Some adventures this semester!

This semester has been really busy. It seems that every week is so different. One week I will be trying to come up with things to keep me busy, reading everyone's blogs, magazine's and going rock climbing. Other weeks I am so busy that I am going to bed late and waking up super early just to get everything done. I have cried (if you can believe it!) more than once. I am trying to figure out what I am doing with my major and where I am going to be living next semester. I am already ready for this semester to be over. Next semester too!:) 223 days left!

Even with all the stress, I still have been having such a blast this semester!

I ran the temple to temple relay with some of the Badger staff from this summer!

I was able to hike table rock for the second time!
I am going to start making it a tradition for every fall!

I went up and visited badger creek. It is amazing how much I love
that place and how much it has become a part of me.

I went down to Utah for general conference and
was able to see some old friends!

I sent down to Utah again for my Uncle Sean's wedding!
My mom and I got to ride in my Aunt's convertible.

And we finally got a family picture taken. The first one since
I was 12
where we aren't wearing motorcycle t-shirts.

This semester, more than any other I have really enjoyed going home and seeing my family. I am loving everything and getting things figured out! We will see where life takes me!:)

Summer adventures

I was told it would change my life. I was a sceptic, how could one summer change my life?
Boy, they were right.
I worked up at Badger Creek in Tetonia, Idaho. The job is a summer camp for LDS youth called OYA(outdoor youth adventures). Me and about 21 other people were in charge of taking kids through the ropes courses, horses, trek, relays, and general all around entertainment all the while teaching the gospel.


I was known as the crazy loud councilor, who only wore thrift store clothing, and often broke into an Australian accents.
The kids were the most amazing part. They all have amazing testimonies and would often teach me as much, if not more than I was trying to teach them. I made some really good friends, both fellow staff and kidlets in my groups.

Some highlights:
With one of my groups we wanted to play night games, but none of the other teams were ready. We decided to smear ash all over ourfaces and raid the other camps. We snuck up on them and sang Oh-A LayLay. Some groups joined in, others thought we were crazy!
The kidlets slept in their tents or teepees, but the councilors slept under the handcarts, or under the stars. Many a thunderstorm soaked our things, but it was always a fun adventure.

Right before my first OYA group arrived, Annalyse told me I should pretend to be from Australia. So I introduced myself from Manly, Australia. I was only going to do it until someone called me out on it, three days later and I was sick of talking in an accent. So during lunch I got up to make an anouncement. "I am not really from Australia(said in an accent), I am from Bosie Idaho(not in an accent)". Silence. Everyone was shocked and thought I was lying. It took the help of the other councilors to convince everyone. My group was a little upset at me, but they came around and they thought it was funny.

I had riden on a horse maybe ten times in my life. Mostly on the back of people, or being lead around. Part of the job was learning to work with horses; saddling, picking hooves, brushing, rounding up. This was one of those things in my life where I didn't know how I had gotten along without it. The first time we went riding I chose to ride Painted Lady, not because she was pretty like most girls would, but because she was tall and looked fast. We bonded. I chose her everytime I went on a staff ride. I caught on to riding pretty quick. Got the trot down, and was ready to run. I rode as often as I could. Jake and I would always go out and race the horses. It is amazing having a living breathing thing under you. I love feeling the muscles move as you go. I even learned how to ride bareback and got into a trot. I almost fell off when Lady trotted around a corner. Oh how i miss my Painted Lady.

The weekends were some of the funnest. Living with 21 of your best friends, there is always something to do. One weekend we wanted to go to Pack saddle lake. We went with some boys in our single's branch because they had a truck. They were also cool, so we weren't using them.:) Well they showed up with a motorcycle in the back of his truck. Five of us piled in the back with it. We went on the road of death. I was sure the truck was going to roll over or roll back down the hill. The truck dropped and the motorcycle landed on Micah's legs. We stopped and got it off her and checked her out. Meanwhile Erica is like " I like I cut myself and I think it's bad." She lifted up her pant leg, and lets just say ended up at the hospital with 14 stitches in her knee. I ended up riding the motorcycle in with mens size 11 boots, and my short overalls with a tie-dye shirt on. Can you say hick?!

Another weekend we made a giant slip n' slide. It was about 100ft long. We put on spandex pants and got ourselves all soapy. It was sweet! We ended with an aerobics class by the pond in our spandex outfits!

There are so many stories I could go on for days.

Badger Creek taught me so much about leadership and teaching. Valuable lessons that I will remember my whole life.

Remeber, You are a child of God!

:)

I love when I go on runs and this is the view...

I love going bouldering and carrying my enormously huge pad..

I love this apron I made for Jordan, even though it took all day..

I need it to be summer!

Ok so this week I am dealing with midterm (yes, it is already the middle of the semester. Didn't it just start?!?) I have been lucky and they really havent been too bad. I only had three this week! 1 down, 2 to go! Anyways, so one of them is nutrition midterm. I have been learning all about balancing diets and making sure we have enough essential proteins, carbs, and fats. But not so much that we get fat. AAHH. Our bodies are crazy, let me tell you. Everything we put in has a reaction and is processed in a different way.

So there I was... out of bread, again. I like love that stuff. mmm. Then I was thinking, why am I a slave to my peanut butter and honey toast when there are so many other things? well I didn't have much time to think because I had to go to class... Nutrition! We learned all about proteins. I had been living in this fantasy world that peanut butter was the greatest thing for my body and that God had sent it to this Earth just for me to love and eat, with honey. Well I was wrong. After a bunch of mumbo jumbo learning, I discovered a whole world of good protein sources that still taste good AND are cheap. (I am poor)

• Beans - all kinds of beans, kidney beans, black beans, soy beans
• Eggs
• Skim Milk
• Soy

So I went to the store after classes and homework. I bought a bunch of fresh produce, rice, beans, eggs, and milk. Well today I was able to eat a variety instead of my old oatmeal for breakfast. I had an egg on whole wheat toast with some jelly, a banana, and a big glass of water, or two.

If you know me, you know I love the summer more than any other season. Seriously. So it was my dinner night, and I decided to make

Some summer rice!


1pk brown rice 140z
1can mandarin oranges
1/2cup copped celery
1/2cup chopped green onions
3Tbs. cider vinegar
3 chicken breasts. boiled and cut up in small chunks
1/2cup slivered almonds

Use juice from mandarin oranges and cider vinegar, pour into measuring cup and measure the rest of the way to 2 1/2cups with water. Bring to boil, add brown rice. Reduce to simmer 5 mins. covered. Take off heat, stir, cover for 5 more mins. Add everything else and enjoy!

So easy and it tastes great!!

confession

Up at school, it seems a big problem is staying in shape while going to school and balancing homework, roommates, work, and for me rock climbing. There are always so many treats, whether at FHE or roommates just having a good time. I have been attempting to stay in shape by running with my roommate Kimberly, but lately my body has been telling me no. The bottoms of my feet hurt like I have broken toes, and my knee occasionally likes to scream at me for moving so much.

So needless to say I have been doing very badly at staying in shape. I have decided to come up with a plan that female college students can follow.

One of the biggest problems for college students is nutrition. I have seen so many people eating crappy food that does nothing for the body. The challenge is finding food that is cheap and nutritious.




Another big problem is finding time to work out. School work is a big responsibility and it seems that now we are being stretched to our limits with classes, homework, and maintaining a social life.



Here are some of the simple things that can be done to improve your body:
1. Drink at least 4 water bottles of water a day(I am at 2 so far!)
2. Do 5 days of cardio for 30-60mins a day.
3. Lift weights 3 days a week
4. Eat more fruits and veggies.
5. Make healthy eating decisions

It is so important to maintain physical fitness in these days. So many people put it on the back burner and focus on other things, but by taking care of our bodies it will increase our quality of life.

Loving life!

It is the start of a new semester! These are my amazing roommates. I have been so blessed to have such amazing examples in my life. They have taught me more than they will ever know. I am so excited for Kendra (Top Left). She is getting married on April 17, 2010 to Jacob Barnes. They are perfect for each other.

These pictures were so much fun to take. They are at the very end of the day so that is why we all look exhausted.

It has long been a tradition that we always make cinnamon rolls on every fireside. And they turned out amazing!

This is a trip I took last semester with my mountaineering class. We were so awesome climbing around on everything!

Life is so good. I love everything about it. Even the times when it seems hard. We have been given this short amount of time to come down here and prove ourselves. I have been so blessed in my life. I know that my Heavenly Father is looking out for me. This makes me realize how all the bad times only make the good times so much more amazing.

"Find Joy in the Journey"
-President Thomas S. Monson

Busy Busy BUSY

I have been up here at school for a couple of weeks. So when I signed up for school I thought it would be a good idea to take 18 credits. Well I have definitely learned how to work hard. I have been waking up every morning at 7AM, going running, doing scripture study, leave for classes, and do homework until 7PM if I am lucky. I am on my ward's Frisbee team and I also take a mountaineering class where I am gone every weekend to go hike up a huge mountain! I also teach a class called Abs That Rock on Monday and Wednesday nights at 10. An hour of nothing but abs! I am not complaining at all! I love being busy and feeling like I have accomplished something at the end of the day. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed, but if I am doing all the right things I know that everything is going to work out, and it ALWAYS does!

So this last weekend we went on a hike called Bell Mountain and the weekend before was Teewinot. There is this boy in my class, we will call him Jimmy. Well Jimmy is a little slower and bigger. We go on hikes that are HARD. Whenever we would get to some harder stuff I noticed that Jimmy would fall quite a ways behind. A couple of friends and I would stay behind with him and help him through it. I have never seen someone more commited and hard working than he was. Jimmy had a brain tumor and also had cancer. I did not know this when I started hiking up this trail. It was amazing to see him litterally pull himself up rocks through snow and bleeding cuts. He truly was an inspiration. Half way up Teewinot he decided to stay behind and let us go up to the top. Well while waiting down there another couple came up and the girl didn't want to go to the top either. She stayed down where Jimmy was. Jimmy was able to have a gospel discusion with this girl and shared his testimony with her. It is amazing to see how nothing can get Jimmy down and he is still able to share his testimony with others. NEVER once in any of the hard hikes did I ever hear Jimmy complain about anything! I need to be more like him.

Here are some pictures:

This is Teewinot. We started at the trail in the corner and went to the very top

On top of Teewinot, that's the Grand in the background!

Bell mountain at sunset

Sunset on Bell mountain