Right before summer began, I told Jake that I want to spend at least every other weekend camping. I will be the first to tell you that this summer has been crammed full of so much fun. Nearly every single weekend we've had some fun adventure planned! But here we are nearing the end of summer and the one thing we hadn't done yet was go on a real camping trip! And by real I mean sleep-in-tents, cook-all-your-food-over-a-campfire, no-showers allowed CAMPING. We looked at our calendars and realized the best weekends left of summer were all busy for us, and our last real chance to get in a good camping trip was that upcoming weekend. I had a wedding to film Friday night, so I knew I wouldn't be able to meet up with everyone until at least 9:30, but I knew it would be worth it! I wasn't wrong.

Well, I should say I wasn't wrong about it being with it. I WAS however, wrong about what time I'd be able to get up there, haha. The wedding ended up going over by an hour and a half. I was so antsy to get up the mountain! Jake had sent me a few pictures of the campsite that they found, and it was the most gorgeous spot! All the official campgrounds were full, so they had found a secret little spot farther up the mountain. Jake met me at the bottom of AF canyon at 10:30 (patiently waiting for me, since we were supposed to meet there at 9:15. What a guy, right??) And I think we made it up to our campsite, where Lexi and Josh were, at about 11:00. Josh is one of Jake's best friends from high school, and Lexi is his adorable wife! They're the cutest couple. I had met Josh a couple of times, but was really excited to finally meet Lexi! I was surprised that they had waited for us to start dinner! So as soon as got there, we started roastin' some brats over the fire. Then Josh and Lexi taught us about woof-ums. (I have no idea how you spell it?? haha) Basically they're some sort of secret camping dessert! You roast a biscuit over the fire, and once it's cooked, you stuff it with pudding! In the end, it tastes pretty similar to a creme puff or eclair--a.k.a--they're delicious. 

My favorite thing is falling asleep outside in a tent. I love the atmosphere and the sounds of the great outdoors. And there's nothing like waking up to the smell of pine trees and the sound of a little river flowing right by! In the morning we made pancakes, eggs and sausage, and had some grapes and apple juice. Then we just hung out by the fire for a while before cleaning up to head home. 

Like I said, it was a short camping trip, but it was worth every second! 

LAGOON

I love a good, scary rollercoaster. Can't get enough of 'em! I wish Utah had something a little better to offer in that way, but Lagoon just has to do sometimes! My best friends and I all had a blast spending the day at Lagoon on Thursday. I was still trying to get over a cold, so the day was exhausting, but still oh-so much fun. We all loved their newest ride, the Cannibal! I could've gone on it over and over. Also, being at theme parks always makes me excited for the day I get to bring my own kids to one??? I just die over those little darlings having the time of their lives and experiences such grand things for the first time.

What are you up to this weekend? I've got a busy week comin' up, so I'm hoping the weekend goes by slowly, and I can just really take in every second of it.

JACKSON HOLE

Jackson Hole was the perfect last road trip of the summer! Ever since one of my best friends, Carlee, moved away to Rexburg last December, I've been wanting to take a trip out to visit her. So last month when she was down for our friend Paisley's wedding, and we were sitting together at the luncheon, we finally decided to just pick a date and make it work! And we decided that from Rexburg, we would all take a day trip out to Jackson Hole. It was a lot of driving to do in only one weekend, but it was well worth it! 

Friday night after work, Jake and I hit the road for Rexburg. We stopped along the way at Sweeto Burrito (one of my FAVS. drooling just thinking about it) and continued on our way. It was so fun to arrive in Rexburg, see Carlee and Brett's apartment for the first time, catch up and chat until midnight! The next morning, we woke up and Carlee and I had a little kitchen dance party while we made some breakfast burritos. It was just like we were roommates again! ;) 

The drive from Rexburg to Jackson Hole was a beautiful one. We stopped a couple of times, hitting up a small street market, taking pictures at breath-taking lookouts, and lastly arriving at Jackson Hole Town Square! Of course right away we had to head over to the antler arches for a little photo-op. Then we wandered around the many different shops, perusing the t-shirt options, trying not to buy ALL the candy in sight (I may or may not have spent $20 on salt water taffy alone...) and then realizing how hungry we were, stopped by a little burger joint called Liberty Burgers. As we ate our lunch, we pulled out a map to see what our options for the rest of the day were. We decided we had to go on the Cowboy Coaster! On our way back to our car, we pass a little shop where you can take old fashioned photos....I have ALWAYS wanted to take those photos! You see people taking them all the time at Lagoon, and never having done it, I wanted to so badly, haha. I begged and begged Carlee and Brett to join Jake and I for some photos, and finally they gave in! haha. And, oh my heck, those photos were so much fun to take. We got to dress up in old western outfits, and we just had a blast. I'm so glad we did that. Then we made our way to the rollercoaster! It was a little scarier than we thought, because we were in control of our own speed the whole time. But it was so much fun! 

By this time, we were all feelin' a little tired and decided to make our way back to Rexburg. Once we made it back, we stopped for some dinner at my all time favorite, Cafe Rio, and then grabbed some stuff to go do a little campfire in the woods! That lasted about an hour, until it became pitch black outside and Carlee and I got a little (a lot) spooked. By the time we made it home, we all passed out pretty quickly. 

Not only was it such a fun weekend, but it was so good getting to spend time with Carlee and Brett, and having them be able to get to know Jake a little better. 

As another summer starts to fade away, I can't help but reflect on how much has happened since this sun-soaked season began. It's hard for me to believe everything that has gone on in just 4 months, but I am happy that I've been able to find meaning and happiness in all of it. 

Now bring on Autumn! 

ROAD TRIP TO TETONIA

So exhausted that Jake fell asleep on the way home from dinner, haha.

This past weekend, Jake and I went on a little road trip to visit one of his old mission companions in Tetonia, Idaho! It was short, but sweet, and we packed in a lot of fun in one day! 

I don't know that everyone would love to travel the way Jake and I do, haha. We're pretty relaxed, and we like to enjoy ourselves, so we really don't rush anything. For example: we decided to take off Friday night after Jake got off work. He met me at my place around 4:20, and we sort of moseyed around as I finished getting ready, casually finding snacks for the road, stopping every couple of minutes to cuddle a lit bit (haha), and then finally getting out the door a few minutes before 5:00. Being on the road with Jake is always one of my favorite parts of our adventures. You just never know what you're gonna get with Jake, haha. It was a blast singing and dancing in the car, and the 5 hour drive went by quickly. We stopped for dinner at Wingers somewhere along the way, so we didn't end up making it to his friend Braden's house until close to 11:00. But once we got there, we were going non-stop! 

It was great to finally meet Braden and his girlfriend Jenna, and after a few minutes of introductions, we all grabbed our swimsuits and headed to the pool! We sat in the hot tub and swam around the pool until one in morning. 

Saturday morning, after making and eating breakfast, we went on a rzr voyage! I don't know if I've ever gotten dirt/dust in so many places before? We drove around for a couple of hours, so I'm not kidding when I say we were COVERED in dirt. The boys' hair looked gray, and Jake kept joking that my eyelashes were so covered in dirt that there were little puffs of dust every time I blinked. We all looked pretty funny. Eventually we drove to a little lake, where we planned to throw on our swimsuits and jump in for a while. There were so many people there when we got there though, that there wasn't really anywhere to change! But there was a rope swing that I didn't want to miss, so we grabbed ahold of that and jumped in anyway with all our dirty clothes on. It was so cold! But it was nice to wash all that dirt off. That is, until we jumped back in the rzr to head home for dinner, haha. 

The rest of the night was spent getting cleaned up, stopping for some famous Huckleberry shakes and BBQ, scouting for elk, and then ending the night by turning on a movie. I was told they decided upon and watched Zorro, but if I'm bein' honest, I was out before they even picked the movie, haha. What a fun and exhausting day! 

We wanted to make it back for our own wards, so Jake and I left Sunday morning at 6:00. So we really were only there for a day, but it was 100% worth it! We had an absolute blast! We can't wait to make the same trip next weekend when we go to visit my friend Carlee and and hit up Jackson Hole!