Where did July go??

**Disclosure, I had this written up 2 months ago but have once again had a few failed attempts of putting it together and getting it up for the world to view**

My time in California was family filled....

Gavin and I by the pool

Pops, Amanda, Mckay, Gavin, Victoria running from waves

Posing by waves :)

Nieces Jahde and Gentry

                             

Bravest aunt in the world!!

Evans family hits the beach

Building castles in the sky :)

Love these kiddos, and this isn't even all of them!!

     

Gentri and her "auntie candy"

Josh and Keaton are best buddies

Brother Chad and his baby girl Temperynce

Cousins Xander and Keaton talking about real stuff

Gramps

Papa John and Bailey big smiles

Cheetos all around, Ben and Bailey

Sitting by the pool enjoying my huge family :)

For those who know me, you would not be surprised to know this, however for those who don't, you should know that I am a pretty big believer in Astrology/Horoscopes. I do believe we were born at certain times and certain places that greatly effect our disposition, personality, and somehow magically certain situations that occur without our say so…. When I read my horoscope for the month of July while laying on the white sandy beaches of mexico with Amanda, it said that the month of July was going to be largely focused on the house of Home and Family. This is not too wild to say since July is a large vacation time and time for family reunion, however for myself it made no sense and I ignored that whole section when reading because I had a plane ticket to Boston on July 2nd and then another down to Mexico on the 8th with big plans to spend the sunny month of July with Amanda and sea creatures…….. Oh the power of the stars….. Many disbelievers of Astrology will say that 'there are a lot of generalizations and good guesses' or 'that could relate to anyone.' I am a Pisces, the symbol of 2 fish which are swimming in opposite direction. I am often torn to both sides of a decision because I see both sides of a situation and empathize easily. I am the 12th sign in the zodiac which makes me the most spiritually and intuitively connected sign. Highly emotional, I can often feel the pains/heartaches of people and connect easily. A list of strength keywords for me are: Compassionate, adaptable, accepting, devoted, and imaginative; a list of weakness keywords are Oversensitive, indecisive, self pitying, escapist, and lazy. I would say I am at least 9/10 of these words which can be interchangeable to strength/weakness. I swear that all this has a point lol So now that you know a tiny bit more about me astrologically, let me show you how my July really went ***spoiler alert: My toes didn't end up on white sandy beaches in Mexico*** and why my horoscope predictions turned out to be true and how my zodiac sign helped me cope!

The 4th of July was suppose to be spent in Boston, with Jacob experiencing the national holiday in one of the oldest cities in the USA… however instead I went and watched the parade with my nieces in it...

Xander and Gavin catching candy

Gavin amazed at the firetrucks with Mama Jo

 

 I ran my first 5K race **item checked off my 28 things to do list** (since high school) at the Riverton town days fun run:

Did some yard work

 BBQ'd with the family, played in the water, 

and watched a awesome firework show with my family at my brothers block party :) 

Gavin + sparkler

Maddie, Ben, and Jaron

Panoramic view of cul de sac

Me with Lincoln

Best treat for me was that Jacob bought a last minute trip to Utah to come visit me :) :) 

This is sadly one of the only pictures that was taken of us the whole weekend

We hit the water park on Friday and on Saturday we went on a big family hike, the kids did so well keeping up and making it all the way to the top!

Jacob at the bottom of the slide

Wasatch hike

 

Lincoln was a free loader

I haven't been home to do this holiday in far too long and it was a real blessing enjoy it with my family that I love so much!! 

We enjoyed the rest of the week and then my sister Amanda, David Taylor, and her boys packed up the car and took off on our road trip over to Oklahoma… We stopped for the night in Denver, it was my first time being in Colorado and it was a gorgeous state!  We got BBQ in Kansas and eventually made it to OKC late at night just in time for Dave to work the next morning. 

My time in Oklahoma sped past!!! This city is one I would have never thought I would spend 3.5 weeks in, but it is such a cool and clean city. My brother has had trouble realizing how cool it is (he lives literally 3 blocks from the city center). There are baseball games, live music on Fridays, Jazz in the park on Sundays and movies in the park on Wednesday. There weather was hot but not terrible. The first week was filled with returning wedding gifts and organizing things for my brother. We got some pool time with the boys, walked around the city a lot, and had the opportunity to do a lot of talking and sharing of thoughts/feelings/emotions.

AAA baseball game in OKC

 We went down to Moore which is a main part of where the F5 tornado hit in May and damaged 16000 homes and destroyed 1600… even 2 months later there is still so much rubbish and destruction, so sad.

 On the second week in town, Nate came into town and spent a few days, then he and Amanda drove home up to North Dakota. 

Out at Lake Hefner

While keeping the privacy of my brother Dave and allowing you to see how emotionally charged July was, I will say that I have not felt so emotionally exhausted for a very long time. I would give up my time for anyone in my family/friends, and especially for this dear brother of mine who has been a big support in my life the past decade. He is a gentlemen that could be transported to the 19th century and fit in perfectly with his manners and respect. He is giving and unselfish beyond belief. There is nothing he wouldn't do for a person in need. He is my example of a person I hope to marry some day. David Taylor is the older brother that all people want to have and I have been eternally blessed to have him as one of mine. All these reasons and many more is why I would do anything I needed to in order to make sure he was taken care of and happy. And I would do it 10 times again.  

Oklahoma city bombing, I still remember hearing about 

the bombing when I was 9 years old and wondering

why someone would do something so evil.

There are 9 rows of chairs, one for each floor of the federal

bldg and also a chair for each person in relation

to which floor they worked on. Such a cool memorial

Wall of tiles made by children.

This was a prayer written on the wall the day of the

bombing and still is there today. 

On each end of a reflecting pool there is a tall wall

with the times 9:01 and 9:03. The first represents the moment

before all things were changed and the latter represents

the time where nothing would ever be the same again.

And then there were 2.

The Sunday that the group left felt funny to us, we had so much quiet and calm that neither of us had experienced in 3 weeks (we are usually pretty use to quiet life), so we walked the city and watched a few movies after going to all 3 hours of church! Ha ha Then starting on Monday morning, we hit the gym before work to get our bodies and minds going. I went to the office with Dave for Monday and Tuesday attempting to help out with cleaning up rooms, filing charts, and sterilizing equipment… nothing too crazy, but it felt nice to get to work a bit and spend time at the office with my brother who I admire so much. My Wednesday was spent studying for a certification class (I signed up to take a ACLS course). I took a walk in the afternoon through the city and stumbled upon a store named Plenty. This store is a dream to me. Full of 'buy local, sale local' items that are eclectic and unique. I found a local drawing that I loved and some perfume that is a absolute dream!! 

I did my ACLS course (Advance Cardiac Life Support) which was pretty intense for my brain to recall how to read a lead from a EKG, look at medications that I haven't had to push since nursing school, and be evaluated based on my ability to think on my feet to solve and treat a emergency situation. Doing this course helped  to rejuvenate some of my brain cells which haven't been used for 2 months now… phew!! 

My oldest brother John came into town on Thursday night and we sped to the school of massage and all 3 of us got 1.5hr long massages ;) Friday afternoon Benton (Dave's best friend) got into town to visit for the weekend! After dinner and a movie and relaxed for the night. Saturday we rose early and hit the road heading 3 hrs south to Dallas, Tx to scream our lungs out and shake our brains up on roller coasters all day at Six Flags over Texas!!!!!! Sitting here just thinking about the day brings a memory of nausea to my stomach ha it was a fun day and we did a Flash pass which reserved our spots in line so our wait time was less than 10 minutes on all rides… all that said, there was not much recovery time between the shaking and screaming for us…. all that said, there was not much time for the stomach and head to recover…. all that said, when we got on the Titan which is a coaster that is over 255 ft tall with drop speeds of 85 mph and over a mile long of spirals and camel back loops, there was not much left to say. I somehow miraculously made it down the stairs, down the ramp, around the corner, through the door (while handing off my water bottle to my brother), and into the bathroom stall before 'tossing my cookies into the ceramic throne.' I rarely ever ever get sick and vomit, I can't remember the last time that i did, but boy oh boy it was a relief!!!! I felt loads better afterwards and stupidly hopped on 4-5 more rides until the unnerving feeling of vertigo returned and I sat out the last few rides of the day. ha All the guys couldn't believe I actually vomited, I think they were all jealous because they wanted to but couldn't lol I am not proud of the vomit, however I must say that out of the 4 weeks of July, this was possibly the most exciting moment of the month… sad I know!!! 

Sunday was another relaxing day of church and walks, we dropped the guys off to the airport and spent the evening watching Criminal minds and packing my things. I am not sure how my luggage has grown to fill a whole additional bag, however it did…. so weird! 

So once again, here I am in Chicago airport writing my blog. The only time I have been able to sit back and document this past month that has been charged with emotion has been this morning. Its so strange to think of what I had planned to be doing a month ago and what I actually did, but so is life! I am heading to DC to meet up now with Amanda and Shara for a epic reunion and a Miss Carter Show (Beyonce) concert tonight… one of my life long bucket lists to do and its with 2 of my  best friends, so blessed! :) 

Picture taken without any touch up or filter at Lake Hefner... something to say about those Oklahoma skies!!