So to start off, I have this crazy thing for a beautiful "view", be that a sunset, sunrise, a killer temple view, or a view of a valley. You give me some beautiful picture of land to look at and guaranteed I will be a fan! I think that everyone from good ol' Cache Valley knows those little spots where you can catch a glimpse of everything from Wellsville to Richmond. I could sit in those spots for hours and hours. Well, a couple of weeks ago I got to see a new view of Provo. Yes, I said Provo. And it was beautiful! Yes, I said it was beautiful. I went with a friend up Provo Canyon and saw one of the prettiest views I have ever seen. I wish this picture could do a better job of portraying the view, but it will just have to do for now.
It is little things like a beautiful view that let me know how much the Lord loves me and finds pleasure in the simple, beautiful things. I mean really, a big mass of lights with the moon reflecting off of Utah Lake isn't anything out of this world, but boy oh boy does it make me happy!So next up in my adventurous week: the car breakdown.
Once upon a time when I was a little girl, my family had an old car that was on it's last dying breath. It was the world's comfiest car, but the engine was just barely putting along. I clearly remember my mom picking me up from dance class in the 6th grade, and on the way home, our cute little Cadillac decided to call it quits. At a stop light. On 14th North....aka: super busy street. So ya know, I'm sure every 12 year old girl dreams of directing traffic while her family's car is being pushed off to the side of the road. But most girls don't get to live that dream. Aren't I a lucky one? :)
Here is a similar model of our dear family car. Cars have come a long way since 1984.Well, don't worry, that little car-dying event was not the first and it was not the last. The car kept going for a few more years, including many occurrences of the radiator freaking out and the car over-heating. There was that distinct burning smell and I understood the purpose of anti-freeze better than I ever imagined. So last Wednesday, my Pickleville friends and I were making the drive home through Logan Canyon when we realized another kid from our cast was pulled off on the side of the road. Being caring (and very curious) friends, we pulled over to see what was going on.
They say that your sense of smell is very strong and can bring back memories so vividly. So naturally, when I smelled that oh-too-familiar smell of burn and saw smoke billowing from the hood of the car, I knew exactly what was going on. It's like I was reliving my childhood, only this time I didn't have to direct traffic. Needless to say, we took care of his car enough to get it back to Logan. I'm afraid it's a goner though. His poor little car.
This is what happens when you are the only female at the PVP carpool.
The next day was one that I will never forget. I could spend hours writing out all the details of this story, but I'll please my former high school English teachers and write a real good summary instead. I had the opportunity of playing the piano at the funeral of a good friend's grandmother. I never knew her, because in all reality, I had only been friends with this guy for like two weeks. If that. The whole situation just worked out perfectly though, and there is no doubt in my mind that it wasn't just coincidence. I mean everything from the timing of when we first met, to the song his family chose for him to sing, to the day of the funeral, it could not have been more perfect. It was a pretty incredible experience. To be honest, I have never attended the funeral of someone that I didn't know. But it was wonderful. What an outstanding lady his grandmother must have been. I feel like I knew her just from the beautiful pictures and words that her loving family members had to say.
Grandmothers are without a doubt some of the most awesome women in the world. I'm sure that everyone is partial to their own, but after attending his grandma's funeral, it made me realize just how lucky I am to have both of mine still alive. I know that I take for granted all of those precious moments we have together. Both my Grandma Mecham and Grandma Bagley are angels. If I can aspire to be half of the women that they are, then sheesh! My life can be complete.
My Grandma Bagley
The week ended with a delightful weekend get-away to Bear Lake. Now, I know it doesn't seem like Bear Lake would be a get-away for me, because typically it isn't. I'm always there. But I actually got a taste of what many tourist-traveling-vacationing peeps experience when they come to Bear Lake. On Friday night, I stayed over at Whit's cabin with a group of friends. The next day we hit up the lake, ate a ginormous pizza that was pretty much the size of me, and had an all around fun weekend. Our cute friends came to Pickleville that afternoon, as did my immediate and some extended family. I feel so blessed to have such loving and supporting people in my life. I know I already said this, but how did I get so lucky? Seriously.
THE largest pizza I have ever seen. And consumed.
We were totally ready for the challenge. Bring it on.
And that is how you clean up a 24 inch pizza.
And this what you feel like after you've cleaned one up. I didn't want to eat pizza ever again.
My sweet sweet friends.
My familia, minus the big brother.
Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents...it doesn't get better than this!
My best friend in the whole world. Whitney Ruth Davis.
Next on the ballot: the 24th of July!
So here in Utah, we all are familiar with the holiday that celebrates and praises those brave, strong men and women who crossed the plains in blistering heat and icy cold conditions to settle in the Salt Lake Valley. I have often wondered if I could have lived during the times of the Pioneers. And I still do not have a solid answer. Sometimes I think that I could handle the conditions and situations they went through because I wouldn't know any different. Other times, when I am basking in a glorious air conditioned car, I think there is absolutely-one-hundred-percent-no-possible-way.
Anyway, my cute little home town of North Logan always has a celebration including a parade, live entertainment, food, blow-up toys...the whole bit! During high school, I was always involved in the carnival games with the city Youth Council, then last year I was a part of the entertainment. Well, this year, GayLynn Daniels asked me to be the coordinator of the entertainment. So it's one thing to sing for 20 minutes at a celebration. It's another to schedule three hours worth of singing/entertainment for a celebration. However, despite all the little things that fell through or caused a few early gray hairs, the program turned out SO good. I could not have been more pleased. It went so smoothly, the performers were out of this world and the audience seemed to be very pleased with the program. Smiling faces and complimentary words are the best reward an event coordinator could ever receive, let me tell you. Here are a few pictures from the big event. I would post pictures of all the performers, but I'm afraid Blogger will discontinue my account for uploading too many pictures. :)
BYU Young Ambassadors Brittany, Brad and Michele.
Later that night, Brad, Meesh, Britt and I went to Who Shot Juanito Bandito up at Pickleville. The past two years, I have been a part of the Bandito cast, but this year it just worked out better to do one PVP show. So the five (Britt's boyfriend Jason was also there) spent the evening laughing out heads off at Bandito.
Finally, on Tuesday my family went to the canyon to roast hot dogs and marshmallows. This is a long time family tradition that we used to do every summer. The past few years I have had to miss out because of Pickleville, but this year I was able to go! I seriously felt like a little child again. My cousin Mallory has been visiting from Florida and it was just lovely to have her there roasting with the rest of us.
Hands down, my favorite picture of the night. This is just for you Grandma!
Aaron is a creep haha.
So to wrap things up, on Thursday night I was able to go to my cute friend Kylee's wedding shower. She is marrying one of her high school friends and let me tell you, I never would have believed it had you told me that in high school. But time and missions can change a lot of things, and here they are today...as in love as ever! Kylee is going to make one beautiful bride. It's pretty exciting to have so many friends getting married and some are now starting to leave on missions. Which means that boys my age are coming home soon...yikes! Where does time go?
So as we can see, the result of getting a few weeks behind in blogging is an excessively long blog post. The key to catching up is to try as hard as possible to not get so far behind again. So that's the goal...but it is always a goal. And life is busy. Life is crazy. Life is exciting. And it is so so good. In fact, even my little brother Jared has only positive and blissful things to say about life right now. I'm pretty sure if I were in his shoes, I would not be saying that. Let me explain.
Yesterday, Jared got stung by a wasp smack dab between his eyes on his forehead. I guess the poor little kid's face swelled up pretty bad. He went off to a camp out with his scout group last night and I never saw him. So this morning he got home and wow, was I in for a surprise. I walked out of my room to see his face staring at me. And I'm not going to lie, I was sincerely frightened. He looks really scary. The boy's face is GIGANTIC! And he looks nothing like himself. It is as if he is Jared in another person's face. It's weird.
But despite his temporary change in facial identity, the boy is so positive and happy. He has been flitting around the house laughing and playing all day today. Who does that when their face is twice it's normal size? Jared does. He is such a good example to me of how to stay happy and positive through the little trials in life. What a neat boy he is. Love you, Jared :)
Well, what a fantastic month July has been. Four more weeks and school will be here ready to rock and roll. There are so many things to look forward to in this last month of summer.
So August, hit me with your best shot!
They say that your sense of smell is very strong and can bring back memories so vividly. So naturally, when I smelled that oh-too-familiar smell of burn and saw smoke billowing from the hood of the car, I knew exactly what was going on. It's like I was reliving my childhood, only this time I didn't have to direct traffic. Needless to say, we took care of his car enough to get it back to Logan. I'm afraid it's a goner though. His poor little car.
This is what happens when you are the only female at the PVP carpool.The next day was one that I will never forget. I could spend hours writing out all the details of this story, but I'll please my former high school English teachers and write a real good summary instead. I had the opportunity of playing the piano at the funeral of a good friend's grandmother. I never knew her, because in all reality, I had only been friends with this guy for like two weeks. If that. The whole situation just worked out perfectly though, and there is no doubt in my mind that it wasn't just coincidence. I mean everything from the timing of when we first met, to the song his family chose for him to sing, to the day of the funeral, it could not have been more perfect. It was a pretty incredible experience. To be honest, I have never attended the funeral of someone that I didn't know. But it was wonderful. What an outstanding lady his grandmother must have been. I feel like I knew her just from the beautiful pictures and words that her loving family members had to say.
Grandmothers are without a doubt some of the most awesome women in the world. I'm sure that everyone is partial to their own, but after attending his grandma's funeral, it made me realize just how lucky I am to have both of mine still alive. I know that I take for granted all of those precious moments we have together. Both my Grandma Mecham and Grandma Bagley are angels. If I can aspire to be half of the women that they are, then sheesh! My life can be complete.
My Grandma and Grandpa Mecham
My Grandma Bagley
Thank you Brad for letting me be a part of that special day in your family's lives, and helping to remind me just how wonderful our grandmothers are.
The week ended with a delightful weekend get-away to Bear Lake. Now, I know it doesn't seem like Bear Lake would be a get-away for me, because typically it isn't. I'm always there. But I actually got a taste of what many tourist-traveling-vacationing peeps experience when they come to Bear Lake. On Friday night, I stayed over at Whit's cabin with a group of friends. The next day we hit up the lake, ate a ginormous pizza that was pretty much the size of me, and had an all around fun weekend. Our cute friends came to Pickleville that afternoon, as did my immediate and some extended family. I feel so blessed to have such loving and supporting people in my life. I know I already said this, but how did I get so lucky? Seriously.
Me, Shanna, Stu, Tessa, Whit, and JD
THE largest pizza I have ever seen. And consumed.
We were totally ready for the challenge. Bring it on.
And that is how you clean up a 24 inch pizza.
And this what you feel like after you've cleaned one up. I didn't want to eat pizza ever again.
My sweet sweet friends.
My familia, minus the big brother.
Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents...it doesn't get better than this!
My best friend in the whole world. Whitney Ruth Davis.
Next on the ballot: the 24th of July!So here in Utah, we all are familiar with the holiday that celebrates and praises those brave, strong men and women who crossed the plains in blistering heat and icy cold conditions to settle in the Salt Lake Valley. I have often wondered if I could have lived during the times of the Pioneers. And I still do not have a solid answer. Sometimes I think that I could handle the conditions and situations they went through because I wouldn't know any different. Other times, when I am basking in a glorious air conditioned car, I think there is absolutely-one-hundred-percent-no-possible-way.
Anyway, my cute little home town of North Logan always has a celebration including a parade, live entertainment, food, blow-up toys...the whole bit! During high school, I was always involved in the carnival games with the city Youth Council, then last year I was a part of the entertainment. Well, this year, GayLynn Daniels asked me to be the coordinator of the entertainment. So it's one thing to sing for 20 minutes at a celebration. It's another to schedule three hours worth of singing/entertainment for a celebration. However, despite all the little things that fell through or caused a few early gray hairs, the program turned out SO good. I could not have been more pleased. It went so smoothly, the performers were out of this world and the audience seemed to be very pleased with the program. Smiling faces and complimentary words are the best reward an event coordinator could ever receive, let me tell you. Here are a few pictures from the big event. I would post pictures of all the performers, but I'm afraid Blogger will discontinue my account for uploading too many pictures. :)
Whitney Davis.
BYU Young Ambassadors Brittany, Brad and Michele.
Brad and I eating chocolate covered raspberries by the lake. It really doesn't get better than that.
Finally, on Tuesday my family went to the canyon to roast hot dogs and marshmallows. This is a long time family tradition that we used to do every summer. The past few years I have had to miss out because of Pickleville, but this year I was able to go! I seriously felt like a little child again. My cousin Mallory has been visiting from Florida and it was just lovely to have her there roasting with the rest of us.
Hands down, my favorite picture of the night. This is just for you Grandma!
Aaron is a creep haha.
So to wrap things up, on Thursday night I was able to go to my cute friend Kylee's wedding shower. She is marrying one of her high school friends and let me tell you, I never would have believed it had you told me that in high school. But time and missions can change a lot of things, and here they are today...as in love as ever! Kylee is going to make one beautiful bride. It's pretty exciting to have so many friends getting married and some are now starting to leave on missions. Which means that boys my age are coming home soon...yikes! Where does time go?
So as we can see, the result of getting a few weeks behind in blogging is an excessively long blog post. The key to catching up is to try as hard as possible to not get so far behind again. So that's the goal...but it is always a goal. And life is busy. Life is crazy. Life is exciting. And it is so so good. In fact, even my little brother Jared has only positive and blissful things to say about life right now. I'm pretty sure if I were in his shoes, I would not be saying that. Let me explain.Yesterday, Jared got stung by a wasp smack dab between his eyes on his forehead. I guess the poor little kid's face swelled up pretty bad. He went off to a camp out with his scout group last night and I never saw him. So this morning he got home and wow, was I in for a surprise. I walked out of my room to see his face staring at me. And I'm not going to lie, I was sincerely frightened. He looks really scary. The boy's face is GIGANTIC! And he looks nothing like himself. It is as if he is Jared in another person's face. It's weird.
But despite his temporary change in facial identity, the boy is so positive and happy. He has been flitting around the house laughing and playing all day today. Who does that when their face is twice it's normal size? Jared does. He is such a good example to me of how to stay happy and positive through the little trials in life. What a neat boy he is. Love you, Jared :)Well, what a fantastic month July has been. Four more weeks and school will be here ready to rock and roll. There are so many things to look forward to in this last month of summer.
So August, hit me with your best shot!
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