Memorial Day '08

I realized that I know a lot of people who are either retired Veterans or currently enlisted in the armed forces...so I decided to make a thank you list...



US ARMY

• My Grandpa ^RIP
• Uncle Greg ^RIP
• Jeremiah ^RIP
• "Grandma & Grandpa" Higgins
• Mr.Tenney
• Mr. Baker
• Mr. Wheems
• Mr. Gregg
  
• Randi
• Will
• Nina
• Brandon
  
• Daryl
• Kolten
• Christopher

US AIR FORCE

• Ashley's Dad (my "other" dad) ^RIP
• Jacob
• Zach
• Kieth
  
• Jason

US NAVY

• Mr. Walker
• Pastor Orr
• Trent
• Nick
• Adam
• Colton
• Matt (Spider)

US MARINE CORPS

• Cousin Stephen
• Quinn♥
• Kyle
• Matt (Akin!)
• Tommy
• Chris
• Gary
• Kerry
• Cameron
• Drew
• Aaron
• Eric
• Jeremy
• Kyle (#2)
• Chad

I also think the family members, fiancées, girlfriends, and wives of these people so willing to give deserve our thanks as well...

SUCH AS:
My Grandma ^RIP, The Urban Family, Aunt Rita, Cousin Leigh,The Higgins Family, The Tenney Family, The Walker Family, Randi, Leyna, Jennifer, and of course all of the boys' families ...and so many more I can't even think of or have time to list!

If I missed ANYONE, I am so sorry...and you are very important to me and I thank you so much for being my friend and defending my freedom to live in this amazing country. Stay safe and come home soon... we miss you and love you all!

I do need to mention the following people as well, even though they didn't/don't serve in the USA, they still/are still helping to ensure freedom of nations:

• My Grandpa - Canadian Navy
• Paul - New Zealand Navy
  

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This morning I went to the Memorial Day Ceremony at The National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona with the Urban's and Ashley's boyfriend Tena. I made it all the way through the ceremony without crying until the Air Force rifle volley, and then the playing of Taps, there's just something about that song...

The amount of people out there showed me that there are still those who care about the price of freedom, and I was extremely happy that no protesters made a presence. Ashley and I agreed we probably wouldn't have been able to stay in line if any had. The firefighters had the ladder truck parked at the entrance flying the flag, and then the Christian Motorcyclist Association lined the entrance, holding "Thank you Vets" signs and passing out free candy and USA temporary tattoos to the kids. All in all it was a great day for remembrance. I visited my Grandpa and Grandma's grave site while the Urban's visited Pat's. I wish there was something I could do...but I know it's all in God's hands.

This quote is good but the picture just makes it more...

Cross-Country Adventures

I don't quite know where to begin. The past 10 days of my life have been quite the adventure... broken down truck and three plane flights later, here I am! There is no possible way to sum up everything that has happened neatly, so please excuse the length of this post in advance.

Our family camping trip was so much fun, despite the truck attempting to overheat itself. We broke in the new trailer with six people, two dogs, and a guinea pig...yes that's right, even Lil J went camping! From riding bikes to the rim, taking scenic (and silly) pictures, kayaking, playing in snow wearing swimsuits, and 5mi hikes with the dogs, I don't think it could have gotten much better. Not to mention the fact that those all took place away from our campsite. At the campsite we enjoyed singing by the fire, making s'mores, attempting to be Smarter Than a 5th Grader (most of the time we weren't even smarter than a 1st grader! haha...), yelling YAHTZEE!, and snuggling in warm blankies because up north the weather is actually cool. On Mother's day we enjoyed a large camp-style breakfast of dirty eggs, bacon, sausage, croissants, and jam. I know we're terrible at showing it, but I hope mom knows how much we truly care about her! ♥ On the way home we stopped in Payson to get the truck fixed, the part was going to take until late afternoon to arrive so mom rented a car and took us kids home to unpack and start the laundry (I'm pretty sure I've never done that much laundry before, ever), then she headed back to return the car and meet up with dad and the dogs waiting for the truck. [Camping Photo Album]

That night after unloading the trailer, and packing for our trip, Phil and Lisa met up with Quinn and I to grab some dinner. This would be the last time I'd see Lisa for awhile. She's off to work for Disneyland through their internship program. It was a great time with friends, luckily it was a "see you soon" rather than a "goodbye!"

So at 4:30am on May 13th, mom drove Quinn and I to the airport. Our 5.5hr flight actually landed early, unfortunately for me it was a bit bumpy towards the end so I didn't feel all that great. Quinn's buddies Beau and Cameron picked us up (we stayed at Cam & Drew's House for part of the time). We didn't do much the first night, which ended up being a good thing since I got sick and spent half the night getting acquainted with Drew's toilet... but, 5:45am rolled around and we had to get up in order to avoid rush hour traffic on our way to Washington DC! Holly (a friend who graduated from ASU last year) was nice enough to set up a private tour of the White House for us at 9:50am, thanks again! What I saw there was amazing, all the monuments, the people, the history... I need to go back to see everything I didn't have time for. The 14th was my parents 25th Wedding Anniversary (I look up to them so much), so on the steps of the Capitol I made a short video for them and e-mailed it that night =] The rest of my time in Maryland was spent touring the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico VA, spending almost a whole day at Arlington Cemetery...the honor guard was amazing, and then in Hagerstown MD visiting Quinn's sister and brother-in-law. [Maryland/DC Photo Album #1] [Maryland/DC Photo Album #2]

Alright now for the news: For Esther, Lisa, Phil, and everyone else that said - "Taylor is the kind of person who will date a military guy." You're right. I am. Happy? Alright anyway... Quinn and I met over a year ago through my Cousin Stephen, they are both US Marines. We dated over the summer, then he was re-stationed to Maryland. For the 10mo we were apart we talked on the phone almost everyday, sent each other birthday & Christmas gifts, and got along pretty well. I never truly stopped liking him, silly things on the trip just made me like him more. Such as calling me beautiful and seeing in his eyes that he deeply meant it, and praying before meals together. So after spending almost 10 straight days together and not getting sick of each other, or arguing... we're going to give this whole long-distance thing a try... if you don't agree with it, I'm sorry, but please keep it to yourself. It's going to be hard enough without people telling me things I don't need/want to hear.

So now everyone is up-to-date on my life, I hope you're all doing well! =) Time to go back to real life for a few weeks... VIK here I come.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."
-Proverbs 3:5-6

Entertaining Angels

Man was the last week of school a whirlwind of activity! Friday was the Chi Alpha End of the Year Banquet, I laughed, wanted to cry, listened, and loved. I am going to miss this family of mine so much... next year will be really hard. I have grown up emotionally and spiritually with these people!

Finals were tough...so far though I seemed to have done pretty well! I am still waiting on my Research/Evaluation class:
--inclusive communities: 94%
--convention & sales: 90%
--international tourism: 94%
--recreational services management: 88%

Yesterday was pretty much the perfect ending for my junior year. Lisa, Esther, Phil, Jeff, and I went to the PRG and climbed/bouldered for about 3.5hrs (needless to say after my workout the previous day I'm sore!). Afterwards Jeff and I went to Del Taco, then to Daley park to meet up with some Chi Alphians. We played ultimate Frisbee, climbed trees, sang worship songs, just relaxing overall. To end the night we met up at Carly's housing complex and enjoyed the hot tub/pool (for those who had swimsuits, the rest of us dipped our feet). It was so nice just hanging out with my friends before we all go separate ways for the summer.Now many of you may be asking: "what about the title of this post?" God has been blessing me with the presence of angels lately. For the past week while prayer walking/driving (no I don't close my eyes!) I see them as something like a shiny blur. Then in Sunday School Zeke, my friend Kim's son, was just laying on the floor staring upwards when he started this joyous giggling. She says he does it at home too, the innocence of children is astounding when it comes to the things they can see that we no longer can. Finally, my dad received a phone call from my grandma. For those of you who don't know, she passed away April of 2007. He said it was in one of those dreams that is so real you wake up doing what you dreamt of. Then at the park yesterday, Emily and I noticed this one swing...just swinging. There was nobody around it, it wasn't windy outside, and we had just begun our worship music. So...we are all entertaining angels if we will just open our eyes to the faith of seeing and believing they are here.

My favorite song we sung in the park:


In other news...
I pick up Quinn from the airport in about 3hrs! I told him I wouldn't believe he was here until I physically see him, I can't seem to accept that it's been 10 months since he left. Esther (my Aussie mum) is graduating from ASU today at 5pm, I am going to do my best to be there on time for the ceremony. We are going out for a celebration dinner afterwards, Mexican Food!!! Then tomorrow morning we leave for Northern AZ, where the weather is going to be cool =)