Weekend with Nick

Last Thursday Josh's little brother Nicholas came to visit us. Well, he stayed with us for a few days and now he's with his grandparents, so maybe it wasn't just for us, but I like to think so. ;)

Josh picked him up on Thursday morning, and he stayed with us up until yesterday, when we took him to his grandparents' house. We had a lot of fun! Here's the rundown of his eventful stay:

1. Brick Oven
The first night he was with us we took him out to Brick Oven Pizza. It's (in my opinion) the best pizza place in Provo. Super delicious. It didn't matter to me and Josh that we had just recently eaten there; you really can never have too much quality pizza, can you? :)

2. Campus Tour
On Friday we took him on one of those tours that BYU does for people who are visiting or looking into attending BYU. We went with a couple other people we didn't know. Nick sat up front, next to the very cute but - unfortunately for him - married girl who gave us the tour (not too mention she's way older than him, but playas gotta play). It was really interesting to learn neat facts about campus that I didn't know even though I've been attending school here for what feels like forever.

3. Outdoor Movie
That night we headed back to campus to watch an outdoor movie - Despicable Me. We could've just as easily watched it at home, but it was fun to just get out, use our new outdoor blanket, and have free ice cream to boot. :) Plus it's a great movie so how could we not love it? We did learn a few things though: next time we go to one of these outdoor movies, we'll bring an extra blanket or two, maybe a couple of pillows, and some snacks and especially drinks. Overall it was still really fun though.

4. Hiking the Y
It was the first time to hike to the Y for both me and Nick. It was... well, an interesting experience. I made a separate post about it in my last blog post. Nick seemed to have a good time though. :)

5. Pioneer Day Concert
Josh got the three of us some tickets to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Pioneer Day Concert, featuring Lindsey Stirling and Nathan Pacheco. It was incredible. I've never been in the Conference Center for anything other than a tour, and I've always wanted to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform live. They are incredibly talented. Not to mention Lindsey Stirling is awesome. I had never heard of Nathan Pacheco before, but it turns out he has an amazing voice as well. All in all, very worthwhile concert. Check it out:

6. Sunday Brunch
Late Sunday morning we got together with their grandparents (their dad's dad) for brunch at Denny's. I normally wouldn't go out to eat on a Sunday, but it was the only time we could work out to meet up with them, and it was more important to me to spend time with family, especially to let Josh and Nick see their grandparents. It was really fun to get together and have a meal with them.

7. Dinner in Stansbury Park
After church on Sunday Nick packed his stuff and we headed off to Stansbury Park (near Tooele) to take him to stay with his grandparents (their mom's parents), and we had dinner with them as well. It's always nice to have a home cooked meal that's not macaroni & cheese or instant potatoes. And I've come to love visiting them as well. They were also nice enough to let me and Josh do a load of laundry at their house, which is very helpful to us. :)

By the time Josh and I got home last night, it was late and we were exhausted from a busy weekend. It was so fun having Nick stay with us and for me to get to know him a little better. :)

~ Ashley

Hiking the Y: An Honest Account

Josh's little brother Nicholas is visiting from Indiana and has been staying with us for the past few days. One of the things he wanted to do with us was to hike up to the Y on the mountain near BYU. I had never done it before and it's one of those things that if you're at BYU, you're almost expected to do it at some point, so I was all for it. I obviously didn't know what I was getting myself into.

I've gone hiking before, but nothing very extreme, all fairly mild hikes. And that's always been more than enough for me. But as I got up early this morning to get ready to hike the Y (although in a tired stupor I questioned whether it was worth it to get up this early on a Saturday), I was looking forward to a new experience and a new challenge. And a challenge I got.

Y Mountain (this picture was not taken by me, I found it online)

Now just a quick bit of background, I've never been super outdoorsy or athletic. I enjoy nature, but I mostly stay in the comfort of my own home. And while I've periodically been involved in activities like dance or marching band that definitely required physical exertion, I've never really been what you would call 'fit' or 'in shape'. Yeah, I've always been relatively thin, but being thin and being in shape are two completely different things. Lately though, I've been making more of an effort - emphasis on the effort part - to get myself in shape and in good health. I've realized how important it is to me to take care of my body. So, against my own rational judgement, I've been getting up extra early most days of the week before going to school so that I can go running, either with Josh, with my best friend Jessica (who is really the one who got me started), or just on my own. And let me tell you - it's been HARD. I'm fairly certain that I have something referred to as exercise- or sports-induced asthma. And I'm not just saying that sarcastically to try to make a point about how out of shape I am. I really struggle with it. It makes exercising especially difficult and strenuous for me. Anyway, I've also been walking to and from school every day for the past month, and part of that walk involves climbing 140+ stairs. Every. Day. Sometimes multiple times a day. And it hasn't gotten any easier.

So that brings me back to this morning. The three of us, plus Josh's friend Sam (who also gave us a ride there), set off on the trail. I knew it would be no walk in the park, but I was not prepared for the toll it would take on me. I felt so bad making them stop and wait for me every five minutes or so of hiking so that I could catch my breath. Sometimes I'm sure it was less than that. It was me versus the mountain, and for most of the hike, the mountain was winning.

Maybe I overreacted, but I started alternating between bitter and frustrated to feeling sorry for myself. I had been trying so hard lately to take care of myself, but you would never know it. I was the only one in the group, heck, the only one on the trail, that was struggling this much. It's normal to get tired out while hiking the Y, but my exhaustion was beyond the normal threshold. After just a few feet of walking, it seemed, I was almost completely out of breath. And then I'd look around and see everyone else having a much easier time than I was. Little kids, even old people. It seemed so unfair. Why did I have to work so hard for something that other people could attain so much easier if they put forth even half the effort that I had to? I want it so bad. And so many other people just don't seem to care. In the words of Owen Wilson in Shanghai Noon, "the justice system is all screwed up". I even reached the point (which, honestly, it didn't take me long to get to this point), when I sincerely hoped that I would either throw up or pass out, because then I would feel like I was justified in how difficult this hike was for me. Is that sad or what?

But everyone - especially Josh - was really patient with me and my frequent breaks to catch my breath and give my weary legs a brief reprieve. As we got further and further my body protested more and more, and I was constantly sending manual override to my legs, who insisted on stopping and just shutting down for a good long while, so that I could keep trudging up the mountain.

And finally, what seemed like an eternity after we started the journey, we made it to the top. Glory and hallelujah! I was just so relieved that finally, finally, we made it. It was done. I did it. And of course the best part of it all was the view. It was beautiful.

The view from the Y

Sam, Nicholas, Josh, and me

Hiking up Y Mountain was a great experience and I'm glad that I've finally done it after all these years of being here at BYU, but it was NOT easy. I really had to fight for it. Will I do it again? Maybe. But I know that I will keep trying. Keep trying to take care of myself. My body is a precious gift from God, and I want to treat it as such. As hard as it is for me to exercise, I will keep working. It may not ever really get easy, given the way that I am. And maybe that really isn't fair. But I am blessed in so many other ways, I will play with the cards that I have been dealt.

Besides, how much is something really worth to you if you don't have to work for it?

~ Ashley

Thinking in the Shower

"I do all of my best thinking in the shower."

If you're like me, you have said this or something like this at some time in your life. And it's the truth; there's something about the warm water, the peaceful aloneness that is so relaxing and I'm always able to refocus. I sometimes feel like there's almost something magical and mystical about a good shower. Then I realized why this could be - it's one of the only times we let ourselves be totally removed from outside distractions.

Think about it. Maybe you're different than I am, but I know that I rarely let myself have a good moment when I'm not distracted by something, whether it's being on the computer, watching a movie, reading a book, or listening to my iPod while I'm walking home from campus. If there's quiet space, I usually fill it. That's just how we are most of the time.

In the shower you are practically forced to have some time to yourself where it's nothing but you and your thoughts. A time when you can relax and unwind a little. When you can think clearly about issues or important decisions.

It's not that involving ourselves in these other things is bad. I'm not saying that at all. But when entertainment and other distractions are ALWAYS taking time away from what could be an important time to take to ourselves, to ponder, to listen, to think clearly about ourselves and our lives, maybe we need to rethink how we're using our time. Maybe it's time to unplug or press pause for a few minutes.

Good showers will always feel like a sacred space and time to me. But what other ways can you take time for quiet thought in your life?

~ Ashley