Neon Trees Concert. Fantastic. I also couldn't hear for the next couple of days. But so worth it.

American Fork Canyon and the Summit of Mount Timpanogos at sunrise.

I pulled a well worth-it all nighter to hike the 12,000 feet elevation before sunrise.

I experienced fall for the first time. Don't ask about how many leaves I pressed in my American Heritage text book.

I learned how to use public transportation and made frequent trips to Salt Lake City.

Saw the most breathtaking sunset behind the temple.

Bastille Concert. Incredible. I was able to listen and stand 10 feet away from the band through the whole concert. 

Enjoyed seeing the magical Temple Square Lights

 I made some unforgettable, life-time friends.

 And found my bridesmaids. Lol.

 Temple Tuesday is a thing and I want to keep it that way for the rest of my life.

And if I could describe my current self in a sentence, it would be: I am a BYU Basketball loving, life enthusiast, who plays the ukulele and sings to her plants, hikes and adventures on her weekends, has become an expert late-night paper writer, who has decided to pursue neuroscience and psychology. This is me.

Semester Reflections

If there has been one thing I've learned this semester, it is that I am terrible at keeping a blog.  Or updating it.

Any who, I've been reflecting on somethings.

1. My perception of time has changed.: I have this huge fascination with time and life.  Time is subjective.  As people we measure it with clocks, watches, and schedules.  As humans, we measure it with events, smells, memories- things that emotionally tie us to that point in time.  Being in college, a place where there is always somewhere to be and something to do, makes me think about what I really want to do with my future and what I am doing now that will get me to that point.  I believe that it is important to live in the "now", but not to forget about the eternal perspective.  Life doesn't end here on earth.  It also doesn't end after finals, or once I graduate college.  Life is constantly starting.  Every new choice I make, every decision starts life over again.  New memories are made.  Memories that will forever hold this moment in my timeline of events.

2. I believe in a God.  I place my faith in a God who loves me.  Who knows me so intimately with all of my faults, yet still loves me, unconditionally.  Who gives life a meaning that extends past the frustrations and victories of today,  I place my faith in Christ, my Savior and Redeemer, who holds the infinite weight of human mistakes, human trials, and human hope.

3. Christmas to me is not about presents, decorations, gingerbread houses, caroling, hot chocolate, or snow.  Christmas is a wonderful time of year because I celebrate the birth of my Savior.  He was the ultimate gift to this world and to me.  His teachings bring peace and happiness.  As I strive to be more Christlike through my actions I can't describe the joy that comes from it.

Farewell Talk

For those of you who don't know, I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  We are also commonly known as Mormons.  Yesterday, I gave my "Farewell Talk" in church.  Except I'm not going on a mission. Ha. Well, I decided to share it:

Hello!

I think it’s so awesome how our church is organized. Starting at primary ages of 12 and under, we have children practicing their public speaking. Young men and women have leadership positions in their quorums and classes, learning to be righteous “Captain Moroni’s,” as Sis. Reidhead would say. We are learning to stand for truth and righteousness as we go into the world and serve.

Henry B. Erying said, "The Lord and His Church have always encouraged education to increase our ability to serve Him and our Heavenly Father’s children. For each of us, whatever our talents, He has service for us to give. And to do it well always involves learning, not once or for a limited time, but continually”.

In ten days I will be entering BYU, located in Provo, UT. Their motto is: “Enter to learn, go forth to serve.” This is similar to Brother Erying’s statement.

We are on a journey through life- I think of it as an adventure. There is much change, and from that change comes trials, learning, and growth. We are always on a quest to find happiness. One of those small things that gives me happiness is serving others, and it becomes easier to serve others when we are well educated.

For The Strength of Youth it reads: He [Heavenly Father] wants us to educate our minds and to develop our skills and talents, our power to act well in our responsibilities, and our capacity to appreciate life. The education we will gain will be valuable to us during mortality and the life to come. Education will prepare us for greater service in the world and in the Church.”

Now, my dream job is to be a mother. No, I am NOT going to BYU for an MRS. Degree, I’m actually going to be studying both neuroscience and chemical engineering, and maybe even environmental science. I also want to participate in study abroad programs in college. Why? Because as our past prophet, Gordon B. Hinkley said: “It is so important that you young men and you young women to get all the education that you can. The Lord has said very plainly that His people are to gain knowledge of countries and kingdoms and of things of the world through the process of education, even by study and by faith.”

And with repeating the For Strength of Youth: We will have a greater capacity to appreciate life. I had a cool experience with my mom on Friday. I was inside writing my talk (one that I ended up throwing out when I read it this morning and started anew) when my mom yelled for me to come outside. She sounded excited, like she had just struck gold while watering our gardens. I went outside where she excitedly showed me how about 8 or 9 stick bugs had climbed out of the reaches of the water. As she pointed them out, I saw two preying mantises, and a couple scorpions. She came to the conclusion that this flower garden housed all of the predators of the bugs. I responded that all it needed was a few ladybugs. Now, if you don’t know much about bugs, you think, ladybugs are so cute and small, and the biggest harm they do is poop on your hand when you catch and play with them. But really, a ladybug eating aphids is comparable to a wolf eating their prey. Here is your random fact for the day; ants milk aphids just like we milk cows.

It’s moments like these where I marvel and appreciate everything that Heavenly Father has created.

I want to be educated to I can teach my children and nurture them. I want to be able to help them with homework or realize they can tackle the world and do great things. I want to teach them to appreciate life, cultures, and people. And most importantly, I want to teach them to rely on the Savior. That He is their best friend, and that they can pray and talk to Him whenever they need guidance, help, or a feeling of peace. There is so much evil and hate in the world today that it takes a lot to see any of the good. That is why we need to be Captain Moroni’s; defending our religion, freedom, peace, and families. That is why we go out and serve, to better our communities and realize our effect on one person may make a lasting impression.

In D&C130:18 it says, “Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.”

We should not only and be educated in school terms and in current events, but also in our gospel doctrines. I am so grateful for the hour of seminary I got each day in high school. That is where I truly learned and gained my testimony of Christ, that He loves me, that He loves each and every one of us. I learned of the Atonement and how it is applicable in my life. I know how truly involving the Lord in in every aspect of my life through daily prayer and scripture reading really helps me be happy. And if we have a righteous want, the Lord will provide.

My education didn't end when I ended high school, and it won’t conclude with my graduation of college. It will extend into the eternities. Life is a learning experience where we grow and just as our testimonies bloom.

Start the countdown

13 more days. Just under two more weeks, then it will be the ten hour drive to college. I am beyond ecstatic for the adventure that is about to start.

This summer has definitely been one for the books and I will remember it for its spontaneous adventures to the local museums, traveling to paradises at the bottom of a canyon, trips to the beach, lots of hiking, biking, working, traveling, swimming, and reading. All of my favorite things with my favorite people (my family).

Now, I apologize for the lack of posting these past few months, but time flies by and I have decided it flies by exponentially (yes, I'm referring to the math term.) Time seems to pass ever so slow when you are kid, then high school hits and suddenly you don't have time to do everything and have to learn time management.  Then, college approaches and the summer zooms by (see where the graph takes you?).

Now I am here, in the moment, of standing in line at the library, writing this post on my phone. (See, math is so useful, even technology has exploded and evolved exponentially.) That's what you have to do, live in the moment. With life rushing at us, we blink and the sun is suddenly rising, greeting and welcoming a new day.

Adventure Time (Day 2)

This day consisted of us hiking and swimming in Navajo Falls, Rock Falls, and Havasu Falls.  My brothers would grade each fall to their liking.  I couldn't do that.  Each is so unique and amazing in their own way.

This was Navajo Fall.  It wasn't as lime-rich as the other water, so instead of lime build up being EVERYWHERE, it was only in some spots.  The result, a pool of water that reminded me of deep irrigation water, because it was clear until somebody stepped onto the dirt and plants that covered the floor.

As we ventured onto Rock Falls, 

we realized people could jump off of it.

I never jumped off, but you could go underneath the falls and jump through the backside.

The backside was cold, with lime building up into stalactites along side moss.  It also seemed as if the ceiling was raining.

As we approached Havasu Falls,

we saw how it was a small scale of Mooney Falls.  It wasn't as powerful or as tall, but had an even more striking color of blue in the water.  We found fossils of rocks and leaves in limestone buildup.

Nature continues to amaze me, and I love exploring and seeing it all.  Though we spent almost three full days and hiked 30+ miles in all, my family and I still missed a lot.  The world has so much to offer.  As Ellie said it in UP "Adventure is out there!"

Adventure Time (First full day in the Canyon)

Let me just say, Havasupai was bomb.  It left me awestruck at the wonderful creations God has made for us.

Pictures don't give the falls any justice, but, it's a little easier to tell my adventure that way.

5:30 a.m. : we started our trek down the so called "Hill Top" to get to our camp site 10 miles away

We moved below the sand stone level of sediment to the red rock.

It amazes me how vibrant the colors of rocks can be.

It took us about 5 hours to reach our campsite.

We explored the area around us and caught up on sleep to get ready for the next day.

Beaver and Mooney Falls

As we started our hike to Mooney and Beaver Falls, we came upon what I thought was a dead end to a 50 foot drop down a cliff.  All I saw was a hole in the rock that looked like it went straight down, into nothing. I thought my brothers were joking that we would actually have to climb through it to get down the 50 foot cliff, boy was I wrong.

 We scaled down the terrifying cliff (apparently it was only frightening to me) to reach the base of Mooney Falls.

Those ladders were far from stable...

It was SOOOOOO worth it though.

This face was created by lime build up from the water, moss, and other green stuff that grew in rebound to the mist blowing off of the water fall.

We only stayed long enough to snap a few pictures before we headed down the trail towards Beaver Falls.

We went over the river-

 and through the vines.

 Vines as far as the eye could see.

It was unimaginably green for Arizona.

The water was phenomenal. Imagine crystal clear, light blue, powerade. That was the color of the water.

Beaver Falls was a set of about 5 tiers of short falls. 

One had a little cave that was filled with moss. Of course I went exploring!

Before long we realized we had already spent 2 hours there and needed to start heading back to Mooney Falls if we were going to swim there.  

 This view greeted us from the jungle of vines we had just trekked through. 

 It's a massive waterfall.

We had a blast fighting against the forceful turbulence of currents, wind, and water that came from the torrent of water streaming from the waterfall.

We then hiked on back to camp, having traveled 14 accumulative miles. 

We live in a World full of Wonders

One of the items on my bucket list is to visit all 7 natural wonders of the world. They are:
1. Grand Canyon
2. The Great Barrier Reef
3. Harbor at Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil
4. Mt. Everest
5. Aurora Borealis, a.k.a. Northern Lights
6. Paricutin Volcano, in Mexico
7. Victoria Falls, between Zambia and Zimbabwe in Africa


Just look how breathtaking the falls look! photo cred: http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/world-heritage/victoria-falls/

I've already checked off the Grand Canyon.  Last year my parents, our Brazilian foreign exchange student and one of my brothers spent an amazing 3 days inside the canyon hiking, camping, and exploring.  Today, my whole family and I get to return. This time we will visit the Havasupai Falls for a full 5 days! I am beyond excited for the adventure to come!

Other places I want to visit in my life include The Great Pyramid in Egypt, everything in Greece and Italy, Jerusalem, even Baghdad, Iraq, the old Biblical nation of Babylon.  These places hold such amazing, historical value.

Well, time to set off to see the Grand Canyon(:

A New Beginning

I am starting something new, this blog! It will replace my Facebook and Twitter posts because those are a waste of time and I can communicate with people that I really love and care about through calls, texts, and letters. Snail mail isn't completely dead, right?

In addition, this blog will keep people posted about my adventure as a college student. But, I don't leave for another 70 days so...

I want to talk about clocks, eternities, and one of my favorite books, Star Girl by Jerry Spinelli. I may also quote John Green a few times from his book The Fault in Our Stars because I did just see the film. (Don't worry, I also read it, twice.)

Eternity seems like a very long time.  It extends past man and protrudes into the afterlife.  I find it quite ironic how clocks are normally circles and how they will forever go around and around and will have no end yet they demand an end. They say when something has begun and when it must stop. They rule our existence to take us from one activity to another.

One of my favorite quotes:

Clocks--that's the problem.

Every clock is a nest of minutes and hours.

Clocks strap us into their shape.

Instead of heading for the nearest star, all we do

is corkscrew.

Clocks lock us into minutes, make Ferris wheel 

riders of us all, lug us round and round

from number to number,

dice the time of our lives into tiny bits

until the bits are all we know

and the only question we care to ask is

"What time is it?"

- Jerry Spinelli, Love, Stargirl

As the time approaches ever faster for me to depart my home, I think about Kindergarten and how this time seemed an eternity away. It seemed like an infinite circle as if my childhood would never end. 

But, it doesn't really have to. As John Green said, "some infinities are bigger than other infinities." Childhood is not lost when we get older.  To me, childhood is when we make mistakes to learn and grow. Yes, we are not really responsible for our actions,and that is the difference in adulthood. We become accountable. We learn: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. 

Right now, feel like a circle.  I like it.  It's not a square and doesn't have pointy edges.  It's perfectly rounded and goes around infinitely and right now in my life, anything is possible. I can accomplish anything, if I use my time wisely and don't procrastinate(: