Pericles:

"Others are brave out of ignorance; and, 

when they stop to think, they begin to fear. 

But the man who can most truly be accounted brave is he who best knows that meaning of what is sweet in life and of what is terrible, and then goes out undeterred to meet what is to come." 

Working on my Skills...

Today Obnette let me take her into the crossroads of life. (haha)
The Train Tracks.
I took tons of photos and have just barely finished editing them into these cards that I love!!! 

This one kind of has a cowboy feel to it, but I like her smile in this picture a lot!

This picture is perfect.
The trains behind her and everything just flows together.
Tell me if you like/dislike these photos! Or what I could change!

Within Nature

Nature photos give me hope.

happiness.

peace.

comfort.

and most of all... a love of life.

I choose life.

Mid-Winter Arches

Sunshine. Warmth. Tents. Camping. Laughter. Snacks. Friends. and last but not least,

ARCHES.

This is what made my "mid-winter break." Thursday was spent debating whether or not we should still go, where we would sleep and all other preparations. Kaya and I kept playing phone tag while we got everything set to go. FINALLY we decided to just mountain man it and bring along everything that seemed important. Our final five who ended up coming was: Serah, Kay Kay, Kendra Rose and Coka Kota. And me. After picking everyone up and grabbing the necessities (aka FOOD), we started south on I-15. Unfortunately, this was the longer route to get to the Arches National Park. We drove and drove and drove until around 9pm we arrived at a campsite that Coka Kota's Mother dearest had set up for us. (For this, I was very grateful!) We pulled up at our campsite... and it was practically already set up! There was a picnic table, stovish thingy and a large covering over the camp grounds. I thought it was perfect for there was even indoor bathrooms!! :) :) We played games inside the tent and talked until everyone was almost asleep. All of us girls were inside one tent, while Coka Kota was put inside his own. It was a lot of fun except for one thing. COLD. It was super duper chilly during the night! I only had 2-3hours of uncomfortable sleep before I had to get up to race into the warm bathrooms. You have no idea how glad I was for those potties.

Once everyone was awake, we nibbled on cold bagels and drank water before heading to Moab. We all wandered the streets of the main before realizing that all shops were closed until  10ish or so. Around this time was when Kota got a phone call from his Mother that informed him of the Japanese earthquake that had happened the night before! I think he kinda went into shock but continued on for all of our sakes. Since it was really nice out, we drove over to the Arches and started the Delicate Arch hike! Before even starting, my stomach flipped up and down and my palms were sweating. For you see... hiking has always been a torturous event in my life and I was terrified. I put on my best "brave face" and started onwards. Sadly, everyone could see how difficult this adventure was for me and I felt like a major party-pooper. Inside my heart, I was praying SOOO hard. Hoping for anything to help this hike go easier. Thankfully, after the major climb (that had been so hard last time I had come) I was ready for more. We took our time climbing up to the beautiful Arch. The weather was perfect and despite my worries, it turned out perfectly. 

We saw/met people from New Zealand, Italy, Michigan and even home sweet Utah. Everyone seemed so happy to be seeing this huge rock. We took tons of pictures and I even had to delete some non-important photos just so that I could make room for some better ones.

Over all, I would do it again. 

Over all, I realized a lot of things about myself. 

I CAN DO HARD THINGS.

and sometimes, they aren't really that hard. 

I'm so grateful for Kay Kay for instigating this plan and for being such a great friend. 

Gracious. 

Humor in the House

Kaya found this super funny website with tons of creative quotes from a man named Jack Handey! Reading them has made my stomach hurt. A lot.

"To me, boxing is like a ballet, except there's no music, no choreography, and the dancers hit each other."

"If you go to a party, and you want to be the popular one at the party, do this: Wait until no one is looking, then kick a burning log out of the fireplace onto the carpet. Then jump on top of it with your body and yell, "Log o' fire! Log o' fire!" I've never done this, but I think it'd work."

"Sometimes when I feel like killing someone, I do a little trick to calm myself down. I'll go over to the person's house and ring the doorbell. When the person comes to the door, I'm gone, but you know what I've left on the porch? A jack-o-lantern with a knife stuck in the side of its head with a note that says "You." After that I usually feel a lot better, and no harm done."   

"Next Thanksgiving, here is a fun trick to play: When the mashed potatoes and turkey are being served, take some of both. But hide your turkey under your mashed potatoes. When your family asks "Don't you want some turkey?," pull the turkey out from under the mashed potatoes and yell "I tricked you!!""

"If you ever crawl inside an old hollow log and go to sleep, and while you're in there some guys come and seal up both ends and then put it on a truck and take it to another city, boy, I don't know what to tell you."

"Instead of studying for finals, what about just going to the Bahamas and catching some rays? Maybe you'll flunk, but you might have flunked anyway; that's my point."

"If I ever went to war, instead of throwing a grenade, I'd throw one of those small pumpkins. Then maybe my enemy would pick up the pumpkin and think about the futility of war. And that would give me the time I need to hit him with a real grenade. "

"Sometimes when I drive through the country at night, I see deer crossing the road- a mom and two babies. I think how sweet the little babies look...and then i realize that they're really illegitimate children. Poor deers... "

"To me, it's always a good idea to always carry two sacks of something when you walk around. That way, if anybody says, "Hey, can you give me a hand?," you can say, "Sorry, got these sacks.""

"I think there probably should be a rule that if you're talking about how many loaves of bread a bullet will go through, it's understood that you mean lengthwise loaves. Otherwise, it makes no sense."

"When you die, if you go somewhere where they ask you a bunch of questions about your life and what you learned and all, I think a good way to get out of it is just to say, "No speaka English.""

"When I was younger, there was a house on my street that I thought was haunted. At night you'd hear screams coming from all over the house...plus anyone who went in, never came out. Later I found out it was just a murderers house."

And last but not least,

"I love going down to the elementary school, watching all the kids jump and shout, but they don't know I'm using blanks."

 To see more funny qutoes from Jack Handey click HERE!

Joke Time

   A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier. Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel plans. So, the husband left Minneapolis and flew to Florida on Thursday, with his wife flying down the following day. The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and without realizing his error, sent the email.


   Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her husband's funeral. He was a minister who was called home to glory following a heart attack. The widow decided to check her email expecting messages from relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted. The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read:


To: My loving wife
Subject: I've arrived
I know you're surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you're allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then. Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.
P.S. Sure is freaking hot down here!