School starts on Tuesday!

Since we got home from our honeymoon, I've been keeping busy by getting ready for my senior project showcase and for school to start. My mom and Sarah, and Jake's family came out for my senior project. It was pretty much only made for my mom to appreciate and I think I blew it out of the water. She loved it! It was a dance about the relationships that influence us throughout our lives and how they can mold us into who we want to be. The focus was on sisters, mothers, and friends. The music was the lullaby she would sing us growing up, composed by my oldest sister, Sarah. My dancers were five girls who will be on my Dance Company at Provo High this year!

 My hardworking dancers backstage!

Silly pic. They are goofs. Wish me luck!

While Jake's parents were in town, they painted my dance room! For free! They worked so hard all day for two days straight while I was in training. I couldn't believe how fast they did it and how perfect it turned out. Before, the dance room was dark, felt small, and had lots of random colors as decoration. 

Here is the before:

And here is the gorgeous, bright, huge, clean after!

Don't worry, I haven't finished my bulletin boards yet. There will be more color and pictures before school starts. Maybe I will make a post about that and my new, clean office, too!

We did it.

A few weeks ago, Jake got this strong craving to be outdoors. Might have something to do with the fact that he has been busy with school and work and we haven't seen the sun since the fourth. So he planned a week full of fun activities for us!

 Activity #1: Hiking the Y!

This was Jake's first time. Does the view remind you of Lord of the Rings, or what? 

No, seriously, tell us. We've never seen Lord of the Rings....

At the top! We weren't even sweaty or winded like at all....

Activity #2: On Wednesday evening we headed out to the Spanish Fork Fiesta Days Rodeo! This was Jake's first rodeo and he loved it. He didn't want to leave and right as we were walking out he heard them announce bull riding, so we had to run back in and see some of that, too. I loved the beginning when they had all the rodeo queens carry different flags that had flown over our country. They told about each flag as the girls booked it around the arena on their horses. So patriotic! My favorite event was mutton busting. I was surprised how many kids stayed on the whole way across the arena! Pretty sure Jake loved it all! Especially team roping. So fun! They even had girls perform equestrian vaulting which is like gymnastics on horseback. It was crazy! 

He we are in front of a huge bull with the big arena behind us.

Activity #3: That same night at about 12:45 AM, we started our hike to the top of Mt. Timpanogos! It took about 4 hours to get to the top. The younger boys who were leading the way basically power walked the whole way up. It was pretty much the most aerobic thing I've done in my life. Power walking uphill for 4 hours? No thanks. But we did it! We got to the top super early, so we waited about 2 hours for the sun to rise. It was so windy and cold at the top! Every once in a while there would be freezing cold mists and crazy loud thunder. The lightning was so close that all the girls' hair was sticking straight out from their heads. It was so freaky! But finally, it died down. We all snuggled up, ate some snacks, and some of us fell asleep, but it was awesome to finally see the sun come up over the mountains! What an awesome view of the valley on one side and the mountain range and valleys on the other side. 

Here we are freezing our buns off!

The view on the way down.

The funniest picture of my life. Jake snapped this on our way down the mountain.

We got down the mountain in about 3 1/2 hours. Making our trip a total of 9 1/2 hours! We hurried back to Provo so I could be there in time for my Senior Project rehearsal. Jake and I couldn't walk right for at least two days. I did zero dancing at rehearsal that day. But we recovered and now we can say we hiked Timp! Woohoo! Never again :) Our advice: pace yourself, bring lots of snacks and water, and dress warm!