Destinations

My sister recently posted about her 5 favorite vacation places in the US .  Now I haven't been to as many places in the US as Charlotte, but I have been to quite a few.  The more I thought about my list the more I realized that I am becoming my father.  I picked my top 5 based on places that I would like to go next week if given the time and money to do so.  So here it is.

1.  Lake Powell - I love everything about the lake.  The recreation is awesome, but that's not all.  The beauty of the canyon that can be experienced so many different ways.  Hiking, boating, boarding, cooking, swimming, fishing, how could it not be number 1 on the list.

2.  North Fork/Zion Canyon - Sure this is home and I will probably visit the area at least once a week for the next 40 years, but I love it. It helps that my favorite activities include camping, dutch oven cooking, mountain biking, and hiking.  There really is only one place in the continental United States that I would go rather than here which is why it is number two.  Someday I hope to do a multi-day hike from the place this picture was taken to the bottom of Zion Canyon (seen in the distance).

3. Oregon Coast - The only thing that you can't find in the Rocky Mountains is the ocean and the Oregon coast brings the mountains to the ocean.  It is absolutely gorgeous.  We went camping here (are you noticing a theme) while we were living in Yakima a few years ago and it was great.  Walking on the beach with the kids in the morning made me want to rush home and watch Goonies.  I think I even saw a pirate ship coming out of a cove in the fog early one morning.

4. Seattle -  This is the only city that even makes the top 10.  I'm not a city guy.  South Bend is too big for me, but Seattle is great.  We spent a week in Seattle in a hotel less than a mile from Pike Place Market.  It was a blast to walk along the pier and take in the atmosphere.  We took a boat out onto the Sound and gazed on the Seattle Skyline, by far my favorite skyline (though Chicago is pretty cool too).  We didn't get to eat as much seafood as I would have liked to, but I'm hoping to do that someday when we go without the kids.  Of course it helps that our visit to Seattle included 4 straight days of sunshine.  It rained as we were driving through the mountain pass.

5.  Yellowstone - I haven't been to Yellowstone since I was a kid, but I'm itching to go back.  I assume if you've gotten this far you can understand from my earlier choices why Yellowstone makes the list.

I realize that my top five are all out west.  What can I say I love it out there.  DC, Boston, Chicago, Niagara, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Smoky Mountains, the great lakes, they're nice, but if I never visit any of those places again I won't be disappointed about it (I would like to go back to Maryland, because I have some pretty cool relatives out there that are really fun to visit).  I've never been to Maine and I can't remember Florida or the Atlantic Coast very well so there's hope that someplace east of the Mississippi might make the list, but I wouldn't bet on it.

As I write this I do remember a quick visit to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky and that was pretty cool.  It might have made the list if I made it to 6.

So there you have it.  Feel free to disagree with my list (heaven knows Melissa probably does).

And for you Canadian readers out there, I'm really looking forward to spending some time in the Canadian Rockies and BC.  From what I've heard they might crack the list if it was a top 5 of North America.

Choices

Melissa and I were talking the other day about how good life feels right now.  She was paying the bills and noticing how different things are now than they were a few years ago.  Our tight budget has become somewhat looser.  Our ability to save for the future has increased and our stress concerning financial emergencies has greatly decreased.  It's funny how easy life often seems when things go according to plan.

Things didn't go according to plan in August and for a time life was hard.  On a bad day Melissa might say that it is still hard and she certainly has her hard days, but they are getting fewer and farther in between.  It is often said that through trials we are strengthened and while I don't know if I am any stronger I do know that we, as a family, are stronger.  If nothing else at least our little ones are more prepared for the winter if our heat should go out.

Sometime in 2011 we will face the decision of whether or not to continue trying to have children.  2 months ago the phrase "trying to have children" was foreign to me.  We decided to wait a few month, at least, before making any decisions because Melissa's not ready now and truth be told I'm probably not ready either.  That is not to say that we haven't discussed the future.  We have.  There has been a lot of pondering and a lot of prayer concerning our family.  At this point I don't know what the decision will be, but I am excited to make the choice.

I love the choices in life.  I love that I have the ability to make decisions that will affect me tomorrow as well as 10, 20, 50 years down the road.  It scares me at times, but it's a good scare.  Maybe Melissa has me to blame for what transpired in August (not really) because I am scared of the future as it seems normal.  All our big choices seem to be behind us.  I chose to go on a mission.  I chose to leave Cedar for school.  I chose an eternal companion.  We chose to go away to medical school and then after spending a wonderful year in Cedar City we decided to leave again for residency.  Along the way we chose to have 5 children and found out that we are not always in control.  All but the last of those decisions have gone pretty much according to plan and nothing too unexpected has happened during that time.

I often imagine my life (and for the past 10 years, our life) as a line on a graph that is heading upward much like a graph of the stock market (one of my own measures of success is comfort in your own dorkiness).  As I have approached each of the above choices there has been a right decision and a wrong decision for me.  Not that the opposite decision was inherently bad, just that it wasn't the most correct decision for me.  One choice keeps my graph going up while the other does not or if it does it does so in a less steep curve.  My graph is changing now.  I now see two different colored lines on the graph and try as I may, I can't compare them to each other with any degree of usefulness.  This decision coming in a few months is different for me.  After praying and pondering and fasting and talking and crying I have come to the conclusion that there isn't a wrong decision.  I'm not even sure if there is a better decision.  I feel that this decision is one to be made based on what we want and that feels so strange.  Melissa tells me she is scared to face it, but for whatever reason I'm super excited and I can't explain why.

Labor Day Camping

Over Labor Day we went camping with our good friends, The Larsen's, to the Brown County State Park.  Everyone had a blast!!  We ate, sight-saw, hiked, fished, biked, played and relaxed, with a lot of emphasis on the ate and relaxed part.  Seriously, whenever we go camping we eat 10 times better than we do at home.  The Dutch Ovens were always cooking something including - Lasagna, Ribs, Potatoes, Chicken Stir-Fry, Breakfast Casserole, Cinnamon Rolls, and German Pancakes.  And the best part of it all, Jacob does the cooking and clean-up!!!!  Here are some of my Favorite Pics from the weekend with appropriate captions.  By the way, I really like this new post editor that blogger has - Thanks Emilee for mentioning it!

Dad made the best ribs ever!! MMMM Good!!

A Lookout Tower!  The kids called it their castle!

Kami took a fall the first day, her nose got the brunt of it.  

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The kids playing at the Look Out

Brown Eyed Dudes Rule!

This is where you could find the kids most of the time.  The scooters were a big hit!

This is where you could find the parents most of the time.  Chillin and Cooking!  We really ate well!  

No trip with the Larsen's would be complete without game night! 

On the trip home Kami screamed  for about 30 minutes and Kristian did this.  It was pretty funny. 

A Slight Interruption

Okay, so I know I have my own quilting blog now but I am so excited about this that I wanted to post it here as well.

So a couple months ago I started looking into what it takes to be a Moda Bake Shop "Baker" (one of the people who designs their projects.) Two months later and Wha Laa!!! Here it is!! My first Moda Bake Shop creation. I am so excited about this I can hardly sit to type this.

So if you get a chance, please head on over and check it out. If you want to be super sweet, you can leave a comment. It is always nice to know that someone likes your design. And if you are really feeling it, go ahead and give the quilt a try. I really worked hard to try and make the tutorial easy to follow no matter what skill level you are at.

I think I will be perma-grin all day.

Is There a Better Time of Year?

Unranked, rebuilding, looking to the future of being in a big money conference.  What a great start for the Utes.  I watched the game start to finish last night and I'm pretty excited about this season.  Can't wait for November 13.  College football has easily passed the NCAA tournament as my favorite sport.