10 Day Tour: Young Ambassadors

There aren't too many things more fun (and exhausting) than being on a bus for ten days with lots of extroverts. If you didn't catch it from Facebook/Instagram, I've been out of school the past week and on a long road trip touring with the YA's! 

This is how we looked 90% of the time...

And the other 10%...

We had so much fun. It was one of those weeks where I wanted time to stand still and 

just be "in college" for awhile. It went way too fast! So starting off...this is me and MegSack about 3 hours

into our journey. That's why we are so happy...

Our first night, we stayed with the guy who draws the Pickles comics, 

Brian Crane and his lovely wife. I KNOW, RIGHT?!

Another MegSack photo, making any other face but smiling! Our cheek muscles hurt.

Our first stop on the day tour to San Francisco, the City Hall! 

Just me and a big head. That's all.

Chinatown....yeah.

I practically went to China without going to China!

Whitney and I on the Pier looking out over Alcatraz.

...and Tanner bought us a bread alligator at the world-famous Boudin's! 

We try to be as mature as possible when we are taking pictures.

After a great FHE and fireside with the Singles Ward, the next day we woke up

and went to the Redwood Forest! 

With a performance every night except Sunday, it was great to come to our Host family

and be completely welcomed in! Those little kids in Santa Rosa are adorable.

And for more mirror reflection pictures, of course we watch The Bachelor when we

get ready for our shows! This was in San Jose:

And this was the stage in San Jose...SO FUN!

I guess you could call it a success when you make the front page of

a Napa Valley Newspaper.

And for our last show...a great dressing room shot. This was our favorite dressing room 

only because we had enough outlets for our curling irons.

Within these ten days, I hadn't heard of so many miracles since my mission. For real. We helped with some re-activating, with decision making about baptism, and lots (and lots) of introduction to the LDS church. We brought the Spirit in ways that I couldn't do on my own--even when I was a missionary. I heard the exact same things when I was wearing a nametag, which convinced me even more that what I'm doing right now is an extension of my mission. But this time, I get to SING! 

Music brings something to some people that is not explainable. And one of those people is me. It gives me strength to go on, but more importantly, enough confidence to know that I'm a daughter of God. I know for a fact I gave that confidence to one little girl that I met in Oakland, and that was enough for me.

It's amazing the money, the time, sweat (and tears) Heavenly Father will allow one person to go through to help another come back to Him.

Picture Perfect.

"I get lost in the beauty of everything I see;

The world ain’t half as bad as they paint it to be.

If all the sons, all the daughters stopped to take it in...

hopefully the hate subsides and the love can begin."

-Come Home, One Republic

National Mall

National Archives

United States Supreme Court

View from Speaker Boehner's balcony

Lincoln Memorial

Washington Monument

Martin Luther King Memorial

Tidal Basin

Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial

Every single one of these was a, "hold on, I gotta take a picture real quick."

...with my iPhone. Prrrrrety amazing.

That one big city up north.

The adventure begun Saturday morning. We all packed up all of Linda's stuff in this beautiful U-Haul and drove (on an extremely rainy day I might add) all the four hours up to New York City. It's a good thing there was no traffic. (Joke.)

After unloading and moving and dropping off things and everything else in between we had a great time with a bunch of people from the Harlem ward, just hanging out and playing games all night. My cheeks were killing me by the time we left...I haven't laughed that hard in a really long time! Anyway, the next morning, bright and early, I met my mom who happened to be coming to the city this week too...so we got to spend all of Monday and Tuesday together. We did what we do best...exploring with no plans at all!

Everywhere we went, people sarcastically asked if we were related. I'm beginning to see that more and more as I grow up! But it's great being here on the east coast...I get to hang out with my mom more than I did living in Provo. Hopefully when I go back to Mount Zion we can still make it happen just as much. 

As for being in New York City, it really is the, "if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere," kinda feel. Expensive. Fast. Huge. Exciting. Nothing like it anywhere else. I'm being talked into applying for NYU's sports management program. I think I'd be okay with that! But on top of everything, it was AMAZING to be back in one of my favorite states. New York will forever have my heart; there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about it.

Well, I'm headed back to D.C. on the train right now. Good thing Mom has meetings there the rest of the week, and next week! I just hope those cherry blossoms will be blooming...happy first day of April!

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

Sailing to Philadelphia.

The theme for 2014 is spontaneity. I think so far I have done a pretty good job. Especially on this last escapade to Philly. Sunday night, a bunch of us found out we could get a car for the day under twenty bucks, so we made a quick, easy decision. We visited Independence Hall where the Declaration magic happened, the houses of Betsy Ross and Benjamin Franklin, and of course ate a Philly Cheese Steak. Again, I'll let pictures tell the story.

And don't worry--we found the missionaries. Twice. This one, on the steps of Rocky!

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” -Mark Twain

My weekend in Park City.

When my mom called to tell me we had a timeshare this week in Park City, I could hear the hallelujah chorus. 

It was beautiful, to say the least. I'll admit my breath was taken away multiple times this weekend. I got up there on Thursday and stayed until this morning (I had to come back to Provo to watch my Cougs kill the Bengals). Although there was no concerts, summer lifts open, or really anything going on up there, it was so relaxing just to be in the mountains. We got out the tennis rackets, went to the Olympic Park, took a 4-wheeler ride through red and yellow trees, walked along Main...basically just drinking it all in. 

Okay not that kind of drinking. But I thought this
was indicative of the weekend.

Spence found himself a new friend on Main Street.

Okay so I didn't take this picture: http://www.skisnowboard.com/parkcity/nightlife.html
But this...is Main Street.

I don't know what Park City does to me, but it does something good. Maybe it's the excitement I get going up there knowing it's almost ski season, or just the plain fact that it is Park City, and everything is either made of rock, wood, or brick. Amazing. And it's only a 45 minute drive to pure bliss. If you haven't been there, you have about a month to get up there before the snow takes over the valley. Although that is just as gorgeous, you can't miss the cozy sweater weather right now. GO!

Park City: reason #214 why I love Utah. 

Day 2-7: New England

It's been such a great trip with Sarah and my mom. We've done about everything you can do in Boston, plus drove through Vermont, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. I didn't want to leave--it's so beautiful! But, I've got time to kill while on this plane bound for SLC. Watching movies can only hold you for so long.

Oh...Massachusetts. You never know where you're headed, really...

We visited the Veteran's housing. This is John--WWII Veteran and just barely lost his "sweetheart." He was so excited to have us come visit. 

Steely Dan Concert! At Tanglewood--awesome outdoor theatre.

Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame museum. Heaven for us athletes? 

Our first trip to Fenway Park!

Romney Headquarters. Vote Romney 2012!!!

Visiting MIT. Mind-blowing stuff.