26

To celebrate turning 26 I got to go camping in Kanab, Southern Utah.

It was a lot of fun and I got to see more of Utah that I hadn't seen before like 

Zion National Park, Coral Pink Sand Dunes, and the famous 

Dog Town/ Best Friends Animal Society. 

 Kanab is a small town and it's known as Little Hollywood

because old western movies were filmed there.

We got to check out some of the old movie sets, which was neat. 

 This was at the local market and I loved it

Skyler & Brittney were planning a trip down to 

Best Friends to check out this three legged dog, Banjo.

So mom, Dan, & I decided to tag along and make a weekend out of it

and do some birthday celebrating.

 They adopted Banjo! 

He is very cute
but very shy right now.

After our visit to Dog Town we headed over to Zion.

It was beautiful!

 I love the red rocks

After Zion we made it back to camp 

and Dan made deer burgers, which were amazing. 

We had a campfire and roasted marshmallows for my

S'mores birthday dessert. 

 I love campfires

&

S'mores

 On our way back to Salt Lake 

we stopped at Coral Pink Sand Dunes to

walk barefoot in the orange sand.

 I had a great birthday!

Thanks so much to mom and Dan for everything they did!

I LOVE my life & exploring!!

Letter to 16 year old me

Dear 16 year old Sara,

It's hard to believe you're turning 26 tomorrow!
You've done a lot in the past 10 years and let me tell you time flies.

I wish I could tell you to not take things so seriously.
Stop worrying so much about life.
Enjoy being young, get into a little trouble, and have fun because one day you’ll realize how fast your life has gone by and you’ll wish you would have done things a little differently.

I think the most important thing I want you to know is you are beautiful, both inside and out.
I wish you’d see it in yourself and believe it because one day it’ll hit you like a ton of bricks and you’ll wonder why you didn’t realize it earlier in life.
Believe in yourself, Sara.
Be confident because you are much stronger and braver than you’ve ever imagined.
You’ll be amazed at the things you do in your life.

You have amazing friends who love you.
So don’t let jealousy take away any time you have with them.
You’ll look back and smile when you fondly remember the times driving around town at night blasting music and laughing while following cute boys in their trucks.

Lose the attitude you get with the family.
Stop fighting with mom.
Be nice to Amie. Watch after her, be there for her, be her friend.
Cherish the time you spend with every family member.
Because family is important and one day you’ll truly miss being able to see them everyday.
You’ll miss living with mom and Amie.
You’ll miss going over to Dad and Berna’s for dinner.
You’ll miss family get-togethers.
Be open to listening to the family’s advice.

On New Years 2004 your world will be flipped up side down.
You’ll receive a new year’s kiss from someone you least expect and a month later you’ll officially have your first boyfriend.
You’ll fall head over heels in love with him.
2004 is a very special year for you.
One you’ll never forget and one you’ll remember so vividly.
You’ll have fun with him and he’ll show you a whole new side of life.
Embrace everything.
It’s an exciting, good time in your life.

One day he’ll break your heart and it will feel like your world has collapsed.

But you’ll get back together with him.
And he’ll break your heart again.
And this cycle will continue for 7 years.

I wish I could tell you to be smarter.
I wish I could tell you to dig deep and find strength and respect for yourself.
I wish I could tell you it’s okay to let him go.
But I know you can’t and you’ll have to go through all the back and forth, all the heartache, all the emotional pain to finally realize you can no longer have him in your life.

But it’s because of him that you’ll experience amazing things in life.

And it’s because of him you’ll eventually gain the strength you will need to let him go and move on with your life.

Life is an amazingly beautiful journey.
It's full of adventure, experience, opportunity, love, and hope.
And the tough times only make you stronger.

Sara, don’t rush to grow up--enjoy being a teenager.

Have faith in the world and in yourself.
Smile, laugh, and love more.

You have a good life.

Love,
older Sara

 

 We got our driver's licenses

 

Best Friends

 Junior Prom

She's A Yogi

I am so proud of my mom. 

She is now teaching yoga once a week 

at Yoga Path .

Since I've been back in Utah 

I've gone to her class every week

{plus other yoga classes}

Each week she gets more confident in her teaching 

and her class gets a little more challenging. 

 I've really enjoyed watching yoga transform her life

and now I'm starting to see it work in my life. 

Yoga's not just a practice

it's a way of life.

 

Celebrate the 80's

On Saturday night I got to dress up 80's style

to celebrate being born in the 1980's.

As I was shopping for an outfit I was surprised to see that the 80's style

is actually making a come back...

neon is totally in,

mini skirts, big blouses,  & tight 80's type dresses were all on the racks.

It was a lot of fun to dress up

and I must admit I can rock the side pony

quite well.

Lake Tahoe

I got a call for an interview in Lake Tahoe, 

I kinda forgot I applied for the job and I didn't know it was in South Lake Tahoe 

{it just said Northern California online}

So I headed to Lake Tahoe last week. 

Since it was pretty short notice I decided to drive and luckily enough

my mom and Dan were in Sacramento for the weekend and 

on their way back home were staying a night in Reno

so I met them there and we checked out Reno...

We even won a little money! 

Nevada is an interesting state.

I made it to South Lake Tahoe and was blown away 

by how beautiful it is, especially the lake.

I stayed 2 nights there and I got to explore a little.

I was surprised by how small it actually is.

The weather was perfect and I enjoyed walking around and

sitting near the lake.

I think living there would be pretty awesome.

Pretty different.

But spending time out on the lake would be heavenly.

{I love the water}

The position for the job interview was a Nutrition Educator. 

During the interview I used a lot of examples from my work in Peace Corps.

So it was great to see my work and experience in Guyana actually be useful.

I am definitely qualified for the position through my experience

however, they are seeking someone who is bilingual in Spanish.

Who knows, maybe I can still get it or something related to the position.

Either way it was a good opportunity to interview 

and I got to see another part of the world {California}

that I hadn't seen before. 

A Happy Birthday

Today is my dad's birthday!

I love my dad.

He always makes me laugh.

He is so friendly.

He works hard.

He is smart & has a great memory.

He loves his family.

I am blessed to have him as my dad

& I'm grateful for getting to spend the past month and a half with him.

Thanks for all the ice cream sundaes dad!

 

Love you & happy birthday!

Dad & me in Hawaii

May

Happy May! 

I can't believe it's already May--

and I've been home for 3 months.

{I'm very grateful for the past 3 months}

I'm excited it's May

not only because it's my birthday month

but because something great is going to happen

I can just feel it!

I wanted to share this Jason Mraz video

93 Million Miles

it's beautiful.

Enjoy your amazing month 

of May!