The Roomates

Well, I've made it to Provo. I'm in an appartment of 6 and have some pretty cool roomates:

Drew and I were companions way back in the MTC. He works there now teaching german, and I still see him in a white shirt and tie. Hmmm, hasn't changed a bit.
Devin is the one I actually share a room with. He's from Canada. He works at our complex, so we get all the sweet stuff.
Tanner is the son of a couple I knew in Heidelberg. His dad was the bishop of the american military ward there. That was a suprise. He went to Berlin on his mission, so we're well represented.
Lance is from Utah. I haven't seen him in a few days. I think he's off doing landscaping somewhere.
Seth is from Missouri. That's all I know. I hesitate to ask if he's a Mizzou fan.

Recent Book

I just found a book that I read and accidentally never returned to the library. It was pretty interesting. While I was in Germany, I lived in a small town called Wetzlar. Wetzlar's claim to fame comes from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Germany's most famous author of all time. He moved there when he was just older than me in 1774, and started writing this book, called The Sorrows of Young Werther. It was partially based on events in the town and tells the story of this guy Werther who falls in love with a girl, Lotte. But alas, Lotte is engaged to Albert. It follows his suffering until he finally kills himself. The book propelled Goethe to stardom and was even translated into tons of different languages. Something that has made the book even more famous is that many young people read the book and then killed themselves in a similar fashion. Some estimate the number as high as 2,000. Considering that I'd lived there and even visited some of the sites from the book, I figured I ought to read it sometimes. I thought I'd wait around until I found it in German, but when I stumbled across it in the library the other day, I figured that then was as good a time as any, even though it was in English. I was pretty impressed, especially when I thought that the guy who wrote it was pretty much my same age. It was very well written, and the best part is, I got though it and I'm still alive!

i LOVE craigslist.

I think craigslist is one of the best things out there. I'm constantly finding the coolest things, but also practicing a lot of self control by not buying much. There have been, however, two offers that I could not have refused.

The first came several months ago- a pair of telemark skis that were in great shape and super cheap.

The second came just on Saturday. Someone in Farmington was giving away her old airline bike box, that she probably bought for over 200 dollars. Who knows if I'll ever take a bike anywhere on a plane, but it is good for moving or storing a bike securely, and heck, it was FREE.

Colorado Trail

This week was one of the highlights of my summer. A couple friends and I hiked much of the Colorado Trail. Even with the buckets of rain, it was a blast.

This is about 3 or 4 miles into the trip where we met the first person going the other way. "Where ya comin' from?" we asked.
"Denver"
Wow.
These pics don't do it much justice, but the wildflowers were amazing.
Here in the distance you can see purgatory, our local ski resort.
We stumbled upon the perfect campsite one day . Have you ever had such a view from your toilet?
Yes, that is snow.
59 miles, and about as many bug bites later.