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The Shortlist September 11, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Christmas, Church, Daily Life, Family, New York, Photography, Projects , 3comments

We have many adventures to share and many pictures to post.  (I know some of you are thinking, “How is that possible?  MORE Pictures?”  Well, it’s true.)

I have been anxiously engaged with school, being a mom, wife, dog lover, chef, and maid.  On top of all this, I am working on my website.

In just a few short days (or longer, who knows . . . I’m waiting on my logo) I will launch my photography website and business.

I will be offering my skills to photograph families.  I will have prints for purchase.

The fun part of putting my site together is complete (the good stuff like picture galleries) but I’m still working out some details which means: The very, very, boring, nitty gritty needs to be done.

This is the short list:

I have no pictures for this post.

Gasp.

I. KNOW.

But, I’m happy to share a couple of unrelated random images with you:

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This very public bathroom is in the vacant Masonic Temple upstairs in our building.  I’m sure it had walls around it once.  I mean, I hope it did.  I wake up from nightmares like this . . . needing to use the bathroom and every bathroom I find is very public toilet.

Trust me, it’s a nightmare.

And this:

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This alley is adjacent to a small patch of grass where I take Paris to the bathroom.  During daylight hours, this alley is friendly.  After the sun goes down, it’s a completely different story.  I try to avoid this spot and use another patch of grass in the parking lot, but sometimes I forget.

It freaks me out.

I’m not into Sci-Fi, and I certainly hated watching the X-Files, and this alley looks like something straight out of that show.

Go ahead and shiver.  I just did.

Have an exciting weekend!

Fall Leaves? September 10, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Church, New York, Photography , 3comments

We are only in Palmyra for couple of more weeks.

I don’t think the leaves are going to change in time for me to photograph the “fall leaves” out here.  :(

I took these pictures of the Sacred Grove a few days ago.

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This place is so beautiful, it makes me happy.

I could probably overlook the fact that the leaves aren’t changing fast enough to fit my schedule.

What She Prays About September 9, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Church, Daily Life, Kansas, New York, Parenthood, Princess Hannah , 2comments

Everyone should have a three year old.

Even, if only to hear them pray.

Oh my.  The things they pray for . . . so adorable.

In a recent prayer, Hannah thanked Heavenly Father for:

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We love to hear her pray. Often, David and I will find ourselves opening our eyes and looking at each other when she says something so cute, but sincere from her little heart.

So adorable.

Our Adventures at the Peter Whitmer Farm September 8, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Church, New York , 5comments

This last weekend, we drove to Fayette (which is about 30 minutes away from where we are in Palmyra) to see where the Church was organized back in 1830.

WOW.

This log cabin is a replica of the original log home, built on the same foundation.  The Church was established here on April 6, 1830 with six people.

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David and I were both surprised at how large this home was on the inside.

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This is our obligatory “family photo” in front of the Whitmer Family log home to document that we were, indeed, there.

This shot:

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Shows that my family was there, and I was almost there.  :)

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This is the main room in the log home.  It’s much cleaner than my house.  :)

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I loved this window.

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This is the room where Joseph Smith began translating the Book of Mormon from the Gold Plates.

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There was so much farm land surrounding this log home, it was breathtaking.

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This is the Visitor Center on the property which also doubles as a Mormon Church building.

Upstate New York is just beautiful.

I just might want to stay here forever.

Palmyra, New York LDS Temple September 1, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Church, New York , 3comments

Palmyra has an LDS Temple .  It’s two miles down the road from where we currently live, which is the closest we’ve lived to a temple since we lived in Utah.  In Utah, there were several temples around us and I miss that.   In Kansas City, our closest temple is in St. Louis, Missouri, which is four hours away from us.

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The stained glass windows on this temple were done by a guy that went to high school with my older brother.

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His work is pretty amazing.

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I think we’re really going to miss this place when we leave.

Book of Mormon Print Shop August 28, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Church, Daily Life , 3comments

Some of you may recall that we live on the second floor of this building.

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We are just here for a few more weeks, then it’s back to Kansas City where we hope our neighbors remember us.  Hannah talks about her “friends” all the time, so PLEASE remember us when we return!

In the mean time, Hannah has been very busy making lots of new friends, which means I practically know every vendor and neighbor on our street.

We live two doors down from the Book of Mormon Historic Publication site and David  finally had some time off to tour it with us this last weekend.

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The Book of Mormon was first published here.  (Just like the sign says:))

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The type setting and printing was done upstairs in this room.

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The ink spattered in this wall is the original ink from the 1830′s.

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This is the main floor of the print shop where the first 5000 original copies of the Book of Mormon were sold.

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At that time, the book sold for $1.25 which was about two days worth of labor.

It is so neat to see this little town first hand where the church was established.

Smith Family Farm August 21, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Church, New York , 2comments

This is the a replica of the Smith family home.  It was reconstructed in 1998 on the original foundation of the original log home on the Smith’s farm.

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Joseph Smith lived here during his teen years.

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It was in this home that Angel Moroni visited him.

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The Smiths later built this house on their property just down the street from their other little farm house.

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It is 85% original.

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Although it is much bigger than the small farm house down the road, I still can’t believe they fit so many kids in this house.

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If it were me, I’d require more space.  But before we even go there, I don’t plan on having a gaggle of kids.  Just a few.

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This is the Smith home as viewed from their original log house down the road.

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This place is very interesting.

And special.

Like I said before, you should all come visit.  :)

The Sacred Grove August 20, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Church, New York , 7comments

We are living in Palmyra.  This little village is very special and sacred to the church.

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It was here, in this very grove, that Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ.

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It is such a beautiful place.

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So quiet.

So serene.

So sacred.

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David and I could have spent hours walking along the trails in this grove.

It’s so neat to be here.

Really.

I wish you all could come.

How to Make an Eight Hour Trip in 10 Hours. August 14, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Church, Family, Princess Hannah, Trips , 2comments

If there was an “Amazing Race” show for families, we would not win.

This is how to make an eight hour trip in 1o hours:

Since we were already behind schedule, we decided to stop by the Kirtland, Ohio Temple.  It was just a few miles out of our way.  When you’re already behind schedule, what’s another hour detour?

This was the first temple our church built.  It no longer belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but it is still very sacred and historically important to our church.  Read more about it here.

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Hannah in front of the Kirtland, Ohio Temple.

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This street name is after our first prophet, Joseph Smith.

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This is the first and probably last “traditional” tourist shot of our family.

It was so nice to see this little town and visit the temple.

We plan to stop by this place again on our way back to Kansas City.

We still need to do the official  tours.  :)

New York, Here We Come! August 7, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Church, Medical School, Trips , 11comments

We’re going to New York for six weeks.

That’s right.

We’re not going to the BIG APPLE.

We’re going to Upstate New York.

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Rochester to be exact.

David will be doing his OB/GYN rotation at a hospital there.

We’re renting an apartment on Main Street in Palmyra.  It’s about 30 minutes away from Rochester.  It’s a quiet little farm town, rich with LDS church history.

Our apartment is directly above the LDS bookstore.  This will certainly be an interesting living arrangement for us.  I’m sure there will be many pictures to come.

I’m most excited to see the the autumn leaves turn while we’re there and I can’t wait to see Niagara Falls.

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This is one crazy adventure medical school has taken us on!

We leave this weekend.  Wish us luck on the two day drive!

(I’ll be back to blogging in a few days after we settle in and get internet.)