Church History

Last year I had the incredible opportunity to go on a 19 day church history tour through 22 states covering both church history and American history on a bus with about 56 other people who I love dearly to this day. We went everywhere... from Salt Lake to Missouri to visit the Amish to D.C. to New York and plenty of other places all the way back to Salt Lake. Every moment was memorable.
I got to visit some of those places again just this week, this time with my family. We did not go across 22 states but specifically to New York where we spent time in the city and now in Palmyra New York. We visited the city on our tour too and kept annoying my family with "O and we did this here!" and "I remember the history of that! It is....." But I loved every second! Now that we are up in church history heaven I think my family is keeping there distance from me... We have been to the Hill Cumorah, Sacred Grove, and the log home of Joseph Smith and the one that Alvin had started for the family. Not only did I make it to the church history sites here but also spent time at the park where we hung out on the tour... Yep even the small places were overly exciting to me (:
I loved learning about the history of so many places on that trip and feeling the spirit everywhere I went. I grew from my experiences there and now being at those same places and feeling that incredible spirit again I am reminded even more of the lessons I learned and the memories I made. I can't help but smile and every place I recognize and I apologize now to my family for all the random comments... But I love the people I was with and the history!

Stop and Smell the Roses

I heard a quote yesterday that I found worth sharing.

"Moments are the molecules that make up a life time of memories." -Unknown

I know I am in a place where I am looking toward the future always waiting for what I hope will come. I made it a wish, then a goal to make every moment count. To help others have moments that will turn into lifelong memories. Just one smile, or one hello could turn a whole day around. Everyday I am going to smile.  I am going to pause, look around, make beautiful places moments worth remembering. I challenge all who reads this to do the same, and now that I have set it not only as a wish but as a goal the challenge is on for me!

Pillow Talk

This past week has been a blast! I had one of my best friends come visit me for my birthday/ her graduation present and we didn't really do the usual around San Antonio... but it was one for the memory books. We did go downtown, we did go to Six Flags, and we did go to the river but it was different this time. As a family and with other company in town we go and see the Alamo and River walk but when we went downtown we went to the top of the Tower of the Americas, took fun wind blown pictures, ate the most disgusting dessert on the planet, and lost the car for almost 30 min with our position markers being a port a potty and the big asparagus. Giggles and smiles the whole time with a hint of panic at the end on my part (:  With about 10 more minutes for our downtown experience we ran by the Alamo, snapped a picture and jumped in the car and left. 

Going to Six Flags the day before was pretty normal. I had no idea how much she loved rides though (: Every drop or twist or turn she was the girl screaming the loudest. I love you Angela! We were kids in a candy store going from ride to ride along with my mom and brother. What a blast! 

We also made it to the Guadeloupe River. We went for one of our weekly mixer dates going on and had a blast with our 3 different dates. We and a fun picnic, swim/skipping rocks, and made s'mores for dessert. Just a side note... I feel like a true Texan this summer after going to a rodeo and then sitting around a fire, eating s'mores, a guy in a cowboy hat playing the guitar, and having an armadillo pass by at the same time! Yep i am in Texas (: 

Over all we had a great time getting out and doing things that the not so average tourist would do and making some fun memories, but I would argue the best memory made this weekend was just the late night pillow talk. That was how Angela and I became friends in the first place and being able to open my heart to her was big for me and I hope for her too.

 Every college student at least knows what I am talking about. You both lay there and get on a topic that is very close to the heart and it is a sweet moment knowing you trust that friend enough to even open up. We also had a few of those 10 minute ab workouts of laughing (: Angela, that is what I am going to remember the most. No matter how early we tried to get up the next morning it was delayed at least an hour though. It was certainly worth it (: