Our First Corals

I have a love/hate relationship with this past Friday. I love it because Blake, my boyfriend, and I finally got coral in our saltwater tank! We have been waiting to do this for a long time, and finally our tank was ready for it! I hate it however, because Friday was the last day that I got to see Blake for one week and a day. Blake is in California, with his family on vacation, and I know it isn't very long but it is still lame! :)

After work Blake came and picked me up at my apartment. He had just come from the saltwater shop in Orem, because he was getting water from them. He informed me that they were having a buy 1 get 1 half off sale on frags, and I love a sale, so we went back! Frags are just "fragments" of corals. They are small baby corals basically, and eventually they grow and get bigger. 

The shop Aquatic Evolutions had so many to choose from but Blake and I had some idea of what kind of corals we wanted to start out with, and that helped us narrow it down pretty quickly. Sean, the owner of the shop really was nice to us and let us stay a little later after closing just so we could make sure which corals we wanted. Sean is an awesome guy!

After debating between a few types we decided to get three instead of two, and the winners were..... drum roll please... Hammer Coral, Cinnamon Polyps, and a Feather Duster. They are all sweet! When Sean picked them up from the tank they got afraid and kind of shrunk up. When we got back to Blake's house we let them  acclimate  in the water for a bit.

This is what they looked like when they were afraid ( those scary-cats) while they were acclimating.

Hammer Coral 

Cinnamon Polyp 

 Feather Duster

I understand that they look disgusting like this, all shrunken up and stuff, at least I think so, but trust me they are cool. The Hammer Coral, and Cinnamon Polyp are on little platforms called plugs, that way you can place them in the rock easier, you just put the plug in a little hole and eventually the coral will just grow around and cover up the plug. 

Blake being the best boyfriend ever, let me put the first coral in the tank. I picked the Feather Duster which is awesome. It actually isn't a coral at all but it is a worm. Weird right? The worm makes a kind of paper tube around it's body to protect itself. It has tentacles that are attached to it's head, which are what it is named after because they look like a feather duster. It uses them to eat by collecting floating organisms, like plankton. When it is afraid it can retract it's tentacles back into the tube where it is safe and if it is really freaked out, or if a fish bites off any of it's appendages, it can detach them and just grow it back later. 

This is our Feather Duster after it got use to it's surroundings and stopped feeling so threatened. I think it is so cool!

Blake put in the Hammer Coral, and the Cinnamon Polyp. Eventually the Hammer Coral became brave and went back to normal, flowing in the current. Unfortunately the Cinnamon Polyp still was stressed so I didn't take a picture of it. I will probably update this when I get a picture of when the Cinnamon Polyp actually looks normal. 

Just as another update on the tank, a few weeks ago Blake said while he was looking at the tank he saw a worm come out of the rock. I never had seen this worm so I thought he was being crazy, even though it is not uncommon for "hitch hikers" to come into your tank in the live rock. A couple weeks after the first sighting, Blake saw the worm again! This time he took a picture of it so i could see.

It is kind of hard to see in this picture so I zoomed in on the worm.

This freaks me out and I do not want it in the tank! After doing some research on it and asking around we are pretty sure that it is a Bristle Worm. The only thing is that some of them are good for your tank and some are bad and eat your coral. They have traps for them, but we will just see how our corals do, that way we will know if the worm is actually bad for the tank. 

It really was so awesome that we have coral in our tank now and I am stoked on that, but I still hate this Friday, because Blake wont get back for a whole week! Hopefully it goes by fast :) 

Joe's Valley

Last Saturday, on September 21st, a group of my friends and I loaded up our cars with climbing shoes, chalk bags, crash pads, and food and headed down to Joe's Valley, in southern Utah. For the last couple of years I have heard over and over, about how amazing Joe's Valley was for bouldering. Bouldering is just what it sounds like, climbing up boulders, this means you don't use ropes or quick draws, you just lay out crash pads, so if you fall you don't get injured.  Joe's Valley is a pretty well known climbing area, but this summer I never made it down there since summer is not the best climbing season for southern Utah, it is so hot! 

Anyway, Blake my boyfriend and I drove down with Teancum Bryant, Merto Asuncion, and Merto's old mission buddy Eric Johnson, in Merto's trusty Outback (which is newer than mine and much more reliable). Our other friend Jonny Wilson drove with Aaron in Jonny's truck, that way the four crash pads we had would fit! 

The first couple areas that we warmed up in were really fun. The climbs were interesting but bouldering is  a lot harder for me than sport climbing. The moves are way more technical and powerful it is wild.

Unfortunately later on in the day the storm clouds rolled in and the rain started to fall (and hail). Quickly we all found cover where we could. Joe's Valley doesn't have very many trees that are good cover in the rain, so we found shelter in the rocks. Teancum quickly fell asleep, which was weird. I just like this picture because it looks like he is sucking his thumb :)

Blake, Eric, and I found a little cave between the rocks. 

Everyone else ended up under a ledge!

This is Stoich, he is cute and an amazing dog. <3 I love when he comes on climbing trips because he is very well trained and adventurous!

Merto ended up getting bored under their ledge so he built his own shelter with a crash pad.

The most funny thing that happened while it was raining, was Stoich got restless and wandered up on the rock that the crash pad was laying on. The picture above was taken from my cave so I watched the whole thing unfold. Stoich being the adventurer he is, walked right out on the crash pad. The one side was not supported by any rock, so when he walked on top of it, the pad started to fall, the look on his face was so priceless. I yelled out his name to stop, but to no avail (since he is a dog and doesn't know what I am saying), he tumbled down along with the crash pad. Luckily even though he landed on a bunch of rocks he didn't get hurt! 

Finally the rain stopped but the rock wasn't drying out very quickly. The bad thing about Joe's Valley is in the rain sandstone isn't very good to climb on. This is because, while wet, sandstone becomes a lot weaker and breaks a little easier. Eventually it dried out and we moved to a different area.

I was pretty tired at this point so, I did a couple problems, then just played with Stoich, the dog. There were a bunch of cows walking up and down the dirt road next to the boulders and Stoich was growling at them. I was trying to convince him to get closer to the cows, just to see what would happen. He was to afraid though, that dog is all bark and no bite. 

Honestly, I think the hype about Joe's Valley might have ruined it for me. I thought it would be a lot better than it was. It could have just been the weather though so I am looking forward to going back and seeing if it is as amazing as people say! Maybe it will be!

CLAS Ropes Course

Very recently I have moved into a new area in Utah Valley. For the last year I have been living in Orem, but at the very start of August I moved back down to Provo and I couldn't have been happier with that choice. There really is a huge difference between just normal student housing vs BYU approved housing. I definitely learned that the hard way, one year full of pregnant roommates (yes that is plural), threatening letters full of expletives along with miss-spelled words, and literally living in a pig sty (okay not literally but some of my roommates were pretty messy). Anyways the moral of the story is  I love living at my new apartment in Provo.

Along with my new apartment I got a new ward, 137th Provo, and it has been really amazing so far. I love how wards can become so close like a tight knit family. They help turn strangers into brothers and sisters. I haven't lived here very long but I am looking forward to getting to know my ward better.

For family home evening, on Monday, my ward, along with one other ward, got to go to CLAS Ropes Course. Thank you activities committee for coming up with this idea, because it really was so much fun! If you have never been to a ropes course before it is just a park like area full of team building exercises, some are just obstacle courses where you have to figure out how to get your whole team from point A to point B without touching the ground, or random things like that. The only things they had available to us, though were the "high ropes" which include a zip line, rock wall, giant swing,  and a thing called the leap of faith.The whole point of it is to over come fears, build communication, and gain self confidence. It is a really cool idea and such a blast to do!

Blake my boyfriend, Sean his brother, and I got there just in time to miss the instructions, which I am sure were really important and informative. This lead to some confusion as everyone broke up to go to the various stations. After observing everyone putting on their harnesses we decided to flow suit and grabbed our harnesses from a box sitting on the ground. One size fits all harnesses, while being a good idea, are the most uncomfortable things in the world on top of being semi tricky to put on. Eventually I mastered the art of putting it on and we jumped in line for the zip line. 

It was so much fun! You just clip into a rope, and start climbing up a pretty tall, wooden pole, as you get belayed up from the top. When you get to the top, the girl working that station just clips you into the zip line and then you are good to just jump off of the platform. It feels like you are flying through the air, it is awesome. The zip-line we were on was long enough that you start to go pretty fast. At the end of the run there are people waiting for you and you think that is where you are supposed to stop, but then you terrifyingly shoot past them. Which kind of freaked me out. After that part you start to slow down, stop, then coast backwards to the spot where they stop you and help you get unclipped. 

After the zip line I helped belay my friend Kaci on the rock wall. I am pretty bummed that I left my phone in the car so I actually didn't take any pictures! But just to give you a visual I took some pictures off of their website so don't be weirded out by the random nouns! :) 

 Towards the end of the night the lines for all the stations calmed down so we went over to what they called the leap of faith. For this station you got to use full body harnesses instead of just the regular ones. I was pretty happy about this because full body harnesses are way more comfortable than our one size fits all! How the leap of faith works is you climb up a tree to a plat form. 

Once you are on the platform you jump off as far as you can, trying to get a ring (in the picture it is a handle) that is hanging in front of you. Since you are attached to a rope the whole time it is really safe. 

By the time that Blake, Sean, and I got to this station though, it was already pretty dark outside. They had one light up in the tree, across from the platform, shinning on the ring so you could see where to jump. Sean went first, there was an option to wear a blind fold just to make it that much more challenging and of course Sean was going to pick the hardest way because he is awesome. When he jumped for the ring be almost grabbed it! I was next but I am not as daring as sean so I skipped out on the blindfold. Climbing up the tree was no big deal but once you get onto the platform it is like you are in your own little world. 

Everything around you is pitch black except for the blinding light shinning right in your eyes and the outline of the dark ring in-front of you. You can't see the ground or anyone around you and I will be honest I was terrified! It was the weirdest thing, I have been a thousand feet off the canyon floor rock climbing on multi-pitches, but 25 feet off the ground completely secure in a harness, attached to a rope, with a competent belayer, was so scary to me! All I wanted to do was get off the platform so I didn't even jump for the ring, I just did a sad looking little baby jump off the platform. Holy cow, was it a relief to get back on the ground!

Blake followed after me and like his brother took the challenge of the blindfold. When he was up at the top he just jumped and grabbed the ring. Hello, what can this boy  not do. He is seriously amazing at everything he tries. So naturally I had to do it again. Even though I was still shaking from the first attempt. 

Once I got to the platform for the second time I had the exact same feeling, my stomach dropped and I just wanted to get off the platform, unfortunately it was my second try to I had to have something to show for it! I lunged at the ring, and missed pathetically! :) It is okay though I at least feel good that I tried again and that is all that matters right?

Even though I got scared out of my mind the ropes course really was so much fun. I almost would like to go back and try the leap of faith in the light just to see if it scares me as much! All in all it was a fun night, full of friends, and conquering fears, definitely a success! Thanks again to Provo 137th ward! :)

Happy Birthday Shantel!

When I graduated high school in 2011 I was pretty confidant that I was going to Utah State University for college. When I got my acceptance letter I was jumping for joy, and made a huge deal of it. One reason I was so excited was because my sister Shantel and brother-in-law David are pretty die hard fans of USU. To prove their devotion to good ol' Utah State they had an A as a cake topper at their wedding and Aggie blue as one of their wedding colors. If I was talking I would say they tried really hard to brainwash me to go there, but they would probably say that they just encouraged me to make the "right" decision :). Even though at the time they lived in Lehi and not Logan where USU is.

  

A bunch of events happened that summer and for some reason I changed my mind and made the final verdict to come down to Utah Valley University instead. UVU, is located in Orem, Utah, which was one of the best choices of my life for many reasons.

One reason being because Shan and David lived in Lehi (at their old apartment) and that was only 20 minutes away from where I was living. I have been so blessed to have immediate family living close to me. When you move somewhere new it is always so nice to have someone there for you. That way you aren't all alone, and that is what Shantel was for me when I first moved down to Orem. Shan and David always put forth so much effort to make sure I knew I was welcome at their home anytime.

This is Shan and I at her old apartment in Lehi, Utah.

I am so grateful for Shantel and David, at that time in my life and espeically now. They are constantly having me up for dinner, and always being there for me when I am homeless, need to vent or, just in the mood to tell them my ridiculously long, and detailed stories. They always give me the reaction that I want and that is why you tell people stories right?! 

This is one of my favorite pictures of me and Shantel. My mother, Lori, upon finding out Shantel was pregnant, well over a year ago now, thought it would be the best idea in the world to buy a giant castle for her future granddaughter. Who was a year and 9 months away from being able to actually play in it (since she wasn't even born yet). Shantel and I were so excited over easter break of 2012 for the cool pink castle that we set it up anyways!

When I found out Shantel was pregnant with Lydia, my niece, I could hardly wait, and the amount of love I felt for that little unborn girl was indescribable! With me feeling that way, I can't even imagine how Shantel felt. I didn't have any nieces or nephews at the time so that 9 months dragged on for eternity. This is Shantel when she was pregnant. I am pretty sure she is about 6 months along!

Finally Lydia arrived. I have loved being able to be so close to the Peaden family and the chance I have had to spend time with Shan, David, and Lydia. Family really is so important in the grand scehem of things and I count my blessing every day that I have been able to build this relationship with them.

Lydia really is the cutest little girl.

Shantel has always been the best oldest (see how I put oldest and not just older, you are an amazing sister too Jenna) sister to me no matter what I say about my childhood experience. I have been so blessed to have been close with  with my two sisters Shan and Jenna growing up. We always were good friends despite the normal sister fights, when it comes to sharing clothes. I hontestly am overwhelmingling grateful for my all my siblings and the love we have for each other.

 

 This past weekend was Shantel's birthday! On Sunday, September 15th. Unfortunately her husband David was out of town for work, but that Friday before Shan's birthday Blake, my boyfriend, and I went up to the Peaden's house for a little surprise birthday celebration, prices right status. Shantel is amazing at knowing the prices of objects. You could say, it is because she is an amazing coupon/bargain shopper (which she is), or she might have just inherited it from my Grandma Walker who won an episode of the prices right way back when. Either way she demolished Blake and I in the prices right games we played and she won all her birthday presents! This was a very good thing becuase I bet she would have had something to say if Blake or I had won any of her presents. :)

On her actual birthday that Sunday, we went up to Morgan, Utah where my parents live and spent the evening eating dinner, opening presents, eating cake, and catching up with everyone. Shantel and I were even matching with our stripped maxi skirts! 

Family relationships really are so important and I always hope my family knows how much I love them, and that I have a testimony of eternal families. Happy Birthday Shantel and thanks for being an awesome sister! :) 

Saturday Shopping and Snails

Have I ever said how much I love Saturdays? If I haven't I sure do love Saturdays. My favorite day of the week! This past Saturday, unlike most of my weekends, was dedicated to running errands. Sometimes you just have to be an adult, but who said running errands can't be fun?

In the morning Blake picked me up and we drove over to the Volkswagen dealership in Orem. Blake's tires seemed to be out of alignment and he just wanted to have them check his car out. Unfortunately they were slammed and we didn't get a spot before they closed. So next on the list was to go shopping. 

We scored some really great deals and came out of the situation with two shirts for blake and a maxi skirt for myself. Also I had the chance to taste some chocolate covered bacon. Thanks to Blake and his diabetes. Just because he gets low blood sugar and needs to eat a treat, it shouldn't mean I get one as well but it usually turns out that way because Blake is such a good boyfriend. Honestly eating chocolate covered bacon is strange and let me tell you I don't know if I would recommend it. Bacon, chocolate, bacon, chocolate, the tastebuds in your mouth just can't decide on what the flavor is. If I were you I would stick to chocolate truffles and salted carmel chocolates. Unless of course you are a die hard bacon fan, (which I thought I was) then by all means go ahead and have the chocolate covered bacon. 

With shopping and eating out of the way I suggested we go to an art museum. One thing I love about the University Mall in Orem is that on the second floor there is the Woodbury Art Museum and it is free to the public. Every couple of months they get a brand new exhibit and they are always very interesting to go and see. Since we were already at the mall Blake agreed to go.

The whole exhibit was on active light, and all the art pieces had some sort of a light component in them. A lot of the pictures were really awesome but my favorite part was when we got really cool (almost David Tennant style) glasses. With the glasses you got to look into tubes full of different gasses and see how the gasses reflect light differently. The glasses, when you look at any light, refract it into a rainbow of colors which is very entertaining. 

There were also other displays where light refracts through glass, to cast certain shadows and other things, but my favorite one was the one shown below. The main reason being becuase in this picture Blake actually looks large, which I find hilarious and I realize that is very childish. It is just very rare becuase I don't think blake will ever be larger than he is currently. The exhibit was really cool, and seriously if you are ever in the University Mall check out the Woodbury Art Museum. 

Now, almost a year ago on Christmas eve I was in need of a haircut. My bangs had grown out and I liked them short at the time, so I convinced my sister Shantel to get Bangs, because she didn't have at the time, and I convinced my other sister Jenna to get straight across bangs. All in all it was a very successful day. That however was the last time I had gotten a haircut. Almost a year ago! I thought it was time.

Not knowing anyone who cuts hair in the Utah Valley area we just drove on over to Craig's Cuts in Orem. I am trying to grow my hair and bangs out so I got a nice little trim, fixed some of my layers, and freshened up my bangs which currently are at a pretty awkward length since they haven't quite grown out yet. 

After I was done I went out to the car where Blake had been patiently waiting for me. He had been doing two things while I was getting my hair cut, napping and looking up pictures of haircuts I had previously recommended to him. Blake was in a bind wether to get his hair cut or not. I thought he should! So he did, he went with the whole shorter on the sides, longer on the top style! I think it looks great! Not that I didn't think he looked good before! :)

BEFORE

AFTER

When we finished with getting our haircuts, we ran over to one of our favorite local saltwater shops to get some more janitors for our tank! The Algae was taking over the glass and our hermit crabs, while they were doing a good job turning the sand over and cleaning the rocks, weren't doing one important thing, cleaning the glass. 

We were lacking something very important, Snails! After looking at some really cool corals, fish, and giant hermit crabs we left the store, being new owners to 20 snails, and 5 new baby hermit crabs. The hermit crabs that they had at the store seriously were 1/3 of the size of the hermit crabs we currently own. We were told that the smaller the hermit crabs are the less likely they are to eat the snails but I am just worried our other hermit crabs might have the baby hermit crabs for dinner!

Putting the Snails into the tank was the most entertaining thing I have ever seen. When they were in the bag they all stuck onto each other instead of the plastic.

When we tried to put them into the tank they just came out kind of in a huge snail blob. When we placed them into the tank some fell off onto the sand but a majority of them were glued together. It took them about ten minutes to get their senses together and it was almost pathetic and so funny trying to watch them get off of each other. 

Slowly, very slowly (what do you expect they are snails) and after climbing all over each other they found their own spot on the glass and went to work. Within hours the corners where most of the algae was, were sparkling clean. Eventually the snails spread all over the tank and rocks, cleaning away. 

I am so glad that the tank is becoming more entertaining to watch. Mind you, I always did love just watching our very first turd-burglars (hermit crabs) but they mostly just sit on the rocks occasionally picking at them for food. The snails on the other hand are so fun to see move around and their mouths on the glass is the weariest thing to watch! 

Andy our clownfish is doing very well he finally has gotten use to the tank and is always swimming around and exploring. Overall we are very happy with our new additions to the tank and can't wait till next week when we get to pick out another fish!

My Hero

Looking back on it, it was a very cursed day when I informed my father that I wanted to get a Subaru Outback. Not the newer ones of course because I didn't like the way they looked, but the older style! After weeks and weeks of looking around trying to find the best one I found the perfect white Subaru Outback! Besides the strange noise the car made when you tried to turn the defrost on, all was well and I couldn't have been happier! :)

One year later and many, many car problems later, my car was running just fine, besides a slow oil leak. Which was remedied by the occasional oil top off. Then one day my car started to overheat. I only had to drive to work that day so by the time I got home it hadn't completely stopped working. When I got back to my apt, I called my ever reliable Dad to ask him how to check the coolant levels in my car because I feared they might be getting low.

He instructed me on how to check the level, what kind to buy, and how to fill it up! That evening my car seemed to be working fine so I knew just to keep an eye on the coolant levels and my life, as far as my car was concerned, would be peachy.

The next morning while I was driving to work my car started to overheat again. I was devastated! When I got home from work later that day, I of course called my Dad! I had already bought some more coolant and was just going to run everything by him again to make sure I was doing it correct.

While he was on the phone, I poured the liquid into my car and immediately heard a trickling sound. After looking under my car all I could say to my dad was "I am going to send you a video of what my car is doing."  Then I sent him this video.

My dad is one of the most charitable, selfless people I know, after seeing the waterfall pouring out from under my car he jumped into his car and came down to Provo, which is an hour and a half drive! Just to look at my car. (Of course he made a quick stop to see my darling niece in Lehi on the way. Shout out to my sister Shantel and her husband David for making such a cute little girl!)

When my Dad made it to my apt my boyfriend Blake was already there looking my car over.
Right when my father arrived, he looked in my engine and found a giant crack on the side of my radiator. My Dad laid out my options for me and they all made it so I wouldn't have my car for at least a few days. Which is unfortunate because how else would I get to work. Blake was kind enough to offer his car to me for the days my vehicle would be out of commission, which was so nice of him, but either way I was pretty bummed.

My Dad said he would make a quick call to a local auto parts store, so I gave him the number of my favorite O'Riley's (yes I have a favorite auto parts store). Amazingly enough, they happened to have a radiator, for the model of my car, in stock which seriously was a miracle.
We hurried on over to the store and after looking over two different radiators, getting advice from a random man, and purchasing everything we would need to get the job done, we were back in my apartment complex's parking lot.

My dad really is one of the most talented men I know. Not only can he sew and cook very well, but he is extremely skilled when it comes to vehicles. Within 30 minutes, my Dad, with the help of Blake (I just held the flashlight) removed my old radiator, and installed my new one!

 I am so blessed to have my family living so close to me. I don't know what I would have done if my Dad hadn't have been so awesome and driven down to help me out. I am grateful to have such a good relationship with my father and I hope he will always know I think he is one of the most amazing men in the world!