June Utah Trip

Tomorrow morning we leave for Utah. We'll get back at 12:05(?)AM Tuesday morning. I may post some updates before then, as I'm planning on bringing a laptop with me to keep up to date for work, but I may not have much time; the schedule below demonstrates the crunch:

• Pick up family members from the airport,
• Go to the temple either Thursday or Saturday,
  
• visit with Dena and Steve,
  
• climb with Dena and Steve,
  
• Play games and have fun with my family,
  
• Have fun/visit with Tracy's family,
  
• go to the dinner the night before the wedding,
• deal with "family of the bride"-type wedding preparation
  
• go to the wedding,
• go climbing with Steve Saturday morning before the wedding - maybe,
• deliver family members to airport,
• church on Sunday,
• dinner on Sunday with one of three or four possible groups,
• take lots of pictures,
  
• find package stupid insurance-company-sponsored internet pharmacy mails to Tracy's parent's address in Utah, and keep it cold until we get back to VA,
• anything I forgot.

As you can see, I'm going to be busy. Very, very, very busy.

Web page sillyness.

I just thought I'd say hi to all 39 people who've visited this blog since it's inception. Okay, it's not exactly 39 people, it's 39 computers! Since we've started I've been running Google Analytics on here. It's a really handy piece of software that tells me all sorts of details about who's accessing the site, when, what posts they're looking at, what web site they're coming from, what browser and OS they're using, and where they are. By the way, Mom, you appear to come from Steven's Point. I guess your ISP routes through there. Oh yeah, I've also got one hit from New Hampshire. I'm guessing Preston's family found this, too.

Dena, your website produces about 30 percent of all the views for the site. Interesting, no?


I know, I'm probably the ONLY person on Earth who cares about this, but it's a really cool tool; it lets me know what people care about on our site, and it lets me know when people hit our site, and which family members are reading our site. Google Analytics also includes 'campaigns', so you set goals for your site (hits, unique visitors, visitor loyalty, that sort of thing), and it lets you know when you reach them. Frankly, it's a really good tool that anyone who's serious about their website should be running.

This whole thing also makes me think about having a family blog instead of a family newsletter. All I'd have to do is make a blog with the whole family as contributors. I can see that part of the family is already reading the blog. I've got a hit from Tennessee that I assume is Ben or Shannon, and lots of hits from Utah that I can't entirely classify, but I don't think it's my sisters, because they aren't from Provo.

Oh, and in case anyone cares/wants, we have an RSS feed going from the main page, too. It's too handy not to have.

Piano Recital

So, my piano recital was Saturday, the 9th of June. It was the most nerve racking experience of my life. Sorry Dena, Joe couldn't find the camera and didn't take pictures!! :0) I'm sure we can take some fake ones and post them though.

Anyways, the recital started out fine until it was my turn. I was shakind so bad!! I played Sweet Hour of Prayer and Little Brow Jug. When I started the first song, I messed up and my mind went completely blank. So I ended up skipping the entire middle of the song and just played the beginning and end. Little Brown Jug went ok, but I didn't do the last part of the song because I was shaking so bad I could barely play the song. I thought it would be better to finish before my nerves got the best of me.

On the bright side, Joe got me some really cool flip flops for moral support. (I will post a picture later!) I also almost conquered my fears and hopefully I will never have to do a recital again!! :0) I did get a pretty cool Bach figurine and I must say, Bach was pretty ugly!!! He was definitely not an attractive person, but at least he had his music going for him!! :)

Anyways, life is awesome in the fast lane!!

P.S. I do know how to tie that stupid knot!!

Climbing Gym Madness

Last night Tracy and I went out to SportRock, in Sterling, VA. It took us a little while to get started, as we had to pass a belay test before we could start belaying each other, and Tracy couldn't remember how to tie a in-line figure eight knot, or set up a belay.... (She's gonna argue that point when she sees this.) Eventually she re-learned all this stuff and we passed the test and started climbing. The first route we tried was a 5.8, and it was one of the tallest routes in the gym. For the record, the hardest route I've completed on real rock is a 5.4, but the location is notorious for sandbagging difficulty.

The route was.. well, err, okay, I'll say it. Tracy couldn't finish it. She got just below the halfway mark the first time and peeled off. The second time, she got up about the same, and then her third try, she got up above the halfway mark, and her arms gave out. I lowered her back down.

I, well, I made it on my first try. I have pretty much zero technique, though, so I relied on my arms waaay too much, but I finished the route. Once done, Tracy grudginly lowered me, but she hung me in the air for about 6 seconds waiting to start. I'm sure it was petty jealousy of my 'mad skilz'. We did another two routes and a few bouldering problems on their wall before we left, about 10:00 PM. We were both wiped, and my arms are still a little tired. At least today we got to just relax by the pool and swim for a few hours.

Old Rag Mountain

Memorial Day Saturday we hiked Old Rag Mountain. Along with us came every youth from our church who wanted to come, and a few who were probably just pressured into it by their peers.



It was a hot, hazy day, typical of Virginia summers. The good side was no worries about needing to bring a jacket in case of rain or cold, the downside was the sweat. I brought a gallon of water in the form of two nalgene bottles and a 2 liter hydration system in my pack, which also included the first aid kit, (which we thankfully didn't need, except for a blister), lunch, and some snacks ( another nalgene of gorp, some jerky, red vines [red licorice], and a box of Good and Plenty). When we reached the summit, I had half a nalgene of water left. (I had given almost a liter out to others who didn't bring enough, like Tracy.)

The signature part of Old Rag is the fact that the summit is mainly bare rocks. The trail goes around, between, over, and underneath boulders and slabs. Most of the other mountains out here have limited views because they're just the top of a tree. Old Rag doesn't do that; it pumps out huge views the entire last mile before the summit. The payment for that, however, is the work getting over the rocks. The pictures won't show the hardest parts because, well, we needed both hands to get through them.

Crazy dog

So this is my crazy dog. I included the puppy picture so you can clearly see why I was so easily fooled when the adoption place assured me she was cat!! :) Don't worry, it only took us a month to figure out what she really was, a minature bear cub!! Man, were we fooled!!

P.S. I included a picture of Joe and I so you could see the family resemblance!!

Insomnia Thoughts

So, I totally can't fall asleep. My mind just keeps racing with all these crazy thoughts. Since I don't keep a journal, I figure I should write it down in the blog. (We had a lesson in YW about keeping a journal, and I plan on repenting and starting one on Sunday. Until then, the blog will have to do.)

So earlier today a thought crossed my mind. (Don't worry, I have more than one.) I was thinking why is it that I have total faith in the medical miracles of today, but it is so hard to have complete faith in God, or you forget to completely rely on God. I mean if a doctor says that I can have a test tube baby, I believe him and that it will happen just as he says. Do I really believe that God can give us a baby without modern technologies? The answer is heck, yes, but sometimes I wonder if my heart really believes that. (Usually, that's on my really down days.) Why can it be so much easier to trust science? I suppose some would say,"Well, science is backed up with facts." Yet, so is God. How can you not look at the world around you and not see God. When you read the scriptures or see a beautiful sunset, don't I feel God. And yet, it seems easier to forget these experiences. I think that maybe science doesn't care about what's right or wrong for you, but God does and that's the difference.In my head, I know that God can make anything happen, as long as its according to his will. That's the real kicker and the hard thing for me to remember-"according to his will." Yikes!! Through everything we've been going through, I have realized and remembered some important things. You really put your life in God's hands. Without Him, you are nothing and will get lost. While His vision can span the eternities, yours is limited to only the present. Who am I to question God, who is all knowing, all encompassing, and all loving. Everything happens for a reason and with every trial; there is a lesson to be learned to help enrich and perfect your life. I have also learned that men generally don't show emotion as much as girls, and just because they don't show it doesn't necessarily mean it isn't there!

So then I start thinking about what lesson I can learn from having such a hard time having a child? And the thoughts of learning patience and great gratitude that we can even have a child. I think that not a moment would pass by, whether they are acting up or simply driving me crazy that I could not thank God for the blessing of having a child in my life. Then I start to wonder if this means we are going to have really rotten kids because I truly believe you learn these life lessons for a reason! :0)

Another thought that crossed my mind is why is it that when we go through hard times, one of the first thoughts that come to mind is what am I doing wrong. Why is it so easy to forget that one of the main purposes in life is to be tried. Why are we above the Savior, who suffered everything for us so that we can return to our Heavenly Father and be happy. I want to try and get to the point where when a trial comes my way, I'm more of a bring it on attitude instead of a why me attitude.

I also realized that I need to learn to like vegetables. Its getting pretty bad. I've been told that it starts going downhill wants you hit 30 so I figure I have about 6 months to start liking veggies!