Just a Little Rain

Last Saturday, something very exciting happened for BYU. We won the football game! It was a pretty crazy game and lots of my friends posted all up on Facebook about how fun it was to be there, even though they got soaked. (It started raining during the game.)

And ALL I have to say to them is, my goodness, you do look wet, mind if I share my story now?

Because you see, Stephen and I really like going on hikes. Utah has some beautiful hikes, it's a fun way to be outdoorsy and in shape without going running, and it doesn't hurt that we got engaged on a hike, either. So when he asked me on Saturday afternoon if I wanted to go on a hike, I said yes. 

We were on our way to hike Squaw Peak when Julie called. Nicole's mission call had arrived! She would be opening it in 3 hours. 

"We're not afraid," we declared boldly. After all, the sun was shining. It was barely 75*, perfect weather for hiking, and we were two in-shape (ish) people who could certainly make it to the top of a mountain and back down in 2 1/2 hours. Armed with our phones and water bottles, we set off up the mountain. 

Our hikes typically go something like this: 

Phase 1 - Optimism in togetherness

Phase 2 - Optimism in individual hiking

Phase 3 - Pessimism in individual hiking

Phase 4 - Elation in reaching the top 

Phase 5 - Energy and renewed optimism in the downhill slope

Phase 6 - Self congratulations in our completion of the hike.

Allow me to offer a more detailed description of these phases, in terms of this particular hike.

PHASE ONE

We hike hand-in-hand. We are both chatty and smiley. We are enjoying nature. We are enjoying one another's company. It's so much fun! Hiking is so fun! Whoa endorphins! I feel excited, optimistic, and a little bit euphoric.

PHASE TWO

The hiking is still fun. I am still appreciating nature and enjoying myself. I am no longer enjoying Stephen's company, though, because he has decided to plow ahead. I sometimes catch a glimpse of his red shirt through the trees. Sometimes he pauses and waits for me to almost catch up before taking off again. I am okay with this. Britney Spears joins me on my own personal hike. 

PHASE THREE

"The hiking is still fun," I insist to myself as Selena Gomez starts to serenade me. "The hiking is still fun," Stephen insists to himself as he stops to wait for me again. I vaguely remember a time in this very same hike where I tried to keep up with him. It's a vague memory because at this point, I have decided that if Stephen is going to be 8 miles ahead of me, I might as well take a break whenever I feel like it. So I do. And since I don't love running up mountains, but I do love walking up mountains, the hike starts to really be enjoyable again. 

It was at this point in the hike when we made a new friend - a rattlesnake!

He rattled at us because we were on his turf. Then he slowly inched off the trail to let us pass. We slowly inched around him. Stephen asked if my phone had reception, so I called my dad to check that it did. My dad was barely able to hear me, but he did hear me tell him that we saw a rattlesnake and we were on a hike. I hung up, put my phone back in my pocket, and we continued on our merry way. 

PHASE FOUR

"It looks like it's going to rain," Stephen said, looking at the sky.

"Maybe we should head back?" I said. "We can't miss Nicole's mission call opening!"

"We'll be fine," Stephen said. "We're so close to the top. We seriously will be there in like another 4 minutes. And then it won't take long at all to get down." 

Famous last words, hissed our friend the rattlesnake. We didn't listen to him. We just kept going. 

Stephen was right; it really didn't take us long to get to the top. When you hike Squaw Peak, you climb up the mountain until you get to this meadow platform place, and then when you walk to the edge of the meadow, you get this awesome view, supposedly. 

I say supposedly because we actually didn't walk to the edge of the meadow and look out off of Squaw Peak and soak in the awesome view. Instead, we got to the meadow and were suddenly enveloped in a cloud.

The cloud swirled around us, spewing water on the meadow and picking up dead leaves to fling at us as we tried to take a picture of ourselves.

We took some pictures of the cloud, but I guess it was a little photo-shy, because instead of smiling for the picture, he started to rain. 

PHASE FIVE

We started down the mountain, hoping the trees would offer some cover, but they didn't. We were literally soaked in a matter of minutes. It was kind of like being at a water park, except you didn't dress for success, so you're wearing normal people clothes inside of a water park. Also, that's not a very good analogy, because water parks are typically pretty fun. And you are trying to get wet. And you on purpose did not bring your phone to any of the fun watery places. 

I think for this hike I really need to split Phase Five into some sub-phases. 

Phase 5A - Panic and adrenaline in running down the mountain

In which I was still trying not to get wet or muddy, and adrenaline was coursing through my veins, and I believed (erroneously) that the trees would provide some protection from the elements. 

Phase 5B - Anger at Stephen and sassiness in running down the mountain

In which I started to blame Stephen for this predicament, and he started laughing at me and apologizing, and I realized it was futile to try to not get wet, and I also realized that my phone was soaked and would probably be no help if either of us got struck by lightning or bitten by the rattlesnake from earlier or smashed by a falling tree, and I started sassing Stephen and this conversation happened:

 Him: Heather, I want to go ahead and apologize....

Me: Shut up. Don't talk to me.

Him: Huh?

Me: I'm s-so, m-mad at you right n-now.   

Was it really his fault? Let's be honest, no....but I was feeling a teeny bit sorry for myself and believed that I deserved to have someone to blame for the whole predicament. 

Phase 5C - The First Fall

I did not feel as enthusiastic as Stephen did about the battle we were fighting against the mud, wind, and rain. I didn't love that my socks were completely soaked. I wasn't thrilled that my shoes would probably never be the same. I was sad to see my phone looking like it took a dip in the Great Salt Lake. I dreaded looking in a mirror and seeing the mess that all of the rain had made of my face. 

Stephen, on the other hand, was as happy as a duck. He was a little nervous about the rattlesnake, and a little nervous about the possibility of electrocution, and also a little nervous about flash flooding. (He kept saying things like, "Heather, I don't want to rush you, but we kinda need to hurry it up because in weather like this there's danger of flash-flooding, and I really don't want us to get caught in a flash flood....") Other than that, though, he was loving the adventure and already planning how he would tell this story later on. 

But all of that enthusiasm evaporated pretty quickly when his feet slipped out from under him and he landed with a splat in the mud. "Okay. This isn't fun anymore," he said. Being the good wife that I am, I took a picture. 

Phase 5D - The Second Fall

I was definitely trying to be careful more than speedy in our descent - hence, the frequent (very kind) reminders from Stephen about flash floods. It's hard to be careful when you are essentially walking down a muddy slide, but I was grabbing onto trees and plants whenever possible to steady myself a little bit.

At one point, I was holding onto a tree with both hands and trying to step around it to avoid a huge mud puddle, when one of my feet slipped. In my head, I knew it was game over, but I couldn't go down without a fight! My hands clenched the tree trunk. My feet started running, trying to get a grip anywhere on the muddy bank. 

And then, I fell, still hanging onto the tree. My whole right side splooshed into some mud. My elbow smacked against the root of the traitorous tree I had thought would save me. 

Stephen ran up the trail and picked me up. "Are you okay?" he asked. His enthusiasm was back. Somehow, seeing someone else fall does that to you. It's okay. I understand. I felt the same way when he fell. 

I kind of wanted to cry as we stood there in the torrential downpour, and Stephen laughed and wiped my hands off, one finger at a time, on his shirt. But then I also kind of wanted to laugh. And I also wanted to take a picture. So I guess both of our enthusiasms were back, and we continued down the trail. 

Phase 5E - The Return of Enthusiasm and also some Apathy

In which we realized we were already muddy and drenched and we really didn't care about trying to stay clean or dry, and all we cared about was getting down off the mountain. 

Phase 5F -  The Last Leg

In which we were finally out of the woods - not out of the rain, but out of the woods, and walking on flat ground towards the parking lot, still getting pelted with rain. We saw an old man with an umbrella walking towards the mountain. I don't know why. I didn't ask. I hope we weren't the last people he would ever see in his life....

Phase 5G - The Drive Home

In which we tore up a cardboard box in the trunk of my car to put on the seats so we didn't ruin them, and also in which we realized that neither of our phones were working, and we had barely 15 minutes before Nicole opened her mission call. 

PHASE SIX

This is when we are usually congratulating ourselves heartily for a hike well done. This time, we were blaring the heat and discussing all the things we I wanted to be eating right then: a Krispy Kreme donut, hot chocolate, a funnel cake, Awful Waffle. I wanted everything. I was convinced that all of those things were essential to my happiness.

We didn't have time to stop by our house, so we just showed up at Kelly and Dahl's house. I'm sure they wondered why a homeless hag and her husband were knocking on their door, but when they recognized us, they let us in and gave us a towel to shiver in while Nicole continued on with her mission call opening. Yes. She had already started. I guess we all know where Stephen and I belong on the totem pole....

Anyway, Nicole is going to Everett, Washington! She will be fabulous. I can't wait for her to write home about all the Twihards she brings to the gospel :)

Sicky vs. Pregnant

This weekend, I was very productive. And I had a lot of fun. And I got a lot of sleep. And I felt so great the whole weekend.

Then this morning, I woke up, and I was very post-nasal drippy, and my head was in a metaphorical bucket, and my throat was annoyed, and my ears were sad. And even though I did take a nap, and took some medicine, and drank some caramel-spice apple cider from Starbucks -which, in my book, is every bit as good as medicine - nothing has changed about my condition. In fact, it has worsened.

As it turns out, I get very needy when I'm sick. I just feel like everyone should give me lots of tender loving care and anticipate my needs. Then I realize how unrealistic and unfair that is, and I get annoyed at myself. So it's a vicious cycle.

Furthermore, I don't know how I got sick, but there are many possible culprits. Girls in my classes, people I tutored in the Writing Center, people I sat by at the football game on Friday....any of them could have been the one who thoughtlessly spread their germs to me. As I sat in class, sniffling and feeling sorry for myself, I looked around at all the other girls sniffling and felt acutely annoyed at all of them. I didn't know who to blame, so I blamed everyone. I glared at them and thought, "You did this to me!"

When I went to work tonight, I told this to a guy I work with, named Chris. He laughed and said, "You're going to be terrible to be around when you're pregnant."

My wrath found a new target right when these words finished coming out of his mouth.

"What?" I snapped. "No I won't. I'll be nice. Why would you say that?"

Chris put his hands out in a conciliatory gesture. "Calm down," he said, "I just mean....'you did this to me?' When you're pregnant you might think that.....never mind, calm down!"

I hate when people tell me to calm down. It's not like I'm out of hand. But if you keep telling me to calm down, I just might reach that point.

"No, that's completely different," I argued. "I don't know who got me sick. And I didn't ask for their germs. When I'm pregnant, I'm going to know who got me pregnant. And I'm going to be happy about it."

Chris nodded patronizingly at me. "You're right," he said, obviously just to appease me.

It was very annoying.

It's okay, though. You want to know why?

1. I got a string of pearls today! They are beautiful and I love them and I'm so excited and I'm never taking them off.

2. I am going to be better tomorrow. I just will be.

3. Taylor Swift is coming on Wednesday!!! And I am going to see her! And I am seriously going to pee my pants, I am so excited :) :) :)

No Blog Title

Why is there no blog title today? Because I was only prepared with blog titles to use when BYU beat Utah.




There's us before the game! Look at those smiles. We had great seats, right in the endzone, row 15 or 18 or something like that.



Oh. There's us halfway through the 4th quarter. We left when the score was only 30-something to 10. We found a Dairy Queen and went inside to drown our sorrows in a bowl of ice cream. (Or a Blizzard and some fries.) We weren't the only ones; there were many college students sporting "Rise Up" t-shirts sitting in a miserable silence at tables around the room.

Nottt a good day to be a Cougar.

Best. Birthday. Ever.

I was not looking forward to my birthday this year. I realized about a month ago that I was going to be turning 20 when October 9th rolled around and I was not thrilled about that. I mean, my mom got married when she was 20 years old! I think turning 20 is like, basically, the final step you take before becoming an adult. And that is a little scary.

So I decided I was going to turn 19 again this year. I mean, who needs all the stress of being 20, when you just want to stay 19? I certainly don't. It looked like I would be turning 19 once again. I would be able to have a birthday without adding another year onto my age -- what a perfect solution!

The week leading up to my birthday was fantastic. It was Winnie's birthday on October 6th, just like every year, except this year, she was turning 21, and that has never happened before! Christine lined up 21 guys to kiss her and give her roses, and we had a surprise birthday party for her at Lauren's house. It was so fun! We danced, ate yummy food, and laughed at all the guys as they kissed her. (There were actually 23, because Winnie is just that pretty and that awesome.)

On Friday, Caitlin and I went to the BYU men's soccer game. It was my first real soccer game, besides a women's game that I went to 5 minutes of at the start of my freshman year that was a disaster (not because of how they played). It was super fun! Caitlin has played soccer for forever so she explained everything to me as it happened. The refs were terrible.....they weren't calling anything but practically every time they did decide to make a call, they also issued a card. Since nothing was getting called, the boys started to get pretty aggressive, but it was fun to watch. We decided we are going to go to way more soccer games now.

After the soccer game, Christine, Caitlin and I went to a bonfire with C.L. Afterwards, I went back to Winnie's apartment to sleep over and Caitlin went home, since she had work in the morning. Saturday morning came, and as I woke up, I had no idea that one of the best days of my entire life had just begun. It was the perfect day.

Every year on my birthday, Tucano's gives me a free meal, so of course that is where I have gone every October since I got to Utah. Tucano's is a Brazilian grill where the waiters bring different meats around and give you one piece at a time until you decide you're full. There is also a delicious salad bar, grilled pineapple, and like 6 different kinds of Brazilian lemonade. Going there is almost like going to heaven.

This year, I even learned a cool new trick that lets you eat more! I guess Polynesians do this thing where they kind of wiggle their stomachs and the food gets all stirred around and settles down so they have more space to put more food! I was too nervous to use it, because a birthday is a day where you want to celebrate your birth, not the birth of a food baby, but it still sounds like a good idea for future reference.

Some of my favorite people in the world were able to come. There was Kelly, Christine, Winnie, Danielle, Lizzie (Christine's roommate from over the summer), C.L., Ryan Berlin (my home teacher slash friends with C.L. slash gave me a ride to school last week when I was having a real emergency), and Danny, Ty, and Jake (all really good friends with C.L. originally). Some of my other favorites were not able to come this year :( aka Caitlin, Kelsey, Larissa, Chelsea, Aimee, and Dahl. So that was a little sad, but a fun lunch nonetheless.

Every year, we have to take a picture by the fountain. Above is this year's picture. Below, C.L. and Ty decided to play "Put Heather on Top of Stuff" and put me on top of the fountain. It was a very wobbly rock and I really thought I was going to break it or die, so I was a little bit paralyzed with fright.

Luckily they got me down and I was able to go home all in one piece. When I got home, there was a plate of delicious snackarolls sitting on the island with a bowl of peach sauce next to them! If you have never had a snackaroll, you are not alone. My home teacher, Tanner, invented them, so I was the first to try one, ever. It is basically a cinnamon roll with a peachy kind of topping and it is amazing. Thanks Tanner!!

I didn't get an all-sports pass this year, but Winnie had to work, so she gave me her ticket for the game. I think God knew it was my birthday, because the weather was absolutely perfect, and on top of that, the Cougars pulled out a win. Their defense looked so much better this game than it has been, so that was good. I wasn't able to stay the whole time, because I had to go to work, but I did see a good two hours of the game.

As I walked back to my apartment to get ready for work, I called my mom to talk about the day I was born. This is one of my favorite traditions every year! When I was younger, my mom would pull out her journal and read to me what she had written about the day I was born. I know the story pretty well by now, but hearing my mom tell it is something I like the very best about my birthday.

She tells me everything from when she first started getting contractions to when the receptionist condescendingly told her she wasn't in labor, to how beautiful the weather was, to Dr. Gheary coming in, not quite believing that my mom was in labor either (because she was still smiling) and then saying, "Lord love a duck, this baby is coming soon!"

I was 6 pounds, 6 ounces, and about 4 weeks early, but apparently I was really a nice baby, and when I cried you could hardly even hear it. My parents knew they liked the name Christine, but weren't sure what to pair it with, so the nurse came up with the idea of Heather when she picked me up and said, "Oh, she's light as a feather! How about Heather?"

I think it's a little narcissistic but I really love hearing this story every year.

Most people prefer not to work on their birthday, but I didn't mind too much. Besides, I had gotten the past two Saturdays off, so I felt like three in a row would be a little excessive. A bunch of people came to visit me and at one point, Kylie started singing Happy Birthday and everyone else in the store joined in and then cheered for me. I thought that was so nice!

Jackie came in at about ten and said that she had some uniforms at her house that she had to drop off here, but there was a lot of boxes, so she needed to steal one of the employees. Then she said, "Oh, hey! I'm really glad you're working, because I can just take you. Do you want to come?" Of course I did, so I told my friends that I would be right back. Then I left the store with Jackie.

When we walked in Jackie's house, all the lights were off. "Ok, the uniforms are just up in my room -- why is it so dark in here?" she said, and reached for the light switch. Suddenly the room exploded in a collective cheer of "Surprise!" and I felt all panicked and screamed and backed into the wall, and then I realized that there was no emergency and I laughed and hyperventilated and sat on the ground. I had not even had an inkling of suspecting and I was so thrilled and felt so happy to have such the best friends ever that I kind of wanted to cry, but I was too happy to, so I just laughed a lot instead.

The surprise wasn't a party, per say, but an adventure at the Haunted Forest. Interestingly enough, I went last year on my birthday as well. It was fun, but I hadn't expected to make it a tradition.

This year was even funner than last year! There were more boys than girls and I needed lots of protection, so I had at least two boys to throw in front of me at all times, should trouble arise. C.L. loves haunted houses slash forests and he was like a little kid in there. One of his favorite things to do was to walk ahead of me telling the scary people my name and that it was my birthday. I did not really appreciate it because they kept coming back and asking, "Are you Heather?" all up in my face, but in retrospect, it was pretty funny.

After going through Psycho Manor and the Haunted Forest, we went back to Jackie's apartment for cake and calming down. By this point everyone was pretty tired, so Caitlin and I went back home pretty soon.

All throughout the day, I just kept thinking how perfect of a day it was. Everything about it was so wonderful that I couldn't believe that it could get better. And then, something else would happen that woulddd make it even better! I felt like the luckiest girl in the whole world. I still feel so happy from such a great day.

I guess I'd better admit it. I am 20 years old.

At least I started off my third decade of life with a perfect day :)

A Productive Weekend?

This day was probably my most successful Saturday since I've been in Utah.

First, I went on a field trip to Rock Canyon with my Physical Science 111a lab. This class is one I need to take to be in the ElEd major and it is wonderful. It's twice a week for an hour at a time and we can get a possible 10 points each class period. 6 of these points are for attendance. The other 4 are for attitude. It's classes like these that remind me that I picked the right major :) Anyway the field trip was at 10 and I woke up at 9:36 when Audrey, the girl who gave me a ride, called to say she was on her way over. I got ready in a record 5 minutes and then we drove up to Rock Canyon. The field trip was very fun. There are two boys in my class and neither of them showed up, so I felt a little bit like I was walking around in a girl scout troop or something. The weather was perfect for hiking; the sky was clear, there was a nice breeze, and it wasn't too hot. We walked a little ways up the canyon, stopping at various points to learn about the kinds of rocks we were passing.

After the field trip, Audrey dropped me off at my apartment and Kelly and I went down to campus to study with Scott. Scott is in one of Kelly's classes and they always study together. Today, we were studying in the Tanner Building. I brought my stats notes, since I have a test next week, but I didn't get very much done. I think I just need a study buddy, too!

The game this weekend was at home and it was against Colorado state. After last week's disappointing loss, I was excited to be going to a game that we were "supposed" to win. It was amazing! Here are three things that went right in this game:

1. We won! so of course I would have enjoyed it no matter where I was.

2. I caught a t-shirt! Shade was throwing out these really cute gray t-shirts with the word "Cougs" on the front and I caught one! (I think I caught one last year, too, but it wasn't nearly as cute. Plus, the one I caught this year happened to be a small, which nevvver happens with free shirts, so I was pumpeddd.)

3. We sat in the 5th row! We got rotating tickets this year and we were just put there this time, right in the endzone.

There was just one thing wrong with the game. One of the guys in our section is soooo obNOXious. He is always yelling, whether at the players (on both teams), at the refs, or at the other fans. Seriously everyone in our section hates him. At one point there was a timeout and he started yelling at everyone to stand back up and saying that if we lose it's because of the people who are sitting down. I sat down and turned around to glare at him. Towards the end of the game, people just started talking loudly about him, saying things like, "Ohhhmygosh, seriously so annoying." "I wish some people would shut up!" etc. I'm pretty sure the whole section can't stand him.

When the game was almost over, my roommate Crystal txted me and asked if I wanted to go on a triple date tonight. We got home from the game at 7:30ish, and we were supposed to leave at 8 but that didn't happen. (Thank goodness.)

Pause for a little story about yesterday.

Winnie and Christine wanted to see The Proposal, and even though we had already seen it (and loved it), Kelly and I agreed to go with them. Winnie was at work so the rest of us went to the dollar theater to get tickets and to watch Ice Age before Winnie got off work. Ice Age was sold out so we got our tickets for The Proposal and went to the mall. (Really, what else were we supposed to do?) As we walked in, I swore to myself that I wouldn't buy anything. I didn't need it. I left the mall with two new shirts and my first pair of skinny jeans. Cool. I now love and hate Papaya. Mostly love.

Back to today. So luckily because of this impromptu mini-shopping spree, I had new clothes that I could wear to the date tonight. Crystal didn't know the guy who was my date but he was really nice and it was a lot of fun. We went to Fat Cats and then to Coldstone. I used to go to Fat Cats like twice a week when Jake worked there so it was great to see all the workers again! Kiersten, Kelsee, Jesse and the other manager were all there. The bowling itself was super-fun. I thought since I hadn't bowled in so long, I would be terrible at it, but I actually ended up winning! I got 123 points! I had Kiersten print it out for me because I was so proud. After bowling we went to Coldstone (which was of course delicious) and then to the boy's apartment. We hung out there for a little bit and then they dropped Crystal and I back off at our apartment. It was only about 12 so we decided to go to another party. Kelly came with us to this one. It was a little crazier and I started to get tired, so we didn't stay for too long.

All in all, I think it was a prettyy productive day :)