CAUTION: Extremely Long Blog Post!

Hello, darlings. ;)
I'm going to blog about all the fun things that have happened to me this year. :)

JANUARY- Nothing really happened to me in January, for the first few days my sister Abbie was here. She had been there for Christmas, and I think she stayed until the 7th of January.
Rory had a game down in St. George, so we all took a trip down there, that was fun. :) We stayed in a condo owned by Bill Childs, he own's RC-Willey's and is friends with my grandpa and grandma. It was... an amazing house.

We spent a lot of time there putting together puzzles, playing on the (baby?) grand piano, watching old shows on the TV, and many games of Ping Pong.


Now to the whole reason we came down there, to watch Rory play Basketball, like the baller he is. Sadly, we lost, but we went to Applebee's afterwards, and that was pretty fun. :)

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FEBRUARY, MARCH, APRIL & MAY-
I can't particularly think of anything HUGE that happened to me these months.

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JUNE-
SSSSSUUUMMEEERRR!!!
Who doesn't love summer? And who doesn't love getting out of SCHOOL for Summer?
I did pretty much NOTHING this month, I slept in until 12, hung out with Haley, and slept some more. June is always the lazy month. ;)

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JULY-
INDEPENDENCE DAY/HERITAGE DAYS:
We had a lot of fun on heritage, it's always fun to go (well, walk out and sit on our lawn) and watch the parade. Although I didn't go to the carnival this year. It was super hot, and it's just not that fun anymore, so I stayed at my best friend Haley's house, with her friend Rob, and that was one of the most fun day's of my life. We watched Hercules, for my very first time, and we drove around in Rob's truck. You gotta love friends.


July 7-10, I went on Trek. It was one of the greatest experience's I think I will ever have. It changed how I felt about the church, so much more.

FIRSTDAY: I don't even remember what time it was, all I know is that it was super early for me, we got to the church with our CLEAN pioneer clothes on, and loaded onto the buses. The whole ride up there we laughed, and screamed, and talked and were all anxious to see who our families were. I was mostly nervous I would get stuck with a family of complainy kids, or cocky boys. I got the exact opposite. In my family was:

Lisa (Goose) & (Big Mouth) Ben Grimm, the best Ma's & Pa's EVER
(Pizza) Lisa Okelberry
(Daily) Bailee Franklin
Jarron (The Barron) Bolingbroke
(Fade-in) Brayden Stone
(Clevor) Trevor Beukes
(Spacey) Tacy Hardin
(Dingy) Lyndsay Rich (LOVE HER!)
Reese('s Pieces) Taylor

We were all assigned companies. We were the mighty danes... SDANESDANESDANES! (That's what it sounded like when we yelled Danes, Danes, Danes, etc!)
We started on our way, and we didn't walk for long when we stopped next to a HUGE hill. We got drinks, went to the bathroom (in cleanER porta potties, yuck), and played Pioneer Tag. I didn't like that game because I was ALWAYS picked... But it was still fun.

After eating a sandwich and some chips, we all loaded our carts and headed off, getting closer and closer to the hill. Little did I know, it was time for the women's pull. We all got lined up to go up the hill, when President Thurgood asked us to come and stand in a big circle, boys on one side, girls on the other. He asked the boy's if they would go on a mission, and then they started up the hill. Sister Thurgood told us a story about a girl who came across the plains, and that we all had a pioneer that we looked up to, they were the initials on our bracelet. I thought of the girl I went for. She came to Utah without a mother, and she was the only girl, she had to take care of her 6 year old brother and her father. When she got to Utah, her father died right as they arrived, and was left alone to raise her little brother. She was my age. I couldn't imagine the pain she suffered, and the load she had to carry. I couldn't IMAGINE how much she would have felt alone, when really she wasn't. She had God. And so did I, during the women's pull.

They asked our Ma's to stay back, and for all the women to walk back to the cart's, but not to talk when we started pushing. They told us to try our best, and to push/pull as hard as we could, and when we felt like we couldn't do it anymore, that we would be overcome by angels, that would help us push up the hill.
Ma came back to the cart, and told us she couldn't help us. We huddled together in a group hug and Ma said a prayer that we would all make it up the hill, I don't remember her exact words, I just remembering hearing the faith in her voice. I knew she had a strong testimony and I am thankful that she had so much faith in us.
It was Lyndsay and Lisa O. in the front pulling, while me, Bailee & Tacy were pushing in the back as hard as our little bodies could. For me, it wasn't even that hard at first, I thought man, this is gonna be cake... Yeah, I was wrong. As we were about halfway up that hill, we started to stop, and I pushed, and pushed until I couldn't push any longer, and was about to give up, when I felt this huge wave of strength come, and I didn't even feel like it was me pushing the cart.
I didn't want to look to the sides because I was afraid I'd breakdown crying, but I knew the men were there, watching us push/pull up the hill. And as soon as I was letting go to give up, my brothers walked up to our cart. And as soon as they put one finger on the cart, I felt relief. I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulder's, and I wanted to give each of my brother's a big hug.
I then realized, I can do hard things. I can push a cart full of my whole families stuff, up a steep hill, with help. Help from my friends/sisters, from my Ma, and most of all, help from the Lord. I gained a stronger testimony that day.

After the women's pull, we walked TEN MILES. The longest ten miles of my life!! And as soon as we got to camp, I took off my shoes, ate food, and layed down, I was so tired that I wanted to sleep for days.


SECONDDAY:

We woke up, ate some omelettes, packed up our cart, and sat in a circle and talked about the day before, and then went as company's to sing our roll call song. These guys came up over the hill, and started yelling
"Get off our land, mormons! You don't belong here!"
A few guys walked over, and the mob started to yell in their faces, and push them a little. Of course it was fake, and a little cheesey, but I felt a little nervous, ya know. I was scared for my family. And that happened a lot to the real pioneers, so that made me appreciate the pioneers even more, for sticking up for themselves. Sticking up for what they believed in. They didn't coward down, and say: "Oh we're not mormons. We don't believe in that kind of stuff." They stuck up for what they believed in. That made me respect them.

Anyway, we all left to hit the road. We didn't walk that far that day, but I did see a lot of fresh cow turds. "Poo on the right!"
When we got to our campsite, we all layed down on the ground, and poor Lyndsay got sick, and took a long nap. We had hamburgers that day for lunch, and no lie, they were THE best hamburgers, EVER... I was probably just RREALLLYY hungry, ha.

As I was falling asleep, I was told that we were going to play games, and then have a hoedown afterwords. I REALLY didn't want to do anything that day but lay down. I was so worn out from the day before...
But the games were fun, and the hoedown was even better, minus the time I stepped in a hole, and fell over in front of a REALLY cute boy... :( After I fell, I got to dance with a cute boy who held my hands :) That was a bonus part of the night. ;)

We all went to bed after the hoedown, and I woke up the next day to the annoying sounds of seagulls, and drenched in dew, even though I had layed a tarp over my sleeping bag, I got soaked every night.


THIRDDAY:
I think the third day was one of the best days of trek. It was the day of our solo experience, and the day we signed our card things. My family wrote really nice things on it. :)

After eating a "Mountain Man Breakfast" (That I did NOT like...) we all sat around, and Pa said "That was the last of the food for the day. The only thing you have to eat is a pound of flour, and it's your choice what to do with it." As we were all handed a bag of flour, me and Bailee were thinking on what to make, and we decided we were going to make a biscuit. A few minutes afterwards we were asked to grab our buckets, and a pen/pencil. We had a guy give a talk, and then we all sat in a circle, and had like a little poster thing that hung from our neck, and you would write what you think God would want the person in front of you to know about them. After doing that we grabbed our scriptures, our buckets, a church magazine, water, a booklet and an envelope, walked up the hill, to find some shade, and spread out, this is what they called the solo experience. It was harder for me during the solo experience because I couldn't concentrate on the book... I had bugs crawling all over me, it was hot and the seagulls were just as annoying as ever... Until I started reading a story about a teacher who made the kids pick 10 rules, and then they got to choose the punishment that they got if they broke the rules, and one of the rules was no stealing, the punishment was 10 whippings without a coat on, one day a little boy stole "Big Tom's" food, and Big Tom told on him, well the day the teacher was going to whip the boy, he took off his coat and didn't have any shirt on, his dad had just died, and the only shirt he had was washing, and Big Tom, feeling bad for him, took his whippings so he didn't have to suffer, and I realized that I was kind of like the little boy, Jesus died for me, and everyone else, so that WE didn't have to suffer...
The solo experience made me closer to the gospel, and it made me realize I was a true daughter of God.
--After the solo experience, we got CHILI DOGS! And a cookie! Those were delicious cookies, by the way... I thought we were only going to eat a biscuit so... Haha. After we ate, we got all loaded up and we started going again, headed up a HUGE, and longggg hill... About halfway up the hill, we stopped off to the side of the road for a water break, and it started to get a little stormy, but it felt really good because it was hottt that day. I'm glad the clouds covered us on the way up the hill or I would have died. I was fine pushing the cart in the back for a while, but then I started to feel like I was going to pass out. I felt like this the rest of trek, but... I think I had heat stroke of some sort...

The rest of the third days were hills, we went UP... and DOWN... and UP... and DOWN... you get the point.
It was torture, and when we reached camp my feet were so sore, I didn't want to do anything. My knee's were hurting almost worse then my feet were. I did not know until I got home from trek that I had "Water on my knees", they were sooo swollen, and sore for a week afterwards, so while my "brothers & sisters" went and cleaned bathrooms, I stayed back and helped make dinner with Ma & Pa. :)

That night we had AMAZING BBQ ribs. They were... mmm, sooo yummy. :o' <-- (That's a little drooling guy.) We had a devotional that night, pretty much in the dark the whole time, and Bishop Rhoades and President Thurgood's talks were so great, and so spiritual. It was near the end of the devotional thing, when I looked up on the hill and saw a TEMPLE, at first I thought I was seeing things, and then I heard people around me saying "Look, over there! It's the temple!"
And sure enough there it was. If you know that I can't see very far away, then you know that that Temple SHOULD HAVE been blurry and not clear, but for some reason, I could see that Temple perfectly.

We had testimony meeting afterwards, with just our families, and that was a really good experience for me, to hear everyone's testimony. My brother Brayden's really touched me, he shared an experience with his aunt, and it might be too personal to blog about but it was really great to hear everyone's testimony, especially Bailee's. I think hearing her testimony was huge for me, because I'm so close to Bailee, I've been friends with her since I was like 6, and I hadn't really heard her bear her testimony except for girls camp, and it was great.

The last night, was by far the best. We had Ben do the worm, Reese attempting to run and jump over Jarron, Reese telling us crazy stories about him and his cousins, Lisa playing the snorting game (her facial expressions...priceless), told stories, had leg wrestling matches, laughed until we almost peed our pants, looked through the night people's night goggles, and slept like babies. (At least I did.) :)

LASTDAY:
I was really sad, yet happy on the last day. I didn't want to leave my amazing family, but I wanted to go home and shower, and get back to the normal life, even though I really wanted to spend it with my "2nd Family". :/
Oatmeal was for breakfast. I didn't feel good at all that day... My "Aunt Rose" came to visit and I didn't want her there...
Everyone gathered, we took pictures, as companies, and as a whole Trek group.
Germany (my ACTUAL parents company.) went first that day... lucky geese.
As we headed off on the last day, I was expecting to be home in a short amount of time... EHHHH. WRONG-oh.
We had lots of hills, and it was really hot that day. We had to go up the BACK of the women's pull hill, and that was exhausting, when stopping for a potty and snack break, I was NOT feeling good whatsoever, I found my mom getting snacks, and as soon as I saw her I lost it...
"Mom, I don't feel good at all!"
I felt like I was going to pass out, so here I am standing in front of everyone in line for snacks, and my mom sits me down, I put my head in between my knee's, and just bawl, I was sooooooooo embarrassed...
People started shoving go-gurt's in my mouth, a banana, granola bars, and all these things... It was ridiculous.
I didn't push very much, I kind of stayed behind, careful that I wouldn't get too much exhaustion from pushing the cart...
But near the end, I tried to help as much as I could. Even though I didn't feel good.
It was a long walk "home", but I knew we were done when I heard "Come, Come Ye Saints" playing, and the same temple from the night before as we walked down the hill, there were parents, and grandparents, friends, and people who loved us waving and screaming and cheering, waving white hankies. I DID IT. I had gotten through a looottt of hard things, all w/ help from the Lord.
Trek was an amazing experience for me, and if I was asked to go again, I would go in a heartbeat. I would encourage anyone to go, if given the opportunity to.

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After getting back to the real world, I didn't do much in July. I was in the Ogden Parade dressed as a llloooveellyy "pioneer", and that same day I went to the Ogden Rodeo in my CUUUTEE red cowgirl boots, black skinnies, and a white top I got from Ross, I went shopping with Lindsay and Amber the day before. :P It was a blast. I loooveedd the Rodeo, they are my favorite. But I wouldn't suggest black pants near the end of July, it got pretty darn hot...

I got Netflix in July... ITS SO AMAZING! I LOVEEEE ITTT. <3 Me and my dad are... OBSESSED with Lost. It's the best show... EVER.

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It's now August, the month of my BIRTHDAYYY! My birthday was amazing. My friends and my family are the best. My party was sooo much fun. And I'm glad it turned out the way I wanted it too! Thanks to everyone who came :) It would have been a lot different if my sister Abbie & my brother in law Rory were there, because I miss them.. a LOT... but I'll see them soon... :)

Jenna's b-day party was really fun too, Jenna is my 2nd best friend. We were locker partners the beginning of the school year, and became best friends throughout the year. She's amazing... And we're falling apart, but I want her to know I still count her as my best friend, and I always will, even if she wants NOTHING to do with me... I hope we can have the same friendship we had last year, this upcoming year.
Anyway, Jenna's birthday is a day before mine, so she had a party the same weekend as miiinee. And it was so much fun, I loved the Mayan, the salsa was yummy, the queso (dont know how to spell that..) was yummy, the divers were yummy ;), the cake was yummy and my smoothie was yummy. Everything was just delicious, except my hamburger tasted a little burnt. :P

I had girls camp this past weekend, and it was... the best girls camp I've had so far, and it will probably be my favorite girls camp, just because of the spiritual part of it. It was amazing. Simply amazing.

The first day was kind of slow, at least for me, and I didn't want to be there. I just had a crappy attitude, and I wanted to go home... But it all changed when we were getting ready for the skit night, our skit was awesome, and I'm pretty proud of it. :) Thanks Nikki for coming up with great lyrics. :) Everyone loved it!

After our skits, we had the faith walk, and the faith walk was the best part of girls camp for me. Just because it reminded me so much of the experiences I had on Trek. That's exactly what I wanted when I got to girls camp, I said "If I don't have a great experience like I had on trek, then I'm not going to enjoy girls camp this year, and I'm going to be so dissapointed. I might as well leave." I really was being a turd-nugget that night.

Now, I didn't know it was the faith walk, and Sis. Gift asked us to sit and think about, ya know, life, and what we wanted to happen this week. She turned on some soft music, and I was kind of off into my own world, I was really zoned out, and me and Haley had the giggles, so I wasn't really focusing in until "Live Like You Believe" came on. That was our song at girls camp last year, and as soon as everyone started singing, me and Haley jumped in. Well, about halfway through the song I hear Hay go:
"l-live like y-you b-believe" and she starts crying, so of course I'm bawling.....
The stake leaders were picking random girls and taking them over by the lodge, and I didn't know what was going on. I sat there and felt kind of unworthy, Haley was picked before me, and a short while after my mom came up to me and said "Your Turn".
I thought to myselft my turn for.. what???

THEFAITHWALK.

I put my blindfold on, and had Rochelle Barker (love her!) grab onto my arm, she walked me up to the rope, put my right hand on, and put a pinecone in my left hand, she told me I was not to let go of the rope, and to hold onto the pinecone..

I was ok at first, a little bit nervous that I'd trip and fall, when I got to a pole, I couldn't figure out what to do, and how to get around it. I was really struggling and I heard a voice to my right saying:
"You can't get around this, this is too difficult for someone like you. You're such a wimp. Why are you even here? You might as well just let go!"

That's when I lost it. I was already struggling enough, but I just kept moving forward, and pushing myself to get through it, and I did...
At the end, I kept getting closer to the sound of a lady singing, and underneath my blindfold I saw a light, I kept on walking and when I felt a knot at the end of the rope, and I heard someone running towards me, and when I heard the sound of President Thurgood saying: "You've reached the end, this is Pres. Thurgood, you can let go now, you can trust me." I just cried, and cried, as he was telling us that we did a good job, and that once we sat down we could take off our blindfolds. I took off my blindfold and saw my best friend Haley telling me to come over by her. As soon as I crawled over to her, I just buried my head in her lap and just cried...
It was, somewhat overwhelming for me.. But it was totally worth it. It was also cool, watching other people walk along the rope.

Our fashion show, was THE BEST. By far, better than last years.
Troy Cady pulling out the feather boa from his pajama pants was the highlight of my day! Funniest thing ever...
His mullet, and "Happy Pants's" afro. Bahaha. They are by far, one of my favorite guys in the ward.
It was awesome.
I won "Best Spidey Strut". I had on my spidey pj's, cause.. that's how I roh. (:
And I did some spiderman thing that came out of no where, like honestly, I don't even know who that person was that night... Hahahahhhhhhhhhh....... Yeah.

And Kristen's talk afterwards about turning to the Light and not the Darkness was really great. I love that woman. I'm so glad she came to camp that year, she made everything just so awesome.

I only went down the river twice, only 1 time all the way... because last year I flipped over off my tube, and dunked right into the water, and it scared me so back I'm like paranoid of the river...

But washing your hair in the river on the 2nd day, after the hike, is always.. the best. I love it. Soo soo much. Oh speaking of the hike, that was like a piece of cake compared to trek, but I loved it because me, Shalise, Haley, Claudia, Bianca, Haley Dial and Marissa were all singing. And that's always fun. :) I love sis. Bogenrief, she's such a cutie!! I bet she got sick of me and Haley singing Moulin Rouge though.. hahah.

I'm really tired. It's almost 2 o clock in the morning, but HEY! I'm finally finished. :)
YYYESSHH! I'm excited for me.
I hope you liked this post.
This is somewhat like a journal to me, just less personal. ;)
Thanks to everyone/anyone who reads my blog!! <3