Utah {not California} Dreaming

Move over California.

The Mamas & The Papas may have sang a song about California dreamin, but not everyone dreams about you. The 2012 HGTV Dream Home has got this girl dreaming about the beautiful state of Utah. Yeah. You heard me. Utah!

Earlier this year my husband and I drove across a large chunk of Utah.

{you can read about our little road trip here}

The Utah landscapes were so beautiful it sometimes had me speechless. It seemed like every turn of the road revealed to us a new breathtaking scenery. Needless to say, we think Utah is gorgeous. The beautiful state is also home to one of my father's very favorite places, Arches National Park. For a few years he made yearly trips to Moab, Utah for mountain biking. Utah's natural beauty alone is enough to draw you into it's realm.

If you haven't been to Utah before, I hope you get to see it!

Anyhow. Utah is beautiful, and I would probably survive if we won the 2012 HGTV Dream Home in Midway, Utah. It wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen to us. I mean moving is sort of a pain in the you know what, but we could most likely manage a move to Utah. The move from Colorado to Florida didn't kill us. With that being said I'm pretty sure I may die of shock if we won the 2012 Dream Home. I entered every day to win the house from last year. Maybe God had better plans in store for us though... aka the 2012 Dream Home in Utah! Of course.

Tomorrow HGTV should be revealing more photos of the 2012 Dream Home.

You'll know where to find me tomorrow. Right here in front of this computer screen.

{ mine, not yours. that would be weird if tomorrow you found me

on your computer looking at interior images of the dream home. no? }

Tonight I'll be Utah dreaming!

Soul Stirring Utah

Sometimes certain places just resonate with my soul. I can tell instantly that a little piece of me feels at home or that I could be happy just sitting and thinking all day long while gazing at the land. Have you ever felt that way while visiting a new place? Maybe it's even a quiet place in your own back yard that makes your soul feel at home. Who would have thought, but I came across this feeling while my husband and I drove across Utah last week.

As we entered Utah, anticipation for seeing new land grew inside of me. Something told me that this place was going to be unique. It was definitely not like any part of the United States that I had seen before this drive. While driving further into Utah, I gasped at the scene that unfolded before us. The drive across Utah was like driving through a pop-up book, each page unfolding a new experience right before my eyes. I exclaimed to my husband that this was God's country! We drove through so many varied landscapes that I sometimes forgot we were still inside of Utah's state border. I snapped pictures on my camera as fast as I possibly could before we drove away to another photo worthy view. It was almost hard to keep up with the speed of the pickup! A glance in every direction held a picture perfect view. The beauty was almost unreal, but this was real beauty. Not the kind of "beauty" created by land developers, architects, and bankers. We drove across a large portion of Utah, and our drive had me wanting to see more of this state some day.

Part of our drive consisted of driving through some incredible rock, and it actually reminded me of Red Rocks in Colorado. I was amazed by layer upon layer of history right in front of our faces. I couldn't help but think about all of the history contained in each layer of rock. We might as well have been driving through a history museum, because that's surely how it felt at times. Some layers might hold fossils of living things that died long before our time. Others might contain memories of people who crossed this land long ago. It was hard not to think about everything these layers held inside of them. Driving through them sort of felt like passing through hallowed ground that you had to respect. I love when mother nature and the land make you think.

People, my father included, have told me multiple times that Utah is one of their very favorite places on planet earth. I used to shrug it off and think that no way could Utah be that amazing, but the country there is just hands down beautiful, and much of it is untouched, making it easier to appreciate the real beauty of the land. I know of few places like Utah, where the land goes for miles and miles untouched by human hands. There was something greater than human hands at work on the landscapes of Utah. The vistas were absolutely breathtaking. Sometimes we need to see new places with our own eyes in order to create a greater appreciation for the world. I am fortunate to have had this opportunity to enjoy the beauty of Utah, even if it was just from the interstate, with my own eyes. Both my husband and I were blown away by the landscapes that we drove through while on our way through Utah. We're adding it to our list of special places. The beauty of this state made me smile through this transition we're going through in our life right now. Utah definitely stirred my soul.

Do you have any places that stir your soul?