A Bit Behind.. As Usual

Well, apparently June got busy. After graduation a spent a lot of time working and hanging out with Bryce. Then, he left me for EFY and so I have been working a lot. I also took a road trip to California to try and find a house so that when I move down in a month I won't have to live in a box behind a Target. It was so much fun to go down with my future roommates and spend some time with them and get to know them better. There was the usual drama, but it all turned out ok in the end. I got mad at Danny for not putting his seat belt and it turned into a long battle, with me winning out in the end. We found a house that we really liked, but only Shane and I agreed on it so we decided that we are going to go down again and find one just a few days before we decide to move down. I got to talk to Bryce nearly every night and it was fabulous to keep in touch. He was home about halfway through my vacation down there so I could finally talk to him instead of having to limit our texts. We spent a day in San Francisco and on a beach just south of that. I got back and was so excited to see Bryce at least for a brief moment. It was only for a half hour though.. The next day he left for Youth Conference where he was gone for three days and didn't even have his phone. It was a very boring three days.. I spent lots of time with Laura though. We went shopping together, played games at my house and just hung out to talk. It was nice to see her because we have both been putting our time toward other things and haven't really seen each other very much.

Bryce's birthday was Sunday and I was gone, so on Thursday after he got back I took him up to South Mountain and created a bunch of memories we had. I played Secondhand Serenade because we went to their concert, I locked myself out of my car (with a hide a key of course), going to a place we've looked out at before, watching sunset which we always talked of doing, we could see a pool that I had so intelligently gotten my car stuck in the snow and had to be rescued, and a lot of other memories from south mountain. It was so nice to see him after like two weeks and to just relax in his arms. I missed him more than I realized. The next morning he left me again for Florida for a biotech competition. I've been talking to him on the phone and via text. I almost couldn't because he dropped his phone in a fountain at the airport in Denver. Yeah, he's a smart cookie :) Luckily it decided to work again!

I got to go to my uncle's cabin with my parents and just chill over night. I finished a book with my mom (the thirteenth reality, which was a very good book), finished a sewing project I started when I was like 10, started and finished an entire book(the giver), learned how to paint flowers and leaves from my mom, started another book, and had lots of time to just relax and sleep. It was so much fun to go up and to reminisce of memories of when I was young. The only difference was that I didn't have all my siblings there too. We talked about going up there next month when Rachel comes to visit and taking friends up there for an overnight stay. I also got to go four wheeling on this huge freaking four wheeler. The biggest one I've ever driven, it was a 600 twin sportsman polaris. It was a blast though. And right up from Strawberry Reservoir so it was a pretty drive no matter which direction you went. Well I'm starting dance camp tomorrow and I'm so excited that I get to dance again! It'll be lots of fun! Hopefully I'll keep up to date on my blog now.. though I doubt it :)

Dance, Outdoors, Graduation, and PARTIES!

Ok, so my computer is being retarded, but here are some pictures of my dance concert that I never wrote anything about cuz I spaced it. I was in seven dances, from a zombie, cheer, and then an entire circus routine. These pictures are in the costume of the contortionist dance. As you can see, I play that role well. It was a fun dance with no real technique, just lots of bendy stuff!

Well this last week has been insane. It started Sunday night with Seminary graduation. Never again am I taking a picture with the bishop, his son, and my dad.. I'm shorter by about two feet. They sang the Theme Song and it was so beautiful. I was signing it in my head because they wouldn't let me sign it for the crowd. Tough bishopric..

Monday was the most boring morning of my life.. Graduation practice. Hutch, the teacher in charge was not in a good mood which made it seem three times longer. Bryce and I headed up Little Cottonwood Canyon to check out a place in Tanners Flat Campground for a bonfire that we are organizing for our friends. We did it last year too and burned all of our homework. It's a fabulous end to the schoolyear haha. The canyon was gorgeous and we wandered around looking at places. It was great fun. We found a good spot that had a little private pond thing. Bryce wanted to go swimming but I said that after swimming in a freezing lake up the canyon last weekend, i wasn't about to jump in this one. Especially not in a swim suit haha.

Tuesday was the big day. Graduation. It didn't really hit me until I got there... That's when I realized I'd forgotten my cap and my hearing aides. Laura got my cap and I had to have Shannon bring the hearing aides and talk Crapo in to bringing them to me. The walk from Jordan to the Expo Center was very long.. Especially in heels. Not one of the best decisions of the week. We got there and Laura and I parked ourselves and sat down to wait. We got to walk in together.. Now I had to tell Bryce that he's too late and I've already walked down the isle with Laura and I had linked arms with Eric Proctor. He laughed. There were some good speeches and some boring ones and finally our names were read. I was in the front row, so I got it over with quickly. After I got to go to Chili's with my family and Bryce tagged along too. It was great to see them all and to talk. I'm happy we didn't scare Bryce off.. Though he did give us all funny looks when we started to stack silverware and make statues (though this time nothing compares to our 28 piece one at a wedding dinner in Texas) The rest of the day was relaxed, then came night. I panicked because Laura's phone died so I had no idea which party she was at.. I finally went to the one for our school and found her there. I was only there for an hour and then we all went to Five Mile. I was nervous because they were talking about finding alcohol. It was WAY out of my comfort zone. Luckily, we never found any and ended up off roading a bit and making our own bonfire from dead trees we found and a flare we had in the car. It was great fun to talk to everyone and we were there until 4:15 AM. I got home and crashed. It was the first time in a long time that I had partied all through the night. It was great.

Thursday we did the bonfire with our friends. We had hot dogs and s'mores. It was awesome to see everyone and spend time with my friends. We had random people show up and had about 20 people by the end of the night.. More than the 10 we had started with. We sat around the fire and told funny stories and embarrassing moments. About midnight we kicked everyone out because a few of us were staying overnight and had to start setting that all out. We stayed up and talked a bit and Bryce and I had the best stargazing ever. We go gazing a lot because it fascinates us both. In the mountains with no light pollution we could see so many. Though the trees made it a bit more difficult. Then the next morning my parents left early to catch a plane to Texas for my cousin's wedding (she is my age and I grew up with her.. yeah it's strange). We stayed up a few more hours and slept in. It was great, though my toes were so cold I was sure they would fall off.

I'm getting in to work more and more and trying to make as much money as possible so that I can have enough money to move to Cali this summer. Well, I got my hearing aides and I love them. They do so much. I went to CON a last weekend and had such a blast. After nearly getting kissed by a guy I had just met, meeting some awesome authors and artists (James Dashner, Howard Taylor, Sarah Seiter, L.E. Modesitt, and Paul Genesse), and just having the chance to be an all around geek all weekend. I dressed up as an Elf that I invented on the spot. I chose the name Tavalynn and didn't realize that that is who I became.. So that's what everyone called me. I got to wear a formal and a pretty blue cloak that my mom made for me last year. I had ear tips and a design by my eyes to give it a more elven tone. I stayed up until four in the morning filking and singing weird songs about bridesmaids and dragons. I actually went to a lot of the panels this year instead of just goofing around. I made a hand flower out of chainmaille, learned how to create a story quickly, learned about art, writing, publishing and much more. It was fun to spend time with my family. We have the time to be weird together. I also got to join the end of the coffee clutch with my dad and the people named above. It was fun to talk and the conversation was so random. It was great. I got a free book, "The 13th Reality" by James Dashner, because apparently I make friends easily. It is my first autographed book! Now next year I will try to make up a costume so that I don't have to make one up the night before..

Bryce and I went hiking last weekend and went on the trailhead up Bell Canyon. It was supposed to be a short hike, but we discovered later that we started at the wrong place. So after three hours of hiking and everyone else saying we weren't even close.. We turned around and headed back. We stopped at a gorgeous lake that was on the way up and went down and stuck our toes in. We had planned on swimming in the waterfall, so we had our suits on. I look over to see Bryce taking his shirt off, and when I look again, I catch him in the air diving into the lake. He made me do it of course, and I was so cold! After standing on the rock about five minutes I finally jumped in. We wanted to see how far we could swim and we only made it about thirty feet into the water before Bryce said he was freezing and started frantically swimming back. It was a fun hike and great to spend time together. Plus it was a gorgeous day. Perfect hiking weather!

My mom has lots of pictures on her camera, so those will follow along shortly. Of CON, graduation, and parties too.