Happy Holidays!

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A Shout Out To My Peeps!

So for Thanksgiving my WHOLE family will be together and I'm super excited! I love when all of my nieces and nephews are around! They are my most favorite kids in the world!!!! They are all so beautiful and so unique! I love them and I love being their FAVORITE aunt!!!!!

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITES???

I'm putting together I list of books and movies that I want to see. Will you all share with me your all time favorite books and movies? People are always telling me good things to read and see, but I always forget. I LOVE a good book!!!! So please share!!! Feel free to list as many as you'd like! Thanks!!!!!

Blast from the Past

So I found this picture and it totally made me laugh! Being a kid was the greatest thing. Life was so easy and so carefree. I was completely happy with a cheese tortilla and my silky pink pajamas. An added bonus was having so many siblings. There was always someone to hang out with. Shawn was a great little brother. He had no problem dressing up and playing house. I'd beat him over and over again in basketball and he'd throw the ball at me and tell me that I was a cheater, but then he'd always come back for more. Children are amazing that way. They don't hold on to things. They bounce back and keep trying again and again. When we got older and Shawn grew taller and became a better basketball player, I knew my days as the champion were over and we never played anymore. I wish I could say I could still whip him at ball, but I know that I don't even stand a chance. Maybe I should trying playing against my sisters....

I was having a grand ole time reading my sister Natalee's blog. She had been tagged and I was thinking to myself, "I'm so glad I haven't been tagged"....but then, there it was....MY NAME! Natalee had tagged me!!! So, here ya go:

My 3 Joys: 1.)Belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints and knowing that I have a Father in Heaven that LOVES me and that I can one day live with Him again. 2.) My family: our family keeps getting bigger and bigger and it makes me so happy! Each member of my family is amazing in their own way. I don't know where I'd be without them. 3.) This amazingly beautiful earth!!! I love spending time outdoors, especially with good friends and family! Nothing is better than a great hike, with awesome views, and people I love!

3. Things I look forward to in the future: 1.) Graduating from college....less than a year to go. I can't wait!!. 2.) One day marrying the man of my dreams in the Temple....I just need to find him.... 3.) Being a Mom. There is nothing I'd rather do more than that.

3: Things I like to obsess over: Photos!!! I love to take photos, scrapbook photos, and reminisce over old photos. Right now I am also obsessed with getting in shape and losing weight. I obsess over watching "Biggest Loser" and "Grey's Anatomy." I obsess about being on time. I'm obsessed with eating at Paradise Cafe.

3: Surprising Facts about me: hmmmmm...... 1.) I won $1000 on the radio. 2.) I don't have a car and haven't had one for 3 months. I take the bus to work and school every day and I have great friends that make sure I always have a ride.

3.) I'm considering joining the Air Force when I graduate from college and becoming an officer.

ABC TAG

A- Attached or Single? Single....but hoping for attachment.

B- Best Friend? I have a few. My roommate, Kristin. I pretty much tell her everything. Anjanelle, she's someone I admire most in my life. Shells and Pelosi: two of my most favorite people ever!!!! I think most of my friends are my best friends...in their own unique ways!

C- Cake or Pie? CHEESECAKE all the way!!!! Especially when Telle makes it!!!!

D- Day of choice? Sunday. There is nothing better than getting some spiritual upliftment, some rest, and a yummy dinner with my family.

E- Essential Item? I have no idea. When I'm working out I have to have my iPod and my Sigg Waterbottle. When I'm outdoors I have to have my camera. My Book of Mormon is essential in my everyday life.

F- Favorite color? Blue. Pretty much any shade of blue. I love the color of the sky and the color of the ocean and lakes. I find it a calming color. I also love green, like forest green and olive green.

Gummy bears or worms?- Both!

H- Hometown? Highland, Utah

I- Favorite Indulgence?- I love pizza! I could probably eat pizza everyday and be happy. I especially love New York pizza (any hole-in-the-wall pizza place in New York is great), Olive Garden's pizza with olives, Italian sausage, and artichokes, and I love pizza from Cafe Trio and the Pie!

J- January or July? July! I love the sunshine!

K- Kids?- Aren't baby goats called kids? I definitely have none of those!

L- Life isn't complete without? People who love you!

M- Marriage Place? That little chapel in Vegas.......

N- Number of brothers and sisters? 5 brothers (Tommy, Paul, Chris, Shawn, Robbie), 2 sisters (Jen and Ash), 1 brother-in-law (Kiley----yes, thats a boy's name :), and 3 sisters-in-law (Natalee, Becki, and Jessica).

O- Oranges or Apples- Apples 90% of the time.

P- Phobia and fears? I think the older I get the more I'm afraid of heights. I'm also getting more claustrophobic (in Alaska I'd get freaked out being zipped up in my sleeping bag and I'd have to rip it open because I thought I would suffocate or something). I'm afraid of rejection and also afraid of never reaching my true potential. I'm afraid of snakes. I'm afraid of walking alone in the dark.

Q- Quote? "Our deepest fear is not the we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, which most frightens us." "The way to achieve inner peace is to finish everything you start." "You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there." "Live life outside yourself in love."

R- Reasons to smile? Anytime I'm around my nieces and nephews! They brighten my life. Knowing that I will be graduating soon! Standing on top of a mountain that I've just climbed.

S- Season of choice- Summer! The sunshine brings everyone to life! There's nothing better than a summer day followed by a warm summer night! I also love Autumn because its so incredibly beautiful!!!

T- Tag? I tag Becki, Telle, Anjanelle, and Cindy!

V- Vegetable? Spaghetti Squash, corn-on-the-cob, yellow and orange peppers, artichokes.

W- Worst Habit?- Cutting in when someone is in the middle of saying something, not making my bed (i'm getting better at that), cleaning my ears with Q-tips.

X- Ray or Ultrasound? I've only had an X-ray before.

Y- Your favorite foods?- Pizza (as explained above), chicken artichoke panini from Paradise Cafe, pork salad from Cafe Rio, sun dried tomatoes, mashed potatoes, musubi from 7-11 in Hawaii, homemade soup, loco moco from Seasider Grill at BYU-H, my mom's homemade rolls, California rolls, hummus and pita bread, baked cheesecake, etc etc etc

Z- Zodiac sign?- Aries

I Saw Perfection Today

I saw perfection today.
I witnessed his very first breath.
Tears crept into my eyes
As I thanked God for this amazing miracle.

He came to a fallen world
That gets more evil with each passing day
But he was just in the presence of God
He gives me hope for the triumph of good.

There may be hatred and sin all around
The clouds might get darker and our numbers are small
But God is sending His most noble and brave
They will pave the way for the coming of the Son.

This perfect little baby boy
That I held when only a couple hours old
Brought with him the love and spirit of God
And I will press forward in faith and hope.

I saw perfection today.
He is noble and brave and strong.
Only a small babe
But greater than us all.

*my nephew Tyler was born today and I was there to witness his birth. It was an amazing and spiritual experience. He is perfect and beautiful!

On Top of the World

You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know. Rene Daumal
A few weeks ago I hiked Timpanogos with some friends and family. It was so great! I love hiking! The leaves had already begun to change colors, so it was extra beautiful up there! We made it to the top of the mountain and the views were amazing! Its such an awesome feeling to stand on top of a mountain and look at the world below. Its such a great accomplishment to make it to the top and so incredibly enjoyable along the way. The quote above is one of my favorites. You have to make it to the top on your own to really know what it feels like to be up there. You can't give that to anyone else. Everyone has to go to the top on their own to discover for themselves what its like.

THE CHALLENGE...

So two weeks ago I began the Body For Life Challenge. It has been going pretty well. The other day I was reading on the Body For Life web-site about ways to be successful in this challenge. It said that one thing to do is tell everyone around you that you are doing the challenge, that way you have a good support group. I am someone who likes to do things on my own and I haven't really told anyone about this challenge, but I want to be successful, so here it goes. I want to lose 30 pounds!!! That is my goal. I have twelve weeks to complete the program, and I need all of you to be my support group! I want to get healthy and fit, that is my main objective, but for those of you that really know me, you know that I am competitive, and I really want to WIN this challenge!!! Thousands of people enter and there are 8 winners total. I want to be one of them! I also look forward to dropping some pounds and getting fit. When I was in Alaska on my backpacking trip, one of the last days out in the wilderness we had to climb straight up this mountain, about 1000 feet high, carrying our 50 pound packs. When I looked up at it, I thought I was going to cry. I felt the tears coming. I wasn't sure if my body could make it up there. But I pushed forward and when I made it to the top I felt like a whole new person. I had just conquered a mountain and I felt like I was on top of the world (which I was). Now this is my next mountain to conquer. You are my support. I need you all to chip in and be part of the voice in my head telling me to keep pushing forward. Please send me some encouraging words, favorite quotes, poems, songs to workout to, anything that will encourage me to reach my goal. I have until November 24th to reach it. I will conquer!!!

A Dream Come True

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I had the amazing opportunity to spend some quality time with Zac Efron during the shooting of High School Musical 3!!! It really was a dream come true. As we danced and sang together in front of the camera I felt like a movie star. I will never forget our day together at East High School. Go Wildcats!!!

Stop ____________________ (fill in the blank).

ARE ATHLETES HEROES?

Today I sat through an interesting class discussion in my Sport and Society class. We were asked the question: "Are athletes heroes, role-models, or none of the above?" It really made me think about how society views athletes, especially how us in the United States, view our professional athletes. Are they heroes? The definition of hero is:

A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life (from the dictionary)

Using this definition, are athletes heroes? Should we be allowing or encouraging our children to look up to athletes and glorify them? I thought about this a lot. There are some pretty amazing athletes out there. I was addicted to the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer and there were some awesome stories out there of athletes overcoming obstacles to make it to those games. I think that there are some athletes who make outstanding role-models. They seem to be fewer and fewer these days, but there are some. I just don't know if any of them are heroes. Maybe in their individual lives they do heroic things, but is playing a sport and winning a game a measure of heroism? What do you think?

My Epic Expedition

Recently I spent three weeks in the Wrangel-St. Elias mountains of Alaska. I went with a program called NoLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) and I took the Alaska Backpacking Outdoor Educator Course. There were fifteen people in our group and we didn't see a single other person, besides our bush pilot that flew in our food rations once a week, the whole time we were there. We backpacked over 70 miles in 21 days and endured the wild terrain of Alaska. My boots got wet on day 2 and stayed wet until the day I got back to Utah. We hiked through sunshine, rain, and even snow! One morning we woke up to 2 or 3 inches of snow outside our tent and there was one camp we stayed at that I never even saw what it looked like because we were basically in a white out the whole time we were there. It was incredible! I definitly learned a lot about myself during this trip and realized that I'm a lot stronger person, both physically and mentally, then I ever thought I was. There were some really tough days out on the trail, but I enjoyed every minute of it. I felt like I was in my element out there and would have loved to stay out there for another few weeks. We were constantly surrounded by beauty and the silence of the mountains really helped to clear my mind and help me feel at peace. I would find myself often standing in complete awe, staring at the scenery around me, and feeling completely content with where I was. The people in my group were incredible! We had 3 instructors that were just amazing and we all feel like we lucked out to have them lead our group. They each were so different from each other and had very different styles, but they meshed together so well and gave us the chance to learn different things from each of them. We had people from all over the country and we quickly learned to trust each other and help each other push forward. We definitly got to know each other very well, because we were in bear country, so we ALWAYS had to be in groups of four, no matter what. This meant we hiked in groups of four, cooked in groups of four, used the bathroom in groups of four, and slept in groups of four. So we had plenty of time to get to know each other and to learn from each others' strengths and weaknesses. They are all incredible people and I'm grateful to have each one of them as a friend. We've all been through this amazing experience together, and no one else will ever fully understand what we've been through. So we get to share this little secret of what life is like out in the wild of Alaska. I also learned a lot of leadership skills and was able to improve my own leadership skills along the way. One of my favorite days on the trip was when we got to walk on a glacier. We had been camped next to the glacier and one morning we got to hike as a whole group, without our heavy backpacks, and go down and explore the glacier. It was so much fun and we were like little kids in a candystore, everything looked amazing! We even had a map reading class right on the glacier. So cool!!! Another favorite day was the day we practice river crossings in the Jacksina River. It was a hot, sunny day, and we practiced crossing the river in groups and cheering each other along. The water felt great and Another favorite memory was when we did our solo student expeditions. We were able to go out in student groups, without instructors, and hike and camp on our own for a night. I was with Carl, Bryan, and Garrett. To get to our camp we had to climb a huge mountain that went straight up and was covered in trees and bush. I was so nervous to climb it and so afraid that I wouldn't make it. But I said a few prayers and pushed along. I thought it would take us like 3 hours to get to the top, but it only took a little over an hour. It was exhausting, but not as difficult as I thought it would be. When we got to the top we had the most amazing view I've ever seen in my life. I could see for miles and miles in every direction and it was all mountains and lakes and rivers. I got a little emotional as I stood at the top of that mountain, looking out, and feeling complete joy. I realized that day that if I could conquer that mountain, I could do anything. I don't have to be afraid of doing hard things. I just have to push forward and do it. It was the greatest feeling in the world! There were so many great experiences and I wish I could write all of them down. The thing I love most about the wilderness is how close I feel to God when I am there. I spent a lot of time reflecting and praying and I felt the love of the Lord so strongly. I remember one day in particular, I was just standing there by myself, at camp, looking around me, and I was suddenly overwhelmed with the knowledge that God loves me and that He is aware of me. It was such a powerful and peaceful experience. I think that being in the wilderness, away from all of the distractions of the "unreal" world (cell phones, computers, t.v., noise, etc. etc.), is the one of the greatest ways to feel the spirit of God and to learn a lot about yourself. He has created such an amazing and beautful world. I wish more people had the opportunity or took the time to explore the wilderness and to see the beauty. I'm so grateful for the experience. It really did change my life. Now all I need to do is continue applying what I learned in the "real" world (the wilderness), to my life here in the "unreal" world. I know, at least a little bit more, what I am capable of doing, and I want to keep on learning, and growing, and helping others to do the same.

Here a few other things I learned along the trail:

When hiking in the Wrangels, make sure you have trekking poles, because you WILL be bushwacking! (or you could hug trees)

Don't eat dried apricots along the trail: your stomach won't appreciate, and your hiking groups won't appreciate it if they have to walk behind you.

You can cook delicious food in the wilderness, including: tortillas, scrambled brownies, pizza, and cornbread.

You can hike in the same two pair of socks for 21 days straight.

There are great quotes made in the wilderness. For example:

"Sticks and Stones may brake my bones,

But Alaska just might kill me." (-said by Carl)
"I have a wooden spoon!" -said by Katie

If you wear dry long johns under you soaking wet wind pants, and rain pants over those, your wind pants will dry in about 20 minutes. (I did this more than once. And it worked!)

You can wake up in the morning to 3 inches of snow, and have warm sunshine in the evening and dry out all of your wet clothes.

There are more than just bears in Alaska: moose, caribou, pika (?), golden eagles, tarmigans, doll sheep, etc.

You can create over 100 songs about your puffy coat (just ask Sheila).

ThermaRest sleeping pads make great blackboards when teaching classes in the wilderness.

NOLS gold really does exist!!!!

Wiping with snow is probably the best naturaly toilet paper in the wilderness (wet moss comes in a close second!)

I could go on and on and on, but I'll stop there. Here are some pics from our adventure.

Day 1: Our group right before we headed into the mountains Bushwacking at its best!If you look closely you can see the ice that formed on my boots during the night! My socks froze that night too!Celebrating after the bush plane dropped off our food rations!Amazing rainbow at around 4:30am!

Practicing river crossings!
Writing in our journals around 11:00pm. The mosquitoes were pretty bad that night.
The bush plane!Crossing a deep creek!The view from where I was standing was amazing!



Carl and I at the top of the big mountain that we climbed! It was awesome!!!
Happy Birthday Carl! He got snow for his birthday for the first time!

Modeling for my senior pictures!
My cook group making dinner along the Jacksina River
Getting water from the Jacksina. We always purified the water before we drank it. Watching a golden eagle while we were hiking.
My tentmates writing in their journals before going to bed.
One of my favorite pictures. This is at Grizzly Lake!

One of my favorite hikes. There were a lot of waterfalls in this valley.
The ladies hiking from Grizzly Lake to the River I used my thermarest to teach my class about wildflowers. Kelly helped me with it!


Our coolest campsite, next to the glaciers!

Avalanche! We watched a few avalanches and it was so great!
My fingers cracked and had cuts all over them the whole time we were on the trail. I taped them up and just kept going.


Hiking in a white out. This group saw a Grizzly Bear!

Our tent!
Last day on the trail! We hiked to the road and the bus picked us up. It was strange to come back to the "unreal" world.Our amazing instructors at our graduation!

Sensei Sheila, Sensei Rob, and Sensei Lloyd

Our last night hanging out together as a group before everyone headed home. It was sad to say goodbye!

Greatest Place on Earth

So a week before my NOLS course started, I flew out early with my sister, Ashley, and our friend, Natalie. We spent a week going all over Alaska and it was amazing! It was kind of a cold week, but the sights were still so beautiful! We biked along the coastal trail, went on a glacier and whale watching cruise, kayaked in Prince William Sound, and explored Anchorage. It was such a fun trip!

An amazing view from Eagle River

Lunch Break during our kayaking trip

Kayaking in Prince William Sound. The day started out cold, but then the sun came out and it was awesome!!! We went past waterfalls and even saw a huge glacier in the distance.

Ash and Nat kayaking

This picture was taken at 11:30pm! It stayed light all night long!

We ran the 5K at the Ocean's Festival in Anchorage.

This was taken during our cruise. There is actually a bald eagle sitting on one of the rocks. We saw quite a few bald eagles during the cruise!

This is a humpback whale that jumped completely out of the water. It was so cool!!

Our cruise ship stopped here and we ate lunch in front of this glacier and watched big chunks of ice fall off and into the water. So cool!!

Holgate Glacier

We hiked to Exit Glacier one day and even saw a black bear up above it!

We rode a tram to the top of the mountain at Alyeska Resort and had lunch. There was still so much snow up there!

This is the first hostel we stayed at in Anchorage. It was great!

Enjoying a beautiful hike

Biking the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail in Anchorage. We biked over 20 miles along the coast. We saw a lot of moose and their babies.