Utah- Last Time this Summer

The past weekend we traveled up to Southern Utah once more for the summer because my grandpa, or "Pa-Ta" passed away from cancer. The funeral was on Thursday, and everything went smoothly. He is buried in a private cemetery hidden in Springdale, Utah, which is near Zion National Park. We were all just relieved to have him free from suffering. Thank goodness for the Plan of Salvation. Love you Pa-Ta!

Pa-Ta and I in Boston

My cousins carrying the casket

The rest of the weekend was spent with family. My family and the Waldens (2 sons are our cousins) went to the local community center to play volleyball, and afterwards some of us went on the rockclimbing wall (I am in the neon yellow shirt: and I made it to the top!).

On Saturday me, my dad, Taylor, Uncle Adam and cousins Matthew and Zack went hiking to the top of Angel's Landing in Zion. I was worried about the whole heights thing, as there is this part to the top that is this spine you climb up holding on to a chain. We saw signs saying, "WARNING! People have died on this trail" (Seriously though, people fall off the cliff on this hike) and we were like, wow... that made me feel a LOT better.
But I am SO proud of myself because I made it to the top and kind of conquered my fear of heights! It was a lot of fun!

Girl's Camp

The third week in July was our Stake Girl's Camp. For the 4th years (which included me), we had to go on an overnight backpacking trip in the mountains above Palm Springs and hike to the top of San Jacinto Peak. Hiking to camp was the hardest part probably because we had our huge backpacks with all our stuff on. However, the hike to the peak the next day and everything else was pretty easy. It was a lot of fun but I got like 3 hours of sleep the night we slept out under the stars. All I had was a thin sleeping bag (no pad or bedroll) and I kept rolling over into a pile of rocks. Plus Bro. Leavitt was snoring not too far away haha. But on the bright side I saw 2 shooting stars around 3 in the morning!
On Tuesday evening that week the 4th years arrived at Camp Buckhorn where we have our Stake Girl's Camp. Boy oh boy did a shower feel great or what! That night we had the ward skits and ours was "A Bug's Light". Yep, that's me and Sarah in the picture below decked out as ObediANT (me), Grub Worm and Doodle Bug (Sarah).
Rest of the week consisted of crafts, humanitarian aid, finding humungo bugs, battling it out with Sister Stapley in human foosball and Sarah in noodle hockey, swimming, and playing other games with our YCL (youth camp leader) group. The other two pictures are of Chloe, me, and Sarah at breakfast, and my YCL group Delta in the camp's gym.

EFY 2009

Yaaaayyyyyy EFY!!!!! Natasha and I went up to BYU Provo for possibly just the best week of our lives! We we stayed in Heritage Halls, went to the BYU Creamery, listened to great speakers, stayed up late and woke up early, got blisters from walking a ton in church shoes (I was wearing my supposed comfortable flat church shoes and I still needed a band-aid or two!), ate a ton of pizza, and that's just a few pieces of it all. Our company (consisting of 3 groups of 10 people- 2 girl groups and 1 guy group) had the name "Dig a Pit" which was pretty hilarious from the Book of Second Nephi. It was sad how we scrambled pathetically to come up with a cheer Wednesday for Games Night. :D Anyway I'm not going to get into details because there is a lot I could type up, but I'm just going to explain a few of the pictures I took.

The Girls of Dig a Pit

The Guys of Dig a Pit (Max is missing here though) (oh, and the reason some of the guys are staring up into space is because we had to get them to look at a lightpole for them to stand still and stay focused for a minute... it didn't last long haha)

Dig a Pit.... too bad a couple heads are blocked and you have no idea how difficult it was to get pictures of everyone

Me and 8 of the 10 guys of Dig a Pit (Like I said before, impossible for them to focus :D)(Max got sick somehow... but I have no idea where Taylor is... think he's too far left next to Colton)

Me with our AMAZING session director Brother McLay

Dig a Pit's counselors: Aubrey, Jimmy, and Mary Beth (aargh the picture's sideways!)

The 6 girls in apartment 189 of Fugal Hall of Heritage Hall dorms (don't know what I was looking at.....)

At the airport before departing home in front of sign saying "Waiting for a flight? See the sights" that has a picture of the Salt Lake Temple

Doing the service project of coloring road maps for preschool kids to play on

Me and my AWESOME counselor Aubrey who was basically the most hyper person I have ever met (ex: My feet hurt but I LOVE IT B/C I LOVE EFY!!!!!!!!!!!)

Natasha, Gena (who btw is in our stake, in Scripps Ranch!), and Gina before Games Night

Natasha and I on the lawn next to the Wilkinson Center at lunch- it is SO BEAUTIFUL THERE IN UTAH!

Del Mar Fair

I went to the Del Mar/San Diego County Fair on Friday with Mom, Taylor, and Hayley, but broke off and hung out with Natasha and Harrison during the day. We saw pig races, livestock (including tons of adorable bunnies and ALPACAS.... Natasha.... :D), ate fair food, and went on some REALLY insane spinning rides... after doing one called Techno Power twice, I didn't feel so great haha.
I entered 2 of my ceramics projects to the fair from school, a teapot and coil-pot vase. The teapot pictures didn't turn out so well, so I just posted the vase pictures. I was really thrilled to find that both of my projects had won 1st place ribbons!

I went to another Stake Dance last night which this time was at my Stake Center. It was also a parking lot dance outside, which made things a lot of fun. The DJ was also really good and actually played requests. I'm really REALLY excited now for the EFY dances, especially because I'm going TOMORROW to fly up there with Natasha! After going last year, I am in love with EFY and BYU!!!!!!

YW Recognition Night Among Other Things

Last Friday was my Young Woman Recognition Night for completing Personal Progress. We had a VERY good dinner (baked zitti, that and the gelato was provided by Grandmother Branche and Aunt Lela in Fallbrook from the Sweet Sicilian Bakery- THANK YOU!!!). Me and the 3 other girls who received their award was Katrina, Karin, and Kelsey. We all had a slideshow set to music with pictures from our lives which was my favorite part. Maybe I will put in a slideshow on this blog with some of the best pictures from it...
Summer has been great so far and I have been doing something every day. On Tuesday, me and some of the other Young Women in our ward went to St. Vincent De Paul's (which is part of Father Joe's) in downtown to serve lunch to the homeless. It was a very good experience and though we were tired by the end (let me tell you, scooping rice and vegetables can really work your right arm!), we had a lot of fun at the same time.
And...... WE GOT MR. JINX ON A LEASH!!!!!! I know, it's hard to believe, so I have posted some pictures for proof. We were at Target and found a cat harness, so we were like, why not let's give it a try! Especially because it seems that Mr. Jinx always wants to go outside, since he escapes out of the house a lot. The first couple of times Mom and I had to use a little force to get the thing on him, but today he let me put it on him without too much hassle. He likes walking around in the backyard and stuff, and ends up not wanting to come back inside!

End of the School Year!!!

It is the second-to-last day of my sophomore year! So sad! But I am REALLY happy too because then it is going to be summer! And I am done with Chemistry! And Business! And AP European History! Yaaaaaayyyyyyy!!!
Also, on Friday night, I am having my Young Women Recognition night because I finished Personal Progress! So excited!!!
And EFY is going to be at the end of this month! Yaaaaayyyy!!!

Driving

Driving so far with my permit is kind of cool, kind of fun... but driving for 2 hours for the behind-the-wheel training... kind of tiring!I'm not that bad of a driver, I'm really not. I drove to work yesterday, and drove to seminary this morning, and this morning I drove pretty smoothly. No sudden stops or starts, and my turns were good. I was even able to drive into the church parking having to make a sharp turn and go through a dip well. The only problem was that Mom wanted me to try getting into a parking space, and I went in totally crooked, in at least 3 or 4 parking spaces! Taylor W. and Brett just showed up and were like, "Wow... nice parking job!" I'll have to practice that a lot. :)

The Getty Center

For my AP European History class 100 people from other APEH classes as well as mine went to the J. Paul Getty Center in L.A. Though it was a 2 and a half hour drive up and back, it was fun. When you get there you take a tram up the mountain to the art museums and central garden. It was really pretty up there and we had a great view. Below are a couple of the paintings we saw, and the picture at the bottom is of the central garden with this cool hedge in the middle of this pond like thing with a waterfall coming into it. It was awesome. And yes, the painting of the iris flowers is by Van Gogh.

Seminary Scripture Mastery Bowl

First off I will admit that I am a complete geek when it comes to scripture mastery in seminary. I learn them pretty quickly, and I have a whole different side of me come out when we do scripture chasing. It is a VERY competitive, aggressive, going-for-the-blood side of me that others don't see too often. A lot of people were shocked last night at Scripture Bowl when I was whipping through my scriptures for the reference, tearing, shoving, crumpling, crushing pages aside in the New Testament. So now the New Testament part of my Bible is decimated. I tore out like 6 pages in the process last night.
First we had the regular competition looking for the scriptures in 2o seconds, and could show others where it was to get points. After that was done, there was a separate speed round for whoever wanted to, it was optional. So I did it, and at first the judges gave everyone 10 seconds to find a scripture. Then we moved down to 8, then 6, 5, and finally 4 seconds. People dropped each size until the group grew really small. When it got down to 5 or 6 people, it was basically consisting of me and freshmen in Sister Vandeveer's class. I think that's when I "accidentally" tore out the page with James 1:5-6. I ended up getting second place, winning a $10 Subway giftcard. So I am pretty excited about it. Brother Bosen this morning in seminary was like, "Whitney, who WAS that last night?" He's never seen me so pumped and energetic. But yeah, last night, I was like, "BRING IT ON!!!!!!" :D

Hooraaaaayyyy!!!!

My AP test is over, track is over, my life has just become not even half as complicated as it was before!
My last track meet was a pretty good one for me- I ran the mile instead of the two mile, and for running the mile for the first time as a race, I did really well, getting a time of 5:59!
The AP European History test was on Friday afternoon and took forever, because I left the school at about 5:10. I was EXHAUSTED, and though my long tiring week was over, my weekend had only begun.
I went to Natasha's birthday party/sleepover that night which was fun though it didn't seem like I was enjoying myself... but that's just because I was soooo tired and I felt like going to bed. Sorry Natasha, but you do throw a good party, and the food was good. :)
Straight from there I went to work in the morning.. scanned some more documents...
We went to Fallbrook in the afternoon (me, Taylor, Hayley, and Mom) to go visit my grandmother and Aunt Lila at their bakery they just opened, The Sweet Sicilian. It's awesome, and the stuff they make is REALLY good! It's on Main Avenue in "downtown" Fallbrook. If you're in the area, you should stop by.
That night I "babysitted" (the kids were already in bed) until after 1o pm. I fell asleep on the couch because I was feeling a little sleep deprived. Thank goodness I got a nap in the next day.
Whew. So that was my busy busy weekend. And by the way, Happy Mother's Day Mom! Love ya!

Got my Driver's Permit!

Well.... I PASSED MY DRIVER'S PERMIT TEST! I only missed 2; 8 was the most you could miss to pass. So on Wednesday after school I am going to have my first 2 hour driving lesson, and then after that my permit will be official and I can start driving (supervised though obviously). But nonetheless, I will be on the road- so watch out! haha (Picture below is me at the DMV after getting my permit).
I cannot WAIT unti this week is over, because my AP European History exam is on Friday and my last track meet is on Thursday (against Mt. Carmel... our rival school... mwahahahahaHA). I am actually running the one mile instead of the two, because Coach Colson said I had gotten enough good times and PR's (personal records) on the two mile and I needed a good mile time before the end of the season. I am REALLY excited though.. I think I could get a 6 minute mile or under if I really try hard. However, considering this is my last meet of the season, I can run my legs off and risk injury if I have to in order to achieve what I want (but it's not like I'm going to break my leg doing that or anything).

Youth Conference

Last weekend was our stake's Youth Conference!! The theme was "dare to shine", therefore we had neon greenish yellow (or a.k.a. radioactive mucus colored) t-shirts that really stood out- it was easy to notice us when we did the service project in Penasquitos Canyon Reserve!
The first night was the dance, and for a change we had it in the parking lot with firepits and stuff. Our leaders handed out glowsticks at the beginning, so that was definitely a fun part- Connor bascially made pants out of them around his legs and Harrison and Natasha looped some together chain-mail style into a skirt for Brooklyn, which fell apart pretty quickly.
For the night, we were all put into groups to stay at people's houses. Me, Sarah, Natasha, Chloe, Hillary and Ashley went to the Wilcox's house. Our group was pretty good but we were really tired so we didn't stay up long. However, we had a big breakfast the next morning and I got really excited for the day. We did service in the Penasquitos Canyon Reserve, and a lot of us weeded/chopped/yanked out mustard plants in this field-like area, which was actually REALLY FUN. It was too bad that I had to leave after 45 minutes of it to work for a couple hours (I now work as an office assistant for a real estate broker on Saturdays).
Of the whole weekend, I think the games in the afternoon were the best part. One of them we had to go into the church building which was pitch black to rescue 4 babies, 1 adult (which was this HUGE HEAVY dummy), and a sightseeing dog (humungous stuffed dog) from what was supposed to be a fire. And we were all blindfolded. Brother Wight had set off an actual smoke bomb at the entrance, so we were all choking at the beginning. Me, Sarah, and Taylor Wight went in together and tried to find our way around. We ended up going into the girl's bathroom (I think Taylor stayed outside though :D) and I ran into a sink. We kept bumping into stuff and it was really hard to make our way through. When the horn went off right behind me signaling for us to get out, I screamed because it freaked me out so much.
We went in again and I was with a different group. This time, we found one of the baby dolls and made it out quicker than before. Sarah though was having trouble with her group. She was flipping out trying to find her way out and since Brother Cotter was in there she was like, "Brother Cotter be the Holy Ghost for me!!! I pray every night!!!" It was pretty funny. :D
The other really fun one was the obstacle course at the end, which we had to go through blindfolded. My dad was referred to as "Brother Satan Petersen" as he threw everyone off as to where to go. It was hilarious because people got pretty frustrated. Best part of all was that our group got to destroy it all, especially the cardboard box maze because we were the last group to use it. Taylor Wight was apparently in the tunnel, and Brother Quackenbush did a superman on the maze and nearly crushed him! :D
So... tomorrow I have a track meet, running the 2 mile again,... and then I go to Freshman/Sophomore Championships on Saturday and run another 2 mile race! I'm pretty excited actually, because only some people qualified for it.
And on Monday I take the test to get my driver's permit!!! I can't wait! You better watch out because I'll be on the road soon!

Welcome!

Yes- I have completely restarted and revamped my Hand-Over-the-Running-Shoes blog! I will especially be able to have more time for this when testing and track ends, when I will have SO much more time!!!!! I'm pretty excited about the whole design and layout of this thing too (which took a lot of time to put together by the way). I am SO glad that I discovered thecutestblogontheblock.com because it has the cutest backgrounds and stuff. I am also starting a blog for my family because my relatives are all blogging and we need to keep up but my parents say there's no way we can keep a blog up to date so I have to do it... I have the link posted on the sidebar, but at the moment it's kind of in construction, I haven't posted anything yet... but the background and colors of it are awesome!