A Quarter of a Century

Yes - I am officially in my mid-twenties. I had a dream about me telling someone how different I felt now, being 25. In actuality, I feel like I'm still 17. But, of course, the reality of getting older comes each year as I look back and think, "how did that happen?" As time races by, I think to  myself that I should do more with my life. I know I do a lot already, but sometimes I feel like I need to enjoy it more while I have it - this beautiful life I've been given. 

And then, as I think of the Ace of Base song, "You can do what you want just seize the day, What you're doing tomorrow's gonna come your way... It's a beautiful life, oooh..." I realize that I do need to seize the day more while I have the chance. So, as a goal for the next 25 years, and for the rest of my life, I'm going to try to live my life by seizing the day. So, this weekend was the beginning of my "seizing."

We got together with some of my best friends, Christy, Nuria and Talisia, with their husbands. We drove up to Christy's cabin in Smith and Morehouse to play. On the way we stopped at the Rhode Island Diner for dinner. Yum-yum! It has a really cool story behind it. It actually was in Rhode Island and they shipped it here across the country. Kinda crazy.

Nuria, Christy, me and Talisia

Nuria, me, Talisia

The girls at dinner

And of course - classic boys. 

Looking at the camera is quite the chore, apparently.

This is Brandon and Cole on the left, and Chris and Carver on the right

We then drove through the canyon up to the cabin. It was dark, so we couldn't see much of anything until the next day. But it is beautiful!

 

Christy's dad Mike has been working on it for years - twelve, actually. Well worth it, I think. It was nice and cozy with plenty of room for all of us. We stayed up goofing off, playing games and watched a movie (which was totally boring - Bella was the name. Not recommended). 

My view from upstairs - Talisia and Nuria posing

I'm not sure how this came about, but Talisia's extensions ended up in Chris's hair...

Isn't he pretty?

Yep. He's mine.

The next morning we woke up to this. It was beyond beautiful - the pictures don't do it justice. I think the mist with the clouds added to it, also. It was perfect.

Talisia and Brandon outside in the morning

We went for a ride when we got up, Chris and I on the four-wheeler and Christy, Carver, Talisia and Brandon in a new Rhino. That thing is cool. And you could totally get two great cars for the price of one of them.

Along the canyon road...

just gorgeous.

While driving, we saw a couple of moose. I got a couple of pictures from the road, but of course that wasn't good enough for Chris. "I'll be fine," he said - as he run into the trees, up the hill, towards the massive animal. Of course the rest of the boys had to go with him, along with the dog - I think the barking had an effect on the moose. Luckily Chris snapped a picture before the moose came charging - and, thank heavens, he got stuck in the trees and couldn't reach them.

We took the Rhino with Cole and Chris after that. It maybe was a little crazy with these two boys, who had no fear in testing the limits of the vehicle.

While Cole and Chris went crazy in the front seat driving us up mountains, Nuria and I entertained ourselves in the back while freezing from the rain/snow slapping our faces from the top of the Rhino. It was really cold.

We cooked breakfast together (when I say we, I mean some of us. I was a slacker, I will admit), and enjoyed ourselves over eggs, bacon and hash browns. Mm mmm mmm mm mmm.

Everyone had a great time, and we hope to go again soon!

Later that night, Chris and I went out with my sister Heather and Jeff for our birthdays (Jeff and I have the same birthday; it's nice to get to celebrate it with him every year). 

We went to the Keys on Main, which is just downtown, to see Delta Goodrem - an Australian singer which we were introduced to by our Australian sister, Anneke. Anneke was a foreign exchange student with our family when I was in 6th grade. She has come back to the states three or four times to visit, and when I was 20 I decided to go over there. While in Australia, I picked up Delta's CD (she is a huge pop star over there), and I've been in love with her music ever since. I once heard a song of hers on the radio and was getting excited for her to finally come to the states, but that was several years ago. Still no Delta. 

A few weeks ago I was listening to 107.9 and heard a song called "In This Life." They announced the singer was Delta Goodrem and that she was coming here, to the Keys on Main - not a large place at all. I knew it would be an intimate setting - so I called Heather, who also got her CD from Anneke, and we picked up tickets. They were only $5 bucks a piece and the proceeds went to the Huntsman Cancer Institute. She is a cancer survivor herself, which she went through at age 18. Needless to say, it was AWESOME. She is very gracious, very talented, and so sweet. She asked for requests, answered questions from the audience, and stuck around afterwards to talk to everyone who wanted pictures and an autograph. She was awesome. Here are some highlights.

Heather and I before the show

It was so up close and personal. It was just an acoustic show, and we were about ten feet from her the entire time she performed.

She's so talented. She was so wonderful, laid back and just so much fun to spend the evening with.

Her guitarist, Richard. Great guy.

She was totally herself, singing however she wanted - she got up and danced around a bit on the piano bench. You could tell that she just loves what she does.

She answered questions from the audience, and took song requests.

Here are a couple of videos I took from the show.

And here is miss Delta herself. Heather was trying to tell her the story of how we were introduced to her, and she was trying to rush through, as there were so many people in line. Can you tell she was excited? :)

This is us with her fiance, Brian McFadden and Richard, Delta's guitarist. 

For those of you who are familiar with the Irish boy band Westlife (who I happened to be in love with in high school), you might recognize Brian. He broke off into his own solo career a couple of years ago, and has since released two albums. 

I had to snap another picture once I learned this. 

He's super cool, and so laid back.

On Sunday, the next day, we enjoyed conference together - I always love having the opportunity to listen to the Prophet and his Apostles. How incredibly blessed we are to have the church here on the earth. President Monson's talk was very needed, I think. He spoke about living NOW - that life is short, and it is to be enjoyed (which I emphasized at the beginning of this post), something that I think people forget. Taking advantage of opportunities when they come is important. He quoted the famous line in The Music Man by Professor Harold Hill: "Pile up too many tomorrows and you'll find that you've collected nothing but a bunch of empty yesterdays." I also loved Quentin L. Cook's talk about Adversity and trials. He told some stories that won't easily be forgotten.

My mom's side of the family always gets together on conference Sunday. Everyone sang to Jeff and I, and we enjoyed the cake. :)

Say Cheese!

It was a wonderful weekend. A great way to say goodbye to the quarter of a century that I just passed up! Jeez, that's crazy to think about. Thanks again to everyone for everything!