Life Lessons: Happiness

Oh yikes. I was thinking back on everything that happened this past semester and thought: shoot, I’d have to write 20 posts just to cover it all. And that’s just not going to happen people. I’ll admit I kind of forgot about updating y’all on my life’s crazy adventures. I also have to admit that I’m not really sad about that. I was too busy just enjoying life to write about it. And you know, I think that’s a pretty darn good reason. Thanks for understanding. :)

As the title suggests, I learned a lot about happiness this semester, and it’s been the most wonderful life lesson I’ve learned so far. Seriously, these past four months have been the best months of my life. I have been blessed with some of the most amazing friendships; I finally have purpose and direction in my life; I’m in the number one Masters of Accounting program in the United States; I signed an internship offer with Ernst & Young in San Jose; and I’ve met one incredible man and his equally incredible family. I don’t mention all these things to brag about the blessings in my life. Instead, I want to show how blessed and joyful and happy your life is when you allow God to be part it. That’s not to say I haven’t had my fair share of trials and challenges. Let’s be honest, sometimes life just sucks. But knowing the Savior and understanding His Atonement gives you a whole new perspective on the purpose of those challenges and empowers you to endure them with a smile on your face. I promise you, even when you’re facing challenges in your life you can be happy.

Why? Because that’s what the Gospel is all about. It’s the pathway of happiness through this life. From my own experience I know that is true. I look back on my life (as short as it’s been so far, I know) and the times when I have veered from the Gospel path I have been considerably less happy. For two years I didn’t know what my purpose was. I felt lost and generally alone. There was no motivation to better myself. For two years I pushed God out of my life. Sure, I went through the motions and put on appearances for the sake of others, but not because I really felt it in my heart or even believed it in my mind. I wasn’t a bad person. I didn’t seek out bad things. But I wasn’t letting God or the Savior be part of my life either and I wasn’t happy.

Steering back onto the Gospel path, allowing the Savior to heal those wounds, and not fighting God’s path for me anymore has brought inexplicable joy back into my life. That, my friends, is the secret to happiness. No matter what comes your way, you can sail through the good and the bad with joy in your heart. God’s path, His Gospel, His plan of happiness is how you will find happiness both in this life and the life after. What is His path? What is the purpose of His path? What is the end goal? Nothing short of perfection. His path is one of ultimate perfection. It’s the way to become like Him and our Savior, Jesus Christ. And the best part about it? We don’t walk that path alone. We can’t walk that path alone. Both God and Christ are right there on either side of each of us, helping us reach the perfection and state of happiness they desire for every one of us. It’s a life-long pursuit, even an after-life pursuit, and one that brings purpose, direction, and happiness to my life as I develop personal relationships with God and my Savior.

To sum up: happiness is not an end goal in itself, but a natural by-product of a much greater end goal. As I strive to follow His path, I’ve found that happiness naturally follows. We aren’t meant to know all things in this life. Sometimes I find myself asking why, because I can’t see the end from the beginning. Sometimes it takes a great amount of faith to walk that path, but I am putting my faith in Someone who never fails. Things always work out.

This post went a completely different direction than I originally intended (think: long post about what I did this semester, rather than what I learned), but as I looked back and reflected on this semester, and this entire year, this is what I thought about. Like I said, it’s the most wonderful lesson of my life so far, and I look forward to learning and progressing toward even greater happiness that is to come.

Canyoneering, with guns...

Ohhhh, the joy of Labor Day. We get into the first week of school and we’re already ready for a break. Thank you workers of America for being so awesome that you deserve a holiday. And it’s always one of the most fun weekends of the year. Freshman year I floated the Provo River, the next year I went to Bear Lake for jet skiing, and last year I went up to Park City with my fam. This year we topped them all, yet again. A) I got to spend it with one of my best friends. B) We got to spend it in the mountains. What more could you ask for? And just like every other year, it was super last minute on my part. Candice’s friend Adam already had everything planned and Candice was going with him and a bunch of his friends. I jumped on board Saturday night. I don’t know what it is about that weekend, but it brings out the spontaneity in me.

After scrambling around Sunday after church (mostly on my part), we left at 5:30 for Zion’s National Park, down in southern Utah. There were eight of us in two cars.  Our car listened to this incredible fireside called “Conversion of a Catholic” by Bill Carpenter. Hoooooly cow. If you want a big dose of feel-really-good-about-the-Gospel-and-about-life-and-miracles, look that talk up. Wow. So we were feeling pretty great when we stopped to stay the night. On the side of the road. In the middle of nowhere. There was this nice little dirt lot off the side of the highway we were taking over to the park. Someone set up a little tent, another slept in their car, and the rest of us laid out a tent to use as a tarp and slept under the stars. It was a perfect night and you could see everything. I love the sky, especially away from all the light pollution. Then it really comes alive. We talked for a while, just soaking it in. I can’t help but fall in love with the earth, over and over again, every time I get to spend some time with it. I know that sounds kinda cheesy, but it’s so true. I always always feel rejuvenated after an outdoor adventure, even if I’m physically exhausted.

We woke up around 6:00am to head into the park and pick up our pass at 7:00. Then we piled everyone into one car and drove up to the trailhead of Orderville Canyon, which is actually outside Zion’s but you hike down into Zion’s. So for those of you who are wondering what the heck canyoneering is, according to Wikipedia it is “traveling in canyons using a variety of techniques that may include other outdoor activities such as walking, scrambling, climbing, jumping, abseiling (rappelling), and/or swimming” (I didn’t know “scrambling” was an outdoor activity of its own). You only take one car to the trailhead because you just hike down the canyon. If your hike includes some rappels, which ours did, you can’t get back up, unless you brought some trad gear. Eleven miles was enough of a hike on its own anyway, even though this downhill was much nicer to us than Timp.

We started the hike around 8:30 and finished around 5:00pm. So a good eight and a half hours spent in one of the most beautiful places ever. Canyons are so majestic. You’ve got these beautiful rock walls towering over you on either side. The red rock plus the green trees plus the blue sky equals perfection. None of my pictures do it justice. It’s just something you have to experience. We probably hiked a good five miles before a stream started forming. We did rappel down into some nasty water the first time. I went down barefoot so I didn’t have to get my shoes all yucky (I knew I should have bought those chocos…) and I sank into about six inches of mud and who knows what else on the bottom of this pool that went up past my waist. So fun though. There were two rappels total, neither of them very high. We hiked down waterfalls and swam through some parts of the now river and eventually hooked up with the Narrows, one of the sites in Zion’s. It was a super nice hike. It was the perfect temperature the whole way, thanks to the shade. The water was nice and cool, but not cold, and it was fun to play in. We saw this big owl and mountain goats and lizards and frogs. Such a good day. All I know is my future family is going to looooooove these kind of adventures, because we’re going to be doing a lot of them.

The yummy water we got to rappel into.

The girls.

Once we made it to the Narrows trailhead there was a free shuttle to take us back to the visitors center so we could get the other car. Now the only problem was that we had put basically all our stuff in this car. And there were eight of us. I don’t know how we did it, but we fit all of us and all of our stuff in that car and made it, without incident, back to the car at the trailhead. We didn’t get back until about 1:00am and I didn’t get to bed until 2:00. And as always, 8:00am class. That also seems to happen every Labor Day weekend. I’m seeing a pattern here. But it’s worth it every time.

In other news, this past Friday I went shooting for the first time! That’s right, real guns. I was so excited. And it was so fun. Our (whenever I say “our” or “we” I’m usually referring to Candice and I) friend Jarren is in the Army and he has a .22, .45, and some military rifle. He brought a couple friends and the five of us went out to Lincoln’s Point with an old microwave that needed to be destroyed. And destroy it we did. Now that I have most of my rock climbing gear, I think I’d like to buy a gun next and add shooting to my collection of favorite hobbies. Not kidding. A concealed weapons permit will be in the works soon. Creepers, you’ve been warned.

Other than that, I’m now two and a half weeks into another semester. Meaning I only have twelve and a half more to go. Yes, I’m already counting down. Habit. I actually really like all my classes so far. I feel like I’m learning useful, real-world things. It’s less conceptual, more practical, and a whole lot more interesting. Plus I get to go hangout with my friends in class all day. Gotta love it. It’s going to be a great semester, I just know it. Life is so great and I am so thankful for everything and everyone that is a part of it. I’ve never been so happy in my entire life. I have nothing to fear or worry about. I know my life is in good Hands.

High on a Mountaintop (round 2)

I only say round two because I have a blog post back from my European adventures titled the exact same thing. I’m so original, I know. But it’s just so fitting. Also, that’s one of my favorite hymns, so maybe I just like using the name. Anyway, the first post was all about hanging out in the Alps in Germany. You know, every day stuff for me. Round two takes place right here in Provo’s backyard. And this time I really did climb the mountain. No cheating here, although if there were a gondola, I probably would have taken it down the mountain.

So I’ve been living in Provo now for almost three years and I had yet to hike Mount Timpanogos. What is wrong with me? That’s something everyone is supposed to do within their first year. It’s almost as cliché as hiking the Y. I remember back before coming to BYU (sooooo long ago) that Uncle Scott told me hiking Timp was one of the first things I should do. And then I was supposed to do it again at the end of the school year because it would be so much easier now that I was used to the altitude. Well, Scotty, I finally did it. I finally conquered that mountain.

View from BYU campus. Courtesy of Google.

 The ordeal began at 1:30am, Wednesday morning of August the fifteenth in the year of our Lord two thousand and twelve. I want to make sure that’s really well documented. There were ten of us: Candice, Jen, her friend Taylor, myself, Kyle, and five of his friends. Let me tell you, perfect time to go hike a mountain. It doesn’t get hot! We all had our flashlights or headlamps and up we went. Besides a couple steep parts that lasted maybe two minutes, the hike was actually pretty easy. You gain almost 5,000 feet in elevation from the trailhead, but you wind your way up the mountain over 6.4 miles so it’s a slow gain. Ok, the first mile is always hard because you’re getting into the groove, but once you’re in, man you can go for hours. And that’s just what we did. I think it took us like four and a half hours to reach the saddle (even with all the “detours” we ended up taking), which is where you can look out over all of Utah Valley, and apparently on a good day you can see all the way up to the Salt Lake. That’s where a lot of people go to watch the sunrise.

Utah Valley

We stopped for a little while but got impatient waiting for the sun to peek out, so all but two of Kyle’s friends started the climb to the summit, which takes another 30 to 45 minutes. That trail is on the western face of the mountain so we missed the actual sunrise, but it was close enough when we got to the top. The view is always worth the climb. It’s beautiful up there. So quiet. So peaceful. So serene. I wanted to stay up there all day and just think. I am definitely not meant for the city. There has to be some mountains nearby where I can escape to like this.

After signing our names on the little shack that’s up there (it used to be used for triangulation purposes) and documenting our victory with pictures, we started our long trek down the mountain. We stopped at the saddle again to gear up for the next few hours and made some friends with a herd of mountain goats. Just hanging around by the trail like it’s no big deal. Showing off how great they are at climbing rocks. It was pretty cool to see them so close. Oh my gosh, why oh why is the hike down so miserable? I was so pumped and full of energy when I got to the top. You’d think I’d be dead since I just walked UPHILL for five hours, carrying a 20lb backpack (I had lots of water, and my Nikon of course, oh, and a giant notebook). Downhill is supposed to be easy and relaxing. Haha, no. Your knees basically scream at you the entire way and now that you can actually see the trail you realize how far you still have to go. It’s torture really. I wish I were just being dramatic, but I’m not. It’s super hard on your body and your mind. But the hike was still worth it. I’d do it again, but I’ll definitely take an airlift out of there next time.

Fellow mountain men/women.

We were done by 12:30 pm, so we came in under twelve hours. Wow, I basically hiked a half marathon on about 20 minutes of sleep. The whole day before I had planned to take a nap, but you know how that never works out. Clearly, I’m just super hard core. Or not, according to the last paragraph. Poor Candice is never coming hiking with me again! I’ve ruined her knee. About a mile into the hike down her knee started really hurting. She said it hurt so much she just wanted to cut her leg off. Yikes! So that was a very long, painful hike. And we almost ran out of water and collapsed on the trail and baked in the summer heat and we could have lain there for hours before someone found us nearly dead. Ok, now I’m just being dramatic. We were fine. Candice was just in a lot of pain. But she made it. Obviously, she’s the real hard core one.

In other news, yesterday I was on another mountaintop, this one symbolic. I went to my first temple open house at the Brigham City Temple, which is where the general public can take a tour before the temple is dedicated. I wish I could accurately describe my excitement and wonder as I walked through. The temple is such a wonderful place and I can’t wait to go through for myself. For those of you who aren’t familiar with temples, they are places where Latter-day Saints go to feel closer to God and to make covenants, or promises, with Him. They are places where families are sealed together for time and all eternity, and where ordinances, like baptism, are performed for the dead who were not able to receive those ordinances in this life. They are places of peace. They are places of great inspiration. They are places of love and happiness, and I am so grateful to have one just down the street.

Well, school starts on Monday. Where the heck did my summer go? I think I made the most of it though, and honestly, I’m so ready to be back in school. I want to feel like I’m moving forward again. I’ve got four semesters left. Over halfway there. I can do this!!!

Real Summer

As opposed to what, fake summer? No, it’s just that this has been my first summer since high school that I’ve done exactly what you’re supposed to do during the summer. You know travel, explore, lie by the pool, maybe earn a little money at a part time job. The last two summers I’ve worked full time. Great experience, but man I’ve been missing out!! Seriously, this summer has been the best yet, even though I “stayed” in Provo. I’ve managed to make it to most of western North America: California, Canada, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. I’ve been keeping up on climbing, and there’s more of that to come. Definitely got a tan. I’m pretty sure this is the most tan I’ve ever been. Thank you high altitudes and never ending sunshine, although I’m digging the clouds as of late. I guess you could say that I’m living the life.

I’ve already filled you in on California, Canada, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. That was early summer. Then things got super crazy in July. I was gone for two and a half weeks straight! It’s a good thing I have such an awesome job that makes doing that so easy.

The next great adventure was Idaho. The car was not so full this time (there were only four of us and we weren’t going camping), but that drive, oh that drive. It never gets any easier. You spend most of it in the barren wastelands of southern Idaho and southern Montana (sorry if that offends anyone, but let’s be honest). Once you hit Missoula though, then it starts to get enjoyable. Then you see signs of life again, trees and lakes and mountains. Then I feel like I’m home again. Candice, Phil, Kyle, and I made the long trek Monday before the fourth. Looking back at the blog, I thought I did a post on what it’s like to spend the Fourth of July with my family, but it turns out I didn’t. Boy, you’re in for a treat today! Let me fill you in.

It all begins in the morning. Some mornings earlier for others. Coeur d’Alene has their parade every year on the fourth, and my family has staked out the same spot for as long as I can remember. Usually the night before someone goes down and drops chairs off to claim the shady spot on the grass right on the curb, then some of us go down early to lay out blankets. Now for those of you who know us well, we are a very musical family, so a good portion of us are actually in the parade, in the marching band called the Perfection-Nots. Basically, everyone dresses up in costumes and no previous marching experience is needed. I’m actually part of this group, although I’m not playing with them. Grandpa Bob can’t march the parade – it’s a lot of walking – so for the past five or so years, I’ve been his nurse and pushed him in the parade. It’s quite the workout, and my face usually hurts from smiling so much, but it’s fun and it’s good time spent with one of my favorite people.

After the parade we head out to Sunbar for the rest of the day. We play on the lake, roast an entire pig for dinner (this year it was 100lbs!), and have our own firework show. Usually the day before a couple people head over to Montana to get the good stuff. Go big or go home! This year we added to the fun with a Roman candle war. Phil’s friend Matt and his fiancé were there, so we went down with Candice and Kyle to a dock floating in the middle of the lake and shot flaming balls of explosives at each other. No big deal. But not before poor Matt and Haliaka tipped over in their canoe ride out to the dock. Better protection from the fire I guess. But they also had the fireworks with them. Luckily, Matt had a waterproof bag that kept them mostly dry. It made things more interesting. You never knew when your weapon would decide to go off. Yeah, I think I’ll be doing that again. Sooooo much fun.

Probably my favorite picture of the trip. Kyle, I don't think you're doing it right.

Loved hanging out with my family. I’m a pretty lucky girl to have such wonderful people in my life. Even if we are a little crazy sometimes.

The next week and a half was spent in Texas and San Jose at leadership conferences with Deloitte, PwC, and KPMG. At the end of the month I went back to San Jose for EY’s. They were all pretty fun, I met some great people, and I got a little taste of the different cultures. That’s really all I’m going to say about them. Recruiting starts again in September and by October I’ll know who I’ll be interning for this coming winter. Hard to believe it’s almost that time already.

Everything is bigger in Texas.

Tesla Model S. Completely electric. 0-60 mph in 4.4 seconds.

Hanging out at Google!

The last adventure of the summer was to Montana. Holy cow it was a whirlwind (there Friday evening, left Sunday afternoon), but you can’t go wrong when my family is involved. Every couple years we have a family reunion of sorts in Bigfork, MT and it’s always a blast. Even the drive there was pretty amazing. Ok, we had to endure the wastelands again, but once we got off the interstate in Montana and started on the state highways up through the national forests, oh my gosh, breathtaking. I found myself at home once again. We had a little delay due to an accident that backed up traffic, but that was totally fine with us (obviously not the fact that the accident happened, but the break it afforded). It was nice to stand up and goof off, for the entertainment of everyone around us I’m sure. Crazy kids from Utah. We drove the rest of the way with the windows down and the music blasting. It seemed like such a good idea at the time, but not so much when I tried to untangle my hair afterward. Oops. Still, I’d do it again.

Bodacious wind hair. Who needs a stylist?

We camped right on the shore of Flathead Lake, in this palace of a tent. Uncle Ken kept saying you could fit a whole platoon in there and I’d agree with that. It was HUGE. We had the perfect spot on the shore to see the sky and watch some of the meteor shower for the two nights we were there. It wasn’t even the peak nights and we still saw some amazing ones. We spent Saturday eating, playing in the lake, eating some more, walking around downtown, and eating even more. Seriously, by the time dinner was over I was vowing to never eat again. You will never go hungry in my family. How do we all manage to stay so thin? We must be blessed on both accounts.

Huckleberry ice cream is the best. Ever. Always.

On Sunday, Candice and I attended the ward in the area. That was probably one of the biggest wards I’ve been to; we filled chairs all the way to the back of the cultural hall. Not bad for a small little town in northern Montana. A returned sister missionary was one of the speakers in Sacrament meeting. Now that I’m almost 21, I’ve thought a lot about serving a mission, but I honestly feel like that is not in God’s plan for me. I feel like serving a mission would be good, and I would do a lot of good as a missionary. But the Lord has something else in mind for me, where I can do even more good. I have no clue what that is, but I know He does, and I trust in the direction He wants my life to go. So I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing. I feel like that is the right path and I know God will help me make any needed adjustments along the way, and I know He will give me the needed strength to go where He would have me go. His grace and love is never ending.

And that sums up my travels this summer. I caught the travel bug when I went to Europe and it seems to have struck again this summer. Clearly, I don’t mind. Although, traveling can be exhausting. It’s been nice just to sit back and relax in Provo too. In my down time I’ve been rock climbing with Candice. Lots of climbing. Lead climbing is getting easier, and less scary, but I haven’t taken a fall yet. Hopefully that doesn’t make me too reckless… haha, yeah right. When have I ever been reckless (says the girl who participated in shooting fireworks at each other)? I’ve had lots of time to go to the temple. Sometimes I get in there and never want to come out. I could sit there forever just thinking and feeling so peaceful. And it’s such a great place to study and seek inspiration. Someday I want to be one of those little grandmas that works in the temple all the time. Dream job! Work has been fabulous. I’ve also been going to the gym, getting ready for the Dirty Dash in September. Not that that’s anything compared to the Tough Mudder, but it will be great fun and you will definitely see a post on that.

Alrighty. I’m officially caught up. So many adventures. So much fun. So much happiness. So many blessings. So much life. Love it.