The past 6 months

I have been very awful at posting here on my blog the last year, so I want to get into a better habit of recording my life on here.

So I will try to catch up on my life the past couple of months. Ahem:

First and foremost I just want to say that the last six months of my life have been some of the best, most fun times of my life. I have found the greatest group of friends who accept me for my craziness and odd quirks. They are so accepting of everybody and they never turn down a fun idea (or even not so fun idea). Fun things that have happened include dancing, throwing holiday parties, going to the keyhole, cooking dinner together, going to horchata weekly, Idaho trips, hot springs, sledding, sleeping on the roof, etc...

I have this philosophy that I live by and it came to me shortly before my mission. One day when I was watching a movie (I used to watch many movies with my friends) I decided that people in movies had incredible lives, lives that people would say could only happen in the movies. At that moment I decided that I wanted my life to be one that people could make movies about. Since then, I have tried to do that, and I believe it has turned out to be so. I have moments where I catch myself thinking that I live in some sort of sitcom. Anyway, I guess what I am really trying to say here, is that the past 6 months of my life have been what I have dreamed life should be like. I absolutely love my life.

Now, I will just go to my most recent adventure.

This past weekend a bunch of friends and I went up to Sun Valley, Idaho to go spend a night in a yurt at Galina's Lodge. Renan, Karen, Sydney and I all rode up in my car, while David, Brandon, Hillary, and Laura rode up in Laura's. The ride up there was so much fun. We just talked and listened to music, but it was so nice. However, we stopped at Laura's parents place to drop off some of our gear so that the hike up to the yurt wouldn't be so difficult. We quickly got ready and started on our half hour drive to the parking lot. That part of the ride was so fun! It was so beautiful driving up the canyon at night with a clear sky and the moon lighting our way. There is something very romantic about the moon light and nighttime. The mountains were so beautiful and we put on some good music, and none of us really wanted the ride to end. But soon we arrived at our destination, unloaded our gear and started the trek up to our lodgings for the night.

The climb up was steep, tiring, and dark, and since we didn't have a flashlight, I found myself walking off the trail and sinking into feet of powder. But as we started getting closer, suddenly Laura and David came down the trail, hugged us and helped us find our way to the yurt. The yurt itself was very cozy and friendly. We cooked some tacos, and then decided to go for a night walk. On our way out, a little fox was sitting outside of our yurt waiting for some dinner, so we decided to go and give him some left over hamburger from the burritos we cooked. Foxley (as we decided to name him) was well pleased, and didn't stray too far from our yurt the rest of the trip.

The walk was amazing! It wasn't even that cold, especially compared to the nasty weather we have been having lately in Salt Lake. We walked around and looked at the whole night sky, with all its stars and a beautiful moon. We threw snowballs, tackled each other, ran through the snow, yelled, and just had a nice time walking in the beauty that surrounded us.

After the walk it was time to hit the sauna. We put some fire in the stove and waited for it to heat up, all while David told us some ghost stories that weren't that scary and which he made up on the spot. Good attempt for trying though.

Anyway, the rest of the night was filled with steamrolling, games, and just talking as we all cuddled up together in the center of the yurt. Then, it was sleepy time.

In the morning it was great because everybody in the group was very happy in them morning. I woke up to Karen warmly greeting me, and then to some steamrolling. I love steamrolling!

But soon enough it was time to check out of the yurt and move on to snowmobiling. I don't know how many of you have ever been snowmobiling before, but it is great fun, and hurts a little bit. You hook up tubes to the back of a snowmobile and then they drive you around and try to throw you off. It is fun. However, since there were so many of us, and Matt, Lexi, and Erin ended up finding us later, we had to take turns on the snowmobile, and so the rest of us went sledding while that happened. The hill was long and steep, which made for some really fantastic sledding, but also wore you out by the time you got to the top of the hill. I made it a goal to carry Hillary to the top of the hill and I did after many breaks and falling over. But it was worth it.

After snowmobiling, we went back to Laura's where we showered, ate, and got ready for the next leg of the journey. We decided to go to a hockey game at the Sun Valley resort. While we were waiting to get in for free, we hung out at the Lodge. David had stayed there a few times in the past with his dad, and so he knew that they set out chocolates on the pillows of some of the rooms. So we ended up finding the maid and he asked her if we could get some chocolates. She asked what room we were in and David calmly responded that we were just downstairs. She gave us chocolates. They were delicious. By then we were ready to go to the hockey game. The Sun Valley Suns were playing the Las Vegas Hookers (yes, that was their real name, unfortunately). The game was fun and exciting, however the Suns lost in a shootout. It was a close game. We were all very worn out and ready for bed after that.

Next came Sunday. We went to church, came back and ate, and then we decided we wanted to go ice skating. Luckily for us, there was a free rink in Hailey, so we drove there and ice skated. It was so much fun! I haven't been ice skating in years, so my skills were not up to par. Anyway, they also had hockey goals, pucks, and hockey sticks, so as a group we decided to play a game of hockey. Boy we were awful! But by, did that make things fun! It was hilarious because people were slipping and falling all over the place. Once Sydney was wide open in front of the goal, Brandon passed it to her for a shot, and and she went to swing, her legs slipped out from under her and she plopped to the ground! Next it was Lexi's turn. She finally got the puck and took a shot, but her momentum was too much for her and she also gave into ice and gravity. Finally it was my turn. I got the puck and while speedily (in my own eyes) skating down the rink, I took a shot from over half rink and made it. So I started celebrating, and Laura was on my team, so she was yelling too! My momentum was leading me towards her, and as we got closer, my legs started spreading farther apart, and I thought to myself "If I can only make it to Laura, I won't fall). Well, the second I got to Laura, we embraced in celebration, and I fell backwards, pulling her down with me. It was hilarious!

Well, we had all had our fill of hockey and ice skating, and we really wanted to make it to the hot springs, so we went home, ate, and got ready. Unfortunately for me and to the girls delight, I had forgotten my speedo at home. However, Laura found some of her brothers swim trunks that he would wear. They were tiny short shorts. I was thrilled. I put them on and they were great! However, it was a little nerve racking walking up stairs in front of people because as I mentioned, these shorts were short, and I didn't have anything on underneath that could provide support! So that was great.

On the way to the hot springs, it got really hot in the car, so I decided to take off my shirt. I thought this as harmless seeing as we were about to be swimming anyway, but Laura and Sydney thought otherwise. They demanded that I put my shirt back on, but I refused. So, to try and force me into wearing a shirt, they rolled down the windows and turned on the AC. I still refused to put my shirt on. Fortunately for me, I was sitting in the front middle of the Suburban, so the cold air wasn't hitting me so much. Unfortunately for the people in the back of the car, they were getting blasted with cold air! And they hated it. So they wanted me to put my shirt on as well. I still refused. So people started slapping my back and yelling at me to put my shirt back on. Some of those slaps really hurt! It hurt Erin's hand so much that she didn't want to slap me again. Finally, after a few minutes I decided to be kind and I put my shirt back on. The windows went up, and everybody was relatively happy.

Still on the way up we passed a few dear, we saw another fox, and lastly we saw an animal that we weren't sure what it was! As we found out the next day, it was a wolverine! That's neat! That is the first time I have ever seen a wolverine before.

We finally got to the hot springs, which were burning hot where we first got in, and then they cooled down a bit as we moved to a better part of the pot. It was nice and relaxing. I love hot pots.

We got back to Laura's house for the night, decided to watch a movie, and then to go to bed. I don't know what it is about late night, but the later it gets, the more energy and fewer inhibitions I seem to have. So, still wearing only my short swim trunks I decided to sneak up on a few people while they were trying to fall asleep. Sydney and Erin were my main targets as they had the cozy bed all to themselves and were in a separate room. I scared Sydney a good deal of times, and I think just weirded out Erin. They were both grossed out when I slinked into their bed. Needless to say, I was the only one sleeping in the bed that night. Erin and Sydney moved out into the living room with the rest of the gang.

That was the trip. It was filled full of activities, and was so much fun with a great group of friends. I did not want to come home after such a great weekend! These memories will stick with me for years to come.