Roadtrippin' It

Me and Ash decided it would be fun to go to every temple in Utah! And hit up the four corners while we were at it! Awesome idea right?! We also found these Utah Temple Passport books. When you went in, you could stamp it and write about your experience it also told us a few fun facts about each temple.

 We left Tuesday at 7 am! 

Our first stop was the Manti Temple. On the way we jammed out to music, told stories, and of course ate some junk food! That's pretty much what we did while we were driving. Right before we arrived at the temple, we would read the facts about it We got to Manti and went in, got clothes, and went to the font. Most beautiful font I have ever seen! Here is what I wrote in my temple passport about it:  "First stop! The Manti Temple is absolutely gorgeous!!! We walk in and the Lady said, "How the heck are ya?" Then we told her about our trip and she got us clothes and we changed.  We were all dressed in white and she says, "Hey good lookins." I loved her.  We go to get confirmed and a, i would guess, autistic boy volunteered and confirmed Ashlie.  It was extremely touching.  We each confirmed 10 people.  The font was absolutely beautiful. Coolest Font ever.  We did 12 baptisms and then we left.  It was definitely worthwhile." 

Our next stop.. St. George. 

We stopped for gas and went on a free tour of this place called Cove Fort. It was a fort used to help travelers get food and a place to stay. It was built by President Hinckley's Grandpa! We were glad we stopped for a random little tour! 

Well... We got off the exit in st George and its a red light so I stop and all of a sudden a cop starts its sirens at me and turns them off. I was like "oh shoot." So I just went and then he zoomed past us. What a freak. We were diving down the canyon in st George and a drunk driver starts going like crazy down this hill. Swerving everywhere and going way fast. Me an Ash thought for sure we were dead. As if those 2 incidents weren't enough... I was driving 30 over the speed limit. There was no warning that it changed from 65 to 35. Jerks. Trying to get me arrested. We got to the St George temple and melted... It was a million degrees! There was also this crazy buzzing in the trees. Here is what I wrote about it: "Stop two. It is HOT HOT HOT! We got to the temple grounds and went to take pictures.  There was a really weird buzzing sound!  Then we went in and the guy said the wait would be a long time but we said we would wait anyway.  We finally got in and then we waited forever to be confirmed.  We finally got in and the dude was SPEEDY. I could barely breathe before i was baptized again.  The font is raised high up and is very beautiful.  We each did 7 baptisms.  They are really unorganized but really speedy.  It is really pretty."

After the temple we headed to Stephanie and Rogers house and we HAD to swim it was so hot. Well smart Kena decided to my not bring a swimsuit to St. George so we had to go buy a new one. But don't worry, we found a hecka cute one!! We got to the house, called and talked to Colton one last time before he left! It was so sad!!! 

Then as we were going to get in the pool the doorbell rang and at that exact second ash remembered she didn't shut the garage so they knew we were there. Ash runs down the hall shuts the garage and dives into the front room where I am hiding. We stand up right as the scouts look right at us!!! Shoot!!! Hahahah(: after that we ran and jumped into the pool! They had a waterslide! It was a super fun pool! We swam until about 10 O clock at night!

 We got out, got showered and just chilled. Then her aunt and uncle came home and try talked to us and we told them about our plans. We told them we were headed to the four corners in the morning. Roger told us about the skin walkers and how they were going to kill us because they could run as fast as a car. he said if you believe in the devil, you have to believe in skinwalkers. He also doubted our driving abilities and our time limit. Silly roger. We know what we are doing. After that we went to bed and set the alarm. 

The next day we got up and I downed a bottle of water in about 2 minutes. They gave us some snacks for the road and warned us again about the skin walkers. We had a good 5 hours to drive before we got to the four corners. We drove about 2 hours and hit the dam by Lake Powell. We decided we better get out and look for a while and take some pictures. It was Beautiful!!! The red rocks against the blue water was breathtaking. It also felt good to stretch our legs.

 We walked around for about a Half hour and decided to get back on the road. After about 20 minutes we started following this orange car who we named orange. We became good friends because we drove about the same speed. We passed so many cars and we turned it into a game. For example level 14 was 2 RV's with a car behind. Orange would pass and then we would too! We made a joke about it forever! Right in the middle we got stuck in the middle of a construction zone and were at a dead stop for 30 minutes. We opened a bag of chips and before we knew it they were gone. #FatGirlProbs it was hilarious. We were about an hour away from the four corners and we had to pass orange! He just wasn't going the speed we wanted to go. So we said goodbye and we were off. We got to the four corners exactly when we told Roger we would! And we even stopped at Lake Powell. So ha! We looked at all the little booths at the four corners and then went and took pictures at the monument. It was SO hot there! I burnt my hands on the metal being in all the states at once! It was pretty cool! 

As we were leaving the four corners, we saw our favorite orange!!!! It was crazy! But we didn't follow him this time):  We had to drive about 3 hours to Torrey Utah to stay with Ashys grandpa black. So being teenage girls, naturally we blasted the music and headed off! Well we look at the GPS and we had gone 100 miles the wrong way without noticing! So we had to turn around and we added an hour to our time. But we just continued to drive. Our next stop was the Monticello temple. It was SO tiny!! Here is what I wrote: "Temple stop 3.  Well this is thee single most smallest temple ever.  The church across the street is bigger.  We didn't get to do baptisms though, because they do them like once a day and we would have to wait 2 1/2 hours.  We went to look at the waiting room and walked the grounds.  Its just really simple and small.  Maybe someday i will get the chance to actually go in."

After, we continued on our journey. 

We got in this really pretty canyon and pulled over I take pictures. It was so quiet it was almost loud!!!! We loved it here! We stayed for a few minutes and then drove even more so we could get to grandpas house. We finally got there and started knocking on the door. No answer. Rang the doorbell a million times. No answer. Called his phone. No answer. The dog was going crazy and still there was no answer. Well great. We called Ashy's dad to see what we should do. He told us to go and get a hotel. So we drove to the next little town because all of the ones in Torrey were closed. We found one and we told the lady our plans fell through so we needed the cheapest one. It was like $60. We didn't know what to do and she asked us what our other plans were and who her grandpa was. We told her and she started freaking out and acted really concerned. She told us to go back and try to wake him up more and call the cops. So we headed back as called the cops to come help us get in the house. He finally came after what felt like forever! He asked us the situation and then he did the same stuff we did. Finally he shone his flashlight in the window and it woke him up! He came to the door and said "hold on I have to get dressed." So we stood there with the cop for 20 minutes while he put on a robe. Yes. It took him forever to put on just a robe. We finally get in, tell the cop thanks, and grandpa asks where the rest of Ashlie's family is. She said "it's just us. Can we still stay?" And he said, "well heck ya." But not heck. He wants to talk to us for awhile so we sit at the kitchen table. Right before bed he says "well better get bacon out so we can have some breakfast." Ew. We hate bacon. Then he informs us that we need to change the sheets in the bed. We tell him we don't but he insists. So we go and pick some just to carry them upstairs and put them on the floor. We head to bed. We woke up an hour late. Oh good! Already off to a good start. Then we rush to get ready, run down the stairs, and grandpa is in the shower. This could take years. We went out to explore the farm while we waited for grandpa black to finish his shower. We found some cows, the old playhouse, the coolest truck ever, and posed on a tractor.

 We were outside a good half hour and then we figure he should be done by now. We go inside and he is still showering! You have got to be kidding! We sit at the counter for another hour or so before he finally comes out of the bathroom. Then he tells us, " I have to wait for my lady friend to get here so I can make you girls breakfast." NOOO! We don't have time to wait! We were waiting for Heidi to get there and grandpa started the dishes. He went at the speed of antilight! Not even kidding. After about an hour of this nonsense he finishes the dishes and Heidi gets there. She was rushing him telling him to hurry! He said that he promised us breakfast. But he was too deaf to hear us say we didn't really need any. He gets out the bacon and puts it in thee nastiest pan ever! There is a ton of grease already in it like it hasn't been washed forever! Then he adds 2 cups of vegetable oil in there!!! NASTY! But the poor guy is trying so hard! Then he starts the eggs. He puts 5 eggs in the pan and like 4 cubes of butter and half a block of cheese. Ash and I were staring at it like "what are we going to do?" Then he offers us a drink. Ash has whole milk cause that's her thing, and I just have water. She takes a sip and he turns around. She whispers, "that is awful. Try it." I refuse but she makes me smell it. I thought I was going to puke just smelling it. I'm glad I got water. While he isn't looking she books it out the front door and dumps it out. Comes back and sits down like nothing has happened. It was hilarious. We had to find a way to see when the milk expired. Ash gets up to fill her cup with water, and he insists for her to have more milk because he has a ton of milk. She says no and looks at the date. 25 days ago. EWW!! She poured out her water and fills her cup again. While breakfast was cooking Heidi kept yelling at grandpa really mean things. She said "you don't even know how to dress yourself" cause one little button was undone. Then she said, " you did a horrible job on the dishes. You might as well not have even touched them." I felt awful. This poor cute old man was just doing his best and trying really hard, and she just kept tearing him down. I wanted I pack him up and take him with us. I loved him. Breakfast was finally done and he served it up on plates. The bacon wasn't even crispy and it was mostly strips of fat. Me and Ash choked down some of it and as soon as he turned his head, we shoved it in a napkin and ash shoved it in her purse. Thought that only happened in movies right?? Nope. Then we started to eat the eggs. I thought they were okay, but ash kept eating shells. Poor girl. We were almost done and grandpa gets up and makes us toast. GREAT! By this point we are 4 hours late leaving. He also offers us coffee and then he says "don't tell my bishop, it's word of wisdom approved coffee." Ha! What a cute old man! We thank him for breakfast and tell him how awesome his breakfast is. He has thee cutest smile on his face. So I guess the suffering was worth it. Kinda. We are finally on the road! We drive for about 2 hours and me and ash instantly start feeling extremely sick! Yup. We got food poisoning. Eww! Worst thing to have on a Road Trip. After a while we finally suffer through and get to Vernal. The temple isn't white! Here is the story: "Stop 4.  This temple isn't white! It's just brick, so that threw us off a bit.  It was raining way hard and we went in the wrong door, so they gave us an umbrella and said security would meet us.  It was pouring! We ran fast and got inside. One of the temple workers said, "You guys were baptized before you even came in."  We got all ready and had a little devotional.  The guy told us a really cool story and then we were confirmed and headed to the font.  It has a mirror in the front so you can see.  He also said my full name the first time he baptized me.  It was different, but i really like this temple." 

After Vernal we drove to Provo to stay with Ashys other grandparents. But first we had to stop at Olive Garden. We had been waiting all week for it. We walk in, sit down, order, eat an appetizer, 3 salads, 8 breadsticks, and 2 entrees. All in a mattered 20 minutes. We seriously were starving and we had an awful breakfast. It was a wonderful dinner.

 Then he headed to her grandparents and just relaxed the rest of the night. 

In the morning we woke up an hour and a half late we aren't really good at this wake up on time thing. We got ready and went upstairs for breakfast. They made us eggs and toast too. Except, it was a little better than grandpa blacks. We said goodbye and headed to our first out of 6 temples for the day, Mount Timpanogos. The parking lot was CRAZY! This is what I wrote about it: "I really love this temple.  It is gorgeous! The glass in it is so pretty.  The glass reflects like a light pink and a mint green color.  We go in, get our suits and get confirmed.  The guy that confirmed us was perfect.  It sounded like an announcer.  Then we finished and walked outside and there was a wedding.  It was so precious! I really loved it.  Then a cute little missionary man was helping an older guy across the street. I love this temple." 

                                        

 then we headed to the Draper Temple. Here is this story: "I really like the windows in this temple.  When we got here there was a wedding! Of course.  We go in, get confirmed and wait for seriously hours to be baptized.  The font has a huge glass, soundproof window so you can watch.  We get in the room and wait forever again, but then we found out they threw our names away. They got them out of the garbage, we get baptized and change in 1o minutes.  We walked outside and saw 3 more weddings. It was ridiculous." 

                                               

Then we went to the Jordan River Temple. "Okay, this temple is way unique.  We walked in super quick, got done in 20 minutes.  When we walked in, they have a live organist that plays the whole time.  We got confirmed by yet again, another cute guy.  Way cute.  The font looks like a handmade ceramic bowl.  So gorgeous.  There is also mirrors on both sides of the room so you can watch yourself get baptized.  Above the font is a cool chandelier and a mural of the bright blue sky with clouds.  Extremely peaceful temple."

                                          

After that we went to Oquirrh Mountain. "We first got here and saw a sealing with such a cute little family.  Then we walked around to the baptistry and saw a huge wedding party.  We waited, so we could see the bride and groom.  It was SO Cute! Then we had to run through everyone and across pictures to get in the temple.  We got in and had to wait and the chapel before we even could get clothes.  We waited FOREVER! Finally got in.  I confirmed people from the 1500's.  A little girl in front of us was doing it for her first time.  The font was HUGE and marble with glass window to watch.  We didn't even shower because the line was way long and we were just headed to another temple."

                                     

Almost done! Then we went to Salt Lake! It is gorgeous!!! Here is what I wrote: "I'm in love with this temple.  We got to go in the secret door, and through a long tunnel.  He told us to go get our clothes and change.  We did 3 confirmations and headed to the font.  It is gorgeous.  The font is really white and gold, and raised extremely high.  It has intricate details everywhere.  There is so much to look at, and its just gorgeous.  Right before i did baptisms they switched the guy doing them.  He was a looker.  It always happens to us, but i'm not complaining.  This is definitely top 3 of my favorite temples." 

                                            

We got done a lot sooner than we expected and headed to the Bountiful Temple! It was CLOSED! Rude! But it's okay because that one won't be hard to go to again. It is very close and I have been there before. Then we went home, showered and got ready and then we hit the night on the town! We went to Zupas! Which was hilarious!!!! We were on drugs or something! Then we went bowling and hung out with Brady and Zachary. Brady decided she wanted to finish off our temple tour with us. So we let her come (; we bowled until midnight and then me and Ash were super hyper so we decided to have some fun and make some music videos. Holy moly. It was so funny! We went to bed at 5 and had to pick Brady up at 9 to head to the Logan and Brigham city temple. We were exhausted when we woke up, but we got ready and picked up Brady then went to the temple I have been waiting forever to go to! The Logan temple! I wrote, "Shut the front door! I am in love with the Logan Temple.  It is gorgeous.  We walked in to do baptisms and the desk lady said we would have to wait about an hour.  So we went and walked the grounds.  We saw a little path Mrs. Olson told us about.  It was so pretty. We did 5 baptisms and confirmations.  The font was similiar to others with a huge glass window and a marble font.  Under the font everything was painted blue to look like water.  The mirrors on each side went on forever. GORGEOUS <3" 

                                      

Then we went to Brigham city. "We have been to this temple many times before.  We walk in, get clothes and do 5 confirmations.  I confirmed someone who had been waiting since 1771.  Then we go do baptisms and once again, we received temple blessings and got another attractive young man to baptize us. (; I love all the paintings and murals of baptisms of different people.  The font has a big window with tons of paintings in the Font.  This is definitely a wonderful temple."  

                                       

When we finished, we went to an old cafe, which was on the bucket list to go to a random small town cafe. It was pretty good food! 

Then we headed home! I would have to say that this Road Trip was definitely an experience I am glad I got have. It was way fun! And really cool to see all the random funny things that happened to us along the way! 

Here Comes Goodbye

This week was full of super tough goodbyes! I had to say goodbye to Gihwan because he went back to Korea. I had so much fun getting to see him again after 7 long years! It was cool getting to know him again and learning about his culture. We went to get ice cream at subzero to say goodbye. It wa kinda hard! But I know I will see him again someday! 

                                              

As if saying goodbye to him wasn't hard enough, I had to say goodbye to austin and colton as they left on their missions. Both of them did amazing at their farewells. Colton sung a solo which sounded just wonderfully. Austin gave a really powerful message on missionary work! We said our goodbyes to Austin and wished him well. It was really tough! We went back to Colton's ice cream party and gave him the letters we wrote him. He got teary eyed and then we took our final pictures with him! It was seriously one of the hardest days in my life saying goodbye to both these wonderful kids. I know that they will be watched over as they head out on their missions. They are going to do great things and I can't wait until we are reunited again. 

Reunited. Its been 7 years.

GIHWAN IS IN THE USA!!!!!!!! I am so excited that he got to come back to America to visit.  Here is a little background.  We were best friends in 5 and 6 grade, and then he moved back to Korea. We have kept in touch though through facebook, letters, and packages.  He told me he was going to try to come and visit this summer, but i didn't think it was going to happen.  Next thing i know...He has a date set and he is here! It was so good to see him after such a long time! It's like nothing has changed! We first went on a hike to Adams Canyon.  Then a few days later we went to a REAL game.  They lost ): Shoot. But it was still cool to go with him.  It has been a crazy summer that's for sure.  I am so glad i got to see him and i will desperately miss him when he leaves back to Korea.  Maybe i will just go and visit him next!! (:

Single and Legal!

I am 18!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WHAT?????? That is absolutely disgusting! I wanted to be a kid forever!! I seriously can't believe that i am officially an adult.  I mean i guess there is some positives but...not really the greatest. To start off my birthday, my family took me to the drive in! Colton came too! It was pretty fun! We went and saw despicable me 2 and Monsters University.  Didn't really like Despicable Me 2 but i liked Monsters. Then we went home and went to bed.  I woke up and went... SWIMMING!! I seriously LOVE swimming.  I had my party at Chad's and we just partied it up! Later at night, Ash and Brayds came over to Chad's and we switched presents and then we left and went to Ashy's house and..yup thats right.. did some more swimming. It was kinda freezing, but way fun! After that we went back to my house and did our traditional birthday pictures and cupcakes(muffins) It was a succesful day!

Happy 4 of July!

I didn't really do a whole lot this fourth of july! We went to Chads swimming for a while and then i went back to my momma's house to watch fireworks! Nothing to exciting! We also made these pretty sweet shirts (:

Goodbye Europe

Well rough start this morning. We were supposed to be in the bus at 4:15.  Well 4:12am Henson runs in our room and says Hurry!! You have 3 minutes. We jumped out of bed and scattered.  Our room was a disaster.  We hurried and finished packing and made it down at 4:25.  Just a little bit late (; We got to the airport and boarded the Germany to Paris flight.  It was way short! We rode on Air France.  The food was not airplane food.  It was really good.  We landed and had to rush to gate k35.  We didn’t have boarding passes and the place was closed that early in the morning. GREAT.  Henson asked a lady where to get them.  After lots of French speaking and confusion, we were back upstairs where we started.  We had to print our boarding pass ourselves.  We got them and once again down to k35.  We made it in, got our passports stamped, and headed to the terminal.  We get there and assign us seats.  They won’t tell us for 20 minutes though.  We rushed to the bathroom and hurried back upstairs.  They gave us our assignments and then started boarding.  I went through where they scan my passport.  They told me to go to the back table and had to open my bags and then they searched my body which was weird.  We finally got on the plane and we were off on the long, dreaded, horrible, flight back home.  I slept most of the way, but I sat by Garrett and talked to him for a long time too.  He is such a funny kid!

I am so glad I got the chance to go to Europe.  I loved every second.  It was so much fun getting to see these places, learn the history, get to know a lot of people, and just cross things off my bucket list.  I love exploring and this was a perfect way to expand my experiences.  I definitely plan on traveling a whole lot more in my life. 

GOODBYE EUROPE! ITS BEEN REAL!

Europe Day EIGHT

Today we actually woke up on time.  It was a miracle.  We got up and went to breakfast.  We had oatmeal, but their oatmeal is a lot different.  It is just uncooked.  It is like our raw oatmeal in milk with chocolate pieces.  They also had ICE! YES!! I have been craving ice this whole trip.  I also had a really yummy roll.  After breakfast, we were back on the bus.  We went to pick up our local guide.  Our first stop was another of Ludwigs castles.  There were these nasty looking birds everywhere.  It was a ginormous and really pretty castle.  We then saw the German Opera House, old churches, and the winged victory.  We stopped at this bridge because it was a famous place in the middle of the mountainous Germany to go surfing.  What makes the wave is 2 cables and a cement wall under 3-4 feet of water.  It was very interesting to see surfers in Germany.  After that we had about an hour free time.  But Dimitrious said we had to see the Glockenspiel.  First we went to a little café where I ordered a bagette sandwich and a pretzel called nutesque or something like that.  It was like a glaze pretzel thing with almonds covering it.  It was really flaky and just all around delicious.  Then we made our way to the Glockenspiel.  While waiting these knights came over and started talking to us.  One of them asked if he could have a bite of my sandwich and I said, “uhh..No?” Then he just kept talking to us and I told him my last name is Ritter and that it means knight.  He was all sorts of excited.  Then he wanted to take a picture, but he put his knee out and wanted me to sit on his lap. We took a picture smiling, then we took a picture of me kissing him on the cheek. I’ve kissed 2 Germans on this trip now.  He said, “Since you kissed me on the cheek, he was claiming me as his lady.” Yeah. I have a German boyfriend, who is a knight.  Then he walked away and the Glockenspiel started.  It played really pretty music and the characters spun around and danced around.  It was a really cool thing to see.  After that we did a little souvenir shopping.  Then headed back to the bus. Again.  We were on our way to the concentration camp Dacheu.  You walked in the gates and instantly felt a different feeling. It was very sad to see and imagine the people walking and working, being tortured and trying to survive.  I swore I could see people and it was really awful to feel that. It was also really difficult to read all the information tables and read the stories of these prisoners.  A movie was shown that was actual footage from when the camp was in operation.  I am glad I got the opportunity to see it.  We then left and went back to City Square for free time.  I decided to pay 20 Euro to go on a guided bike tour. Why? Cause another bucket list item could be crossed off.  I wanted to ride through the streets of Europe on a bike.  Our tour guides name was Keith. He informed us to not use cameras or phones while we were riding because you can get a 40 euro ticket.  We went to the “Tina Turner” church.  I forgot what the real name was.   There are these pillars with 2 gold lions on them.  You have to rub one, run across the street and rub the other one to have good luck the rest of the day.  We also walked on the bronze path.  The people who did not want to hail Hitler would walk behind the Opera House instead of the front because if they walked past the statues in the front and didn’t sign to Hitler they could be arrested. They put the path in the back to honor their courage.  While we were going on the ride, there was a festival going on, so we got to hear a lot of the local bands and singers performing and playing.  It was really cool.  We continued through the streets of Europe and got to the English gardens.  They were really big and green.  It was like a big park with tons of trees.  Keith told us that the part of the park we were in was the nude part.  He said the older people would go there to sunbathe.  Then he said, “Luckily it is raining today.”  We rode for about 2 hours around.  It was my dream come true. We got back to the bike place and turned our bikes in. We went inside to warm up because it was freezing and we were soaking wet. Dimitrious came to get us and we went back to the bus for dinner.  We went to a really yummy place when we got there.  There was salad in glass jars that was really good. It had cooked green beans in it, and it was also a little spicy.  We had pork goulash which was also really good.  For dessert we had pudding that tasted about the same as the night before.  I ordered Spetzi again because I pretty much had to.  It was my last chance and it is a really yummy drink.  We were sitting at dinner and Melanie was really hot.  Ash put her cold hands on Melanie’s face and she says, “Ashlie your hands are delicious!”  Funniest moment of the night.  We then headed back to the hotel and packed to go home.  It was really sad.  We all sat in our room talking and spending our last night together in the beautiful country of Germany.