I had an incredible weekend. According to Facebook, my weekend did not exist, because all of the super exciting and wonderful photos of said weekend WILL NOT appear on my Facebook page. But, according to my sunburnt back, sore legs, sand-covered bag, freckled face, and weird rash, it happened. And yes, I did just admit to the public that I have a weird rash on my stomach. But don’t worry, it’s just an allergic reaction that us people with sensitive skin get when swimming in fresh water that apparently have snails and birds. I won’t get into details…. Let’s just say that it’s not contagious, it will go away in 3 to 5 days, and I will never swim in the shallow water of Sand Hollow Reservoir again. Too much information? Maybe.
Anyway, this weekend was amazing. My friend invited me a few days before the trip – but all he said was “jet skiing and cliff jumping in St. George. You in?” – and without knowing any other details or people going, I showed up at his house at 5 pm on Friday afternoon with a swimsuit, towel, and more excitement than I’ve had all semester. Something about the words “vacation,” “St. George,” “sun,” “swimming,” and “road trip” make waiting very difficult. In fact, I had to finish my independent study course AND take the final before leaving on Friday—I ended up going over to take the test at noon and blowing off any previously planned studying. Who studies when you are waiting to drive to paradise? Not me. Luckily, Independent Study is the easiest thing on the planet. Seriously. If I had known this fact before my last semester of college I might have done a large majority of my classwork online… oh well.
So we left for St. George at 5:30. Yes, I went on vacation with 20 strangers. It was the best decision I’ve made in a long time. Every single one of those “strangers” turned out to be awesome = instant friends. We stayed at one of the guys’ super sweet vacation home—he was so generous to let all of us crash there for the weekend. Our vacation consisted of tennis, running, biking, eating, talking, laughing hysterically until 3 am, watching movies, ping pong, driving by the lovely temple, ice cream outings, and a full day spent at Sand Hollow Reservoir, complete with racing jet skis at 60 mph.
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| So beautiful. |
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| Look at that lovely orange sand... it was almost the same exact color as my hair. I was tempted to get wet and then roll around in it... but large prickers and bird poop stopped me from transforming myself into one giant orange person. darn. |
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| Cousin love. That sunscreen "W" might be the only bit of sunscreen used by anyone but me during the duration of the trip, evidenced by the painful moaning and three bottles of aloe used by the group later that night... |
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| Famous. |
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| Our favorite bathroom-stop on the way to St. George: Beaver, UT. Maybe some day I will live here. Then I will find no shame in wearing that shirt or hat. |
Fortunately, I took a few pics on my cell—you get the idea. It was gorgeous. We spent almost six hours swimming, jet skiing, sunbathing, and hurling ourselves off of 30 foot cliffs. I’m not really sure why I did the last one… all I know is that cliff-jumping might tie with shooting a gun as the scariest thing I’ve ever done. And if you don’t think either of those things are scary, well, I guess I live a sheltered life. But weapons and heights scare me more than anything. And asking boys on dates. I usually throw up afterwards (because I get so nervous… not because the idea of going on the subsequent date is so revolting… too much information again. Sorry.) Anyways, hurling yourself off a cliff into water filled with who-knows-what is scary. But when all of the guys around you are doing triple back flip gainer/dives headfirst off the same cliff, you kind of feel the need to at least do a simple jump. Even if that jump turns into a wimpy feet-first hold-your-nose flailing arms scream-the-whole-way-down jump. All that mattered to me was doing it. And, after 15 minutes of walking to the edge, looking down, feeling faint, gasping for air, screaming “ohh no I can’t do it”, walking back to safety, screaming “man up and just do it”, walking back to the edge, and repeating, I finally just did it. I jumped. And I lived. Success.
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| See that person flying gracefully through the air? Let's just say that's not what I looked like. |
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| See that cluster of people at the highest point? That's where I jumped. And yes, I did steal these pictures off of a google images search. thanks to:http://formans2009.blogspot.com/2010/08/sand-hollow-cliff-jumping |
We had to be back in time for church at noon on Sunday, so our fun weekend was cut short. But we definitely made the most of our limited time down in San Jorge—it didn’t hit me until Saturday night, as I sat outside the St. George Temple, that this was most likely my last time in St. George for a very, very long time. It was hard to say goodbye—that city is filled with so many great memories with fun friends and family. It all started in the fall of 2007, when the Gummow’s invited me to join their family for a Thanksgiving trip to St. George. It continued with girl trips to relax and hike in Zion National Park; multiple races with Kels and Amy, the world’s best running partners; our heavenly half-marathon trip with team toast; pit stops on the way to Vegas and L.A.; and weekend getaways with good friends. The St. George temple holds a dear place in my heart—whether making a visit with friends, family, or getting in some early morning temple time before a race, that temple is special. Here come some of my favorite georgie memories...
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| Look at us as little 18 year-olds... time flies. |
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| Angel's Landing= favorite hike. EVER. |
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| Angel's again. |
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| After our first half marathon. I miss us. |
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| All freshman besties must buy matching dresses. |
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| Second half-marathon. LOVE these girls. |
And now I’m back in provo, ready for more adventure (and for facebook to work so that I can actually prove to my family that I do fun things), and getting a little sad about moving in three weeks. I never thought I would actually miss Utah… it seems I was mistaken. I haven’t left yet but I’m already thinking of all of the people and places that I’m going to miss.
I’ll just have to make the most of my remaining time here. And if you have a fun vacation idea, I am currently taking suggestions.
PS My last post was about my baby sister... so I can't resist putting up this adorable clip of her. She is saying "please drink my hot kool-aid"... apparently it's a parody of some youtube skit. All i know is that she is super cute.
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