Friends

I love my family but over the last several days I have been pondering just how blessed I am to have the friends that I have, especially right now. I have been struggling with some pretty intense emotions lately and even though I tend to work through them on my own, I know that I am surrounded by good friends who are there for me should I need them. Last night, as I was driving home from a friend’s house, I thought about some friends who have really impacted my life and wow, I have been blessed!

I want to express my gratitude to Trish, Karen, and Alisa for their tender love and care. I really love you girls! And Nicole, thanks for the confidence and encouragement. It means a lot to me. I also want to thank Chris and Nate for being two of the best guy friends that a girl could ask for. I appreciate you more than you could ever know.

There’s no doubt about it, I have (and have had) some awesome friends!

Utah Highland Games 2008 Part 2

I wanted to post a few more pictures from the Highland Games. I felt the need to post more "kilt" pictures, plus most of the pictures that I posted earlier in the week are linked to Facebook (thanks Trish) so if you do not see them I apologize. I cannot access Facebook at work (it's blocked) so when I view my blog at work the pictures cannot be seen. If this is the case for you, I apologize. If you can see the pics then I hope you will enjoy these as well. I sure love my friends!

I love the bagpipes!

Chris, Tonya, and Andy
Darren and Trish

Geoff, Trish, and Darren

Tonya and Travis

Yes, this is a man...

Utah Highland Games 2008

So, last Saturday I went down to Thanksgiving Point with some friends to enjoy the 2008 Utah Highland Games and Scottish Festival. My good friend Trish is from Scotland and is in an singing group called Citrine that performed at the festival. So, we had the opportunity to support her and have some fun together as friends. It was fun to walk around the festival and observe the Scottish patriotism. I felt a twinge of it myself (my many of my ancestors on my mom's side are from Scotland) especially when the bagpipes started playing. It was also cool to see kilts in the different clan colors but I must admit, I have never seen so many men in kilts before. Ah, fun times. Thanks Trish for such a fun day! Enjoy the pics of me and my friends!

Travis, Trish and LeAnn

Tonya and Melissa

This is the crew (minus Tonya who was taking the picture).

This was the perfect photo opportunity for Trish LeAnn, Trish, and Me

Chris could not resist this photo opportunity either. So silly!

Tonya and Geoff chillin' on the grass.Me sharing some pics with Geoff. What was my hair doingMe, Travis, and LeAnn

Octopus Rose

I wanted to take a quick minute and post some pictures that I took of "Octopus Rose" this week. We call this particular rose bush Octopus Rose because she is huge and her branches are really long. I love having this bush in the backyard because her roses are so fragrant and I love to keep a small bouquet by my bed. Ah, I love summer! Anyway, when I got home from work on Wednesday Rose looked to droopy and sad from all the rain that I could not resist taking some pictures.

Girls in Blue

I have been meaning to post this picture for a while now and figured that today was a good day to do it. This picture was taken on a Sunday a couple of weeks ago where it seemed that many members of our ward were wearing some shade of blue. I guess blue is very in this season. So, thanks to Trish for taking this picture with her new Blackberry (for some strange reason I was without my camera that Sunday). I love spring!

Here's Tonya, Trish, Me, and Karen.

Don Giovanni

I love the opera and last Saturday night I had the opportunity to go see Don Giovanni with a couple of friends. We had a great time. The music was great, the company was awesome, and the after party was quite an experience. My friend Tonya belongs to a group called Vivace and as a member of Vivace she receives discounts on tickets as well as an invitation to an exclusive party with other Vivace members as well as the cast after the opera. Since Annette and I were her guests we were able to attend the after party as well. It was interesting to observe the different people at the party and I was really glad that Annette was there because I felt very much out of my element. The food was great and the ambiance was fabulous but the best part was to observe the members of the cast milling about and visiting with the “after party” guests. All in all it was beautiful night full of wonderful music, food, and friends. Thanks ladies!

I caught Tonya right after she had taken a bite of food. Yeah, I'm a great friend.

Annette looking fab!

Three glamorous women!

“I Saw God Today”

There are a lot of reasons why I love living in the Avenues but the number one reason is that I am within walking distance of several parks. And I love taking walks, especially during the spring and summer months, through the Avenues. Last night my good friend Trish and I walked from my house on 4th Avenue down to Memory Grove. We hit the Freedom Trail at the end of the park and as I walked I could not help but notice the peace I felt (even with the number of people and dogs on the trail). It was certainly a beautiful Sabbath day and I relished the opportunity to absorb the beauty around me. The trees are still in the flowering stage and the grass on the hill and in the park is lush and green. Nature certainly is beautiful. This brings me to the subject of my post. “I Saw God Today” by George Strait is one of my favorite songs on Country radio right now. The song is about noticing the hand of the Lord in the things around us. I usually try and notice but ever since this song was released my awareness seems to be heightened. We sure are blessed with abundant beauty.

Have you seen God today? Take a walk and enjoy the splendor!