bungee jump

Everybody wants to be looked upon with heroic admiration and bravery.
Apparently, I don’t.
I had already gone skydiving so I decided that bungee jumping wouldn’t be that different.
So I buy my ticket, take my two best friends, and head down to Arizona.
The night before the jump I kept having terrible thoughts that tomorrow was going to change the rest of my life.
(And of course, it did, but for very unrelated reasons.)
All night I was worried that it was because I was going to be paralyzed.
The next morning we woke up bright and early before the sun and headed out to the bridge.
We arrived and it didn’t look so bad.
Of course, anything an arms length away was pure blackness because it still wasn’t quite dawn.
Me and the other jumpers hang out and wait for the instructor to arrive with his gear.
As we do this the sun slowly comes up and we slowly see deeper and deeper into the abyss that we are about to jump into.
Pretending to be the bravest of the souls, I volunteered to go first.
They strapped on my harness, gave me important instructions, and set me loose.
I was to climb to the very top railing and just jump.
JUST JUMP was the instruction.
I climb up one railing.
And another.
And start crying.
Embarrassing,  lame crying.
To say the least I was quite the disappointing first jump of the day.
But my friends just helped me pack up the car and start driving home without saying anything.
So that was nice.

goodbye summer

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It’s almost September and I’m just wondering where the heck Summer went??

I remember being a kid or even just in high school when you wouldn’t just get summer.
You would get SUMMER.
And you had no obligations for a whole 3 months!
And all you had to do was watch TV and swim and play and color and lay out.
But now grown up life laughs at those memories.
Because now it’s lucky if you swim even a couple of times in the Summer.
And you actually have to request days off of work in order to go on a vacation for even two days.
And you can’t go on adventures every weekend because your car has to go into the shop.
Or you have to do all the cleaning and laundry because you had no time all week.
And actually enjoying the outside sun and warmth just doesn’t happen very much.
And along with it comes some guilt.
Because Pokemon Go can’t solve all of our problems
BUT Summer isn’t the only time to enjoy life!
How about now that we are adults we vow to not just squish all the fun into 3 short months,
but to spread it out across 12?
I know, I know, Winter is gross.
But, I mean, Snowmen are cool.

habits

Habits are SO hard to keep when routines change.

I have been feeling so guilty that I haven't been keeping my same spiritual habits with my new routines lately.

But I think I've been failing because I've been trying something again and again that just doesn't work for me anymore.

So instead of beating a dead horse, I need to get creative.

I need to change the times, the places, the reasons.

I know that I haven't remembered to read scriptures at night for about a month.

So instead of continuing to try reading at night maybe I should read in the morning.

Stop trying something that isn't working anymore.

Try something new.

Because it's not always your desire or your spirituality that is keeping you from doing certain things,

sometimes it's just your routine that is getting in the way.

eats for the week

DUN DA DA DUN!!!
I now present to you the second edition of "food I ate and think you should too."
Let me know what you think.
(Recipes linked in names)

Monday:
(Biscuits and Gravy, Corn, Grapes)

Tuesday
(Ranch Bacon Pasta, Croissants, Fruit-not pictured)

 Wednesday
(Ham and Cheese Sliders, Coleslaw, Fruit-not pictured)

 Thursday
(Chicken Teriyaki Casserole, Monkey Bread, Grapes)

Friday
(Chili Cheese Beef N Mac, Beets- Yeah, we're those people with Ranch) 

 

letting it go

During one of my first days at work one of my new coworkers said something pretty snotty to me.
I was SO mad and it just ate at me all day.
I really did not want to see her at work the next day- I was dreading it!
Derek kept telling me to let it go and to stop worrying about it, but I just could not.
Once I got to work the next day though I decided that I was just going to do the best job that I could.
Because I knew that I was good.
And that I was nice.
And that I am who I am.
And if I kept being those things then that snotty comment didn't mean anything.
Because it wouldn't be true.
And it ended up being a great day!
I still made some mistakes but I was able to focus on the good things that I did and in regards to the mistakes,
I decided to not make them again and it would be OK.
Because what someone says or thinks about me is really not my business.
It's not even a reflection of who I am.

adventure

For months we have wanted to go backpacking.
But things kept getting in the way.
So we said that no matter what came up this weekend we were GOING TO GO.
And of course on the drive down to the canyon it absolutely poured and the clouds were so thick that you couldn't even see the mountains.
I was getting a little worried and a bit upset that something was getting in the way of this once again.
But we pressed on and made it to the trail head.
We started our journey and realized how amazing it felt to be hiking in the forest post-rainstorm!
I thought it was going to absolutely ruin our adventure, but it just enhanced it.
The dirt, the smell, the air, the clouds.....
However, I thought I was going to die.
The first 30 minutes I wondered what the heck I had gotten myself into.
Then I had some jerky and was OK for a little longer.
BUT.
The last mile was the steepest and pitch black because it was 10 o clock.
I was praying for a helicopter to swoop down and kindly pick us up but that wasn't about to happen.
So we pressed on and the view at the top was beautiful!!
Until I got altitude sickness and couldn't move my knees anymore.
But being in the mountains with my husband was just the best.
I would be happy doing anything with him, even killing myself to make it up a mountain!

july favorites

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July was a good month with lots of new changes.
And lots of new favorites!

>My first favorite is this blog post by one of my favorite adventure bloggers. It's all about enjoying what's around you for the purpose of enjoying it and not for the purpose of sharing it. Sometimes, instead of recording moments in life we just need to stop and breath it in.

>Favorite singer: Grace. One of her more popular songs is in the trailer for Suicide Squad, "You Don't Own Me." And I love it. But mostly I love this one and it's been on repeat for....weeks. And....this one. She's definitely worth a listen!

>My favorite person has been Stevie Hender. I follow her on Instagram and she has an online clothing store with everything that makes me want to throw my budget in the trash. Here is a link to her store. Her family is adorable, her clothes are to die for, and she's just the nicest. (OK, I've never talked to her, but to sell such awesome clothes she must be totally nice.)

>In a previous blog post I mentioned a meal idea, Chicken Yakisoba, which has quickly become a favorite. The flavors and textures are just SO good. And Derek has even asked if there was any left a few days after we had it for dinner. So it passed the husband test with flying colors!

>My favorite....politically controversial figure....? I've recently started following this young lady on Facebook and always look forward to watching the videos she posts. I definitely don't agree with everything that she says, but for the most part I walk away feeling inspired and truly American.