End of Summer Adventures

Well, the last adventure to be posted on here was the one to Greer... And since then, so much happened.

After work one saturday, the one before Heather left to boot camp, I hung out with Nat, Riss and Tye. And boy did we have fun. We started out going to get food (Yoko's (?) and Neilson's). Then, we left and went back towards the house, a chinese firedrill accompanying the ride home. Oh what fun. After this, we headed back to the house for some essential materials for the night (which I wont post on this blog, in case there are certain law officials reading it). We continued to go run around, use the materials, and conduct more firedrills. We also went to a Red Box and rented a movie. When in Rome. Great movie. By the time we got back to the house... Again, (We kept going back... probably 7 or so times in the night.) it was late in the night, or early in the morning. We watched the movie anyways, and crashed afterwards. Fun times. Then we got up in the morning and went to church (nat and riss went to one ward, tye to another, and me yet another). Great night, fun times. Will be remembered for a long while.

That week, after the night of fun, we had a work party. Where we proceeded to break many rules that are enforced normally at the pool. It is true, lifeguards are the worst patrons. Also, on the last day of the season, we had a party in the guardroom basically, because of all the food that was given to us by the patrons having birthday parties there. After work, with my new transformers balloon in hand, I headed over to hang with the twins. Where we cleaned the house some... And then went to the mall. Where I spent too much of my money. Really... Too much money. It depresses me. But the things that I bought are way cute, on the bright side.

The next day, I went to church, and sang in sacrament meeting (horrible torture). Then afterwards, I went back to the twins house (noticed a pattern? I am always with them). I helped them pack, had fun with them. I am pretty sure there are pictures that shall never be posted. Ever. In fact they should just be deleted, forever. Never to appear again. And then came more packing, until late in the night. Which is when I said my goodbyes. :(

Monday morning, I left to Greer with my mom, and the twins left on their flight back to China. In Greer, I had to be doing something at every moment. Which really annoyed my mom. But libby loved it. Have to say though, it was a very productive visit. Of course, during it, I ate at Rendezvous. The best restaurant in the world. Needless to say, if someone ever wants to get on my good side... They just need to take me there. Of course, there is a four hour drive involved too. So its more complicated than just taking me out to a decently priced cafe/sandwich shop. We returned home on... Thursday.

Friday morning, I left to Flagstaff with Jeremy. While there, we hiked part way up (probably half way) up Humphreys. Then we drove around for a while, and finally went to Outback. That night, we went to a bluegrass band (Yonder Mountain String Band). It was pretty good. Just too much bluegrass in one night. Then, about midnight, the concert ended and we drove down to clear creek, by camp verde. Here, we went to a Singles Ward campout. We hiked down the creek Saturday morning, and went to some swimming holes (yay, MORE hiking). Around lunch time, Jeremy and I headed out.. Dead tired. Basically, the night before we got there at 2:30, and woke up at 6 am. Not to mention the whole week I had been doing things constantly at my cabin.

We headed back through Payson, because my cousin had gotten back from his mission (in Boise). So we stopped by their house in payson for probably an hour or so. Then we headed back to the valley. Can you guess what we did when we got back? Slept. For a while.

The next morning, Sunday, I went up to Payson, AGAIN, and went to Rex's homecoming. It was a fun day, spent with my relatives (so, aunt, two uncles, mom, and two cousins). We headed back down to the valley about 7 pm.

That week, I didn't do much... Went to the dentist, and started ASU.

And that is the end of my summer.

"A best friend is a sister that destiny forgot to give you."

So I came across this quote the other day, and I love it. I have no idea who said it, or the context that it was said in... But its amazing. And it has inspired this blog posts. I am always rambling about my life, and what adventures that I'm having (such as starting school... That should be a blog post too sometime.), and never spending enough time mentioning the people that make my life wonderful. So that's what this post is about. My best friends (not all of them- but the ones that are truly like sisters).

And the first one to be mentioned is...

Marissa!

Riss, Rissa, MeiRui, Marissa. Whatever we call her, she is her own person. I haven't met anyone else like her. Not even her twin (who will be highlighted further down). She can almost always cheer me up, no matter what. When she is in the US, deep discussions are frequent. She's one of the people that understands my obsession with walks. She is so sweet, even though she can have a temper (sorry to spoil it for the world Rissa). I don't know what I would do if I didn't have her in my life. And she has been in my life forever. I met the Twins (Natalie and Marissa) when I was only three years old, and we have never ceased to be great friends. Not even through me moving from Gilbert to Mesa... And then them moving from Gilbert to China. This distance is hard, but the time we get to see each other in the summer is always worth it (at least to me). Riss and I have had our struggles, somewhat at the same time. But she is amazing. Beautiful. Fun. Witty... Even smart at times (kidding). She's Marissa, and she's like a sister that I never had.

Natalie!

Natalie. Or Nat. Marissa's twin. Yeah, I know, I'm good friends with both of them. Even though they are different in so many ways. But they are best friends with each other too. Which I hope they know is amazing. Natalie is a sweet girl, with an amazing personality. Of course, I'm not just saying that because she has nothing else going for her. The boys just love her. ;) She's fun, and I can have so many deep discussions with her too. There are only certain people who I feel I can tell anything to, and she is one of them. When I got diagnosed with cancer, she was right there... Once I got home from the hospital. School was in and all that. But I tried to spend as much time with her as possible. And then she moved to china. Now I spend as much time trying to talk to her as possible. Skype is a wonderful thing. And so is the summer... When Riss and Nat come back to AZ. She's so strong... And just amazing. That's all I can say without feeling overly gushy and repetitive.

Heather!

Heather... I met her in church, or preschool. I'm not quite sure. But we had every class together in school until fourth grade, when I moved to Mesa. Probably would have continued the trend in fifth and sixth grade, so I hear. Heather is sweet, and smart (very smart). She's beautiful. Back in the day, we lost contact for all but a couple conversations a year when she moved the Thatcher in Jr. High... But now we keep in contact, and visit each other occasionally thanks to cars and texting and internet. I am so blessed to have her in my life.

Tialene!

Tye tye! Which she told me she doesn't like anymore, because it makes her sound likes she's five. But hey, that's when we gave her the nickname. Tye is amazing, as well. I know these entries for each person sound repetitive, but don't get me wrong, each girl is unique in her own way. Totally unique. In fact, we are all really quite different, and its amazing we are all friends. But Tye... She's beautiful (like, really pretty). And she has an amazing voice. Its stunning. She's so strong. Both mentally and physically. She's also funny. Just one of my girls. :)

:'(

Well, today was my last day of work for the season, other than a few pool parties... which is either a good or a bad thing. Good as in, I get a break before school. Bad as in no more money, and Amber has left town. Oh how I loved that girl. She will do great things at her Christian school in Kentucky. Also, this morning I was informed that I would be leaving after church tomorrow to go to Greer with my parents. Which I don't entirely want to do. It also means that tonight was my last night to see Nat and Riss for basically a year. Which just plain sucks. A lot. I mean... Seriously. I miss them so much already. Let me tell you something, never have your best friends live half way across the world. Its not that much fun. So yeah... I would say that today was crappy in terms of goodbyes. But good in terms of who I spent it with. I wouldn't change that for anything.

:)

Wow, I'm on a roll with this whole posting on the blog thing. But tonight, I went to Oregano's for the first time, and man it was good! I am soo full now though. It was a fun experience, although I could do with out the uncomfortable fullness. Hahah.

Yesterday, I went to freestone park with Natalie. We got Costa Vida and ate it there. Only we had some extra food left... And there were tons of ducks around. So we fed them! There were so many! There was even a little baby duck, which is now affectionately known as "Baby Duck." :)

But yeah...

Decision-Making in Quotes

So, decisions have been coming my way left and right lately, what with college and all. And I'm just not that great of a decision-maker I guess. I say this because I take forever to make them... And I'm very indecisive about them. The only solace I can find is when I pray about them, which isn't a bad thing. But I guess it comes down to some quotes I've found lately. To start out...

“The key to change... is to let go of fear.” -Rosanne Cash

This quote has defined a lot of my decisions lately. Such as college. I had so many fears about it, about things that would happen depending on the college I went to. If I really wanted to change where I lived, or just change the school I was going to (like ASU, which is still a huge change in... everything). In the end, I decided on going to ASU. To do so I had to let go of many fears. But so far it appears as if it was the best decision. And who knows what could happen as a result of this decision?

Which brings me to the next quote...

“Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change your life forever.” - Keri Russell

Its a common quote, in one way or another. Heard several times, several different ways in one's life. But this is just so very true. Not talking to someone for one day could turn into not talking to them for six months. But this quote just makes me weary sometimes. Such as my decision about what ward to attend. Singles ward, or the home ward where I would teach primary? This decision is still on my mind, and its not going anywhere anytime soon.

But I guess the most important quote is...

“Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today.” - James Dean

So never let go of your dreams, but say things that you feel impressed to say, do the things you feel you should do. You never what will happen. Thank our Heavenly Father for all the blessings in our life, no matter how small they may be. Live your life so that you would be comfortable dying tomorrow.

Trip to Greer... In more detail.

As if you wanted that, right?

Alright... Here's how the story goes: leave work at about noon on friday, pick up coxes... Skip forward to Pinetop, about 3:40 pm, and we are buying groceries. Then we continue the drive down to Greer.

We arrive in pretty good time, and we unload our stuff and head down to explore the area. Visit the creek, lakes, and everything else. Trying to figure out what to do, we attend a woodwind quintet concert at the community center, which was pretty good. We left at intermission though, because Marissa didn't like it all that much. Then we go back to the cabin, and we hang out and watch a lame scary movie (it still freaked Rissa out though).

The next morning Riss and I wake up at about 5 am, and get ready for the hike. We finally get Nat awake, although apparently she thought it was 8 am. I only discovered that later on the hike. We ended up leaving at about 5:30. Then we drive on a dirt road to the trail head... And begin the 16 mile hike up the highest mountain in the White Mountains of Arizona. The first half goes pretty good, and the scenery is great. We cross a creek and begin the real incline to the top of the mountain.

We turn back about a half mile from the top, however, because it starts sprinkling. Then once we get across the creek, it starts to pour. At first, we try to stay dry, but to no avail. With about 7 mile to hike in the pouring rain, there is no chance. We finally make it back to the car, soaked through and freezing. Then we dry off at the cabin and hit Rendezvous, which is my favorite restaurant/cafe EVER! In case you wanted to know that. ;)

There we eat lunch and have much needed Hot Chocolate. Mmmm.... Afterwards, we head down to Eagar and buy new, cheap, extremely comfy jackets, as the ones we wore on the hike are, well, wet. We head back and nap... Then Nat and I head down to the stream and take pictures. We then go back to the cabin, and play games(like dominoes and Wahoo).

The next morning we go back down to the stream, and take more pictures. Then we head out. We eat lunch in Pinetop, and return back down to the valley around 4 pm.

Great trip, all things considered. And oddly enough, I want to hike Baldy again next year. Who wants to come?