My Love for Wyoming

We took a trip to Wyoming and just got back today.

What can I say about Wyoming? I drove through it once as a young married woman and all I saw were sage brush and I remember a ton of wind. Meh...wasn't my thing. That was, until my brother and sister-in-law (sister from another mister) decided to up and move to Pinedale, WY after we had finally convinced them to move to Utah a couple of years before (rude, right?).

That is when my eyes were opened to the beauty that is Wyoming. The first thing I noticed about Wyoming was the clouds. I have a bit of a fascination with clouds, especially Cumulus clouds! Ya know, the ones that are so heavenly puffy and white and have a flat bottom!!! Like these!

They get my heart racing and speak to my soul. So, there's the clouds...and no air pollution! (((((breath)))))))) These fill the skies almost everyday.

Then there are the Lakes...so many lakes! And the forests around Pinedale are covered in Aspen (my fav tree) and pine trees.  It's paradise.

Then there are the people! So nice and friendly. People actually make eye contact with you and don't flip you off if you sneeze wrong or cut them off. Time slows down when you are there. It really does feel like you are in a different world.

In Pinedale we went horseback riding, kayaked, camped, hiked, had great food and spent time with Troy and his rock star family.

Let's talk for a minute about Jackson Hole! It is a huge tourist town, so if that isn't your thing, you've been warned...but it is A-Mazing! The city itself is quaint and adorable, with lots of shopping and fun things to to. It is just another reason why Wyoming is so great.

In Jackon Hole we played with lots of cousins, Aunts, Uncles and family, ate amazing food, hiked Jenny Lake in the Grand Tetons (5 mile hike which seemed like 100 miles with all the kids), did a couple runs of the Alpine Slides (you take a ski lift to the top of a mountain and then slide down a water-slide-looking-thing on a little sled with a brake. It is totally radical. (yeah, I am bringing back radical), then we hopped over to Yellowstone where we saw Old Faithful do her thing. It was lovely.

Now...enjoy some photos =) and then get online and book a trip!

 My siblings, Tami, Troy, Tara and me

 Malia and her other half...Zachary

 Me...just posing with a statue of a scared hunter...ya...I know it does't make sense to me either.

 Kylee and Dalin getting eaten by a bear

 Kylee doing her thang with a great view of Jenny Lake and the Tetons.

 Kylee, me and my mommy. Three generations right there.

 Some cute cousins

 My dad, the mountain man and Dalin

 The water fall that feeds into Jenny Lake and the 2 of the best hikers you ever did see!

 Tyler and his other half-Troy Jr.

 James and I. Awwwwww

 Waiting to go down a second time on the Alpine slide.

 YELLOWSTONE!!!

 Old Faithful

 James and I enjoying our anniversary and some time alone (Thanks Troy and Rae for keeping the kids)

 Getting our horse back riding on! Boy-were we sore after our 2 hour ride!

 The adorable little cabin we stayed in on our last night alone. Cute as a button!

You Are Looking in the Wrong Place

I just finished the most amazing book! The Traveler's Gift, by Andy Andrews.

I really don't read books, unless I have to, I listen to them. I have this great little app called Audible on my phone and I listen to books while I am doing house/yard work, exercising or driving. It's great. The subtitle to this book is: Seven Decisions That Determine Personal Success. The book, written as a novel, is powerful, entertaining and thought-provoking.

I took many things from this book but the one sentence that keeps playing over and over in my mind is this, "Don't compare yourself to others, compare yourself to your potential."

This really hit me. I have been on a journey the last 6 months to really understand and feel for myself what my potential is. My Father in Heaven has given me some intense and painful growing experiences in these last 6 months and I know, with 100% surety, that he is allowing me to see my potential and what he expects me to accomplish in this life.

Most of the time all I can see is how far I am from it and how much work I need to do to get there, but the more I stop comparing myself to others and keep comparing myself to my potential, the easier I think it will be to daily act on the things I need to do as a mother, wife, friend, business owner and all the other hats I wear.

There is a chapter in the book where the main character gets to go back in time and meet Christopher Columbus. He is on the ship with them, 60 or so days into their voyage. The crew is at their breaking point and sick of hearing Christopher say every morning,  "I see Land! I see it, look? Just there at the horizon!" when, day after day, all they wake up to is ocean and sky.

When the main character questions Christopher, because clearly, there is no land, Christopher says something like, "You are looking in wrong place, don't look out at the ocean, look here, in my eyes. I see land!"

Christopher knew he would find land, and he held that belief for everyone else who doubted. That is what our Father, our God, our Creator does for us. He holds that space for us, that crystal clear bottle brimming with brilliance and beauty and goodness and love and he asks us to look to Him, not others for the surety that we are great and that we can do great things. He created us, He knows our potential and He believes in us, even, and most especially when we don't believe in ourselves.