This post is NOT about Havasupai, as it should be

Did you know that the Ammon Walmart doesn't carry Nexcare Tattoo bandages? I just found this out. I'm down to two Lightning McQueens and one Mater and another of the blue girl-car whose name alludes me. Then I'm out.

I'm trying to heal from Havasupai and I'm gonna need more of those. Dang smooshed toe hurts. So, I just finished the last of my laundry from Havasupai. The orange dirt is out of my socks and shorts. My sandals and flip flops are sitting on the back lawn waiting to be hosed off and my backpack has been wiped down and sits in the back seat of my truck to bring back to dad. It's over and I survived. The trip itself merits its own blog post, which will come soon.

Right now, I'm just here and posting about that. My ankles are as thick as my neck and they jiggle when I walk. Mom said she couldn't pay attention to me talking because my cankles were staring at her. Thanks, mom.

I went to Walmart today and finally bought more Ibuprofen so I could stop rationing it. That's a relief because this girl eats that stuff like candy. I just gotta be sure there's food in my stomach before I take it so I don't have to run out of the shower, dripping shampoo, for a granola bar ... again. It's been known to happen.

Remember this blog post?

Well, this was me coming home from Walmart today.

My goal has been met. I am 99% converted to reusable bags on my shopping trips. The 1% happens when I leave the bag in the car. Even then, I sometimes end up buying a new one at the checkout line. So, I've got a collection now. Someday soon, I'll line them all up for you. I know, you're excited. What I don't want to tell you, but I'm going to is that the only two things in the gray bag were a carton of strawberries and a box of Ding Dongs. Strawberries are a summer thing. This week, Ding Dongs were just a Tuesday thing.

Volleyball has come to a close. The season ended well. We lost a player a few weeks ago (she just decided to stop coming) and miraculously, the drama ceased and our playing got a bit better! I'm sad that it's over, but I'm glad to be done with all of that. Softball is going full blast and so far, our team is 7-0. It's mostly because the team totally rocks, but I'm going to take a little credit for the fans.*

We rock, too. And it's a pretty awesome way to spend my Monday and Wednesday nights. And, I think I have a bit of a girl crush on our new friend, Amy who plays on the team. But it's cool because she's a sweetheart and I think she'll let me be her friend.

There's no time to recoop before our next big adventure. (who wants to recoop, anyway?) On Friday, we're headed to Island Park for dinner and a movie at Mack's Inn, then a sleepover at Jeanna's cabin. We're bringing bikes and canoes for fun on Saturday. My food assignment? A gallon of milk. Jeanna knows better than to ask too much of me. Milk, I can handle.

*Note: Skyler and Wade are usually playing, not watching. But, Skyler was broken by a flip off a 35-foot cliff at Havasupai (to be spoken of at a later post) and Wade hurt his foot. He's not sure how, but it's guaranteed to not be as cool of a story as Skyler's.

Just four more days

In just four more days, I'll be on my way HERE:

I am so super freaking excited, I just can't contain myself. 

Actually, I can. I can contain myself because I'm sort of on overload in trying to make it all work. I did this trip last summer and it was AWESOME. So, when nobody seemed to be planning a Havasupai trip for 2010, I stepped up. We now have 19 people going, and i have rides and mules and packing weights to coordinate. AND I still need to buy some tortillas and trail mix. Oh, and travel shampoo.

Our mule is reserved. He's going to do the heavy packing, so maybe my hinges will survive the trip this year. Last year, I was pretty sure I'd never walk again. Do I have my walking poles somewhere? I need to check on those.

Somehow, I got roped into speaking in sacrament meeting this week. Like I have the time or the energy to put into that! 

I'm excited for the trip, but I'd be lying if I wasn't a little heartbroken that Kylee isn't coming. She makes everything fun! And after my birthday in Palisades where we steamrolled, poked, disrupted and "whispered" all weekend, I really want her with me all over again! Why are summer adventures so hard to coordinate? and why can't we all just come along and be friends? "Sorry that was so loud. I haven't used my voice in awhile."--I want more of those laughs!

I need to work on my Ultimate frisbee skills. On Tuesday, after Willie literally helped me off of my bike, (he was sure I was stuck) I surprised myself with my ability to run up and down the field without dying. I even caught a few tosses, and then tossed a few for others to catch. (my tosses weren't very accurate, but Jeff can basically catch anything ... so it worked most of the time.) I am sold. I'm going to be an ultimate-frisbee-er every Tuesday night at McCowin park. I just gotta learn to toss better so Jeff doesn't want to eat me.

Havasupai to do list: 1--Convince Jami to drive. We're too squished with 19 people and 19 packs in 3 vehicles. 2--find some trees to set up and test my new hammock 3--solve my potentially in-grown toenail problem. That's gonna hurt while hiking. 4--buy tortillas, shampoo, trail mix. 5--get my camera battery and case in the mail. (i have no control over that one) 6--gather 4 packs, pack heavy stuff in them and make sure their combined weight doesn't exceed 130 pounds. 7--oh yeah. And prepare and give a talk in sacrament meeting. Oy.

Today I love:

Today, I love:

Running and jumping

Ultimate frisbee

Zonkeys

$5 spare battery for my camera

Funny t-shirts

Short fingernails (okay, so they need some work)

strawbabies

Happy Birthday to the ground!

and Jack's Mannequin song lyrics.

Things I love today:

Things I love today:

Spooning in the kitchen

Volleyball

Goldfish Pretzels

Lost Season 3

Laughing with Kylee

Cousins

Canoes in the rain

and Kate Nash song lyics.

do I HAVE to catch up?

If I don't catch up, does that mean I'll always be behind? What's the rule in blogging? So I haven't blogged every event or thought in my life. I don't have to! You're not the boss of me. I've lived nearly 28 years without any incentive to "get ahead." I'm a natural-born slacker and always will be. Even worse, if someone else tries to force that incentive on me, I WILL rebel.

That being said ... it's Memorial Day and I'm home sick. (thanks a lot, Kylee.) But it's better now than anytime in the next 3 weeks. As long as I'm better by Friday--and I WILL BE.

So, I'm bored and I may as well take this time to post again, since it's been awhile. But I am NOT going to call it "catching up" because... well ... that puts me in the same league as those I think are ridiculous. And I WON'T fall into that mold.

I'm not going to catch up. The past is the past. You missed it. I was there. Most of you were somewhere else. It's okay. But I AM going to share a few current goings-on.

1) Volleyball is coming to a close. I never thought I'd be relieved by this. Our co-ed team has been rockin' awesome for two seasons. This season, our women's team has been cause for a LOT of frustration for this overwhelmed team captain who had NO idea what she was getting into by mixing coworkers and friends all on one team. I've learned my lesson. This season has brought more drama than your average high school volleyball team. I'm ready for my favorite sport to be fun again. I'll stick with our stake open volleyball nights and am looking forward to forming our co-ed team again in the fall.

2) During this hiatus from volleyball, I get to cheer, support and good-game my roommates' softball team. 90% of the team is in my branch, so they may as well give up on having FHE or branch activities all summer, since we're all going to be watching for Jeff to trample his sister in order to catch a fly ball; or laughing as Kara rolls over on top of first base, in order to beat the ball there; or just eating all the sunflower seeds and cinnamon bears in the dugout and accidentally cheering for the wrong team because we stopped paying attention. These things happen and I'm excited for a summer's worth of all of it.

G.O. Speech Therapy team huddle

Me and Kylee cheerin' them on

3) My birthday's this week. Any of you who have known me during the month of June since 1997 will know what that means. Palisades weekend! Pray for good weather for Friday and Saturday! We've got canoes, kayaks, hamburgers, volleyball, croquet and hiking all counting on it! Man, I'm burnt out from planning stuff ... but I'm super excited!

4) Speaking of planning stuff. Anyone remember this? Specifically, the Havasupai part. Yep. We're doing it again! June 15-19th. 18 young adults, 3 vehicles, 28 hours in a car, 16 hammocks, 4 tents, 6 waterfalls, 1 Indian Reservation, 24 packages of spaceman food, 29 stray dogs, 23,000 squirrels, and 178 blisters. Here we come.

5) I'm considering getting some sort of enhancement. This is what happens when I'm given two pinatas to hold.

6) Okay, so this isn't "catching up" ... but I had a few pictures for review. :D Mostly because Gina would hate me if I didn't mention her birthday.

a) Branch Fiesta

me and Ashley

me, Brooke, Keri, Ashley, Kristine, Amanda and Jami

b) Gina's birthday hike at Mesa Falls in the snow/sunshine/rain

Heather, Brooke, Taletha, Jeanna, Skyler, Keri, me and Lisa

Gina (the birthday girl) with Skyler and her brother Brent

me, Gina, Lisa and Brooke at the lower falls

I need a buddy

All of my buddies are gone. And I'm feeling that loss rather significantly lately.

It used to be that I'd have someone wondering when I got off work so we could play. Now, I feel as if I could stay here forever and no one would notice. It used to be that I'd have someone saving me a seat to sit with them at church. Now, if I'm late, I end up sitting next to "guy-who-sniffs-a-lot." It used to be that I would pick a buddy up and take her with me to the ward activity, so we'd know we had a buddy there. Now, I show up alone and hope that I can tag along awkwardly with somebody who's there.

My current "buddies" are fair-weather friends. If the event sounds promising, or if they don't get a better offer, then sure. They'll hang out with me. But I have to make the contact and plans and then wait and wait for a commitment that often changes at the last minute. It used to be that we never needed plans. We just knew that we'd always have someone to hang out with. "What are WE going to do tonight?" Never, "I haven't talked to you in awhile. How've you been?" Because we KNOW how we've been. Because we've been it together.

It used to be that when I needed to buy shampoo or milk, I'd have a buddy at the store with me. And we'd usually end up with ice cream, because that's what happens when you need shampoo.
It used to be that when it was a nice day outside, we were out in it. On bikes, in canals (or both). It used to be that when I had a bad day and didn't call or text, my buddy would know within the hour and she'd be calling or texting or hugging or all three because sometimes all three is necessary.

When I'm hungry, my buddy would say, "Let's check out that new Thai place!" Or "I'll order for you. [to waiter] 'Brooke doesn't like onions.'" Because my buddy knows me. And she knows that I don't like onions.

My buddy would say, "Try this on. It'll look good on you!" and then sometimes, "I'll buy it and you can borrow it." because she knows I can't afford it. My buddies would go asparagus hunting with me, and then try to figure out how the crap we're supposed to cook it. Together. Buddies laugh when I drop yet another camera in the lake and then they help me put it in the oven (like that EVER works.) My buddies would come with me to play in the lakes.

My buddy would knock on my bedroom door and ask, "Naked?" and then come in without waiting for an answer. My buddy would sit on the couch for hours having "life conversations." The kind that usually required some tears, lots of hopes, dreams, regrets and encouragement. My buddies wouldn't change the subject when I brought up something sensitive. My buddies cared about what was important to me because I was important to them. My buddies shared testimony and weaknesses because in sharing, we can support and become stronger. My buddies sought that strength and offered it, too. Sometimes those "life conversations" get silly, and that's fun, too. Actually, that's the best way for them to all end up. Because life is to be enjoyed.

I appreciate that some buddies move on. They find other buddies that offer more eternal connections. I love this. I love those triumphs and happinesses and I am so so happy for them. We keep in touch and remember those times that meant so much. Times when we told each other important things and when we laughed about this or that.
I just wish I didn't keep falling through the cracks.

Over-doing it is fun to do--tra la la la la la!!

So, I just read Gina's blog and realized that I need to be better at posting about the stuff that's going on in my life! Because really ... there's LOTS of it and I'm sure you're all SO curious. So, my dear friends, I will attempt to oblige a bit more than I have.This weekend was fabulous! And maybe by "weekend," I'm starting with Thursday. Some friends and I (Kylee, Aaron, Mikan, Ryan, Shayna, Joe, Skyler, Carl and Marinda) played a little wild-goose-chase volleyball. The goose chase part came in when the building we thought we had scheduled wasn't really scheduled, so we drove to the building we had keys for to find a wedding reception set-up, then drove back to the original un-scheduled building to meet Bev with the keys to the net closet. After the chase, we were joined by Willie and Araby and played a couple hours of GOOD volleyball. I love the kind of play you get when you're all friends and happy to be together and we're okay being silly, but we're good enough to keep a competition going. That kind of play is what we enjoyed on Thursday.

On Friday, I met up with my dear Kylee and walked around the Idaho Falls greenbelt. TWICE. We're hard-core, folks! I love my walk-and-talks with this girl. And it's always fun to run into the frequent high school girls holding hands (this was the 2nd set we've encountered at the GB and Kylee doesn't like it when I try to follow their trend). We also found the gangstas and their pit bulls who were all pulling on leashes ready to bite Kylee's face off. (she was sure of it)

After our walk, I had this STELLAR idea for a nacho/Nacho night. That's right, baby. Nachos from Bajio, then home to watch Nacho Libre. I'd never seen the movie, but I've been quoting it for months, mostly due to the fact that I can't hang out with people without quote/accent transfer. I've picked up lots of this movie from Kylee and Wade. Before the evening's events commenced, I needed to stall to give Kylee time to "run her errand" and I wanted to work up more of an appetite. No better way to do this than to go on one of these:

Yep. Roommate night! Ky couldn't join us for nachos, but we enjoyed them as well as possible without her. 

Then... home for a little of this:

and some "kiss my what?":

And a lot of this! Oh dear. Hahaha!

Good laughs!

Saturday, I met up with some old time favorites from Greenbrier. The intention was for us to get to know Kimball's fiancee, Dave, and for him to get to know us. This plan backfired when we were forced to take two cars to accommodate all 7 adventurers. But, we were still able to laugh and climb and hike and sweat together. That's bonding, right? 

Kimball and I enjoyed freezing our toes off and I resisted pushing Alison in the water. For those of you who don't know (how can you know me and not know this?) I have an irrepressible urge to push over anyone who squats. This girl was just asking for it.

After coming home from the hike, I went on my own little 6 mile bike ride to make sure I was REALLY good and worn out. Hey, if I'm going to do it, I gotta do it RIGHT!

And the spent energy made it much easier for me to relax and focus on Stake Conference both Saturday night and Sunday. Let me just end this post by saying how thankful I am for the Lord's anointed and their guidance and inspiration for us. I know the Lord is aware of my needs, my questions and concerns and I love the answers and guidance I received through this conference. Change is hard, but it's so good when you know that what you're doing is right. I'm grateful for these leaders and their messages who help show us the way.