Oquirrh Mountain Temple

Yesterday, some friends and I went down to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house in South Jordan, UT. This is the second time I have had the opportunity to go through this open house. It amazes me how beautiful these buildings (all temples in general) are on the inside and out. There is so much to see and that makes me grateful I had another opportunity to go through. One of the things I noticed the second time through was that confirmation rooms by the baptismal font have glass doors and giant windows. I have never seen this before in a temple. Second thing I noticed this time too is the art work, not only what is there, but where it is placed. It all has significance and symbolism as to where it is put. A third thing I noticed was how open the temple is. I saw all the glass walls and stuff before, but I didn't realize how open and spacious it makes the temple. The building itself is not very large, but it looks larger from the inside.

There were so many people there this time around. It was like a solid wall of people the entire time. It's great to see members and non-members alike coming out to see this magnificent building. I love to see the temple and I'm (really) going there someday.

What I missed

Last summer I worked for the same group on campus that I am working for this summer running the new student orientation program at Utah State. There is one big difference between the two summers however. Last year, I moved home to Tooele and drove back and forth between Tooele and Logan and three a month, camping on people's couches all the time. This year I stayed in Logan. I don't I ever realized what I was missing last year by moving home.

Last night, some of the A-team members met on the Quad after dark, spreading out blankets, decked out with food and music to watch the stars come out. There were only 8 or 9 of us, but it was so much fun. We joked and played around, contemplated skinny wading in the fountains, and attempted to play a game of Truth or Dare. Now these are only litttle things, but these are the things I missed out on last year, the bonding moments we have.

Last Saturday a couple of the girls I work with came over and we watched "He's Just Not that Into You" (wonderful movie by the way) and sat and talked to hours. This is another thing I missed out on previously. There is nothing like discussing girly subjects like weddings, pregnancy, boys, and babies (not necessarily in that order) for hours on end while eating pizza in my living room.

It amazes me how Heavenly Father puts us in the places we need to be and when we need to be there. I know that I was supposed to stay in Logan this summer and be here to let these little moments be wonderful to me.

My Adventures!

The past couple of days have been filled with one "adventure" after the other. Now, before I start I need to explain the definition of "adventure" that is being used here. It means "anything Jess, Alyssa, Alex, Kyler, and Josh do together".
Saturday, Alex came up to spend the weekend with Alyssa and I. Our first adventure was visiting Alyssa at work and shopping. Alex and I spent quite a while at the mall and went window shopping in almost every store.
Sunday was the big adventure!! The five of us loaded in my car at 10:00 that morning armed with church clothes, church music, and food, ready to embark on the 2 hour drive to the beautiful Star Valley Wyoming. Now, I had no idea where I was going so it was a good thing Kyler was with us (considering he is from there himself). We went to Laken Kennington's farewell (which was excellent by the way) and then hopped in the car to head home. Part of this adventure was stopping by Kyler's house to pick up some car tires for his car. After some amazing tetris skills displayed by all in the group, we managed to get them in. Then we started back through the rain. As we hit the canyon, we were all pretty tired of church music so we whipped out the Disney songs. Who doesn't love Disney music? We held our own little sing along, blasting it all the way down the canyon.
Monday was another day full of fun new adventures...We tackled the Willow Park swing set. I haven't been on a swing in FOREVER! We had a blast. We even took it to the point of having contests to see who could jump the farthest. The five of us then proceeded to play frisbee for an hour and a half. To end the morning adventures Josh and Alex attempt to climb a tree but that didn't work to well for them. We ended our adventure sitting on the front steps of the guys apartment watching the lighting put on a show for us and playing name that tune while Josh played the guitar. This is one of those weekends where you had a blast, would do it again in a heart beat, but it's nice to be home, sitting around doing nothing, just to reenergize...