Vergara Familia Goes Peruvian

I am so very blessed to come from a family that truly values travel. My mom and dad were brave ones and would take our big family of five on international and long road trips all the time. I honestly could not tell you what I got for Christmas last year, but I can remember our family trip to Paris when I was 11 or our big cross country road trip to San Diego when I was 9. Spending 24/7 in hotel rooms or cars with my siblings is not always the happiest environment to be in on these trips, but they are the most fun and most loving times and create the best memories. 

As many of you know, my brother is serving a mission for our church and leaves this October. The whole family will not be completely together for the next two years, so we decided to jet set and enjoy one big family vacation that will last us for the next two years. 

The adventurous family that we are (halfway kidding) made the journey to Peru, where we visited both Lima and Cusco. Keep in mind that my family has a 10 year age difference between me and the youngest, so finding activities that everyone could do and making sure we always had nap time was essential. 

In Lima we tried the tourist thing and visited Plaza de Armas which has the royal palace, the archbishops home, and the Catedral de Lima. We learned from these places that we appreciate tours and the things of the past, but not for very long. We then discovered many market places and little chinatowns and ate a lot of authentic Peruvian food. We also met up with one of my Dad’s old mission companion and were incredibly blessed to interact and talk with natives in his companion’s home as well as at church on Sunday. And adventure wise? A few of us went paragliding over the city, even Cruz did it, and loved it!

Now, give everyone a little bit of altitude sickness from going sea level to 11,000 feet and you have the Vergara Family in Cusco. We also learned on this trip that we are not big city folk and all enjoy the sun and nature more. To get acclimated to the huge elevation change, we walked slowly, shopped and ate in more markets, and enjoyed the sunshine. 

Cusco was really only a place to sleep because the star attraction was Machu Picchu! We took a super fun train ride through the mountains, listened to traditional Peruvian music, ate the traditional food, and enjoyed the sights. Machu Picchu itself was jaw dropping. I now know why they call it one of the Seven Wonders of the World. We were a little more adventurous in Cusco too because we went zip-lining in the Andes! From mountain to mountain, going upside-down, superman style, and screaming the whole way down the line. 

Honestly, as a family, we did a lot better on this trip with controlling attitudes and tears. I truly enjoyed talking and hanging out with my siblings, and it’s probably an age thing, but I totally consider my siblings good friends these days. Never thought I would ever say that… They are all good fun. 

You’ll see the Vergara Clan in our entirety in two years. And wow, that reunion will be so so sweet. 

xoxo,

Lyds 

LIMA

CUSCO

MACHU PICCHU

ZIP-LINING THE ANDES 

That's A Wrap

Where do I even start?

I moved back to Utah at the beginning of the summer, so June, and now, I am waiting in the airport to fly back down South for the break. I have no idea where the time even went.

I was in school this summer too and needless to say it was a very challenging semester for me. I ended up taking a lot heavier of a course load then I expected and well, I finished up with finals today! I learned so much and I would not trade the grades for my knowledge, but I am definitely so happy to be done with academia for a few weeks...

On top of school, I was trying to be spontaneous and have a crazy fun summer AND get started with BYUSA. I'm pretty sure I already said most of posts now will be all about the office and the super awesome people in there, so I'll just say I have something that I am excited to come back to Utah for.

There is something about this summer that I am having a hard time describing. I don't know what words to use. Coming back to Utah with all my freshman year friends off on missions and married was very intimidating, but I know that everything I did and everyone I met this summer were a Godsend. So shoutout to those people that make everything I do meaningful.

Until next summer.

xoxo,
Lyds

SUNKISSED

WE HAD OUR FIRST EVENT AND IT ROCKED!!

We, as in the activities crew or the A-team, and first event, as in Summer Practicum! Basically, our VP was our event lead and these rest of executive directors were committee members. We used it as training and as a way to learn how to work together, learn the paperwork, and throw a big event all together.

And it rocked.

We had water kickball, a huge twister game, sickening watermelon eating contests, volleyball, a great DJ (the Cooper Brown), a water slip'n'slide, and Zorb falls (aka the best work out ever).

But, that's the event. Now you are going to hear all about the lovely A-team and BYUSA for literally the rest of the year, so might as well give you the run down now.

Hayley- our VP and our fearless leader. She is the best. That is all you need to know. She knows her stuff and is in rec management too and is a friggin rockstar. She is also my long lost cousin no doubt.

Rachel or Buggs- executive director of events and the cutest, blondest, funnest, best snapchat storys-est person. She makes life interesting. And she is going to rock out on every single one of her events this year.

Tyler or Ty- another executive director of events. He has never kissed a girl and always makes us laugh. He is also one of the most truly kind people on the team. Like we want to punch him sometimes because he is too sweet.

Alex- executive director of advertising. otherwise known as Diva. that is literally all. Oh and fun fact- ask him for his weird, scary voice he does. You will be surprised. Maybe in a good way.

Sam- executive director of HR. the guy who slaves away to find us awesome event leads, committee members, and volunteers to work with. He is so so hardworking and is always trying to make every event and meeting the best it can be. He is such a positive guy and I love it.

Then there's me. And can I just say how great our team is? I love how close we all are and how dedicated every single person is to what we do. It really will be a fantastic year, I can feel it in my bones. And out of the 22 events we do, you will get to hear all about at least 7 of them. And you are going to love it.

Stay sun kissed.

xoxo,
Lyds