nature

The whole dam family.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

My family did something new this year for Christmas. We all went somewhere TOGETHER. And by all, I mean my grandparents, my parents, my siblings, siblings-in-law, nieces, and nephew. All under one roof, for most of a week.

I thought it would be kind of stressful since we never do this. It actually wasn't at all. It was the perfect week in my opinion. My mom has seen some excellent breaks lately by way of her health. She is still very much afflicted by her cancer, but she was starving and ate TONS of food, which is the polar opposite of how she was at Thanksgiving. So we spent time just hanging around the house, watching homemade plays created by an 11-year old and acted out by her younger cousins. We made meals for 24 people, ate together, piled into bedrooms together, and really had a blast.

We even fit in an emotional spur-of-the-moment family chat. Tears of love were shed as we all sat together with my mom and talked about the goings-on of the past year and how much we love her. I feel like the kids all became best friends, and all of us became closer. I hope we start making this a yearly ritual. I couldn't have asked for a more rejuvenating, relaxing, enjoyable time. Family really is the root of all that matters in this world. I am so thankful I have the massive family I do. I couldn't imagine my life without a single one of them. I am a rich girl.

As part of this week together, we decided to head out to the Hoover Dam since it was close to where we were. There is a new highway bridge that spans the peaks above the dam. We bundled up my mom since it was chilly and windy, and headed off to explore. Many a "dam" joke was told, and we had a great time exploring the desert.

See pictures below:

NOW BRING ON CHRISTMAS ALREADY!!!

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For the beauty of the earth.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

The title of this post is one of my favorite hymns. It's short, sweet and speaks of how I feel on a regular basis. Utah is full of beauty everywhere I look -- the mountains in any given season, the valleys, and the sunsets. We truly live in a beautiful state. While driving home from my parents' house to ours after Thanksgiving, my husband and I encountered the below scenes. Excuse the poor quality pictures, we were driving in crazy holiday traffic so they are all through the car windows. Also note, there is no filter.

God is a master artist.

THE FOG & THE SUNSET

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Portland Japanese Garden

Saturday, September 28, 2013

This place was beautiful. So quiet, lovely, lush and green. It was a little rainy, but I could've stayed here all day and enjoyed the quiet atmosphere. I took a lot of photos, and short videos of the quiet tranquility. I hope they do it some justice... although they really don't. You just need to go. I'm so glad we made time for this place during our trip to Portland.

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Vacationland

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Restaurant in Portland.

Justin and I decided to celebrate our 1st anniversary vacation-style. We went back and forth between Redwood National Forest on the coast of California, or Portland. We aren't really sure what drew us both toward Portland, but it ultimately won. Maybe it's that we both randomly said it seemed cool to live in Portland several months ago. Maybe it's that to get to the coastal redwoods it was a 14 hour drive and Portland was only about 10 or 11. Either way, Portland won our vote and we booked a cute little one bedroom apartment off airbnb.com. The ride there was long but very fun, and we couldn't wait to get there. Driving into Portland is really neat. The first several hours are just flat and open land, but then you drop into the Columbia River Gorge and you're in a lush green forest. Everywhere we looked it seemed like ivy, fern, moss, flowers and other greenery were spewing out with reckless abandon. We explored the city, ate some great food, went to a massive bookstore (one of our favorite pastimes), and just had a great trip.

I LOVED IT.

Here are pictures of one of my favorite places that we went. This is Multnomah Falls, just outside Portland. This place isn't done any justice by the photos. It was a beautiful 60-70 degrees, there was mist in the air from the falls, and every plant was a very vivid green. We also were able to take a short hike through the area nearby and enjoy the cool, crisp air the mountains provided. Justin isn't in a lot of the pictures because he is a typical guy and hates getting his picture taken.

The next post, which you'll see in a day or two, is of the Portland Japanese Garden in Forest Park in the middle of the city, my other favorite place we went. It was rainy that day, but it provided a really nice overcast, peaceful feel in the garden. I just didn't want to overwhelm you all with photos, so check back on Saturday and you should be able to see those ones too.