i'm alive

so....i kind of gave up on blogging once i left nz. i didn't feel the need to keep ppl updated on my life. but i am alive. isn't that wonderful? i think it's wonderful. i love being alive.
well - i was sure to keep myself busy with a quite full on schedule. i left nz in early april and it pained me so that i cried. that is big for me. it took everything i had to not run from the runway back into the airport and ask john kapa to take me back to heather's house and stay there forever, but alas, i flew to sydney. which was exciting and fun and rainy. i somehow ended up in king's cross by myself (that's the redlight district ps) but i was never scared or worried, the flying foxes and giant spiders did a much better job of that. but i think the highlight of the trip was the 1st day we were there adn were lugging ALL our luggage down the street and up the hill to a member's house where we were stowing it. we looked ridiculous...we found a shopping cart that was broken and that just made things worse but no worries....we prevailed.
then it twas off to fiji. tropical paradise. scuba diving and private white sandy clear water beaches. everything ws cheap, we'd catch toads adn gekos in the resort hostel thingy. delicious food and cake for $1. we were livin the life....
then home again home again. sure enough i called it....my family had signs at the airport and my mom cried. (2nd time in my life i've seen that.) they gave me cafe rio and had yellow ribbons all over the house....they are so funny.
4 days later - to their dismay it was back to moab. my one true love....otehr than nz of course. they are pretty much tied.
it was my 2nd yr working as a guide for world wide river expeditions. i am now a white water captain (aka guide 1). i feel pretty cool. this meant i was always in cahrge and we had some pretty crazy stuff go on. dislocated jaw, finger cut straight through, missing duckies, multiple rescues due to high water. it was a high water yr and we were loving it. we could do over 15 miles of water in nearly 2 hrs without paddling or rowing....the daily was actually fun. westwater was unrunnable because the rapids were flushed out and all it was was nasty eddies. cataract.....73,000 cfs (imagin 73,000 basketballs passing 1 spot in 1 second....that's how much water there was.) 40 ft waves. 25 ft and below were considered the small ones. oh man! thsi was the year for guiding.
i love moab so much!
i actually got a real commercial trip. yes! off the daily. i tl'ed a deso trip. 5 days. i was training christa. i've only done deso twice, both training, this meant i've never rowed the entire thing before, never done a real commercial trip - i swamped cat once last yr. - don't know where to camp on deso - which is a MUST KNOW - and....i'm tl??? nicki said i'd be ok. i had a map. and all the food and gear....so i gave my dear sister - lisa - my free trip and she helped me out. trip of a lifetime. lisa, christa, and i! oh my dear goodness it was FANFREAKINTASTIC! i LOVED IT! and our passengers were AWESOME!!! we made t shirts, and ran around naked on the beach, and had a talent show, and had great food, and played in cow swim, and had great camp spots, and danced, and got attacked by mosquitos the 1st night....yuck....but it was fantastic and above all.....GREAT weatehr and NO wind. oh yeah, in the canyon where god invented wind there was none.....beauty.
anyway....i also had a wee moab flingy-spell. his name was derek and he was from FL - i don't do long distance, so it ended when i left for home. but it was fun while it lasted. he's a great kid. good friend. twas a fun adventure.

ummm....now i'm back at byu. working hard, or pretending to do so. and really hating school and provo. if anyone needs an adventure call me. cuz i always do!