the -Y-

A couple weeks (months maybe?) back Phil and I hiked the Y. 

I feel like "hiked" is an understatement.

We conquered the Y.

Phil has been wanting to take the journey since moving here and quite honestly I was avoiding it.

Steep mountains and my out of shape figure just don't mix.

Buuuuuuut I gave in because my figure needed some changing too. It certainly was a journey but we made it. 

Check out that grin. 

Finally a true-blue, hiked the Y cougar.

Rawerehwrwhrahrarlll. 

(Cosmo cougar growl, obviously)

We've vowed to make it a regular outing so the out of shape part doesn't come back.

They Y is huge, the view is awesome and the personal satisfaction can't be beat.

Phil even skipped on donuts afterward because he felt so great and Phil never skips donuts. 

Never, no Never.

Here is beloved BYU campus from the Y. 

♫ Loyal strong and true, wear the white and bluuuuuue! ♫

And Phil's vid. So all ya'll can enjoy the view from cyberspace. Without the hike.

Lucky.

Disneyland 2012

We were so lucky to be able to take our own little spring break (none for us poor BYU students) in late February. Where to? 

DISNEYLAND!

I love love love Disneyland. Like I could possibly live there. Really. Deep love.

And Phil, well he had never been. And we couldn't have that, so off we went

See that clock?  Says 6:45? 

You better believe that it was 6:45 AM. Yup, leap day was a 24 hour day.

Yup, Phil's first day ever in Disneyland began at 6:45 am. And then continued for 11 hours before we tuckered out. 

Awesome!

Our first stop was Indiana Jones. We tried to give Phil the choice but he didn't know what to expect so anything was good for him, so he (really meaning the fam) chose Indy to start us off.

So I've been to D-land lots of times. (not enough!) and I've seen princesses walking around but I've never taken the time to drop in and see them. Specially now that they're in their own new area. Good ole Jocelyn gave us that chance.

Dreams do come true. At Disneyland.

 Belle

Ariel 

Tiana

 One of our favorites had to be the Wonderful World of Color show. 

Best show I have ever seen. 

Hands down.

 It took place all over Paradise Pier. 
From this...

To this...

 

The title of the show is written in the water mist...

 We spent our last Cali day at the beach. Phil and I have had 2 winters in a row plus 2 semesters of school so the beach provided much needed therapy.

It was a great trip. One that I wish could happen all over again.

Right now.

But until next time...here's some last photos to remember good ole D-land by.

 Three big kids + one seat + Whinnie the Pooh ride = priceless.

 The clan.

It's tough to be a bug.

A "screamin" monkey on the screamin roller coaster.

 THuuuuuunderrrrrr Mountain!

 Space Mountain. 

Consensus was that we could ride this 198752342598723 + W times and it would never get old. 

Those faces require no further explanation.

Best.

 I think Phil says it all in this photo.

Time well spent.

Magical place.

Happiness.

Dreams really do come true.

moments

There are few moments that stand out to me as both proud and humble moments but the ones that do are very special and personal.  Last night I was blessed to have one of those moments again and I couldn't help but feel overwhelming joy. Yes, this happened at none other than Phil's missionary reunion.

I'll be honest, I wasn't too excited for this event. I mean, I tried to be, at least to an extent as my dear hubs couldn't talk about anything else all week. But somehow the idea of being a little sidekick the whole night was hard to get excited about. The moment I met Phil's former mission president, President Maurer, I knew why we (or I) had come that night. I was experiencing a portion of Phil's life that I've only heard of until then. It was special.

Phil's mission president was such a great person whose love for Phil was great and endearing.  I felt it as he embraced us both and gave us his aussie grin. I still get teary thinking about it. I instantly felt loved by a man I had never met before.
The experience of the whole night made me yearn to have been a fly on the wall while Phil served in the great Perth, Australia.  Phil was diligent and hard working as his president wouldn't tell me anything but that. What a great time in his life, and I was humbled to be able to have personal insight into it last night.

When we all gathered and sang the "Australia Perth Mission song" the spirit was overwhelming. Being in a room filled with such amazing brothers and sisters, I felt a longing to have served in Perth myself. Because of the song? No. But because of the feeling that was there.

I've been running over it all in my head trying to pinpoint exactly how I felt and exactly how I still feel as I get teary just thinking about it. But it was special. It was one of those special moments as I learned to admire my husband even more but also became so humbled as I sat in the midst of great people full of the love of Christ. Phil beamed the whole night through and nothing makes me more happy than that. It was a special night and I'm grateful I got to be a part of it.

lesson learned

BYU is a funny place.

All the students have an close relationship with HBLL. 

and if you don't know what I mean, well, you're not a BYU student

Sometimes you see people studying their scriptures...for their upcoming test.

Sometimes you see people giving out free hugs. Yes, free ones!

And everyone just seems happy and smile-ly at BYU, especially when spring comes early.

Like today for instance, as I was walking to class a girl gleefully looked at me and what normally becomes a "who can look away the quickest" match actually wasn't this time.

She just looked at me and happily smiled and said "Hello!, It's a beautiful day!"

Indeed it was. A 62 degree day in March is beautiful. No argument there.

I managed to mumble something that resembled hello back as I was somewhat surprised and in shock because I'm used to winning those look away matches, not being confronted by my opponent.

After we had passed each other, for a moment there I thought, "what a peculiar girl..." and then continued on my way.

And then a minute later I found that I was the one smiling and I felt on top of the world.

Then I put it all together.

A stranger's smile made me feel that way.

Call me crazy but smiles are contagious. 

Yes, I learned that in primary but today, I learned it in college.

So do a stranger a favor and smile today. You never know who you'll impact.

Tubing

Saturday was spent in the most beautiful place ever. Honestly I can't think of a better place to go tubing.

We had the mountains, the reservoir, the snow and a whole lotta fun!

All just 20 minutes up the road.

 

It took a little bit of walking to get back around to the tubing "dish" as it is called but it was certainly well worth it! Here's Dad B and I where we parked the car and the arrow is where we tubed and sledded.

This is the view from the dish. Two freezing fishermen and the storm on the horizon.

Our 2 Aussies soaking it all in.

 

This is from the top of the tubing/sledding hill. Quite the trek to get up to the top but well worth it...especially for the trip down. :)

The hill or "dish" is behind and all around us. The photo makes the hill look less daunting but it was quite big!

We concluded that the tubes were great and added some good padding to the bumps in the snow...if you kept your bottom up that is. They also went at a quick speed but had enough surface area that you weren't zooming too fast.

The saucer on the other hand torpedoed us down the hill.

Chantel and I braved it.

See for yourself...

Such great day! All just 20 minutes up the road in the beautiful mountains.

Dad B.

We are lucky enough to have Dad B. visit with us this past weekend and this coming weekend. With freshly falling snow we couldn't pass up an opportunity to hit up Park City. While we didn't ski (the fresh powder came the following night) we definitely had some fun exploring. 

This massive moose greeted us on our way in. He was having fun prancing along in the snow white fields.

We went on a tour of Utah Olympic Park where they take you to the top of the luge and skeleton/bobsled courses as well as the top of the nordic jumps. I don't know how the athletes do the nordic jump. It was frightening just thinking of what they do...looking down and hoping for a good landing.

 

Here we are enjoying our non-athlete safety...

 

 Above is the beginning of the luge course. Solid ice my friends. Apparently the skeleton is much safer because the sled is so much heavier and provides a greater center of gravity, keeping you on the course.

The South Korean bobsled team was there training as well as some training skeleton...ers. skeletons? skelethletes?

Whatever.

It was just cool to see ok!?

I wouldn't mind doing a tourist skeleton run next time.

Dad was one page ahead of me though. He thought he'd give bobsledding a go this time around...non-athlete style. :)

They were even kind enough to give us Aussies a royal welcome and let Dad carry the Olympic torch.

How kind.

Doesn't he just look so thrilled?

 

Here's a snippet of live action.

Twas a good day and I think my Asian-eyed buddies would agree. :)

truest

There aren't many things I know for sure.

I don't know why my toes are always cold. Always.

I don't know why I'm still tired even after taking a 2 hour nap.

I don't know why I ignore the hub's prompts to bring a coat to school but then complain I'm cold and take his. 

I don't know why feta cheese (and broccoli too for that matter) must smell gross but taste oh so good.

I don't know why seeing a baby transforms me into one myself. Facials, cooing and all. Can't even help it.

I don't know why we pray for snow, then complain when it comes.

But I do know one thing.

I DO know why I miss Australia all the time.

I DO know why cadbury chocolate melts my heart.

I DO know why I randomly crave sweet thai chili chips.

I DO know why I learned to drive on the opposite side of the road.

I DO know why I was willing to live miles and miles away from my family.

I DO know why I chose all those things.

 because I chose him.

I do know why I can push through the hard times in life.

It's because of him.

I do know why not a day goes by that I don't smile.

It's because of him. 

I do know why everything I do turns into a game or competition.

It's because of him.

I do know why I say car-a-mel and moun-t-ains.

It's because of him. 

I do know why I get butterflies when 5pm comes each day.

It's because of him. 

I do know why I try my hardest every day to be a little bit better.

It's because of him.

I do know why I take just that little extra precaution to make sure I get home safe from school.

It's because of him.

I do know why I get up every morning.

It's because of him.

I do know why I couldn't ask for a better husband, entertainer and friend.

It's because of him.

I love you Phil. 

I am who I am because of you.