Wanderlust.

As the incredibly accurate Urban Dictionary states:

wanderlust, n: a deep, uncontrollable desire to hit the road and travel, by whatever means desired, to explore and enjoy the world. 

This describes exactly the feeling I have living here in Washington, D.C. I don't have words to tell you how much I absolutely love being here. The history, the massiveness, the people...did I mention people? It's like they plucked the smartest, most driven twenty-somethings, and threw them all in a city and made them my friends. In a normal conversation, I feel the need to Wikipedia every other word. Anyway, back to traveling. Growing up, my parents never bought a boat, or ATV's, or anything in that form. Why? Because we traveled. I remember how my mom would assign us each a country or a city to where we were going. It was our job to research it, to find everything there is to know about it...and to be the tour guide. It instilled in all four of us a knowledge that there was always more out there than we ever imagined, and gave us a desire for something greater than ourselves.

And THAT'S what makes traveling so great. The desire to learn more about myself, and more about this testing ground I was sent down to by my Father. But man that word...uncontrollable desire. It's the passion I have to experience change. I crave the feeling of change, which is absolutely uncontrollable in my heart, so much so that I would give up food for a week just to road trip to New York City. (Oh wait...that's exactly what I'm doing this weekend.) Resiliency is what keeps my flame going. I love the feeling of not knowing where I am, and having to figure my way back. I love walking through a whole crowd of people, and not having to look back and wonder if my troop is with me, because I'm alone and I can go wherever I want. However...even better is having a buddy with me who I never have to look back and wonder if they are caught up with me--they are right beside me, soaking it in just as much as I am.

I should marry an ambassador. Just sayin.

Osorno, Chile

Bryce Canyon

Bristol, Connecticut

Intern-o-Rama.

If you haven't read the awesome shout-out to interns that Deseret News gave us, check this out:

The path to D.C. internships is well traveled for Utah students

It was such a great article! I am really proud to be here on the Hill and I agree--the staff makes it such a great experience to learn everything we possibly can in four months time. However, I wanted to show you my little spin on it, and why internships on the Hill are just as glamourous as you might expect.

The news of the day was not anything about the Ukraine bill, or the Smarter Sentencing Act, or even the Hobby Lobby case that's going to the Supreme Court next week. Nope, it was how to best exterminate a mouse.

I'm very impressed at the man-skills used in this mouse trap making, even the Senator was impressed when he came up here this afternoon! Even with all the hard work, we still haven't captured it, but it managed to take the bait away to it's little hiding place. Ugh. Sarah and I were kneeling on our chairs the whole afternoon. 

I thought you might be interested in how D.C. interns really live...maybe we should put office-supply-mouse-trap-making on our resumes? 

What if?

What if there is no God? 

What if there was no reason to wake up tomorrow and go to work, what if there was no reason to work to earn money to support your family, what if there was no reason to support a family to raise them to believe in a higher power--really--what if there was no, dare I say it again, God?

Its not a question that most Utahns ask themselves. A lot of us think, "Well, what would I do with my social life on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday morning and Sunday?" "What would I teach my children, and how do I give them excitement for what lies ahead?" It's too much to think about...so some are stuck going through the motions. 

C.S. Lewis is one of my most favorite quotable authors. He has one of the best arguments about Atheism...and I'll just paraphrase for now. He explains that Atheism turns out to be too simple...for if there was no such thing, wouldn't have we already found out there was nothing to believe in the first place? My personal, Monican belief about men and women who claim to be "atheist," (because there is no such thing anyway--think about it) is they haven't yet invested the time to ponder on what's around them. And let me throw it back to this: if you are just going through the motions as a Member of the Church, is it any different than as if you were an atheist?

There is no way that God would put us on earth to be robots. We would be boring, and not to mention, so not attractive. We wouldn't even be here in the first place if that was the case. We have to put in the time to believe in God to make this a worthwhile experience. It's also not a one-time event where we get a gold star on our foreheads that says, "Hey, everyone, just so you know, I believe in God," and call it good. It is a daily occurrence, and when you think you're not making any progress...is when you're making the most. 

Lewis sums my whole thesis statement with this:

"I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan's to lead it. I'm going to live like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia."

I haven't seen God as a Mortal. I haven't heard His voice, and I definitely haven't seen His finger touch any stones, but...oh boy, do I know that He is real. He is more real than reality itself.

I know that because of one question I ask myself daily: What if there is a God?"

Snow Patrick's Day.

Meanwhile, in D.C...

Seriously, I don't get it. It would benefit the nation greatly if they would take some lessons from what we do in Utah. There is four inches outside people. FOUR. Which is the same number of snow days we've taken this year. 

I even had my St. Patrick's Day outfit all planned out. I guess I'll just have to wait and wear it tomorrow. 

#FirstWorldProblems.

23 years young.

In Provo years, I'm 30. But to the rest of the world, I'm just 23!

This whole weekend was celebratory...really, because any excuse we can find to celebrate, I'm totally there.  Linda's birthday was on Monday, so we made a week out of it. On her birthday, this was the message I received:

And then on my birthday...

Now, you understand. It was just a great week. I think I'll just continue to let pictures tell the story.

That was for the night of the 14th. As for the 15th...

Little Bobby's baptism--how wonderful it is to have family close by.

Yeah, we can't believe we live here, either.

Manhattan.

This is my blog, so I can put whatever I want on here. And I'm just a little bit proud of this right now, okay? I fell in love with this song the first week I got off my mission. I really had no one to sing it to, but what got me were the lyric choice and perfection in chords that matched the mood so gently. The second that I heard it, I knew I had to learn it on the piano. Nothing that a little Ultimate-Guitar.com can't fix. Anyway, I'm a little bit obsessed with Sara Bareilles, so here is her one and only...Manhattan.
 

Oh, it is wonderful.

I am so simply amazed at how much Heavenly Father knows that I don't. That may seem completely, blatantly obvious. But think about it...

via: pinterest.com

HE MADE THAT. From all the stars in the world, all of the planets that didn't just "happen" to come together...my Father knows me. Not only does He know me, but He loves me perfectly, too. And it's not something He just learned overnight.

I recently finished a book entitled, "The God Who Weeps." No, it's not a sad book at all, don't worry! It's specifically for those who love to think a little bit deeper about how much God really knows you. I would highly recommend it. It taught me more clearly that He is a person, He is your Father, and He gets it.

There is a whole grand scheme of things that is specifically tailored to each of us. None of us understand it all, nor have the same Grand Plan, and it's up to us if we actually get there. We let go completely of our will, and turn it over to Him. But guess what? When you do that--He gives you more than you could ever dream possible. I've trained myself to think when something bad happens, I never feel like He has ever let me down. I feel as if He has lifted me up to a higher plane of thought and opportunity. And that is the best feeling in the world.

It really all comes down to one word: hope. He knows what you want. He just wants to turn it into something even better.