I Love Utah

Note: This post is late. Sorry. I just haven't felt like sitting on my computer lately or have been busy doing other things. Apologies to those of you just dying to hear about my exciting life. [Crickets chriping.] Oh. Never mind. 

Utah. [Insert state song that gets stuck in your head here.]

Once upon a time we went on a family vacation. We were supposed to go gemstone mining in Montana but the combination of bad weather in Montana and my parents wanting to meet Megan's fiance's parents meant that Southern Utah really was going to be the better option. So to Southern Utah we went. We went to Bryce Canyon National Park, which I'd actually never been to before. I LOVED it. We hiked down in the canyon which actually isn't a canyon and has a name that my sister could tell you but I forgot. I thought it was gorgeous and such a unique version of red rock because there are pine trees everywhere. And since we all know that I love red rock I was a happy camper. Literally. :] Although I did get kinda grumpy at one point when I hadn't eaten enough. [Note to future roommates, husband, etc: I get grumpy when I don't eat. I don't need a four course meal. Just a granola bar will make a world of difference.]

When we got back from that we spent two days doing wedding stuff for Megan. Wedding dress. Check. Bridesmaids dresses. Check. Wedding Shoes. Check. It was quite productive. 

Then Mom and Megan went home and I moved back into Roman Gardens for a week. It was fantastic. :]

We started with a birthday party for Andrea and Russell who were turning 22 and 23. It was a classic birthday bash with party hats, birthday cake [yes, there are 80 candles in it.], pin the tail on the donkey charades and prizes. We ended outside in the pool. A lovely time was had by all. 

Wednesday was the day Eva went into the MTC so I drove to Lehi and picked up Alyssa and then we drove together to Salt Lake to pick up Eva from the airport. She looked positively radiant. So beautiful and so ready to go and serve her mission to South Korea. We talked and laughed all the way back to Provo where we dropped her off. Her flight was delayed so she was late getting there so we got to take her all the way into the front desk. I only cried a little. I will miss that girl so much. She has been a HUGE part of my life since Heather invited her into join our big hair competition early in our Freshman year. I cannot possibly explain how grateful I am to know her.

That night I did senior pictures with Claire and went to The Princess Bride outdoor at the Scera in Orem. So fun!

Thursday night Tayte, Aubrey and I went down to Manti for the Mormon Miracle Pageant. I LOVE the Manti Pageant. I love eating Turkey before it starts and sitting under the temple for the show. I love that it's a little cheesy but so full of the spirit.

On Friday Aubrey and I hung out. Just the two of us. I can't tell you how much this girl has blessed my life. I've said it before and I'll say it again. She was exactly the roommate I needed this year. I adore everything thing about her. Just a peach of a girl.

Saturday I had lunch with Patrick. Just a good catchup with a good friend. And that night Alyssa, Dan, Jacob and I hiked the Y and because Dan was craving it we literally ran down the Y and got J Dawgs afterwards. So much fun.

Sunday was Andrea's farewell talk so we all drove up to Ogden for her. She did such a great job. She is so ready for her mission and is going to do just a stellar job. I can't believe how close we've gotten in the last few months. It's going to be really hard to not have her just a phone call away. However, I will be writing her obnoxiously often and we have grand plans for when she returns. Cruise, skydiving... :]

On Monday I was planning on going home but Aubrey talked me into staying for one more night so we went on a stroll up by Bridal Veil Falls with Nunja and played games at FHE. I really like Aubrey's current roommates Natalie and Christie. They are so nice to let me bum at their house for a week.

Finally on Tuesday I packed up and went home. :]

In addition to all of that I spent the week going back to basics. Scripture study first thing in the morning. Going to the temple. Laying out in the sun and getting warm to the bone. Reading Harry Potter. Spending time just sitting looking out the window. Eating well. And all of that healed my poor broken heart. I'd been spending so much time on edge that I kept crashing and then would spend my time getting back up to the edge and then something else would make me crash again. My little vacation week gave me time to actually regroup, put life back into perspective, breathe. I felt so much more like myself.

And that my friends is why I love Utah. Just don't tell anyone. :]

The End.

Hey Rach, How do you feel about red rock?

My friends [Andrea, Aubrey, Tayte, Russell and Dana] and I went on a camping trip to Arches National Park last week. It was rad.

One of the standing jokes for the trip was "Hey Rach, How do you feel about red rock?"

I'll let you look at the pictures and decide for yourself.

What we did exactly: 
We camped at Hal Canyon [a BLM Campground along the Colorado River] thanks to a kind RV who shared it's tent space with us. We had s'mores and scary stories and us girls had pillow talk. :) On Wednesday we woke up and had breakfast burritos [thanks to the boys - none of us girls are morning people]. We did the Windows, Turrett and Double Arch first thing and then ate lunch at Balanced Rock. We did a Fiery Furnace hike in the afternoon that was totally awesome. I loved crawling through things and climbing across cracks. We had tin foil dinners and dutch oven cobbler for dinner and a massage train before bed. We packed up camp in the rain and then hiked to Delicate Arch. Tayte and Annie and I went down into the bowl and up the other side. It was weird to see it from that direction. We went to Pine Tree and Landscape Arches and stopped in my favorite little spot in the rocks. We left just as the rain started to pour again. We tried to take the van down a dirt road to Gemini Bridges but it was a little too low riding. [Note to self - Take a jeep and go back sometime for that one.] We stopped at a little home town burger joint in Green River and Russell [thank you thank you] drove the rest of the way home.

Please don't judge: 
My OCD. Yes, my menus as well as packing and shopping lists were made on Excel Spreadsheets. I just don't like forgetting things! It stresses me.

My hair. Camping + Hiking + Rain + Curly Hair = Bandana and Braids to attempt to tame it. Just be glad you didn't have to see me first thing after waking up.

Also, please judge the oversize jacket. My Dad offered me his Gortex and I gladly took it. I'm so happy I did too because it rained a lot of our trip. So I look silly because I'm drowning in it and I had to roll up the s don't leeves but I was dry. And that is what matters.


Things to Note:
I appreciate Dad's camping cooking more than I realized. He's straight up awesome at it. And s'mores just aren't the same when your little brother isn't there to make you a perfect golden brown one.

I have a tendency to act like a mom. "Did everyone get enough to eat? Do you need your water filled? Does anyone need to stop and use the bathroom. Aubrey, do not give Russell a wet willy." So much so that my friends may have called me Mom more than once on this trip. I'm taking this as a compliment. But I probably need to rethink the way I interact with my peers.

Rebecca Black's Friday gets stuck in my head WAY too easily. [Thank you Tayte.] Party and Party and Party and Yeah.

Don't say you should do something. It never happens. Like how we wrote a song while hiking but failed to record it. It went like this "The rains came down and the arches were formed. The rains came down and the arches were formed. The rains came down and the arches were formed." Don't worry there definitely were hand motions included.

I LOVE my friends. LOVE them. I'm grateful to have them. They were exactly the people I needed in my life this past year. Each one for a different reason. I had such a great time.



Oh. And I LOVE red rock. Just in case you hadn't figured it out.



Also, I need your opinions. Would you rather have a post that is half again as long with only big pictures or would you rather have a shorter post with smaller pictures that you can click on for a closer peek if you want? Currently, I've trended toward a post with smaller pictures. But I do like being able to really see a picture. Please let me know if you have an opinion. :)