I came, I saw, I conquered

Yesterday, Jason and I took a day drip to the Lava Cave just outside of Flagstaff. It was a good trip, the weather was absolutely beautiful, the forest was so quiet and serene.

All the pictures in this post were taken by Jason. I did take some pictures, but not nearly as much as he did and he has a way better camera than I do. So...I took his. You'll see in the pics, I really wasn't in a position to take pictures.

It was so pretty up there and quiet.

Jason manages to find the one flower there. I didn't even see this.

Me exploring or something like that. :)

Condensation on the ceiling. It was cold in there! We could see our breath and the temps were about 40 degrees.

See? No position to take pics. I was rather hot.

The photographer, aka road trip buddy, aka Jason.

Even though my face is red, this is a cute pic of us.

Ceiling

Part of the view we saw.

I didn't even realize he took this picture. :P

This was a really low arch, with a really jagged ground. Very, very jagged. My knees have cuts and bruises to prove it!

I finally made it out. I was taking a picture of what I just conquered, Jason took a picture of me doing that.

Outside the Lava Cave, we walked the entire thing.

So, there you have it. I'm not going to lie to you, that cave kicked my butt. And I would have to say it was probably the most physically challenging thing I've ever done. I was really worried before going in that I wouldn't be able to make it through the entire thing. I just wasn't sure what I was in for. But with Jason's loads of encouragement and his tons of patience with me, I made it through the entire cave. Yes, I'm sore beyond belief, I can barely lift my arms, it hurts like crazy to sit or stand up. I have three bandages on my right leg due to some cuts that are being nursed with Neosporin, more bruises on both legs than I can count, and a hole in my shirt. But EVERY single cut, bruise, whatever...was totally and completely worth it. Once I stepped foot on solid ground and Jason told me how proud of me he was, I felt such a great sense of accomplishment. Because me going through that cave, was a lot for me to do. A lot. I wouldn't of been able to do it without him.

On the way home we stopped and got some gas and J treated me to Starbucks. I had a Chai Tea...which is my "winter drink". But I was chilled from the cave and it was a whole 50 something degrees, so a hot drink was a perfect ending to a perfect day. Every trip with J is always one that deepens our friendship, and this one was no exception. It will go down in the record book of our friendship because....well it just will. He knows why and that is all that matters. :)

Quote of the day: "He conquers who endures."~Persius

Pepsi and Corn Nuts

I don't know what it is, but when I go on a road trip that is two hours or more, I have to have Pepsi and Corn Nuts. It's like my driving food. This past Labor Day weekend, I took a road trip to California for my niece's baby shower. I went alone as all of my friends are back in school or working. But it's all good. My neice only lives about 6 hours away. It's not too bad of a drive, but it would be sooooo...much funner with a gal pal. Meh, maybe one of these days. I didn't make it to the beach this time and I still didn't get my fish tacos. But the beach is always going to be there, and the fish tacos will always be there. My neice is so, so pregnant and just beautiful. It's a bittersweet moment for me. I so just miss her being little and us going to FAO Swartz in Vegas. But now's she's all grown up, married, and very soon to have a baby. I was talking to her today and she made a comment that we both fold our laundry the same way. It made me smile. I helped her straighten up the house and did some of her laundry for her. For a good portion of her life, as well as her two younger siblings, I was there, taking care of them. I shall be returning to California soon once she has the baby. She also reminded me of the fact that I'm going to be a great aunt. Oy vei. I popped a gray hair when she said that.

Anyways, school is going good. I haven't decided what classes I'm going to take next semester. Yes, I know this semester just started, but registration for Spring has started already. I'm definitely going into my 4th semester of Spanish, but not sure, what I'll take with it. I had a test in each class this week. I don't know what I did on the Psychology test, but I totally got an "A" on my Spanish test. Yeah baby! Our Spanish teacher that we have is just a sub. He's been with us since the beginning, our actual professor is coming back next week. I've heard horrible things about her. Hopefully she's not bad. A difficult teacher will make Spanish 201 hard to understand.

No new news as far as my car is concerned. Well maybe a little. I had to put a new battery in on Monday, and of course, a new tire on Tuesday. When I found out that my car had a flat on Tuesday, I called a few people to come help change it, but no one was able to come right away. I had school later that night and really needed my car. I am working from home now on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I was home when it happened. I figured, how hard is it to change a tire? I got in my car, got out the manual, and changed the tire all by myself. One of my guy friends said he was impressed with me, actually, I was impressed as well. So, now I know how to change a tire. Hooray!

So, every weekend, I help with Children's Ministry. For quite some time now, I have been leading small groups with the 1st -6th graders on Saturday. Well, this weekend, I'm venturing into a whole different world, and will actually be teaching the kids at 6:30. I'm not really nervous right now, but catch me tomorrow and see how I am. Haha. I always tend to go through things fast, my lesson needs to be between 15-17 minutes. I hope I can make my lesson go that long. We shall see how it goes.

Anyways, gotta go! Have a great weekend!

Bran