Kentucky is For Real!

I went to Kentucky - to which I richly adore that state!  Hello - Libby loves Kentucky.  Duh!  It's my home away from home.  I happened to have four days off in a row, and just needed to get away.  So, called up my girl Holly, and left the next day.  Just after hitting up church for about an hour I then hopped the "L" to O'hare, and then bound a plane to Lexington, KY.  An hour later I was in Lexington.  Just like that - poof!

Holly and I haven't seen each other in almost three years.  You would have never even know because it was just like we had seen each other yesterday.  It's crazy how you can just pick up where you left off.  Love that feeling.  The first thing on the agenda was to go get me some grub.  She knew of just the right place - a little southern home cook'n, and an ice cold Ale8.  Doesn't take much to speak to this girls heart.  We ate some meatloaf, mac and cheese, creamed corn, squash, and butterscotch pie.  Oh it felt good to be home.

We didn't have much planned - basically just wanted to catch up.  I did want to go see some Beattyville, and take a trip down memory lane.  How did I ever serve my mission in that sad town?  That's what I kept wondering the whole time we drove through the slowly dying small town.  As we were there we wanted to go eat at our favorite spot, The Purple Cow.  But, sadly, it has been shut down.  Even more sadly enough we ended up at Dairy Queen - gag!  The only thing it had going for it was the Ale8 on tap.  Bleck!

After a dinner of champions what better way to work it off then by going on a hike at the Natural Bridge State Park.  It was, of course, humid as ever, and the sun was beginning to set.  We pull up to a parking lot with a few lonely cars.  The surrounding shops had already closed down, a sign that maybe we should not start a hike this late into the evening?  Well heck, it's Kentucky, what's going to happen here?  Most people don't even know this place (Kentucky) is a state.  Just like some people don't even know Utah is a state.  Like that one episode of Friends where Joey and Ross are naming states and Joey say's, "Utah?  You can't just make up a state."  Something like that - you get my drift.  Digressing here.  Basically nothing exciting happens in Kentucky.  Tonight was different, tonight on a darkened path things happened in Kentucky!  A few steps on to the trail we run into a lovely little couple heading back to their car (BEFORE THE SUN SETS - like smart people).  I, naturally, stop them and start talking to them.  They are friendly and chat it up with me.  They also forewarn us of the encounter they had about 100 feet up the trail with a rattle snake and dead copper head.  Oh LOVELY!  Thanks for the heads up.  By the way - I HATE SNAKES!!!  Holly and I decide to venture on.  We came all this way we are not turning back.  Besides I need to work off that nasty meal I just ate at Dairy Queen.  Snakes shmakes - we are hiking onward and upward.

We pass the 100 feet where the apparent snake sighting was, and feel pretty darn good with ourselves for pushing on even though we are most likely surrounded by snakes.  We put them, the snakes, out of our minds.  We have a sunset to catch.  Making it to the top of the natural bridge we look around at the vast Kentucky rolling hills of green, and bask in the beautiful sunset to the west.  As we are enjoying the different arraying colors of the sky it soon falls dark, and fast.  Two blonde's are out hiking in the thick Kentucky wilderness.  Don't worry, we had our cell phones.  Guess what both our smart little phones have...they have a flashlight.  Woot!  Woot!  So, these two blonde's start their hike back to the car.  Cell phones in hand shinning bright like a diamond (had that stupid song in my head all day) we start our quick hike down the trail.  Holly in the lead we are moving at a fast pace.  With about a quarter of a mile left Holly comes to a very abrupt stop throwing her arm out to stop me when I happen to see movement.  Holy SH.......Holy S*%#!!!  Yeah I swore a couple of times - seeing a huge copper head snake will make anyone yell out words that should never come out of any ones mouth!  I am in a pair of Chaco's - well duh, and start running BACK UP THE TRAIL!  Because I am in Chaco's I immediately think the snake will bite my open feet.  That is why I WAS RUNNING BACK UP THE TRAIL...  Holly remains (surprisingly) calm and yells, "if you are going to run why don't you run to the parking lot - away from the snake?"  Don't misunderstand my storytelling here - Holly was just as scared as me.  She just was a lot more calm - not that it takes much for people to remain more calm then me.  I come back down the trail closer to Holly and tell her that maybe we should throw a rock at it.  Clearly I was not thinking straight...then I tell her let's get a stick and poke it.  Again my mind was a mess.  Because of our hurried pace back to the car our hiking/lights had startled the snake and it had slithered off to the side of the trail allowing us to at least pass it on the opposite side.  Holly saw that there was enough room to get by and said we should just go - we have no other choice!  She takes off.  Well, I guess I better too???  We pass the snake and are on dead run for the parking lot.  Good thing the rest of the trail was downhill, as it helped in making a quick getaway.  We get to the car and both are shaking.  Did we really just encounter a copper head?  Did we really just see a snake?  Are we certain it just wasn't our minds playing tricks on us?  If you are still engaged in this rather dramatic story I will tell you that, we really did encounter a snake!  Now on it being a copper head...we are unsure, but the presence of that slithery serpent was quite apparent.  It took a few hours to shake that image off, but after some junk food (clearly we had worked up an appetite, and Dairy Queen was no longer lingering) and the final stupid Twilight movie we were surprisingly able to sleep good.

It was so great to just jet set to Kentucky and see my friends/family.  It was a much needed trip even if we didn't do anything too exciting.  Who says seeing a snake isn't exciting?  Kentucky is FO REAL!  Libby still loves Kentucky.  Always.  

I Love Bluegrass Music

Staying at the Akemons was great because I got to hear real deal bluegrass music. Holly's dad, Phillip, plays the banjo and her brother Phillip Wayne plays the guitar. Every Wednesday night they get together at Phillip's Barber Shop and have a jam session. Holly and I went over and listened for almost two hours. I love bluegrass music and give thanks to my mission for introducing me to this great sound. (Holly's great uncle was Stringbean who was a regular on the Grand Ole Opry - how cool is that!) The other guy in the group is Kenny, and he plays the mandolin. Yes, he is single, and the Akemons wanted to set me up with him, but, well, I'm just going to leave it at that. If you want to assume he had brown eyes he didn't - they are blue! (He does have nice hands though. Yum!)

The little boy in the background is Holly's nephew Drew, and he had me laughing the way he was acting during my video taping - he's quite the character.

My Home Away From Home

Spring Break this year has lead me to my home away from home - Kentucky. Oh how Libby Loves Kentucky! The trip started out with some playing around in Nashville, TN. Then it was time to visit my old stomping ground of Beattyville and Paris Kentucky. I stayed with the Akemon Family (Holly's Family) in Gray Hawk, Kentucky. Don't try to find it on the map it's a small town, super small. After catching up on some sleep we drove 45 minutes to the even more small town in Kentucky, Beattyville. I served in this area for 6 months, and fell in love with the town and people. We spent the day driving around, visiting some of the still faithful members, met the missionaries, and went and ate at the Purple Cow - my favorite restaurant in Beattyville.The next day we went to Berea which is about 45 minutes the other direction of Holly's house, we went antique shopping, window shopping, and eating. When we went window shopping I found the dulcimer shop where I really badly wanted to buy me a dulcimer. I'll wait until I'm done with school and have time to teach myself how to play this beautiful instrument. The next two days were just spent visiting and hanging out.The last two days of my trip were spent in Paris, Kentucky. My next favorite area of my mission where I also spent six months. I have to say, it took my whole mission for me to actually have a baptism and when I did have a baptism it was a family (Ogden Family) and a sweet lady (Joyce Alexander). I stayed with the Ogden Family who have two girls and now have two grandchildren. Brenda, the mom, visited all day with me when I arrived, then we met up with Joyce (the sweet lady I got to help baptize) for an awesome dinner she cooked up for us. We had dinner and visited until as late as we could. The next morning before I caught my plane back to Utah we drove around the cute town of Paris and visited a few members.

It was sad to leave my second home, but I know that I will be back soon. Gosh, this trip makes for my third time back in six years of being home from my mission. So, I know I will be back - hopefully soon because Joyce just got her temple recommend and is getting ready to go through the temple so I know I will be back for that special day.

Whirl Wind Weekend - Part Deux

Well as sad as I am to say goodbye it's much relief to get back into my "real" life. Holly's Mom and friend Crystal left on Monday, but we packed in a very fun weekend before they left St. George. On Friday we went to the St. George temple and did sealings since Linda (Holly's Mom) has never done any besides her own. Plus it's fast and quick. Short story to add to my blondness, after we were done with sealings I asked the Sealer if we could take the short cut down to the Celestial Room (the hidden stairs) he said no, and that they weren't allowed to take people that way anymore. I, out loud said, "Shoot!" Then I felt bad and started to ramble off, "Dang it, I mean darn it?!?! I mean...SORRY, I am going to go now because everything that is coming out of my mouth is not Temple Worthy..." With that said, Linda was laughing, she got so "tickled" as those Kentucky Folk say. After doing our service for the day we went to the visitor center heard some stories about the building of the Only TRUE Temple and then went for ice cream.

First thing Saturday morning it was off to Zion's National Park to see the beauty right in our backyard. We drove through the park, and tunnel, then hopped on the shuttle to hike the sidewalk version of the Narrows. After our "long" hike we went for some lunch at a fun little cafe in Springdale. However, as we were riding the shuttle back to our car we had to make all the stops along the way of picking people up. At one stop this group of four women got on the shuttle. The five of us were split up in between cars, I was in the back car just chilling. As I glanced up at the women who had just got on the shuttle I looked at the one woman and immediately said, "Are you a Lewis?" She said yes, and then said, "You are Sister Williams!" Sister Lewis was from Utah, but had moved to Beattyville, Kentucky (Where Linda and Holly are from) and were living there as I was serving as a missionary. I was so excited!!!! I immediately said, "You will not believe who is up in the next shuttle?" "LINDA AND HOLLY AKEMON!" Sister Lewis was so excited that she tried to get off the shuttle at the next stop to run up and see them. (They had become dear friends in Kentucky, and just the week of conference we had talked about them and their family.) She waited until we got to the parking lot and then we went and surprised Linda and Holly. It was an awesome little reunion, and totally random!

Kai (Stacie's son), Crystal, Stacie, Holly, Eliza (Crystal's daughter), Me, and Linda.

Me, Linda, Jodi Lewis, and Holly

After our adventures in Zion it was off to a show at Tuachan. Bless my sister Jessie's heart for getting us free tickets, and AWESOME seats to Aiada. We were four rows from the stage, and I had the BEST view of the shirtless lead man, who made eye contact with me several times during the show. He really did! I'm sure it means nothing, but it got my heart thumping and Holly laughing pretty hard. Her and I shouldn't go to shows, I think we laugh too much, and are very distracting. After the play it was goodbye, they were leaving Monday to fly back to Kentucky. It was bittersweet, but I know I'll see them soon. (This year for spring break Holly and I are flying to Nashville, TN then driving up to Kentucky to stay with her parents for the week, with a side trip to North Carolina to visit Linda's cousin who is a High School principle so I can meet her and talk about student teaching/working at her school when I graduate SUU. Gosh that was a mouth full, and probably a grammar no, no!)

Anyhow, life goes on, time was well spent, with a lot of fun! Now in two weeks I have another friend coming through town on his way to Denver that I'll get to play with. Stay tuned for that fun adventure!

Whirl Wind Weekend...and Another one this weekend???

As many of you know I was once upon a time a tour guide. Well, this weekend I put the act on again. I had some dear friends from my mission (Kentucky - Ohio Cincinnati Mission) in town for the next two weeks. Our first order of business was for Holly and I to go straight to the SLC airport and pick them up! We picked them up a little after 12:00pm and headed over to the super cute Gardner Village in Midvale - correct me if I'm wrong. As it would be, the place was jumping with little goblins and lot's of Mom's. We ended up eating at the tasty Archibald's and then wander through the cute little boutiques. One in particular was the candy shoppe. I have a new favorite dessert, which is sinfully sent from Satan - not to be dramatic, but it's known as banana cream fudge. I literally died and went to heaven, or hell, depending on, I don't know...nevermind? What happened first was just a sample. We left the store to leave Gardner Village, and as we were getting situated in the car I ran back to purchase me a "big sample," if you know what I mean. Move over peanut butter pie, there is a new guy in town and his name is BANANA CREAM FUDGE!Along with finding me a new dessert, we had gotten tickets to two sessions of General Conference. However, my friends forgot the Saturday morning session. Holly and I weren't to bummed because going to two morning sessions is a lot of work. So, as Saturday morning approached we took our time getting ready, relaxed and enjoyed the two sessions in the comfort of our temporary living quarters. That night, why all the men in our lives (to which there isn't any) were at the priesthood session we ventured out on the town of Happy Valley and went to the beloved Mormon bookstores. Where I bought Sister Oaks new book, "A Single Voice" and have almost finished it. SO GOOD!!! SO GOOD!!! Did I say how good it is??? (For those of you who don't know much about her, Sister Oaks, she is married to Elder Oaks - the apostle, is his second wife, AND she didn't get married until she was 53!) After bookstore shopping it was off to a Brazilian grill where it was all you can eat meat on a stick. Another moment for me visiting HEAVEN! Although, about two hours later I wasn't quite in heaven, rather hell - you get my drift...and that drift didn't smell so good? After bathroom break we had to top off dinner, so it was off to JCW's for an awesome "small" shake! When we are all together we eat a lot!!!

Yes, let's talk General Conference shall we...I know you don't want to know about my bathroom time. As Sunday would have it, they, the Mazing Mormons had two more sessions of General Conference. We got up early, got ready, rode the tracks, and got hit with rain just as we got off the train. Made our way to the Center and got ourselves situated for another moment of being in the presence of an AWESOME PROPHET. I love attending Sunday Morning Session because it means we get the Spoken Word, and they sang two of my favorite songs. So peaceful and wonderful. Soon after the Spoken Word the conference began, and the head bobbing bobbed.

After conference we left and went to a dear friend, and an old mission companion that I have stayed in great touch with to see her off before she headed back to Alaska, where she recently has moved. She just had a precious little baby boy, and we literally got to spend 20 minutes with her and hold the baby. For you Seinfeld folks, "We had to see the Baaabbbby!" Boom, and it was off to eat, pack, and drive back to Southern Utah. It was a fast trip, but extremely fun, and I am so blessed to have made such dear friends from my mission, and to stay in touch with them even after seven years. Yikes - can you believe I've been home that long?

Well, I'm sure that was a lot of reading for you all, and I have to say if you READ IT ALL then props to you! That really touches my heart that you would take the time to read about me and my adventures, and time spent in the bathroom! Speaking of bathroom...Got to run, I think that grilled cheese sandwich I just ate is needing to be disposed!