I’ve been itching for summer for so long now, I thought it would never come. But I’m finally getting some summertime anti-itch cream!
My first excursion was my first hike of the summer it took place during the last week of school after my first and hardest final. We went up Logan Canyon to tackle the Jardine Juniper Trail. The trail leads up to an ancient Juniper tree that looks over the canyon. I went with my friends Pete and Steve that I met in my student ward up here in Logan. We trekked through the snow towards the top, but it was worth it for the view! And the tree was pretty awesome too. After we had our fill of the top, we decided it would be more fun to head down the face of the mountain instead of the trail we came up on. That part was quite the adventure, we were bush-whacking and sliding the whole time and my arms had scratches all over. I loved it!
Then school ended. Moving was sad and also a pain, but I got it done. I moved in with my Grandpa and Grandma Redd in North Logan. At first it wasn’t very fun, and it took me a while to adjust to their way of life, but I have now adapted.
A few weeks later, I was at work at the Juniper Take-out and I was talking with my friends Danny and Whitney, and we realized that none of us had anything the next morning, and we should go on a hike. We decided on the Crimson Trail, it’s a beginner-ish trail, and Whit had never gone on a hike before so we thought it would be great and the plans were made. As it turns out, Whitney had a family issue come up last minute, and couldn’t come, so Danny and I went thinking it would be a piece of cake. Well, we got there, took the hard way up on accident, and came back down in about 2 hours instead of 4. We still aren’t really sure how that happened.
I went on my first waterskiing trip of the summer! I got up on my second try, and I was happy with my run. However, I took Pete with me who apparently had never skied in his life. BULL! He got up on his first try on a slalom ski, and was already better than me. I was a little bit upset seeing as I have been waterskiing since I was 8. I guess I’ll just have to find some new way to outdo him.
For my birthday present, my parents agreed to pay for half of digital piano keyboard. Best investment I’ve made in a long time! If I have free time, I can frequently be found playing my piano and occasionally singing. Music is the cheapest form of stress relief I’ve found so far.
On May 18th, I ventured to Pepperidge Farm in Richmond for new employee orientation. My cousin Jeff kind of hooked me up with a second job that pays really well. He warned me that I was going to be the youngest on my line and I’d be with a bunch of old ladies. Well, there were four of us there, and three of us were the same age. Megan and Chayse were the other two, and they are dating. We got to talking, and found out that Megan and I live on the same street, so a carpool was instated. The three of us have now become quick friends, and now talk all the time. It is awesome!
Speaking of Pepperidge Farm, working there is… ok. On line 4, my “home line”, we do assortment cookies and crackers. It took me a while to get used to the work: grabbing paper cups of cookies, that tend to fall out, into a small box; putting three boxes of cookies at a time into a bigger box; looking for broken cookies and replacing them; placing the foil wrapped boxes of cookies into the slots so that the boxer doesn’t jam up. Oh yeah, and all of this happens incredibly fast, and never stops for EIGHT HOURS! Needless to say, my back is usually pretty sore after work. My first paycheck made it all worth it though. And I can’t count how many times I’ve been told to stay in school. I’ll definitely take that advice!
Basically, my routine goes something like this: wake up at 4:45, go to work at Pepperidge until 2:00, come home, get ready, go to work at Juniper at 4:00, get off at 9:30, come home, go to bed, repeat. It’s rough, however, on the days I don’t work, and on weekends, I have a blast! I’ve made some really awesome friends up here that I spend pretty much all my free time with. They are in my ward, and they are wonderful, Kellen, Casey and Kallie. Kallie was my neighbor across the hall in Pineview, and also the Enrichment Counselor in our Relief Society. Casey is her boyfriend, Kel is their best friend, and Casey’s roommate. I mostly got close to Kellen, and then the four of us started to hang out all the time. Life is wonderful!
A few other awesome things that have happened lately:
· Nerf gun deer hunting. Kel took me to a park and told me our dinner was there, I just had to shoot it. Just then, Casey and Kallie appeared out of the trees with pipe cleaner antlers.
· I went to a party/concert to hear Kel’s band Painted Still. He plays the bass, and it was rockin’! They even had blow-up bouncy toys to play on.
· I got called as an FHE mom in my ward.
· I went to a Relient K (one of my favorite bands of all time) concert and met the lead singer. My best friend from Perry also came down from Rexburg to go with us (Kellen came too), so it was way fun to see her.
Life Goal Fulfilled!
