"It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

So I thought I'd post about my trip to Utah....but instead of giving you a breakdown of what I did I thought I'd taken a different angle. See this is not the first time that this group has gotten together post college, the group containing: Alicia, Cassie, Jacob, Court, Kyle and Myself.

Jacob, Alicia & I went to Europe fall after I graduated and then the following Spring the complete group got together in Portland. A year later it was Utah. It's developed into a tradition of sorts that I really hope continues. Next year it will be Scotland for me at least to visit jacob and Court but I'm hoping the rest of the crew can come too. It's great and I love it!

The interesting thing is that if you took our initial personalities at face value you might not understand why we are all friends and why we are so close.....it's odd that this group of people are the ones that I can truly be myself around. I mean after not seeing each other for a year, I get off the plane, into the car and it's like we were apart for maybe 12 hours not 12 months. Just like the quotes says I can be stupid around them (and frequently am) and it's comfortable. I count few people in my life now that this is completely true about.

Also many times we have all gotten into "arguements" with each other. Well mainly the girls with the boys :) I put it in quotes because it's completely necessary. They are not arguements in the sense the we are unforgivably angry at each other. The thing is we are able to disagree on things (and this happens a lot!) and still be friends. We are sure enough around each other that our blunt honesty can 1. be spoken and 2. no one takes offense (well for the most parts sometimes I can dwell on somethings for a good 10 minutes :) There are also key things that we all like that can be a glue of sorts, traveling, adventures, movies (if we can agree on one), making fun of each other (this one is huge), the show Scrubs...have to tell you many disagreements have come to a complete halt when that theme song comes on! So overall despite the odds we all click together...hence the getting together for 2 plus years straight, despite being spread out across the USA.

So this is why Utah, being Utah, was still a Blast! I mean we had all been to Utah but just being there together made it fun. We were introduced to Geocaching...a new favorite of mine.

Except when we could not find it! Meals together, yelling over games, bowling (some for a high score others to beat a speed record, which I did for the girls!) Hiking to a make believe sawmill

and to Hot Springs, best hike i've been on in a long time.

Movies including Dragonball Evolution which we all love, that's right i'm admitting it for us all! Spending 5 hours in as Cassie justly termed it "Ghetto Fabulous" game place. Where with the leaking ceilings and all we put putted 3 games, Go-Karted 2x, rode the 4D experience 6x, ate dippin' dots and won 3 toys out of the Claw machine! Yep I brought a Pegasus back home with me!

I've been out of school for 2 plus years and I honestly did not hold my breath for any lasting friendships from college, especially moving all the way to North Carolina. But we beat the odds and like polar opposites cannot help but be drawn back together for a yearly adventure. I mean for us all to miss each other there is really something to this and I hope that it continues. Well until marriage and then your cut off :)

"Happiness is time spent with a friend and looking foward to sharing time with them again."- Lee Wilkinson

After it all I expect it all to come together for us next year!! We beat the odds 2 years running and I'm aiming high again! So anyway sorry for my part bragging post I just love this group of friends and wanted to boast about it. For our friendship that could be considered a conundrum when you look from the outside but we make it work.....so see you all in Scotland in a years time!

Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine. ~Anthony J. D'Angelo

What does this weather do for me? It Renews Me! I feel myself wanting to strive to be better. To recommit myself to my goals. Goals that are all at once, spritual, physical and mental. You can't help but want to be outside and feel that everything is going to be okay. I'm happy and have this sence that I can suceed in whatever I put my mind to. I know that as I strive to reach these goals I'm happier. In a book I once read the author wrote "A man must have a purpose in life, but it's something man must discover for himself." And I am discovering that for myself. If I don't set before myself things I want to accomplish I fall by the wayside and dig myself into a rut that the longer I'm in the deeper it gets and the harder it is to get out of. I have a stong conviction of self responsibility. My state of happiness is something I choose. I cannot change the things happening around me but I can change what happens within me and how I personally react. I am grateful for reminders like beautiful weather that can wake me up again so I can get out of the rut and back on the road. So i'm cruising back along and having this purpose and this focus has already given me joy. So wish me luck as I start back on the road again and here's hoping that even without the sunny days I can keep on trekking and bring my own sunshine!

25 Random Things

1. I'm out of ideas for a blog so I copied facebook ;)

2. I once lived with 18 roommates in college (I even have a picture on facebook to prove it from our Christmas exchange, that’s almost all of us)

3. The most scarring experience that ever happened to me was swimming in Rexburg and having a dead sheep tumble down a mini waterfall and almost touching me before I swam away.

4. I have ripped through a trampoline while trying to do a knee flip. (To my credit it was 20+ years old) still it did leaps and bounds for self esteem ;)

5. I used to use my sister Cassie as a test Dummy for sledding hills in Washington.

6. I went to school for History but now I am an underwriter for a Title Insurance Company....4 years for a hobby and I still don’t regret it.

7. I have been to 4 countries outside of North America and found I would be perfectly happy living in London reading a book in the park everyday.

8. I have had a cat fall on me, while sleeping, through the ceiling of a hostel in Santiago, Chile...just confirmed my complete hatred of cats

9. I have to have a book to read at night otherwise I can’t sleep.

10. My favorite chair in all the world is a papasan chair that I finally own thanks to my wonderful sisters.

11. I have a desire to live in a foreign country for at least a year.

12. I love criminal shows and talk with my sister out loud as we try and guess the ending before the characters figure it out.

13. I can be conned to buy many things if left alone with a sales person.

14. I have seen the Northern Lights before in Rexburg while lying in the park.

15. I love everything about camping except sleeping in a tent.

16. I yell at drivers in other cars when their idiots because I truly believe they can hear me and will move out of my way.

17. I loved growing up in a small town but would never now want to live in one and I have to live close to a beach.

18. I have broken a lot a bones and had many injuries so here’s the list -
- Two broken arms (1. Monkey Bars 2. Trampoline)
- Two Ankles (1. Stairs 2. Hiking at night)
- Two Collar Bones (1. Starting a lawn mower 2. Standing on a chair)
- One Finger (playing volleyball still can’t bend it all the way)
- Cracked Ribs (Human Bowling)
- Two Black Eyes (1. Human Bowling 2. My Nephew)
- And many falls in between all that sometimes I wonder how I am still alive.

19. I have done community service in a dog pound for speeding in Idaho.

20. I read tons but do not have a library card...always research on amazon and then buy it at Barnes and Noble.

21. I have been asked while in Chile if my name meant Lazy.

22. I have learned both the Napoleon Dynamite Dance and Thriller.

23. I love driving by myself and just listening to music as long as it’s not jam packed I love my commute.

24. I was a plasma whore in college...I had to eat :)

25. While backpacking in Washington I was promised I would see tons of Mountain Goats and no Bears. Never saw a single Mountain Goat but saw One Black Bear.