Passport to Provo

Google Fiber. BYU Football games. Sodalicious Dirty Diet Cokes. Sweet Tooth Fairy Samoa Cookies.

These are just a few of the glorious things that Provo has within it's city limits. Well, someone in Provo decided that this city needed something else to make them awesome-they needed to hold the world record for the biggest scavenger hunt ever.

So, they decided to put on Passport to Provo. Basically it was a huge scavenger hunt where teams walked around downtown Provo with their "passports" getting stamps at local businesses, and after completing different tasks.

Well scavenger hunts are right up my alley-so Nate and I formed "Team Rau" and off we went, to assist in braking a world record. We had a great day sampling sweet potato fries at Guru's, petting puppies curtsey of Rent a Puppy, cleaning up trash in North Park, and of course sampling a new concoction at Sodalicious and coming up with a great name for it. It was a wonderful adventure.

Although we're no longer students in Provo-and have fully moved on to the next stage of our Provo life-the stage of living in a neighborhood, and avoiding student hangouts-we sure had fun at this huge event. And yes, the world record was broken!

Another Lovely Labor Day

This past Labor Day we spent the weekend relaxing in St. George. We went down with my family and had agreat time swimming, exploring in Zion, relaxing at the condo, riding an awesome carousel and antiquing.

Ok not really antiquing per say. However, that sounds much cooler than what it actually was which involved a whole lot of time spent in only one little, smelly antique store while Mom tried to buy a beautiful piece of furniture.

However that beautiful piece of furniture now sits in her living room so it was definitely worth it.

Also I should note that Dad, Nate and I left the antique store fairly quickly in order to explore a wonderful park area with the best splash pad ever. Who says splash pads are just for kids? In my shorts and saltwater I was able to get plenty cooled off.

It really was such an awesome, fun weekend with a bunch of my favorite people. Thanks for the trip mom and dad! St. George never disappoints. 

(we're mastering the selfie with a real camera look....)

My husband found a tadpole! 

 While in St. George we went and found where Nate's great-grandparents are buried. He'd never been before, and it was a really wonderful experience 

And about that horseback riding-alright technically it was a carousel

Six Years

I started this blog six years ago, as a freshman at BYU. Those early posts, complete with grammatical error and awful fashion choices are somewhat cringe worthy. However, when I do go back to the beginning and look at those first posts from a  young 18 year old me, I can't help but keep reading. I scroll through post after post, my heart stopping at certain lines of words that speak to me.

Words that I wrote.

Words that wrote me.

Although the posts that fill it have not always been profound, this little corner of the internet I've carved out for myself tells a story of becoming. You see it in the pictures, in the experiences and people included, and in the writing. However I like to think that more than just documenting those changes, this blog has catalyzed them. It was here that I learned the power words have on my soul,  and here that using those words, I became who I am today. 

The blog has changed as I have changed. I've debated many times starting a new one, a clean, white, blank canvas tempting me to leave. This blog wasn't ever about being fresh and new though-it has always been about the journey of becoming; a journey that inherently involves the past. It involves the ins and outs of the every day life, and the of those seemingly small and insignificant moments that come together and culminate in the creation of an entire life. A journey that romances me so greatly, that the temptation to start a new always fades.I think I'll stay here awhile longer still. 

There are words, and life, yet to be written.

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I thought I'd celebrate my 6 years of blogging by creating a little list of the posts that mean the most to me (in no particular order)

What I Know 

The Tears I Cried... 

My Future Small Home 

Dear 2013

Girl Rising 

The Moment Before 

Love 

Election Day 

Autumn is Here 

Autumn in England

Four Autumns 

A Tender Mercy

The Best Days 

Happy Christmas 

A Christmas Engagement

Sharing my Sister

Londontown

Peace 

Becoming a Happy Camper

I've never really been a happy camper.

Ok, well I'm usually at least a little happy, so I guess technically you could say I was always a happy camper... Lets just say I've never really been an extremely happy camper. Something about trying to sleep on the ground, the critters/insects, and the dirt would always make me tired, annoyed, and ok-a little scared.

However, the man I've married is an avid outdoors man who prides himself on the fact that for 30 nights this summer he has slept on the ground.

And you know, the thing about marriage is that sometimes you have to do things that aren't your favorite, because your spouse loves those things. He does this in the form of shopping expeditions, Sunday naps and certain movies-I do this for camping.

So, last week we had the pleasure of camping with Nate's awesome family. We explored some Redwoods, enjoyed the view of Crater Lake, went fishing in the ocean, and toasted way too many marshmallows. We loved spending time with the entire Rau family-being all together with every single member for my first time. We took in the beautiful sights of the foggy, northern California coast. We hiked, played games, and walked on the beach. Nate protected me from a skunk, helped me reel in my fish, and slowly and surely made me enjoy this camping thing.

And you know what? I've never been a more happy camper.

 The GIANT rock fish I caught! I was so excited about it! 

Nate getting his exercise.

Thanks Mom and Dad Rau for a wonderful trip, to the family for welcoming me in, and to my husband for not making fun of me when I got scared by spiders, skunks, and grossed out by fish. 

Nate Graduates

This past weekend, without any pomp and circumstance Nate graduated from BYU.

He preferred to celebrate by camping with his family, instead of walking (who could blame him?) and so that is exactly what we did! Before we left town though we took some pictures of him to commemorate this monuments occasion. I have to say, seeing him all dressed up and sporting his cap and gown-it hit me. Nate graduated. I've never been more happy for him.

Nate is such a smart and hard-working man. He has always been this way, but especially since we got engaged. He has worked so hard to do well in school because he desires so much to be able to provide for me and our future family. On top of that though, Nate is also someone who sincerely loves learning, and what he studied at BYU. As funny as it may sound, this man loves rocks, gets excited by folds in the mountains, and finds exciting stones or fossils to bring home wherever we go. This man is going to do so well in his career someday, because he sincerely enjoys what it is he studied. It makes me so happy to know that when I send him off to work everyday in the future, with a kiss and some lunch, he'll be headed off to do something that he truly enjoys.

So, congratulations Nathan. I can't wait to see what you'll do next!

Us the Duo

This past week I got an e-mail from the local radio station, saying that I had won tickets to a little show by Us the Duo at the Coca-Cola lounge. I was so excited! I would get to leave work early, hang out with my mom and sister, and listen to some great music.

On top of all that we ended up being selected to be special VIPs! We got front row seats, and lots of Coca-cola swag. More exciting than all that though was Us the Duo. They are such a talented, humble, happy couple. Watching them perform together was such a wonderful way to spend the afternoon.

Thoughts on Climbing Mountains and Such

Last week Nate and I hiked Mount Timpanogos.

Did you read that. We climbed MOUNT TIMPANOGOS.

Everyone who has climbed Timp has an opinion on how to do it-sunrise hike, all day hike, backpack, hurry to the top, take your time, run the whole trail. Nate and I though, decided to do it our own way.

We backpacked.

Yes, I, Nicole Rau, backpacked. That Rau part of my name is really introducing some new things into my life. So, on Wednesday we grabbed our backpacks, and set out. That night we camped at Emerald Lake, and Thursday morning we hiked to the peak.

Like I said earlier though-we did it OUR way. Backpacking was more Nate, and stopping for the waterfalls, loving the rain, holding hands, and eating as much granola as possible was more me.

I'm not going to downplay it. Timp was one of the hardest things I've physically ever done. However, we did it, and  I'm so proud of us. We saw that giant mountain and we conquered it.

I couldn't help but think of the symbolism in this, as we encouraged each other up the final stretch up the mountain. Whenever I would get discouraged Nate would encourage me. When he didn't feel well I took care of him. In marriage, and in mountain climbing, life is just better when we're together. And together at our own pace, in our own way, we made it to the top.

We did it, and even better-we did it together.

P.S. This one is for all you that never thought you'd see me being a backpacker... (ok, mostly just Mom)