DCI & A day in NYC with my Momma!

My very talented little sister has been a member of the Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps for four years now. She has spent three of those years playing trumpet and this year is the backfield drum major. They spend practically all year rehearsing and then spend summers traveling the U.S. wowing people with their musicality and impressive field performances. Lucky for me they stop in Allentown, PA. Which just so happens to be a quick 2 ½ jaunt away. Trust me this show is all I have heard about from her for months and I was so stoked to finally watch. I continue to be in awe of Rebekah and how talented she is! Lucky for me again, my Mom had been traveling as a cook, and my Dad and Kayla as drivers for the past week. I was so happy to see all my family!! I miss them so much! We stole my Mom away with us and took her back to our incredibly chaotic apartment in the midst of a move.

We spent the best day in NYC! This is really saying something for me. I remember our first trip into the city and I was nervous, overwhelmed, claustrophobic, felt everything around me was dirty, and it was hard for to understand why people are so in love with NYC. This time everything just went perfect! The drive there didn’t really have traffic, we parked for $11 all day, we navigated the subway like pros, and my favorite we got an awesome deal on Broadway tickets! This was absolutely my #1 thing I wanted to do while we lived so close to NYC, and I’m so grateful to have parents that spoil me! We spent the morning wandering in shops and bargaining with street vendors. My Mom and I got matching hippie chic NYC bags (I wish we took a picture). After a yummy lunch at Hard Rock Café in Times Square we made the walk around the corner to see Mary Poppins! The show was incredible! The theatre was gorgeous, the set constantly changing, people tap dancing on the roof, Mary Poppins flying over the audience and pulling objects out of her magic bag, and just so much overall fun to this show. I have been humming nonstop since this weekend the practically perfect song. After our show we met up with my Dad and sisters who spent their afternoon watching a Yankees game, and went to the 9/11 Memorial Site. It was such a beautifully done memorial and so humbling to see all those names.

That evening we went on a lantern tour of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. My Mother, the eccentric, strangely fascinated with cemeteries woman that she is, didn’t understand how we could live so close and not make it on a tour yet. So to please her we spent the next two hours wandering around a cemetery in the middle of the night, solely lit by lanterns, listening to stories of some of Sleepy Hollow’s most popular patrons. There is never too much fun in a cemetery to be had so the next day we walked around the cemetery on West Point campus. My Mom was actually giddy to be taking pictures, and looking at all the names. Who remembers General Custer? I however, had the most fun lying on top of people’s grave markers pretending I was sacrificing myself. Maybe that’s slightly irreverent to some, but I guess I am my Mother’s daughter a little bit. I love you Mom! Looking forward to the cemetery tours we will take you on in N.C. ;-)

George Wahington Bridge. Picture taken from a moving car.

My Momma and Me! I wanted the Hunger Games backdrop.

Glenn wants to be an Avenger!

 

Hard Rock Cafe, Times Square!

The new trade center that is being built. Already the tallest building in NYC.

Glenn hypothesized that each individual stream of water represents a person.

Touching the tree for luck. This is the only tree that survived the 9/11 attacks!

How NYC parks cars.

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery lantern tour.

The angel of hope. She sat the highest of all the statues in the cemetery.

Ummm?



Washington Irvine





Andrew Carnegie and his wife Louise.

Candid photo of what Glenn and I looked like at the end of the tour.

Virginia Vacation :-)

We absolutely love having family in Virginia because it is such a beautiful place to visit. Glenn’s oldest brother Bill, his wife Suzanne, and their beautiful girls are the only family on the East Coast with us. We have lucked out that when we lived in New Jersey, New York, and North Carolina (in a matter of days) that they have never been more than five hours away. Normally we only have time to make a quick weekend and sometimes just a 24 hour trip, so it was so nice to have a whole week to spend there! Since Sydney and Savannah were so grown up by the time I became a Fox I look forward to these visits with my nieces so much! To top it off we were able to persuade Stephanie, who I have never met yet, with roller coasters and water slides to join us on our family vacation. Glenn’s Mom even flew out all the way from California to join us too!! Months ago I suggested we go to Busch Gardens for Glenn’s birthday back in June. A trip to Virginia was of course a perfect time to meet up with some of the Fox’s, and I’m so happy they all jumped on board with our plans.

This ended up not being a birthday trip since we went in July, but it was way better having more family involved. We left on a Thursday right when Glenn was home from work. He always teases me because whenever I’m excited for something I’m literally bouncing up and down at the front door ready to leave right when he pulls up in the driveway. We have driven right near Washington D.C. and never had the chance to be touristy yet. We stayed at my friend Emily’s in Maryland for the night and spent all day Friday walking around all the monuments. I had no idea that there were so many, we mapped our walk at the end of the day and walked more than 6.5 miles. I felt so patriotic all day just being there and thinking about all the wars and all the people who fought for America. We’re so lucky to live here!

On Saturday we drove the last hour to Virginia and met up with the Fox’s. We spent a chill day going to see Dark Knight Rises. Then later that night we went to watch Syd and Sav in their Youth Conference Extravaganza celebration. Oh how I remember well all the silly dancing and singing you do as a youth. Sunday we drove down to Williamsburg and settled into our little home for the next few days.  

Monday morning I French braided all the girl’s hair for our day at Water Country USA! We were so lucky to never have very long lines and were able to go on our favorite slides over and over. My favorites were the giant tube rides where we could cram in five people. I also had to go on Vanish Point, the crazy cliffhanger water slide where you drop straight down. They had a new ride where you step into a clear tube and they close a door on you, after you wait a few seconds the floor drops out beneath you. Crazy right! I wouldn’t say it was my favorite but I wanted to go on everything. I loved soaking up some sunshine, eating some dippin dots, and was just as excited as all the little kids there! Tuesday we went to Busch Gardens. Again we had no lines! Who has ever heard of walking straight onto the front row of a roller coaster?! The longest wait all day was like 20 minutes for their brand new ride, and everything else was like 5 minutes or less. We went on every major coaster in the park, ate our lunch with fairy tale characters, and watched an Irish dancing show. Our day ended when the monsoon rain started and we had to make a mad dash to our car that was a good 15 minutes away.

It was clear skies the next day, perfect to hang out at Virginia Beach! The waves were so strong I was being tossed around like a rag doll. Literally at one point Glenn and I were holding hands when a huge wave came that we dove under, and it completely ripped our hands apart. I didn’t last that long in the water but Glenn stayed in and toughed it out. After a yummy late lunch at a Greek restaurant we had to sadly say goodbye. Even our drive home was memorable. We decided to suck it up and take the toll route so we could get home an hour sooner. We drove across this freeway that literally cuts straight through the ocean, seriously like 20 miles surrounded by water on all sides, two tunnels, and no exits! I didn’t even know that was possible, I was so freaked out! I am so thankful we were able to have this super fun vacation, and for me the chance to get to know my nieces a bit better. It gave me a break from waiting impatiently for our move, and let me relax and focus on fun!

Water is dangerous!



Pictures don't do these waves justice.



A dream.

This morning I woke up and remembered the entirety of my dream so vividly. For some reason I feel like this dream has some profound meaning and some lesson intertwined in it that I need to learn. Normally I can only recall vague details and partial pieces from my dreams. Maybe that’s why I feel so strongly about the importance of this one. So here it goes…

I had on a full bodysuit and was paddling out into the ocean on a surfboard. I wanted to learn how to surf and was missing one key component. I had no instructor, and yet this didn’t seem to bother me at all. I was completely alone in the water, not one single other surfer that I could glean advice from. I sat there in the water waiting and waiting for a wave to come and none ever did. Much deeper out into the water I saw a strong wave building and then crash way before it ever reached me. I debated whether or not I should paddle further into the ocean towards that spot. I didn’t feel safe moving from where I was, and decided to continue waiting for a wave to come to me. I glanced back towards the shore where there was a large crowd of spectators, all eyes on me. Glenn stood out and I watched him waving and cheering me on. And yet, I just sat there on my board, motionless. I started thinking about what I would do when a wave came. Would I be able to paddle quickly enough and stand up in time? Would I just get completely wiped out by the strength of the wave? Out of nowhere, I started seeing people on the water, that didn’t belong on the water. First, I saw a group of people skateboarding on the water right past me towards the shore. Then I saw a team of cross country runners, running on top of the water, also towards the shore. I tried to stop one of the runners and ask, “Where did you come from, How are you running on the water?” No one would stop for me and answer my questions. I sat there on my surfboard, contemplating how is what I saw even possible? I sat there on my board and waited…

I’m open to any assistance from my readers to help me interpret this dream. I shared my dream with Glenn this morning and he thought I needed to find out what that wave further out was. I want to know why having never surfed before, would I just casually try to teach myself. What were the strange skateboarders and runners doing on the water, was it just my head playing tricks on me? If I had slept longer would a wave eventually come? Explanations please! Oh and if you do comment please do so on this page and not the Facebook link. Thank you!

Girls Camp

A few months ago I was called to serve as the Stake Young Women’s Secretary in my church. To say that I felt inadequate would be quite the understatement. At only 23 years old, I was called to be a role model to young women ages 12-18. As flattered as I was by the call, I was truly terrified! In fact, I even wavered a couple weeks in and seriously thought about quitting. I was reassured by the counselor who extended the call, after another lengthy conversation with him about my concerns, that he had never felt the Spirit so strongly after meeting someone that they (meaning me) were the right person. No pressure right?!

Fast forward from my rocky start to just last week, and I finally felt like I was able to really get to know and serve the young women of the Newburgh, NY Stake. It had been six years since I last went to girl’s camp, and to be honest I never really thought I would go back. I wouldn’t exactly say I hated girl’s camp. I just never really looked forward to or enjoyed it. At least I tried right? So anyway, here I am ‘older and wiser’ at girls camp once again, and as a stake leader nonetheless. And you know what, I loved it! I can honestly say I would be willing to go up as a leader again and this time with less hesitation, but still just as much stuff ;-)

Unlike my years at camp staying in cabins with bunk-beds lacking a few or most springs, we were tent camping for the week. Tuesday was spent just setting up tents, attempting to start a fire with wet wood, and cooking our foil dinners. My favorite part of Tuesday was our ward devotional. West Point in the summer is a desolate place, and we only had two young women up at camp. However, we had plenty of West Point representatives come up for the week as leaders or just for a night. I loved bonding with these sweet girls over the week, and I hope they enjoyed their first year at camp. I’m not sure if I made any impact on these girls at all but I know they made an impact on me.

The next day was a three mile hike and I was responsible for driving up a carload of girls. I am directionally challenged and somehow ended up being the leader car. All was well until I missed a turn, had to u-turn, losing all the cars behind me, and going the wrong direction for quite a ways down the wrong road. We were driving along and we came across some random guy in a red truck. We rolled down the windows, stated we were lost, and he started to give directions. I think he could see my eyes glazing over and sense that this girl was never going to get where she was going so he kindly offered to drive and let us follow. After winding a ways down roads that were not on our directions I told the girls, either we will make it to our hike or we’re going to be thrown in a ditch somewhere down this road. Luckily, he was just a kind local who knew the back roads and we made it to our hike. And I just want to add that even after all that we weren’t the last car to arrive. Someone else drove to Connecticut, ha someone who is worse with directions than me!

The highlight of camp for me was Thursday. My husband and puppies got to come up to girl’s camp that afternoon! After only 2 ½ days I was already missing my man like crazy! Glenn built the most remarkable spirit walk, complete with great and spacious building, tree of life, mist of darkness, and iron rod. He always impresses me with his talents and creativity, and it was special to hear how this reenactment of Lehi’s Dream was such a testimony builder for these girls. By Thursday night I was exhausted and dirty and happy to jump in the car and head home with my family. I have some special camp memories from this week, and made some friends from my ward that I wished I had sooner. It was a lesson for me that sometimes other people are just as scared to open up and meet new people as I am. I am grateful that girl’s camp helped me to love and embrace my calling. I feel as if going to camp this year was the one reason I needed to be called then it was worthwhile.  

4/5 West Point girls. Poor Hannah was in one of the cars that got lost.

We all finished!

French braiding hair is how I make friends.

Happy to have my puppies with me at camp :-)