The Invincible Summer

Content of Character

2012-01-25T14:44:00.000-08:00

I believe people can change. That's the very basis of Christianity, and I believe it with my whole heart. That being said, I think it's important for us to exercise a bit of common sense and prudence when putting certain people in positions that demand a significant amount of trust and character.

For example, I don't believe that former felons should become elementary school teachers. Sure, you can rob a bank or commit an even more hideous crime and change completely. I really believe that you can, but though those around you can be asked to forgive you, allow you to change, leave your past behind, and reintegrate into society without a lasting stigma sticking with you, I don't think it would be wise to place you in a school full of children. We have to think more about the children than the felon. Because we live in a an imperfect world, I believe that there are certain cases where I think your past behavior should shut a few doors for you.

I believe that the presidency of the United States of America is one position that requires an immense amount of trust, moral fortitude, and character. It is the most powerful post in the world, and the person asking us to place that responsibility upon his or her shoulders is asking us for something absolutely sacred: our trust.

Your character is who you are all of the time. If you are immoral and untrustworthy in your private life that character follows you into your professional and public life as well. You can't check your mind, your thoughts, and your ability to reason at the door or trade them in for a different set of values depending on where you happen to be at a given moment.

If someone has made serious moral mistakes and shown an extreme lack of judgement in his or her personal life, it is possible to change. But please, don't ask us, the American people, to trust you with something as sacred as running our country, changing policy that effects our lives, forging stronger friendships with our allies, and protecting us from our enemies. Don't ask us to just take off our seat-belts and trust your driving skills. When it comes to the office of President, we need someone of UNQUESTIONABLE character.

Newt Gingrich has cheated on two wives and was the center of a mass ethics probe that resulted in him resigning from congress. There are other issues as well. It wasn't "private" Newt that was doing these things while "public" Newt was acting like an angel. Newt Gingrich, a grown adult, made these choices, and now he has to live with the consequences, which include the hearts he broke and the trust he lost. Has he changed and learned from the past? Quite possibly. I don't know. But please, Newt, don't ask us to take this chance on you. The stakes are much too high.

If anyone is interested, I could also write about why his policies are dangerous as well.

There was a period of time in this country when people considered their honor to be "sacred". I think that most of us still do.

"Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens. The mere Politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity".

- George Washington, Farewell Address (emphasis added)

Thugs

2012-01-24T13:40:00.000-08:00

As you get ready to pay your Federal Income Tax this year, remember that part of that money is going to pay the TSA. Not only are you being penalized by being groped for making the decision to fly, but you are also paying the salary of that person checking you out on the full-body scanner or putting their hands all over you.

Senator Rand Paul was stopped in Nashville yesterday because the scanner showed something on his leg. He pulled up his pant leg and pulled down his sock and offered to show his leg, which the TSA claimed was the source of the problem, but they wouldn't have it. He even offered to go through the scanner again. They said that if he wanted to proceed, he would be required to have a full-body pat down. He refused and he was detained.

When he used his cellphone to call the organizers of a rally he was supposed to be at (but missed because of the hold up), they told him because he used his cell phone, he would now have to undergo a full-body search in order to proceed (having gone through the pat down, I don't even want to think about how intrusive the search must be).

He ended up being allowed to leave the airport, escorted by police, re-book his ticket, and go through security again. The second time, there was nothing on his leg.

So what was it that triggered the alarm the first time? Nothing. Two TSA employees told Senator Paul that the machine randomly flags people for pat-downs. That way, people think there was a reason, but they were actually just selected at random.

The TSA, of course, is denying this.

They are liars and professional thugs.

And we are all paying them and paying the officials that instituted them and gave them this authority.

You can here Rand Paul tell the whole story here. He also offers an intelligent alternative to body scanners and full-body pat-downs.

Election over

2012-01-21T10:36:00.000-08:00

So, for those of you following the game, Chuck Norris just endorsed Newt Gingrich.

We are all in serious, serious trouble.

ex·cep·tion·al /ikˈsepSHənəl/

2012-01-19T22:04:00.000-08:00

Adjective:
1. Unusual; not typical.
2. Unusually good; outstanding

I'd like to think of myself as exceptional. Take this week, for example. I've gone through 4 power cords for my computer totaling over an estimated $100 dollars. I may have even nearly caused a house fire when I cut one open with a kitchen knife and rewired it.

Now that is exceptional.

Paris Temple

2012-01-19T07:28:00.000-08:00

The church has put up a new site about the temple that will be built in Paris (Chesnay, to be more precise). It's in French, but you can see what the temple is going to look like, and what the basic floor plan is. I think that they are also going to update this site as the temple is being build so that you can follow its progress. I love it.

Check it out here: http://www.templemormonparis.org/

Mitt the Ripper

2012-01-15T11:21:00.000-08:00

This ad made me laugh out loud (especially 0:24). Thank you, Stephen Colbert.

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Did I ever tell you...

2012-01-11T19:46:00.001-08:00

...'bout the time I signed Hélène and I up for a 6k at Thanksgiving with my family, and then as I was cleaning everything up getting ready for her to come, I donated the box I had carelessly thrown our race numbers, timing chips, and t-shirts in to the D.I.?

...and I jumped out of bed in a cold sweat at 2am when I realized what I had done and jumped over Addie, who was sleeping on my floor and kind of blocking the door, and ran out to my car to see if they were still in there by some miracle (they weren't - let's get real - this is Nicki we're talking about)...

...and the next time I saw my shirt it had a $5.00 price tag on it?

Don't worry, we all had a good laugh (after I recovered from a sleepless night and some verbal self-abuse), and I sweet talked the D.I. manager into giving me the shirt for free, and the race coordinator into issuing us new numbers and chips. One of the shirts, though, was never recovered. It was apparently a pretty hot item. (I mean, who wouldn't want that shirt? 5 bucks if you can tell me what that picture is even supposed to be).

Simplified

2012-01-10T12:49:00.000-08:00

Now that the GOP Institution and the media have weeded out all of the good candidates, here's who's left.

In other news, I'm working with the president of the Utah League of Independent Voters to start a College Independents group on campus, and sometime soon he's trying to organize a press conference because independents are now the largest voting group in the state of Utah and just hit over 1,000,000 voters. Bam.

So, who's your pick? I'm really interested in which way you're all leaning.

Issue	Newt Gingrich	Jon Huntsman	Ron Paul	Rick Perry	Mitt Romney	Rick Santorum
Abortion	Pro-life	Pro-life	Pro-Life	Pro-Life	Pro-Life	Pro-Life
Budget & Economy	Lower tax rates	Simple flat tax	Eliminate unnecessary spending	Cut, Balance & Grow	Cutting taxes fosters economic growth	Cut $5 trillion in 5 years
Foreign Policy	Supports international assistance, military presence	Loosen trade regulations, reduce international involvement	End all foreign aid, fear hurts liberty	Only allies receive foreign aid, clear strategies for war	Free trade markets, troops removed based on threat level	U.S. must confront enemies
Energy	Remove legal restraints and bureaucracies, allow drilling in U.S.	Eliminate subsidies, use American resources	Eliminate federal regulations & taxes	Use domestic resources, no changes needed based on climate change science	Streamline drilling permits, encourage partnerships with nearby countries	Remove regulations, allow domestic drilling
Health Care	Repeal Obamacare, reform Medicare, provide tax credits & deductions	Let states experiment with health care	Repeal Obamacare, provide tax credits & deductions	Repeal Obamacare, raise age for benefits, turn over to the states	Repeal Obamacare, enforce the 10th Amendment	Repeal Obamacare, allow HSA accounts, Medicaid funding through block grants
Immigration	Variation of amnesty, guest worker program	Supports in-state tuition for children, border fence	Eliminate benefits, secure the border, no amnesty	More border agents, in-state tuition for illegal immigrant children	No amnesty, border fence, more visas for advanced degrees	Supports border fence, no in-state tuition or benefits
Gay Marriage	Constitutional amendment, supports DOMA	Supports civil unions for same-sex couples	Marriage is a state issue	Supports constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage	Opposes same-sex marriage, constitutional amendment	Support constitutional amendment, opposes same-sex marriage
Social Security	Personal retirement account	Supports several plans, increase retirement age	Allow younger workers to opt out, gradually eliminate	Allow younger workers to open personal retirement accounts	Social Security works, but should be fixed	Reform social security, allow younger workers to open personal retirement accounts

Asa [asha]

2012-01-07T17:06:00.000-08:00

Asa is an incredibly talented Nigerian singer. I was introduced to her music by my good friend Hélène a few years ago, and even used a quote from one of her songs on my capstone project at the end of my bachelor's degree. I just discovered that she released a new album back in September, and though I haven't heard the whole thing yet, it's sounding really good (though her first might still be better). The name of the album is "Beautiful Imperfection". Careful - her voice is addicting.

And a couple from her first album:

2012

2012-01-04T22:39:00.000-08:00

I don't know why, but I am totally stoked about 2012. I just feel like a lot of good things are going to happen this year. I have some tentative trips planned (I always have tentative trips planned in my head, it's the ones I can't get out of my head that usually turn into reality, and I have one right now that absolutely will not leave me alone), and I'm looking for a good summer job (there's one in particular that I have my eye on). I have in mind several things I'd like to accomplish this year, and I just feel good. I feel like this is MY year.

A brother at church recently shared this quote (he recited the whole thing from memory). I think it just might become my theme for this year:

If you want a thing bad enough
To go out and fight for it,
Work day and night for it,
Give up your time and your peace and your sleep for it;
If only desire of it
Makes your aim strong enough
Never to tire of it,
If life seems all empty and useless without it
And all that you scheme and you dream is about it,
If gladly you’ll sweat for it,
Fret for it,
Plan for it,
Pray with all your strength for it,
If you’ll simply go after the thing that you want,
With all your capacity,
Strength and sagacity,
Faith, hope, and confidence; stern pertinacity,
If neither cold or poverty, famished and gaunt,
Nor sickness, nor pain,
Of body or brain,
Can turn you away from the aim that you want,
If dogged and grim you besiege and beset it,
You’ll get it.

-Anonymous

So, what do you want from this year?

GO GET IT.

Entertaining

2012-01-04T22:04:00.000-08:00

I really enjoy having friends over to eat, stay the weekend, jam, or just sit and talk. One thing I love about French culture is that they often invite friends over for lengthy meals, and they pull out all the stops. They can make some pretty elaborate meals for guests, and if you're invited, you better plan on telling the sitter you'll be home around midnight or later. The meal is several courses and quite drawn out, yes, but the conversation is what takes hours and hours. I love it. If there is one thing I could borrow from French culture and have all Americans adopt, it would be that: sitting around the table for hours.

Tonight I invited some friends from the French department, and I decided to cook an all French meal (except for the appetizers - hummus, cucumbers, and chex mix). I wouldn't cook French food for people unless I was pretty sure they were going to like it, so I took advantage of having a group of francophiles over to experiment a bit. It was really simple, but it turned out nice. It cost me a bit more than I was planning (let's just say that I spent 15 bucks on cheese alone), but it was definitely worth it.

We had "salade au chèvre chaud" or warm goat cheese salad, and "soupe de courgette à la vache qui rit", or zucchini soup with laughing cow cheese in it. The soup looked like soup, but I thought the salads turned out really pretty. I made a simple mustard vinaigrette with walnut oil, dijon, and red wine vinegar, mixed in some dark greens and minced shallots, sprinkled some walnuts on top, and topped it all with some thin slices of artisanal bread with sliced goat cheese on top that I broiled until the cheese started to brown a bit. Matt's wife is Maurician and said the dressing reminded her of home. It was my first time making it, and it went over pretty well.

It was a fun evening, and it only took about an hour to do every last dish by hand! My roommate walked in just as I was washing the last dish. It was like the whole thing never happened.

It's Okay

2011-12-29T11:45:00.000-08:00

Come adore on bended knee

2011-12-25T00:05:00.000-08:00

Angels We Have Heard On High by Peter Breinholt on Grooveshark

Angels we have heard on high...

(Clockwise from top left: Palmyra, NY (2); Le Teil, France; La Haute Route, Switzerland; Palmyra, NY; Lake Blanche Trail, SLC, UT; Palmyra, NY; La Drome, France; Mount Timpanogos, UT; )

...sweetly singing o'er the plains.

And the mountains in reply...

(Clockwise from top left: La Haute Route, Switzerland; Mount Timpanogos, UT (2); Lake Blanche Trail, SLC, UT; Mount Timpanogos, UT; Lake Blanche Trail, SLC, UT (top); Mount Timpanogos, UT (bottom); La Haute Route, Switzerland; Lake Blanche Trail, SLC, UT)

...echoing their joyous strains.

"Gloria! In Excelsis Deo!"

Shepherds why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be,
which inspire your heav'nly song?

"Gloria! In Excelsis Deo!"

Come to Bethlehem and see,

Christ whose birth the angels sing.

(Bethlehem, March 2011)

Come! Adore on bended knee,

Christ the Lord the newborn King!

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Trop classe

2011-12-16T14:23:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of my class from this semester. Words can not express how much I enjoyed starting out my day with them every day this semester. They are funny, kind, creative, energetic, forgiving, unique, and just a lot of fun to be around.

It was a big decision for me to go back to school to become a teacher. I wasn't sure how it would be, or if I would enjoy it as much as I hoped to. I could not have been given a better group of students to start out with. I love them. About half of them are sticking with me next semester, and I can't wait.

Who knew that teaching French could be so much fun?

Last month

2011-12-16T06:04:00.000-08:00

Here a few pictures from the last few weeks.

O Tannenbaum

2011-12-13T19:10:00.000-08:00

Hélène left last Friday. I knew she was going to leave, of course, but it didn't make it any easier. There are very few people I could spent 23 straight days with and still like at the end, there are even fewer that I could spent 23 straight days with and like even more at the end. I never get tired of hanging out with Hélène. I sure am going to miss that kid.

Spending extending periods of time in France over the past few years has been a lot of fun, but having dear friends on both sides of the Atlantic has left me with a sense of perpetual longing. No matter where I'm at, I feel like about half my world is missing.

We had too many adventures over the past few weeks to write about in one blog post. I'll try to put up a slide show in a few days. We didn't stop running the entire time she was here, and it was the last three weeks of the semester. I am so tired. I kind of want to just lay down and die for a few days.

For Christmas, Hélène gave me my first ever Christmas tree. It's just a little guy, and it sits on my table. I think it's one of the best Christmas presents I've ever received. I didn't know how to decorate it, so I pulled out a little olive wood creche that I bought in Bethlehem earlier this year and put it at the top of the tree. The next day, I received a package from Coco's sister's family. I went to church with them all of last year back in France. They are a family of artists, and inside was a little handmade heart they had sewn for me, along with a little loop to hang it with.

I love my little tree. It warms my heart up every time I look at it.

I hope you're all having a very merry Christmas season.

My Wall

2011-12-09T20:16:00.001-08:00

I keep posting things on it, but I don't think it's coming up in anyone's News Feed.

Clarification

2011-12-07T07:39:00.001-08:00

Apparently, due to my overuse of the term "favorite people" in describing my friends, there has been some question as to where my loyalties really lie. So, just to set the record straight, I thought I would take this opportunity to rank all of my friends in order of their importance in my life.

1) Angela Marie Hatch Hays
2) all of the rest of you*

No offense intended.

*Subject to change on a daily or even hourly basis should the need arise.

British Invasion

2011-12-01T10:44:00.001-08:00

The Kooks rocked Salt Lake City for the first time last night, and Hélène, Mike, Liz and I were there to watch it all go down.

Sometimes I think, "Shouldn't you have outgrown this sort of thing by now, Nicki?" But I have a weakness for rock music, I have a major weakness for live rock music, and when a group like the Kooks plays awesome, live rock music on acoustic guitars, I just can't hold back. I love the energy of live shows. There's something about music so loud it completely penetrates you.

Concerts are game changers. You either like the artist a lot more or a lot less when it's all over. The Kooks were awesome. They had an incredible amount of energy throughout the whole show, they were talented instrumentalists, and Luke Pritchard nailed every note, even while jumping around the stage and skipping octaves. It was excellent.

I thought I was cool.

2011-11-30T07:17:00.001-08:00

Last night in the car I was trying to find an address. I whipped out my $20 Wal-mart cell phone (with a built in flashlight, mind you) and started texting the name of the business I was looking for along with the city, and the state it's found in to google. I was explaining to Hélène how cool it is that here in the States you can text google and get a response in just a few seconds, and then with the information you get you can either find your way or plug it into a GPS.

"So," she answered, with zero pretension in her voice, honestly seeking to understand, "that's like for people who don't have smart phones?"

I couldn't control my laughter. "Uh, yeah, I guess it is!"

Burned by the French kid.

Time out

2011-11-28T14:09:00.001-08:00

Well, I'm nearing the end of my first semester of grad school, and I decided to take 10 days off. Who takes ten days off just as the semester is drawing to a close? Don't ask - it probably wasn't a good idea, I didn't even pick up a book or think about my classes and looming projects once over the last few days, but man oh man, did it feel good to be free.

Hélène arrived on Wednesday, I wrapped up things at school on Thursday, and we rented a car and headed for San Francisco on Friday. 24 hours, a night in a freezing car, a pack of brand new tire chains, and a lot of rock music later, we arrived.

We stayed with two of my favorite people, Sammie and Nate, who I hiked la Haute Route with in Switzerland last fall. I love them. We had a great time in San Francisco.

We drove back on Wednesday in just 11 hours. After our epic drive out to SF, the way back seemed like a walk in the park.

We spent an awesome Thanksgiving with my family. We dragged Thanksgiving out for 4 days and had activities planned almost hourly: ice skating, eating, shooting, eating, watching movies, eating, dinner with friends, etc.

I'm back at school today, and it hasn't been too rough... yet. I was pretty stoked to see my students. I really enjoy them a lot.

Hélène's here until the 9th, and though I have to start thinking about papers, tests, and deadlines again, I think I still have plenty of play left in me.

This Thanksgiving I'm grateful for good people. My life is chock-full of them.

(I'm making that face because I was really, really afraid of the kick).

Enjoying your tent?

2011-11-16T21:19:00.001-08:00

Aw, yeah.

2011-11-15T23:38:00.001-08:00

Hélène, pictured above, is currently sleeping in an airport in New York. She left Marseille sometime while I was sleeping last night, flew to Amsterdam, then to NYC, where she has a 12 hour layover. In just a few hours she'll be on the move again, this time to L.A. before catching her final connection to Salt Lake City. That is one LONG journey, and for what?

So that we can hang out for 23 days. That's all.

That is one good friend. You can't teach that.

Parlez-vous français?

2011-11-08T21:00:00.000-08:00

One of the down sides of studying French for me is studying literature. I don't mind literature in and of itself, but ripping it apart and analyzing every single tiny detail for no apparent reason really tests my patience. My love is the language - the grammar and structure. That's why I enrolled in the World Languages M.A. (focused on teaching and acquisition) and not the French M.A. (focused on literature)...

...but I still have to take a literature class each semester, because at the graduate level, that's currently all they offer in French (the professor that taught linguistics based courses left for Harvard).

This semester I'm taking a French poetry class. If I thought just straight up literature was bad, it has nothing, NOTHING on poetry. My professor will sometimes stand up and literally spend three hours dissecting just the first two stanzas of a poem. It is painful. No, it is beyond painful.

This has led me to ask a lot of questions, like, "Why are we doing this?", "How do you know that's what he meant, did you ask him?" (apparently the original intent of the author and his/her history is irrelevant in modern literary analysis), (after coming out of a 30 minute coma) "Are we seriously still talking about the same line?", and "How is it that you manage to relate every piece of work we read back to sex? I'm pretty sure this poem is just about a bunch of cows eating grass.".

As the semester is drawing to an end, our professor has asked each of us to write our own poem - any style, any form, any subject. I have stewed, and pondered (which, in my case, basically just means that I've been thinking - oh yeah, I've got to get to that - I haven't been doing a lot of thinking about the poem itself), and today the poem just hit me (which is a good thing, since it's due tomorrow). It came pouring out just about as quickly as I could write it down. With the exception of one line that I threw in later, I had the whole thing written out in a matter of minutes.

Here it is:

Cher Lecteur,

par Nicki Preece

Si tu crois me comprendre,
c’est clair que tu n’as rien compris.

Je me cache exprès.

La profondeur du trou que je creuse de vers et de strophes
la lumière de ta compréhension ne peut jamais atteindre.
La boue que j’en enleve ne fait que pousser
le sommet de la montagne insurmontable que tu insistes à monter.

Tu ne sais même pas comment je m’appelle.
Auteur? Narrateur?
Aujourd’hui je ne suis ni l’un ni l’autre.
Demain je serai peut-être les deux à la fois.

Quand tu t’ouvriras la bouche pour m’appeler,
rien ne sortira.
Et quand ton stylo rencontrera la feuille pour décrire mon intention,
la feuille restera vièrge.

C’est une rencontre qui ne se produira jamais,
tant que je puisse m’entourer, m’enterrer de paroles.

De cerveau à main, de main à l’encre qui
comme une vague, avale la page -
et en se réculant, te vole tes mots.

Ne cherche plus à comprendre.
Laisse-moi sur mon île,
Ramasse mes messages en bouteille répandus sur ta plage lointaine.

Et apprécie.

Here's the translation:

Dear Reader,

by Nicki Preece

If you think you understand me,
it’s clear that you didn’t understand anything.

I’m hiding on purpose.

The depth of the hole I’m digging of lines and stanzas
the light of your understanding can never reach.
The dirt I remove from the hole only makes taller
the summit of the insurmountable mountain you insist on climbing.

You don’t even know what my name is.
Author? Narrator?
Today I’m neither one nor the other.
Tomorrow I might be both at the same time.

When you open your mouth to call me,
nothing will come out.
And when your pen meets the page to describe my intention,
the page will remain blank.

It’s a meeting that will never happen
as long as I can surround myself, bury myself with words.

From brain to hand, from hand to ink which
like a wave, swallows the page -
and as it draws back, steals your words.

Seek no longer to understand.
Leave me on my island,
pick up my bottled messages scattered on your far off beach.

And enjoy.

I'm happy about how it turned out, I planned on spending the night pouring over my dictionary looking for ideas, but I ended up writing it all while siting in a religion class this evening with just my pen and a piece of lined paper I had brought with me in case any ideas popped into my head.

My professor is pretty good-natured. I think she'll get it, and I think she'll appreciate it.

Maybe, *gasp* I am learning something.

To restore your faith in humanity.

2011-10-28T18:56:00.000-07:00

If the economy, presidential campaign, or Occupy Wall Street movement have got you down, rest assured, there is still good in this country.

Please don't think less of me for posting these videos.

God bless America.

Angels

2011-10-26T17:01:00.000-07:00

Some people believe they have guardian angels. I believe I have an entire army.

I left my keys at home today. It's dinner time and I'm stuck at work until my roommate gets back.

A lady just knocked on our office door here with a huge tray of sandwiches from the Corner Bakery. They aren't just any sandwiches, they are really good sandwiches. Everyone on campus uses them to cater events. She smiled at me and told me to take two.

Now I'm smiling, too.

Bad Lip-Reading

2011-10-20T20:27:00.000-07:00

Yo mama's pudgy, face it.

Fat Camp

2011-10-18T14:35:00.000-07:00

For Fall Break (thank goodness for the University of Utah and a week long Fall AND Spring break) I spent a few days visiting one of my favorite people (which is saying something... remember a couple of posts ago? - I know a lot of people), Angela, down in Moab. Do they come cooler than Angela? Not in my book.

Ang asked me one day if I felt like I was at fat camp. Apparently her sister, Lindsey, says that being at Angela and Brian's house is like being at fat camp. Why? Well, let me go over a typical day.

I arrived Thursday evening, and Angela's friend Jo arrived several hours later. After catching up for awhile, we all decided to head to bed. Jo and I went upstairs and started chatting again. All of the sudden Angela's head popped up at the top of the stair case. "Is that our sign that we really need to go to bed?" Jo asked. It sure was. Angela knew we'd be up early, and we couldn't waste energy by talking into the night.

At 8am Ang was back at the top of the stairs, this time, to wake us up. "C'mon, you guys! I've already been up for 2 hours and I'm getting bored!" Jo and I drug ourselves down stairs. Breakfast was scrabbled eggs and whole wheat toast made from bread Ang and made from scratch the day before.

We ate, and then loaded ourselves and our climbing gear into the car and headed to the Ice Cream Parlor, a favorite climbing spot in Moab.

Another of Angela's friends met us there, and we spent the next several hours climbing two different routes. When the heat got to be too much, we bailed and headed back to the house for a delicious dinner of Squash Enchiladas made with wheat tortillas.

Jo left that night, and once Brian was home, the dishes were done, and baby Liesel was in bed, we set out again, this time to hike up a butte overlooking the town of Moab. It was a shorter hike with about a 1000 feet of elevation gain and a great view.

We were up fairly early again the next morning (Ang was up much earlier than me taking care of Liesel). She mentioned she was tired from the week's activities. I told her we could just stay home and play a board game or something if she just wanted to relax. "Oh, I'm not THAT tired", she said. We hopped in the car and head out on another hike before coming home for lunch.

To be fair, the cheeseburgers, french fries, and frosties we had for lunch that day probably weren't exactly fat camp material.

I remember another trip where after a 6 mile run and a cross country skiing outing, Ang still wanted to fit in climbing and mountain biking before the sun went down. I wasn't too disappointed when we ended up playing scrabble instead.

As usual, I returned back home very sore, and much better for the wear. If you want good recreation, good food, and awesome conversation, make fat camp your next stop.

Angela's front porch and view.

Nothin' like a girls' trip to the crag.

Angela is the most hardcore mom I know.

Ang leading the first climb.

Jo watching Liesel.

Hannah, if you're wondering if your cousin Leslie was there, she was.

My first climb in a year and a half. It was FUN!

Climb #2

It turns out that if you put enough pressure on your fingers, the skin just pops right off. Here it was still hanging on, but only by a thread.

How do you climb with two babies crawling around? Outnumber them and trap them in small tents.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was getting to know this girl. Liesel is almost a year old and this was the first time we had met! She is a ton of fun.

A little Oasis in the middle of the desert.

I maybe managed to not only fall into the water and submerge myself almost completely, but also smack my head pretty hard against a big rock cliff while attempting the unthinkable: talking and walking at the same time. It was supposed to be an easy hike. I guess I was just in the mood for a little adventure.

Night hike!

Useful Idiots

2011-10-12T10:06:00.000-07:00

Lenin once called Western progressives "useful idiots", because they thought that sympathizing with the Soviets created some kind of alliance between them, but in fact, they were held in contempt by Soviet leaders. Today, it's used by anyone who stands up for a cause they don't really understand, blind to the effects their movement will have (millions of deaths, in the case of the Soviets).

Second String

2011-10-11T09:20:00.000-07:00

Laurel and I often joke about our "second string" friends. The first string were our friends who got married early and dropped off the face of the planet. As a result we brought out our second string - we made new friends, and carried on.

Well, now the second string is getting married, and on Saturday, Laurel joined their ranks. Luckily, in my experience, the second string is less likely to go MIA after marriage than the first string, though there are exceptions to both rules.

Laurel's wedding was beautiful, and she was beautiful. It was so great to see this all unfold. She found a great guy, and everything was just as it should be.

We spent Friday night just as girls, and went to Karaoke night at a local diner. The food was awful, but the experience will not soon be forgotten. One of the highlights was the DJ in BYU sweats asking Laurel to dance, and then singing her a love song. It was classic. Just us, some local goth kids, a few truckers, and a family with a couple of small children. We all decided that we will be taking our kids to karaoke night one day.

The reception was a blast. My two most favorite receptions have both been in barns, and they've both been a ton of fun. Laurel taught us all a traditional Greek dance (she served a mission in Greece with my friend, Coco, which is how we know each other, actually). Addie made the most delicious pumpkin cream cheese cake I have ever tasted, and she made her own dress, and she did the bride's hair.

We danced, laughed, sang, and sent them off and running by chasing them down with sparklers. It was fun, too, to spend the evening with Addie, Jess, and more of Laurel's BYU Jerusalem buddies that I met while I was in Israel. It was a GREAT evening.

Look who showed up in SLC

2011-10-10T21:07:00.000-07:00

The Occupy Wall Street movement arrived in itty-bitty-Salt-Lake-City last week. I find these pictures very telling: one sign calling for capitalism, another saying it's a failure. One sign for Ron Paul, who is for smaller government and practically zero regulations, and another sign that says 'Regulate Wall Street'. I find everything about this movement confusing and contradictory.

Looking at pictures of the protests here and in New York, it is hard for me to take them seriously: college educated, Mac laptops, Patagonia Jackets. How are these people being repressed? I think that Herman Cain nailed it when he put a label on this epidemic: jealousy. Wall Street isn't the only place where greed it showing up.

I had a sort of epiphany this week (I'm a bit slow at putting 2 and 2 together sometimes): if we want freedom or independence, we have to live independently. We need to make sure that we don't need welfare, and that our neighbors don't need it either. We have to take care of each other and be the solution. I've started looking into volunteer organizations around Salt Lake that I can volunteer for and make my small contribution towards making myself and my neighbors independent. I think I've found a place to start.

On a side note, the protesters have decided to occupy Pioneer Park. I drove past there Saturday night and saw them all camped out in their tents. Pioneer Park? Really? You can have it. No one with any sense spends anytime there. It's the drug capital of Salt Lake City.

If you want to hear someone who has hit the nail on the head as to what the real problem is and how we need to step up and be great by doing good, watch this speech given at the Values Voter Summit this weekend by Glenn Beck. Say what you will about Glenn, but what he said at the Summit is so spot on, so poignant, and so dearly, dearly needed. His speech was very edifying. Some people don't like his style. Ignore his style and listen to his words. It's well worth your time.

Photos from the Daily Utah Chronicle.

Days of Rage

2011-10-05T14:41:00.000-07:00

Are you wondering what's going on with the Occupy Wall Street movement? If you're confused about the protesters, who they are, what they're doing, and why, it's normal, they're confused, too.

Many of them admitted that they didn't know what they were protesting at the beginning. Some have now taken on corporate greed, unemployment, animal testing, tuition costs, the death penalty, and anything else you can think of, grappling for some kind of cause.

The truth is that these people are being set up. Those who want to "fundamentally transform" America, and because they cannot do it through persuasion, they are trying to create disorder, knowing that dire times call for dire measures, and people will accept, and even embrace, ideas that are revolting in times of peace. Europe's history is chock-full of examples of this.

So how do you do that? You create a crisis, in this case, for the uber rich. SEIU's Stephen Lerner outlined this explicitly in a conference just two and a half weeks ago. You can watch it right here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2w9UlSfgR4 (I find the first 10 minutes the most interesting, personally). He's not hiding his agenda. Stephen Lerner has been accused of promoting economic terrorism to this same end on multiple occasions, though those in positions of authority have chosen to turn a blind eye to him and to many others just like him.

So, "Bring out your dead!", cry those who seek disorder in order to transform. "Whatever your gripe may be, come stand against Wall Street". The more causes they take on, the more people they can pull into their movement.

Why Wall Street? It is much easier to fight against perceived establishment than to hold those who have done wrong accountable for their actions. Is capitalism a farce? Of course not. It is an engine for prosperity. Even our poor are in the richest 1% in the entire world. It made America exceptional.

The problem is in our value system. With prosperity came pride, greed, a feeling of invincibility and that right and wrong are relative. If you pour shampoo in the gas tank of a brand new BMW it won't run. Was the BMW the problem? No. If you pour greed and immorality into capitalism, it will not work either. It doesn't mean that capitalism is broken. America was founded on values, and the American way of life needs a moral people to propel it forward.

In order to hold people accountable for their actions, however, we have to recognize and stand up for right and wrong - an idea that destroys the theory of moral relativism - and we have to be willing to be held accountable for our own actions, as well - two things the Wall Street protesters are unwilling to do. So they continue to look beyond the mark. This is what hypocrisy looks like.

We could create laws to try to force morality upon people, but without self-restraint, we simply won't be able to write laws fast enough to keep up with the degradation of society. As Ron Paul said recently on the Daily Show, "I don't think that the laws make people better people".

Who are the Wall Street protesters? I think they are those described by D. Todd Christofferson in April 2010: "They have imagined a Jesus who wants people to work for social justice but who makes no demands upon their personal life and behavior." Luckily, I think they are the minority in this country. I believe the majority of Americans know right from wrong and stand up for what is right. But it's important for us to recognize people who preach falsehoods cloaked in soundbites of truth.

If you want to read a good article about this whole movement, I'd suggest this one:

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/10/03/occupy-wall-street-not-just-another-liberal-protest/

General Conference

2011-10-03T11:23:00.001-07:00

This is what happens when a bunch of Preeces get together, and spend 8 hours in front of the TV watching General Conference.

And did you hear about this? My church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, announced that they are moving forward with their plans to build this:

A temple in Paris, France. I went down to the Conference Center and begged on the street corner for a ticket just so that I could hear it all in person. It was worth it. Vive la France!

Social Networking

2011-09-27T23:12:00.000-07:00

I spend a lot of time by myself. A LOT. I move a lot, and every time you move, you have to meet new people. I really love meeting new people, and I know it takes time, so I don't let the empty interim bother me. If I were to be honest, though, I'd say that I really don't like spending time by myself.

Luckily, I constantly have friends dropping into my life. Not planned visits, mind you, but I run into people that I know CONSTANTLY.

Case in point:

On Sunday at church I ran into a kid named Evan who was visiting for the day. Evan and I lived in the same area went to church together in Hawaii during the four months I spent there. He also helped me find my apartment there through a mutual friend who called him up for me.

Saturday, as I was hiking down Mount Timpanogos, I ran into Mike, a guy I worked with at Stampin' Up, and who later lived in my neighborhood in Provo and went to church at the same time as me down there.

The Sunday before that, I went to my local congregation for the first time. There was a girl there that I had met at an art function at the Himalayan Kitchen a couple of years ago. I ran into her again at a friend's wedding last summer.

After church, while just lingering at the building for awhile, I ran into another girl. We both knew immediately that we knew each other, but we couldn't figure out how. Both students at BYU-I in 2002, and both transfer students at BYU-H, we figured we must have run into each other somewhere along the way. She now lives across the street from me.

The Friday before that, I was walking down the street when I heard someone yell my name. It was Louie, one of the girls I backpacked to Lake Blanche with in July.

Just days before that I ran into Target, and just as I was checking out I heard a voice say, "Hey, Nicki". It was a girl named Amy who I met when I lived with my grandparents for a few months when my family first arrived in Utah. We also attended BYU-H the same semester.

Last week I was riding my bike along the Trax platform, when I passed a girl standing by herself. After I passed, I heard her yell out, "Hey, I know you!!". It was Erin "Groovy" Grover, a former Badger Creek staff member, and a BYU-Idaho rec student. We never worked together, but we have gotten to know each other here and there over the years. After years of living in the desert working with troubled teens, she just started a grad program at the U as well.

Two weeks ago I was at a religion class in the evening when Janae Smith walked into the room. She played flute with my good friend Janelle our freshman year of school, and we were both at the Missionary Training Center together during the summer of 2005.

Then there was the German couple in Sharon, VT whose daughter-in-law I had stayed with in Hannover.

And the French family from my teeny-tiny small town, le Teil, who I ran into during a five minute break in the walking tour I was taking of Berlin. They worked with my friend Michele, and we had had dinner at their house when we first arrived in the area.

And my dear friend Synthia, who I hadn't seen since she had left on a mission years earlier, who happened to be in Israel at the same time that I went. I had no idea she was spending a semester studying there.

Maybe I'm being followed. I dunno, but I kind of like it.

Stick it to the man

2011-09-27T22:38:00.000-07:00

I think this is great, whatever your political convictions may be. It's a movement going on to restore freedom of speech to America's churches.

The idea is that in recent history (sometime in the 50's), IRS code was put in place that threatens the tax-exempt status of churches if they address politics over the pulpit. At it's very base, I believe that is a flawed, unconstitutional move. It has become a bigger problem in recent years as certain subjects have been deemed "political" rather than "moral". Thus, if any church addresses these issues, they risk losing their tax-exempt status. If our moral voice is silenced, then where do we turn?

On October 2nd, pastors, priests, and rabbis around the nation will take the initiative to discuss Biblical stances on certain social issues. They will then talk about political candidates and how their views align with what the Bible teaches, not in endorsement, but just by explaining the moral issues. They will film their sermons and send them to the IRS. The hope is that it will create the basis for a law suit that will over turn this faulty piece of legislation.

I'm not a pastor, but if I were, I would definitely participate, and I encourage anyone in that position, regardless of their political views, to take part. What a great way to stand up.

For the record, though it is used to bully and intimidate, no church has ever lost its tax-exempt status through this code. I've heard it said that the government knows it's unconstitutional, and they don't want to push it. So they threaten, but they never take violators to court. Hopefully, if they are forced to go to court, the intimidation will stop.

Speakupmovement.org

Jack Hibbs - PulpitFreedom.org from Josh Garlow on Vimeo.

Speak Up Movement Promo from Josh Garlow on Vimeo.

Timp Solo Trip

2011-09-25T22:33:00.000-07:00

Well, not being one to let two sunny days in a row go waste, the day after my three hour nap, I had the bright idea to run away to the mountains. So, in spite of the mountain of work I had to do this weekend, as soon as my class let out on Friday at 11:30 am, I bee-lined it for my car and never looked back. After a quick stop at the grocery store, and about an hour at my apartment to throw a sleeping bag and a few other essentials in my pack, I drove to the Timpooneke trail head up American Fork Canyon.

I started my trek up the mountain around 3:30 pm. I had decided to make a last minute stop at Wendy's to get a burger and fries before I headed off to no-more-hot-food land. Bad, bad mistake. It completely messed up my stomach. Luckily I had a long walk ahead of me to keep my mind busy as I tried to forget about the pain I was in.

My goal was to reach the summit before 7:30 and to watch the sunset from the top. I made it to the saddle in about 3 hours and 15 minutes. I was pretty happy with my time. One of the reasons I wanted to hike alone is that I've struggled this summer to maintain a consistent workout routine, so I wasn't sure how I'd do on a longer hike, and, quite honestly, I didn't want to embarrass myself. It was actually much easier than I had anticipated.

The saddle to the summit was difficult, but not awful. It took me another 50 minutes or so to get to the summit. It was the first time I had been from the saddle to the summit and back again without seeing another soul. I did see a mountain goat, though. We kept turning corners, running into each other, and scaring each other half to death. Luckily he was more afraid of me than I was of him.

I arrived at the summit right around 7:30, just as the sun dipped entirely behind the mountains. I had enough light to make it most of the way back to the saddle, and when I couldn't see any longer, I flipped on my head lamp, made it to the saddle, and found my bag I had stashed there.

My original plan was to head to Emerald lake and sleep in the cement hut there, but there is an incredible amount of snow still up there, and the trail heading from where I was to where the hut was traversed a quarter to half-mile long snow field (you can see it behind the goat in the first picture below, and you can also see the trail that cuts across it). In the afternoon I would have gone for it, but it was getting cold fast, and the slushy snow was hardening for the night.

So, I walked, and walked, and figured I'd just keep walking until I found a place that felt like it'd be a good place to spend the night. I finally turned a corner and saw the bobbing flashlights and heard the high pitched voices of a group of 12-year old scouts I had seen earlier in the day. A bit further off I saw another group camping for the night. Safely within hearing-range of the scouts, but tucked away out of sight, I found a little rocky hill to sleep on for the night, with a perfect view (had it not been for the pitch darkness) of the summit directly in front of me. I rolled out my pad, bundled up in several layers, jumped in my sleeping bag, and listened to half a Brandi Carlile album before falling a sleep.

A lot of people hike Mount Timpanogos in the middle of the night in hopes of getting to the top to watch the sun rise. I think these people are crazy, because it's dang cold up there around sunrise, and who wants to hike through the night anyway? But maybe sleeping out in the freezing cold isn't a great alternative either. Who knows?

I heard the first groups pass by me around 3:30 am (I was only about an hour from the saddle, and I could see the whole trail to the top from where I was - these people either serious overestimated when the sun would actually rise, or serious underestimated their own abilities to make it up in time), and there was a continual stream after that. There must have been a hundred people at the saddle to watch the sunrise. I was close enough to the trail to overhear a few of the conversations of groups as they passed. They were so positive and encouraging toward each other. Even though I was trying to sleep, I didn't mind being woken up by their cheering and kind words.

I've climbed Mount Timp a few times, but I think that this trip was my favorite. I saw a herd of about 30 mountain goats grazing near the saddle. I slept out under the stars. I spent from 6:00 am to about 7:30 am just sitting up, still wrapped up in my sleeping bag, just watching dozens of headlamps climb the trail to the summit in front of me. I got to see the sun set from the summit, and the sunrise over the high-mountain meadow I was camping in as I laid there in my sleeping bag.

I still have a mountain of work to do, but with one mountain out of the way, the next seems a little less
intimidating.

2011 Sept 23-24 Timp Solo Trip

Grad School

2011-09-22T19:34:00.000-07:00

I'm not one to take naps. It messes up my sleep at night, so even if I'm tired, I usually just wait it out until evening. Which is why the following chain of thoughts, which I had this very afternoon, struck me as so unusual.

I walked out of my last class at quarter to two in the afternoon. The weather was gorgeous. If felt so nice outside and I thought, "Wow, the weather is so nice! I would love to get out and do something. I haven't done something fun in forever. Maybe I'll go for a bike ride or a short hike. Oh, wait, I'm so tired I think I might pass out right here on the spot. I'd better go home and sleep."

And sleep I did, for over three hours, while one of the last truly warm afternoons of the year passed me by.

Something is seriously wrong with me. I think I might me sick. I think I have a condition called "Grad School".

Luckily it's not terminal.

Upside down

2011-09-20T18:20:00.000-07:00

This week in the news:

A couple wins 4.5 million dollars in a "wrongful birth" suit, saying that if they had known how severely handicapped their child would be, they would have aborted him.

Pat Robertson, a preacher with a radio show, told a caller that divorce is permissible if your spouse has Alzheimer's, because they're basically dead anyway.

An invitation to speak at a university in Toronto to former president George W. Bush was retracted after student protests, but President Ahmadinejad of Iran, a dictator, a holocaust denier, and leader of one of the most dangerous countries of the world, who believes that 9/11 was an inside job set up as an excuse for America to start wars in the Middle East, has been invited to dinner at Columbia University.

President Obama has proposed 1.5 trillion dollars in new taxes, to be paid almost entirely by the wealthy, who already pay 90% of all taxes in the United States.

Levi's aired an ad glorifying the recent riots in Europe, and wants it's once all-American brand to now be known as the "uniform of progress". They have drawn 'inspiration' from the Arab Spring to promote their product.

Where is the "City upon a hill"? I sometimes wonder when people look at America, are their eyes cast upward, or downward? I have followed the news for a long time. I feel strongly that things are different now. It's make or break time. We can either choose to change right now, or things may get damaged beyond repair.

The author of "Democracy in America", a Frenchman, Alex de Tocqueville, described the source of American Exceptionalism when he said, "America is great because she is good. If America ceases to begood, America will cease to be great".

John Adams said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” In other words, if a people is not morally good, no amount of laws is sufficient to control them.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson put it this way, "The societies in which many of us live have for more than a generation failed to foster moral discipline. They have taught that truth is relative and that everyone decides for himself or herself what is right. Concepts such as sin and wrong have been condemned as “value judgments.” As the Lord describes it, “Every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god” (D&C 1:16).

"As a consequence, self-discipline has eroded and societies are left to try to maintain order and civility by compulsion. The lack of internal control by individuals breeds external control by governments. One columnist observed that “gentlemanly behavior [for example, once] protected women from coarse behavior. Today, we expect sexual harassment laws to restrain coarse behavior. …

"“Policemen and laws can never replace customs, traditions and moral values as a means for regulating human behavior. At best, the police and criminal justice system are the last desperate line of defense for a civilized society. Our increased reliance on laws to regulate behavior is a measure of how uncivilized we’ve become.” 2"

Let's stand up, America. Choose the right. Choose to be good, and greatness will follow.

Arghhh!!!!

2011-09-19T20:59:00.000-07:00

If, when you woke up this morning, you felt a little different, it's perfectly normal. Today is not any ordinary day - today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

I have been celebrating this day since it's national inception in 2002 when Dave Berry first wrote about it in his column. I was an avid Dave Berry fan at the time, and my roommate that year, Tali, and I still wish each other a happy Talk Like a Pirate Day every September 19th. It was a good joke back then, but it has actually started catching on on a more wide spread scale. One of my sister-in-law's professors was even dressed like a pirate today. No joke.

In case you're interested, here's Dave Berry's original article: http://www.miamiherald.com/2002/09/08/100129/arrrrr-talk-like-a-pirate-or-prepare.html

It should be noted that Talk Like a Pirate day was first conceived during a game of racquetball, and the date September 19th was adopted because it was one of the founders' ex-wife's birthday.

It should also be noted that one of the founders has gone off the deep end, now lives his entire life as a pirate, and was even featured on "Wife Swap" one year because his family is so cooky.They refuse to pay their bills and run around with swords and stuff.

In any case. Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day t' ye all! And to Davy Jones' locker with ye! Arghhh!!!!!

Give me that mountain.

2011-09-18T22:14:00.000-07:00

Two years ago I had an idea. I don't even remember where it came from. La Haute Route - a two week hike from Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Western Europe, to the Matterhorn - I was going to do it. With whom? How was I going to get to Europe? Training? Those were all just details.

Well, I trained for most of that year, went hiking solo all summer long, including sleeping in my car and heading up Mount Timp several times. I quit my job in the States, and bought a plane ticket to Europe. I contacted some complete strangers that were free at the same time and crazy enough to want to attempt this, and we agreed on a hostel in Chamonix, France as a meeting place.

A year and two weeks ago I met my travel companions (we stayed up half the night waiting for each one to arrive), and we began to walk. We started on a paved street, with cars zooming past, passing post offices, corner markets, and many day-to-day conveniences. By that evening, we were fairly high in the mountains, and we crossed into Switzerland.

The next morning we met a couple who became an integral part of our group. Over the next two weeks we climbed, and descended, mountain after mountain, slept in disgusting hostels, and some nice ones, ate tuna straight out of the can for more meals that I care to count, gave up on washing our clothes after day 1, and had the adventure of our lives.

We became the best of friends. With absolutely zero distractions, and nothing but time to kill and trail to pound, we got to know each other deeply. We talked for hours, and saw each other struggle. We worked through pain, fatigue, and cried, and laughed. We laughed A LOT. Just thinking about it all makes me want to push everything out of my life and just fill it back up with people and simple conversation.

One year ago, this very day, we walked together, side-by-side, into Zermatt. We made it to our destination. It was a humbling, beautiful experience. I still marvel that I ever got to do it. I hope I never forget everything I learned. I learned about dreaming, perseverance, determination, and joy. But, of all the lessons I learned, the most important was this - I went thinking I would have a beautiful experience in the mountains, but I had a much more beautiful experience seeing and getting to know the people I was with. I learned something I already knew, but that was cemented in me through this experience, and it is that people are good. My hiking companions had hearts of gold. I love them deeply.

La Haute Route - in French it means 'the high road'. I've come to realized that it refers to a lot more than just the elevation of the trail.

So, on the one year anniversary of our entry into Zermatt, I thought I'd post a few pictures of our epic adventure.

In God We Trust

2011-09-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him," Job 13:15

Multiculturalism

2011-09-07T12:02:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of talk on the world stage lately about multiculturalism. Several European leaders have declared it a failure. I think it is an ideology that is plaguing the West right now. David Cameron uses the example of Islamic extremism, but multiculturalism has a much wider scope than just that. In an effort to be politically correct, we have become too afraid to stand up for the values that have made our individual nations great.

In the United States, we have shifted from a melting pot system, where we all come together add to the flavor, but buy into the the same principles - where we can hold on to our differences in as much as they fit within the frame work or value system of our country - to trying to accept everyone and everything, an ideology Klavan calls "moral relativism'. I think we're afraid we'll come off as judgmental. These two videos do a good job of describing the issue.

What do you think?

The Accidental Academic

2011-09-06T14:17:00.000-07:00

I've gone an abnormally long time without blogging, and yet I have more to say than usual, just no time to say it. I'm just beginning my third week of grad school, not counting a week of training I went through for my teaching position before school started. It has been a whirlwind experience, but I've finally managed to catch the wind in my sails, and I'm moving forward and feeling more in control.

I've asked myself several times recently what on earth I am doing here (I really asked myself that question good and hard my first week: teaching a class I had received the textbook for 3 days earlier, attempting to tackle 18 credit hours, commuting about 2 hours round trip a day, and finally, forgetting to zip my backpack and dropping my laptop on the cement halfway through the week in a truly "Nicki" move). I'm not an academic. I'd much rather be out doing something instead of studying about it.

Have you ever tried sticking a square peg into a round hole? I have the kind of personality that as soon as I see a round hole, I scramble to see if I can find anything that resembles a square peg to shove in there. It cost me over a hundred bucks to fix my busted computer, but I'm glad it happened. It was just what I needed to get me to the point where I could say, "Hey, this really isn't working".

So, I went and talked to the head of my program, and we spread out my schedule a bit to make it more manageable. I dropped two huge classes (I was trying to do twice the workload as my French MA counterparts), and signed up for a German conversation class, and I cut off my hippie hair (that actually didn't help with my workload, it just feels good. Plus, it had been nearly two years - it was time). I also quickly found an apartment in downtown Salt Lake. My commute is now a twenty minute bike ride, so I can run home between classes and meetings.

On the bright side of things, I am LOVING teaching French. It's a lot more fun than teaching English. I have great students, and it is a real motivation for me to see this project through.

Anyway, just a little note to let everyone know that I'm still alive, and that if you find yourself in Salt Lake City, you'd better come see me, and play a round of smashball, now that I actually have a bit of time to breathe.

"The hardest thing in the world is to simplify your life; it’s so easy to make it complex. The solution for a lot of the world’s problems may be to turn around and take a forward step; you can’t just keep trying to make a flawed system work.” Yvon Chouinard

Epic fail

2011-08-19T22:49:00.000-07:00

If, as a freshman in college, you get a D- in your four credit French 101 class, take heart. Nine years later you just might end up teaching that exact same class.

I start on Monday.

Seeing green

2011-08-12T23:02:00.000-07:00

What is with Ireland and amazing music? I once sat next to an Irish guy on a flight to London. He told me that Ireland is called the island of poets and artists. Hélène introduced me to an Irish artist named James Vincent McMorrow the last time we hung out. I liked one of his songs, but didn't think much of the album until I got home and listened to it again. It is incredible.

The good news is that you can download it on Amazon for eight bucks, the bad news is that he currently only has one album out. I haven't been this excited about an artist since Ray LaMontagne. He kind of falls along the same line, but he definitely has his own style.

Enjoy.

Happy Birthday, Richie!

2011-08-11T09:02:00.000-07:00

Thanks for saving the Galaxy.

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

COUSINS

2011-07-27T21:17:00.000-07:00

My cousins are my favorite people on the planet. I'm sorry if you're reading this and you're not my cousin. Rest assured that you are a very close second.

Last week we headed to California to see my aunt and uncle before they leave on a 18 month mission for our church. As always, we played non-stop and had a lot of fun together.

We were able to have a big dinner our first night in town with most of my Uncle Marc's family, and Kimmy and Jill, who I hadn't seen in several years.

The next day we went to Disneyland. Most of my memories of Disneyland as a kid are with my cousins. It was fun to be there now with their kids. I may or may not have started a pretty major water fight on Splash Mountain. We all looked like we had just stepped out of the shower when we got off that ride. That was around 5 pm, and it took me until midnight or so before I was mostly dry.

I didn't take any pictures at Disneyland, but I wanted to post this one that my Grandma took, even though it's blurry. I think it's pretty classic for three reasons: Tavin is plugging his ears in anticipation of the fireworks that weren't supposed to start for another 15 minutes or so, Marc is wearing a Pirates of the Caribbean shirt he bought that day after he got soaked in our little water fight that he will probably never wear again, and Matt is pushing a stroller.

On Saturday we went to our family's favorite beach, Crescent Bay. My mom and her brothers have been going there for literally decades. Matt, Marc, and I got there around 9 am to reserve a huge spot. We had a group of about 30 people that joined us. I love the ocean. I only got thrashed about three times this trip, and only bled once. My favorite part of the day was the girls swim we did when all the women left their kids with other people on shore, and we just went and chilled where the waves were swelling for a little while.

Sunday we went to church and heard Marc and Pam speak. They did a really, really good job. They are two of my favorite people on the planet, and I loved listening to them speak and getting to spend some time with them before they take off for the next 18 months.

It was a great trip!

William James Wariner

2011-07-27T20:23:00.000-07:00

Little baby Will finally arrived at 6:17pm yesterday. He was 21 inches long and weighed 8 pounds 14 ounces. He's a spiting image of Danny.

The Wariner Family

Caydence LOVES her new little brother and talks about him all the time. When asked what she thought he should be named, she offered the following suggestions:

Swimming Pool James

Wet Jones

Fishy Jones

Luckily for him, she had little say in the matter.

The sky was beautiful as we left the hospital.

En Chômage

2011-07-19T21:11:00.002-07:00

Liz, Louie, and I are all unemployed, so, on Monday and Tuesday, while most people are hard a work, we went backpacking. I would highly suggest this method of getting otherwise highly populated campsites all to yourself (that and add a bit of rain to the mix).

Liz and Louie and I go way back. We all took Comparative Lit together in 2007 (our friend Khadija was in that class, too - it was rockin'). But our real secret is that Liz and Louie are sisters, and Liz and I actually served in the same mission. We only met once or twice, though. We had never said more than five words to each other before both majoring in French at the U.

We decided to check out Lake Blanche. It's ridiculously close to Salt Lake City, but none of us had ever been there before. You drive 4.4 miles up Big Cottonwood Canyon, pull off at the Mill B parking lot, and hike three miles up the mountain. There's about 2700 feet of elevation gain, so it's not like walking down the street, but it a perfect evening hike and wore us out just about the time we had camp set up, had a quick snack, and were ready to hop in bed. It was perfect. Just before bed, Louie and I had a little headlamp standoff to see which of our lights was brighter. I was sure I had won until we got into the tent and realized that we had the same lamp. Dang.

When we pulled up to the trail head, it was raining. We grabbed our packs out of the bed of the truck and pulled them into the cab and pondered for a while. I absolutely hate abandoning trips because of rain, but I tried to remain moderate in my urging my companions to throw on a rain jacket and just go for it. I had checked out the radar earlier that day, and it looked like we were just on the very edge of the storm.

We all decided that it was worth a shot, and it's a good thing, too. Five minutes up the trail the rain stopped completely, and didn't start again until the next morning (and it was a very light rain, at that). Hiking up the canyon in the evening proved very rewarding - the sunset was quite possibly the most beautiful I have ever seen.

The entire area was gorgeous. Parts of it took me back to the Haute Route hike I did with some friends last fall. Liz and her husband Mike just finished a multi-day trip also based out of Chamonix and she felt the same way. The mountain was green and blossoming - there were wild flowers everywhere. The river was roaring down the mountain, and the lake was pristine and surrounded by some pretty majestic peaks.

The whole trip was ideal. We had the lake to ourselves, though we saw several other hikers on the way up and the way down. If you can't find a way to earn money, hiking to Lake Blanche is not a bad alternative. It helps relieve some of the stress that comes with being completely broke. There are other ways to become a bit richer.

Oh, happy day

2011-07-15T22:36:00.000-07:00

Elder Jefferey R. Holland once said, "Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don't come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come".

One came today:

Church Statement on Temple in France

15 JULY 2011 — SALT LAKE CITY

President Thomas S. Monson said today that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hopes to build its first temple in France on property on the outskirts of Paris.

Customarily, new temples are announced by the president of the Church at one of the Church's general conferences, after local government building approvals and property acquisition have been secured. Although the local government approval process for the French temple is still under way, French newspapers were already reporting Church plans to build at Le Chesnay, near Versailles, and this prompted today's announcement.

Church spokesman Scott Trotter said that the Church has been working for many months with local officials. More details will be given later.

There have been several previous attempts to find a suitable site for a French temple, but none were finalized. French members of the Church wishing to visit a temple usually travel to those in neighboring European countries.

LDS Church announces 'hopes' to build new temple in France

Published: Friday, July 15, 2011 4:01 p.m. MDT

By Joseph Walker, Deseret News

In 2004, President Gordon B. Hinckley visited Latter-day Saints in France as part of a 10-day European tour during which the Copenhagen Denmark Temple was dedicated. During a meeting in Paris, the LDS Church News reported that he told the French Saints they were "worthy of the richest blessings of the Church."

"I wish I could announce that we could have a temple here, but we do not have a suitable place yet, in my judgment, to build it," President Hinckley said. "So we will continue to look. I don't know when it will be built, but I am confident that that we will have a temple for the French-speaking people of the church sometime in the future.

"And so, my brothers and sisters, I ask you to be patient for a time," he continued. "Sometime in the future a beautiful house of the Lord will grace this land."

"Sometime in the future" is closer now.

In a departure from recent tradition, LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson today announced that the church "hopes" to build its first temple in France on property on the outskirts of Paris.

"Customarily, new temples are announced by the president of the church at one of the church's general conferences, after local government building approvals and property acquisition have been secured," church officials noted in a prepared statement. "Although the local government approval process for the French temple is still under way, French newspapers are already reporting church plans to build at Le Chesnay, near Versailles, and this prompted today's announcement."

Church spokesman Scott Trotter said the church has been working for many months with local officials.

"There have been several previous attempts to find a suitable site for a French temple, but none were finalized," Trotter said. "French members of the church wishing to visit a temple usually travel to those in neighboring European countries."

Trotter indicated that additional details on the new temple will be presented as they become available.

The long-awaited announcement of a temple is just the most recent development in the LDS Church's 162-year history in France. Although there is earlier mention of sending missionaries to France, the first mission of the LDS Church there was organized in 1849. As was the case in so many European missions, the earliest Mormon missionaries met with considerable resistance, and church growth was slow. At one point the mission was closed for several decades, and wasn't re-opened until 1912.

A unique chapter of LDS Church history in France was the so-called "Paris Art Mission." In 1890, five young artists — John Hafen, Lorus Pratt, John B. Fairbanks, Edwin Evans and Herman Haag — were called as "art missionaries" and sent to study at the Julian Academy in Paris, where they honed their skills in preparation for painting the vast murals in the Salt Lake Temple. That "missionary" effort was, by all accounts, eminently successful.

Church growth in France increased significantly after World War II. The first stake in France was organized in Paris in 1975. Twenty-one years later more than 28,000 members of the church in France were divided into seven stakes. Today there are more than 35,000 Latter-day Saints in France in nine stakes, 57 wards, 54 branches, two districts and two missions.

And now, in the very near future, there will be a temple to serve them all.

Social Preservation

2011-07-07T21:44:00.000-07:00

I have spent the last three years in a sort of solitary confinement.

Three years ago I came home from studying abroad in France and spent a few months at my parents house looking for a job.

I found a job - at a call center peopled with high-school drop outs. Nice people, I just never met anyone I had a strong desire to hang out with on the weekend, though I thoroughly enjoyed jumping in on the conversations about gangs in inner-city Chicago schools, and Hispanic rap music.

I then moved on to Novell. There are a lot of really great people that work there, but as a software giant whose success peaked in the 90s, it wasn't exactly a blossoming social scene for a 24 year-old fresh out of school. My closest friend there was older than my Dad (he was one of the coolest guys you'll ever meet).

After doing my time there, I then took the largest leap in social-suicide history, and moved to a one-room studio in a small town built along the side of the freeway in France. Most French people have never even heard of it. I lived in a boarding house with students who were all between the ages of 16-20, were afraid of me (the ability to speak English can scare the pants off of people), and only stayed there 4 nights a week. Again, not a great social atmosphere. The staff was great, but when they were around they were working, and if they had nothing to do, they went home. Solitude was the price I paid for a once in a lifetime experience. It was worth it.

I'm not complaining - I have gotten to do things I would have never dreamed possible, but in 5 weeks I'm going back to school - something I said I would never do - and, much to my surprise, I cannot wait.

The reason I'm so excited is that, for the first time in a very long time, I will be surrounded by PEOPLE - people more or less my age (I'm hoping the grad school population is a bit older than the undergrad demographic - I've got nearly a decade on the new freshman), people doing the same thing I'm doing, people who speak the same language(s) I do, people I'll interact with on a daily basis, people that have the potential of becoming good friends - lots and lots of PEOPLE.

I was telling my Mom that instead of referring to my situation over the last three years as social isolation (though it was indeed that), I prefer to refer to it as social preservation. I was being preserved.

"Preserved for what?" She asked.

"For great things... I hope," I answered back, half smiling.

Independence Day

2011-07-06T20:34:00.001-07:00

I love July 4th. Oh, I love it, I love it, I love it. Despite the affinity that I have for Europe and some other areas of the world, the United States of America remains solidly at the top of my list.

I've been reading the book "John Adams" by David McCullough, which has just boosted my love for my country, and those who founded it. It may sound nerdy, but I'm not exaggerating when I say that I spend a healthy portion of every day pondering about my country, the direction in which we're headed, and what I can do to make sure we obtain the best possible outcome. I believe we have something worth all the effort we can muster. America is worth fighting for.

On Friday, the 2nd, my friend Addie and I went backpacking. I met Addie while I was in Israel. She was studying with Laurel at the BYU-Jerusalem Center. The conversation I had with my family just before our trip went something like this:

Mom: So, where did you meet Addie again?

Me: In Israel.

Paige: You met her in Israel?! And now you're just going to go backpacking with her?

Me: Umm... yeah, Paige, it's like I always say, you always meet the best backpacking buddies in Israel.

Paige: I have never heard you say that.

Me: Well, you must not have been listening.

We had a great time in the mountains, and some really good conversations. I love being in an environment where everything that is unnecessary is stripped away. It feels good to focus on the basics, and I find that it enriches conversation.

The weather was ideal. It was one of the only camping experiences I can remember where I didn't wake up freezing at some point.

We left our packs at our campsite and hiked up the mountain a bit the next morning. When we went back to retrieve our packs, I accidentally threw Addie's in the river, sleeping bag, pad, food, and all. Luckily it got snagged on the nearest rock before being carried all the way down the mountain. She forgave me pretty quickly.

On Monday, I woke up early and ran the Kaysville 10k. I don't know what I was thinking, signing up for a 10k. After a (really) long leave of absence, I took up running again just 4 weeks ago. I haven't been very consistent in my training, and I was pretty nervous about this race, but it went well (albeit slow) and it felt really great. I don't remember the last time I ran 6.2 miles. It was probably at Ragnar in June of last year. I saw a lot of friends and neighbors (not that those two terms are mutually exclusive), and part of the race went right in front of my parents' house, so I saw my Dad, too. It was a party. A long, grueling, sweaty party. I had fun.

I went home and showered, and then we hopped on our bikes and road into town for the big parade. Towards the end of our ride we felt like we WERE the parade, riding down main street, lined solid with people waiting for the beginning of the parade after it had been shut down to vehicle traffic.

The parade was LONG, but I really enjoyed the beginning. The Davis High Band followed the American flag, which was the first spot in the parade. They were followed by several cars full of veterans from different branches of the armed service and different wars. I was very moved as they all rolled past. I'm grateful for people who are willing to sacrifice all for our country.

Later that night I rode my bike into town again (my family took a car this time) for fireworks. We laid out on the grass and watched with a few thousand other Kaysville-ites. I would highly suggest using a bike to get around on the Fourth (and just about any other day, for that matter). It's free, and you can skip right past all of the traffic.

It was a fun, relaxing, beautiful Fourth of July.

God bless America.

Moules Marinères

2011-06-23T20:41:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite French dishes is Moules Marinières (mariner mussels). I ate it on the last day of my mission, and I eat it whenever I see it come up on a menu. I love seafood, and the French really know how to do seafood.

So, when wandering down in the tide pools one day we saw mussels all over the rocks, we decided that we would go mussel hunting and cook them up ourselves (Moules Marinières is an expensive dish if you buy it in a restaurant).

The fishing licenses we bought for crabbing turned out to be good for clams and mussels as well - we could collect 72 per license.

Richie, Danny, and I set out, grabbing whatever weapons we could find - broom sticks, a Red Vines bucket, and some kind of sharp fork/spear thing. It was as much about the hunt as the reward.

Setting out on the hunt. I may or may not have a secret dream of giving up my law abiding ways to become a pirate. I think that's reflected in this picture.

The tide was too high, so all the mussels we saw the day before were under water, but we had some other interesting finds

A crab trap.
A very large boot.
We went back today and found thousands of mussels.

We used Danny's golf club to pry some of them off the rocks (it was actually pretty difficult).

We kept them in the fridge all day, soaked them in fresh water for twenty minutes, and then we "debearded" them (removed the strings that had been connecting them to the rocks), and scraped off any barnacles (we did this all after having carefully studied mussel preparation through multiple google searches). It took a lot of work, and we were starting to wonder if it was really worth it.

We found a good Moules Marinières recipe on BBC Food that allowed replacing the white wine with apple cider.

The final product.
They were wonderful. I was so proud of us for whipping up an authentic, tasty recipe at home. Thanks, Frenchies, for teaching me that eating is an art, and worth hours of work. I'll be forever in your debt.

Click, click, click, click

2011-06-22T17:14:00.000-07:00

With Mike leaving on his mission in 2 months, we decided to spend a week as a family on the Oregon Coast. It's beautiful. It's freezing. It's June.

Time on my hands

2011-06-14T21:03:00.000-07:00

I took up solo hiking while living in Provo. I was training for the Haute Route and I could never find anyone to go hiking with (we live next to the ROCKY MOUNTAINS, people, take advantage!). Well, I finally found a worthy hiking companion, who is available 24/7: Copper. My family brought Copper home just weeks after I moved to France, and we've spent the last month slowly becoming friends.

Finding myself with an unplanned day off, I headed for the hills. It was my first time in the mountains since I've been home. I've been aching to get out, but first there was snow, then the road trip, and then I had a million things to get in order after having been gone for so long. Finally, I found myself with a bit of free time.

Copper was the perfect hiking companion. He followed me the whole way up, and lead the the whole way down, stopping every few feet to allow me to catch up. He didn't say anything, so I was able to just take in the silence, and he stopped to see how I was doing when I skidded (unintentionally) down a hill and lost some skin on my hand.

The creek was more full than I've ever seen it. I guess they're not lying when they say we're at 200+% snow pack.
I love this little canyon. It's about two miles from my parents house, and within minutes you feel like you're a world away.

The trail eventually became impassable, especially for Copper, who made me carry him across a small tributary.

So, we found a place to relax and just listened to the water roar down the mountain.

It was a great hike, and much easier for Copper than the three-mile run I dragged him along last week (even with my slow pace, his little legs just couldn't keep up - it wasn't fun for either of us).

Summer soundtrack

2011-06-13T12:40:00.001-07:00

Every summer has a soundtrack. Here's what I've got so far for this year:

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Par for the course

2011-06-11T00:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I:

Chipped my tooth on my fork while eating waffles for breakfast.
Lost an essential piece to our gas-powered weed-eater seconds after I set it down (I think the dog may have ended up with it).
Accidentally made cinnamon-sugar toast with salt instead of sugar.
Found a HUGE scratch on the lens of my glasses.

It was an average day for me (seriously), and kept me laughing (though I did spend some time mourning the lost corner of my tooth).

Mo' betta

2011-06-10T13:57:00.000-07:00

Well, after three whole days of painting houses, my boss informed us that he was taking a week long vacation, so the rest of us (okay, there are only two of us) had the week off as well, by default.

I mentioned a few times in my road trip report a desk that we picked up in Philadelphia. As I started getting ready to head back to the States and start up my life again here, I realized that though I've had some good experiences, I have almost no material possessions. I do not even own a bed (unless a thermarest counts, in which case I have three, but I don't think it does).

I saw a cool desk at a friend's apartment in France my last weekend there, and thought I'd try to find something similar when I got home (I don't know why a desk came before a bed in my head, but I don't have the space to store a bed before I find an apartment, so...). I found several in the Salt Lake area for a couple hundred bucks, and one in Philly for $25. I knew we'd be passing through there, so I bought it, not knowing if my secret plan would actually work or not. This desk almost cost me my relationship with my brothers, nearly kept us from crossing the Canadian border to see Niagara falls, and I ended up spending one night sleeping in an upright position in order to keep it in the car and out of the pouring rain, but somehow it made it back to Utah in one piece, and I'm still friends with both of my brothers (as long as I don't bring up the desk).

So, having a bit of extra time, I decided to refinish the desk. It was had an old, dark brown coat on it, and I wanted to be able to see the natural grain of the wood a bit. Plus, it needed some fixing up. 4,000-ish miles in the car knocked some of the joints loose. I went to work on Monday, and spent several hours each day this week sanding, staining, sealing, nailing, and gluing. I've never refinished anything before, but I kind of always assume that if it can be done, I can do it. I had no idea what a big project I was taking on, but I'm really happy with the result.

Before (I had already started sanding when I realized I should take a picture):

My little helper.

One of several days that I spent covered in saw dust.

After three days of sanding, and about $18 in sand paper.

The finished product.

The hardware is very old and cool looking.

It should be noted that I spent more refinishing it than I spent on the actual desk. I put a few extra nicks and dings in it, but over all I think it looks a lot better than when I started. I found a chair to go with it at the D.I., but I can't bring myself to start refinishing it, too. Maybe later this summer, when my boss decides to take off on another trip.

Dirty Dash

2011-06-06T21:49:00.000-07:00

I have run two 5ks at Soldier Hollow, and they have both been pretty unusual. I guess the venue kind of lends itself to that. The first was on snowshoes with my good, friend, Kelly. The second was last Saturday with my good friend, Amylee, who is an excellent runner, and won a free team entry for the Dirty Dash 5k when she won another race (I never realized that winning races was a possibility, but Amy does it regularly).

There was lots of mud, lots of obstacles, and lots of fun. We jumped walls and hay bails, climbed through tunnels with snow machines shooting at our faces, waded through mud pools, navigated a section of trail covered in tires, and descended a huge blow-up slide. If you ever want to relive 1st grade, I would suggest this race.

The most painful part by far was the ice-cold showers they had at the end of the race to help you get some of the mud off before driving home. An organization was selling $3 tickets for hot showers as a fundraiser, but somehow the idea to bring money with us as we ran through the mud slipped our minds. The temperature of the showers was painful, but if offered some top-notch entertainment. The things people were yelling out in between shrill screams were absolutely classic.

Guy 1: "I think I'm just going to kind of rub off".
Guy 2: "Oh no you don't. You're riding in my car, you're gonna shower!"

Amylee: "I hate you people and your three dollars!!!" (To the hot-shower-people showering comfortably just a few feet away, including our friends Erin and Whit).

Thanks a million for the invite, Amy, it was a BLAST.

Here's the proof:

THE END!!!

2011-06-06T01:33:00.000-07:00

Hey there everyone,

It's about time I finish the end of this trip report - we've been home for over a week now! I realize that I (unintentionally) confused many of you by sending out antedated (that's the first time in my life I've ever used that word) emails. If you look back, the day I was writing about was at the top of each email - but anyway...

Here in Kaysville, it's currently 40° F (4° C) and snowing. Happy Memorial day, everyone.

Well, we briefly saw Palmyra (most everything was closed by the time we showed up, so we just wandered around in the dark a bit), and then Mikey wanted to be sure to squeeze in Niagara Falls before heading home (he flew home a few days before the scheduled end of our trip), so we ate breakfast, thanks to Dana who cooked us up some eggs and bacon, and headed to Canada.

None of us had ever been to Canada before. The desk in our car caused a few raised eyebrows as we crossed the border, but we soon convinced them that we really were siblings, we really were on a road trip across the entire United States, we really weren't coming to buy drugs, and that we really did just pick up a random desk in Philadelphia, so they let us through (we must have pretty honest-looking faces).

The falls were exactly what we expected - they were incredible. I can't imagine discovering them. I think that a lot about different sites out West. Can you imagine just stumbling upon Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon?

We checked out the two different sets of falls (did you know that there were two sets? I sure didn't), and then we went to the Park Service desk and bought tickets to walk around in some tunnels behind the falls. You take an elevator down a shaft that has been dug out and allows you to walk through the rock that lies directly behind the cascading water. It's pretty cool. Plus, on that same level there is a platform that you can go out on just next to the falls as well that offers a really close-up view.

We bought some Canadian junk food (ketchup chips, Aero bars, etc.), and headed back across the border, explaining once again that we had no malicious intent with our desk, and allowing our car to be not so randomly searched without a warrant (he didn't ask, he just opened our trunk and started rummaging through our stuff - is that legal?).

We headed to the Rochester airport and dropped Michael off, who wanted to get home to finish some stuff for his mission paperwork (for those who haven't heard, he received his assignment, and he'll be going to Tijuana, Mexico for two years - he's leaving August 24th).

Matt agreed to head back to Palmyra with me after we dropped Mike off so that we could do some of the tours of the sites we had seen only in the dark the day before. We started by going to the Grandin Printing Press where the first edition of the Book of Mormon was published. The missionary who gave us a tour there was great. The flooring in the printing shop is original. It was cool to thing of the great men and women who walked those floors in anxious anticipation of the completion of the Book of Mormon.

Later, we headed back to an area called the Sacred Grove. For me, it was the culminating experience of our trip. It brought everything that we had seen and experienced to that point together. It seemed to tie our experiences with the humble people of Alabama, thanking God with every breath, the excitement of the American Revolution and the birth of a new country, the power felt in Washington, D.C., and the transcendental ideas of the great American authors of the 19th century buried in Concord, all together. The questions of every honest, yearning heart can be answered by what happened in the Sacred Grove.

If I could go back and visit any place during any time period, I would probably visit New England in the early 1800s, when America was seeking to define herself. It seems to me that it was a time when a lot of questions were being asked. This new country was a blank canvas. I don't think that it was coincidental that at the same time that a new political system was taking root that people were also questioning a lot of establishment in their lives, be it political, religious, or otherwise. I think that at some level, they understood that this new country was theirs to define, and so they did a lot of introspection and questioning.

There has always been a deep religious undertone in American culture. Many of the early European settlers were refugees fleeing religious persecution. They came here to be free to worship as they pleased. In 1787 the Constitution was adopted and became the foundation for the United States government. On December 15, 1791, it was amended for the first time, provided a protection for religious liberty and prevented the establishment of a state religion. The first amendment states:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...".

With this declaration came choice, and many, many options presented themselves. Camp meetings became very popular, people would travel and camp out to listen to different traveling preachers, each with a slightly different message, offering his own interpretation of Christianity and the Bible. This activity led to what is now called the "Second Great Awakening", a revival of great religious fervor at the turn of the 19th century.

In 1805, in the midst of this commotion, Joseph Smith, Jr. was born in Sharon Vermont.

Joseph was very much affected by all of the religious movement around him. He was confused about which direction he should move in. He felt deep concern for the welfare of his soul, but growing up in a home with two parents of two different faiths, and such differing of opinion amongst the religious leaders in his area (he and his family moved to upstate New York a few years after his birth), he didn't know who was right, or who to turn to.

In short, when he was just 14 years old he was reading in the Bible and was deeply touched by a passage of scripture in James 1:5, which reads, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him".

He explained the effect this scripture had upon him and is consequent actions:

"Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.

"At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God. I at length came to the determination to “ask of God,” concluding that if he gave wisdom to them that lacked wisdom, and would give liberally, and not upbraid, I might venture.

"So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally.

"After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God.

"I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"

Joseph learned that the Church of Christ had been dispersed after the martyrdom of his apostles. Many good people, tried to perpetuate and spread Christianity by building up churches and by preserving the treasure that is the Bible, but the authority and organization that existed in the Church Christ established had been lost. Joseph was called to reestablish Christ's church on the earth.

I love Joseph's story. It teaches so much about the nature of God. God is our father, he wants to reach out to us. He loves his children today just as much as he did in ancient times. When people are ready, he always raises up a prophet and establishes His church, because he wants his children to have access to the truth. The Heavens were once again opened.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was officially organized in 1830. In 1838, in the not-so-distant state of Massachusetts, Ralph Waldo Emerson gave an address before the senior class of the Cambridge Divinity College in which he said,

"The stationariness of religion; the assumption that the age of inspiration is past, that the Bible is closed... indicate with sufficient clearness the falsehood of our theology. It is the office of a true teacher to show us that God is, not was; that He speaketh, not spake."

Joseph Smith's experience proved Emerson's words - God is, not was, and he speaketh, not spake. It is a story filled with hope, even more so because it is all true.

It was wonderful to visit Palmyra, NY, to see the Sacred Grove where Joseph prayed and received a magnificent answer to his humble prayer, and to see the simple beginnings of the marvelous work and wonder that has developed into a world-wide faith of more than 14 million followers. It was a special, beautiful place.

We stayed for a short time, and then hit the road again, heading to Cleveland, Ohio. It was Friday evening. Towards the beginning of the drive, Matt said that he would love to make it home to hear his good friend, Collin Brian, report in church on Sunday on the 2 year mission he had just completed in Spain. We plugged our home address into the GPS. We were 32 hours away, and we had 42 hours until we would need to arrive. We decided to go for it.

So, we stopped in Cleveland at my friend Tali's house. Tali and I were roommates my freshman year at BYU-Idaho. She was my sole entertainment that year. We spent many, many Friday nights watching movies and playing guitar. We make it a point to run into each other every couple of years or so. I had seen her in Utah last year, so it was my turn to make the trek.

Matt went straight to bed when we arrived, and I stayed up and caught up with Tali for awhile. I slept probably less than three hours, and Matt slept around 4. Without even saying good-bye, we slipped out her door and started driving again. I slept while Matt drove, and then I drove while Matt attempted to sleep. We went 25 hours straight without ever stopping longer that it took to fill up our gas tank.

We had to laugh when somewhere near Omaha, our GPS instructed us to get on I-80 and head west for 1,007 miles. We counted down each set of one hundred miles to keep ourselves entertained.

We safely arrived at home at 2:30 am on Sunday morning. We slept for a few hours, shocked our parents, who weren't expecting us home until Tuesday, and got to hear Collin speak in church (which was well worth the drive, I must say).

So, all in all, it was an epic road trip with an epic ending. We met wonderful people, saw a lot of countryside, passed about 5 presidential libraries, drove each other crazy a few times, listened to A LOT of music (luckily Matt and Mike have pretty great taste) and made some really great memories. It may sound cheesy, but seeing all of that really changed my perspective on my country. It was like getting to know an old friend more deeply. I've found that the better you know someone, the easier it is to love them, and I definitely feel more love toward my country than I did before this trip.

It has been good to be home, however (a week has passed since I began writing this update, so we've now been home for 2 weeks - sorry - I was experiencing some extreme writer's block). I'm starting to realize that between the road trip, and the eight months I spent in France, I've really been gone for awhile. I'm doing my best to catch up with all of you and see you all as soon as possible. I've seen a lot of you, but even we haven't hung out yet, know that we will soon. I'm ready to be back - I'd much rather be an arm around someone's shoulder than an email in their inbox.

I came home and started looking for work - outside work (I hate spending my summers indoors). I started a job painting houses last week (that should make you laugh, Hélène, considering the awful job I did in your apartment last year), and I've started my own little lawn mowing business on the side. I love it. I spend all day in the sun on a ladder just lost in my own thoughts and covered in paint. I sometimes wonder if our customers realize that I've never painted a house before. I also haven't mowed a yard in years, but my first client tipped me ten extra bucks, so I guess I didn't do too bad a job.

So, there you have it - 16 days - here are the pictures from the last two:
Day 15:

2011 May 20 - Niagra Falls & Palmyra

Day 16:

2011 May 21st - the long drive home

Love,
Nicki

“I would to God that there were more ambition in the country.” And he paused and he said, “By that I mean ambition of the laudable kind; ambition to excel, not to have more power or money or fame, but to excel." - John Adams to Ralph Waldo Emerson quoted by David McCullough

Common sense

2011-06-03T13:30:00.000-07:00

I'm no rocket scientist, but I but I can't figure out why ANYONE would think that this is a good idea:

U.S. Offers Foreign Aid to Countries Holding Billions in Treasury Securities
Published June 03, 2011

Reuters

The United States is providing hundreds of millions of dollars of foreign aid to countries that it borrows billions from, according to a report by Congress's research arm.

The Congressional Research Service released a report last month, a copy of which Fox News exclusively obtained, showing that in fiscal year 2010, the latest year that data was available, the U.S. handed out a total of $1.4 billion to 16 foreign countries that held at least $10 billion in Treasury securities, including China ($27.2 million), Brazil ($25 million), Russia ($71.5 million), India ($126.6 million), Mexico ($316.7 million) and Egypt ($255.7 million).
China is the largest holder of U.S. Treasury bonds with $1.1 trillion as of March, according to the Treasury Department. Brazil held $193.5 billion, Russia had $127.8 billion, India owned $39.8 billion, Mexico held $28.1 billion and Egypt had $15.3 billion.

The foreign aid to these countries is earmarked for a variety of causes, such as HIV/AIDs prevention, combating weapons of mass destruction, fighting tuberculosis, and counterterrorism efforts.

A photo of US Treasury Savings Bond - 10,000 dollar Series I Bond. (AP)
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who requested the report, sounded the alarm.
"Borrowing money from countries who receive our aid is dangerous for both the donor and recipient," Coburn said in a written statement. "If countries can afford to buy our debt, perhaps they can afford to fund assistance programs on their own.
"At the same time, when we borrow from countries we are supposedly helping to develop, we put off hard budget choices here at home," he added. "The status quo creates co-dependency and financial risk at home and abroad."

The State Department did not respond to a request for comment.

The report arrives as lawmakers in Washington battle over the conditions for increasing the nation's ability to borrow money before defaulting on its obligations, which is scheduled to happen in August. The government reached its $14.3 trillion borrowing limit last month. Both sides agree that spending cuts are needed, but Republicans refuse to raise taxes that Democrats are insisting on.
President Obama has met privately with both sides this week over the issue, but no progress has been made. Moody's Investors Service said Thursday that if the parties don't make progress soon, it would place the U.S. rating under review for a possible downgrade.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/06/02/us-offers-foreign-aid-to-countries-holding-billions-in-treasury-securities/#ixzz1OFNfETsh

Day 14

2011-05-27T13:26:00.000-07:00

19 - May - 2011

Dear friends and family,

Before I forget, here are yesterday's pictures of Boston and Concord:

2011 May 18 - Boston & Concord

Today we woke up bright and early, had a good breakfast, and headed off to Sharon, Vermont, the birth place of the first prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Sharon is a small, very quaint, farming community. I've been so surprised to find how much wide, open space there is east of the Mississippi. With the exception of the big cities we've passed through, almost everything we've seen has been very rural.

The Church owns the farm land that once belonged to the Mack family, the family of Joseph's mother. It's a beautiful site.

There is a small visitor's center on site where we learned more about the history of the Smith family. We also had the opportunity to watch a film about Joseph's life. I know his story fairly well, but I alway love hearing about his life and the kind of person he was. As members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints, we don't worship our prophets, no more than we worship prophets in the Bible, but I am truly grateful for the life Joseph Smith lived, the example he set, and the great work he was able to accomplish in his short 38 years. He had such great courage.

As the movie came to an end, we ran into Marc and Pam again. They had arrived while we were watching the movie, and had started the first part of the tour. We finished the tour together. We were standing outside learning about the solid granite monument that marks the place of his birth, when a couple arrived. They asked if we were just starting the tour, and our guide told them that no, we were just finishing, but that she could start a new tour with them in just a few minutes.

Our tour ended and we asked the couple where they were from. They were German. I asked what city in Germany they were from. They said, "Hannover". I told them that I had just been in Hannover a couple of months earlier doing some genealogy. They asked me if I was the girl who had stayed with their son and daughter-in-law, Benny and Quinn. Yup, you guessed it, it was me. I had to laugh, the man looked so much like his son, Benny. I was surprised I hadn't noticed it sooner. Marc and Pam just laughed and Pam kept saying, "Oh my, Nicki. Of course you would know these people". It was great. If we hadn't stayed to watch the movie, we would have never seen them!

Afterward, we drove several hours to Palmyra, New York, the place that Joseph's family moved to a few years after his birth. Most of the sites were closed, but we were able to visit the Hill Cumorah visitor's center for a few minutes and wander around on the hill. The Hill Cumorah was the place where Joseph Smith was instructed to go to find the ancient record that he eventually translated. That translation is now known as the Book of Mormon, and is one of the cornerstones of our faith. The sky was gorgeous that evening. It was really neat to be there, and to see that none of it has changed much in the last nearly two hundred years. It was still a small, rural town. I loved it. We went over to an area called the Sacred Grove, and wandered around in the rain until the sun set. I'll write more about that area tomorrow.

Here are today's pictures:

2011 May 19 - Sharon & Palmyra

Love,
Nicki

Mikey

2011-05-25T14:01:00.000-07:00

Mike is a great guy. He was, by far, the most easy going member of our trip, as demonstrated in the photos below:

Today he got his mission call. This video is pretty funny:

We're so excited for you, Mike!

Stake President

2011-05-25T13:16:00.000-07:00

This man was my stake president in France (a stake president is a regional leader of the church). He's seriously one of the coolest people I've ever met. He had a profound influence on me during my short 8 months in his stake. The members of the Church are so cool in France.

Day 13

2011-05-23T22:36:00.000-07:00

18 - May - 2011

Hi friends and family,

Sorry for the delay in updates. Contrary to some rumors that I had to stomp out this morning, we did not fall nor jump off the Statue of Liberty. I also need to apologize for my poor grammar in my past emails, that has made me the subject of family mocking (all good humored, of course). When I write, I write quickly, and I make tons of mistakes. Hopefully you've all been able to decipher my cryptic messages. The "there" vs. "their" is always an embarrassing error, but using "sale" instead of "sell" was especially painful. I hope you all have recovered and are ready for another installment.

We spent our second night sleeping in a parking lot. 2 nights in two weeks is much better than we were planning on. It was pouring rain from the time we left New York to the moment we stopped, so I was glad to pull over and wait it out a bit.

We woke up in the morning and drove into Boston - the birthplace of the American revolution. We found the tourism office and picked up a map of the "Freedom Trail" - a path through the city that can be walked or biked and takes you right through all of the major historically-significant sights. We tried to find a place to park, but could find anything, so we drove past a few of the sights and then out to the pier where the Boston Tea Party took place. We tried to go to Paul Revere's house, but got pretty lost. At that point my brothers had decided that they had seen enough of Boston (they have very short attention spans), but I talked them into stopping by the USS Constitution - an old warship also referred to as "Old Ironsides" - before heading out.

At the shipyard we ran into my aunt and uncle. We found out just before leaving on this trip that they were coincidentally planning on being in the East Coast at the same time. We ended up being in Boston on the same day, but we didn't think we'd run into them. They were just finishing up the tour of the USS Constitution. I was very grateful that we ran into them, because they were able to convince my brothers that it was worth taking the time to walk over the bridge back into Boston to see at least a few of the historical sites.

We put a few extra quarters into the meter and headed over the bridge into the old quarter of town. We only spent about 45 minutes there, but we got to see Paul Revere's home, the Old North Church where he hung his lamps ("one if by land, two if by sea") to warn of British invasion, and just before heading back to the car, we walked through Quincy market to peruse the different delicacies from almost any country you could imagine.

We got back to our car one minute before the meter expired. We had a knack for that during our trip. The boys humored me by taking a trip up to Concord, MA. I'm so glad we went. I've read, and studied, and dreamed about some of the places in Concord, and I have to say that it was more beautiful than I could have imagined. We first went to Walden Pond.

In 1845, a writer named Henry David Thoreau, inspired in part by Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay, "Nature", which put forth the new (at the time) idea that men should seek a sort of spiritual relationship with nature, and seeking to simplify his life and strip it down to the basics, set out and built a small cabin, where he lived and wrote for two years, exploring not only the nature around him, but the people around him as well. He did not live the life of a hermit.

From that experience came his famous quote, "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion."

L. Tom Perry gave a great talk called, "Let Him Do It with Simplicity,” In which he talked about Thoreau's experiences at Walden Pond, and his own as well.

While working at Badger Creek, a pretty simplistic setting, Allison shared a quote with our staff one week from Thoreau that has always stuck with me. It reminds me that no matter what we are doing - however monotonous it may feel, we should look at each day as an adventure and try to learn from it. He said, "We should come home from adventures, and perils, and discoveries every day with new experience and character".

And finally, one of my favorite Thoreau quotes hung on the wall of my cube at Novell, and inspired me to hike la Haute Route last fall in Switzerland. I read it to my hiking companions during one of our more grueling ascents (it's long, but it's dynamite):

"I have met with but one or two persons in the course of my life who understood the art of Walking, that is, of taking walks--who had a genius, so to speak, for SAUNTERING, which word is beautifully derived "from idle people who roved about the country, in the Middle Ages, and asked charity, under pretense of going a la Sainte Terre," to the Holy Land, till the children exclaimed, "There goes a Sainte-Terrer," a Saunterer, a Holy-Lander. They who never go to the Holy Land in their walks, as they pretend, are indeed mere idlers and vagabonds; but they who do go there are saunterers in the good sense, such as I mean. Some, however, would derive the word from sans terre without land or a home, which, therefore, in the good sense, will mean, having no particular home, but equally at home everywhere. For this is the secret of successful sauntering. He who sits still in a house all the time may be the greatest vagrant of all; but the saunterer, in the good sense, is no more vagrant than the meandering river, which is all the while sedulously seeking the shortest course to the sea. But I prefer the first, which, indeed, is the most probable derivation. For every walk is a sort of crusade, preached by some Peter the Hermit in us, to go forth and reconquer this Holy Land from the hands of the Infidels".

It was raining lightly as we wandered around Walden pond. Today visitors are restricted to a trail, but it has all been wonderfully preserved. I got as lost as possible and just wandered around and ran up and down the trail. I loved it. I think I could have set up camp there for two years as well.

Afterward, we drove into the heart of Concord to Orchard House where Louisa May Alcott once lived. It is both the place she wrote the book, "Little Women", and the setting of that book. I'm ashamed to say that I still haven't read Little Women, but the 1994 film version is my favorite movie, and I have watched it countless times. I'm pretty sure that Jo and I are kindred spirits. I love that whole era.

We finished off our time in Concord by heading to Sleepy Hollow - a cemetery. We drove up to Author's Ridge, a corner of the cemetery where Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathanial Hawthorne, and Louisa May Alcott are all buried. Many of them had small stones and trinkets on their headstones. Thoreau's was surround by pencils planted in the ground. His family had a pencil making business.

I loved Concord. I think I may have to live there one day. I have pretty aggressively and consistently preached the good news of the Western United States to anyone who would listen, but Concord won my heart over. After Revel, France, it just might be the most beautiful town I've ever seen. Much of the East has been gorgeous. I knew my country was beautiful, but this trip has shown me just how beautiful and varied she really is.

Tonight Marc and Pam kindly invited us to stay with them at their hotel in White River Junction, Vermont. Marc and Pam are amongst my favorite people on the planet. I have gone significantly out of my way in the past just to be able to hang out with them for a few minutes, and though we didn't plan this trip just so that we could see them, I would have. It has been so great getting to spend time with them, and the hotel is a HUGE step up from the hotel parking lot we slept in last night. We've been blessed by great people all throughout this trip.

Love,
Nicki

PS I can't find my camera cable, so I'll sent pictures tomorrow.

Day 12

2011-05-19T23:12:00.000-07:00

17-May-2011
Dear friends and family,
We woke up early today for a change! We wanted to get to the Spiderman theater early to try to get some “rush” tickets. They sell a few tickets the morning of the show for only 30 bucks (normally tickets are $67-140). We showed up an hour and half early and there were only three people in front of us. We spent the next 90 minutes telling each other stupid jokes and showing each other our scars just to pass the time (that’s what you do when you’re traveling with two boys).
We were able to get some really awesome tickets – front row and just right of center. We paid 30 dollars each for tickets that normally sale for 140 each. Not a bad gig.

We headed over to Rockefeller Center and spent some time perusing the NBC Studio store.

We then took the subway up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, or Met. It’s a very impressive museum. Visiting anything with my brothers that requires some time to enjoy, however, is basically impossible. They are interested in going to all these famous sites to say they’ve been there, but they have no interest in seeing what is actually there.

We got in line to buy our tickets and I made the mistake of telling them that the entrance fee was just a “suggested donation”. I paid my ticket, and then stepped aside and pretended not to know them as this conversation went down:

Matt: Do we have to donate?

Lady at the ticket both: Yes, a donation is required, but you can donate whatever you want.

Matt: Can I donate zero?

Lady: No, you have to donate something.

Matt: Umm…. Four dollars (for both he and Mike – regular tickets are 20 dollars each and students are 10)?

Lady: Ok.

The boys got there tickets and as we walked away Matt said, “Well, that was only awkward for about one and a half minutes. Why would I pay to see a bunch of art I don’t even want to see?” The kid’s got a point, I guess.

I tried to take them to the more exciting exhibits to capture their attention for as long as possible. We checked out the modern art. There were some pieces by Picasso, Goya (those weren’t in the Modern section), Matisse, Pollock, and a few others. I found a couple from Pollock that weren’t his usually drippings, and I really liked them. The paintings from Matisse were also cool. They also had one of Calder’s mobiles hanging up. Calder, though American, spent a large portion of his life in France, and when Liz, Chad, and I were studying abroad in Tours there was a small castle that had been turned into a Calder museum in town. We spent an afternoon checking it out. I really like his stuff.

Before leaving, we also went to the musical instrument section and saw RIngo’s gold drum, along with some other really crazy looking instruments.

After the museum, we headed back to Grand Central Station for lunch. I stopped on the way and bought the “world’s best” pastrami sandwich. I realized only after ordering it that it was $15. I’m pretty sure that’s about 5 bucks more than the most expensive sandwich I’ve ever purchased in my life, but it was pretty tasty.

We decided to have a siesta at Grand Central, and after eating, the boys put their heads down and took a nap at our table, and I read for a bit. Matt woke up, and Mike continued to sleep a bit longer. All of the sudden a crazy old man walked up with a huge grin on his face, put his hand on Mike’s shoulder, and told him to pick his head up. He then said, loudly, and almost laughing, “Boy, somebody LOVES you!
Getting your f***ing head up! No reason to be down! Ha!!” He then turned to Matt and said, talking about Mike, “He’s a good guy!” He smiled, laughed again, and went on his way. He made our day. It was hilarious.

We headed over to time square, bought a few souvenirs, and then lined up at the Spiderman theatre until the doors opened. Our seats were so good. We could hardly believe it. The show was great. Matt I was surprised at how much the boys liked it. Matt said he didn’t think he was going to like Broadway, but he loved it. It was pretty incredible everything they were able to do with some ropes and harnesses. I didn’t love the music during the first half, but the second half was better. It was written by Bono and the Edge from U2, and there were some very U2-esque riffs. Any Spiderman fan would know the story line already, but it was still very entertaining.

We had left our car at the hotel parking lot, even though check out was at 11am, and it was surprisingly still there when we got back after the show. Mike and I stopped at a taco stand to get to dinner. The area our hotel was in was completely Hispanic. There was a long line of people waiting at the taco stand, so we knew it was going to be good. The people running it didn’t speak any English, so I pulled out my rusty Spanish, and it worked just enough to get us some really killer food. Yum. One other English speaker showed up just after we ordered, and twenty minutes later, while we were still all waiting for our food, she freaked out. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the F-word dropped so many times in such a short period of time. I had to turn my face away to keep from laughing (not because I think that kind of language is funny, but what on earth was she freaking out about?). I started getting a bit nervous when she started shouting raciest stuff to the Hispanics all around us (she was black, we were white, and everyone else was Hispanic) – I was sure a fight was going to break out, but everyone was cool, and just laughed it off once she left.

Here are the pics:

2011 May 17 - NYC

Love,
Nicki

Day 11

2011-05-19T22:58:00.000-07:00

16-May-2011

Dear family and friends,

Today we had a pretty low-key day today. There has been nothing but rain in the forecast since we arrived, but we lucked out on our other days by experiencing very little rain. All of that ended today. We got up and got ready, and then headed over to Central Park to try to rent a row boat so that we could paddle around the lake. It was raining lightly, but we had hopes that the boat house would still be open. We were wrong.

So, instead of boating, we wandered through the park, attempting to reach the subway station on the other side. In the process, we came across some cool stuff, like an amphitheater and a castle. We got to the other side of the park and realized that we actually weren’t at the other side at all; we were right back where we had started. It was pretty funny. It didn’t matter, though. We didn’t need to be on the other side; we had just picked that as a destination. We hoped on the subway and headed downtown.

We got off the subway on the east side of 42nd and started walking west. We came across Grand Central Station and went inside to explore. There were tons of cool little shops inside, and food was all incredible. They had a lot of French pastries, and a huge fresh market with French-style breads, cheeses, different meats and seafood. The whole experience made me a bit homesick for France.

Afterwards we went over to the U.S.S. Intrepid, a huge aircraft carrier that has been turned into a museum. It was pretty cool to learn about the history of the boat. It served a tour (or maybe a few) in the Pacific during World War II and survived 5 kamikaze attacks. There were about 3,200 men that lived aboard, if I remember correctly. It was converted into an aircraft carrier during the Cold War and played in important role in the USSR. It was later retired and docked in New York and turned into a museum, but the FBI took it over as office space for awhile after September 11th as they were investigating the attack.

We especially enjoyed the “Exploreum” section of the museum, which I’m pretty sure was built for elementary school-aged children, but we loved it. There were tons of hands-on activities. We got to sit in cockpits and try to keep ships from sinking. I’m pretty sure we saved the United States from attack at least ten times.

We finished off the night by ordering some pasta from a restaurant near Central Park and taking it back to our hotel. We kept getting on express trains by accident, though, and we over shot our stop about 4 times in a row, each time getting closer and closer to our destination.

It was a good day.

Here's the pics:

2011 May 16 - NYC

Love,

Nicki

The Golden Door

2011-05-16T18:38:00.000-07:00

Dear family and friends,

I'm going to start with a bit of history today (if you haven't already noticed, I really enjoy history).

Greece was once a mighty world power. It's geographic stretch was vast, and it's cultural influence was even greater. In the third century before Christ, in celebration of one of their military victories, the Greeks constructed a statue on the island of Rhodes. The statue was of the Greek god of Helios - the god of the sun. He stood 107 feet tall, and his two massive legs spanned the entry of the city's port - one leg each planted on the two platforms that flanked the port's entry. This statue is referred to as the Colossus of Rhodes, and is considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It stood for only 56 years before being destroyed by an earthquake.

If the majesty of the Colossus of Rhodes could be considered a metaphor for the grandeur of Ancient Greece, it's fall could also be considered a foreshadowing of the fate of Greece as well. Prosperity eventually led to internal conflict and greed, both of which severely weakened the great empire.

On the other side of the Atlantic, in 1776 a new nation was born, an experiment, of sorts. The experiment can be summarized in this question: Can man rule himself? The founders of the United States of America took a leap of faith with they optimistically concluded that, yes, man was capable of governing himself and living in freedom. They knew, however, that in order for self-government to work - true liberty - that the men and women in question had to be good. Morality was at the foundation of the American experiment.

The first president of this new nation, George Washington, said, "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens. … And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."

This idea is also explained in the Book of Mormon, when a certain king is nearing death, he decides that instead of appointing another king to reign in his place, he will set up a system of judges to allow the people to govern themselves. His reasoning is also based on morality. He argues that a king can lead the people into a lot of trouble if he happens to be wicked, but that the general population tends to choose what it right, which will help them avoid a lot of problems. The king, named Mosiah, states: "Now it is not common that the voice of the people desireth anything contrary to that which is right; but it is common for the lesser part of the people to desire that which is not right; therefore this shall ye observe and make it your law—to do your business by the voice of the people" (Alma 29:26).

And so it began. A new nation was born, and it became a refuge from the Old World, the old way of thinking, and the old system of classes and hierarchy. After its construction, new immigrants coming to join in this experiment were welcomed by a statue at the entrance of New York's Harbor. Her name: La Liberté éclairant le monde,or Liberty Enlighting the World. Most would call her simply, the Statue of Liberty. At the turn of the 20th century, Emma Lazarus wrote the following poem about a New Colossus, and a plaque bearing that poem was placed on the interior wall of the Statue of Liberty. It reads:

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Emma Lazarus, 1883

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!". While wandering the streets of Europe, I would often turn these words over in my head again, and again, and again, especially as I walked through ancient memorials to that "storied pomp". In Paris, the Louvre is a memorial of sorts of a long since past ruling class, and the kings who made their home there. In Athens, the Acropolis is a reminder of former greatness. There are countless other examples.

Millions left behind the 'storied pomp' of the old world for freedom. Today, we took a boat out to the Statue of Liberty and then to Ellis Island, the former portal for all immigrants into the United States. At Ellis Island we watched a film with the voices and stories of some immigrants (well, I watched it, and my brothers slept through it). One man from Russia said that he was shocked to find police officers at Ellis Island there to help him, instead of oppressing him. He decided that if he was rejected because of health or other reasons (less than 2% of those who passed through Ellis Island were rejected), he would jump off his boat into the water. He said he would never go back to Russia - he never wanted to see it again.

America took many of Europe's children. The experiment in freedom was wildly successful. The irony of the situation is that the freedom experienced by Europe's children in this new nation spread - it spread all the way back to the Old World. It broke down the old systems, and the old classes. Liberty truly did "enlighten" the entire world. Victor Hugo once said that, "An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come." It was as if all that was needed was a blank canvas - an open place and an ocean to cross allowed those who came to leave everything behind.

I spent the last 8 months in Europe. One of the most memorable parts of my trip was to an area in Germany called Bad Essen. In two nearby villages, my great-great-great grandparents, Karl Ludwig Peter Juergens and Maria Ilsebein Groene grew up, married, and immigrated to the United States.

I have many immigrant stories in my ancestry. A few of my ancestors arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts in the mid 1600s. Others immigrated from England in the 1800s when they joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a sacrifice I'm extremely grateful for. My grandmother's grandparents came directly from Norway. But something has struck me about Karl and Maria. I did my best to track them down in Germany. I went to their small towns. I thought about the voyage they made and everything they left behind. They went through Ellis Island on their way to Chicago, and eventually to Missouri. As we took the boat over to Liberty Island and then Ellis Island, I tried to imagine what it must have been like for them. It must have been wonderful. They were true pioneers.

I like to believe that my adventurous spirit comes from my ancestors who had the courage to cross an ocean, and start their lives over in a new country. I think that courage is exactly what it is going to take to keep this experiment alive. Liberty has brought great prosperity, which can lead to the greed and interior struggles that brought down the Greeks and the Romans. It can be found everywhere in the world today. The Founding Fathers of our country knew that in order for a people to govern themselves and maintain their "unalienable" right to liberty, they had to be moral and upright. It is going to take courage to make good, selfless decisions in a day in age when the reasons to do so might not always be obvious. This challenge is our frontier. It's time for us to be pioneers as well.

"Where freedom is, there is my country". - Benjamin Franklin

In addition to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, we also visited Ground Zero, where the Freedom Tower is being built in the shadow of the original Twin Towers. It will be taller than the original two towers. In fact, it will be the tallest building in the United States. For me, it's a symbol that we will not live our lives in fear.

We also walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, which was once considered the "greatest engineering feet of mankind" and is another symbol of American perseverance.

And, we started out the day at church. We attended a student congregation right downtown, in the same building as the temple. It was a really good meeting. I met a family that was in town for their daughter's graduation from Colombia. They had lived in Paris for a few years and new a girl that had been a missionary in Geneva at the same time that I was there. The world really is pretty small.

I loved everything we were able to see today. It was a good Sunday.

Here are today's pics:

2011 May 15, NYC

Love,

Nicki

The Big Apple

2011-05-15T19:52:00.000-07:00

Dear friends and family,

We got a late start (again, it's kind of becoming a theme along this trip). We finally rolled out around... noon. We woke up at 8, but everyone thought that someone else was getting up to get in the shower, and before we knew it, it was 10 am. Whoops!

We drove through Philadelphia to catch Interstate 95 north to New York, but not before stopping to pick up a desk. I had been looking for a certain style of desk, and I found one for $25 (the others I looked at were a couple hundred) in Philly, so I paid for it a couple weeks ago, and we threw it into the van today. We'll see if it makes it all the way back to Utah or not. If it becomes too much of a pain, it will probably become fire wood.

We arrived at our hotel around 3pm. To our surprise, it is located on the same street as the subway, which makes our commute to downtown so much easier than we had planed on. We hop on the 7 and it takes us directly to Time Square - no transfers. The down side is that we are in Queens, and the subway is above ground here, so we hear trains going by the hotel every couple of minutes, but so far it hasn't been a problem. We're staying in a pretty sketchy neighborhood, but our hotel is pretty nice (I recently stayed in a hotel that didn't have carpet in the hallways - just particle board).

We dropped off our stuff and headed into town. We've been steadily traveling into more and more populated areas as our trip progresses, but I think it was a slight shock to all of us to pop up in the middle of Time Square and start exploring from that point. New York City really is a concrete jungle. This place is so crazy. I keep wondering, "Why to 18 million people feel the need to live in the exact same spot?" But I have to admit, New York has a certain draw to it, and I don't consider myself much of a city kid. I think it's the challenge that makes it exciting. Living here would be a way to kind of test yourself - to see if you would sink or swim.

Anyway, we wandered around Time Square for awhile and checked out a few of the stores. We wandered into a street market that was just shutting down and bought some Argentine food.

A short time later, we headed to the pier and took a night cruise around the city. New York City is beautiful. It's unlike any place I've ever been, and it is chalk full of history. Each building is so unique, and yet together, they all seem to fit. I enjoyed learning a bit about some of the individual buildings and piers from the tour guide on the boat.

My favorite part of New York is seeing the Statue of Liberty. She is absolutely beautiful. We got our first close up look of her has we sailed around the island tonight. I still remember the first time I saw her in 2002, it nearly took my breath away. I could just stare at that statue forever. I LOVE that she's a gift from France. It makes me feel like we have a piece of French soil planted here. The United States owes a lot to France. They funded our revolution after Benjamin Franklin made several transatlantic trips to petition the French government for money, and they have helped us in numerous other ways as well. I believe that the American revolution was an inspired event, and I find it significant that France facilitated that essential moment in our history.

We grabbed some dinner and came back to the hotel fairly early. It was a good day!

Today's pics:

2011 May 14 - New York

Love,
Nicki

Day 8

2011-05-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

Dear family and friends,

It's hard to believe that we've been on the road for over a week - and most of our trip is still yet to come! It has been a week full of great experiences. I think that the next week will be just a good (though we all have a soft spot in our heart now for Alabama).

We headed out later than we planned on today, and then I might have made a few wrong turns that just added to our lateness. We finally arrived in Philadelphia around 4pm. We went straight to Kelly and Dave's house. I love Kelly and Dave. Kelly is one of my best friends. We met back in 2002 when I was I freshman in college, and she had just returned home from her mission. We were both taking Experiential Education (a recreation leadership class), and then by chance, through some last minute changes, we ended up both working at a ranch called Badger Creek that summer. We bunked right next to each other. The next year we spent a semester as roommates with my childhood friend, Steph Schmutz, at about the same time Kelly started dating Dave. They were also my most faithful climbing partners when we all lived in Provo for a year.

In short, I was really, really excited to see them. They moved to Philadelphia almost 2 years ago so that Dave could go to physician's assistant school. They have one more kid since the last time I saw them, and he's almost a year old! They loaded up their three kids, and we headed downtown. We saw Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, Benjamin Franklin's printing shop and the location of his home, and Elfreth's Alley - the oldest continuously inhabited street in the United States. Elfreth's Alley was really neat. The houses were so cool. We also went to the Museum of Art and ran up the Rocky steps.

We came home, cooked up some dinner. I made a typical French meal for everyone. We talked for a few hours, ate some ice cream, started our laundry, and headed off to bed. It was fun to talk to Kelly about Israel, because she had spent a semester there before we met up in Idaho.

All in all, it was a great day.

Here are the pictures:

2011 May 13, Philadelphia, PA

Love,
Nicki

Day 7

2011-05-14T09:49:00.000-07:00

Dear friends and family,

We got a really late start today, and when we finally made it over to the metro station, there wasn't a single parking space left (which is pretty impressive, considering that there are two massive parking structures on either side of the freeway). So, we decided to drive to the Pentagon and try our luck at finding a parking spot nearby. Finally arrived after making several wrong turns, getting on a few freeways unintentionally, and finally parking at a mall in the Pentagon city area. We arrived just in time for our 1 pm tour appointment. I was really excited to be able to tour the Pentagon. That's one thing I hadn't done before. It's an impressive structure. It's the world's largest low-rise office building, and it is huge.

The interior offered a lot of surprises. It's kind of like a small city inside. Security is very tight to get in, but once you're in, it seems almost like a shopping center. There are little shops and fast-food restaurants all over the place. I think my favorite part of the tour was seeing all of the quilts, images, and murals paying tribute to those who died at the Pentagon when American Airlines flight 77 was hijacked by terrorist and flow into the side of the building. 189 people died that day, including a 3 year old girl who was the youngest victim. I'll never understand the motivations behind that violent day, but I think that the reaction of the American people has largely been one of faith and dignity. I think that day helped us grow together as a people. It's amazing to see the good that can come out of tragedy. It reminds me of a meaning of Ether 12:27 that doesn't always immediately come to mind when the Lord says, "if [men] humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them".

It also brings to mind 2 Corinthians 4:15-17, "For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory".

In short, being at the Pentagon was a moving experience. The tour guides are all active military personnel. They are selected from their platoons and sent to DC to learn an 11 page double-sided script, to learn to walk backwards (the spend the entire tour facing the group), and to learn to navigate the Pentagon. At the end of two or three weeks they are given a few shots to pass a test, if they succeed, they spend a year as a tour guide, if they fail, they are sent back to their platoons. Our guide was brand new, and he did a great job.

After the Pentagon, we went to the American History Smithsonian. We saw the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star Spangled Banner". It's very large, and very old. We saw several other interesting artifacts. A few sites have had tributes of Ronald Reagan, since 2011 is the 100th anniversary of his birth. I enjoyed seeing his things. He's probably my favorite president from the last century.

We then went to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. I had been to that museum back in 2004. Of all the Holocuast memorials and tributes I've seen, the one in DC is probably the best. It is so well thought out, tactful, respectful, and educational. It's not a pleasant subject, but an important one to learn from. I'm most amazed by those who survived that ordeal and maintained their faith. They were not few. It's inspiring to hear their stories. Just a month or so ago I came across this quote from Bep Ten Boom, the sister of Corrie, the author of the Hiding Place. Bep died a week or so before the liberation. Just days before her death, she said:

"We must open a home for people who have suffered so much here and in other places where life has been completely disrupted by the war. But the most important part of our task will be to tell everyone who will listen that Jesus is the only answer to the problems that are disturbing the hearts of men and nations. We shall have the right to speak because we can tell from our experience that His light is more powerful than the deepest darkness. Surely, nothing could be darker than our experiences here. I keep telling myself, 'things cannot possible grow worse,' but every day we see that misery only deepens. How wonderful that the reality of His presence is greater than the reality of the hell around us."

We spent a couple of hours at the Holocaust museum, and then we walked over to the White House to take a few pictures before heading home for the night.

Here are today's pictures. We took very few because we spent most of the day at the Pentagon and the Holocaust Museum, and we weren't allowed to take pictures at either of those locations.

Enjoy:

2011 May 12, Washington DC

Love,
Nicki

DC day 2

2011-05-13T12:11:00.001-07:00

11 - May - 2011

Dear friends and family,

So, my parents taught me an embarrassing history lesson after yesterday's email - the Salem Witch Trials took place in Salem, MASSACHUSETTS, not Salem, VIRGINIA. I though it had been further north, but figured I was just wrong. Woops. It makes our lie to Mike about the museum even funnier, though. We all had a good laugh this morning.

Today was a full day in DC. We drove to a nearby metro station and took the train into downtown. We had an appointment to tour the capital building at 8:50. We were late, but the nice thing about being in DC in May is that it's not busy, and the weather is perfect, so we were able to join the next tour. The highlight of the tour for me was seeing that Nancy Pelosi's name has been replaced on the door of the office of the Speaker of the House (I don't know much about John Boener, but I was really, really glad to see Pelosi replaced). I really love history, and it was fun to hear some of the stories of different politicians and events at the capital.

After the tour of the Capital, we headed over to the national archives. There were no more advanced tickets when we went online to book them, and when I was here in August there was a 4 hour wait to get into the archives, but we were able to walk right up and head straight inside. We spent a good amount of time wandering some of the displays that showed previously classified documents that have since been released to the public.It was actually pretty fascinating. We ready about the Kennedy assassination, the Pumpking papers (I didn't know what they were until reading about them), the Rosenbergs, UFOs, and several other interesting events in US history.

Afterwards, we went into the Rotunda area of the archives where the Constitution, the declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights are all kept on display. I love seeing them. I especially love the Declaration of Independence. It is very faded, and most of it is impossible to read, but you can see John Hancock's large signature across the bottom, and you can read most of the last line of the text, which happens to be my favorite part. It reads, "And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor". I love that line. I love that the founders of our nation recognized that their honor should be worth something, that they needed to live honorable lives, and that they could pledge those lives to the building up of the country because an honorable has value in so much as it allows people to place their confidence in you.I'm grateful that they were willing to make those sacrifices to build something great.

After the Archives, we checked out the Air and Space museum. There are several very cool items on display there. It was interesting to listen to and read some information about the space program. I wonder how important space exploration has really been, all things considered. It's a very, very expensive program (a couple of months ago there was talk of freezing NASA's budget for several years - did that ever happen?).

We then took the metro over to Arlington National Cemetery. It's a beautiful, very peaceful place. There are over 325,000 service men and women buried there from every war since the Civil War. We took the shuttle to the Kennedy grave site, the tomb of the unknown soldier, and to General Lee's home.

The Kennedy grave site is impressive, and in the granite wall the borders the front, there are several quotes from Kennedy. Here were a couple of my favorites (you'll probably recognize both of them):

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty". John F. Kennedy

"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man". John F. Kennedy

I've always loved that second one. I think that if we all put it into practice more regularly, it would solve a majority of the problems that face our country today.

After Arlington we headed home. It was pretty early, but we just made dinner and chilled for awhile. I chatted with Carrie for a couple of hours. It was a great day.

I'll finish this email with a pretty useless fact, but you might find it interesting. I've been sending most of these emails while one the road. We have turned the van into a mobile work station. We have a auxiliary cord running all the way from the back of the van to the front where we can plug in our ipods, and phones to hear them projected over the car's speakers, and we have Matt's smart phone that get's 4G and can act as a Wifi hotspot at the same time, so we have two laptops in the car that have been getting pretty regular connection to the internet. Matt has even been working (he works online) and earning money along the way. We can search different sites along our route, find the closest gas station, and even the cheapest gas at any given moment based on our location. Technology is crazy.

Here are today's pics:

2011 May 11, Washington DC

All my love,

Nicki

Walking the streets of D.C.

2011-05-13T11:41:00.000-07:00

10 - May - 2011

Dear friends and family,

Last night we slept at the home of a really nice family in Knoxville, TN. We have met such great people along our path. The thing I love most about traveling is meeting different people. This trip has been full of them.

We slept in a bit, and got on the road just after 10 am. We had originally planned on driving straight from Tuscaloosa to Washington, DC, but realized afterward that it would be a lot more comfortable to break the 13 hour drive into two parts, so we drove 5 hours to Knoxville, and 8 more hours to DC today. It was a fairly uneventful day on the road, but the whole route was gorgeous. We drove through a small corner of North Carolina, a state I’ve always wanted to visit – one of my best friends is from there. I’ll have to go back and check it out in greater depth later. Virginia was beautiful. I think I’m going to have to move to Virginia at some point in my life. We passed the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah River, and everything that John Denver said was true – it is almost heaven. I think that I didn’t realize that such a place existed in the United States. It’s green, the weather was perfect, and the mountains were beautiful.

We stopped in Salem hoping to find some historical evidence of the Salem Witch Trials, but we found nothing. We stopped a a museum, and Mike didn't want to come in, so we spent a few minutes looking around and then tried to make him believe that he had just missed out on the coolest stop of the trip, when in fact, all we had seen were some old boy scout uniforms and some antique dolls. Matt said he felt seriously sorry for anyone who has to work at that museum. Mike wasn't fooled, but we have been insisting that the museum was cooler than anything in DC.

We arrived in DC around rush-hour, and made wrong turn that cost us a half an hour. We drove right into down town, found a parking spot, and walked the Mall for a couple of hours. We first went to the Lincoln Memorial. I showed the boys where Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous speech, "I have a dream". His name and the date are etched into the step he was standing on while speaking. I spoke to many of my students in France about Martin Luther King. With several of my high school students we listened to his speech and then discussed it. His example and vision took on new significance for me after visiting Washington last August on the 47th anniversary of the day he gave that speech, and, much to my surprise, I would become quite emotional while discussing his life and work with my students.

I love the Lincoln memorial, it just might be my favorite place in Washington. Abraham Lincoln was a giant of a man. The memorial it a beautiful, peaceful place, and provides a great view of all of the significant monuments and buildings that line the mall. I love that it faces the Washington Memorial. I'm grateful for the people they both were, and the sacrifices they made for America.

We took a few pictures, and wandered through the Korean War memorial and the World War II memorial. We stayed until the sun set and the monuments lit up. It's a stunning sight. DC is unlike any capital I've ever been to. DC has an atmosphere of energy that pours out of it. The boys laughed because the sidewalks of the mall were packed with joggers, and everywhere we go there are joggers on the street. That's just typical DC. It's a city full of driven people. Also, all along the grassy areas of the mall there were several baseball games being played. I love seeing America's past time being played out at her capital. I still remember my first trip to DC in 2004. As we flew in I could see countless baseball fields from the airplane.

We headed over to Carrie and Brian's house for the night. Carrie is a good friend of mine from my mission, and this is the second time she has saved my skin when I've planned a trip to DC without adequately accounting for my lodging. It's a lot of fun each time to catch each other up on our old mission friends. She also has a cute little red-headed girl named Molly and it's fun to see her growing up.

I love DC. I love my country. In the words of the French author, Alexis de Toqueville, "America is great because she is good". I'm not naive enough to believe that everyone in America is good, or that America, as a nation, has always made good and right decisions, but the idea of America is that mankind can be self-governing, that mankind is good, and that the average human being, when given the chance, will make the right decision. America was and is an experiment in the capacity of the human spirit, and it has largely proved worthwhile. We saw the proof of the good hearts of individual citizens in Tuscaloosa, Alabama earlier this week.

On one of the interior walls of the Lincoln Memorial is engraved the text of his famous Gettysburg address. I'll finish this email with his words tonight:

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

"Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

"But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth".

Here are today's pics:

Washington DC

Love,

Nicki

These wheels keep on turnin'

2011-05-10T08:35:00.000-07:00

Dear friends and family (and those with whom it’s complicated ;),

I forgot to share a passport quote yesterday (I know you were all severely disappointed). Here’s today’s: “We have a great dream. It started way back in 1776, and God grant that America will be true to her dream”. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

There was a thing or two I failed to mention yesterday. One thing that really marked us is that on the doors of all the damaged homes they have come up with a marking system to give some quick information about the search that they’ve done of each home. On each door they have spray-painted a big “X”. At the top of the X they wrote the date the house was searched, most had a 28 for April 28th, the right side of the X had the number of injured people, and the bottom of the X had the number of deaths. The left side of the X usually had a T or AL. We think that stood for the city personnel that conducted the search, either Tuscaloosa or the neighboring town of Alberta. Most Xs had zero injured, and zero deaths, but we saw several homes where people had died, or that originally had a zero that had later been crossed out and replaced with a one. We saw one house that had a number of deaths and then that number had been crossed out and replaced with a zero. That one kind of made us laugh – I guess they thought they were dead, but then they got up and started moving around? We tried to imagine what the situation must have been.

Today was our second day in Tuscaloosa. We were a little slow on the uptake this morning. We worked hard yesterday, and today we were shot. We took our time getting up, getting ready, and hitting the road. The real heroes around here are the people who are working tirelessly day after day. Jeremy, our friend from Sunday, had just graduated from nursing school last week, and is waiting to take his state exam, so in the mean time, he is spending every day helping anyone he can find.

We stopped at McDonald’s and had a big breakfast before heading to the temporary Tuscaloosa Volunteer Center. We checked-in, and had to sit through a safety training before getting assignments. We were assigned to work in a warehouse. We headed over and got to work. It was impressive to see the quantity of items that have been donated. There were mountains of bottles of water, tarps, and clothing. We worked for an hour or two, and then we kind of ran out of work. There were too many volunteers for what we had to do, so we left to go back to the volunteer center to get another job.

We were sent to another warehouse. We sorted clothes for a bit, and then continued on our way. We felt like we were much more productive working with the church the day before, which is kind of normal, since there is less red tape and bureaucracy for a church organization to jump through in order to help, but we were glad that we got to see how FEMA operates as well. We arrived in Knoxville last night where we stayed with the Uncle of one of Michael’s friends. We’ve been really grateful to find people along our way to help us out.

Love,
Nicki

Stats:
Miles: 2300
Money spent per person: $197 of which gas equals: $134
States visited: Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia.
Random houses stayed in: 3
Stauts: Sore but smiling

PS: I got an email from the University of Utah yesterday letting me know I had have been accepted for a Teaching Assistantship, which means that I'll be teaching French 101 at the University, my tuition for my first year will be paid for, and I will be given a monthly stipend. I feel so grateful. This is a HUGE blessing.

2011 May 9 Tuscaloosa

Where the skies are so blue

2011-05-09T16:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was an incredible day. I started writing our daily update last night, but I was so exhausted I fell asleep around 10 pm and woke up eight hours later, rolled over, and slept another two hours or so. We were all dead this morning, so we got up slowly, and spent the morning picking ticks off each other. With all the time I’ve spent in the mountains, this was the first time I’ve ever gotten ticks.

Yesterday started very early. I woke up at 4:15 and showered, and the boys got up just after I did. We hit the road an hour later and arrived at the chapel in Tuscaloosa at quarter to seven. We had a short sacrament meeting. Everyone was dressed in their work clothes, and we just sang a few hymns and listened to a short talk from a local leader. He quoted Brigham Young, an early prophet of the church, who, when he got news just before the start of a general church conference that some members of the church that were crossing the American plains were stuck in an awful blizzard, said to the congregation:

“ I will now give this people the subject and the text for the Elders who may speak to-day and during the Conference, it is this, on the 5th day of October, 1856, many of our brethren and sisters are on the Plains with hand-carts, and probably many are now seven hundred miles from this place, and they must be brought here, we must send assistance to them. The text will be--to get them here! I want the brethren who may speak to understand that their text is the people on the Plains, and the subject matter for this community is to send for them and bring them in before the winter sets in.

“That is my religion; that is the dictation of the Holy Ghost that I possess, it is to save the people. We must bring them in from the Plains…

“I will tell you all that your faith, religion, and profession of religion, will never save one soul of you in the celestial kingdom of our God, unless you carry out just such principles as I am now teaching you. Go and bring in those people now on the Plains, and attend strictly to those things which we call temporal, or temporal duties, otherwise your faith will be in vain; the preaching you have heard will be in vain to you, and you will sink to hell, unless you attend to the things we tell you”.

We picked up a work assignment and headed out with a group. We were sent to the home of an older couple whose yard had been destroyed by the storm. Our job was to cut the fallen trees into pieces small enough to haul to the road side, where the city will eventually come around to pick up piles of debris. At first we really struggled because our only chainsaw wasn’t working. We tried to pull any branches out of the pile that we could without a chainsaw. It was like a giant game of pick-up sticks, except that some of the sticks weighed a couple of tons. Alabama is densely forested. Any areas that haven’t been intentionally cleared for houses or agriculture are just covered in trees. The tornado would have done a lot less damage if this area had been less vegetated.

We worked for about 4 hours straight. It was very, very labor intensive. I was glad I had my brothers with me. They are work horses. I think that Simon, our team leader, was glad, too. He had one 18 year old and two 12 year olds with him. It would have been a tough job if they had been all alone.

While I was taking a water break, I chatted a bit with Irene, the woman who owned the house. She told me about the day of the storm. Her and her husband had taken shelter in their shed under the house. A huge tree fell in front of their door, and her husband had to cut them out with a saw. She told me about all the trials they had gone through, and then, with a peaceful tone added, “We’ve been so blessed”. She talked to me about how God had protected them and blessed them. They only lost a few shingles off their home. Three people up the street were killed in the storm. Her grandson came looking for them on foot after the storm. All of the streets were blocked by trees. He saw the dead bodies, and it really scared him. He eventually found his grandparents safe and sound. She told me about all the people who have come by to help, and brought food and water.

Irene is an avid gardener, and said her garden was “right purdy” before the storm. It’s now completely destroyed, but she declared again with great hope and faith, “It’s okay, it will grow back”. God is on the lips of every southerner. It has been moving to see piles of debris with American flags planted at the summit. There are signs everywhere – spray painted on sides of houses or on local billboard – with messages of faith: May God bless, Thank God, and God bless America. These people know who to turn to to get through this mess. It has been interesting to find out that many of them went and helped the victims of Katrina rebuild. It reminds me of Job’s beautiful declaration: “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord”(Job 1:21). Recent experiences in my own life have helped me recognize the wisdom of God in allowing us to suffer sometimes. We’re here to learn and grow, and few things teach us teach us as much as these experiences that stretch us to the point that it hurts. I’m grateful for a Heavenly Father who loves us enough to let us experience these things, knowing that it will be for our good.

A couple of hours into our work project, a super hero showed up. A man named John Radcliff from Louisiana came driving up in a big truck. He talked to me first and told me that he had several large chain saws in his truck that could make short work of the big trees we were dealing with, if we didn’t mind him helping out. I told him that of course, we didn’t mind at all.

We all loved John immediately. He had driven seven hours to come help out. He said that he had planed on going fishing this weekend, but God had other plans for him. He said he felt called to the work. He reminded us that if we were there helping out, it was because God put it into our hearts to be there. He was a giant in our eyes. He had helped out in Katrina, and said that the people you find volunteering at natural disasters are the cream of the crop. So, when he heard about the tornado, he loaded up his truck, bought several brand new chain saws, and made the drive all by himself. We he arrived he just drove around and looked for anyone who looked like they could use some help. He saved us that day. We were ten times more effective with his help. Matt’s goal for the day was to use a chain saw. He ended up using a chainsaw almost all morning, until he could barely hold the chainsaw any more. He was a happy guy.

We told John that our next stop is Washington, D.C. He told us that his stepson works at the Pentagon, and then he called him and asked if he could give us a guided tour when we arrive. His stepson agreed, so we’re all pretty excited about that. As we ate lunch, Irene offered us all iced tea. John took some, but the other seven of us declined, and we told her that we don’t drink tea because we’re Mormon. Upon learning that we’re Mormon, John said, in his deep southern accent, “You know, if every person on the planet would live the Mormon faith 100 percent, the world would be much better off,” he added, “but good ol’ Southern Baptist ain’t too bad either”. Later, when the police officer son-in-law was discussing some of the problems he sees as a police officer, John said, “You see, if they were Mormon, they wouldn’t have those problems”. His comments made us smile.

After eating lunch with our work group, we headed back to the church to rest a bit before picking up another assignment. We got teamed up with a guy named Jeremy. Jeremy is as southern as they come, and he kept us laughing all afternoon. Our task was to put tarps on people’s roofs to prevent leaks until the roofs could be properly repaired. We had a list of ten houses to tarp. 9 of the 10 were already done, but it was good to drive around and meet everyone, and help them with a few other little things. We found one house from our list that still needed tarps. We pulled out our supplies, and spent 45 minutes or so up on the roof throwing down the tarps and then nailing them into place with some support beams. It was fun to work on a different kind of project.

Jeremy was a character. We drove up alongside two trucks filled with people and coolers. Jeremy rolled down his window and yelled out to the “brothers and the sisters” as he called them, and asked where the food was. They told us to follow them and made some space for us to merge between their two trucks. We followed them to a damaged warehouse where several tables and grills were set up outside and people were handing out free meals to victims and volunteers. We ate hotdogs and grilled chicken with baked beans, potatoes, and biscuits. It was greasy Southern cooking, and very welcome after a long day of work.

Jeremy lives right near most of the destruction. He took shelter with his pregnant wife and 6 year old daughter in their bathroom. Ten minutes after the twister hit, he left his house to see what he could do to help. He saw some logs blocking a highway off ramp, and said, “I guess God wants me to move logs tonight”. He worked all through the night sawing and hauling trees with this truck. He said hundreds of people were walking down the street on foot trying to get to the hospital – all of the roads were blocked. As we drove through town, he told us different stories about his favorite restaurant, that is now just a foundation, the Chuck E. Cheese (a kid’s arcade and restaurant) where two birthday parties were going on, and were several children were killed, and a neighborhood of old houses were a lot of students lived that will now be completely demolished.

Simon, our work buddy from the morning shift, invited us to stay at his house that night. We showed up around 9pm, took showers and feel asleep as soon as our heads hit our pillows. We slept four hours, and we were pretty sore the next morning.

We have all fallen in love with the people here in the South. They may have trouble conjugating their verbs, but they all have hearts of gold. Alabama is beautiful. It is by far the most beautiful place we have driven through so far. The few homes we went into were unique and very welcoming. The whole area has a certain charm to it.

I know I won’t always been in a position to just pack up and run to an area of natural disaster to help out, but this time I found myself free, jobless, and healthy, so I decided to try to make it happen. I was glad that my brothers didn’t mind taking a little detour on our trip. It’s very tempting to rely on the government in times of need. I think that’s wrong on a many levels. I don’t believe that is the government’s role, I believe that a reliance on government requires us to give up some personal liberties, and I believe that it benefits neither the giver nor the receiver – it eliminates true charity. Charity comes from your heart. When you are required to give your resources to the government through taxes, it is not coming from your heart, and those who receive your resources don’t see the hand of the giver. It eliminates the human element. In order to hold such a belief, I believe that I need to be a part of the solution when there are problems, but not just when big things happen – I need to focus on my local community and the needs there. Consistency is much more important that short spurts of "heroic" help. I think I don’t do that enough. John taught us an important lesson when he said that volunteers are the most effective kind of help you can have, because their help comes from their heart. (We all kept bringing John up all night; we were all so impressed with him).

It has been interesting for me to be in two “disaster” zones recently, here in Tuscaloosa, and in Greece, where the economic crisis is dire. I’ve realized that the situations are very similar, and the solutions ought to be similar as well. The more connected people are to their neighbors, the less suffering we’ll see. I think this goes for emotional catastrophes as well. There are good people everywhere. We have the means to set everything right again. I have faith that we will do it.

The night before we arrived in Tuscaloosa, Mike was showering, and when he came up and got into bed, we had this conversation:

Me: Good night, Mike, I love you.
Mike: I love you more
Matt: More than what?
Mike: More than she loves me
Matt: Well, I love you both more than the length of this trip
Mike: It's only been two days.
Matt: We have driven two thousand miles!

2011 May 8 Tuscaloosa tornado clean-up