Tallness does have the greatest advantage

http://universe.byu.edu/node/2709

Go here and it is self-explanatory.

Two Decades Ago...

Two decades ago, I sat (or perhaps laid) on my mother's lap, screaming my head off as a three day old baby. Wow, how things have changed! No longer do I sit on my mother's lap but I am pretty sure I still scream at times (especially when I get mail... hint, hint)

Anyways, as the title states, I am two decades old now. This birthday had a bitter sweet taste; allow me to explain. In my family, I have a tradition of rounding up in ages. So for my uncle, he has been "almost 60" since he turned 50. I always liked it because it was never to my disadvantage. That all changed on the eve of my birthday. Uncle Bill called me and wished me a happy "Almost 30" birthday. Now if 20 wasn't hard enough, 30 is not looking too great. Nonetheless, I am aging and having to start thinking about the vast world of retirement homes, which color walker I want and how I am going to pass the driving test when I am 84 years old.

For my birthday, I had a marvelous time with friends in Provo and Salt Lake. For a small re-cap, my friend Chelsea came down from Utah State to spend the weekend in Provo. BYU played USU Friday night and we won of course. Although I must give Gary Anderson props for the improvement on the team. Then Saturday morning, Chelsea and I went to General Conference in Salt Lake. Saturday night, Janet took me to Quarry, this sweet rock climbing place. We haven't been rock climbing in over a year so it was interesting to say the least. As much as I thought my arms would hurt, they didn't!!! Then after that, we had cake (Janet made a Jello-Cake!) and ice cream. On Sunday, we fed these sweet ducks at a retirement home (probably where I will be in a few years). For my actual birthday on Monday, we had FHE at our apartment and did a cool activity. I also got some sweet presents including a few games, a cook book and other stuff.

Here are some pics from the amazing weekend!

Sweet September

Sorry for the time off in blogging but unfortunately learning about ancient civilizations, volcanoes and getting new fish, blogging took the back burner.

Last weekend, Candace (one of my roommates) and I, along with her brother and his friends, went hiking Mt. Timpanogos. If you don't know what or where that is, go to the following: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Timpanogos

Good old wikipedia. It is 11,749 feet and the summit is about seven miles in hiking.

We left at one in the morning and arrived at the summit around 7am. We took an hour break at a fire around 4am to warm up and sleep a little. We then hiked back down the mountain later and enjoyed the beautiful leaves of fall.

That weekend we also had a BYU football game (which we won) and the General Relief Society Broadcast so needless to say, I didn't sleep. I stayed awake for 40 hours I think.

This week, Janet and I made a sweet dessert and I have included pictures of our handiwork. We are very inventive here. Perhaps we will make our own cookbook.

The Place I Call Home

On Thursday, I arrived at BYU in Provo and moved into our apartment. Sarah, Janet's sister, Janet and I left Wednesday and made the long trek to Utah. It was a safe trip thankfully and didn't fall asleep in boring Nebraska. Since I got here, I have worked on organizing everything in our apartment, walked around campus, which is HUGE, and tried to find a job. I haven't been very successful on the whole job-finding part but I have applied to a few positions on campus. Other than that, I haven't really done a lot. It is the calm before the storm because pretty soon, I will have too much to do that I will be in over my head in studying. Tomorrow, I am heading north near Salt Lake City to see some friends from last year which will be exciting!

Here are some pictures of our apartment.

Our closet that holds ALL our clothes surprisingly! We can't believe how much space there is!

This is Janet's and my bedroom.

This is right inside the front door and our kitchen. Again, we have tons of storage space to fit our food and dishes. We also have a dishwasher AND a garbage disposal. I've never had one before!

Last but not least, this is our living room. We just need a T.V. and then we'll be set. It is pretty comfy and spacey. All in all, I love the apartment and look forward to the times spent in it.

To Do List

I am ending my long hiatus of no blogging. It seems pointless to try to catch everyone up on my summer so here are just some pictures of what I have been up to.

CAMP!!! It is the best place in the world despite the tough campers and the long days. I love almost every moment and I am thankful for have a job this summer. It is coming to an end this week and I know it will be hard but it was fun while it lasted.

I went to the Balloon Glow near the Wausau Airport with some friends. It was really cool and neat to see.I went, with my sister and mom, to Minocqua one weekend this summer. During the trip, we went to Jim Peck's Zoo. It was really cool and we know one of the zoologists there so she was able to take us around and get hte animals really close to us. We also went to the Depot Museum and was able to find more information for family history!

Here I am with Madison. She and her brother, Michael, are my camp director's two children who I live with this summer. We play almost every night and have tons of fun together. I am going to miss them so much when I leave.

So I found this online one day and thought I would share it with fellow friends and family. The list is called, "The Top 101 Things Every BYU Student Should Do." Here is the link:

http://theboard.byu.edu/index.php?area=viewall&id=46949

While I liked a few of them (mainly the ones about roommates...), I decided to come up with my own list entitled, "Top Ten Things I NEED to do at BYU."

1- Shake Cosmo's hand

2- Learn the Cougar Fight Song

3- Count all the stairs on campus

4- Study Abroad

5- Complete another marathon or at least run in a few races

6- Avoid as many ward/stake dances as possible

7- RUN up Y mountain

8- Never, ever get lost... on campus or in Provo

9- Shake a Church leader's hand (President Monson would be sweet but anyone would do)

10- Find a job with kids

I have just about two years to complete my list as well as the other one. Classes start at BYU in just two weeks!

New Challenges

My life has been pretty boring lately so I must resort to blogging about the new high ropes course that is at the camp I work at. We built three new elements for the campers this summer and ten of the staff had the opportunity to be trained on them first. An instructor came from Kentucky for the training and I was able to try some of the elements. I was terrified beyond words but I did finish the day. Here are some pictures of what we did that day.


This is me jumping off a platform on top of an extension ladder. I am trying to hit the hanging tetherball in the air. The only thing holding the ladder up are six individuals holding long ropes that are tied to the top of the ladder.

Other than that challenge, camp started last week and I am enjoying the new challenges that it brings. I love every moment of it and can't wait to see more campers come throughout the summer. Also, I was called to the Nursery at church a few weeks ago so that is challenging me as well. On average, there are eight toddlers running around in the room and screaming or crying depending on the moment.

Home Sweet Home

After three days of driving through the marvelous states of Nebraska and Iowa, I am thrilled to be home in Wisconsin finally. The trip went the very best it could aside from the snow in Wyoming. Coming home and being able to have a home-cooked meal was something I have been looking forward to since January!

Since I’ve been home, I haven’t done a whole lot. I surprised my friend, Jackie in Milwaukee by visiting her on my way home. She screamed a lot and we were able to go for a walk along Lake Michigan and enjoy a few hours together. Then I arrived home and was able to see my mom and sister! Tuesday, I started at work at the YMCA Camp Sturtevant. Once again, I am one of the Camp Program Directors. I absolutely love every minute of it. So far at work, I have learned how to fix a split water line, how to place benches in the ground and how to use a complex pocket knife. It is awesome because everything I learn this summer I will use eventually in my future. In less than a month, the campers will start arriving and there is so much to do before that!

Other than work, I’ve eaten the famous one pounder at Briq’s (ice cream), had dinner with my dad from Madison, played with my camp director’s children and gone to a baptism of a family friend’s daughter. I don’t really have any pictures but I will get some for next time!