Just Another Fish Story...

So I was able to go fishing with my mom and dad before Fall Break and let me just say that it was so much fun! I didn't realize how much I missed fishing. Anyway, we went out to Yuba and found a shallow place that was just crowded with fish! It honestly didn't take long at all reel in my first catch...This was a pretty gross looking fish! It wasn't until later that we figured out this "beaut's" name. Are you ready for it? Here is Icky Vicky-she didn't look well at all. Hence her name. We decided to let her swim freely in Yuba Lake once again and then returned to fishing.

This time I decided that I was going to name my fish before I caught them; to make it more personal ya know? Please don't judge me...it was just one of those days. :) I don't know where it came from, but I just felt like fish #2 was a Stephanie. It didn't take much to convince her she wanted my worm. Once again, don't judge me but I talked to the fish... After a few minutes, Stephanie decided to show herself, and of course I just had to get another picture.

Stephanie was a pretty hefty girl, but I was still stoked by her presence. The real reason for turning Icky Vicky loose was that she was a carp. Well, as you can see, Stephanie is also a carp so we set her free as well. But guess what that meant? It was time to figure out a new name and catch another fish!

This time I chose the name Preston. I would tell him things like, "Here Preston, you know you want to eat my worm." My mom being the sweet person she is, she decided to talk to the fish as well and told Preston not to listen to me. Basically, she thought I was the devil on this trip and she even admitted to it. So then I said, "Preston, I don't want to eat you. I just want to meet you." I hoped that would make it better with my mom, but she still told Preston to say away. He just couldn't do it though so here he is. I caught three fish so fast that I just couldn't believe it. I went from being a horrible fisherman to catching three so close together! I never imagined something like this would happen. I had a nice time "meeting" Preston and then we put him back into his natural habitat.

This whole time my dad had caught nothing and I felt horrible. My next fish I named Bruno, but I whispered to him and told him not to come until my dad at least caught one. Well, it wasn't long until my dad finally caught one! It was really funny though because he swore that this fish wasn't a carp by the way it was fighting. He said on and on that it was going to be a big walleye (which is what he really wanted to catch). Well, according to the picture (which pictures don't lie) that "walleye" was indeed a carp. He just couldn't believe it though because it was such a fighter. Since I was naming my fish, I told my dad he needed to name his as well. I thought Hercules was very appropriate because of the strength he had.

Not much later...my dad caught another fish! Just like last time, he was sure that this fish wasn't a carp as well. It was so jumpy and sparatic that it was just too different than what a carp would fight like. Much to his dismay, his fish was yet again a carp. My dad found another fitting name, Jupitor, to describe the kind of fight he gave. After my dad caught Jupitor, I whispered to Bruno again and told him that he could now come. In the meantime, my mom was reading a book on her kindle so I decided to read it for her. After a handful of pages I got pretty bored and stopped reading. I kid you not, the second I stopped I had Bruno! It was pretty crazy. My mom said that that was his way of letting me know I wasn't supposed to stop reading...silly mom. :) When we were getting the hook out of him and getting him on the chains, we somehow managed to cut him. Oh yeah, he also had a tracker or something on him. Weird right? Poor Bruno...he started bleeding and I felt super bad! But what a trooper he was! My dad then caught another fish. I know you're probably wondering what reason he had for it not being a carp, but this time he said nothing while catching it. Once this little guy was caught, my dad said his name would be Frederick. I have absolutely no idea where he got this name, but here is Frederick! :)At this point, we were all kind of ready to go home. I had to catch at least one more to make it five fish (which is half of a perfect ten) rather than just four (which was just too less of a number). I asked my mom what fish I should catch and she told me Scotty. I went along with it at first, but there were two times where he was nibbling and I just couldn't hook him. This led me to change to catching Goldie instead. Plus, it all just made sense. Let's think back to the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas." On the fifth day, what did the true love give? 5 GOLDEN RINGS! Therefore, I couldn't catch any fish other than Goldie. Once this was decided, it wasn't long until I had her. This is the fish that was going to end my fishing trip. Or would it be? While we were getting Goldie on the chain we simply set the hook back in the water. (I would say the line was only a foot and a half or so deep) All of a sudden, the fishing pole was taken to the end of the boat. I hurried and grabbed it and to our surprise, there was a fish on the end! This was totally unexpected, but we welcomed Scotty with open arms. I guess he really wanted to meet us; just on his own time and on his own terms. While we were taking this picture of Scotty, my dad decided to put the hook back in the water. Even though we put it back in wondering if something would happen, it still came by quite a surprise when the fishing pole moved again. But before we could catch it, it was in the water! I tried to grab it but missed and so my dad reached in his whole arm in to grab it. Luckily he was able to get ahold of the fishing pole which once again had another fish on the end! It was quite a sad scene when I noticed that Sebastian was bleeding all over. I had to hold him over the boat to take my sympathy photo with him. I was very worried that Sebastian was going to die, but thankfully when we put him back he swam away. But before we put him back, I just had to get a picture with the three fish I magically caught in the end. These three made my number jump from four fish clear to seven! Who knew I could catch that many right? :)This fishing trip was so much fun! It was spent with two of the most important people in my life and its sure to be interesting when I'm with those two. :) They are just so silly! Anyway, here is my fish story. Some say that it is just that; a fish story, but to three people this truly happened! I leave it up to you to really decide or not. Let me just leave you with a thought though...How else would I have gotten a picture with three fish at a time if I threw them all back right after I caught them? :)

He's Been There Before

Recently, I received a letter from a good friend on his mission. With his letter, he enclosed a poem written from an Elder on his mission. This particular Elder was having a hard time and just woke up one morning and started writing. It's called "He's Been There Before" by Elder Troy Whittle. I hope you guys enjoy; I sure did!

The alarm bell rings at 6:30, I stumble to my feet

I grab my companions bedding and pull off his sheets

A groan fills the room, is it already time to arise?

It seems like just a second ago I was able to shut my eyes

The morning activities follow-study, prayer and such

When it's time to leave the apartment, you feel you haven't accomplished much

"We have a super day planned," My comp. says with a grin

I lowly utter a faithless breath, "Yeah, if anyone lets us in."

With the word of God and my faithful Schwinn, we ride off in the street

prepared to face another day of humidity and heat

It's 9:30 in the evening, the day is almost through

My companion and I are riding home not accomplishing what we thought to do

We ride up to the mailbox, hoping to receive a lot

Only to look inside and hear my echo reverberate "air box"

We go up to our apartment, the day is now complete

The only thing to show for our work is a case of blistery feet

It's past 10:30 p.m. My companion is fast asleep,

Silence engulfs me all about and I began to weep

In the midst of sadness, I kneel down to pray

I need to talk to Father, but Im' not sure what to say

"Oh, Father" I begin, "What happened to us today"

I thought we'd teach somebody, but everyone was away

My hands, my aching hands-worn, hurt and beat;

If our area was any smaller, we'd have knocked every street"

"Why on missions are the days so much alike?

The only difference about today was the flat tire on my bike

Will you send some cooler weather? The heat is killing me

I sweat so bad, it gets in my eyes, it's very hard to see."

"Why do I have to wear a helmet, isn't your protection enough?

People always laugh at me, and call me stuped stuff

Please send us investigators so I may give them what they lack

I want to give them Books of Mormon, the weight of them hurts my back"

"And what about my family; they don't have much to say

I'm sick of not hearing from hom day after day after day

Oh Father, Why am I here? Am I just wasting time?

Sometimes I just want to go home, I'm sorry but that's on my mind"

"My companion, Heavenly Father, what are you giving me?

The way he rides his bicycle, I don't think he can see

Now you have it, I can't go on. I don't know what to do

That, my Father in Heaven, is the prayer I have for you"

My prayer now finished, I stand up, then jump right into bed

I need my rest for tomorrow, we have another long day ahead

Sleep starts to overtake me, I seem to drift away

Then it seems a vision takes me to another time in another day

I'm standing alone on the hill. The view is very nice

A man walks towards me and says, "My name is Jesus Christ."

Tears of joy well up inside, I fall down to His feet

"Arise," He states, "Follow me to the shade. You and I need to speak."

My attention's towards my Savior, total and complete

He says, "Your mission is similar of what happened to me

I understand how you feel, I now what you're going through

In fact, it would be fair to say I've felt the same as you."

"I even know how you felt when no one listened to you

At times I felt not quite sure what else I could do

I know you don't like to ride a bicycle, for you a car would be sweet

Just remember the donkey I rode wasn't equipped with 21 speeds."

"I understand you don't like sweating, in fact it's something you hate

I remember when I sweat blood from ev'ry pore, oh the agony was great!

I see you don't like your companion-you'd rather have someone else-

I once had a companion named Judas who sold my life for wealth."

"It's hard to wear a helmet and have people make fun of you

I remember when they put thorns on my head and called me 'King of the Jews'

So you feel burdened down by the weight of your pack

I recall how heavy the cross was when the slammed in on my back."

"Your hands hurt from tracting and knocking on doors all day

I guess when they pounded nails into mine, I ached in a similar way

It's hard not to hear from home when your family's not there to see

I lost communication on the cross and cried, "Father, why hast Thou forsaken me?"

"We have a lot in common, but there's a difference between us you see

I endured to the end and finished my mission. so follow and do like me."

He embraced me with His arms and His light filled me with His love

With tears in my eyes I watched as He went back to the Father above

I stood with awe and wonder when a beep rang in my head

I listened and heard the alarm, then realized I was in my bed

My companion let out a groan, "6:30 already, no way!"

I sat up and said, "Come on, I'll even carry your scriptures today!"

No matter what we go through, when we feel we can't take more

Just stop and think about Jesus Christ, He's been there before.

I hope we always remember that He went through everything He did for us. There is nothing we go through where we will be completely alone. He DOES know what we're going through and He DOES understand and will ALWAYS be here for us; His arms are outstretched to us. We just need to remember to trust in Him and always keep Him in our lives. I have a tile that I keep in my room which says: Just BELIEVE, and let Him in. Also, one of my favorite quotes is 'When life gets too tough to stand, KNEEL.' I hope that you always remember this and know that when life is hard, we should definitely turn to Him to find strength and comfort. I'm so grateful for His atoning sacrifice and for everything He has and continues to do for me. I hope you all will be able to find the comfort needed in this poem.

Victory! Sweet, Sweet Victory!

Well my fellow blog followers, I decided to go out on a limb and do something that I very much dislike...CAMPAIGN! That's right, I ran for a position known as Student Advocate. I had to do all the nasty stuff like make posters, fliers, and a video. But, it was all worth it in the end.

Thursday morning at 5:45 a.m., I was woken up by two crazy girls banging on some pots, dancing around my room, and singing to me. Once I was awake, they told me to hurry and come with them, and put a pillow case over my head...I was being kidnapped! Once I realized that the two girls were SBO's this year, I felt a little less confused, but I was still so delusional! I remember asking them if I could put on my jacket and some shoes. Pretty smart questions huh! I also wanted to ask them if this meant I made it, but at the same time I knew I had. :)

They then made me put on the pillow case and get in the car. There was already a girl in there and we were going to pick up one more. When we got to her apartment, I took off the pillow case and talked to Paige, another student advocate. We talked about how excited we were and I was relieved to find out she asked similar questions when she was picked up too. We got in trouble when our kidnappers arrived though because we had taken off our pillow cases...it was all pretend though, so it made it that much more funny.

After we had a full car, they decided to drive around for a while so we wouldn't know where we were. I had an advantage though because I could kind of see through my pillow case and saw the light for McDonald's. That's not cheating, right? :) But we also had a little dance/sing party on our way there with none other than Justin Bieber! You could say that we had a little bit of Bieber fever that morning...we sang "Baby" at the top of our lungs while dancing as much as we could with our pillow cases still covering our heads.

We finally made it to our destination though, and we were all guided into a big cirlce in the lobby of McDonald's. After the count of three, our pillow cases were removed to see who we would be working with. The group that made the cut is full of people who know how to work hard and get things done, but they know how to do that while having fun. We're already so close, and I can't wait to get started planning out next year!

So there you have it, I'm actually a SBO for Snow College! I'm still on cloud nine and I'm just so stinking excited!! I don't regret putting myself out there at all because sometimes it really does work out. Hmmm...maybe I've learned something from this experience. I guess we'll just have to see. :)

Lovely Pictures of Our Lovely Adventure

Ok, so pretend these pictures are the other way around and that is how our adventure went! It was so much fun!! :)

This is such a beautiful temple!!

The Adventure of Kellie-Jo and Katelyn!

On the night of January 22nd, Kellie-jo and I embarked on an adventure in which we never anticipated it would go the way it did. We had a lot of fun though, and now we want to do stuff like this all the time! :)

First, we ate at Taco Amigo in Pleasant Grove. It actually wasn’t that bad. It was like a home cooked taco with French fries and their fry sauce was amazing! Then while driving on the freeway, I said something about Cabellas and how I’d never been there, so Kellie-jo said, “Let’s go then!” She said that just in time too because the exit was right there. She didn’t think I really would but I pulled off and we went to Cabellas! It was so cool! We took a lot of pictures and just messed around and stuff. We also bought some roasted almond things, like they sell at State Drill, for the road. They were so delicios, but oh so filling!

Well we finally made it to Clinton, so now all we had to do was find Taylor’s house. Long story short, we got lost… We kept turning the wrong ways and ended up in neighborhoods that looked like hers because all the houses looked the same! It was crazy! We even got pulled over by a cop. He said that one of the license plate lights were out and that my tail light was broken. I was able to stay calm the whole time and show him everything he needed, and he let us off with a warning! He was super nice though! He asked us where we were from and what brought us clear up there. I think being from far away and being lost in a foreign city might have made him take pity on us a little bit lol

After about forty-five minutes, we finally made it to Taylor’s! Her house was not what I expected at all! But they had it decorated really nice and cute. Her little sisters are so stinking cute! The older one was gorgeous, but she never really talked. And the littlest one was super cute and funny. She was hilarious!

We got up early Sunday morning to get ready for Ryan’s farewell! I had Sam and Taylor explain how to get there so we would be sure to make it on time. It was actually really easy. We got there twenty minutes before his church was supposed to start so we just drove around the subdivision until it was closer. His talk was so good! I never realized how funny he was, but he was cracking jokes left and right. They were jokes that really only made sense if you knew him, but still…it was way fun finally seeing him. Afterwards, we went up to congratulate him and all that jazz. Well, I gave him a hug and talked to him for a little bit. He asked if we were going to go to his luncheon, but we decided not too. I felt bad because when I told him no, he seemed kind of bummed. He understood though…that’s something I’ve always liked about Ryan. He’s so understanding and he’s non-judgemental. He’s a really great guy and he is going to make such a great missionary! It’s really bittersweet because I’m going to miss talking to him all the time, but at least he’s in the states and I’ll get to write him a lot! Good luck Elder Ryan Miller! J

Then, Kellie-jo and I went to the Salt Lake Temple. Oh goodness, that temple is so beautiful. We even found it very easily…we’re getting pretty good at the whole direction thing ha ha We were able to walk around the temple and we checked out both visitor centers. There were a ton of sister missionaries and it was fun to visit with them and stuff. It made me really want to go on a mission and I’m pretty sure that if I’m not married by the time I’m twenty-one, I’ll go! It makes me so excited!!! J We took a few pictures here and just enjoyed the temple and all of its beauty!

Lastly, we stopped at Kellie-jo’s grandma’s house for lunch and to visit. She is such a sweet lady! We had sandwiches and talked to her about a bunch of stuff. She even has a little cocker spaniel…it made me miss Duke a lot! And, I’ve decided that if I am ever able to get a dog, that would be a good one to get J I like the really tame ones…they make life more fun I think ha ha

When we left her grandma’s house, it was a long drive back to Ephraim! The whole way back, we were listening to church music which was good, but I was getting so tired. Kellie-jo was too, so a little bit before Nephi, she changed it to music we could sing to. We stopped at my house to grab a few things and go to the bathroom. On our last part of the drive, we had a lot of fun! We talked a lot and sang at the top of our lungs! We even took more pictures of us on the road…it was great fun.

This little trip was so much fun! In all, it was only about 24 hours which is crazy with how much we did. It was awesome though and I can’t wait until our next adventure! For Spring Break, we’ve decided that it would be so cool to hit up a lot of the temples and do baptisms for the dead. That would be so cool, so hopefully it all works out! Oh, we just have so much fun!! J