Hello my loved ones!!
   So our Christmas day was a little intense... one that I'll definitely remember that's for sure. Long story short, we were AN HOUR LATE to our dinner appointment! I felt absolutely TERRIBLE! Here they are, willing to feed us christmas dinner, and we're late! Dinner was planned at 4 and at 3 we got a call from some former investigators and so we went over to their place and visited with them... for 2 hours. My companions is quite the chatter. I've learned one thing about myself... I like being on time to things (bugs me if we aren't, like really bugs.) But anyways, it was a nice dinner (once we got there). They are a very sweet family! THey just had a daughter gat back from a mission, and have a son getting back in Feb. and a few other children too. It  was nice spending the evening with them! S. Ploeg's mom got us both a present- Thing 1 and Thing 2 from the Grinch, they're footy pajamas and bright red- we got some pics of it!
  Ok so anyways, I love you! We're meeting with some sisters for lunch so I have to get going. But I have to come back and write a letter to the mission pres. so I'll probably get back on and write you about a few more things! I love you!
Sister Miller

Written December 21, 2009

Merry Christmas to the best people in the WOORLD! (I know, it's a little early, but lets face it, Christmas is suppose to be celebrated all week long.)
   This week has been better :) Not so much in the teaching and finding new investigators aspect... but my attitude is better, so that's good! In my companionship inventory (where my and S. Ploeger talk about what's going good in our companionship and what we could do better) she mentioned how I could probably smile a little more. I guess I've been taking the missionary work (and the lack thereof) a little too serious and haven't been having enough fun. I need to keep reminding myself that this is suppose to be hard, but fun at the same time! I'm working on that.
   Our investigator Mariella was sick this last week so we haven't been able to meet with her again :( Bummer. But we have an appointment for this Wednesday, so I'm excited for that! Other than that, we're still donig a lot of knocking doors and visiting the less-actives (there's alot). It's hard, after the prop 8, there's not only a lot of hard feelings from nonmembers, but a lot of members fell away during that time too, they said they were offended. Sad. We're working with them, and hopefully they'll start coming back soon.
   So I've been asked alot in emails and letters what a normal day is like for me. I'll go through a couple of days.
Tuesdays we wake up at 6:30 work out
7-8 is shower, get ready, and eat breakfast
8-9:30 is personal study
9:30-10:30 is companion study
10-2 is appointments and knocking doors
2-3 lunch
3-8 appointments and knocking doors
8 come home for dinner and making calls to set up more app.
9-9:30 planning
9:30-10:30 is personal time for study, writing in journals, and gonig to bed. But to be honest, we're both pretty tired come 9:30 so S. Ploeger hits the hay, I write for a bit and then I'm in bed by 10.
Friday and Sat. are the same pretty much.
6:30-10:30 is the same every day. But then we have appointments, and then head to the temple from 1:30-6 where we meet with visitors that stop off the freeway to see waht this "castle" is and show them pictures of the inside. We're the temple's visitor center :) complete with lawn chairs and an umbrella. Fun :) (oh side note, guess what! Not sure if I've told you yet or not, but they just recently approved the funds for building a real visitor's center here. So they are working on the design as we speak. So no more lawn chairs and binder!) After the temple we continue with appointments or door knocking. Dad I still can't believe you came to the temple grounds! You little stinker! S. Ploeger's parents came and "ran into her" what a coincidence.
   So there you have it, some typical days in the field!
   I gave a talk yesterday in church.. they didn't give me a topic and they didn't give me a time limit either. Soo I was left to do whatever I felt I should. So I talked about cherity and love. You can't go wrong with talking about that during the christmas season! It was fun though, a little hard without a computer to type it out and search topics though. Luckily, I had some ensigns to use. Few! Pretty sure it would have been a fatal accident if I didn't have those!
  My plans for christmas are a little iffy. We don't have a lot planned (we're in a signles ward for cryin out loud! Everyone is gone or in their family wards!) So luckily, the bishop yesterday asked if we had plans and when we said no, he insisted that we join their family. So we'll be having dinner Christmas night with them. Other than that, it's a typical work day! As a mission, everyone is getting together to celebrate Christmas Wednesday afternoon from 10-1. We're suppose to bring white-elephant gifts, woop woop! And Wednesday evening we're going caroling for a bit. It's hard, most all the missionaries have a million dinner appointments and activities to go to. But yeah, for us, we'll be out on the streets knocking doors, sa-weet! Wish us luck! I have to admit, for some reason, I thought missionaries had sundays, pday and holidays off. SPYCH! Boy was I wrong. Haha I love it though. Less time to think about what I COULD be doing back at home. It still doesn't even seem like christmas. I've decided I'm definitely a fan of white christmas's!

I have to get going, back to writing letters :) You're the best, I love you. I know the church is true. And I know that Joseph Smith is a true prophet, and I know that if he's true, then the Book of Mormon is true, and if that's true, then everything else is true. So I hope that we're all continually strengthening our testimony of Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith, and the Book of Mormon. I love you. Merry Christmas :)
Love,
Sister Miller

Hey Mom and Family AND friends!
So yesterday was kind of interesting. We went to the mission office for letters and email but the computers were being ridiculously slow so we had to leave to make it to our next meeting with a group of missionaries! And we were planning to be done in time to get back to the office before it closed, but that didn't happen... we got lost around the border.
   Thank you EVERYONE, I really do appreciate all your hard work, thoughts, and prayers. I feel your love and support. It's really needed, so thank you. You're all the best. I don't have much time :( so sorry it's not longer. The work is still slow, but we are teaching a woman, Mariella, who is dating and living with a less-active.. so we're teaching both. But other than that.. it's well, a work in progress. I love you all!
   Have a fanastic week!
Love,
Sister Miller

Hi everyone!
   Thank you for the emails and the letters, I love hearing from you all! Sounds like you had a great thanksgiving week, jam packed with fun site seeing, you can never go wrong with that!
   Sorry to hear about the sicknesses going around right now... I guess it's kind of typical considering the time of year. I'm also fighting a cold. When I first got here it was Sister Ploeger who had it, who successfully passed it off to me. Blah. But I'm taking my vitemans and hopefully it will pass soon. It doesn't help that we spend 6 hours 3 days a week at the temple.... who ever said San Diego is sunny and warm and never rains... LIED. It's down poured the last couple of days and I've been told to expect it this whole week. I'm getting good used out of my raincoat and umbrella :)

   So Friday for our morning workout we walked around the Mormon Batalion in hopes to peek in some of the windows... they were all covered up :( But on our way back to our apartment (right next door) a guy stopped us and asked if we wanted a tour- OF COURSE WE DO! He's the project manager and he walked us around the whole thing, it was so awesome! There is still alot to be done, but so far it looks great! It's scheduled to open January 30. I'll keep you posted on that! We've lost the investigators we had... they dropped us. So we've been doing alot of door knocking and yesterday we fasted specifically for more investigators and better receptiveness of the gospel with those we talk to, hopefully we'll reap the fruits of those labors soon! It's definitely hard.. alot of the people just know we were against prop 8 and that's enough for them to turn us away. It's been a little discouraging but we continue to press on in faith. This is His work and I know that as long as we are teaching and living by the promptings of the Holy Ghost, we can't go wrong. I know that there are people he is specifically preparing for us, all we have to do is find them.. and boy are we working to do that! 
   I love you all! I hope you're doing well... you're all in my prayers. Stay faithful and know that He is God, and through Him, we can do ALL things. Read your scriptures, and specifically the Book of Mormon. Continually look for things and activities that iwll strengthen your testimony and continually analyze what you are currently doing and whether or not they are building your faith, or trying your faith. I love you all. And may all our goals be directed towards the celestial kingdom, I want you ALL there! Have a wonderful week :)
Love,
sister Miller

Rain, rain, go away!

So... It rained two nights. And when I say rain- that's an understatement- because it seriously poured! We were up at the temples doing a little mini temple visitor presentation to the nonmembers. My companion and I were in the back of the temple looking for people to talk to when we noticed there is NO ONE around. What the heck? Where is everyone? Right then it started pouring! We are trapped under a tree in the back of the temple (which faces the highway. We might as well been on a stage with a spot light on us for everyone on the freeway to see. That's literally how it was!) So it's freezing and pouring. We are huddled together to keep warm under this tree. We met only the day before. We look at each other and I suggest the most ridiculous idea, but the only idea; we make a run for the front of the temple where there is shelter. We run for it. We run for what felt like half a mile! Finally we get to the front entrance to the temple. We enter through the automatic doors into the House of the Lord. Everyone looked toasty and warm, dressed in white, and clean dry church clothes. Here we were soaking, hair messed, make up everywhere, wet cat. We looked AWFUL. Luckily our shift at the temple was over and someone let us borrow an umbrella to walk back to the car. Thank goodness. Where is my raincoat when I need it?

First Week in San Diego

Hello fam damily! How was everyone's thanksgiving?? What did everyone do? Mine was pretty interesting. Since we got here a few days before transfers we were put with a companion temporarily, and for those few days I shadowed her and went to all the appointments she had set up. Her companion she had had just finished her mission. So our first day was super slow... she didn't have any investigators to teach. So we spent the first day walking the parks talking to strangers and trying to bring up the gospel, it didn't help that she was kinda shy... I had to buck up and take the initiative.

  Then Thanksgiving was kind of hard... we were told it was the best day for missionary work because there was so many families in town. But that's exactly what made it hard, I felt bad interrupting their family bonding time! The family we were suppose to have thanksgiving dinner with fell through so last minute we had to find another family... which come to find out, we didn't have to do. Because another appointment we had that night offered their food too! So two thanksgiving dinners, yum!

  Ok, so now to catch you up on my permanent companion (well for the next 6 weeks at least). She's pretty cool! She's from Provo, Ut and very laid back! Our area is the Young Single Adult stake... talk about weird. It's a little challenging. BUT guess what? I'm sleeping in a queen sized bed. Luxurious, right? It's amazing! I have so much room I don't know what to do with myself... I'm just trying to not like it too much. They keep threatening us that they are going to have to switch it out for the senior companions. Cross your fingers that they wont! So these last few days have been spent up at the San Diego temple grounds. It's literally right off the freeway, it's BEAUTIFUL- even more than in the picture, if that's possible! There are so many nonmembers that see it off the freeway and come by to check it out, and since they don't have a visitor center here- we are called to spend at least 6 hours of our day there with a binder full of pictures of the inside. It's been so great! I love just chatting with the people, telling them about temples and a little about our beliefs. And guess what else.. don't laugh. Apparently since the Mormon Battalion is closed, the sisters are asked to go to the schools and do a little presentation for them there........wearing the old school outfits. It's quite entertaining! We start that this week, I keep telling myself that it will at least be a good picture taking opportunity :)

   But things are going great and moving forward- we have lots of appointments set up for this week, so I'll let you know how it goes! I love you, I have to go! Have a great week :)

Love,
Sister Miller

A Letter from Sister Miller’s Mission President

 

Greetings from the California San Diego Mission!

Your daughter, Sister Miller has safely arrived in the mission field. We are delighted to have her serving with us among the wonderful people of Southern California. In addition to the tremendous weather and scenery, we have remarkable missionary opportunities.

Thank you for sending such a wonderful missionary to our mission. We are confident that with your prayers and her hard work that she will have a rich experience here in San Diego that will bless both her and those she teaches.

I have attached a couple of pictures that were taken this afternoon at the Mission Home.

God bless you for your sacrifice in sending us your daughter to labor among some of Heavenly Father's choicest spirits.

Lee Donaldson

President, California San Diego Mission

Send me to San Diego!

I have a new address now that I’ll be in San Diego in a few days—so start sending your letters there! Here's the new address:

     Sister Kimaree Miller

     California San Diego Mission

     7404 Armstrong Pl.

     San Diego, CA 92111-4912

Thanks for the support!

SURPRISE!!

Hello my wonderful family!

So we got our new schedule for the visitor center training, and with the new schedule we got a new pday. So lucky for me and my companion, we had to go a week and a half without a pday. But the training so far has been really good! It was a little rough at first, our Elders from our district left Tuesday morning so that was a sad day. Our district was just so close, we instantly became good friends so it was a sad/happy goodbye. It was a learning experience though, I'll probably have lots of experiences like that in the field, leaving a good ward or extra good companions! And it was basically just really weird going from a district of 10 to a district of 30 sisters. Lots of estrogen!

   But things are going well and I'm learning a lot! Last night we had a TA (teaching appointment) and we set up this room to look like a visitor center, it actually looked pretty legit. So after all the volunteer investigators came in, I stood on the stage to welcome and introduce the Christus presentation- while I was up on the stage I realized that Clayton Anderson was among the investigators! Crazy right? After the TA was over and we were cleaning up things we ran into each other again and caught up for awhile. He called Jud and bragged to him about who he was with and then I had him call Mom to brag to her too! Haha sorry mom, looking back that was kind of mean to do to you. I apologize. But yeah it was really cool running into  him! The whole night went really well, I'm starting to be more and more comfortable with teaching and giving tours so that's good, it's about time! Just in time to leave.

   Here's some little details about my flight plans. I report to the traveling office Tuesday at 5:00am, my flight leaves at 8..ish. I'm told that we are allowed to call home while at the airport, except I haven't really asked a teacher that yet so I'll do that probably tonight at class and find out for sure if that's allowed. If it is, do you want me to buy a calling card here at the bookstore or do collect? Write me a dearelder and let me know which! I'd probably call moms cell around 7, so have it charged up.. not that we'll be able to talk much, but you know what I mean!

   So guess who arrived at the MTC Wednesday? Elizabeth Smart. We saw her at the cafeteria for lunch... she looked terrified! And it was kind of sad, a lot of people were looking at her.. I'm sure she felt like a museum exhibit. It was sad. But I've seen her since then and she looks like she's warming up to the place and doing well. By the way, she is beautiful! She's a good example of a strong woman.

   Speaking of good examples, I keep forgetting to mention who we have at Devotionals every Tuesdays and Firesides every Sunday and Relief Society on Sundays. So far we've had Sheri Dew, Sister Oakes, and guess what... apparently Holland is coming this Tuesday  :( Bummer I leave that morning! They call it the "hollandays" because he always comes at holidays. So I'm sad that I'll miss his talk, but I'm very excited to get to the field at the same time! I've received another letter from the mission president.. basically it said that I better be studying as much as I can and come prepared because they really need me to be ready to jump right into the work. Talk about pressure!! I've been trying extra hard to learn everything I can and actually remember it! Its hard to know exactly what to study though.

   But like I said, things are going really well here! I can't believe I leave in 4 days! Crazy! Oh and just to share a quick spiritual experience. On Wednesday we met with our new teacher Sister Murphy. We did this one activity that was so awesome! She had us close our eyes and then she read to us D&C 84-88 and she had us picture Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ standing literally by our sides knocking on doors and having His angels round about us, including our passed ancestors and future children. Holy cow, the spirit was so strong I felt like I could just reach out and touch it! It was an amazing activity, it definitely started a tear festival, which was like dominos with that many sisters in such closed corners!

   Well I hope you're all doing well, I love you so much! This last Monday night our district had FHE with our teacher so we all brought pictures of our families and shared stories. It was fun. Alright well keep me up to date on things around there. For instance- what's going on with the house? And where did Shell and Kurt move? That's just ya know, a minor detail? And what are people doing for vacations! ok ok that's enough. I have to get going. I love you all so much! Have a FABULOUS week. Next time I write you an email it will be in warm San Diego :)

Love,
Sister Miller

Long days, SHORT weeks!

Hello everyone!! Yay for pday again! I can't believe it came so
fast... whoever told me I'll have long days and short weeks was
totally right! I can't believe I've already been here for 2 weeks..
I'm half way there :) It's going great, I still love it! I'm so glad I
have another 2 weeks, I definitely don't feel prepared enough to enter
the field. I still get nervous teaching the lessons, even though they
are fake investigators! Haha, hopefully I'll get over that soon.
Ok so Mom (and everyone else), I opened your email and I started to
read it but it was just so long, I wasn't able to finish it. Would you
mind copying and pasting it to a "dearelder" and sending it that way?
Along with all other responses. That way I don't have to spend my
computer time reading. I get dear elders the exact same day you send
them, so it's way easier that way! Thanks.
So things are going well here, last week after I sent my emails I
remember things I meant to write about. So I'm going to go ahead and
do that now.
So guess where I live, 4M. Dun Dun dun. That might not mean anything
to you, but here it's known at the quarantine building. That's where
they send all the sick missionaries to live!! I'm on the 4th floor and
they are on the 3rd so we aren't actually in contact with them, but
it's still super weird. Whenever I tell someone I live in 4M I get a
funny look. Weird things happen in that building. Every night at 9:30
we return to our residence halls. As we head up the stairs and pass
the 3rd floor doors there is ALWAYS missionaries crammed up again the
door windows pounding and yelling. Weird right? I think they are
getting a little anxious to be released. The other night they lined
pop cans all the way up the stairs (like a path for us to walk
between) and at the very top of the stairs they had two oranges as the
eyes and a banana smile. I think they get a little bored being all
cooped up there!! It's entertaining for us though!
   So 2 nylons down, 9 more to go. I haven't quite mastered the grace
it takes to put those dang things on. They're tricky! Hopefully I'll
be a pro in no time.
   Oh another thing... guess what happened this morning? It was a
morning I'll remember forever. I had my first warm shower. I thought
I'd be safe with warm showers since I was staying in states, right?
WRONG! I've had freezing showers for the last 2 weeks. (made shaving
impossible.) Which I can't complain about the cold showers, I was
forced to be fast in the shower which was great since we only have 30
minutes to get ready anyway! This morning we ventured to some other
bathrooms down the long hall and WA-LAH, warm showers! I was in
heaven.
    So guess who I ran into the other day? Lexie Warner! It was so
nice to see her! We hugged (even though we technically aren't aloud
to, we were both just so excited!)
     Hey so about the shoes, I meant to last last week. Whats the
return policy on those DSW shoes? Will you check on that for me, Jana?
Then send me a dearelder and let me know so I can get those off to
you!
     So I got your letters, thank you so much! It's so nice to hear
from you, helps me feel a little more included while I'm so far away.
I love each and every one of you! I love hearing about things that are
going on back where you are. So I called my residence hall my home
last night, that was weird. Haha but I'm glad that I've finally
settled in and accepted the fact that I'm here, and I honestly don't
think I could be any happier :)
    We've started learning the 3rd lesson and boy it's going so fast!
Our district elders are leaving next week, I feel like we just got
here! They are such a great group of elders. I really will miss them.
I'm so grateful for the opportunity that we had to be together to learn
and grow.
    I can't upload pictures again this week, this time it's my fault
though. I forgot to bring my camera. Oops. Maybe next time :)
    Alright well my time is almost up so I have to get going. I love
you all and thank you for your support, it means so much to know that
you all are cheering me on and love me. I have the best family and
friends in the world! I hope you all have a wonderful day, smile big
:) I love you!
Love, Sister Miller

Ps. this wasn't suppose to be a sad email (showers, nylons, and
quarantine) it's all actually pretty funny I think! Know that I'm
doing well and still LOVING the work. Seriously, emails just do not do
justice when it comes to explaining the joy I feel. I hope you're all
doing well, you're in my prayers. Talk to you later :)

PDAY TIME!!

Hello hello my wonderful family! I hope you're all doing well, I know I am! This week has been so crazy... as I'm sure you all already assumed. I think they try to keep you busy so that you don't get home sick, that's smart of them.
Gosh I feel like I have so much to tell you and so little time.. 25 minutes and counting. Good thing I made a list... haha can you tell how anxious I was to write you? My pday as you already know is Wednesday, and that's the only day I can get on the computer and write letters (yup, even letters) So although I get mail every night, I can only write back once a week, so sorry if there's a delay in answering you!
So here's some of the "interesting" rules they have here.. get this, you can't say "guys", it's strictly Elders and Sisters! Which is good though, makes things a little less casual. Also, we aren't aloud to have out hands in our pockets.. that mainly goes for the guys but still, I thought it was funny! AND here's the big kicker... NO GUM! Sooo I take it back when I told you to send some in packages... don't! It's a temptation! I really really appreciate the gum I've already received (thanks Mom for the package, I loved it! I sneak it in my mouth while I'm in the residence halls and then have to spit it out before I leave... so let's switch gum to breath mints).
Alright so I have a funny story to tell. Thursday night we were being given tours from our zone leaders (Elder Lamb and Elder Slavski) we were walking around and going through what each building is, blah blah blah, then I had a question for Elder Lamb about the bookstore, not an important one so I planned on just asking him while we were walking.... I guess I assumed he would keep walking and I'd keep walking and we'd be on our way to the next place. WRONG. Let's just say I was traveling apparently a little too close and wasn't watching where I was going while I was trying to ask my question to him. As soon as I said his name and informed him I had a question he whipped around and we were seriously 2 inches away from each other... we instantly felt the awkward.. this isn't right... we shouldn't be this close... what's happening... millions of things were going through my head ("What the heck! Why'd he stop walking! It isn't that important!") We simultaneously jumped backwards in opposite directions! Haha we all laughed for awhile, mostly at my expense, but whatever.
The food here is pretty good... a little too good. Luckily my companion (Sister Poulson) is just as conscious about what she eats as I am! We stick strictly to the wrap, salad, and soup line! And every now and then we find out way to the desserts.. their just a little too good.
Soo guess what! I was called as the "coordinating Sister". Believe me, you know just as much as I do and what my responsibilities are! As far as I know, I'm just in charge of the other Sisters in my Zone to make sure they are doing alright and there aren't any contentions or problems, make sure they're doing what they are suppose to be doing, etc. I'm also in charge of in coming Sisters and letting them know where to go... as if I wasn't already stressed about finding my way around Campus! Haha I'm figuring it our though and things are going well. My days are filled with branch meetings, branch council, leadership training, coordinating sister meeting, companion study, personal study, large group meetings, and many many others!! (I really am just scratching the surface!
Oh and have I mentioned I constantly have hymns stuck in my head!!??! which is good! I'd rather that than some rap song that's for sure.
Ok so I got the packages from Mom and Jana, thank you soo so so so much! I have just a little bad news... the shoes are a bit big (and when I say a bit big, I really do mean big!) I feel like I'm a 5 yr old girl playing in my moms high heels! lol so it looks like I'll have to send those back to Jana :( I'm going to just find some in SAn Diego or whenever I actually feel like I need them. Thanks for all the trouble you guys went through, i really do appreciate it. I just love you!
So get this, I had a dream the other night that Cierra asked you guys what exactly I'm out doing and all the sudden I appeared out of no where and started giving her the first lesson! Haha that's right, I'm dreaming about giving lessons! It's official, I'm eating, thinking, praying, and dreaming missionary things. So far, we've taught the first lesson multiple times, it's going great... a little rocky at first, I'm not going to lie! But it's gotten better and I've improved on really relying on faith (of course after I've done all I can first). We get to go to the temple today so that's exciting! And I think I've said more prayers than I have in my whole life! It's a bit intense, but I love it.
I've been so fortunate to have such a great district and companion, I love that they are as committed to sharing the gospel as I am. We all work well together, building one anothers testimony's. I've never felt the spirit so strong.. and it's constant too! It's truly incredible. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to serve a mission and share this wonderful gospel with those I come in contact with. I know Heavenly Father lives and sent his son, my savior to atone for not only my sins, but all of Heavenly Fathers children. What a blessing it is to be able to be cleansed and whole again.
Ok my time is nearly done. I'm going to send this and try to send another one with a picture... if I can figure out how. not sure. Ok all, I love you and I'm so grateful I have such a wonderful family and such wonderful friends. I truly to love each and every one of you and appreciate the support and love you give me. Take care and I hope you're doing well. Hugs and kisses to everyone! Muah!
Love,
Sister Miller :)

 

Ok I can't figure out the picture thing.. apparently I need my cord, I though there might be just a spot to insert my memory card but I don't see one, sorry :/ I guess you'll all just have to wait! I love love love you!

Get out a pen!

Kim’s mission address for the next 4 weeks (probably good until Nov. 25) is down below! So get out your pens, pencils, or any writing utensils and write this down! She once said that when you get a letter from someone, you know that they really care. So let’s show her how much she is loved and supported by writing her often!

Sister Kimaree Jane Miller

MTC Mailbox #206

CA- SD 1124

2005 N. 900 E.

Provo, UT 84604-1793

Officially, Sister Kimaree Miller

Hi guys! This is Jana, Kim’s sister. Kim has given my the awesome task of keeping up her blog. I will be posting pictures she sends, and her e-mails right here! We still haven’t received her MTC address yet, but I’ll post that as soon as we find out! Here are some pictures from today when we dropped her off. She is going to be an incredible missionary!

Confronting the truth

Anyone who knew me when I was still living at home kindergarten through high school knows that I was quite the mess maker. I've finally come to terms with it, or at least I've recognized that it's time to. Even if my mom didn't see me do it with her own eyes at the time of the accident, it always came out in the open a few weeks later. Sometimes it was a rotten smell from the pizza crust I didn't want and hid under my bed, other times it was a moldy smell coming from the carpet from my spilled milk and other times she finally forced me to clean my room- removing the clothes hiding the spill of the black finger nail polish. I've been in denial of this accident prone side of me. I'm nearly 21 years old and I thought I had finally conquered my uncoordinated tendencies, not so. Tonight I spilt a left over milk from my cereal bowl on the freshly cleaned carpet, this was it, I knew the time had come for me to face the facts and say it out loud: I'm a mess maker. I confess. And so I now take the first step to recovery and say it to the blogging world... I make messes. I spill things. I break things. I feel better already.

A different kind of cramming

For the last two years of my life I've spent hours and hours studying. It didn't matter if it was in an uncomfortable wooden chair at a cubby in the library or in between classes, I was studying. I was studying for either upcoming exams or quizzes, they always seemed to be another one "just around the corner". My head literally seemed stuffed to the brim with no more room for useless information (I say useless because I don't think I've actually applied any of it yet, perhaps in the future.) I would often find myself confused as to which material I've been tested on already and what I haven't... so I'd randomly pick one and go to work. My head would ache, my butt was sore from sitting in those dang chairs, my fingers throbbing from holding a pencil, my toes tapping with eagerness to actually get up and do something else, and my eye lid twitching for no apparent reason other than to annoy me.

A new chapter of my life is beginning... and so I find myself doing a new type of cramming. It's as though my life is about to end and we must do as many fun things as humanly possible. My head aches from too little of sleep, my butt is sore from all the sitting in a car traveling, my fingers throbbing from gripping the steering wheel, my toes are no longer tapping but instead take full advantage of sitting time, and my eye well it doesn't twitch anymore... instead, every blink is a little longer until I finally allow it to stay shut for a nap.

With leaving on the mission soon, brings a last minute rush to do as many family activities while we can. We've spent hours driving to Idaho to meet up with family at Granny's house (endless card games) , we've spent hours driving to Idaho to go camping in the palasades to see a MOOSE (success)
, we've spent a morning at the farmers market (mmm roasted almonds), an afternoon feeding the ducks at the lake (tons TONS of ducks)
, nights out at restraunts (that might explain the extra pounds), afternoons at walmart (this might explain the lighter wallet), we've spent time at the rodeos (I can't forget about the new boots and wranglers) , a day trip to Cody Wyoming (candy shop with 3498023728097342 different kinds of candies), another trip to Idaho to go through the temple (speechless), and now we're counting the days down (2) until our next trip to Idaho/Utah for Mary's wedding (YAYYY) and general conference (YAYYY).

As you can see although I haven't been at school and busy with classes... somehow I find myself still busy! In my down time I paint my nails :) it makes me happy. I've realized while I'm on my mission I'm probably going to be limited to "conservative colors" for my nails.... So i guess you can say I've gone a little crazy with my nail colors, I'm trying to get it all out of my system. I'm not sure if it will work, we'll see.

Papa and a Mama and a Wee Bear

For those who haven't heard my backpacking story yet, I'll go ahead and tell it again.

WARNING: It's kind of long, so feel free to grab yourself something cool to drink and hey, maybe even some popcorn or another snack.

My friend Amy and I had a brilliant idea to take a little trip together this summer after the semester ended. We had a few ideas but they didn't seem perfect enough... we finally made a decision- we decided to go backpacking for a few days together! So then came the next question, where should we go? After going back and forth between a couple of places, we decided to go to North Powder. North Powder is a small town in Oregon where Amy's uncle lives.
When the semester finally ended I was only in Washington for a few short days before meeting back up with Amy at her uncles on Tuesday, July 28th. The plan was to have her uncle take us up to the head of the trail Wednesday afternoon in his truck. Amy and I would then hike up to Rock Creek and spend a few days up there and then meet back up with her uncle Saturday evening at the trail head again. We packed our bags, double checking our lists to make sure we had everything. Wednesday morning came and it was time to head up to the mountains.
I'm not really sure how far the trip from his house to the mountains was but I'm guessing it was 45 miles total, 15 of which was a dirt road that was pretty beat up! Finally we got to the top and her uncle pointed us in the right direction of the trail. He told us we would first have to cross a creek, walk walk walk, cross the creek again, walk walk walk, then we would come to a fork in the trail. If we went to the right we would go straight up the falls, if we went to the left it would be all switch backs up to the top. Also, if we went to the left then we would walk through some berry bushes and if we see bears on the trip, that's where we would see them. However, he said, chances were that would happen, apparently the berries are out of season or something. Anyways, we said our goodbyes. Oh and just to be prepared, we took Amy's dog and her uncles dog.
So we're off on our little adventure. We get to the first creek and Amy crosses first. As she was crossing I notice her shoes and pants getting a little wet, but she made it across and now it was my turn. I start walking across (forgetting I have a 30-40lbs bag on my back), I start trudging across trying to stay on the rocks as to keep from getting wet. My feet are getting wet and I imagine how sucky the hike would be having to walk in wet shoes and socks so I pick up my pace... and well, that didn't go over so well. I lose my footing and I start tumbling down to the bed of the creek getting my shoes and pants completely soaked as well as my bag. Finally I'm able to get up out of the water and back on my feet on dry ground. Amy and I laugh it off and continue on. We get to the next creek (which lets face it, don't let the word creek mislead you... this was not really a creek at all, it was more of a full fledge river). So we spent a couple minutes (when I say minutes I really mean 20) trying to figure out a way to cross and not get wet. That didn't go so well as you can imagine... dang slippery rocks. Yep, as you can imagine I got pretty wet again. Anyways, we eventually got across and came upon the fork in the trail. After going back and forth between paths, getting about 20 ft. down the trail before turning around, we decided to go the switch back way/berry bushes way.
This time we get about 40 yards down the path and things are going great. We're making small talk, enjoying the nice weather, and the dogs were having a fun time when all of the sudden Amy's dog Max came running back on the trail to where we were. Simultaneously as the dog was running back we hear loud and HEAVY stomps to our left behind some bushes and trees. Amy and I stop dead in our tracks and turn towards one another. So here we are, two 20 yr olds stranded and being stalked by a bear. Bageera (sound it out),Amy's uncles dog, was grawling and barking. My stare went directly down to the trail, linked arms with hers and headed back the way we came. I was TERRIFIED! We continued walking back to the creek/river making sure to talk and make noise letting the bear know we were still there. We continued to hear loud and heavy steps behind us, twigs snapping (which later her uncle told us it was probably the bears jaw popping... which is what they do when they feel threatend and are about to attack. Scary, I know.) and Amy (big macho Amy) looked and searched for the stupid thing and saw the bushes swaying. The trail curved in a way in which we would have to cut the bear off in it's path but luckily we didn't hear it anymore. We quickly crossed the river (this time without hesitation) getting once again our feet and pants wet.
Once we were across the river we thought we might be far enough away that we would be safe and perhaps we could just spend our first night there?....nauuuugh. We both just didn't feel safe about it so we quickly darted to the head of the trail. No sign of her uncle. We got out our cell phone in hopes we had perhaps one bar of service... but because of my plunge into the raging river my phone nor my camera was working. She was able to get hers own, only to find out in disappointment, there was no service. So we began the ~45 mile walk back down the valley to her uncles house. Finally we had a few moments of service on her phone and she was able to get a call out to her dad explaining what had happened. The news traveled down the grape vine and within moments her aunt was on her way to retrieve us.
Once we had arrived safely back to her aunts and uncles we packed up my car with our bags and hit the road again heading to Le Grande. After lots of laughs and teasing we decided to call it a day and stay at a hotel. It was a nice little hotel, wood walls and an old fashion refrigerator, it had kind of a cabin...y feeling to it... it felt like we were still somewhat sticking to our outdoor adventure plan. So here we are, Day #1 roughin it in a cute little hotel!! The next day we drove out to Wallowa Lake where we spent Thursday night camping... only to pack up the next day and come back into Le Grande to the comfort of a hotel (after playing around at the lake of course... which can I just say was freaking AMAZING!?! We rented a paddle boat and afterwards even petted some deer!! Cool, right? I know). Only this time we decided to try out another room which was decorated a little more modern and well, pretty. Amy walked into the bathroom and was greeted by a MONSTEROUS spider. Now you'd think that because of my experience in Hawaii that I would be a little better with insects, animals, and big bugs... the truth is, well- I'm not. This thing was large and in charge! He was the master of that bathroom and there was no way we were going to disrupt what he had going there. (Yes, when we're in nature we run from bears. When we're in civilization we run from spiders.) We walked back to the hotel office like a dog with his tail between his legs. We wanted to switch rooms. But we were certainly not going to tell him it was just because we were cowards and didn't like big Mr. Spider in the bathroom! Yeah right, that'd make us look like sissy's! (Did I mention we wore bandanas the entire trip? Giving us a more hardcore appearance. Now you might understand why we couldn't let down our look and be a wuss to this man.) So of course we beat around the bush... just telling him we would like the other room, "just cuz". After the room switch things went great! We hung around there and ate at this DELICIOUS little restaurant and had milkshakes later as our dessert. We were in heaven. Our horrifying experience was turning into a pleasent little adventure. The next day, Saturday, we hung around town going into cute little shops taking pictures (with our disposable camera... we some how managed to break hers this trip too).

So there you have it... that pretty much covers every angle. So now that you know I'm still a little pansy when it comes to spiders and bears... I'm a little embarrassed so I think I'll just end this one here.

Meet The Parents

Now perhaps the title of this eludes that my parents are horrible, untrusting, crazy and controlling people... this isn't exactly what I'm meaning, in fact it's the opposite. Instead of my parents being questionable of every guy I bring home (which lets face it, is zero),they seek out guys that I might be interested in. They have now pointed out an apartment of guys that live upstairs, they know nothing about them except that they play soccer- and suddenly, WAHBLAM- they're in the circle of trust! Mom has pointed out a guy that lives up one level and across the courtyard from us, she knows nothing about him except he's somewhere between 16 years old and 30 years old. She ignores the fact I've seen him out there countless number of times sitting on his porch smoking for HOURS at a time. She continues to point him out to me every other hour that he's still up there. Whenever we go out to eat they never fail to make friendly with our waitor or a waitor that happens to be walking near our table. Do I have some postage stamp on my forehead that i don't know about that writes (in capital letters of course) "HELP ME, I NEED A MAN"??? Because for some reason they are poking, prying, urging and encouraging me to meet people... and apparently they would like it to be of the opposite sex. I went to the young single adult ward Sunday, that was fun, nothing like a BYU ward that's for sure! It was as though the laurals and preists of a family ward had all decided to move to the singles ward at the same time and take control. Being a people-watcher, I listened to some of the conversations that the kids (believe me, using the term "kids" is appropriate... just wait for the next part) were having around me. Guess what they were talking about! EFY! They were calling each other their EFY buddies! A girl sitting in front of me was friendly and introduced herself, she graduated a year ago and has been in this ward for a year now. I asked her about the people and she said the ward consists of mostly premis- 1 RM and a bunch of 09 high school graduates. Now I'm not denying that they're good people, I'm sure they all! They all had lots of energy and tons of things to talk about. I'll just cut to the chase and say the boys just aren't my type. So my next thought... Maybe it's really Dad thats getting lonely??? It's only him and me and mom in the house... maybe he's needing some extra testosterome around. I think I need to find him a golfing buddy. And so I say, PARENTS BEWARE! The tables have turned, I will linger in local nursing homes, country clubs, and diners everywhere that I need to in order to find THEM friends to have around.

Now things haven't been THAT bad, although to be honest I didn't over-exaggerate at all. The above remains true. Things have been good around here! Last week I put out a couple of resumes- not enough- I haven't heard anything back. I talked to my dad about jobs the other day, and I've realized I have yet to find a job for myself. I worked for 4 years at my parents tannign salon, then I worked for 2 years at a gym that my sister-in-law worked at and put in a good word for me. And so all these years that I thought I was a big girl and I could find myself a job... how hard could it be... blah blah blah, is a lie. This is hard stuff! As if only being around for 2 more months isn't a big enough obstacle, mom and dad and I have things planned for almost every weekend that we have together! So I don't exactly have flexible hours. Besides searching for a job, Mom and I also did some shopping for mission clothes. We got lucky at JC Penny's, things are well and moving right along. Next Sunday I have an interview with my bishop for my temple recommend :)
Stay tuned for next posting... I'll be retelling my backpacking story

Exciting weekend!

Alright so I have a couple of different things to catch you all up on...

I've officially finished my mission papers... that's right, I'm going on a mission. This morning I had an interview with the bishop. At the interview he told me he had already looked over the papers and sent them on to the Stake President and that I should be expecting a call from the secretary to set up an appointment for Tuesday night. Ahhh!! It's actually here! Can you believe it!? Although I've been wanting to rush the process and just get this all done so I can go out there, now that it's actually here, I don't know what to do with myself! I'm so incredibly happy :) Do I look like a missionary yet?


Also, this last weekend was the championship for my soccer team!! We were ranked 2nd to a team that we hadn't been able to beat yet. They were the only team we had lost to. And in 3rd place was another extremely good team, who we always end up in shoot outs with. The tournament was a one loss elimination, making each game a BIG deal! We played the Knights (the 3rd place team) Friday night at 8 and again, we went into overtime. And at the end of those two 5 minute halfs we were STILL tied! So then we went into penalty kicks. We ended up winning by 1!!



Ahh we were soo excited! So because we won this game we automatically went to the final game on Saturday night. The other team who ended up making it to the finals was the Hurricanes (the 1st place team... the one we've never beat). Ok so as you can imagine we were all super nervous!! I could not stop thinking about the game all day long. Finally it was time to start the game, they got a goal within the first 5 minutes of starting... not a good sign. Luckily my team didn't let down at all and we answered right back with one. The whole time we were panicing, we knew it could be so easy for them to come back and win it if we let down at ALL. I'm so proud of my team though, no one gave up and we all just kept working so hard!! We ended up winning 4-1!!!! Now I know this might not mean anything to you, but this was a HUGE deal! We've been celebrating ever since :)

Complete 180

Remember how just the other day I was talking about how busy I am and how these last couple of days were going to be hell? Ok well yesterday, it was! But TODAY has been AMAZING! It's a good day :)

2.5 days

So I'm suppose to be doing homework/studying right now, but obviously I'm not. That's because I've had it up to HERE (my hand is reached as high as it can go) with my classes. I have 2.5 days left before I leave town and I have soo much to do, it's seriously unbearable. Anyways, so this is my own version of a therapy session.

Things to do:
-Study First Aid and take exam (Thurs.)
-Study Chemistry and take exam (Thurs.)
-Do Microbiology lab report (Thurs.)
-Do ALL chemistry homework and turn in (Fri.)
-Do two chemistry reading response and turn in (Fri.)
-Do chemistry lab report + prelab and turn in (Fri.)
-Write English paper (Fri.)
-Pack bag for family reunion
-Finish papers

I think that's everything. I don't really remember... I have a list written somewhere but I don't know where that is right now so that doesn't help. I've gotten to the point where everything is making me cry, I keep glaring at people I walk past, I can't focus, I don't care about anything right now... ok, really I do, but I'm just bugged.

Ooook on a lighter note.... I have soccer practice today! Hopefully that will be fun, get some aggression out and be with my girls.

Sorry this is such a depressing blog, I had intentions of thinking about happy stuff to write about. I guess that will have to wait for the next blog because I can't think of anything but my to-do list :D Ok I have to go to micro.
Peace.

And I'm suppose to be 20 yrs old?

So nothing really hilarious has happened recently... I'm going to have to stretch this a little and over exaggerate. Last week I gave a talk in sacrament meeting. I went first and was suppose to use 10-12 minutes. I think I used 8. Then the girl after me (a return missionary) thought she was using too much time so she cut out like 10 minutes of her talk and only ended up talking for like 5 minutes. First of all, don't ask me why her sense of time is so messed up, I don't know... all I know is that there was 25 minutes left for the last speaker, a premi boy who didn't prepare a dang thing! Long story short, we got out of sacrament 15 minutes early! I felt bad... but I wasn't about to be the one to take 30 seconds to pronounce a 3 syllable word! I said what I prepared and ended it as fast as I could! Oh and have I ever mentioned how when I get nervous/excited I start to stutter? Yeah, I was stuttering and messing up all over the place. And the microphone could not have been any closer... I swear it was right under my nose and in front of my lips... you could hear my breathing! AND if it was any closer to my nose, the running nose that I woke up with would have been all over that mic. Talk about gross! Ok so it wasn't THAT bad... but it was bad. My knees were shaking. The paper in my hand was shaking making it hard to read.

Oh and THEN that night we had a Relief Society fireside. So I went, but I think I went to the wrong place! Here I thought this was something that was going to be broadcasted... wrong. I went to the Kirk. My stake was suppose to be meeting in the Taylor. But I walked into the kirk late so everyone was staring at me AND I was wearing my farting heels (heels that make farting noises when I walk... yeah they're getting kinda old). Anyways, there was no way I could sneak out! So I just sat at some other stakes fireside for an hour and a half. That wasn't too bad either though, the speakers all gave really good talks! I just felt like I had to confess.

Alright so uhhh...I had a doctor's appointment the other day to do some lab work. Which included a blood test and, lucky me, a urine analysis. They gave me the cup and a paper with directions on it. I never knew there were directions!?!!? It was like a step by step outline of what to do... there were like 12 STEPS! At max I thought there could only be MAYBE 3 steps... take off lid, pull down pants, pee in cup. How difficult is that!? That's like having directions of how to make toast! So once I saw there were so many steps I thought hey, maybe I should read these. BAD DECISION! It made the whole process way more confusing than necessary. But I thought I should probably do this step-by-step thing, so here I am going through the billion steps. And I get so frustrated and caught up in the dumb directions, my papers were falling on to the floor all spread out, the little wipes fell on the floor (whoever was the architect for this bathroom was an IDIOT! They should have been a little more considerate of the poor fools having to refer to the pee-in-cup directions.... as if I wasn't having enough troubles following these kajillion steps, the lack of counter tops made it that much more difficult.) Anyways, I ended up PEEING ON MY HANDS AND DOWN MY LEGS! AHHHHH Can you believe it!?! All because I was trying to follow the directions! Anyways, once that horrifying experience was over, as I was on my way out of the building I looked for suggestion slips... there weren't any. I feel bad for the next sucker that has to go in there!

So there you have it.... my top 3 most embarrassing things for this semester. I'm on a roll

Two stories

Alright so I realize it's been awhile since I last posted anything... and it was awhile before that one too.

I had high hopes for this semester... like every other time I come back to this school to room with the same girls since my very first freshman fall '07 semester.

Every semester I have hope that it will be like our first. That fall '07 I laughed until I cried on a daily basis. None of us went anywhere, we just stayed in our little cozy dorm keeping each other company. We cooked meals for each other. We stayed up late talking. We even made plans to all live in the same neighborhood when we got married so our kids could grow up together. We took road trips together. We had week long sleepovers in the living room, we were all each other had, we relied on each other, we became each other's family.



Summer '08 semester wasn't the same as Fall '07, but it was still good. We went out camping, we went on bike rides, we went swimming, hiking, shopping, and road trips. We had apartment dinners together, and we had apartment prayer together.

Fall '08 semester we still did some things together, we sometimes had dinner together, we sometimes said family prayer, we met up for lunch ever tuesday and thursday, and we watched devotional together.

Summer '09 semester, this semester, we hardly do any of those things. We don't do dinner. We SOMETIMES say prayers together... although they're more apartment prayers than they are family prayers (its like we're just roommates... not friends, let alone family). We rarely go to devotional together, rarely do we do our Tuesdays and Thursday lunches, we never go on road trips, we never go on hikes, nor biking, nor swimming, we don't even stay up late talking and gigglying. I miss those days.

Every semester since fall '07, I hope and pray that it will be like it. Instead, it seems as though we are drifting farther and farther apart. We've met different groups, we're in different clubs, different classes, different majors. What used to make our apartment unique (all the different personalities) is now pulling us apart. At the beginning of each semester I'll have flashes of fall '07 together, then flashes of summer semester, then flashes of fall. Will I have flashes of this one? Is this the end. Our apartment used to be the meeting place, a place where people would be drawn towards. This isn't really the case anymore, no one is really ever home. And so I wonder, what lies ahead?

I love my girls and I always will, I just miss them. They're in the same house and I feel like they're miles away.

Things I've Learned While in Hawaii

Not everyone likes helping me study
It’s hard to get close to someone when you see the end at the beginning, but it’s important to try
I don’t get along with EVERYONE
I don’t LOVE Mexicans, like I thought
It’s harder than I thought to stay strong in the midst of people that aren’t
Sun is essential
So is scripture reading and prayers
So is going to FHE, all church meetings, and church functions
Laughter is essential to happiness
Love is essential to Life
It’s ok to laugh in church
School doesn’t always have to be serious
Being involved in school programs is fun
By helping others, you can help yourself
Texts are easy, phone calls mean a lot, letters mean even more
Having multiple groups of friends is fun; mixing and combining them is possible
Going solo is nice; being friends with yourself makes life more enjoyable
You can’t be bossy with people who don’t know you
Don’t judge people for their past, you have one too.
Being called a Haole isn’t a good thing
Polynesian girls aren’t always friendly
Having a night life isn’t important
The best things in life only happen when you want it to
Being active is fulfilling
Attitudes are more contagious than I thought
Familiar faces make me feel good
I have a weakness for male singers
Counting weeks make the weeks go by faster
Watching your friends back give security to you and them
I don't especially LOVE going on walks... I guess it depends on the company
I don’t like bugs
I like learning and I’m ok with being a nerd, finally
Thrill seeking is fun, but dangerous
I love my family more than I thought, and I need them in my life
I want to be like my mom
I worry the most about my “little brother” Blake and Braden Crocker
Your home isn’t ALWAYS a safe refuge, but CAN be if ALL the people in it want it to be
Some people really do have patience, I want to too
Dez taught me that respect in the key thing in relationships
My brown eyes are better than my blue contacts
I still have a tomboy in me that’s feisty & likes to play in the mud, but dressing up makes me feel good.
Mall Cop is a funny movie
There are stages in friendships, and you can always become better friends
Sometimes it’s easier to be oblivious than to go through all the emotions
Although wearing “white swimsuits” can be fun, they aren’t always flattering!
There are few things you can say to sound smart… and many things you can say that make you look stupid.
Meeting new people in a new place is exhilirating
"remembering" is important
I love everything about Hawaii

Quick update

Before I address me being back in Rexburg... I want to bask in the memories of my last week in Hawaii!! After I have fun with that I'll talk about my dredded new semester on the mainland.

I feel like there is so much to talk about! My last week in Hawaii was so great, I capped it off with a few last minute adventures that included hiking China-man's Hat (not really sure how it's spelled... so what if I'm a college student and I still can't spell, back off! :) A lot of people go to college for 8 years...) anyways, I also went to SWAP meet again and got a freaking SWEET mask! It's a woman face with a hummingbird on her forehead. Supposably the hummingbird stands for long life and good luck! The lady first wanted $45 but I talked her down to $15! I felt like it was taking candy from a baby haha.. which would be rude and I would never do that (unless it had potential to choke on it, then I would step in and take it away.. but anyways thats really not relevant to what I'm trying to talk about!) I also spent a couple days dedicated to laying in the sun and soaking up the rays... actually it would be more accurate to say laying under the clouds and praying I was getting some color! It's cool though... me and Robs had some good laughs still. Dez and Derek even made it out to the beach and joined us! Aww I miss those guys.

My flight back home was long. It was suppose to be 5 hours but I'm pretty sure it lasted for over 18 hours... or so it seemed! I fell asleep right after boarding and woke up an hour later to find out we were still on the ground. Still not sure what that was all about... so I spent the rest of the flight cramped up with my knees in my chest, zero recline, and a dirty pillow that I wasn't about to let touch my face. See? It was quite the experience of which hopefully I'll never have to go through again... may my next flight go a little better. But hey at least I made my flight and was able to find comfort at Jana's place in St. George!

I ended up staying at her place for a week! I was only suppose to be there for a couple of days, but a snow storm prevented me and mom from driving back home. Which actually I'm thankful for! It was nice to just relax there with little baby Carson and the family :)

Mmmk so now I think we're up-to-date! I'm up here in Rexburg and THANK GOODNESS there is NO SNOW! I think God was looking out for my best interest as well as my roommates... had it snowed I think I might have been a little grumpy and not made the best impression on my new roommates! Things are going great though and I'm loving the new place.

I'm running out of time, but I'll be posting about Rexburg again soon!

Everything's amazing, nobody's happy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoGYx35ypus

Last Weekend Hoorah

The one week count down has started... as one last hoorah I had a date-filled weekend! Friday night I went with Whit and Robin to Cheesecake Factory to meet up with a friend of Whitneys. His name is Kenny... not that it really matters, nor will you probably ever hear of him again, but he's pretty cool. After that we came back home and hit the beach with Robin, my friend Mark from my polynesian dance class, and my new friend Kyle. We just sat out on the beach talking, it was cool... but freezing! Nothing really big happened. I don't think anything big happened this whole weekend actually. Just a lot of random...ness. Actually, Saturday night me and Whit wrote a song! Well, we rewrote the lyrics to "Missing You" by Lukie D and then we sang it to Dezmond Troy and Derek! It was so fun! We planned on playing the Uke while we sang, but well lets face it, I don't know how to play and neither does Whit! It was fun though :)

My dad called the other day, it's time to make the next big decisions. Class registration starts in a couple of weeks for BYU-Provo. Which means I need to decide whether I'm going to Provo in the fall or Idaho or mission or humanitarian aid. Have I mentioned the thought of so many decisions stress me out? It does. How can someone not get stressed with that many options on the table!

Did I tell you how much I loved conference? It was so good. I'm glad that I've finally reached the age where I don't fall asleep during the talks... or is that I have a greater desire (finally!!) to actually gain something from conference? Either way, I really loved the talks. I wish I could hear them and instantly have the words written on my soul so that I will always remember them.

Last week countdown. I'm going to miss it here...

Death

Sounds intense, right? Well don't sweat it, this isn't a morbid blog... promise.

Last weekend in Kona Hailey started off sick... she was the only one. Over the weekend people were dropping like flies, one by one more people were getting sick. I was proud of my immune system, I was holding strong! We were sharing drinks, suckers and food and I still wasn't getting sick! I felt completely above the world... I conquered the sickness that was holding my friends hostage... that is until I got home on Monday. I woke up with a sore throat and a slightly stuffy nose. The sore throat is gone (thank goodness), but the stuffy nose has turned into a completely clogged left nostril. It's Friday already and IT'S STILL PLUGGED! You know when your sick and you lay to one side, the other nostril drains into that side you're laying on? And so you have to switch back and forth between sides? Ok well there is ZERO drainage going on. My nose is completely clogged. So clogged that blowing does nothing but hurt my ears and makes my nose rubbed raw. Oh and did I mention I look like I was beat with the ugly stick? I guess having glazed eyes, red nose, and mouth constantly open...even when I eat (I can't shut it or else I wouldn't be able to breath) isn't attractive, who would have guessed! I've stocked up on NyQuil & Daytime stuff, Tylenol PM and Sudafed and nothing is working. Any ideas?? I'm open to any and all suggestions! Have pitty and leave a comment that might lift my spirit :)

This last weekend we went to the Big Island, and remember when I told you about how I'm a sissy when it comes to kane spiders and cockroaches? Well that was just between me and the 5 people that actually follow my blog. I'm not even sure how the conversation even started but Robin outted me when she decided to tell Tanner and Haily about my squeeling like a little school girl whenever I see a bug... and she didn't even stop there!



She continued on to tell them how I'v taken my bug phobia to a whole other level by never letting anything of mine touch the ground. K so its out. I admitt it! My dresser is piled high with abnormally large mounds of stuff ranging from textbooks and notebooks, close, shoes (yes, even shoes), makeup bag, shower bag, purse, backpack, computer and everything in between. Alright so there you have it. Secret is out, I'm a wuss. But in my defense? If I actually had to protect myself or anyone else... I could do it.

So apparently this weekend knowing I'm a poor college student wasn't enough... apparently I had to visually prove it too. Our transportation this weekend? A U-HAUL truck!



In the 2 seated cab we stuffed 4, and crammed the other 7 people in the back truck. I know you're probably worried that given the circumstance, we'd be overheated in the back with little oxygen.



Well the boys were pretty creative and messed with the slide down door so that the top two slides were hanging down, giving us air flow. Half the time I felt like I was being smuggled across the boarder and the other half of the time I felt like I had been a bad kid and was an embarrassment that had to be locked away. Both of which werent exactly ego boosters! We created quite the stir whenever we were gettig in and out, and on the road too whenever someone decided to stand up and peak out!

After hiking to the green sand beach we went cliff jumping again... Now I knew I had to go to the bathroom before I even jumped... but after the impact if the jump- the feeling that I had to go to the bathroom quadrupled!!



And lets just say I couldn't do what I had to do in the ocean. The ocean would have no longer been the piercing blue that it was. I had to hurry and scramble up the ladder where there was luckily (I never thought I'd say this..) a porti-potty. Anyways, enough about that... the jump was completely worth it. The water was absolutely beautiful (like everything else in Hawaii!)



Seriously though? Kona was so great! The people were fun and super nice, I felt really comfortable there the whole experience there was just great. Although I think Laie is prettier with all the mountains, the people I was with, the house I was in, and the things we did just made the whole trip amazing!!

Kava & Cliffs

Monday I went cliff jumping again... ahhh what a RUSH! It was so fun! We went to Waimea Bay and jumped off the rock there. We've been wanting to do it for awhile now but it always seems to be closed... what sissy's. This time it was fiiiinally open. It was a PERFECT day! Sunny in the mid 70's, zero wind, zero rain, hardly any clouds... just warmth! Mmmm can you imagine it? It was the heaven that everyone talks about hawaii being :)
The rock starts on the beach so you can climb up on it without even getting wet! I made the climb up, hopping from rock to rock. I got to the top where it was a 35ft jump. I thought... I'M suppose to jump from this!?! This rock? I'm suppose to jump off a stable 35ft rock, plunge into the ocean about 20ft from shore, have faith in my swimming abilities (which lets face it, I don't.) and survive?! Huh. You want to know the only thing that got me to do it (other than my thrill for adventure) the realization that it wasn't nearly as bad as when I jumped off Laie Point... at least this jump I have an idea of what to expect and there were other people doing it right next to me! Laie seemed like a suicide jump... and I have to admit I'm lucky to have came out of that in one peice and without needing therapy! Oh and my pride... I wasn't about to look like a wuss.
I got to the edge of a rock with my toes curled around the edge. I had a million thoughts running through my head and adrenaline running through my body... I was beginning to consider if it was really worth it. Welp, before I knew what was going on, my friend Derek next to me started counting down and he yelled jump before I could process any of my rational thoughts. Next thing I know I'm falling IN THE AIR, plummeting to the sea green ocean below. It was the most exhilirating thing I've done in a long time!! I hit the water and bobbed back up to the surface. Awww it was refreshing :) We tried to get pictures and even a video on the next couple of jumps.. but apparently nature had another plan because the motion sensors on the camera and other gadgets went wrong and well, I have no pictures from it!
Ok so Tuesday night Derek, Dezmond and Eric were all having a "jam session" with their uks and quitars. They've talked about doing another session for awhile now and I really wanted to be at the next one! The music is so relaxing and they all have such GOOD voices! There was a big bucket in the middle of the room... it looked like one of those buckets that costco sells their detergent in. Eric was mixing it up and pouring it in plastic cups with a ladel... it was dark brown and looked gross. If you haven't figured out what it is I'll tell ya. They (not Dez, thank goodness. What a good guy.) were drinking Kava. It's made from the root of a plant here on the island that is suppose to "relax" you. It's a culture thing and you are only suppose to drink it during special ceremonies. The youth abuse it though and drink it all the time. The church leaders here came out with a statement saying that we are not suppose to drink it, whether its a culture thing or not. It's not good for the body and anyways, they advize not to drink it..'nuff said for me! I've never even though twice about drinking it... it looks gross and I've heard it takes just like it looks. Last night I was offered some. Initial reaction was to "just try it", I've been doing a lot of "firsts" since I've been here (nothing bad), and it was just a natural reaction to try this too. BUT THEN I realized what I was being offered! My next thought? Why the heck would I drink that... we're told not to... AND I'm going to the temple on Friday! Am I some kind of idiot!? I quickly said no and refused their offers for the rest of the night.
I leave for Kona tomorrow at 5am! I'm excited :) I'm sure I'll have lots to catch you up on!

Smelly Man

You know that famous song on Friends that pheobe sings about the smelly cat? If you've forgot, let me jog your memory, it goes like this: "Smelly cat, smelly cat, what are they feeding you? Smelly cat, smelly cat, it's not your fault..." Anyways, thats just a little taste of it. K well this last weekend I experienced something on the bus (go figure) that instantly made me think of that song... only 'cat' was replaced with 'man'. I've never really had strong smellers... for whatever reason I was not blessed with a good sense of smell. That is until last Thursday came along! Now i'm not making fun of this guy... actually instead I'm quite impressed! This guy HAD to have gone months without showering... he didn't look bad, but boy did he smell bad! Lets just say I was sniffing robins hair for more than half of the bus ride. AND to make matters worse.. he was upwind from us. Brutal. I wish my smellers would go back to being weak, life was much more enjoyable!

One good thing that came out of that patience-testing and gag control bus ride? A stop at Pearl Harbor! Me and Robs went there for a few hours and it was actually really fun! Ok it wasn't really "ha-ha" fun, but rather an "interesting" fun. Reading about all the different weapons and actually seeing them up close. Holy crap I would never want to get in a fight with America... I'm glad I'm on the "strong side" ("strong side! left side!" name that movie.) Anyways it was pretty cool to go there and walk around. I felt like a little kid playing with the big peoples toys for a bit! So much history to take in... and I'm convinced I did not learn a dang thing in high school about this! I know I would have remembered, this stuff was cool!

This weekend was also culture night, it was actually really cool! If theres one thing I could do over at the beginning of the semester, I would have joined more clubs and been more involved. The dances were all so rowdy! The only thing is is that you need to arrive an hour early to get a decent seat! I swear someone was playing a joke on me... I was searching the crowd for Ashton and the punked crew... they weren't around. Culture night is a pretty big deal here, thats not a lie! Question though... Am I missing something or is being an american like the most boring ethnicity ever? We don't have any cool chest-slapping-grunting-feet-pounding dances! Instead we have what, ballroom and swing? Or did we even make those up? I'm not sure... all i know is that I think we kind of get jipped with the cool culture dances. I think I'll make one up and you guys can help me spread the word.

This weekend we also did another hike up to Moana Falls. Me and Whit had a lot of fun taking goofy pictures! It was a hoot.











Todayyy was mighty enjoyable TOO! I'll have to write about that another time.. its 1:10 am and surprise, I'm TIRED! Who woulda thought. Good night!