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!

Saying Farewell to Utah State

Friday was my last day of official classes at Utah State. It is bitter sweet. While I am excited for the summer and BYU this fall, leaving USU has its downfalls as well. These last few weeks have been full of studying for final exams which are this week and trying to hang out with my friends as much as possible. Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.


This is Heather, Chelsea, Jake and I at a park off campus.


Chelsea and I are trying to swing like a spider which was something
we did in elementary school. Things have changed since then :)

And lastly, Chelsea and I at the Logan Zoo having fun.

I am going to miss all of this but I am ready to get home and enjoy some fun times with my family and friends back home. I will be home next week!

April Showers Bring May Flowers

I have my fingers crossed that all the rain we've gotten in Utah will only bring sunshine and flowers in May in Wisconsin. I am ready for summer to come in full force.

General Conference was last weekend and I was able to attend Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. It was a really cool opportunity! I loved all of it and can't believe that it has already been six months since the last conference! Here is a picture from the top of the Conference Center after the Sunday morning session let out. The protesters were probably the funniest part!

Otherwise, there is little to report on here in Logan. My sister came out to visit me for 1/2 a week and we enjoyed that. We got the chance to go hiking and just hang out again. Also, I registered for classes at BYU and am looking forward to that this fall! I am taking two classes in my major: Recreation Management and Youth Leadership, which makes me super excited! I have two weeks of classes left and then a week of finals. Then I come home! Three more weeks... HAPPY EASTER to everyone!!!

Spring Break Time

This past week was spring break finally!!! Because I had to work both weekends, I couldn't go too far but I was able to have some fun along the way all starting with Sunday night. Chelsea has some family in Logan and we were invited over for dinner after church on Sunday. Our dining services on campus are closed for the entire week so it was very nice to dig into a home cooked meal. On Monday, Chelsea, Jake and I left to go to Ogden and Salt Lake City for the week. Monday, we hiked Waterfall Canyon, which was about a four hour hike. Then we went to something called Inflatable Zone. It was way fun. Here are some pictures from Monday.

Tuesday, we travelled down to BYU to attend the devotional and then we all headed over to Draper, Utah to go to the Draper Temple open house. It was so amazing to see the inside of the temple and it was absolutely beautiful. I cannot wait for the opportunity to be married in such a beautiful place. Again, here are some pictures from that day.


Wednesday, we spent the entire day in Salt Lake City. Chelsea and I went to do baptisms for the dead at the Salt Lake temple. I took some family names with me finally and it was amazing. Later in the day, we went to the zoo and walked around Temple Square for a while.

Today, Chelsea and I went to do baptisms again at the Ogden temple and then Jake, Chelsea and I went hiking around the Great Salt Lake for the day on Antelope Island. It was absolutely beautiful on the hike!!!

Now I am back at school and have classes again on Monday. Only six more full weeks of the semester left and then it is time to pack it up and head on home!

February Frenzy

So it has been a few weeks since my last post. Sorry! My dad called me and was wondering what was going on since I hadn’t posted for a while. And I also forgot to call him because he sent me yummy cookies (Just for you, Dad. Sorry again!)
Anyways… life in Utah has been pretty low-key so far this semester. My classes are quite a bit more demanding and that equates to many more hours spent in the library studying and reading and less hours doing exciting things. I cannot wait for the day to come when I am completely done with college and the moment comes when I have absolutely no homework. Classes are going okay. I received my first round of tests back over the past week or so and got mostly A’s on them. Many of my classes are simply based on tests so if I fail (or do poorly) on one, it has the potential to ruin my overall grade. My favorite class though is my Family History class (partially because there are no tests). It is really relaxed and is a class that I can take at my own pace.
I started playing indoor soccer for our church once a week. My friend, Heather and I go play for a few hours every week. It is really fun! We now have to take a few weeks off though because Heather was in the hospital this week with a really bad infection. She has MRSA and it is started to really affect her so she ended up in the hospital yesterday. She is recuperating slowly and will be back up to speed soon I hope! I start my university soccer class next week here so I am excited. I am hoping I can improve my soccer skills for those days at camp when we play against the campers. They always seem to kick our butts.
I found out where I am living next year. Here is the link, in case you want to see. http://belmontapts.net/
Spring break is just in less than two weeks here so I am getting anxious for that. I plan on hanging out with a few of my friends down in the Salt Lake City area. Sadly, I have to work both weekends so I can’t go anywhere too far from Logan. Then after break, there are only seven more weeks left of the semester! Yikes! I can’t believe it was Christmas two months ago… where did all the time go?

BYU...

I will now have to give up my love and adoration for the Utah State Aggies at the end of the semester and switch over to our rival, BYU and cheer for the Cougars. I found out Friday night that I was accepted into BYU starting Fall of 2009. Despite our basketball team's domination this year (20-1, they are tied for the most wins with Oklahoma), I have decided to leave the wonderful Aggies and soon call myself a Cougar.