last week's hike

I know this is a little delayed in getting posted but i have been pretty busy/i forgot about it. Last week Melissa and I went hiking in Provo Canyon. We hiked part of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. It was super green and we had a lot of fun. We found a dead squirrel on the trial. There were tons of pretty wild flowers. It was kind of an overcast day, so all of the colors were really bright and vibrant.

some thoughts I have run across lately

I just thought that I would share some of the really great thoughts that I have run across lately. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

'Now, I have never had the experience of navigating

a very large ship in the time of a storm, but I do have

an SUV with power steering. Isn't it amazing that with

just a few fingers and a thumb, I can maneuver two

tons of vehicle through traffic? Power steering does

not require monumental strength or determination to

completely change the direction your car is going.

Likewise, our efforts to change or correct our course

do not always have to be monumental. Small

adjustments in our thoughts, words, and actions can

produce powerful change in getting us or keeping us

on the course back to our Heavenly Father. Small

and simple steps are the power steering in our life's voyages.

Or, 'by small and simple things are great

things brought to pass" (Alma 37:6)

Kristin Trussel, 2007 BYU Women's Conference

I really like this one. It gives me hope that if i just keep trying and keep making small corrections in my life that my life will turn out alright.

The Choice

I want to put a warning out there to all of my friends. The warning has to do with
a deception that is creating a lot of havoc in the lives of unsuspecting people
everywhere. This deception is the most prevalent and potentially dangerous of any I
know, and a major part of your energy should be dedicated to identifying and
combating it – for if you are deceived by it, your life will predictably become
miserable as a result. The deception of which I speak is the belief that you have
no choice. This is the most damaging part of a victim paradigm. What happens to
you or around you in your life is not nearly as important as what happens within you.
You can’t always control what is happening, but you will always retain what Viktor
Frankl called “the last of human freedoms” – to choose your attitude in ANY given set
of circumstances.

Choose wisely!

As one of my friends once said "you always have the choice to be happy." Even the worst situations can turn out alright if you just have the right attitude. :) I hope you all enjoyed these as much as I did.

a quick update

well, i survived finals. I took my last test on may 2nd. I was supposed to drive home that day too, but by the time i got all my cleaning done and all checked out i was too tired to drive alone for 3 hours. so instead i went downstairs and helped Rory finish up his cleaning and packing so that he could get checked out. I then helped him move all his stuff to his Aunts house. After that we rented a movie and crashed in his living room for one last movie night. the next morning at 6:30 we woke up and said goodbye for 4 months, so that he could go to work and i could get headed home.
I got my grades back. all of my classes were in the "B" range except for math, which i failed. oops. (i wasn't too surprised by it).

This last saturday i got to spend my day hiking. I started out the morning by hiking to Timpanogos Cave with Liz, Rosey, Melody, Katie, Rachel and Rob. we didn't go through the cave cause that costs money and we are all poor, but it was a great hike. Then we went and got lunch and then Liz, Rosey, Melody, and I drove to camp and did more hiking. We tried to go up to Rondezvous Ridge, but there was still quite a bit of snow up there and we lost the trail. so after hiking around for a while we turned back, and headed down the pipeline trail and into pine forest. In Pine Forest we discovered that Einstein (the tree that had been struck by lightning that we would show to the scouts) had fallen over. We headed back into camp and took a picture of '06, '07, and '08s Nature Directors in front of the nature cabins. (Rosey, Melody, and Me) If i had the picture i would post it, but it was on Rosey's camera.

Now i am just getting ready for camp to start. in the mean time i will be house sitting for my parents. And there is an update on me! sorry for the lack of pictures. I misplaced my camera for a few days, but it has been found. :)

The long awaited post from me.

i know it has been quite a while since i last posted anything, and i feel bad because i left you with a cliff hanger of a post. SORRY! so as for my last post, the ROTC military banquet was lots of fun. Rory showed up earlier than i expected and i was running a little late so he had to wait for me to finish getting ready. (But only for about 5 min. He was rather impatient.) Katie (my roommate) snapped a couple of pictures as we ran out the door. they had a really good dinner for us and then they handed out the awards and had a guest speaker. then they had some slideshows and movies of their semester. overall it was a great night. here are some pictures.