Broken Phone

Last Aug/Sept I got a new phone. Ever since then I've been having problems with it. Mid April it randomly broke while I was on tour in Canada. I found out I could text for free and was pretty happy that I would still be able to talk to Harrison. First day gone while I'm texting my screen goes blank and never turned back on. The screens and earpiece stopped working. In other words I could make phone calls but I could only hear anything if it was on speaking. And calling someone was in the dark. I made guesses on if the phone was on and if I was calling the right person. I called my parents and by the time I got back from tour I had a new phone waiting for me.

Then this summer the replacement started having problems. A couple weeks before the wedding I get a text and the phone reboots. A min later I get the same text and the phone again reboots. It would continue to do that the rest of the night and into the morning. Using my dad's phone I was able to call Verizon and they reset it somehow online. Seems to have fixed it. WRONG! About 3 weeks after the wedding it starts doing that again. Luckily it only does it for an hour or so. This time I go to Verizon and they fix my phone the same way but also orders a replacement.

Now I'm on phone #3. For the most part it has been working great but it still hasn't been perfect. At least once a week it would reboost after I sent a text or took a picture. I was thinking about going to Verizon to see if that was bad enough to get a new phone again. This time a completely different phone. Not just a replacement. Well after today I have to get a new phone. The only pocket I have is in my backpocket. Of course I completely forget that my phone is there and so when I go to go to the bathroom my phone falls into the toilet! It was only in there for max 5 seconds but now it will not turn on at all. I quickly dried it out but the most I can get it to do is the beginning of turning on. After the first screen it turns back off. Guess its time to get a new phone.

Lost Without Being Lost

When it comes to an area, I have a very good memory and it doesn't take me long to know the area. I've now lived in Lehi for 3 months and though I don't go to many things, I know where the schools and stores are. Today I had an appt to have the tires rotated on the car (about time too). I look at the map and know where I need to go. So I leave and get completely lost without being actually lost. I knew where I was, but I had no clue where to go. I even called Harrison and he told me where it was. Which is right where I thought it was. Being the wonderful husband that he is, he texted the phone number to me so I was able to call them and get instructions. I was on the right road, but I had passed it by a couple miles!! It was not where I thought it was. I had an appt and even though I left with plenty of time, I arrived about 15 mins late. Guess I don't know the area as I thought I did.

Learning to be a Mom

The friends we are staying with have a 7 month old baby boy named Jude. To help them out (and make our rent dirt cheap) I am watching Jude while both Jen and Robert are at work. Last week I watched Jude from 7 am to 4:30 or 5:30 pm depending on who got home first. This week I still technically start watching Jude at 7 am but luckily he is now getting up closer to 8 am. Jen hasn't had to go to Bountiful for training so she has been getting home between 3:30 and 4 pm. Watching Jude is a great opportunity to learn to be a mom. And no I'm not pregnant. And watching Jude has taught me I'm not quit ready for kids of my own. Mom's are amazing people. I don't know how they do this every day all day. I'm always watching the clock waiting for Jen or Robert to get home and then I can't wait for the weekend when I don't have to get up or worry about watching Jude at all. I am learning how to be a mom and it is tough work.

New Sheets

Yesterday Harrison and I went to Bed Bath and Beyond to buy our bedding. We have been staying with some friends and using their bed and bedding. Recently we decided to live with them so I thought we should get our own bedding to put on the bed. Now I'm not so sure it was a good idea. The sheets and pillows we got are so soft and comfortable that we completely slept in this morning. I was thinking that it was between 6 and 7 because my body likes to wake me up at that time. Nope! It is almost 10 and Harrison needed to leave at 9. I hope we get used to this awesome bedding quickly so we don't keep sleeping in. :D

Inspiration

A couple weeks ago I had a Sister that I served with invite me to read her blog. Reading her blog has inspired me to start writing in my blog. Thank you Danielle for inspiring me to again share my adventures in my little world.

Climbing and Falling

Yesterday I got to go repelling and rockclimbing with some friends (the pictures are coming). We went to this rock that has an easy walk up to the top. From there you can repel down to the bottom. Or, from the bottom you can climb up to the top. It was TONS of fun. There was Vance and Sue Whitbeck, their son Chad, his girlfriend Kylie, Vance's mom, my mom and dad, and me. First off we went repelling down this crevis in the rock where you "walk" the whole way down. That was tons of fun. I got to go 2 times before we moved to this other spot where you walk off the cliff and then it is a freefall. The freefall is fun in that you can do tricks. Vance had us hanging upside down! It was pretty fun. He even taught me how to repel upside down. :) After that we went to climb up the rock. I was in luck that Kylie and I are the same shoe size so I was able to use the rock climbing shoes she had rented. The rock started off easy and then there was this one stupid spot that both Kylie and I got stuck at everytime. What made it difficult is that there is no good places to grip with you hands so you have to use more of your legs. Chad was able to do it fine but he has gone a lot more times than us and also has a larger hand span. But even though I was never able to make it up to the top, I had a blast!

Camping with the Family

After JC came home from his mission me and my family went camping together. It was a lot of fun spending all of that time together after 2 years of being apart. We went up to Whitney Reservoir which is only about 15 mins from my cabin. In fact the turn off for the reservoir is only 5 miles from my cabin. We were there from Monday to Thursday. We were thinking of staying 1 more day but it decided to hail and then rain on us. That made the temperature drop to the 40s and low 50s. No fun while camping.
While camping we sat around a bit, went on walks and hikes, played games, went 4 wheeling, fished, and played at the Reservoir. None of us actually got in the water besides the dog. We were to scared of the cold water. :)
I love going camping with my family. Each time we go I get some very fun, fond memories. Some of the ones from this trip was the hike with my dad and then the rain. The hike I went with my dad was crazy! I wasn't really expecting to go on a hard hike so I didn't bring my hiking boots. Big mistake! My dad picked a hill that has no trail so we made our own trail climbing through the brush, over fallen trees, and around other obstacles. We wanted to go up more on the right side where it wouldn't be as steep. We didn't make it over far enough and ended up going up where it was so steep I almost felt like I was rock climbing on dirt! The view from the top was really gorgeous and on the way down me and my dad found a different root that took us by this natural lake that was almost a perfect square.
The rain was fun in the adventure of it. When it started hailing on us, me and mom were at the van so we quickly moved some of the food and jumped in. Everyone else laughed at us for "hiding." Later that night we all gathered in one of the tents and played hand and foot. My family is weird in that instead of playing in 4 teams of 2, we played in 2 teams of 4. We changed a couple of the rules to make it harder to go down and out (it would have been to easy with so many on 1 team). It truly was a lot of fun.

Back at it

After over 18 months I am back to blogging. I am actually amazed this is still up and running after not being used for so long. The mission was amazing, great, and one of the greatest experiences of my life. Slowly over time I hope to post some of my memories. And of course I'll be adding the adventures I am going through at the time.

First Snow Fall

It finally snowed! It has felt pretty weird to going to christmas concerts and there is no snow on the ground. Especially when I performed in Chirstmas in the snow. It really does not feel like christmas is coming unless there is snow on the ground. But now the snow is here and christmas can come!
(Oh and of course this snow was celebrated with a snowball fight)

The beauty of the Temple

I had many firsts this Thanksgiving weekend. The greates first was getting to go through the temple. The Temple is a beautiful place and you don't really get to see and appriciate its beauty till you get to go through a session. I'm grateful and happy that I got to go and especially grateful that so many of my family was there to celebrate the occasion with me!

The coveted parking spot

For those of you who do not know, the parking lot for my complex is tiny. If you don't get one of the few right next to the apt you end up parking far away. Well, my apt is right next to the managers and they get 2 assigned parking spots. This leaves only 2 right in front of my apt. The coveted parking spot is the one right next to the managers spot, right in front of my apt door.
Some how this semester I have managed to get this blessed spot many times. I had one week when I left multiple times and the spot was always still available (even after being gone for more than an hour). Well, somehow I got it again! When I pulled in the parking lot from the glorious week long Thanksgiving break, it was so full that I just knew that I would end up parking far away. But then I got around the corner and there it was! The glorious parking spot empty in a sea of cars! I am grateful for many things, and right now that spot is towards the top of the list!

Turkey Weekend

One of many highlights this Thanksgiving Weekend happened the Saturday before Thanksgiving. To celebrate Jared's birthday we went bowling. For the first time in my life I bowled a Turkey (or 3 strikes in a row for those of you who don't know)! This also let me go over 100 for the 3rd time in a year. I also beat Jared who turned around and slaughtered me in the next game by getting over 200. But I am proud of my turkey and can't wait to do it again!

Called to Serve

The day finally came. My mission call came in the mail and the next day was able to open it with my immidiate family and roommates. I am going to Richmond Virginia Mission and leave January 7, 2009. I am way excited and can't wait to go out there!

Bad Days

So its true. We all have bad days. As much as we hate them, we need to take Elder Wirthlin's advice and just plain laugh at them. I can't do that for mine yet (still to fresh), but I hope you find a little laughter in it.
This morning, though starting out rough, went pretty good for the most part. I had enjoyed the weekend a little to much and had forgotten to do my religion homework. Since it was one of my first classes, that meant getting up early to do it. Usually not a problem, IF I go to bed. But of course I get to bed late. The joys of college you know :) Well, I didn't get to bed at a decent time, so I didn't get up this morning. Strike 1. Luckily I did wake up 30 to 45 min early and that gave me enough time to get it done (also luckily the assignment was about half the size it normally is and I'd looked at it earlier). No harm done and I get ready and to class on time. Then 11:00 rolled in. I didn't get enough sleep so I was EXHAUSTED! I even almost fell asleep in my first class. Since I'm also very hungry I go ahead and go home during my 2.5 hour break instead of heading to the practice room. I figure some food and a short nap would rejuvinate me. Didn't happen. That 15 to 20 min nap turned into a 2 hour long nap! I luckily woke up just in time to make it to my last class. Strike 2 for the day. So after class I head up to the library to rewrite one of my warmups before going to go practice. Technically nothing had to be done to it, but it would be really nice to get it from either the 1 page version that my teacher gave me or the 3 page version I made last year. Well, 2.5 hours later I cheatingly got it onto 2 pages and have a killer headache. Strike 3. By this point it is 6:00, I haven't eaten dinner, and still have to prepare the FHE lesson. So once again I don't make it into the practice room. From this point on the day is spent just trying to calm myself down. I went from a bad headache to very frustrated with myself to trying not to cry. Needless to say nothing has been accomplished today. I guess I did have 1 highlight for today. I got my very first letter from JC. I pray tomorrow will be much better since I now get to pay for my day of inactivity.

Don't Forget the Keys!

So me and Jannie (a roommate) leave for FHE and don't take our keys because Katie (the other roommate) has to stay and do her homework. So we come home and of course the apt is locked and Katie isn't home. Poor souls that we are, we got to go to the managers for them to let us in. So the moral of the story, always take your keys, even if you don't think you will need them.

Looking at the Stars

Probably the most exciting thing in my life right now is work. Last week I was hired to operate the school's telescope. I LOVE IT! It is only 3 nights a week but the joy of getting to look at the stars for 2 hours is just amazing. And each night the stars look different. The moon for example. There must be a fire somewhere because the sky is really hazy by the horizen. Well Thursday night the moon was this deep dark red. It was amazing to see it in the telescope. Instead of this bright yellow ball that you can see on the back of your eyelids it was the dim red ball of rock. It was just amazing to look at and only lasted about 30 min before it was out of the haze. The other big adventure for me has been Albeiro. Albeiro is a binary star system, meaning that you have 2 stars rotating around each other. There are many of these but Albeiro is the coolest because one star looks purple while the other is yellow. The other operator is a girl named Alyssa that ran the telescope last Fall and Winter. Well she couldn't find Albeiro and I looked at my map, made a guess, and found it on my first try! Now, two days later Alyssa still isn't sure where it is and I can look at the sky and find it almost immediately. I am very proud of how quickly I'm learning to run the telescope. And trust me, I'm not boasting. There are some thing Alyssa can find that I have no hope to. In any case, I am way exciting to see what happens next time I look at the stars....