Oh, Happy Day!

This day has been a very happy one for 4 reasons!

1. At 12:00 AM I had a date with a very hot, romantic, amazing man. You may know him. You might have even went on a date with him. Edward Cullen, that's who. I put on a new cute shirt and necklace in order to dazzle him. (I have become a master at the cell phone/mirror/self portrait.)

2. Katie prepared a nice light lunch of lettuce wraps and fruit shish kabobs and invited our family of friends over for a relaxing afternoon. We lounged in the pool and soaked up as much vitamin D as possible.

3. I came home to find a package waiting at the front door. I shrieked and flew out of the car. My camera has arrived! I ripped open the box and examined every part of it's black exterior. It's amazing and the images are so clear. You'll see.

4. Sarah at Bon Blog Designs gave this here blog a delicious makeover. You should have your blog designed by her. (She didn't pay me to say that.)(Or did she?)

p.s. (she didn't)

A

I am

Aa. enjoying my morning breakfast of oatmeal topped with fresh blueberries.

Ab. loving the smattering of freckles on my shoulders and nose. I feel like summer has kissed me.

Ac. excited that I start my days with a 1.5/2 mile run. It feels good. I couldn't have done it two months ago. My body is letting me push it.

Ad. wondering, are you Team Edward or Team Jacob?
(The right answer is Team Edward.)

Ae. curious as to when my camera will land on my front door step.

Af. listening to Bring On The Comets by VHS Or Beta.

Ag. broke.

Ah. having too much fun writing this post.

Love.

The sermon in church today was about love.

Mainly, to love those who don't love you.

To love those who do you wrong, and who do wrong to others.

Even to love those who do wrong in God's name.

It's so easy to say, "I will love my enemy," because really, who has done something so horrible to you that they aren't worth your love? But then we were given an example. There is a group called the Westboro Baptist Church (not to be associated with other Baptist churches) that protest military funerals among other things.

It's hard to love these people. It was making me sick while sitting in church this morning. There were veterans around me crying. And why wouldn't they? Pray for dead soliders? PRAY for more dead children?

"But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil."
—Luke 6:27-35

To drag unknowing children into their picketing of hate blows me away. I so badly want to tell them that God loves everyone. He doesn't punish us by blowing up space shuttles, by having hurricanes kill thousands of people, by war.

"Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins."
--1 Peter 4:8

I don't know what is worse- the acts they are doing (protesting military funerals?!), or that they actually believe they are working in God's name and believing their actions are true.

Pray for this church. Pray for me to love them. Pray for you to love them.

In happier news, it's Stephanie Nielson's 29th birthday and Christian (her husband) opened the comments on her blog. Go wish her the happiest of days. I can't think of someone who deserves it more.

Look What I Bought Today!

Bought this camera today.
Can I get a hallelujah?

Now, who wants their picture taken?

Brittany.

I have this sister.
She reminds me of Monica on Friends.
She's a bit nuerotic. A lot nuerotic, actually.

A story she tells is nothing short of dramatic.
We're talking hand movements, gasps, moments of silence.
Our family accepts it.

It comes in the purple-coated, leopard loving, Diet Coke gulping Brittany package.

This post is really going nowhere except that at this moment I am listening to a classic dramatic story of hers. There have been gasps. Hand movements as I type. And yes, the moment of silence just happened.

Like I said, we accept it and move on.

Everone loved Moncica, right?

21 Before 21.

I love making lists.

And goals.

And cupcakes.
(More on those later.)

Today while watching TV I had a revelation. I am not living my life to the fullest. Let's be honest, I don't set a lot of hard goals. I set easy ones that I know I can quickly cross off my list. (Told you I like lists.)

There is a whole slew of things I would love to accomplish in the (almost) near future. But without a list, this girl won't get anything done! On that note, I made a list of 21 things I will do before I turn 21.

You should make one too.

In other news, I have not started the unpacking process.

Perhaps a list would help.

See what I mean?

If you make a 21 before 21 list,
comment and let me know!
I would love to see your aspirations!

A Series of Unfortunate Events.

I woke up to the sun peeking over moutains on a chilly June morning in Utah.

It's now dark, hot, humid, and flat here in Arkansas.

Home sweet home?

Our trip home did not go off without a hitch.

We got to the Salt Lake City airport early and had time to buy Utah shirts and Temple booklets.

Our flight left on time and we relaxed comfortably as we flew into the central time zone.

Then Memphis happened. I seem to never have good experiences in the Memphis airport. Kaylee and I grabbed some lunch and then headed to our gate. The screen said, "Boarding to Little Rock, AR"

I smiled and handed my boarding pass to the woman behind the desk.

"Oh, that flight has already left."

Kaylee and I exchanged glances.

"But it's not supposed to leave for another 10 minutes."

"Well you should have been here 15 minutes early."

"When does the next flight leave for Little Rock?"

"7:30, but it's full. There's one tomorrow morning at 9:30."

"So are we supposed to just sleep in the airport?"
"It's not our fault you missed the flight."

I was not about to argue with this woman. We plopped down on the floor.

And then proceeded to call everyone we know.

Kaylee's dad (our hero!) made the 3 hour drive to Memphis to pick us up.

Meanwhile, Kaylee sweet talked Delta into a partial refund.

And painted her toenails.

I edited pictures, of course.

Our problems were not over.

We drove to the Little Rock to get our luggage that had gone on without us.

We went to Delta Baggage Services and of course, no one was in the office.

I could see my sage green suitcase with its cute Target purchased luggage tag.

And I wanted it, and I wanted to go home. (Or back to Utah.)

After having a woman page Delta over the airport intercom twice, Kaylee's dad went to find someone to get our luggage. Someone did and I got my sage green suitcase.

I miss Utah.

C jane's post made me sad.

I was just there.

Leaving on a jet plane.

Today was bittersweet.

Of course I wanted to (and did) enjoy my last day in Utah.

But I very much don't want to leave.

Kaylee and I chilled with the family today. It was very relaxing. We listened to music on the backporch while the kids lounged on the grass and Kevin grilled salmon and ribs.

Carli mashed potatos and boiled corn.

It was all so delish. I have probably gained 5 pounds.

After dinner we walked around the neighborhood and soaked in all of Utah that we could. I am so sad to leave. I absolutely love it here. Everything- the essence of this place.

Kaylee and I are seriously discussing living out here next summer- not just a little 10 day vacation. Housing is very cheap here because of BYU and it would be easy to get a job. Plus, I will have Photography classes under my belt and could take wedding pictures for people in front of the Provo (or any) temple.

I'm off to finish packing and then to bed. We fly out early.

Goodbye Utah.

Happy Father's Day dad. I love you SO much. Please let me move to Utah next summer.

Hiking, and a personal revelation.

Saturday brought allergies, sweat, aching muscles and holes in clothes. Further explanation? Happy to.

Bright and early found us in Provo, hiking Y mountain. Holy guacamole, hiking to the Y is no piece of cake. (Did you like the two food references?) None the less, I persevered, downing my water by the 4th switchback and thinking how much altitude vs. sea level sucks.

Mid-hike view of Provo

My wheezing stopped (well, lets be fair, it slowed down) when we reached the large concrete Y. The view was absolutely breathtaking. I felt like I was standing on top of the world. (Did you know the Y is 380 feet high, making it larger than the Hollywood Sign in California?)

Trivia brought to you free.

Sitting in the middle of the Y

After trekking back down the mountain we drove to the Provo Temple for picture taking purposes. See all the pink roses? I can't even begin to describe how sweet the air smelled.

And ok, I know the Salt Lake Temple is every one's crème brûlée, but I happen to think the Provo Temple is the prettiest one I have seen. Salt Lake? Surrounded by buildings. Manti? Middle of nowhere. Provo? Mountains, my friends.

Our next adventure (are you tired yet?) led us to Bridal Veil Falls nestled in the Provo Canyon. There was a nice paved trail to the very bottom of the falls. To get to the falls themselves was a different story.

My acrylic nails helped me scratch myself up all of those rocks to the very top. My pants were wet, Nike's drenched. I didn't care though. I just plopped down on a rock, let the waterfall mist me with fresh water, and snapped a ton of pictures.

Pants after all the hiking. Tore hole in butt. Not picture worthy.

Manti Temple at night

For added fatigue, we drove a near two hours for the Mormon Miracle Pageant in Manti. If you're Mormon, this is like, a right of passage. It's a big deal.

I'm talking about thousands of people gathered to watch the finding of the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith's death, Brigham Young leading the Mormons to Utah, and so on.

Back to the story. We arrived really early to gurantee one of the 14,000 seats available and then walked the streets of downtown Manti. We ate dinner at a local diner and then splurged on chocolate covered strawberries.

There were Christian picketers there with a cross, passing out information of our/my Jesus vs. Mormon Jesus. I had never been around controversy like it. They weren't rude, demanding, ignorant or mean in any way. But you could certainly feel the tension.

And then I thought, would I be with the picketers? Is that the right approach? Do I belong at a Mormon pageant, being not of that particular faith?

Alas, I sat in my chair and watched the play. It was interesting. It was good. The picketers left and I had a personal revelation. I am not Mormon. I am not Church of Christ. I won't label my faith.

I am a follower of Jesus Christ. A lover of God. Someone who feels the Holy Spirit deep in my soul.

And that, my friends, was Saturday.

Summer Days & Summer Nights.

The weather (here in Utah) was warm and sweet so Kaylee and I lathered ourselves in tanning oil and headed to Provo for

From twelve to half past four we floated the lazy river, swallowed gallons of water in the wave pool, screamed as we plunged down slides, and laid out.

My tan is pretty rockin'.

And okay Utah, way to keep the hot guys to yourself. They seem to all live in this western state. No complaints here- they served as delicious eye candy today.

Too much?

That's what I thought. Don't tell me. Kaylee was the one "discreetly" snapping pictures of them.

To cool off we feasted on Dip n Dots.

Then tonight, much to our surprise, Carli and Kevin let us take the Denali to Provo for a late movie. We rolled the windows down, opened the sunroof and cranked up the bass.

And then we sang Show Stopper. Really loud.

I am loving these days!

Capturing Summer (in Utah) Thursday

Utah trip day numero 6 just happened to fall on my favorite day of the week.

So what exactly did we do today?

Well, we ate a delicious lunch at Brick Oven in Provo where we dined on pasta, bread, salad, and ginormous M&M cookies.

Then we took a little drive to Sundance (ski resort) which had no snow.

So it looked like a lot of green hills with a ski lift.

Oh, and awesome mountains.

We got out at Cascade Springs and hiked a small trail complete with waterfalls, flowers, and other greenery.

These mountains are calling out to me.

"Move to Utah, Autumn!"

That's what they are saying.

The Spradlin Children (& more...)

Are you getting tired of me saying how amazing Utah is? I hope not, because I am not tired of being here! Like all other days spent here, it was wonderful.

We woke up and went to lunch at Bajio. I had a delectable salad complete with chicken, sweet rice, fresh greens, pico de gayo, and black beans. It was all piled on top of a warm, Bajio-made tortilla.

Afterwards Kaylee and I had our nails done in the Provo mall and then I purchased a CTR (Choose the Right) ring. Because we all need a little reminder from time to time. No- just me?

While here, Kaylee and I have been staying with her aunt and uncle, Carli & Kevin, and their 3 crazy sweet children, Samantha, Jessica, and Tyler.

We babysat them tonight while Carli and Kevin drove into Salt Lake for a concert. Since Father's Day is Sunday we decided to let the kids bake him a cake. It was somewhat of a disaster, but a fun one!

The many faces of Tyler...




I so don't want to leave...

Driving Through.

The weather today was fabulous and the warmest I have felt in the four days we have been here. To take full advantage, we donned our bathing suits and drove to Orem for some fun in the sun & water!

I got a nice burn that has since faded into a golden tan. Ah, summer!

It was fun to splash in the water with the children and slide down the slides.

While Kaylee was at the Mount Timpanogos Temple, I got to ride through a canyon and enjoy the Rocky Moutains.

It was beyond beautiful. I wish I could bottle the smell of pine and fresh moutain water! You know the smell? You should.

After, we ate authentic mexican food and then went for a drive to the desert, where we started a fire. And for seats, of course, we took them out of the car.

What would you have done? Seriously.

Oh, and the lightening! While listening to tunes on my iPhone and enjoying our camp fire, we spotted some seriously awesome lightening in the distance.

These days are so good..