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! 

4th OF JULY WEEKEND

I'm really not sure if a better 4th of July weekend has ever been experienced! It was all of my favorite things all packed into a few days! We started off the weekend by meeting Cami and Kyle up at their family cabin. I was thrilled to take Jake there! I have been up there a number of times with a bunch of friends, and was always eagerly looking forward to the day when I could bring someone I love up there. We shot guns, ate some good food, and thoroughly enjoyed each others' company and the great outdoors. Cami and I were inside just giggling away as the boys were outside cooking the brats for dinner. We kept spying on them, trying to watch how they interacted and how their conversation flowed. For as long as we've been friends, we've been saying that we can't wait to force our significant others to be friends, haha. What a relief that those two actually like each other and get along! Cami and I are so happy about it. :) 

As always, I loved being with those three! Friends don't get any better. I can't say it enough that I've got the best people in my life!

Mid-afternoon on Saturday, Jake and I drove straight from one cabin to the next! We spend the next couple of days at Jake's family Cabin with his family. They're really great at making you feel just like you're family. We spent our days doing puzzles, making bracelets and keychains out of boondoggle, eatings TONS of good food, roasting s'mores and popping popcorn over the fire, and getting a lot of good snuggles in with the nieces and nephews. We also spent a day on the reservoir! The water was freezing, and Jake took it upon himself to make sure everyone became accommodated to the water by dunking them under. What a guy, right?! ;) Haha, but really, we were having a blast, and I was pretty sad to leave when it all came to an end! 

From Jake's cabin, we drove straight to my mom's house, where we had about 20 minutes to freshen up before our pre-4th of July BBQ started! As per Petersen Family Tradition, we ate a delicious spread and followed it up with some croquet. Of course Jake comes in his first year playing and gets first place. insert-eye-roll-here. haha, just kidding. He earned it, even though I was the first one he decided to kill off after he claimed poison status, haha. 

Then we did a few (pretty lame, but still fun) fireworks in the front yard before putting the boys down and eating some mud pie while playing a board game. I love this family of mine, and I love our long-standing traditions! 

4th of July day was THE most perfect summer day!! I feel just completely spoiled that I'm constantly having so much fun because of the things Jake plans! After a yummy crepe breakfast with my family, Jake suggested that I pull out my old rollerblades. I hadn't pulled them out in yeeeears. Like, we're talkin' 10+ years. But we pulled 'em out, washed 'em off (I made Jake triple check to make sure there weren't any spiders in them, haha) and they surprisingly still fit perfectly! And then Jake suggested my worst nightmare---DUN, DUN, DUN---riding down Provo Canyon!! My initial reaction? noooooooooooo pleeeeease nooooo! And if you know me, then you understand why! I am just pretty klutzy and unbalanced by nature! I trip over my own feet every single day, and I just knew that trying to rollerblade down the canyon would end my life. But..ah, my Jake. He's such a happy guy, and he's asked to long board down the canyon multiple times, and I just didn't want to disappoint him! So I reluctantly gave in, and we made our way to Provo Canyon. 

Well, turns out I was a wreck, haha. As I was putting on my blades at the point of the canyon where we were going to start, my legs and hands were shaking so badly. It's dumb and embarrassing that I was so nervous, but that's just how it was, haha. But there's just something about Jake, you know? I get a lot of strength from him. He provided me with a substantial about of strength the few weeks leading up to my dad's passing, and I didn't realize how much that would continue to carry over into other things as well. Like blading the canyon. He was on his long board, I was on my rollerblades, and we really only went like 3 miles up the canyon, but he held my hand the whole way down. And during the parts of the canyon when I would start to get especially nervous, he'd sing me a country song to help distract me. I'm telling you guys, IT DOESN'T GET BETTER THAN JAKE! If you can't tell by now, I survived the canyon. Didn't even fall once, thanks to that hunky man. Owe him my life. And also probably a million dollars. Also still glad it's over though, and next time Jakes wants to long board the canyon, I'm riding my bike. :) haha.

After sweating our guts out in the 100 degree canyon, we headed to Rock Canyon Park where Jake's friends were having a big slip n' slide party! That was so much fun. The slip n' slide was huge! We got to go down a few times, I got to meet more of Jake's friends, and we were able to cool off a bit. 

Riding the canyon, slip n' sliding... what would we do next to make it the ultimate summer day? Get SNOW CONES!! I think I might've died and gone to heaven eating those snow cones. So good. Plus, they had cute little American flags in them, and I just really liked that for some reason. 

Next we went to get cleaned up, watched the Sandlot, and then went to a party in Orem where we met up with Jake's parents, got free food truck food, and got to watch the best firework show in the county! The 4th of July has always been my favorite holiday, but it just seems to get better and better every year! I love summer! I love America! I love Jake! 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope you all (mom and Julie, most likely) had a wonderful 4th of July! :)

TIRE POPS + CANYON WALKS

 I am SO happy that it's finally Friday. This has been such a weird week! And I'm convinced that it's all because of how my Monday started out. It was a normal day, in that I woke up wanting to head up the canyon! I love it up there. I decided to go look for a location that a couple had told me they wanted to shoot at. So, I get in my car and head out. I drove up the AF side of the canyon and continued up near Tibble Fork. Right after you pass Tibble Fork, if you keep to the right, it turns into a pretty rocky road, but it's most likely fine IF your tires are good. Apparently mine weren't, because after about 2 miles past Tibble Fork, POP goes a tire. I literally just felt the front driver side of my car sink all of the sudden. So I pull over to the side of the road to assess my situation. I wasn't going to be able to go anywhere with my tire like that. I had never changed a tire by myself before, and even if I felt 100% confident that I could do it, I had never needed to change a tire on my Xterra yet, and couldn't find where the tools were located in that car. (Insert that monkey covering his eyes emoji here. Talk about not being prepared!) I had no cell service, but that didn't stop me from trying to call my mom 4 times, haha! I hadn't seen anyone on that road while I had been up there--what! on a Monday afternoon late in the season??...--so I decided to start walking out, figuring I'd come across someone eventually. I was so wrong though! The ONLY people I came across before getting to the part of the canyon where it splits between Tibble Fork and the Alpine Loop were construction workers, but I just didn't feel comfortable asking them for help because they were already working hard! So I kept on walking, haha. It wasn't a bad walk, if I'm being honest. I mean, I was in the beautiful canyon after all! The weather was perfect for a situation like that, because it wasn't too hot, and it wasn't too cold. It was simply a really long walk that I hadn't planned on taking that day. AND...I kept thinking about all the women that get murdered and raped while walking alone in canyons, and seriously freaking myself out a couple times. At one point I even could've sworn I saw a man coming out from behind the trees! Haha. Finally, about a mile or two from the mouth of the canyon, a guy in a truck pulls over and says he's working in the canyon, he's passed me 4-5 times, and asks if I'm walking for pleasure or if I need a ride somewhere. I'll never recommend taking a ride from a stranger to anyone, but I definitely took the ride in this situation! haha! Luckily, it ended up being a really nice dude, and I only stayed in his car until I got cell service, and had him drop me off there.

---Long story made a little shorter, I was finally able to reach my mom, she picked me up, we taught ourselves how to change a tire (!!!), and I was able to finally drive out of the canyon. The situation put me in a weird funk for the rest of the day; I just hate having such a lack of control over my situation. However, now I know how to change a tire all by myself, and I'll never be in that situation again. :)

Everyone be prepared and play it safe this weekend! :)