Top 5 places I've been {Friday Five}

I'm a list person. One of the reasons I blog is to help me be a better writer and practice organizing my thoughts into paragraphs and complete sentences. It's a work in progress. :) 

Just for funsies, I decided to start a Friday list series on this little blog of mine to pander to my list obsession. Every Friday (At least, every Friday that I feel like it) I'm going to post a list of 5 things whether it is five favorite foods/movies/books/outfits/places/scriptures/songs/blogs/etc, five items on my ever-growing bucket list, five most awkward/awesome/happy/scary moments, or whatever else I come up with. 

Today's list is my top five favorite places I've traveled to. 

1. Russia

I was lucky enough to have the chance to be a volunteer English teacher in Voronezh, Russia for 4 months in 2011. I also spent a month there when I was 16 when my family adopted three of my younger siblings from northern Russia.

I love that country so much. It is full of beautiful places and things, and some of the nicest people I've met. Oh, I hope I can go back! Maybe when we're old we can serve a mission there. :)

2. Maui

Dallin and I went on our honeymoon to Hawaii, and I absolutely loved it! It's one of the most beautiful places I've been. My favorite parts were driving the road to Hana, hiking around waterfalls, snorkeling, and the black sand beach.

Perfect weather, perfect views, and a sweet new husband to enjoy it with... could it be any better? ;)

 3. Zion National Park

This place is amazing. We like to go here to canyoneer, but there is a lot of other things to do if you aren't into that.

Like... hike half a mile to see this incredible view.

The first time I went to Zion was the day after I managed to chop off the end of my thumb (maybe I should blog about that escapade sometime... haha!). This meant I didn't get to go canyoneering since I couldn't get my big ol' bandage wet, plus every time I got my heart rate up it would start bleeding again. On the bright side, I got to leisurely walk out here and take self-timer pictures of myself. Not as fun as canyoneering, but still awesome. :)

If you are coming from AZ, you get to drive through a mile long tunnel. Here's a picture from one of the windows. Cool, eh?

The second time, I got to join in the canyoneering fun! This was my favorite part of the 2 days we spent there and the 3 canyons we did... the rappel from Mystery Canyon into the Zion Narrows. The itty bitty people down below that cheered for us made it even better. ;)

The Zion Narrows from where we rappelled. Pretty flipping awesome. 

4. Leprechaun Canyon

This slot cuts through Navajo sandstone, which makes for a really photogenic canyon. We've done several similar canyons, and it was really hard to pick just one, but I really liked this canyon... partially because it was really easy. ;) Some of the ones we do are much more strenuous, although those do leave me feeling really beastly once I'm done. :P

5. Buckskin Gulch

This is a long but incredibly beautiful hike! The whole thing is about 20 miles (if you exit out Paria) which we split between 2 days. Buckskin in the longest slot canyon in the world. It's just miles and miles of awesome. 

That's why I'm about to post a boatload of pictures. You have been warned. 

Well, there you have it! And I can't wait to add Spain to this list next month! :)