Pioneer Day Camping

Unfortunately none of these pictures are mine. :-(. My camera was full from the Kenny Chesney Concert.

Branden left for Idaho once again on Friday morning. After he left, I stopped by cafe rio for a salad. Unfortunately, I learned that I now prefer the stake over the pork. :-( It wasn't quite up to par with my appetite, so I decided I'd give it to Aaron, kind of as a thanks for his friendship. I ran home and asked him if he wanted the rest of it.Thanks to my desire to bestow half of a delicious Cafe Rio salad, I ended up with an invitation to go camping. I went over to Branden's apartment to make foil dinners with Aaron (oh sooo good). And we shortly headed up Hobble Creek Canyon.

The golf course that we drove past in the canyon.

We had full intentions of camping up the canyon past the campgrounds (after all, it was July 24th, which is a holiday in Utah). We found a decent spot, and sent some scouts farther up. As we explored our "spot" we discovered that the only shade that was there had been turned into latrines. There were holes filled with toilet paper under every tree. It was disgusting. After our scouts came back, we decided to head down to the campground and see what we could get. We stopped at the Balsam Campground, and the manager/ranger/whatever gave us two nice spots.

The boys set up their stuff first, and I, once again, sat around feeling totally out of my element. It was much better after the bulk of the girls arrived. We tried to set up our tent, and the men sat around the fire and took bets as to how long it was going to take us. Once I got word of it, I gave them a piece of my mind. Slowly they started letting hints slip in my direction. After about 45 minutes we got it "set up." I tried to be as nice as I could and ask the guys to double check it for us. It was great knowing that at least three of them had set up a tent just like it before.


As the evening wore on, we had a few more people join us (there were between 15 and 20). It was a blast to sit around the campfire telling jokes and enjoying the company of friends. While I was sitting there that evening, I couldn't help but be thankful for the one man who wasn't there. Spending time with other guys just made me all the more appreciative for my Branden. I guess it just goes to show you that I'm crazy for the man. I'm also so thankful for the first time of what his business trips have given me. They've given me the excuse to go and make new friends. Branden has been asking me to develop my friendships more, but I just wanted to spend time with him. That night and evening I was able to reflect on the wonderful aspects of our relationship and my dear Branden, and it's helped me to realize that I haven't been thankful enough.

In the morning, some of the girls who hadn't slept during the night got up and left at the crack of dawn. Unfortunately they had our coolers in their car. So at around 8:30 we packed up and headed back to civilization to find breakfast.

All in all, the trip was a huge success. It was really very pretty, and it was wonderful to spend time with friends.
P.S. The tinfoil dinner was excellent. Aaron really knows what he's doing. We put spices in our ground beef, and added condensed cream of chicken soup, potatoes, onions, and carrots in the foil. Mmm... I'm still craving more, although I was stuffed that night.

Kenny Chesney

A while ago Branden and I made fitness goals. We made agreements of "prizes" for making them. I don't remember what I agreed to for him, but he agreed to get me tickets to the Kenny Chesney concert if I achieved my goal. Our good intentions lasted about a week. I was a bit disappointed about the disintegration and the lack of prize possibility. The desire to go see Kenny Chesney, however, never died. I found some awesome tickets from KBULL 93.3 (a local country radio station). They were 4 for $99, so we decided it was worth it. (I love my Branden for getting me tickets to my favorite country singer).

On July 23, Branden and I jumped into the car and headed down to the Rio Tinto stadium. We pulled into the gravel parking lot and headed towards the stadium right as Lady Antebellum started singing Branden's current favorite song, "I Run to You." We basically killed time and chatted while the other artists sang. I knew a few songs by one of them, but it wasn't anyone I was familiar with.


Soon Kelly and Ashley joined us, and after 4 bottles of $5 water, Kenny Chesney finally started. Branden and I had a blast. We were dancing and singing, and it's one of those moments that I'll never forget. Branden told me that it was one of the best concerts he'd been to. I'd just about agree. I saw Kenny Chesney last year with my little sister (and I paid more each ticket that time). It was a lot better seeing him at Walnut Creek Amphitheater than in a Stadium with horrible acoustics made for soccer. But, it was also a lot better finally going with Branden.

The concert was perfect until right up at the end. I still don't know if the ending was right. Sugarland had canceled, and so the other bands extended their set. To give you an idea of how long it was, the concert started at 5:30 and ended at 10:40. The band started playing some classic songs, and Kenny let his various band members playing. He did that last year, so I didn't mind so much. But, then the band started on this huge instrumental thing. And when I say huge, I mean there was no singing or talking, and it lasted for about 9 minutes. Last year, he said good bye, gave us an encore, and then said goodbye for real. But his year, the audience started leaving during the instrumental thing! There was not even a single goodnight from Kenny, and I don't know if it was planned, or just a horrible sequence of events. It was still an awesome concert, but now, more than anything, I'm confused about the end.

Camping and Caving Abbreviated

I wouldn't suggest reading the long one, unless you really want to know the juicy details about my fears, triumphs, and wandering around in a cave. This is the abbreviated version of that story.


Because Branden was out of town, Aaron and I decided to join some friends on a camping and caving trip. We headed out to West Desert on Friday evening to go camping. I'm scared of camping (I don't like the thought of wild animals) (I'm also scared of hiking on ground that is sloping or isn't completely level). Meg let me share her tarp with her, but I headed off to it alone. I was the second person to go to sleep, and something woke me up in the middle of the night. I sat up to check it out, and it turns out that Sam, the golden retriever, was asleep between my ankles. He gave me so much comfort that night. He never bothered me during the day, but he was my guard dog while I was asleep.


The next morning we had a yummy breakfast cooked in a dutch oven. Once we ran out of shade to sit under, we packed everything into the trucks and drove out to the cave.

I didn't mind the initial descent, but I was really intimidated about going into areas that I couldn't see very well or where didn't know what to expect. We went exploring and even found a bat. To see more pictures, look at my previous post (the longer one). Then we headed back up to the surface of the earth. Once we were within sight of sunlight, it was time for me to try my hand at rockclimbing.


Once I got up I basically rolled over the edge and onto the ground. I laid there for a few minutes before I stood up. I was so thankful for it all to finally be over. While I was in the cave, I was so terrified and worried that I didn't enjoy even five minutes of it.


We packed all of the climbing stuff up and headed back home. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep in the car. It wasn't until I looked back on it that I truly appreciated the interesting and neat nature of what I did that day. I accomplished something that I hadn't even hoped to do before. Caving was never on my plan of things I want to accomplish before I die, but on that day, I did it. I did something despite my fears, and I kept myself from crying, although my tears just about slipped out. Now, I want to say Thank You: Aaron, Seth, Rishann, Phil, Megan, Taylor, Beth, and Ryan. Thanks guys for being so patient with me and showing me something entirely new and interesting that I could have never done on my own.

Camping and Caving

Warning: This is a very long post. I've included an abbreviated version which was posted just after (above) this one.

It seems that Branden has been in Idaho most weekends this month. It's thrown me for a loop. At first I didn't know what to do with myself. The first time he went out of town, I spent all of my time making a quilt. And I really enjoyed it. People said it wouldn't be possible to finish a queen sized quilt in a week, but I've learned that I don't listen to reason when I want to get something done.

Turns out that the weekend of the 17th, Branden and Kelly finally got their leases in Idaho finalized and had to go up there to get their tents set up and their employees hired. So, I decided to go camping and caving without him. I was a little (extremely) nervous about it. After almost backing out, Aaron went with me.


We left around 9:00 pm on Friday evening. Aaron and I crammed ourselves in the back of a silver pickup, and headed towards Walmart. Good thing was, I wasn't the only person who needed stuff. Everyone got their own snack foods, and I got myself a sleeping bag. The bag for it is ripped to pieces, so I got a 10% discount, which I needed. Because the sleeping bag has a warranty, I'm hoping that I'll be able to get it taken care of.

To give you a little background... I don't camp. I'm scared of wild animals. I don't hike. I'm scared of slipping on loose ground. I'm basically scared of things I haven't done before (though not all things).

After a nice drive, we made it out to West Desert. Aaron was falling asleep in the car, and I think we passed an oil drill or something. There were bright lights beside the road that I had never seen before, and when we got closer there was a furry of activity all around. Once we got to our spot, Seth and some other man got the fire going, and I tried to help unpack. I always feel totally useless in these situations, because I don't know exactly what people DO when they go camping. Nor do I know what people need. I think I carried my sleeping bag and two tarps from the cars. We sat around the fire for a few hours just talking and enjoying s'mores. Aaron was the first to go to sleep.

I sat for a few more hours and enjoyed the company of people who were mostly complete strangers. I definitely gained a lot of respect for everyone there. They were so nice. And, mostly everyone there spoke Spanish, which gave me something to talk about. Megan let me sleep on her tarp that night. So, when I decided that I needed to get some rest before my first rock climbing experience, I was the second one to get to bed. I slipped into my new sleeping bag, praying that it really had never been used before, and headed off to dreamland amongst the chattering of everyone around the campfire.

That may have been the very worst sleep that I had ever had. I woke up about a million times, and one time in the middle of the night, I discovered that there was something large almost sitting on my feet. I sat up in a panic before I realized that it was "Sam," the faithful golden retriever, curled up between my ankles. I have no idea why Sam chose to sleep with me, of all people, that night, but it reassured me that nothing would be attacking or eating me without Sam warning me first.


Sam got up with Aaron around dawn. I slept until the sun came up over the hills and started cooking me. Seth got breakfast cooking (delicious by the way) while we all scooted our camp chairs up the side of the hill to stay in the shade. After getting everything packed up we jumped back into the trucks and headed out to "Hush Hush."

Whenever I head about caving, I always imagined something in the side of a mountain that you walk into. This was NOT like that.

I ended up being one of the people who shared equipment. We were short one head lamp and one harness, so when we got to a safe and flat spot, we would switch up the stuff to get everyone inside. Rappelling has always been something that I enjoy doing. However, this time, I wouldn't be able to walk around a trail to get back up. I'd have to climb out.


We rappelled down into the initial descent. Then we went down the black hole that you can see in the picture. That lead into a dusty room. I must have sat there for about a half an hour. The floor sloped down away from the sunlight streaming into the room towards a hole at the base of one of the walls. We filed down into the abyss. It was a small area, about big enough for one person to stand up in a crouched position. That opened into another "room" that was basically a ledge above the biggest drop. It was big enough to be comfortable so that you don't worry about falling over the edge.

This was perhaps the easiest rappel. It was mainly a free-rappel, but by this time I had finally gotten used to it again (after doing it for two and a half drops). Also, there was a mining style ladder that had been set up from the ledge above going down into the main "room." I basically ended up straddling the ladder, but it was nice knowing that there was something close for me to grab onto.


Some people took off their harnesses as we got off the rope and went to explore more of the cave. Someone before us had put a series of ladders around the cave, and I expected them to be halfway dependable--but when we found one with a rung missing, it made me feel even less secure about the situation.


I didn't really move in an upwards direction beyond that ladder. I was terrified of slipping. I'm not quite sure why, but I've ended up terrified of slipping as I'm hiking down a mountain (it scares me to the point of tears). At the top of the ladder, there was a very cool room. I think we got some awesome pictures, but I didn't take them on my camera, so I don't have them. It was so neat. There were 8-10 of us total in our group. As I looked up i could see everyone's headlamps as they explored around the column. It was a very pretty (and very unreal) sight. We also ended up seeing a bat that was hanging up on the ceiling.

When it was time to go back down that broken ladder, I was just about in tears. Fortunately everyone helped me figure out where to go. We headed back towards the main room of the cave. On the trip back I was able to see a bunch of large cracks (not cracks in the rocks, but between them) that I hadn't seen on the way there. I was probably about the 3rd person to head back. I sat on a rock and waited for more people in the group. Being in a cave isn't that intimidating when you're with 7 people with headlamps. Being in a cave is terrifying when the only headlamp that you can see is yours. As I sat there and waited for other people to catch up, our bat friend decided to fly around my head about 4 times (he really wasn't that close to me).

Once I had people around me that I trusted, I headed up the old silver mining ladder (the pictures inside the cave aren't mine, but I got them from another website. Check it out here). For some reason, I trusted that ladder more than anything else in the cave (I also don't know how to tell if a rock is sturdy enough for me to use it or not). It was especially nice to be in the in the harness and on the rope.


I chilled at the top of the ladder with Aaron waiting for more people to come up. It was cool knowing that I would be getting out of the cave. I was sitting somewhere that I felt comfortable, and I now know that I'm glad that I didn't volunteer to be one of the first people up. As I was sitting up there helping throw the rope back down for everyone, I heard the lovely news from above me that a snake was wandering around in the next "room." I waited a little while for a few more people to come up. After the snake got out of our way, I headed up to the room with the sloped floor. (remember how I'm scared of hiking?) Well, Seth's girlfriend let me grab onto her foot to help me climb up the sloped floor. Once I got back to my spot where I had been waiting the first time, I sat and waited again. We were no longer on the rope, and I was a little scared of climbing up the ladder and getting up to the ledge to climb out (where you see everyone standing in my first picture of the cave).

I climbed up the old ladder and waited at the top until someone could help me figure out how to get onto the ledge. I stood there for what felt like so long that white fear started to consume me. I my arms and legs started to quiver. That's when I closed my eyes and said a prayer. I reminded myself that being scared about it would only make it more dangerous than it was. After what felt like an eternity, I climbed from the ladder to the rock above it. After I got on the rope and started the upward climb, everyone was really nice and gave me suggestions of where to put my hands and my legs. They taught me some things about rock climbing that I hadn't even thought of. I was hating every minute of it, but it was my first time rock climbing, and more than anything, I was scared of it, because I didn't really have another option. I had to get out of that cave.


Once I got up I basically rolled over the edge and onto the ground. I laid there for a few minutes before I stood up. I was so thankful for it all to finally be over. I still want to thank everyone who helped me. It was pretty awesome. While I was in the cave, I was so terrified and worried that I didn't enjoy even five minutes of it.


We packed all of the climbing stuff up and headed back home. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep in the car. It wasn't until I looked back on it that I truly appreciated the interesting and neat nature of what I did that day. I accomplished something that I hadn't even hoped to do before. Caving was never on my plan of things I want to accomplish before I die, but on that day, I did it. I did something despite my fears, and I kept myself from crying, although my tears just about slipped out. Now, I want to say Thank You: Aaron, Seth, Rishann, Phil, Megan, Taylor, Beth, and Ryan. Thanks guys for being so patient with me and showing me something entirely new and interesting that I could have never done on my own.

Amy's Reception

On July 11th, I got to go to one of my friend's wedding receptions. It was so fun! She and I worked together last year at Charlotte-Russe. Amazingly, I'd still consider us friends. For me, she's just one of those people who you meet and want to know. I'm just thankful that she wants to hang out with me too! Unfortunately, her husband is a competitor of Branden's, so somehow, I don't the men will ever become "fast friends."

Amy's wedding reception was so beautiful. I've always said that I don't want to do something that anyone I know has done. Well, I've changed my mind!!! She did her reception at Sleepy Ridge Reception Center. It's on the Sleepy Ridge Golf Course, and you can see the lake from it!! I can't think of anything I'd want more. Her reception was so beautiful, and was the first reception that I've been to in Utah that seemed like a real reception to me. (It's funny, I even tried on the same wedding dress back when I was looking).

Here, normally people just have an open house. That means the bride and groom stand in a receiving line forever, have a dance (maybe), cut cake (maybe), and do the tosses (maybe). Not exactly something worth sticking around for. Amy's was a real reception. I got there pretty late (a little bummed that I was going by myself, and trying to scramble to get a nice gift (that I could afford) ready in time), but when I arrived, almost everyone was outside on the patio dancing! Real live dancing!!! I didn't realize that Utah crowds knew how to do that!

I got to spend some time with my old co-workers and just enjoy the ambiance. The wedding party had choreographed a few dances, and inside the food was delicious and the decorations were to die for (I think I almost did). Though, it stinks that I didn't take more pictures!

By the time Amy and Jimmy made it out to their car, their photographer and videographer ended up splitting, so I got to record the reaction of the bride and groom when they saw their ride!

I'm looking forward to taking Branden to Sleepy Ridge one day to show him my idea of a perfect reception venue. (And Amy, I'm hoping you don't hate me for wanting to copy your location).

Watch Ball!

Branden decided to go to Idaho the weekend of the 11th, so that we could go camping the following weekend. Because I knew that I was about to be missing my man for anywhere from a weekend to a week, I decided to figure out a date so that we could enjoy some quality time together.
Recently I've been trying to figure out how to help our relationship keep growing instead of stagnating. We can't really afford to get married right now, and we're still trying to work some issues out (ex.: he thinks it's really important to live your life so that you make a huge difference in the outside world, I think the outside world doesn't matter compared to the impact that you should make on your friends and family, and that there is no need to try to improve the whole world beyond that). They may not seem like huge things, but we are just a little concerned to what that could lead to when we are raising children.

Anyway, that was a tangent. With Branden working so hard, and me going to school full time while giving my heart away to the sailing club, we had fallen into the habit of seeing each other for a few hours every night and not ever doing anything together.

Branden loves baseball, and I remembered that once upon a time, we had talked about wanting to go to a game. Well, that sounded like a great date to me. I went to the Salt Lake Bees website and found out that they were playing on Thursday of that week (the 9th), and it was their Jimmy Buffett night. Well, as I'm sure you can guess, that meant that we couldn't miss it.

I slipped out of my night class a few minutes early, and he got off of work earlier than usual. It was a date that we actually split pretty well. For anyone interested, student lawn tickets only cost around $3.50 a piece. I paid for parking and gas, and Branden paid for the tickets and Dippin' Dots. I can't remember the last time I had those.

Of course the "Picnic Blanket" accompanied us. I don't remember much of the game (and I don't particularly care), but the quality time just brightened up my week. There wasn't quite enough Jimmy Buffett for our taste, but nevertheless, we really enjoyed ourselves.

2 Year Anniversary

Like I mentioned, I went all out this year with July 4th themed gifts. I made the quilt/picnic blanket (Branden asked me if I was making a quilt and I said no, so it changed names). I also stuck a ped-egg type product from the dollar store in a bag from the dollar store and a million packages of coconut m&m's. Those are incredible if you've never tried them. My final gift was a scrapbook with memories from my journal, his texts, and pictures that we've gathered in the past 2 years. The only catch is that I've only completed the first page.

I can't believe that we've been together that long. We celebrated our Anniversary on Sunday, July 5th, because I made a mistake and didn't realize it was on the 6th until I pulled my journal out. For anyone who didn't know, we met just over two years ago. We can't deny that Heavenly Father had a hand in bringing us together.

I flew into Provo on the first day of school. I didn't want to go to school in the spring and hadn't planned on it, but I couldn't avoid it. I wasn't totally satisfied with my schedule, so I decided to look for something fun to take. After finding the sailing class, seeing that it was full, and the class period had already started, I gave up on it. But, after coming to that firm resolution, I changed my mind and decided to attempt the impossible. Well, at first I was on rocky ground, but when I told Skipper that I grew up sailing he immediately added me to the class.

Branden was in a similar situation. He had planned to leave Utah as soon as he graduated in April of 2007. But, he was given an amazing opportunity to deliver a sailboat from Hawaii to Los Angeles after the Transpac race, and he couldn't turn it down. So, against all odds, Branden decided to keep working his night job in Provo and wait out until the end of July and his trip to Hawaii. This means, he was available to help teach the sailing class.

I remember seeing him the first day, but I also saw that some girl was all over him and flirting up a storm. Not worth it. Not to mention, I was just ending a relationship at this time, and wasn't ready for anything new. We finally started talking towards the end of Spring term, and after the last class he asked me out.

Of course I said yes! After some slight initial bumps, we started "hanging out" most days of the week. Our first kiss was at the end of the South Dock at Utah Lake State Park. Branden had asked me and my grandmother to lunch, but Grandma wasn't feeling well. He took me to Kneaders, and we went down to the lake to eat. We moved to the end of the dock to catch the sun set and in that perfect moment, someone started shooting fireworks off along the shore. I was so excited when our lips touched, but according to him, mine were super chapped. Lol. We soon became an item, and the rest, as they say, is history--only it isn't, because it's not over yet.

So, on Sunday after church, Branden took me on a drive up to the Nebo Loop. It was really fun. We ate potato chips and oreos left over from July 4th and got a beautiful view of Utah Lake that I've never seen before. It was so awesome having that time just to talk to my sweetheart and enjoy the beautiful nature with which Heavenly Father blesses us.

In case anyone's wondering what Branden got me for our anniversary, the truth is I can't decide. He gave me the choice between:

1. A Spa Package,
   
2. A Sewing Machine (It would be new and really work, unlike my other one),
   
3. A New Car Key (remember how mine doesn't actually start my car anymore?), or
   
4. A Handgun (And I know I'm not the only one who feels pressed to get one before our country decides that they're illegal--which I pray doesn't happen).

So what do you think?

4th of July

I truly have been occupied since the beginning of July. Branden spent much of that first week in Idaho, getting his company set up. He came home to spend the 4th with me. It also just happened to be our anniversary 0n the 6th. Since I had a ton of homework, we went ahead and celebrated it on the 5th (also, because I made a mistake and thought it was the 5th for the longest time).

I must say, I really enjoy having our anniversary close to independence day. It makes it really easy to give themed gifts. While Branden was in Idaho, I got a sewing machine from DI for $15, about $60 worth of fabric, and $20 worth of batting, and destroyed my living room for a week. However, in that week I made an entire queen size quilt and kept up with my classes. I'm seriously so proud of it.

I looked at some quilt patterns, drew my own graph paper, used that to customize my personal pattern, and got my first batch of fabric. I didn't know how I wanted to lay it out, but I knew about what size I wanted my squares to be. I began cutting, and after about three more trips to the store, I finally figured out what I needed.After my sewing machine broke half way through the front, I borrowed one from my great friend Nicki, and finished it up. 9:00 the night before Branden came home, I went to the hardware store and got some 2x4s to make a frame. I spent the rest of the night stretching the quilt and sewing the buttons on. It was kind of funny. I actually tilted the frame up against the side of an apartment, right under a light and worked all night. I finished that around 6:00 am, I drove my roommate to the airport and then braved the hour-long drive home.

July 4th was pretty interesting too. My car "broke." Turns out it wasn't my car. It was my car key. It no longer starts my car, but I didn't figure that out until I had spent almost the whole day trying to figure out what was going on (my oil had been low by the way). I tried to get some snacks to the Sailing Club for the race that was going on, but I had a 5:15 commitment, and they were still running races at 5:00. So, lets just say that I ended up buying myself a whole lot more food than I had wanted.

Branden, Aaron, and I went over to Seth's house for his barbecue. Turns out there were about 8 of us, but it was still fun. Afterward, Aaron brought us over to his brother's mother-in-law's house. We had carne asada and hamburgers. That is one very patriotic Hispanic family! They even taught me how to light fireworks and not freak out. One of the quilts that they had was gorgeous too. I only half remember what it looked like now, but that's life. Then, we shifted over to the field across from the MTC for fireworks. They were fun, but I think I'm more of a fan of the intramural fields. In any case, we pulled my quilt out and had enough space for at least 5 adults to lay out on it and stare up at the shimmering blasts of light in the sky. It was awesome!!!