remember that one time we rode 65 miles everyday for a week to train for ride idaho...?

...oh wait, that never actually happened.

but, if i am ever wealthy, i will have a cabin in priest lake, idaho.

RIDE IDAHO

day 0--got carsick and barfed at the gas station in cascade, idaho...a few miles later, the car broke down. lucky for us, PAM! drove by and drove us the rest of the way to hayden, idaho.

day 1--a painful, but stunning, 67 miles to priest lake. got to camp and asked my dad why we couldn't have just gone on a cruise for our family vacation...then went for a refreshing swim in the most beautiful lake i've ever seen. think alaska without the cold.

day 2--a less painful, just as beautiful 56 miles to sandpoint. met our camp neighbors for the next week, john and kip. they loved us. then went for a refreshing swim in the lake.

day 3--a very painful, scenic 76 mile ride to troy, montana...started a mud fight with trevie in the frigid cold river and watched the one-armed man play a mean guitar.

(parent kid teams aka pretty much the only people under 50 on the trip--mom+trevor, trevie+mom, kelli+kerri+dad)

day 4--80 miles to thompson falls, montana. saw mennonites on bicycles on the way and almost died in the rain. but there was a river there too with a rope swing. and the best food on the whole trip aka banana cupcake for dessert.

day 5--fat camp. 65 miles and two summits. the second one was 2.8 miles of 8-11% grade. that

basically means it was really steep. the whole time i just kept telling myself, "i'm burning fat, i'm burning fat, gotta keep going". got to kellog in the rain. woke up in the middle of the night with

water levels rising around us in our tent. (so much for sleeping in that day). got up at 6 to dry all our stuff at the hotel and sleep in the lobby.

(after dominating fat camp hill)

day 6--a flat, relaxing 46 mile recovery to my future hometown (if things don't work out in the pacific northwest), harrison, idaho. swam in the lake (shocker) and finally got my mint chocolate chip ice cream (and a phone number) from a very cute red headed boy working at the creamery. in case you didn't know, that night was also the peak of the perseids meteor shower, so we laid out on the dock and watched mother nature's show.

day 7--56 mile finish to hayden. head winds kept me from moving basically at all downhill. but we all made it alive and ready to sleep. lucky for us our self-proclaimed aunt amy and her husband mike offered us a ride in their rv. which meant lots of sleep on the 8 hour drive to boise.

deb...the only person to finally get my dad to get up and dance...oh how embarrassing.

7 days of 448 miles of cycling+camping in the rain+eating whatever they feed you+doing your duty in port-a-potties+some of the most beautiful terrain in the united states+awesome people=i'd do it again in a heartbeat.

peace+love

melancholy

not to put a downer on life {let's face it, it's a joy!}, but sometimes i'm melancholy. and right now i'm somewhat melancholy. you see, i'm leaving my beloved cedar city for a while to embark on another adventure elsewhere ('twill be further explained at a later date...plus i have no idea where yet)...when i moved here 10 short months ago i did not expect to love this place as deeply as i do. if you are ever considering a move and need all the reasons to move to cedar city i will convince you this is a fantastic place to call your home.

i have this giant tree with faces carved into the trunk that i climb to go ponder and write.

and just up the canyon from my tree is a small cove carved into the sandstone where i go to ponder some more (or have good conversations with friends).

the colors are vivid. black soil against green foliage against red sandstone.

the weather is always perfect as there is a small but constant northward breeze (why always that direction? i have no idea).

i fall asleep at night to a symphony of crickets and wake up only to hear birds chirping outside my window. there are so many birds in cedar. big, beautiful birds. and in the summertime-bats everywhere at night.

cedar canyon is easily one of the most beautiful and surprisingly diverse places i have ever seen. crystal blue lakes surrounded by aspen groves next to lava fields.

and lets not forget cedar city's proximity to my home away from home, zion national park. a majestic sight everyone should see in this life.

then there's the lifestyle. the benefits of being in a city (with the exception of the severe lack of a music scene) with the perks of living in a small town. the pastry pub, the shakespearean festival (which comes with the most delicious raspberry tarts you'll ever taste), utah summer games, and last night we even had a senate candidates' debate. if you like hiking, camping, climbing, cycling, swimming, walking, reading, pretty much anything-ing, there's plenty of it to go around. especially hiking {but maybe that's just cause i'm biased}.

and the people. that means you, my bosom cedar friends. the people i've met and the memories i've made in the last 10 months have influenced my life in some small {or large} way that has made me a better person--or at least made me want to be a better person. genuine, high quality people. plus in the summer there are tons of tourists and i love tourists.

it's true, folks, cedar city {almost} has it all. {all we're missing is the ocean} my heart will break as i say goodbye, but not to worry....i'll be back before too long.

peace+love

somewhere O.V.E.R. the rainbow

that's right...finals are o-v-e-r, over! well, technically i have a final at three today, but it's my climbing class...which consists of climbing, setting up an anchor, and rappelling myself down. can you say fun final? oxy-moron, but not today! now that the semester is over, it's time for the

-highlights of spring semester 2010-

{in no particular order}
-getting ruby-
-finding paulie bleeker-
-discovering mumford and sons-
-spring skiing-
-c.a.l.i.f.o.r.n.i.a.-
-free dinners thursday nights at the episcopal church (what i affectionately call "episcopal dinner"). thanks rev. sue and congregation!-
-final season of LOST...sayid is going to break my heart and desmond is going to mend it-
-late night chat on the roof...what roof? the music building-
-camping out on said roof-
-living 45 minutes from zion national park-
-the pastry pub ...the only pub that doesn't actually sell alcohol-
-earning an almond rocha from my voice teacher-
-fabulous friends....seriously, fabulous-
-"so runs the world away" don't worry, i'm listening to it right now for the 5th time this week-

and during my summer of fun i'll be living in the college turned tourist town cashiering at cafe rio in the evening (where they call me "mamasita") and baking sweets at great harvest in the morning (as in before the sun comes up).

peace+love

1 mas semana

classes are OVER! (for a month anyway)
juries are OVER! i sang my sight singing perfectly in a minor key then realized, oops, it's in f major...

at the end of the day, these are the memories (good or bad) i'll take from my first semester as a t-bird:
-watching a snake pee on kira at the choir party
-climbing to the roofs of the buildings on main street--and carving our names
-my first sit-start (bouldering term)
-the 10 minute drive on a dirt road out to the highway after spraining my ankle
-walking to campus on crutches for 2 weeks
-my "unique" visiting teaching companion
-jen carrying me on her back to the 4th floor of our apartment complex...twice
-being reminded how hard adjusting is
-army crawling through guano in mammoth cave
-bawling in a voice lesson...i love my teacher, i really do
-nuns...dancing to "all the single ladies" (sorry, you can only see the video if we're friends on facebook)
-nearly wetting myself in the library when i saw the woman in black
-sleeps with weesha and kelsey
-our sad attempt at fishing in a waterhole...cow pies everywhere...really, bryce, there are fish in here?
-our billion attempts to fly a kite
-sneaking our glass bottles into the movie...we felt very criminal-like we were sneaking in alcohol.
-finally learning to do a headstand
-visits from mis padres
-falling in love at the orthopedic surgeon's office
-then having my heart broken...ya, he's married
-the compliments
-the insults
the hikes:
-the narrows
-angel's landing
-kanarraville falls
-timp at 2 a.m. we'll see how soon i feel up to that one again
-climbing twice a week until oct. 21

narrows pics i never posted

as you can clearly see,
cedar is a great place to be
just one thing could make it better...
a lot more snow and crappy weather!
peace+love

"I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks."

last night i crawled through a cave in which the floor was covered with guano...unsanitary? yes. spooky? yes (there were lots of bats). fun? most definitely.

i am reading To Kill A Mockingbird for the fourth time--Atticus is the most fascinating character. amongst twenty other things i admire about him, one that sticks out this time around is his patience. when Bob Ewell spits in his face and threatens him with his life, all Atticus has to say about the matter is, "I wish Bob Ewell wouldn't chew tobacco".
in sunday school we read this scripture: "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." - Proverbs 16:32
Atticus is able to take a case of a black man's word against a white man's in a time when victory for the black man was unheard of, and keep the jury out for hours. But more importantly, he made the town see that Scout is right, "there's just one kind of folks. Folks." Atticus is mighty.
and mighty handsome...
peace+love

a story

once upon a time, whilst wandering through the vast landscape of fred meyer (smith's marketplace for you noobs) i found a tent...the tent was simple- 2 man, small fly, easily assembled, and a mere $15...too perfect to pass up this purchase...a couple weeks later i saw the tent laying on my floor completely virgin-unused, unopened, untouched...do not doubt i did think to take advantage of this opportunity...5 minutes later it became my fort within my fort...i moved in bringing with me a good book, my i pod, my ukulele, and a pillow...and there i have been for about two weeks...
the end
peace+love

it's me against nature

i was a 9th year...you may say i'm too old, but i strongly disagree...plus it's my calling...officially, girls camp assistant director...the real reasons i keep coming back:
-watching the bishop dress up as a girl
-4th year overnight hike:
indigo: "what's this?" picks up white object from ground, discovers it someone's used toilet paper...i watch indigo run back to our campsite screaming "does anyone have hand sanitizer?"
-first years - energy/enthusiasm/innocence in a cute little package that doesn't sleep...ever
-piuta - GORGEOUS....i love nature and discovering new things even after 5 years there
-pranks - the gutsy first years sewed my sleeping bag in half...
-snipe hunting - plenty of screaming during the hunt and even more confusion when we tried to explain that it wasn't real
-a week away from boys
-no reception = no phone calls = no one asking me to work for them
-a rare thing at girls camp, but in our ward there was NO DRAMA
-never ending singing...really, there is no way to escape it so you must embrace it
-and last but not least, did i mention no boys? no cell phones, no make up- for some girls, truly, man vs. wild
peace+love

treasure island

for those who know me well know i LOVE the outdoors! i have always been the happiest camper which is probably why the bishop called me to be an assistant camp director for my ward...after much preparation we headed up to bear lake monday morning for quite an adventure! on the way through this beautiful canyon my adorable 16-year-old sister decided she needed to pee. so we pulled over so she could go in the bushes...when we got to Minnetonka Cave she went to a real bathroom only to discover a bug bite about the size of a dollar coin--on her butt! (as a result she won the "buggy butt buffet award- for pissing off the biggest bug at bear lake)

at the cave it was about 40 degrees which was quite refreshing...the tour guide seemed extremely thrilled to be leading a bunch of 12-17 year old girls--especially when she turned out the lights at the end to show how dark it was and everyone screamed. and i quote- "please don't scream. it's actually really anoying"...oh man did we get a kick out of that...she had no idea we'd be using that line all week...
my trusty uke
besides waking the girls up in the morning with my uke, i was in charge of water games...which became really easy because mostly they just wanted to do their own thing in the water...the highlight was probably spending wednesday boating...what was supposed to be 5 hours turned to 8 because certain girls (and a leader, i won't name names) were enjoying being beaten about on the tube just a little too much...then of course we had to wakeboard...anyway, malissa mabey and i decided to tube together and we told the bishop (our driver) to show no mercy...i ended up with a black eye and very sore body for the next 2 days...but it was totally worth it...then you compare that abuse with watching the bishop then bro. whiting abuse each other on the tubes and you'd think malissa and i were ametures...but probably the highlight was kerri, camille zesiger and i tubing together...we were going straight cause we were headed back to camp so we decided to stand on the tube...all three of us got up, then kerri decided to push us off...according to my mom, it looked "classic"-if only there was a video camera...

yes, this picture is kerri pushing us off

i was amazed at lexi's roasting skills

besides spending a lot of time in the water we hiked and did geo-cashing, sang around the campfire, cooked most dinners over the fire, and had a luau complete with amazing skits...my mom and i slept on the beach under the stars every night

more photos:

i'm going to be in so much trouble for posting this picture, but doesn't my mom look so cool? she wore that rattlesnake hat all week and i kept trying to tell her no one was going to take her seriously, but she was convinced it was scaring away all the rodents.

annalise doherty, camille zesiger, amy whiting, me

probably my favorite priesthood leader ever and a great next door neighbor, Bro. Whiting really got his groove on at campfire singing.lar dog and me looking so good in our matching swim suits--if you look closely you might see the sick tat all the leaders got for boating...he he he
hannah montana and crew plane crashed on treasure island

this is my black eye 3 days after it happened, so just imagine this bigger and darker
sammy, the budding enviornmentalist, upset over the poaching of these killer whales
kerri aka whale rider
the fearless leaders

peace+love