The Summer Bucket List

At the beginning of this past summer, my roommate and I made a bucket list of things that we wanted to do. We had so many crazy adventures rolling around in our heads and so we wrote them down. I was able to write some as a note on my iPhone and I'm proud to say that I accomplished every one of them that I had written and more!

1.     Meteor Shower

At the beginning of the summer, there was a meteor shower that was happening. I had enough notice about it to round up some people and go up the canyon and lay under the stars and some warm blankets and watch the wonderful falls stars millions of light-years away. It was so beautiful and I wish that I could see that more often.

2.     Foreign country

For those of you who haven't seen my previous post, I would recommend checking it out. Our team tour of Brazil and Argentina was amazing and I still dream about it and how much fun it was. I wish I was getting lost in the streets of Rio de Janeiro. Maybe I'll go back for the 2016 Olympics? Who knows?

3.     Move into new apartment
I actually did this TWICE. It’s a long story, but finally Kat and I are living together and we have the best roommates ever, Camie and Christie. We love them to death and I am only so happy to be living with human beings that I can stand being around and don’t mind sharing things with (*occasionally*).

4.     Rodeo

Rodeos are a summer must-have. They are so much fun and make me miss Idaho and the wide open spaces of the West. Kathryn had never been to a rodeo before in her life and I am happy to say that she has been properly introduced. We went to a couple, actually, including the Lehi Round-Up, pictured here. 

5.     Poolside bum/awesome tan

Isn’t this everyone’s aspirations when summer comes around? Let’s be honest, I had a really, really nice tan for the longest time. Every day I was going to the pool to hang out and read a book. It was so nice. One of my random roomate’s mothers actually commented on it once when I met her. Apparently her daughter must have been a little jealous of all the pool time that I was getting because she told her Mom that we go there everyday!

6.     Sun Valley

This was a little respite with my family. My Dad goes there for business meetings every year before the tourist season really picks up. It was fun to go hang out with my Mom and Sister all day and then go out to eat with Dad when the meetings were over. Little bit of luxury in my college life is so much needed!

7.     Sunrise Mount Timpanogos Hike

Ok so this has been on my REAL bucket list for FOREVER! I have always wanted to hike Mount Timpanogos, but I’ve never just wanted to do it during the day. If you go, you might as well do the night hike and see the sunrise from the top! And that’s exactly what we did. Started at 1:30 am and got to the top in 4 hours. We waited, while FREEZING at the top, for the sun to rise. When it finally did, we were so thankful that we could thaw out our bodies in the sun. The hike down is always so much longer than you think, especially when you hike it at night because you are seeing everything in the sunlight for the first time.

8.     Wedding Dancer

Our teammate, Coriann got married this summer and asked us to put together a dance at her wedding. It was actually a lot of fun and we did “The Wobble.,” a contemporary, R&B number. Haha

9.     Bookworm

The Host, The Hobbitt, A Bend in the Road, The Horse and His Boy, The Alchemist. Wish I would have read even more this summer. I’m just so happy that I wasn’t in school! We weren’t able to take classes because of the trip to Brazil and Argentina and I was only so happy to be a poor college student!

10. Rope Swing in Mona

This is a Utah favorite of mine. Mona is about 30 minutes south of Provo and there is a small pond with a rope swing over it. Jourdain and I went to it a few times while he was here, but I haven’t been back since. So I took some people and it was a lot of fun. We loved it!

11. 5K

I did the Run Through the Lavender 5K in Mona. It was at the Young Living Lavender farm. My friend, Ashleigh wanted me to do a race with her. After I saw her run her Marathon a month earlier, I was really interested in it and I wanted to see how it would be. I actually ended up doing fairly well and got 6^th in my age division!

12. Lake Powell

This vacation had to be one of the TOP things I did this summer. It was so awesome to have a family reunion at Lake Powell and camp on the houseboat, sleep under the stars, shower in the lake, ride jetskis all day long, go cliff jumping, and hang out with my awesome family. I love boating and I love camping and the sun. Altogether it was a great trip!

 On our way to hike the Red Caves

 Watch out Below, it's a little murky!

 I call this cupcake mountain. 

 Maggie is so spoiled!

 I think the kids loved me ;)

 Mardon Lamb family

 Visiting my Great-Grandfather, Osmer Lamb's, grave

 Stuart

 Nona and Maggie

 Maggie loved riding the jet skis

 Rainbow Arch

 Grandpa riding the jet skis. He looks so young!

 Tube wars!

 This crash and burn hurt a little. 

Can you see me?

13. Waterskiing

Since my shoulder surgery I have been trying to get my shoulder back to play volleyball this upcoming season. It has been difficult and a trial for me, but my goal was to waterski by the end of the summer. I wasn’t sure I was ready for it in June, but come the end of July, and at Lake Powell, I wanted to give it a try. So I started with the easy stuff—just a wakeboard to see how it would be. I got up automatically and I didn’t have a problem! After I finished that run, I asked for someone to throw me the slalom ski and I got right up on that as well! It was awesome! Now I just need to work on my tunnel… Did I mention my parents are baller waterkiiers too? They are so talented!

14. Beach Volleyball

This is a given, but it was so much fun to play outdoor volleyball. Playing 6 on 6 indoor is what I’m better at, but mixing it up by playing in the sand is always so much fun.

15. Hike Table Rock

I told my roommate, Kat about this hike after we did the Timp hike. I really wanted to do it and she was interested so I said that we should make a trip to Idaho and do it! We had an awesome time and it was so beautiful! There were millions of wildflowers and the view of the Tetons when you get to the top is amazing! We brought my dog, Maggie, as well. She had such a fun time, like a little kid on Christmas, on steroids, and candy, she was! By the end, though she was so tired and wouldn’t go off the trail anymore. Poor girl slept the whole way home.

16. Concert

Darius Rucker. That’s all I need to say. It was such a good concert and I was having a blast. Kat had never been to a concert before either. It was a smaller venue in Idaho Falls and we were so close to the stage. I loved every minute!

17. River rafting

Technically, we didn’t raft, the river. We just tubed the Provo River for a team activity, but I’m counting this towards the bucket list because it was so fun with the girls and it was an adventure too!

18. Fun Hair Color

I added this one on at the beginning of the summer because I wanted to do something fun with my hair while Jourdain was gone. He doesn’t like the colored hair or extensions so I thought this would be the perfect time for one. But alas, poor students, can’t afford to get their hair done a lot. So I ended up doing a melt at the beginning of the summer and it lasted all the way through until I got it done in Idaho. The melt was really fun and even though it was an extravagant color, I feel that it fits in the category.

In between all of these fun activities I was continually busy at watching the Vampire Diaries, Grey’s Anatomy, and Revenge. In the mornings I worked out and lifted weights and gained back some muscle weight and some more! Such a good summer. I wouldn't have traded it for anything.