One of the perks of unemployment is having an abundance of free time! After being absent for 7 months, I returned to the homeland and got to visit for TWO full weeks. It was fantastic and much needed for my sanity. The trip involved A LOT of volleyball (my body has not been that sore in a long time), catching up with friends, and of course spending time with my favorite people - the fam!
Things started off with a bang when I reunited with the old volleyball gang to play outdoor for a few hours. Let me tell you something - it may just be a mental block - but I believe that I perform better in the dry air of the west. Something about humidity just sucks the life out of me and it was quite enjoyable to being playing again without the oppressive heat of the east coast. Nevertheless, good times are had by all when volleyball is involved.
 |
| Grandma's Birthday |
I was so happy to be home for Grandma's birthday dinner - which was of course followed by dessert and Mormon Bridge (Metcalf tradition).
 |
| Lame, but oh so exciting! |
I'm well aware that I should not be bragging about this, but I'm going to anyway. One of my favorite games is Pick. It's a fast version of Scrabble where you create your own Scrabble board, drawing tiles and trying to complete yours before the other players. One night, while playing this game with Mom and Dad, I achieved the greatest score known to the Metcalf family - 81 POINTS! Be impressed people. That's a dang good score. I usually feel good if I get a score in the 50s. Clearly Mom was impressed enough to take a picture of the moment so obviously it needed to be in the blog. Makes sense. I'd like to also take this moment to say that I have the coolest parents in the world and had a blast hanging out with them whenever I wasn't out with friends. Possibly the hardest I laughed the whole trip was watching Cory and Dad "wrestle." I'm laughing now just thinking about it.
I mentioned volleyball earlier, however I failed to discuss the Dusk 'til Dawn tournament that I played in with my friend Connor. It is exactly what it sounds like. The tournament starts around 7pm and you play til you're eliminated. I heard the winners were there until about 3:45am. Unfortunately, Connor and I did not make it that far, although we did improve by the end of the night. What was our inspiration for improvement, you ask? Repeatedly listening to "You're the Voice" by John Farnham (watch Hot Rod). It doesn't get much more inspirational than that. We stuck around to watch Cory and his partner, who made it much further than us. I think they ended up taking 4th in their division. Then, naturally, we went to Denny's because nothing tastes better at 3am than french toast and chocolate milk!
 |
| "We're not gonna sit in silence!" |
Another favorite activity from my trip was my first experience on the Flowrider at the Provo Beach Resort. If you are unfamiliar with it, basically it's an indoor surf wave. It doesn't actually look that hard, but don't be deceived! Let's just say I'll probably stick with boogie boarding in the future.
 |
| Provo Beach Resort (This was the only good photo of about 100 takes, much to Mom's frustration) |
They have a lifeguard on duty that helps you if you're new to the sport. She holds a rope and slowly releases it, pushing you further into the wave. Jake and Cory (who were also participating, but not as first timers) decided I should go first of the three of us and that I should have to try it without the rope. I think I stayed up for about oh... .2 seconds before finding myself swiftly blown to the top of the wave where they've provided a platform for you to semi-recover yourself before descending the ramp to attempt the wave again. I tried once more on my own before acknowledging my need for the rope. Interestingly, the rope is supposed to be stabilizing, but it had the opposite effect on me. Don't believe me? Please enjoy this video:
This was a trip of "firsts" for me. Next on the list was PAINTBALLING! I've always wanted to try it, but just never have. No better time than the present. I went with a group of friends from Provo - Jess, Dave, Pete, and Andrew. Pete was the lone expert in our group, the rest of us were rookies. We walk in and the guy behind the desk gets us all set with our gear and such, but in the process explains how to use the gun so rapidly that I was still on how to take the safety off when he was herding us into the arena. Uh oh.
 |
| The girls! We totally owned that arena. |
So we split into two teams and the referee puts us on opposite sides, says "Go!", and suddenly little pellets are flying at me from across the room. I dive down, trying to figure out why my gun isn't firing, only to see that the safety is on (great, the one thing I thought I understood from the guy's instructions). Once I figured the gun out, the game became much more exciting, although being defenseless in a paintball arena isn't exactly boring.
The first time I got hit ended up being the most painful. I got a paintball right on my bicep from about 2 feet away. I had been prepared and knew that I would get some welts and bruises, but it was still quite shocking to get hit and, as Kramer would say, "it's no picnic!" After that round I reluctantly went back to my side to start a new game, the whole time thinking, "Why did I want to do this again?" Luckily, that first one was the most painful and after that I began to enjoy the game. There's something about sliding around on a paint covered floor, weaving in and out of blow up obstacles, that is just ridiculously fun. I guess it kind of takes you back to childhood (or at least my childhood with three brothers). Anyways, it was great and I definitely had plenty of bruises the next day.
 |
| Yes, I'm still smiling even though you can't see my face. |
Last, but not least, I have to mention the wonderful afternoon spent with the old roomies. I made Brazilian lemonade, proving that I'm not a total screw-up in all areas of domesticity (earlier in the trip I completely ruined and had to start over a baby blanket I was making AND tried to replicate some delicious cookies we'd been given, but totally botched). We had a great time sitting outside and catching up. Sure miss those girls!
 |
| Aren't we cute?! |
Well, that about sums up my trip. Thanks for being a great host, Utah. I knew you wouldn't disappoint!
I'm off to Amish country in Pennsylvania this weekend - stories and pictures to come!
