m.i.a.

it's been over a month since my last post...perhaps i should update my blog...

then again, maybe not.  see you when summer is over.

peace+love

viva méxico

it's oficial....

Friday, September 13, 2013 this half chilena half north american is going to become half mexicana, too.  that sounds impossible, i know... i guess my heart will just have to grow to fit all those mexicans in it.  i'll be moving to Mexico D.F. until December 11 to go prepare the Lord's servants in the newest MTC opening this summer.  there are no words to describe the extreme range of emotions i am feeling right now...so i will express them with a song

you may or may not ever see me again.  there is the distinct possibility that i will o.d. on tacos.
peace+love

i might die

is it possible to die from pain induced by a needle in your arm?

i have to get a typhoid shot this week--if anything has had me seriously reconsidering a mission it is this. pathetic, i know.

but anyway, what could be more fun than running (walking) 6.2 miles with friends in the beautiful mountains with the leaves changing?

throw a bunch of mud in there and call it a party!

peace+love

stay alive, drive 55

cedar was so good to me...

-st. george temple

-a big smile and hug from prof. modesitt

-pastry pub complete with chocolate tiger cake

-sky fest (20 some-odd hot air balloons launching at once)

-german pancake breakfast

-getting lost but eventually hiking in bryce canyon

-all of the above with great friends

-the funnest birthday party i've ever been to with new friends (including huck finn)

-church

-sunday writing ritual in my tree

-birthday celebration for the one and only skye complete with awesome conversation and the encouragement i've needed all month

(photo teaser courtesy of cheri. i'll get the disposable developed someday soon...)

did i mention i have great friends? i've been home less than two hours and i already want to go back. the only thing sustaining me is live recordings of mumford and sons. shocker, i know.

peace+love

free fallin'

my cousins came in town from washington, so what did we do to pass the time? oh ya know, check it off my life list cause i jumped out of an airplane...with all these hoodlums

{p.s. family, i love the one random tandem instructor not related to us in this picture standing behind bethany}

that's actually my aunt, but this gives you an idea of what it looks like when you jump out of the plane...

you know what the best part is?

free falling.

i wasn't even scared. the only time i really got nervous was when we were flying up to the 13,000 feet and they opened the airplane door. which i was sitting right next to.

but walking over to the door, stepping with my toes over and falling 110 mph for a minute?

no problem.

(this is also stephanie...i didn't get photos or video--nice banana pose, steph)

anyway, you really must do this someday....it was AWESOME

peace+love

high uintahs

one time i hiked 34 miles.

...oh wait, that was earlier this week

7 miles up 1,000 feet with a 30+ lb backpack

find sick flip-up sunglasses behind a log

(attempt to) sleep

10 miles up 3,000 feet to the highest peak in utah

(13,528 ft above sea level)

experience altitude sickness

(at least i wasn't puking like that kid in the scout group)

10 miles down 3,000 feet

(attempt to) sleep

7 miles down 1,000 feet with a 30+ lb backpack

real food (+cell phone reception)

i love the mountains

peace+love

on the road again...

1. My dream vacation would be hawaii. or china to see all the amazing natural arches. did you know 4 of the worlds biggest arches are in china? {6 are in utah. i love this state} .

2. The best trip I've ever taken was baaaa, that's a toss up. carribbean cruise was pretty darn amazing because i'm addicted to the water. but europe. oh europe...i had some pretty darn incredible experiences. .

3. The most important items to take on a road trip are music and gummy watermelons .

4. The next trip I'm looking forward to is Phoenix, AZ on thursday with my bestie, alicia! .

5. If I had to pick one CD to listen to for a long road trip it would be josh ritter. or cat stevens. best roadtrip music for the west, definitely. .

6. The biggest disaster I've ever encountered while traveling was my mom would say when i was 3 driving from illinois to utah. apparently i was puking and diarreah-ing the entire way. but i'd say when some friends and i were driving up to logan for a football game we saw a pick-up truck that had rolled into the ditch in the middle of the freeway and caught on fire. we watched a guy pull the driver out. .

7. My favorite traveling memory is driving to southern utah a million times when i was little to visit my grandparents. i used to have a hard time sleeping anywhere but my bed. so everyone else would be asleep as my mom was driving through the desert or zion and she'd listen to van morrisson or gladys knight. i'd just lean my head out the window and stare at the stars that you just can't see in the city.

.peace+love

consequence of sound

in case you didn't already know that i am mildly obsessed with zion national park and the fact that it's just so darn close...

memorial day weekend =

4:15 a.m. work

hike to angel's landing

experience several severely awkward moments... (so, do you do like, adult-type plays?)

eat delicious food at the pastry pub

SLEEP

church

thaw chicken

go to park

chicken still not thaw

attempt to bbq chicken

1 hour later, chicken still pink

eat it anyway and thank god for an amazing immune system

SLEEP

hike 6.5 miles to kolob arch (possibly the world's largest arch)

look at the arch for 1 minute

hike 2.5 back

play in la verkin creek

the sound of water+birds+wind+my own breath=ya, god loves me

hike 4 miles back to car with wet jeans

EAT

blog

SLEEP

did you do anything fun this weekend?

peace+love

sometimes, i feel like crying

but not today...
spring break =
a new road bike
crazy heart
jonah dumping dirt on my head
working for g-pa
sunshine
insanity
skiing
bad sunburn as a result
blisters on my face as a result
top hat video
too much junk food
the cabin
hot springs
sledding
laughing
don pedros
invisible children
changing my major
transferring schools (did i just say that out loud??)
too much driving

trampoline jumping
hanging out with my awesome adopted little sister
and more driving

peace+love

i don't look like a vampire anymore

the sun is shining and i am content. yesterday i got the point where no matter what this month brings, i'm going to be okay. and all it took to get there was:

-first time climbing outside since october. the wind made me nervous seeing as it was my first ever multi-pitch climb and we were on sandstone. we only made it to the second pitch. i'm thinking i don't really like climbing on sandstone. regardless, i belong outside.
-decided to put air in my bike tires. then decided to ride my bike to the store... on the other side of town. those of you who ride beach cruisers know there are three gears, and when it comes to hills those gears are "slow", "slower", and "slowest".
-rode back to the other side of town to the grocery store parking lot where the "bigboys club" (music majors, go figure) were hosting a "help haiti" all-day amateur music fest. bathing in the warm sun with my raspberry lemonade listening to live music. there are few things i love more...
while there i found my dream dog...one of these. only the one i saw probably weighed twice as much and was white. i was in love.

{via}

-attended a 50's themed dance party and dressed in the 50's style jr. prom dress my mom made for me in high school. at said party i ended up having to lick mustard off of jason's nose. don't ask.

what did you do this weekend?

peace+love

you make me smile like the sun

one time i did a pageant. this is the good that came out of it. (sydney, the blonde). sometimes chance leads us to our funnest moments in life. (full story here)
i miss you, sydney!sorry sydney, for whatever weird reason this is the only picture i have of us on my computer...but i tried.

peace+love

spring fever

beautiful escondido/san diego
-gummy watermelons and wedding magazines for the drive. also, lots of Dr. Pepper
-katie's first attempt at wedding dress shopping
-remember hearing about all the rain in cali? ya, we didn't experience that
-peterson's donut corner...open 24 hours aka the reason America is fat...so good
-growing friendships and building new ones
-in 'n out burger
-driving a unimog-offroading in a unimog-almost dying on a unimog-the old guy on his roller blades carrying speakers and interpretive dancing
-trespassing for the sake of a picnic at the rock foundation of a house that burned down on top of a hill overlooking a lake
-kicked out of two apartment complex's hot tubs

-going out with a bang: late night swim at fletcher's cove and moonlight beach, almost a full moon, then warming up in some housing developments hot tub.(i broke more laws this weekend than i have in a long time)(wow, i look terrified)full moon. beach. bonfire. layers of waves grabbing my toes.

i thought, being here, experiencing this, how could you not believe in God?

what did you do this weekend?

p.s. LOST: the final season...starts tomorrow

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

december baby

10 reasons i love december

1. alta
2. ski clothes
   
3. moguls
4. snow
5. skiing
6. park city
   
7. snow
8. skiing
9. powder
   
10. skiing
    

now, if only it really would snow...
i want your list.

peace+love

murphy's law (paranoia)

i had this strange thought today when i noticed a lump on my shin--what if i lost all use of my left leg? i got choked up just thinking about it...
i couldn't HIKE!
or ski
or rock climb
or skip
or drive a clutch
or run
or dance
or cliff jump
or ride my beloved bicycle
or walk
heck, standing would even be a little difficult!

my dreams of becoming a hermit with my husband and abandoning all modern conveniences would be shattered...

but then again, maybe I'd get my leg amputated and get a prosthetic then compete in the special olympics--table tennis, or bowling...
except that my average bowling score is 44.
or i could climb mt. Everest with my prosthetic leg and get really famous...
except i don't even have a desire to do that with two human legs.
or i could fulfill my ambition of becoming a whale trainer at sea world...I'd be the first whale trainer with a prosthetic leg
yes, that's it! they can't say no to someone with a prosthetic leg.

did you know elephants can have prosthetic legs?
i'm going to bed
-what great thing would you do if you had a prosthetic leg?

it's the most wonderful time of the year...

i don't care what the song says, the truth is october-don't tell anyone, but last night we climbed to the roof of the buildings on main street via a tree...i ripped my pants as we wandered from roof to roof very slyly and very at risk-the police station is directly across the street from the block of buildings we were on...then we carved our names in a wood wall where dirty words and gang signs were spray painted...

-we bought a new kite that will actually work once we learn how to fly it (it sure is harder than it looks)--our previous kite was missing a stick, so we whittled one from a twig...it looked great but didn't really function...

-last but not least, it is finally truly fall and i couldn't be happier! my allergies mostly blew away with the wind last night, the leaves are changing, i get to snuggle in a ball while i sleep with my window cracked open, my apartment smells of pumpkin spice, and i wore a long-sleeve today...at long last, time for the cute wardrobe and my constantly happy mood

...and soon it will be winter
peace+love

in an attempt to persuade kerri (my lil sis)

this week i:
-flew a kite
-went bouldering
-roasted mallows
-went to a movie
-hiked to angel's landing

and still had time to
-get 100% on one test and 99% on the other
-opera rehearsal 3 nights
-practice everyday
-write a sacrament meeting talk

i love my new school

peace+love

vertigo

we decided to go on a little hike this weekend...little=15 miles...we started at the aspen grove trailhead at 1:45 a.m. the first 5 hours were okay...then we got to the ridge--it was like watching the 3rd lord of the rings, you know, the one with the 6 false endings...the sun was coming up and we realized we weren't at the summit...
b-"we've got to go to the summit"
me-"it's really steep and i haven't slept in 24 hours"
b-"but we're so close"
me-"i might die, but you know i can't say no"
the ridge is very deceiving...what we thought was the summit was actually about 300 yards away from the real summit...
me-"i actually really hate you right now"
b-"you'll be glad you did it"
only because that night i was treated to a very LARGE ice cream cone...
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

stuck in the middle

i'm not a teenager anymore
but i made my last day of the teenage era (september 2nd) a monumental one...i
-got a job
-shed a tear
-played in the rain
-ate a raspberry tart
-listened to nirvana really loud
-studied and dominated a test...really, dominated
-read to kill a mockingbird relating most to scout probably for the last time
-slept in late but managed to get to class on time
-watched a lightning storm
-rode my bike
-night sat

nineteen was a very good year
peace+love