I drove home this afternoon to discover this! Fall!
The colors simply astounded me!
I could hardly stop myself from grinning uncontrollably. This is just inside Wellsville. goodness what beauty! it made me want to whip out some paints and begin painting immediately!
This is a few feet away. i think i'm obsessed.
Oh but look at that bounteous color! and notice the nice road and mirror.
This is part of my familia and i outside my casa. i love my house!
Here's Tiff and i in front of our house again. we have 2 sets of front doors like that, as the house used to be a duplex. our doors are awesome.
I looked over at Tiffany one day to see this curl sticking out from her bun. it created such an unusual picture, i couldn't resist trying to capture it.
I love the Farmer's Market. Love it, love it, love it.
This is the pose i was trying to get Lizzie to do. she did it rather well for being such a little person. oh, and notice my chacos. thought i wore them a lot before? they are almost the only pair of shoes i now wear.
this leaf was stuck on a rock that i saw in a stream. the camera couldn't come close to capturing the colors, but it was an amazing thing to behold.
Lizzie wanted to learn how i did my little jump and pose. so we practiced, and practiced, and practiced. it was hilarious. she's such a doll. and notice soph soph. goodness she's adorable in her little pink jumpsuit!
The 4 of us ran the Founders Day Fun Run, and had a blast! i was so proud of all of them! the 3 of them decided to do it on a whim, and did awesome! Way to go!
Here is my room in my casa down in Salt Lakey. Mom, Sarah, and Sophie came to visit, and we had such a nice time! they couldn't stay long, but i was glad they came down. Tiffany is on the end, my roommate. we're opposites, but suit each other perfectly for roommates!
My house is old, huge, and gorgeous! the art in it creates a bit of envy that it isn't owned by me. but i love where i live! i have the best roommates, and we have such a great time always! our stairs are not the normal 13 steps, instead there are many more. i sometimes have to rest when i am going up them. and notice the bannister. there isn't a time that i'm going down the stairs that i don't think about sliding down it.
So here's the people i hiked the glorious Wellsvilles with. i tried to take a timed picture and to my embarrassment, forgot to set the timer. so we all sat there for awhile with smiles plastered on our faces all for nothing. and i didn't even make it into the picture. heh.
this is at the the ridge. goodness it was beautiful up there.
Cole Parker and i were the only ones who wore chacos, and i was so proud of our tough feet. i thought they deserved a picture.
Jamie somehow got free tickets to the Jack Johnson concert in salt lakey, so she and i went. this is our incredibly excited faces. we were practicing for when the jack made his actual appearance.
I thought this picture of Jamie was rather incredible. the sun rays, her look, her hair, the sunshine on my neck.....mmmmm. its just good stuff all around.

So here are some pictures i finally got time and means enough to post. enjoy!

Things i love about Salt Lake City and college in general:

*The Farmers Market---you can get a ridiculous amount of fresh food for cheap. this week i bought lots of fresh fruit, and a loaf of bread. gotta love the goodness of homegrown/homemade!

*Trax---i was worried about the amount of money i would be spending on gas, but to my delight, i've hardly driven my car! i just ride trax everywhere! i do have to walk a little ways to get to a station, and its up a hill from either trax station back to my house, but walking is good, right?

*The Ambience---there's nothing like living on a college campus. there are people my age everywhere, milling around, gaining an education and enjoying life. everyone is friendly, excited to be here, and just loving life!

*Random Adventures---Friday evening Tiffany and I were out on a rambling walk and as we were walking down the Chapel Glen area, we looked up at these trees and there were people in them! They were berry picking, so of course we had to join them. Tiffany turned out to be quite the little monkey; good thing she didn't fall to her death. Our fingers were stained quite purple by the time we wandered to our house.

*Staying Up Late with Roommates---Last night 2 of my roommates and i were awake until 1:30am talking of everything and anything. i'm discovering so many great qualities among all of them, and i love the bonds we have created.

*Washing My Car---Saturday my neighbor Brad was out washing his car when i arrived home. now, he was rather ingenious: with just a tupperware bucket full of semi-nasty water from the outside faucet and a wastebasket full of soapy water, we created a quite efficient system. he would scrub with his soapy sponge, then i would come along with a wet towel and wipe of the bubbles. we washed my car afterwards, and spent too many minutes following such admiring the cleanliness of our shiny cars. looks as though i've found a car-washing buddy.

*My Ward---what fun there is in a singles ward full of entirely college students! there is definite strength in a group of saints, and this is more clear to me now than ever before. besides the strength, we have a ridiculous amount of fun. for fhe last week we played capture the flag in the institute parking garage. random, i know, but incredibly entertaining!

*Meeting complete strangers and being fast friends within an hour: Sundays i usually find myself at one of the other houses eating lunch/dinner with some people from my ward. this sunday, there were lots of peeps from other wards eating lunch at the kennecott house. two such people were nick and maryanne; we chatted and soon came to adore each other! meeting people and becoming such good friends in such little time seems the epitome of college life.

*Free food---there is free food everywhere! its only sometimes that i am the poor, starving college student. most of the time, if you follow your nose (or your ears) you can end up with a full belly at some place or other.

Well, that about sums up my exciting life down at the U. i adore it down here! soon, i promise i will post pictures! i need to get some cords, but soon, i shall have lots of pictures to support my words.

Since I'm officially moved out of the Parents house, i thought i ought to start blogging on my page as well as my own. There's been a variety of events that have occurred over the past few weeks, which i should have written about but haven't yet.
First, hiking the Wellsvilles: Goodness, i forget the beauty of those majestic mountains until i am up in them and enjoying them with all my senses not just my eyes. the smells are fantastic up there, and it blows my mind every time i am up in that gorgeous scenery. i hiked it with a bunch of guys from my singles ward, and though it was rather rigorous, i wouldn't have missed it for the world. there was one slight downside, and that was almost dying on the way down. a few of the guys had the fantastic idea to forgo heading down the trail, and instead going down the side of the mountain, which would result in our taking a rather fabulous shortcut and beating the other half of the group down the trail. well i wasn't going to be the only one going down the trail, so of course i followed. it was pure loose limestone, and once you started sliding, it was uncertain whether you would be stopping by your own will or by the bottom of the rockslide as you would have no where more to go. my ankles were rather bashed up as i wore my chacos, by the end, but it made the hike all the better. i love alternate adventures like that on hikes. we ended at crystal hot springs and i thought i was going to yell when i first put my thrashed legs in that mineral water, for the stinging blew my mind away. overall, it was one of the best adventures of the summer. it was a lovely way to end it.
Second, moving down to school: Mom of course took pictures right before i left on Sunday as i stood out in front of my car. poor little Sheila, my car, was packed to the ultimate limit with clothes and crap piled everywhere. good thing i had lots of helping hands down at my casa to unload. i moved into this house on the U of U campus on Officer's Circle, and though it looked rather small from the outside, surprise echoed from my open mouth when i arrived inside. the house is rather old, with grand high ceilings, a tall elegant staircase, and spacious rooms. i have 10 roommates, soon to be 11, with one poor guy as the only male figure in the house. its a party all the time. one of my roommates, sara, has almost the same personality as me, and we obviously get along rather well. happy day for me, i have as much closet space here as i did at the parent's house, and the bedroom i share with tiffany murillo is enormous. i made out like a bandit! the first week of school was so natural it shocked me i felt no awkwardness. it was like i had been here for months or even a year or two, instead of a few hours. esquela is good, and college beats high school by far. i don't know how i ever survived those years at that institution called Mountain Crest. so life is good.
Third, Founders Day!!!: how i love love love this holiday! i would wait all year long just for this day, and it makes me ridiculously excited even now. i awoke to the sound of the cannon going off around 6am, tradition that still stands today. Sarah and i used to wake up early and listen for it every year, and then we'd try to go back to sleep, a futile attempt. we would be awake from then on, awaiting the couple of hours we would have to wait until the parade. I signed up for the Founder's Day 10K race and to my great excitement, Sarah, Keri (Sarah's friend and new roomie), and Aim came too to run the 5K! i was so excited and impressed with them! the race was sweetness, especially the last few blocks when the rain began to sprinkle, then drop a little more intently, and then simply pour in torrents upon our heads as we raced to the finish line. running in the rain is divine, but finishing a race in the pouring rain is heaven plain and simple. it doesn't get any better than that. the rain was a little cold though, and so luckily i changed and showered at home before i headed to Brother Fuller's house where we hopped on the water-logged trailer my singles ward had decorated. we dressed up as superheroes, but most of us opted for jackets and blankets since the cold temperatures and blowing rain overrode our enthusiasm of dressing up. the parade was great fun, with lots of dancing and throwing too much candy at the first. we ran out before the end, to our dismay. i went to the music in the park, well tabernacle actually, and it was good stuff. i love founder's day! there's nothing better than awaiting the parade impatiently, getting a bagful (seriously) of candy, then hanging out down at the park all afternoon afterwhich coming home to take a nap next to your candy. since i was in the parade, sarah saved me a bag of candy much to my delight.
All in all, these past few weeks have been wonderful, and i am loving my life down in Salt Lake. i don't have any pictures now, but i'll post some soon. life is good.