What doesn't kill us...makes us stronger...and a little sore.

In order to make a more perfect record of my life, I have decided I need to add more ins and outs of my life to this blog. For some of these ins and outs I need to just write facts and feelings and not worry about sentence structure, wit, or entertainment value. I want them to be purely for memory sake...this might be one of those posts.:-)
The most pressing thing going on in my life at this moment is Girls Camp. It was all I could do to stop myself from bursting out in laughter (or tears) when the Bishop called me to be the Camp director this year, but I have actually enjoyed it so far....(we haven't actually gone camping yet, but the planning to camp part has been fun. ) Our first big out-doorsie experience has been our hike. We headed up to the canyon early one morning to do what I thought would be a leisurely little hike up to a pretty water fall. Boy, was I wrong! It was hard! (and I don't think it was only because I was pregnant...even the younger, skinnier, more in-shape leaders thought it was hard too!) It was a only about four miles round trip, but with the steep, rocky path it felt like twice that. But, as with all hard things in life, we all came away with a great feeling of accomplishment at the end.
I loved that the hike was hard. I hope all the girls who participated felt the same inspirations that I did. It's so easy to find parallels to the gospel in nature. First of all, a big one for me was enduring to the end. It was especially easy see the comparisons as we reached the end, and MOST difficult leg of the hike. It was very steep and completely covered in rocks. There was one point when we had to set little goals for ourselves. "Ok, let's just make it to that rock up there, and we will rest." It was also great to have the encouragement from other hikers coming down the path. They were strangers to us, but they all inspired us to keep going by saying things like, "You are almost there!", "Don't give up!" And right at the point I didn't think I couldn't take another step, I was there.
One of the best parts about the hike was that Casie was there with me. At one point she was walking behind me. I was very careful of where I stepped because I knew she would most likely take the same path I had taken. I couldn't help but think of the talk given in General Conference about how much Mom's influence their daughters. My love for my daughter grew so much on that hike.
Ok, now that I mentioned Casie, I can't help but tell a funny story about her. First of all, I take full responsibility for handicapping my daughters in the ways of visiting mother nature...in nature. It truly is a learned art. An art that my daughters have never had to learn because their parents aren't campers. All of our out door experiences have been centered around access to the facilities. Needless to say, when nature called Casie on our hike, she wasn't prepared to answer that call...(yes, I am a dork) So, when she got to the point of complete misery, Casie finally took the advice of those who were well skilled in the art of nature peeing, (which they graciously demonstrated in a hilarious manner) Casie sulked off into the bushes. As she emerged and verified that she had indeed "done the deed", we all cheered for her...(which I am sure she hated) All she had to say was, "I hate nature." We laughed and told her that she earned her "Nature calls" badge.
I am still working on a Gospel parallel for this part of the journey.
Ok, so we finally made it to the waterfall, and it was BEAUTIFUL. We were all sweating like dogs, and the cool mist was heaven! We sat and ate our lunch and took a much needed rest.
Now to get off the mountain......
I think I was too busy trying not to break my ankles to receive too many inspirations on the way down. But with Casie feeling better, she finally started enjoying her surroundings. I decided we could take our time and let her enjoy snapping some pictures. The rest of the group went up ahead, and we leisurely strolled down searching for wild flowers. Although I don't consider myself a camper, I truly consider myself a lover of the outdoors. I am amazed at the beauty that surrounds us. Even in my own neighborhood, not a day goes by that I am not grateful for the beautiful place that we live in. I love the mountains. I am excited to go to girls camp and hopefully leave the day to day worries behind for a while and just enjoy being outside. I am grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who provided us with gorgeous places in which we can escape. :-)

This is us...with no clue of what lie ahead. Don't we look so fresh and clean?

The joys of enduring to the end. Yes we are sweaty, but it was worth it!

Some of Casie's nature photo's on the hike down.

I wish I would have taken a picture of us all sacked out at the trail head after the hike was over. Just picture 15 very tired girls eating Oreos and feeling pretty proud of themselves. :-)