In a Nutshell:

Sooo...i have not been in much of a blogging mood lately, but it's high time for an update so here we go.  I am considering renaming my blog to, "Adventures of the Lone Ranger", because i keep adventuring even without my adventure buddy a.k.a. Phillip Brandley, but that title is a tad bit depressing, ergo my blog title remains the same.  Here are a few of the the adventures me, myself, and I have been on lately:



some of my most favorite people all in one, not so flattering
Photograph...who am i kidding they still look awesome.



Kaileb and me after our wild ride!
we were both a little rattled.

The 4th is my FAVORITE holiday! I love everything about it! For the past 5 years i have been going up to Hunstville to watch the fireworks, because they are awesome there! 4 out of the 5 times i have been there, i have gone with the Brandley's (wow!) This year was no exception.  I met up with them and had a blast! Kaileb (Phill's Youngest Brother) has always wanted to go on those crazy metal spinning rides...it must have a better name than that. Anyways, i went along for the ride. mistake. I had a seatbelt bruise on my stomach the next day. haha. But neither Kaileb or I threw up. bonus.

we just want to dance!

Every year that i know of Huntsville does a dance while you wait for the fireworks to start, this year there wasn't. No one was more upset than Sterling (Phill's second youngest brother) who wanted to do the Cha Cha Slide like nobody's business. About 20 minutes before the fireworks were supposed to start. Ster and I hear the Cha Cha Slide start up and we both take off from the other side of the park and danced our hearts out with the rest of Phill's family! They're so sweet to not mock my serious lack of dancing skills.

The Fireworks were amazing as always, and my 4th of July was a success!

So...

HAPPY LATE 4th OF JULY TO EVERYONE!!!





Uh...you're not Phillip???
(Kaileb needs to work on the personal space rule. haha.)



My next adventure consisted of my friend Shanda and I going up to Brigham City to see the Angel Moroni put on the temple! it was so exciting, and definitely a new experience.  When we got to Brigham it was pouring rain, and then came the wind, the statue was supposed to be placed around noon, but they didn't even get started until about 2. We had a lot of time to kill.  But i am so glad that we stuck it out, because when they started to place him on the temple it was so much fun to watch!  The Brigham City  temple is gorgeous! if you haven't seen it yet, take a little trip and check it out!

 

Shanda and me, fighting off the elements with our
snazzy umbrellas

And the Adventures continued as i ventured up to Idaho for Girl's Camp! I will tell you what, being a leader is sooo different from being one of the young women. Not in a bad way though.  We went up to Lava Hot Springs and had so much fun! The theme of the camp was "Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful" each ward was represented by different types of flowers. Our ward was the daisies.  So cute! There is such an amazing spirit that comes from the youth! I learned so much from each of them while i was at camp.  Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways and i am so grateful for the calling i have to serve the Young Women.  I am so used to playing boy scouts that switching to working with girls has been an interesting experience, all my handouts have to be pretty (see figure 1) and my lessons presented with a little sugar coating, but i wouldn't trade it! "We are ALL daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love him!"  

Half of my giant head, and 2 of my favorite girls eva! Rachel and Dani,
hiking it up!
And the pretty little stream/canal we walked by on our hike. and people wonder
why i love Idaho. psh.



Figure 1: my fancy beehive cupcakes for my cute little beehives.
fancy!

Well, that in a nutshell is my life at this current moment in time. Isn't it grand?