Catch-Up :)

Wow! What has happened to the last two weeks! They've seemed to have sprinted by and left me in the dust, blinking. I apologize to all my readers; I've been in L.A. and in Northern CA, camping. The two weeks I was away are full of things I did and saw, some for the first time, others for the millionth. :) Be warned, this blog post is going to be longer than usual, as catch-up on the days I've missed! :)
I spent the first week with my best friend down in L.A, doing fun and crazy things such as going to Disneyland, running a 5K, playing volleyball on the beach, surfing, frequently visiting Starbucks, hanging out at the mall, eating at Panera Bread, and staying up to watch random movies until 2 A.M. The week was full of fun and great fellowship!
The next week, we went back up to my family and headed up to Northern CA to go camping. The ride there was uneventful - almost. Two hours from the campsite, our car's radiator exploded, leaving us stranded on the side of the road for almost 5 hours. Our awesome friends drove up to the campsite with their trailor, dropped it off with half of the party, and then drove the two hours back down to pick up our trailor. Meanwhile, we had called a tow truck and gotten our car towed while we stayed with our trailor on the side of the mountain road. My brother, his friend, and I went exploring for a bit down either side of the road and found a creek and deer tracks to pass the time. We also met the nicest people, who pulled over to see if we needed any help. I won't give up hope on the human race until there is no one left who pulls over for another person in need.
The camping trip, after that, went smoothly and wonderfully. We hiked down to Burney Falls and around it, enjoying the cold mist and the beautiful waterfalls and scenery. Then, we kayaked across Lake Britton and to an obscure hiking trail, where we found a waterfall and little pool. Before we left, we drove up to Lassen National Park, and saw the sulfur springs and the gorgeous mountains and lakes. Up at 8,000 feet, there was still snow in the lakes and on the hillsides, and the water must have been just over 32 degrees. But it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. The water in the lakes was the deepest blue I had ever seen, and the snow and the creeks were something out of a fairytale. I felt as if I was walking through a little patch of Heaven.
We also visited the lava tunnels, and they were amazing! The huge caverns the lava had carved into solid stone were spectacular. We hiked through them twice, amazed at their size and beauty.
On the way back from the trip, only 17 miles away from home, actually, a huge semi truck swerved, flipped, and crashed directly in front of us. It tore down one of those huge, green freeway signs and crushed it, ripping it right down the center. My godfather, who was driving, pulled over and ran to help, along with 10 other cars which stopped. The driver was stuck in the crushed cab, but he was alive and not seriously hurt. Every kind of person was there, a buisness man in a suit, two teenage guys in jeans and tanktops, a nurse, a motorcyclist - you name it, he was there. The man in the suit was pulling the huge crushed sign off of the road, to clear the way for other cars, and the teenagers pulled up in a van and helped him. It was a very encouraging sight, to see people of every different race, age, and background working together for the good of another. There is still hope for humanity.

Holding onto Summer....

I can't believe summer's almost over. EEK!! Where did July go?!?!?! Where is August going?!?!?! I've been cramming as much summery stuff into my weeks as I possibly can, before schoolwork begins to take over my life again, including watching movies. I don't usually have time for that during the school year, so I've been catching up on some I've missed. Right now I'm watching Inception, which is amazing. Mind-boggling, but amazing - at least, so far. Haven't quite finished it yet, still have 1/2 an hour to go :D) I'm also trying to teach myself to crochet, using the Internet and books. It's going pretty well...but, let's just say I need a lot of practice.

For all my Doctor Who friends out there, a friend of mine just shared this with me. It's a hilarious sketch done by Catherine Tate and David Tennent for Comic Relief, and it's guaranteed to give you a few laughs...I laughed the entire time, truthfully. :)

Camping and Bees :)

I just got back from camping up in King's Canyon National Park. It's a beautiful place to camp...surrounded by the tall 'kings' of the forest, or the redwood trees. It was an amazing trip, actually, one of the best that I've had so far. We all went swimming in Hume Lake, roasted marshmallows, and did other fun camping stuff :)
I got up at 5:30 today to go get a bee swarm with my dad. It was fun, driving along in the pre-dawn chill. That is, until a bee got out of the box and we had to continue driving with our windows down...which made the average temperature about 30 degrees. Now I'm heading to church, and a friend's birthday party, and then hopefully a run or a bike ride. :)

Veggies!!!

As long as I'm training and getting fit, I decided I'd give vegetarianism a try too!! So far, I've been a vegetarian for half a week...and I LOVE it. I feel more energetic, I'm excited about the awesome new recipes I get to try, and I also feel like a hippie chick ;) Peace out! ;)

Seriously, though, I really am enjoying this. You can cook veggies in almost any way imaginable. Among some of the other things I've discovered, I've discovered tofu. (See previous blog post). It's an amazing food...completely different than anything I've ever eaten before...but good. Really, really good...at least if you prepare it right!

By the way, if any of you were wondering, my wrist isn't broken or fractured, thank God! It's just a bad sprain. When I told the doctor how I got it (mountain biking), it turned out that he was an avid cyclist, and we talked for a good 10 minutes about cycling, and racing, and different trails and rides we had done. He's done the Death Ride over 7 times...I'd like to do it once and live through it! :D

I might not be posting for a couple of days, but I promise I will post as soon as I have time! Pax vobiscum!! :)

Mid-Year Resolutions!

As you probably already know, I'm abnormal. Very abnormal. And one thing that makes me so abnormal is my counter-cultural attitude. I don't make New Year's resolutions. Every single one I've made so far has fallen splat. So, I make Mid-Year's resolutions instead, right before school starts. This year, my Mid-Year's resolutions are rather simple:

• exercise 5 times a week (preferably biking or running)


• blog at least once a week (this will be harder than it looks as soon as school starts)


• train for a 5K or a century...preferably both!

Let's see if I can make it until next August 1st!!