Scared to New Heights

Spoiler alert: I'm afraid of heights. This is a fact, and it is something that I have accepted. On top of that, I am a scaredy-cat. I just am. So the fact that this Saturday, I did the high ropes course here at Aspen Grove was a big deal.

So here's a little summary of what the ropes course is: there's a log that you climb up with notches in it (the log moves, just by the way- that was a nice little surprise.) Then, you go and climb a rock wall, which was probably the scariest part. Then, you go and you walk along these wires and go around trees and stuff, and then you come back and repel down. (Yes, I know that was incredibly clear.)

Anyways. So I decided that I was going to do the ropes course before I actually went down there. Once I was there, I started getting all of the equipment on and that's when the freak outs began.

(This is my friend Jimmy. He is basically like my best friend and he kinda talked me through the whole thing. :D )

So then I get to the point where I'm about ready to start climbing. I almost don't start, but they drag me over and make me do it. Suddenly, I'm climbing, and then I'm halfway up this swinging log, and I look up at all that I have to do and I have this overwhelming desire to quit. I just get so incredibly scared and I want to come back down while I still can. But Jimmy, on the belay, kind of pulls me up so I have to keep going.

So finally, I get up this log thingy. Once I get up to the top, I realize that I'm going to have to make it over to the climbing wall and do the rock climbing portion. I almost didn't do it. Seriously, I was shaking and I just had this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. Somehow I got the courage to stick my foot out and put it on the rock, and  then Jimmy and Josh talked me through it, step by step. I finally reached the top and almost started hyperventilating. Luckily, Josh helped me breathe. :)

(you can tell by this picture how not happy i am at this point.)

So then I move on to the wires, shaking the whole time. Seriously, the wires were literally shaking. My whole body was shaking and I just wanted it to be over. But I kept going, cause the faster I went, the closer I was to getting to the end.

 It was really nice though, because the whole time, my friends were really encouraging me. I don't think I could have handled the tough love approach, so the way that it worked out was very nice.

Here's a picture of me and Anna, my coworker in the store and one of my bestest friends :)

and here's my super scared face:

Then came the funnest/second scariest part: the repelling!! It was super scary, because first you have to just lean over the edge with just the ropes carrying you. But before I knew it, I was over the edge and then it was fun. Ish.

Once I got kind of to the bottom, Jimmy started swinging me around and I was actually having fun. :)

...And that was my high ropes experience. I was scared to death, but I did it.. kind of against my will. But did it I did! And I feel great about it. I did something that I didn't think that I could do. And no, I haven't defeated my fear of heights, but I think I'm making steps in the right direction. :)

There's one thing I know for sure. It's something that I've known for a while, but now I'm okay with it. I am not, and don't think I ever will be, an outdoorsy kind of girl. It's as simple as that. I am not the sporty, rock-climbing type. I'm just not! And that's okay. That is completely 100% okay. :)

Music Makes the World Go Round

So every now and then, I get obsessions with different songs. Right now, I'm totally in love with like five different songs and I just keep listening to them over and over again, so I just thought I'd share! :)

First, there's Dynamite by Taio Cruz.  He's the one who also sings Break Your Heart, which is another good one. (Who knows how long Dynamite has been out, since I don't have a car, I hardly ever listen to the radio anymore. But I heard this at the last dance I went to and fell in love with the melody!)



K, then there's Everybody in Love by JLS. I've never even heard of this group before, but I totally love this song. It's been played a few times while I was working on someone else's ipod, and it's also part of a skit in our opening show.



Next, it's more of a new artist obsession, but I'm really partial to these two songs, both by Mika. 1) Blame it on the Girls: (PS- music video is very strange.)



2) Lollipop (this one I mostly like just because of the whole message: don't stress about love, just let it happen, otherwise it'll "get you down" :)




And last but not least, I am so extremely excited for Sara Bareilles' new album that comes out in September!! It's been SO long since she released her first album, which I loved. I've been waiting and waiting and now it's finally here! It looks like it's going to be amazing. But she's already released her first single, King of Anything and I love it. The music video is especially cool!




So I guess that's my Friday Five, music-wise. (Maybe I'll start doing this every Friday! Putting five of my favorite songs on here. Hmm..)

Anyways, not too much going on as of now. The store has been absolutely CRAZY this week, and I have been busy busy busy! Tonight, we're having a girl's night! We're going to go to Provo, possibly go to Plato's Closet and DI, then come back and watch Win a Date With Tad Hamilton. I'm excited.

And then tomorrow, a new week begins!

Just Another Sunday

The weeks just seem to be blending together like crazy! I can't believe it's another Sunday and another week of campers already. I think that I'm the unofficial substitute for Primary, because this is the third week that I've subbed for someone. Some days I like it, others not so much. I love being a big girl and going to Sunday School and Relief Society and actually learning new things, but then again I also love going to Primary and singing all of my favorite primary songs. Then of course, at night we have our weekly fireside and then I do my choir practice afterward. (Quick side note- the fireside speaker tonight is Elder Groberg, of Other Side of Heaven!! So exciting- I can hardly wait!)

In other news, nothing too major has been going on. I've started working on a much bigger and better list of my life goals, as directed by Randal Wright's book, "Achieving Your Life Mission". I've surprised myself by how many different goals I've been able to come up with. Some of them are pretty random, but I'm just excited to have them written down.

I finally stopped procrastinating and wrote to quite a few of my missionary friends. I feel kind of guilty about waiting so long to write some of them, but I guess writing them later is better than not writing them at all!

Oh! I also went and saw How to Train Your Dragon the other day, which surprisingly I didn't like very much! It just wasn't my cup of tea I guess. But I also went to Walmart and they had strawberries on sale so I bought some of those and I got some chocolate chips and.. you guessed it! Made chocolate-covered strawberries. :)

Also, I started reading the Hunger Games series. And by started, I mean, I read the first two of the trilogy in a matter of three days. They were SO good! I love those kinds of books, and it totally lives up to all of the hype that everyone gives it. I just can't wait for August when the third book comes out! It's going to be great. Although seriously, I'm in the middle of at least 3 or 4 different books right now. Sometimes it's easy to read, other times, it's hard to find a quiet place and a solid block of time and the motivation to get through a book, which is odd for me. Guess I'm just having too much fun being social.

Okay, so time for my random thought of the day. It's actually something I've been thinking a lot about lately. Basically, I'm wondering: what is a true friend? I mean, I know what it is to me, but sometimes I feel like people have many different definitions of the word. To me,  a friend is someone who is always willing to listen, and often willing to offer their opinion and give advice. A friend is someone who asks how you are doing and genuinely wants to know the answer. Friends notice when you're happy or sad, and they take time to find out the details of your life. They're considerate of your feelings and they express their love for you often. Now granted, there are different degrees of friendship, and with this comes varying degrees of these qualities.

I've been thinking about it a lot, and I think that at the end of my life, I would like nothing better than if everyone who knew me could say that I was a good friend. I remember learning at the personality workshop that I went to a little while ago that a big part of my personality (expressive) is based on relationships with others. As I've become more conscious of it, I realize how true this is for myself. I really do care a ton about my friendships with people. It consumes my life! I have to be involved in the lives of others around me, because that's how I show that I care. Whether it's a girl's night or a phone call at 1 in the morning, or just chatting while walking to dinner, I crave it. I need it. I need to show my love for other people so that they know that I care about them.

I think part of the reason for this is the other end of the expressiveness in me; the reciprocal end of relationships. I guess part of me hopes that if I be the best friend that I can be, that I'll get the best friends I can get. I guess I hope that by caring so much for others, that maybe, just maybe, somebody will care that much for me.

So a lot of the time, I think this is what gets me hurt. Maybe I'm expecting too much of the people around me. Maybe it's me being an expressive again, but we expressives feel emotions deeply. So as detrimental as it is to my emotional and mental health, there's a part of me that is hurt when my care and energy isn't reciprocated. Sometimes it leads to drama, even if it's only in my own head, other times I'm just able to let it go.

I don't really know what I'm trying to say. I guess it's just that I really really try to be a good friend, because I think that besides building a strong family and getting a good education, building good friendships and relationships is the most important thing you can do.

And that's my two cents. :)

Pumpin' Vitamin C

So it seems that tragedy has befallen Aspen Grove, in the form of the flu. Apparently, one of the campers brought in the sickness with them and now it has circulated to a very large number of our staff. Luckily, (knock on wood) I haven't gotten it yet. It's so horrible though, seeing everyone feel so gross! I feel so bad for them. My plan is to drink a lot of orange juice and eat oranges and blueberries. Yes, I know that blueberries, or "blueburries" as I like to call them, don't have Vitamin C in them. However, I got them on sale from Walmart for $2 each and they are my favorite fruit. Plus I feel healthier when I eat them. So there. :) Anyways, so I'm just hoping and praying that I do not catch this horrible bug that is going around.

Yesterday, we had some minor thunderstorms and the power went out! That was sure fun. Luckily, the store had some generators so we were able to keep operating until the power came back on for real.

Nothing else too huge going on. I did yoga the other night again, which was perfectly lovely. Oh! And I went down into Provo and finally got my direct deposit set up, thank goodness. While there, I visited Walmart and picked up my yummy blueburries and I got a cute dress for $12. (I seriously think I'm addicted to buying dresses...)

Anyways, tonight's the last night of camp for this week, so the store will be crazy, as always. But it'll be fun, I'm sure. The weeks are seriously blending and I feel like the summer is rushing by. It's seriously July 1st? When did that happen? How did that happen?? It's utter craziness, if you ask me. I guess this next week is the 4th of July celebration-type thing, but I don't think that fireworks are allowed in Utah, and certainly not up in the mountains, so it might be a fireworks-less 4th for me. :( Oh well. I'm totally jealous though, because Mom and Mike are in New Jersey visiting Grandma Helena and Grandpa Jim and they will be participating in Grandma's annual 4th of July Party. (It's epic.) SO jealous. Beyond words, actually. But it's okay. I know I'm where I'm supposed to be and I guess that's all that matters.

Have a great day! :)