Finals done, playtime begun

This semester is done! Woohoo! Every student at BYU is that much closer to graduation and 'real life'.

For me, the end of finals meant having time to hang out with Abby P. She's the dearest friend anyone could ever wish to ram their car into. Man, do I wish I had pictures of THAT!

It also meant making good on a New Year's Resolution. It was possibly the only resolution I've ever kept (yet) and I'm pretty sure it will always be one of my favorites. Going to all the Utah temples in 2008 was one good friend's idea...my outfit was another good friend's idea.

Logan, you were my last and my hardest, but you're beautiful and worth the wait.

Merry Christmas all!

Catch up!

Ok, so these pics are going to be all out of order, but bear with me. Here...is fishing!

And here...is Idaho!

MAC Girls at the Reunion

Lauren and I are really happy to wake up this cold morning and go down some huge whitewater!

Twenty years old. Technically.

With my favorite skeleton in the whole world.

I'm wearing my green beanie, on the right side of the picture. And Lauren is smiling at me, probably because I'm freakin hilarious.

Ta-Da!

Howdy folks! It's been a while, a LONG while, since my last post.
Simply put, you haven't missed much. Moab was great, it's a place unlike anywhere else. Anyone who knows me knows I loved it down there.
I need to post some pictures from Costa Rica, I went there with Lauren at the end of the summer. We went with her sister Tamara, Tamara's friend Becky, and Mr. Remington Atwood.
After Costa Rica, I moved to my apartment in Provo at Stadium Terrace. If nothing else, the management is FANTASTIC here!
I couldn't stay away from Moab for long and went down for a couple weekends; once to work, once to run Westwater Canyon. We also had a Moab reunion at Scott's "cabin" in Midway.
I celebrated my 20th birthday after spending Halloween as a UNLV fan. Yikes!
I started donating plasma twice a week, I'll post a picture of my glory wounds...
Que mas?
Laur had never been to Idaho, so....ROAD TRIP!
Thanksgiving was a nice break from a semester that's been alternating between dull and overwhelming.
Now, I've got to push through these 2 weeks, make it past finals. Then there's Christmas, I'll be a bridesmaid at my dear pal Courtney Bean's wedding, and then I've got to get ready to go to Spain!
THEN maybe I might have something interesting to post :)
Oh, but first, how could I forget? Fishing! Fishing is always an interesting thing to post. Even if you don't catch anything. This was a highlight in the semester. In spite of the mosquitoes.

More Moab

Ken's "Lake"

Remake of the Kitty Litter Ad


Just chillin on top of Maravia

Raft for the Cure!

Me and Ms. Taylor, Corona Arch hike

Superman Shad with the waxed "S" in his chest. I thought it was for Sandi...

Daniel and I, after he, um, helped me down from the boat

Dancin with Shadrach

MAC Party

I really like this new blogging form of posting pics and brief descriptions as opposed to essaying clever paragraphs about your life. Lazy girl that I am, here's another picture post.

This is Kaitlin and I doing the Karaoke thing, then there's Ryan and Lauren. Ryan was so close to losing his VL and planting one on her, he failed to carpe diem. Then I'm trying to get Dodger to look at the camera, and true to form, he pulls an Erik.

Family First

The Whole Crew (well, almost)

Hooray for no carnage! (well, almost)

On the Sunset Hummer, Hell's Revenge

Our Little BeeKeeper

Cataract Canyon 2-Day Express

At times the home of the biggest whitewater rapids in North America, Cataract Canyon boasts such horrors as Capsize, Satan's Gut, Big Drops 1, 2 and 3 and more.

Rapids aren't the only highlight of a CAT trip. The night sky, the food, the swimming, the guides and passengers, the interp, the CANYON. These all combine together for the experience of a lifetime.

Add a little fishing and you're pretty much set. Good thing I had Rebecca to hold the broken pole.

We experience new things everyday and hopefully we learn from them. On this trip, I learned it's no simple thing to hold a 7,000 pound boat to shore while fighting the current. I learned not to pull a backwards sweater off whilst in a cot. Although I already knew this, I learned in a practical application that your friends will always have your back when you need it, maybe even just a bit longer. I learned it's better to remember to say things in the moment, it's never quite as good on speakerphone.

Weilers, you rock the boat. That's a good thing. And this one's for you.

Bridge to Bridge

Old guides call it the 2 day 1 day, new guides are calling it the daily double. Either way, we put in at Dewey Bridge, raft to Onion Creek and set up camp, and the next day we raft to the Moab bridge. We do our daily stretch, but break it into two days. Holy smokes, the food is so good! If you are looking to gain weight, hop on a Western River Expeditions trip. We will set up your camp, cook your food, and do your groover duty! (not to be confused with your groover doodie, but closely related)

One important thing is to stay out of the tammies by the shore. You can see they're close, but I steered clear!

All that matters, though, is that it's June 14, and I'm finally starting to look a little like a river guide!

Land of Food

I had an interesting experience today. I paid 9 dollars, about the amount I would expect to pay for a nice dinner at a restaurant, on grapes. Grapes! For the same price I would pay to get 3 junior bacon cheeseburgers, a drink, two orders of fries, a chicken sandwich, chicken nuggets, and a frosty at Wendy's, I received approximately four servings of grapes.

Looks like it's time to buy some seeds and plant some produce. No, not so I can have cheap fruits and vegetables at my disposal, so I can become a millionare. While I'm at it, I can buy chickens to sell ridiculously expensive eggs, and of course, a cow for milk and steak. Farmers have it good.

And we wonder why people in this country choose the drive through.

Long Distance Tag, Eh?

From the infamous page of becksterpenny, the wonderful game of tag now approaches your eyeballs on sandibeach. If you read this, you're it! (I don't know if those are the real rules or if Rebecca just made them so, but hey, I'll play along) Answer these questions -

What were you doing 10 years ago?

-In April of 1998. . . . I was going to elementary. Not a super great year. Could be worse.

What are 5 things on your To-Do list for today?

-Go to work

-Find credit card

-Call the temple

-. . . Shower

-That's about it, not a bad life.

What are some snacks you like?

-This might not be a good question for me, since my snacks are usually the caloric equivalent of meals, but . . . I like most fruit (although I'm picky about the ripeness), I like a quickie quesadillar (aka you slap some cheddar on a tortilla and nuke it, then apply ketchup), and I'm becoming a super fan of toast. There's so many things you can do with it.

What are 3 bad habits you have?

-Eating and watching TV late

-Complaining

-Waiting until the last possible moment to do my laundry . . . oh wait . . .

What are 5 things people don't know about you?

-That there are 5 things they don't know about me

-I obviously can't disclose the rest, or it would ruin the first :)

And to any, um, curious readers. Yes, I know. The idea from the picture is a stolen idea. Yeah, you can be proud of yourself.

Be Prepared

I'm currently taking a first aid class at BYU and it turns out these things come in handy. Minutes after taking a test in said class, I was taking a break, reading the newspaper, and a man started yelling, "Does anyone know 1st Aid?!" I panicked and thought, "Oh shoot, mouth to mouth, here we go."

Then I thought, "I can't say yes, I haven't passed the class yet, I don't even know what I got on my test!" Nevertheless, I said, "I'm in the class, what's wrong?" He informed me his friend had started seizing and sure enough, there was a woman convulsing on the floor. He wanted to know what we should do. I couldn't remember for sure, but I said, "I think we just let her go." So we moved some chairs to give her some space. We checked her wrists for medical bracelets and her keychain for any extra information. We asked a man to call emergency services. They were there lightning fast (not always the case) and then, just like that, it was over.

I was lucky (or maybe she was lucky) that it wasn't more serious, but it goes to show you never know when you'll need those skills. So let's all take 1st Aid and be there to help each other out.

Ninja Attack!

So basically, I live in the coolest apartment at BYU. Well, maybe not the coolest apartment, but definitely with the coolest girls. A couple boys "Spidey-Attacked" our place one night, and we decided to fight back so a couple nights later we ninja-ed those boys to Timbuktu. This was SO hilarious. If you don't laugh . . . I'm sorry.

Mother Of All Bombs

A dear friend informed me of this acronym the military uses. Also known as MOAB! I am headed to Moab for an awesome summer job this year, and I just want to be clear that I mean the city, not the bomb. So come on down, hit up the river, take a hike, you know. Explore new places. I may even be your guide! . . . I know, it scares me, too.

I'll keep you posted of the trials and triumphs from down south. Let me just say, now, though, in case I forget when I get down there, that I whole heartedly believe in doing hard things, things you may not even want to do, because it builds character and you can move forward to your next challenge. (Of course, I'm talking about hard GOOD things and GOOD things you don't want to do. It's ok if you don't want to do something hard and stupid.)

Oh, Canada

Well, I am blogging from Canada tonight. I have a couple pics from the trip, but they aren't on my computer yet, so I am putting up a random one. I'm sorry to say that tomorrow we are headed back home. It's been fun and I've quite enjoyed procrastinating my schoolwork. I have met a bunch of Sabeys and Cooks and Ripleys and Wildes and more and more and more, it's a very tight-knit community up here. Anyway, that's all for now!

Entering the Blog Scene

Lookout bloggers, a novice is coming your way.
I'm glad I finally even know what a blog is, let alone have my own.
Sadly, this is not because of my own wisdom.
My blog would like to thank Rebecca Weiler, Abby Porter, and Wendy Harding for showing me their blogs, because without them,
Sand in Your Eyes would never have come to be.
Now, like the 'busy' college student that I am, I gotta run!