Saturday, July 28, 2012

Mass Exodus

So this last weekend my ward experienced a mass exodus away from Provo. Everyone was on vacation! Two were in Russia. One group took a spontaneous journey to St. George. Another group went to Havasupai. A few traveled withe their families to Nauvoo, Colorado, Oregon, and California. I went to Washington!

Bright and early Friday morning Chad, Connor, Alli, Natalie, and I set out on our journey. A drive that is supposed to take around 14 and a half hours ended up taking 17. A small gas tank and even smaller bladders led to many stops. The longest stop (this one was actually planned) was in Portland. We stopped to eat dinner and experience the magic of Voodoo Doughnuts. Let me tell you, Portland is weird and I love it! It was fun to be out of the BYU bubble and see all sorts of different people. Finally, at about 10:30, we arrived at my house. We were joined there by Hannah!


Blue skies.

 Yum!

Car ride.

Friday brought rain and a trip to Seattle. I am actually really glad that it rained. Is there any other way to truly experience Seattle? Together we explored Pike's Place, fed seagulls on the pier, admired the Space Needle, and "conquered" the International Fountain. I love Seattle! Such a cool city. That night my parents threw a belated birthday party for me. My cousins and high school friends came. It was so nice to see everyone. We ate lots of good food and I got lots of things I needed for Italy. The highlight: getting to drive a mustang. Aww yeah! After the party we went to see "Dark Knight Rises." It was pretty dang good.

Washingtonians in their natural habitat!

Elephant ears! Yum!

Struttin' our stuff

Pike's Place!

Peekaboo!

Rock out!

Eating seafood that I actually enjoyed!

The delicious raspberries that stained my shirt...

The gorgeous pier!

Off to Pike's Place.

Buddies!

Space needle.

On Saturday we took a trip to my second favorite place on earth (Disneyland is the first), Mt. Rainier! After realizing that the trail we planned to hike on was closed because of avalanche damage we decided to head off to Cougar Rock and the Nisqually River. After crossing the river we hiked up to a beautiful waterfall. Then we headed up to Paradise, literally. The mountain flowers were in full bloom and the day was sunny and clear. It was perfect! For me Mt. Rainier is almost sacred. I am always in awe of it's beauty and vastness. It humbles me to think that the being who created that gorgeous mountain created me too. We ended the night with an incredible dinner at the Copper Creek Inn.

The gorgeous dinner setting.

True Friendship.

Peponi

Gangsta lichen mustaches.

So happy to be there.

Trying to climb a tree...

My mountain.

Happy.

Stunning.

Meadow flowers.

The most epic shirt ever.

We spent Sunday with my family. After church we just relaxed, played games, and had a most excellent dance party. It was so nice to be with my family. I hadn't seen them in seven months!

On my Monday we headed back to Utah.

It was a whirlwind, but great trip!




Tuesday, July 17, 2012

10x2=20!

Ok so this post is a little over due, but I am twenty! Whoa! It feels great! I am finally in the same decade as all of my friends. It also feels kind of weird. I mean I'm in my twenties, that's closer to being a real adult. Strange...

So basically I had the best birthday ever. It was so full of birthday texts, facebook messages, and surprises. Thanks to everyone who showed their love!

On my birthday I knew that my roommates were planning something, but I didn't know what or when. As a result the entire day was spent in anxious anticipation. The only plan that I had was that we were going to dinner at my favorite Italian restaurant, Terra Mia. So upon arriving home from work I began to get ready to go to dinner. I complained to Kathryn about not having any cute shirts to wear and she just politely laughed at me... About five minutes afterwards my roommates and Kevin surprised me with a shirt that I have wanted for months, but had decided was too expensive to justify spending money on. I screamed. And I thought that was the only surprise...

After that my roommates, Kevin, Andrew, and I headed off to Terra Mia. I got my entire meal, a side salad, and gelato for free!! All because of my free entree card and birthday. And it was all SO yummy!

At Terra Mia in my new birthday shirt.

On the drive back from Terra Mia I started to get a little suspicious.  Jordan kept trying to distract me by pointing out every little thing we drove by and I saw Chad attempt to run stealthily across the parking lot with a strange bucket. But I knew that we had FHE next so I figured the surprise must not be until afterwards. Wrong! I showed up at FHE and the whole ward was there! People that I didn't even think knew who I was were there. They sang to me and presented me with a cake designed to look like the leaning tower of Pisa and a giant birthday card. Then we had the most epic water fight (shout out to Dan for acting as my noble steed). We ended the party with a couple rounds of sushi tag. After returning home bruised, beaten, and soaking wet I ended the night at the Mancave. 

My first week as a twenty year old has not disappointed. After coming home sick from a work camping  trip things were not looking up, but they ended up being quite awesome. Some highlights included game nights, roof climbing, fort building, and LLAMA FEST! Can I just say that llama fest was awesome? Not only did I get to pet and feed llamas, but I got a sweet llama shirt and a maxi skirt from a Hindu temple. Score! I feel like I am really living up to my hippy roots.

They call me the llama whisperer.

Next adventure: roadtrip to Washington!!!


Sunday, July 8, 2012

Like a Plastic Bag

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag? Well actually, no, I don't. However, the song "Firework" reminds me of the 4th of July and that's what I'm blogging about. So, yeah...

Life has been quite good to me lately. I honestly cannot remember a time when I have been this happy. Well except for in Disneyland, but that's a whole different category of joy. So I guess it's time for an update.

The 4th of July was a most excellent day. I started out the day by watching the parade out of my bedroom. How convenient is that? I got a front row seat without having to camp out! Then I made my way to the Mancave BBQ. 'Twas nice to hang out with my friends and enjoy the sunlight. I spent the majority of the day at a BBQ with my friend's family. It was fun and nice to be around a family even if it wasn't my own. After the BBQ I headed up to the Y to watch fireworks with some friends. I ended the night with my first trip to Sonic. The shakes were good, but I was not impressed with the food.

The beautiful view from our spot.

Nat and I watching fireworks!

Thursday brought rain!! It was beautiful! Also, quite literally the answer to prayers. With all of the fires in Utah it was certainly a blessing. The best part of having a roommate who also loves the rain is that you get to dance in it. 

We love rain!

I love this chica.

Friday brought the much needed weekend. To celebrate we attended the rooftop concert in downtown Provo. It was a Tom Petty cover concert. Shockingly it was actually really good and Neon Trees performed! However, the opening "rappers" were not so hot. "I'm throwing gangster signs, but I don't know what they mean." What. The. Heck.

Il Grupo

Feet!

Saturday was one of my friend's birthdays. Her roommate threw an epic party. It was a paint war! I have to say I much prefer paint fights to food fights. There was no puking involved this time and the smell was much less toxic.


Today was just a wonderful and relaxing Sunday and my last day as a teenager. I am so excited to finally be twenty!

Life is beautiful!