An Eye Opening Mini Vacation

               First things first: happy birthday (yesterday) to my best friend Melanie! I hope that you had such an amazing 18th Birthday and that being an adult lives up to your expectations. (Being a grown up is overrated) welcome to adulthood hooray!!

Whats a birthday without a birthday collage?!

So if you know anything about me, or if you read this blog, you know that I have a deep, burning, passionate love for Cedar City and SUU...but mostly the people that are there. Down at school I made the most incredible friends, all of whom I love and have been missing like crazy this summer. So I thought it was time for me to go down to good old Cedar City for a visit! It didn't hurt that one of my really good friends just got back from his mission and I couldn't wait to see him and hear him speak, so it was the perfect opportunity to drive myself down south for a much needed weekend of fun! First let's talk about driving down there. I was in my car by myself, which generally I absolutely dread, but for some reason, making that 3 and a half hour drive is one of my favorites. It is seriously such a peaceful drive, and it gives me serious time to think about my life and jam out like crazy without the harsh judgments' of those around me. And the anticipation of getting there is always something that makes the drive so worth it :) I got there safely, surprised my friend Kelsie, and had a lovely reunion with my favorite girls. The next day, Jade, Morgan, Mallory and I all went to the Cedar Reservoir, blew up some serious floatie rafts and floated around! It was so much fun to just spend time with some of my favorite people and get a little bit of a tan (as in a major sunburn) in the process. I got super close to fishies too. Which is a pretty big accomplishment for me because swimming with fish freaks me out. So gross.. Anyway, I am totally the person that constnantly brags about how I am blessed with my grandma young's ability to never really burn, just tan. Which, if you have seen me recently or ever, you know I am not a very tan individual, but I hardly ever burn, but my whole life my mom has told me to wear sunscreen. So I put some sunscreen on my shoulders and face and thought I would be good. NOPE. Yes, I was absolutely fried on my back. It hurt so bad too. And when I texted my mom the picture what I got in return was a big fat, THIS IS WHY I TOLD YOU TO WEAR SUNSCREEN YOUR WHOLE LIFE HALEY, and some tips on how to make it fade and not peel. So thanks for the I told you so and useful tips mom :) You're the best!

FRIED. Excuse my momentary immodesty...

               With the exception of when we were at the res, it rained and rained and rained ALL weekend long. Which i am seriously obsessed with, because the rain is my favorite weather. I want to live in Seattle for that very reason, I just love the rain so very much. And when it rains in cedar city it RAINS. I always wondered why the gutters in the road were so ridiculously deep, and I now know why. Cedar itself would float away if they weren't that way, true story. But since it was raining, Jade and I went over to my older sister Breanna and her husband Jason's house to spend some time with them! Ok so remember when we were little, and A*Teens was totally a thing? Why are they no longer a thing? Jade and I had a real good time jamming out to them in my car, you can ask Jason. He was a witness. So let's start a revolution to bring them back, because something that good should have never ended. Ever. So after we jammed out in my car, we went inside and we watched the titanic and ate banana bread, and it was a real good time. Side note: Titanic is honestly one of my favorite movies of all time. It is just so good, and it gets me every single time I watch it. Now I have seen that movie quite a few times and I had never made the connection at the very end of the movie, after she drops of the heart of the ocean back into..well the ocean...that when she is walking through the titanic and is reunited with her one true love Jack once again that she is DYING! I honestly cried so hard, I couldn't even handle myself. You have no idea, the heart strings were being pulled. ANYWAY.  If you haven't seen that movie, I am sorry to tell you that she totally dies at the end of the movie, but it is still totally worth watching. Call me up, we will make an event out of it.

Rain? No problem. No power? NO PROBLEM. Lady Date to Chilis with my bffffff :))))

This was right before a ginormous puddle blinded us. You can't tell but it was POURING. SO wonderful and so beautiful!!

All dolled up and beautiful for Daniel's homecoming! Yay church and yay missionaries coming home!! Also, we are HOT.

               Not only did I get to watch Titanic, I also saw Despicable Me 2, learned how to do the cup song, thought I was falling into the middle of the earth in my sleep, when in reality I was simply just slipping in between sofa cushions in my sleep no big deal, watching Teen beach movie and discussing the upcoming year festivities and how happy we will all be once we are reunited for good, got to see one of my oldest friends come home from his mission and got to spend time with my favorite people on the planet. This weekend it really hit me hard as to why I felt so good about choosing Southern Utah University as the university I would attend for my college education. It's because of the people I have met, and will meet, and the experiences and lessons I will gain from them. There is no such thing as coincidence, especially with the people in our lives, and that was just reiterated to me this weekend. I am seriously so blessed, and that is so apparent to me. I just really like life, I think it's swell :)

This picture is just too good to not post. I look amazing.

               One last thing before I end this shindig. I had a really eye opening experience on my drive home from my weekend of fun. I was following my sister and her husband back up north because they are currently on vacation with his family. I had whined about it, but had done it to make my mommy happy. There had been a really bad accident on I-15 and so Jason called me to tell me we would be taking the belt route home and legacy from there to hopefully eliminate some time in traffic. He made sure he knew where I was going but told me to stay close, and I am really glad I did. I am totally the person that when I am following somebody somewhere I follow every move they do. if you switch lanes, I switch lanes. Well we were on 215 heading home, almost to Legacy highway, about 20 minutes from home when we got caught in some mild traffic. Jason had gotten into the middle lane, so I too had switched over, and then he got back into the left lane. And I couldn't get back over because of the traffic. I didn't think much of it because I knew my way home really well and figured it wouldn't really matter if I got a few minutes ahead of them. I passed them, just barely and the car in front of me was coming to a stop. I tried breaking and my car wasn't stopping. So I slammed on my breaks and it still wasn't stopping, so i tried even harder and finally my car stopped, shut off, and my steering wheel locked. It may sound silly, but I had barely stopped within inches of the car in front of me, I couldn't turn my car back on and I was hyperventilating and shaking so bad that getting my emergency flashers on was a trial within itself. Luckily for me, my brother-in-law saw my face in my side view mirror and knew something was wrong and not that I just wasn't paying attention to the car in front of me. Somehow I got over to the far left and was able to put my car in park. Jason came to check on me and calm me down, a highway patrol also checked on us. It was honestly the scariest experience of my entire life. I know for a fact that the only reason things happened the way they did, the only reason I am safe and that I didn't get into a car accident and get hurt or worse, is because of a loving Heavenly Father. Just the night before I had been discussing with my best friend about how much Heavenly Father loves us and the benefits of having him bless our lives daily. And this was definitely a blessing. If I wasn't living the way I am living, by choosing to live the gospel standards and doing the simple things, praying, reading my scriptures, going to church, etc, that I wouldn't have been blessed in the ways that I was. Now nobody panic, I am fine, but I definitely wouldn't be a very grateful daughter of God if I didn't say how blessed I am to have a Father in Heaven that loves me and watches over me. There is a reason we are told to do the 'Primary Answers' daily, and I am so glad I have. It just really made me appreciate everything a little bit more. I am so grateful for the gospel, and the protection, love and comfort it provides for me. I am such a lucky girl. :)