I'd never met him. Great person and a wonderful match for Ann. I'm not sure why this picture is so little.I'm feeling like a pretty lucky person right now. I wish I could have seen everyone else, but maybe the next trip.