A Trip for Me.

My blogging muscles are out of shape.
They need to be stretched and massaged a little.

It works out well that this is the next post up for posting. Because it speaks for itself.

I went up to Rexburg, ID back in September (yep, told you I'm out of shape...four months behind, ya'll). I flew up to see my littlest sister off, visit my other sis and bro-in-law up there and drive back home with my mom. It was just a couple of days, but wow did Rexburg make an impression.
That might have had something to do with the fact that, upon my arrival, my sister, Monica-the-artist, and bro-in-law, Austin-the-landscape-designer (Is that the right title? Forgive me, I'm new) swooped me right into the heart of the BYU-I campus to the gardens there. They let me drop off my luggage at their apartment, but after that, the swooping. Laura and Mom were busy with freshman-y stuff so we were on our own for a bit. And between the three of us, it's no wonder we spent a solid two hours meandering through the garden.

Would you like to see what we saw?
Of course you would.
Enjoy.
I certainly did.

Go ahead, take a scroll through.
(You see what I did there? I could have said 'stroll'...but I said 'scroll' because it's...pictures. So it's...funny.)

Ahem.

Well, anyway, regardless, every corner we turned took my breath away.

Gah.
All of it is so pretty.
After a while, we came upon the apple orchard.

Complete with moss.

Which was nice on bare feet.

Monica couldn't help but pick an apple. Austin couldn't help but laugh at her.

In the same area as the orchard, there was an area where other kinds of produce were being grown and studied.
Pretty strawberries.

Such a pretty setup.

Oh, and then there's the part with the sunflowers.
The sunflowers that perfectly frame the Rexburg Temple.
Talk about a gorgeous view.

More charming growing things...

(pumpkins!)

There was a section with really amazing creative individual gardens.
Like this kitchen sink themed garden.

And a shoe garden.

A bedroom themed garden

Glorious.

A bicycle themed garden.

Some lovely flowers along the way...

A zen garden.

And so many beautiful colors at every turn!

After a while, we met back up with my mom and got to business, moving Laura in and what not. The next day, while she was busy doing all the freshman-y stuff again and socializing, etc., we took Mom back to the gardens.
Of course.

We found this little...front porch.
Just a porch and porch swings. Who needs a house?

I liked the quote painted on it.

We discovered a new vegetable section.
With plump tomatoes.

And got some pictures of the happy couple. :)

And pictures of getting pictures of the happy couple.

Monica has to touch everything.

We found a bunny.
(Monica did not get to touch that.)

We all got to spend more time together, had a lovely dinner at Monica and Austin's place (I still remember how famished I was feeling and how amazing that bbq chicken tasted, guys!), went and dropped Laura off at her apartment and said goodbye to the baby sister (waaaaa) and watched some Office reruns. Austin even searched around and found my favorite episodes. :) It was a good time. Except the part about leaving Laura. But she is home now on her break so it doesn't make me feel so sad anymore. :)
It would be amazing if we could all live next to each other all the time, but getting to go visit and experience a new place and see where my siblings are living life is pretty cool too. I am excited for the fun phases of life they are in.

Early the next morning, Mom and I got on the road and headed back down toward home.

I took this picture as we passed through the area that I thought JC's grandparents live in.
But I am not good with things so...it might not be.
But if it is...I was there.
See?

And I was sure to capture a shot of some horses for horse-crazy Bethany!

Next stop?
You know it.

It was a gorgeous day.

In a very gorgeous place.

We did a session in the temple and ate lunch on temple square. I was enamored by the whole thing. I love it there.
Then it was on down to Cedar City to spend the night before driving home the next day! We got to visit Katie's old college stomping grounds, which was fun!

The next day we drove and drove, while listening to a comedic murder mystery on CD. Yep. It was actually quite enjoyable. :)

Especially the part where we came to a gas station complete with a petting zoo.
Though the sign there confuses me.

And other than the part of the trip where I was driving and hit a swarm of bees head-on, which then splattered all over the windshield, it really was an enjoyable drive.
I can never decide if that experience was more hilarious or traumatizing.
Probably equal parts.

Just outside of Cedar, we drove through some gorgeous surroundings.
It was raining a bit so the pictures are especially strange but you get the general idea, yes?

This area of the drive felt so isolated and peaceful. I kept thinking about much JC would have loved it. I want to go up there with him sometime.

I took a picture of this particular spot so I could show JC where I would like to build a little homestead someday.
Thank you very much.

It was a perfect little trip for me. Hanging out with the fam, driving and chatting with my mom, and arriving back home before I could miss it too horribly much! I am such a homebody, I always am ready to be home before my trips are over! But this one was just right.
JC and his mom even cleaned out my pantry for me while I was gone.
It was an amazing surprise.
And even though I left those gorgeous gardens up there to return to the sweltering desert down here, I was so glad to see my little munchkins!!

I am glad to finally get this post up and be moving through the fall events...now that it's the new year and all haha.
I guess this is just what happens. I'll keep rolling with it. :)


P.S. Do yourself a favor and scroll through those garden pictures again. I know I'm going to right now!