Happy-New-Year-2015-Fireworks-HD-Picture-Wallpaper

With the New Year approaching, I got to thinking about the things that I have learned over this last year. Here’s a few of them I thought I’d share…

Twenty- five things I’ve learned over the past year…

1.) To love others as if it’s my last chance.

2.) Not to over burden people with my struggles.

3.) To guard my heart; because once a piece is lost, you can never get it back.

4.) To let go of things I can’t change.

5.) That the grass is never greener on the other side.

6.) To choose my battles carefully.

7.) Not to joke with serious people.

8.) To love God above all else.

9.) That age doesn’t have anything to do with maturity.

10.) To never think that something can’t happen to me.

11.) That true happiness is achieved when you live each day as if it’s your last.

12.) That doing what I love, is more important than making sure my house is clean.

13.) That each new day brings a whole new load of challenges with it.

14.) That children emulate their parents to exact proportions.

15.) That music can help mend a broken heart.

16.) That finding our passions in life and living them out, brings about true happiness.

17.) That cell phones have killed real communication.

18.) That laughing every day helps more than prescription drugs.

19.) To spend as much time with my kids as I can, before they move out on their own.

20.) Not to be afraid to be the one who loves the most.

21.) That hugging should be required at least three times a day and at our house we have morning, noon, and nighttime hugs. (My daughter invented this rule and she never misses a moment to remind me of this.)

22.) To always keep Kleenex within arm’s reach for all kinds of situations.

23.) To take every opportunity that is set before me and run with it.

24.) That coffee always tastes better when you’re on a coffee date with a friend.

25.) That nobody will ever agree with everything you say and that’s quite okay.

How about you? What have you learned over this past year or over the course of your lifetime…

Photo credit: livingrichwithcoupons.com

The continuation…

Taking one last peek over the edge of the cliff, I know that it’s now time to head back down into the valley below. The adrenaline rush is still pulsing through my veins though and I don’t want this feeling to end. People are coming in droves now and it’s making the trail harder to maneuver. A few hours later, we are finally back where we started.

We stop and eat the lunch at the picnic area and then decide to catch the shuttle that will take us to the Zion Museum. The museum isn’t very big, and doesn’t take us long to wander through. We buy a couple of souvenirs and head back out once more to find another hiking trail. I immediately spot another trail right outside of the museum and we hike for another two miles until we find ourselves in a quiet cove by the Virgin River. It’s a beautiful spot to sit and think and would be the perfect place to spend a long lazy afternoon. Tired as we are though, we decide that it’s best if we go back to the hotel to rest for a while.

Before long, my nephew Levi gets bored and so we all decide to take him over to the local rock shop again. Levi has fun examining each rock closely and cannot settle his mind on just picking out one. He loves them all! After spending nearly an hour shopping for rocks, we’re all realizing how hungry we are from all the hiking and walking that we’ve done today and we decide to head south on the highway to see if we can find a restaurant down in the city of Hurricane.

After driving for about 45 minutes, we finally spot a Mexican restaurant adjacent to a movie theatre. We contemplate a movie, but nothing looks interesting, so instead we go inside the restaurant to eat dinner. The restaurant offers take-out or dining-in and we decide to stay there to eat. The food turns out to be really good and reasonably priced.

After eating our fill, we decide to head over to Walmart to by some water shoes for our hike tomorrow through the Narrows. After finding out that there are no water shoes left in my size, I decide to settle on a pair of tennis shoes to wear instead. After buying shoes for everyone and a few random items that we were in need of, we are now heading back to the hotel for the night.

We are relieved to find a parking space when we return to the hotel and we drag ourselves into the room with hardly an energy left. It been a long but glorious day and most definitely my favorite day yet.