The Anchor

When I get ready in the morning, I often listen to the last general conference on my computer. And yesterday, I chose to listen to a talk by Elder Holland. When I first heard it, it was immediately one of my favorites from this session of conference. And as I listened to it yesterday, I was again reminded of how much our Heavenly Father and Savior love us. They are with us at all times that we want/ask them to be. I was feeling a little lonely and down before I listened to the message. But after, I could not help but feel my Heavenly Father's love for me and peace in knowing that they are always there. They love me despite the fact that I am hopelessly flawed. They love me when/despite the fact that I'm pretty, ugly, skinny or chubby, sometimes mean or unthoughtful, bad at doing laundry, silly, lazy, kind, etc...They just love me. All of me. And even though I often feel alone in my life, I know that I never really am. They are close by-watching and protecting. I am so grateful for that knowledge. It has quite literally saved my life by penetrating through the darkness of despair.

"Brothers and sisters, one of the great consolations of this Easter season is that because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so. His solitary journey brought great company for our little version of that path—the merciful care of our Father in Heaven, the unfailing companionship of this Beloved Son, the consummate gift of the Holy Ghost, angels in heaven, family members on both sides of the veil, prophets and apostles, teachers, leaders, friends. All of these and more have been given as companions for our mortal journey because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the Restoration of His gospel. Trumpeted from the summit of Calvary is the truth that we will never be left alone nor unaided, even if sometimes we may feel that we are. Truly the Redeemer of us all said, “I will not leave you comfortless. [My Father and] I will come to you [and abide with you].”" Jeffrey R. Holland 2009

Happy in Newport...

Morgan invited me to go to Newport Beach with his family and him this weekend. They had extra tickets to a Dodgers game on Saturday and a free place to stay with them in Newport Beach-so how could I refuse? I got to hang out with his brother Brian and his wife and his sister Hannah, her husband and their three cute boys.

We visited my favorite restaurant in Laguna Beach-had to eat on the roof, of course!

We visited some local art galleries, and Morgan found a friend.

Found an old fashioned telephone booth and had to snap a few pics...

For some reason, this archway fascinated Morgan, and he insisted we take some more pics

We rode bikes on the boardwalk (I am imitating Morgan's mean face that he often gives the camera)

Visited Coronado Island

Take 1

Take 2

Final Take

I had a blast in Cali this weekend, so thanks to Morgan and his family!

The Subway...

My friend Morgan took me on the coolest, most difficult, scary, amazing hike I have ever been on this weekend. It's called the Subway, in Zion National Park. It is roughly a 10 mile hike through a river at the bottom of a narrow canyon. The hike required us to repel short distances, jump into/swim through freezing pools of water and carefully navigate very "slippy" situations. I felt very Bear Grylls after doing this hike-if you don't know who/what Bear Grylls is, please follow this link and be prepared to be amazed...http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/manvswild/manvswild.html.

I'm sweating like crazy here

This is the spot that inspired the name-the Subway

Me, near the end and quite exhausted...