Natalie's Mormon Birthday!

My best friend Natalie has been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for two years as of today! So we celebrated!!! We made cupcakes and had a great time together. I am so grateful to have Natalie in my life, her testimony and her bright personality bless me every day! I love her! Happy Mormon Birthday Natalie!

Morning Hike

We got up early this morning and headed out to Oak Flats to enjoy the monsoon season. There were some nice pools of water and the dogs had a blast! We got rained on a bit as we hiked which was really quite nice. It was a great morning!

My Week With Jo Jo

One of my Favorite mission companions came from Utah this week to visit me. Jo Jo stayed with me for a few days and we had so much fun together!! We had a week full of adventure! I loved serving with Sister Johnson in Pleasanton and in Encino Park but it was especially fun spending the week just HANGING OUT!!!! She is such a neat person and one of my closest friends- I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for making us companions in the TSAM.


We got together with a few other TSAMers that live here in Arizona and we went to a place called JumpStreet where the floors and walls are made of trampolines. We had a blast!!


We went to Fossil Springs to go hiking and tubing. This is us getting all loaded up for the adventure!

Passion

While on my mission I needed to find a new stress reliever. Something that was mission appropriate unlike my previous activities of skateboarding and motocross- those just weren't possible as a missionary. So I learned how to play guitar. I am still in the learning phase but it has become my new passion of sorts. I love to just strum away on my newest guitar "Clark" (furthest right) and let all the worries in my world float away. Guitar is a new passion of mine and I am grateful to my mission for helping me to find and develop it.

Riding Quads with Cactus Jack

This weekend I went out riding for the first time since I have been home from my mission. It was a long time coming, and I was so happy to finally be back on a quad! I went with my uncle and three of my cousins and I also brought along my best friend Sarah. We went out into the desert to a place called Butcher Jones.


I was so excited to get out and ride!! Sarah was a bit nervous- she hadn't ever ridden a quad before. So we started out and I my uncle gave Sarah some instructions on how to ride. We started going up a pretty rocky hill and after a little bit my uncle realized it would be too hard for Sarah since she was just learning. So we turned back to take a different trail. As we were going down the hill I turned around and noticed that Sarah and two of my cousins were not behind us. We waited a bit and then eventually they came down.


I thought Sarah had just gotten stuck or something, but it turns out that she hit a bump as she was coming down and it threw her off the quad and she hit the ground and then the quad ran over her. My best friend got ran over by a quad!!! She just got back up and kept riding. She was such a trooper. She wasn't super happy though because she was in a lot of pain- the quad had rolled over her ankle while it was laying in a weird position so it ended up getting sprained really bad.


So then we kept on riding and found new trails. At one point we split off and my cousins and I went out to ride some harder trails and Sarah stayed with my uncle while he taught her a bit more and helped her to get more comfortable with the quad. We were gone about an hour and when we came back to "camp" to meet up with Sarah and my uncle they weren't back yet.


Eventually they showed up and Sarah wasn't wearing her jersey- she was just wearing a tank top. I was like "dude buddy did you get hot?" she just looked at me and said- "NO I FELL INTO A CACTUS!"


While Sarah and my uncle were out riding she was getting pretty good so my uncle had her leading them down several different trails. Sarah was having a ton of fun and loving it all. Then while she was going down a rocky hill she started veering off towards the side and was afraid she was going to crash. So she jumped off the quad and ended up landing in a pile of rocks and cholla cactus. Sarah's shirt, gloves and pants were covered in cactus needles. My uncle helped to pull enough of them off so they could ride back to camp and start trying to take care of her.


So when they got back to camp the boys went out on a little ride while us girls stayed at camp and tried to bandage up Sarah. She had to drop her drawers as we pulled pokeys out of her legs and side (there were many more than the picture shows- it was REALLY bad). She had a pretty big scratch on her side from hitting a rock when she fell.

As I was trying to clean out the scrape with what I could find from the first aide kit in the car, Sarah screamed at me!! I was using an alcohol wipe that was apparently burning a lot. I was like oh sorry and then might have used an expletive or two. My poor 12 year old cousin Allison was just standing there watching all of this unfold. And I turned to her once I had realized I swore in front of her nad she just said, "oh it's ok, we have cable" I laughed at that and then turned back to Sarah to continue tending to her.


Sarah was in so much pain but she managed to make it all the way home and then she laid somewhat pathetically on the couch with ice all over her and every once and awhile I'd hear her mutter ow, ow, ow. Poor girl.

It was a fun day of riding for me but a very painful day for Sarah- the cool thing is Sarah wants to go riding again! This kid is unstoppable! lol She is way awesome and she now has a new nickname amongst my family- Cactus Jack, CJ for short. :)

Life

You know that saying "Life is Like a Roller Coaster"? Well in the last few months I feel like I have been riding one behemoth of a roller coaster.



This looks about right- my roller coaster. My life has been so full of ups and downs and insane twists lately that I think I might just throw up. So the question is, do I grab onto the head rest and close my eyes just wishing, and waiting for the ride to be over. Or do I throw my hands up in the air and smile- just enjoying the ride?

I'd say that the first option, crying like a little girl and holding on for dear life seems like the easiest option, but there is just something to be said for having the courage and determination to just face those corkscrews head on with a big bold smile on my face. I would like to think that I have the capability to be constantly enjoying life and smiling all the while- but in all honesty I don't.

I can try my best but I fall short every once and awhile. That's why I am so grateful for my faithful family and friends who are there to remind me just how great life is. I know that without my buddies and my parents and siblings, I would be a sobbing mess just screaming for someone to get me off the roller coaster. I am very blessed to have so many amazing people in my life who wish to see me complete the roller coaster of life with my arms raised high in the air and a smile on my face.

So thanks to all of y'all who are sitting there next to me on the roller coaster and cheering me on- you mean the world to me!

How Many College Girls Does it Take to Start a Fire?

What do a bunch of mormon girls do for fun on a Friday night? Attempt to make a fire! Ha ha The other day a couple of my good buds and I were hanging out and got this crazy idea that we needed to make smores and roast starbursts. So being the crazy mormon girls that we are we hopped to it. We attempted to start a fire, but um well the above picture was the best we could do. Ha ha yes, I know kinda lame. But it sure made for a good laugh and some awesome memories.


For the sake of our starbursts we HAD to find a way to get that fire going. A quick run to Wal-Mart and a bottle of lighter fluid later, we got a nice blaze going. Too bad it didn't last but just a minute before it died down again. So as you can see above, I had the pleasure of standing above the fire pouring down lighter fluid! Ha ha, how disturbing would it be if I said it was really fun?

I came to the conclusion that dry wood and some kindling would have been helpful, but in the end it made for a REALLY fun night! I love you Kristi and Sarah, thanks for the memories!