Weekend in St. George

This weekend, I did something that I have never done. At least, I can't think of a time that I have ever done it. I ran away for the weekend with a group of friends on a little road trip down to St. George. And by group of friends, I mean, I knew one person going and I became friends with the others along the way. Had this opportunity come up 5 or so years ago, I probably wouldn't have gone because I did not know anyone that was going. Thank goodness we can all change! I had a blast down there with all of them.

While we were there, there was a half Ironman going on. It's pretty cool to see so many people fight their way through this race which really pushes the limits of the human body, and it was only half of the real race! Human body is capable of amazing things and this just proved that to me again.

We would cheer on random people and see them put a little more power into their stride and push harder knowing that someone was behind them. We even saw a crazy man running the race in a fireman's uniform. He was nuts! And it definitely wasn't cold outside.

We walked along the route checking out the things that downtown St. George had to offer. There were tons of vintage shops and an awesome retro candy shop. I'm pretty sure they had some candy straight from the 60's. Harder than a rock, but very, very cheap. All soda was in glass bottles and the candy was spread out in glass jars.

The vintage shops just had lots of random things. They made for some artsy-ish opportunities.

As we were walking along, I saw a cool building that I decided to take a picture of. As I looked at it more, the clouds above it were different colors. Rainbow clouds! I've never seen this before. 

I don't know how that works, but it was one of the coolest things that I saw that day.

I love meeting new people and sometimes I forget that. I don't know why exactly. I just get so caught up in my routine and going about life as usual that I never branch out. I'm really glad that I could make some new friends. We had some good times.

We later went to a park which had this amazing view.

It was so perfect that I could resist getting a picture of it. The St. George temple just looks so stunning, especially with the red sand and rock surrounding it (you can't see any red rock here, but just imagine it! It's beautiful). It was just the perfect time to be down there. Flowers were in full bloom. The weather was gorgeous. Triathlon excitement. Good company.

Now, the main reason that got me down to St. George was a man with a really long mustache. He is one pretty cool dude.

Actually, he just had a funny mustache and I tried to get a picture of him. It took forever for him to turn around. It wasn't until they asked all of the veterans to stand that I finally got him. Protecting our country, one rocking mustache at a time.

The real reason was this man.

Brian Regan. He was performing over in Tuacahn and he definitely did not disappoint. It was the perfect end to a weekend. Lots of hard laughter. It cleared the soul and removed all stress and worry. The best medicine? Absolutely. I haven't found anything better.

Lights in Salt Lake

I was up in Salt Lake the other day to check out the lights on Temple Square. On the drive up there, the sky decided to start raining and it never ceased for the entire evening until it was time to head back home. Despite the chilly, wet evening, it was a wonderful place to be to start off the holiday season.

The lights were absolutely beautiful and exceptionally radiant because of the dark, damp weather. Still, one light shined far brighter than the rest. The Salt Lake Temple. It is the focal point of Temple Square. It's spires reach towards the heavens. It causes the human eye to reject it's natural vision of a downward gaze, to look up and contemplate the larger, more eternal scale of things. It brings immediate peace where anxiety, stress and fear abound.

After all, this is a season of peace and joy. A time when we can forget about ourselves, our problems and our troubles and focus on serving those around us. It's a time of hope, knowing that no matter how bad things get, there is still a Greater Being that watches over us and loves us more than we can comprehend. It is a time to remember the ultimate sign of hope that we have been given by a loving Heavenly Father, that of His Son, Jesus Christ.

May this Christmas bring you the peace for which you are searching.

Friday Night Photos

There aren't too many waffle nights to occupy my fridays anymore, so I decided to head up to campus and do a little composing. I also brought my camera, just in case I was feeling like an adventure.

As I was driving, I realized that my friend had just put up his BFA show and was having the opening tonight. So I decided I would go to that. On my way to the show, I remembered that there was another show out between the Harris Fine Arts Center and the Museum of Art: The 8-bit sculptures. I checked those out before heading into the HFAC to see my friend's BFA show.

I finally made it to the BFA show and it was really nice. It was an exhibit of photographs of modern Provo and he made white ghost drawings of buildings that used to stand in those places. It was really cool to see a bunch of buildings that I remember that have been torn down.

Afterwards, I decided to head back to my car. I had spent a lot of my time talking to my friend. It was really good to see him and catch up on the awesome things that he has done and has in store for himself in the future.

I was walking back to my car and saw a picture that I really wanted to get.

It was a beautiful night. Peaceful. Calming. Quiet. Something I so desperately needed.

I pressed on a little more and took a few shots of the street that I so frequently drive on.

Finally, I arrived at my car and felt that I should make one more stop. I headed just up the road until I reached the Provo Temple. I took a few shots, but mostly just sat there and looked. Thought. Pondered.

I love this place.

I love to see the temple...

I have had the opportunity to travel around a little bit. Not to extravagant places, but rather to see and visit beautiful and peaceful places. The past month, I have visited several temples. Seven of them, to be exact. I have been to the Mt. Timpanogos, Salt Lake, Bountiful, Rexburg, Idaho Falls, Twin Falls, and Manti temples. I was only able to get pictures of four of these seven, but that's ok. It gives me reason to go back, though I already have plenty of reasons to go back.

Idaho Falls Temple

Rexburg Idaho Temple

Manti Temple

Salt Lake Temple

Temples are such wonderful and amazing buildings. They are such peaceful places. Not everyone can enter inside. These are special places that require a special recommend to enter. Whether you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or not, these buildings are worth visiting. They are wonderful for pondering and thinking about life. They clear the mind and help you forget about your worries and cares of the world. I love going to the temple, even just to be there to look at the building and walk the beautiful grounds. If you have a chance, go to a temple near you. I promise it will be worth your time.

Salt Lake City

Since school was really crazy this last semester, I didn't blog about anything. But now it's summertime and I'm back!

I love going up to Salt Lake. It's just a fun place to be. During the semester, I had the chance to spend to weekend up there for LDS Gerneral Conference. I had an amazing time with friends up there. We basically just spent our time listening to the general authorities give talks, eat food, and spend quality time talking and laughing.

I took my camera up with me, but didn't really get to take too many pictures. I have a couple that I'd like to share with everyone.

This one was taken from the apartment balcony where I was staying. We had a small view of the Salt Lake Temple and Conference Center. They are both such amazing and beautiful buildings.

This is one of my favorite pictures I took while there. It's really difficult to get any picture of the temple without other huge buildings intruding. So, to cut them out, I just took a picture of the upper half of one side with the angel Moroni perched up top. Since General Conference, which was the first week of April, I have had the chance to go through this temple twice since then, once just this last weekend. It is an amazing structure and it's beauty is hard to describe. The best part about this temple, or any temple for that matter, is how peaceful it is inside. It truly is a special place.