From UT to AZ...

So, the trip started Monday, September 15. Mom picked me up after work and we started our trip.

After a quick stop to clean the crazy dirty, bug splattered windshield, we were on our way. We were staying at my sister Kandyce's house that night and having Clay take us to the airport in the morning.

I got to see my adorable nephew Liam, who used to be a total cranky pants, but has turned into the cutest, funniest little guy.

We played with all his fun toys...

...and showed us his cool tricks.

I didn't know before hand, but my oldest sister was coming from Nebraska with one of her friends to attend a DoTerra convention (yes, my sister is one of "those people" ;) so it was good to see her too. We watched Austenland while Liam bounced around all happy and crazy. (Like I said, he's normally a grouch, so it was fun to see him all cute-like.)

The next morning we got up bright and earliy-ish so we could make it to the airport. One great thing about living in Utah is all the temples within such a small area. Love them.

We even drove past my work's operation center, so it was basically like I went to work. I should get paid.

When we got to the airport, I got to ride in one of these fun things. I felt a little silly, but our terminal was quite a ways away, so I'm sure it was okay.

When we got on the plane, after we had all kind of settled in, one of the airline dudes gets on the intercom and says, "Who's going to the One Direction concert?" I don't know why I thought I would have been the only one, but I was kind of surprised to hear a bunch of other girls scream. I guess I'm not the only weirdo willing to fly to go to a concert.

The flight was great. I really love flying. If I could, I'd do it more often. Seriously. I love it.

I was lucky to have my mom take this trip with me. For some reason Greg didn't want to go with me and watch me scream at barely legal hotties. But we had a lot of fun, and I'm glad she was able to go with me.

The flight was nice and short, and before I knew it, we were touching down in Arizona.

PS. I was expecting it to be super duper hot, but was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't too bad. Sure it was still in the 90's, but not in the 100's like it had been the days prior. I even got to experience some Arizona rain (you know, because rain is different everywhere you go!)

A Simple Photo | 01.21.14

 

(Me in front of the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington DC. I forgot what that building was and spend 30 minutes googling different things to figure it out. I finally got it!)

When I was little, my Aunt Marcie was a nanny in Boston. We would write letters back and forth and she would occasionally send me pictures. One time she took a trip to the Washington DC temple and sent me the most beautiful pictures of it. From that day on, it became my favorite temple, and I swore that I would visit it someday.

Fast forward to my junior year of high school, and there was a boy that I met when I went to visit my sister Shari up at BYU-I who was serving a mission in the Maryland area. We wrote back and forth, and he too sent me some beautiful pictures of the DC temple and the Baltimore area. It made me want to visit that area even more.

Fast forward another seven or so years and my sister-in-law Adrienne and her husband Mark moved out to Virginia, and I hoped and hoped that I would get to visit them sometime. I finally got my wish, and in November of 2011, I flew out of SLC with my in-laws. I was beyond excited. While I definitely wanted to visit the DC temple, I just wanted to see the DC area. I was lucky enough to get to do both. The temple was absolutely beautiful. We went at night at got to see it all lit up. So pretty. Then we were able to spend a day in DC itself. It was beyond amazing. There is so much history there, it was unbelievable. I could have spent a lot more time there. One day just doesn't cut it. Just walking around the museums was an adventure, but to see the architecture there and all these buildings that you only see on TV, incredible. I didn't want to leave. I didn't get to see enough, but the memories I have of that place are amazing.

I hope to be able to visit there again someday, and be able to see everything all over again, plus the places that we missed. I want to learn more about the history of our country so it will mean all that much more. I also want my future children to be able to experience it and to have fun adventures with their parents that they, too, will cherish forever.