Somethings never get old...

Do you know what never gets old? My awful dating life.

I just realized that I hadn't blogged about one of my dates from the summer. And I have ample time this morning to fill you in on this story.

I went on a date with a boy from high school. He's a year older than me and we had physics together my junior year. I hadn't seen him since then either. He reconnected with on Facebook and Instagram and finally mustered up some courage and asked me out. I said yes. Homeboy asked if I wanted to ride on his motorcycle to our destination, and I've ridden on motorcycles before and loved it, so I said yes!

Here comes the first problem: HE had ME to drive to his house in order to ride the motorcycle. I said  I would (I also like an easy escape if things turn south). So I arrive at his house and he's workin' on the bike and trying to get some speaker system to work in the helmets. As an aside, before our actual date he asked me to bring ear buds, I thought he meant something to muffle the noise of the motorcycle, but this ain't my first rodeo so I didn't bring any. I was dressed all cute and had my hair done nicely, ready to have a fun night. Fun is not exactly what followed. What happened is this: he handed me a leather jacket (it's the middle of July and definitely at 95+ that day) and a helmet, which  I gladly wore. The jacket was for protection just in case we had any accidents. Umm, what? Yeah, accidents. So was the helmet, I guess. He then asks if I brought the ear buds and I said no, I didn't need them and he said yes you do they're for our speaker system in the helmets. He found an extra pair and plugged in our ear buds to the microphone type thing so we could test them out. It didn't work. Well, it did. But it was really muffled so I couldn't hear anything. He was trying to tell me the rules of riding. I couldn't understand a thing he was saying so I said I'm taking my helmet off so I can hear what you're telling me.

The rules of riding with him are:
1. Don't hold on to me.
2. Lean into the direction of the bike when turning.
3. When coming to a stop, squeeze your legs behind me so you don't ram me up the bike.
4. Don't make me ram into the middle of the bike.

Really crappy rules, huh? This kids bike is like the bullets bike younger brother who still hasn't figured anything out. Have you ever tried to ride with two people on a bullet bike on the freeway, not holding on, squeezing your legs? Just visualize that awful mess for a minute. Yeah, it's as bad as it sounds.

We get onto the freeway and he tries to make conversation with me through the helmet speaker things and I can't understand him. I'm trying so hard but I couldn't. So I told him that I couldn't understand and we ride all the way up to the natural history museum by the U in silence. The whole time I was thinking, shiz. What if we fall of this thing? I don't think I can do this. I'd grab onto him and he'd wiggle away from me. Or try and shake me off. It was weird.

We finally reach the museum and I take of the leather jacket and I'm sweating buckets. It's hot! I no longer look cute. My hair is a hot mess, I'm sopping wet, and now we have to try and make chit chat. At the museum he hands the ticket person his military ID, and says to me, yeah we went here because it's free for me. I'm thinking, wow. Awesome. So throughout the experience of the museum, I'd try and make light chit chat, but nothing. He wouldn't engage with me. He'd ask about Sarah or the fam and I'd start responding and he'd say, well, anyway....

Right before we headed home, he made two phone calls: one to his friend who had a birthday, one to his other group of friends saying he just was doing something right now but he'd be able to make the party at 9. Ugh! We get on the motorcycle, with no holding, and only leg squeezing allowed we get on the freeway. Right about now my anxiety sets in. What if we crash? We if I fall off the back? What's going to happen? I'm pretty sure he turned off our headset things so to keep myself distracted I started singing hymns and primary songs. It worked. We made it home. I say see ya later! And his response is, I hope I don't make the blog (he knew that I blog about bad dates). I was thinking, you're making it, don't worry.

Anyway, I don't hear from him for a few weeks. The next time I do, he asks if I had written on the blog yet. I said no. He then says, hey you know you're paralyzed friend, I think I have a crush on her. Could you set me up?

'nuff said, right?

I'm at the point where dates are becoming another thing for me to blog about. They're bad. They're funny. And everyone can enjoy my pain. But at least I made it out alive with this one. :)

Crimson Trail

We first heard about this hike from General Conference, April 2011 when one of the Seventy, Paul V. Johnson said:

 

"The Crimson Trail in Logan Canyon is one of my favorite hikes. The main part of the trail creeps along the top of tall limestone cliffs and offers beautiful vistas of the canyon and valley below. Getting to the top of the cliffs isn't easy, however. The trail there is a constant climb; and just before reaching the top, the climber encounters the steepest part of the trail; and views of the canyon are hidden by the cliffs themselves. The final exertion is more than worth the effort because once the climber is on top, the views are breathtaking. The only way to see the views is to make the climb."

 

The trail was especially hard for me. I've been on a ton of medicine the last year, and the last 3 months I've been on Accutane. It makes my muscles and joints hurt to the point where even sitting begins to hurt. I haven't been able to be active (hence the weight gain) but I really, really wanted to do this hike. There are two ways to get up to the top: take the side that goes straight up or do the gradual climb side. We chose the straight up side. We had been hiking for a little while and getting nearer to the top but every step was becoming so hard for me. I kept asking Jeff if we really were near the top. He would say yes, but before we get to the top it actually gets harder. There came a point in the hike that I thought if this really isn't right here then I'll go back down by myself and wait for them. My body was exhausted, it was beginning to hurt to walk and put pressure on my feet. 

 

And then, one more climb up and we were there. It was amazing. It was breath taking. IT was worth it. On our way back down the easy side of the mountain, I just kept thinking that the hike was a metaphor for life's trials. Before anything becomes easy, it gets really hard. But in the end, it's definitely worth it.

So, if you're ever up for a hike that will push your limits, then this is the one I will always recommend.

 

 

 

Memorial Day Weekend

Something our family tries to do every year is go up to Virginia City Montana. It's an old ghost town which is more recently like a touristy place. It's still fun though! We go up and ride horses, eat ice cream, go to the candy shoppe, walk up and down the board walk. It's just a lot of fun! We went again this year and it was just as great as I remember! Mom and Sarah couldn't go so we invited one of my really good friends Liz Jackson. I've known her for 10 years! We met at EFY when we were 14. Fun, huh? So here are the photos from this weekend! Enjoy!

My family is super duper cool and that's all you need to know.