Looking Back To 2014

I've started to enjoy remember ten years back and looking at what I was doing. I also cannot believe how fast ten years can go! It seems like some of these things just happened a few years ago :) There are so major events that happened in 2014 and I'm going to be sharing some pictures!!!

2014 was a BIG year! My parents bought the property that is now our farm, we took a 3-week-long trip out west to the Grand Canyon, my friends threw me a surprise birthday party, and I went to Mackinac Island for the first time!

Family Trip Out West
My family is not big on flying, so we drove to the Grand Canyon, but we took our time and did a lot of fun things on the way there and back. Some were literally just stopping in a town to take a photo to say we'd been there (like Wichita, KS and Albuquerque, NM), other places were because of family ties (like Tulsa, OK), and others were just fun places (like the St. Louis Arch, Colorado Springs, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder homestead). We saw so many amazing things and did a lot of fun experiences, but I think my very favorite place was Lower Antelope Canyon.

The whole trip was such an experience. From hotels that were like Peter Parker's apartment or had fire-hazard wiring, to BIA roads that were like driving over a washboard, to insane winds at the Painted Desert and getting up before dawn to see the sunrise over the Grand Canyon, there are so many memories. I might need to write another blog post just about the trip :)

My Surprise Birthday Party
I re-read my journal from 2014 and I found an entry from the end of February that said I was sort of disappointed that I did not get a surprise party. Well, that's because my friends totally fooled me and did it in March! I still remember the story I was fed about why we were going to my friend's house and I did NOT want to go. I also remember walking in and seeing paper footprints taped to the floor, but that was not so odd a thing (you would have to know these friends). Then I turned the corner and saw my friends! The person I saw first was someone I rarely saw anymore and I remember being so surprised I was shaking. I was so touched that my friends had done this and that some of them had given up other things in order to be there.

Mackinac Island
Of all the places I've ever been, Mackinac Island is one of my favorites. The fact that I got to experience it as part of a youth gathering just adds to the appeal. This trip, the lilacs were all in bloom and it smelled AMAZING!!!! We also got to take a night cruise and the bridge was all lit up. My memories of the second time I went are stronger but I still have fond memories and lots of mementos from that first trip.


What, if anything, do you remember from 2014?

SpringHill crew

They redid a major highway by our house and before it reopened, they let the community walk or bike along it! This is me and my brothers with our Granddad.

Still one of my favorite photos. The only thing I'd change if I did it over again is the color of the greens. I love everything else about this photo.

Lower Antelope Canyon was like

being in another world!

Enjoying a WodFamChocSod at Whit's End in Colorado Springs.

I'm in four states at one time!