is this even college?

This week has been a crazy blur. The water broke here at Badger Creek, so we stayed at a ranch for a few days about a half hour away, and basically just relaxed in the green grass and wheat fields because there was no internet to do homework. But the water is fixed now. And hopefully permanently, because this isn't the first time that's happened up here...

I don't think I've ever seen so many wheat fields before. Not that we have a ton of them in Washington, but these fields make me terribly homesick. I can't tell if it's a good or bad thing.

Lo and I explored the ranch at night and discovered these haystacks and proceded to dance on them and then take photos:

And then I edited them a bunch.

The land that BYUI owns here is huge! So we discover something new everyday:

And then we come up with semi-crazy ideas like sleeping on the things we discover in 30 degree weather where we are completely open to the wilderness prone to bears and moose:

In the middle of the night, we heard a huge pack of coyotes that were howling what seemed like less than 30 feet away. Pretty incredible/scary/cool experience.

note to self: I still can't get over how amazing it was to sleep on that deck. Ginny saw her first shooting star and it happened to be the biggest shooting star I've seen in my life! Not kidding, the sky here guarantees at least one shooting star a night. I think we might sleep under the stars agin tonight. Is this even college?

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a little taste of Quest.

Yesterday we had our first hike... a fourteen mile hike! We left at around 7 in the morning (which by the way it's getting way too cold here way too fast; pretty sure that Rexburg is going to skip fall and go right to winter) and drove about an hour away to Palisade.

The cliffs and boulders along the river had so much texture and were basically screaming "climb me!"... but I resisted. And these moose were amazing. I loved watching them in their natural habitat making their loud noises and taking a soak in the pond and doing their thang.

Destination: this lake. I've honestly never seen a lake this color before. Green? Blue? I can't tell.

Ginny and Lo. They're wonderful.

note to self: today I got a taste of what this Quest program is all about. Hiking and "discovering yourself" and taking advantage of nature (in a good way). I'm supposed to be here right now! I'm not sure why quite yet, but I think I might discover something big here about myself or something. For now, I think I might stargaze and get some rest for another hike tomorrow...

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st. anthony sand dunes.

I'm having a ton of fun over here at the lodge, but a few friends and I from Quest wanted to get out of the cabin for the day and head over to Rexburg for an annual music festival. We met up with some friends, ate pizza and frozen yogurt, and watched local bands play.

And then we headed to the sandunes in St. Anthony....

note to self: these dunes were unreal. Nothing's better than driving back to the lodge late at night with a few grains of sand in your brain and having no idea where to go but not worrying about it at all and playing loud music and head bobbing instead. Life is good.

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badger creek.

I made it to Rexburg, Idaho! And right when I started feeling comfortable and getting my surroundings around campus, it was time to leave to head to the wilderness with 30 other people. I'll be in an area called Badger Creek for 6 weeks. It's at the base of the Teton mountains and its gorgeous. Not as green as Washington, but the endless fields and rolling plains are kind of amazing.

But first, this is the temple that's right by my apartment:

This place takes my breath every time I see it. Ima get married there someday! haha.

The D.I. in Rexburg is awesome. My friends and I from Seattle went there and came home with this:

That green couch and floral ottoman. Total: 12$.00. SO tacky that they're almost cool. It definitely adds a nice touch to the apartment.

And this is badger creek. My home for the next six weeks. The girls are staying on the second floor of this building. Its a basically two long rooms that are filled with bunk beds. On the first floor we all eat, hang out, and do homework.

Our bunk beds. I've managed to wake up and hit my head on the ceiling almost every morning.

There's about six or seven of these little cabins that the boys sleep in. They're kind of far away from the main lodge where we are at, but I almost wish I was sleeping in one of these because they're more "rustic".

To get to class every morning we have to go on a miniature hike and cross this bridge.

This is where class is. One giant room, one class a day.

Class gets out at around 12; which means we have the rest of the day to explore. So we basically slackline and hike around and make campfires at night and tell scary stories.

We live in the middle of nowhere. And I'm totally okay with it. I actually love. love. it.

note to self: I've been here for almost a week and I feel like I've known these boys and girls for years. They're just so fun. And this place here is oh so beautiful and maybe I think the Lord created it just for me to explore and enjoy. Sigh. I'm becoming more spiritual here. And I think it's a very good thing for me right now.

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and the fun begins.

A few months ago my parents bought a quaint little home in an old mining town called Wallace, Idaho. It's exactly half way between my school and home in Seattle... which will be perfect to stay with friends on the way home and to school. Mostly, my dad likes fixing up old places. We've been staying here a couple of days before heading to school, and it's been a really nice get-away to "collect" myself before school... whatever that means.

Our lovely little home.

I've been making myself shakes with reeses... everyday.

Oh, and stuffing my face with cotton candy.

The most wonderful diamond ring ever. My dream ring I think. It's vintage I believe and I've been eyeing it everyday at this market that's been going on over the weekend. I'm already looking at diamond rings... clearly I'm a BYU student. HAH!

Riding my bike around this little town is so relaxing. I really love towns like this where everyone knows everyone and the houses are from the early 1900's.

My roooom.

You know, just taking pictures in a cemetery. hehe.

This evening we finally got to Rexburg. I LOVE IT. I'm staying in a hotel tonight because I can't check into my apartment until tomorrow... and then Saturday I'm heading off into the wilderness for my outdoor program (which I'll explain more when I'm there because I'm not so sure what it's all like either!). I don't know how much or when I'll blog but I'll keep you updated I promise.

note to self: and the fun begins. It's finally here. I can't even describe my emotions right now! This year. is. going. to. be. amazing.

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