9. Go to Zion's

I finally went to Zion! After living in Utah for 7 years, moving to Florida, Boston and now living in California I made it! I met a guy in my ward who went to Zion lots of times while he was in school. He has experience doing back country hikes in Zion that not a lot of people do because the repelling. I was so lucky to meet him and do one of the back country hikes. I never would have gotten to do something like this without him so thanks Pete!

The first day we were there we decided to hike Angels Landing, which is one of the most popular hikes. The hike is pretty intense and the heat didn't help. It was over 100 degrees! It is also a little dangerous, you have to hold onto chains in spots to make sure you don't fall off the very high cliff! It was beautiful and worth it!

 

Pete and I hiking the switchbacks on Angels Landing.

 

Pete, Holly and I hiking down one of the spots where there were chains.

 

Holly, Pete, me and Tony at the top of Angels Landing.

On the second day we did the back country hike Pine Creek. It was so incredible! We almost didn't get to do it though because the guy that worked at the check in counter told us I made the reservation for the wrong day and that there were none left for the next day! I felt so bad! I couldn't believe that I made such a huge mistake! luckily Pete and I went back later to see if there were any cancellations and there was a new worker that told us that we were already booked... It felt so good knowing that I didn't screw everything up!

The hike was pretty short, only a few miles but had five repels. There was also water that we had to go through that was so cold! It was so worth it! The last repel was the longest and we had to free repel for the first half, such a rush! The beauty in the slot canyon was unreal... I sadly didn't get any good pictures but I will never forget it. 

Holly and I at the bottom of the first repel.

This was an incredible weekend! I'm so happy that I put this on my list and that I made a friend that was able to help me experience Zion in a way that I never would have been able to on my own. Here is the video that was made of our trip and it is amazing, Tony did such a good job!

California, Utah and Catch Up

So much has happened since I left Boston! I'm going to have to sum it up in just a few paragraphs... 

I left Boston mid December and drove from my sisters to Layla's house in Lehi, Utah in three days. I stopped only to sleep in the truck and kept going. I wanted to get to Utah as fast as possible! I stayed in Utah for four or five days and had such a good time! One of the reasons that I went to Boston was to go on what my sister called 'a man fast' so I would be emotionally ready when I started dating again... After five months I was so ready to end that fast and knew Utah was the perfect place for that! Lucky for me, I had met a guy in Utah when I was there in August and I was determined to go out with him when I went back. Needless to say I got Scott to ask me out and I ended up spending the majority of my time with him :)

I left Utah and drove to Flagstaff for Christmas. Christmas was so fun because the whole family was there! it was so great to get to see everyone. Sadly though, by this time I was running out of money so I had to swallow my pride and work at Sizzler for a few weeks after Christmas. I was planning on going back to Utah to get my Advanced Scuba certification before moving to California. Turned out that Scott had been training as an MMA fighter and had his first fight mid January so I decided to go up then for the fight and get my certification.

I drove back up to Utah a couple days before Scott's fight. He of course won which was so fun to see! I stayed in Utah for two weeks and again spent a majority of my time with Scott. We both got our Scuba certification done together which was a ton of fun! I'm so excited that I'm one step closer to getting my Dive Master! At this point I was really wanting to stay in Utah but I couldn't stay just for Scott...

 Scott and I at The Crater in Midway getting certified, it was steaming so much our picture didn't turn out :(

 My Card :)

After a lot of debating I decided to move to California and stay with Bonnema for a while. So I drove to Southern California.... At this point I never want to drive a long distance again! So, I got a job at The Crossings Golf Course working in the restaurant. I hate that I'm a waitress again but it is a great job for me while I'm figuring out what I'm doing with my life. After being here for about five weeks Scott came and visited me! It was so fun to have him here! We spent a lot of time outside since it was about 20 degrees warmer here then in Utah :)

My brother Brooks and I after playing 9 holes and the course I work at.

Scott had his second MMA fight on Good Friday so naturally I figured that was the perfect time for me to go visit. I stayed for a week and had such an amazing time! I had met Scott's brother Devan and sister in law Maura my last visit and this time I met his sister Sarah, brother in law Todd and their kids. They are all so amazing! I felt so welcome with them, it was such a relief... Anyway, I got there the day of the fight and again Scott won of course! His opponent was a lot more qualified so it was a better fight but Scott was obviously the better fighter. It was a fun weekend after that celebrating Easter!

 Here is Scott at his fight, the last picture is Scott winning in the second round by tapping him out in a triangle choke!

 Sarah and I at the fight.

After the fight at Applebee's

Scott and I after he sang Karaoke my last night in Utah.

Bell Canyon, my favorite short hike in Utah.

I have been really happy with my life! I had some pretty hard times last year but I can honestly say as hard as it was and sometimes still is, I am happier then I ever was living in Florida. Some of it defiantly has to do with my dating life, but mostly with the fact that I have been able to get over so many of the insecurities I developed. I'm not sure what will happen with Scott, he lives in Utah and is moving to Alaska for about six months so anything could happen. I will forever be grateful to him for restoring my faith in men again and showing me what I deserve in a relationship :)