Yes we can

What a couple of weeks it's been. There's alot to cover. Let's get started:
After all the anticipating and counting down, Taylor finally arrived! In the next few days I showed him around Lubbock, cooked him food, and showed off my line-driving skills in our 16-1 softball victory! We drank wine, we watched movies, we reconnected and remembered why we're willing to put up with the heart-wrenching ups and downs of a long-distance relationship. But nothing compared to when we high-tailed it out of Lubbock and made for the mountains of West Texas (there are mountains in Texas, believe it!). Here, we were back in our element. Hiking and camping, seeking out wildlife...it's this shared passion that really connects us. It was the greatest weekend I've had since we traveled back to Utah this past Spring. We climbed peaks, walked along washes full of fall colors brilliant enough to rival Vermont, encountered rare and new creatures (birds and reptiles alike), saw springs forming an oasis in the desert, explored the overwhelming caves of Carlsbad and ate enough New Mexican food to satiate our post-hiking hunger. It couldn't have gone better. Click here to see all the pictures from the trip. And as sobering as the return to Lubbock was, we had the election to look forward to. Champagne was had as we witnessed an event that will most likely stay with us for the rest of our lives. After all these years of cynicism and doubt regarding our country's stability and place in the world, to have people come together like they have behind Obama and his vision for our future is inspiring. How lucky we are to be part of this election.