In Arizona, shade trees are your best friends.

(And occasionally the basis of small civil wars over parking.)

This past weekend I went to Arizona.  Yup, I and some friends drove to and back from Arizona, with some partying in between, all in 3 short days.  How much of that trip then was driving?  Almost a full day.  BUT!  It was worth it!  I promise.

David (my brother), Vinny (my friend), and Courtney (Vinny's friend) left good ol' Provo around 5am this past Friday and drove... and drove... and drove....... and drove.... until we finally made it to Mesa.  I have some funny pictures of that drive that I haven't uploaded yet, but let's just say they are the result of us being in a small space, pretzels, and too much time.

We went to Arizona to visit our friend Tito (remember him?).  Since I saw him last in D.C., he graduated Army training and, as it was his birthday this past weekend, the time was ripe for a party.  We also saw his sister Natalie and Nicole, who had flown out from California for the same reasons as us.

We got to Arizona around 3-4pm on Friday... so after giving our hugs and saying our hellos, we crashed.  It was lovely.  Especially since Arizona was approximately one million degrees outside, so we got to bask in the air conditioning.  Tito's party, put on by his sister Natalie, was at 9:30pm that night.  After we all got prettified, we danced the night away with about 300 guests.  I drained my camera's batteries taking pictures of pretzels, so the only picture I can find of the party doesn't even have most of us in it.  But that's okay-- it wasn't my party:

Tito and Natalie

They had an actual DJ in Tito's living room and they served delicious make-your-own snow cone type things, with awesome flavors like birthday cake.  (Really.  It was delicious.  Who would have thunk?)

Saturday was just one of those perfect days that usually happens in the middle of summer, but the universe was confused because Arizona was hot and sunny, so it let us relax away.  Us girls made the boys pancakes for breakfast, then we all went swimming in Tito's pool (which was quite the experience since all of us girls had left our swimming suits at Natalie's house... so we might have played Sharks and Minnows in our pajamas).

Elder Cook was giving a fireside in the area that night, so we got to go and hear his uplifting words.  Highlights included stories of him and Elder Holland as companions in the mission field.  Who knew?

That night, we all just hung out and played cards, watched a movie, went swimming, and talked/laughed.  Can I just say I love being with old friends?

Sunday consisted of breakfast, church, and good-byes.  We had to leave right after sacrament meeting so that we could get back to Provo in time.

(Pictures taken after church)

Cute siblings.

Re-creation of California photo-op.

In order: Courtney, Vinny, Nicole, Tito, Natalie, David, me, Tito's roommate.

We're pretty attractive :P

The drive back to Provo was pretty uneventful, except we, of course, hit traffic when we were literally 10 minutes from home.  So we got home at 1:45am instead of 1am.  Oh well.  Who needs to sleep?

I highly recommend last minute/crazy/super awesome road trips with your friends!  Because.... why not?

"City of Magnificent Intentions" -Charles Dickens

Sorry for the lack of posting this past week.  I have good reason however!  I was on vacation!! ...... well, more of a vacation than the one I'm already on haha :P

My friend Sarah, my sister N'Krysta, my sister-in-law Suzie, and I took a road trip down to Washington, D.C.  We stayed with our good friend who used to live in Connecticut, Jennifer Anderson.  It was so fun!!!

Anyways, I have about a million pictures from the trip, but I chose just a "few" of my favorite pictures and stories to tell you:

(Wednesday) First, a long drive in Sarah's car.  D.C. is 6-8 hours away from my house in Connecticut.

It was great for catching up on some zzz's, though.

Finally, we arrived in Washington, D.C.!!

(Thursday) We found this funny sign in Arlington.  Click on the picture for a closer look of the creeper sign.

Delicious lunch on the National Mall.  There were some teenage boys playing frisbee nearby and one of them had a BYU t-shirt on.  Suzie tried to talk to one of them; he told her that didn't go to BYU yet and then walked away.  I guess he wasn't interested in talking to older women haha :P

This grinning old man skull was part of a fascinating exhibition at the Museum of Natural History.

Cera and Sarah.

In case you can't tell, we're mimicking the fossils behind us.  We're pretty good at being dinosaurs :)

At the Museum of American History, Suzie posed next to a costume from a Carol Burnett sketch.  Check out the classic spoof of Gone With the Wind.

I love love love gymnastics.  So of course I needed a picture next to Nastia Liukin's leotard from her individual all-around gold-medal win from the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

There was entire exhibit about Abraham Lincoln that was really interesting.  For instance, did you know his illiterate step-mother encouraged his education?  He and his father became estranged and weren't even speaking when his father died.  President Lincoln had two different casts made of his face; you can see the aging that the presidency caused him.

Sarah hadn't been to a zoo since she was 5 years old, so, on Friday, we went to the National Zoo.  When we got off the metro, though, we couldn't figure out which way the zoo was.  There was a map nearby that we consulted, but it turned out to be upside down.  How did we discover this?  Oh, by walking a mile in the wrong direction :P

I did find a photo-op in that random downtown, though.  Oddly enough, there is a giant inside joke at BYU about Wu-Tang.  Check out this HumorU video to get in on the joke.

The zoo was a lot of fun (when we finally got there).

It turned out to be Sarah's favorite part!

We all modeled next to the Connecticut Avenue sign.  N'Krysta looked the most like an actual model, though :)

This was one memorial I had never seen before.  The Air Force Memorial was designed to mirror the formation pilots make for a fallen comrade.  Free concerts are held at the memorial on Friday nights.

On Saturday, we went to the Eastern Market and ate some of the famous Blue-Bucks.

The stands had awesome artwork, produce, crafts, etc.

Throwback anyone?

We also went to the Holocaust Museum, but pictures aren't allowed.  I had never been before and wasn't quite sure what to expect.  It was a solemn, enlightening, thought-provoking, emotional experience.

We dined at 2Amys with our good friend Tito.  The pizza and Italian rice balls were pretty delicious.  We actually hung out with Tito all week.  My favorite part of the whole week was staying up till 2am with him, N'Krysta, and Sarah playing card games on a blanket outside.

(Sunday) Jen took us to the National Harbor.  It was a beautiful morning.

We saw this awesome statue, called The Awakening.

And just had tons of fun :D

We decided that N'Krysta had a "black" sounding name, so we re-christened her N'Kryzduh.  There she is with her peeps.

Jennifer was so awesome to let us crash at her house.  She was mine and Sarah's YW leader when we were Mia Maids.  She is one of the most sincere and sweet people I have ever met.

We went to church right near Mt. Vernon.

And who did I run into?  My old friend Jonathan.  We lived near each other back at school.  Favorite memory with him?  Once, we played foosball as a team and we won 20-something times in a row.  In fact, we have never been defeated... challenge, anyone?

Finally, on the ride back home, we were using toll-free directions from Google.  Due to some construction, I had to improvise and accidentally took us into the Baltimore ghetto.  But we got home just fine, albeit late (2am anyone?).

America the Beautiful

Jacob (my oldest brother), Suzie (his wife), and I (me/myself) drove from Provo, Utah to Connecticut.  Conclusion?  I love road trips!

It was such an amazing experience to drive across our diverse country.  We saw beautiful trees, plains, rivers, mountains, cities, people, etc. etc.  I highly recommend the experience to everyone who can stand hours and hours in a car.  I'm pretty fortunate; I don't suffer from car sickness, so I got to read books, listen to music, talk, drive, sleep, etc. without any problems except some leg cramping and butt sleeping haha :P  Driving across these states, though, helped forge a tie between me and our country.  It sounds cheesy, but I really do feel more connected to America. 

 The view from our Colorado resort.

Sunset from our Missouri resort.

King Jacob and Queen Suzie are so cute.

Princess McKenna and her new princess friend (Suzie's niece) had craft-y fun.

I'm home in Connecticut now and it has been just plain nice.  I love the sense of belonging that comes from being home.  I love the familiarity of the trees, the humidity, the house, the people, the customs, etc.  I have been changed from living in Provo for two years now; however, at my heart, I am still an East Coast girl.

More updates on my awesome summer to come!