Sunrise on Mount Timpanogos

One of the things I love about college life is sometimes you just do crazy things--like hike up a dark mountainside all night so you can see the sunrise from the summit. Who does that?!

Well, 6 of my friends and I did, along with at least 100 other people last Saturday morning. The trail was hopping, I tell you! Here's a picture of us catching the first morning rays of sunshine.

So we left at 12:00am, reached the summit at 6:30am, and were back home at Park Plaza by 11:30am. You should have seen us stumble out of my car--dirty, sore, tired, and conquerors!

This picture is definitely going in my portfolio. I love the lighting and the color.

To Arches

Labor Day is the only day off we get this semester besides Thanksgiving, so some friends and I decided to make good use of it. Five of us snuggled into my car, and popped down to Moab early that morning. Turns out my roommate, who is from Utah, hadn't ever been to Arches! Crazy! I think this was my fifth time hiking Delicate Arch.

We also hiked Double O Arch in the afternoon. The first O you can see behind us, the second O is underneath it, just left of my head. We really had a great time, and on the way home everyone mentioned how it seemed like we'd been together for more than just 12 hours. We packed a lot of fun into our one day off!

Wipeout

I've been boating a couple times since I got back and I think my rule of thumb is don't stop until you biff. Here's some of the fun I've had.

Photoshoot

So two weeks ago when my cuz Juliann flew out to DC to drive home with me, my excellent photographer cousin Ceri gave us the photoshoot of our lives! It was suprisingly enjoyable! We kept coming up with crazy ideas about representing things and themes that were important to us. I've included some of the highlights so far. Thanks, Ceri!

Hot Air Balloon Ride

I want to ride in a hot air balloon some day.

The Alliance

I must pay tribute to this my favorite book of all time. Last week I finally decided that I should own my favorite book, so when a barnesandnoble.com coupon came my way, I seized the day. Of course, when it got here this week I felt like it needed an inauguration, and who better for its maiden reading than me! Now the thing about this book is it's such a page turner from Chapter 1 that I've never succeeded in reading it in less than two days. Even now I just couldn't put it down! It's such a incredible, compelling story. As I read I felt supreme sorrow and disgust, confusion and mystery, and even relief and joy. The story addresses the most fundamental of human rights, the freedom to choose, to be good, and forces you to reconsider what is right, and what one can/should do to defend what is right. And it's so full of action and plot twists and plain cleverness, that it just keeps you reeling! If you haven't read this book yet, I highly recommend it to you. And here's the good news--now I've got a copy, so just ask me and you can borrow it!

Good Morning, Baltimore!

This week was my long awaited excursion to Baltimore. The National Aquarium has been high on

my list of things to see ever since I arrived here. I planned out everything, and pretty much had the floor plan memorized before I arrived. We got to see the dolphin show, watch Shallow Seas in the 4-D Theater, and see Dora and Nemo! I think though, my favorite animals were the poisonous frogs. It was like an I Spy Book trying to find the different frogs in their simulated habitats. As we stood there trying to find the frogs, I started saying stuff like, "One drop of poison from this frog is enough to kill an entire frog!" just to see the facial reactions of the people behind us. Hilarious!

Anyway, we hit up Fort McHenry on the way home. That's where we held off the British navy's bombardment during the war of 1812 and where Francis Scott Key was poetically inspired to write the words that would become our national anthem. I liked it! I really love our country.

That was Baltimore. As we walked down the streets towards the Aquarium on such a beautiful day, I couldn't help myself from singing, "Good morning, Baltimore!"