Fair Port Harbor

About 20 miles north of Kirtland lies one of the great lakes. Lake Erie is wonderful. It is suprisingly warm and surrounded by sandy beaches. It was perfect for swimming and building sand castles. I loved the light houses and the sail boats and all the different people. We all took turns being buried in the sand and playing in the water. It was just a great way to finish out our little road trip. I could definitely get used to living in a place like that.

Poor kid. Played to hard at the beach.

Kirtland

We continued north to hit Kirtland, Ohio. Another stop on the church history tour. It was quite the experience. I went with the expectation that it was going to be a lot like Nauvoo, not even close. It was little but still held so much history that I would definitely suggest it to anyone. It is owned by two different churches. The LDS church and the Community of Christ church (RLDS). The LDS owns the Saw mill, Newel K. Whitney store, Newel K. Whitney's home and the Johnson Inn. The store was my favorite part, it was the household of Emma and Joseph along with the school of the prophets. Learning about the school of the prophets was a whole experience of itself. The temple is owned by the reorganized church. We had to watch a movie at the beginning of each tour, and they both brought very different feelings to them. We were led around by a senior missionary couple from Twin Falls, Id, so that was nice. A taste of home. They had a strong spirit to them, and you could feel their testimony. I look forward to serving a mission with my hubs one day too. It was cool to walk in the places that Joseph Smith walked and taught, where he met with the apostles and received revelation. The temple was a unique experience it. It is a very plain, simple and beautiful building. You appreciate the sacrifice that the early saints had to face in order to bring it to the earth. We walked through the first floor then we walked up a flight of really, REALLY steep stairs. Looked around the second story court and then I sat in the pews about 20 feet from where the savior came to accept the building as his house. If you get the chance. Go. It was worth the 3 dollars. The last picture is from the stone quarry where they cut the stone for the temple. It was not what I expected. It was far away from the temple which made my appreciation of their sacrifice grow.

A treat

After we were done hiking, we drove up the rest of the way to Columbus area. After we checked into the hotel and ate dinner we decided we needed some delicious ice cream. Graeters was our choice. Super delicious ice cream is the only way to describe it. You can tell the kids really liked it too.

Hocking Hills

After a few days of being in Ohio we went and visited one of its many wonders. We headed out early Friday morning hitting one of the old country roads that took us through many small towns of southern Ohio. We stopped at this random historic sight called Seip Mound. Even after the forest guy helped us we were still a little unsure at what we were looking at, but whatevs. I guess it dates back to about 2000 years ago, and it was a sacred ground of some natives. A place where they buried their dead. After we walked around, we headed back to the car and drove up the next few miles to Hocking Hills national park. One of the most beautiful places I have ever been too. That doesn't really say much but still, it was gorgeous. We hit three hikes that were pretty easy, the longest one being a two mile loop through green scenery. The first one we went to was called Ash Cave. It was a wide expanse of massive rock, and waterfalls. Then we hiked over to Cedar falls, we walked down into a canyon that led to a waterfalls which poured into a natural pool of clean, clear water. The last one was Old Man's Cave. The whole hike was beautiful, it was old and everthing was covered in green moss. There were tunnels, bridges, waterfalls all along the way. We were tired and sweaty by the end but it was definitely worth it.

Ohio

I love Ohio. I love that it is so close to so many things. I love the trees. I love the food. I love the lightening bugs. I love the diversity. I love that the houses have characters. I love the people that live there, okay well maybe just a few of those. Anyway... on July 30th I hopped on a plane and flew to Ohio. When I got off the plane there was the cutest 5 year old waiting for me. She even had a sign. Don't worry she was accompanied by an adult. The first couple of days I just got settled in. We played volleyball, made bracelets, went shopping went swimming and worked out. I just loved being there. I loved the change. I saw a friend from school so that was nice. Life is good.

I taught her all I know about fashion.

I'm leaving on a jet plane.

Ever just need to get away? Well I did. So I boarded a plane to Ohio.

Congratulations to Me

I did it. After 14 weeks, 20 credits, and many emotional breakdowns. I graduated from BYU-Idaho with my Associates degree in Gen Ed. with an emphasis in Neuroscience. Sounds impressive right? I know its not my bachelors and I can't do much with it, but it is definitely one mile stone of many in my life, another step toward my goal. I didn't end up walking in my convocation but I still get the 8 by 10.5 piece of certification. Awe man it just feels so good to be done. I graduated from a college. Go me. Now onto my Bachelors and grad school, to get my big degrees.