Trouble in the Tetons.

On Friday August 2nd, I gave my last tour as a BYU tour guide :( and then Stephen and I hit the road for Wyoming! It was really fun being able to spend time in the car together and drive through exciting cities like Kemmerer, WY (home of JC Penny) as well as Daniel Wyoming, population 100. :) Stephen's Uncle Randy and Aunt Ruth invited us to come with some of their family (kids and grandkids) on a little camping trip in the Tetons, and we were excited! We'd been looking forward to this trip for months :)

Here's how the trip went in a nutshell:

Saturday-
Wake up 6:30 am.
Drive to Jackson lake (two hours).
Load boat with all the "hud." (Code for camping junk)
Boat doesn't start.
Wait on dock for 4 hours trying to get boat to start.
Get really really really sunburned.
Get really jealous of all the other boats on the dock.
Wait another couple hours for people to try to figure out how to make the boat start.
Give up and drive back to cabin.
 
Sunday-
Raspberry pick around cabin.
Drive to String Lake (two hours).
Kayak on beautiful String Lake.
Drive back to cabin.
Eat delicious raspberries with ice cream and angel food cake.

Monday-
Wake up at 6:00 am.
Drive to Jackson Lake.
Rent motor boats.
Ride motor boats to campsite.
Set up camp (while others went back to pick up the rest of the crew and return motor boats, then kayak to campsite).
Play in the water.
See Grizzly bear.
Call Park Rangers.
Watch Grizzly bear come closer and closer to campsite.
Call Park Rangers.
Pack up camp.
See a second grizzly bear.
Call Park Rangers.
Wait for Park Rangers.
Park Rangers arrive.
Listen to Park Rangers tell us we were supposed to yell and throw rocks at the Grizzly Bears.
Be confused.
Ride with Park Rangers back to Dock. (While others kayaked back, and others waited on the campsite for the Rangers to come back to pick them up.)
Drive back to cabin.

Although the four days didn't go exactly as planned...and in the end there actually wasn't any camping involved, we had A TON of fun! It was the perfect little escape before we came back to the craziness of wedding planning and preparation.  :)

I haven't spent much time in Wyoming, other than driving through it on various family road trips, but I must admit that the Tetons and the Wind Rivers are BEAUTIFUL! I can't say that I'm a crazy-intense-outdoorsy type of person...but I can definitely appreciate this incredible world in which we live.

The view from the deck of Randy and Ruth's cabin.

The view with the sunset was INCREDIBLE.

The raspberries iiiiiii picked! (above) 

Oh what a life I'm living! 

By the numbers.

TEN weeks (or more) since I realized that the air conditioner in my car was broken and needed to be fixed, but I have yet to do anything about it. Which was fine 10 weeks ago when it was still winter-time in Provo, but now that it's pushing 100 degrees...action must be taken. asap.

NINE weeks have passed since Stephen asked me to marry him. It has been a crazy busy nine weeks! And although it still seems like our wedding is still foreverrrrrr away...looking back the last nine weeks have gone crazy fast!

EIGHT times a day I think about Hokulia shave ice and how much I want it. But then I also remember that due to the summer camps going on at the present...the line takes about eight hours*. (Which actually might still be worth it. I mean, that stuff is GOOD.)

SEVEN days until the 4th of July. I really hope this years' measures up to last years. I have full confidence that it will.

SIX homemade lemon chicken tacos have been devoured by yours truly during the last couple of days. (I don't think I could ever get sick of them. They're just too good. Homemade guac and pico on top are a given.)

FIVE (times ten plus one) days until I marry the love of my life. [ya.I'll be the first to admit that one's a bit of a stretch haha but just go with it.]

FOUR weeks since my last blog post. WOOPS. I'll do better this month ;)

THREE marvelous days were spent in Grace, Idaho this past weekend. (Well, technically two and a half, but I need something for three.) It is always nice to have a little weekend getaway, especially to Grace because it is BEAUTIFUL up there right now.

TWO hours drive to Manti, UT which is where Stephen and I will be going as soon as I'm off work tomorrow for the Manti pageant which I've never been to before. It should be good!

ONE day until my wedding ring is supposed to be here! Sadly, I don't think it will actually be here tomorrow, but there is still a small glimmer of hope deep down in my heart that it will arrive soon (as in within the next 24 hours soon, but with each passing hour that glimmer of hope is dimming.)

ZERO is the amount of times my PASS OF ALL PASSES has been used so far this summer. Unacceptable. I'm definitely hoping to bust that thing out within the next couple weeks.

*extreme exaggeration

Oh what a life I'm living! 

Weekenders.

The last few weekends have been a lot of fun! Sadly, I don't always remember to take pictures like I should but hopefully I'll do better in the future!

Weekend activities included things like:
BYU Baseball
Hokulia Shave Ice (x2) (My Hokulia addiction is back in full swing this summer)
Thai Food (which of course included Massaman Curry - our favorite!!!!)
Attending baptisms
Shopping
Watching movies (I forced Stephen into watching Mes Miserables with me. He said he thinks he would prefer the stage version better, but he still watched the whole thing without complaining :) I was grateful!) [Other movies included The Village, and Bernie.]
Hot tubbing
Wedding Planning
and more!


(photos not in order of when they were taken)

Even though I'm only working 20 hours and week and taking one class....my weeks fill up SO quickly! I always feel like I'm barely keeping my head above the water, and then Friday comes and I can breathe  freely again! Of course we have to take advantage of the time off and we fill our friday/saturday/sundays with LOTS of fun things - so many that there never seems to be enough time to do homework...so by the time monday comes around I'm already back to barely keeping my head above the water. Hmmm.. I refuse to see any correlation between those two problems. haha.

Oh what a life I'm living! 

See You In Two.

I just got the first email from my little brother Daniel who is currently in the MTC! 

This past Wednesday, exactly 11 years after my older brother Joseph entered the MTC, I dropped Daniel off at the very same place! 

I am so proud of Daniel and his decision to serve a mission.
 I can't wait to hear about his exciting adventures in Cleveland, Ohio :)

While dropping Daniel off I couldn't help but be reminded of a time when I said goodbye to another special missionary just over two years ago.... (Let's hope then next two years go faster than the last! ;))

Oh what a life I'm living,

PS If you want to receive Daniel's weekly emails, be sure to let me or my mom know! 

California Dreamin.

Last Wednesday Stephen and I road-tripped to CA for a "Mission: Possible" themed family reunion. [My mom chose this theme since my brother Daniel will leaving on his mission to Cleveland, Ohio a week from today!] As cheesy as it may sound, Stephen and I were both really excited to be able to spend 10 hours in the car together [each way], and in the end it was JUST as much fun as we thought! :)

We had so much fun spending time with my family in CA! My nieces and nephews are just as chatty and adorable as ever and even though it was a little stressful when Stephen and I were left in charge of all seven of them while everyone else went to the temple for a couple hours...we survived!

It was a wonderful couple days filled with:
Early-Bird Nephews and Nieces,
Minute To Win it Games,
WARM 80-90 degree days, (definitely been dreaming about those since we got back to Provo and it's basically rained every day...)
Cleveland Trivia,
Water Games,
Family Pictures,
Mini Golf,
Olympic Events [such as wheelbarrow racing and marble toes],
Miriam's first date (which was SENIOR BALL - she went as a sophomore!)
and of course rounded off With a Flinders Family Original Music Video!

Sadly, I didn't take a ton of pictures because we were so busy, but here are a couple of my favs.

(Stephen took the one above, and I was REALLY impressed with how well he did, especially considering he had to focus it manually. We have a photographer in our midst, ladies and gentlemen!)

We really are a happy couple, can't you tell? ;)

(Photo Cred: Sarah! (She's the real photo expert in the family.) [Thanks for all the photography tips, Sarah!])

Oh what a life I'm living! 

PS Check back soon for more details on our ENGAGEMENT that took place the weekend before :) 

Taco Tuesday.

Last night at about 11:30 p.m. . . . Bryn and I were hit with a stroke of genius. 

It was late and night, and we were hungry.

 (Which, if you remember, is when all of the best ideas unfold;

 kinda like the one time we made cinnamon rolls.)

We didn't have many ingredients to work with, but within minutes we had some of the beeest homemade-lemon-chicken-tacos ready to be eaten.

They were delicious.

I'm gonna miss Brynjamin and our spontaneous food-making in the middle of the night. 

In other news, 5 finals stand between me and summer break. 

(Which is really only kind of summer break because I'll still be taking a class - but that's beside the point.)

BRING IT ON. 

Oh what a life I'm living, 

Cheese on Toast.

Oh what a life I'm living! 

twenty twelve in review.

JANUARY

When I went to The Holy Land,
met and roomed with some of my favorite people in the whole world,
and went to Petra in Jordan.

FEBRUARY

When I helped plan the "Arab dinner,"

it was really windy,

and the Russian-Swede-Asian became an unlikely trio.

(how unlikely?...just ask Vlad. ;))

MARCH

When it snowed on the Dome of the Rock,

I went to Turkey, 

 spent 10 days on the Sea of Galilee,

participated in the Palm Sunday Walk, 

and discovered mint lemonade.

(Oh how I miss it.)

APRIL

When I bike rode through Tel Aviv and ate my first cheeseburger in months,

 went to a "Sun Rise, Son Rise" service on Easter at the Garden Tomb, 

finally put a prayer in the Western Wall, 

and had a Farewell-Jerusalem photoshoot with my Jerusalem roommates.

MAY

When I put the finishing touches on the Total Pillow Infomercial,

the addition on our house got carpeted,

and when I listened to Tim and Cameron's mission stories for hours.

  

JUNE

When Daniel graduated high school, 

I bought my very own car,

and I got a job as a tour guide of BYU.

JULY

When it was much too hot to sleep indoors so we took our mattresses outside,

and when I finally got to camp out for the 4th of July Parade.

AUGUST

When my cousin Kierstin stayed with me for a couple days,

 I turned 21,

I was finally reunited with my jerusalem roommates,

 won GOLD in the synchronized swimming competition,

my best friend/cousin/ex-roommate got married,

and when I got an unhealthy addiction to Hokulia shave ice.

SEPTEMBER 

When I taught Kindergarteners PE and had a blast doing it,

when I participated in the Dirty Dash in Midway, UT.

OCTOBER

When we celebrated the first marriage from our Jerusalem group,

 I went to Colorado (twice),

and survived visiting the scariest house I've ever been inside in my life.

NOVEMBER

When I went home for thanksgiving

and we ordered sushi for 24 people.

(Oh my delicious.)

DECEMBER

When we stopped at the Reno temple on our way to Utah,

wished everyone a very hairy Christmas,

and went to see the lights at temple square.  

It truly has been an INCREDIBLE year,

I can't wait to see what 2013 has in store!

Oh what a life I'm livin',