On Saturday, some friends invited us to their camp spot on San Elijo State Beach. It's really a sweet setup they have there; they camp there for 6 or 7 months and in return, they volunteer to check people in and sort of look after everyone for a few days a week.

It was so incredibly nice of them because they had surf boards and skim boards and paddle boards, and you can bet that we were entertained the entire time. I tried surfing but was no good. Paddle boarding is my game. I went for miles up and down the beach.

Afterwards, we went up to their camp and roasted hot dogs for dinner and we all sat around talking and it was really a lovely evening after such a fun day.

I am a very lucky person.

Wow, this last week of school has been intense. It was alright though, because even though I was extremely busy, I didn't have any meltdowns or anything. It was relatively stress free. Sweet.

So anyways, I have a lot of posting to catch up on.


Let's start with last saturday, which was one of the best days of my life.


It was Kelsi and Emma's last day, so we wanted to make it special.
They were out exploring while we were at school, and happened upon Cave Falls. They loved it and decided that they needed to bring us.
It was so stunning.

Chris and I jumped in the water and went swimming. It was ice cold but it was so refreshing.

Then we went back to Rigby so we go float down the river with Kelsi's family, and oh my gosh, that was so much fun!
Brianne, Kelsi, and I all shared this huge tube and we fell off a few times trying to go over waterfalls and duck under fallen trees. We were laughing the entire time.

When we were finished, we had to hurry back to Rexburg because we were having a dinner party with our friends and they were waiting for us. It was a really nice time.

We wrapped things up and went to Kaire Anne's for dessert. We can't help it, we just love that place so much.

There were still a few hours left before curfew, so we went to the park and attempted to set off a floating lantern. It was way too windy and it shot off across the field like a rocket, scaring many couples, I'm sure. Then it floated away in the sky as we were all dying of laughter.

Yesterday we were realllllly craving some shaved ice.

We were going to go to Snoasis, but Kelsi suggested this place that her aunt told her about.

I am SO glad that we went to Karie Anne's instead, because it was so good! Get a gelati!

Then we went over to her aunt's house so we could borrow her pass to go to Rigby Lake. It was a bit late when we got there, so the water was cold, but we had a fun time anyways.

After that, Chris treated us to some Domino's (because he works there) and we watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

I'm trying to soak up these last few summer days with my best friends.

Yesterday, Kelsi and Emma met up with us to go to the Summerfest on Main Street. It was sad in a really ironic sort of way though, because it was raining on and off.
We saw Garrett Sherwood and the West Memphis play again, and had a lot of fun dancing. There was this one kid behind us dancing, and he was so hilarious. Couldn't be bothered by who was watching him. It reminded me of Cooper.

Then we went over to The Hickory, which Kelsi has been wanting to try, (and so have I!)
We hurried over to Sammy's and ate before the Rexburg Poetry Grand Slam started.
I was so excited about this. The slams are one of my favorite things, and I've been looking forward to it since it was announced.

I was really happy that Kelsi got to be there with us, because in every memory I have of the slams, she's there with me.
Even Phillip came up...and man, this kid. I have all of these motherly feelings towards him, so it was funny to watch him pace in the back as he waited his turn. He was so nervous, and I just wanted to give him a hug or something.

Jeff Smith won, and I don't know when he started slamming, but I really like his stuff. Maybe he's relatively new on the scene, who knows?
There were some really really great poems and I'm so happy that poetry slams are a thing here. I am constantly in awe of all of the many creative and talented people, and I love all of the things that I learn from them.

Kelsi arrived yesterday! She came with her sister and her mom to come visit for a few days.

Today, we went to Warm Slough. I've been hearing about it from so many different people lately, so we decided to go check it out. 

It was a lot of fun, but decided that we should get some cheap inner tubes so we could float down the river. The current was moving so fast!

 

In the last post, I told you what we did.

This is the pure glory that we saw.

This world is so beautiful. I want to explore every corner of it.

(Can you spot the butterfly?)

Today, Brianne and I went to Yellowstone National Park with Ammon and Ryan.

I had been before, but probably when I was 6. Obviously, I don't remember it well.

I feel like I want to split this post up into two, just because there are so many pictures that I want to share.

So this post is what we did.

We woke up, went to the grocery store to buy some food, and headed out. It was a beautiful day, so perfect, really. We stopped to get out and explore here and there, but man was it busy! 

We got to Old Faithful around 1:45, but had to wait an hour for the next...explosion (if you will).

It's so incredible to me that we can anticipate when it will go off within a matter of minutes.

We tried to make it around the circuit within the park, but it would have taken too long. 

We went to the lake and played there for about a half an hour. The water was so cold on my feet; I couldn't stand in the water for more than a minute before it started to hurt.

After that, we decided to head back the way we came. But on the side of the road, Ammon saw a small mountain and decided that we should climbed it. And we did, though it was really steep. The sight was glorious, and Monarch butterflies were landing all around us. Everything was so perfect.

Right after we got back into the car, it started pouring rain. We left just in time.

It was a really good day with friends.

 Summer is definitely upon us in Rexburg, even though there have rainy days.

(I don't know why rain during the summer is still a weird thought for me?)

I leave for class about 30 minutes early so I can get to the building and cool off on the bench in the women's room before I go to class.

Our house is a freakin sauna all the time, and we're currently trying to figure out what to do about it.

I'm up to three cold showers a day now.

It's hard because it's actually a really fun time to be here, but we're too poor to do anything.

We'd like to go to the river and go exploring but don't have money for gas.

Instead, we sit around our house complaining about the heat and I'm sure we're not fun people to be around when we get like this.

I feel bad about it.

Yesterday we went to my friend's last softball game of the season. I met Rachel last year when we were both on the softball team (go Hawks!) and we were both in outfield. This girl can throw incredible distances, and she always helped me to improve and encouraged me when I was getting down about myself. She is so funny and I love being around her.
I got to the game a bit late, but the other team was up by 8-0.
The Hawks turned it around and it was the craziest game to watch. It lasted about 2.5 hours and the final score was 24-12. I mean, what?!?! Those poor girls must have been so exhausted, because they were putting in their best effort throughout the entire game. (Also, it was hot.)
It was so cool to be there. I recognized a few friends from my old team and I felt like I was apart of softball again. It was a nice feeling, but also a bittersweet one.

Maybe if I play my cards right, I can play in the fall.