Zion National Park!

Ohmygosh. I went to Zion National Park for the first time this last weekend, and it was AMAZING! It's like a desert version of Yosemite. My roommate Lexy and I took off Friday after work and drove 3.5 hours south to Zion. The weather was perfect at 80 degrees and sunny, with a cool breeze that was quite a friend during our hikes. The first day (Saturday) we did a couple hikes, but it was really crowded. Definitely Spring Break for a lot of people this weekend.

The next day, being Sunday, had far less people. It was really nice. We hiked Angel's Landing, one of the highest mountains of Zion National Park. It ascends 1,500 feet over a distance of 2.5 miles to the summit, and has amazing views on all sides of the canyon. This is generally considered "the best high elevation viewpoint in the park". People afraid of heights are warned (me being one of those people), but as long as I didn't look down, it was fine! It started with switchbacks ascending up the side of the mountain, then curved along behind deep in the canyon where it was much cooler. Then more switchbacks till reaching the top of the lowest end of the mountain. From there there are chains to help guide you up the mountain, and a lot of boulder-hopping and scrambling. There were parts of the trail with drop-offs on either side, about 1,000 feet to the bottom (sorry Mom...). An amazing climb, leading to an even more amazing view. I would do it again in a heartbeat! This was the ridge we hiked along to get to the summit:





We plan on going back pretty often this spring and summer. Hopefully next time with the boys. When it gets hot we will definitely be hiking the Narrows, one of the most popular photography hot spots in the park!

More pictures to be added to http://www.hollandbanksphotography.blogspot.com/ :)

Happy Easter!

Last night my roommate Lexy and I painted eggs together... something I haven't done since I was 12 years old! We invited our friend Audrey over and had a lot of fun. My fingers are still pink from the dye.

This weekend is going to be really great. Our church has General Conference all weekend (3 sessions tomorrow and 2 on Sunday), which is broad casted around the world. The prophet speaks, along with the Quorum of the Twelve apostles. My bishop gave me two tickets to go to the Sunday morning session in Salt Lake at the conference center, so I will be in the audience. I'm taking my friend Norma who is so happy to go. Then I'll be having Easter dinner at a friend's house for those of us who aren't going home for the holiday.

I hope people remember why we really celebrate this day.... :)

New Crazy Happenings in Life

I don't even know where to start, so much has gone on in my life since my last post.

So let's see.... I recently got a new job working for AMP Security doing data entry for calls that come in from the reps. It's super easy, and yes, sounds boring, but it's full-time, which is something I really need right now. I put my two-weeks in at Inkley's Camera last week, and my last day is this coming Saturday. I made some great friends at Inkley's and will continue to see them and go there to print pictures and camera supplies!

I have had two "callings" now in my ward at the church. I am now the ward photographer, and one of two leaders of the Activities Committee! Both super fun, and we get to plan all these amazing events to do with our ward. I'm excited for this summer!

Chrissie and I have a new roommate, Lexy, who was my good friend before she moved in, whom I met through Jake and Jared. She rocks. I love her. This is us dressed as hippies for a Decades Night at the church.

Last weekend I went to the Holi Krishna Festival of Colors in Spanish Fork, UT. SO much fun. I went with my close friends Josh, Jake, Jared, Lexy, and our new friend Alanna. Nearly 20,000 people attended this event, and for those of you that don't know what it is, it's an Indian (as in the country India) celebration of spring coming. There is music, and food, and the most traditional part, colored chalk that is thrown in the air so everyone gets covered in color. I have a mixture of pictures in here taken by different people (I wasn't about to bring my nice camera to this event to get chalk dust in it--I took a little $3.50 disposable camera ;) ). Enjoy! (Oh, and check out this video of the countdown: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH5xlZHNm20

Photos by Gordon Galbraith: The throwing of the colored chalk



Photo by Alanna Skrypek

Me after the throwing, with Jake in the background

Photo by Alanna Skrypek: Jared. ha!

group photos...


Lexy and me back at the house

Finally!

I bought myself my very own guitar! It is beautiful. It's a Seagull Original S6 acoustic guitar, and it plays beautifully. I am so stoked. I played quite a bit when I lived in Newport, OR (2008), but since then I have barelly touched a guitar, so I have to re-learn some stuff. But after playing it about 5 hours today, when I no longer could play without making my fingertips bleed, I am back, baby!

Stencils

So my friend Ammon is in a photography class at BYU, and one of the projects he was working on was making stencils in a light source to bend over a human eye! So I was his guinea pig ;). Look closely and you can see the "EYE".... (not photoshopped!!)

Hiking and Sledding Rock Canyon

Lately my roommate Chrissie and I have been out hiking in Rock Canyon just outside Provo. We're still getting a little snow off-and-on here, but we mostly have to go in the canyons to find the good stuff. We explored some caves a few days ago, and yesterday we went sledding. The entire trail is a slight incline, so we can just coast down the whole trail! Some patches were intensely fast and crazy though! Enjoy the video.... I bruised my butt so bad on this run that it's now black and blue and it hurts to sit!!

How I Bruised my Butt. Make sure your sound is on.

It's Official

So I am officially a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! I was baptized on the 13th of February, a day to remember the rest of my life.

It was an amazing experience, and I have been so happy and grateful, and have had a warm feeling of the Spirit with me ever since. I know that's weird to a lot of people reading this that I went from an agnostic hippie to a church girl (with a little hippie still in me of course ;) ) but it's real and I love it. So a little about the baptism:

About 50-60 people attended, all people that are very close to me, and people I have just met in my ward who are amazing. There was so much love in the room, I have never felt so blessed. My good friend Ammon gave an incredible talk, and Caradon, Lindsay and Samantha, my 3 sistas from when I was really young, sang the most beautiful song, called "Olive Tree".

The actual baptism itself was so surreal. I felt like I was in another world as I was stepping in the font (it's like a small pool), where Bryce, my long-time friend of 11 years, baptized me. It felt as though the world had stopped during that 2 minutes that I was in the font. Latter-day Saints are completely immersed when baptized, so Bryce dunked me backwards after saying a prayer, and when I came out of the water I felt light as a feather. A lot of people cried. Everyone in the room felt the Spirit. A lot of people came to me after, even still today, to tell me I changed their life, and that night makes them want to be a better person. I am so happy to have touched so many hearts that moment.

Several people then came up to bear their testimonies while I was changing, and said some really wonderful things about me that I unfortunately didn't get to hear :(. But I heard a lot about them. Then Lindsay and her beautiful daughter Audrey sang "A Child's Prayer", a song that makes me tear up whenever I hear them sing it (this was the 2nd time I heard them sing this song). One of my best friends Jared then gave a second talk, which was pretty wonderful as well. Bishop Kokkola then welcomed me to the ward.

Afterward about 20 of us went out for pizza and had a bonfire on Utah Lake till 1 in the morning. But something that made this day most special, other than the fact that I was baptized, was that my mom came. It was so great to have her there next to me, and everyone thought she was just the sweetest person. She even came out to the bonfire with my friends and me! She loved every minute of the weekend, and is so so happy she was able to come out and see the baptism, meet my amazing friends, and to see where I live so she feels less bad about me NOT living in Oregon.

The next day was my confirmation in the the church, and of receiving the Holy Ghost. 10 men in the priesthood surrounded me in front of everyone at church, and each put one hand on my head, while Bishop Kokkola gave a wonderful prayer welcoming me to the ward. I wish I could have gotten the whole weekend on tape because this is going to be something I will want to remember always. I will never forget it, but I'm afraid to lose details.

I am so thankful for everyone that came, and for people that couldn't come that have been so supportive. I have come so far, and am happier now than I have ever been. Now every day I strive to be a better person, and to do something great for at least one person a day. I feel so pure and clean now that all my sins are washed away! I have to keep it up of course, though ;).