Stars

I am a big city girl.  I love the city.  A lot.  I love the convenience of everything, the hustle, the lights, etc.  However, the one thing I don't like, is the fact that the stars disappear.  I love the stars.  When I was younger, I wanted to be an astronomer until I realized how much school that would take to make anything of myself, so it is just a hobby.  I don't go outside much at night, but I was laying in my bed the other night gazing up through the window, and a star peaked it's way through the trees at me.  It was kind of a pleasant surprise, there is a very narrow space for such an occurrence with the way the apartment is set up, but I was delighted.  It took me back to Wednesday nights at Oakcrest sleeping up on the mountain in a wide open field, away from everything civilized with just a blanket of stars.  Thousands of them, oh, and the milky way.  I looked forward every week to being able to point stuff out to my girls because the majority of them have never seen more then 15 stars in one night, so they were all stunned by the sight.  I got to re-live that slightly when we were in St. George because one night we slept under the stars and I fell asleep gazing at them thinking how amazing our Heavenly Father is that he would love us so much to give us something so beautiful.

Spring Break-ish

So BYU doesn't have a spring break, we just plug all the way through and then finish before everybody else.  I like it that way, even though it doesn't really impact me that much since I only have one class anyway.  However, UVU just had spring break and Chris wanted to do some climbing, so we hit up southern utah for the weekend.  My cousin Joey came with us and we had a blast.  We started by trying to get a camp site at Red Cliffs.  It was full by the time we got there on Thursday evening so we pitched the tent in a random spot quickly because we had to get to the temple, and we hoped the tent would be ok there.  We made it to the St. George temple just in time.  I was able to be there as he walked through the temple doors for the first time in over six years and I got to be there as my cousin baptized and confirmed him for those who have passed on, it was really neat.  We asked on of the couple missionary men to take a picture for us after, digital cameras are not his forte, but oh well.

            

     Chris                          Me, Chris, & Joey

Next we went to In-N-Out and met Vicki and Logan there.  I love that place.  Such simple burgers, but the fact that everything there is so fresh, makes my little nutritionist heart jump for joy.  The lettuce was still crisp and the tomato was delightful and I washed them peel, cut and cook my fries, all right there, hooray.    We chilled there til just after ten and got back to our make-shift campsite at 10:30, only to find a little note on the tent that said "No Camping Ever"  That's kind of what we expected but we figured we would try anyway.  So we took the tent down really quick, in the dark, in our temple clothes and began on a journey to find a campsite.  We had no idea where to even look because all the ones I knew were already full, this is where I got out numbered by the boys.  They decided it would be fine to just drive around til we found a dirt road, follow it a ways til we found a flat open spot, and camp there for the night.  We wound up near the freeway  and some warehouses, including that ginormous walmart one down there.  I slept in my tent and the boys slept outside.  Chris slept right up next to my tent with his pistol in his sleeping bag.  Don't mess with that boy.  Here is a photo of it once we woke up and could actually see.

We went to Bear Paw Cafe for breakfast.  It's a long wait and slightly pricey, but I got my vanilla pecan belgian waffle...totally worth it.  We then went to Snow canyon to climb for the day.  Megan (another cousin) met us there with her baby.  We did one climb with zero problems, the second climb was around the edge of an arch that was sunk back in the rock, but Chris couldn't finish leading it so after he hung there for about 40 mintues, I belayed him down and we called for lunch.  We had a little picnic in the canyon still and then went to look for more climbs.  The next climb was exciting because I got to lead it!!  Let's be honest, it wasn't a very hard one to lead.  They had it ranked as a 5.7 but I would put it at 5.5 probably.  However, there were a couple almost rough spots where I could have fallen, but I got to the top with no problems.  Success. 

    

Chris Stuck on the Arch    Me belaying Joey on the 1st climb   My first lead

Once we decided we were done on the ropes for the day, we did some normal climbing around and went through an awesome little slot canyon and played around on the red rock for a while.

 

  

That night we went back to the camp ground (oh, we went and got a camp ground at red cliffs first thing in the morning so we had a spot for sure. :D)  We climbed around over there with Vicki and then we cooked hot dogs and starbursts over the fire.  We couldn't do S'mores because water from the cooler leaked into the marshmallows.  Dang it.  Saturday we went into Zion National Park for with Vicki and Logan and climbed up Hidden Canyon for a while.  Then we came back into St. George and went to a place called prophecy wall and threw a couple more solid climbs in before bringing the trip to a close.

  

The End.  (Oh, and that was the sunset from the last rock we were on.)

A Moment to Breathe

I am terrible at journaling, thus my attempt at blogging.  So...seeing as how this is my journal of sorts, some of my post are quite random and people who read them now, might think they just wasted 3 minutes of their precious time.  These post are more directed for the day when I get these all organized and passed to my posterity somehow.  Weird?  Yes.  But some of you understand.  Anyways, this is one of those posts. :D

I LOVE yoga.  I mean, honestly and truthfully, love it.  I always thought it was a strange thing and that it was highly overrated until I took a yoga class from Salt Lake Community College my senior year in high school.  I'm glad I started with an actual class so I could learn more about the practice and it's origins.  I don't choose to live every aspect of a yogi lifestyle, but I enjoy parts of it.  Yoga itself, is one of my favorite ways to spend me time.  I don't do it often enough, but my goal is to do it more, I am hoping once a week, but that might be wishful thinking.  I went to a yoga class at Gold's Gym tonight taught by my favorite teacher, John.  He is very much a yogi, he is super chill.  Tonight we did a lot of just stretching, not a whole lot of hard, get all sweaty, yoga.  Just great stretching and movement, and breathing.  I forget to do that sometimes.  

Yoga is my time.   I get to focus on MY body, on what I want, and how I want to move.  It sounds slightly selfish, but really, it's not.  I spend a lot of time focusing on other people's bodies with what I have chosen to study, I worry a lot about what other people want and need from me and what other people want and expect me to do.  When I am doing yoga, it all disappears, and for an hour, my world, is my world.  I don't think about the fam, about my friends, about the boy, about the upcoming trip this weekend, I just think about connecting my movement with the breath.  As corny as it sounds, I feel like every breath I breathe out (because you don't really blow in yoga) is like breathing out a worry or concern I may have.  I am sitting here an hour later and thoughts keep popping into my head of something I was worried about 4 hours ago, and almost as fast as it registers in brain, I breathe out and it's gone again.  Breathe Frizz, just Breathe.

Sunday Dinners

Sunday dinners, quite possible one of my favorite events ever.  Easily top 5.  I have a ginormous family that just gets bigger and bigger, which I love.  I am one of the younger ones so I was used to not having all the siblings around all the time, except for Sunday dinners, in which case, everybody came, except Vicki because she was usually in St. George.  Well, this is one of the few things that I get homesick for while living at school, that and the grandkids, because they are my favorite people.  So I haven't been to a Sunday dinner in quite a while, well about a month.  For the last few days I have felt like I just wanted to fill my cup with family goodness. :D  I asked a few people and couldn't find a ride up so I figured it was a Sunday for Hamburger Helper...mmmm.  Not really.  As I walked home from stake conference, I bumped into Smash who said "Frizz, I'm going to Salt Lake for dinner, wanna come?"  Hazzah!!  So I rode up with her and she dropped me off at home for a family dinner.

Lucky me though, it wasn't just our family though, my dad's choir buddy and his wife and mom were there as well.  They are very much Canadian and British so they have never had Dutch Over. My dad took it upon himself to fix that.  We had a divine meal of chicken, cheesy bacon potatoes, blackberry cobbler, and cornbread, all in the dutch ovens.  Bliss.  I ate so much, possible more than I've had in the last two days combine.  Cookies, garden salad, fruit salad were present as well, and lots of milk.  Yup, I love Sunday dinners. 

My favorite part though was just being with the people that I love.  I am blessed with an amazing family.  I enjoy meeting people's family and spending time with them, but at the end of the day, (or when I can get a ride to salt lake,) I love going back mine.  It's not a perfect family, but we are perfect for each other.  It's fun now that I am older to see who got what characteristics from who and how we all love each other the same, whether it was yesterday we saw each other, or 3 months ago.  It's great.  I love talking with them and laughing with them.  That's the real reason why I love Sunday dinners, the company.  It's like a 16 person Italian family gathering at the table, it's a blast!

Here's the Plan...Partially

I feel like it's been forever since I've posted, but it hasn't really been that long.  There have been a few big things happening and again, I am managing to stay really busy.  I got my last check from L I M E, they only paid me for 6 hours though when I worked for 15, and they are refusing to give me the rest.  It's really lame and quite illegal.  I got a phone call about Oakcrest, they said that after prayer and fasting, they felt that I had bigger and better things to do this summer than working at camp.  I don't know if I would classify anything as bigger and better, because nothing is much better than serving the Lord for 3 months teaching his daughters the gospel, but there are other things I can be doing.  When I first found out that I wasn't going to be working there, I thought, cool, I 'll just play all summer, that hasn't happened in years because I always had school related stuff to do in the summer or camp.  However, after a minute I thought, no, there are bigger and better things to do at that time than to be at camp.  So I have decided to stay at my apartment for the summer (save the hassle of moving everything home, having to live under the parents rules for 4 months, and then moving everything back here).  Froot Loop didn't get camp either so she is going to move in with me because it is so super cheap in spring and summer.  I am super excited about this.  I am nervous about the 3 girls that signed up to live in my apartment in fall/winter because I've never met them, so I'm excited to have a best friend still living with me til they get here.

I have found a couple jobs that I am going to apply for, one is a gardening spot, which sounds oddly fabulous to me, I miss gardening, a lot.  I don't know how Grandma would feel about me saying that. :D  Also, since the semester ends in a month, there are going to be job openings left and right, so if all else fails, I'll just ref soccer til then.  I'm also considering looking at places that offer personal training since I will be certified shortly.  I did decided to take a couple classes in the spring semester.  I am hoping to take physiology and another one of my religion classes, I haven't picked which one yet.  I am looking forward to taking these classes at that time, I think it will be nice.  I can study in the warmth, down by the pool.  I will also be taking some fabulous road trips this summer, no doubt.  Especially with Chris living in Cali for the summer and froot as my roommate.  She has days where she feels like driving so she drives to St. George, gets in-n-out, and drives home.  If Checko winds up staying home (she had to come home from her mission on medical leave) then we will spend oodles of time together, I'm sure.  I've seen her almost everyday since she got home already.  But we are praying for her to go back out.  As much as I love having my best friend back, I know how bad she wants to serve and how great she is at it, so that is what I pray for.

I just want to take a minute to say, Life is good, I love it a lot.  There are times when I think that I could be doing more right now, but I am happy to just take a break from all the stress and enjoy what I have been given and be there 100%  for those that need me.  It is very refreshing and opens your eyes up to a lot of things that you might have missed otherwise.

Blast From The Past

So last night was a random blast.  It was Zazzy's birthday so Frootput together a party for her at none other than...Chucke Cheese!!  Who goes to Chucke Cheese?  Oh ya, small little children...hundreds of them...and apparently Oakcrest staff.  It was a blast.  We sang happy birthday to Zazzy, Oakcrest style.  Everybody turned and stared because it was that awesome.  :D  Then a few of us went next door to go bowling.  Chris came and met us there when he got off of work.  This activity was a little more our age, but still just fun.  Following that, we went to Classic Skating.  I haven't been there since I was 14 probably, it was really funny to go back.  Chris got a kick out of the whole "snowball" thing, but as soon as we got there, they announced that it was snowball time, so we snowballed.  All the times that I went there in my youth, it never happened, so last night, we made it happen.  It's funny how much less exciting it is to go there when you're not there to check out the guys, but that's ok, I was happy with the guy I was with.   In short, I had a blast from the past last night.  Chucke Cheese, I haven't been there since I was probably 8, bowling with just a group of girls (plus Chris), hasn't happened since the beginning of high school, and Classic Skating, haven't been since I was 14.  All of this in one fabulously random and fun night!!

Me and Froot at Chucke Cheese

 

OC Bowling

 

Chris and I at Classic Skating

Finally...Something.

Today has been almost as excellent as I had hoped when I woke up this morning.  I was supposed to hear about the police department job as well as a job I interviewed for being a soccer referee.  I also had my first day of my "Personal Training Strategies" class today.  I woke up in a great mood and was so jittery all morning, ask Katie.  My class was at noon so I got all geared up for that, I felt so prepared having already gone through the material on blackboard, it was fabulous.  My classroom is in quite possibly the weirdest spot, it's at the top of a secret stairwell off the track in the SFH.  It is called the "Human Movement Labratory" though.  Awesome?  I submit that it is.  I sat there for two hours through the lecture with a ridiculous grin on my face because I was so excited to be there and to finally have my goal in sight.  I committed myself to this 3 years ago when I decided that this is what I wanted to do, but I wanted to do it through the university.  I am still just so excited everytime I think about it.  I talked to my mom and she ordered my text book with my left over Christmas money.  She had it shipped to my apartment, and I can't wait for it to get here.  I feel more like a small child on Christmas morning, than when I was a small child on Christmas morning.  :D  I just want it to get here so I can read it and study it and work on my lab book and devour it.  I am so excited.  5 more days. 

As for the jobs, I didn't hear from the Police Department so I called them like they said, and, no luck.  I was slightly bummed.  However, around six, I got a phone call from the soccer guys, and sure enough, I am going to be a soccer ref for parks and rec, which I am super excited about.  I mean, getting paid a minimum of 9 dollars an hour to watch soccer, um...yes, awesome.  I still need to find another job for the day, but I am just so excited to finally have a class to study and work at as well as a bit of a job.  It will be great, I can't wait!!