Most "Romantic" Places

Okay guys, I'm sorry, this is going to be a totally self-indulgent post. (Because most of them aren't...ha,..ha...)

I've finally figured out the type of place that is my most favorite. Not like one single place, TYPE of place. And in my head at least, they are what I consider to be the most "romantic" places. I have kind of an over-active imagination that makes it so that usually while I visit places, I kind of make up different scenarios for them and picture myself in said scenarios. I know, weird. So when I visit my favorite type of place, I do start to imagine all different scenes and such. Now when I use the word "romantic", I am only partially talking about love-story, guy and girl stuff. But I am also talking about adventurous, fanciful type stuff.

Guys, I'm really not into tropical places, is that weird? I mean, I'll visit them if given the opportunity, but they don't get me as excited as my forest-mountain-lakes do.

Okay here are some of the "romantic" places I've been, i.e. my favorite types of places.

Around Graeagle area. Mountains are my favs, especially forest-y mountains, and especially especially forest-y mountains with lakes.

Eagle Lake near Susanville, CA

Buck's Lake

More Bucks

More Buck's

Last Buck's

Somewhere near um, hmmm, Loyalton but not. Mountains with forest. That's all I needed.

Okay, forest, no mountains, but amazing coastal cliffs and ocean in Oregon. I think I'll honeymoon here.

None other than the amazsing Yosemite.

Waterfalls are pretty sweet like lakes. This is Yosemite Falls.

Half Dome and such. Pretty romantic looking to me.

Vernal Falls.

And of course, my beloved Tahoe. Prettiest lake I've ever seen.

It's actually pretty lucky for me that I like these types of places cuz there are a ton like them all around Reno. But there are many more places like this I want to see. Lots of them are in Alaska. 

Like this. Mirror Lake in Denali National Park. It would be sweet to see it in person some day.

Girl's Camp (as a "tent mom")

Fun facts about girl's camp you may not know.

1. Girl's camp is THE PLACE to scream. A. because there are lots and LOTS of bugs. B. Because it's in the woods and no one can hear you over 100 yards away. C. There are no cell phones, so if you want to contact your bestie, you just scream their name. Also, it's just the best way to express how you feel as a girl, and since you are surrounded by all girls, they all understand sometimes you just hafta scream. If you're happy, sad, scared, mad...

2. If you think girls are all dainty and cute and never burp, fart, get dirty, or go without make-up, think again. That's all I will say on that subject.

3. It's cool to wear all types and colors of pajama bottoms for every occasion.

4. French braids are the most "in" hairstyle for once in their lives.

5. Showering is optional, and in some cases, people are looked down upon if they shower "too much", which is pretty much more than 1 time.

6. If you feel like doing anything that is totally random, like laughing maniacally, or yelling like Tarzan, camp is definitely the place to do it.

7. Camp is where we get trained to handle boys. We go through an obstacle course (this teaches us how to "run away"), we do archery (self defense), we learn how to cook outdoors (still in the kitchen, even when we are outside) and climb a rock wall (again, how to "run away").

8. In my personal opinion, camp is better than EFY. I've been to EFY. I thought it was a fun week, but camp puts it to shame. We are outside in some of the most beautiful mountain scenery around, we are with leaders that love and care about us and have put in hours and hours of planning to make it a good week, we are with the local people in the church who are our support system, and there are no boys so for once, the girls aren't worried about who likes who, if they look cute enough...

I had a great time being a tent mom at camp. A lot of people didn't take me seriously, thinking I was too young to be a tent mom, one of my own girls wasn't sure why I was there and thought maybe I was just some random person who wanted to go to camp. Another lady thought I was one of the campers, not leaders. The most recurrent comment I got was, and I'm not making this up, "you are so pretty, how are you not married yet?" That made me feel good and sad at the same time, haha. But now I'm betrothed to at least 4 peoples' brothers, uncles, and sons. One girl even took to calling me "sister" all week because she is convinced I am going to marry her brother. My favorite though was when it was time to check out of camp, the girls needed one of their tent moms to tell the cooks that their campsites were all clean so the cooks would give the girls breakfast. I walked up there and told one of the cooks that my girls could eat and she just stared at me like, "so?" Then one of my girls said, "she's our tent mom." And the cook laughed and was like, "oooooh," and gave them their food.

I also had an awesome co-tent mom. Tracy. She was so hilarious and nice and easy to hang out with, I was glad I had her there because she picked up all my slack since I had no idea what I was doing.

My cute girls practicing their fourth year song

1st years on their hike

little Sidney loved everything

Cousins Shelby and Sidney got to be 1st years together

Catniss braid was the "in" style

Cute Mom on the 1st year hike

Sidney did "shiver shivery" every day. It's where you get up at 6:30 a.m. and go dip in the lake.
Pretty chilly.

Team Virtue for the relay race. Made up of a bunch leaders. We were total champs.

Melissa had a great hairstyle :)

Tjaden and CJ, 2 of my cute girls

Melissa decided she didn't want her hair like that.

Sidney enjoying the freezing butt lake.

We got bored waiting for my dad to arrive on the last night.

Still bored.

Testimony meeting by the lake with Bishop Stoddard.

A family affair. Cousins Katy, Lauren, Shelby, and myself, Sidney, Mom and Dad.
My camera lens was totally filthy.

By the campfire on our last night.

Cute Ashley

Cute girls Gabby, Sydney, Bri, CJ, Tjaden, Ariel, Sammy, Marissa, Melissa, and Ashley

I gave them my camera and ended up with some pretty golden photos.

Gabby and funniest girl at camp Lakan.

I learned a lot about these girls though. I admire them so much for being as strong as they are in this world that is getting worse and worse to live in, especially for those trying to live a higher law. These girls just had such great testimonies and they were willing to share them and they stand out to their friends as a light. I learned that sometimes it seems like those raised in the church, me included, can get a little too comfortable, take a little too much for granted, while other girls have terrible family lives, nothing to go home to, but they still stay strong and learn to carry on. I took it home in my heart that I will complain less, listen more, and never be judgmental of anyone else's situation.

Being a girl's camp "tent mom" was totally worth it and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Peace and blessings!

Why do I do this to myself

That title pretty much expresses how I feel every time before a performance.

I'm freaking out on the inside, I want to literally run from the room screaming, my stomach is all butterfly-y and all the possible horrible scenarios are running through my brain. "What if I totally forget a spot and can't remember anything and have to just walk off?" "What if I play so bad that I'm in tears by the end?" "What if everyone wonders what I am doing performing because I play so bad?" "What if I totally disgrace my parents and my teacher Sonnet?"

So I have to calm all that stuff down inside me, meanwhile my hands are alternating between sweaty and hot and freezing and stiff, also shaking so bad I'm not sure how I'll play notes. Sometimes my right arm has even gone numb from the elbow down. I don't know how nerves do that, but they do. Not to mention piano players don't get to carry their own personal instrument around wherever they go. I mean, I guess I could if I could afford to employ a truck driver and a couple of movers who could get my piano wherever I wanted to go. But let's be honest, that would be considered a tad extreme on my part. So I always have the worry of, "what if there is something weird about this piano I've never played on and it totally distracts me so I can't focus and I mess up and blaaaahhhh.....!"

Keys played by Sergei Rachmaninoff

I played a little basketball when I was a kid, but that's about it for me as far as sports go. I once participated in a slalom ski race. I got 3rd out of around 50 girls, so I was proud of that. I've taken dozens of tests throughout life, high school, college... but nothing gets to me like piano performances. I've never been nervous for anything like I get nervous for piano. Just ask my parents. They have had to calm me down probably more times than they can count when I was crying, unable to eat, and hating life the week before some major competition or concert.

Last night I had yet another such performance. Now, since I am a little bit older now, I do not feel like my life will be over if something goes wrong in a performance. But I still have to calm myself down. I still have to get rid of the negative thoughts and I still get butterflies. Right before the concert was starting I thought, "why do I do this to myself?" I never know the answer to that question until the performance is over.

You guys, it is one of THE BEST feelings in the world when a concert goes well. Any of you who have competed in sports or other musical instruments, you know the feeling. They are NEVER perfect. But when you can look back and say, "I tried my best and gave it my all," that's why I keep doing this to myself. I don't like playing for audiences. I only voluntarily get up to play for my closest friends and family. I am just shy about playing in general and so it's hard for me to do that. But right in the moment when the lights are on me and people are listening to the music, that's when I love what I'm doing. The nerves go away and I am happy to put my whole heart into this music and hopefully touch someone's heart.

 Last night was especially great because I got to play on a piano that Sergei Rachmaninoff did recordings on back in the 1930s. The same ivory keys that he played on were still there. He is one of the masters, one of the greats in the music world. It sounded beautiful and was so much fun to play. Russel from Salt Lake came to town to finish his work on it and it was beautiful. He did an outstanding job.


In the end, doing something that is difficult or scary is usually worth it. I mean, you might lose a little sleep and or weight along the way, stressing about things and trying to make the right choice. But odds are, you will usually love what you did in the end if you know you did the right thing, no matter how hard. I love playing in concerts in the end. Maybe not before, and sometimes not in the middle. But the end is pretty much the best part and the only part that really matters.


Life is sweet :)


Peace and blessings!

Thus Far

I know it's cheesy, but I really like the phrase "thus far". It sounds all proper and serious.

So I thought I'd let you all know how I'm doing with the half marathon training, since I've been asking for your donations and such quite a bit. But first let me explain what it is I am asking you to donate to.

Mountain Circle Family Services is a foster care and adoption program. They started doing this marathon and half marathon last year in order to raise more funds. They ask that the runners in these races set up a donation page so that people will sponsor them and all the money will go to MCFS. They do not require the runners to set up a donation page. I could have just paid my entry fee and called it good. But I have a giant love for little kids. And I feel like setting up a donation page gives me the chance to run for them. So I'm not just running for myself, and that has majorly helped keep me motivated. I've NEVER been the type to enjoy asking for stuff from people, especially money. But this is different. I ask for it for kids, and that's not difficult to do at all. So when I'm nagging on facebook for sponsors, that's what I'm asking for. You can sponsor me here.

Okay, progress "thus far".

I have made it up to 9 miles in my long runs. Technically I am 2 weeks ahead of my training schedule, and that's how I wanted it in case of minor set backs. Training is both easier and more difficult than I thought it would be. It's easier because running those long distances really isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I should probably wait to comment on that until I'm over 10 miles, but for now, things are okay. It's easier because I am hungry ALL THE TIME and am able to eat pretty much whatever I want without worrying too much about gaining the weight because a lot of my food intake is fueling my runs. Oh happy day. I will run for the rest of my life if it means eating whatever I want. And however much I want.


It's harder than I thought it would be because I am doing it alone and I have to keep myself on track. But as I mentioned, because I feel like I am running for a good cause, I am not struggling with the self-motivation thing as much as I might otherwise. It's harder because during the runs themselves, I often have thoughts such as, "my body hates me" and "I want to lie down" and "this cramp feels like I'm being kicked in the gut" and "I can't breathe"....you probably get it by now. It's harder because I have encountered several road blocks. The first was getting bad cramps. I have since kind of worked that out, but still get one or two a run. The second was getting huge blisters. I also worked that out, mainly by buying out the entire athletic tape, mole skin, and sock supply at both Walgreens and Scheels. The third problem I happened upon was foot pain, mainly in my left foot. I was on a short 3 mile run one day and right as I was finishing, a sharp pain shot through my foot and I could not keep running on it. So I rested it up for a few days and then started wearing my orthotics. That pretty much took care of the pain, but also made the blister issue worse. Good thing I already had supplies for that.

yeah.....

So yeah!! That is my running story so far. I know, pretty inspiring, right? Joking, joking. It's just a half marathon. If I ever tell any of you I am thinking of running a full, just high five me right in the face, k?

Peace and blessings!!