I should be a Luna Bar sponser

Friday night was great. After spending an hour with some of my favorite people in the WORLD [Jo, Mary, Kori, Becky, Jared (jo's b-f)], Becky and I said, "adios" and headed up American Fork canyon. . . leaving city lights and doubt behind us. We found a little pull-off up the canyon and a trail that went up the side of one of the smaller mountains in the Uintas (behind mount Timp). It was already dark, so we layered up and strapped on our packs. We ended up summitting this little mountain and found a perfect little flat spot to lay down our tarp and sleeping bags. The next morning we got up before the sun and headed back down the canyon as the sun rose. We got back and made whole wheat with blueberries and shared healthy recipes.

It was really empowering. Just the two of us women hiking. I thought, "this is what I want to do for the rest of my life." I just need good friends close by who will pick up and go (FYI: Becky, for all of you who don't know her, is from Utah and is living at home preparing to go on a mission. She is the one that runs/swims with me every morning at 6:15).

After that, I went running and rescued (or sentenced to death) two little kittens.

And then Matt. So Matt. Well. Matt. Hmmm. Matt. We'll just leave it at that. Don't really know what to say other than I probably shouldn't make my dating life a public matter.

Why the blue face?

An explanation: yes the picture is me. Emmanuel drew it or did it somehow and sent it to me as a gift yesterday. I thought it represented my mood quite well for Monday.

Mixed feelings for Monday

I am supposed to be in class but this morning after I went running with Becky, I discovered a rats nest had developed in my hair as I had run. It took 20 minutes of serious work to get that thing untangled. . . but honestly I knew I wasn't going to go to class this morning from the minute I woke up. I just didn't feel like being in a rush. So, here I am listening to "Shaken by a low Sound," eating my wheat.

Can I tell you how much fun it is to teach at the MTC? Everyday I feel like I live in a whirlwind of cosas and suddenly when I get there and walk in, all of the 12 elders stand up and and a chorus of smiling faces chants: "Buenas Dias Hermana Hatch!" Every worry or concern that I have pressing on my shoulders suddenly lifts. I forget about time, I forget about life, I forget about me.

This weekend was good. Played frisbee golf, went to "Spectacular" (all of the dance and choral performers best numbers), went to a tea party (enrichment), the homecoming football game (thanks randy)! a spanish study group, MTC, a "haunted" boat ride, went out for ice cream and had a meeting with Elder Ballard.

I'm wearing my sweat-stained Carhart hat. I love this hat.

So the other day I was heading to work on my bike, riding up the twisty sidewalk that goes above the road. When I turned the corner, I saw 10 feet in front of me another biker-- we made eye contact, let out some odd noise and then crashed as hard as we could into eachother. I flew back and my bike landed on top of me, and he toppled forward and nearly landed on top of me as well. I immediately examined my bike; everything was okay. Then I took a look at him-- disheaveled and a bit cross-- his rim bent and his watch broken and in pieces on the sidewalk. It makes me laugh everytime I remember the funny face he made and the awkward noise right before we crashed.

Life at the Y is going well. It has been so fun exersizing in the morning! I love it! But something besides the rain is dampening our parade. Becks just informed me that she got a job at 7am. . .blast! I haven't told her yet that I signed us up for the woman's three on three Intramurals b-ball team (behold, a ray of sunshine)!

I am going to have a cook-a-thon tonight. Lentil soup, homemade bread, granola and hummus. I can't wait. Tuesday night and wednesday are like the weekend b/c I don't have work. The weather is changing and getting colder but I'm having a hard time retiring my chacos. . . time to pull out the wool socks.

Annie up . . .

Heaven help me. I have given in. For the first time since 1:30 pm on Thursday, I have no obligation within the next ten minutes. It feels wonderful (except for my red-eyes and aching throat). . . I feel like I've given my resume one too many times this weekend. So three dates, 10 hours at the MTC and 24-hours later this is it:

Glen: Cody, WY. He's from my ward and all the girls say he does everything from killing Elk with a bow and arrow to sewing. I got home at 1:30am. 7 am the next morning I was up and getting ready to go biking with. . .

Matt: Tampa, FL. Biked to Utah lake until noon. Met him in my spanish class. Seemed unsure about the whole wheat cereal, but was a good sport; ate it all and told me he liked it. I suppose that's a good sign (plus I think he's cute).

Allen: Tucson, AZ. Works at the MTC. Soccer player and likes to talk. An easy conversation, but uneasy feeling in my stomach. Walked to Center St. and ate cilantro quesadillas. He is sincere and kind, but I could feel the age gap growing with the size of my stomach.

Brian: Grand Canyon, AZ. Would have been satisfied going to the grocery store, folding laundry and hiking up the canyon eating almonds and rasins.

The oldest person I know

My grandpa is three years shy of 90. He was born in 1920 and has a passion for photography and family history. He has written several books, including his personal history which is six volumes long and is probably the most 'modern' 87-year-old around (check out the Mac in the background). Some interesting facts I learned today: his brothers were "school mates with Gordy" (aka: Gordon B. Hinkley), he was the first to summit Timp with a transistor radio(1939) which he carried all the way to the top (they're big) and he was the first on his ship to hear the news that WWII had ended through an old radio.

As rode home on my bike, the crisp autum wind blowing and the yellow leaves swirling around me, I thought about my season of life and his. . .

achieving Equilibrium

First photo is my roommate (and former MTC comp) CHERISE and I. She's one of the most friendly, genuinely nice people I've ever met.


Eric, Craig and me (in that order)-- on our hike. I thought a lot of dad and his adventures. I was walking around his old stomping grounds!

I'm sitting in the computer lab of the Lee Library in my quilted vest (it looks literally like a pink quilt) and I am sore. I've been up for three hours now. I feel so good. I love the way the sun hits the mountains in the morning! so Becky is great. . . every morning she comes over at like 6:15 and we go running or swimming. This morning as we ran towards Utah lake, Orian was still out hunting and the moon was bright. On our way back, the sun was starting to peak over the mountains. I made some whole wheat cereal with blueberries, walnuts and soymilk and then booked it to class. Just to make my morning even better, class ended 20 minutes early.

This weekend was perfect! Friday it was pouring, but quite warm. I went with Brian to Hansen's and we went climbing indoors. Then we went to his house and ate PB. Afterward we headed over to the Planetarium. I loved it. Did you know that Orian is fighting Taurus the bull who has captured the Seven Sisters? The next morning I got up at 5:45 to go hiking with Craig and Eric. We hiked up through the firs and aspens. There was a little snow, but it didn't stop them from running down, so I scurried along too. I felt like a deer, jumping around every corner and leaping over rocks. Then I came back, got dressed and walked to the MTC. I got to teach them to testify in spanish!! When I got home, I tried to clean up my room but ended up dancing to Beck and then fell asleep in a tired heap, ready for Sunday.

a Mountain or a molehill

Knowledge is cumulative. It never ends and more of it can always be acquired. It's the one thing that can be taken in without moderation or temperance. We can binge on it without guilt and without it we are weak. It is the glory of God. When we truly know something, it weaves itself within us and cannot be seperated from us. When someone teaches us, it fills our minds. When the spirit teaches us, it fills our hearts and enlightens our minds. It binds what our mind understands to senitments of our heart. I believe it can even bind to us true theories, formulas, ideas etc. Our quest is to obtain truth and speak truth. I want to be a teacher of truth.

Yesterday at the MTC I talked over the phone to a boy named Justin. I told him God had called a prophet for us now-- in this day. . . That I knew it. I had spent the entire weekend listening to his voice and the voice of the Apostles of Christ. I asked him to find out this truth for himself. This alone will take our molehill of knowledge and make it into a mountain.

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"His hand is outstretched still"

Yesterday I had the most wonderful feeling. As I was watching the last session of conference, I was overwhelmed with a wonderful feeling as I listened to Elder Holland testify. The pure truth of what he said about the apostles giving their life, the tired yet sincere look in his eye, the urgency of his voice ignited a fire that I felt needing kindling!! Then as we all began to sing "We thank thee O' God for a Prophet". . . they panned the Conference Center and everyone began standing up. The prophet himself said that his life was not his own, but all of ours. As I sang, I knew because I could feel it entirely that he IS THE prophet of God. For a few moments, I felt like the world was uniting. I could see in my minds eye faithful members in white shirts and ties in Nigeria, in Chile, in Mexico, in Europe, in Russia and those I taught in LA, all singing "we thank the oh God!" I could feel that our Heavenly Father was pleased with us. Brian told me that on his mission to fiji, the missionaries got up to go to conference at 3am and walked to the chapel, expecting to find it empty. They arrived to a full chapel. Entire families and children were dressed up and waiting reverently for conference to begin at 3am on the other side of the world. That is indeed what president Hinkley talked about, Faith In Action.

While I was waiting in line to enter conference, I ran into Rick (my BYU-I boyfriend. . . remember??) I don't know how to describe it other than to say it pleased me to see him. He was married and his wife was pregant. He had moved to South Dakota and joined the US Airforce. He was active in the church. It was actually a witness to me that Heavenly Father loves all his children-- and he doesn't give up on them. Rick seemed like a "deadbeat" as Grandma Collette always said, and eventhough I'm SOO happy that it wasn't ME with the belly and ring, it was nice to know that in the end (or the middle) everything works out. He never gives up on us.