Sunday Destination: Philadelphia!

This last week Jamison and I took the long drive to visit Philadelphia! We made sure to see the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Love Park and to visit Geno's and Pat's to decide for ourselves who really does have the 'world's best' cheesesteak!

We took a lot of pictures of our trip and some videos that will hopefully load up on Blogger...so check out the next couple of posts to see what we did!

And although there may not be a lot of words in each post, you will definetely get the experience from the pictures!

 {There is a good chance of duplicates...I can't decide which pictures I like best!}

                  xoxo,
                                                 auburn 

Sunday Destination: Arlington National Cemetery

Because Hudson, Jamison and I work Monday through Saturday from early afternoon to late evening we are unable to sight see the amazing places surrounding Baltimore during the weekdays. So when I have some spare time in the office I plan out our Sunday destinations! Because our only available days are on Sundays it has been difficult because we want to spend money on food/souveniers etc. So to compensate, we try and spend our time in the local free places and do our sight seeing that way in attempts of keeping the Sabbath day holy.

Our very first Sunday destination was at the Arlington National Cemetery. This is an enormous cemetery with acres and acres of land that holds the bodies of those who served our country and died in battle.

Although incredible does not seem to be the appropriate term, it is a very incredible and humbling experience to be able to walk through such hallowed grounds. For every tombstone, I see a family who suffered from the loss of a loved one. This same individual died for our country, for me, so I could have the freedom that I enjoy each and every day. It is truly a humbling experience to have been able to be here.

Also included in the Arlington National Cemetery is where President John F. Kennedy is buried along with his wife and children. This man died serving our country in a whole other way, he gave hope, and gave an incredible speech where he told the world that the United States was going to land on the moon. How I wish I could have been alive to hear that in person!

Also in the Arlington National Cemetery there is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, that included in the name, represents those who died that we couldn't identify their remains.

At this tomb it happens to be guarded 24 hours a day, regardless if it is raining or stifling hot. We happened to get there as they were doing the 'Changing of the Guard'.

I battled the idea of expressing how I really felt about the 'Changing of the Guard' because I don't want to be judged by the feelings I felt for it and what I experienced. {But then I realized this is my blog where I can say whatever I feel, which happens to be a freedom I enjoy, and I'm going to share my thoughts anyways!}. With these thoughts I say this out of respect and in reverence for those who died for my sake. I feel like the 'Changing of the Guard' was a presentation/show for those who visited the cemetery. The soldiers on guard appeared as if this was a job, or a mundane task, that was needed to be performed every 15 minutes. While walking through the cemetery I realized that we can get so caught up with every day routines that we forget those individuals who sacrifice the most for us each and every day. It made me sad to see that even standing in front of the tomb that the spectators were watching the 'show' and not fully understanding the importance of why the tomb is being guarded each and every day.

I hope that from my own experience this last Sunday that I may never forget and remember those who sacrificed so much for each of us. What a humbling experience.

It's In The Name.

When an individual finds out that my name is Auburn they try and act smart and say that I must be named after the color, or in the words of a sports fanatic, Auburn University.

I was actually not named after the university or the color. I was named after a city. In fact, my entire family's names can be found on a map.

Savanna-Savannah, Georgia

Austin-Austin, Texas

Hudson-Hudson River.

Auburn-Auburn, multiple states.

Cierra-Sierra Mountains

Paige- Page, Arizona.

It is kind of neat when you drive past your name on a street sign on the freeway. I happened to be driving at this time, but Jamison thought it was picture worthy.

I Love To See...

The Temple!

 

On our very first Sunday here alone we decided to go see the Washington D.C temple. What a spectacular and beautiful area! The temple itself is a masterpiece alone! The neatest part is when you are driving on the freeway, it suddenly appears out of nowhere. It is amazing.

It is a beautiful temple, living in Maryland there is so much traffic and chaos. Walking on this property, although we could still hear the freeway, I felt safe and peaceful.

 

I'll go inside some day. 

Traffic Stops.

I have learned several things about driving while living in Maryland.

1. There is traffic, lots and lots of traffic. You can be stuck in it for days at times it feels like during rush hour.

2. People actually follow the speed limit here. Some freeways are 55 mph...and they keep to it!

3. There are no cops on the freeways. {They are too busy busting crime in the streets...scary thing, it's true!}

4. Cars will be parked in a lane at certain hours of the day...seriously watch out for those. 

5. I have so many tourist attractions at my fingertips. {Washington D.C, the Harbor, NYC, Gettysburg, Philadelphia...the list can go on!}

6. There are more interstates and freeways in this state then the letters of the alphabet.

7. There are freeway entrances and exits that pop literally out of nowhere. To get to one destination, you get on at least 5 different freeways to get there.

8. A GPS system is like water out here-without it you will die.

9. You have to let a driver in sometimes, if not, no one will ever let you in to their lane.

10. It seems to be the cool thing if you honk your horn for no apparent reason. Everyone does it!

Oh Maryland, I have learned so much from you.

Home Sweet...What Happened?!

Not a lot of individuals know this about me, but I haven't been a true born Utah Mormon. I was actually born and lived in St. Louis, Missouri until I was 3 years old.

{Technically I lived in O'Fallon, but it is like saying that you are from Salt Lake City when in reality you are from Draper...same thing}.

When we entered into St. Louis it was already dark, but we decided to visit our old home anyways and just....remember things. {Well...I don't remember much}.

Since every car had a walkie talkie we would share stories back and forth of who remembered what and the things we used to do while living here. It was fun to see everything, and to see where the tornado hit that one time when we lived there...stuff like that.

We were super excited to see the house when we entered our narrow street and instead of our beautiful home. We found this.

Our home had been abandoned and has been completely destroyed in the inside. The windows had a notice saying that the property has been ran by the government for over 2 years now.

We were not expecting this.

My family was devastated.

I really don't have too much attachment to the house because I don't remember things. But I do have a picture in my scrapbook of me sitting on the porch with all of our Halloween pumpkins in a row. I ran around looking for Easter Eggs with my Grandma on this lawn. My first steps were taken here. I learned to talk here in this home.

This home held my family. And we loved this house, my mother has told me that this is where our family became our own individual family and how all of our traditions began.

One day we hope for one family who will fix up our home and love it like we did for so many years.

White Castle.

Not the Prince Charming kind... that is for sure!

Welcome to White Castle. {An Eastern food chain}.

The home where you kind buy the cheapest, nastiest things they call hamburgers on this entire planet.

What scares me most is that Dad loves them!

Tell me....would you eat this?

To give Dad some credit...they are cheap. And you can buy them in a sack stuffed full of them for 5 bucks.

Oh well. There is nothing like a free lunch...and an angry stomach!

Oh the joys of this trip!

{Bugs}

Big Bugs. small bugs. The ones that splatter all over the windshield!

Jamison was quite proud of his camera....and its spectacular bug capturing capabilities.

I think this bee suffered the most...gross! There is stuff coming from his butt...

I think this bug was full of water...or ate something purple...

This sneezing splatter didn't come from me...just one obese bug.

This was our drive through Kansas at its finest.

The Summer Scoop

Last Wednesday, I made the move.

The move to Maryland!

 Although it was frantically crazy I became grateful to my one roommate who I disliked the most when she quietly cleaned things for me as I scrambled to pack so that she could relieve some of the stress I was under. Thank you McKennah!

Once we finally were able to get onto the road we took the Denver/Richfield exit just a little north of Beaver and we drove past beautiful terrain! I could not believe the beauty of the canyons we were passing through and the changing color of rocks and desolation as we drove past. It reminded me a lot of the colors and beauty of the Grand Canyon {but obviously in a smaller scale, and I was looking from the bottom up.} It was absolutely gorgeous! It was only until Green River city in Utah that we met up with my parents, Austin and Hudson and Aaron Parkes. {He just happened to be caravan-ing with us}. My parents got in to my car and I joined Jamison in his truck and we all took off for Maryland!

To be honest, I thought that this drive was going to be torturous (all 32 hours of it), but I actually had so much fun! The terrains that we would pass through in each state were surprisingly different, and it was interesting to watch the terrain slowly morph into a different terrain when we would enter another state. For example, the mountains in Denver to the flat, flat, barren land of Kansas, to Missouri that was extremely green with rolling hills, to thick, dense forests for the rest of the states we entered in to. It was a lot of fun!!

One thing we passed by were these windmills that I find fascinating! I don’t know why I find them so fascinating looking, I love to listen to the hum of them as they move, mostly because it is somewhat eerie to hear them! These pictures are when we were passing a large wind farm in Kansas.

America is so beautiful. It has been so much fun getting out of Utah and seeing what else America has to offer. This is one driving adventure that I will never forget!