Where does the time go?

Well, here I am on the second floor of the library, with rain and hail beating down on the huge skylight, contemplating how it came to be that I have just started my last year at SUU. I still remember my first day here vividly: moving into Cedar Hall North with three girls I had never met, being nervous I would get hopelessly lost on the way to my classes, and feeling really small in a really big world.

Now, I'm a senior and my time is waning in this place I have learned to call home. I now know the best time to get Tiki Shack to avoid the lines and the easiest place to enter the sheep tunnels. I know not to go camping at Three Peaks when it rains and where to get the best chapstick in town (hint: True T-bird night). And I know that my third and final year in Cedar City is going to be the best one yet.

I spent the summer in Cedar this year instead of going home to northern Utah, and it was endless amounts of fun. Between shifts at work I snuck in trips to Southern California and Salt Lake City, soccer games, and hikes on hikes on hikes. I'm going to let you in on a little secret: there's nowhere better for hiking than southern Utah. With Zion, Bryce Canyon, Cedar Breaks, Snow Canyon, Kanarraville, and Kolob Canyon all practically in my backyard, I never ran out of adventures. I highly recommend that you use what's left of the warm weather to get out and explore some of these places!

Kanarraville Falls

The C Trail

Zion National Park

The Narrows

It was kind of weird when school started, to be honest. There was no big "move-in day" like in years past. One day I was just hanging out around town, and the next day school had started. I could not have been more excited! The first day of class is always a little nerve-wracking, whether you're a freshman or a graduate student. I spent an embarrassing amount of time picking out my First Day Outfit and then taking my annual First Day Photo.

I couldn't wait to be back at school and see all my friends again, and meet all the new people who are experiencing SUU for the first time. I was pumped to start a long-awaited Harry Potter marathon with my roommate and best friend who I met freshman year in Cedar Hall and have lived with ever since. The thought of riding my Razor scooter around campus made me grin from ear to ear. I was eagerly awaiting wearing red on Fridays.

Then, suddenly, school was in full swing. I've had papers to write, quizzes to take, chapters to read, Welcome Week activities to attend, people to see, places to be. It can get overwhelming pretty fast. Which is why I'm here, in the library, already in the second week of school, taking a deep breath and thinking about how I'm going to make this year incredible. I know there's nowhere else I would rather be and I can't wait to see where it will take me. Hopefully you feel the same!

Last first.

Today was my last first day at SUU. I don't know how I got here.

It seems like just yesterday when I was walking around campus the Sunday before school started figuring out where all my classes were so I wouldn't get lost. I didn't have to do that this time obviously (although I did have to ask someone what building "TH" is the abbreviation for). It seems like just barely when I was stalking my future roommates on Facebook and thinking I was going to be the only white girl in my room in Cedar Hall... who knows why I thought that. It definitely does not feel like it's been three years since I made the decision of where to come to school because the first commercial to come on after General Conference was for SUU, and that was clearly a sign.

It's amazing how much I've progressed since freshman year. Who knew that I would live in France for a month; become a Presidential Ambassador, a reporter, and an event planner; have to get glasses (you didn't even know I wear glasses did you?); develop a love for hiking; and think things like sheep tunnels, a tiny reservoir, or a snow cone shack are cool places to be on a Friday night? I've gone from a kid nervous about moving to a new place and making friends and getting good grades, to a slightly older kid terrified of making decisions and entering the grown-up world. But that's all part of life I guess: being scared of stuff and then doing it anyway. That's how we all grow.

Anyway, I guess it's just hard to believe that in eight months I will (assuming everything goes according to plan) be the proud owner of a bachelor's degree and be leaving this little town I have come to love so much over the past two years. Which means these next eight months should probably be pretty kick-ass. Bring it on, senior year!

The narrows.

Last weekend I got to cross one of my biggest summer bucket list items off: hiking the Narrows. Which meant I got to spend 6 hours between the walls of a canyon and up to my knees in water looking at this kind of gorgeous scenery. It was truly one of the most humbling experiences. Also, I got to wear really cool socks.

There were many highlights which included trying to eavesdrop on the conversations of French people, being up to my waist in water because I'm so short, thinking there was going to be an orange grove around the corner because someone peeled an orange, getting laughed at when I fell in the water, laughing at Colby when he almost fell in the water, doing parkour, getting hounded by some dad about where we went hiking, and mainly just taking in the beauty that is really right in our backyard.

If you get the chance to hike the Narrows, I highly recommend you take that chance! Next up: Angels Landing!

Honors.

From July 10 to 20, I had the opportunity to leave the world behind and become a counselor for the Governor's Honors Academy. Long story short, this is a nine day leadership camp at SUU for excelling high school seniors. I attended it myself at the age of 17, and this year I was able to return as a counselor.

For some reason I entered this experience not expecting to learn anything new, but just to help these kids learn about themselves and where life could take them. After all, I've already been to GHA so what else could it really teach me? By the end though, I'm pretty sure I learned more than they did about how to be the best person I can be every day, set and achieve goals, and start on the path to accomplishing my dreams (as soon as I figure out what those dreams are).

Here is a compilation of some of my favorite quotes from the speakers I got to experience:

"When they told me I couldn't do it, I said, 'you watch me.'" - Cyndi Gilbert

"Everything is always changing but it doesn't matter. You deal with the cards you're dealt every day." - Steve Gilbert

"If you have an idea, and turn it into a dream, and plan it and live with it until it succeeds, it will succeed." - Fred Adams

"Remember, working eight hours a day at something you don't love is hell." - Fred Adams

 "The 'good life' is always a beginning, not an ending. It's getting there, not being there. It's on the side of the mountain, not the top." - Don Gale

"Don't be normal." - Bruce Crankshaw

 "By changing our thoughts, we can change our lives." - David Litchford

There really are no words to accurately explain how GHA changed me and how it continues to change everyone involved every day. But, as Andy Andrews so eloquently put in The Noticer: "Life is a little like dessert. Keep your fork, the best is yet to come."

When the communication major disappears from social media.

I've realized something recently. I'm a communication major. And I've given up on social media.

Those of you who know me well know that I'm addicted to Twitter. And Tumblr. And Vine. And Instagram. Or at least I was.

This summer though, I don't know what's happened to me. I've posted a total of like five blog posts this summer if you count this one, and all of them have been extremely sorry excuses for blog posts that are only intended to keep my blog alive (including this one).

I used to be funny on Twitter and get lots of favorites and stuff. And then there's the quality of my tweets this summer:

• Currently ODing on Oreo ice cream
• It's summer and I just spent like 2 and a half hours in the library. I need to rethink my life choices.
• Pretty fortunate that I didn't crash my car today.. It would be embarrassing if my cause of death was "eating a cinnamon roll while driving"
• Haven't tweeted about my life in a week so I'm not sure if it even existed or not...
• Had a dream I ran a 5k and woke up with sore hamstrings...mostly I'm concerned how sore I'll be if I ACTUALLY run a 5k
• Exhausted and haven't showered in days... This is what summer is about right? #work #allthetime
• At least I've been getting paid to do stuff like look at dead stuffed animals.
• Seeing as I wasn't driving all over the state of Utah today it's about time I got some things* done! (*3.5 hours of watching Netflix)
• You know you've hit rock bottom when you text your mom because you're bored. And then she doesn't even text back. #loserstatus
• It's a sad day when you're 20 years old and still get asked for ID every time you try to buy medicine or spray paint. #stilllook16

Not only are none of these funny but they also demonstrate the fact that while my goal this summer was to get in shape and eat healthy, I've done nothing but dream about running, eat cinnamon rolls, and work, which apparently includes getting paid to look at dead animals. Why did I tweet about that?

The only thing that has actually remained kind of in my life is Instagram. That is, if you're dying to see landscape picture after landscape picture with the hash tag #utahgram, cause that's all it is these days.

So yeah, case in point. I don't know what's happened to me. Maybe everything will return to normal in three weeks when school starts. Or maybe I'm just that weird girl who became a comm major because she likes to write but is kind of quiet and socially awkward and now doesn't even use social media and is a total outcast in the public relations/advertising world that she hopes to find a career in. Okay, that's a little extreme. I'm sure I'll see you guys on Twitter and Insta sometime soon. I mean, as soon as I find another cool landscape or something.

PS. Follow me! @shanndelier on Twitter and Instagram.

Halfway.

It's halfway through 2013 already. (Side note: Sorry all my posts start with "It's halfway through _____ already." Like, can you believe it's halfway through the morning already? Let's talk about everything that has happened.) But really, since I have nothing to write about ever, I thought I would just make myself more accountable for my goals for this year and do a little self-check-up.

1. Keep working out. I'm doing alright with this... I've been slacking hardcore over the past couple months though and my body is less than happy. Although I did run my first 10K a couple weeks ago which I was pretty happy about! I want to run a half marathon this fall so I better get serious.
2. Only drink soda on special occasions. I'm a pro at not drinking soda, let's be honest. The last one I had was a bottled cream soda at a wedding reception but no one can pass that up. Other than that I don't think I've had any in months.
3. Spend less time on my computer and more time doing cool things. This is one of the best goals I've made, I think. Instead of watching reruns of the Walking Dead all summer I have read three and a half books, been hiking multiple times, and spent more time with people! It's so great!
4. Eat healthier. This comes and goes. For the most part I do pretty well but at the same time, pizza.
5. Visit my great grandparents every two weeks. I'm awful! I seriously need to do this.
6. Take time to do things for other people. I think I have done well with this. But I could always do better.
7. Continue to take risks, come out of my comfort zone, and grow as a person. I think I have done this a lot this year so far. Can't wait to hike Angel's Landing and then I can really say I've been out of my comfort zone!

Okay, that's the last you'll have to hear about this until the end of December when I have a post that begins "2013 is over already" or something to that effect. I know you weren't sure if time was passing or not. Good thing I'm here to remind you, right?

Cedar summer.

Did you know it's already June 20? Which means summer is basically halfway over? And what do I have to show for it?

I decided to stay in Cedar City for the summer in hopes of scoring scholarship housing (which I did) and getting a job I can keep through the school year (which I did) and maybe even getting a hot boyfriend (which I did). However, the latter two have put me in an interesting situation called "Spending Summer Driving All Over God's Creation" because my job is in Hurricane (45 minutes away from Cedar) and this boy lived in Lehi (3 hour drive from Cedar) which then changed to St. George (still 45 minutes from Cedar). So basically all of this means that my highly anticipated "Cedar City Summer" has drastically changed... into something way more awesome even if it is putting a lot of miles on my new beautiful car (which I named the Enterprise by the way! Star Trek for life). Okay this paragraph has way too many parentheses.

So basically, instead of spending the past two months watching Netflix and scrolling through endless pages on Tumblr, I have spent a lot of time doing a lot of really fun things:

Cheesecake Factory at City Creek! 

Solo-hiking the C... halfway at least.

Hiking in some gorgeous St. George redrock

Hogle Zoo!

Hiking Kanarraville Falls. There's nothing better than this hike.

Running my first 10K!

California!

Watching this amazing sunset from cliffs over the beach.

USA vs. Honduras World Cup qualifier with my brother!

As you can see, so far it has been one whirlwind of a summer. And I've done one single thing in Cedar City which was (kind of) hike the C trail. Oh and I've obviously been to Tiki Shack. But don't even worry... I still have a lot of things to do before the season fades. Which means... here is, a bit overdue, my summer bucket list.

• Hike the whole C trail
• Angel's Landing
• The Narrows
• Play disc golf
• Kanarraville Falls (again!)
• Sand Hollow
• Cave glowstick party
• Harry Potter marathon
• Train for a half marathon
• Read a book or more every month
• Stargazing
• Ghost town

I don't know what to call this summer. But whatever or wherever it is... let's get this thing started. I'm stoked.