Two.

Remember when I said I was going to do this 30 Day Challenge thing? Well I'm not very good at it. As I've only done one of the 30. But I'm working on it, so here's number two.

2) Describe 5 legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears.

1. Needles. I hate needles. I can't really explain how this became a fear. I've just always hated them. When I was younger I wanted to be a doctor. And I remember thinking that I could handle anything about the job - blood, guts, vomit, etc. - just not the needles. I HATE needles. Whenever I get a shot I have to hold someone's hand or talk to someone to distract me. My dad's nurses know how much I hate needles, so they use two whenever I need a shot - one to draw the fluid from the bottle, and one to give me a shot. I don't think I will ever donate blood, simply because I hate needles so much.

2. Being alone. This one I have to explain a bit. I don't mean this in a I-always-need-people-around-me-to-be-happy way. I like spending time by myself. I mean this in like not having anyone there for you. Like no family, no friends. Living somewhere where I knew absolutely no one for an extended period of time would terrify me. A few days - maybe even weeks - is exciting. Anything more than that would kill me. I'm a social person. I need at least a couple people who I can talk to every once in a while in order to stay sane.

3. Losing a sense. I mean like losing my sight or hearing or something. I love music, the sound of the wind in aspen trees, and the clicking of sprinkler lines. I love seeing sunsets, the sight of the tops of mountains disappearing into clouds, and sunshine on a lake. I don't know what I would do if I lost the ability to notice things like that.

4. Not knowing who I am. I've always had a very strong sense of self. I know what I want to be in the future. I might not know how I'll get there, or even specifics, but I've always had a general idea. I've always known who I am, for the most part. There would be nothing worse than realizing that I didn't even understand myself anymore.

5. Not making it into the advertising program. This one is a little less serious. I couldn't think of anything else. And this kind of goes along with number 4. I don't know what I'll do if I don't get accepted into BYU's ad program. I love advertising. I know it's what I want to do with my life. But the whole process of applying is kind of freaking me out. I'm stressing over it. And I don't stress. It's kind of a big deal. I'm completely terrified. It'll all work out though.
I hope.

So this one time, I went to Peru...

So my family, along with my neighbors the Bakers, just got back from a lovely 10 (well, 11 actually) day excursion in Peru. Our main guide's name was Edison, our assistant guide was Ever, our cook was Janet, and our favorite porter was Ernesto. Our trip included 4 days hiking on the Inca trail (with rain 3 out of the 4), lots of plane flights, puns, an unexpected stay in Panama, lots of bus rides, and many more exciting events.
Here's a summary:
'Lets do something sinful! I'll buy you a pretzel.' Rain. Cuy/Cooked guinea pig. No hotel reservations. 'It's chilly in here... No, actually, it's Peru.' Cusco with an s. 'Get a picture of that angel doing a beat down on the devil.' Asian tourist picture. Guess the 70's song for half a sole. Everybody say queso! Panorama. Inca cola. 'I'm not sure, but I think I had 12 pieces of pizza.' Purple corn drink. Beef heart. 'Llama face!' Saxy woman. The Sacred Valley. Chi-cha. Cocoa leaves tea. 'I feel like the president.' Sugar makes everything better. Milo. Popcorn. 'Can we take Janet home with us?' Speed. BS. Golf. 'I'm flattered you'd let me take a picture of you.' Moleskin. Bugbites. 'Don't puke!' Deep life talks with dad under the stars. The southern cross. Fireflies. 'Hello lazy people!' Tea time. Dinner at 7. 'How very European of you.' Machu picchu. Dead woman's pass. 'Lets beat the Incas to the bottom!' Flute music. Manzanilla tea. Anis tea. 'I look like a young german boy without the lederhosen.' Veronica. 'I can see why they call it Obama valley... it all goes downhill from here.' Wild turkeys. Sleeping pills. 'Ever you lied!' Aguas Calientes. Stairs. Ernesto's trail. Urubamba River. Gold. 'And then I woke up.' T-Jammer Jammer and D-Sean Don. Chickens. Born to be wild. 'I just caught a whiff of myself, and it wasn't pretty.' Temples. Ruins. Winay Wayna. Intipunku/Sun gate. Winay Picchu. 'I'd like help up the stairs.' Alpacas. 'It's not a crush. What Ernesto and I have is true love.'  'I've worn the same clothes all week. Actually, that's a lie. I changed my socks.' No electricity. 'Click!' Che Maggy's. Sketchy mexican restaurants. Catfights. 'Do I look like I smoke weed?' Bad luck Brian. 'So you're saying Costco is the center of the universe? Makes sense.' 'Buy a cd, we need it for the pool party.' Bad jokes. 'I just spent $2 on a snickers and I don't regret it at all.' 'I'm not sure if I liked the flan... but I ate 5 pieces.' Fashion show. Traditional clothing. Gold museums. Lima temple. 'Huh? ...We're still in the MTC.' Cathedrals. Catacombs. 'I found the whole experience quite... humerus.' 'That box is simply... a head... of the rest.' Chile's. 'Do they know they gave us cough drops instead of mints?' USA. 'Put a llama on it, make it pretty!'


Warning: Here comes a whole bunch of pictures.

Cathedral in Cusco. 

Asian pictures.

Sacred Valley

He's so cute.

The beginning of the hike.

We made some friends on the trail.

We love rain.

Tea time with Milo and popcorn.

This tends to happen when hiking with a heavy backpack.

See that low point? We were there a few hours earlier. Sandy made it all the way up without puking once.

You know. Just soaking in the view of the Urubamba River.

This might have saved my life after hiking for 8 hours.

Winay Wayna. Sweet ruins by our last campsite.

View outside our tent.

Jared, T.J., and Taylor with Ernesto.

Arriving at Machu Picchu on day 4, after hiking in the rain for several hours.

No mortar, and you can't even fit paper in the cracks. No one knows how they did it. Those Incans were some smart people.

Machu Picchu again the next day, when it was sunny and happy.

Berg family christmas card picture? You know it.

View from Winay Picchu. That's Machu Picchu in the distance.

This is our 'Hold on, we just hiked up a million stairs' picture.

Cathedral in Lima.

When we get stuck in the Panama airport for 8 hours, we play card games.

As you can see, fun was had by all.

3 Reasons to Travel

Read this article. 3 Reasons to Travel While You're Young.
He makes some very good points.
And just makes me want to travel even more. Anybody up for some international exploration next summer?
Until then, I leave for Peru tomorrow!
I. Cannot. Wait.