Oh what do you do in the summer time?

 I recently attended a wedding of a dear friend. Her name happens to be Joleen Glassett (now Rees). I am grateful for all the incredible roommates that I have had over the years. There happen to be quite a few of them but here are some of the favs. Joleen, Hayley, and Marci. I was able to attend the sealing with Hayley which was nice. The sealer commended Joleen and Jake for being able to be there. I began thinking how grateful I was also to be able to be there, in the house of the Lord to feel of His spirit and His grace. 

Then of course we went to the luncheon at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It was also very nice. It was so fun to talk and laugh and reminisce with Hayley and Marci. I had forgotten how much fun we all used to have together back at good ol' Helaman Halls and Lib Square. Life is funny that way sometimes. I do love these girls and they have influenced my life for good, for the which I will ever be grateful.

Other summer events so far include lots of camping outings. Here is one of the first up at the Haydens camp ground. On this occasion we shot bows and shot guns, we had delicious dutch oven ribs and potatoes, we paddled around in the boat, watched a movie under the stars, smelled strongly of campfire, and slept under the stars. It was a good start to the summer camping season.

This was the drive-in crew. We went up the IF one night and watched Brave and Avengers, although I will admit I only saw the first few minutes of Avengers before I was out like a light. But this was one of my best spent Saturday nights so far. Love this crew.

And I had to throw this gem in because I personally think it is a cool shot. This was actually a tourney all the way back in January but look at my form. Elbow up, eye on the ball, not bad really. Hips should be a little more square but I still think it's a fun pic. Anywho, just reminiscing on the last season and getting ready for the coming season. Told E-force I want another contract so it should be full of all kinds of fun.

Sarah's Tatoo and Piercing Shop

So I went out this weekend to follow after my cowgirl heart. My friend Jenn, who knows about this cowgirl heart of mine, invited me to go out to her Brother-in-laws families farm out in Rockland, Idaho to brand cattle. This was an opportunity I was not willing to pass up. So naturally I started telling everyone what I was going to do.

Most people just thought I was crazy for being so excited. People told me it stinks and then the cows would pop all over me. whatever. I have changed poppy diapers before. Can't be that different right? They said we'd also be clipping the ears. No big deal. And then I heard about the other part of branding ie castration. Cas-what-on? Well, I guess I will just observe that one, hugh? The farmers call the rubber bands used for this part of the process cheerios. I would not recommend eating them though. But I did actually end up doing the castration on one of the calves. That was good enough for me. I spent the rest of time time branding and helping situate the calves in the stall.

So this is the process that we went through. First we had to go round up all the cows from the field. We brought them up the road about 1/2 mile and into the pen. Then we had the task of separating out the calves from the cows and bulls. This was fun. We were all in the pen trying to basically make the cows run in a circle and getting the cows and bulls to exit the pen while the calves stayed there. Entertaining it was.

Then the calves were loaded into the shoots and stalls. Individually each calf was then brought into the brown stall you see pictured. The head was trapped, the stall closed on them so that they were contained, and then it was tipped on its side. This was done for easier access for castration and branding purposes. The brand looked like a rocking chair. It was pretty cool looking. Then the calf was tipped back upright and the ear was clipped 3 times. This was done so that the cow could be identified by the farmer from the front or from the side/rear of the animal. So clipping and branding have no real functional purpose rather then identification of the calf. Then we let them wander off back into the pen with their mothers.

I really did have a lot of fun rounding up the cows and spending the time out in a beautiful area. Don't get me wrong here, I am not going to quit my day job but I rather enjoyed myself.

Clipping the ear

Placing the "Cheerio". Notice the intense concentration.

Branding. It really does stink like burning flesh.

Holding the leg during castration for easier access.

More branding. This was my main job.

Racquetball armor!

So I am obsessed. It's true. But recently I had a lot of fun planning the first annual ISU Bengal Blast! We had 44 people from Boise State, BYU, UVU, and even BYU-I. It was lots of fun. Here are the main members of our club. It has been such a fun year to play with and get to know all of them.



I also helped design our t-shirts and get our event all sponsored. The final t-shirts turned out awesome!



Also, I made a thank you/birthday present for my coach. She is amazing and has been so awesome to take the time to teach me more about the sport. She is even coming to nationals with me in 2 weeks. I am super excited. So here is the thank you solider I made for her. Now it may take some explaining. She talks to me a lot about the mental aspect of the game. One of her favorite things to talk about is armor. So I made her a little solider complete with armor to say thank you to her. It was a complicated task since the rubber in racquetballs is not very forgiving/pliable. But it was fun (I especially like his "sword" ie racquet). Here are some pictures of the finished product. And remember your armor everyday!

“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day. …

“Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

“And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

“Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.” (Eph. 6:11–18.)

Old McDonald had a...

This was my fun day on the farm yesterday. My Bishop is a farmer out in Arbon (about 30 min from Pocatello). So I went and spent the day out there because I decided I am a farm girl at heart. It was pretty fun! I am so glad he let me come out and join my friend Jenn in the swather for a while.
It was so peaceful out there. I love being out in nature and Jenn and were making tons of analogies about how farming is like staying on the path or life is like having to call God (the farmer) when the tractor breaks. I really enjoyed it. It was a good way to get out of Pocatello for the day. So these first 3 pictures are on the combine and the last one if the swather (cutter, for those of you non-farmer folk) to cut the alfalfa.
Then my bishop took me out on the driller down a super steep hill. Like I had to hold on to the seat so that I didn't slide off it, that's how crazy steep it was. It was pretty darn cool. So I learned some fun things on the farm. Do I want to be a farmers wife? No. But would I love to spend more time on the farm? Yes.

School is for fools!

I realized that I basically have been in school basically my whole life. Well... since I was 4 and started pre-school. But I am not here to complain. I chose to go to grad school and quite frankly I enjoy gaining new knowledge. It is the stress of having to pass test that I just really do not enjoy. But that will come to an end. But I wanted to count my blessings as well. So these stats include high school but not before that.

Tests taken: 562
Tests failed: ? A few... I try to block those memories out.
Teachers: 145
Pages of notes taken: 3,050 (approximate because there is NO way I am going to count them).
Roommates (college): 31
Essays written: 254
GPA: 3.62
Credits taken: 408
Tuition paid: $49, 281
Textbooks: 189
Schools attended: 5
Intramural championships: 3

And I only have 2 years left right? So I am much more then half way done. Basically, I am trying to pump myself up for school starting again in a week. I can do this. Its nothing I haven't done before. I can do hard things!

30 day challenge - update

So here are some of my pictures so far. They are progressively getting more artistic I think. So this first one was the green things.


The next one is of the clouds.


This was something from a low perspective.


Something I wore that day. I love love love these shorts.




From a high perspective. This was a hike called Coral Creek here in Pocatello. Pokey is actually really pretty in the summer.

30 day challenge

So I have decided to take the 30 day challenge. If I can successfully do it and have fun with my little point and shoot then I am going to look more seriously into buying a nice camera like a Nikon 5100 perhaps or something of the sorts. So here is what I hope to accomplish. I put this up to help motivate me to do it. If YOU think I am doing it then maybe I will actually get out and take pictures like I want to. So here goes...