It’s been a summer…

And this means that it has been several months since I have last updated my blog. I want to apologize for those who haven’t been able to receive their full blogging/Google reading in. Surprisingly I have been busy doing other things that will now be able to be made into an update for my blog.
Where to begin? This summer was fantastic, but aren’t they all? Whenever I wasn’t dead heading flowers, pulling weeds, fertilizing pots, or proofreading patents: I took advantage of the hot summer weather to hike all over the Wasatch Front. Hiking is a huge hobby of mine that I take rather seriously. Some people hike to get a nice work out or burn in their legs, others to find solitude or peace, some to get away from the world and to clear their minds, others to experience the satisfaction of summiting an 11teer or the beauty of a glacial lake, some for that fresh mountain air, others to find that perfect photo opportunity. I hike for all of those reasons and more. I encourage those looking for some sort of adventure in life to dedicate time each week to hike around and explore this gorgeous Earth we live on.
I’m excited for this next semester to start. To meet loads of new people, spend countless hours in the HBLL, and learn new things. But this also means there will be less free time for hiking and getting lost for 8 hours in the Lone Peak Wilderness bushwhacking 14 unplanned miles and getting dehydrated. Anyways, let’s hope I am able to beat the ridiculous class schedule system at BYU and can get in the hiking class this semester.
How does one randomly lose their voice at night? And why is it so hard to find...

The Art of Registering

What happened to March?!
With a semester coming to a stressful and relieving end, there begins a new competitive saga at Brigham Young University. It is quite the legendary event that has evolved over time. It is known to those few who have had the opportunity to attend this school as registering for fall semesters classes. I honestly wonder how other universities do it. Do they have a ridiculous online system where seniority maters and athletes have first priority, and all the classes you want are filled up instantly? Do they have tens of 1000’s of students frantically trying to sign up for classes when midnight strikes? Does their websites allow for the overflowing amount of students to be on it at the same time without crashing or having serious errors? And is the only way to beat this lame system, to get in your classes, is to have one of those lucky seniors or spoiled athletes hold a spot for you? We shall see how this night unfolds as I begin this epic saga tonight at midnight. Wish me luck!

Oh by the way Happy Easter!

Orange.

Spring brings on the chance of introducing new colors for the upcoming year. Color brings both variety and beauty into this world. Some colors are found naturally in the wild outdoors, while others are creatively and meticulously put together by an individual. Many artists strive to find that perfect color for the image they wish to portray. Orange is not often the color one expects to find with spring on its way, yet this week seemed to be full this color. For me I enjoy looking for vibrant colors in nature and capturing them through photos, little did I know that I would stumble upon a favorite color of mine on while hiking Squaw Peak. Orange has always been a favorite color of mine, so seeing the bright orange moss on this tree was very pleasing to my eye. I had to take this opportunity to capture this lively color.



The Festival of Color, celebrated by Krishna followers, was of course my other orange filled colorful event. Taking part of this event was thrilling! There is nothing like 1000’s and 1000’s of people throwing colorful chalk particles up in the air. I made sure I purchased some orange chalk to cover myself and those around me. The colorful cloud was an amazing site to see! I thoroughly enjoyed this experience-minus the fact that I got a hand full of chalk thrown in my eyes (ironically yup it was orange) and I lost my contact. Hare Krishna!

It is Written...

Have you ever noticed how some peoples birthdays seem to just stretch on for days? Maybe even weeks? Well my roommate’s birthday is one that continued to be celebrated several days after. I am not complaining as I was able to take part in half-off sushi on Tuesday. I’m not a huge sushi goer, as I have had a few bad experiences with it, but this time around was a turning point for me. I dunno if it was the part that it was only half off or the sushi was delicious. I ordered a California roll and some Asian fry’s. When you order fry’s do you honestly expect the waiter to bring out four foot-long fry’s stacked Lincoln log style? To my surprise that’s how it was served! I was furious that there were only four until I realized that each one was stuffed with who knows what! It turned out to be a tasty surprise. Thanks Mikato’s and Julie.
I love how connected and spontaneous weekends can become. Who would have thought that while playing Mad Gad Friday night at the cabin would lead to the Sunday afternoon film? The correct phrase “Interview with the Vampire” was splurted out by my roommate. No one had a clue what that was until he said it was a movie. We ended up watching it today. It turned out to be a pleasant surprise as we witnessed Brad Pit, Tom Cruise, Antonio Banderez, and Kristen Dunst wreak havoc as vampires. Take that Twilight! Speaking of twilight, I was privileged to take part in a mid-night hike to the Y with only the light of the moon. It was freezing.

Every once in a while you find yourself receiving that phone call that just sends you rushing to the rescue. For some their wife’s water broke, others their roommate’s car just got towed, or a flat tire. But for me, my call was a request to assists two vagabonds in a special ritual and ceremony; so I obviously found myself speeding around south Provo to take part in. I wasn’t given many details about the origin of this particular event but I was intrigued and honored to be included. My individual part of this extravaganza was to be the transporter of the pledge and photographer. I felt I did a good job documenting this most important occasion. I won’t go into too much detail as in the masterminds behind this will be writing the full account shortly; I wouldn’t want to steal their thunder. But I will note that I have found myself extremely sore from climbing a special tree chimpanzee style. I mean it had been a while since I last climbed a huge tree, tonight was also the first time I may have been legitimately called a tree hugger.

Bonfire, Baking, and Beams

What is the relationship between: a Bonfire, Balancing Beams, and Baking a Birthday Cake? Subliminally you may have thought the capital letters made up my average report card, and you are right! But if you thought a little harder you probably figured out these events made up my weekend. I attended my first gymnastic competition Friday night. BYU’s gymnastic team dominated the meet. I was very impressed with how each girl was able to jump, flip, twist, and stick their landings.
After an evening full of watching girls balance on four inch beams, flipping off the vault, and rotating several times on the bars; we headed up the canyon for a bonfire. Bonfires bring together quite the random group of individuals, but that is the beauty of those events. This night was no different. I knew many of those who were huddled around the blazing fire, but an interesting part about the night was when we were surprised as unknown car showed up and decided to join our group. I’m not even sure how it all worked out, but it did. I was too busy being captivated with the millions of stars in the clear sky. I love space and find it so fascinating; astronomy was one of my favorite classes I’ve taken. I used to be able to find and name all the constellations, but unfortunately I’m now lucky to point out a handful.
With my roommate’s birthday this weekend, my friend and I took advantage of it by baking an intense birthday cake. Baking is an all around good thing, I’d day. It’s relaxing, enjoyable, and the end product you can show off and eat. We went all out and baked a double layer chocolate cake with nutella frosting. You should have been there; all I can say is it did look as good as it tasted, it was amazing!

GoldenEye's and Masquerades!

Every now and then there is the opportunity when one is able to dress up for a night out on the town. I enjoy these moments thoroughly when I am able to pull out my favorite lime-green colored dress shirt, and a bright colored tie. This weekend’s special event was a semi-formal Masquerade ball birthday party. So I made sure my double-winders knot was perfect, and my shoes were shined. Once I finished, my roommate and I left to pick up our dates; which ended up with odds in our favor, two too one. They were dressed to kill as they say. It worked. As we arrived to the large villa, we found the party was already bumping. We were each given a decorated mask and asked to participate in a photo opt to document this celebration. We enjoyed dancing to some interesting music, and eating some tasty munchies.

James Bond movies are classics. The action, the awesome gadgets, the girls, the spy’s, the explosions, the girls, ’Q’,007, the conspiracy’s, and the bond girls. I was pleased to see that a television channel took the adequate amount of time to air these great films. There was a marathon of Bond films all week, I believe or maybe just the weekend. The most played was Goldeneye. One of the all time best Bond movies ever. It may have been all the hours I spend growing up on this Nintendo 64 game that created my love for this Bond film. Surprisingly the TV channel had the same feelings I had for this movie as it seemed to play three times in a row.

Free concerts rock! Literally…

No Trespassing Signs are Optional

My weekly goal is to fit in at least one hiking adventure. So far I have been able to reach my goal for the last several weeks. My interest in photography; along with my enjoyment of nature and hiking has led me to make this a routine. This week’s hiking destination was stumbled across by my friends during their run. They weren’t able to make it to the top of the peak (for fear of coming in contact of a wild cougar), but that failed attempt led them to try again and they decided to include me this time around. Thank you! Not gonna lie as we started the hike we were all a little skeptical as our shoes were encaked in inches of mud and we were slipping everywhere; but our end point-a random gazebo found at the top of the peak-was just too appealing for us to pass up, so we pressed forward. As we paused to admire some mysterious footprints, a heard of white-tail deer began stampeding down the mountain side. We quickly hid in some shrubbery and started rapidly taking pictures as if we worked for National Geographic. Once the deer were out of our site we continued on our way up the trail. When we reached the gazebo we all began wondering who in the world would build a perfectly good gazebo way out in the middle of nowhere on this hill. The many “No Trespassing” signs, found around the gazebo, to us were optional. We felt this particular gazebo was not getting enough use out of it as it should. We felt obligated to change that-so we made a tasty lunch in the gazebo and began thoroughly exploring around it. While enjoying the breathtaking views; we were privileged to witness some rare creatures called harpies. Luckily those who I came with were quite educated on them, and were able to relate to them in a very intimate way-I’d say they may have been obsessed with them.
Remember to take the path less traveled.
One of the greatest reliefs in life is when you finish speaking in sacrament meeting.