Oh hey there.... yes, this blog is still alive.

I have to warn you, this post is going to be super scatter-brained and kinda long so please bear with me - I feel like I have 10 trillion different thoughts I want to get out! Also, I don't feel like I'm very good at this whole bloggin thing yet. I want this to be like a journal, but I also want it to be fun/interesting to read for ya'll. It'll take me a while to get comfortable and find my voice. Constructive criticism is welcome.... but be nice please?  

Ok, moving on....

Let me just say that preparing to move out of the country is INSANE!  I still feel like I've forgotten something. It took a lot of time but I packed up all my belongings and stashed them in odd corners of my parent's house - and at the Shaw's house too! (thank you thank you!), went to several doctors appointments, got all my shots PLUS a chest X-ray, finished my Student Visa application, quit my job, shipped myself a barrel of stuff (as in a 55 gallon barrel - who knew that was the cheapest way to ship!?), said my goodbyes and headed out. I'm telling you, you better REALLY want to move out of the country because it requires a lot of prep work. It's exciting though! Aside from getting ready to flee the country I feel like I couldn't have asked for a better last summer in Provo. It was pretty great! I lucked out with my housing and lived rent free because I helped house sit for my aunt and uncle. That also means I got to live with Dacia Clifton again. We called it our trial run on marriage. Haha, but seriously though... We both worked long hours so we NEVER saw each other. And when we did see each other it was only for a few minutes at a time - and what did we talk about? Chores and bills. Just like marriage, right? Wasn't quite as fun as when I house sat AND worked (aka played) with Dacia and Capri a few summers ago, but we had a good time. And the house was still standing when Aunt Joyce moved back home.

What else did I do this summer?  Went biking a lot - there are some great trails and roads for biking in the Mapleton/Springville canyons. I also went camping a few times and spent a lot of quality time with my siblings. I'm so glad my siblings like doing that. :-) We had a great weekend in Moab at the beginning of the summer. There is so much to do there!  Our campsite was in a pretty little canyon. We spent some time in Arches National Park and John and I got in a good mountain bike ride. The trip was quick but it was a nice way to start the summer off.

The Ray Reunion was super fun! It's so great to be part of such an amazing family. It's nice to be able to see everyone too. We're spread out all across America now so it had been a while since I last saw a lot of my cousins. I managed to get home for a weekend in July - I had to bring my stuff up home so I timed my trip to be home when my cousin Nicole was visiting. It was so good to catch up with her! We hadn't talked in way too long. I can't believe she has 2 kids! I also spent time with Kimberlee and her husband Josh.  Kimber is such a cute little pregnant lady. I'm so excited for her to be a mom - she's going to be great! It was fun spending time with my younger siblings too! I can't believe how much they've all grown! I still think of them as the ages they were when I left on my mission: 4, 6 and 8.  They are now 14, 16 and 18 (ish) - hard to believe. We all went out to lunch together and had a great time chatting and catching up.

Summer ended with another camping trip to Redfish Lake - right outside of Stanley, ID - and to Island Park. That was a lot of driving but we had a good time. I think the ENTIRE state of Idaho is currently on fire because it was super smokey everywhere we went.  The views weren't as great but we still had fun. Redfish is SOOO relaxing! I read 3 books! We also went on a few mountain bike rides. Poor Jessica took a few spills but managed to power through them and keep going. She claims amnesia makes her forget how challenging the rides are so she keeps agreeing to go every year. I think she secretly likes them.  One of my favorite parts of camping at Redfish is spending time at the beach. The water at the lake wasn't as painfully cold as usual so we spent more time swimming than in previous years. Dad brought up one of his sailboats this year and we had the perfect amount of wind for it too - I think the fires were helping with that. All that rising smoke creates wind patterns. We drove by Craters of the Moon as we headed east across the state.  Craters is cool but definitely not worth that awful drive! TALK ABOUT BORING!  It was miles and miles and miles of flat, straight road - not even passing through small towns or cities! It was just..... nothing.  I may or may not have been driving WAY faster than the speed limit in order to get through it faster.

Once the drive was behind us we had a great time in Island Park. We figured out that Grandma and Grandpa have been going to the same spot in the same campground for 38 years now.  Pretty amazing.  Weston and Danielle drove straight from doing summer sales in Chicago to meet up with us at Island Park. I'm so glad I got to see them before I left! Danielle and I really clicked while she was studying at BYU. I was sad when she left :-( Danielle and Weston spent a lot of their time moving a bunch of rocks and making a nice little swimming / bathing pool complete with an alter for a fire. After being all smokey and gross at Redfish it was nice  to get clean every night in the refreshing (read: almost-shockingly-cold) river. Grandma was nice to us and let us borrow all the dishes we needed. We were totally unprepared but we managed.  Yellowstone was fun, John and Weston had never been there so it was fun to watch them experience it for the first time. We decided to squish into Danielle and Weston's car when we went to Yellowstone - which means I got to ride in the trunk. I sort of felt like a dog back here... especially when they forgot to let me out when we stopped. Bless them - hahaha!  All in all we were gone for a week. We had fun but it felt great to sleep in our own beds when we got home. PLUS we had TONS of recorded Olympics to watch. :-)

Anyway, once that camping trip was over I only had a few days to finish up packing and get ready to go. All my stuff was scattered all over Kristin and John's house so it felt overwhelming, but once I started I got it all packed up pretty quick. Saying goodbye to my sisters in Provo was hard.  I may or may not have cried a lil' bit as I drove away from Provo for the last time. It's always hard to see a chapter of your life close - especially if it was a great one. As I was flying away from Salt Lake I found it hard to believe that I was actually moving away.  It's been my home for 6 years!

On my way out to the island I had a great stop-over in Tyler, TX to visit Brittany and Brent and the world's cutest nephews. Bryan is so happy and will follow you all around the house, and Jason is SUPER imaginative- and really goofy about it.  One night at dinner he kept going on about how they had raccoon for dinner and that it tasted like chicken. Silly boy. We went to the Zoo, and went on a bike ride down to the lake. We had some great BBQ, saw The Dark Knight Rises in a theater with no A/C, went on a lovely tour of Tyler given by Brittany and even chased a UPS truck so I could get my cell phone to use out in Dominica before I flew out. I really liked Tyler a lot.  It's a beautiful area. Lots of open space, farms and pastures. Brittany says it reminders her of the Boise/Eagle area and I have to agree.  I could totally see myself living there except for one thing.  No ski season = deal breaker.

Whew.  I feel super long winded. I left Tyler on Tuesday afternoon - courtesy of the Brent Staley Taxi Service - and flew from Dallas to Miami where I spent the night in a hotel right by the airport. I was only there for 5 hours or so but it was worth it. My flight to Puerto Rico left at 8 AM. I timed it PERFECTLY. Left the hotel at about 6:40, waited FOREVER in the security line, but walked up to my gate at 7:40 right as they called my boarding group number. I didn't even stop walking - just headed right to the plane. The flight was great but it was chaos when we got to San Juan. Tropical storm Isaac has cancelled flights all over the Caribbean - including my connection to Dominica.  I found 2 guys and a dad and daughter who were in the same boat as me. My travel agency got me a great rate at a mediocre hotel right outside the airport. So I told them to book rooms at the same hotel and we all split a cab there. Lovely. It's really not bad - I've stayed at MUCH worse places - but the dad and daughter feel like they're in a pig stye.  Haahaha! They're from New York.  Hopefully she'll transition ok to life on the island. :-)  I spent the afternoon napping and walking up and down the beach and roads around my hotel. Puerto Rico is nice and almost everyone speaks English. I was a bit worried I'd have trouble communicating but so far we've been fine. We've watched the rains and winds come in as Isaac gets closer to us. It's supposed to be pretty bad right when our flight is supposed to leave tomorrow. It all depends on which path the storm takes - which is pretty much impossible to determine. I can't decide if I want to go or stay another day.  It's not like I need to get there.  My roomie and I have decided to see the sights tomorrow if we don't fly out. Sounds fun to me. 

Well, it's late and I'm tired. Soooo.... good night?  Haha - I have no idea how to close a blog post gracefully.  :-)