Life is Good

Honeymoon- Canmore Nordic Center

2012-01-08T16:35:00.000-08:00

So on our way back into Calgary we stopped at the Nordic Center in Canmore. It was the location of all of the cross country skiing events for the 1988 Winter Olympics. I have a dream of some day going to see something at the Olympics, so I thought it would be cool to see. Dan got even more excited when he found out that it is used in the summer for mountain biking. We sat and waked the mountain bikers for a while. It was a wonderful day to sit outside. I think that Dan was a little jealous that he didn't have his bike with him. Maybe next time we head to Calgary.
You will be happy to know (as am I) that thing brings us to the end of the post from our honeymoon. We had so much fun, we will never forget it. And we would highly recommend anyone who loves the mountains or anything beautiful to head to Banff in the summer.

Honeymoon- Johnston Canyon

2012-01-08T16:07:00.000-08:00

Our last full day in Banff, we headed out to Johnston Canyon in the morning. It was a beautiful hike up a canyon. The hike walked along Johnston Creek up the canyon. At some points along the path the trail was along catwalks that were built right into the side of the canyon wall. We unfortunately didn't get any pictures of the catwalks. But we did take some pictures of the beautiful waterfalls that we saw.

Honeymoon- Columbia Icefield

2012-01-08T15:56:00.000-08:00

On our way back down from Jasper we stopped to check out the Athabasca Glacier which was part of the Columbia Icefield. First of all it was amazing to see a glacier that close, but it was also amazing to see how much the glacier has shrunk over the past few years. There was a trail that hiked up to the glacier and there were different signs along the path, that marked where the glacier had been during different times. I was kind of sad that we didn't actually get to walk out on the glacier, but it's dangerous, so they limit the number of people who can go out on the glacier. We could have taken a tour, but decided not to. It was still really cool to see though.

It's a New Year

2012-01-01T18:31:00.000-08:00

So it's the New Year... and yes I'm still here. I find that like so many other things the further I get behind and the more that backs up for me to do, the less often I seem to find time to catch up. So to kick off the New Year, I'm just letting you know I'm here. Life is still good. Work is keeping me busy. My calling at church, working with the Young Women also keeps me busy. I love working with the girls. It's been fun to get to know them. Life with Dan is also going well. We went on a wonderful bike ride last week which I really enjoyed, and it was fun to spend our first Christmas together. So here is a resolution for this year. I will do better at not getting so over whelmed by things that I fall behind on. I will just move forward.

Happy New Year to all.

Honeymoon- Jasper and Beauvert Lake

2011-11-22T19:43:00.000-08:00

When we made it all the way up to Jasper we took a little time to check out the town. Jasper is such a small town that there really isn't too much to see. We stopped at Beauvert Lake, which was really pretty. We also saw lots of animal life up in Jasper. We saw an eagles nest and some deer.

Honeymoon- Bridal Vail & Panther Falls

2011-11-21T20:16:00.000-08:00

One of the places that we stopped along the way to hike down to see Bridal Vail Falls and Panther Falls. They were both just a short walk down the to a spot where we could see Bridal Vail Falls. From there we decided to walk a little further down the path in hopes to get closer. As we did we found another water fall (which when we got back to the hotel we found was Panther Falls). We could get really close to the water fall, but didn't want to get really wet, so we didn't get too close. We we walked back up to the top of the hill we went looking for the top of Panther Falls. After a little searching we found it. It's amazing how much water was flowing over the falls. Maybe it's just the fact that we come from such an arid area, but all the water is amazing.

Honeymoon- Drive through Banff National Park

2011-11-17T19:01:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a while, but I'm going to try to catch up with everything that's been going on before the end of the year.

The next day, Dan and I drove north from Lake Lousie, through Banff National Park and up into Jasper National Park. The drive was amazing. It was nice to be able to spend some time with Dan in the car, but the views were amazing too. I almost wanted to stop around every bend in the road to take a picture of something more beautiful than we had already seen. There were mountains, waterfalls, lakes, rivers, clouds, blue sky and green trees everywhere. We took so many pictures along the way, but I'll just share a few of my favorites.

Honeymoon- Morant's Curve

2011-09-10T20:45:00.000-07:00

This happened to be just a pull off on the side of the road, but let me tell you the views made it definitely worth the stop. Breath taking, that's about all I can say.

Honeymoon- Lake Moraine

2011-09-10T20:19:00.000-07:00

After our climb, 1,204 feet up and than back down, we were happy to just take the flat trail around Lake Moraine, yet another one of the beautiful lakes in Banff National Park. I think that the way that the mountains ended right in this lake made it one of my favorites. Although seeing beautiful lake after beautiful lake did make it hard to choose one that was my favorite. We are also able to find some more kind people to take our picture. It's nice to have documented that Dan and I actually went on the vacation together and not just took pictures of each other.

Honeymoon- Lake Agnes

2011-09-10T19:29:00.000-07:00

1,204 feet above Lake Louise we reached our destination. Lake Agnes was probably one of the clearest lakes, still the same teal blue color just not as milky. We felt the water in Lake Agnes and it was cold, but that's to be expected from a lake that is feed by a glacier. Like many of the other lakes that we saw this one had a glacier that was at the far end. Also like many of the other lakes this one was BEAUTIFUL.

Honeymoon- Hiking

2011-09-10T18:48:00.000-07:00

So on some adventures the destination is really the only part that is wonderful or beautiful. That was definitely not the case as we hike up above Lake Louise in Banff, Canada. I'm not sure there was a moment that we weren't surrounded by beautiful scenery. Wither it was a beautiful vista of the mountains with the cloudy, blue sky.

(I personally like this view too)

Or the pine trees that were all around the path. Or even the snow on the ground that Dan decided he wanted to play in. It was all amazing and we got to share it together. We even found some fun signs along the trail which were only the first of the fun signs that we would see around Canada. (More to come later).

Honeymoon- Mirror Lake

2011-09-10T18:28:00.000-07:00

From Lake Louise we decided to take a hike up the mountain to see some other lakes. It was funny because Dan kept commenting on how amazing it was that there was so much water. It's funny coming from a boy who spent most of his life in the arid state of Arizona. The first lake that we reached was Mirror Lake. Once again it was a beautiful teal color, we didn't get in the water, but I'm sure it was cold. They are lakes created from glacier run off, so I'm sure they are cold. We even found some people at the lake who were kind enough to take our picture. That's one of the hard things that we had to find other people to take our picture if both Dan and I wanted to be in the picture.

Honeymoon- Lake Louise

2011-09-10T17:58:00.000-07:00

Our first adventure was out to see the beautiful teal waters of Lake Louise. The beautiful color of the water is from the rock flour that is carried into the water from the run off of a nearby glacier. There is nothing like seeing the teal blue water with huge mountains covered in glaciers behind them. I remember telling Dan every couple minutes how much I LOVE the mountains and how beautiful it was.

Honeymoon- Baker Creek

2011-09-10T17:22:00.000-07:00

Dan and I were both really excited about where we were going to be spending our honeymoon. When we talked about different places to go we decided that somewhere in the mountains would be the best. It was really nice to be in cooler weather, especially since we were coming from such warm weather in Arizona. We decided that Banff, Canada was the place for us. Neither of us have ever been there, so it was fun to explore somewhere new together. Dan found a wonderful place for us to stay. It was a little cabin inside Banff National Park near Lake Louise. It was called Baker Creek. It was a great little rustic cabin with AMAZING views. I remember how much a ABSOLUTELY love the mountains and pine trees. The company wasn't too bad either.

2 Month Annivesary

2011-09-10T16:13:00.000-07:00

So I was reminded this weekend that it has been two months since Dan & I got married and I'm finally getting around to posting about it. You could say we've been a little busy lately. Plus I've been waiting to get picture from our photographer, but haven't got them yet. So as not to push this off any more I figured I would use the pictures that my sister took. So two months ago was admittedly one of the best days of my life. I was married to Dan for time and all eternity. It was a beautiful day at the Newport Beach Temple. We were also surrounded by so many of our friends and families. After a wonderful ceremony in the morning we gathered with our friends and family back at my parents house to eat and hang out. While we were eating lunch Dan surprised me by signing 'our' song to me in front of everyone.

It was a little embarrassing, but I think Dan lives sometimes to find ways to embarrass me. (Don't worry it's one of the things that I love about him). Later that night we had a beautiful reception in the backyard of a close family friend. Once again we were surrounded by wonderful friends and family. My mother also has some wonderfully amazing friends that helped her organize the food and treats. My brother was definitely enjoying the treat table. Overall it was a wonderful day that I'm sure we won't forget any time soon. So glad we could spend time with our family and friends.

Less than a week!

2011-07-03T10:56:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe, but all the planning for the big day is done and know we are just waiting... and it's less than one week away!

Bridal Shower in California

2011-07-03T10:17:00.000-07:00

So when I was home two wonderful women from my home ward decided to throw me a bridal shower. First I want to say thank you so much for both of them, because it was a lovely evening. The food was amazing and the games were fun. Mostly I just liked seeing so many of the women who have helped me become who I am. From past young woman's leaders to women who's children I babysat. There were even a couple of my friends who are still in the area and it was good to catch up with them. It was also wonderful to have all my sisters and mother there with me.

(Maire left before we got a picture of all of us)

Graduation

2011-07-01T17:35:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I was home for my sister Julie's high school graduation. It's hard to believe that the baby of the family is graduating... it's also hard to believe that it's been 9 years since I graduated from high school. Weird to be back at a place that I spent 4 years of my life and yet it seems to have changed so much. It was fun to be home with the family, all except Rob. I'm so proud of Julie for all her achievements (she graduated as one of the valedictorians). Yeah!

5 years!

2011-07-01T17:27:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe, but June 5th was my 5 year anniversary at work. That means a few things...

I've been here in Phoenix for 5 years
I've now been working longer than I was in school (college at least)
I will start earning more PTO (yeah for paid time off)
my 401K is now fully vested, so it's all mine

I'm sure it means lots of other things, but on any level it's a cool milestone.

Girls Camp Round II

2011-07-01T17:00:00.000-07:00

So they must have really enjoyed my help last year at girls camp, cause they invited me to go again this year. Or they just know that I'm a sucker for the outdoors. I just can't seem to turn down an opportunity to be outside in nature. I really liked the theme that was chosen for girl's camp this year too. It was 'Embrace the Royal Within'. It was about how each girl and young women has the divine potential to become a queen. I think it's such a wonderful blessing to know that we have a Heavenly Father who wants nothing more than the best for us. A couple of my favorite things from girl's camp this year were that I was with the YCLs (or whatever they are called, but it's basically the junior camp leaders). They have so much energy and passion is was fun to be around them. Short of some minor drama that is typically when you get girls together away from the world the weekend was amazing. My other favorite part was our hike on Monday. The weather couldn't have been any more perfect and the sights were absolutely beautiful. I'm in awe at the beauty that our Heavenly Father has created for us to enjoy here on this earth. What more can I say than that I LOVE it!

Nauvoo

2011-06-30T22:05:00.001-07:00

Since we were able to accomplish so much during our day in Chicago, Camille and I decided to make the 4 hour drive (from West Dundee to Nauvoo). I haven't been to Nauvoo since I was a little girl. Unfortunately for us it happened to rain most of the day we were there and no three year old wants to be shut up inside all day. We still enjoyed our time there. I think one of my favorite parts was seeing the Nauvoo Temple. It truly is a beautiful beacon on a hill. I also love all the little red brick buildings that make up Nauvoo. We visited some of the homes in Nauvoo. Our first stop was to the Scovil Bakery. Honestly I think was amazes me the most is the size of the homes and how many people lived in them. Our next stop was to the Nauvoo Printing Office and Nauvoo Post Office. We were shown and taught about how the newspapers would be printed and how the post office would receive and send letters. Next we wondered across the street to the Jonathon Browning Home & Gun Shop. At each of the homes that we stopped at there were senior missionaries there to give history and background about the homes. While Camille took a break with the kids I wondered into the Brigham Young Home. Compared to some of the other homes in town it was relatively large. Yet it still amazed me the number of people that would fit in what today would be a small home. After that we decided that the last two places that we would probably be able to visit in Nauvoo were the Blacksmith shop and the Brickyard. We even got a praire diamond from the Blacksmith and a little Nauvoo brick from the Brickyard. I think that the Blacksmith and the Brickyard are the only areas that I actually remember from last time I was in Nauvoo. Although from what I understand they have changed it a ton since I was there. It is a beautiful little city and was fun to learn a little more about church history. On our way back home we stopped at Carthage Jail. We made it just in time to go through the last tour of the night. The tour through Carthage Jail is a pretty spiritual tour. They go over the last days of the Prophet Joseph Smith's life. He truly was a great prophet and gave his life for that which he knew to be true. I so thankful that he was willing to give his all for the gospel of Jesus Christ so that I could have it in my life.

Chicago

2011-06-16T21:11:00.000-07:00

So I've been super busy lately (wedding plans are done, but there is still so much to do), but I figure I really need to get caught up.

It's been almost two months now, but I did take a trip back to visit my college roommate Camille who was gracious enough to be my tour guide around Chicago. I happened to have a free ticket on southwest, had never been to Chicago, and figured it would be a good reason to see Camille and her cute little family. The day that we went into the city it was a little cloudy and cold, but we did really well (even with both the kids) and saw a ton of the sights. Our first stop was to pick up a Chicago dog at Portillos Hot Dogs. I think that if Chicago is known for one things it's their food (and I definitely had some good food while I was there) Our next stop was the infamous Bean statue. Honestly I've never heard of it, but apparently it's someplace you "have" to visit when in Chicago. It's kind of cool to see the city reflect back off the sculpture. From there we ventured down to the river where we hopped on a boat to take the Chicago architect tour (recommended by my mother). Basically you float up and down the river past all the buildings. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable about the city, so it was kind of a cool way to see it. The longer we were on the boat the colder and more cloudy it became. Fortunately for us the clouds cleared just enough, at just the right time so that we could see all of the Willis Tower (formerly known as Sears Tower). I'm not sure why they would rename such a well known landmark, but they did. From our tour guide we learned that the naming rights to the tower had expired and were bought by the Willis company in 2009. It was amazing to see how much taller than the rest of the buildings Sears Tower really is. As we continued along our tour we saw these guys and I was suddenly very happy for my desk job. They are CRAZY! They were washing the windows, but basically only being held up by what looked like rope. We ended our boat tour a warmed up a little bit before heading to see a piece of the Salt Lake Temple that is in the Chicago Tribune Building. Apparently there are pieces of famous buildings from all over the world in the building. From there we walked around the corner to get some fresh Garret's popcorn. It was pretty amazing. I got the Chicago mix, which sounds weird at first, but tastes amazing. They Chicago mix is cheese and caramel corn. There is something about the way that the salty and sweet mix together. There is also something to be said for fresh popcorn. YUM! After our popcorn we decided we needed a place to warm up for the afternoon so we headed over to the Art Institute of Chicago. It is a beautiful art museum that has a very impressive collection. It would probably take a couple days to truly appreciate all that is there, but we definitely appreciated what we saw. On our way out of the city we meet up with Camille's husband to get some Chicago style pizza from Lou Malnati's Pizzeria. It (like all the Chicago food I had) was AMAZING! So glad I got to experience Chicago!

Busy

2011-05-18T07:44:00.000-07:00

So this might be sad, but I'm so busy with work, wedding planning and life in general that my email inboxes are way too full. I have 64 emails in one and 79 in the other. This drives me crazy, because I'm one of those people who cleans out my inbox as soon as I've read or addressed the email. Hopefully I will find some time this week to clean out my inboxes and get around to posting about my fun adventures this last weekend in Chicago. Until than, know I'm busy, but still doing great!

Wedding Plans

2011-05-05T22:08:00.001-07:00

So I've definitely been busy lately, but I think that things are going really well as far as wedding plans are concerned.

I know who I'm marrying...

My Love!

We know when we're getting married... JULY 9, 2011
We know where we're getting married...

the Newport Beach Temple, California

We got our marriage license last weekend, so it'll be official

We picked colors...Honestly not sure what he thinks about the bright pink. Kind of surprised myself as well, cause I'm not a huge "pink" girl, but I think it will be fun for a summer wedding and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE limes.

I got my dress...

NO PICTURES (JUST IN CASE HE READS THIS)

I got the PERFECT shoes last week and I am so excited to wear these...
He got a suit and will be all spiffed up for the big day. Sadly no picture, although I'm sure we will have lots later.
We had engagement pictures taken by the ever so talented Annie Richardson and can't wait to see all of them, here are a few teasers...
We are lucky enough to have my brother working on the design of the invite for us, when he's not busy with school and his own life that is.

We are fortunate enough to know two wonderful families that are opening their homes to us. One for the reception in California and the other for the open house in Phoenix.

We registered at Bed, Bath and Beyond and Target. I know now not to let him have the gun unless I want really random things as gifts. (I learned how to remove things online so they aren't there any more.)

We know where we are going on our honeymoon...

more specifically Banff, Canada... It might be one of the prettiest places on earth and nothing beats 80 degrees in the summer (especially when Phoenix will be 110+)

We know where we are going to live and what needs to be down before we can. So glad that I don't have to move, mostly what we need is a little paint and some furniture.

It's all coming together which is good, cause it's almost two months from the big day. Can't believe it.

I'm SO excited

Home for the weekend...

2011-05-05T21:43:00.000-07:00

This last weekend Dan and I made a trip home to beautiful Mission Viejo, California. The main reason we headed out there was to get our marriage license and do some wedding planning, but it was also good to be home and spend some time with my family. It just happened that last weekend was the Arts Alive Festive in Mission Viejo. It use to be called the Tierra Nativa project, but basically every year they have a group of volunteers plant along Oso Viejo Park. It's been amazing how much it has changed over the years that my family has been in Mission Viejo. The church in California was also having a service project day, so the two went hand in hand. We spent a good part of the morning playing in the dirt.

Easter Walk

2011-05-05T19:59:00.000-07:00

So I have been better about taking my camera out each week, but not so good about posting the pictures. Easter weekend I went for a walk with Dan up in the hills around his house. It was an absolutely beautiful night to be outside. Unfortunately I think we missed the desert in bloom but it was still kind of green. The lighting outside was beautiful and was reflecting off of the hills. One of the reasons we went for a walk, other than just to enjoy the weather was to check out Dan's Geocatch. We added a pen, and traded a ring for this cute little duck key chain that quaked. It was really nice walk. On somewhat of a side note Dan's brothers were super excited about the shirt that he got for Easter. It's a Canada shirt. This probably doesn't mean much except that Dan and I are going to Banff, Canada on our honeymoon. Think he is just a little excited.

All good things must come to an end

2011-04-20T20:12:00.000-07:00

So this last weekend was the tournament for VOTs frisbee. We were guaranteed to play two games on Saturday, and we rocked at those games, but because we lost our game last Tuesday, we didn't get to (or have to) play any more games. It's been a good challenge to play on a league team. Frustrating at times, but overall I think I learned lots of new things. Glad I took the opportunity to play.

As a side note I took my camera out with me on Saturday. It's been far too long since I've been out taking pictures and I reminded myself how much I really enjoy taking pictures. I need to resolve to go out more often to take pictures. So goal... try to get out once a week with the camera. (Although I admit this goal might have to wait until after all the wedding plans are made, that's been taking most of my extra time lately. )

Finally

2011-04-01T08:36:00.000-07:00

So depending on how much you know about the situation this could mean a couple different things...

Yes, I'm FINALLY getting around to posting about my engagement (we've been engaged for 3 weeks now), and
Yes, Dan FINALLY asked me to marry him (I've known him for 5 years, but we've dated on and off, that's just one response we've gotten from people)

So yes, this guy...

(from our trip to Gunlock in February)

asked me here...

(Mesa Temple)

if I would marry him here...

(Newport Beach Temple)

and gave me this....
when I said YES.
Anyways I guess it's probably good to tell a little of the story. I meet Dan in my singles ward when I moved here five years ago. After some friendly banter at a family home even where we played bunko with the ward, I decided to invite some people over for volleyball at my place, needless to say I made sure that he was invited. Evidently my plan worked, because shortly after that Dan called and asked me out on our first date. We ended up going to the Phoenix Art Museum downtown. It was a great date, because it gave us the opportunity to walk around and spend some time talking with one another. That is one of the things that I really like about Dan is the fact that we can talk, talk about anything and everything. Actually it's usually him talking and me listening, but that's how I like it. Anyways, it wasn't long after that we started dating. Dating was good, we both enjoy doing things outside and so always found plenty to do. During that time I meet his family here in Arizona, and he traveled home to meet mine in California, when my brother left on his mission. We dated for a few months before we broke up. Now fast forward 10 months later and guess what... we are dating again. (Guess you always go back to the things that are good). Once again dating went well, we spent time getting to know one another, we definitely had our good days and our bad days, but I think everyone does in any relationship. We dated again for a few months, at which point we were starting to talk about getting married. Although Dan is obviously the "right" person for me that was not the "right" time. Fast forward two and a half years and guess what here we are again. But now not only is it the "right" person but it's the "right" time. We started dating again in December, although we started out slow, mostly because of the history. We've spent more time getting to know one another, I'm always surprised at how easy it is to talk to him after having not dated for so long. Needless to say we have been busy spending the last three weeks trying to get everything planned and organized so that we can be married in the Newport Beach Temple on July 9th, 2011. Although I'm busy, I'm still very much looking forward to everything this change will bring to my life and the new life that I will be able to create with Dan.

Spring is here...

2011-04-01T08:34:00.000-07:00

At least it is in Phoenix. It's starting to warm up (which really only means that summer is coming), but I LOVE the smell of citrus blossoms that fills the air at this time of year. If I could bottle that scent and have it all year long I definitely would.

Great Read

2011-03-19T08:49:00.000-07:00

So this is a book that we have been reading for our Relief Society book club. I started it in January and finally got it finished last night. (I never claimed to be a fast reader). In the book, Sister Oaks has so many profound things to say. One of the first things that she talks about it not just having faith in the Lord, but also having faith in his timing.

"Faith means trust - trust in God's will, trust in His way of doing things, and trust in His timetable."

At times I find this very difficult to do. I have faith in the Lord, but I want things when I want them. At times it is hard to see the big picture. Ultimately the Lord can always see the big picture, so ultimately He know what is best. Sister Oaks also reminded me that,

"Faith is believing that although we do not understand all things, He does. Faith is knowing that although our power is limited, His is not."

At times I want things to work because of what I'm doing, but I must remember that ultimately if I have faith and turn to the Lord he has the power to do ALL things. This being said I must remember that He will do them as He see fit.

"The Lord is going to give us the life that is best for us. One way or the other, it is not going to be easy."

I think that sometimes I wonder why life couldn't be easier, or why so and so has such an easy life, but mine isn't. It's at times like these that I need to remember that first of all I don't know all the struggles that so and so goes through, but also that this life wasn't meant to be easy. We can here so that we could learn and grow and often times the we grow the most when we must struggle.

Another thing that the book talks about a ton is being happy with where we are in life. President Harold B. Lee said:

"Happiness does not depend on what happens outside of you but on what happens inside of you; it is measured by the spirit with which you meet the problems of life"

I think something that is key to truly being happy is understanding that I am a child of a Heavenly Father who loves me and wants the best for me. As I draw near to my Savior Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father, I will only find more answers to the questions I have. Who better to ask for answers than those who know all.

"If we look to Christ for answers, He will give them. It also follows that with our increase devotion and understanding of Him, the happier and more complete we will become and the more we will comprehend our true worth in the sight of God."

I think sometimes the hardest thing to do is to see myself and others as our Heavenly Father sees us. I think if I truly did, I would understand the great worth of each person on this earth as a child of a Heavenly Father. Knowing this I'm sure I would treat myself and those around me with greater love and compassion.

Another things that Sister Oaks talks a ton about in the book is marriage. She wasn't married til later in her life (in her 50's) so she talks about the struggle to wait for the blessing of marriage to come, but also the importance of marriage. There were a couple things that specifically stood out to me since I'm looking forward to being married this summer (a post to come on that soon I promise). Sister Oaks says that

"We should realize that a good marriage does not require a perfect man or a perfect women. It only requires a man and a women committed to strive together towards perfection."

I think that at times we talk so much about perfection that we assume that it is something that will ultimately be achieved in this life, but it is not. So if I will never attain perfection how is it that I would expect to find a perfect man to marry. Marriage is ultimately a partnership in which two people come together to work towards perfection. I'm sure there will be good days and there will be bad days, but as long as we are committed to working together with the Lord, the marriage will be blessed. Another thing that Sister Oaks said that I really liked was

"Marriage is a dynamic interaction between two growing, changing people, and it requires constant focus on the quality of that interaction if the marriage is to be close and meaningful."

As I move forward building a relationship with Dan, I realize that we are two different people, with two different backgrounds, with two different lives full of experiences, but that as we work together and trust in the Lord that we can continue to build a relationship that will be meaningful not only in this life but in the life to come.

Last but not least I just thought that this was overall and very good thought on the ability that we have in our life when we trust the Lord. Sister Oaks says

"We have the capacity to change our lives for the better."

And so if you're looking for a good read I would highly recommend this one. Not only do I think that it strengthened my faith, but it lifted my spirit and brought to me a greater understanding of my worth to my Heavenly Father

The nerd in me....

2011-03-14T09:02:00.000-07:00

Wants to wish all of you a happy PI DAY! (3.14...) Go out and celebrate with a piece of pie :)

Good Thought

2011-03-10T06:46:00.000-08:00

When was the last time you did something for the first time?

I heard this and thought that it was a wonderful question. I think it's good to do new things because it stretches me as a persona and I grow in ways that I never imagined. So here is to doing something for the first time more often.

2011-03-04T17:37:00.000-08:00

So yes I did have the day off and I feel like not only have I been able to catch up on my blog, but I was also able to finish the book that I started reading sometime last summer. (Yes, I know I'm a slow reader, always have been, but that doesn't stop me.) The book is called "The Paradox of Choice- Why More is Less". It's written by Barry Schwartz. Even though it was a slow read it was definitely an interesting read. The book is mostly about the idea that having more decisions isn't necessarily a good thing. As the book discusses, more decisions can lead to more time making decisions and ultimately depression. I think my favorite part of the book was at the end (and no I'm not ruining it for you if you want to read it). There is a cartoon of two fish in a fish bowl. The parent fish says to the other fish "You can be anything you want to be - no limits" The author goes on to explain this idea

"Living in the constrained, protective world of the fishbowl enables this young fish to experiment, to explore, to create, to write its life story without worrying about starving or being eaten. Without the fishbowl, there truly would be no limits. But the fish would have to spend all its time just struggling to stay alive. Choice within constraints, freedom within limits, is what enables the little fish to imagine a host of marvelous possibilities.

I think that it is this last idea that I connected most to. Even though this wasn't a church book in any way shape or form the idea of "choice within constraints and freedom within limits" is how I feel about living the commandments that have been giving to me by my Heavenly Father. I know that some people feel like living the commandment can be restricting on choices that I have in life, but I feel like living the commandments opens up a "host of marvelous possibilities". Anyways even though it took me so long to read, it was still a good read and I would highly recommend it. By the way this should be the last blog of the day :)

Finally getting the hang of it...

2011-03-04T15:50:00.000-08:00

So this year I had a couple of friends convince to to join VOTs. It's a ultimate frisbee league here in Phoenix. I've been playing pick up ultimate for almost all five years that I've been here in Phoenix, so I thought that it would be an interesting challenge. And it has definitely been that. The season definitely didn't start out very well. Our first game was on an especially cold and windy night here in Phoenix. About half way through the game I ended up getting cleated by someone on the other team. My foot was so numb that I couldn't feel anything which is probably a good thing, since the cleating did some damage. Fortunately I got over that and we are now 5 weeks into the season and I finally feel like I'm getting the hang of things. Strategy is a little different than when we play pick up and I'm never sure where I am suppose to be on the field. Last night during the game I think something finally clicked. It could be the fact that I caught the frisbee in the end zone for a score, or it really could be that I stopped thinking so hard about things, but either way I'm starting to get the hang of it, so hopefully it only gets better.

Add a little personality

2011-03-04T15:20:00.000-08:00

So my most recent project was something to add a little personality to the new cubical that I have moved into at work. Since I spend a majority of my time during the day in my cube, I like it to be a place that makes me want to be there. One thing that I always like to have up is pictures. Both pictures of people and places I've been. So I decided to take these things... do this... and this... and this is what I got. I'm really happy with how it turned out. I love having projects to do, because I think I just really like to see how things turn out. This one was super easy, but I love it!

Hoover Dam Bridge

2011-03-04T12:58:00.000-08:00

So on the way back from Gunlock we stopped to check out the new bridge. It makes traveling across the dam so much faster. The view from the top of the bridge is pretty impressive, but I think I still like it better from below.

St. George

2011-03-04T12:14:00.000-08:00

Over President's Day weekend I traveled up to Gunlock (one of my favorite places to relax) to spend the weekend doing just that... relaxing. The weather was a little more wet than we would have liked, but that didn't stop us from getting out Saturday morning to go hiking. We found a cool little place on the bluffs above St. George where we could run around in the rocks. It was a little wet, but we stayed dry enough climbing through, over, under and around the rocks. I think every time a travel to southern Utah I remember how much I love the red rocks.

Christlike Love

2011-02-01T19:00:00.000-08:00

So February is a month of Love. This February I wanted to focus on Christlike love.

"Love is what inspired our Heavenly Father to create our spirits; it is what led our Savior to the Garden of Gethsemane to make Himself a ransom for our sins. Love is the grand motive of the plan of salvation; it is the source of happiness, the ever-renewing spring of healing, the precious fountain of hope. As we extend our hands and hearts toward others in Christlike love, something wonderful happens to us. Our own spirits become healed, more refined, and stronger. We become happier, more peaceful, and more receptive to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit."
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

So in hopes that I can share this Christlike love with those around me this month, I made a goal to do at least one act of service each day. Not only to spread the love of the Lord, but also so that I might be more receptive to the Spirit. Here's to a month of Love- True Christlike Love.

10k

2011-01-29T14:04:00.000-08:00

Ran my 10k today (London's Run) and did pretty well. I ended up running it in just over an hour. It was right at 10:07 per miles, which was right near my goal (10 minute miles). I felt really good when it was over, so no complaints.

Maybe next year...

2011-01-26T18:11:00.000-08:00

So I get emails from REI periodically about what is going on here in Phoenix. Something this week caught my eye. It was the Scavenger Dash. It's basically an amazing race for a day in your local city. I think that not only would it be tons of fun and probably a cool way to discover your city. Each team of two is given different clues for tasks that they have to do and complete to "finish" the race. Unfortunately I already have stuff going on this weekend (running a 10K), but I'll definitely have to keep this in mind for next year. You should check out if there is one close to you and let me know how it goes.

Hong Kong Layover Round 2

2011-01-15T21:12:00.000-08:00

So on the way back home we had another layover in Hong Kong. This time we actually had a little more time, so we ventured into the city. There are so many building in Hong Kong it's kind of crazy. In the morning we took a cable car up to the Peak. It's probably the best view of Hong Kong that we could have gotten. After riding back down the hill we wondered down to the Hong Kong park. It is a park that is located in the middle of the city. It's kind of cool to be at the park in the middle of a huge city and not feel like you're in the city any more. First thing to note was the drastic difference between Hong Kong and Kathmandu. These signs that were posted around the city are the best way to describe the most noticeable difference.Just down from this sign we saw a worker cleaning off the handrail, so I'm sure that the railing is probably disinfected 4 times a day. The first place that we went to in the park was the aviary. There were a whole bunch of really pretty birds to take pictures of. From the aviary we wondered through the Tai Chi Garden, past the Olympic Square to the Conservatory. The Conservatory had a humid plant house and a dry plant house. I was definitely more comfortable in the dry plant house. Even got to see some familiar plant. After the Conservatory we wondered down past the artificial waterfall to the artificial lake. My favorite part about the lake was all the turtles that were floating in the water and basking in the sunlight. After the lake we wondered past the foot message path to the Museum devoted to tea. It was kind of interesting. My favorite part about the museum was all of the ceramic tea sets that were on display. We were able to spend lots of time just enjoy the park. Eventually we headed over to the other side of Hong Kong harbor to grab something to eat, but to get ready for the Symphony of Lights. It is the light show along the harbor that includes more than 40 buildings. The lights are coordinated to music. It was kind of cool to watch. Good way to end our day and our trip. The flight back to San Francisco was uneventful and it brought the end of another fabulous adventure.

Well now I've finally caught up with all my adventures to Nepal. I'm sure you've probably seen enough pictures, but if you are interested in seeing more check them out here.

Mount Everest

2011-01-14T17:24:00.000-08:00

The last morning in Kathmandu we woke up early to head out to the airport. You can't go to Nepal without seeing Mount Everest. We decided that the best way for us to see Mount Everest was to take an Everest flight. Basically we went up in a little plane, maybe 30 passengers. They only filled the window seats. On the the way up one side of the plane got to enjoy the view of the mountains, on the way back the other side of the plane got to enjoy it. We even got the opportunity during the flight to walk up to the cockpit and see the view of Mount Everest from there. It was kind of cool to see the cockpit of a plane. When we were done with flight we even got a certificate stating that we had taken the Everest flight. It was a cool experience and a great way to see Mount Everest.
It was a good way to end the trip in Nepal. I feel like I'd seen so many different areas of Nepal and experienced so many different things.

Happy Birthday to Me :)

2011-01-14T17:05:00.000-08:00

So since I spent most of my birthday driving the road in Nepal. We decided to go out for pizza for my birthday dinner. I got a cheese pizza with green peppers and my sister got a pizza with potatoes. They were good and a nice change from the typically Nepal food, although I will admit that it didn't taste like American pizza. Still a good way to spent my birthday.

Chitwan National Park- Day 3

2011-01-12T21:06:00.000-08:00

The next morning we woke up and headed over to the elephant breeding center. It was kind of cool. The center in Nepal has twins elephants. They were so cute. Little elephants are still so large. At one point one of the little babies walked up to us so we got to touch it. After the elephant breeding center is was back to the hotel to back our bags so we could head back to Kathmandu. Before we left we had to take a picture with our tour guide. When we signed up for the tour package I just assumed there would be a large amount of tourists that they take to all the different activities, but it actually wasn't. We had a personal tour guide for all the activities. It was kind of fun, because he knew a ton about the area and we could ask him all sorts of questions. The bus ride back to Kathmandu was uneventful. Glad to know that we wouldn't be riding on that road any more though. The roads in Nepal could definitely use an engineer or two.

Chitwan National Park- Day 2

2011-01-12T19:38:00.001-08:00

The next morning we woke up early and went on a dugout canoe ride down the Rapti River. The river is the boundary between the Tharu village and the national park. The river was beautiful in the morning with the mist slowly rising off of the river. There was something almost mysterious about the view. We saw so many animals as we were floating down the river. Some of which I was really happy to be seeing from the boat and not closer. At one point the boat dropped Melissa, our tour guide and I off on the other side of the Rapti River (in the National Park). We got to go for a nice little walk through the jungle. Before we started our jungle walk our tour guide gave us the guidelines of what to do if we ran into any animals in the jungle. It was kind of funny to hear. It did make me a little nervous about running into any of the animals. Fortunately we didn't need to use any of the procedures. The walk through the jungle was really cool. It was beautiful and still so wild. There were monkeys, wild boars, birds, and deer. There are two different areas of the jungle. There is the forest area that has trees, and than the grass lands that are covered in elephant grass. Elephant grass is really tall, I think that it actually could hide an elephant. After our walk through the jungle we went to watch the the elephant be washed in the river. It was kind of interesting to see how the elephant riders had such control over the elephants they rode. Elephants are just such powerful animals. The last activity for the day was probably one of my most favorite. We got to go for a elephant back safari ride. There were four people in the basket on top of the elephant. It was a little tight, but still an adventure. It was really only uncomfortable when the elephants were racing back at the end. We saw some pretty cool things on our safari, but by far the best was the baby rhino and mother rhino. It was so cool to see the rhinos and to ride on the back of the elephant. Nothing like seeing the wild jungle from the back of a huge elephant.

Chitwan National Park

2011-01-12T18:15:00.000-08:00

After splitting from the SHe group Melissa and I decided to spend a little time seeing some other parts of Nepal. We decided that heading down to Chitwan National Park would be a good option. before we left the US I had tracked down a hotel in Chitwan that had a 3 day- 2 night package to Chitwan. So the night we got back to Kathmandu I called the company to make sure that they would be able to pick us up the following morning. When I did, I discovered that the reservations that I thought I had made weren't actually made. So Melissa and I found ourselves without a place to stay, which meant we would be spending more time in Kathmandu which neither of us were terribly excited about. Thanks to the advice of a group that had spent a few days before the trip in Chitwan we found a place to stay. We ended up getting on a bus the next day out to Chitwan National Park. When we got to the bus stop in Chitwan our tour guide from the Jungle Safari Lodge came to pick us up. We had been able to book a 3 day- 2 night package with the Jungle Safari Lodge. I think most of the packages that go to Chitwan National Park are similar. When we got there we go the opportunity to rest and relax before we went out. The first day we got to have a walk around the Tharu village. The Tharu people are the native people of Chitwan. We also got to watch the sun set from the banks of the Rapti River. It was beautiful to watch the sun set over the river. It was not only fun to watch the sun set over the river and relax, but it was kind of cool to watch the dugout canoes float up and down the river. It was a nice way to end the day. Later that night we went to watch the Tharu cultural dance presentation. It was cool because most of the dances were stick dances. Unfortunately it was so dark in the room that is was hard to take pictures. Overall it was a nice relaxing change from the work we had been doing previously.

Kathmandu and Saying Goodbye

2011-01-11T20:23:00.000-08:00

So after another day of painting the school in Turlung and finishing up construction in Duradanda it was time to say goodbye to our friends in Duradanda. It was kind of a sad day, we had gotten so comfortable with the people in the village and they probably got really comfortable with us. Of course we couldn't leave without our prayer scarfs and tikkas. There were so many things that I still could have learned had I been able to stay. We made our way back down the roads with no bus problems this time. We stayed the night in the Riverside Spring Resort and were off in the morning back to Kathmandu. We got to back to Kathmandu to a huge festival going on in the streets of Kathmandu for Devali. The crowds were so bad that we had to walk down the street with our luggage to our hotel. It was a little crazy cause the streets were so crowded, but we all made it. After getting settled into the hotel we all how a few hours to spend in Kathmandu. We found a really work of art in the middle of the road. The piece of art is made of mostly rice and seeds. It's pretty amazing what can be done with a little bit of patience. The last thing that we did with the group was get together for a traditional Nepali meal. We sat on cushions on the floor and watched traditional dances periodically through the meal. It was a fun to have one last night with the group all together. I have met some amazing people on the trip and I loved all the SHe and Choice staff. They are great people who showed me that with a little bit of work we change make a difference in the world. I'm so glad for their examples. Actually that being said I'm so glad for the wonderful experience that the trip to Nepal has been in my life. Not only did I have the opportunity to experience a new place (Nepal), new people (the Nepali and the group with SHe), but my heart was opened to loving and serving people who only loved and served me back. It was a fabulous adventure that I will not be forgetting any time soon.

Christmas Jars

2011-01-11T20:08:00.000-08:00

Since I'm still behind with everything else I figured it wouldn't hurt to do the book here than get back to Nepal. We read the book "Christmas Jars" by Jason F. Wright for our December Relief Society book club. The book was a pretty easy read and had an amazing message. It was a message of hope and the miracle that we can be in each others lives when we are aware of those around us. It gave me the desire to be more aware of the things that I can do to be the answer to someone else's prayer.

Nepali Strong

2011-01-11T19:29:00.000-08:00

So Nepali strong is something we talked about while working on the construction site. The Nepali people are strong physically and emotionally. One of my favorite people that I met on the trip was the local Nepali contact, Bishnu Adhikari. We probably got along so well since we have something in common, we are both Civil Engineers. He to me is the epitome of Nepali strong. He works hard to promote development and growth in his home country of Nepal. It left me with the desire to do something better with my life. Thanks for your wonderful example Bishnu. You not only bring the Nepali people hope, but you brought hope to me of how a world can change when people are willing to do something.

Lighting in Turlung

2011-01-11T19:09:00.000-08:00

So we stopped in the village of Turlung on our way back to Duradanda. We were working on sanding and painting a school there. Since it's a new school the village had come together for a celebration. That meant more tikkas and prayer scarfs for us. I didn't get any pictures of us, but while we were watching part of the ceremony the lighting was perfect to take pictures. I couldn't help but take a few. I am so happy with the way they turned out.

Our Search For Happiness

2010-12-30T14:41:00.000-08:00

Even though this was the book that we were reading for book club in November I just finished it a couple weeks before Christmas. The book is called "Our Search for Happiness" and it is written by Elder M. Russell Ballard. The book was written as it states as "an invitation to understand The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints". I really enjoyed the book. Elder Ballard goes through all the basic beliefs of the church and explains them in very simple terms.

There were a couple things that I wanted to share from it, that meant something to me. One of the later chapters is called Fruits of Living the Gospel. Elder Ballard talks about finding peace in a troubled world.

"What comfort and security come from knowing that we have a purposed for being!...How reassuring to realize there is a source of power much greater than our own, which can be accessed through personal faith and prayer and through the righteous exercise of God's priesthood authority! And how encouraging to know that there is a source of strength that can help us cope with daily trails and find peace in a troubled, turbulent world!"

Elder Ballard talks in the beginning of the book about it being written so that those that aren't members of the church might have a better understanding of the Church and what it teaches. I wish at times that I was better at expressing what I believe. So I really like what he says at the end of the chapter called Fruits of the Living Gospel. Elder Ballard says this about members of the church.

"But we honestly and sincerely feel that God has given us something special, something infinitely worth sharing. And that's why I ask you to consider the fruits that come from the lives of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for as the Savior Himself said: Ye shall know them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:16)"

All in all it was a great read, for those who are members of the church or for those who aren't. Just gave me a different perspective on things that I have learned.

Thuloswara

2010-12-27T21:32:00.000-08:00

Part of what we were doing for the business development group was taking part in a trekking route that some of the local villages are putting together and than rating it based on our experiences. We spent the morning hiking part of the trekking route from Duradanda to Thuloswara where we would be staying for the night. Once again the views were breath taking. I would consider moving to Nepal just for the views (although the lack of modern conveniences will keep me from doing that for a while). When we got to all of the kids from the school were waiting to welcome us. The welcomed us with prayer scarfs, tikkas, and a procession singing "Resham Firiri". We heard the song so much that I think if I hear it again I will always think of Nepal. We were lead down the hill by a group of girls in some traditional clothing. We followed the procession and the school students down to where the rest of the community was waiting for us. Most of the women were even dressed up in some of their best clothes. The community had organized a welcome ceremony that involved dancing and music. Most of the dancers were dressed up in their traditional clothes. I think that the traditional clothing is beautiful with all the bright bold colors. They even dragged us into the dancing at the end of the night. Once again they made us feel super welcome. At the end of the night we were divided up into groups of two or four people to spend the night at a villagers home. It was a little hectic at first trying to find where our luggage was, get the the homes in the dark and get over the language barrier. Our host families fed us food. It was a traditional Nepali meal: dal, chicken curry, cooked spinach and a ton of rice. In Nepali culture it's proper to finish all the food that is left on your plate. Because of the mass quantity of food that we received none of the four girls that stayed with our host family were able to finish it. I felt bad, because with the language barrier we wanted to make sure that the host family realized that the food was delicious, but just too much to eat. The accommodations that we had for the night weren't too bad. It was a small room with two beds. It even came decorated with some fabulous posters. The next morning when we got up our host family once again blessed us with prayer scarfs and rice tikkas. They even had lemon tea and "smiley face" cook. (They were little cream filled cookies with smiley faces on them.) Then the whole group got back together at the village square for breakfast. The view from the town square is amazing (like everywhere else in Nepal). It was kind of fun to hear about everyone else's experiences. Some where better than ours and others where worse. After breakfast we were on our way. I'm so glad we had the opportunity to get to know other Nepali people. They were so gracious and I felt like I was leaving friends that I have had for a long time.

Duradanda- View

2010-12-27T21:19:00.000-08:00

The view from Duradanda was beautiful. I think I could handle living with a view like that every day. The view was across the foot hills with the Himalayas in the background. It was amazing to me that the foothills were so green.

2010-12-27T21:10:00.001-08:00

One of the best parts about the construction site was the view, especially the view at sunset. After a long day of work there is nothing like a beautiful view. Although I think almost every view in and from Duradanda was beautiful.

Duradanda- Construction

2010-12-27T20:09:00.000-08:00

Part of the work that we were doing in Duradanda was a construction project. We were helping the village build a foundation for the restrooms that would be part of the college. When we got there nothing had been done on the building, so we spent the first day watching the locals layout the foundation. They were using string and stakes to make sure that it was all square. Being in the building field myself it was very interesting to watch. Typically buildings are staked using GPS which will automatically make sure the buildings are square. Once the building was all staked out, we started to dig the trench that the foundation would be built in. All the digging had to be done with shovels and picks to break up the rocks. One of my favorite parts about working on the construction project was being able to work along side the locals. This included working alongside the men and the women. Even though there is a language barrier there was a common goal in the project we were working on. After we dug the trench we worked with the locals to fill the trench up with rocks to create the foundation. Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures during the week of the progress. I did get a picture at the end of the week of all of the work that we had done. We were able to get the trench built, filled and we got all the re-bar tied that was part of the foundation. I was pretty impressed with the work that we got done. Although I will admit that most of the labor was probably done by the Nepali people. They are much stronger and much more skilled at building in this fashion. For example there are local Nepali people that spend all the time during the day cutting stones. They spend all their time cutting the stones into bricks for the buildings. Also because I was interested in the building methods I took a picture of the college building From what I could tell the building is slow because it takes time for each of the blocks to be shaped. I also think that the bamboo scaffolding is really cool. The rest of the buildings in the area were also built in this way. Typically after the building is complete it is covered with plaster and than it's painted. I was amazed (and impressed) by the great care that the people take for their buildings.

Duradanda- Little Girls

2010-12-27T19:56:00.000-08:00

While we were staying in Duradanda there was a group of kids that were always around. The kids in the village learn English in school, but most of them are too shy to actually speak. They were showing us how to write numbers and count in Nepali. The one girl even spent some time braiding a few of the girls hair the one day. Basically I think they just all loved being around us, almost as much as we loved being around them. I loved the sweet innocents of all of the kids that were there. It was amazing to feel so loved too!

Duradanda- Wheel of Terror

2010-12-27T19:37:00.000-08:00

The next morning we woke up and the local kids decided it would be fun to let us play with their toys. I think they just enjoyed watching us. We got to play on their wheel. It was built of wood and held together with bamboo ties. There were four seats where people sit and two other people move the wheel around. It was actually lots of fun. A little scary and rickety at first, but worth the ride. Fortunately for us no one got hurt on the wheel. The only incident that we had was one of the girls got her hair caught on the wheel while she was flipping upside down.

Kathmandu to Duradanda

2010-12-24T14:33:00.000-08:00

The trip from Kathmandu to Duradanda, the village where we were doing most of our work, was beautiful. It was really the first that we really got to see of Nepal outside of Kathmandu. The hills are green and in the distance behind them are the Himalayas. It's amazing. We made out way across the the country in a bus with all our luggage loaded on top. The roadways in Nepal where less than desirable. Even what was considered the "silky" roads were narrow and covered in potholes. This made travel slower. Thank goodness this wasn't our bus, we definitely wouldn't have fit, either would our luggage. Along the way our bus broke down so we took the opportunity to stop for lunch. We walked up a hill to find a place to eat. While we were eating we attracted some of the locals. They are so shy, but they let me take a picture, as long as I showed them what they looked like. Much like the people in Cambodia, I think that the Nepali people are very beautiful. Once our bus was fixed we were on our way again. The view continued to get more and more beautiful, but the road got rougher and rougher. About a mile out of the town another truck got stuck in the mud on the road blocking our way, we decided to just walk the last mile into town. It was beautiful because of the view and it was nice to finally be out of the bus walking around. On our walk we got to see the first of the beautiful sunsets in Nepal. The sun reflects off the snow capped mountains in almost a pink color. Probably one of the prettiest things I've seen in my life. The picture hardy does it justice. When we finally arrived in Duradanda they were waiting for us. As we walked into the village they greeted us with singing, dancing tikkas and scarfs. It was such a wonderful experience it almost felt like a hero's welcome. They were so happy about us being there and we hadn't even done anything yet. It was only day one and already we were having a wonderful time. This experience was just the beginning of a week of wonderful experiences.

Kathmandu

2010-12-24T12:45:00.000-08:00

The next stop along the trip was through Kathmandu. This is the capitol city of Nepal and is a little crazy. This picture to me is what the city feels like in general to me. There is always so much going on, especially in Thamel where we were staying because it's the tourist area of town. There are tons of trekking outfitting stores. Fortunately we weren't in Kathmandu that is just were we meet up with the group before heading out into the country.

Hong Kong Layover

2010-12-24T11:18:00.000-08:00

So I'm finally getting around to writing about the trip that I took almost two months ago. I guess better late than never huh.

Anyways on out way out to Nepal my sister and I had a layover long enough in Hong Kong that we were able to get out and see some of the city. We decided to stay close to the airport and we went to Ngong Ping. It's close to the airport so we were able to just take the metro. Fortunately for us everything in Hong Kong is also written in English so it was pretty easy to get around. First we took a bus ride up to the top where the Tian Tan Buddha is located. The courtyard area around the Buddha was really pretty, and since we were there early in the morning it was pretty empty. We climbed the stairs to the top of the Buddha which was kind of cool cause the view from the top was amazing and we were really close to a very large Buddha statue. From the we walked around a found the wisdom path. Was kind of cool to see all the Chinese sayings carved on large wooden post, but it might have meant more if we could actually understand what some of them were saying. Than we found the Po Lin Monastery. The Monastery has some very pretty statues and was ornately decorated. The colors where beautiful. That's one of the things that I liked most about it. The inside of one of the temples was completely painted orange. On our way back down the hill we got to take the Ngong Ping cable cars. It was beautiful to see all of the hills and the view from the cable car was amazing. After we got back down to the bottom of the hill we had to take the metro back to the airport so we could continue the rest of our adventures.

Shining Star Cookies

2010-12-24T09:56:00.000-08:00

This is a recipe that my sister made last year at Christmas time and decided to make again this year. They are really fun cookies and relatively simple. This recipe is thanks to the Friend magazine.
Ingredients:

1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup colored hard candies

Directions:

Mix butter and sugar together until they are smooth.
Add egg and vanilla to the butter mixture.
Add flour and stir until combined.
Take the batter out of the bowl and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
On a flour surface roll out dough to 1/3-inch thick.
Cut out the cookies with star-shaped cookie cutter, and then cut out the middle of the cookie cutter with a smaller star-shaped cookie cutter.
Cover a cookie sheet with foil.
Bake the cookie at 350 degrees for 4 minutes.
Meanwhile unwrap the candies and put them in a plastic bag. Break the candy into small pieces.
Carefully put the candy pieces inside each star cookie, filing the tips of the stars.
Put the cookies back int eh oven for 5-7 minutes, or until the candy is melted and the dough is light brown.
Let cookies cool and ENJOY!

Long time...

2010-12-06T06:50:00.000-08:00

So I realize it's been a long time since I've posted anything, but I've been either not home or busy. I think I've finally finished organizing all of my pictures from the Nepal trip (my latest adventure) so I should be able to post some of those soon.

5K

2010-10-16T15:03:00.000-07:00

I ran in the 19th annual Frank Kush 5K run this morning. I have a friend (Jeremy) who has never run a 5K and wanted to do it, so I trained with him and we ran today. It was a nice morning to be out running and the course was around Tempe Town Lake. Overall we did pretty well, ran the whole thing which was Jeremy's goal. Nice way to spend the morning.

Gratitude

2010-10-09T22:22:00.000-07:00

So these thoughts come from a combination of something that my sister posted and something that President Thomas S. Monson talked about during General Conference this last weekend. President Monson said that

"We need to focus on our blessings rather than focus on the things we lack"

So I've been thinking a ton this week about the things that I am grateful for and trying to think of ways that I could express that gratitude. So here is a list of things that I am grateful for (in no particular order):

a job that challenges me
my house
my car
my health
wonderful supportive parents
concerned grandparents
my siblings
the gospel
good friends
opportunities to travel
cooler weather
the rain
plants in my backyard that are still alive
orange Thai silk flats that go with anything
my favorite jeans
playing ultimate frisbee with friends
cleats when I play ultimate frisbee
air conditioning
good music
my piano and the ability to play it
my Savior
the Temple (specifically the Mesa Temple)
the daily reminders that I have a Heavenly Father that loves me
Thanksgiving with the family
airplanes that make travel possible
my journals (they are funny to go back and read... crazy to see how I have changed)
my computer
my camera
my memory (even though I wonder if I'm losing it sometimes)
the beauty of the earth around me
family vacations and all the good memories
good books
the ability to change and grow

I'm sure there are more I'll just have continue to add to this list.

Believing Christ

2010-10-09T21:47:00.000-07:00

Our Relief Society recently finished ready Believing Christ by Stephen R. Robinson for our book club. It was an amazing book, I would recommend it to anyone. The book talks about the "good news" of the Gospel. It gave me a really different perspective about the Atonement than I had ever thought about. We all understand that the gospel requires that we be perfect to return to live with our Heavenly Father. The good news of the gospel is that a way has been provided by Jesus Christ that we can become perfect and return to live with Heavenly Father. The author talked about how we often think that we must perfect ourselves and than turn to the Savior, but it doesn't work like that. I think there are definitely times that I find myself doing this in my life. The problem is that when we try to perfect ourselves and than turn to the Lord we are denying ourselves the blessings of the Atonement. We are asked to do all that we can do and than through the grace of God, Christ will step in and make up whatever the difference is between our efforts and the perfection required by Heavenly Father. So in essence "the good news of the gospel is good news to me not because it promises that other people who are better than I am can be saved, but because it promises that I can be saved- wretched, inadequate, and imperfect me." This gives me hope that no matter what I'm doing as long as I'm doing the best that I am able I have a wonderful Savior who can make up the difference for any of my shortcomings. It makes me only want to do better.

Kina Grannis

2010-10-03T12:31:00.000-07:00

This week I was so excited cause I got to go to a concert. It was for a wonderful musician Kina Grannis. (Check out her music here) I was introduced to Kina's Music through my brother, who was good friends with her older sister in high school. The concert was at Martini Ranch a local venue here for up and coming artists. It was fun to be in such a small concert. The other two people that also played for Kina were good. Imaginary Friend and Ry Cummings were her opening acts were good. I love new music and I'm really a big fan of Kina's music.

Grammar Too!

2010-10-03T12:19:00.000-07:00

So I was kindly reminded today that I am NOT an English person. I know that spelling has never been my forte. But even with the invention of spell check I realized that I am still no good. I might be able to spell the words correctly, but that doesn't mean that I got the word right. Grammar has also never been my forte either. Glad that at least I'm good at math.

Conference

2010-10-02T19:34:00.000-07:00

So I realize that I've posted a ton today... just trying to get caught up from one month of not posting. But I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed conference today. I really enjoyed President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's message about remembering the fundamentals and keeping an eye on the things that are most important. I also enjoyed Elder Richard G. Scott's message. I really liked this quote

"We become what we want to be, by being what we want to become each day"

I am excited for another day tomorrow full of inspiration.

Cinnamon Rolls

2010-10-02T19:07:00.001-07:00

So it was a little tradition that I started I think when I was in college, but I always make cinnamon rolls over conference weekend. So since it's conference weekend I decided to make cinnamon rolls. This is my favorite recipe, because it's super easy and really good.

3 1/2 cups warm water
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup oil
5 Tbsp yeast

Combine above ingredients in a large bowl and let it rest for 15 minutes. This will allow the yeast to activate and rise. 10 1/2 cups flour
1 Tbsp salt
3 eggs
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
4 Tbsp cinnamon

Mix 5 cups of flour into the yeast mixture. Add salt, eggs and remaining flour. Pour onto floured board and knead until smooth. Let dough rest for 15 minutes.
Divide dough in half and roll each half out to approximately 12" x 30". Melt butter and spread evenly over each rolled dough (1/4 cup on each). Sprinkle each rolled dough with 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 2 Tbsp cinnamon. Roll up and slice into 20 rolls (I usually use dental floss to slice the rolls that way they don't get squished). Place on a large cookie sheet. Let the rolls rise for 20 minutes. Bake for about 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

Now for the best part... the icing.

8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbsp milk

Combined above ingredients. Frost rolls when warm and enjoy!

Softball

2010-10-02T18:33:00.000-07:00

So that is one of the things that has been keeping me busy lately. Apparently after winning the championship with my last team, I've decided that softball is the game for me. Actually I play softball on Tuesday nights with my ward softball team. Friday night is my other softball team. It's the team that is made up of some coworkers. Actually the coach is the one who let me borrow the glove I've been using for all the softball games. Last time I borrowed it he said that he would let me borrow it as long as I promised to play on his team. Well no promises to how good I am, but I'm always willing to play. Actually I think with all the playing I'm doing that I'm probably getting better. I've even spent a little time at the batting cages so that I could get more comfortable with being up to bat. I'll keep you updated on how things go.

Hot weather

2010-10-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

So I was excited about the fact that is was September because we were suppose to be done with the 100 degree weather... well I guess that was only true for 6 of the 30 days. So here is to hoping that it actually cools down in October.

Ward Campout

2010-10-02T17:26:00.000-07:00

The following weekend I headed up to Show Low Arizona for our ward camp out. I don't know if I would call it so much camping, we all pitched tents on a beautiful grassy lawn. We hung out around the large campfire that we started with a torch thrower and they also had some music playing on the speakers. They were even showing a movie on a big screen later. Not what I would consider camping, but still tons of fun. We had tons of people from our ward there which makes it really fun. The next morning we got up spent some time hanging out on the swings, than decided to go for a hike. It was so pretty up in the mountains. The sky was blue (there was even one cloud in the sky). There was even a beautiful meadow with tons of yellow wild flowers.

Tombstone

2010-10-02T16:30:00.000-07:00

So I realize that my last post was at the beginning of September... and now it's October. Apparently time does go really fast. I've been keeping busy lately though, but it's time to finally get caught up.

A few weeks ago I went down on Saturday with a friend to Tombstone, Arizona. Tombstone is an old mining town that is located southeast of Tucson. Apparently it's also a famous for some western gun flights. There have also been some famous movies about the area. Even without any knowledge of this background I enjoyed walking around the old town just checking it out. We also watched a shot out at the OK Corral (which apparently is one of the shot outs that Tombstone is famous for). It was a fun day trip for the weekend.

It's September!

2010-09-04T10:18:00.001-07:00

So that means a couple things. First it means that we are nearing the end of the summer so we shouldn't have too many day over 100 degrees anymore. Second it means the start of college football. So excited for both of these things.

Riding around the desert

2010-08-25T17:29:00.000-07:00

So the past couple of days I've been on a different assignment at work. They needed someone to assist one of our surveyors in doing some flood certifications for Pinal county. So I've spent the last two days in the tiny towns of Mammoth and Dudleyville, Arizona. We had to track down houses that were a little difficult to find and buzz around on the rhino in the desert looking for USGS monuments. Kind of fun, but definitely different from my normal desk job.

101, 10, 60, 215, 91, 55, 5

2010-08-22T20:30:00.000-07:00

Theses are all the freeways that I had to drive on to get home to California this last weekend. All my family was in town and my Grandma Caber was out visiting. It was fun just to have a little time to chill with the family. We really didn't do anything special. Hung out, played games, went to the beach and ate food. What else do you do when you go home. It's always just nice to be around family and also to be on vacation.

I'm excited

2010-08-22T20:24:00.000-07:00

So a new semester of institute started this last week and I am super excited. We will be spending a whole semester on the last week of Christ life from the four gospels in the Bible. I am so excited that we will be spending the next few weeks focusing on such an important part of the Saviors life. It will be a great opportunity for me to focus on Him and His importance in my life.

We are the Champions

2010-08-08T20:34:00.000-07:00

So for the past few weeks I've been playing on a softball team. We had an okay season. Won most of our games, but lost a couple and tied one. We ended up playing in the championship game this week... and we won! Didn't take any pictures cause I was playing, but it was still fun to play. Even better to win.

Love this...

2010-08-08T19:05:00.000-07:00

So when I was up in Utah I had some time to enjoy the beauty of the mountains and everything around me. It was a gorgeous day to be outside so I definitely enjoyed it. My drive around the mountains was especially beautiful.

Weekend fun.

2010-08-02T21:26:00.000-07:00

8 years ago I was roommates with these wonderful girls during my first year at BYU.This last weekend I was up in Utah to visit 5 amazing women. It's amazing, it's been 8 years since we've all been together, but we clicked so quickly. It was fun to catch up with everyone and see where life has taken each of us over those 8 years. Still crazy though so it was fun.

Desert Industries

2010-07-24T17:46:00.000-07:00

So today I was asked to work at the Desert Industries here in Phoenix. During the 4 hour shift that I was there I spent all my time organizing three sections in the store. I started by organizing the picture and frames, than did the office supplies and finished with the crafts. So I realize that what I organized will only probably stay organized for a little while, but I will say that it was a little therapeutic for me to see what was craziness at the beginning and have something that was organized and clean at the end.

Family Vacation- Day 6

2010-07-19T21:56:00.000-07:00

Day 6 of our vacation we headed out to Sacramento. I've never been to Sacramento so it was fun to see something new. Our first stop in Sacramento was to the Sacramento Temple. It's one of the smaller temples that opened up in 2006. Like all other temples is was beautiful. The grounds were really pretty. After the temple we headed over to visit the town of Folsom, California. It was a cute little town (at least the part we saw) which was the downtown part. The downtown area was full of cute little shops and antique stores. There are always fun things to look at around small towns and around antique shops. There are also some random things around small towns. Like the traffic cone we saw on top of one of the buildings. After Folsom we headed into downtown Sacramento to see the sights. Well I guess that's if the sights include the California capitol building. We also stopped to grab lunch before heading back to Vacaville. Than Melissa and I left to head back to her house. It was fun to have a family vacation, fun to be outside in the beautiful world, sad Rob wasn't there, and sad that it had to come to an end.

If you are interested in seeing more pictures... look here.

Family Vacation- Day 5

2010-07-19T21:33:00.001-07:00

Day 5 of our vacation we started by packing up camp for the last time. Always makes me sad, because it means that I'll be headed back to reality. Camping is so nice cause you are able to get away from so much when camping. Our first stop of the day was to Standish-Hickey which supposedly has the best swimming hole in Northern California. At least that's what the map said. It was a nice little swimming hole with some rocks that the other kids were jumping off of. From there we continued our trip down the California coast. The drive down the 1 is a beautiful drive, it can be slow and winedy, but it's pretty none the less. It was a little more overcast along the shore that day, but we stopped at a cool bridge and inlet for a little bit just to walk around. Eventually we made our way back inland. We decided to take a poll in the car to see how many miles it would be until the marine layer cleared and if I remember right it was about 8 miles in from the shore that the sun was shinning again. We made our way back to Vacaville were we stayed at my Aunt and Uncles house again. It is always nice to sleep in a bed after sleeping on the ground for so long, but I missed having a campfire, seeing the stars and listening to the nature all around me.

Family Vacation- Day 4

2010-07-18T21:45:00.000-07:00

Day 4 of our family vacation we spent the morning walking around the redwood grove at Jedediah Redwoods State Park. Redwoods are beautiful trees. They are so tall and big around it's amazing. The nice thing about the grove at Jedediah Redwoods State Park was that the road into it was closed (not sure why) so we had to walk about 1/2 mile at most to get to it. It meant that it was really quick and peaceful there. We didn't run into other people until we were on our way back out. After the Redwood grove we were back on the road to head further south along the coast. We stopped along the way to go to a place called Fern Canyon. It's a place my parents heard about from watching California Gold.

Didn't see that episode, but Fern Canyon was really cool. It's right off of the beach and all the canyon walls are covered in ferns. It's really green and kind of cool to see. Supposedly a portion of Jurassic Park was also filmed in the canyon. When we were walking back to our car from the canyon (not a very far walk) we got to see this elk just sitting and eating the grass. We waited for a few minutes but he never turned our direction so this is the best picture I could get. He was pretty big. From there we continued down the coast. That night we stayed at Humboldt Redwoods State Park. This time we were in as big of a redwood grove, but it was nice to see the stars again. It was our last night of camping so we made sure to enjoy all the treats around the camp fire we could get. Smores (with peanut butter), roasted starburst, and apple pies. Got to love campfire treat!

Family Vacation- Day 3

2010-07-18T20:50:00.001-07:00

On day 3 we woke up and packed up camp and headed on the road again. We headed west towards the Oregon coast. We drove up over the mountains which was a beautiful drive than down along the coast. It was a glorious day along the coast too. Not to cloudy, but not completely clear. We headed down to Jedediah Redwoods State Park. The camp ground is right in the middle of a redwood grove, it's so pretty. We also got a camp spot that backed the river which was nice. When we got to camp we spent a little time just enjoying the river.It was also nice when we were going to sleep, cause we could fall asleep to the sound of the water. Because we were in a grove of trees we didn't get to see as many stars, but it was still nice at night just to be outside in the beautiful world.

Family Vacation- Day 2

2010-07-18T19:32:00.000-07:00

So on day 2 of the family vacation we headed up to Crater Lake. We've been to Crater Lake before, but it's been years. I faintly remember the last time we were there. Crater Lake is a lake that formed when the volcano Mount Mazama collapsed. It's known for the brilliant blue water. The water is really pretty, cold I'm sure, but we didn't go down to it this time so I don't know for sure. It was cold enough around Crater Lake for their still to be snow on the ground, half of the road around the lake was closed still. It was nice outside except for when the wind started to blow and than it was just really cold. There was even enough snow up on the rim to build a little snow man. Once we'd gotten cold enough at Crater Lake we decided to head back off the mountain. We stopped along the Rogue River on our way back to the camp ground. We took a little walk off the road to see a couple of beautiful waterfalls. I love seeing all the green, it's refreshing when I'm use to seeing the dry desert.

Family Vacation- Day 1

2010-07-18T18:01:00.001-07:00

So from San Fransisco (Vacaville actually where we stayed the night at my Aunt and Uncles house) we headed north. The first stop along the way was at Shasta Dam. The sign on the door of the visitors center said that Shasta Dam is the second largest dam in the United States. Not really sure how that is measured but kind of cool. After our stop at Shasta Dam we did a quick drive by of the Castle Crags. We were trying to find a god place to get a good picture of them from the road. From there we headed north to our camp ground at Joseph Stewart State Park. It was right on the edge of Lost Creek Lake. It was a pretty nice camp ground. After setting up camp we went for a nice walk along the lake shore and had some time to just relax. My sisters pulled out the frisbee and we just got to enjoy relaxing around camp. We made a campfire and had grilled sandwiches for dinner. It was nice just to sit by the fire and watch the stars come out. There were so many stars to see too. That's one of my favorite things about camping is all the stars in the sky. It's always so peaceful.

Family Vacation- San Fransisco

2010-07-18T10:34:00.000-07:00

So let me just say that I'm really missing the cooler weather. It's hard to come back to 110+ degrees after being away from it for a week.

It was nice to take a week off of work and out of my life to go on a vacation with my family. At least most of them. Rob wasn't able to make it, because he's in the Dominican Republic until August. I flew up on Friday night and got to hang out with Melissa on Saturday in San Fransisco. It was actually a really nice day. It stayed clear most of the day which I guess it some what rare for San Fransisco during the summer. We went to the library, had lunch down town, went up to Twin Peaks and went and saw Eclipse. The clouds started to roll in a little bit when we were up at Twin Peaks but it was still relatively clear for San Fransisco.

Good Memories.

2010-07-01T22:14:00.000-07:00

So I went to lunch with a friend today who finally got me the pictures that we took on the hike of Buckskin Gulch last October. It was fun to go through the pictures and remember how much fun we had on the hike. Plus is was fun to see the pictures of us wading through the water that they took.

Puddles on day one weren't too bad... only about waist deep at the worst. Although I did end up losing my shoes in one of them. Which was sad, but I had another pair so it was okay. The puddles on day two were a little deeper. Probably more like chest deep. We balanced our packs on our heads and waded through. Made it a little more adventurous. After getting so wet we loved any sun we could get to dry off in. Like I said it was fun to see the pictures cause it brought back such good memories... makes me want to plan another trip. The question is where would we go?

Santa Fe Enchilada Bake

2010-06-17T17:31:00.000-07:00

So I will periodically pull recipes out of a magazine but it always takes a while to get around to making them. I decided to pull this one a couple weeks ago and decided that it was time to make it. It turned out pretty tasty so I decided to share the recipe with all of you. Enjoy!

What you need!

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 large onion chopped
1 large green pepper chopped
2 cups salsa
10 oz frozen corn, thawed drained
12 corn tortillas
1 cup sour cream
2 cups cheese grated

Make it!

Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Cook and stir chicken, onions, and peppers in large skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium heat for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Stir in salsa and corn.
Arrange 6 tortillas on bottom of 13x9 inch baking dish, cover with layers of half each chicken mixture, sour cream and cheese. Repeat layers, cover with foil.
Bake 40 minutes or until heated through removing foil after 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

Kind of cool

2010-06-17T08:38:00.000-07:00

So I realize that he's family to me so I might be a little biased, but I think that my brother's work is pretty good. Check out his website.

Good Things to Come

2010-06-15T21:57:00.000-07:00

Another super good thought. I think that Elder Holland is probably one of my favorites, although how do you pick a favorite when they are all so good.

Institute

2010-06-13T10:53:00.000-07:00

This summer for institute they are having a lecture series entitled "Last Lecture". This week the Brother and Sister Ashby from Mesa come to speak to us. They also brought along their son who performed this for us. He performed these two sections that were amazing. The first is to Come Thou Fount and the second is to a song called Come See the Light. Both are accompanied by images from Reflections of Christ by Mark Marby.

100,000

2010-06-13T10:43:00.000-07:00

I must drive my car all over the place, because yesterday I reached 100,000 miles. My 90,000 milestone for the car was this last February... so that means in 4 months I've driven 10,000 miles. Good things I have such a reliable car.

Here's to my next 100,000 miles!

Womanhood

2010-06-13T10:26:00.000-07:00

Last week at church was just very profound all around, because the Relief Society lesson made me reflect and reread the talk And upon the Handmaids in Those Days Will I Pour Out My Spirit by Sister Beck given during the April 2010 General Conference of the church. The main point of discussion was based around this question:

How does a women in our day find answers to her own questions and stand strong and immovable against incredible opposition and difficulty?

We talked about finding answers to life's questions through personal revelation. Personal revelation which we receive as we live worthy of the Spirit. Revelation can come at any time so we must always be ready to receive the guidance from the Lord.

We also talked about the need to strengthen and be strengthened by others around us, especially those in the Relief Society. We are suppose to lean on one another to be strengthen through our trials and also allow others to be strengthened by our faith and example.

Last but not least we talked about the need to measure our success. As women we often feel the need for perfection, which we must realize will probably never be attained in this life. Rather we need to strive to live each day a little better, more like the example that was set by our Savior Jesus Christ.

It was a good reminder to me that the Lord has a plan for me, that He has created ways for me to feel of His love for me.

Tender Mercies

2010-06-13T10:05:00.000-07:00

After an amazing Sunday School lesson last week I was prompted to reread the talk The Tender Mercies of the Lord by Elder Bednar given during the April 2005 General Conference of the church. Our lesson on Sunday was about Ruth. We talked about how Ruth was blessed to be in the right place at the right time in her life for things to work out. Some but say that this is just coincidence, but these are some of the thoughts chared by Elder Bednar.

"Through personal study, observation, pondering, and prayer, I believe I have come to better understand that the Lord's tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strengths, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindness, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ."
"As I indicated earlier, the Lord's tender mercies do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence. Faithfulness, obedience, and humility invite tender mercies into our lives, and it is often the Lord's timing that enables us to recognize and treasure these important blessings."
"I repeat again, the Lord's tender mercies do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence. Faithfulness and obedience enable us to receive these important gifts, and frequently, the Lord's timing helps us to recognize them."

So my resolve this week is to find ways to see the tender mercies of the Lord in my live. Not only to see them, but to recognize them and be thankful for them.

Offically the Summer

2010-06-11T19:11:00.000-07:00

It's now been over 100 degrees for the past week. I know it's now officially summer here in Phoenix. Can't complain too much though, because we really didn't hit 100 until nearly June. Guess every fall, winter and spring I forget what 100 feels like. It's always a shock the first time it reaches 100. Going to be a good summer!

Girls Camp

2010-06-11T18:27:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago (over Memorial Day weekend) I went up to Girls Camp with our Stake. They had camp up at outside of Pine. It was beautiful to be up in the mountains where the weather was cooler. It was also so nice to be up away from the city, I love the trees and the mountains. I had some fun taking some pictures of some of the random things around camp especially during the early morning light. The morning light was amazing. It was so calm and beautiful in the mornings. It was also fun to take pictures of the camp fire when we had them at night. The original reason why I was going up to camp was that they were looking for some more leaders to help out. They specifically needed some leaders to help out with the craft up at camp. They made these really cute picture boards. I ended up making a couple of them and they turned out really cute. Overall it was a fun weekend. Good to meet some of the girls from our stake. Good to meet some of the leaders in our stake. Good to be up in the mountains.

Caught up

2010-05-23T22:53:00.000-07:00

So I think I've finally caught up... yeah!

Gila Valley Temple

2010-05-23T22:32:00.000-07:00

So last week I had the opportunity to travel out to the Gila Valley Temple to visit the open house for the newly constructed Gila Valley Temple. It's always an amazing opportunity to go and see the temple. I love that with all the temples that are built the personality of the surrounding area are built into them. It was really pretty to see it all.

Than today I had an even rarer opportunity. Today was the dedication for the Gila Valley Temple. I love that the church has now gone to broadcasting dedications to regional areas. It use to be a once in a life time opportunity to attend a temple open house. It still is something that not everyone will be able to experience in their life, but it's more common. President Eyring said something that really hit home to me today. He said that the temple is love. That's what I feel every time I am there. Not only do I feel the love of my Heavenly Father, but I feel love for all the people that are there with me. I am so thankful not only for the opportunity that I had last week to visit the temple and the opportunity that I had to be at the temple dedication today, but I'm so glad that I am able to attend the temple on regular basis and be able to feel the love of the Lord in my life.