Where did summer go?

This summer has flown by so quickly....much much MUCH too quickly for my particular taste. It has been quite possibly the best summer of my life. Things I wanted to do this summer included: go to Lagoon (check--I have a season's pass and have been 6 times already), go mini-golfing (check--David and I hit up Castle Park, a serious mini-golf course in Cali), go to a Bees baseball game (check--thanks Nick for taking me twice!), go swimming (check--made it about 5 times or so and twice to Lagoon-A-beach waterpark), and hike Havasupai (check--that place was amazing!). In addition to those things that I wanted to do, I also went to the South for the first time and LOVED Alabama, went to California to meet David's family which was the best week of my life, finally got to see what all the hype was about for the Halliday family "cabin" (let me just say that it met and exceeded my expectations), went on a ward campout near Park City which was gorgeous, learned how to skateboard (and am still loving it and going weekly), discovered the joy of SnOasis, saw the Dark Knight and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (both of which I loved), and so forth.
I guess I just thought that the summer would never end but I wake up Monday morning (Labor Day) to a downpour/hail storm. Awesome. And I have noticed that it is already much cooler at night, not that I'm complaining right now because it's nice to not go to bed in the blazing heat. David and I went to the Greek Festival last night and it hit me again that it's no longer summer but has started to turn into fall. I guess all good things must come to an end. I will miss you dear SUMMER...until next year. You were good to me.

Did someone say Buckaroo?

Since we all had work off for Pioneer day, Angel, Luke, Liz, Travis, and I traveled down to Havasupai, AZ to finally complete the famous Havasu hike/camp. I have been wanting to go on the hike ever since my dad first told me about it from his mission. Back in March when Angel and I started to become great friends, we talked about going on a backpacking trip together so that I could show her my wilderness skills and she could become more nature-esk or outdoorsy. Somehow I mentioned Havasupai and the next thing I know we were planning the trip. We had hoped to go in June but it was booked clear to mid-July. Thanks to Utah and it's fake holiday, we were able to make this awesome hike happen for Pioneer Day weekend. Well, it was AWESOME. It was the longest and shortest vacation of my life, and quite the adventure!

We headed down on Wednesday night to stay at Planet Hollywood in Vegas. Viva las Vegas baby! Too bad we got a speeding ticket like 5 miles from our hotel, but you win some, you lost some. The next day we took our dear sweet time walking around the strip in the BLAZING heat and letting Angel soak in as much Vegas as she could stand. One of her life's ambition was to go to Vegas so I'm glad that we could make it happen for her. The dang fountain at the Bellagio was under repair but it was still a good time. We hit up good ole In-N-Out Burger before leaving town and it was as delicious as always. Seriously, I don't know how they make it better but it is so much better than regular fast food. We quickly headed to WallyWorld to get some last minute items and then headed out of town.

The drive from Vegas was about 3.5 hours and we were able to find a nice little campsite about 1 hour from the base of the hike. When we were at the campsite I was quoting Brian Reagen and said "hey there buckaroo!" The next thing I know this crazy cowboy pops out of nowhere and says "Did someone say Buckaroo?" Confused and a little dazed, I finally admitted to being the one to have said Buckaroo, so the guy hands me his business card. Apparently this cowboy-at-heart is named the Santa Fe Kid and goes around doing gun shows. Don't worry, the card assured me that he owns his own gun and will travel! Needless to say, we all got a good laugh and that became the theme for the rest of our trip: "Did someone say Buckaroo?"

The next morning we started the hike at 7 a.m. and made it to the campsite around 11 a.m. Not bad considering we took our dear sweet time and stopped at the village to sign in and look at the frozen gatorade and snowcones. YES! They sell snowcones in a freezer. I decided to not buy anything since it was extremely overpriced, but a nice frozen gatorade would have hit the spot. I could not believe the beauty of the waterfalls when we finally made it the 10 miles. Words can not describe how magnificant the place was. I've been on a lot of hikes in my time, and I would have to say that this is one of my favorite places on earth. The water was crystal blue and warm and so much fun to swim in. And of course there were water swings that we hit up that just added to the experience. We all loved the whole trip. The ony thing we didn't enjoy was the killer squirrels that tore apart our bags to get to the trail mix. Seriously, these animals were insane! Poor Liz also got an eye infection that was NOT fun but luckily everything was okay and she was able to make it out okay.
My favorite spot of the hike was Mooney Falls. The falls were about 200 feet tall and the mist coming off it was so gorgeous. To get to Mooney, you have to make this steep descent in the rocks that is way scary. Liz made it one-eyed and we were all impressed. If we could do the hike over again, we would have planned one more day so that we could explore more and swim longer. But it was perfect all the same.

We hiked out on Saturday around 5 p.m. and made it to our JEEP at 9 p.m. Poor Luke ended up carrying a girl about 1/2 mile up the steepest part of the hike because she was really hurt and couldnt walk anymore. I don't know how he did it, but he was apparently an answer to her prayers. It was a pretty neat experience. He is such a good guy. We packed up and headed to Kingman that night and stayed in a hotel because we were not about to camp again in the pain we were in. A bed has never felt so good in my entire life!

Sunday morning we drove back to St. George, got a litte Cafe Rio and then drove the rest of the way back to Salt Lake. The trip felt so long and yet so short. I had the best time of my life. And one day I will go back with my family and do that hike again. It was the best!

Know where to find cool socks??

So, David and I were on a mission the other night to find sweet, cool socks and slip-on Vans shoes but it turns out that nobody sells cute socks at this time of the year. Apparently the only acceptable footwear is flip-flops or low-rise socks and shoes. I mean I'm a huge fan of low-rise socks but David finds it completely unacceptable so we were at a loss of where else to look. Old Navy has finally failed us. Does anyone know of a good place? We were successful at finding awesome Vans shoes, so the whole shopping trip wasn't ruined but now we just need the socks to complete the look. Wow, I have the randomest posts....sorry.

Dang bloggers tagging me

Okay, FINE Amy I will do this dumb....errr...I mean FUN little tag thing. But would you please explain to me AGAIN how blogging is different from facebook? Oh well, I'll bite. You know how I love to talk about myself anyways. haha In all actuality I am excited to post, but you know that I can never admit it because the coolness factor will be gone. Here is goes...



8 things I'm passionate about
1. icecream
2. pie
3. pie and icecream
4. cookies
5. oreo truffle balls
6. PB truffle balls
7. raspeberry pizza
8. Coldstone and/or Leatherbys


8 books I've read recently
1. The Slaugher House 5 (just read one chapter but I will finish it)
2. The Host (which is SO good P.S.)
3. Some random chinese foot-binding book (havent finished that yet either but it was good)
4.-8. Harry Potter series, which should technically be #1-7



8 things I often say
1. That was delectable, as was the first
2. Can life get any better? I submit that it can not
3. bizarre (yeah I dont know but that was the only word to describe The Host)
4. roDEO
5. wait, what?
6. I'm so indecisive, you choose
7. Ummm....sleep
8. I want a snowcone and/or slurpee


8 things that annoy me
1. blogging
2. facebook (sorry Amy I totally stole this from you)
3. dishes in the sink
4. not being able to fall asleep/stay asleep when you're exhausted
5. dishonesty
6. working and NOT contributing to society
7. laziness
8. people who don't know what they want


8 things I look forward to everyday
1. work, wait what?
2. warm summer nights
3. emails from Amy
4. getting texts and phone calls from my family and friends I care about
5. my 3:00 snack at work
6. locking the cabinets and closing the windows at work, knowing I get to go home
7. FOOD
8. random funny things that happen


8 things I look for in a friend
1. cool nickname
2. doesnt know what "too chocolatey" means
3. Would rather drive across the street to get groceries than walk
4. appreciates ELF as much as I do
5. knows all about Brian Reagen and can quote him on demand
6. someone ugly so I look good...too bad THAT has never happened. I really need to choose new friends, that's for sure
7. BYU attenderer
8. has horrible pics of me that they could use as bribery but doesn't


8 things I want to do before I die
1. get out of Utah
2. open up a bakery just to make cool new desserts
3. have children...which hopefully leads to #4...
4. Get married
5. live
6. eat real pizza and gelato in Italy
7. delete my facebook and blogging accounts
8. run 1/2 marathon


8 things I've learned this past year
1. blogging is exactly like I thought it would be
2. slip-ons are the only acceptable shoes
3. All socks should be fun to look at
4. MONK is an awesome show
5. Working is overrated--all though I definitely already knew this
6. Nathan and Amy are having a baby!
7. Leatherbys is actually delicious and not grainy
8. Helping out with one carport turns into building lots of things and NO sleeping in on Sat.

3 Joys
1. Family
2. Friends
3. Food

3 Fears
1. Being alone
2. Public speaking (which is actually number 1)
3. spiders

3 Goals
1. Get married
2. Have children
3. Don't kill the children

3 current obsessions
1. Lagoon
2. Snowoasis
3. Skateboarding

3 random surprising facts about me
1. Before Lagoon, I had never been to any amusement park whatsoever
2. I hate sushi and Indian food
3. I dont like chocolate and fruit mixed

I tag everyone who is bored enough to read this blog. Hope you guys enjoyed my dumb answers. have a great day!

Free Slurpees

I am American and therefore LOVE 7-11 Slurpees. Well it turns out that today is my (and YOUR) lucky day because in honor of 7/11, all 7-eleven gas stations are giving out free 7.11 oz slurpees. Not only do I get the most amazing beverage (if you can call it that) to drink but it is also FREE. Can life get any better? I submit that it can NOT! You better believe that I'll be going all around town from one 7-11 to the next collecting on the freeness. Everything tastes better when it's free. Dr. Pepper slurpee here I come!

Skateboarding 101

Today I had my very first skateboarding lesson EVER! Boy was it extremely fun...and hard. I fell, like A LOT! I actually have a huge bruise now on my upper thigh for a battle wound. But I took it like a champ. Hey, I know how to fall "gracefully." I now feel guilty for all the times I talked smach about skateboarding and how easy it was. Let me tell you, looks are deceiving. I thought it was tricky tricky, but I finally learned how to turn to one side really well and to the other side a little. And I even know the proper way to hold a board so you don't look like a poser and how to pop up the board when you're leaving. I'm cool now like Dave. Well, not quite that cool but one day I will learn to do a cool trick or two. So here's to all you legit skateboarders out there. Keep doing your thing. Hey, like Dave say's, "Skateboarding is just about having fun and doing it for yourself." Half pipe here I come...

staying afloat of Independence Day

The fourth of July has always been Autumn's favorite holiday and this year I got a glimpse as to why that might be. Independence Day is a good time. This year for the holiday, Dave, Mo, Jewel, Christy, and I drove out to the Spiral Jetty (after getting lost for awhile and hitting up every single gas station between here and timbucktoo) to float in the Great Salt Lake. I have always been curious as to what it would feel like and wondered if all the rumors about how bouyant you are were really true. Well it turns out that everyone was telling the truth. It is pretty crazy how much salt is in that dang lake. I looked so awkward trying to get back up on my feet because I could barely push them down (but let's be honest I'm just an awkward person anyways so it's not far from my normal behavior). It's a pretty crazy sensation. Poor Dave ended up driving his car but little did we know that a low-to-the-ground beemer (BMW) wasn't the best choice in vehicles. There was so many rocks that we ended up just turning up the radio because it was painful to hear. I think that his car is OK now but I felt horrible. I would say that it was worth it overall though (he might not agree). So here's a pic of the Spiral Jetty....

Then we went here for dinner for big fat burgers...

Next, we hit up the fireworks near Claude's house... And finally we shot off our own cool fireworks and played a little Guitar Hero. It was one of the best fourth of Julys I have ever had. If we would have hit up the BBQ it would have been perfect. Happy Independence Day to everyone...4 days late!