"Albuquerque is my Turkey"

Thomas and I took our first road trip, well our first just us driving together road trip. We went to Albuquerque to visit Shane and Sam. It was a lot of fun! We packed quite a bit into the two days we were there. Thursday, Thomas and I started our adventure after I got off of work, so at about 5:00 we were on the road.  We drove through a lot of creepy small towns but also got to see some beautiful scenery! We arrived in Albuquerque at about 2:30 am.

In the car, ready to go!

Friday, we slept in a little, ate some breakfast and headed out for our first adventure. We went to Santa Fe. That was a lot of fun. We walked around and found the oldest house and oldest church. Never really specified oldest of what... nicely done Santa Fe. Then we went to the Capitol and walked around inside there. 

The oldest Church

The four of us in the oldest church

The oldest house

Shane terrified of the statue

Artistic shot at the entrance of the captital

In the Senate Room

Cool shot

Great Seal of the State of New Mexico

We had to have some good ol New Mexico food, so we ate at tia sophia's for some sopappilla. Those are pretty much stuffed fried bread and then they also use the fried bread for desserts as well. Then the key to new mexico is you have to have the Chili sauce It was actually quite tasty.

We were going to go on a hike and do some outdoor stuff but a freak storm hit us! Winds were super strong and it was pouring! So, we stopped in Las Alamos and learned about the Manhattan project at this sweet free museum! And then we ended the day with watching Shane and Sam and their mad volleyball skills. They won their game!

Sweet Action Shot

Saturday started off very early. 4:15 A.M. my alarm clock went off and I was getting ready for the day. But it was totally worth it! We went to the balloon festival and it was AMAZING. We got there extremely early, so we walked around not quite sure what to do. We could see some balloons starting to get blown up so we walked down to that end. Later we found out that these first ten or so balloons were the Dawn Patrol and they were the ones that did a little glow show and then went up in the air first. I guess to make sure everything was okay. We then met a couple pilotes and then even watched one balloon from the start to the end. Shane and Thomas pretty much became part of the crew as they had to hold down the balloon and then launched it into the air and put away their fan and tanks. I think there were at least 200 balloons at this fiesta! It was Amazing!

Dawn Patrol

My attempts at getting cool photography

More balloons started to fill up

The "Zebra's" pretty much controlled the show

Another attempt at cool photo moments

They started filling up all around us!

And then there were hundreds in the sky!

Thomas and I 

Shane and Sam

My favorite balloon is the one right behind us
with the glasses

Thomas excited to be part of the crew

Shane and Sam holding down the Balloon

We got of pilot cards!

The rest of Saturday we ran and watched the football game. Sunday Thomas and I left and made our way back to Utah. It was a great trip. Thanks so much to Shane and Sam for letting us come and stay at their place and for everything! We had so much fun!

"Kill Your Heroes"

I was driving to my friends house today when this song came on the radio and I have become obsessed with it. At first it was because I was just hooked by the music but then I started to listen to the lyrics. Which usually I dread doing because its usually after I listen to the lyrics I realize I can't listen to a song anymore because they are all about sex, drugs or who knows what. But as I listened to the lyrics I realized that they have quite the message to it and I love it. Which I hope I got the right message from it because I love the message I got from it. (My thoughts on what the meaning is after the lyrics)

Kill your Heroes by AWOLNATION

Well, I met an old man
Dying on a train.
No more destination,
No more pain.
Well, he said
"One thing before I graduate
Never let your fear decide your fate."

I say ya kill your heroes and
Fly, fly, baby don't cry.
No need to worry cause
Everybody will die.
Every day we just
Go, go, baby don't go.
Don't you worry we
Love you more than you know.

Well, the sun one day will
Leave us all behind.
Unexplainable sightings
In the sky.
Well, I hate to be
The one to ruin the night.
Right before your, right before your eyes.

I say ya kill your heroes and
Fly, fly, baby don't cry.
No need to worry cause
Everybody will die.
Every day we just
Go, go, baby don't go.
Don't you worry we
Love you more than you know.

Well, I met an old man
Dying on a train.
No more destination,
No more pain.
Well he said
"One thing, before I graduate
Never let your fear decide your fate."

I say ya kill your heroes and
Fly, fly, baby don't cry.
No need to worry cause
Everybody will die.
Every day we just
Go, go, baby don't go.
Don't you worry we
Love you more than you know.

I say ya kill your heroes and
Fly, fly, baby don't cry.
Don't you worry cause
Everybody will die.
Every day we just
Go, go, baby don't go.
Don't you worry we
Love you more than you know.

I really feel like this song is saying that we all need to stop judging ourselves to others. That we need to stop letting the fears of not being good enough or reaching the status that we feel the heroes have stop us from even trying. Because then we will just stop trying. So instead, we need to become our own hero. That no matter what happens, those that are around you will love you. So, try because the fear that you are going to fail or that people will judge you is just going to stop you  from getting anywhere or reaching any goals. Don't be afraid to fly, to really let yourself go for your dreams and goals. You can do it and you are loved. Stop comparing yourself to the heroes and let yourself fly.  I tend to find a lot of songs pretty inspirational and I really feel like this one was super inspirational for me. What are your thoughts about these lyrics? I sure hope it really means what I have taken from them and not something horrible. haha

Also, this weekend was General Conference, which was AMAZING as usual. I loved every single talk. I even got the chance to go to the Saturday Afternoon session with Thomas and his brother. Its always great being inside the conference center even if I was up really high. Something that is amazing about conference is each of us get a different message, the one that we really need to hear. Even though we are all listening to the same talks, the spirit really talks to us individually. I love that so much.

I really feel like the message that I got from it is that I need to confidently declare that I am a Mormon and that I love it. I need to be a disciple of Christ in all that I do. I need to not let the fears of being judged or criticized decide how I act because as long as I am acting as Christ would I am doing what is right. So, here I am declaring it just as Sister Dibb did, "I am a Mormon. I know it, I live it and I love it." Yes, I love that I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am trying so hard to live my life the way that Christ would. I hope that I can be better to find ways that I serve others more. Because that is something that brings me true joy, knowing that I can be a tool in our Heavenly Fathers hands and help him help all of His other Children.   

This weekend was just one of those weekends where it really makes you think about your life and how you can improve. I guess every conference weekend is that way but that is what is so great. I know that every six months, I will have some serious changing in my life that makes it better. 

Anyway, I love you all and share your thoughts on my new song that I am obsessed with!

"I like to look for Rainbows"

I am just going to start this off by saying, no my life isn't bad right now. But on Sunday we had a lot of talks that were focused on staying positives throughout the trials in our life and I think that is something that has stayed with me. I really think it makes a huge difference on where our life ends up by how we react through out the different bumps on the way.

It really can be so easy to get so caught up on the bad. It is all around us and when you are having a bad day, do you really want to be all positive? Probably not. But I have realized in my life how much better things get when I am not so focused on the bad. I have to work hard to point out the good but then once I start, I usually can't stop. There will always be more good than bad, we just need to open our eyes to it. Even if we have to search, we will find it.

One of my favorite talks from General Conference many years ago was given by Elder Wirthlin, Come what may and Love it. I love how he talks about how we need to learn to laugh. "The first thing we can do is to learn to laugh. Have you ever seen an angry driver who, when someone else makes a mistake, reacts as though that person has insulted his honor, his family, his dog and his ancestors all the way bad to Adam?" Yes, I am guilty of this, just this last week you could have seen me screaming at a bus driver that almost hit me and then honked at me. I was livid and this was one of those times that I really should have learned to laugh. But then I had some of my favorite songs come on the radio that I just blasted and I slowly let the anger leave me. I am glad that I did this because I easily could have been angry for the rest of the night but instead I decided to see those songs on the radio as a little blessing to help me let go of the anger that I had built up. Next time a bus driver breaks the laws and almost hits me but then acts like its my fault, I hope that I can just laugh....

I have made it a goal to always search for the good among the bad and I am so happy I have done that. Because I would have missed so many great moments in my life if I had just stayed so focused on the bad. I wouldn't have smiled as much and I definitely wouldn't be the same person I am today. So, I challenge you all to find the good. Don't let the bad take over. Yeah, we all are going to have a bad day, week or even month. And yes, I am not saying that we should always have a smile and pretend like everything is great. But I just feel that as you try to count those blessings in your life, it will help you to get through those trials. And through that you can grow from the trials instead of just survive them. 

Here are my blessings I have seen in my life:

My man

 Thomas is a huge blessing in my life and every day I am grateful I have him in my life. He is always encouraging me to be better and to reach my dreams. He is always telling me that I can do whatever I want to do. I love that and I love knowing that he will always be there for me!

Smoky Sunset

 I found this picture to be pretty magical to me. The sky was covered with smoke from the Saratoga Springs fire and things were seeming pretty gloomy all day. But then at the end of the day, there was this amazing sunset and to me seeing that sun through smoke felt like the little bit of hope in the midst of all the bad.

Arrowhead Water

 Thomas and I joked that we should send  in pictures to Arrowhead of us and the water bottle and say that their water saved us while we were hiking. But I am grateful that I have clean water. That is something I take for granted but then I hear stories of people who live in other countries and I realize what a blessing the things I use every single day are.

"I like to look for rainbows"

 This just sums up the fact that we do have good within the bad. Right in the middle of the rain at the soccer game, a double rainbow showed up. I love that a rainbow comes because of the rain. Just like we need to have the trials to really see all the good in our life. It is key that we allow ourselves to see the rainbows.

Portland Temple

 Temples are a huge blessing in my life and everything else with the gospel. I am so glad that I have it in my life. I really don't think I would be able to handle anything hard that comes into my life with out it.

Before my second Half Marathon

Shane decided that he could wear the wetsuit to swim in the colder water
of our swimming pool

Family

Google Chatting it up with the Family

Jessica's wedding

Yes, we are goofy and crazy but I love my family. They are a big blessing in my life.  l love every moment that I get to be with them. Its those moments where we are together and we are all just being goofy and having fun with each other that I really cherish. 

So don't forget those blessings that you have during those rough times. Because it is those blessings that will help you get through those trials!