I've learned a thing or two this summer
 (which for the record is not even CLOSE to being over yet - or so I would like to convince myself):  


In no apparent order. 
Here are my thoughts. 
Seriously, they aren't in order so don't try to make sense of them. 
It would be futile. 


*It is possible to sleep more nights not in your own bed than in it. 
*I like to have things planned.  to the last little detail.
*I kind of  panic when plans don't follow through.
counting to ten slowly sometimes doesn't actually calm me down, no matter how soothing the voice is. 
 *I can drive for hours and hours on end without having to stop to go to the bathroom.  Sheer talent. 
*I cannot drive for hours and hours without feeling like I might fall asleep.  
*Driving for hours and hours tends to do crazy things to my little mind and I start to over-analyze 
(me over-analyze? Crazy, right?!) 
*When there are 40 mph winds and a rain/hailstorm pounding down my reasoning skills go out the window and terror steps in.  and then i quit.  I don't really want to talk about it, but let's just say the only reason I was able to see Eric cross the finish line at the half-ironman was because I didn't actually compete.  DNS.  three little letters of shame.  
 *I can't actually row a boat.  It takes to much thinking about going left or right or with the current or not.  Confusing. 
*Tara and Dave are great hosts and they don't care if you aren't an ironman. Oh, and their baby Tess might be the cutest baby ever. 
*Yellowstone has a lot of bison.  They are not actually mechanical and placed there to con guests into believing there is wildlife as Eric some would like you to believe. Same is true of the Elk and Moose.
*Shootout barn is named so because there was actually a shoot-out there. 
*Natalie still doesn't like to take naps.  Oh, to be a four year old again and fight taking a nap. 
*The Target in Eugene is just like the one in Orem.  Only better because I didn't have to pay sales tax. Why didn't I buy more? Oh ya, because I don't need anything new.  ever. 
*When you decide to drive to the coast it will pour rain.  pour.  You will get out of the car for about 4.7 minutes -- just long enough for the kids to be covered in sand and soaking wet -- and then you will  drive home. 
*This is the place Heritage Park is much more fun when you are not on a field trip.  It was nothing short of a miracle that I convinced my family to go there, and then they actually enjoyed it. I'll turn them into pioneers someday.   
*Trail running is not my thing.  I almost ruined didn't ruin the whole day just because I burst into tears after a few miles of the boneville shoreline trail. 
* Cotton candy is harder to make than I thought (and I just watched while Corrine made it)

*The Boneville Shoreline trail is confusing and randomly ends. 
*When you ride the ski lift at Grand Targhee it is a little scary, but it is really pretty at the top.  I am pretty sure I was more scared than the children.  really. 
*Snow-cones are filled with sugar and when that is all that you have eaten in a day it can be a little bit of a sugar high.  Snow-cones are also free when your cousins are running the  booth at the carnival so it is kind of required to have one. 
* There is a difference between feeling important and feeling loved. 

* Doing "nothing" is really hard for me.  I'm working on it.  I wish I could. 
* Strawberry picking is really fun and it filled the void of missing Pleasant Grove's Strawberry Days. 
* Getting two little girls to clean their room may take all morning but with a few bribes and some clever games thrown into the mix it is actually possible.  
* The Five Love Languages book is really that good.  I should probably read it about every 2 weeks.

* The olympic trials are really fun to watch.  I know nothing about the details of the olympics. 
* Chapstick melts when it is really hot and then stains your clothes.   
* Taking a break from school for weeks on end is good for me.  I did nothing for school for almost 3 weeks straight. 
* Needy and needed are two different things.  
* Running in Oregon is easier -- I can actually breathe.  
* Sleeping in for me is like sleeping until 6:30 a.m. I think it is a sickness. 
* New situations bring to light new emotions.  
* My grandma still knows how to say what I need to hear when I need to hear it.

* I can fix a flat tire. It will go flat again in like 5 minutes. It will go flat again, again the next day after a short ride.  I will eventually just take it to get a tune-up. 
*  Being away from home forces you to chill out a little bit and forget about your lists. 
* Refined eating has more than one meaning.

* It is fun to cook dinner for someone else, and it is kind of stressful. 
* Alone time is precious. 
* Riding Suncrest (up the Draper side) is brutal.  I was shamed on my bike.  
* Sleep time is important to some people.  I am not one of those people, but I am trying to understand "those people"
* Summer bbqs are fun. 

* I don't take any pictures anymore.  I don't know why, because now I really wish I had pictures of anything I've done this summer.  
* I don't get lost driving in Eugene anymore. 
* I like my old running Garmin better than the new one I got. 

* Being away from home for weeks at a time saves me money.  
* I miss the Young Women when I am away. 
* Ants are hard to get rid of. 
*When you don't water your flowers or take care of your garden it kind of dies. 
* Eric is super patient. 
* I like to be productive. I need to redefine what being productive is. 

* I am super uptight. 
* It is possible to eat a 1 pound burger at Big Juds. (I didn't eat it, but my talented boyfriend did)

* Rexburg has changed in the last 15 years since I went to school there (go figure). 
*  Everyone has family movies and I love the memories that they bring back to the surface. 
*Girls camp in 100+ degree weather is not actually a dream come true. 

* There are really only a few people in a week that I really talk to.  I can count them on one hand.  Maybe that makes me sort of a looser. 
* My family makes me crazy. (and I love them)
* I am not as tan this summer as I have been in the past, but I'm okay with not getting skin cancer. 
* I-pads are cool.  Maybe i'll use it for school someday.  Maybe not.  
*This list is really long and although I am sure I have more I could add. . . . I won't bore you. 


I still have a few weeks of learning to do.......wish me luck.