Catching Up

So I realized the other day that it has been forever since I've been on here... I guess it's time to change that!

I won't say too much but I will blog through pictures to do a very quick summary... ready? Begin!


Trefoil Ranch in the Winter:

Look how deep the snow is!!



Icicles behind the lodge

St. George Parade of homes with my Parents and Sister:

They have Trees in their bathroom :-)

I LOVE this picture :-)

Random Things I've discovered/learned/observed:

My parents love me - The first time I went home after Nala's death this is what was waiting for me at the top of the stairs. I nearly wanted to cry but I think it actually made me feel better :-)

This is what the Outdoor Equipment room at Trefoil is SUPOSED to look like (I spent a long time cleaning it...)

This is what happens to Trefoil shirts after girls tire of them - they end up at Savers

This is how trees are planted :-)

My professor is amazing - she brings food to class and feeds us!

Nature is Beautiful!

These are the weirdos you find when you go to Walmart (seriously I walk in to return something and there are Kate and Bryan sitting by Ronald... reading a book. Random!

Finally (my time is limited right now but I promise more will be added later) - I fractured my toe last night. Awesome huh? Want to hear the story? Perhaps the lamest story ever? So I was sitting in the library and moved my chair closer to the computer and somehow my toe got underneath the chair and I sat on it. My toe was hurting like nothing else but I figured it was just sore - well when it kept throbbing and had a bruise I knew something was up. I went to Instacare with Kate and discovered that my toe was fractured... yeah awesome? Especially great since I'm leaving this Thursday to go to present at a conference up in Washington and in 1 1/2 weeks I'm going to Disneyland... Ouch!

A Blog about a Dog

Today has been one of the hardest days I've had in a very long time. I got a phone call around 6pm from my parents telling me that my dog Nala was at the vet and having a hard time breathing. Through some x-rays the vet discovered that my dog had congestive heart failure and only had a few weeks left to live. After taking her home my mom noticed that she was only getting worse and was suffering really bad. Before they had a chance to take her back to the vet she was gone. I can honestly say that this little dog was a part of our family. We've raised her since she was a puppy and have all become really attached to her.

Her life began on a cool April night in 1995. We had wondered for a while if our dog Lady was pregnant - we took her to the vet and although the vet had told us that she wasn't, we kids still hoped. Our parents had just gotten home from a Jazz game when the scratching started. Our second dog Cuddles was going crazy at the backdoor. We let her in and she turned in circles, ran outside, turned in circles and then ran back to us. I felt like I was watching an episode of Lassie :-). We went outside and found Lady on the back porch underneath an old basinet with 4 little puppies by her. It felt like Christmas - we couldn't believe it! We heard some whimpering from a little ways off and followed the noise. It was there we discovered this cute little off white puppy. Somehow she had been seperated from the bunch. This little dog was soon after Nala (I had an obsession with the Lion King at the time). My parents promised that we could keep one of the puppies and while we did argue a bit it was me who convinced everybody that we should keep the fiesty little runt of the group, and so we did.

Some of my fondest memories of childhood include this little dog. I remember trying to get her to climb up the stairs when she was a puppy, encouraging her to not sit and whimper when she got frustrated. I remember the walks I used to take with her around my neighborhood. I remember the warmth of her little body as she would curl up next to me at night. And later in life, especially in college, when I would spend weeks away from home. Everytime I would come through that door she was always there at the top of the stairs so excited to see me; her tail wagging so quickly and excitedly that her whole body would literally shake.

I still can't believe that she's really gone. It really does seem like I'm in some sort of horrible nightmare and keep waiting to wake up from it. 12 hours ago she was her normal sweet self... how quickly things can change. It really makes me take a step back and look at life. Things can change in a matter of hours, minutes and even seconds. Now is the time to make the most of life. Cherish those you hold dear, no matter how human or canine they may be, because you never know when they will be gone. To quote Roger Caras "Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole."

RIP Nala - you will be missed so much more than you know. We love you.

A Dark Christmas and a Bubbly New Year

Christmas Break never lasts long enough. I've talked to so many people who couldn't wait to come back to school because they were so "bored." I used to be one of them but something changed this time. More than anything I think it's because I know this is the last real break I'll ever have - the last three weeks where I don't have a job and nothing too adult is expected of me. It was my last chance to sit around for days enjoying rest and family. There were so many days when I just stayed in my pajamas all day because what use did I have to get all dressed when I wasn't going anywhere but the next room? Ok - so maybe this sounds a little lazy but can you blame me? Before I know I'm going to have to be a real adult - It honestly kind of scares me...

So a bit about my break:

I got home on Wednesday of finals week - so nice! I've never been able to leave that early! The only real final I had was Wednesday morning and it was a take home test that we just had to go and turn in - very difficult ;-) After I got home I went out to eat with a friend and then my good friend Chelsey came over and we left for the airport to pick up our awesome friend from camp - Stacie. Wow... that sentence just sounds weird... let's try that again : After I got home I went out to eat with a friend and then my good friend Boots came over and we left for the airport to pick up our awesome friend from camp - Sunshine. Phew - much better! Anyways! After the happy reunion we went out to eat and drove around the city. Over the next few days I got to spend a lot of time with Sunshine which really made me homesick for camp... luckily! I got a bit of a taste of it because the two us went with our old camp director to Moab to do a mini camp. It was so much fun! I can honestly say that working for the Girl Scouts is the best job I've EVER had!

On that first Sunday I got to go with Kate and my parents to Music and the Spoken word downtown (note to self: When going to a rather large event after a huge snow storm in which you will have to park blocks away from your destination, do NOT wear open toed high heels. I could not feel my feet!). I love going to the broadcasts and especially this time of year because the Choir had just had their Christmas concert and so after the broadcast they gave the audience a mini concert - if you didn't get a chance to watch the December 14th broadcast - do it! It is so amazing! And definitely catch the whole concert when it comes out to dvd next winter.

After the broadcast Kate and I headed up to North Ogden to go to one of our best friends farewells. Getting there was not easy! The snow storm was still hitting up there and the church we were going to was on top of a hill. I honestly didn't think my car would make it! I got stuck a few times and kept slidding - it was really scary! But we made it and just before the opening prayer too! It was really fun meeting because I was surrounded by some of my best friends. There were three rows off to the side that were full of people who had come just for Amy. On my row were my old Juniper friends - i.e. some of my best friends. I had Mckenzie on my right and Dani, Kate and Bryan to my left. In front of me were some of my great camp friends/school friends: Squishy, Sunshine, Firefly (Melanie), and Sam (Skywalker). By them and in front of them were more friends that I knew from school. I honestly can't describe how amazing it was. I loved being surrounded by those people! And then there was my sweet Amy up on the stand. I'm so excited that she's serving a mission but I'm not gonna lie when I say I am going to miss her SO much. Having been through 3 years of college and 2 summers of camp together, we've gotten really close and I'm sad to see her leave but I know the people of Chili need her sweet spirit more than us Utahns do :-) After the farewell we all headed over to Amy's house and ate, played games and chatted (and got surprise visitors - Chicken Little showed up!). When it was time to leave we found that the storm had passed and the roads that had been so menacing before were now just fine.

Jumping ahead a week and a half - our Christmas was very interesting. The morning went by as any normal Christmas morning does. We slept in, ate biscuits and gravy for breakfast and opened gifts around 11am. Since my Dad's sister moved away we've never really gone anywhere on Christmas day (my Mom's family gets together before the holiday) - that being said, we all planned to spend the day inside relaxing and enjoying the gifts we had received. Imagine our surprise when at 12:30 our power went out. We weren't too surprised I guess because of the wind that was howling outside but when my Dad called the power company to report our outage - he got the message that our power probably wouldn't come back on until at least 7pm that night. With this knowledge we all buckled down and prepared to spend a cold powerless Christmas day. Instead of watching the new movies we had received we just sat around and talked, caught up in our journals, and read books. When it got dark we pulled out our laterns and candles and lit them. It was a little strange walking around my house with only the light of a candle here and there but at the same time it was kind of fun. It made me feel like we had been transported a hundred years back. When 7pm came we called the power company to check the situation and instead of giving us a time when power would come on they just told us "as soon as possible." We spent the rest of the night huddled in blankets and chatting. The power didn't end up coming until just before midnight. It was very odd going 12 hours without power but we didn't really complain too much. We had food to eat (we had prepared it the day before and it was supposed to be cold :-) ) and things to do. I actually feel kinda blessed that we were able to spend "an old fashioned Christmas" together - it's something that will probably never happen again.

On New Years Eve I decided to be a party pooper and spend it at home with my family. Things went pretty much the same way as they did Christmas except this time with power and therefore a movie playing in the back ground - we all sat around and talked and played games. Maybe not the most exciting thing to do but it was exactly what I wanted.

The rest of my break was very laid back. As I said before, I spent most of my days sitting at home. I read, played video games, watched movies, decorated for Christmas, and just spent time with my family. I still cannot tell you how wonderful it was! I did go out a few times with friends - I spent a fun day in Utah Valley with Chelsey and I hung out quite a few times with Kate and Bryan.

Here are a few random pictures from break:

My house all decorated:



Music and the Spoken word (our view):

Pics from the Living Planet Aquarium! (Went there with Kate and Bryan)

The beautiful temple and statue on Christmas Eve

(it's a family tradition to go and see the lights on

Christmas Eve)

Our Happy tree on Christmas day:

170 of the cookies I made... I spent over 5 1/2 hours baking one day! These sugar cookies are seriously amazing! We (I made half and my mom the other) also made Ginger snaps, Snickerdoodles, Chocolate balls, Russian Tea Cakes, Rice Krispies squares and Muddy Buddies.

In all the break went way too fast - before I knew it I was packing my car and driving South. It's fun to be back at school but part of me stayed up north. I'm so torn in my emotions of late - I'm ready to be done with school and back up north. Salt Lake is home and I feel so at ease and happy when I'm there. Then again - I'm scared to graduate and face the real world and Cedar City has brought so many wonderful changes to my life and I enjoy my time here away from it all and yet in the middle of it. I guess the best thing I can do is enjoy my last semester down here - live life to the fullest. I'm never going to get this time back - as my mom so eliquently puts it, before I know it I'll be married with children and wondering where it all went. And it's those times, she says, when you are up late with a crying baby or sick child that you look back to what you did in your youth and young adult years and smile and be happy that you did what you did. She says to live life to the fullest so that when you look back you won't have regrets.

So here is to my last semester as an SUU college student. I plan to enjoy every minute of it.

Another semester done and another step closer to graduation - crazy! I'm doing my best not to think about the fact that in 5 1/2 months I will be thrust into the adult world and have to start making a living for myself. *shudder*

Instead! I find that filling my mind with things like Christmas, Movies, Sunshine's visit this week, Going home, family, baking cookies, Christmas, the posibility of working at camp again, Amy/Juniper leaving for 18 months, The Magic of Trefoil Ranch Documentory DVD, Christmas, Finishing Christmas presents, Music, Twilight aka mind junk food, wishing it would snow, playing around and being silly with friends and did I mention Christmas? - is so much better! Man I love this time of year!

Also - Check out the trailer for my Honors class presentations! So amazing!

Why can't life be a musical?

Wouldn't life be great if everything was like a musical? Whenever you get a profound thought everyone around you would burst into song and dance with you? How many times have you thought of a song that perfectly describes what you're feeling/thinking?

For those of you don't know I've worked at a Girl Scout camp for the past two summers. This last summer a few of us were discussing this "musical concept" and decided - wait! Why can't life be a musical?! So we went to the downstairs of the lodge and planned a whole musical number. The next day during lunch when everyone was there we started playing music and we got up and started to sing and dance around. After we were done we sat down and acted like nothing had happened. It was amazing! The kids loved it and so did the counselors (Only those who were at the "planning session" knew about our plan so we surprised half of the staff). Since this was such a success we decided to keep this up every week and so we did! Below are a few pictures that were taken during various "numbers." I'd post videos but sadly I don't have any - others do :-(

These are from our original musical number "King of New York"

This was from the Admin staff's rendition of "Do you Believe in Magic" in costumes made from an old parachute.

Last but definitely not least! These last 3 are from our final and perhaps most involved production of "Step in Time" from Mary Poppins - it was completely amazing!

The main reason for this blog is that this last weekend reminded me how amazing musicals can really be. Last Saturday Dani, Nate, and I went to the SUU's production of "Musical of Musicals!: The Musical" - it was hilarious! I would recommend this to anyone! It's a musical production that tells the same story through 5 different styles of musicals. The story is about a girl who can't pay her rent, her boyfriend who pays it in the end, the "evil" landlord, the lady who always gives advice, and two chorus members who play random parts throughout the show. It was hilarious to see all the obscure references to different plays (you could definitely tell who loved musicals as those people were constantly laughing while everyone else laughed but looked a little confused).

Also last weekend my household was introduced to "Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog." My life has been changed... I'm not even kidding! I watched it well over 10 times (I'm a little embarrassed to admit the actual amount) last weekend alone! I've posted it below but I warn you unless you want to get the music stuck in your head and become addicted don't watch! But it will change you... I promise ;-)

The moral of the story? Make your life a musical! If you feel like breaking out into song and dance just do it! Who cares what others think? In fact - get some friends to join you and make a scene! Like these people at a mall in California did :-)

Highs and Lows

Have you ever noticed that after you have an extended period of good weeks you're due for a bad one? Man I hate that pattern in life...

So these last few weeks have seriously been amazing! I don't know what it is! Life has seriously been going my way! As you can see from my last couple of blogs I've definitely had a lot of adventures this school year and am happy for it! Since the last entry there's been General Conference (how can you not feel good after that? Overwhelmed a bit... but happy!), a class trip to Ruby's Inn in Bryce Canyon (Very interesting... we had to observe their customer service and later we get to present to the owners and the Dean of our college what they're doing wrong... yeah! Great! That'll go over well...), a trip home and several other excitements.

My trip home was perhaps the best thing thats happened of everything else. I was able to leave last Friday around 10:30 am and head up north. Around 2pm I met up with one of my best friends from camp Boots (Chelsey to the real world) and we went to lunch, went shopping, and I helped her prepare some stuff for a YSA activity. It was so great that I was able to go up and spend time with her - It really bites being so far from home and people sometimes... After hanging out with her I traveled with my family up to Kaysville to go to my cousin's wedding. It was so great to see a lot of my extended family - all I can say is that whomever marries me is gonna have to put up with a lot of crazies! Then on Saturday I was able to see my friend Kensey - we were best friends from elementary to high school, we've since gone separate ways but we're still pretty close. After going home I got to talk for a while with Crazy Corey - oh man that kid is awesome! Yet another person that lives to far away. Then in the evening I went with my parents up to Hill Air Force Space to get my Dad's Military ID (He works for the Air Force fyi...) and then we went out to eat at the Burger Barn (It was featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on the Food Network. If you ever get the chance - eat there! Their Buffalo burger, french fries, and fried mushrooms are amazing!). Lastly Sunday I was able to spend even more time with my parents, scan a few old family photos, and visit Nate and Derek as I headed back down to Cedar City. Overall the weekend was so great because I got to connect with a lot of people that I don't normally get to see. I left home feeling so happy! I seriously have some of the best friends and family in the whole world!

I don't know what it is but the last couple of weeks I've been so upbeat about everything - nothing seems to get me down! Things that would normally bug me haven't phased me in the least - I've been able to brush them aside and just laugh at them (Elder Wirthlin had the right idea in Conference :-) ). It has been such an amazing thing! I've loved being able to be so happy and upbeat! That was... until this Monday hit and something changed. It didn't really start out as one thing but rather a combination of things - midterms (which have never effected me that much before), work, finances, sibling stupidity, late night projects and a little friend drama. I was still handling things pretty well despite the fact that I could feel myself slipping but Wednesday things all came to a head when my Mom was admitted back into the hospital.

The story of my Mom's health problems is definitely a long and involved one which I won't go into too much detail about here. In Reader's Digest version (yes this is the short version): Back in 2002 my Mom went in for a routine hernia repair surgery. She'd gone in for several before and never really had any problems. A few days after the surgery my Mom started to feel a little funny and talked to the doctor about it - he felt she was overreacting and nothing was wrong. Well - a few days later they found out she had Staph infection. After several treatments, surgeries and nearly dying my Mom recovered... or so we thought. It was later discovered that she had a fistula ("an abnormal connection or passageway between two epithelium-lined organs or vessels that normally do not connect." Basically - not good...) in her intestines. Hoping to solve this she was put on a feeding IV (not sure the real name of it) for a few months - she couldn't eat or drink at all and get all of her nutrition from an IV she had to connect to every night. The end seemed to be in sight when she began to heal and things started to get back to normal - then earlier this year things turned again for the ugly. After having lost a lot of weight my Mom again went in for surgery - this time to not only repair a hernia but to close the hole in her stomach that had been there since 2002 (there was only a layer of skin separating her stomach from the outside... lovely picture isn't it?). Again everything seemed to be going according to plan - the surgery went well, the wound was closed and everyone was excited... but then, again, complications were had, followed by more surgeries, long hospital stays and several never ending nights. Finally in June everything was passed - she was feeling great and healthy and all looked to be going well... until this week. On Tuesday night my parents made a horrifying and discouraging discovery - it appeared my Mom had another Fistula - hoping they were wrong they went to the doctor who only confirmed their suspiscion. From there she was readmitted to the hospital and is now back on the feeding IV in hopes that the problem will heal itself in a few months (because the doctor does not want to have to open her up for another surgery - after all of the complications and problems my family definitely agrees). She'll be released in a few days which is great but that doesn't mean that the problem will be gone.

This all leads me to wonder - why are some people's bodies different than others? What makes some people heal so well and others to have complication after complication? Why does someone have to go through the same exact thing more than once? Especially in relation to health problems - once is hard enough but to go through it again is even worse... I'm sure the wise would say "you go through something twice because you did not learn all that you had to the first time" and in most cases I readily agree... but in this situation? Why does a person have to suffer so much? What does it take for a body to heal and get better?

*sigh* But here we are getting carried away. I know that things could definitely be worse *knock on wood* and I'm so grateful that they're not. A wise returned missionary bore his testimony last Sunday and said "I am grateful to Heavenly Father that He allows us to have trials." It's true that trials truly refine you and make you better. In fact this week in my Institute Class we talked about adversity and how things make us stronger. I've long had as my motto "What does not destroy me makes me strong" and it is definitely true. It's amazing that through trials and the lowest points in your life you find yourself turning your thoughts to your Eternal Father and you draw yourself closer to Him. Sometimes I wonder why it takes hardships for us to do this. Shouldn't we be seeking Him at all times? Especially in our happy times? Then again we are mortal and we let the things of this world take precedence and we forget the more important things in life...

Anyways - now that I've gone all deep, sentimental and ponderful - it's time to share some pictures! These are a few pictures I found among old photo albums - enjoy taking a look at the younger Becky :-)

I'm the cute one in front ;-)

This is me with my Grandma Nielsen - definitely one of my cuter days ;-)

Yeah - by age 4 I could totally fly my own helicopter. You're jealous.

This was taken after my Baptism

I'm the small cute one on the left - yay for old family photos!

Ok so this is a more recent one - I think this is when I was going off to my 2nd year at SUU - but I love it! My brother is pretty much amazing!

My Pointless Major...

Graduating is scary. Completely. I know I'm not graduating until May but at my school they make you fill out graduation papers the semester before you graduate so that all the paperwork is done and it doesn't all have to be last minute. It really is a smart idea but it's got me so freaked out! After May my life will be completely different - No worrying about housing, signing up for classes or homework just working and be an adult. Uh... scary! Just thinking about it makes me shudder! All of my life I've had my path set out for me - you graduate elementary you to to jr. high, finish there and go to high school, after high school go to college, after college... grow up? There is no set thing to do anymore - no specific path to follow. All that lies before you is an open and endless field - it's freaky! I have so many options and no idea which of them to choose. Do I get more schooling? Do I get a job? Where do I live? What do I do? I hate not knowing the future! That and I honestly do not like my major so getting a job in it doesn't sound too appealing... So Why am I majoring in something I don't like? Well... Let me tell you a story...

Once upon a time there was this girl. Let's call her... Becky. So when Becky was in high school she absolutely loved English; it was her favorite subject. She loved reading and writing (so much so that she even wrote her own novel (which, if you are ever bored completely out of your mind or feel like losing some extra braincells, you can read said novel at http://www.fictionpress.com/s/1367020/1/Alliquen. I'm warning you - do not expect a whole lot). So upon entering college Becky decided what better subject to major in than English? Well, as her first semester progressed and she talked with others of her major she decided that she only had two options with an English degree; She could either teach or write. Deciding that she had neither the patience, desire, or talent to do either of these options she decided it was a good idea to change her major. But to what?

Becky thought back to all the classes she had taken in high school and tried to pinpoint which one she had liked best (besides English). She remembered taking an Accounting class and somewhat enjoying it. Weighing her options she decided to change her major to Accounting (after all it's a more practical major right?).

Flash forward a few semesters.

Becky decided that her memory had been wrong. She hated Accounting. As hard as she tried nothing seemed to connect or stick in her memory. Slightly frustrated she decided it was once again time to change her major. Looking at her credits, she decided to stay in the Business department so that she could still graduate on time. But what to choose? Business Management. Now that seemed like a brilliant idea. It's broad and will look fairly good on a resume.

Flash forward a semester.

Oh how wrong Becky was... This major, while logical, was definitely not going to work out. Economics became her worst enemy and she refused to stay in a degree that would force her to take more of these horrible classes then she had to! There was a problem though... what to do now? She was within 3 semester of graduating and had no desire to start over in a new department - that would mean more years at her college (which, though she loved the people and the atmosphere, was getting so old that she wanted to shoot herself in the foot). So after consulting with her academic advisor, who looked at her credits and let her know what she could do and still graduate on time, Becky decided to go with Hotel, Resort, and Hospitality Management. This was a major where you sat in classes and learned about the hospitality industry: hotels, restaurants, cruise lines, etc. Upon graduation it was then expected that you would go out and become a manager at one of these places. Well, Becky had always loved to travel so she thought - what the hey? This could be exciting.

Flash forward a semester or so.

Becky once again realized how wrong she was. While it did prove interesting to learn about the hospitality industry, Becky realized that she had little desire to get a job in it. Especially after she experienced what it is like to work at a hotel. Granted she had an off experience as the hotel she worked at was owned by a bunch of racist, sexist, cheap-scape lunatics (no exaggeration - they only liked you if you were an Indian, a male, willing to work for nothing, didn't care if you were spied upon, didn't care that they never paid any of their bills on time and were willing to explain to outraged guests why they had no water, could not re-enter their rooms as their key stopped working and the locks wouldn't work - leaving all of their belongings inside and them outside, and why their rooms were dirty although the system said that they were clean. Yeah... talk about a party.) but she still knew that she could not do this. It was way too late in the game, however, for her to change her major once again. Thus she decided to just stick with it and graduate. After all - there are tons of companies out there that are willing to hire anyone as long as they have a degree. Wait a minute... doesn't that mean that Becky could have stuck with her original major of English and been in the exact same boat as she was now only then she would have a creditable sounding major and in something she truly loved. Why yes it does. Ah the irony.... Pretty much the moral of the story is if you are majoring in something you love - stick with it!

Anyways... so now I'm dealing with a major where I have to sit in classes and pretend to be interested in it and in using it in my future. Great. Ok, so it's not completely horrible - a lot of the information actually is pretty interesting (especially in my cooking classes as if I were to get a job in Hospitality it would be on the restaurant side of things) it's just difficult to be majoring in something that you don't really love. I honestly thought this major was going to be a lot of travel information - learning about destinations and the like - but more than anything it is about how to run hotels. Yeah... don't want to do that! I guess it really would be kind of silly to teach us about different destinations and such as that would be more along the line of being a travel agent and that industry is pretty much non existent (seriously - would you rather call a travel agent or go to travelocity.com?). I dunno... it just adds to the complications of the future lol.

In other news I got the chance to go to Las Vegas yesterday and tour a few hotels - that was fairly exciting. I went down with other people of my major and we were given a behind the scenes tour of two properties. That is something I actually do enjoy about my major - we get the chance to go places and see things that normal guests don't. It was really interesting to see the differences between the two places and to see what really goes on behind the scenes and how things operate. This trip taught me something very valuable - I never want to work in Vegas. I already knew how crazy, dirty, and fast paced Vegas was and this trip only served in confirming it. The people there are seriously insane! That and while Vegas is a fun place to visit I'd never want to live there (sorry to those of you who do). All I can say is that it was nice at the end of the day to be able to leave the city and get away from it all - I know Cedar is small and somewhat podunk-ish but I would rather live here the rest of my life then there - and that's saying something!