The AWESOME part of vacation...:)

WOW!  I LOVE work!  ...let me explain:

Monday I went back to work at the hotel.  Sunday evening when I spoke with my supervisor and I agreed to come into work the next morning at 7am, I was less than ecstatic...in fact, I was grumpy about it...but then I tried to muster up a good attitude about it.  After all, I just had a month of vacation!  Whoo-hoo!  

Well, here's the thing, I got up and went to work and I was happy!  WOW!  I was surprised!  

I looked around me and saw laundry...it took me a while to get used to the 'oh so familiar' surroundings just a month before when I was working between 30 and 40 hours a week there!  :)  Honestly, I was very tired and barely making it at work before I left-I was SO busy!  Now, that I've had a vacation, I like it MUCH more!  

...there's a few things that have helped:

1.  I have a book on audio that I've been listening to so that I can accomplish some of my history homework while I'm at work!  Good idea huh!? 

2.  I can see the end of the tunnel: FRIDAY is my last day...at least until December when I'll come back for more work, happy because I've had a break!  

...and a few things that I learned: 

1.  Vacations are good because they give you a break from your work and you come back more refreshed! (You appreciate your work more!)

2.  Vacations are good because you leave a gap when you're gone so when you come back and they see what an asset you are, ...they appreciate you more! :)  

Anyways, I have 2 more days of working left before I pack up and leave for Idaho!  Whoo-hoo! 

 Happy rest of the Summer! :) 

Here's my favorite picture from DC! :) 

Finally Home!

YAY!!!! I'm home! :) 

I am in a happy place.  

I'm home, my family is gone (except my brother Sam), I have some time to think, do laundry, finish a big homework assignment due Friday, and GO TO THE COAST!!  

 

My family is there now with some cousins and they are having SO MUCH FUN!!  I get to join them with Sam later this week!  I'm SO excited!  

 

After that, I work for a week, get packed, and head off to Rexburg for a superb semester at BYU-Idaho!  :)   

...and why not add this picture in of some friends and I at the Lincoln Memorial.  

Good-bye! :)

Today we said good-bye at Temple Square in Salt Lake City where we watched Joseph Smith, A Prophet of the Restoration and ate a fine lunch in the Joseph Smith Memorial building.  We also got to talk about what we learned and hear from the teachers! 

It was a great trip!  I loved it and I'd recommend it to BYU-I students across the board!

  There's many sites to see but you also can gain relationships, experiences, culture, insight, inspiration, and more!  I had SO much fun and I would not go back and change one piece! :)  

Thanks friends who inspired me, teachers who taught me, and everyone who helped to go on this trip!  I'm so glad I went! :) 

Last day on the road! :)

Today was great!  We said good-bye to our fabulous bus driver, Darryl in Independence, Missouri where we finished the bulk of our tour with some church history sites.  We loved him and had a lot of fun saying good-bye, but it was bittersweet.  

We flew on a couple planes with a fast layover in Denver.  I saw the dry dessert of Salt Lake City about 4:30pm today and at first, I was disappointed to not see green.  Almost everywhere we went on the east coast was green and home is green, so I felt estranged in this dry, yellow-y land...but this soon escaped me when I felt the homey air of Utah and realized I was in a sort of familiar home.  :)  I love being here with my grandparents and I get to stay with them tomorrow night, so I'm really excited.  

We finished up our last evening at Cafe Rio, a welcome change from lots of fast food, buffets, & pizza-it's easier to feed a crowd this way, I understand, but after 3 weeks, it's definitely not your first pick! :) Our director's suggestion to change it up was well received. :) 

I'm so excited for one more night with my favorite room mates (OK, I have more favorites but for this trip, they've been AWESOME!) before we separate tomorrow.  Our group gets one more morning to debrief and then watch a video before our last meal and good-byes.  By tomorrow afternoon, we shall all be on our separate ways with fond memories and learning weaved into our hearts forever!   I can honestly say I LOVED it!  :)

 

 Our Forever 21 matching polka-dot socks! :)

Chicago!

On this day, we rode on the bus a lot!  :) 

 

 It was good because I got some sleep and some homework done (two things that are difficult for me to do well at the hotel because I LOVE my room mates! and they're SO fun!! SO I get distracted easily and find it's easier to do homework on the bus!)

On our way to Chicago, we stopped in South Bend, Indiana to pay respects to the famous Rudy Rudiger's famous touch down, reproduced in the movie Rudy (one that I LOVE) and it was cool!  :)  

 

Here's a picture of the Touchdown Jesus that we drove past! :)  (sorry the picture is not great!)

Here's the Stadium; sorry this picture isn't good either! :)

CHICAGO!! :) 

I LOVED visiting Chicago.

  

We only had a few hours to explore but I managed to visit a museum,walk around, and eat a wonderful!   dinner at Panera Bread, where I had a of salad, bread, part of a shake, and part of a pastry! 

  I also got to taste some Chicago pizza that a fellow classmate bought. :)

Fountain:

Skyscrapers:)

The Field Museum

The next day, we visited the famous Robie House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright: (sorry the views not great here either)

Girls doing homework!

haha.  My room is SO funny.   We did a LOT of laughing that night, ...but we got SOME homework done and we made a memory! :)

...Good-bye Chicago! :)

Great Day in Nauvoo!

I had an an awesome day!  That's all there is to it! ...Well, here it is: :)

It started at the temple where we did a session of temple ordinances together for about 2 hours! :)  I felt the spirit and it was great!   

It was SO pretty and a beautiful day...but not too HOT!  (we appreciate this change from the east coast where is was HOT and muggy) :) 

This is the Nauvoo Temple in Nauvoo, Illinois, restored by the LDS church from the original that was built in the1840's by the early latter-day saints.  

It was barely finished enough to use some before they crossed the plains to the Salt Lake Valley in 1846, two years after the prophet Joseph Smith was martyred.   The church rebuilt it and dedicated it in 2002.

 Nauvoo, Illinois

 Sketch of two boys representing many who assisted the poor and needy in the early days of latter-day saints when times were rough.  I read a plaque that said some boys helped by fishing. :) :)

Reminder of the gospel message that Christ still lives and loves us.  (His hands are stretched out still.)

 

 I love this picture because it's where we stopped tonight after walking the Trail of Hope leading up the Mississippi River where the saints crossed after leaving their homes, city, temple, and friends in order find peace later in the Salt Lake Valley. 

Thanks to everybody who helped me in any way to come on this trip!  :)  It's been a blessing!

 

Kirtland in Summary ...Niagara Falls!

Yesterday, we went to Niagara Falls and it was AWESOME!! :)  

Here's some pictures: 

and today we went to see Kirtland church sites: like the Kirtland Temple, the N. K. Whitney Store, the Rock Quarry (where they got rock for the temple) and more!  It was really cool!  :)


Kirtland Temple

Replicas ...I think from building the temple...
:)

Johnson Farm

and I found this great quote in one of the buildings! :)

Church History Sites and a LOT of fun!! :)

Yesterday we stayed in Palmyra, a very beautiful place in New York that homes a temple, two different restored homes where Joseph Smith lived in, the Sacred Grove, where he prayed to find out which church he should join amongst all the religious excitement, and a nice homey cafe that we ate lunch at near the Erie Canal.  

 Frame home for the Smith family for a while

In summary, it was a marvelous day with spirit and love.   I felt the spirit really strong and was so happy to be there and on this trip-SO glad I came.  It helped me feel peace to sit in the Sacred Grove and visit sites where significant spiritual events happened long ago.  I LOVED yesterday! :) 

Today, we went to Ohio and visited some sites there.  We'll hit more tomorrow and so I'll post pics of them then, but for today we mostly saw ...NIAGARA FALLS & rode on the bus! 

 

We stopped at this beach! :) 

Hill Cumorah Sunset

We wrapped up our American History portion of the tour yesterday at Gettysburg and began the *church history portion of our tour today in Palmyra, Pennsylvania. *see bottom for explanation of church history 

 Hill Cumorah Visitor's Center with a rainbow behind it.  We were greeted with rain when we began our sight seeing but it cleared up & then we were blessed with a rainbow followed by sunshine! :)

 The hill leading up to the monument. :)  Beautiful sunshine!

 Meg standing next to a panel depicting one of the encounters Joseph had with an angel when he was in the process of restoring the church. :)

 Hill Cumorah Monument

The sun set as we were up there, just in time for us to come down.  It was great! 

 

*church history is highlighting the several sights where early members of our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) where inspired, taught, uplifted, and received instruction for how to start re-organizing our church.  There will be more information coming as I post more, but if you have any questions you can post a comment or email me at: absolutelyadelheid@yahoo.com :) or visit our church website at mormon.org! :)

Reflections at Gettysburg

Today we went to Gettysburg and I can't do the sites and experiences justice in the time I have but it was great!  We saw the graves where the soldiers were buried and there's still a special spirit there that I enjoyed as I reflected on the culminating event (Civil War) of winning freedom in our country along with what's led up to it.  We are now done with the History portion of our tour and I am so grateful to be an American.  It's so great! :) :)

Battlefield at Gettysburg

Washington D.C.

My roommate Meg and I at the Library of Congress
disclaimer: my pictures are dark and not complete, but I LOVED today.  Please enjoy!

Today was a special day because we traveled into Washington Mall again to visit the Capitol Building and many other inspirational and touching sites, namely the Holocaust Museum, the Washington Monument, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (The Wall) and many more.

We started in the Capitol Building, receiving a very organized and well-done, simple tour and then moved on to the other sites.

US Capitol Building

I walked into the Library of Congress with some girls and then we moseyed around, stopping by the Supreme Court building but we didn't go inside (it was under construction).  These places were majestic and wowing but not as striking in some ways as sites I saw later.

Library of Congress

Supreme Court Building

As I walked down Pennsylvania Street, I saw many building that resemble the marvelous architecture that I find so intriguing and regal.
Buildings:

 

 Then, we walked past the White House.  I LOVED seeing this...

White House

...we ate lunch and walked more until we reached the Lincoln Memorial.  As we approached the site, we saw the World War II Memorial with all 50 states represented.  Krystal and I later had our picture taken next to the Oregon monument.  :)

We saw the Lincoln Memorial and then visited the Vietnam Memorial as well-it was so cool.  I really appreciated it and the location was prime with the Washington Monument just to the side -it makes for great photos!! :)  (but I don't have any right now)

Along the way, we passed by the World War II Memorial again and I enjoyed the walk (especially the ducks near the pond) as we made our way to the Holocaust Museum.


Quote on side of Holocaust Museum Wall-you probably can't read it but it's great!
 This was another "last but not least" sites that touched me.  I was so impressed by the fabulously artistic way of displaying and teaching about this event and just ...well awe-struck and somewhat speechless about my feelings toward this museum's way of telling the stories from World Ward II.

Cute little Jewish kitchen for a German family before the contention broke out. 

Washington Mall
I thought, how lucky we are to be in this country today and I really believe it...not lucky, but blessed! :)

Washington Monument

Columns...my day in Washington D.C.:)

Today we went to Washington D.C. and LOVED it!! ...or I did ...and I think the rest of us enjoyed it too!  

We went to several choice places including George Washington's Estate called Mt. Vernon that sits right on the Potomac River ...and it's BEAUTIFUL!! I LOVED -loved! loved! loved! :) his house and property!  He was such a good man and had such a regal presence evident in his home.  I could go on and on...ah!  beside the fact that it was beautiful inside and out, it had this spirit about it that just emanated the man himself-VERY admirable!!  

 Here's my room mate, Anna & I afar off from G. Washington's house at Mt. Vernon

After going to see George Washington's home, we ate lunch and headed to a place called Washington Mall where we spent the rest of the afternoon.  First, we went inside part of the National Gallery of Art and saw some paintings (then I ate some Gelato! ...thurpp!!! it was tasty!).  

After the Gallery, I went off with a smaller group of us to see the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution that are housed in the National Archives and museum after museum from there! :)

I LOVE the columns that are so prominent in the older architecture of the time when a lot of the buildings were built...here's one of them that we went to:

Last, but not least, we visited the Washington D.C. LDS Temple that is home to many marriages that allow for families to be together forever! :)

Washington D.C. Temple

This is the entire Mormon American Travel Studies Group that I'm traveling with standing in front of a (blurry, I know) statue of Christ in the Visitor's Center of the temple.  It was SO great to visit and bond with the group! :)

Philadelphia

Today we went to Independence Hall and visited the place where both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed years ago and it was really cool.  

I also got to see the Liberty Bell in it's newer exhibit, eat a Philadelphia Cheese Steak and saw life-size statues of the signers of the Constitution in the Constitution Center! :)  

 George Washington

 Benjamin Franklin

Other fellow signers