um, hi there.

once upon a time i lived at aspen grove for the summer. and didn't update my blog for months. oops. this seems to be becoming a trend...haha

but not to worry, cause i'm determined to be more diligent!

still, i can't use the internet on my laptop, which means i can't upload photos to the blog, which means i'll actually have to write about stuff, which is a little overwhelming. ugh.

oh well. here goes:
 
top 10 highlights from my aspen grove summer (photos to be added...eventually):

1. little kids. seriously, children are the funniest things in the world. i just love the ridiculous things they say and do on a daily basis. especially when they ask me things like, "why are you such a big kid?" or when they sing the jeopardy theme song out of the blue, or when they tell you they love you. holy cow. best feeling ever.
2. the grovers (aka the staff). some of the coolest people i've ever met. so friendly and hilarious and good at what they do! so much fun.
3. gettting my mission call to concepcion chile! i'll write more about this and post photos later.
4. escaping to amazing concerts like explosions in the sky, the decemberists, emily brown, joshua james, imagine dragons, and death cab for cutie with this kid. definitely one of my favorite things i did all summer.
5. changing over 100 diapers. so gross.
6. weekly dances. yes, i said weekly. every thursday night the staff would crash the dance and show up the guests with their sweet moves. it was awesome.
7. referring to downtown provo as "the valley." it made me feel like part of some elite club.yep, i'm that cool.
8. hiking stewart falls. whether with awesome friends like megan leifson :) or just on my own, it was so nice to be able to hike stewart whenever i wanted. an easy hike, but still really beautiful.
9. rediscovering my love for reading. so many good books! a thousand splendid suns (really good), the art of racing in the rain (pretty well-written, but bad language and a million references to, um...naughty things...haha), the giver, the boy in the striped pajamas, the help (by far my favorite book i've read in a while), mere christianity (absolutely amazing! would definitely recommend it). so pretty much, i.love.books!
10. "weekend" trips. the thing about weekends at aspen grove is that, well, they're a total joke. like, they're usually only about 24 hours...haha so when you happen get a little extra time for the weekend you have to take full advantage of it! this meant quick overnight trips to salina canyon, zion national park, or just down to the valley to visit friends and family. needless to say, i'm loving having real weekends back.

so that pretty much sums up my 3 months of being stuck up in a mountain all summer (but not really cause i know there's a million things i'm forgetting!) and when i'm not quite so overwhelmed about doing this blogging thing again, i'll be sure to post about life since the grove. hopefully that will be sooner rather than later...