Today I floated the Provo river with some friends of mine. I was a little stressed at first about having everyone show up because the company that runs the show making you pay for people who dont show up in your reservation....YIKES! We had a lot of fun. Once you arrive at the location where the float ends, they pile you up in a bus and drive you to the Dam up Provo Canyon and drop you off; you get in the water, and off you go.....the water was about 50 degress F, oh man it was kinda cold, but after a few minutes you're so numb that you really cant feel the water let alone your lower extremities. The scenery was amazing! If I had been smart I wouldnt taken a water proof camera and taken some photos. I capsized a couple times from hitting hidden rocks in the water and other rapids that tossed me out of the tube. Likewise, Estee got carried away by the current while trying to get out of the river, and Dave and I had to chase after her. Jared, what a funny kid, decided to float down the river on an inflated plastic aligator named "Alex"..ha ha ha. So funny. There is a part in the float that you encounter a bridge that you refer to as "The Bridge of Death" mainly because there is a high possibility of smashing into the pillars below the bridge and puncturing the tube or worse smashing yourself into the bridge, which apparently has happened a number of times. They "recommended" that each tuber exit the river before the bridge and walk around it. However Jared encouraged me to float with him through the bridge. The current was suprisingly fast considering the river as a whole runs fairly slow. I had to lay on my stomach and paddle fast toward the right side of the river as we approached the bridge in order to float through the farthest right pile-on, I barely missed smashing into the wall of the side of the bridge as the river turned and continued down stream, but inevitable made it to the shore and rejoined the group. There were a lot of pines, scrub oak, a variety of wildlife, and of course on lookers out with their hoses trying to further drench passing tubers down the river. It was at such a passing that I slammed into a passing branch and fell out of my tube. (It is often difficult to avoid these, as the current is too fast to try and get out of the way) All in all the trip down the river took about 2 hours, not too bad and fairly relaxing. We were all drenched from head to toe, and thoroughly happy. We ended our outing at Bajios and called it a day.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Mischievous
My favorite past times growing up were to play cops and robbers on bicycles in my neighborhood growing up, having secret club meetings in a clearing of bushes or in abandoned houses in the neighborhood, and singing in my elementary school performing group. When playing cops and robbers I never really wanted to be the cop...being the good guy chasing down the bad guys never was that appealing to me, but I always enjoyed being the robber and I typically was very difficult to catch. There has always been something about being a little mischievious that has always been exciting to me. It is of this Mischieviousness that I wish to relate.
Now, to add a note of discretion, I have never done anything THAT bad, so lets not get carried away. I have seen this enjoyment of this need to be mischevious carried out in other times in my life as well. One time my cousin Camille, my sisters Alyssa and Melanie, a friend of ours named Todd, and I decided it would be fun to play hide and go seek in a local development of new homes. they had a grouping of 4 homes that were designated models that prospective clients could tour for the purpose of purchasing. I, being a mature 15 yr. old thought it wise to play parts, I decided to tour the homes as an interested architecture student (Im sure I was very believeable), my cousin Camille and Todd pretended to be a young married couple looking for a home, my other sisters went with them. The reason for this trickery was to avoid any accusations from the Real Estate Agent overseeing the properties that there was any tom foolery going on. Once inside our enjoyment began! I beleive I was "it" first while everyone hid. The nice thing about model homes is that they are well furnished with ample places to hide. I obviously had no problems locating everyone hiding (ha ha ha) which continued on for several more rounds. All of sudden my cousin Camille "had a brilliant idea" in which Melanie would be "it" and we would help Todd hide by having him ly down where the pillows are placed on the bed in the Master bedroom and then carefully place the pillows over the top of him and then we would all leave. Unbeknowns to him, we were all in on this little secret! I nonchalantly left the house walking past the real estate agent...trying to be subtle only to look out the window to see my cousin Camille and my sisters hop the fence and run full speed up the street. The real estate agent send a furiously condescending look, and I in turn politely smile back and book it out the door in pursuit of my cousin....no sooner had I left I turn to see the agent head into the house where Todd is conveniently hidden in the bed.
We all hopped into the car to eagerly await the outcome of said trickery, but to the surprise of my cousin Camille and my older sister Melanie who were seated in the front two seats of the car, two young men who happened to be standing out on the front lawn of the adjacent house where our car was parked just up the road from the model homes, approached the car, in what appeared to be an attempt at making friendly contact. Hmmm. The dialogue was (to the best of my knowledge) as follows:
gentleman #1: Hey guys, whats up? Whats you're names?
Camille: Oh Hi! My name is Ariel, and this is my sister Belle. What are your names?
Gentleman #2: Oh his name is ******* and my name is ******. Are you both in high school?
Camille: oh yes we go to school around here at _________ high school, what about you guys?
(I should mention that Camille had long since graduated high school, being nearly 22 and Melanie is sitting closest to the window where these boys are standing and she is repulsed by their manner of dress and appearance and moreover mortified that my cousin is having fun stringing them along, but read on the story gets better)
Gentleman #1: Oh we go to Orangecrest! ( I should clarify that Orangecrest was a continuation school for drop outs...which would make sense why they seemed so oblivious to the fact that we all had Disney names.....derrrr)
Camille: Oh wow! that is awesome......
At this point, we hadnt noticed that Todd had escaped the house not getting caught by the real estate agent, and was approaching the car.
Camille: ......you know Im married to that man coming up the road right there, his name is Eric, but Belle here still really needs a date to the prom.
(Melanie at this point was mortified, but they ironically seemed interested as "Eric" hopped in the car)
Camille: Well, we should keep in touch.....call us.
Then we drove away.
Now, to add a note of discretion, I have never done anything THAT bad, so lets not get carried away. I have seen this enjoyment of this need to be mischevious carried out in other times in my life as well. One time my cousin Camille, my sisters Alyssa and Melanie, a friend of ours named Todd, and I decided it would be fun to play hide and go seek in a local development of new homes. they had a grouping of 4 homes that were designated models that prospective clients could tour for the purpose of purchasing. I, being a mature 15 yr. old thought it wise to play parts, I decided to tour the homes as an interested architecture student (Im sure I was very believeable), my cousin Camille and Todd pretended to be a young married couple looking for a home, my other sisters went with them. The reason for this trickery was to avoid any accusations from the Real Estate Agent overseeing the properties that there was any tom foolery going on. Once inside our enjoyment began! I beleive I was "it" first while everyone hid. The nice thing about model homes is that they are well furnished with ample places to hide. I obviously had no problems locating everyone hiding (ha ha ha) which continued on for several more rounds. All of sudden my cousin Camille "had a brilliant idea" in which Melanie would be "it" and we would help Todd hide by having him ly down where the pillows are placed on the bed in the Master bedroom and then carefully place the pillows over the top of him and then we would all leave. Unbeknowns to him, we were all in on this little secret! I nonchalantly left the house walking past the real estate agent...trying to be subtle only to look out the window to see my cousin Camille and my sisters hop the fence and run full speed up the street. The real estate agent send a furiously condescending look, and I in turn politely smile back and book it out the door in pursuit of my cousin....no sooner had I left I turn to see the agent head into the house where Todd is conveniently hidden in the bed.
We all hopped into the car to eagerly await the outcome of said trickery, but to the surprise of my cousin Camille and my older sister Melanie who were seated in the front two seats of the car, two young men who happened to be standing out on the front lawn of the adjacent house where our car was parked just up the road from the model homes, approached the car, in what appeared to be an attempt at making friendly contact. Hmmm. The dialogue was (to the best of my knowledge) as follows:
gentleman #1: Hey guys, whats up? Whats you're names?
Camille: Oh Hi! My name is Ariel, and this is my sister Belle. What are your names?
Gentleman #2: Oh his name is ******* and my name is ******. Are you both in high school?
Camille: oh yes we go to school around here at _________ high school, what about you guys?
(I should mention that Camille had long since graduated high school, being nearly 22 and Melanie is sitting closest to the window where these boys are standing and she is repulsed by their manner of dress and appearance and moreover mortified that my cousin is having fun stringing them along, but read on the story gets better)
Gentleman #1: Oh we go to Orangecrest! ( I should clarify that Orangecrest was a continuation school for drop outs...which would make sense why they seemed so oblivious to the fact that we all had Disney names.....derrrr)
Camille: Oh wow! that is awesome......
At this point, we hadnt noticed that Todd had escaped the house not getting caught by the real estate agent, and was approaching the car.
Camille: ......you know Im married to that man coming up the road right there, his name is Eric, but Belle here still really needs a date to the prom.
(Melanie at this point was mortified, but they ironically seemed interested as "Eric" hopped in the car)
Camille: Well, we should keep in touch.....call us.
Then we drove away.
.....eternal bonds
There have been many instances in which I can express gratitude for loving parents and siblings. One recent experience that comes to mind happened not more than a couple days ago when I had an interest in expressing love to my father. I took the time to sit down with him and tell him how grateful I have been that he has always been there for me, for the simple sacrifices he has made for me, and more especially for the large ones. As I spoke to him, my eyes became moist as tender feelings of gratitude filled my heart.
We shared a tearful moment and then my father took the time to tell me of an experience he had when he was first called to be stake president at BYU. As he told of this experience, I couldnt help but feel the depth of the man I call my father. What a choice blessing it is to have eternal relationships that can extend beyond this life. Relationships where we can grow together in righteousness; where ties can deepen and expand. I imagine on a very small level that Heavenly Father's love for each of us has become such in a similar way. He has known us for an infinite amount of time prior to our arrival in this earthly probation in which he has seen our spiritual progress and has had the time for his eternally abounding love to flourish on part of each of us. This small realization could not have come but by having these meaningful learning experiences daily fulfilling my life here in this temporary existence.
We shared a tearful moment and then my father took the time to tell me of an experience he had when he was first called to be stake president at BYU. As he told of this experience, I couldnt help but feel the depth of the man I call my father. What a choice blessing it is to have eternal relationships that can extend beyond this life. Relationships where we can grow together in righteousness; where ties can deepen and expand. I imagine on a very small level that Heavenly Father's love for each of us has become such in a similar way. He has known us for an infinite amount of time prior to our arrival in this earthly probation in which he has seen our spiritual progress and has had the time for his eternally abounding love to flourish on part of each of us. This small realization could not have come but by having these meaningful learning experiences daily fulfilling my life here in this temporary existence.
A day in the life.....
Well blogging is an interesting thing.....I dont think I would even be blogging if I wasnt so blasted bored at work (dont tell my employer that though, Im sure he thinks that I love what I do second only to eating sliced bread). I tire of organizing the inventory upteenth times a day, re-counting the paper clips in the tray under my desk, and religiously checking my email and facebook accounts, so on to something new like blogging? I might as well give it a shot.
Today I woke up in cold sweat at four in the morning realizing that I was singing this Friday at the Scera Shell outdoor theater. I dont think that Im all that nervous, but I tend to get anxious about the unknown: Will a hit all the high notes? Will I go on to the finals? Will the band members screw up the melody line like they did in my last performance? Will the crazy piano man bob his head back and forth during the bridge? What will the comments from the judges be? ....It was 4 am, lame! Then I sat there thinking about all that I had to do today (which mind you isnt much) Wake up at 8 am, down a few Almonds for breakfast (because there is no refridgerator in the house...so cereal is out of the question), shower, look at my sleepy eyes in the mirror and wonder why I even got up this morning, then head to work to stare mindlessly at a computer, check facebook, read some insightful article or something to look busy until I leave at 5, at which point I will go over to my empty house in Provo and scrub my old bathroom to perfect...so that you could very literally eat off the floor. Otherwise I will have to redo it to satisfy the demands of the mom. Then I will go home read Jesus The Christ and go to bed. That is at least how I assumed the day will go.....from time to time I get wild spontaneos bugs that prompt me to do spur of the moment things like midnight raids at Wendy's or a late night showing with some obliging friends...and that has been the extent of my summer, aside from spending the entire month of May and a couple days in June completing my real estate licensing education. Sounds intensely fun, doesnt it? Anyone reading this? Oh....they all feel asleep!
Today I woke up in cold sweat at four in the morning realizing that I was singing this Friday at the Scera Shell outdoor theater. I dont think that Im all that nervous, but I tend to get anxious about the unknown: Will a hit all the high notes? Will I go on to the finals? Will the band members screw up the melody line like they did in my last performance? Will the crazy piano man bob his head back and forth during the bridge? What will the comments from the judges be? ....It was 4 am, lame! Then I sat there thinking about all that I had to do today (which mind you isnt much) Wake up at 8 am, down a few Almonds for breakfast (because there is no refridgerator in the house...so cereal is out of the question), shower, look at my sleepy eyes in the mirror and wonder why I even got up this morning, then head to work to stare mindlessly at a computer, check facebook, read some insightful article or something to look busy until I leave at 5, at which point I will go over to my empty house in Provo and scrub my old bathroom to perfect...so that you could very literally eat off the floor. Otherwise I will have to redo it to satisfy the demands of the mom. Then I will go home read Jesus The Christ and go to bed. That is at least how I assumed the day will go.....from time to time I get wild spontaneos bugs that prompt me to do spur of the moment things like midnight raids at Wendy's or a late night showing with some obliging friends...and that has been the extent of my summer, aside from spending the entire month of May and a couple days in June completing my real estate licensing education. Sounds intensely fun, doesnt it? Anyone reading this? Oh....they all feel asleep!
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