January Snapshots

The brief version of what's been going on with me the past two weeks.

Back to school = face painting and balloons

Aggie Basketball

Watching this three times in one week

making the best of the cold

I made my first 911 call after Alexa and I saw a big group of people 

crash into a tree while sledding on Old Main. Scariest thing ever.

Aggie hockey

game nights

We Shot the Moon came to Utah State...not the best, but free is good.

Alexa and I are taking Raquetball

Mustache party

Poetry and a Beverage

MLK Day in Hooper...tubing behind snowmobiles

We became fish mothers. (One only last six days. Hugh had a very nice funeral service.)

Playing Bingo with our adopted grandparents. Alexa cheats by having 3 boards.

The semester is hectic as usual, but happy!

I am busy with work, but have easier classes than ever before. (Assessment Design, Teaching Social Studies, Teaching Literacy, Mythology and Raquetball).

Because my class load is lighter, I'm really putting a lot into volunteering. Alexa and I are both volunteering at Sunrise Elementary as reading tutors. It's out of my comfort zone to work with first graders but I know it will be rewarding. We're trying to stay tight with our friends at the retirement home and I'll be working on a volunteer committee for the campus SAAVI office (sexual assault and violence information). Also, the plan is to go to HAWAII with the service center in March to work with Habitat for Humanity, the Boys and Girls club, and to save some seals.

I'm stressing a lot about passing the Praxis this weekend, deciding where I want to student teach TWO YEARS from right now, and financing my life.

I'll just keep reminding myself that things have always worked out before, and they will work out again!

Peace and love.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Dr. King was a great example of thinking globally and acting locally. He is famous for saying, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." He studied and understood civil rights issues across the world, but he acted to solve the problems right in front of him.

He sacrificed his safety, personal freedom, and life to integrate the bus system in one city, although he did not ride the buses himself.

I am equally amazed by the many individuals who marched with him. By those who peacefully walked from Selma to Montgomery only to be met by a wall of policemen with clubs who beat them and crushed them underfoot as people ran for their lives back across the bridge.

Dr. King returns home from jail

 I don't think most of us can understand what it would've been like to live with that fear every day, with that degradation. To live in the midst of such violence and cruelty and remain human and compassionate is an amazing thing.

As a teacher, I hope I can give my students opportunities to observe the society they live in and to do something about things that don't sit right with them, whether that is through writing, volunteering, or simply deciding to stand up for themselves and for others.

As a person, I hope I'll always have the courage to do the same.

Happy holiday!

Australia, Melbourne!

My mission papers have been done forever, so I figured out months ago that submitting on Jan. 4th would probably mean getting my call on January 16th. When January 16th came, I was at work and my roommate Kim called to tell me that she'd checked the mail and my mission call wasn't there. I tried to brush it off but I was really sad and frustrated. I took my time coming home from work, and when I got to my apartment Alexa told me that the mailman had come AGAIN, but that Kim had the mail key with her on campus. At this point I didn't want to face the disappointment of an empty mailbox so I decided to just not worry about it until the next day because I had convinced myself it was not coming. So Alexa and I stayed busy running errands and going swimming. I just wanted the day to be over so I dragged out the whole swimming thing by treading water for like fifteen minutes, going off the high dive, etc. etc. 

Alexa and I got home and were making burritos and french fries (yep), and I was in the middle of telling her that even if I checked the mail when Kim came home it would be a really awkward time to open my call because I wouldn't have time to go home, so it was all for the best to wait until the next day. Mid-sentence, Kim came through the door with a GIANT grin on her face and my mission call in her hand.

I freaked out. Mostly internally.

Alexa told me to eat my burrito and calm down.

I ate my burrito. I took some pictures with my roommates and my mission call. 

Then I called my Dad and said, "Um so the mail came again and it's here so I guess I'm driving home I'll be there in an hour and a half okay here I go." He laughed really hard and said, "Mom says be careful of the frozen fog." Um, okay. 

I got in my car without much of a plan and drove to the Logan temple. I parked on top of the hill facing the building and took some deep breaths. As soon as I ripped my call out of the envelope I saw the word "Australia" and instantly started sobbing. I have never reacted so emotionally so instantly to anything in my life; not even close. I'm really glad I decided to open it all by myself because I must have looked straight crazy.

I have heard a lot of people talk about how when they opened their mission call they felt a surety that it was the place where they were supposed to go. For me, I didn't necessarily feel that Australia was the one, exact, "right" place for me. What I did feel was an immediate, overwhelming sense of how loved I am. I felt that a tremendous amount of mercy had been extended to me. I had done something that was incredibly hard for me: put this entirely in the Lord's hands, let Him know that I was willing to go anywhere and would be committed wherever I served, and in return He was letting me go somewhere I really, really wanted to go!

"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."

Australia was in my top five list. That does not happen! 

The first word I was able to say out loud between the hysterical crying was "Grandma!" because she had guessed Australia. I suddenly really wanted to tell my Grandma so I did. The only number I had was for my Grandpa's cell phone, but my grandma answered his phone! For a couple of hours, she and I were the only people who knew where I was going and that was special.

The drive home was the worst thing ever. I had imagined it to be more peaceful. But all I wanted was to get to my family and it was taking far too long. I was so distracted that I missed the exit to my house. It only added about three more minutes, but still.

I was so happy to burst through the door of my house, but to my dismay, Rachel wasn't home from work yet. I almost told the rest of my family without her, but my mom wouldn't let me, and I'm glad she didn't. I wandered aimlessly around the house while my Dad played the Chilean national anthem. Dead wrong, Dad. 

FINALLY Rachel came home and I stood on top of the armchair in the living room and read my call to my family. I almost couldn't get it out of my mouth because I got so excited I couldn't breathe, so I didn't even say the "Melbourne" part until after they had screamed for a bit.

I loved spending the rest of the night calling loved ones to tell them my news. Every time I said it out loud I felt unspeakably blessed. And in the background, my family wasted no time in dancing around to "Land Down Under" and "Advance Australia Fair." 

I mean it when I say that I have never been happier. Also:

Interesting Factoids about Melbourne:

1. It's on the southern tip of Australia and is the capital city of Victoria.

2. You can take a ferry to Tasmania from Melbourne.

3. Melbourne was ranked as the world's most livable city in both 2011 and 2012.

4. The world's largest tram network is in Melbourne. Yep!

5. The population of the city is a little over 4 million, so it's bigger than Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the U.S.

6. It is referred to as the "Garden City."

7. Melbourne is well-known for its "changeable weather conditions" and having "four seasons in a day," because it lies between very hot inland areas and the frigid southern ocean. (But the lowest recorded temperature is 27 degrees. Oh please, Melbourne, I live in Cache Valley.)

8. The city is considered an international culture center and famous for music and film festivals. It is the birth place of Australian film and television, Australian football, the Australian Impressionism movement, Australian contemporary dance such as the Melbourne Shuffle, and home to the National Gallery of Victoria. 

9. The first Olympic games to be held in the southern hemisphere were held in Melbourne.

10. Almost 40% of Melbourne's population was born overseas. (It has the world's third-largest Greek speaking population of all the cities on earth and the most popular surname in the phone book is a Korean name.)

11. Melbourne is 58% Christian and 20% nonreligious. It boasts two large cathedrals and over forty synagogues.

12. Melbourne is the only city in the world that has five international standard sporting facilities.

13. The National Gallery of Victoria has the world's largest stain glass ceiling.

14. It is home to the world's oldest amusement park.

15. It has penguins. And a temple.

I have never felt so lucky!

"More happiness awaits you than you have ever experienced." - Preach My Gospel

They called me on a mission! I just don't know where yet.

I was in the Spectrum at the basketball game when my dad called me to say, "The Prophet signed your mission call today!" I couldn't even say anything; I just stood there in the midst of all the screaming Aggie fans thinking, "I'm really going on a mission? What just happened?"

There is now a specific place where I will for sure be living during the next two years, it has been decided, and I have absolutely no idea where it could be.

When I first decided to go on a mission, the only thing that would make me feel calm about it was to just think, "I'm going to go to Samoa and it's going to be exactly like it was this summer, only I'll have a nametag." I knew that was 100% not true, but it was the only way I could calm myself down because my natural self was like, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING STOP YOU HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT MISSIONS."

During general conference this year, there were two statements that really stood out to me that I felt I should write down and I thought about them a lot during the next few days. At the time, I didn't think they had anything to do with missions, at all, but now I know that God was beginning to prepare my heart. President Eyering talked about following the Lord's will when we're making decisions. He said,

Sometimes our insistence on acting according to our own timetable can obscure His will for us.

During his talk, I wrote down that I needed to make my decisions during the next few years based on where it would easiest to be close to Him and to serve Him.

As part of that same session, Sister Burton talked about service and said,

Sometimes we are tempted to serve in a way that we want to serve and not necessarily in the way that is needed at the moment.

I started thinking about all my great plans to join service organizations and go no humanitarian trips, and I knew that even though they were all good desires, I really needed the Lord's help in deciding what needed, meaningful service I could give during the next few years.

A couple of weeks later I knew for certain that that needed service was full-time missionary work. But even though the Lord had carefully prepared my heart to do His will and to trust Him, I was still telling people, "If my call comes and it's to Pocatello, I'm just going to slide it under my bed and pretend this never happened." And I was dead serious.

I am a slow learner.

I remembered my response when SO many people in Samoa kept asking me if I was serving a mission.

"No way. If I could choose which mission I served in? Then probably."

I have now realized how selfish that was. If I was willing to put my life on hold to serve in the place where I thought I should serve, why couldn't I do the same to serve in the place where God wanted me to serve? Sometimes I think the main struggle of my life is learning to trust Him more than I trust my own decisions, and it comes so slowly.

So now? I am a lot more calm about where I could be going. So many people have said to me, "Well of course you're going foreign." "Of course you'll learn a language." But I don't know if that's true. And I'm okay with that. If my call comes and it says, "Utah, Provo" that does not mean, "Well, an apostle looked at your mission papers and decided that you were really lame." It simply means that there are things I can learn in that mission that I wouldn't learn anywhere else.

Missions are not about traveling. They are about people. So no matter where I go, weird things are going to happen to me and I'm going to have new experiences. Missions are always foreign.

My own family has taught me a lot about mission calls. Like...

The place I go on my mission is also not going to be the last place I travel to in my life. When my dad was a young missionary in Mexico, he had never seen the ocean before. Now his passport has about a hundred stamps in it and he has met people on every continent. Does Mexico still hold a special place in his heart? Of course. But so do lots of other places.

Even if my mission call seems weird at first, someday I'll know why I was called there. My mom was sure she would serve a mission in France, since she spoke French. When she was called to Puerto Rico she was very confused. But if she hadn't needed to learn Spanish in the MTC she would have never met my dad.

Missions are not meant to be convenient! My great-grandfather was called on a three-year mission when he was married with a baby. When he finally came home, he had a three year old. I have so many examples in my family of selfless missionary service that have taught me that a mission is always a sacrifice.

And so? I am okay. I no longer feel like I am going to throw up when I picture myself opening my call.

And I only have to wait a few more days!

2013 = Great Times So Far

A few really fantastic things happened right as 2013 began! Which is great because I usually tend to get depressed around this time of year - I am not a winter person, among some other factors, but this year I have been psyched for January!

First off, New Year's Eve with my sisters and Dad was great. We went downtown and I was happy to see that the lights were still up!

SLC - New Year's Eve

There were lots of different free events going on, so we tried out as many as possible. Oh, and we wore masks the whole time until a Temple Square security guard asked us not to.

First, the Broadway sing-a-along. This was a bit awkward and strange, but look how happy it made Rachel.

Then, one of my favorite parts...dinner at JB's. We used to go to JB's a LOT when I was little, but I haven't been in forever so it was a nice nostalgic dinner.

After that we went to the family history center where there was a scavenger hunt with prizes. It sounded lame but it ended up being fun, and random Italian guys on a ski trip wouldn't stop talking to me because I was wearing the Italian world cup scarf my dad got for me.

#notItalian

We then saw a New Orleans jazz band perform. They were really amazing! But you can't really dance in the tabernacle, so that event only gets a 7 out of 10.

My favorite part of the night was the Polynesian dancers. It was also the most crowded show we went to. Well deserved!

Tonga

Tahiti

Samoa

There are so many pretty things in Salt Lake this time of year...the Joseph Smith building itself is gorgeous, and then you walk outside into these white lights!

Abbie, Lauren, Rachel

After a couple more musical performances around Temple Square, we headed to my dad's office in the church office building. The COB isn't exactly party central, which made it even more fun to be there late at night running up and down the halls screaming and such. Not many people get to do that. Also, we are probably the first people to ever dye our hair there.

We turned the tv on in the conference room, turned on our disco ball, broke out the glow sticks, and played cards.

We played spoons by hiding spoons all over the building and running around. Pretty soon there were only 20 seconds until midnight, so we started counting down along with New York City, and when there were only 6 seconds left... the screen suddenly turned black and started going back up into the ceiling. SO weird and unfortunate. So we just ran to the windows to see the fireworks. We weren't even sure if we'd be able to see them, but we had the best view because the 9th floor was like eye level to them.

I loved it! New Year's is a great holiday, and I'm glad I could celebrate this one with my sisters, as this is the year when Abbie and I will both be departing to unknown locations and Rachel will be moving out for the first time.

I wanted to do something cool on New Year's Day. So on my way home from work I picked up some balloons - balloons make things cool, right? - and called my 12 year old sister to see if she wanted to go hiking. Luckily she always wants to go hiking.

We'd never hiked Adam's Canyon in the snow before, and I don't know why because it's gorgeous!

Plus, the sun was setting so it was even more magical.

I'd had a random idea to tie messages to the balloons, so I'd grabbed some index cards when I picked up Lauren. I decided to write messages on them that had to do with the future since it was New year's.

Lauren was really mad at me for letting go of the balloons - it's really bad for the environment. She did make me feel a little bad, but once she saw how gorgeous the balloons looked floating against the snowy mountain, her heart was softened. I only let go of 3, and we made sure they floated towards the city and not towards the river.

I am full of hope that great things will happen this year!

During the first week of 2013 I also read a lot. I finished three books over the break and absolutely LOVED each of them:

The Whale Rider

The Chosen

Seedfolks

The same week, we used our Christmas presents (Lauren and my dad both got cross-bows) to have a nerf war.

We broke up into pairs and each pair built a barricade.

Lauren's and mine was the best...because Lauren built it. This was actually one of the funnest things ever.

That weekend was my last couple days at home, and the Macdonald family came to visit us and have dinner! They took such good care of us while we were in Samoa - they fed us more than we fed ourselves and took us to all the Independence Day festivities, so it was nice having them here in Utah and at our house. WE LOVE THEM!

When they went home, we decided to watch Never Say Never to get ready for the concert the next day. We made muddy buddies and hunkered down. The best!

The next day was finally the day of the concert! We bought the tickets in June, so it felt like it was just never going to happen. But it did! I'm so glad Rachel is my sister because we had a blast.

First of all, it would've been fun just being downtown because there were so many crazy people there! Exhibit A.

We waited outside the ESA for quite a while, but we were so excited that it was pretty much fine. More fine than it normally is in 0 degree weather.

When we finally got into the arena an hour before the show, there were little girls crying of joy and excitement. We were pretty psyched, but we didn't cry.

Rachel panicked a little when Carly Rae Jeppsen came out for the opening act.

But then we had to wait FOREVER between the two of them, Not normal. So...we took more pictures..

We played uno to pass the time. There was seriously an hour between Carly Rae and Justin. We found at later that he had visited a girl in the hospital who couldn't come to the concert. For cute. But at the time we had no clue what was going and were getting worried that someone had died or something. THEN there was this huge explosion and all the lights went out. Rachel had a legitimate freak out that I wish I would've been filming. All that happened after the explosion was a TEN MINUTE countdown on the screen on stage and the jumbo trons. The whole ten minutes was panic and chaos from 30,00 girls. Every time another minute would pass the noise level would rise. That last 2 minutes were straight-up hysterics. I loved every second of it. FINALLY when the countdown ended Justin came down from the ceiling!

The whole concert was one of the craziest things of my life. There were constant fireworks and lasers and a million back-up dancers and everything was just big and loud. I absolutely loved it. Rachel and I were just so excited and so happy the entire time and we loved it all.

The One Less Lonely Girl

What a night! Justin Bieber has given Rachel and I many opportunities to bond over the past few years - thanks, Justin.

The next day my family made Aebelskiver for my last day at home. Aebelskiver is a Danish food that you make in a special Aebelskiver pan like so.

We discovered it on our trip to Solveng a few years ago and it has made us happy to be Danish.

I headed back to Logan that night. Going back without Abbie was a lot harder than I had anticipated, but I know we're both  doing what we're supposed to be doing. All in all, I'm happy to be back in Logan and excited for this new year of adventures and surprises!