Cold Mountain, NC

The weather has proved to be amazing this Fall season and we just had to get out on the trail again for a wonderful weekend adventure.  This time Rachelle joined Camilla, Scott and myself.  We took our backpacks and feet to Cold Mountain, NC in the western part of the state.  We did about 19 miles in two days and it was a great trip.  We watched the sunset on top of the mountain and I was once again reminded of the beauty that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have created for us to enjoy.  The leaves were barely beginning to change and we got to see a few yellows and reds.  There were lots of beautiful flowers along the trail.  

Updates!

My blog seems to have a familiar track record to my journal.  I am always playing catch up because I tend to not keep it up to date.  I was gently encouraged this past week from a good friend to post on my blog about my latest comings and goings, so I will try and get you guys up to date - quite a bit has happened since the last time I posted!  I think I will go from most recent and see how far I get back to catching you all up!

This past weekend, I competed in my first ever triathlon and it was wonderful.  I had been training some - lots of running, a little bit of biking and swimming - to prepare for the event.  I have always wanted to do one but am always a little anxious doing new activities I have never previously tried.  My parents came to the race with me to be my support team!! It was great having them there with me.  The race was in Lousiburg, NC starting at 8 am on October 6! It was a gorgeous Fall morning, the weather could not have been more perfect for the race.  We started off swimming 500 M in the lake, followed by a 15 mile bike ride along country roads surrounded by cotton fields, and finished with a 3.1 mile run! I fared fairly well in the swim but was passed a ton during the bike portion (lots of room for improvement there), and finished strong on the running, passing 20 people in the process.  My goal was to finish in 1 hour and 50 minutes and not come in last!! I succeeded at both. My finishing time was 1 hour and 46 minutes and I did not come in last!! =)

They wrote our age on our right calf muscles, it was fun seeing the ages of all the participants.  There was one little girl 13, she beat me!

 My two greatest supporters!

Transitioning from the swim to the bike - it was nice having a short breathing break!

Appalachian Trail

In March, my goal/dream of hiking the entire Appalachian Trail began.  Daniel and Scott were kind enough to come along with me (or maybe it was me going along with them) on my first section hike.  We started at the very most southern spot, Springer Mountain, GA.  We took five days and hiked a total of 70 miles.  It was wonderful (besides the fact that we could hardly walk when we finished). Smile. It was a little tougher, I think, than we had anticipated.  This is a very mountainous part of the trail, so it required a lot of ups and downs.  In the end, we did survive. Although, we had no choice because we had to hike to where we left my car parked. Smile.  We had four great days of weather and it only rained part of one day.  We talked with some very nice people - some hiking all the way through and some just hiking a few days like us.  My given trail name from this trip was Poly! If you want to know what it means, you will just have to ask.  I loved the trip and can't wait till the next one!

Disney World 2012

One benefit of helping Steve with the kids is the free trip to Disney World.  He decided to take the kids again this Spring during their track-out in March and I got to go along for the ride.  It was a wonderful trip and everyone had a great time.  We did all of our favorite rides and Sarah was a little taller this year and got to do a bunch of rides she did not get to do last year. The weather was great and we stayed with a couple that are friend's of Steve this time.  Make sure to look closely at the second to last picture.  It is probably my favorite picture from our entire trip!   

BELEM, BRAZIL

Christopher, my little brother, turned 19 this past October which made him old enough to serve a mission for our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He filled out his papers and got his call back before the new year.  He has been called to serve in the Belem, Brazil mission for two years.  He was very excited and this past Spring prepared to go.  He finished up school in December and spent Jan., Feb., and Mar. at home with our parents getting ready.  He went to the Provo Missionary Training Center for about two weeks and then spent another four weeks at a training center in Brazil. He has now been in his actual mission for about a month.  We are so proud of him and the pictures below are just a few from our time together before he headed off.

Pinewood Derby

This past winter I had the opportunity to play the role of proud Aunt! (I actually play this role pretty often). David and Steve worked on a car for David to use at the Pinewood Derby and he came in FIRST place!!  He beat everyone - I mean everyone, I don't mean to brag but I was very excited for him.  He was so nervous, he could hardly talk during the actual event.  Mary and Sarah were right there to cheer on their big brother and his Ohio State car (Steve has been influencing him in the wrong direction, I get orange in whenever I can.)

Washington D.C.

Now that I have discovered how great Washington D.C. is, I just can't get enough of it. Britt, a friend from NC, and I headed up to visit another friend Jaclyn the weekend before Valentine's Day.  Jaclyn forgot to mention our activity for Friday night would be attending her Church's Valentine's Dance. I survived and enjoyed the rest of the weekend.  We spent Saturday in the city and went to church with her on Sunday before heading back to Durham.  It was a fun weekend!

 We just couldn't stop jumping while we were there!!