Green With Envy....

So the title of this post was made at the beginning of the summer, when my summer only consisted in me taking 4 summer school classes and no vacation.  So it was sarcasm in a sense because NO ONE would be jealous of my summer.  Now that the summer has come to an end, sadly, I've come to realize it wasn't that bad of a summer.  So... here are the highlights of my summer....

Now you're probably thinking 4 summer school classes... ya that was dumb, 3 of those classes were math and I really don't know what I was thinking... so after a week of wanting to quite school all together I dropped 2 of those classes.  

Don't judge... if you could pass these classes I would feel worse about this, but that's a rant for another time :)

Anyways, I had no hope for this summer and was quite bummed.  I literally woke up, ran with Katherine at 6 am, showered got ready for school, went to school, then rushed to work, did homework and went to bed to start it all over again.  I'm pretty sure I almost lost my mind but at the beginning of June I had the opportunity to be a Youth Conference Counselor and it was so much fun and just what i needed.  This was my group

I feel like I probably got more out of the conference than them but we had so much fun together and I LOVE these kids!!!

Now, I get alot of flack for never reading the Harry Potter books but I LOVE going to all the movies and this summer was Part 2 of the 7th book or the FINAL movie.  We were all a little excited and I think Harkins knew we would be that excited and decided to throw a week of Harry Potter Party, YES a week of Harry Potter and of course we HAD to jump on board!!  The schedule they had put together was Monday HP 1&2, Tuesday HP 3&4, Wednesday 5&6 and then Thursday Part 1 at 9 and then the midnight showing of the FINAL HP7.2.  So our pass got us into all these movies AND gave us a swag bag AND a Harkins movie cup AND 4 free drinks AND 2 free popcorns AND some candy AND a coca-cola hat all for $40 bucks, which I think was a bargain.  Now with my crazy schedule from above, I had decided that I was only going to go one movie each night and still be ok with buying the whole week pass.  Well...  after the first movie, I couldn't bare to miss one... well I actually did miss just one but I HAD to go to institute so I rushed over for the second movie afterward.  It was an awesome week of fun and I couldn't have had more fun!!  Here are some of the pics of how awesome it was!!!

So for June and July I kind of just let go and let school and work ride it out.

I did get this awesome break one weekend when my ward went to Lake Roosevelt.  We went up on a Friday and spent the night and then played all day at the lake.  It was AWESOME!!!  It was like a reward for the crapiness of the preceding weeks.  I even learned to wake surf for the first time and it was soo much fun

What better way to end a long day at the Lake than with TONS of watermelon!!!

It was exactly what I needed in the middle of my madness...

So I survived summer school and what better way to celebrate than to take off most of August for vacation or a much needed break from school and work. 

I had the most amazing opportunity to go to Havasupai during this time and it was truly the highlight of my summer.  Hiking the Grand Canyon last year was still the hardest thing I've ever done but this was tough and so many amazing views to really make you stop and think how powerful and amazing our Heavenly Father is. 
I hope you enjoy these highlights

 TEAM AZ!!!!!

Rock Falls

Havasupai Falls

 Just the scenery around our campsite.

 Mooney Falls and my awkward pose... I just think everything about this is too funny...

 My partner in crime for most of the trip.

Tricia and I hiking down to Mooney Falls

 Is this just not so beautiful?

I LOVE this picture.  Don't mind Buster, or should I say Father Buster-he always made sure I was drinking enough water and eating haha... but I love how you can see 3 water falls at the same time!!!  

My friend Blake Abel took this picture and I LOVE it!

The WHOLE gang!!  

My ALL TIME favorite picture of the trip... taken by the one and only Buster!

So the hike out was something that I had kind of worried about.  The hike in wasn't the easiest for me and like most hikes, the hiking out it much harder than hiking in... So we started at about 9ish pm and got things started.  We had already hiked so much already but about 4 miles in of the hike out, I finally got my pack situated so it was actually comfortable, well as comfortable as a pack could be and it make a huge difference.  About a mile in Ben had turned off his headlight and took off and I thought he was crazy but he waited for us to catch up to make sure we were ok.  As we sat and rested I asked him about not using the light and he said it's the only way to hike out with this moon.  While I was skeptical, I thought why not just try and if I'm too scare I can just put back on my light and so I did and what a difference it really made. And it was life changing...

Ok ok that might be a little much but let me tell you, it was an amazing experience.  It took like a minute for my eyes to adjust and I could see EVERYTHING around me, the path, the beautiful mountains around me, the clouds, anything.  I had my music going and just moved along out of that Canyon.  Now everyone had talked about the last couple of miles out and how they were switchbacks and almost everyone hits a wall when they get there.  That was the part I was the most nervous for.  Up until this point I had hiked the entire way with Tricia but she wanted a break and something I learned from hiking the Grand Canyon was that if you aren't tired, you better not stop and she completely agreed and so we split.  Now ahead of me, I had Ben, Buster and Blake that had all driven with me and who had probably been waiting forever at the top for me (or so I thought).  I had kind of made a mental image of the top and so when I started the switchbacks I had looked for anything I could remember from the top and started gauging how close I was to the top and then gauged my speed from there and just chugged along.  Now this is where the beauty of hiking in the dark came in.  It was quite a spiritual experience.  Just to be able to see what was around you and the beauty you were in was amazing.  And if you turned on that one switch how all that had changed, you were only able to see what was right in front of you, nothing to the side, nothing overhead, pretty much nothing...  I was so happy I had listened to Ben and hiked out by moonlight.  It was so beautiful to see the elevation change that we had made even from where the switchbacks started.  And what do you know, with my pacing myself I was even able to catch up to and pass Buster and was the 3rd person out the Canyon from our group, well our group of 8 that had started at 9.  When I had gotten to the car Ben even said, "No offense Jackie, but you were the last person I expected to see come out of that Canyon next."  No offense taken Ben, I was VERY proud of myself.  So I was able to spend 3 days in Paradise and wouldn't have changed anything in the world, it was perfect!!!!

So I may be a little biased, but I think my ward is the BEST Ward in the world.  We have quite the odd ball group, I mean it's a singles ward what do you expect, but we have so many different funny people in there and we just know how to have fun.  Now, at the beginning of the summer I was the activities Co-Chair and we had planned on going to Lake Powell during Labor Day weekend and I was sooo excited the whole summer.  Since I had been off for most of August I was nervous to ask for Labor Day weekend off too, so I waited till the middle of August and no one at work had asked for it off, so I was like what the heck, and was able to get it off.  We have the Hancock's in our Bishopric and they have a houseboat and had graciously planned for and paid for everything we had done.  It was 4 days of pure fun and great times!!  We even got to go to the Navajo ward and what an experience that was.  Talk about a great people!!  Anyways, here are some highlights from Lake Powell...

The Pyramid Crew!!!

 Don't mind the black eyes...  why i didn't take my makeup off I'll never know...

 Enjoying some tubing!

We even jumped off the houseboat in our Sunday clothes... NBD...

I look like a mutt but I was so happy my lil' Sis could come, we had so much fun and I loved having her there!!!

I also wanted to shout out to my friends... they truly are amazing and we have so much fun... we love to Karaoke and we love that midnight Bingo... who wouldn't want to hang with us?

So... it turned out to be a summer to remember and even thought summer school sucked, I made it and had an amazing summer!!!  To kind of tie my post all together I'm leaving you with this picture again... talk about the greenery!!!

Are you a Warrior?!?!?! I AM!!!!

A couple of months ago I got this email

Are you a Warrior?

Offer brought to you by Active.com - $5 Off Warrior Dash Arizona - Enter Coupon Code: ACTIVEWD430

To view this offer in a browser, click here.

And coincidentally some of my friends heard about it too... So at the end of January we all signed up...  All 12 of us and we all got real excited!!!!  So 3 months later it came.  We had talked so many times about what we'd wear, they have an award for the best costume, and we came up with awesome awesome ideas but nothing ever panned out sadly... so we ended up going with white trash... haha here are some of the highlights!!!

Before-Group Pic!

Group stretching made all the difference haha

Yes, Natalie makes me look not that skinny....

So we ran and did this extreme obstacle course... it was AWESOME!!!  It was alot harder than I had anticipated, but so worth it.  The whole atmosphere was amazing, that may have been due to all the drunk people and the head horns everyone got, or it was all the happy endorphins everyone was getting from running...  Our group had a great time here's some of us finishing

Katherine's face cracks me up!!!!!

I love this picture haha 

Ending group picture!!!  We had sooo much fun!!!  

And yes we are all Warriors!!!!  And we can't wait to do it again next year!!!!

SIN CITY!!!!

Hello Again!!!!!

I feel like I have so much on my mind lately and this is where I go to get all those thoughts sorted through...  This weekend was pretty awesome!!!! (Keep in mind I started this post a week and a half ago but didn't finish it till today.. sorry!)  Friday nothing really happened, I went to bed at 10:30, weird because I don't go to bed that early on any other weekday but the weekend really???  This was a special case because I was getting up really early the morning to do Pat's run.  I was all sorts of nervous for this run.  Yes I've been running, but we only run 2 miles each night and that almost kills me everytime... to add to that, Afton was supposed to run with me, but to some unforeseen events was unable to run it.  This added to my nervousness because I REALLY didn't want to run it alone.  There is something about running with others that really helps me keep motivated.  When I run with my friend Katherine, she's a little faster than me and so I tell myself I can't stop because I have to try to keep up with her.  It really helps alot.  Anyways I had talked my dad into going with me to the run and dropping me off, so I didn't have to worry about parking, and he wasn't too thrilled with me running all by myself and asked if Hayley could run with me and I explained it was kind of expensive to sign up as of now, AND then I remembered that Afton had offered her bib up to Katherine to see if she wanted to run, but she couldn't so I was like uhhhhh let me ask Afton if Hayley can use her bib and that's exactly what we did.  It worked out perfect and Hayley was able to buy a shirt exactly like mine after the race and it only cost $20, compared to the $60 it would have cost to sign up for the race.  So we ran together and we did pretty awesome.  I'm still not the fastest runner, and when we started running my calves were super tight and I was nervous I wouldn't last long running, but I kept telling myself, I can at least make it to the next mile marker.... and I did that until after the 3 mile marker and then I really needed to stop and walk for 30 seconds while I got a drink.  Then we started up again.  All in all, our ending time was 51:05 and I was sooooo proud of myself.  It was like a 12 minute mile, and while that might sound like a long time (it really is) it was really good for me and I was very happy with it.  While running, I had tons of time to think, you know as I always do while I run and there were sooo many things going on in my mind.  At the end, I was having a hard time and really wanted to stop again, but we were so close the finish and we turned the corner to the parking lot and there were so many people standing on the side cheering for you.  I don't know why, but it made me start crying, it really meant so much to me that they were cheering for me, telling me I'm almost finished you can do it.  It made the difference and I fought off the urge to stop.  When we got to that point, I immediately started looking for my dad, and I couldn't see him but I kept looking, knowing he was somewhere waiting for us to finish and I immediately started crying again.  This may be really strange, but as I searched for my dad, my thoughts turned immediately to the next life after earth, and when we die, searching for someone, anyone we know that will be there to comfort us.  But that there were perfect strangers there to help and while I never found my dad, those strangers were exactly what I needed to finish the race.  It made me think alot about genealogy and Temple work and how I need to be better at both, to help those, and even myself, bring families together forever.  It was amazing to cross that finish line on the ASU football field and feel that accomplishment.  Everyone was so helpful and it was so much fun!!!!!! Afterwards I called my dad and he was waiting there for us right at the gate.  He seriously is the best Dad ever.  He kept saying how impressed he was with the whole event.  There were so many people that came out to support the Pat Tillman Foundation and it was amazing.  We went around and got some water and Jamba Juice and that's when my Dad got Hayley her shirt and even got himself one haha.  All in All, it was a great start to a really great day!!!!

 After the race I came home and got showered and ready to head to VEGAS!!!!  Some friends and I had been planning on seeing the Brandon Flowers show for months and I was super excited for it.  I got ready, got some snacks, then went to Olsen Manor and got Myke and Brianne and we hit the road.  It was a good drive and we made some pretty good time to Vegas.  We got checked into our hotel and then headed to the House of Blues to get in line for our show.  We had general admission tickets, which were pretty crappy seats...  As in there weren't any seats, unless we wanted to pay for a minimum $200 bar tab... that wasn't going to happen so we staked out our place to stand and just waited for the rest of our group to get there and then for the show to start.  The opening band was ok, I wasn't too impressed, but it wasn't miserable either, so it wasn't too bad...  then Bro. Flowers came out in this awesome vest and began his set.  

 It was immediately awesome.  I was enjoying myself in the back, sitting on this comfy couch, when Afton said that Chip and Deena had gotten on the lower level and there were seats and we should come.  I was really nervous for this because I didn't want to get caught and get kicked out.  But we went to the middle section and the view was soooo much better!  I was still nervous, but it was worth it!!! The view from the lower level was awesome, I wasn't the biggest fan of the House of Blues set up, but the show was amazing!!!!!!  

And he even sang my favorite song!!!!  It's called The Clock was Tickin'.  It's actually a really depressing song about a guy who finds this amazing girl, but then she gets cancer and he loses her.  But... her name is Jackie and I love it!!!!  It really is a cute song!!!!  So after the show I was sooo tired, I'd been up since 5:30 and it was now 10 pm... but I was starving and the night was young..... 

Sorry this is turned the other way I'm too lazy to fix it, but I LOVE this picture.

So we got dinner, and I had a little moment.  So we stopped at this little stripmall and it had a McDonald's, Panda Express, and Subway, it had everything we all wanted.  I had gone to McDonald's hoping they had Diet Dp... yes I'm obsessed, sadly they didn't have any... but I got a 2 cheeseburger meal because it was cheaper than getting one cheeseburger, french fries and a drink.  But I knew I wouldn't eat the second burger... but I got it anyways... as we sat outside eating our different meals, there were some homeless men outside sitting at other tables... there was one that looked like he had eaten in a while... as I asked my friends if they wanted my left over cheeseburger, and I got heckled for ordering it in the first place, no one wanted it... So I put all my trash in the bag and went to throw it in the trash, but had to walk past this homeless man and I felt really bad.  I had this extra burger and I went back to our table with my bag of leftover food and I asked my friends what to do.  I was to nervous to give it to him myself, but Brianne was awesome and gave it to him.  It really made his day and I was so happy I had gotten that extra burger.  That was my little moment.

So after a few wanted to walk the Strip and I really had no desire to do so, but we all agreed on going to the "Welcome to the Fabulous Las Vegas" sign to take some pictures... 

 It was really fun and just what we needed to get us a little pumped up... So I still had no desire to walk down the Strip, but driving down the strip would be awesome... YES!!!  So we hopped in the car, and started down the Las Vegas Strip and what better music to listen to then.....  you guessed it Katy Perry!!!!!!  It was perfect and we sang and danced our hearts out and even got those on the strip to participate!!!!  Ya we were that awesome!!!  Anyways we enjoyed our drive then called it a night... We were wasted!!!

  It was alot of fun.  Very short trip but soooo worth it!!!

Thanks you Brandon Flowers and just for your viewing pleasure, I LOVE this video!!!!