New Stuff

I am writing this post from my new best friend.

Yes. That is right.

I finally bought a new computer.

It is a Macbook Pro and I love it.

A lot.

The End of My Childhood

I have grown up with Harry Potter.

I remember reading the first book when I was in fifth grade and I loved it.
The books have always had a special place in my heart and I think it sometimes makes the movies a little frustrating for me.
But I have to admit, this last one was great.
They did such an excellent job tying everything up; it was fulfilling.
My eyes were closed for at least a third of it, dang Nagini! That snake gave me the chills.

We went down to Ogden because we didn't want to have to sit and wait all day.
Oh the joys of assigned seats.
And our seats rocked!

Brent. Brooke. Me. and Our girl Andi.

Andi and Lord Voldemort.

Our awesome costumes. Thank you Dumb for thinking of Pooh and Tigger. And thank you Needham family for letting us borrow them.
(In case you are super confused, the Winnie the Pooh movie came out this weekend as well and we were too cheap to make HP costumes.)

So long Harry Potter, thanks for making the last 10 years of my life amazing!

Gotta Love the River!

So here I am on a Saturday night, blogging instead of doing something crazy... but I think I need a break from crazy. Especially after today.

Up past Preston there is a river called the Oneida Narrows that is very popular to float down on tubes. I did it two summers ago and it was really fun. So today, Kaela, Karen, Alyssa and I decided to go floating. We got up there, put on our sunscreen, and were ready for some fun!

It is about a two hour float if you start from the very top and even though there are little rapids along the way, for the most part, it is a pretty relaxing ride.

So we are going down the river and we come to a fork. Kaela and I go left, Alyssa and Karen go right. Once we get to the end where the two reconnect, Kaela and I keep going and the other two are nowhere in sight. I guess the shallow water and bottom caused the little air openings to come undone and she had to stop to re-inflate her tube. They eventually caught up to us and at one part Alyssa even flipped out of her tube, but was able to get back on.

Now here is the fun part (yes, that is total sarcasm). We were coming up a long set of rapids and all of a sudden I realized my tube was going flat, and fast. I didn't have time to get over to the side, so I hung on to what was left of my tube and took the rapids with my body.

It hurt. Really bad.

I tried to find the bottom so I could stop myself by standing, but it was too deep. Then I would hit another rock and fumble around trying to find something to stop myself and then it would be too deep again.

I was so scared! But surprisingly calm. I am a confident swimmer and I knew that panicking would only cause me to drown. I figured as long as I kept my head up and didn't hit it, I would be fine.

I caught up to Karen and tried to get on her tube with her but didn't have the strength or footing to pull myself up. So the next rapid came and once again I bounced from rock to rock. Karen ended up falling out too and for a minute I thought we were both in trouble.

She was able to get back on and by this time, the rapids were pretty much done so I was able to swim over to Kaela and Alyssa and we got out on the side. A very nice family was fishing right where we got out and they drove me down to get my car.

The whole mess really happened in less than five minutes, but it felt like forever. I now have really nice scrapes all up my legs and on my feet, as well as my arm and my behind. I am sore, but I am alive and happy. My tube has a huge gash in it. I guess I feel better knowing that it really did pop, rather than going through all of that just because it came undone and let the air out. But I really don't ever want to do that again. I like floating the river, but next time I am getting a higher quality tube, I think it might be worth the extra $10.

Trying New Things

Last week Kaili and Alyssa decided to try out Latin dancing and came home raving about it. There is a community center that gives lessons for an hour and then has open dancing. So Kaela and I decided that we were going to try it out this week.

Tuesday came along and I was debating whether or not I actually wanted to try it. Organized dancing isn't really my thing. I love dancing when I am in control and can do whatever I want. I am not very coordinated so I struggle with footwork and spinning and everything else. So I decided I was not going to go and then of course I ended up there.

It wasn't bad. I thought it was interesting. But I didn't like it. There is one thing to check off my list. I have attempted Latin dancing.

Now on to country dancing.

I have three different stories.

1) My freshman year I had a good friend named Nat who invited me to go country dancing with her. I went twice and both times were train-wrecks. She was chasing a boy named Jord (who she ended up marrying) and because I was shy and didn't know anyone else, I got preyed upon by the creepers. I was terrible at dancing and didn't have fun. I vowed I would never go again.

2) Last winter Andi and I promised Bill that we would go country dancing with him and his buddies. I wasn't too excited but Bill is one of my really good friends and I knew that he would make it fun. The night comes for us to go...and I bail. I couldn't do it and his begging couldn't even change my mind.

3) Monday night Kaela and I drove out to Lewiston to watch the fireworks. We met up with Bill and some other people and Kaela brings up Latin dancing for Tuesday night. Bill says he wants to try it out and then brings up the instance last winter when I dogged country dancing. So once again I was committed to going with him and this time I couldn't bail.

That was last night.

And yes, I will admit that I actually had fun.

Today I Miss My Favorite Friend.

It has been one year since the amazing South American adventure and I can't believe how fast the time has flown by. Most of the people I went with are now graduated and moving on with their lives. Nat is living at home in Midway and is going to Taiwan in January (hopefully I will be with her!) and Andi is preaching the gospel to the Marshall Islands. I loved being with those girls, they really made the trip so much fun and it was nice that we were all able to stay close once we got back. Nat and I had classes together and Andi really became my favorite friend. (We decided that we were favorite friends because we all have a lot of people that we call our best friends and we wanted to be the one and only favorite friend, super cheesy, I know.)

So here is to our adventures....
...and here is to missionary Andi. Love ya tons girl, 18 months are going to fly by!

Happy 4th!

This is from the 4th of July last year. Lil' Steve and I watched the fireworks in a field and took funny pictures.

So this year, a bunch of us went to Freedom Fire at the stadium for the fireworks show and Kaela and I decided to keep up the funny pictures.

Enjoy!