GIRLS' CAMP!!!

I have a few things to write about from the last few days... but I thought I'd start with girls' camp because, well, it was first and SO MUCH FUN!!! I drove up wednesday morning (after a long day of working, if you remember tuesday's post). I was going to leave at 5:30 but I didn't get home early enough from election night to pack everything before I got exhausted. So after packing and filling up my tank I finally got on the road about 6:30. I got to camp about 8:30 (I got lost...ha!) and they were finishing up breakfast. We tie-dyed some socks and bathed in the near by river and lounged around the rest of the day. We ate yummy dutch oven dinner and did skits around the camp fire. Here are a couple of my favorite pictures from the skits...you can tell why! This is from the leaders' skit "Caterpillar Hunters."
This is my bishop putting on mascara for the priesthood skit... "trying new things" ha ha ha!
Every year Bev and I do a skit together called "Shorty." She uses her hands as Shorty's feet and we use mine as Shorty's hands. I get to do all kinds of fun things to her like put curlers in her hair, feed her bananas and pudding, help her drink water, exercise, and put on makeup. I was a little kinder this year than I have been in the past, but it was still loads of fun!
Thursday we woke up and made our breakfast with different utensils which is one of my favorite things to do at camp. My bishop's daughter, Rebecca, asked me to help her and I was way excited! She cooked using only tin foil and I got to cook with a dutch oven lid.
Our breakfasts turned out pretty good, but her dad helped her make other food also.
After breakfast we went on one of my favorite hikes up to Stewart Falls. It's so beautiful up there and the girls had lots of fun playing in the waterfall! I hiked with Josie, one of the youth leaders, and we talked about pretty much everything. That night was our awards, flag ceremony, and fireside testimony meeting... the highlight of the camp for me.

The flag ceremony is always so emotional because of what I was taught by my grandpa when I was younger. It always reminds me of him and I always cry without fail. It was an amazing night and I was so grateful to be there, even if it would have been just for that night.
Friday we packed up and came home. We were all happy to leave because our campsite was infested with thousands of fuzzy caterpillars! Despite the furry, annoying little creatures, I had so much fun at camp and learned a lot! The girls are so amazing and wonderful and, even though they are cranky sometime, they are so much fun to be around. I can't help but think every year that it will be my last and it makes me a little emotional. I love going with those girls and becoming close with them, even if I don't know them before. The leaders are amazing, too, to say the least. I learn so much from everyone and I hope I never forget one moment!

Election Day Blues

Today is election day... woo hoo... For those of you who did not understand, that was meant to be very sarcastic. I have trouble with my job as it is and the stress of an election (even an unnecessary one) just makes things worse. I have been wanting to quit for a while but can't bring myself to do it because the hours are so flexible and the pay is so good after almost 6 years. Every time there is an election I am reminded of why I've wanted to leave in the first place. There are usual election day problems, people not telling other people about problems or solutions, and people trying to do everything themselves which leaves me quite bored and giving me time to write on my blog! I honestly have done almost nothing today and I usually hate feeling unproductive (aside from times when I've worked way too long and have just wanted to relax). Everyone else is running around like chickens with their heads cut off and I'm just sitting at my desk, doing nothing... There are two things getting me through the day... First, I get to go to girls' camp with my family ward tomorrow and I won't have to work for the rest of the week! Second, I will only have one election left after this one and I will only be working part-time by then and after that election I will be out of here! Oh, just typing that sent a chill up my spine :) I realize I have failed to document this post with a photo because, frankly, I do not feel a day or event such as this deserves to have a photo wasted on it. Check back later this week (or early next week) to see photos and posting of my amazing experiences I'll be sure to have at girls' camp!!!

P.S. Something I thought was so funny I had to share! Saturday, I worked 7:30 a.m. to 9:15 p.m. getting ready for today. My boss worked saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Yesterday she called and said she would be late... she had a headache from all the overtime she had been putting in... HA!

Fixed With A Frosty

Ok, so this week with my whole no sugar thing hasn't been very good... Tuesday I let myself have a smore and I ended up eating a few extra marshmallows and some cookies. The bag of marshmallows was left at my house so I ate a few (ok, it was more than a few) on Wednesday. Luckily on Thursday I resisted the temptation and gave the bag to my mom for safe keeping. Today was a terrible day though...
I was supposed to get off work at 5:30, come home, bake cookies and meet three friends for a baseball game. I ended up working until 6:30, so no cookies, and two people ended up not being able to come to the game. I tend to freak out when things don't go as planned so needless to say I got a bit cranky. The game started half an hour ago and I'm home writing on my blog! Ok, so I am going to the game, in fact I need to leave soon... but in my crankiness I found a frosty in the freezer. I won't go into detail except to say that somehow, especially when you're "not eating sugar," a frosty can lift your spirits a little...

I'll feel really bad about the calories tomorrow...

My First Enrichment Night

I got put in as the North Ogden 25th Ward Enrichment Chairperson not too long ago and needless to say, I didn't have a clue about what the job entailed. I went to a meeting about a month ago and another two weeks ago and found out all about enrichment night and ward girls' camp and all that fun stuff! Tuesday night was my first official enrichment night and it was so much fun! We just decided to have a really laid back, get to know you night so everyone came over to my place for a bonfire and food. We held off from building the fire until the temperature went down a bit but once we got it going, it was pretty awesome if I do say so myself...
We thought the night was successful, even though there were only 20 girls total that came. We asked everyone questions like 'what's your favorite color?' and 'what's your favorite book?' Later in the evening we got into bad date stories, typical girl conversation. It was a lot of fun and I look forward to future enrichment nights! We'll have them once a month instead of just quarterly, and we may throw in some ward girls' nights out every once in a while. I can't wait!

Rachel Barber

Our phone rang around 1:30 this morning...my mom must have been really out because she didn't answer it and I thought it was a dream. I woke up and checked the caller ID and saw it was my 9 month pregnant sister! I panicked and tried to call her back from my cell phone but she didn't answer. Just after our home phone rang again. I hurried and answered it and all I heard was, "where's mom?" I thought something was wrong, so I asked and all she said was, "get mom!" Ok, this was enough to make me freak out, so I took the phone to my mom and all Joann said was, "I'm having a baby, I'll call you after my epidural." She called back a bit later and told us that she had checked into the hospital dilated to a 7 and we'd better hurry if we wanted to be there. My dad is in Florida, so I got dressed and drove my mom to the Davis hospital and at 4:06 a.m. Rachel Barber was born! We didn't know she was a girl until she came, but we are very happy and she is so cute! I'm a proud aunt of now 26 nieces and nephews!!!

The Wall That Heals

I have been to Washington D.C. a few times in my life, the first when I was younger and didn't really appreciate the history of it. A couple of years ago, when my brother graduated from the George Washington School of Medicine, I was able to go back to D.C. with my parents and grandpa for the graduation. While we were there we visited many of the monuments and memorials including the Vietnam Memorial Wall. This was the first time I had been back there since discovering my love for photography and I wanted to take all the pictures I could. We went on a very beautiful day which meant the majority of the memorials were very crowded. The Vietnam Memorial has always been one of my favorites and I was looking forward to taking some good pictures, but there were people everywhere so I didn't really get the chance...
This weekend, a model of the Vietnam Memorial Wall was brought to the parking lot behind the Newgate Mall. I hadn't had a chance to see it all weekend but I decided I would go for sunrise Sunday morning. I called Russell, a friend who also enjoys taking pictures, to see if he would go with me because I didn't want to go alone so early in the morning. He came over at 5:30 a.m. and we headed down there. It was a cool morning and there was a trailer with facts and stories from people who had visited the wall, including some from veterans. It was really cool to read their stories and learn so much. The model itself was about half the size of the original. People had left things next to the wall, much like they do with the original. I got a few pretty good shots, this being one of my favorites.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Ok, mom, this one's for you. You have to admit that every once in a while you forget something, like when you walk into a room needing to either do or find something and totally forget why you walked into the room in the first place. I actually think we all do this from time to time. I've been finding myself doing things like this more often lately...
I work on the first floor in my building, but the employee parking is on the third level. As mentioned in an earlier post, I started taking the stairs down in order to maybe use a few extra calories every day. The other day I was walking down the stairs, thinking about something that must have been serious, although I don't even remember what it was, and suddenly I found myself at the bottom. That's right, I had been thinking so intensely about something and overshot my floor! I looked at the basement door, hung my head, turned around, and proceeded to walk up to the first floor where my office is. Wow... I never thought it would happen to me! Especially at such a young age... tragic!

Seconhand Serenade

Last night I got to go see Secondhand Serenade in concert at Thanksgiving Point with Derek and Danny. It was a lot of fun, even though we got stuck in traffic on the way down, and it was outside and a little chilly... and we missed some of the concert! But it's totally ok because the night was a blast. I totally wish I could upload a video from my computer (the blog selections are limited on mine for some reason) but I guess a picture will suffice :) Anyway, it was a fun night so I had to spill a little bit about it!

5k

Last night I needed to run but when I thought of when and where I wanted to run it was really cold outside. Stacia had sent me a message saying that she really wanted to go to the gym, so I told her I would meet her there at 9:30 to run and work out. The track that I've been running the last week or so I found out is only a mile and a half, which greatly disappointed me! I've barely been able to make it that far and I hate that starting all over meant back to only being able to run a mile! I've been looking forward to running my first 5k on the 28th of June out in West Haven (Shron is in charge of it) and barely making a mile and a half wasn't going to cut it. I got to the gym a little late because I was shopping with Tiffany :) but I made it nonetheless. I was very happy when I looked at my treadmill and had almost run 3 miles and I wasn't extremely tired. I ended up running 3.25 miles and walking another quarter. I'm thinking that running the hills in North Ogden is what has been hurting me, so I'll probably either start running at the gym again (which is how I've trained for every race) or running straight from my house in either direction. Regardless of what happens with future training, I RAN A 5K!!! I'm very excited and very much looking forward to the 28th. If anyone wants to join me you're more than welcome to!

Step it up!

Every once in a while the county will have health programs for its employees such as a healthy eating program or and exercise program. I didn't participate before last year because I was only a part-time employee and couldn't reap the benefits such as extra vacation or comp time. I started last year with a program that taught us to drink more water, eat healthier, and used bonus activities for exercise. Today we started our Summer Step It Up program. Each participant got a pedometer and a booklet to keep track of the steps we take each week. I'm actually kind of excited about this program, with all the running I do. I'm really hoping to work up to a 5k within the next couple of weeks (the first on is in West Haven on the 28th) and start my training for next year's half marathon. I'm also very curious to see how many steps I do take during one day. I've started taking the stairs instead of the elevator at work, walking to lunch when I go out, and taking small breaks during the day to get away from my desk and walk a bit. It's really nice and I think it's an ok start to getting healthier... and to get two extra vacation hours to use later :) We'll see what happens!

I'm Bored...

With all my forms entered that can be entered before the election on the 24th, I pretty much don't have a lot to do at work. It's been a while since I last posted so I thought I would write something, only I don't have a clue what to write about! I'm just sitting here at my computer listening to my iPod which is so nice because I don't get as easily bothered by people saying random, stupid things. I just put a new playlist on my iPod called current favs which consists of some Secondhand Serenade (who I get to see in concert on wednesday!), Mika, a little Bar J Wranglers (ha ha ha), Bon Jovi, some of my Season 7 American Idol Favorites, Dashboard Confessional, Dave Matthews, Jack Johnson, Jimmy Eat World, Kelly Clarkson, Queen, Plain White T's, Sara Bareilles, and a few others. I love listening to music, drowning out all other sounds and thoughts... it's really nice! It can take my mind off things that I don't really want to think about now which totally rocks. Anyone reading this post can tell how bored I get at work because this post is pretty much just mindless rambling. I'll probably delete it later after realizing how awkward it is, but it has kept me busy for the last 5 minutes so it has served its current purpose!

New Template...

So I decided that I needed something a little more... not boring...for my blog. I LOVE this one and I think I'm sticking with it. I even figured out how I can make my own header for the page, so I did. Thanks to Janel for leading me to the spot of awesome blog layouts :) ENJOY!

Emergen-C Dreams

While spending time with the Barber family in St. George last winter, I learned the effects major amounts of vitamin C can have on your dreams. Joe and Justin mentioned that when they took Emergen-C right before bed they would wake up remembering the strange things that happened while they slept.
I've been feeling a little stuffy the last few days and started losing my voice on Sunday, so I decided to take some Emergen-C right before I went to bed last night not even thinking about what I would dream. I woke up this morning and remembered almost everything which doesn't happen often...
I was sitting in the chapel at my church with a few friends and we were just chatting before sacrament meeting started. One girl noticed that the meeting should have started ten minutes ago and the bishopric wasn't even there yet! We looked around and noticed that there were only girls in the chapel besides the bishop's brother, Russell, who is in our ward. We didn't know what was going on, but we knew we needed to start the meeting so our old Relief Society President got up to the pulpit and invited another ward to come in so we would have some priesthood members in the meeting. Russell had to conduct everything since he was the bishop's brother. When he got done conducting, he came and laid down on the floor next to our bench. He was freaking out because his brother was gone and no one knew where he was. I tried to console him, but he just got up and left with two other girls. After the meeting, I went to the bishop's office to see if he was there and I noticed the door was unlocked which it shouldn't have been if he wasn't there. The police arrived shortly after and I thought they would suspect me because I found the unlocked door so I hid in the parking lot until I woke up...
Want an interesting dream...? Take some Emergen-C right before bed!

Hmmm...

I just wanted to tell all of you who read and comment on my blog how much I love and appreciate you! I've had a great last couple of weeks and I feel very happy and blessed to know all of you!