This city wears me out in a good way

After a two and a half year hiatus from the Big Apple, Whitney and I planned a trip up to The City while her brothers were in town this last weekend. It was a whirlwind of a weekend and jam packed with all things New York.

I'm so exhausted but the trip was so worth it. 

Here's a recap:

 Made it to Times Square!

 Stardust Diner - the food = sub-par. The servers that sing Broadway while you eat = worth the sub-par food. As our server was dropping off our check she grabbed my hand and commented on the tiny CTR engraved ring that no one ever notices. "We pegged you guys the second you walked in," she said. Come to find out she graduated from BYU and grew up in AZ. Always nice to find Mormons everywhere. 

Saturday:

Staten Island Ferry with Manhattan in the background

First time at the 9/11 Memorial and I was very impressed. What a stunning and moving memorial!  

Freedom Tower from the bottom 

 We didn't want to pay to go to the top of the Empire State so the lobby was good enough

Seeing A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder for the first time. This play won the Tony for best musical in 2014 and it was awesome. Whit and I got rush tickets and ended up being in box seats which was a first. Loved the play!

Sunday:

Waiting in the freezing cold for rush ticket for Les Miserables. We were the 5th people in line but we had to do it. Ever since I met Whitney and we found out we're both die hard Les Mis fans we've awaited the day when we could see the play in person together. Sitting on the cold cement for two hours was worth it. 

Central Park on a crisp, fall day 

5th row seats! You could almost reach out and touch the actors! Now, I've seen Les Mis more times than I can count but being that close and seeing it on Broadway (the first time in 17 years since I last saw it on Broadway) made me really emotional at the end. I'm not ashamed to say I cried during the last 10 minutes. Also, the Asian women sitting next to us were insane. They asked Whit to take a picture of them and then tried climbing on the stage (English is difficult) and then got yelled at by an usher. "Hey, get off of there!"

Last stop: Top of the Rock - breathtaking 360 degree views even if it felt like Antarctica.  We made it there just during sunset!

1500 miles, 8 states, and 7 new best friends

There are trips that you go on and you almost immediately fall in love with the trip itself. It's something about the location, the people, the stories, the sites and sounds, or the combination of all those things that make that trip truly once-in-a-lifetime and filled with irreplaceable memories. 

I just got back from one such trip. 

My friend Jason Brown and I traveled to Palmyra and Niagara Falls last year and wanted to road trip again this year with one of our destinations being Sharon, VT - the birthplace of Joseph Smith. Back when we started tentatively planning I wasn't even thinking about fall foliage or New England but when we started solidifying plans we both realized we'd be in the Northeast during the peak season of fall colors. It was dreamy and incredibly beautiful. 

First stop: Quechee Gorge, VT

Quechee Gorge was the perfect first place to stop. We went on a tiny hike down to the water, the boys were boys and climbed trees way too high, we took a million pictures (with a million more to come in the next couple of days) and we fell in love with the colors.

Next stop: Sharon, VT - the birthplace of Joseph Smith

We arrived on a brisk, fall morning with the fall colors radiating beautifully around us. The sky was overcast, but as soon as we drove onto the grounds you could feel the Spirit permeating the place.

I was very grateful and humbled to visit the location where Joseph was born. His family toiled to work the land and provide a meager living for their children. They didn't have much but they were God-fearing, diligent, and righteous people. Little did they know how Joseph would change the world forever. 

Next day: Portland Head Light - Cape Elizabeth, ME

Okay, seriously, this place was out of a picture book. The overcast sky filtered out leaving only sun for the rest of the day. This lighthouse is the most photographed in the area and I can see why. It was perfectly picturesque. I could have stayed all day and just wandered around, filling my soul with sun, colors, and happiness. 

Next: Ferry to Peak's Island

There is something about ferries that I just absolutely adore. Maybe it comes from taking the Balboa Island ferry with my family every year we spent at Newport. Maybe it's the wind or the water or docking next to an island. I don't know. But the Peak's Island ferry did not disappoint. For only $7.70 it was worth every penny and then some. Only a short 20 minute ride and we arrived on the island where we walked around looking for ice cream (our search came up fruitless) so we opted to explore the neighborhood and then relax in some lawn chairs and feel the sun on our faces. 

 The houses on this island were TO DIE FOR. This was my personal fave. 

 All the guys fell asleep.

That is the face of pure joy when we finally found a house (a pink one I might add!) and there were red leaves in the yard to toss. Magic.

Last stop: Plymouth, MA - home of Plymouth Rock

There it is! They say this is the rock the pilgrims stepped on when they docked on the American continent for the first time. It looked just like any other rock to me. Cool nonetheless. 

 However, I did find these amazing men funner to look at during the trip than any rock out there. More on them later. 

In three days we drove more than 1500 miles and I became inseparably close to Jason, Ashley, Mitchell, Taryn, Harrison, Erika, and Nate. We were 8 people from different social circles, wards, and backgrounds but I fell in love with all of them. We laughed almost constantly, shared stories about our families and lives, played games, listened to Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" dozens of times on the radio, navigated new roads and terrain, and become the best of friends - framily as we called it.

Mitchell was the king of one-liners that had us either rolling on the floor laughing or rolling our eyes. Just fyi, he will always volunteer as tribute.

Erika was sensible and flexible and a joy to be around. I love easy-to-be-around people. She was the only one brave enough to order The Peanut Butter thing at the last restaurant we went to....and kind enough to order 8 spoons so we could all have a taste.

Harrison kept it real and always knew the best way to get places. He made us taste a local New Hampshire soda which I don't think we'll ever forget it...even though we're trying. #moxie #industrialsludge

Taryn wanted to go to a Haunted House really bad so she made some phone calls and ended up calling a police station. Google was obviously out of date.

Nate tried his best to outshine the other car with his driving skills. He's a champ for driving a zillion miles and never having a close call. He's also real close to learning a lot of T-Swift lyrics.

Ashley made us look pretty and was the queen of group shots. We will thank her in 20 years for that. She also tried falafel for the first time and found a new love.

Jason was the perfect trip captain, always keeping us on track and on time. He might have accepted a dare by Harrison to drive more than 100 mph on the freeway but don't tell our moms that.

Thanks for a wonderful trip guys!

This I believe

This I believe..

I have incredible friends. These are people that are filled with so much goodness that it almost makes my heart burst. These are people who love, who have incredible conversations with me, who wake up early while at a beach house, get dressed up in ironed church clothes to drive an hour, just to attend church. These are people who are doing great things with their lives - smart, intellectual, world changers. Social media shows me people my age who are consumed with materialism, sex, and drugs. But my friends are good, they are strong smart people who have hearts of gold. 

Spontaneous dance parties are what I live for. 

Dating and relationships are some of the most heart-changing things we deal with on this earth. They are so so good, but they are hard. The emotions we experience are some of the most raw and intense that we'll ever feel. I think it's because they are so worth it. Every relationship I've had I've come out a better person. I know myself better. I listen to my soul and what it wants and needs. And (if I do things right) I come out with a better relationship with God. So I'm not going to be afraid to love.

Chocolate chip cookies need no explanation. They are the best. 

Surrounding yourself with people who make you laugh is one of the best things you could do. I love to laugh. I may not be the comedian in the group but I find almost everything on this earth humorous and I love to laugh all the time, every day, without exception. 

It is a really good thing to try something new and challenging. 

Feeling feminine and sexy is becoming more and more important to me. 

Social media is killing my ability to concentrate. I've noticed that I can't keep a thought in my head for very long because I get distracted. I can't think deeply. I want to be able to reason, to problem solve, to let things sink in, but when I can't go very long without opening up Instagram, that will never happen. 

Fall is approaching which means cold, crisp walks, colorful leaves, and the approaching holidays. I get more giddy every day. I have had a love affair with summer this year - probably the best summer of my life and I'm sad to see it go...but give me pumpkin anything and I'll be ready for fall. 

I do not feel (almost) 28 years old. 

Watching boys compete in pool obstacle courses with floaties, noodles, and inflatable whales makes for some of the best memories. 

Sexy Black Wedges

I've desperately needed a new pair of sexy black wedges recently. And when I say desperately needed, I mean that I just went through a break up and shoes were the only thing that was going to make me feel better.

Desperate for new wedges also meant that I absolutely needed them by this Sunday so that I could feel sexy and back in the game. They were that necessary.

Monday I did some thorough research online and found the perfect pair. Black, high, and my favorite brand. I was willing to shill out $100 for these puppies but just before pressing BUY I decided I would wait till the next morning, just to make sure. I put my phone down and went to sleep, pretty proud of myself for being an adult and not completely indulging myself in this impulse buy.

The morning dawned bright and the first thing that crossed my mind were the shoes. I knew I had to have them so I grabbed my phone and went to the same website as the night before. BUT, to my utmost horror my shoes had sold out overnight. I couldn't believe it. I tried finding them anywhere else on the web to no avail. Saddened I gave up the fight and decided it wasn't meant to be.

Then Fate stepped in.

Anyone who knows me knows that my body loves to put me in uncomfortable positions that make me have to go to the bathroom at the most inconvenient times. So it was yesterday when I was driving through North DC and it struck. I knew I had to get to a bathroom quick but not being familiar with the area, panic started to set in. I darted through a side street vaguely aware that there were some stores a couple blocks east. I saw an open parking spot and proceeded to perform the worst parallel parking job of my entire life. They say the worst part of parallel parking is the witnesses and this time I had several passers-by who only laughed at my attempt. I didn't care. I needed to get to a bathroom quick. I threw my car in park, jumped out of the car, and started running down the street. Ahead I saw a DSW and ducked in knowing a store like that has free, unlocked, public bathrooms - just what I needed.

Barely made it. But making it is the only thing that counts in a sticky situation like this.

As I hurried out of the bathroom in a slight rush to get back to my horribly parked car, I zigzagged down a women's shoe isle and.....

(cue the Hallelujah chorus)

...the very last stack of shoes on that isle were the EXACT PAIR OF WEDGES THAT I WANTED.

Black. Sexy. Wedges.

My favorite brand. And they had my size.

But wait...

40% OFF!

Guys. I don't know if Heavenly Father has a sense of humor but I am absolutely positive that he knows his daughters and he knows when they need a new pair of sexy black wedges.

I got a really hard email recently. One of my dear friends Sarah (name has been changed), a recent convert of the church of three years and one of the most light-filled women I know, has decided to leave our church and return to the Catholic church. 

It is a heart-wrenching situation that pulls at your heart-strings. 

I first met Sarah shortly after moving here to DC. She'd just been baptized a couple months before and her story of conversion was one of the most sensational I'd ever heard. Sarah had always been seeking the truth and that journey led her through years of searching and reading. She first came into contact with the LDS church when she was a Catholic missionary in Ecuador and through a series of events and lots of prayer, Book of Mormon scripture reading, and thought, she made one of the most courageous decisions, to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

Several months later I had the privilege of attending the temple as Sarah received her endowment. It was a deeply spiritual day and all those in attendance could feel the rightness of her decision to make covenants in the temple. 

Sarah became my visiting teacher when the wards split and I was released from my calling in the Relief Society presidency. She was the most diligent visiting teacher I've ever had, always contacting me even when she was traveling in Turkey for many months at a time. Her visits were less formal than normal (just like I like). Instead of a stuffy lesson in my house, she'd take me to get frozen yogurt or we'd go to Target and wander the isles. She was always sensitive to my needs. 

Sarah taught me what true discipleship is. She reads and really studies the gospel, spending hours thinking and pondering all aspect of the Gospel. She is incredibly knowledgeable concerning the Bible and the Book of Mormon, knowing more than most members will know in their entire lifetime. 

So yesterday was a particularly hard day when I received a personal email from her telling me that after more prayer, study, and thought, that she was returning to the Catholic church. I had known something was slightly amiss when she visited me just a couple weeks ago and was no longer wearing her temple garments. But not wanting to pry or judge, I never said anything nor did I think twice about it. 

Sarah's email last night described her journey over the last several months as she's contemplated different aspects of our Gospel as well as those in Catholicism, and feeling like the Spirit was guiding her elsewhere, has decided to leave.

I couldn't sleep last night thinking about her and my heart aching for her. 

There is a painting by Carl Bloch that was recently hung at the entrance to the Celestial Room in the DC temple.

I feel very strongly that the fellow in the red robe - that is how I picture Sarah at her reunion with the Savior. 

I just hope that I will be nearby as well. 

It is situations like these that actually reaffirm my own testimony, that we have the truth, absolute divine truth, and that our church is true. I hope that the divine tentacles of pure truth with find Sarah again and bring her back. I hope that she finds peace wherever her search takes her. I hope that she will feel the Savior's embrace as she tries to sort out her beliefs and build her foundation. 

I sometimes wonder about consequences of not living up to covenants, which makes me sad, but I am also reminded that we are all covenant breakers. And as I try to remember, we all have unique circumstances so we can't make comparisons or judgments. 

We can just hope for good things to come.  

What's in a nickname?

The first thing you have to know is that in my family we have nicknames, weird ones. It all started a couple years ago when we were watching The Amazing Race and the racers were in Russia. There was some challenge where they had to do something in a garden with a couple of Russian Babushkas (our interpretation of Russian Mothers). From then we started calling my mom Babushka because it was just appropriate.

Sometime later when my mom left to run errands she left me a note telling me where she was going and she addressed it to Eldest (me, of course). Spence became Birthright after a long argument where I insisted I was the birthright child being the oldest. Alas, Birthright stuck with Spence being the oldest boy and we've moved on. Carson is Son of my Loins (I have no idea how this one came to be but you can see the ancient trend we have going on). My sister-in-law was affectionately called Helpmeet, Adida our dog is The Lamb, and baby Beckham is Child in Swaddling Clothes. My dad is Papanua, my grandma is Stricken in Years, and we've yet to figure out one for my stepmom but I'm sure it will come to us at some point. They always come to us. In moments of pure brilliance.

Just for your entertainment, here are some other nicknames we've had over the years:

Hannah
Angel
Sweetheart
Weed
Invalid

Spence
Spence-O-Bee
Suspence

Carson
Carseat
Carson Daly

I went and saw a movie by myself this week. It was Tuesday night and I was celebrating not being on crutches anymore so I hobbled myself over to the movie theater and saw Enough Said with Julia Louie-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini. There were four of us in the theater...all there alone and unaccompanied. It was so nice.

Enough Said probably isn't going to win any awards although Julia was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in the movie. Even so, I think this movie had an important moral, one that I've thought about the rest of the week.

Loving people regardless of their quirks and idiosyncrasies.
Beginning a relationship on a clean slate, despite what you may have heard about a person. 
Not letting other people's frustrations with someone cloud your own judgement of them. 

Maybe this resonated with me so much because I am so guilty of it and I need to change.

How many times have I decided not to crush on someone because a roommate told me of an awkward encounter they had with that person?

How many times have I brushed someone off after one quirky encounter with them?

How many times have I not given people a chance, any chance to open their heart and show their true colors?

How many times have I wished that someone would give me a chance, despite my own quirks?

I've thought about all these things this week and I've resolved to do better. I'm not going to let other people's experiences ruin potentially good relationships with others.

I have good proof that this works. For someone reason I had formed a certain negative opinion of someone. Come to find out, this someone ended up being in my Duck Beach house a couple years ago. After spending four days with this person and countless hours together on the deck just talking about life, I came to find out how amazing this person really was. My original impression was completely and utterly wrong. I learned a good lesson and despaired thinking how much precious friendship time had been lost because I had a wrong first impression and hadn't made an effort to develop a relationship earlier.

So onward and upward. More giving people the benefit of the doubt in 2014. More loving them because of their quirks and idiosyncrasies, and not despite them.

I like it.