Mountain Love Affair

This summer, my sister Sierra and I have made it a goal to go on a hike every Monday. So far, we have succeeded. We've hiked Slate Canyon, Rock Canyon, Sundance, and most recently, Squaw Peak. I've always enjoyed hiking, maybe because I was practically born hiking. When I was but a wee lad, my parents would throw me in one of those child hiking backpacks and tote me around everywhere. Ha, they even took me skiing a few times. Mostly what I think it comes down to though is that I don't really care all that much about hiking, I just love being in the mountains. I once said "I was raised in the desert, but I'm a child of the mountains". Bloody cheesy right? But its true. I spent a lot of my childhood in the Southern Utah deserts. Boy, I can't even tell you how many times I've been to Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Zions, and not to mention Goblin Valley! But I really do like the mountains better. I love the fresh cool air, the snow capped peaks, the dense piney forests, and of course: the wild flowers. I have a great love for the Uintah mountain range. We have a cabin up there, right on the Bear River. And it has always been one of my very favorite places to be. Its a great place to just go and hang out. You don't have to worry about every day plans. Just who is going to wash the dishes and if you're going to finally win a game of Uno or some other game. I really enjoy the nice cool air up there, especially in the summer when it's 90º down in the valley, and you're wearing a coat up there not to freeze at 6p.m. I've kind of strayed off topic. Back to hiking. Life is simple when I'm out hiking. You can leave your worries behind and just enjoy the scenery. There comes a point in every one of my hikes, where I realize: I don't want to go back. The point where you find Serenity. Sadly I turn back and head for home, but not without taking a few moments to stop and take it all in. Who knows though, maybe someday I'll just keep going.

There you have it. That's the story of my Mountain Love Affair. So if you ever want to go hiking, I'm always up for it. Give me a holler.

Strange Occurences

I figured I had better write about my new friend Kirsten. Because, there is somewhat of a strange story involved. I'll start from the beginning.
      Let's see, I do believe it was last summer, my mom came home from girls camp and was telling me all about this amazing girl she had met. At the time, it seemed like my mom was trying to set me up with her or something. And maybe she was. But that's not so important. She added me as a friend on facebook, and we chatted a little bit here and there. About a year later at seminary graduation (so like two weeks ago) I saw her again and talked to her a little bit. After the graduation, I thought to myself "She seems like rather a fun person, I don't really know why, but I would like to become friends". Eventually, I got her number and we texted eachother a bit. Now here's where it gets strange. Both of our favorite colors are Orange, we come from big families, She likes Sushi, Pizza, and Curry, Enjoys hiking, is not very good at sports like myself. Amongst other things, She loves golf and also happens to be allergic to cats! We both think its pretty strange how much we have in common. Oh and she is very much a fan of the 1800's. We decided to hang out and go hiking this last Thursday. It was really fun. She's super easy to get along with, not to mention she has a great sense of humor. I think our brains run on similar wave lengths, cause we seem to agree on most things. At least so far. Anyways, I think this is the beginning of a great friendship.

25 Best

I've been thinking about it lately, and I decided to go through my music collection and try to choose my top 25 favorite albums. Let me tell you, it was hard! I chose the albums I thought were best, albums that flow nicely, the ones you never get tired of listening to. I decided not to count greatest hit cd's to make it a little easier, only actual albums. So here they are, my top 25 (in no particular order).

American Beauty - Grateful Dead

Closing Time - Tom Waits

Come Away With Me - Norah Jones

Dire Straits - Dire Straits

First Demo Tape - Minor Threat

Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan

L.A. Woman - The Doors

Electric - The Cult

Let It Be - The Beatles

Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes

All Good Things: Studio Sessions, Run For The Roses - Jerry Garcia Band 

MTV Unplugged - Alice In Chains

Wildflowers - Tom Petty

Reckoning - Grateful Dead

The London Years - The Rolling Stones

Days Of The New 1 - Days Of The New 

The Wall - Pink Floyd

Alice - Tom Waits

Aqualung - Jethro Tull

Cheating At Solitaire - Mike Ness

Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan

Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine 

Blood Stained Hitz - Agent Orange

August And Everything After - Counting Crows

American Woman - The Guess Who