Caught Up

It's easy sometimes to get caught up in meaningless things especially while at DU.  It's easy to get lost in the Lulu Lemon pants, Ugg boots, Land rovers, Ray-Ban sunglasses.  It's something that I've struggled with since coming to school.  I love shopping at Old Navy and Target, I wear $10 sunglasses and I don't have a car at school.  Sometimes I think that I need to do more in this world like travel more or go on humanitarian trips because so many of many friends here at school have done so many things like that.  All it takes to bring me back to my roots are texts from friends or phone calls that say "gosh I look at your life and I'm jealous." and "I want to be you when I grow up." That's when I realize just how blessed I really am.  
    This all became especially apparent when I finally got into the Valparsio, Chile study abroad program.  Because it's so customary for students (especially juniors) to study abroad from DU it's easy to get caught up in it and forget about how incredible this opportunity truly is.  I'm grateful I have this opportunity and after hearing from people saying how lucky I am and how wonderful my experience will I know I have been blessed.  I'm really excited, a little nervous, to start this adventure down south in July.  God continues to bless me each and every day. 

What a weekend

You know those times when you think, "I'll never forget this moment"? Well this weekend was full of those.  My best friend who's known me since the day I was born came on Thursday.  She got to come to the country club and watch me teach learn to skate.  The 3 boys and 1 girl in my class on Thursdays are hilarious. The boys all call me their girlfriend and one boy says he's buying me an engagement ring (nice to know that 6 year olds like me).  They also find it fun to try and tackle me or hug me until I fall. I can't stop smiling when I teach those kids; they're so full of life and just excited to be kids.  Dad was in town with Dan and Bret his 2 college buddies and they took us to dinner at the Cherry Cricket.  I will never forget the sweet potato fries of the turkey burger with herb cream cheese.  Thursday night we went to our friends house for a Thrift Shop party where we got dressed up in clothes that were literally from the thrift store. It was a blast!  Friday consisted of class in the morning and then shopping and a delicious trip to Crepes N' Crepes with Allyson and Mur.  Allison and I split a savory crepe and then an ice cream filled crepe. So yummy! Friday night we picked up Kurt,another best friend from home, from the airport and headed to the CC vs. DU rivalry hockey game.  This is one of the few times that our school has a lot of school spirit.  Kurt and Allison met a bunch of my friends while we watched the game.  Illegal Pete's was our stop on the way back to my dorm for some much needed late night Mexican dinner.  Susie's sister and sister's friend were here so we had quite the packed room but everyone was content.  Saturday Annie, Allison, Kurt and I went to the gym to play some basketball and get 'swoll'.  After getting cleaned up the 4 of us went to the Idaho vs. DU basketball game to meet up with my dad and crew.  We wore Vandal attire to the game and cheered for the Vandals knowing they would lose by a lot of points.  It was fun to be there with such a random crew including cousin Maggie and one of Kurt's friends from Dixie, Mitch.  We laughed hysterically throughout the game as the Vandals got pummeled despite our best efforts to lead the infamous I-D-A-H-O cheer.


The crowd around us couldn't really believe our friendly bunch.  We ended up at Kaos Pizza on Pearl Street for dinner with our large group.  We shared some of the most incredible pizza we've ever had and played trival pursuit. Who knew you could be so entertained with some trivia cards present at the dinner table? I'm sure the other guests just wanted us to leave.  We also had lavender honey gelato. Now that's not something you have everyday but believe me when I say that it is delicious.  Dan graciously bought dinner and we finally left the table after 2 hours of constant laughter and talk about college and the variety of experiences we've all had.  The old guys shared some knowledge to us young folks while sharing some other stories about adventures I hope I never have.  I'll be forever thankful to my dad when he says "I have loved the life I've lived and I just want my kids to love their life too."

Us kids came back to DU for a little dance and singing session in our room singing every song from "World's Greatest" to "Chicken Fried"before we went and met up with another friend of mine from home, Lena, who was visiting her boyfriend who goes here. Mitch was still chilling with us which  was great.

    I haven't seen Lena since we were counselors together at HOBY 2 years ago and she is so awesome.  The rest of the night consisted of more fun, seeing more friends and having deep talks until 3am.  Such an epic night! Sunday we were up early hanging out watching basketball on TV and eating brunch in the dining hall. Dad and the crew came over to say bye and give us a present from mom.  She's so great-homeade granola, muddy buddies, candle warmer, goldfish, hot cocoa! We talked shared more stories with the old geezers and they headed out. My friends kept saying how awesome dad is. I just say that I love him and he's quite the character. We decided to go roller bladding at Wash Park and Libby, Susie's sister, came along. It was a blast to be outside enjoying fresh air.  Sunday night we had one last dinner in the dining hall before Mitch and I drove Allison and Kurt to the airport to say goodbye.

     I loved hanging out with Annie the whole weekend while she got to be with some of my friends.  We spent a straight 29 hours with Mitch, someone only Kurt had met, and he turned out to be an awesome person who I feel like I've known for years.  Annie and I couldn't stop laughing at everything that happened this weekend.  I feel incredibly blessed to have best friends and family that come to visit.  I'm grateful for the times like these when I know I'll have stories to tell and laugh at for years.   

Back to School

After an amazing (almost) 8 week break I'm back in Denver in bed after my first day of class.  After Costa Rica I was able to ski a few more times with friends from San Francisco, dad and TJ.  The snow was excellent a few of those times. I'm really so fortunate to have that literally in my backyard.  It was great to be home for the holidays with family and friends. Next year if I'm home over winter break I want to be a ski nanny of sorts and ski with families and then babysit for them. It seems like a pretty good gig.
   Leaving Utah was probably harder this time than any other time,  basically because I hadn't been home for a long period of time for a year.  It was so nice just to be at home and see so many friends. I got to catch up with so many people whom I hadn't seen in a year or longer. I really have incredible friends and I'm so thankful for them. I've learned to really appreciate sitting down with someone and talking for hours about life.  This past Sunday at church the pastor said "there's nothing like flesh and bones" and he was referring to establishing relationships with people and being fully present when you're with people.  It was a perfect sermon.
     Mom always told me that "well one day maybe you'll appreciate Utah".  I've definitely appreciated it more since moving away.  One of the hardest things to leave was the proximity to the mountains.  Here in Denver it's a whole day adventure to go skiing whereas at home we can head up there any time.  Utah really is a beautiful state.
   I'm so grateful to the friends I have from around the country and world who talk to be and take a genuine interest in my life. My true friends really showed while I was home and I love them very much.
   This quarter will hopefully bring lots of work, lots of skiing and more fun adventures with friends.  Here's to 10 weeks at DU!!! 

Pura Vida! Costa Rica 2012

So on December 1st Irene Wilson and I went to Costa Rica.  We both wanted an adventure over Christmas break so we began planning this fall.  Since Irene already had a plane ticket to San Jose I decided to join her.  We spent 2 weeks in Samara, Costa Rica learning Spanish.  We first arrived in San Jose and after we got our backpacks from baggage claim we were bombarded with taxi drivers. We found signs with our names on them with our host mothers for the night.  We were separated and hoped we would see each other the next day. It was instant spanish immersion considering no one spoke English.  The next day we went to Samara in a 9 passenger van and then arrived at our new host families. I stayed with Marilyn and her 5 year old son Selvestion in their quaint house. It was 90 degrees everyday we were there.  We would wake up in the morning and just start sweating. We had language classes for 4 hours a day and then other activities.  Irene and I surfed, laid on the beach, took salsa dancing lessons, cooked typical Costa Rican food in cooking class, had yoga on the beach, and went for nightly sunset walks.  It was a gorgeous place to study spanish.  In the states we take foreign language classes, but you never really have to apply your conversational skills so this was a way to be forced to speak.  Every morning I had fresh fruit for breakfast and at night a typical Costa Rican meal with my mamatica (host mom).  We had lots of conversations even though she couldn't speak any English. My favorite part of meal time was when we would pray; she would first say a prayer in Spanish and then I would say a prayer in English. Pretty powerful. Most nights we would walk around the little town.  Samara was really poor but it was also a tourist destination so most of the bars and restaurants were crowded at night.  The drinking age in Costa Rica is 18, but they don't adhere to it much so you'd see young people with drinks. Every bar was outdoors and people would come in with no shoes and their dogs. Little bit different then in the states.  ha It was fun to meet a bunch of new people and have conversations with people from around the world. My favorite part of being in Samara was meeting everyone and hearing their stories. There were 19 year olds from Germany taking a gap year before university, 3 American college boys from New York on vacation, grandparents from Canada taking a break and escaping the cold, Australians taking a sabbatical for a year traveling the world and people from all walks of life from around the world. The best way to learn about culture is to talk to people from other regions and I'm thankful I had the opportunity.   We traveled around Costa Rica and went bungee jumping from the highest jump in Latin America (150meters), went down water slides at the largest hot springs, climbed inside a 50 foot tree, ziplined and pretended to be Tarzan, hiked a volcano, took a ferry across Lake Arenal, stayed in Hostels, hiked through mud and pouring rain to a crystal blue waterfall, hitchiked and climbed a mountain to watch the sunset, jumped off a rope swing into a river, and danced with the Native Costa Ricans. Talk about a whirlwind adventure. We cooked in an outdoor kitchen and showered with cold water when there were scorpions in shower. We survived driving a manual car up the worst dirt roads I've ever seen and through busy streets with no street signs or directions. We got to bar tend and then make sure crazy drunks didn't pour margaritas on their bleeding faces.  For the first time in my life I saw people sleeping on the streets in cardboard boxes.  Coming back to America, especially around Christmas time, I realized how much we have.  Living in a first world country we can take hot showers, drive huge cars around, have multiple story houses, watch cable television and use dishwashers.  Once again I was reminded how fortunate I am. I'm grateful to have had the adventure in Costa Rica.  Irene was a great travel partner.  I made a dozen new friends around the world that I'm excited to stay in contact with.  Pura Vida! 

Thanksgiving

This may be after the Thanksgiving holiday but every day we have so much to be thankful for. I haven't written since I left Cooperstown.  Since then I have finished the first quarter of my sophomore year, lived with 3 roommates in an apartment style dorm, skied Snowbird with my dad, carved pumpkins, surprised my brother in Phoenix to watch him play baseball, competed at Tiger Challenge, volunteered at the Presidential Debate, acted as Co-President of the lacrosse team, voted for my first time and continued to grow as a person.  This last quarter was a learning experience and I've become more faithful. It was a lot different than freshmen year. Some things that used to seem so excited weren't so this year, not to say things weren't a lot of fun. I'm excited to see what the next two quarters bring.

    Thanksgiving was spent in Spokane, WA.  Uncle Kevin received a new kidney from Uncle Rob on November 13.  It is a beautiful thing to see my uncles both healthy. Uncle Kevin will no longer need dialysis which is such a blessing since he had to go in a few times a week and his life was limited. I thank God for allowing this transplant to go so smoothly. It was great to be surrounded by family for a week; to see everyone come together in support of my uncles.  We also celebrate Aunt Nancy's recovery from breast cancer. What a strong lady she is. We had 19 people at Aunt Miki&Uncle Rob's house for Thanksgiving dinner including my grandparents.  I haven't seen extended family in over a year so it was great to be together!  While in Spokane I got to hang out with friends whom I haven't seen in a while.  God continues to put people in my life for a reason and I'm eternally grateful.
          Tomorrow morning I set out on an adventure with Irene to Costa Rica for 20 days. We're studying Spanish and then just traveling around.  I can't believe that it's finally here.  I'm really excited to go, see and do!  Bon Voyage!!

The End.

   If has come time to leave the dream park.  It is somewhat hard to  believe that it's already over. Don't get me wrong there were plenty of times when I thought the end couldn't get here any sooner but there were also plenty of times when things were flying by.  The past 4 weeks have definitely been the best of the season. I think it's because I've become more comfortable.  I no longer missed the little things in civilization but now rather just let it be.  I didn't care anymore that I seemed to be missing summer. I met some really cool people these last few weeks.  There were a few really fun coaches that were great to hang out with. I love being able to watch a coach interact with a player because I know that it really impacts the player's performance.  There have also been quite a few players that played here earlier in the summer and now have come back. TJ and Aaron were here, Jack and Derrick too. Then the Gallagher Select team that won week 10 came back for week 12.  Week 10 was when we had a really terrible ran delaying the game until 10:30 that night, but they ended up winning 9-1. They won again week 12 so it was fun to see them again.  I hung out with Frankie more too and he's just such a funny guy to be around.  

   I know that because of this summer I've become a better person. I've grown a lot. I guess sometimes all you need to do is leave everything and move 2000+ miles to the middle of nowhere in order to grow. I have no regrets from this summer.  My confidence has definitely changed. Having to deal with ridiculous comments from coaches, umpires and players you learn to be a rock.  I've learned to understand when someone is genuine and real though.  I've learned how much a smile and a hug help someone feel better.  I love to laugh and smile and there are people who love me because of that, even when I snort :)  I remember thinking back in January sitting in class looking into things I wanted to do for the summer. My only criteria….1) make money 2) have an adventure 3) not be in Utah. Well all of those were accomplished and then some. I did make lots of money, had more than an adventure and I definitely wasn't anywhere close to Utah.  I would encourage everyone to have an experience similar to what I had.  I learned a great deal about people.  As crazy as it sounds, only being 19, I know that I will be a better mother, friend, wife and civilian after this summer.  I saw the good, the bad and the ugly.  I saw 3000+ people every single day for 90 days coming from all over the place holding different beliefs, wearing different types of clothing and talking with different accents.  Not many careers allow you to interact with that many people that often.  I know that some of the people I met will become great friends and the conversations I shared with people will be remembered for a lifetime.  I'm grateful to everyone who contributed to this adventurous summer. From the kitchen staff who made me gluten free food, to those who drove me to pick up berries from the grocery store, to those who worked out with me, and those whom I got to celebrate birthdays with thank you.  Thank you to all those from home and school that sent letters, care packages, made phone calls and sent texts. I have incredible friends and they really become apparent when you are so far away.  

       I'm SO incredibly happy to be back in the West where you can see for miles and the weather is hot and dry, where the crickets chirp out my bedroom window and people wave as you drive by.  Especially after just spending a weekend in Hell's Canyon camping and boating with no cell reception I had a chance to recollect the summer.  I'm so grateful I got to go this past weekend.  Hell's Canyon on Labor Day reminds me of my childhood since I've gone there for 17 years.  I love being able to wakeboard, ski, surf, eat cookies, play cards, fish and lay on the boat late at night watching shooting stars and the full moon raise over the mountain tops. This world is truly beautiful.  This summer taught me how to really appreciate the little things and to slow down and enjoy the beauty of God's great earth and it's people. 

West Coast Best Coast

Since being here I've definitely gained a great appreciation of the west.  I've always been told how much the two sides of the country differ but after living here and being exposed to people from both sides I've gained a great understanding.  People from the west just seem happier.  Go with the flow might not necessarily be the best term but they at least take life more as it comes.  If this park was in the west I'm pretty sure games wouldn't start on time because everyone would be chit chatting.  People are more friendly in the west.  Don't get me wrong there are plenty of friendly people from the east but there seem to be  a great deal more out west. Here people are more direct and harsh with they're tone.  I've had to adjust to that.  Most of the fights and tension caused by teams have been by teams from the east coast.  I know that east coast people are great too but I'm just saying I've gained a deeper appreciation of the west since being here.   Surrounding us here are a bunch of hills. People out here call them mountains but really their just hills.  They aren't even that tall. I'm glad I didn't choose to come out here for school. I don't know if I'm ever going to want to permanently live here. It's very pretty and some people are extremely lot but unfortunately there's a few that ruin the reputation.