29 May, 2010

Around the world in a day

This is like a traveler's DREAM!! Do you want to travel the world in one day? Yes please!! I thoughoughly enjoyed my 1st time at Epcot Center. Being a Florida native, I'm sure it was like Brandon's 20th time...but first time with me :)
First thing was first. We went on this Space Ride. Nerd alert and nausea alert!
Get ready for take off
We met this Indian couple in line. They were awesome. Of course they were sharing their Indian snacks with us while we were in line. It was great. I learned all about Hinduism, more about yoga, Indian culture, arrainged marrages. Yes that is right. They had an arranged marriage and they seemed so happy and compatible. They were both doctors and seemed to just love and respect eachother. Hhhmmm...interesting. Maybe we should go back to those here in the US. Ha!
That was about the best part of the ride. We were both SO SICK from it. Ba bye. Not ment to be an astronaut I guess. Brandon throwing up in his hat. Smart.
Ok, now for the real stuff that I came for. Where should we travel to first? How about England?!
Gotta hit up a pub.
A little romance in FRANCE....as Brandon splashes water on me.

Ok, so there is the trademark to Paris... The Eiffel tower.
Off to the orient....JAPAN!!

Karate Kid style

We'll stop take a stop in Japan to eat lunch. Oh, the crazy thing is whatever country you are in, all the workers are really from there! It's awesome!
WE LOVE AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL!!
ROME and all it's statues!!


Can't get out of ROME with out a little ROMAnce
And now off to....
my homeland of GERMANY!! Hey, my ancestors came from there so I always claim it. My name is HEIDI after all!
Pick up your German beer mugs and your in.
Ohhh...sank you for coming to CHINA
This was not a posed picture. I just looked over and he was doing this. Oh boy! I guess he needed a little meditation on Chinese ground.
These statues guard the old tombs of the Chinese in their afterlife. Hhhmm...

Kung fu Panda style
DENMARK. Look at those grass covered roof tops
MEXICO
We HAD to run back to Paris for a few pastries to go!

We had an AMAZING time on our tour around the world. We made it out right before a big thunderstorm. Can you see that rainbow in the background? Just our luck!


24 May, 2010

LOST... along with Jeffery, Brad & John

It all started with a gallstone. That's right. Before I got the gallstone, there was no WAY I was going to start watching a show like LOST and waste all those hours in front of a TV. Well, one day I got sick and knew I'd be sitting around all weekend so I concurred to watch a few episodes of the infamous LOST. Just as predicted by many, I found myself night after night at 1 am, 2 am and 3 am saying "Ok, just ONE more episode" and then "Ok, just ONE more" After all, there are no commercials when you watch it on DVD right? I'm sure some of you fellow LOSTIES can relate :) As most of you probably have heard, the 6 season nail biting show ended last night. I've heard that mixed emotions were left among fans on how the show ended. Many questions are still unanswered and the final conclusion to the whole thing is not totally clear. But it wouldn't be LOST if it didn't leave room for mystery and interpretation for it's viewers. It's been a reoccurring theme for us on this whole adventure!
After the show hottie Matthew Fox (Jack) was interviewed and said something like "It leaves the viewer to go where he wants with it depending on their own spirituality."
I really liked that and I have done just that. There is so much to say to sum up everything but I want to point out what I took away from the journey to the conclusion of LOST.

None of the characters could remember what happened to them on the island and what they had experienced until they found that one true love of theirs. The person that made them learn to give, to love, to lean on, to depend on. The one that they experienced TRUE PURE LOVE with. That they found the real meaning in life with.

Elder Holland said "More than anything else, we came to earth to learn how to LOVE."

After all we read from the bible “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another.” (John 13:34.)
John 14:15 ¶ If ye alove me, bkeep my ccommandments.

Elder Holland continues about PURE LOVE:


"The first element of divine love—pure love—taught by both Paul and Mormon is its kindness, its selfless quality, its lack of ego and vanity and consuming self-centeredness. “Charity suffereth long, and is kind, [charity] envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own” (Moro. 7:45).

There are many qualities you will want to look for in a friend or a serious date—to say nothing of a spouse and eternal companion—but surely among the first and most basic of those qualities will be those of care and sensitivity toward others, a minimum of self-centeredness that allows compassion and courtesy to be evident. There are lots of limitations in all of us that we hope our sweethearts will overlook. I suppose no one is as handsome or as beautiful as he or she wishes, or as brilliant in school or as witty in speech or as wealthy as we would like, but in a world of varied talents and fortunes that we can’t always command, I think that makes even more attractive the qualities we can command—such qualities as thoughtfulness, patience, a kind word, and true delight in the accomplishment of another. These cost us nothing, and they can mean everything to the one who receives them."


Ok ok, I know I am getting all spiritual in my LOST post but hey...Jack said I could! Also, this is a HUGE element of the show. Good vs Evil. Right vs wrong. There is always a choice for us to choose good or to choose evil. If we choose evil, there are ways to come back into the light (Benjamin Linus for example).

Anyways, I will take credit for pointing out at my LOST party that the characters could not remember the big significant events that occured on the island until they connected with the one that they loved. (Cathie, you can take credit for predicting that the show would end with Jack closing his eye..just how the show started!)

I about died at this scene. Sawyer and Juliet had so many flashbacks of love and tenderness together. It also brings up a good point as to why was Juliet married and then divorced to Jack? Why did Sawyer have great chemistry with Kate but fall in LOVE Juliet?

I came to the conclusion that this is the real deal. This is real life. Sometimes people are in our lives that we love, we have chemistry with, they play a significant role in our lives...but we are not supposed to be with them. They have helped us BECOME who we are today but they don't help make us all that we need to BE like the one true love of ours will.

These characters learned to show love, give love and lean on one another. My mission president wrote this book called THE CONTINUOUS ATONEMENT. BY BRAD WILCOX.

In it he says

"Some people see a long checklist that must be completed before we get to heaven. In reality, our willingness to plod along here on earth doesn't earn us points in heaven, but helps us become heavenly. We are not called human DOINGS; we are human BEINGS. Doing is only a means to being.
Scriptures make it clear that our works are a significant factor in where we end up. However, this is not because of what our works earn us, but because of how they SHAPE US. Our condition in eternity will not be determined by what happened to us but rather what will happen in us."

So why did LOST make me think of this? Well, it's because I think that was what happened to the characters. They started BECOMING better people. Leaning on each other, trusting each other, loving each other and even humbling themselves to give up positions of authority (Jack giving Hurley the position of Jacob). And when they realized the true meaning of all of this, they all found one another, the significant people in their lives who made them who they are and they were ready to move on.

Elder Holland is right. We are all here to learn how to love one another. Go against the natural man and be selfless, charitable, loving and "Think the best of each other, especially of those you say you love. Assume the good and doubt the bad."

My current book of choice that I have been enjoying is JOHN ADAMS.

I have been especially impressed by his relationship with his wife Abigail. He leaned on her, considered her his equal, went to her for advice and support in every aspect of his political, social and personal life. They wrote letters to each other expressing their longing for one another's companionship when they were away from one another. He addressed his letters to "Miss Adorable".

He was a man that despite his differences with other political leaders, he saw the greater good and pushed for the Declaration of Independence to be carried out and signed.

I'm coming to the conclusion that REAL men learn how to love. Whole heartedly with complete soul.

Wow, that was a long post just to sum up a few of my deep thoughts on LOST. But hey, you give 6 seasons of your life away to a show you better have something to say about it. This show exceeded my expectations and made me think deep and ultimately learn and understand life more....mixed in with a few outside sources mentioned above :). Please do share some of your thoughts on the matter...even if you are not a LOST watcher.

14 May, 2010

Next time I'll be prepared

The next time I travel out of the country I will be prepared for the muggers. I am taking this big guy with me! Hhhhmmmm....Am I talking about the gun...or Brandon? :)
Watch out
Brandon ensuring that I know how to use a handgun. This was the best! I felt like Angelina Jolie or any of those hot girls in movies that use guns. Have you seen Iron man 2? Scarlett Johansson can hold her own and looks smokin' in it. I actually like her. Most all of my friends beg to differ.
Us girls were WAY excited! This is his roommate Cort and his date.
We were dying at this little gun. Don't let it fool you! It's a 22 and is way powerful. You think it's going to fly right out of your hand when you shoot it.
It's the perfect size for the Costa Rican beach. Fits right in your swimsuit!

Now to the REAL big guns and clay pigeon shooting.
Us girls were proud of ourselves for getting some of those clay pigeons shattered!
Ok so mace- CHECK
Asked my friend Stacy all about her taser- CHECK
Went practice shooting- CHECK!
Bought a gun-....ok, can't check that one off the list yet!

06 May, 2010

Let's talk Cheesecake

So what do you think about the Cheesecake factory coming to Utah? Now that's is been here for a year or so. It used to be my favorite place to hit up in Vegas at Caesar's Palace. There is something sweet about going to your favorite place, especially when we don't have that restaurant in Utah.
I have mixed feelings on it. I mostly like it because I can have Chicken Madera at my fingertips whenever I want it. So good! Oh, and the fire oven roasted artichoke is to die for. It's still a HECK of a long wait though....but so fun with some of your fav peeps!
THE HAWAII CREW...SUMMER OF 2001 FOR LIFE!!!

Brandon trying to do 'Blue Steel'. Good one. Don't ask what I am trying to do in this pic. Oh boy.
For those of you like me that don't know what blue steel is, this is the original Blue Steel. The funny thing is that people tell him that he looks like Ben Stiller all the time. Ha ha ha.
Well, this night at the Cheesecake factory everyone was talking about which celebrities everyone looked like. Mike busted out to Brandon "You look like that guy from Home Improvement." I was loving laughing at that! What? The big dad on Home improvement? Is his name Tim or something?
What he really ment by this was Ty Pennington from EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME ADDITION. I have only glanced at this show but thought this host was maybe a bit outa control. The girls confirmed that he is hot and that all girls love him. Hhhmmm....

JaNee saying goodbye to Mike for the summer :( Glad I don't have to say goodbye to a summer salesman!

Lane and Ace....always my partners in crime!
Alright let's hear it. You LOVE Cheesecake factory in Utah? You are happy it is here? What restaurant do you wish they would bring here..or keep away? Have you even sat in that long drive through line yet to go to In-N- Out Burger yet? I haven't. Cheesecake and In-N-Out still remind me of Vegas Vegas Vegas!