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.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

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.

Still home in California.  And I like it.

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.

Some days are just STUPID

Monday was just one of those days for me.  How can any day that starts at 4:30 a.m., much less a Monday, be expected to be anything but stupid?  I started the day off by being betrayed by my favorite shoes.  They're purple, how could they possibly do this to me?  So apparently, no matter what the color of your favorite shoes is, once they've been worn so long that they come apart at the seems, they're no longer snow-proof.  An hour into my shift and my feet were wet.

It snowed here all weekend and the roads hadn't been cleared yet when I started driving.  It was even snowing for the first hour or so I was driving.  I slid all the way through an intersection (twice) and had to make a detour.  Thankfully there was no accident. Sometimes I'm really convinced God cares about me and my safety and my job.  About 5 minutes later, I was getting nudged off the road by a huge semi-truck and hit a block of ice.  And sometimes I'm convinced that God thinks it's funny when I freak out.  So I pulled over to check everything out and lo and behold, I couldn't open the front door.  I didn't notice any other damage though, thankfully.  My supervisor just said to take it to the lot and get another bus.

Yeah, so this bus didn't like me either.  The lights wouldn't work.  And it's illegal to drive a bus without the headlights or clearance lights on.   So they had to get another bus.

Bus #3 isn't a bus they wanted used for the day, so then a supervisor came and switched it out of that one.

Bus #4 broke down while I was on my lunch break.  Yeah, that's right, 4 buses before lunch.  The turbo somethingorother broke off while my lunch relief was driving.  He continued to drive and then hand the bus off to me all without telling me that #4 wouldn't go over 12 mph.  Yeah... so I had to get out of the bus again and check out the engine and see what the *&$@^% the problem was this time.  BTW, I changed my socks while on my lunch break.  Now they're wet, again.

So bus #5 was brought out to me.  My supervisor said I set a record for driving the most buses in one day.  I asked if I would get an award or a raise.  He said I get a pay decrease.

By bus #4 it was just a joke and I was laughing.  But I'm not going to lie, it wasn't all roses.  Words such as "I hate this bus" and "I hate my job" and "why's the snow so stupid!" and "Why does anyone choose to live in UTAH!" and "Why did my shoes betray me in my hour of need?" and of course "I just want to go home".  I think it was at that point that I wanted to call my mom.  Bad days and sopping wet feet are days for phone calls home.  But she didn't answer.  So I did the next best thing.  I went shoe shopping.

But seriously, I think a pair of waterproof boots were totally in order.  

These are the shoes. 

They were the same color as this wall.

BTW: I didn't actually hit a block of ice.  It was some stupid cement block completely covered in snow and ice.  Either way, my front door wouldn't open.

HAPPY VETERANS DAY!
       I am eternally grateful for those who have fought for the rights and liberties I enjoy today.  Both of my grandfathers and my dad are war-time veterans.  I also have a cousin currently in the Army.  I am so grateful and proud of them.  And more then that, I am thankful and proud to be an American.   
       I came across this quote today.  I appreciate it and hope to be a better example of it too.  

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."                                      ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy