Ski Season

A lot of people complain about the snow. They complain about winter and how it's too cold. Honestly though, it happens every single year, you'd think that people would be used to it by now.

As for me, I love the snow. I love waking up to a blanket of shimmering white. Because that can only mean one thing.

Ski season.

I am an avid skier.

I have been skiing for 15 years of my life. I have been skiing longer than I have been doing anything else in my life. I absolutely love it. I love cutting down the mountain with the snow splashing out around me. It is so exhilarating. I feel completely free, just me and the mountain.

I ski Park City.

Yesterday was opening day.

I went, of course.

Because how could I possibly stay away?!

It felt so good to be back on the mountain. I missed it so much. Like I've said before, the mountains call my name.

I felt right at home, out on the slopes once again.

I went and met up with Sarah. She was volunteering at the National Abilities Center. They help people learn how to ski despite their physical challenges. And now I want to volunteer. I love skiing and I want to share that with others. How cool to be able to help someone learn how to do what I love to do. What an amazing way to put a smile on someone's face, just by spending my Saturday doing something that I would already be doing.

The Lord has given us talents to share with others and lift them up. And now I have discovered a way to do that with skiing. I can do what I love while loving others as well. 

It's a win win situation.

And I'm going to go for it. 

Fruit Snob

I am one of those people you see in the grocery store sifting through all of the fruit looking for the very best of the best. I don't do soft and mushy bruises, I don't do odd shapes and colors. If you want to be a fruit in my produce club you have to be better than the rest because we are very exclusive. Because otherwise I can't handle it, I'm just weird like that. 
I'm a fruit snob.

Earlier this week I was at the grocery store doing a little produce shopping with a friend. Whenever I go grocery shopping with someone else I always feel a little silly because my method seems so strange. 

I'm just so snobby! I can't help it. 
I like my food to look pretty.

I was picking out apples, which is probably the fruit I am the most snobby about. So there I was, picking up every single apple and checking it for perfection. Then I looked over at the girl next to me. She was doing the same thing. She looked at me and said, "So I see that you are a fruit snob as well". 

And then we became instant friends. Because how can you not be friends with another fruit snob?

I finished my grocery shop, doing the same check-for-perfection process with my bananas and pears and avocados.

And this may seem like a pointless story, and it kind of is.

Usually I have a little deeper meaning type of thing at the end of all of my posts. So I'm going to sum it up with a movie quote from Fantastic Mr. Fox. 
This is one of my favorite movies, by the way, and if you haven't seen it then maybe you should check it out. Then again, it's a very specific kind of humor so maybe you shouldn't. You'll just think I'm even more strange than you already think.

But that is my point!

"We're all different, 
but there's something kind of fantastic about that".

So go be different, go be yourself, go be a fruit snob. 

Because chances are there will always be someone else who is going to be the same kind of different as you.

Indie

I am a lover of all things music. 

I cannot go for one day without listening to music. I would probably die without it. I consider myself an indie rock kid. That's my genre, that's my scene. But don't go confusing me with that hipster crowd. If it's good music, it should be known and heard by everyone. I'm supportive of mainstream. But I'm not supportive of the music that is mainstream right now. That's not real music. I don't know what that is. And I don't want to know. There is so much real talent out there! All you have to do is look beyond the radio.

I'm a musician.

I play the harp, 

I play the guitar, 

I play the piano. 

I sing. 

I have opened for a local concert 

and I have played in a bar in Spain. 

But what I consider my most interesting accomplishment is my title as an indie recording harpist for one of the most talented and passionate bands I know.

Shrink the Giant.

Go check them out. They've got some pretty good stuff and a whole lot of heart. They are some of the most amazing people I know and their music is pure fun and happiness. All good vibes and positive attitudes. So much of the stuff out there today leaves you feeling like you are covered in grime and dirt. 

It's not real. It's all just a show.

Go listen to Shrink the Giant. They're real, they're genuine, and they won't let you down. 

Just one song. 

They are well worth your time.

Knowing

Lately I have had a lot of questions.

About the future,

about the present,

about love,

about life in general.

Questions about if I'm doing the best thing, about if I'm doing the right thing. I've had questions about how I feel and what I feel and what it all means.

I know that I can ask. God is there and He is listening.

But you also have to be patient.

Asking is easy. 

Patience is hard.

I want to know now! I wish I could have a small glimpse into the future, just to know if I'm on the right path. 

Because sometimes I wonder. 

I feel like it's right, 

but is that the same thing as knowing that it's right? 

I guess sometimes we need to learn things for ourselves, we need to make a decision and see where it leads us. Not everything is dictated out. As we change, the plan changes with us. And there's no need to worry, we are given hints to find along the way. 

He helps us out.

But we need to help too.

That's the hard part for me. Sometimes I just want to be told what to do...but then I was thinking, 

what would be the fun in that? 

I have the liberty of choice. I can make decisions on my own. 

And if they're right, 

then it will work out,

and if not,

then I'll move on to the next thing.

Sometimes that can be scary. 

But that's life. 

There is beauty in wondering, 

there is beauty in the unknown, 

and there is beauty in knowing 

that it will all work out.

The Boyfriend

I know this boy named Will. He has been one of my dearest friends since the beginning of high school, as in we're going on seven years now. That's a long time to know somebody. 

Will is very funny and always says the most clever things. He is so creative and thinks about things in a way that I've never found in anyone else. We have the most interesting conversations. Sometimes our conversations are silly but they're some of the most real conversations I've ever had.

Will is very smart, even if he doesn't admit it. He has so many talents and can probably do whatever he wants to do with his life. A writer, a philosopher, an engineer, a businessman, an adventurer extraordinaire, you name it. He's very passionate about the things that he loves and he can go on about some topic with so much excitement that it makes you excited about it as well. 

Will has good taste in music. For some reason that's a thing for me, good music taste. I also find him to be very attractive in an understated way (Do I want to put that on the Internet? Maybe not. Oh well). 

So many great attributes, right? 

So sweet, so charming, so fun. 

In high school I had the biggest crush on him, and now that crush has finally paid off. Here we are seven years later and I guess you could say we're a thing. 

Or dating. 

Or whatever. 

Either way, it's good.

For Sarah

I have this friend named Sarah. She studies Therapeutic Recreation. If you ever need any life advice, you should go to her because she always knows what to say and how to say it.

It's amazing.

 There are some days when I feel like my life is falling apart, but after talking to Sarah for 10 minutes I feel perfectly calm and collected. 

She has so much room in her heart. 

She has so much love to give and she gives that love to anyone and everyone no matter who they are or what their story is. She accepts you for who you are, taking the good along with the bad.

 She has so much light and she let's it shine so brightly. Her light spreads to others, allowing them to let their own light shine.

I've never seen anything like it.

She lights up an entire room when she walks in and she has so much confidence. She isn't afraid to be exactly who she is. She is so happy and alive, and she makes me happy as well. 

She is one of my dearest friends and I am so grateful to her. She has helped me get through so many things, mostly just by being who she is. 

I don't know what I would do without her, I love her so. 

Stay gold, Sarah, and let your light shine.

Picnics

Right now is my favorite time of year. 

The leaves are changing color, 

the air is crisp and cool, 

and the sweater weather season is in full swing. 

Yesterday we drove up the canyon and had a picnic in the leaves. Heather and I have made it a tradition (Two years in the making now) and it could possibly be the most picturesque thing we have ever done. 

We spread out blankets next to the river on a pile of leaves and ate delicious food like pumpkin bars and apples with caramel dip.

 And, of course, 

we shared it with our favorite boys. 

It felt like autumn in every single way. 

I love going up into the mountains. The air is so pure and smells so fresh. Breathing it in makes you feel more alive than you were before, it makes you feel like you don't have a care in the world. 

And for a moment, 

every worry and stress is wiped away and you feel that nothing in the world could make you more content than you are in that moment, sitting under the leaves somewhere in the mountains. 

Well, that was my experience anyways. 

favorites.