Reflections on summer

I had an incredible summer. Here is a monster post about it, for those interested parties.

It began with the final notes of an "amen". Listen to this (or listen to the full Lux Aeterna if you have half an hour.)

In May, I got to sing the entire 30-minute work. In a choir. With an orchestra.
The following day, I flew to Utah.

My poor room... so messy. This was taken at like 1:00am the night before I left.

 Simmy and I waited in anxious anticipation for the day when we would go to Elevation...

...and then that day actually dawned. o.0

...That's our luggage. This is our car-top carrier. Courtesy of Mr. Dale.

I had some pretty incredible experiences and first times, like climbing a rock wall...

My first climb. Can you tell I'm a bit insecure up there? ;D

I DID IT. First time I ever experienced the end-of-climb elation that's like no other feeling, ever.

 ...and getting more advanced archery training...

Yup. I'm lethal.

 ...and meeting many of my best friends and mentors for the first time...

{insert a bajillion pictures of me and my friends that never got taken}

AAAAHHHH!!! Mandy!

Nando and I. Being amazing. And making the same face by accident.

Yoshiiiii! And her strokable hat!

Monkey/Jess!

One of my amazing mentors. I love this guy.

 ...who are people unafraid of their own fabulosity. :D

Epitome of someone who isn't afraid to be utterly fabulous. A.K.A Andrew. :D

*No comment* ;)

 I also met new people and made new friends...

Sarge. Legitimately the only person I know who can look epic while cooking pasta on a camp stove.

Wellesley!

Belle!

 ...And did things I never thought I'd be able to do, like the Williamsburger--a run/ascend/climb/swim competition.

Messages of love all over my arms for the Williamsburger!

Over that week, I underwent so much change. I came to understand that strength isn't necessarily something that we know we have before we actually try. There are things that we think we can never, ever do, and then we try, and we succeed. I learned that the only way I dare go through this life is without regretting anything. I don't want to regret things. I learned about myself, and how to be kind to myself and treat me right. So many things I experienced and came to understand that I can't even begin to go into it.

And all too soon, it was over and we went back to civilization.

And then we had Jayson and Wells over and stuck bananas in our ears. A coping mechanism. ;)

Pretending not to have post-Elevation blues... and we rock it. ;)

And then I got on a plane... and went home.

These two. <3 So much love.

A bare couple weeks later, I went to LDSHE--the first place since childhood where I'd really felt at home among my peers.

*So much joy*

SVU from the Lofts

The lovely and amazing bringer-about of Homeschool Conference-Sis. Brimhall!

Good fun, as only homeschoolers do it. ^_^

Little brother! Exceptnotreallybutalmost!

Garrett!

Yes, my LDSHE pictures are with boys. Leave me alone. (; I got them with girls, but those pictures didn't turn out well...

But that, too, soon ended and I returned home.

Girls camp was the next adventure.

This is our skit. In this picture, you can see myself and Alex, the girl who made Camp what it was for me this last year. Couldn't've made it through the week without you, girl. <3 And yes--this is the only girls camp pic I'm including. Also, notice my shirt.

Not too long after that, Simmy came to visit me (you know...rather than the other way around)!
 

Forgive the fact that we look like a mess. We just spent 5+ hours in the car, and were about to spend 2 more. Plus she was about to leave. So...yeah.

Note: these pictures are out of order, because we took these right before she left.

We went to youth conference together as well...

Our crazy company! And Simm and I on the far right

Then we went to the Hill Cumorah pageant and Simmy went home.

It was the middle of July, so probably time for my summer adventures to end, right?
WRONG!

Unexpectedly, I went to Arizona. To be with these girls--my cousins!

(Don't mind the horrible camping picture of us. I think Kimberly will probably kill me for this...)

And we went camping in the gorgeous Arizona mountains.

 We were joined by their friends, who are more fantastic, amazing individuals...

I spy Preston, Johnathan, Logan, Sarah, Daniel, and Sis. Hopkins! We're doing some late-night singing. :)

Saw some very interesting natural things...

This, children, is a sinkhole.

And this is a flash flood in Arizona. This is supposed to be normal landscaping, but it was a water feature for a day. :P

The view!

This is the visitor's center for the previous picture.

 And acted like the silly goobers we are...

Daniel and Kimberly waltzing down the street. No words for how happy this made me. xD

I won't tell you how THAT happened.

:D

And generally had the time of our lives together. It was incredible. Maybe my favorite part was when we all went stargazing and just laid in the road, all of us together, and stared at the stars and talked.

{Insert tons of pictures that I'm afraid will crash my computer if included}

We all went home, partied together some more, and Kimberly, Nicole and I went ugly clothes shopping at the mall.

Then I flew away again...

To Elevation! AGAIN!

Just another reason why Veyo is one of my favorite places on earth <3

E2 (at Elevation for the second time)--no regrets.

Erica! Looking adorable, as usual. :3

Matt, Trev and Elsa--some of my podmates

The view from the rim of the canyon

The view from the floor of the canyon

Last year's pod spot! :') (Note: Yeah, it's not interesting to like anyone but our pod. :P)

This is my Solo Time Rock. I spent four hours thinking and sleeping there, and it was incredible.

A view from Solo Time

 And then there was this 5-12 that I desperately want to climb someday.

Aaron bossing those two bolts (;

 And then it, too, was over.
Like the last time I went to Elevation, I had an incredible experience, but this one was incredible in a totally different way. I learned about looking for perfection, even in imperfect circumstances. I learned about endurance. I learned about being true to myself. But even more than that, I found motivation and direction for improving myself and my life--I realized that my happiness levels tended to correspond with my levels of how true I am to myself and what I feel my mission is here on earth, and how I could fix it when both are low. That was extremely helpful and I'm still thinking of those lessons just about daily. I'm so glad I got to go again.

We drove up out of the lush, green canyon and all we could see in every direction was this...

Welcome to Southern Utah.

This coming summer, I will be in school. I can't say for certain--I've learned not to speak of my life plans in certain tones, because usually there's a better plan--but I don't think I'm going to be adventuring nearly as much. And not on the same scale. This was a CRAZY summer, and I'm so glad I have those warm memories to replay in my mind during the cold Rexburg winter. :)

It's officially gone now and this part of the world is cold and bare of leaves. Which has left me with some time to ponder.

As I said before, I had an incredible summer. I learned and grew so much. I tried new things, challenged myself, made friends, and matured lots as a person. But I'm pretty sure that the growth I underwent over the summer doesn't even begin to stack up to the exponential growth I have been going through since all this adventuring ended. They say you learn most in the debrief, and I can definitely see that in my case. I've had a chance to synthesize all this information.
At the beginning of the summer, I was still kind of a teenager. And I knew it: I looked at the classmates I was graduating with and thought, "it seems as though I missed some kind of personal growth that they went through." I no longer feel that way... it just took the summer and fall to put me through it.
I said I'd learned. Here's what I'm learning. Time for vulnerability!

I'm learning that "why" is the #1 hardest question to live with, but proceeding with a mind full of "why"s is the definition of faith. I'm learning more about judging others--I've never considered myself a very judgmental person, but I guess I am, in some ways. A lot of my coworkers have rough edges, but they're such sweet people, in spite of that. I'm re-learning about the power of a smile. :) I'm learning again to appreciate little things and to not be too impatient. I'm trying really hard to remember on the heartfelt level that I need to turn to God for help. And I'm coming by a desire to be a much better person, which is hard, but good. I'm learning that everything happens for a reason, and I'm learning to deal with the fact that I don't understand it. And I'm learning about content and long-term patience.

I won't say I don't miss the summer. The warm air, the adventures, the wild occasional rush of freedom, the friends and the experiences... but it's time for me to move on and live in the real world for a bit. So although my summer is over, I'm so glad I had it. I couldn't've asked for a better one. THANK YOU to all of you who made it possible and who made it awesome, including my parents, my Burgers, my uncle, aunt and cousins, their friends, my mentors, and many, many others. And thank you for reading this entire post. :) I love your face. Theeeeee end.