Stupor of Thought

I believe "stupor of thoughts" come in multiple ways. For my "stay in Utah" decision, it came as complete and utter chaos in the universe with cosmos colliding.

But first, I did what any normal human would do. I escaped. This time the destination was Orlando. It was great spending the weekend with my sisters, brother, and my sister-in-law. Universal and the Magic Kingdom created a nice diversion from my dilemma. As you can see, we had a great time.

I also had the opportunity to fly to California twice this month. Once for an education conference (basically a singles conference but with a focus on learning instead of dating) and a friend's wedding. The weeks leading up to the wedding were emotionally draining. And then I hit a breaking point. I was on a plane flying to CA for this friend's wedding and working the entire trip trying to help with another emergency work situation. When I walked off the plane and checked my email, I was furious at the messages that flooded my inbox regarding this situation. I messaged my parents with a simple "I'm done." Enough had happened that week at work that staying was clearly not the right decision. Unfortunately, the situation nose-divided over the weekend to complete and utter chaos. I returned to Utah the day after the CA wedding for another friend's wedding. Gratefully, my sister invited me to attend the annual LDS General YW meeting and that combined with encouragement from friends at both events who happened to hear/know that something was amiss strengthened me. Understanding a stupor of thought has been difficult at times. Not in this situation. I knew what I shouldn't do: stay at my current job. Now I had to figure out what to do. And where to go.

I love flying into SFO

Classy bridal shower at Dennys

Perfect bridal shower gift

Beautiful bride

And a few other random March happenings:

Sometimes you go to desperate measures to eat breakfast

Work trip to Southern California. I love running along the beach.

General YW Meeting - Perfect timing with an uplifting message I needed to hear

Peace

New Tradition

November was such a fun month. I went to the Bay Area twice that month with only paying for one ticket. How does that work? I had to be in Orlando for work the first week and had a brilliant idea before I bought my ticket. What was the cost difference for flying from SLC > Bay Area > Orlando and back home again. Answer: $5. So off I went. I flew to Oakland and spent the weekend playing with friends, headed to Orlando for work, and then went home again for the total cost of $5 and a weekend rental car. Not too shabby. Oh, and I colored my hair a shade darker than my natural color. Much better. More like me.

All I could hear when I saw this sign was don't go to Oakland

Hotel in Orlando

Once home, I spent some time enjoying the snow, playing with work friends, and listening to Jeff Bezos and my CEO Josh James speaking at the UTC Hall of Fame dinner.

No longer a blonde. My "true" color.

With my parents being gone, I needed to figure out what to do for Thanksgiving and decided to head to California again. I met up with friends the Saturday before the holidays to watch BYU play San Jose State. Awful game. Yes, a year later I still remember that we played horribly. On the bright side, I joined up with my sister and her family in Monterey for a few days before heading to the Sacramento area for Thanksgiving. I had a great time playing cards, being with family, and participating in the family Turkey Trot. My aunt Ann also joined us and I'm glad we got to spend some time with her. I think I need to continue swapping time with siblings for the holidays.

BYU vs. San Jose State

17-mile Drive

17-mile Drive

18th hole at Pebble Beach

Roasting marshmellows at Carmel

Carmel

Took some time but I finally won her over (with my electronics)

Family 5K Turkey Trot

Tonight I was able to have dinner with my cousin. She and I are many years apart in age but that has not stopped us from being friends. I am grateful that we have been able to build a good friendship the past few years.

I have been able to travel the past month for fun and for work. For work I headed to Orlando the last week in October. I was stuck in Orlando for Halloween and decided to make the most of my time. I dressed up and headed over to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World for Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. Even though I was by myself, I had a great time. It was fun to see all the kids dressed up and the longest lines be for the Halloween candy. Yes, I did got trick-or-treating. I was able to walk onto all the rides including Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Pirates, etc., etc. True to form, Peter Pan still had a line as did Buzz Lightyear. Disney always puts on a good show and their fireworks display and parade were no exception. Considering I'm not a big fan of Halloween, this one turned out to be pretty good.


I am grateful for the untold stories in life. My hotel room in Orlando had this sign. I can only imagine what happened to cause all rooms to post this warning. Now that would have been a great story!