Perfect Playlist

I love music that makes me want to dance & sing; I love songs that remind me of my own life; and I love songs with creative lyrics. Since I am just bored at work, I made my perfect summer playlist :) Some of these artists aren't really mainstream, so if you've never heard them before, look them up!

The Hat. Ingrid Michaelson

Bruises. Chairlift

The Show. Lenka

Give Into Me. Garrett Hudlund & Leighton Meester

Far Away. Ingrid Michaelson

In the Deep. Adele

Two Feet of Top Soil. Brad Paisley

It's Only Life. Kate Voegele

Wide Open. Jason Aldean

Modern Nature. Sondre Lerche

Picture. Kid Rock & Cheryl Crow

Keep the Girl. Jason Aldean

Iceberg. Owl City

So You Say. The Bird & The Bee

Save Yourself. James Morrison

T.G.I.F. Katy Perry

She Said. Stephan Jerzak ft. Leighton Meester

Within 2 days I went to work, finished 2 books, played mini-golf, roasted hot dogs, watched movies via projector in backyards, went 4-wheeling, crossed a river, had a great 7 peaks experience, tried a new Chinese Restaurant, and played whiffle-ball.

I love summer.

Books I finished: The Peacegiver, Believing Christ

Chinese Food: Fortune Cookie...highly recommended!

Sliding Rock

Like most of us, I have this summer list... things to do/accomplish/learn etc. before school starts again. The first thing on my list of adventures was sliding rock in Alpine. For those of you who haven't done this, there is this little waterfall up in Alpine, UT that is a natural waterslide. I have been there before and it was a blast but I didn't remember exactly how to get there. I figured it would be a good thing to do since the weather was wonderful; the first day of SUMMER!

At about 5:00 Ryann, Gavin, and I drove to the trailhead and started hiking. Poor Ryann only had flip-flops. We got to the end of the road and there were 2 trails. I hate making decisions. There is a small trail that goes north and a big trail that was blocked by 2 boulders. Naturally, we chose the trail that was blocked. We hiked close to a mile and decided that we probably should have taken the other trail. We backtracked a lot and finally found where we wanted to be.

Because this is what the waterfall usually looks like, this is what we were expecting:

Due to the massive amounts of rain Utah has received this year, this is what the waterfall looked like on Tuesday:

We went down the slide once, somehow lived, and received our dose of adrenaline. I will definitely be hitting this place up again when the water is lower!

If you want to try it out for yourself, it is awesome in July and August. Anyone over the age of 8 could do it when the water is normal. I have heard of kids younger than 8 riding on their parents' laps. You can't live in Utah or Salt Lake counties and pass this up!

Directions

Take the Alpine/Highland exit off I-15 and turn left (north) on Alpine Highway. If you are coming from the South, take an American Fork exit and head north on 100 East, this road turns into Alpine Highway. Turn left (west) on Fort Canyon. The address is 1800 N Fort Canyon Road. If you stay on Fort Canyon, you will go straight into someone's driveway. Right before this driveway, there is a smaller road that forks to the right, take this. Park by the No Trespassing sign. Apparently it isn't trespassing. Walk through that gate and up the road until the road ends. (This is about a mile long hike.) From this point, you can either hike east, past the 2 big rocks, or North on the little trail. GO NORTH. The waterfall is about 30 yards from there. If you go east, you will find a pond with a popular hill and bike jump. I have seen guys do this and it is sweet, but I have never tried it.

If you do go on this adventure, in JULY or AUGUST, let me know how you like it! Also, if you have anything I should add to my summer list, please post it. I am always looking for fun stuff like this :)

Introducing

My Family!

It's a big one, so it's a long post!

They are such a huge part of my life, it disappoints me how little I blog about them. So. In order to tell stories about them, I will tell a little about who they are.

Dad. Some call him Matt.

Anyone who knows my dad knows his love for sports, especially golf and basketball, but really anything. He is and always has been so supportive of his kids' teams and has coached all of us in one sport or another. He graduated from BYU in accounting, worked at Arthur Anderson for a while, then partnered with someone he met at KPMG to create an accounting firm- King and McCleary. He has been so great to let my sister and I work there when we are in need of jobs!

Mom. a.k.a. Raelynn.

She IS supermom. No one gets it- how she does as much as she does as perfect as she does it. I could go on for a few pages, but really, supermom sums it up.

Me- I won't write about me, this is just where I fit in :)

Megan. She is a sophomore at BYU. She likes to act like she is kind of high maintenance and demanding but those who know her best know that she is super sweet. I am jealous of how talented she is at sports and how great she is with little kids.

Jordan (17), Everyone else calls him "D." I like to brag that my little brother is a basketball star at Riverton high school He has always been a natural at any sport he tries. I hate it when girls dressed like skanks take him on dates. I love it when cute and nice girls do. 

Jake (15) is one of the funniest kids I have ever met! Seriously, the one liners he mutters under his breath, I don't know where he gets them from. He was class president for 2 years at Oquirrh Hills Middle School. I love seeing him read his scriptures and say his prayers at night!

Maci (12). There are no words to describe the energy that Maci has. Always. She is the feistiest, spunkiest little thing. She either loves something or hates something and is obsessed with it either way. Since day 1 she has just tried to compete and keep up with her older brothers and needless to say, they are pretty threatened by her. She loves sports, kids, the boy down the street, Jimmer, and cute clothes. As an 11 year old, she created her own business and has more income than most of us. Check out her blog!

Morganne. She is the cutest little girl, and probably the most spoiled too. After 3 iTouch's our parents realized that she is indeed, 7. The past 4 years she has gone from being a dog, a cheetah, a lion, and Morganne pretending to be a dog, cheetah, or lion. She has hundreds of stuffed animals that she plays with every day and she watches animal planet every morning. This little girl is evidence of karma- our parents never got us a pet.

Anyways, these people make me so happy! They are so much better to me than I am to them and I love them so much!

I love the creator of sports!

Something about a ball

Despite the disappointment of losing or the embarrassment of a mistake,

something about what you can do with a ball makes it so worth it.

With your hands, feet, a bat, a stick, or a glove,

How you kick it, catch it, throw it, hit it, or shoot it.

The injuries, the salty skin, the uniform tan lines.

So worth it.

The competition, the heavy breathing, the cramps in your calves.

Few things are better than seeing yourself and your team improve in what they can do with a ball.

I may never be the best at any sport, but playing with a ball is still

So. Worth it.

F.P.O.D.

(eff-p-aw-d)

1. Favorite person of the day.

2. A random person who makes your day just that much better.

3. An intangible award given to someone who makes Maddy & I laugh.

*Feel free to use the term, just don't claim it as your own.

Previous Winners

JoAnna- Treated us like her kindergarteners.

Kevin- He's so big that little kids don't know what to do with him.

Kid who waved his wand at us in Costa Rica

Doug- We saw him at the bus stop 4 nights in a row.

Blake Julian- See 2 posts down (The Bach)

Nacho up there

The guy who tows Maddy's bug every month.

Want to see your name on the list?

Do something cool

We're not that hard to please

:)