Almost Done

Wow it has been forever since I last posted. There are so many things that have happened since then. The most recent and fun experience that I had was Spring Break. I went to see a friend of mine in Reno, NV and then continued our drive to Santa Rosa, CA. The drive to Reno was terrible. 7 hours on I-80...I can't even begin to explain to you the agony that that drive brought. The only things to see from Tooele, UT to Reno, NV are Wendover (two tiny casinos connected by a walking bridge, a gas station, and a subway), shrubs, weeds, Salt flats, and cool black rocks that people use to spell things with. Ah- it was wretched! Not to mention the whole drive I was constantly fearing for my life because I was afraid of two things, my car running out of gas and I would die in the desert OR my car would break down and some crazy loon would kill me because he had escaped from one of the BILLION prisons that are somewhere near I-80 in Nevada. (There are literally like 5 signs that I passed that say "Do not pick up hitch hikers, state prisons close" or something along those lines). Well once I got to Ian's house we waited for his sister to get home from school. Then we loaded the car and headed into California. By the way, if I were rich, I would definitely live in California...I love it there. We drove through Napa and Sonoma which were absolutely beautiful this time of the year. We just hung out with friends that night and the next morning we headed to San Francisco.

The Golden Gate Bridge

Driving across the Golden Gate Bridge. These pictures are a little nasty because Ian's car window was disgusting!


Last time I visited San Francisco I did not make it to Lombard St. Ian talked about it and decided to drive me there and show me the beauty of the little winding brick street.

Downtown San Fran on Lombard St.

Here is the short winding brick road that is very cute, but very expensive to live on :)

After visiting Lombard St. Ian and I went to Fisherman's Wharf and walked to the pier with the quarter arcade. We had so much fun there. Here is the picture that is also at the top of my blog of me riding the little horse! I was laughing so hard. I felt like I was 5 again and I think I embarrassed Ian.


We continued walking around the piers and I did a little shopping. I bought by little brother the sweetest hat ever and I bought myself  2 pairs of sunglasses which came in handy because the sun actually shone in San Francisco that day. We visited the Sea Lions which turned out to be hilarious because Ian hated them and he took a cute little trip and almost fell flat on his face. He didn't mind my laughing at him which I am thankful for because he helped me down off of the bench I stood on so that I didn't get hurt jumping off.


Ian apparently really enjoys the street performers in San Fran so we watched a guy who he thought was pretty funny. I realized the reason he really wanted to watch this guy is because if we sat on the front row I was sure to be on stage. This man said that he needed the help of his lovely assistant and he grabbed me up and took me on stage with him. I was a little freaked out because I had to put him in a straight jacket and one of the straps went through the legs and the buckle was right on his butt. EW!





Our day in San Fran ended with shopping on Union Square (another one of Ian's least favorite parts of the day). Sunday followed with church in the morning and a lovely lunch at the McComber's home. After lunch everyone took naps and I decided to take mine on their deck because it was in the low 70's and absolutely beautiful.



That evening Ian and his mother took me hiking a trail called "Sugar Loaf". At the top of the trail we overlooked Napa, Sanoma, Santa Rosa, and we could see as far as San Francisco.







The sunset at Sugar Loaf was beautiful and even though my feet were blistered, I had such a wonderful time with Ian and his family and would do it all over again if I could.

Sugar Loaf wiped me out so we decided to call it a night. I talked to my friends that night and realized that I couldn't wait to get home and see them. I fell asleep fast and woke up early on Monday morning because Ian and I went to the Beach for a few hours. The beach was beautiful and I saw seals right in front of me! After the beach we went to see the Red Wood trees and although we didn't see the large ones that you can drive through, they still were enormous in size.


Shell Beach

And again...

The seal I took a picture of!!!!

The first big one I came across.

I tried to look like I was hugging the tree, but I guess it didn't turn out too well

This tree could probably fit 50 people inside of it easy....

This pretty much concludes my trip to California and Reno. Utah held a few dates for me upon my arrival which made me excited. Nothing serious, but that's alright for now. I thought my happiness was done for a while when I arrived back to school, but I realized that I can find happiness anywhere and it is all what I make of the situations I am given. There are only 4 weeks left of school until finals and 3 weeks left for one of my classes. Physical therapy is coming to an end which is exciting because I have been there for almost a month now for treatments and strengthening for my knee. For the next couple of weeks I need to be focused which seems problematic at times, but I'm almost done.

I talked with my school adviser and I found out that I love that man. I love him because he told me that I could graduate in 3 semesters with no sweat. WOW! Not only is this school year coming to an end, but so is my college experience. I think I am ready for it though. Once I am done I will be able to serve a mission (if I'm not married by then), I will be able to travel, and most of all I will have finished something important to me and I will be able to start a new chapter in my book. Like all chapters in books, things come to an end and I am almost done with this school year and all of the trials that I have experience here. All I can think about is that I am Almost Done.