Camp NaNoWriMo

It. Is. Time.

Ever since I was three years old, I've told people I was a writer and I was going to write a book someday. It's time to finally make that dream happen. I am too much of a perfectionist. I get caught up in rewriting the beginning over and over again instead of moving forward. No more! I just need to plow ahead to the finish line.

It doesn't need to be perfect. It doesn't even need to be publishable, especially not in a first draft format.

But it needs to be written. For me, if no one else.

Tomorrow, Camp NaNoWriMo begins again. I've set a goal to write 10,000 words over the month of July. Tonight, in preparation, I read through the latest incarnation of my novel and made a few infinitesimal needed corrections.

Right now, my document word count is 6,057 words. Let's boost that up to 16,000! Go, team!

http://www.lookhuman.com/design/24155-hooray-sports

The Wonder of God's Creations

Today my family left Lake Powell and headed to Bryce Canyon, making sure to stop by Zion's Canyon.

And we made sure to drive through Granddaddy's birthplace Kanab to get there!

Actually, there was a lot of family history going on. Dad's attended the Pratt Family Reunions in Zion since he was a kid. He told us stories from when he was a teenager. Also, apparently our Great-Granddaddy and Granny Pratt once got caught in a flash flood while they were camping there! They survived by climbing trees and it was a week before they were rescued. Wish I knew more about that story.

Also...Granny and Granddaddy AND Mom and Dad honeymooned in Bryce Canyon. I took a picture of Mom and Dad at the cabin where they honeymooned 30 years ago!

Lake Powell, Zion's Canyon, and Bryce Canyon are all their own kind of unearthly gorgeous. It's amazing. I loved them all, but I was especially impressed by Bryce. I think it's made my top 10 list of the most beautiful places in the world.

Lake Powell

Horseshoe Bend (near Lake Powell)

Zion's Canyon

Bryce Canyon

Seeing these places (and California last week), I was struck by the great beauty of this place God has made for us. And the diversity too. There are so many different ways the Earth can be beautiful. He is infinitely creative. And He made it all for us.

Then tonight after dark, we went back to the canyon rim to watch the stars. There were SO many! They are having an astronomy festival here this weekend, and they call it "the last great sanctuary of natural darkness". We even caught a glimpse of the Milky Way.

Nothing like the immensity of space to remind you of how infinite God's creations are! So many stars... so many worlds... so many children! It's easy to feel small. But as Pres. Uchtdorf says,

"And while we may look at the vast expanse of the universe and say, “What is man in comparison to the glory of creation?” God Himself said we are the reason He created the universe! His work and glory—the purpose for this magnificent universe—is to save and exalt mankind.8 In other words, the vast expanse of eternity, the glories and mysteries of infinite space and time are all built for the benefit of ordinary mortals like you and me. Our Heavenly Father created the universe that we might reach our potential as His sons and daughters.

This is a paradox of man: compared to God, man is nothing; yet we are everything to God. While against the backdrop of infinite creation we may appear to be nothing, we have a spark of eternal fire burning within our breast. We have the incomprehensible promise of exaltation—worlds without end—within our grasp. And it is God’s great desire to help us reach it."

I know that's true. God loves each one of us more than we can ever comprehend. He sent His Son to suffer for our sins and die for us so we could return home. We are never lost in the shuffle to Him--He knows and loves us just as deeply as He would if each one of us were His only child.

And all of this beauty... It's for us. He wants us to enjoy it.

Girls' Trip

Meet Lori and Hayley.

The three of us have been BFFs since middle school. This summer, we decided we FINALLY needed to go on a girls' trip. I don't know why it's taken us this long. We headed out to San Diego, one of my very favorite cities in the entire world.

Everyone assumed we were college girls on vacation, which was kind of fun. :) We had a hard time convincing the rental car guy we were old enough to get a car. (Thank goodness for IDs, huh?)

Oh, and speaking of cars... I DROVE IN CALIFORNIA AND NOBODY DIED. I've been terrified of California traffic since I got stuck in rush hour traffic near Corona on a business trip (my coworker was driving). It seemed like bumper to bumper traffic with everyone still miraculously going the speed limit.

Traffic in San Diego was much calmer... Not too different from Colorado or Utah, actually... although perhaps with more courteous drivers. :) Getting over my fear of driving in California is a huge deal. Maybe that takes me one step closer to actually moving there (although I do worry a bit about the cost of living).

We ventured to as many sites as we could fit into 5 days.

Such as the San Diego Safari Park:

We went as soon as it opened and beat the crowds. We really lucked out with the animals. They were almost always out at the front of their enclosures when we came by.

Of course we had to stop and ride the zoo carousel. The ride operator gave us a hard time. "Are there children with you?" No. No, it's just us.

I rode the deer, of course, since Lori's nickname for me is Bambi. After snapping pictures of my friends, I spent the rest of my ride trying to take selfies and laughing hysterically at the poor results. I kept up a running commentary so my friends knew what I was doing... and of course the ride operator overheard me and gave me a hard time. What can I say? Sometimes I'm a dork.

Best shot!

On our way out of the zoo at the end of the day, we ran into a cheetah on a leash! (which really makes me want to keep one as a pet. Although his eyes creeped me out a little.)

Hayley got a great shot of the zookeeper warning us to stay back as they walked past.

We spent a lot of our trip hanging out at various beaches.

La Jolla Beach! Complete with sea lions (don't worry, this one was asleep)

Silver Strand Beach! (Great for shell collecting)

Mission Beach! Where we went boogie boarding.

Ocean Beach! (Does that name crack anyone else up?) Features its very own pier. AND we got to see the tail end of a surfing competition.

On our last day (well, my last day... the girls got to stay for one more), we started off by traveling to Balboa Park.

It's gigantic and features lots of museums and gardens. We paid a visit to the lovely Botanical Gardens there.

After that, it was off to Little Italy for lunch.

Then to Point Loma to check out the historic lighthouse there, and to take a look at the Cabrillo tide pools. While that area was beautiful, unfortunately we arrived at high tide and so no tide pools were visible.

We finished the day by visiting Sunset Cliffs in the hopes of seeing a gorgeous sunset. Unfortunately it was cloudy, but we did come across a sailor's beach wedding right there on the cliff! We slipped up closer to listen in (although I wasn't quite brave enough to snap a picture of their special moment... That seemed too creepy.)

And of course, what better way to finish off a California trip than dinner at In N' Out?

All in all, it was a spectacular trip, and it left me feeling a little more in love with California. Maybe I  will end up there someday.

The Finished Product

Voila! :)

Expressing My Artistic Side

So Shauna and I have been continuing our dabbling into painting. We each did another paint by number!

Voila! Can't figure out how to fix this picture on my phone.... I'll do it later.

Tonight we took it up a notch and went to Color Me Mine. We found a good deal on Groupon. Here's the before pictures... On Monday, I'll post the finished products. :)

Shauna made a flower soap dish :)

I painted a dog mug to look just like Max. :)

Leo!!!

Today Melissa rented a puppy and she let me come play with it too. :)

Meet Leo!

I think we wore him out.

He was adorable and so friendly! Anytime a new person came by, he would run up to them and lick him. Clearly he felt that all people are friendly and good. He's been treated very well and he's loved to love everybody. I've heard that Puppies for Rent helps socialize their puppies so they are friendly for life... Leo was a prime example of that!

Life hack for waking up happy

Guys, I finally figured it out!

For years, I've woken up to some of the most annoying alarm noises out there. You know what I'm taking about. Those sounds that make you groan and slam the snooze button just to make them go away.

I thought annoying alarms were the key to waking up. After all, if I woke up to the radio or one of the more subtle, soothing alarms on my phone... I wouldn't want to stop the noise, because I'd like it. So I might just listen happily as I drifted back into sleep.

Not so! A few weeks back, I tried changing my alarm to this happy, sweet little song (complete with birds singing!) that came with my phone. When I wake up and hear it, it makes me smile. It starts the day off on a good note (haha... I'm hilarious, I know) instead of an extreme irritation.

Why didn't I figure this out years ago??

Journey to the Past

Yesterday, Melissa and I drove out to Vernal to see some of the sites there (as a matter of fact, there ARE sites in Vernal! :)

Of course Vernal's claim to fame is the Dinosaur National Monument. Inside their Quarry Exhibit Hall, you can see dinosaur bones still embedded in the mountain.

Then we were off to a hidden gem called the McConkie Ranch Petroglyphs. Several beautiful petroglyphs were found carved into the rocks on a private ranch. The ranchers are nice enough to let people come visit. They only ask that you leave $4 in a donation box at the base of the trail. (And there is a fridge there too, where you can buy a water bottle or a soda can for a dollar a piece). They've also set up a nice hiking trail to get up to the petroglyphs--just rocky and steep enough to bring out your inner kid and play explorer.

Inside the shack at the trailhead. You could leave a sticky note with your thoughts on the petroglyphs.

This one is my favorite. Doesn't it look like a happy little family?

Finally, we ended our day by going to a session at the beautiful (and historic) Vernal Temple. It was originally built as a Tabernacle in 1907, and converted to a temple in 1997. After the session, Melissa asked a temple worker if there was any special paintings or artwork in the temple. She was nice enough to give us the grand tour of all three floors! It is a beautiful beautiful temple. My favorite part is the stained glass window at the front, which shows the Savior as a shepherd with a flock of sheep. I tried to take a picture of it, but none of mine quite turned out, and I can't seem to find a picture on the web... Does anyone else have a picture?!?

All in all, it was a lovely day, and I'm glad we went! Here's to more summer adventures to come. :)

Update:

A picture of the stained glass window, courtesy of Melissa. :)