Here We Go Again! (Part 2)

Well I'm pretty much all moved in. . . I need to go grocery shopping tomorrow and finish up getting the rest of my dry food from my parent's, but I'm basically there. I'm exhausted from packing up and then unpacking, but maybe that will help me sleep better tonight. I could use a little help as I'm in a new place with COMPLETELY new people. This is going to be an adventure.

Facts:

My apartment is next to a busy road. I've already heard two different car accidents happen outside my window today. I wonder if that's a regular occurrence. . . That could be interesting.

The place held a stark resemblance to a hotel room trying too hard to feel homey, but a few pictures on the walls solved that problem marvelously.

I've met all my roommates and I think I'll like them a lot. They all seem nice.

I think, as opposed to how meals went last year, I'll be cooking for myself every night. Maybe (hopefully!) I'm wrong.

The apartment was unbearably hot until about five (a few hours after the air conditioner kicked in). It feels much better now.

I'm close to campus, which is SUPER nice! It took me a lot less time than I expected to walk there. That's a happy thing.

Aaand, it's 8:43 and I'm ready to crawl into bed right now (except, of course, for the fact that I am sticky with sweat. Which is gross).

So here's to a new semester. I look forward to all the delights and challenges it will bring.

Here We Go Again!

I'm packing once again. Thank goodness for music!

It's music like this that makes me think I can get through this laborious task of picking my life up in one place to dropping it off in another.

Here we go again! Here's to a new school year. This is certainly going to be an adventure, and for that I am grateful.

The Tetons

This post is coming a little later than I'd anticipated. Sorry about that.

The Tetons are THE most photographed mountains. And they're gorgeous so it's not difficult to understand why.

We got to go to a marina by our campsite. The water was quite low so there was only one boat, but it was still incredibly romantic.

BASICALLY, marinas are pretty much among the most romantic places ever. I love them. A lot :)

I'm Baaack!

Oh my goodness I love camping so much! It is just wonderful to sleep in a tent and be outdoors in Heavenly Father's home. Seriously, the Spirit is so strong in the mountains and it's amazing to see all that our Heavenly Father has created simply for our enjoyment.

We camped in three places: Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, and Bear Lake. So we were all over and that involved a TON of driving, but we also got to see some pretty amazing stuff. And I went a little crazy with my camera :P So I think I'll be splitting the vacation into three posts. Here we go!

Yellowstone

We decided to drive around the North loop in Yellowstone and stop at places that sounded interesting. This was our first stop. 

So there was this lake. And it was boiling. And that was kind of crazy to me.

This was another stop on the loop. I guess you had to be there. . . It was about seventeen times prettier in person.

I have no idea what this one was called. It was very steamy, though. 

Aleah playing pretend in the steam.

Parker went ahead and joined her. 

These were the Artist Paintpots. They were GORGEOUS! There were so many different colors and types of springs. If you end up in Yellowstone, make sure you visit these! 

Again, the picture does absolutely no justice. 

This was cooler in person. It was really wet mud that was bubbly; it reminded me of a witch's brew.

This pool was also in the paintpots. This was my favorite one. 

Mom, Josie, and Dad. 

This was where we stopped to eat lunch. There were people playing in the river a few minutes before the picture was taken. I didn't know you could do that.

The Grand Canyon in Yellowstone.

I was so terrified that I was going to drop my phone and never see it again!

 

Josie was sick of her car seat by this time.

Tower Falls or something like that.

Mammoth Hot Springs. Due to all the other places we stopped, we reached this area as the sun was starting to set. It made the lighting perfect!

I saw a couple of elk on the way to the bathroom.

This used to be a hot spring, but the mineral deposits created a cap. 

This looked like a waterfall made out of rock.

You can't tell in the picture, but the rock there was bright white.

This was my favorite place. I think it's called Palette Terrace or something like that. It was like a natural temple. So beautiful!

Bloom where you're planted.

 

 

Can you tell it was my favorite?

I think boardwalks are wonderful. They have a certain charm about them, don't you think?

 

I love the green!

Dad, Josie, and Aleah.

Remember how I thought two elk was impressive enough to take a picture of? Well after we got back from the springs we found fifteen!

I love the color of this one :) 

This was Spasm Springs or something. It used to erupt every three minutes on the minute, but then there was an earthquake in the 70's which created hundreds of new hot springs and threw this one out of whack. Now it erupts constantly.

Just chillin' in a tree I found.

Parker, too.

Even Josie found a spot. 

This is the tree without people in it. We did get a picture with the whole family and dubbed it as our family tree (haha), but that picture was on a different camera. 

And of course, if you're in Yellowstone, you absolutely must stop by and see Old Faithful. It really is an impressive sight to see it erupt, and we were lucky enough to see it erupt twice!

And that was Yellowstone. I'll do the Tetons and Bear Lake in a few days :)