This store had the most amazing sunglasses I had ever seen. I could have tried them on all day. I was unaware until we walked outside and saw the sign, that picture taking was not allowed. Oops. Who knew?

On Sunday, we wanted to still see the city but without going to wild. We went to the Nashville Museum. I have to confess something here. I love museums, for the most part. It’s a lot more interesting to me if I know a lot more about the background of the specific city. I certainly didn’t care to see 8,000 different arrow heads that were found in Nashville, as cool as it may seem. To anyone that watches Gilmore Girls, this museum reminded me of the museum that they put in old man Twickhams house. Very strange.

The biggest problem that we had while being in the museum was that we kept thinking about the movie, Night At The Museum and picturing the different things coming to life. So, the picture above, with Caleb… Can you imagine those faceless things coming to life at night? Yikes… Or how about this…..

An unwrapped, open mummy. The toes were all broken and looked like broken pieces of wood. It was a little terrifying, and all I could think of was this thing busting out of that glass cage and wandering around the museum, consorting with the faceless soldiers.

When we turned the corner at one point, we overheard one of the other guys from Weber saying, “this is exactly what society needs, to bring the gallows back.” Naturally, I’m a sucker for these things, so Caleb obliged and took my picture.

If you’ll notice, Caleb was kind enough to put the wooden peg in on the top right corner, making sure that I could not actually get out. This was a little bit anxiety inducing, but I got over it. Seconds after we took this picture a curator walked over to us, at this point, anxiety was through the roof. Here I am, stuck in this thing, and I am sure he is going to tell us to stop acting like children and to please not touch the displays. We got some dirty looks, but he was mainly there to tell us that using flash photography is not allowed.

After the museum we went on a wild goose chase based on some interesting advice we received from the concierge at our hotel. Chad (Caleb’s partner for Hospitality Management) was informed that the bathroom in one of the hotels in town was awesome and had been featured in the Today Show as being incredibly glamorous. We walked to the Sheraton, that he swore it was.

When we walked in to the Sheraton this is what we saw. I am not sure how many floors there were but the elevators went straight up. It was a little nauseating to watch them. They went up and down so fast. It looked like some spooky ride at Disneyland.

So, we went to the bathroom to check it out, and alas, it was not this hotel. But our trip here was not wasted. We went to go ride the elevators. It really made Caleb feel sick, so we had to stop once we got to the top and rest for a minute before going back down.

Later that evening, determined to see this fancy bathroom, we went out again. We found it at the Hermitage Hotel. It wasn’t quite as exciting as we thought it was going to be, but still kind of cool. The decor is still original from the 20’s, complete with the shoe shine station. The whole bottom level of the hotel was originally a gentlemens club. There were two arches that led to underground passage to the capital building.  This was during the Prohibition era, so drinking was not exactly looked highly upon, so this was a way for the governor and even the president to escape unseen after a nice evening out. Definitely interesting to see. Not sure it was worth the hype.

Last side note. One of the nights we went to play laser tag with all of the people from Caleb’s group, along with a few strangers. There were 22 people playing in all. It was a lot of fun. Caleb and I found a spot up in the air and I was a sniper.

When we got done playing we went out to check the scores. My score was 1000 points. The person who came in second only had 600. I won by 400 points. Who knew I was that good at laser tag? Certainly not me.

These were just some adventures from Nashville, there’s plenty more to come.

Did I mention that the first couple of days we were there it was the National Little People Convention at our Hotel?

My own bed

Sunday dinner with family

My momma

My siblings and their sweet babies

Caleb’s family

Cafe Rio

My kitchen stuff

(Kitchenaid Mixer)

Our T.V.

Having a desk

Microwave

No humidity

Lehi

Also, did I mention Cafe Rio?

These are a few things, in no particular order, that I am missing quite terribly. I may or may not have made a paper chain a week or so ago to count down the days till we come home.  2 weeks, 4 days. I would calculate it in hours or minutes, but frankly that’s getting a little weird.

We went to Nashville last week, got back Tuesday. It was amazing. I couldn’t have asked for a better vacation. Caleb did really well in his competition. He got 4th in Hospitality Management and 5th in Future Business Teacher. The business teacher one is kind of a big deal, so I’m really impressed with him. he’s going to be a great teacher.

I’ll be posting pictures of our trip soon. I just wanted to let you know some things that I won’t be taking for granted once we get home.. Our first mission will be to Cafe Rio. Mmmmmm

We only took photos of a few of the statues. Some of them inspire me. I mean, anyone can be a sculptor. Several look like excrement, some look like leftover steel from a  construction site and some are just downright interesting.

This one is a giant statue of a person sitting holding their knees made entirely out of letters. I love this statue.

(note: the boys were great sports and let me do pretty much whatever I wanted. I don’t think they’d be happy to know that I posted this gem.)

Caleb likes to pretend like he isn’t having a good time. He mostly just gets tired of being in pictures. Also, this statue is weird.

This one just makes me laugh. Everyone came up with a different name for it. “Gravity” “Old lady ages”, etc…

A few weeks back I found this giant spider in my garage. I was terrified and made the delivery guy kill it. It was the size of a dollar bill and sooo hairy. This statue looks very similar to the spider, and it still makes me shudder and gag to think about it.

In other news, we are heading to Nashville this coming Thursday for Caleb’s competition. He is competing at the Future Business Professionals of America’s national competition. I’m very proud of him and all the hardwork that he does. He is such an amazing person and will be a great teacher or anything else that he decides to do, for that matter.

It’s the 4th of July weekend, and we are so far away from our families. We are excited to enjoy the festivities out here… Growing up in Idaho Falls, where the firework show is ranked 2nd in the nation, I have grown to love the 4th. Sometimes in various cities the shows are kind of a let down (Kanab, Ut) but I have a great feeling about Urbandale, Iowa. Cross your fingers.

Also, I could do without any firework incidents this year. There are  a few of you who know what I’m talking about. New year, new memories, new things to be embarrassed about, I’m sure.

Thought I’d leave you with this gem. Kevin and Ben were insistent that I take a picture in front of these statues. They posed for them all on their own. Nice work boys, nice work.

Caleb is out knocking 6 days a week. He works very hard and is pretty good at what he does. He doesn’t complain about the job, or the bipolar weather. (You can leave the house at 6 in the morning facing 80 degree weather, only to blink your eyes and find a monsoon a few short hours later. I love it because while waiting for deliveries, I can curl up on the couch with a blanket and read a book. Or on the hot days, I crank that A.C. so that I can still curl up with a blanket.)  Quite possibly I’m married to the hardest working man alive, and I love him for that. I also love the fact that he still enjoys doing things when he gets a break.

Last week we took a trip to Saylorville. One of the salesmen had a customer tell him about this little town located around a beautiful lake. After telling all about the amazing things you could on aforementioned lake, such as paddle boating, canoeing, water biking, kayaking, and so on, we decided it would be our Saturday adventure.

Unfortunately, it took us awhile to find the right beach. We visited all sorts of other beaches and saw many things that I wished we hadn’t (Memorial Day Weekend Partiers). Soon enough, we found the canoe rental place and were ecstatic to find that it hadn’t been a hoax, that it did, indeed, exist. However, it was closed for the evening.

The evening wasn’t a complete bust, we ended up at the lake just at sunset. It was a gorgeous evening spent laughing and talking with my Caleb, and the other Caleb and Ben out here. We enjoyed ourselves.

Tonight was supposed to be an Iowa Cubs baseball game, but as I typed this sentence I looked out the window to see the sun, that had come out for just a few hours, disappear behind the sheets of rain. Game not looking likely tonight.

Being in Desmoines has been a great experience so far. The people here are very nice and friendly and the scenery is beautiful. Caleb only has a total of two days off this summer, aside from Sundays, so I knew we had to do something special on them. One of those days off was Memorial Day, which has always been a favorite holiday of mine. My family’s tradition for the day is to go to members of our families graves and give them flowers. Since we couldn’t be with our family, what better way to spend the holiday than honoring our ancestors. So, we drove three hours south to Nauvoo to spend the weekend. We pulled in to town and were quickly amazed. It wasn’t what we were expecting at all, then again, I’m not sure what we were expecting to begin with. We had a reservation at Hotel Nauvoo, which was right across the street from the temple. Our room wasn’t quite ready, so we took a walk and explored a little.

We went straight to the temple, and I was so mesmerized. I’ve always been a history buff and have loved reading historical fiction. I read almost all of the Work and the Glory books, and fell in love with the history of the pioneers. Upon seeing the temple, I was instantly hit with awe. I could only imagine the amount of sweat, blood and tears that went into that. What faith that those people had to build such an amazing building under the direction of the Lord.

This statue was directly across from the temple. It is a portrayal of Joseph and Hyrum Smith leaving for Carthage. Joseph Smith knew he would likely not come back, and took one last look at the temple and this city that he loved.

This grove was a meeting place for the saints. It was like a chapel for them when the weather was good.

I can’t imagine going to church, hearing the speakers, and seeing this view. This view of them temple came from standing in the grove.

After the Grove we went to Carthage. It was such a spiritual and educational place. They gave us a tour of the jail. This is the room that Joseph and Hyrum were martyred in.

So, here’s a funny story that could only happen to Caleb and me. We had heard that there is a great buffet at Hotel Nauvoo that we were really excited for. The desk girl told us that lunch was served till 2:30, so we decided to go look around, get really hungry, and then go get dinner at the buffet. We waited and waited and when we got back from Carthage we went to the hotel to have dinner at the buffet. Unfortunately, when the girl mentioned that they served lunch till 2:30, she meant that they stopped serving food altogether at 2:30. While it was definitely a bummer, we reorganized our food schedule (which was the only thing we had truly figured out and planned) and made sure that we’d hit the buffet the next day. However, the buffet wasn’t open on Monday. Thoroughly disappointed, we went across the street to “Grandpa John’s” which we heard was a close second to the buffet. What do you know? Closed. Rita’s Restaurant: Closed. The only thing open in town was the gas station. While I do love a good gas station hot dog, I wasn’t in the mood. The only option was to head to Keokuk to find a restaurant there. The only upside to this was that we were going to pass this group of mailboxes that I had seen on the way back from Carthage but had neglected to take a picture of. So, there you have it, the only picture from the trip to Keokuk.

We found a little pizza place called Angelini’s Pizza. It was pretty good, just not a buffet.

Back in Nauvoo, we knew we needed to walk off the large pizza we had just inhaled, so we decided to do the Trail of Hope. This was the trail that the pioneers took as they were forced to leave Nauvoo. On the walk from the town all the way out to the Mississippi River I was so consumed with gratitude for these people. I can’t imagine packing up the things I deemed the most important and loading them into a wagon and walking toward the river. At one point on the walk you could look back and see the beautiful temple on the hill. (We read that at the time, Nauvoo was the second biggest city in Illinois next to Chicago) They had spent all this time building this amazing city, building a temple and establishing a life only to be forced out.

When we got to the river, the sun was setting and it was magnificent. We sat and talked and enjoyed each other’s company. I kept asking Caleb, can you imagine, just leaving everything?

The next morning we started off by heading to the temple. It was such an amazing experience to be able to attend the temple there. We asked a gentleman that was coming out if we would take our picture for us. (This was after I had cropped it and zoomed in) he managed to get the whole road, the sidewalk in front of him, and the whole temple. If you squint, you can see Caleb and me as well.

After the temple we went to the Joseph Smith historical site, which is owned by the Community of Christ Church (RLDS). They give a tour of the all of the historical sites with a guide. Our guide’s name was Sergey, definitely from Russia. At times it was a little weird, and I had a hard time not giggling.

This is the Riverhouse that Joseph Smith built to use as a hotel for River Travelers and incoming saints.

The Log Cabin. The part on the right is the original part that Joseph and Emma and their children lived in.

The Mansion House that Joseph and Emma lived in right up until the martyrdom.

We had a really quick trip and it was a great experience. This was one of those things that I had always wanted to do, and I now we can cross it off the list. Sorry this was kind of a long post, I just wanted to share my experience. I love Nauvoo and got an even greater appreciation for these amazing saints.

Next day off: July 4th. Better start brainstorming for trip ideas for those days. Any suggestions?

For 8 years I was the baby of the family. My mom thought I would be her last kid, despite her desire for more. I’m surprised I ever learned to walk, I never needed to, my mom carried me everywhere. On the occasion that her friends saw her without me, they were nervous that she had been separated from her siamese twin.

We did everything together. I remember going to my brother and sisters’ schools where she was the room mom. I would sit in the corner and just watch my mom at work. She is such a crafty lady and was always coming up with great ideas for classroom parties.

Through out the years I have learned so much from my mom. It never amazes me the things she knows. Once while at a class party for my sister, I had glue all over my hands. I hate having dirty hands. She came over and taught me to just rub them together and the glue would fall off. It was then that I knew my mom was the most brilliant woman on the planet. Lessons with glue were not the only things I have learned from her, however. She taught me compassion for people from all walks of life. While I will never be as compassionate a person as my mom, I do have a great example of what to aspire to. She has taught me to ALWAYS put my phone on Silent, or else it’ll play Bob Marley “Red Red Wine” during Sacrament Meeting at Church. Coincidentally, she has also taught me how to pretend like it isn’t my phone and to blame my daughter. I can’t wait till I have my own kid to blame. I have learned that there isn’t anything in the world that mom can’t make better. Feeling stressed, nervous, anxious or even sad, I know my mom will always make me see the positive in things and help me change my attitude. Most importantly, she taught me that a good mom always supports her children and loves them unconditionally.

And for that, I will always love my Momma.

Right up until the time I picked up my cap and gown for graduation ceremonies, I was certain that the school was going to call, inform me that I had a few credits that I still needed to take and that I wouldn’t actually be done with College. Even now, I am still having dreams that I have not turned in an assignment to a class, or perfected my portfolio, and consequently, did not graduate. However, the truth is, I graduated! It was such a relief to hear my name called at the graduation ceremony.

That day was one of the best days of my life. Everything was just perfect. I’ll just start from the beginning. My Aunt Zanna and I have been in the Elementary Education program at Weber State together for the past two years. We have worked together on a variety of projects and have stressed the same things night and day. When I got to the morning commencement I quickly found my aunt, and we made sure we got to stand by each other.  We walked into the giant Dee Events Center where we passed all of our professors who were applauding us.

We knew that the speaker at graduation was going to be President Thomas S. Monson, so we looked around for him, until we spotted him.

If you didn’t notice, there are two other men standing near the front who we were so blessed to have at our graduation. The whole First Presidency of the Church was in attendance.  During the ceremonies, President Monson was given an honorary doctorate. After they had put the robes on him, the provost turned around and President Monson bopped him on the head with the scroll he had just been given. Such a funny man.

I also got to be by Emilee and Shelese. The other two girls who had my specific degree, Elementary and Special Education Composite Major. We had suffered through so many dull classes together and had to keep each other entertained for so long. We were sad to not get to see each other all the time.

After the main commencement in the morning the college sponsored a luncheon. My mom came up to go with me and spent the afternoon. From there we ran into my Aunt Zanna, Uncle Matt, and cousins Savannah, Isaac and Tommy.

The night before, I had come up to Ogden by myself because Caleb was having his annual computery night with his friends, playing some game. He  came up for the College Graduation ceremony. Which meant that I was able to spend the early afternoon with my momma. We had a lot of fun driving around town, getting a drink, and just laughing. I love my momma.

At 2 o’clock it was time for the college graduation. They herded us into the back room so we could hurry up and wait. We sat in the back and talked and laughed about our college experiences and tried to grasp what life would be like without case studies, IEP projects, and portfolios. The week before I had had an interview with two schools, one a high school, and one a lovely elementary school. They both told me that they would be calling by the end of the week, and it was already Friday afternoon. I had carried my phone with me all day, just in case I heard from either school. (Side note: Caleb and I were getting ready to move to Iowa for the summer, and I couldn’t go until I had a job secured for the following school year.)

Ten minutes before we headed out to the auditorium, my phone rang. Unknown number, normally I don’t answer those, but this time my heart raced and I quickly searched for a quiet spot in the room to take the call. The principal from the elementary school was on the other line. “Becca, it was a pleasure to have met you. It was so great to interview and get to know you…” then she paused, and I nearly started crying. “we would be pleased to offer you the resource position at our school..” I immediately started jumping up and down, raced to find my aunt and mouth the words to her, “I GOT A JOB!!” all while trying to internalize the instructions that the principal was giving me about where to proceed from there, needless to say, I missed a lot.

Then it was time to walk.

After graduation I found my husband and raced to him. I was going to pretend that they had called and that I was disappointed, but lets face it, I couldn’t stop smiling. Everyone came out and I got to celebrate with my mom, my sister Cate, her sweet baby, and Zanna and her family.

Afterwards, my whole family met up, including Anne and Scott and baby Parker, and we went out to eat. Caleb informed me that he had been offered great tickets to the Jazz game for the finals that night. We went, and much to our surprise, the tickets were VERY close. The benefits of Caleb being a jazzbot have been so great for us. It was such a fun end to such a perfect day. I have been so blessed.

The fun wasn’t over quite yet though. Caleb’s mom gave us plane tickets to fly out to California for my graduation present. We got to celebrate at DISNEYLAND!

Thank you to everyone who helped make my graduation such a fun treat. It was so wonderful, and I just can’t get over how wonderful my life is.

This is totally natural. What little kid hasn’t given themselves bunny ears.

This picture, however, I have no words for. It is just interesting.

In high school this gem made it to the senior slideshow. I don’t even remember anyone having taken it. After the slideshow someone gave me the picture, saying that I should be the only one to have the copy. Now I am sharing it with everyone.

Working at the Ponderosa on the 4th of July. Our boss wanted us to have a parade for the guests. The other departments had cool rides, like ATV’s and a fire truck. What he had to work with was a mini golf cart and cleaning supplies. I’d say we made it work.

Bridal Pictures. Unfortunately my mom wasn’t there to make sure that I wasn’t being a goofball. Try as Caleb’s two sisters might, they just couldn’t get me to smile normally. Luckily they are talented photographers and were able to snap some good pictures in between my nonsense.

Well, there you have it. Classic Becca through the years. I hope you enjoyed it. I’m sure there will be plenty more pictures of this nature to come.

A year before he died he and grandma came to visit me in Southern Utah, where I was working at the Ponderosa. They loved Zion National Park, and any excuse to get in their motor-home and travel. They stayed at the resort where I was working and it was great to be able to hang out in their trailer with them and just laugh. My grandpa told some jokes on one of those evenings that made my grandmother blush. These are things I remember most about him. He was so candid.

We took the shuttle tour through the canyon. Living near the canyon, I had frequented the park all summer, but it was something that my grandpa hadn’t done in quite some time. It was so much fun to sit and watch him enjoy the scenery. My grandma, grandpa and I each took our own seats so we could all sit next to the window and enjoy the scenery.

One thing that has always amazed me was his ability to understand. On many occasions, when it was just he and I, he would ask, “Becca, how’s life?” To which I would reply, “Oh, its good.” Quietly he would say, “No, I mean HOW is life…” and from that point it was over. I knew I was going to tell him everything and he would always have the answers or the solutions to make everything better. It has been over 2 years since he has died, but to this day when I am struggling with something, whether it be at school or anything else, I pick up the phone to call him.

This wonderful man loved nothing more than his family and the gospel. I am glad that he was such a shining example in all of our lives. We all have been so blessed to know and love this man we call “Grandpa.”

He will always be missed.

I’m sad that these are so bright. I had just gotten a new camera, and I wasn’t quite sure why my pictures were coming out so over-exposed. We figured it out later though.

There’s a building in Lehi with this great red wall. The wind was blowing just right and made Sav look even more like a model than she already does.

It was fun to spend the weekend with my lovely cousin. I’m glad we have stayed such great friends and am excited for her to finish high school. Yay!