The Beginnings of a Love Story

Today I am again going to do a lovely thing called back tracking... 

It all begins when I met this amazing guy on May 24, 2012.  His name is Andrew Michael Mestas. This my friends is the beginning of a love story...  

Cynthia and I had just gone through a bad break up with both of our guys and we wanted to get out and do something to get our mind off of that.  So we decided that we were going to go on a blind date.  I set her up with my friend Dave who was my home teacher during the school year.   Cynthia had a much harder time finding a date for me.  

She asked all her friends and none of them could go.  So what are two girls going to do to find a date with a guy?  We decided to hit the ward lists!  Late a few nights before the date we sat down and took down the numbers of all the cute guys in our different wards.  Shallow maybe?  Effective yes.  The next day Cynthia texted a total of 14 guys.  Some said they were married or had girl friends, others were out of town.  One guy did respond though.  Later he told me he was hesitant to go on a date with a girl he didn't know, and who would blame him?  He said, "it was like the spirit kicked me in the butt and I had to go."

Thursday came and I was so utterly panicked.  I was going on a date with a guy that knew neither Cynthia or I.  We arrived at his house and I came up to meet him.  He was joking around right from the start and put me to ease immediately.  We hit it off right away.  I kept thinking that this guy was really cool.

The date itself was fun we attempted reverse tie dye and failed at it and had ice cream in the park.  While we were talking Andrew mentioned he played magic the gathering.  I told him that I had always wanted to play that game.  And he agreed to teach me.  Later Andrew told me he knew I was different when I responded with such enthusiasm to wanting to play that game.  And here's the thing, I have wanted to learn how to play that game since I was a little girl and saw my first magic cards at the bus stop.

Another moment when I knew this guy was legit was when we were at the park eating ice cream and talking was when he could sing the, "Still Alive," song with me from portal.  

When the date came to a close I walked Andrew to his door.  He told me he had a really fun time and wanted to be the one to take me out next time and wanted to get my number.  This made me really excited.  :)

After the date I stayed at Cynthia's house and couldn't stop talking about how amazing this guy was.  I started texting him and found out he had left his key in his house and couldn't get back in.  It was kind of cold out so Cynthia and I decided to bring him some blankets.  When we got there he was saying we shouldn't have when Cynthia pipped up and said that I wanted to see him again anyways.  Definitely awkward after a first date.  Though dropping off the blankets at his house gave me the opportunity that I could go back and see him again.  Which is where I will continue next time!

For the rest of spring break I went to Nevada and a place called Lytle Ranch in Utah.  I was full of all sorts of adventures!!!

We were searching for a place called Quail Springs for my dad to find the frogs he wanted to record, (Rana anca).  We couldn't find it the first day, but there was a beautiful sunset that night.

The next day we hiked into this canyon to the very bottom.  Doesn't look like much, but...

There was the wonderful little spring at the bottom.  It was sooo gorgeous.  This picture doesn't do it any justice.

While we were sitting there a female coopers hawk lands right in front of us.  Isn't she pretty?

This is the little guy we were looking for.  My dad ended up recording them late that night.

Isn't he cute?  I think he was just posing for a picture. 

This jack rabbit got so close to me.  I caught a picture of it mid stride. 

Many of you may have heard that I had a fun little helicopter ride.  Well this is the view from where the helicopter picked us up.  Desolate right?  I suppose I'll retail the helicopter story briefly on here.  We got our truck stuck in a wash.  We tried everything to free it.  The next day after a long hike my dad was able to get phone service and call the police.  They gave him the run around before my dad gave up and called my mom to have her call for him (his phone was dying).  A few hours later we are sitting on a hill (the one shown in the picture) when a helicopter flies by and lands right next to us. 

Picture of helicopter we flew in 

A search and rescue team comes out and loads us up.  I was in the seat that doesn't have a door or wall on it (refer to picture).  They took us to their head quarters.  Then a BLM ranger drove us back to our car and pulled us out.  In the end it didn't cost us a penny and it was more fun than scary. 

 Later that day we drove back to Utah and to Lytle Ranch.  This place had a toad my dad wanted to record called Bufo Microscaphus.

This is a little bird I took a picture of.  It's called a Verdan.

Just some pretty blossoms.

A dead hanging pomegranate. 

I caught this little crawfish in the pond there.  

It was a fun trip!  We got the frogs and toads recorded.  All the while managing to have many adventures!

Day of Awesomeness

This occurred a few weeks ago at the beginning of spring break.  I came home and had the opportunity to hang out with a few of my best friends.  

The beginning of the day I hung out with Lindsey my basically little sister.  :)  We went on an adventure and found many exciting things.

Like a mini play ground.

Or a tire swing. 

You can't tell in the picture, but this is fort we climbed up onto.

The next part of the day I spent with Cynthia and her boyfriend Josh.  We played pool, Cynthia and I actually won a few times!  I unfortunately don't have any pictures from it.  Though I did get this picture of this creepy bear that was at her grandmas house.

As the night grew on I had the chance to support my little brother in the, "Mr. Skyhawk Competition."  He did really well and actually won!!!  I'm so proud of him!

Lindsey and I took turns being Mr. SkyHawk. 

And now of course I had to wear the crown as well.  ^_^

It was a great day!!!

Logan Canyon Scenic Byway

Last Sunday I went up Logan Canyon with Bree.  It was really pretty and still covered in snow.  We drove all the way up to Bear Lake.  

While there we came across a bald eagle.

Soaring off into the distance.

This is Bear Lake in all its frozen glory.

It's such a pretty place! 

We stopped off at Bree's cabin and took some pictures.  It was so old fashioned and I loved it.

We attempted to take a picture with both of us, but it didn't work. 

Overall it was nice to get out after being cooped up so long.  It was a very good day!

Ice Fishing!!!

This one is also out of order...  Uhh... no more order to this world of mine!  Oh well not much order in it to begin with...

This adventure began at the opening of 2012 it started when I took my mate Amanda Hawks home with me.  When all of a sudden Mike Harris kidnapped us!!! (Or surprise adoption, which ever you prefer)...  Okay, not really, we went ice fishing with Mike where he showed us the secrets of the ice.  (You can probably tell I've been writing blog posts for over an hour now).  Any who it was a grand ole time.

This one comes with lots of pictures and they were actually taken with my nice camera so theoretically they will look nicer...

Mike drilling his hole.

See this hole?  Isn't it a nice hole?  I think so.  You think so too!  Ya, I made this hole and I probably made it for you.  Isn't that nice?

Bald eagle with his little friends.

Hey Amanda!

Climbing the ice mountain of Dooom!!!

Just a pretty picture.

Are we human? Or are we dancer?  The answer in this case is both.

She'll be comin down the mountain when she comes!

CART WHEEL!!!

After these adventures when went to the top of West Mountain and admired the gorgeous view.  Then we proceeded to go to the hot springs.  At the hot springs we were kind of kicked out by these teenagers.  We still got a nice swim in before that though!  Then we ended the night with ice cream.  It was such a lovely day!  

Ice Cream Fun!

I was trying to keep my posts in order, but I found some more pictures soooo they are no longer in order.  That is just how it goes!  This particular even happened right before Christmas break I believe...

This adventure consists of Amanda Hawks and I being crazy and making ice cream.  The best part is we didn't have ice so we ran outside barefoot into the snow to get some snow for our ice cream making process.

Pictures!!!

Amanda mixing that ice cream!

Our beautiful bags of ice cream.

Eating our work! Om nom nom!!!

Soooo fun!!!

Counting Crows

Now this has nothing to do with the band "Counting Crows," but has everything to do with actually counting crows.  Exciting right?  Right.  I thought you'd feel that way.  For my Wildlife Behavior class we were given an assignment to count how many crows we could find in a certain area.  My partner in crime was Molly Olson.  We only saw 5 crows the whole time, but it was a fun experience nonetheless.  And we saw Dr. Podorski at his house...  That was a bit strange...  I digress.

Picture!!!

Molly and I working hard.

Ahh so cute!!!