It Rays to live in Ogden

Ogden gets a lot of slack, and I completely understand why. But I think it takes a lot more slack than deserved. It's not nearly as trashy as say...west salt lake. Not nearly as full of crime either.
I was driving to meet a friend today. It was close to sun down. I had my windows down, allowing the cooling summer night air to blow through the windows and run through my hair. As I drove along Mountain Road as it turned into Harrison, the smell of the fields along the mountain rolled into my car. That was the smell of summer for me. I then got into the rural part of Ogden.

In downtown Ogden, the houses were reminiscent of a time when people sat on their porches and kids watched howdy doody. Ogden is the essence of the "American Dream" lifestyle. You can drive down the streets and picture it in the forties, fifties, sixties. Beautiful churches, an old Christian, a beautiful catholic, episcopilian, baptist, etc, were examples of the diverse religious lives in Ogden. As you get further into downtown you get an idea of what Ogden looked like in the twenties, thirties, forties; what bootleggers and Cattle Stock Union owners mingled in.

I met Jim at Bistro 258, sat outside on the patio. On a Friday night, people were coming in and out of shops and restaurants, bars and clubs. A harley festival was going on, filling the night air with the sounds of engines and mufflers. We ordered our souffle (the best souffle in the world.) and continued to talk. The sun started to set, turning the sky into a palette of pinks, oranges, yellows, purples and blues. The light reflected off of the gorgeous mountains that framed Ogden.

I realized tonight that I really love Ogden. I know I don't want to spend the rest of my life here, but I'm glad I love it. I'm glad that I've gotten to a place that when I finally move, I won't have a problem coming back. I won't dread coming back. We have a beautiful little humble temple, we have 25th street and other great additions to downtown that is building it up into a great place to be and spend your time.

I know Ogden isn't the best place, and it isn't even the best place in Utah, but it certainly isn't the worst. And it's not even a bad place. It's pretty awesome. Ogden is awesome. And I'm glad I am priveleged enough to be one of the few that see that.

God Bless America! Land that I love!

"Here's to high treason. That's what our founding fathers were committing when they signed the Declaration. Had we lost the war, they would have been hanged, beheaded, drawn and quartered, and-Oh! Oh, my personal favorite-and had their entrails cut out and burned. So... Here's to the men who did what was considered wrong, in order to do what they knew was right." --Ben Gates, National Treasure--

This wasn't the best fourth of July I've ever had, but it didn't take away one fact: Fourth of July is my favorite holiday. Last night was just as great as any. I had a friend though talk about how much she disliked holidays because they are for people who have someone. She said I liked holidays because I always have a really big family to celebrate them with. But even this fourth of July, I sat in my house all day watching movies. The only festive thing I did was fireworks.

But the reason Fourth of July is my favorite holiday is because...well...I've become a cynic. I know, that doesn't make sense, so let me explain. Please. I've been in hundreds of plays, I've seen thousands of movies, I've dealt with some extremely sappy and emotional situations. I've also had to experience things that have hardened my emotions, because it's too much to feel that intense of emotion. (I won't go into detail there.)

But America. Patriotism. This country. The Red, White, and Blue. This is something that still makes me feel such emotion. I Love this country. Yes, it has major problems and we're all in a crisis, bla bla bla. But the truth is, I love this country. I love for what it stands for. I love my grandpa and Brother for fighting for what they know is right. And as I watched those fireworks last night, and listened to those songs about what makes America, I was grateful. I was grateful to be in this America for its birthday instead of in Germany or India or Anywhere else. I was grateful to be celebrating the fourth like millions of other Americans were doing. I sat and thought about my family in the various places in the country watching fireworks too. And then I thought of all the Americans everywhere watching fireworks, and it made me happy and proud.

I wish we were as United every day as we are on that holiday. What a great country we would be again if we could all work together instead of trying to tear people down. We should lift and support our leaders, encouraging them to make good choices for our well-being. I'm so glad for the founding fathers who took a stand against Tyranny, who sacrificed everything to give those living in these colonies a chance. I'm so very grateful for all the men who have lived and died to give us our freedoms and give others their freedoms.

And as I watched those fireworks last nigh, I actually had a tear roll down my cheek as I thought, "I am so glad to be apart of America. A part of hotdogs, rock and roll, country music, popsicles, red and white checkered pic nic tables, apple pie, football, baseball, Chili, and all those other things that make us America."

Temple Day

WARNING: This Blog contains churchy talk and testimony.

This morning we went to the Oquirrh Temple Open house followed by a endowment session in the gorgeous new Draper Temple. WOW. I am blown away at the beauty of our temples constantly. I am so glad that I am a part of the restored gospel. I am so glad we have the keys to do temple work for ourselves and for those that never got the chance. I had someone tell me once that they didn't believe that there was only one religion for everyone. But isn't that the point of the atonement? Christ didn't just die for those that believe in him, he died for every single one of us. EVERY SINGLE PERSON EVER. And temple work is also the key to taking that gospel to everyone. I'm so grateful to have the gospel in my life and to be priveleged to have my endowments that I may be apart of this great great great work!

I love that we put such beauty, such care, such finery into the Lord's house without being over excessive and gaudy. We just have these beautiful buildings with these beautiful decors and AMAZING chandeliers! :)

Oquirrh Mountain Temple



Draper Temple


Oquirrh Mountain


Lightning struck poor Moroni. He's all burnt and Crispy
Here's the KSL report:
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=6819386&autostart=y


From Oquirrh Temple you can see The Draper Temple


And the Jordan River Temple


Me and Krist in front of the Oquirrh Temple


Cesar, kristi, Mom, Me, Brandon, Donna and Lawrence.



Kristi and I just hittin up another on our Utah Temple Tour Summer.




In front of the Draper Temple


Utah Temple Summer Tour: Draper Temple, CHECK

Ciao Roma!

Well. I'm home in Utah now. I'm all caught up in Grey's Anatomy, the Office, and Big Bang Theory. My hair is cut and short. I'm getting caught up on my jetlag and trying to get unpacked and get my life together here. And part of that is getting my blog updated of my trip to Rome. So here you go. I wish I could have updated sooner, but I got home from Rome and I had to pack and clean to come home and had NO time whatsoever. Enjoy and leave comments! Hope you like the videos. They might jsut be funny to Kristi and myself, but oh well.


On the train riding from the Fiumincino Airport to Roma's Termini bus station. Really excited to be in Rome. I couldn't wait for Kristi to get there the next day. The ride through Rome was amazing. I kept seeing the most amazing sites and buildings and gorgeous people.


Kristi on day 1. We were walking through Rome.

Kristi and I in Piazza di Popolo in front of the Burghese Gardens

Touristy American Photo on the Lion Sphynxy thing

Piazza Di Popolo from the Burghese Gardens

Me in Rome. I love Rome.

I love my Best Friend. I love Rome.
So I love this picture

They have these fountains all over with spring water coming up fromt he ground. We filled our waterbottles up at them everytime we saw them. They were cold and delicious.
The Medici Village. Now that is a CRIB. THe back looked out over ALL of Rome. it was amazing.

The Trevi Fountain. Beautiful and amazing. Bernini...what a dream.
We threw in 3 coins to make sure we would come back to Rome someday.
Me in front of the Trevi fountain. I was like, hurry and take the pic so I can get back to eating the best gelato I've ever eaten in my life. (It was Nutella flavor and it was creamy and amazing)
Bernin and the Trevi Fountain...What a dream
The Pantheon. This building was AMAZING. It's amazing how pictures do NOT do something justice. I've learned that about Rome. Pictures do NOT do the sites justice.
Anyone know where this is?

That's right! The fountain of the four rivers!!!!! In Piazza Navona. It is one of the Alters of science from Angels and Demons. For Water. This piazza was amazing. Artists everywhere and amazing cafes and pizza and yummyness
Cute little building on a side street.
Castel St. Angelo. This is where the Illuminati Chapel is. The angels around it are Berninis. This was once Hadrian's Mosoleum. It was finished a year after he died, so then he was transfered there. Then later, it was turned into a fort. Now it's just awesome.


I love Italy. I just love it.

Just another pic of Castel. St. Angelo.


St. Peter's. This place was amazing.

We found this giant tshirt in our Hostel Room. Scary. I think it may have had Small Pox

So basically...BYU students can go into the Vatican....

Us in front of St. Peter's Throne. But I like how tan we are in this pic.

The Baldachino by Bernini. I was SHOCKED at how HUGE this is.
That's the thing about St. Peter's. You say, wow that's really big. But the closer you get to it you go. HOLY COW THAT IS HUMONGOUS. Same with everything inside. Another thing that makes you realize pictures don't do it justice.

St. Peter's Dome. Again..HUGE. See the four pictures around the base? Those represent the four apostles. This places was amazing.

Michaelangelo's Pieta.
Extremely beautiful and moving. Kristi and I just sat and stared at it for about ten minutes.

St. Peter's What a dream.

It was just beautiful and amazing. I LOVED it.

The swiss Guard. What hotties.

Alter of Science representing Air.

One of my favorite pastimes in any big city I visit. sneaking up on Pigeons.

Almost got him!!!

This is my favorite photo we took the whole trip. This was my favorite place to see and i love how excited we are.

That is my "Woah, that's huge" expression.

I just LOVED the colloseum. It was SO cool.

In the middle of all these Roman Ruins, they had these really lame modern art things. I hated them. And you know me, I love to mock Modern Art.

The Roman Forum. What a dream.

This building is huge. I mean...humongous. I mean...WOW. This picture does not in any shape or form do justice to how absolutely MASSIVE this building is.

The Ecstasy of St. Teresa. This is the alter of science for fire in Angels and Demons.
This is another amazing and beautiful Bernini. The church was TINY and VERY old. it was awesome though!

More Roman ruins. They believe these are the steps that Brutus killed Cesar on.

Here's some of my photography. This is the colloseum

I set this up and had kristi push the shutter.

The tiber
St. Peter's

St. Peter's Dome



And here are some videos of us in Rome. Hope you enjoy them. Hope you enjoyed my pics. We also saw the Sistine Chapel and the Burghese Gallery but you can't take pictures in either. Anyway, enjoy! Love you all! I can't wait to go back to Rome.