Timp again and other stuff

 Skype is so great. I love getting to see my nieces and nephews via the computer. They have short attention spans but I love feeling like I am still a part of their lives, even though it is so minimal. Bubba was so cute this night, he was just laughing and so happy. Olivia was done at this point.

My dog loves my bed. Occasionally after school I will lay down for a little bit. She always joins me. She cracks me up.

 She has done much better at not getting into things in the house. So much so that I just let her go where she wants at night. If it is hot she starts downstairs and then works her way up throughout the night. Never fail she is in my bed by 3am. Not just in a corner....all. sprawled. out. I am creating a very bad habit. I know this and yet I let her do it every night.

 Last Wednesday for mutual we went to pick raspberries and we saw a double rainbow. It was beautiful and very exciting.

 They were both huge and you could see the entire arch. Just not in my pictures because I took them while driving. Probably not the best decision I have ever made with four young women in my car, but we lived. It is weird how I really have to think about what I do when I am around them because I don't want to be an example of bad behavior.....like driving and using your phone.

On my prep period I have started going to the high school for basketball class. It has been fun. Right now we are just conditioning. Last week one team was short a person and so I conditioned with them. That was not fun. We played a game where you can give points you earn to other teams so they have to do more exercises. Yup, my team was given a whole lot of extra points. At one point we had to hold the plank for four minutes. Obviously that didn't happen. I think I collapsed after 1:40. Then I got back up and collapsed a couple more times before time was up. I was super sore the next day. I also totally took a girl out to get the bonus ball. She might have gotten a black eye. Ummm you might be faster than me but I weigh more and I am sick of doing extra exercises. Obviously I was not thinking that consciously but I really did take her out. I got the ball and then there were three other girls on the ground, my bad. Survival of the fittest. Maybe I should not play those kind of games with them.

Today I did my annual Timpanogos hike with Amber. This is my 11th or 12th time reaching the summit. Crazy! I feel like I am more sore this year.

 Moki was amazing. Well except that part where she thinks it is ok to pick up a million stickers. She did that because I let her off the leash to roam a bit.

 Did my dog jump off a 6-8 ft cliff? Yes yes she did. She stood on the cliff, then looked at me, and then went for it. Luckily she did not get hurt. Everyone around thought it was pretty funny. I kind of felt like she was mocking me from the saddle to the top of the mountain. She had all this energy and kept waiting at every switch back, tilting her head, as if she was asking me what was taking so long. It was funny.

 It is so beautiful on top. I love the view. It was the perfect day. The weather was overcast the majority of the time. We got to park in the parking lot, small miracle. There were not a ton of people.

 It's a Utah county gem!

Life

 I am one of those crazy people that always tries to carry all the groceries into the house in one trip. No matter how much I buy I try to do one trip. Now I am that person who goes to Costco on my scooter and gets it all home safely. It is challenging. Possibly a little unsafe, but so fulfilling. Ok maybe not fulfilling but I like the challenge. Just wish my scooter could go a little faster then 40 MPH. I know I annoy people on some of the bigger roads. I hate being THAT person.

It has been back to work for the last two weeks. Not officially until Last Thursday but someone didn't work very many hours before August and so I had a lot of time to put in. Since it was pretty low key I let Moki accompany me. She enjoyed all the attention she got.

 Sometimes she was thirsty and so I let her sneak a drink out of the water fountain. She is a pro at it, it's pretty funny.

 I stole this picture from Jana. Let's just say it is a good thing Brewer and Pickles are actually trained. It was easy to get them to sit and stay, it is a small miracle my dog was caught on film sitting. She is still full of energy.

 I got my carpet cleaned!!!! Why did I do it two days before I had to be back at work? I don't know. That was bad planning but I am extremely happy with the results. Maybe I won't wait 5 years to do it again. While moving everything back upstairs I went through everything I own. I got rid of so much. I still have so much. Look at all those t-shirts. This is after I got rid of a ton. I should have counted how many I got rid of but I would probably be too embarrassed to post the number.

 I will say I did not pay for most of the shirts. The majority are related to work, coaching, races, and championship shirts. That is still no excuse to have so many.

There have been some fires lately and the sky was so pretty while Moki and I hiked the Y earlier this week. We love to hike the Y.

 For Mutual we hiked Stewart Falls. I had never hiked it before. I was a relatively easy hike with a really pretty waterfall at the end.

Moki was able to join us and it was an enjoyable evening. The girls enjoyed running in the freezing water as well. I just watched from the sidelines.

 This ecard makes me laugh so hard. I have been looking at them online and I want to print off a bunch to hang in the gym. I wish I could hang this one but I think I might get in trouble.

 Today I had the opportunity to head up to Liberty Park and watch the AVP volleyball tournament. It was really fun. There were a few big names. Kerri Walsh, Jake Gibb, Sean Rosenthal, Phil Dalhausser.

 A number of the players competed in the Olympics and won medals. I have never watched 2v2 sand volleyball. It was really fun. It is crazy how hard the men hit the ball. It is also crazy how well 2 people can cover the court in the sand. I was glad I had a chance to go.

The womens game wasn't as popular because the men were playing at the same time. There were a few men who had played at BYU and at least one native Utahan and so they had a really big fan base.

I stopped at IKEA on the way home to buy a futon or daybed. Instead I came home with this rug. I have been looking at rugs and I am happy with this one. It is really busy but my living room is pretty tame so I think it works.

 One reason I wanted a rug is for Moki. It is more comfortable to lay on. Apparently running in the morning and then again in the evening just wears her out. She is one funny pup.

I can't believe it is already time for school to start. I was really struggling after Hawaii because I was just dreading starting work. I am not sure why but I actually was having a little anxiety about it. I think it is all the politics and other things that go into the job. Thursday night was back to school night and as I met with students I was reminded that I really do LOVE my job. I really enjoy the kids. That is what it is all about. It is so easy to lose that focus but I am really going to try to focus more on them this year and just let all the other stuff go.

And another little confession I finished summer off as a total couch potato. I watched two series on Netflix. Like every episode Netflix offered. I started with:

 I loved Hart of Dixie. It was clean and funny and just fun. I think there were two seasons on Netflix and I paced myself on this series.

Then after Hawaii I started this series:

 It was pretty much the death of me. There were 6 seasons and I watched them in a very short amount of time. I love the characters, the drama. It is funny and sad. It is really sad. Anyways I stayed up until 3 finishing the series on Tuesday night because it just needed to be done. I needed to move on. I am kind of glad that season 7 seems to be lots of new people because I really am not interested in it. But the original 5 women characters were great. So yeah watching those two series was probably more TV than I have watched the rest of the year combined. That is what summer is for!

Since I have been home

 Moki was excited to be home. We hiked the Y three times this week, jogged once, and then had a biking adventure. Oh and we went to play with Brewer and Pickles. She had a good week. But she is a good dog so she deserved it. I love her hair as it is getting longer.

I will be chopping it one more time before winter though, sorry pup. This picture is from a couple weeks ago but it is so nice when Moki will actually sit still for a few minutes. She does it more frequently now.

I am grateful Ben and Jana let her come visit. It is so good for her but she brings a whole lot of CRAZY!

Amanda's birthday was on the 31st so I headed up North with my cousin Heather's girls to get some ice cream.

Believe it or not but I don't miss many opportunities for ice cream. It was delicious. Afterwards we swam at their apartment. Moki swam too. She should not have, my bad.

We have been hiking late at night so she is still in sleep mode after I bike in the mornings. LAZY!

And some days even longer. I am good at wearing her out. I love it when she is tired because she doesn't get into things and she will actually sit still long enough to lay by me.

I did something on a Friday night! It was actually really fun. They have the rooftop concert series in Provo from April to October. I have been wanting to try it out and I finally did. It is free and really well organized and fun.

 The setting was fun and the backdrop was really beautiful. There were lots of people.

 It was a little better as it got dark

 Three local bands played.

Mindy Glenhill was the big name. I hadn't heard her music before. She was good. I just hate how it is so loud and really hard to understand what they are saying in a concert setting. I really liked the 2nd group. Their name was Mideau. It was a fun evening.

It has been so nice to eat my normal diet. That is one thing I hate about traveling. I have eaten CRAP, excuse the language, all summer. Saturday I enjoyed some greek yogurt with fresh fruit. So yummy!

Yesterday Amber, Moki and I went on an adventure. There is an awesome dirt trail that is 14-15 miles round trip on the east side of Deer Creek reservoir. The trail runs parallel to the lake and the train tracks. I have mountain biked it before and wanted to take Moki.

Moki was awesome and she loved it. She always wants to be ahead of me because she pretends that she is the pack leader.

 We turned around between mile 5 and 6, but closer to 6. She ran the entire time. Chased the birds and hopped over sage brush. She seriously cracks me up she is so fun to watch in settings like this.

 It was nice that we were close to the water because we were able to let her go down and drink and get wet. It was really hot when we started. This is also not a flat trail. She got a good workout.

I love how beautiful it is. Afterwards we all swam to cool off. It was a fun little adventure.

I spent the night picking stickers off of my dog. Over 1,000 stickers. This is not an exaggeration. It was crazy. It took 2 and 1/2 hours. Luckily she was so tired she just layed on my bed while I attacked her. As I was finishing I noticed her front paws are rubbed off. Just on the palm paw, but how sad is that. It looks similar to a blister the actual paw is still hanging and connected. Poor puppy. She seems ok but maybe that was a little much. Previously her longest distance was 5 miles at one time.She has not complained and she walked around today but I kept her inside. Hopefully it heals fast because seriously I do not want to take her to the Vet. But I will if it doesn't look good this week. But we also need to take advantage of our last two weeks of summer.

This morning before church I got news that a little three year old girl in our ward passed away from her brain tumor. It has been a year long battle and just so sad. I had no idea she was to that point. I knew the tumor had come back, it never was malignant just aggressive, but I taught her little sunbeam class three weeks ago. I am heart broken for their family. I can't imagine the pain they are feeling at this time. Pain that really only the atonement can heal and even then I imagine it takes a lot of time. They are in my thoughts and prayers.

I was also released as camp director and called as the first counselor in young women's. They want me to do a calling more than three months out of the year? What the heck? Just kidding. I am excited but also nervous. It is a big time commitment and a lot of responsibility. I know all the young women though and they are awesome. I think it will be fun but also very challenging. I can't escape teenager girls, but I am ok with that. So here's to a new adventure!

coming home

I was ready to come home. It was so fun but I was tired and I missed my house and surprisingly my puppy. I was worried about her but she did great.

We just enjoyed the hotel the last morning before catching our flight.

 It was a resort so there was plenty to see

 I love these flowers

 We ate there before heading home

We had one delayed flight on the way home but luckily did not miss our connecting flight so it was all good. I didn't sleep well on the plane so I had some major catch up to do when I got home. This week I took naps and just felt lethargic. I mean I biked everyday and did one or two things in my house but I was unusually lazy. It felt great. Recovery is important.....I mean I have to go back to work soon.

The trip was awesome overall but I was surprised that afterwards I was left feeling empty. I have had that feeling after different events in my life. It is no secret that life is different than I thought it would be. The Lord has blessed me SO MUCH! I have had so many opportunities but after fun trips, making fun purchases and other little things when it all calms down it still doesn't feel the void I feel at times because I am missing what I want so bad. This is in no way a pity party just an opportunity to record my feelings, (for the world I guess) I need to be better at journaling so this kind of thing can be done privately. But I am grateful that I have been given so much even though it is different than I ever imagined.

My Bucket List

Hiking the NaPali coast has been on my list for a few years. I was so excited to hike some of it. To do the whole thing you have to have permits and backpack it. I actually hope to do that one day, but for now I was very excited and really enjoyed just hiking part of it.

Day 7 started with a trip to the airport. Katie headed home because she was leaving for DC a couple hours after she got in Salt Lake. After we dropped her off we headed to the trail head at Ke'e Beach. Without a permit we could hike 2 miles in to Hanakapi'ai Beach. There people with a permit can continue on the coast trail. Those without a permit can go home or hike an additional two miles up the canyon to Hanakapi'ai Falls. We had to hike 1/2 mile to the trailhead and then we went all the way to the Falls. It was a great hiking day with gorgeous scenery.

 The pictures are all so similar but I just love this coast.

 The colors are indescribable.

 I love the sign on the tree that tallies all the deaths. We didn't swim in the water at the beach. No one else was swimming and so we just dipped our feet in.


















Then we headed to the falls. This is the day I went from hiking in a skirt to just hiking in my swimsuit. YIKES!

On the way to the falls we saw bamboo.

 The falls were really pretty and they had an awesome swimming hole at the bottom. It was very refreshing after 4 and 1/2 miles of hiking.

On the way back I took some panoramas. It is so frustrating that you can't capture all that your eyes see.

 It was so bright out. The waves crashing on the shore just kind of blur the picture

 It was really hot on the way out.

 I was happy though!

 Please can I go back?


















After we finished hiking we were exhausted. So we obviously need some shaved ice before we snorkeled.

 And I needed to drink from a coconut

 It wasn't my favorite but I did need to try it. Then we headed to the Tunnels to snorkel. We were told by many that it is the best snorkeling on Kauai.

 There were tons of fish, and lots of variety

 I loved the florescent kelp or seaweed, whatever it is I liked it

 The problem was that by the time we started snorkeling I was exhausted. We had been so busy. It was the end of the trip and it was all catching up on me.

 I am glad we stopped but we didn't stay long. Just checked it out for 30-60 minutes and then went to find real food. We ended the night on Taco Bell and cheesecake from Safeway. Not too shabby.