10 Things I Learned After 10 Days On My Own

1. Be very careful when walking across the kitchen while holding a raw egg.

2. If you want to get to know a place better, go for a run.

3. Toilet Paper, Paper Towels, Dish Soap, Hand Soap, Food, Detergent, Shampoo, Toothpaste, Mouth Wash, are all things that cost money every time you use them, so use wisely.  Also, they don't just magically appear when you're living on your own.

4. You're never too old to call your parents just to say goodnight.

5. Those absolutely annoying little brothers that never shut up? Ya, you might miss them when you're sitting alone in an empty apartment with nothing to do and no one to talk to.

6. You're not always going to have a never-ending list of people to call to hang out.

7. Pray, Pray, Pray, Pray, Pray.

8. You truly are never lost when you can see the Temple, even if the only view of it you have is a picture on your wall.

9. Be patient and non-judgemental with other people.

10. Enjoy what you have at the moment.  Lonely and bored?  At some point, you'll no longer have privacy or down time.  Busy, crowded, and exhausted? Well, at least you're not lonely and bored any more.  Sick of high school?  You'll miss it some day.  Missing high school?  Forget about it and enjoy college, you'll miss that one day, too.

A Random Little Trip to Provo

After a few long days of being alone in my apartment, Nefi and Austin stopped by on their way to BYU.  Nefi was going drop Austin off then come back the next day.  Right before they left, they asked if I wanted to come.  I knew that I could stay at Emily's for the night and I figured that I had nothing better to do, so I packed my bag and within five minutes, I was on the way to Provo!  It was super random, but it was way fun to be at that time in my life that I could do things like that just for the heck of it!



Austin, Me, Nefi

As we drove up there, I got the boys to play the "Question Game" with me.  It's the simplest, dumbest game, but I love it!  All you do is take turns asking random, deep questions that everyone, including the asker, has to answer.  We had some fun getting into deep analogies about Dobby the house elf from Harry Potter being a hero and things like that.  I love talking to these guys!  The drive went by super fast.

Me and Emily in her hallway.
 I love randomly telling people that we've been best friends for seven years.

Emily was super excited for us to come!  She, too, had been alone in her dorm for a few days.  She's been doing a week-long honors program, so when I was in her room with her she was mostly doing homework, but it was fun just to be together.  She told me all about her first days at BYU.  It was so exciting to see her there after listening to her plan on it for the last seven years!

Emily, Nefi, and Me with our huge, delicious Sno Cones!





Emily had class in the morning, so I helped Nefi and Austin get Austin all moved in and then sent him off to a leadership camp for the next couple days.  Nefi and I didn't have a whole lot to do after that, so we got some food, roamed campus a bit, made a hilarious poster to have Emily give to Austin, and then met up with my dad for lunch.  He was doing a little work at the Provo Macey's, but took awhile off to take Nefi and me to the Pizza Pie Cafe.  I LOVE that place!  It tastes great and brings back great memories of Cross Country and Track trips.  I stuffed myself full.  By the time we finished, Emily was done with class, so we met up with her and got some amazing sno cones. 

We chilled at Emilys house for a little while, and she told us all about the funny BYU people she has met so far.  We dropped Emily off at dinner, then headed home.  We had rented Hunger Games from the Redbox, but hadn't had time to watch it, so Nefi came over and watched it at my apartment before he headed home.  I had such a fun time on our random little trip! :)







80 Things Cross Country and Track Taught Me

Obviously, the people and experiences from XC and Track taught me a lot about running,
but they taught me even more about life.

1. Never, ever give up.

2. Success is not found inside of your comfort zone.

3. The pain of training hard is less than the pain of looking back and saying "I wish" or "If only."

4. Hard work pays off.

5. The most important voice in the world is the one inside of your head.

6. "There's always going to be someone prettier than you, there's always going to be someone smarter than you, there's always going to be someone faster that you."

7.  Family includes a lot more than just the people who share your DNA.

8. If you get your priorities in order, everything will fall into the right place.

9. The most important big thing is the sum of all the little things.

10. Some pains need special care, others just need to be pushed through--learn the difference between these.

11. "There are worse things in life."

12. The best kind of high is the one that results from your own success.

13. You don't have to be the best to have the most success.

14. You can't control whether or not you'll be the fastest, but you can be sure that you work the hardest.

15. You may wish you could be as great as someone else, but realize that there are people wishing to be as great as you.

16. Talent may get people to notice you, but your example will get people to remember you.

17. ^If you have both of these things and learn how to use them together, miracles will happen.

18. You may lose today's race, but that doesn't mean you can't win tomorrow's.

19. Don't underestimate the value of even one hundredth of a second.

20. Don't get caught up in the dramatic mind games of your rivals--just beat them.

21. Don't stop because you reach your goals--set new, greater ones.
22. Accept the fact that even though some people don't push half as hard as you do, they may still be faster than you.  We weren't created the same, that's just a part of life.

23. "A goal not written down is just a wish."

24. Complaining doesn't make adversity go away, it just makes it more miserable to endure.

25. Having good sportsmanship doesn't mean you're soft, it just means you're smart.

26. "All things are difficult before they are ever easy."

27. Learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.

28. Don't wallow in self-pity, just use bad races to fuel the fire and do better next time.

29.  "Everyone has excuses, but a champion never uses them."

30. The most important record you'll ever beat is your own.

31. There are bad practices, bad races, bad weeks, and even bad seasons.  It's not the end of the world.

32. It's not about training the most, it's about training the smartest.

33. Be patient with yourself.  Success doesn't come quickly or easily.  If it did, it wouldn't be success.

34. It's harder to choose to be positive than to choose to be negative, but once the decision is made, it's a lot easier on you to live positively than to live negatively.

35. Sometimes, bad luck can be a real factor.  Usually, it's just an excuse.

36. It's okay to be mad.  Just don't be mad for irrational reasons.  Sometimes, the only person to blame is yourself.

37. Burned out? Not a good excuse.  Just grab another match or find another fuse.

38. A decision, if made with real intent, only really needs to be made once.

39. There are people who know more than you--learn from them.

40. To be a real team, you need to do a lot more together than just train.

41. You can find good friends by finding people who you can get along with and bringing them around you, but you will find your true friends in the people around you that you learn to get along with.

42. What you get out of something depends on what you put into it.

43. Your Coach might tell you to do something that sounds ridiculously stupid, but if you go along with it you'll learn that there was a dang good reason for it.

45. The voice in your head telling you to endure a run can also be used to tell you to endure an assignment, a study session, or a long shift at the Sno Shack.

46. Sometimes, the best cure for a bad day is a few stupid, cheesy jokes.

47. People can give you work outs, cheer your name, or yell and scream at you to go faster, but, at the end of the day, the only person that can actually push you to your fullest potential is you.

48. Life might happen and you may have to walk away from your dreams.  But, if you walk away from them into the arms of people who love you, you can find the strength to be okay.

49. You can take your anger out on a pole, but in the end, you'll probably just end up with a broken hand and being even more angry.

50. Placement is only relative.  You can be at the very front of a race and having even boys try to draft off of you, but your PR's often come in a race where you're in the back.

51. Visualize. If you can clearly see things in your head, you can accomplish them with your body.

52. You can lose simply because of your attitude.  If you show up expecting to do poorly, you will.

53. As long as you're still standing, you can do one more mile. Period.

54. When you fall, pick yourself back up.  However, there are rare occassions where you can't pick yourself up.  These occassions are where you find out who truly loves you.

55. The best motivation is the voice of someone you love.

56. You can set all the goals that you want, but they're only realistic if you make and follow a plan for achieving them.

57. Nothing worth having will come without sacrifice.

58. Boys fart. But, if you get ahead of them, you'll never have to smell it.

59. Train when you're supposed to train and race when you're supposed to race.  Never get this mixed up.

 60. Laughing, crying, smiling, and yawning all cause chain reactions.

61. There's a difference between being confident and being prideful.  Be confident.

62. Pranks are fun if you keep them innocent.

63. A person that went from a ten minute mile to a nine minute mile has had every bit as much success as a person who went from a five minute mile to a four minute mile.

64. There's a champion inside of everyone.

65. Your body won't work if you don't fuel it.

66. Soda is bad...unless you're drinking coke in the middle of an ultramarathon.

67. "The greatest pleasure in life is doing the things people say you cannot do."

68. Actions speak louder than words.  Times, Placements, and Scores speak louder than trash-talk.

69. You can look down at the ground if you want, but you'll be a whole lot more successful if you just lift your eyes up just one little inch and see the world.

70. When it comes to love, "it's all a joke...until it isn't a joke anymore."

71. Listen to the people watching you, they can see things that you cannot.

72. Try Again. And Again.

73. YOU CAN be the change that you want to see.

74. Just because someone doesn't show it, doesn't mean they don't love you.

75. That person right there? Yes, you can pass them.  Just Kick. Hard.

76. "Just Do It." Every single day.

78. When you body has nothing left, let adrenhaline take over.

79. Heart and Mind are just as important as Arms and Legs.

80. "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."

Moving Day!!!

What an emotional couple of days its been! Wednesday was my last night at home.  I kept thinking that I wanted to spend the last hours of my childhood out with my friends at a concert, but I had a lot to do and I was already starting to miss my family, so I just stayed at home.  We went out to dinner at Costa Vida, and then came home where we all hung out and I continued packing.  Brianna and Staci, girls from my team, came over to say goodbye and we sat and talked for a minute.  I'm so proud of all of those girls, and I'm super stoked to watch them race this year! 
Early Thursday morning, I went to the Temple with Jake (and Austin Judkins).  I was SO glad we went because if there was ever I day that I need Temple Blessings, that was definitely the day! Going to the Temple on my moving day made me reminisce about my graduation day.  I had a lot of the same feelings--nervousness, excitement, sentimentality, sadness, accomplishment, etc.  That day, I also found myself at the Temple with Jake, and I was comforted.  That's exactly how this Thursday felt.  The Temple is my strength.
I drove the Pilot and followed my dad up to Cedar City.  It was my very first time on the freeway!  I was a little freaked out every time I looked in my rearview mirror and saw my bike bouncing around, and there was one scary construction zone, but other than that, I was totally fine.

My Little Corner: Before

My Little Corner: Complete



We unpacked a few boxes and then went to a shoe store, Lin's, and Wal-Mart to get some groceries and work clothes.  My dad helped me hang and organize things, but then it came his time to leave.  I wasn't able to hold back the tears.  I knew that it would only be a few days until I'd see him again, and I've said goodbye to him hundreds of times for longer periods, but it was the whole feeling of my dad leaving and me being (mostly) on my own.  I had a hard time entering this new stage of life.  After I finished hanging my clothes and had gathered myself together, I went downstairs and watched a little T.V.  Regan (Jake's cousin and one of my roommates), came and watched with me.  Her friend Kaycilia joined us for a little bit and we had some fun.  The Finaus came over and took me out to dinner at Pizza Factory.  After I got back, Regan, Kaycilia, and I went to go get sno cones.  The place we went to had exploding sno cones (they put pop rocks on top), it was super fun!  We came back and just watched some more T.V. until bed.

Ramen Noodles...I'm an official college student now!

This morning, I woke up and tried to get myself into a routine to make this adjustment easier.  I said my prayers, read my scriptures, went for a run, ate, showered, and cleaned my room.  By the time I finished all this, Regan left to go home for the weekend.  I was worried I'd be super lonely but so far it hasn't been bad.  After I made myself lunch (Ramen Noodles), then went to Lin's for my Orientation.   It looks like I'll be working with some great people! After work, I bought a couple more groceries and then went to the DI to buy a belt since mine broke in the move. 

Cut the recipe in half...three times.

When I got back to the apartment, I tried out a Pinterest recipe for healthy rice crispie treats using brown rice cereal, peanuts, sunflower seeds, peanut butter, and agave nectar.  I was supposed to heat up the nectar and pb on the stovetop, and I was getting super frustrated that it would not boil!  After about 20 minutes, I realized that I had turned on the wrong burner...oh boy.  In the end, though, they turned out to be delicious!
So far, I like the apartment, the people (even though I've only met a couple), and the town.  I feel comfortable here, but it's definitely not home!  Part of me is contemplating not going to school during Summer Semester and going home for a few weeks instead.  It would make this whole thing feel less permanent!  I guess I'll just cross that bridge when I get to it.

Decorated by Sentimentality

If, for some odd reason, someone wanted to know everything about me, the best way to find out would be by looking around my room and hearing the stories behind everything that covers my walls, bed, and shelves.  My room is completely decorated by sentimentality, I just love being surrounded by memories.  So, if anyone actually reads this blog and has the patience to read this whole virtual tour of my room, they will know me better than just about anyone!
As I started packing up my room yesterday and preparing to get rid of things that I've kept all of these years, I decided I wanted to take pictures of these things and remind myself why I held onto them.  Enjoy this virtual tour of my room!

My Bed

Green Blanket: Made for me by my mom years ago, so it's obviously special.

Green Pillow: Flashback to a cross country trip my sophomore year.  I'm sitting with Jake and we want to draw, but have nothing to draw on.  But, I had this ugly old pillow, and Jake had a pen.  Before I knew it, the entire team had drawn on it.  Then, we made a tradition to write our favorite funny quotes from each other all over it.  It reminds me of the way the team became an instant family to me and how, just after moving back to St. George, I realized that my best friends were the boys I'd known my whole life, but had at some point decided I was too cool for them.  When I began cross country and didn't know anyone else, they let me tag along with them.  Shallow as it seems, I thought that I'd just hang around them until I made friends, but they turned out to be my best friends!  That sophomore year is filled with amazing memories of them, and that pillow reminds me of it.

Tan Pillow: I'll never forget the YW trip to Timpanogas with the 3rd Ward.  It had been a rough summer since I had just moved back here and things weren't so great.  That hike was the first time I ever felt strong and brave and knew that I could help people.  It seriously changed my life.  After it, we all signed pillow cases, and I had some of the sweetest compliments on mine.  This is when I first started to realize that Heavenly Father brought me back here for a reason.

Purple and Green Pillow: Jandee's Christmas present to me in 8th grade.  When I lived in Layton, I slept with that pillow every night so that I felt a connection to St. George.

The Cheetah Print Sheet (Kind of hard to see, it's under the pillows): When the Region meet for cross country was coming up this season, I wanted a little extra luck.  Cheetahs are fast so...yeah I hoped the sheet would remind me to visualize the race each night.  And, I kinda hoped it had some luck in it, too! ;)

The Dolphin: I'm not sure if I have that thing because I love dolphins, or if I love dolphins because of that thing!  I honestly have no idea which cam first.  I just know that it was a gift from my dad when he returned from Monterey Bay when I was two.  I don't remember that far back, but I do remember when I was eight years old and my dad started working up North, so I only saw him on weekends until we moved.  I remember that I had a lot of different stuffed animals in my room, but when this separation began, I started sleeping with the dolphin every night.  I would hold it and stare at the picture of me and my dad at my baptism until I fell asleep each night.  From then on, it was a habit no matter where I was or if he was there.  If I couldn't find it, I wouldn't sleep until I did.  Yes, I a 18 years old.  Yes, I still sleep with it!  It's a complete habit now.  In fact, I can't even sleep without my arms wrapped around something.  If I'm out of town and don't have it, I had to snuggle with a pillow or something.

The Lamp

When we lived in our house on willow, I wanted this lamp for some reason.  After Christmas, I finally had the money to buy it for myself (which is a big deal for a fourth grader!).  I never turn it on anymore.  In fact, I don't even know if it still works!  But, it's been a valuable decoration to me.  Whenever we've moved, I've put different things on it.  In this house, it's been holding academic ribbons and medals, whistles from basketball games, and, more recently, my Honor Chord and Leis from Graduation.  Sophomore year, we had to write a poem about an object that reflected us, and I chose this lamp.  I wrote about the way it was different, but that's what made it lovable.  It had its own base, it didn't need to rest on a table or anything; it stood on its own.  Its arms all stretch out in different ways--always reaching.  Every time it moves, something is broken, but eventually, that broken thing becomes a strength and the lamp is more beautiful because of it.

Lion and Guitar

In third grade, I wrote a story about a kitten who did some brave things to help others.  Step by step, she eventually ended up looking into the mirror and seeing a lion because of her courage.  I ended up winning Region in Reflections for the story and was asked to stand up in front of my entire school and read the story.  My parents then gave me the lion and sewed the ribbon on it.  Looking at that lion always gives me inspiration when I'm writing.

The guitar isn't just a decoration, I use it quite a bit!  When I was 16, Bishop Sheeran told me he thought that I had some untapped musical talent and that he wanted to help stretch me.  He started teaching me to play the guitar and let me use one of his until I bought my own.  I've been self-taught since I learned my first few chords, and I'm still not good!  But, I know most of the chords that are in my singing range, and over the last year or so I've began writing songs.  I love it!  I always amaze myself by what I am capable of doing and the way that the music and lyrics just seem to fall into place when I begin writing.  I've never played for anyone but Jandee, Courtney, and Emily because I don't like my singing voice, but I've still enjoyed it!

The "People Who Have Changed My Life" Board:

One of my favorite quotes is "some people come into our lives and silently go, but others stay awhile and leave footprints in our hearts...and we are never, ever the same."  I have that quote on this board, along with pictures of my favorite memories and people.  I've filled it with pictures of people and events that I believe have truly made me who I am.  It's full of friends, coaches, teammates, etc.  This helps keep me from missing people, because it gets me to focus on how they've become a part of me and, because of that, will always be with me, instead of how they're gone.

The Dresser

The Flowers: A lot of different memories there! The first flowers in there were just part of the decoration.  Then, I added a bouquet I got from my last volleyball game with North Layton Junior High.  Then, I added two roses from different young women's events.  My favorite bouquet, though, is the one I got at State Cross Country my senior year.  I was having a horrible day being up there but not being able to run. I was watching the race and it killed me knowing that I was better than more than half of the girls that were able to run.  I was bawling my eyes out, and then a few of my sweet teammates brought me flowers they picked from the park.  They said it was my "Senior Night."  It was things like this that made the team such a family.  On my worst days, they always made me happy! 

Poem in the Frame: Junior year, I had no money for Christmas presents for Jandee, Courtney, and Emily.  At that time, we were all working on making decisions about colleges and life was finally starting to get real--I knew that goodbyes were coming soon!  I was thinking about all the memories the four of us have together, and, before I knew it, I had a poem about us in my head.  I decorated frames, printed the poem, and ta-da, Christmas was complete!

Picture and Album: Pictures of Jandee, Courtney, Emily, and me.

Dirtbiking Helmet: Yes, I miss dirtbiking, but that's not the only reason that the old helmet means so much to me!  Our "Dirtbiking Days" were during the happiest time of my family's life.  Back then, things seemed so solid.  It was the longest we had ever lived in one house and my mom had just finished designing it into her dream home.  We had a close ward family, we had a crazy little dog, and we had the dirtbikes.  We were never closer than when out riding with each other.  The helmet brings me back to the simplicity of those days!

Chicks Rule Posters: Funny little presents from my mom.

Blue Quote on the Wall: Given to me when I received Stake Recognition for my Personal Progress Award.  It talks about the qualities a young woman needs to perform miracles for the Lord.  I keep it by my door so that I remember to try to live by it on my way out for the day.

Magnet Board

A present from Jandee when I moved to Layton.

Medal Display

I'm not exactly sure what this little medall thing was meant to be, we just kind of found it before moving into this house. I started by hanging road race medals on this thing, but ended up using it to hold my racing shoes, time cards, ribbons, and a quote that says "If you have a worthwhile dream in your heart, don't erase it." It got too full to fit all of my bibs, so I started to be selective.  Now, it only has the bibs from my first Varsity race (Hurricane Invite Sophomore Year), State both years, my first Gold Medal 10k,  both Footlockers, and Nike Cross Regionals. Oh, the memories!

Necklace Holder

My mom spent hours and hours making this for me.  It's full of little hooks for all of my jewelry.  I also started keeping my corsages on it.  I remember which corsage was given to me by which boy for which dance.  Each one has a funny story.  The green one took forever to put on at my very first dance when I went to Homecoming with Kameron M.  The yellow rose started to fall apart at my Junior Prom with Vince.  Parker had a friend make the one he gave me for Prom my sophomore year.  Zak did the same thing for my Senior Ball.  When my very last dance came around and I had my dream dress, I didn't know how to describe the shade of blue it had, but the tag said "Peacock."  Jake said that he had kind of been jealous of the corsages other boys got for their dates at previous dances, so he called Bloomer's instead of Desert Rose.  When he told them the color, they laughed and told him they knew what he meant.  So, I ended up with a peacock feather on my corsage, and it matched perfectly!  The holder also has dozens of necklaces and hair flowers that my mom made, as well as old charm bracelets and my Disney pins.

The Little Corner

The picture of the Savior, the blue quote frame, and the white wedding dress quote remind me of my biggest goals.  The sea shell was a gift given to me by Marty and Linda Sheeran when they returned from a trip back in the days that I spent most of my waking moments at their house with Courtney and Parker.  The little Willow Tree box was given to me when I received my YW medallion in the third ward.  The picture frames were both gifts from Emily.

The Jerseys

Cross Country and Track have been the highlight of my life so far.  I invested most of my time and all of my heart in this.  The most rewarding moments of my life happened while I wore these jerseys.  I didn't think I could just throw them into a dresser drawer after all that!  Looking at them gives me determination to work hard in everything I do because when I wore them, I proved that it pays off.

The Desk

Cute picture of me in the mirror, huh? Haha. I wish I could take this desk to college.  My mom spent weeks painting, finishing, and basically completely restore this old DI dest.  The drawers are lined with scrapbooking paper and each detail on the outside is beautiful and specific. I love it so much!  She did the same with the chair and the lamp.  Luckily, I get to bring those with me.  On day, I'm going to get this desk back and keep it forever, because it will always remind me of my mom and her amazing eye for crafts and the way she paid such beautiful attention to detail.  Her personality is all over that thing.

The Cross Country Shrine

I loved Nike Cross Regionals!  I remember walking around with Jake and Kyle and stealing the flags from the course.  They are so cool-looking and full of memories.  The race bibs are from my worst races.  I wanted to always remind myself how horrible it feels to finish a race knowing that you didn't try your hardest.  So, I burned holes into the unlucky bibs and hung them up in my room with the words "pain is only temporary...race with no regrets."  The poster is the Senior Gift from Coach Fielding this year--the list of his best quotes, taken from my Facebook page.  The white piece of paper was slipped under the hotel doors of all the varsity runners the night before State my Junior Year.  Coach was so excited for us that he couldn't sleep, so he printed out some of his favorite famous running quotes and wrote us all a good luck message.  It was such a great surprise that morning!  The little board is a Lightning McQueen (my favorite superhero ;)) message board.  Attached to it is the little bit of inspiration I needed to get me through Nike, Footlocker, and Track Season.  After the disappointing race at Region, Coach Fielding gave me some comforting/motivating words.  I typed them up and put them there with a message telling me to prove him right to help motivate me for the coming races.

The Treasure Box

You know those stupid little things that you can't get rid of?  The little mementos from the best little moments of your life? Okay, maybe not everyone has those, but I sure do!  That' what the treasure box is for.  It holds so many things! The glasses I wore in 5th Grade, the Hall Pass I stole from the Orchestra Room Sophomore year thinking it would help me get out of class whenever I wanted, the certificate I got when I recieved my Young Womanhood Medallion, the shoe lace from my first real running shoes, the journal me and Courtney Sheeran used to pass back and forth, the stupid fish stickers from a Unified Studies trip, a copy of Thunderstruck, the pack of gum my mom gave me when she knew I was going to get my first kiss, the box I painted at (what I thought was) my very last mutual activity with the third ward, a pen given to me at Girls Camp one year, the invitation I made when I started the XC Sleepover tradition, a list of all my PR's over the years, the school record I took down before putting my own up, the hearts Jake used his money to make me buy when he was selling them for a HOSA Fundraiser, the remains of a confetti cannon Parker and me used at a basketball game, hair decorations from different dances, etc. etc.

It's not that I hold onto these things because I can't move on with life.  In fact, I think I'm really good at moving on and adapting to a new life.  But, these things help me look back and remember where I came from.  It's the whole Titanic you're-here-in-my-hear-and-my-heart-will-go-on thing.  These things aren't what make me who I am, but they're reminders of the moments that did make me who I am.  As I pack up and head to college, some of these things will be thrown away, some will be stored, some will come with me in "treasure" boxes, and a select few will come with me as they are.  But, I'm finally starting to realize that even without these little souvenirs, the memories will stay alive. :)

 

Sometimes, Regular Texting Gets Boring...

(The pictures got pretty blurry when I emailed them to myself, so I'll add subtitles. But no, I didn't use them in the real conversation!)

(Can you go either tomorrow or Thursday?)
*Pointing at a picture of the Temple*

 

Haha either would work! As long as we go in the morning.

Dang! I work at 8:45, so it would have to be early...

That's okay. Would you still want to play pickleball?

Haha cool. So what time?

(Too early?)

Haha I can't really see it...6?  That's fine with me!

(6:02, Actually)

Hahahaha sure. Whose turn to drive?

(I think I drove last 'cuz I remember Tiffany stalling...)
*Tiffany is the name of my car*

Haha this is hilarious! Wait so tomorrow? Or Thursday?

(Maybe tomorrow since they do pickleball lessons on Thursdays?)

Thursday mornings? Ok sounds good to me!

Hahaha how bored are you?

(I'm in a freezer holding a can of beans...get it?)

Haha ya I got it...cool beans.  But I'm just wondering how bored you'd have to be to think of that.

Not bored just a little too happy! haha so 6:02 tomorrow?

Yep!

Go to sleep!

The Four Year Wait for Ribs



Scoot was being a pain in the butt when I tried to get a picture of us in the car!

So many good memories with this kid!

Finally forced him into a picture at the doorstep!







Flashback to my first day of ninth grade.  I'm in this new town at this scary school and I don't know a soul!  When I get to Seminary, the teacher starts talking about his "inspired" seating chart.  I start looking around the room, wondering which cute boy God wanted me to sit by.  I ended up next to this boy that I recognized from the gym class I had earlier that day, and I instantly started judging.  He was obviously a football player, so he was obviously a tool.  He was wearing a jacket that said he was Student Body President, so he was obviously stuck up.  To make things worse, I was still in that awkward, shy new girl phase.  So, when he turned to me and said hi, I smiled and went back to what I was doing.  I was totally intimidated by this kid!
About a week later, we had a PACER test in gym class.  This was basically an endurance test.  When I lasted for twice as long as any other girl and outlasted ninety percent of the boys, people started noticing the quiet new girl.  When I sat down in Seminary later that day, Scooter, on yet another valiant attempt to reach out to me, said, "Wow, good job today, you're a really good runner, Meghan."  He found that key to winning me over: he complimented my running!  Next thing I knew, we were best friends.  We had an awesome handshake and everything!  He was the first friend I had in Layton, and he was the one that introduced me to a lot of the other friends I eventually made.
During one of our talks, we somehow started talking about ribs.  I told him about how I always get sauce all over my face whenever I eat them, and that my parents had told me I could never eat them on a date.  He laughed and said that his brother had told him the same thing.  So, we made a plan.  On my sixteenth birthday, he would take me on my first date, and we would get ribs, just to spite everyone!
Well, I didn't stay in Layton long enough to see that day come.  Whenever he would come down here or I would go up there, we would try to get ribs, but it never quite worked out.  Last week, he came down with his family and, knowing that this could be the last time we see each other before his mission, we made getting ribs a priority.  It was so much fun!  First, we went to go see Batman (which was SUCH a good movie!).  Even though we were getting ribs after, Scoot bought us the extra large popcorn combo and we totally stuffed ourselves.  When we got to Texas Roadhouse and FINALLY got our ribs, we stuffed ourselves again, but enjoyed every last second of it!  Then, he wanted to go get sno cones since he knew how obsessed I am with them. 
We had quite the adventure getting to the Sno Shack!  I kind of might have led him on a wild goose chase around town since he didn't know where he was.  I kept saying "Well, you could turn left here, or you could go right" and "Guess where you go now!"  We ended up going from Texas Roadhouse through Washington, around Little Valley, to Bloomington Hills, down the roundabout, through Bloomington, up to Green Valley, over the new overpass, around the Temple, and down to the Sno Shack.  It was funny, and we enjoyed having more time to talk!  We had so many great memories to reminisce about.  I've sure missed him!

SUU Orientation

The Orientation Part

WOW, I can't believe that this whole SUU thing is actually becoming real!  It's so exciting.  I was super nervous about going up there, but I totally lucked out and had my orientation the same day as Jake (Ya I know, that poor guy has got to be so sick of me already!).  We drove up early that morning and went straight to Heidi's house so she could show us where to go.  We got our Student IDs and walked around the building looking at different programs.  We went into a small auditorium where they did a couple drawings before splitting us into groups.  Jake was the first name drawn and I'm slightly jealous of the sweet socks he won. 

We went into groups with people who shared our major.  My group was really quiet, but none of us knew each other, so I didn't expect anything different.  However, I was relieved when lunch came and I could sit at the Honors Table with Jake instead of still trying to make small talk with the Psychology Majors.  We visited Heidi at work and went to a few more classes.  There was one last drawing, and I won a T-shirt.  It was way funny that Jake and I both won!

After Orientation, Jake and I went to Lin's to turn in his application, and then grabbed a snack at Great Harvest.  Heidi was still working, so we just went back to her house and chilled for awhile.

The Fun Part

Jake humoring me for a picture



Heidi and Jake

When Heidi got back from work, we went on an adventure with her and some of her friends.  We had planned on doing the Kanarraville Falls Hike, but it was stormy so we were doubting the safety of the idea.  We started walking to the trailhead when someone drove by and told us there were flash flood warnings in the canyon.  We joked that he was one of the Three Nephites and had intervened to save our lives. 

Even though the slot canyon wasn't a great idea, we all still wanted to go for a hike.  We drove around to a random trail and started driving up it, but noticed a "No Trespassing" sign and saw an elderly couple up ahead.  My first thought was "Oh great, we're intruding on this grumpy old couple's property, let's get out of here!"  But, two of the people with us decided to walk up to the people and ask for directions to a good hike.  It turned out that the couple was extremely nice and helpful!  There wasn't room to turn the truck around, so we had to back the whole way out.  Too funny!

We got to the trail the trail we were directed to and had a way fun hike!  We had to keep crossing a river throughout most of the hike, but Jake and one of the other guys made a goal to not get their feet wet.  They did some way crazy leaps across the stream, I was super impressed by both of them!  I didn't think they'd do it, but they sure proved me wrong.  When we started walking back to the car, Jake told me a story about his dad's first date (any story involving that man seems to be hilarious), and I had to stop walking for a minute because I was having such a horrible laugh attack!

We went out to dinner, then it was back to Heidi's house.  She was with a couple friends for awhile, and me and Jake weren't up for socializing with all of her roommates, so we just kinda chilled in her room.  He was pretty excited to put on his new socks.  While we were sitting there, we both were reading our scriptures and writing in our journals.  When I thought about how totally comfortable we were doing this in front of each other, I just kept thinking about how great all of my friends are.  I'm SO glad that I went through high school with amazing people that were open with each other and had the same standards and goals. After we were both finished reading, we just looked up funny memes and things on the Internet. I think we were both pretty exhausted!

The next morning, Jake came with me to see my apartment.  I wanted to get a feel for what I needed to bring and what wall space I would have since I'm obsessed with covering my walls with sentimental things!  After that, we headed home.  It was comforting that the drive was so much shorter than I remembered.  I'm glad I'll be so close to home when I'm up there!

Me, My Friends, and Our Frozen Food

I thought this was pretty funny!  My dad always calls me to say goodnight when he's up North and asks what I'm up to.  Monday, after Kyle's concert, I sitting outside of Yogurtland eating with my friends.  Tuesday, after Institute, I was sitting outside of the Sno Shack eating with my friends.  Wednesday, after Aaron opened his call, I was sitting outside of Frostop eating with my friends.  But hey, what better way to end a day?

Youth Conference/A-Hole is Going to Honduras!

Youth Conference...oh the joys of pretending to still be a youth so that I can get some wakeboarding and free food!  I had the day off of work because the kids were out of town, so I decided to join in on Youth Conference.  I'm glad I did, because it was way fun!  We started out by doing a service project and helping and elderly couple put in a cedar post fence along some of their farm property.  It was hard work!  They had some grandsons there helping and one of them that looked a couple years younger than me seemed really nice, but their older one that was my age seemed extremely annoyed by us and our amateur work.  Despite his doubt in us, we did a great job!  The fence is supposed to last at least 100 years, and it was along a new road, so I could just picture myself driving by and bragging to my future kids about how I helped put that fence in.
After the service project, we went out to the lake.  We started out by having lunch and had some activities planned, but after eating, we all hopped onto the boats before the leaders in charge could stop us.  We were all ready to start tubing/surfing/wakeboarding when one of the leaders sounded a siren to call us back in.  The drivers looked at each other and after one took off, the others followed.  We stayed out on the water until dinner time.  I felt bad for the leaders that had planned so many fun activities, but I honestly think that things worked out for the best.  I definitely enjoyed my time on the boat, and I know that there was a lot of bonding done.
I was the first to wakeboard and it was SO much fun.  None of the girls on the boat knew what they were doing, so even though I hardly got any air, I had a way excited cheering section every time I cut or attempted a jump.  It was a great self-esteem booster!  I loved watching the other girls try to wakeboard and got excited when some of them were able to get up.  Only two of the boys that were with us wakeboarded, the others were too embarrassed to try.
I didn't know my driver very well, in fact I hardly recognized him.  His name was Brother Morgan, but by the end of the day we were all calling him "BroMo."  He was so much fun!  After we all wakeboarded, he brought out the surf board so that we could give that a try.  He had me go first since I knew how to wakeboard.  He ran me through the basics and I finally got up on my fourth try.  Then, we had another leader hop on with us who had a training surfboard and sad on the back of the boat to coach everyone as they gave it a try.  I tried again, but even though I could get up, I could not surf!  It was so different from wakeboarding!  Because I had done so much wakeboarding, I couldn't adjust well.  In the end, I think I was the worst surfer!
When we came in for dinner, I checked my phone and saw that Aaron (Aaron Holden, who we fondly call A-Hole) had invited me to watch him open his mission call!  Brady and Kirsti were leaving early, so I caught a ride home with them and rushed over to Aaron's house.  He only invited a few people, and when he opened it up and read Honduras, I think we all felt comforted and knew that that was where he belonged.  Then, he read the date...August 1st!  That was only three weeks away!!!  It was crazy!  We thought it would be way funny to post on Facebook that he got his call, but not say what it was.  He had plenty of people frantically commenting asking where he was going.  It was weird to see him get ready to go.  He's not my first friend to leave, but he's the first from our group.

Some of my Friends are Rockstars...No Big Deal.

Kyle going acoustic for "33 Miles To Barstow"
(My favorite song!)

Kyle on the electric with Austin T jamming on the drums

Me and Kyle. He may be a rockstar now, but I remember when he was just learning how to play "I've Been Working on the Railroad" on the guitar.

Oh, how I love these fun little concerts!  It's way fun to watch your friends perform!  I've watched Quiet the Titan play at school and at the GOGO37 (R.I.P.), but this was my first time watching them at the Jazzy Java.  It was so much fun!  This was their big EP Release, so I am officially a proud owner of their first CD.  In fact, I even got it signed! Ya, I'm pretty cool like that ;).  Crazy to think that next week will be their last concert. I'm gonna miss these guys!