Bike Ride and Snoqualmie Falls

Yesterday Jon and I went on a bike ride along the Preston Snoqualmie Trail. Jon just got a bike a month ago for his birthday and besides riding it around the neighborhood, this was its first real test, and it passed! Our ride lasted about two hours, a total of about 10 miles. I loved it! I'm so grateful that the weather is getting nicer so that I can do these sorts of things!

Unfortunately, the view of Snoqualmie Falls from the bike trail wasn't too impressive, so after the bike ride we decided to drive to the Falls to get a closer look. Snoqualmie Falls was packed, but worth the traffic jam! It's probably the most massive and powerful waterfall that I've ever been to. We took some pictures up top and then took the half a mile trail down to the boardwalk on the bottom and took some pictures down there.

After that, we went home and crashed, both taking hour long naps. We both considered it a pretty top-notch day.

Young Women's

Well, I had a very short go at being my ward's Young Women's president. They called me to be the secretary in January, changed the call so that I was the president in February, and then in March the ward boundaries realigned so that I'm now in a new ward and, therefore, no longer my old ward's president. It's been a little crazy! Even though it was such a short time, though, I still thoroughly enjoyed getting to know and serve the girls in my old ward.

The main activity we held for mutual was New Beginnings. The girls chose to do a pirate's theme and thanks to my counselors, our decorations were pretty neat! We spent the evening searching for a hidden treasure. As we talked about different things, we put map pieces together up front on a board. Once the map was all put together, Bishop came up front and flipped the map around to reveal the treasure...a big picture of Jesus Christ. When he did, the Spirit filled my heart and I was grateful to be in the room, talking with a group of God's beautiful daughters, talking about the ultimate treasure He has given to us all.

I know that Jesus Christ lives. He is the treasure. He is the light in the lighthouse. We are the lower lights that help bring the other travelers safely into the harbor.

I will miss working with the girls I met in my old ward, but I look forward to seeing what serving in our new ward will bring!

My Family Visits and Out First Hockey Game

The last weekend of February was a fun one. Like I said in my last post--it was really hard coming back to reality after a week of freedom in California. Grading papers was even less exciting than it was before I left. My Julius Caesar unit was barely dragging by. Luckily, amid trying to pick myself back up, I had this weekend of fun to help me keep things optimistic!

My family--Dad, Mom, Abby, and Kate--came up just for some fun. After they arrived, we left Jon (he had a church basketball game to go to) and went on a "hike" at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. Our hiking guide classified it as a hike, but really it was more of a walk along a boardwalk. It was a pretty neat place with lots of wildlife to gawk at.

See?

Whoops. Did I just call Abby part of the wildlife? I meant see:

It was a jolly good time.

When we finished-up our little walk, my family went back home and Jon and I went to our first ever hockey game. The game was in Kent, WA; with the Seattle Thunderbirds v. the Everett Silvertips. Seattle won the game, but Everett won my respect for being less violent. Seattle was violent at times for no reason, and that's why I suspect that everyone likes them, which is stupid! I know that hockey is "supposed" to be violent. I think that's also stupid. Overall, it was a great culturally enlightening experience, but I doubt I'll find myself going to another hockey game anytime soon!

Regardless of my hard feelings towards the game, it was still splendid to get to spend the evening with this amazing guy. He makes a lot of unpleasant things more fun, like paying bills and cleaning the house. I don't think being an adult would be half as much fun if I weren't doing it alongside him.