"Thank you Mr. Pine Tree... I retract my former statement"

I love to hike. I really do.

I hike for a living so I guess that is a good thing. For me hiking is not about the hike per se... it's more about the experience.

I hiked the Narrows a few years ago with some friends of mine. I remember right before the hike one of my buddies said that he wanted to hike the Narrows just so he could say he did. "Said he did" to who exactly? No one cares that you hiked the Narrows. I've done a lot of cool things in my life. I've been to a lot of cool places. BUT. NO. ONE. CARES.

I'll continue. I go places in order to experience something. I go on hikes so that I can experience nature and enjoy the beauty that surrounds me. I travel so that I can learn about new cultures, meet new people, and see the history that I love to study. I do all this for myself. Why would I do it for anyone else?

I have a hard time taking pictures for this very reason (but I still do of course). I feel that a lot of the time people just run through life taking pictures and trying to "capture the moment". But what "moment" are they capturing? It's hard to experience something when you are running around taking pictures. Pictures, mind you, most people aren't going to care about.

Who are you living life for? Why did you backpack through Europe? So that you could meet interesting people in hostels, experience a new culture, and see some amazing sites OR so that you can tell someone that you did it? Why did you hike up a slot canyon to see a beautiful waterfall? So that you could ponder about life and appreciate the beauty that surrounds you OR so that you can tell someone that you did it?

I went on the Kanarraville waterfall hike yesterday with 2 of my coworkers and a environmental guy from the BLM. The hike is supposed to take about 45 minutes. You know how long it took us (when I say "us" I mean "4 in shape professional hikers")? 3 hours! You know why? Because we enjoyed it... we experienced it. We hiked slowly though the water. We stopped constantly to gaze at the gorgeous high canyon that surrounded us. We stopped to identify plants (with the help of our BLM friend). We stopped to take a few pictures. We spent a half hour at the waterfall, which is located in a narrow slot canyon, just talking. Why hurry back? Why get to the waterfall, take some pictures, and then leave? Why not stay? We had no where else to go.

I guess if you want to run through life, doing things just so you can say you did, that's your business. As for me, I want the experience. I want to live. I want to feel alive. I want to look back and remember the moment.

The hunt for the "4 half naked men"

My friends and I are growing up and moving away. Over the last year I've been living all over Utah while my two best girlfriends, Emily and Katey, lived in Vegas. It's been nice having them so close by (relatively).

In December, Katey got married and Emily moved up north.

A few weeks ago I was informed that Katey and her husband were moving to the Lone Star State.

We decided to have one more hoho-partay-down/bum night/girls weekend before the big move.

Katey drove up from Vegas and Emily came down from Provo and here's a run down of the weekend...

Cedar Breaks National Monument:

We drove up to Cedar Breaks from Cedar City, went on a short hike, and then drove through Brian Head.

[Katey and Emily at Point Supreme]

[Courtney and Emily]

[Katey and Emily on the trail]

[Katey taking the high road and Emily taking the low road]

[Hikers]

[Emily found an arch]

[Trees!]

[Katey and Courtney]

[View of Cedar Breaks]

It was gorgeous!

St George:

Next, we headed to St George to get cupcakes, get dinner at Texas Roadhous, and see Toy Story 3 (which was AMAZING!).

Cedar City:

After the movie we came back up to Cedar, put on our matching PJs, ate our cupcakes, watched How I Met You Mother, and had a pillow fight!

I love you girls! Thanks for an amazing weekend!

SWEET SIXTEEN!

I almost had a heart attack last night! Leave it to the Lakers to come back in the 4th and win it all!

I was the ONLY Lakers fan in the bar last night but I didn't care. I screamed! I cheered! I almost cried! It was beautiful!

Thanks for another awesome year!


Wouldn't that be awesome if we won again next season? Then we will have the same amount of Championships as the Celtics! AND then the next year we meet the Celtics in the finals to battle for number 18! It may not happen but a girl can dream right?!

Praying for a 7 Game Series

This morning at work:

Boss: "Hey Courtney, sorry about the Lakers."

I shot him a dirty look which quickly turned into a confused look because he doesn't follow sports AT ALL.

Me: "How do you know they lost?!"

Boss: "Well I wanted to know what kind of mood you were going to be in today so I checked the scores online."

Oh how well he knows me!

So, the Lakers are down 2-3.

They play the final 2 games in LA and they have to win both of them in order to take it all... I'm a little nervous...


Here's to the Lakers!

Down a dangerous road

I've been hurt before... by others... but I don't hate anyone

I'm afraid of spiders... tarantulas especially... but I don't hate them

I've had bad days at work... but I don't hate my job

I try not to use the word hate. It seems too strong of a word to be thrown around. I've used it before... probably a lot of times...

And here's one more time... and I really mean it this time...

I hate being alone. period.