Monday, January 16, 2012

i'm back

hi and i'm back and alive and in america.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Mission: Here I Come!

I'm off to the MTC in the morning.  See you all in 18 months!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Sort of BIG news

So, yeah.  I'm going on a mission.  I got my call on Wednesday and I'll be reporting to the MTC on June 23rd.  I will be a missionary in the Arizona Phoenix Mission.  Just a hop skip and a jump away.  If I was Paul Bunyan, I would say 'literally' to that expression.

 I'm not going to lie, I was so so very disappointed when I opened up my call and found out that's where I was going.  And then I read on and it said English speaking.  So much disappointment in just two lines.  I'm also not going to lie and say I didn't cry.  But seriously, can you blame me?  I currently live in Utah and I'm from California.  My mom was born and raised in the California desert and I was raised going down there a couple times a year until my grandma died when I was in high school.  It's the same thing! I'm going to one of the only two states that boarders both Utah and California.  Seriously?  Could I get any closer to home?  I'm completely fine with going state side, I just wanted to go further from what I've always known.

HOWEVER, I'm very excited to serve a mission and be a missionary!  I really truly am.  And I am also, really truly, getting more excited about serving next door.  I have faith that this is where I'm supposed to go and that I will soon find out why.  I have already been able to come up with a handful of reasons as to why the Lord would possibly not send me to some exotic foreign mission like I wanted.  Really, the more I think about it the more I can see how the girl who wants nothing more than adventure, excitement and culture would be much more effective in Phoenix than in India or Cambodia or Whoville.

I've talked to quite a few return missionaries and they're all so excited for me and no one seems any less excited when I tell them where I'm going.  And when I actually think about it, I can't remember ever hearing any return missionary telling me where they served with anything but love for there mission.  I think this is a very good sign.

I am turning over a new 'I'm so excited about the Arizona Phoenix Mission' leaf and I invite you all to join me in my excitement.  Going on a mission was never in my life plans or a goal of mine but here it is and I know it's right.

On another note, ANY advice or suggestions will be welcomed and appreciated.  I'm so clueless about this preparing for a mission nonsense.

And on another other note, you should read this talk by Elder Rasband.  It's about the process of choosing where each missionary will serve.  I am so very very grateful that my mom's relief society president sent us a copy of the talk when she did.  I read it two days before opening my call.  I can't imagine the hysterics I would of preformed if I hadn't read this talk first.  Seriously, it would of been bad.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Sunday, February 21, 2010

My life really isn't that exciting.  Obviously, I'm not still in Santa Maria.  It was nice having three weeks off to be at home with the family and not in Utah with freezing temperatures.  But now I'm back.  Whatever.  When I was home we went to Santa Cruz for Christmas with some family.

Here's my mom and I on the Boardwalk:

My mom and I also spent a day in Pismo.  It was such a BEAUTIFUL day.  It was clear and sunny and NOT windy and about 80 degrees.  It was perfect.

We also took Nathan to Oso Flaco one afternoon.  I really really miss being so close to the ocean.  The mountains are okay but nothing compared to the ocean.

Then I came back to Salt Lake.  Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Utah.  It's just not home.  It's not the Central Coast.  And it's not Me.

I started interning at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) as soon as I got back to Utah in January. The IRC is a great organization that helps refugees come to America from countries that are currently in some sort of turmoil.  I am working with two Iraqi caseworkers.  We are currently seeing a lot of Iraqi refugees.  There are also quite a few Nepalis and Sudanese coming to Salt Lake.  There are certainly more countries with refugees, but this is just what I see the most of.  The IRC really is a great organization with very limited funding and if you're looking for a place to donate unwanted/unneeded goods you really should think about donating to them first.  They need EVERYTHING.  When refugees come to us all they bring with them is a suitcase (or 2) and it's our job, IRC's job, to set them up with an apartment with the bare essentials.  A bed for each person to sleep in; 1 couch; one table with 1 chair per person; 1 plate, cup, bowl and set of silverware per person.  It really is quite basic.  Anything more is just a want.  They rely on donations.  Just something to think about.  Go HERE to learn more.

So this last weekend my Mom and Mary were in town; with a mission to find a dress.  A wedding dress to be precise.  Yeah, so Mary is still getting married.  Silly girl.  But she found The Dress.  That certainly is a relief.  I didn't take any pictures though while they were here.  Actually, that's a lie.  I did take quite a few, but they were just all of Mary in different wedding dress possibilities.  I've since deleted them since The Dress has been purchased.

Anyway....That's my life.  Like I previously said, not that exciting.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Still home in California.  And I like it.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

HOME!

Yay, I'm at home in California!  And it's nice to be here.  I cannot believe I haven't been home since last Christmas-time.  It has been WAY too long.  I was fortunate enough to find a cheap $200 ticket flying into SLO.  My parents picked me up Sunday night from the airport with a hot thermos of hot chocolate.  Monday was spent shopping and cutting out fabric.  Yesterday I took Nathan to do his Christmas shopping and to see The Princess and the Frog.  It was cute.  And then after dinner my mom and I decorated chocolate covered Candy Cane Joe Joe's.  And now it's Wednesday morning and all I've done is sleep in, watch Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and goof around online.  Vacations really do agree with me.