Tennessee!

Last week I went to Harrogate, Tennessee to see my sister Stephanie and my brother-in-law Steve. Steph and I are close in age and so we've always had a close relationship. When she moved to Cedar City I was so excited to have her closer! She got married though and moved to Tennessee where her husband is going to medical school. Since I was only taking one online class this semester I decided I wanted to go out and see her because I have missed her and Steve.

I booked my ticket and since my flight left at 7:30 a.m. Brandon and I decided to book a hotel room in Las Vegas for the night before. Here is some advice: don't use Expedia! We booked a room that was supposed to have one king sized bed and instead we got a room with two full sized beds. However, this worked out perfectly because about two weeks before we left I learned that our friends Kenzie and Whitney (who both work at the Journal) were flying out the same day as me to go to a workshop at the New York Times. We asked if they wanted to split the room with us and they said yes. They were planning on sleeping on the floor and so when we got there it was a nice surprise to see two beds:

All four of us in the hotel room:

Us at the Cheesecake Factory:

Outside the hotel:

The next day I flew to Tennessee and on Friday we drove to Atlanta to meet up with our sister Dianna who lives in Florida. Atlanta is a nice middle point from Harrogate and Tallahassee. It was nice seeing Dianna because they last time I saw her was in May before she moved to Africa to work on her dissertation. By the way we had an Expedia problem at the hotel there too. Dianna booked a room with two beds and instead we got one bed so I volunteered to sleep on a rollaway. DON'T USE EXPEDIA!

While we were in Atlanta we went to the aquarium. It was really cool:

Ever since I was little penguins have been my favorite animal. I don't really have any good reasons except I think they're cute and walk funny (like me!):
 

The exhibit had this really cool tunnel that took you to an area where there was a plastic cover right in the middle of the cage so I got to be very close to the penguins. It was a great moment:

More aquarium pictures:

Me about to touch a stingray. I actually screamed after touching it because it felt really weird:

Steph and me in Atlanta:

On our way back from Atlanta we stopped in a city called Chattanooga. It was beautiful! Steph and I got some dinner and then we went to the Walnut Bridge (interesting fact it is one of the longest pedestrian only bridges in the world). It is really pretty:

On Monday we went to the Pinnacle. Basically you walk up to an overlook and you can see three different states: Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee:

There was one point on the walk where it went from Kentucky to Virginia:

Earlier that day Steph and I wanted to get a pedicure. We went to this place and waited for like 45 minutes before we gave up. I suggested we buy stuff to do our own pedicures at her place while watching Gossip Girl:

Steve took a break from studying and Steph gave him a pedicure:

On Tuesday we went to Cumberland Gap. It was such a pretty hike! Tennessee is so green and there are trees everywhere:

At the top there was a spot where you could be in Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee all at once:

This is an iron oven:

Look how pretty Tennessee is:

It was a lot of fun and I already miss my sister! I also wish I could combine the green and trees from Tennessee and the mountains from Utah it would be the perfect place to live.

Camp Kesem Benefit CD

So a little over a month ago we had a benefit concert for Camp Kesem at SUU. It went really well and after the concert one of the musicians came up to me saying him and some students want to put together a benefit CD and the proceeds would go to us. A couple of weeks later we met with this guy, Lance, and another musician who has a recording studio, Brock. They said they found sixteen students and/or student bands that were interested in the CD. Everyone recorded an original song and today is the release date for the CD.

Now, I'm not saying this next part just because I am co-chair and I do want to raise money for camp: this CD is good. There are a lot of talented artists on this CD and some of them are even my friends. I didn't buy the CD just to support it I bought it because I actually do like it and I know I will listen to it.

Whether or not you go to SUU I think people will like this CD. I encourage all readers to check it out and if you like it, it's only $9.99 for 16 great songs. Once again, all proceeds go to Camp Kesem at SUU. None of these musicians are gaining a profit from this; they are just doing this from the goodness of their hearts.

(P.S. For anyone who saw the original post I am sorry how many times I linked the CD! I feel really tacky...)

Happy Easter!

First off, I just want to say how thankful I am for the atonement. I love that I can be forgiven for my mistakes because let's face it, I am far from perfect. I also love that there is life after death and I get to be with my family forever. I really am so thankful that Jesus Christ came down to Earth and sacrificed his life for everyone including me. I just wanted to share that with everyone.

For Easter Sunday Brandon, Kenzie, Kyle, and I spent it together. We all exchanged Easter baskets, had dinner, and dyed Easter eggs. Please excuse how awful I look in al the pictures; I didn't put on my makeup and my hair is a mess.