My crazy adventurous weekend!

So, picture this in your head: First picture warm St. George hiking in Zion's. Then picture a slot canyon in a place called Orderville. This hike is pretty strenuous so picture lots of rocks and logs to climb over. Then picture a few water puddles to walk through and then they get big enough that you have to swim through it to get to the other side. As you continue along you have to climb up to the top to be able to get the the spot where you repel down 15 ft to continue on your journey. Keep in mind that this is an 11 mile hike so there are a lot of these obstacles to overcome. Do you have that picture in your mind? Good. Now forget about it because that was only our plan to do that. What we actually did was sleep over night in a windy, cold place called Fillmore. Yup! That's as far as we got.

I got a text from a friend asking me to go to Zion's with some peeps. So I said sure why not. As I'm packing he sends me a rough packing list: hiking shoes that can get really wet, pants/shorts that dry quickly, warm top in a garbage back to keep warm, extra clothes and socks. All the while i'm thinking...what are we hiking through?? So off we go. When we are on the freeway leaving provo they finally tell me their exact plans. I'm sitting there thinking to myself what in the world did i get myself into. These guys do this all the time. The only time i've ever repelled was at Camp Williams, with professionals! So we go and i'm trying to convince myself that I can do this and not to chicken out and ruin it for everyone else. Well the car was acting a bit funny on the way down as we tried to climb hills, but we didn't think anything of it. We stop at the first exit in Fillmore to get some dinner. As we leave they switch drivers and continue on the freeway. The girl can't get the car to go any faster then 55, she mentions that it's hard to get this car to go. The moment they tell her not to push it too hard we hear a loud sound like a siren and then lots of air coming from somewhere. We can't tell where it's coming from and it was only happening when she pressed on the gas. So luckily Fillmore has two exits! We get off the second one and pull into a gas station to try and figure out what was wrong. We couldn't figure it out and even a guy tried to help us and he didn't know exactly what was wrong. So we decided to find somewhere to pitch our tent to sleep and then try to figure something out in the morning. So with not knowing what was wrong with the car we begin driving to find a dirt road up the mountain. We went up a ways till we finally ran into Fish Lake National Forest where we could easily find somewhere to camp and not get in trouble.

We found a little place off the dirt road and pitched our tent and went to sleep. Yet for me there wasn't a whole lot of sleeping. Trying to move around to find a comfortable spot on the rocks, ignoring the loud breathing, snoring, sleep talking and the crazy wind was almost impossible. I was in for a LONG night! I finally had to get out of the tent to tie down the rain fly (wrapping it around the poles) so it wouldn't blow away. Then get back in and try to fall asleep all over again. Let's just say that I probably got a total of 2 hours of sleep.

Once everyone woke up we had breakfast and packed it all up and headed home. We had to keep the windows partially down because the car was starting to smell and we thought it might carbon monoxide. We didn't want to get sick or anything. The whole time they talked about philosophy stuff (which is way over my head). I kept thinking why in the world did i come? I have nothing in common with these people and they are way to smart for me. I just sat and listened. Not once saying anything or offering my opinion. I don't think of things like that. I guess i'm just to simple minded or something.

They were all really bummed out that we didn't make it to Zion's, but I thought it was a blessing in disguise for me. I don't think it would have been very good for me to go, not knowing how to repel or climb. Being sick (I've had a sinus infection all week) in the cold water would just make me worse. I feel that something would have gone wrong if we would have made it down there. I'm very blessed that Heavenly Father was watching over me and made sure that we didn't continue down south. It sure would have been cool do to something i've never done before, but not so cool if something would have happened. Things like this always remind me to not forget the little things He does for us.

Hiking

So every Tuesday me and mom and her friend Jan are going on a hike. Today was our second time and it sure has been fun! A great workout for me especially for my calves, but it's been great! Here are the pics!

Hike #1 to Stuart Falls

Hike #2 Battle Creek 

Stay tuned for next week!! :)

Color Me Rad!

So i've finally come to talk about my race that I did! It has taken me forever! Let's just say it was awesome! Hard but awesome! It was only hard because of my bad calves that I have! Lame! But all the color really helped get my mind off of it! It was a really good experience for me and I'm looking forwards to the next races. Not really the dirty dash...that one I'm a bit nervous for! I have no idea why I signed up for it! I'm just crazy..i know!

Life is going good for me. Not a whole lot is going on. Just working and I only have one calling now. They released me from my sports calling. Thankfully! So I'm focusing all on visiting teaching and loving it! So there you go! My mom and I are starting to go on a hike every tuesday and that will be great! We have all ready done one and I am excited to do the others!

Stressful.....

Hello there! Well i thought that I should post something, but I don't really have a whole lot to say. My Book of Mormon challenge started off good, but my timer has run out and I'm not finished....YET! Sadly I just couldn't get into the habit. I want to read it and really learn the stories and doctrine, but it's still hard for me to read every night. I just don't know how to get in the habit of reading EVERY day/night. I'm working on it.

Work is going good still! I'm loving it. Ya there is still that one lady that drives me crazy, but you always have to have at least one right?

My callings are stressful. I just talked to one of my bishopric members about it this morning. It's been really hard having my sports calling. I don't know why I can't just have my Visiting Teaching calling that I love and worry only about that one. But I have to split my focus to two completely different things and make sure both go smoothly. It's just quite stressful. It's going to be crazy this summer with all the new people coming into our ward to make sure everyone has vt teachers and someone to visit teach. And then make sure we have fun sports to play every wednesday night for everyone. We will see what happens!

Other than that, my running is slowly coming along. No matter how long or hard I stretch, I still get pain in my calfs and occasionally shin splints. I still can't run very far without stopping for a bit and stretching or doing something else then go back to running. My first race is coming up soon and I really hope I can do it. I know I won't be running the whole time, but my biggest accomplishment for me right now would just to run a full 3 miles without stopping or walking. I really hope I can get there soon, cause it's stressing me out that I can barely even run a full 10 min. How sad is that? Pretty sad if you ask me.

Spring is here!

Well hopefully it is here! Sure looks like it has been, but I do know that a storm is coming this weekend. So we will see! So it's been a while since i've posted but it seams like I say that all the time! I really just don't have a whole lot to say so I make sure I have a few months behind me so I have things to say to catch up! ;)

So since spring is here, it's time to start signing up for all the races! And yes...I have signed up for TWO races! But they are not normal races! I've joined a group with my work to do these! I think I might just be crazy or something, but I'm excited cause that just means that I'm doing something active and getting involved with those I work with. So the first one, which is on April 28th, is called Color Me Rad. It's a 5K race at UVU, but not timed so that will be good. The second one is on June 2nd and it's called The Dirty Dash. That one isn't timed either. Go watch the videos at www.colormerad.com and www.thedirtydash.com and you will understand why they aren't timed! :) I'm just excited to be out doing something. You might think I'm crazy with these types of races but I'm excited to get "dirty"! ;)

But now since i've been running almost everyday....I'm getting major shin splints and calf cramps. It seriously is so annoying! I'm trying to not get discouraged, and I'm trying to find ways to stretch them out so it doesn't hurt to run, but maybe I just need to try harder. I really hope I will be ready by the end of April!

But besides the races(you know, trying to be in shape like my sister Amanda), I have another sister, Angie, that I'm trying to be like too. She said that she got a white envelope in the mail and her husband laughed at her. Well sis...I got one too! I've been summoned for Jury Selection and maybe even Jury Duty. That will be at the end of this month so we will see what happens. A lot of people hate jury duty or are sad when they get that "awesome" letter in the mail, but as I've been thinking about it...I've always wanted to know what it would be like to be on a jury. But it's kind of intimidating for a little 24 year old to be on a jury to decide someone's fate. But I'm intrigued and I wouldn't mind for my first time to be apart of it. We will just have to wait and see! :)

Other than that I'm still just working and laughing at all the cute/funny little kids that come in everyday and staying busy with my callings! Until next time!