Krista Maree'

Let The Show Begin

2012-01-10T13:30:00.000-08:00

Last month was the month of shows for me. I usually am too cheap to go to any shows, but since Michael Jackson's Cirque show was only here for a limited time (ok, until the new permanent one comes; which I found out about after the show) and Lion King only had a month left, I decided I HAD to go! There was no waiting. Because I waited too long for Celine's show and wasn't able to get tickets before she left. Good thing she came back now!! Anyway, I went with my co-workers and 2 of my cousins to see Michael Jackson and we had a really good time! The show wasn't all it was cracked up to be, but we still had a good time. The next night I took my parents and friend, Whitney, to see Lion King. It was so good!! I had a really great time! I think Broadway shows in general are pretty incredible.

Then the following week, I went with my coworkers to see Beatles L.O.V.E! By far the best show I have seen! I was gasping the whole time because I was paranoid someone was going to fall, and my coworkers were laughing at me. But then, of course, I was the only one who noticed when one of the acrobats actually did slam their face into the telephone booth and had to be escorted out. There was so much going on, that unless you were watching that specific person, you wouldn't have noticed.

The best part of all these shows was each ticket was $35. So I went and saw 3 shows for the price of one!

Wedding Bells

2011-11-26T16:28:00.000-08:00

This is so late, but It's about time I just post it. In September, two of my great friends got married. They had been dating for a few years, and started out their relationship long distance. Chris was going to school in Arizona, while Bree was going to school in Vegas. After he graduated, he moved back to Vegas and they got a house and got engaged. She also graduated last December as an ultra-sound tech. Their relationship has been the best example of love and friendship out of all of that group of my friends. We are constantly admiring those two together and just love the way they love each other. In September, they finally got married. And it was one of the most beautiful weddings I have been to. I am so happy I was able to be there and to witness Chris and Bree start their lives together.

And since I know there isn't anybody who reads my blog and knows them: A couple weeks ago I went in to Bree to have an ultra-sound done since I had been having some health issues. And she told me that she is pregnant!! She quickly scanned her belly and we were able to hear the heartbeat for the first time!! It was so amazing, and I am that much more thrilled for them!!

12 Months

2011-11-26T16:24:00.001-08:00

On my one year anniversary from being home from the mish, I woke up to flowers and a card from my mom. I am so thankful for her and the support she has shown me in the past year. I am so grateful to be where I am today and having gone through the trials I did. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to serve a mission and to have the amazing family that I have. I am also grateful for the relationship I built with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He has truly become my best friend, and I know I couldn't have done anything without the Atonement in my life.

When You're the Best of Friends

2011-11-11T21:11:00.000-08:00

Having so much fun together!

You share rides on motorcycles.

And you wash each other's feet.

This was just a simple Sunday, at a friend's house. And I can't get enough of how much I love my friends!

Rembrant

2011-11-11T21:08:00.000-08:00

I am totally catching up on all my blogging, but during the summer Kaitlyn and I went down to Town Square to spend some quality time painting pottery. As you can see, we were very focused. But it sure was fun, and I love eating out of my huge...and very cute.. bowl!

Fear Factor

2011-11-11T21:06:00.000-08:00

I don't exactly know what sparked these crazy thoughts, but recently I have been thinking a lot about all my fears. I have finally overcome my fear of failure, but I could not think of anything tangible that actually scares me. Not spiders, not snakes. I am not even afraid of strangers. But I finally was able to think of the time in my life that I was actually scared to death.

In March, I was planning to go to St. George for my nephew, Ethan's, 1st birthday party and right before leaving I received a text message from my sister telling me that my brother Kyle was in a bad car accident and was being transported to the hospital and they didn't know anything yet. I immediately fell to my knees and prayed that he would be ok. And I know that was the first time I was scared! I hadn't talked to him in months, and was worried about the outcome of this accident and worried if I was ever going to be able to talk to him again. While Kurt and I were on our way, we received a text with the picture of the truck, but still no news on Kyle's condition. It was so scary!
We got to the hospital and we were able to see him. He was definitely watched over because even though he rolled a giant cement truck, he only suffered from a concussion, and minor cuts and bruises. I know he had a little guardian angel watching over him. Especially since he had one baby and a wife with a baby on the way. But I think my ultimate fear, or anything tangible that scares me is losing those I love the most.

Rockin' Everywhere

2011-11-11T21:03:00.000-08:00

Since starting my new job, I have had many wonderful opportunities for learning new things. The last weekend in September, my coworker and I were able to take a certification class for a rapidly growing fitness class using the ballet barre. Tracey Mallet, who is the creator of The Booty Barre, came to Las Vegas to instruct our course. The Booty Barre is a mixture of dance, pilates, and aerobics that is an amazing full body workout, and I am very fortunate to have the resources at my work to be able to teach it. And as soon as I finish learning all the choreography, I will start teaching The Booty Barre to my own clients. So come on down…when I am finally ready!

Someone Like You

2011-11-11T20:56:00.000-08:00

On my mission, I had the pleasure of serving in an amazing little branch in Rensselaer, IN with some of the most humble and faithful members I have ever met. They became some of my favorite people and taught me a lot. One of the families there drew my attention quickly because they were the only family with a baby. Ha. Sierra is the sweetest little girl and is the same age as my newest nephew, so I could never stop admiring her. But I could not get over how much her dad adored this little girl.

Brother Outzen was wrapped around Sierra's finger. Plus, they had 2 teenage boys that were just as awesome. Out of their entire high school, there were only 3 members, and they were 2 of them. We had dinner with their family one time during my time in that area and found out that Brother Outzen worked here in Vegas back in the day with my mentor who had passed away when I was in high school. He also helped us in our lesson that evening by giving us 3 referrals of friends he knew for us to teach, and encouraged his boys to give us referrals as all.

Last month, I got a call from my companion giving me the devastating news that Brother Outzen was killed in a freak accident at work. It was an immediate sense of sadness. If there is ever an example of the perfect member of the church, he would definitely be that person. He talked to everyone! about the gospel. He always gave us referrals every time that we talked to him. And he was an amazing example to his boys about the type of priesthood holders they should be.

I spoke to Sister Valois, who was the RS president while I served in that area, and she expressed to me how the branch flocked to the Outzen family's aid during their time of grief. And I am even more grateful for the example that branch was to me. I want to be just like them. And I hope that I can be more like Brother Outzen. If I could have more courage to invite everyone I come into contact with, even now, to come to church, I would be happy. I feel very blessed to have been able to serve with him during my short time there, but even more grateful for his example to me. And little Sierra (who is 18 months) may not grow up with her dad, but there is no doubt how much her dad adored her!

Actually, It's an Amazing Life!!

2011-09-18T18:24:00.000-07:00

Country Strong

2011-09-02T19:47:00.000-07:00

In 2 weeks I was able to go to 3 country concerts and I have decided to post pictures on here. A couple weeks ago, a friend of mine invited me to go with her to a Dierks Bentley concert, and then also got meet and greet passes. So since she had 4 passes a tiny group of us went. It was a blast. We went to the meet and greet and had 3 of the performers sing to us personally.

And now I am realizing my Dierks pictures are on my phone. Whoops.
The following week, she was given tickets to see Phil Vassar at the Mandalay Bay beach. So we enjoyed a nice little concert in the water.

The best picture of the night was this couple making out. I am going to guess the guy was like 30, and the lady was probably 60. We hope that it wasn't his mom he was kissing, but we couldn't stop snapping pictures of how gross it was that they were making out the whole time. We were also surprised that he was kissing her. It's one thing if she was a hot cougar, but this was like grandma material. Anyway, the drunker she got, but more he had to hold her up, and eventually he escorted her out of the water. On the way out, he mumbled something to me that I hope wasn't "I hope you got enough pictures" and then she ended up falling over in the water anyway.

The next night, I was given tickets to go with my dad to the Tim McGraw and Faith Hill concert. Me and my dad have a song, and it's actually sung by Tim McGraw, so we were kind of hoping he'd sing it. But he didn't. But the concert was Ah-Maz-Ing!! I also enjoyed going with my dad. He was the one to tell me to get up and clap and sing at some points. Good times!
It's cute to watch Tim and Faith together. He absolutely adores his wife! And who can blame him, she is the cutest! He's not bad to look at either :) He couldn't keep his eyes off of her.

Born and Stuck

2011-09-02T19:31:00.000-07:00

It seems as though every time I try to get away from Vegas, I end up having things turn up to be more important here. I had plans to move to the DC area by August 1. I was going to start a job in Alexandria, VA and was super excited about it, but while I was in Europe I had this soft impression that I needed to stay in Las Vegas and make myself available to my grandma who just was diagnosed with dementia. At first I thought I was only going to stay for a few weeks and help her out, but then I was starting to have withdrawals about leaving my nieces and nephews to move across the country.

So I was searching for jobs in Vegas and with no luck told my soon-to-be boss in DC that I needed a little more time to decide. He was super cool about it and told me to just give him and call and let him know what I decided. Finally a friend of mine found a job posting on craiglist for a Tech job here at one of the PT's so I immediately sent in my resume. That afternoon I received a call from the owner requesting an interview. I interviewed the following day. I was originally told I would be unformed in a few days if I would get the job, but the minute I called my potential boss in DC to tell him I was going to stay, I was called by the owner of my current job and offered a position. I started the next day! The therapist in DC still says I am welcome to join their staff if I do ever make decisions to head that way.

It's funny how things work out sometimes. I wasn't expecting to be here in Vegas right now, and things have slowly been falling into place, and these past 4 weeks have been so great. I have been happier than I have been in a very long time, and loving every minute of it!

I work at a pilates based physical therapy clinic and have THE GREATEST coworkers of all time! Our owner is a goofball, and I work in an office full of women. Plus, we have a full on pilates studio, and fitness studio with personal trainers. I get to wear workout clothes all day, and have the most amazing patients of all time.

The only con about my job is that the walls are covered in mirrors, so I am constantly complaining about my posture. But luckily I have been trained in teaching rehab pilates and the basic exercises so that I can workout when time allows. It's been great!! Plus, the therapist I work for has evaluated my spine and is helping to get my body strengthened and aligned. I already have 1/3 of my posture improved. The other 2/3 will require me to actually workout.

Outrun my Bullet

2011-08-31T22:21:00.000-07:00

I am looking for donors to help me reach my $1000.00 goal as I train for the Las Vegas 1/2 Marathon. Click Here to Sponsor me. The money goes to Candelighters for Childhood cancer and it is the equivalent of 2 kids to be able to go to camp next summer. Or many other amazing things.

In with the Hype

2011-07-19T14:51:00.001-07:00

I recorded a movie on lifetime about the life of J.K.Rowling the other day and finally watched it. I remember finding out who she was by watching her interview on the Rosie O'Donnell show back when I was in 5th grade and was a little skeptical about her Harry Potter book.

Then in 6th grade, we started reading the book in my Reading class with my teacher Dr. Rogers. Dr. Rogers loved reading the book to us. She was one of those teachers who was very enthusiastic about her reading, and was also very good at putting emotions with her characters as she read, even if that meant jumping on the desk! I fell in love with Harry Potter!!

As I grew older, more and more wonderful books came out and I continued to grow up along with Harry and his friends at Hogwarts. When I was 14, I went to Europe as a student ambassador. We were flying to London on a Sunday, and the 5th book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, came out the Saturday before. As soon as I got my book, my mom couldn't get me off my bed to get any chores done, and yelled at me that I could read on the plane. I finally accepted that truth, and then spent the next few weeks on a tour bus around Britain with 39 other students my age all reading the exact same book.

Even when we got to Edinburg, I swore that every blonde woman walking around must be J.K. Rowling! Of course, with her 5th book having just become available, she was probably not shopping like I was assuming she would be.

(this is the coffee shop in Edinburg that Rowling finished book #1 in)

J.K. Rowling has an amazing imagination! As I was watching her lifetime biography I got a real sense of who she is. And I also felt really bad for all those publishing companies that turned her down. What fools!! She has this way with words that always made me want to write a book. Although, whenever I did try to write, my books always started out with an orphan whose parents died in a car crash.

Even though Harry Potter has grown up and has no other story left to tell, I am sure he will still be known as the boy...who lives.
(in Hawaii, of all places, reading HP non-stop while the kids complained I wasn't giving them enough attention)

Insomnia

2011-07-19T00:56:00.001-07:00

I wish I had a random talent that I could start videotaping to put on YouTube. Especially because you get people like me up at 1am watching videos instead of sleeping. But I found this girl, Christina Grimmie, and find her voice to be pretty captivating. I'm assuming she started everything on YouTube and is now going to be opening up for Selena Gomez, as well as selling her songs on Itunes.

What do you think?

Growth

2011-07-16T14:50:00.000-07:00

"Trials and difficulties can, if we let them, become holy places- places where we can feel the power of the Atonement in our lives. Our struggles can be connected to our good and growth, and you and I can become more like Christ. " -Kris Belcher

I was in Lehi this week visiting my sister and I saw this quote while I was there and just fell in love. I stayed up the other night just thinking about the past year and all that I have been through, which has lead me to be where I am now.

A year ago I was just becoming adjusted to my area on my mission. I was new, missing family, but still very excited for what the next 17 months was going to bring. Being home now, and looking back I never would have guessed my mission would have only lasted 4 months. But those 4 months helped me to grow so much. I have such a better understanding of the plan of salvation, and have my priorities better in line with the plan our Father in Heaven has for us.

But also being home, and going through all the emotional difficulties that I have, has definitely strengthened my faith in my Savior. I am so completely grateful for the experiences I have had, and I am starting to recognize why it has been so important for me to experience it all.

I am in the perfect place in my life to start moving forward with a confidence I definitely would not have had a year ago. I have a better sense of purpose. And most importantly, I have developed an amazing testimony with my Savior. For that, I am grateful.

I love French Hospitals

2011-06-30T09:26:00.001-07:00

I should be asleep right now, because I am so exhausted, but I just can't fall asleep. Or maybe I just can't relax enough to fall asleep.

I was hoping to have a new refill of my stolen prescription by this morning and it just hadn't happened yet. Roger gave me a little bit of his adderol and we were hoping it would make my nausea, dizziness, and headaches go away. As soon as I asked Megan what it was supposed to do though, I knew that was probably a bad idea. My anti-depressants are mainly there to calm me down. And the adderol was to give me energy.

We got in the car after breakfast and were planning to go to a jungle park thing. It had a bunch of things to climb on that were linked from trees and looked super cool. As we were driving up though, I could notice that uncontrollably I was starting to rub my legs. I have had a history of panic attacks from all my anxiety in the past since I worry so much about being a perfectionist, and I knew that that was what was going on. We stopped the car for a minute once we got to the park, and my breathing was starting to get heavy. Roger and Megan went to check the times and information for this park and my breathing just started getting worse and worse. My arms contracted a ton, to the point that all the muscles in my hands force my fingers into this weird claw-like position, and my wrists flex, and it hurts so bad. So my main focus was on trying to control my breathing.

McKenna noticed that I was struggling to breath and jumped out of the car to get Rog and Meg. They ran back and I asked for a paper bag. I knew exactly how to calm myself down as long as I could get a paper bag. We didn't have one, so I used a plastic bag, and all that was doing was suffocating me. Megan and Roger both took a hand to be able to stretch my fingers back into their normal position while I stayed there trying to control my breathing. It was seriously so hard.

My panic attacks never last more than a couple minutes, but I already knew that this was just the effects of the drugs I had taken,and it was going to be a little bit different. We also had passed a McDonald's on the way in, so Roger drove us there just to get me a paper bag. Roger ran into get me a bag, took the kids in to play, and I sat in the car for 10 minutes with Megan trying to get myself to calm down. I tried soooo hard. I could not do it. Megan told me to start thinking of a ball falling into a bucket, over and over again, or just something to get my mind off of what was going on. And the more I tried to relax, the more I realized I needed to go to the bathroom, and that was a great thing because I could get out some of the drugs. Megan and Roger both had to help carry me into the bathroom, and I just started crying. I was so angry at the stupid guy who selfishly stole my drugs. I could care less about all the other stuff, but my medications weren't going to do him any good because I had cut them all in half. He wasn't going to be able to sell them. I was also crying and kept apologizing to Roger and Megan for taking up their day.

Megan walked me back to the car, but we didn't have they keys, so i had to hang onto the side of the van and keep breathing into my bag. Many people kept walking by and wanting to help and I kept telling them that I wasn't alone and was just waiting to get back into the car, but there were a couple of gentleman who would not leave. As soon as Roger and Megan got back, I realized they were paramedics. And we told them that I had been having a panic attack for over 20 minutes so they told me I really needed to get to the hospital. Megan stayed with the kids and Roger took me to the hospital and we were escorted in by those paramedics who luckily spoke enough English to help a ton. They immediately took me back and hooked me up to an IV.
Even with the IV, I was still breathing uncontrollably for 45 minutes. And crying. And had to go to the bathroom again. The IV had flushed the fluids so fast that I seriously thought I was going to pee my pants. Roger told me to just go, but my pride made me try so hard to hold it in. Maybe that's a lot of detail, but after the nurse and Roger had taken me to the bathroom again, I was already starting to calm down. I was able to walk much better, and I went back into my bed and laid there. I calmed down super fast, and eventually fell right to sleep. Roger also was able to give me a blessing. I feel so blessed to have the priesthood in my life. It's amazing! I guess I slept for an hour, and Roger had taken the kids back to the house. They came back and I was feeling so much better. I am still extremely weak, but atleast I can breath.

We got me a new prescription, cause being the brilliant, yet one to be able to follow the spirit, I didn't throw away my prescription bag that my pills had come in and it had all of my Dr info, my prescription and all the good stuff i needed. So we got a new prescription, went to a pharmacy that was super close, and they were able to bring me back to the house to rest.

After the first 5 minutes of my panic attack, I knew this was different than anything I had ever experienced. I had my first panic attack as a sophomore in HS, and was given anti-depressants then just to help with anxiety. And I was given the option then to learn to control all of them or take drugs for the rest of my life. I chose to learn to control them, and I have been really good. Really the only other times I have had them were my Sr. year of HS during the times of 12:30-2 because that was the time I had government and my government teacher stressed me out so much that I dreaded going to his class. He had this idea that teaching government meant teaching us all about his political opinions rather than teaching government in general and I never agreed with anything he ever taught. It wasn't until I finally had a parent teacher conference with him and told him he really needed to learn to teach both political parties, that he had a lot of respect for me. But always during those classes I would get anxiety, and if a panic attack came on, I had a close friend in class who would grab my hands and help to straighten my hands so that my hands wouldn't hurt so much.

Then the very last time I had a panic attack was last year during the MTC. I had gotten a really nasty letter from someone I had no idea I had offended or hurt in anyway. And being the people pleaser that I am, I had a hard time not being able to do anything to make it better. Instead, I was just upset, and my companion had to help walk me to the counselor where I was able to talk about it and get a paper bag. And those paper bags work miracles, cause it never takes long for me to relax.

So today, when I had gone through 2 bags, and nothing was happening, that wasn't helping me calm down, because I was already worried about how long it was going to take for all of the drug to wear off. So thankfully, French hospitals are quick, super nice, and were able to flush everything through so I could be back to normal.

Ok, as normal as can be. I atleast have my drugs for the rest of the trip, and they cost 10 times less here than in the states. Can you believe I spend $200 a month for my prescription? Nuts!! But I gotta do what I gotta do.

So hopefully no more worries for the rest of the trip cause now I have the meds I need, and we can enjoy doing what we came here to do. I just wish I hadn't take up so much of the family's day. Thankfully they were all so kind, and I couldn't be more appreciative for such a loving extended family in my life.

Wasp Cemetery and No Funeral Service

2011-06-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

Roger and Megan left this morning to do a day trip to Monaco, and the kids and I gladly stayed at the house to swim and hang out. But to catch up on my sleep, I took the opportunity to sleep until 11am. :) It was Wonderful! I made the kids put on their bathing suits, and hurry to jump in the pool with me. And when I say, Made them, I actually took the iPads and computers away and forced them to go get their bathing suits on. Of course though, they didn't object.

Our only problem getting into the pool was the fact that there is this flower tree right next to the pool that must be the home of a gazillion, (ok maybe that's an exaggeration) wasps, and I was the only one with skills or guts enough to go near them to kill them one by one. It took some effort, and patience to wait for them to get close enough to the water to shoot them with wasp spray so that they would drown in the water. Then I scooped them all up with the net for them to lay with their friends as they continued to die. Go me!

We played some classic Marco Polo, and Categories for a while, then decided to have some lunch. We got cleaned up and went on a walk to Tourrettes. ( I think that town name in itself gives me permission to randomly burst out in swear words and not get in trouble for it.) Unfortunately, the walk was difficult enough for me being off my meds for 3 days, because I was so nauseas. But we did ok. The town is seriously so cool. It sits on the edge of a cliff, and all the buildings are basically joined together with tiny little walkways in between. I loved it! We stopped for some gelato, and water, then came back home.

I had been making a video of our trip on my laptop. So since the stupid train stealer didn't take my small camera with all the videos on it, I was able to upload them to Megan's computer and redo the entire thing. It didn't take too long, especially since I already knew exactly what I wanted. It's also a good thing I didn't format that card from that little camera, because I seriously was about to on the train ride from Portiers to Bourdeax after I had worked on the video during that train ride. Phew!!

I made us dinner, then the little girls wanted to paint our nails. That's been a great past time during this trip. And we rented a movie for the kids before they needed to go to bed. They were still watching it at 11:30 when Roger and Megan got home. Totally fine by me. It's a good thing I don't get in trouble for letting the kids get away with so much while their parents are gone :) And then Roger and Megan sat up and told me and McKenna all about Monaco. I had no idea it is basically it's own tiny country, and they said it's so clean that it totally reminds them of an adult Disneyland without all the rides.

Please Pardon My French

2011-06-29T08:55:00.000-07:00

Luckily I still have some videos from this past weekend. It was super late, as you can tell because it was dark out, so you can barely see. But it's enough for me.

In high school, Mariana always made fun of my spanish. And this entire weekend we were speaking Frangles. (mixture of spanish, french and english) But this specific phrase she made fun of me for way back in 2006. There was also a day when her friend Teban was in town visiting and we sat in the parking garage at the Bellagio for hours just enjoying the weather and view of the lights on the strip, and they were teaching me bad words in spanish. That might sound bad, but honestly, they mean nothing to me, so i just laugh about it.

This little phrase I would love to say to the stupid robber. I don't know what it means, and again, it doesn't mean anything to me. But maybe I should wonder what it is with Mariana always teaching me bad words. A little lesson in French swear words:

Mariana is giving a little shout out to the Kreme to the Krispy.. Kaitlyn. :

Doesn't she sound like she has a perfect American English accent? :

People from Nice, are not very Nice

2011-06-28T05:37:00.000-07:00

Wanna hear the saddest story ever told? Don't worry, it ends well.

I finished up my train ride this morning to Nice from Poitiers. I already know well enough how to travel here in Europe; basically just don't trust anyone. I rode in a cabin with 2 older gentlemen. One I had talked to a little bit before I had gotten on the train, the other was already on the train and sleeping on his bunk when we got there. I slept with my camera bag, and purse near my head the whole time, and basically threw my backpack on the floor. Right before it was time to get off the train, I got up to go to the bathroom. I came back, laid on my bed, and the gentleman I came on with was passed out and snoring, while the other was was folding up his blankets and getting his stuff ready to depart from the train, and then he left.

Soon after that, I realized my laptop was no longer in my purse. I checked the camera bag, and the camera was taken, my phone was taken, all of my money was taken, and all of my medications were taken. What the heck did that guy want to do with even my American change? A nickel won't do him a dang thing!

So I told the other guy I was with and we went searching up the train for that guy. Luckily we were the last coach on the train, so we only had one way to go, but this guy was no where to be found. Eventually after it all sank in, I started to cry. The nice guy, looked at me very sympathetically and just said, "I am so sorry."

I got off the train at Nice, and there were a bunch of policemen, and police dogs searching everyone's bags for some reason, so when they saw me crying, I told them what happened and they continued searching people's bags also to find my stuff. One of the police escorted me out of the train station because they were completely clearing it out. I am still not sure why. But it was pretty crazy to be escorted out of the train station with a policeman, while everybody else was across the street behind caution tape staring at me. Haha. I sat in a police car to show him that I was blessed to still have my passport while he wrote up a police report for me in French that I was supposed to take to the police station. Being the sarcastic person that I am, I wish I had walked out of there with my hands on my head, just to give everyone the impression that I was held hostage or something, but I was still pretty hysterical. After that, they were letting everyone else go back in the station, and I was free to wait for Roger to come get me.

I got off the train at 8:30 and Roger was supposed to pick me up by 9. I waited by the curb, and by 9:30 he still hadn't shown up. I was worried that he was trying to call my cell phone, and I wasn't able to answer it. So I went to the pay phone and tried calling collect. I literally only had 10 cents to my name. I wasn't able to get through to his phone because it was a cellular. So I asked this man to borrow his cell phone so that I could call the house phone, and it went to the answering machine. So I thought, "dang, I wish I had a musical instrument or talent to use while out here to get some money" but instead the next little old couple that came over I asked for some money for the pay phone, he said he didn't have anything, and my eyes started tearing up. He noticed, so he just pulled out all the pennies from his pocket and said he hoped it would add up. I turned to this other guy who was standing there and asked if he had any money for the pay phone, and he pulled out plenty of change. Then I quickly learned that his pay phone only used calling cards also, so I was walking in to find a calling card, and the young guy (his name is Aaron and he is from Dublin, Ireland) wanted to walk with me and help me get a calling card, since he knew a little French. How nice is that? He was maybe in his late 20's early 30's. He bought me a calling card, and wished me luck.

After about 10 minutes of trying to figure out if I needed to put one 0 or two 0's before the 1 to call Roger's cell phone I was finally able to get ahold of him. About this time it was 10, and he said they were on their way. (had I checked my email before getting on the train I would have found out that they were going to be a little late) But they finally came and got me and I explained what had happened.

I am so sad that I no longer have my computer, and it was my best friend Ronni's camera that had gotten stolen. But I looked at the situation immediately and realized that I am very fortunate to not have been harmed and that those things were all replaceable. My computer had all of my pictures, from my mission even, and all the Europe pictures were edited and perfect for sharing.

I had bought my Macbook specifically to start a hobby of photography and editing, but I can start it all over in the future. I still have my credit/debit cards, my I.D. and my passport. So it is all good. But the worst part of all of this, I was listening to Napoleon Hill's "You have the right to be rich" and typing up all the bullet points for my uncle, and only had 1 chapter left. And if you have ever listened to it, it seriously sucks the life out of you and can put you right to sleep! and now I have to start ALL over!!! NOOOOOO!!!!

Oh, and I no longer have my medications :( That's really going to suck!! I have realized that the reason I had gotten sick last week was because I was trying to take them one day, skip the next, and so on. And my body wasn't ready for it. So anybody who has ever had to take anti-depressants knows that it's not fun if you skip any, and I still have 3 days left.

But anyway, we all went to the beach here in Nice and spent the day enjoying the sun and French Riviera. We walked to a gelato place with 92 flavors. Take that Basket Robbins!! We've decided that we need to try as many as possible, so we got 3 flavors each, and tried them all, and will do that the next few days to see if we can taste them all. They have floral flavors, avacado, cactus, olive, figue, coca-cola, tomato basil, bubble gum, Ferraro Richerr, nutella, rose, poppy, lavender, coconut, chocolate orange, tuti fruity....I could go on until there are 92 options.

And then we walked around the shops for a little bit, until we walked into French Heaven, called "restaurant Mexicain." We enjoyed some actually delicious tacos and chips and salsa.

So even though my day started out to suck so bad, and was so sad, I ended up having my belly filled with Mexican food to make it all better.

Introduction

2011-06-27T05:40:00.000-07:00

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away Mariana Skywalker entered the town of Manizales, Colombia. Then when she got older, but not much bigger, she decided to venture off to the bright city of Las Vegas, where she was able to live with my for 5 1/2 months as an exchange student our senior year of high school.

She has one of the funniest, most animated personalities of all time and is so fun to be around. We became pretty great friends. She told me right away to treat her like I was a real sibling because she never had a sister before. She actually asked me to punch her, but I just couldn't do it. Eventually, I accepted her to be my sister and not just a guest staying at our house, and i covered her in bruises and bite marks, locked her out of the house a few times just to laugh at her through the window sweat from the 100 degree heat, win in big giant water fights, and also freaked her by telling her that there was a girl that died in her room and would occasionally go in and move things around when she wasn't home and tell her that the girl ghost must have been there.

Basically, it was true sister love. We shared plenty of fun memories, great laughs, and even 5 years later, we are still able to do the same thing.

Before I got on the train, I gave her a dead arm, and she did the same thing back. Mainly, just because it wouldn't be right of us to depart from each other without a bruise.

Now she is studying in Poitiers, France. She just finished her bachelor's degree, and will be starting her master's in Cinema this fall. She has told me time and time again that she will have an Oscar. And lucky me, I basically told her she will be taking me with her just so I can have a swag bag. I do what I want.

Even though we live a world away, we have still kept close friends and it will remain that way for the rest of our lives.

Sweat stains and Sappy Good-byes

2011-06-27T05:22:00.000-07:00

I woke up in the middle of the night to Mariana stroking my arm and smiling. I started laughing so hard! Then when we woke up, she asked me if she had done anything weird during the night. I told her what she did and kept laughing. She was totally asleep! I guess she was that glad I had come to see her!!

I borrowed Pablo's bike and we rode bikes up the river to all of her favorite spots in the city. It was so beautiful! It must be nice to live in an old historic city, have green every where, and never get sick of it.

After we sweated all of our body water, we took the bikes back, quickly cleaned up and met up with Pablo and another friend, Lindsay, to go have lunch at the University. It was so fun! I could easily come to school in Poitiers! She only pays 300 Euros a YEAR! for tuition, and her rent is 150 Euros including utilities and internet. (is internet already included?) haha

Pablo is from Colombia also, studied in Cambridge, England as an exchange student to learn English, and then is studying Law in Poitiers. Lindsay if from Brooklyn, NY and came to Poitiers for like a short study abroad, but then loved it so much she decided to extend a year. They were both way fun to hang out with! Lindsay left us after lunch, and Pablo, Mari and I went shopping for a little bit before I had to go get back on the train.

Mari took me to the train station and my train was supposed to leave at 5:40, but it was "retarded" another hour. Then, after waiting a little bit more, it was "retarded" 1h15m. Maybe I am a little childish, and like to mention that it was "retarded" and not, "delayed." So what?

The only thing I was worried about was that the more it was delayed, the more of a chance I was going to miss my transfer train in Bourdeax. But eventually I had to say goodbye to Mariana again, and get on my train. I was sitting behind these super cute American girls who are backpacking for the summer. They are from Seattle and just graduated from high school, so they are backpacking for 6 weeks. How fun is that?

I got to Bourdeax 2 minutes before my transfer train was scheduled to leave, but luckily it was delayed a little bit, so I didn't miss that one. But when I did board, I laid on my bed and just starting tearing up. This weekend has seriously been so great. I am so grateful for the opportunities I have had in my life to meet wonderful people, see amazing places, and continuously learn so much from all the things around me. So I turned on some feel good music on my iPod and enjoyed the scenery outside my train window.

Where is him?

2011-06-26T05:08:00.000-07:00

Wanna know the worst way to sleep? Try being reclined on the "snail rail" for 7 hours. "Snail rail" yes. I named it. Clever huh?

Well I got to Paris around 7:30am, and had to switch train stations. So being the brilliant person that I am, I was able to take the metro all by myself to get to the right station to go to Poitiers. Ok, really I found this guy who didn't speak any English, but he was going to the same station so I followed him over. He was super nice. I was also able to board a high speed train to Poitiers. Much better than snail rail!!

I was on the train with this cute little Canadian family. They adopted me as an honorary Henderson. I was so excited to find somebody to speak English with. The family was so cute, and they adults played scrabble while the kids sang some Justin Beiber. I loved it. The unfortunate thing for Hayden and Quinn is they have a hard time just being able to act their age, so everytime they do anything remotely childish, McKenna gets embarrassed and yells at them. So listening to these kids enjoy singing, "Justin Beiber has rabies, rabies, rabies...oooh" over and over again, was entertainment to me. They also serenaded us all with some Michael Jackson. It was pretty funny.

There was some sort of "accident involving a person" while we were traveling so our train was delayed 2 hours. I didn't get to Poitiers until about 1:00pm, and when I got there I couldn't find Mariana. I went to use the pay phone, and while going in to pay for a calling card in a little shop, a short little Colombian girl came up to me and said, "hi" and it was the best reunion of all time.

Seeing her was like we hadn't been away for 5 years. Seriously! It was great! I was immediately able to make fun of her for being so short. It was also really nice to be with someone who spoke French because she helped me get my train ticket back, and it was super easy.

We took my stuff to her house then she started showing me her cute city. I love Poitiers!! We walked all around and she showed me churches, government buildings, and we had some lunch. On Sundays in France, everything is closed, so the town was super quiet. but still so nice! We went to a beautiful park that overlooked the city and river flowing below, and there was a classic european Car show. It made my day! We were like two peas in a pod drooling over these cars. Then we stopped for drinks in the center of town and just caught up on everything in the past 5 years.

She mentioned that when we were in high school, she had expected me to be married by now and not have done all the things I have done. And It's just been so surprising to both of us how things have ended up for me. And she's doing exactly what she has wanted to be doing.

It was so hot that we went back to her place to clean up, then about 11:30pm we went out with her friend Pablo for drinks. LIke I said, everything is closed on Sunday,but there was one little bar in the square that was opened, and basically everybody our age was there since there was nothing else to do. But it was the perfect way to end the night.

Rock on Thomas!

2011-06-25T14:24:00.000-07:00

On the road again. I never thought that I would get sick of that thought. But I mean literally, sick. The car makes me miserable, so I was dreading the drive back to France. But luckily today, I was feeling a ton better. So I actually ate some breakfast, and helped the kids get all packed up. we waited until Romina came over to get the house keys before we could leave, but it was pretty sad to say good-bye. We actually asked her to come with us because it was nice having her around.

Our drive to cannes was 5 hours. It wasn't too bad in the car though, surprisingly enough. I sat in the middle of the front row of the bench seat. You know the seat that everybody hates to sit in because they want to be in the door? but i picked it so that I could have the air blaring on my face. At home, I hate the air, or heat, in my face so I usually have the settings to feet, but when I always have a headache and feel nauseas, the air in my face felt fantastic.

We stopped for lunch and got pizza at this little restaurant just before the France border. And we could tell that it was getting close to being away from Italy because the pizza tasted like rubber. It was horrible. Or maybe it was good but we had been spoiled by Romina's amazing pizza the other night. Either way, lunch was definitely not satisfying. But the drive was really nice. We drove along the Italian coast and the little beach towns were beautiful.

I was sort of sad that we have so many electronics that it would distract us all from enjoying the scenery, but I have noticed that all the electronics have been a saving grace for traveling long distances, and keeping everyone entertained. With 2 MacBooks, 2 iPads, 3 iPhones, and 2 iPods, our car would definitely be the one to break into. Although, you all better not get any ideas about coming to break into our rental van.

We got to our little cottage house in Cannes, and I checked my train schedule and then Roger and Megan took me to the train station to let me go off on my own. I had a 9:30pm train to Poitiers that had a connection in Paris. It wouldn't be getting to Paris until 7:30am the following day.

I was totally fine about going of on my own, but the moment Roger and Megan left and I realized I was alone, in a foreign country, and couldn't read a thing, i started to freak out a bit. I had to calm myself, and just make sure to get on the right train. As soon as I got on my train, I was fine. It was just a VERY long train ride. It was just a normal train, not a high speed train, so it took quite a while to get anywhere, and unfortunately I wasn't able to get a spot on the night train with a bed. Oh well, next time. At least the chairs recline enough to be ok.

Dirty Diana

2011-06-24T14:23:00.000-07:00

So for the past 2 weeks, I have been getting these stupid headaches every time I eat, and I have been extremely dizzy and getting carsick. Today was probably the worst of all time. It was to the point that coming down to breakfast was giving me anxiety because I was afraid to eat. I have been trying to watch what I eat to see what the trigger is. I haven't had milk in a couple days, but I figured I would eat a pb&j with orange juice to check if it was the wheat in the bread. I still ended up having a headache and was super nauseas.

We had gotten in the car immediately after eating to drive to Florence for the day. I thought I was going to die from being so nauseas. But We got there and ate lunch. Even though I thought I was going to pass out from being so dizzy we stopped at this little cafe, and they had MIchael Jackson playing on the radio. It wasn't just one song either, it was a whole playlist, and it put me in the best mood. It's just good stuff! Well Roger and Megan had booked a tour guide for Florence for the day, but I was so sick that I just stayed at the J.K. Place hotel, which is where they met the guide. This is one of the nicest hotels in the world. It is small, and used to be an apartment building, but so nice. The people were so nice to me too!. I used Megan's iPhone for wifi to look up train tickets, and they served food all day long. Not that I ate, but it was available. I also had time to do a little game of M.A.S.H. My life is going to be pretty good. I am going to go to Georgetown and study Pre-Med, and at 24 I am going to get married. I will be a model making 1,000,000+ a year, and my husband will be a CEO making 1,000,000+ a year. I will be driving a BMW convertible and my husband will have a Ferrari. We will live with our 3 kids, (2 boys and 1 girl) in Las Vegas, in a House, with our pet goldfish named Gizmo. At the age of 84 I will die while picking up my dry cleaning. Not bad right?

Today was also a holiday, so I was woken up from a nap to drums banging outside because a parade was coming by. I went out into the square to watch it for a minute. I walked into a couple shops, and then soon Roger and Megan showed up.

Florence would have been an amazing city to visit. There is so much history here and I am sad I wasn't able to see it all, but I'll be back someday.

Patience

2011-06-23T14:21:00.000-07:00

We only have a week left and we still have not figured out how to get ourselves up before 9. OH well.
There is a little town near us called Pietrasanta. It is famous for all of its sculptures, and sculpture schools. Michaelangelo also did work there. So we went to the museum for a little bit to check out the art. The curbs here are made of marble too cause there is so much marble here. It's pretty interesting. The little town was so cute.

Then we spent the rest of the day at the beach. We tried a different beach today. It was a little more high end. Our landlord called them up and reserved a spot there because it's his favorite place on the beach. So they put us right next to the water and we had beachside service. The water was also extremely warm, and it was pretty shallow so we could walk out pretty far and only have the water at our tummies. I didn't swim much though, cause any tanning opportunity is good enough for me.

I wish I would have gotten pictures of all the fat ladies in bikinis. But my battery died, so maybe that's a good thing. Europeans are not shy when it comes to bathing attire. You have Tanya Topless, Prego Pam, and Banana Hammock Bob out there trying to get some sun too. It's definitely not the most flattering thing, but merely entertaining.

I also finally got time to edit my pictures. Unfortunately i haven't uploaded any because our internet has been extremely slow.

She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly

2011-06-22T14:18:00.000-07:00

Today was a pool day. We had breakfast and went straight out to the pool. It was nice to be by the pool anyway because Romina was inside cleaning. But after the pool we all went inside and started reading.

So when I was in Hawaii with them a couple years ago the girls all got mad that I spent so much time reading because I wasn't playing as much. So they told me before this trip that I better not take so much time to read. Well, now they have all been hooked to reading. McKenna and Hayden have both started their second books. I am getting through my third, but I love that they aren't complaining anymore :)

We had lunch and went back out to the pool. I was helping Grey get his confidence and had him swim to me without his life jacket. He was loving it! Normally he just likes the comfort of his life jacket, but he did pretty well.

We got all cleaned up in time for Romina to come back with her boyfriend. They made us brick oven pizza and needed 2 hours to come over and prepare the oven for that. We helped her roll out the dough and cut the cheese. (I just said, "cut the cheese.") And Roger and Megan got home just in time for the pizzas to be cooked. Oh my gosh, it was delicious!! There was a constant flow of pizza coming from the over. I think we had like 9 pizzas and we were stuffing ourselves. She also got focaccia bread and put nutella on it, as it was warm and it just melted into the bread. Another delicious snack.

We stayed up all night talking to Romina and her boyfriend, Andreas. They are seriously so cute, and so fun. We love having her here to teach us new things and answer all our millions of questions. Plus, I have some new words in my Italian vocabulary.

I want to Ride my Bicycle

2011-06-21T14:17:00.000-07:00

We went in to Lucca today. It's this really cute town inside a wall, so we rented bikes and rode around the wall on them. I love being outdoors, on a bike with the wind in my hair, and singing "Do-a deer, a female dear. Ray- a drop of golden sun" As I pedal along on my bike. We got down from the wall to stop at a park for the kids to play. Then we rode our bikes through the town to find some food. It was just like i always imagine Italy to be, narrow streets with crazy foreigners trying to ride their bikes through them. Or at least we were the crazy ones. I loved every minute of it.

We returned our bikes to get back in our car to head home. Our car rides can either be fun or annoying. Today was a mixture of both. Besides our drive being extremely pretty, we take the opportunities to try to get songs stuck in each other's heads. I don't know what's worse, that Roger always starts singing Barbie Girl, or that he actually knows all the words to it. He can also quote Princess Diaries. Maybe I shouldn't be revealing all these secrets about him.

Roger and Megan decided to take an overnight trip to Florence. So I told the girls they had to update their journals before they could go to bed, and I had a pretty good conversation with Hayden and Quinn before heading down to make dinner.
I have been updating my blog daily like a journal. Some people may think it's crazy that I am going into so much detail or daily, but it's been easiest for me while traveling to just type it all out since I have my computer anyway.
But since we have been traveling, our grandma has been diagnosed with dementia. And although her short term memory is gone, we have all her stories and her testimony because she keeps such an amazing daily journal. In her closet are books and books of her journals. She has her journal next to her spot on the couch so everyday she can write in it. I was telling the girls how grateful I am for that because grandma doesn't remember much now. She will tell you the same stories over and over again.
I also was able to tell them that I didn't write in my journal when I was little, but the little bit that I did write was a letter to their dad while he was on his mission. They really liked to hear that. Plus they are going to look back at this trip and their journal will be a constant reminder of all the things they have been able to learn that most people never get the opportunity.

Fireflies

2011-06-20T06:53:00.000-07:00

We went to the beach today, so before we went we asked Romina, our house keeper, which beach would be the best to go to. It's been interesting asking people at church and stuff where to go to the beach, and they are all hesitant saying that the only good beaches are in south Italy. So when we go to the beach here, Romina had called ahead to her friends to tell them we were coming. That sounds surprising, right? Who would you call at the beach to tell them you are coming? And are these beaches really that bad?

OK, let me just say, Italian beaches make American beaches seem "archaic." (as Megan described it) The beaches aren't free. Each part of the beach is owned, and each beach has cabanas, walkways, showers, snack bars, life guards, life boats, everything. It's so nice!! So you rent out where you want to sit. There aren't free beaches anywhere, and it actually makes it much nicer cause you don't have to worry about hauling tons of stuff down. Plus, since the sand is hot, they have walkways from your cabana to the beach.

The kids were in heaven, and I must say, I was too! Because I could lay out all day!! We didn't leave the beach until 6pm, and the sun was still blaring.

We did leave though, cause Romina was teaching us how to make pasta. She bought fish, and TONS! of other food. She taught me and the girls to skin the fish, prepare it, make a pasta sauce, and make bruschetta. It's super easy. She got us tons of stuff Italians eat, and shared it all. The presentation was awesome. But since I don't eat fish, I had a really hard time pretending to like it! Luckily, we were eating outside, and she was still preparing food inside, so Megan took paper towels and grabbed handfuls of the girls food, so that she could wrap it up and hide it. We need to remember to remove that pasta from the outside pizza oven before Wednesday night though:)
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We tried fresh mozzarella cheese, pig lard, boar sausage, proschiutto, pecorino cheese, and to finish our meal, she made us a specially made tiramisu. She knows we don't drink coffee so she soaked the cookies in chocolate milk, then just put plain cocoa on the top. We were literally licking our plates!! And she gave us the recipe, and left us stuff here at the house to make our own. We love Romina!! She stayed over for a while because we had so many questions.

Romina went to the University of Florence and got her degree in set design for movies, but her mother was a chef. So when her mother died, she took over the role of cooking in the house and has discovered that she likes to cook much more. So that's what she likes to teach.. We had no idea when we rented the house that she would be here to clean every day, and teach us how to cook, but we love her!

I took Hayden down the hill after dinner to teach her how to catch fireflies. She was in firefly heaven down there. Then we came back in the house to scrape the rest of the tiramisu from the plate. It was "tiramilicious!"

Ze Tower Iza Leaning

2011-06-19T06:41:00.000-07:00

Church in Italy is still amazing!!! We've noticed that all the wards here start at the same time. When we got there, a couple people came straight to us to translate cause they want to practice their English. It was awesome. The missionaries spoke today and did a really good job. Plus it was fun to hear Pamela, our translator, translate scriptures. Ok, It was fun to hear her translate everything. She adds an "uh" sound to every word. Amazinga. Callnga. You get it. We talked to everyone for a while afterwards. Pamela was so good at her english, so I was expecting that she had lived in the states or something for a period of time, but her father is American. He has been living in Italy since he was 18 years old. They also were able to give us good tips on which beaches are the best.

We also talked to the missionaries for a little bit. One is new, and was in the same MTC district as Trevor Hardy, a good family friend. So when I told sister hardy, she got super excited.

After church, we drove to go see the leaning tower of Pisa. You'd think, "ah, it's just a leaning tower, we've all seen pictures." But when you drive up, it's more like, "Holy Cow! That tower looks like it's going to fall over!" and It's much more exciting in person. Of course we took this silly pictures where it looks like you are trying to hold it up.

Then we came back to the house to chill out. Actually, the kids wanted to swim. Yes, it's Sunday. But I didn't care. Roger and Megan went into Lucca to check it out. And I slaved in the kitchen all day.. aka, heated up the pre-packaged pasta sauce of deliciousness, to have some yummy pasta for dinner.

Gym Clothes just take up Space in my Suitcase

2011-06-18T13:33:00.001-07:00

Packing up to move away from Lake Como is pretty much sad. I woke up to the most amazing view every morning, and this morning was no different, except that it would be my last. Oh well. We finished packing up all our stuff, and I made everyone eggs and croissants for breakfast.

We drove to Milan for a little bit of shopping. I can honestly say that Milan is nothing like I would have ever imagined. It is not clean at all, and people are every where. But, it was nice for McKenna, Megan and I to get a couple hours to shop. It's unfortunate how expensive things are. I went in Sephora for just a pair of tweezers, and looked at the same mascara I can get in the U.S. for like $7, and it was 16 Euros, which is like $20. That's nuts!! I did buy some sunglasses, but I have a hard time shopping because there's really nothing I need. It's all just for fun, and I have a hard time buying stuff, "just for fun." I did find a really cute skirt, but when I tried on my size, it totally didn't fit. And I didn't want to try on a different size because it would make me feel guilty for eating all the crap I eat. But then Megan and McKenna both said that they think they have gained a lot of weight or something because clothes weren't fitting. That totally made me feel better about needing a bigger size, because apparently European sizes aren't correct in their sizing comparisons. Although, maybe I should put my running shoes on sometime during this trip.

We met Roger and the other kids for lunch, and also Paolo and his family. Paolo was an exchange student who lived with my mom's family when he was 16. As soon as he found out I am one of Alicia's kids, he said he remembered me as a little baby, which I thought was nuts, but had to explain to him that he remembers my sister Melissa. But it was nice to meet his family. His wife is Patricia, they have 3 kids, Valentina is 14, Miteo is 12, and Xuan (pronounced Swan) is 6. Xuan was adopted from Vietnam and is seriously the cutest little Italian speaking Vietnamese girl i have ever met.

Then we spent the next 4 hours driving to our house in Tuscany. Our house sits on top of this beautiful, green mountainside with the best view of Tuscany ever! I am so completely amazed by this house, with lots of yard and it's own pool!!
Mine and McKenna's bathroom is funny though. Our door to the toilet has windows on it. So while I was going to the bathroom, Kenna told Megan to go in the bathroom, and I started screaming, "NOOO!!" Of course Megan didn't listen, and still came in to stand there and laugh. She didn't turn around at all. Instead, she screamed, "Roger, come in McKenna's Bathroom!!!!" I was speedy and got out of there quick before they pulled the camera out.

I think I might have a really tough time going back home to Vegas. I am excited to see my friends and family, but I love the beautiful European scenery. It's always sad to leave. So since I still have 2 weeks left, it's better to continue to enjoy it while I can.

Hello There, Snot Face

2011-06-17T13:40:00.000-07:00

I stayed with Hayden and McKenna this morning and watched a movie while Roger and Megan took the younger 2 to breakfast.
It's our last day in Como, so we had to think about what it was that we really wanted to do before we leave. The kids really wanted to do mini-golf the other day in Menaggio, so we decided to get ready and drive up there. Before playing, we had lunch, then the competition really began.

Ok, not really. I wanted it to be more of a competition, but it slowly started to rain while playing. We pulled out our umbrellas to keep playing. Then it just started pouring. And while other families were leaving to stay dry, we continued playing. We were literally on course 3 when it started pouring, and it was basically just humorous to play in the rain. Also, it was fun to watch Grey out there loving every minute of it. But when it got to the point that you had to squeegee every course because the ball barely goes through, and the hole is filled with water, we finally decided to run for the car. Our car ride was entertaining too because we found it fun to splash whoever was on the sidewalks by driving into the puddles, but McKenna complained too much about being mean to those people so we stopped. Fun sucker!!

I was getting really car sick in the car, so Megan gave me a dramamine, cause we had plans to go home to change, then drive to Como to go shopping. But by the time we got home I was feeling so sick, so I decided to stay home, and the 3 little kids wanted to stay with me. We watched a couple movies..ok, they watched a couple movies. The dramamine completely knocked me out. And when I woke up, we had pizza here for dinner. Roger and Megan had picked up dinner on their way home.

Ok, if any of you know me, you know that I could care less for pizza. I used to not eat it at all, but after my mission I sort of just dealt with it, because after all I was in Chicago. Plus, I was on a mission, so it wasn't really appropriate for me to say no. But Italian pizza is amazing!!

We enjoyed pizza while packing our bags, because tomorrow we will be leaving to spend the day in Milan, and continue to travel towards our house in Tuscany. Sounds horrible, right?

B.S.

2011-06-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

We slept in today. And I made the kids breakfast. I told them we couldn't go to the pool until we cleaned the house. So after cleaning, we spent some time at the pool. I read while the kids swam and it was funny to watch the girls wear their pool caps and try to synchronize swim. Quinn actually likes hers now.

We went up for some lasagna lunch and took showers. Then we decided it is a nice day for a walk for some good ole' gelato. Instead of going left out our door towards George Clooney's (which the stalkerness in us has discovered that he is a 44 second drive away), we turned right and walked down the street a little bit. Only to find that there is no gelato in that direction. We ended up just buying ice cream cones at a cafe. They were the prepackaged ice cream cones with the chocolate in the tip of the cone.

We walked back to the house and played some card games. They really wanted to play B.S. and I have really discovered how true to the Bulloch name they are, cause they are all full of BS!! I also taught them how to play RatScrew. Megan and Roger came home and we had a little dinner. Then we all went to watch Roger play soccer with the guys from the ward. They were playing some seriously intense indoor soccer. It was really fun to watch Roger play with those guys. Hayden told me, "I think they just invited my dad so that they could practice kicking the ball at him." Then later she would lean over to me and say, "my dad looks a little winded." Haha She seriously cracks me up.

Not only does Hayden (who is 10) give her dad a hard time, but she has been giving me a bunch of crap too. I love it! Totally makes me laugh. While in London, I was putting on some anti-aging cream in the mirror and she asked how old I was. I told her 23, and that 23 is old. She responded with, "yeah, too old to still not be married!" haha And then the other day, I had tied a cherry stem into a knot with my tongue, and told her it meant I was a good kisser, she responded with, "too bad you don't have anyone to kiss!" She is quick! I think I love it most because she makes me laugh, but knows that I am super mushy about wanting to be married or have a boyfriend. So anytime we walk by a wedding dress store or something, she will point it out for me. Someday the time will come. I'm not worried.

After soccer, we followed one of the guys to pick up his wife, Teresa, to go get ice cream. They have been so nice to us, and took us to one of the best! gelato places we have been to. They have 2 kids, and the family is just as kind as ever. It has been really nice to be able to do stuff with them while here in Como.

A boat. I see a boat.

2011-06-15T13:46:00.001-07:00

Our goal this morning was to get up by 8. I think me and Grey got up at like 4am trying to kill this stupid fly that wouldn't leave us alone. But then really, didn't get up til about 9. Oh well.

Everywhere we go, we try to find a park for the kids to play at. So we drove to Cernobio cause there was a park right by the lake. There also happened to be a farmer's market today. So while the kids played, Megan, McKenna and I walked around the market. There wasn't anything good, but lots of random fresh fruit. After the kids were finished playing, Roger rented us a boat to take up the lake. We really wanted to see the backside of George's house. He has an amazing boat out there and plenty of hedges to go around. But it's fun to see all the houses on the lake. They have some of the most amazing landscaping, and who wouldn't want a house on the lake? I'll let you all visit when I have my summer house here in Lake Como.

We stopped in a town called Mennagio to go to a pool. After we paid for everyone to get in, we found out that in order to swim you have to wear a swimming cap. So Roger just got him and the 3 little ones caps. But Quinn was not too excited about it. She was literally crying about how stupid it was to wear a cap. So I wore her cap while I sat and read. Eventually she warmed up to it, but still didn't get in cause the water was too cold.

I am grateful I had a book though cause the fat guy in front of me had no problem changing into his speedo before taking a splash in the pool. Yuck!! People are definitely not shy in this country.

We got back in the boat and took it back to the dock. Then came back home. Roger and Megan have decided to go to Milan for the night and I'll stay here with the kids. I think me and the kids are looking forward to it. We are all exhausted. And I've already expressed my frustration with my uncle for his stubbornness. So I think he knew we needed a break from him too. Me and the kids ate pizza and played games. And now that they are all asleep I can finally enjoy some peace and quiet. George's Real Estate
We have the 4th floor of this beautiful Italian building

Fountain Show

2011-06-14T13:34:00.000-07:00

I took the kids for a walk, and just before heading out of the house, our landlord told us that George Clooney is in town and that he lives like 6 houses down from us. So we decided stalking George would be a fun thing to do. It was a little scary walking with these kids down the street though because there are absolutely no sidewalks, and the narrow streets have cars zooming past. Quinn got a little upset with me when I would yell at her to stay out of the road, but it was only for her protection. George's house has the highest hedges ever, it's monitored by security cameras, but he's a buzzer away from me chatting it up with his butler or whoever answers the intercom. I would have pushed the button, but I really didn't know what to ask for. It's not like I couldn't make it 2 minutes back to our house if I needed to use the restroom or something.

We got back and ate lunch, then went with Roger and Megan to Bellagio. It's right across the lake, so we took a boat over and ate some more food. There's seriously not enough pasta and bread to fill us up. I can't get enough of it. Ok, maybe a little. At least for a couple hours until the next meal. We walked to a beach to let the kids play in the water. I now understand the phrase, "up hill both ways." Because we literally walked up hill both ways. I can explain it sometime. But the water was freezing, so I stayed on the shore and read.

We got back and Megan whipped us up some pasta for dinner. She slaved for 6 whole minutes in the kitchen making bolognese, pesto, and alfredo sauces. Now that's what I'm talking about. At the market they have the sauces pre-made in these yogurt sized containers, and they are "dewicious!" I took my iPod outside to chill out and watch the water for a little bit, then did some work on my computer.
When the kids are being grumpy and irritating, I give them a piece of "happy gum." In order to get a piece the girls have to smile and be happy, Grey has to kiss my hand.

Breakfast in Bed

2011-06-13T13:07:00.000-07:00

I wish. Actually, I asked for breakfast in bed, because I was still laying in bed when breakfast was ready. My aunt sarcastically said sure when I made the suggestion. Whatever.

Today's weather forecast said "rain." So when you are on a lake, what sorts of things are there to do when it's supposed to rain? We hopped in the car and drove to Switzerland, (it's really only 20 minutes away) and went to a chocolate factory. My aunt was telling us the story in the car of how she had taken the kids to the Ethel M. Chocolate factory in Vegas, and how no one was working, but there was a room with chocolates you could buy. So when we walked in this swiss chocolate factory, the lady immediately dipped these cracker sticks in some chocolate for us, then we walked into the factory, and there was no one there working, but there was a room full of chocolates you could buy. So to get my time worth of being there, Megan and I snacked on all the samples of chocolate until we were sick of it.

We went to an outlet mall and had lunch and shopped for a little bit. Unfortunately, Europeans don't get the concept of an outlet mall, and things were still really expensive. Although, I did find this dress, that really wasn't that expensive that made my butt look AmaZing!! I'm sort of wishing now I would have gotten it. Another thing I have noticed about clothes here, it's not too hard to find clothes that are garment appropriate.

As soon as we left the mall it started pouring outside. We took the opportunity to go grocery shopping then come back to the house. We had a yummy dinner, then I went swimming with the kids.

Like homo with a "C"

2011-06-12T15:10:00.000-07:00

You think I came up with that title on my own, didn't you? Well, actually, I did not. My uncle was on the phone trying to explain to his brother where we are. And yes, that is exactly what he said over the phone. I do not make these things up.

It's really nice to wake up to a beautiful lake in your view, but I sure wish I wasn't the first one up in the morning. I do not know what my deal is, but I have been the first one up like every single day, and never know what to do. If only I could sleep so I am not so tired during the day.

But who can resist this view?

But today, was church day! We went to a ward here, and of course couldn't understand any of their Italian, but it was still amazing. It's so peaceful knowing that the LDS church is the same, no matter where you go, no matter which language/country/ethnicity. And most importantly, you can feel the spirit anywhere. The people in the ward today were so welcoming. Immediately when we came in, even though we were a tiny bit late, they came to help us out. Get us seated. Ask if we needed translating. One lady brought over some books for Grey. Another lady behind us kept making paper dolls for Quinn, and she loved it! After church, we stayed for a good 45 minutes because they wanted to talk to Roger. One lady invited us to spend time with their family tomorrow sometime. And the guys invited Roger to play soccer with them on Thursday. We talked to the missionaries serving in the area, and there is both a sister and elder companionship. It was a pretty petite ward, but they say that this was the biggest in the mission. I loved it!! It also goes to show what type of people Italians are. Compared to the Swiss and French, they are very welcoming.

We went to the Como square for a yummy Italian lunch. The harder things about France and London, and Switzerland for that matter, is that you have to sort of force yourself to eat most of the food. I can't tell you how many sandwiches and McDonalds we have had in the past 2 weeks. And you know it's bad when they kids yell, "no more McDonalds!!" But here in Italy, it's not hard to eat at all. Who can get sick of pasta, cheese and bread? Honestly.

We walked around the shops, and definitely treated ourselves to Gilato. I could go on to pretend that it's the first time this trip we have had some, but I'm pretty sure we've had gilato after every lunch.

And since today is Sunday, plus we have been so excited from our non-stop traveling, that we really just wanted to come home and chill out. I painted the little kids fingernails. Yes, I said kids. Cause since I was painting the girls nails, Grey was begging for his to be painted too. Actually, he was becoming impatient about it. I laugh now, but earlier, he was frustrating. Then Hayden, McKenna, and I laid on my bed and read our books. We took a break for Nutella! Of course!! McKenna brought in a full thing of nutella with pretzels and it didn't take long to eat 2/3 of the way through.

Roger and Megan took the younger kids to the pool and Kenna and I stayed and read/made pizza for dinner. We still didn't have dinner until 9:30. Our schedule is so messed up. Haha. Then Roger, Megan, Kenna, Hayden, and I played Pit and scum for a little bit. Games get a little intense in this family. I could care less if I win or lose, but my uncle was getting mad at me for screwing up the games for him, even if I lost.

Ciao

2011-06-11T23:38:00.000-07:00

We deserved to sleep in today. We actually asked permission to sleep in today, since Roger likes to Go-Go-Go. So we did. And we had breakfast...covered in Nutella. Seriously delicious. The hotel's breakfast offered crepes, so we covered them with Nutella. We had croissants, so we dipped them in nutella. Then, I stashed a package of nutella in my bag for the drive.

Drive. Another drive. Around Lake Geneva. So Lake Geneva itself is massive and beautiful. We drove north to Bern, to visit the temple. It was set away in some houses, but beautiful of course. There was this cute little couple sitting on the steps and we talked to them for a little bit. They both go to Utah State, and came to Europe to do a study abroad and are now just traveling around before they go back to the states. How fun is that? They don't have kids yet, so they wanted to take the opportunity first.

We grabbed some lunch, and I was daring enough to just try whatever I could pretend to pronounce on the menu. Everyone else decided to go for some pre-packaged sandwich. I got some meat, vegetables, and french fries. They say it was cow, but I really wouldn't be surprised if it was rabbit. Either way it was delicious, and McKenna ended up ordering some too.

We got back in the car to Drive to Lake Como, Italy. McKenna and I watched Les Miserables, and Morning Glory in the car. Roger also bet us that we couldn't sing down to 1 in "99 bottles of beer." You better believe we could, and then for your sake, don't place a bet on that. And the drive was beautiful. Everyone needs to drive through Switzerland at least once in their life. I cannot even try to describe how beautiful it is, and I know my pictures will not do it justice. We drove through the Alps, and passed Interlochen. There are towns surrounding little lakes every where, and waterfalls that just come out of nowhere.

Our house here in Lake Como is right on the lake. Since we will be here a whole week, Roger is going to rent a boat for the week to use as transportation around here. It's the most amazing view. As I lay here in bed, I am staring at the water in front of me, and it's just breathtaking. Megan and Roger went to get groceries to fill the house up, and we ate frozen lasagna, it was so good! So if the frozen lasagna is that good, I am so excited to eat fresh Italian!!!

Road Trip

2011-06-10T14:54:00.000-07:00

We did finally set alarms, because we only had a set time for Disneyland today. It was raining, unfortunately, so we decided to just go on the Buzz Lightyear ride at Disneyland (which I got 465,100 points. Go Me!!!) and then head over to Walt Disney Studios next door. It's just like California adventure. We all got on Tower of Terror. Even Grey, because we didn't want him to know what it was. It took a lot of bribing with Quinn though, but she has decided that once is enough. It was fun.

We tried to go on RC Car Coaster, but literally the group riding just before us had to get off because of some sort of technical issues. It totally sucked. So then we tried to go on another roller coaster, and it was closed too. It started pouring rain, and everything was closing, so we took one little carpet ride in Agrabah, then decided to leave the park. It sure was a good thing we decided to go yesterday though, or else our entire Disney experience would have sucked. But as we were leaving the park, McKenna and I headed to find churros to discover that they don't sell them in France. Instead, they sell mini donuts...filled with Nutella!! So yummy! Everything here is served with nutella. I'm ok with that.

We got in the car and drove to the outlet mall nearby to grab something to eat and go shopping. Then, we got in the car for a 6 hour car ride to Geneva, Switzerland. The drive was beautiful. And there would be random castles on hills. It sure was fun to see.
Another unfortunate thing about Europe that we have discovered is that everything closes early, and being from Vegas we aren't used to that. So instead of getting food like normal people around 6 or 7, we waited until we pulled in to Geneva at 10pm to find something to eat. With no luck. Nothing was open!! We finally found a McDonalds around 12:30, and discovered another thing, it's super expensive here. My uncle spent $75 for food. He said a meal was like $14. We drove to our hotel and just crashed.

Adieu

2011-06-09T14:29:00.000-07:00

Nobody ever likes to leave Paris. That's all there is to it. We still haven't gotten this whole time change thing down cause we stay up all night, and end up getting out late in the morning. So instead of going to the Louvre this morning, we slept in. Then the kids decided they didn't want to see the Louvre anyway, so so we just stayed in and packed all our stuff.
Roger went and rented a mini-van and we decided to head out of Paris earlier than originally planned.
It worked out well though. We drove out of Paris, and said Adieu to all the beautiful, historical buildings and hello to EuroDisney!! We hadn't planned to go to Disneyland today, but since we had nothing else to do, we ended up going to the park. We at least had 3 hours to ride rides. And because it was cheaper, we all got season passes. Yes, if anybody is coming to Paris anytime soon, you are more than welcome to borrow my Disneyland pass. The park wasn't very busy either. EuroDisney has some amazing rides!! Obviously, the same names, but completely different rides. McKenna, Hayden, Roger and I went on the bigger kid rides. Thunder Mountain starts off going through a tunnel underneath the lake around it, then turns out to be a long, very fun roller coaster.

Then, we met up with Megan to go on Space Mountain so she could get away from the kiddie rides. Let me tell you. Space Mountain at EuroDisney is way better than any ride I have ever been on. It's a speed roller coaster, like california soain', but it's all in the dark room with bright lights (like typical space mountain) and goes upside down and loopty-loops, and was just so fun! Totally unexpected! So when we got off, we ran like mad and went back on again. The park closed at 7, and we had gotten on the first time at 6:45, so there was no line., we were able to get right back on. So fun!!

We left the park, and stayed at the Disney Village. ( It's equivalent to downtown Disney) and we had dinner at Billy Bob's Saloon. Who would have thought there would be a country line dancing BAR! at Disneyland...or in France?! The most unfortunate thing about France is that people can smoke in Disneyland, they serve alcohol at this bar, and the French workers do not seem to think that they are at the happiest place on earth. They sure were grumpy. But anyway, we ate BBQ, and watched people line dance.

Sparkles

2011-06-09T03:10:00.000-07:00

We got up earlier than usual this morning to go get tickets to the Eiffel Tower. It didn't open until 9, so while Meg and Rog stood in line, I took the kids across the street to walk in the park. There was a photo shoot going on, so we walked over to watch them for a little bit. It was funny when this group of Asian tourists came by, one of the outgoing guys ran over to the photo shoot and started acting like he was the photographer. I wish I had the guts to do that! But then, as we were watching the photo shoot, a stampede of Nigerian men started scattering like cockroaches in light, cause some military men showed up to guard the tower, and the Nigerians were trying to sell stuff to all the tourists and apparently aren't supposed to. it was pretty funny!

We rode up to the top of the Eiffel Tower to look around. This city is gorgeous as ever! and So big!!!
When we got down, we walked to where we were getting out bikes. We rented beach cruisers to be able to tour the city on them. It was the funnest thing! First of all I love beach cruisers. Second, we were able to see things we normally don't care about, and learned a lot about them. Our tour guide was great. He was this 23 year old American just there doing tours for a couple months for fun. But some of the buildings we went to learn about i probably wouldn't have cared to see, but now I want to see them. We stopped for lunch during our tour at the Tuileries in front of the Louvre, then went back to take our bikes back. It was a 6 mile ride, and I highly recommend it to anybody coming to Paris.

Me and Hayden on our bikes in front of the Louvre.

We let Grey play at the park for a little bit, before coming home for a rest. I ended up taking a nap. Then I got up at about 8:30pm, so we could go get dinner. We got picnic stuff and went to the park by the Eiffel Tower. Since the sun doesn't go down until 10pm it was a great little picnic. And then every hour from 10pm-1am they turn on the lights on the Eiffel Tower and it just sparkles for 5 minutes. It is beautiful!! We played some games at the park and then walked home. It was about a 45 minute walk, and beautiful. And everything we walked by, we had learned about throughout the day.

Today, was spectacular. I love Paris!! And honestly think I love it more than London!! I can't wait to come back again.

This city is lame

2011-06-07T13:06:00.001-07:00

...Without a lover. Paris is probably the most beautiful city I have ever been to. And extremely romantic. But I guarantee it would be so much better with a significant other. I need one :)
Today was a little more of a relax day. We got ready and walked to the Louvre and got so excited because no one was in line!!! Because it's not open on Tuesdays. Haha. So we decided to walk to the Notre Dame Cathedral. We stopped for lunch on the way, then walked around Notre Dame. We were going to climb the stairs up to the top, but the line for that was an hour long and we didn't want to wait. So we hopped on a bus to go to the Eiffel Tower to get tickets for tonight, but while driving, it started raining, and Quinn had to go to the bathroom. Roger took Quinn and Hayden to the bathroom, while Megan, McKenna, Grey and I hailed a cab back to the house. It was raining so hard, and Kenna and I were the ones on the street trying to get a cab. First of all, I was wearing white pants and sandals. Definitely not the brightest idea, although the sky was supposed to be clear by 11am. It took atleast 10 minutes to find an empty cab, but by then we were already soaked and freezing. It just made today all that much better.

We went back home, and I laid on my bed to read, but then Hayden and Quinn came in and were fighting over who could give me a back massage. How awesome is that?! So Quinn ended up giving me a back massage, and played with my hair for a little bit, while I fell asleep. I think I took a 2 hour nap :) I got up in time to help Megan finish making dinner. We ate, then I researched some stuff about the history of places here in Paris, and the girls watched movies. Roger and Megan went for a walk. We are lucky enough to have shops right under our house. Armani Exchange is literally at our doorstep. We will definitely be enjoying some time shopping :)

Oh, and we never did get tickets to go to the Eiffel Tower tonight, so we will be going first thing in the morning

Yo! What's up?I loved the brick work in this place! If my photoshop skills were better, I would take out that stupid red rope.The Ritz that Princess Diana left before she met her fate.

Bon Jour

2011-06-06T12:23:00.001-07:00

It's really interesting that all the options on my blog are in French all of a sudden. So I am now in Paris!!! What the? It's all so crazy to me.

We got up this morning and finished our packing, then took a cab to go to the British museum and shopping for a little bit. I tried my best to use all my English Pounds before leaving so I didn't have to exchange more money. But, the only thing I really wanted was bowling shoes that were way out of my price range. Bowling shoes? Yes. Classic red, white and blue ones. And they would be so cute with skinny jeans.

But the British Museum is really cool. It's a museum full of all the stuff the British stole from other countries and are basically put on display to say, "nah-nah-nah-nah-nah." Or more grown-up: all the stuff that the British bought off of other countries when they were owned by the British, that the other countries now are fighting to have back. It was really cool! We saw some mummies, and old greek statues, old money from the beginning of time and.... more watches!!!

These heads date back to about 40 AD

This head is dated back to about 27 AD. (notice Roger doing business on his phone in the back?)

This is one of the first American Dollars printed. I think it was from the year 1886. Don't mind the flash. I am starting to get lazy in my editing. Mainly cause by the end of the day I am drained.

We took a cab to the train station to make our 4pm train ride to Paris. I sat across from my new friend Paul. He's from Munich, but was in London this morning for a meeting and was headed back to Paris for more meetings. So we chatted for a bit and he tried to teach me French, but I really couldn't tell you what I learned. It's been really fun meeting new people on this trip. I talked to one lady at the park the other day from India. She moved to London when she was 13 and then raised her family there. They are all muslim and speak whatever language they speak. I also met a girl on the bus to Bath and she is from Sydney, Australia. Apparently she thinks that the British accent is annoying, but I could barely understand her with her accent.

Ok, so you know how we watched Taken the other night to prepare us for Paris? Well, our house that we are staying in, looks exactly like the one in Taken. You'll see in the pictures. But apparently the house we are staying in, is the home of a film director. He directed Transporter and other French films. He's on vacation with his family right now in California, but left a list of "don't touch" items here in the house. Good thing we have a wild 4 year old boy here. I keep telling him to fold his arms like we are in church. Haha.

This fellow is here to greet us at the door.
This would be the view from my bedroom. My window has stayed open since I got here. And yes, I finally have my own room. Sharing with McKenna has not been a problem at all, but it's nice to be able to shut myself away from a kid hanging on me all the time.
McKenna's "bow-chicka-bow-wow" bed, as Megan likes to call it.
Check out this view from our living room window. In a Tina Fey/Sarah Palin voice, "I can see the louvre from my house." Yes, that is the louvre. Amazing, right?

And to top it all off, we can play angry birds in person! Paris is, so far, beautiful!! I am loving every day and every opportunity to see something new and meet someone new. My only turn off so far is while sitting in my room putting together this blog, I have heard emergency sirens go by, and it automatically reminds me of Princess Diana's car accident. Random, but a familiar sound, even though I was a wee little kid.

Trexxie

2011-06-05T14:02:00.000-07:00

Wanna know how to get me in a good mood, early in the morning? I'll tell ya! I got up by myself at 7 and got ready so that I could go to the singles ward here. I was planning to leave by 8, but thought for a minute that I had the wrong Tube ticket so I ran upstairs to wake up Roger to get the right one. I'll tell you why that is important to know; cause while I was walking to church I noticed anybody I passed on the street was saying good morning. So there was this one guy, Markos, who said hi, so I said good morning. He called me back and asked if we could chat for a minute. (Sometimes I wonder why I am not afraid to talk to people, especially after watching Taken.) I told him I was on my way to church, and he was impressed by that. He wanted to know what I believed and what religion I am. I told him I am Christian, and he said he was too, so really wanted to know "what" I believed! It was a door wide open to telling him about the restoration of Christ's church on this earth, through the prophet Joseph Smith and about the Book of Mormon. He was way interested and wanted to know more. He seriously was handing me his cell phone because he wanted to learn more and I didn't have anyway of him getting ahold of me. So I gave him my Book of Mormon from my bag, and wrote the church information in it, along with my email address.

He thanked me, and kept telling me that he knew it was no coincidence that we ran into each other at that time. So, I sort of think me running up to Roger and being a little slow getting out the door was perfect. I also have no idea what he will end up doing with my B of M, or if he'll ever read it. I hope he does, but it totally put me in a good mood right away. I am so grateful for missionary opportunities, and being able to share what I know and love so much with other people who need to hear it.

So I got to church and it was full! There are a lot of singles here. It was seriously the best sacrament meeting I have been to in a really long time. I have no idea why, and I don't know if it was just because I was already feeling so joyful about giving away my B of M, but church was just great! I stayed through all 3 meetings and met some really cool people. I even got asked out after church. It was a little weird, but instead of rejecting him then, I was nice and told him I just didn't have time. He did want my name, so he could look me up on FB. So I figure I'll just reject him on there. I just don't understand why I always attract the creepers.

After church, I walked over to the Victoria and Albert Museum next door. I grabbed a bite to eat, then looked at maybe 1/10 of the millions of things they had in there. I've seen more naked statues today that I have ever expected, but then I found a floor with tons of gold and silver, which lead me to rooms full of jewelry, which had an upstairs full of WATCHES!!! I have this weird fascination with watches, don't know why, but I love them. And no joke, I probably spent 45 minutes looking at watches, mainly pocket watches.

** Side note **Before my great grandma Patty passed away, she gave me this pocket watch that she had gotten from her husband. Now I know I have uncles who are a little bitter that I ended up with the watch, but she gave it to me and told me to promise that I would not hide it away in a drawer, but keep it out for it to be seen. She told me that every day Walt would have it on the end table and he would wind it up. When I got it, it wouldn't work. I was totally freaked out cause I wanted it to, but I had this patient come in and he worked with them. He opened it up and taught me all about it, and how to make sure it stays working. So now when I go to my mom's house, and go in my room, I always wind it up, just to hear it tick cause it always reminds me of my grandma. **

At about 2pm, I went back to the church to meet Roger and Megan who had gone to a family ward and we went to the Natural History Museum. Roger joked that I should go to the nature of sex part of the museum. Yes please! Unfortunately, it costs money and I didn't feel like spending it. I wandered with McKenna, while Rog and Meg took the other kids.
This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs.
If the egg on the right is an ostrich egg, how many omelets can you make with the elephant bird egg on the left?

Scrub-a-Dub

2011-06-05T13:38:00.000-07:00

The manager at Ripley's set us up with transportation and everything for Windsor Castle, Bath, and Stonehenge. So we had to be up early to catch the bus. We got there late, so I think everybody already on the bus hated us from the beginning, but we were able to go to Windsor Castle. It's really pretty, and luckily the Queen was there. It's one of her residences and she was staying there this weekend to be able to go to the horse races in a nearby town. Don't believe me? The yellow flag means she is there. Otherwise it is just a British flag. And those are all the cars they used, but she rides in a Rolls Royce.

Then, we got back on the bus and drove to Bath. Bath is another one of my all time favorite cities. It's known for it's Roman baths, but we decided to skip the tour and go to a park. When I was here in high school, I went to the baths, and have plenty of pictures, so it didn't kill me not to go back again. But I wasn't excited about going to the park. All I wanted to do was shop, cause the one thing I do remember is the awesome amounts of shopping. Even though I didn't play, the park was AMAZING!!! Besides all the beautiful trees and green grass, it had the coolest playground of all time! It sort of made me wish I was little again....or at least not watching all of our stuff :)

Megan told McKenna she would pay her $50 to go dance with the tap dancer. It took her a minute to get the courage, but she did it.
Megan also said she would have bet me to do it, but knew there wouldn't be any hesitation.

Well we skipped the tour, and stayed in Bath longer. We had dinner and then took a train back to London and McKenna and I prepared ourselves for Paris by watching Taken. I could really get used to all this train riding, and looking at beautiful green country-side all the time.

Who knew I could speak British?

2011-06-03T13:49:00.000-07:00

So I've always heard that you know you can speak a language fluently when you start dreaming in that language. Well, I must be pretty good at speaking with a british accent, cause I sure did dream with one. It's been funny hearing Roger burst out in a random British accent though. The very first day we got here, he answered the phoned with a usual, "hello" with more emphasis on the "lo" part. I was dying, laughing. But then he also ordered a "lemonada." So I'm not sure he entirely remembers what country we are in. But I can say, "waterloo" pretty well with an accent, and McKenna called Megan, "mum" earlier. Of course Kenna didn't notice it, but it made me and Megan laugh.

Well, again, today we overslept and realized we need to set an alarm or we are never going to get used to the time change. We got on the train and went to get on another bus tour. This time we took it to Hyde Park. So beautiful!! We had lunch, then walked around the park for a little bit. If any of you know me well enough, you know I have a fascination with trees. it's probably because we don't have any in Vegas. But they had the BEST trees in Hyde Park. Grey was really into having races. So we did that. And Hayden fed the ducks. The ducks were loving her so much they started following her as we walked along the river. It was pretty funny.

While walking to the subway, so that we could go to the London Eye, we walked into the LDS church. We stopped in to find out what time church is on Sunday. I actually think I might go off and go to the single's ward there. It would be awesome. We also walked past part of a college and I could totally go to school here. We had originally planned to go to Oxford today, and I was kind of looking forward to it, since I started my application there 2 years ago. But once I got to the essay portion, I never finished it because I had no motivation for writing. I think I totally do. Maybe I'll apply just for the heck of it. But I know for sure I want to go back to school this fall, and get right into my graduate career.

Anyway, we enjoyed our little ride on the London Eye. It was fun for the kids to find out that Howard's ferris wheel in Vegas is going to be taller. But it's also been fun for me to teach these kids little facts. Whether they are true or not:) They totally believe everything I say, but luckily I remember my facts about places here. It's been 8 years!!! Makes me feel old, but 8 years since I was here before, and I still remember directions to everything too!! Amazing Race anyone.

Well, I am getting too tired to post pictures ,because it's taking too long. But I will edit this all tomorrow and put up the pictures that I am missing.

Something I learned about the House of Parliament today. Did you know that there are over 1300 rooms? yeah, that's a lot. Imagine keeping that place clean, especially since it was used as a palace for a very long time. I think up until the 16th century. And most of it is new, because after a fire in the 1800's they started to fix it up and rebuild.

No Editing. Postcard Perfect. I'm that good.

Do you know the muffin man?

2011-06-03T03:34:00.000-07:00

Today, we sucked at waking up. Totally. But when we did get going, we went to get our passes for the big bus tour, and toured around the city. Again, I love this city. We had a convertible top double "dutcher" (as Quinn calls it). While going across the Tower Bridge, we got stopped in time to watch the bridge go up, and let a pirate ship go under. It was like on Inception, when the girl creates her own little world and makes the street come up so they can walk on it. Pretty cool/trippy. We got off the bus at the next stop and took some time at the Tower of London. I love it there, and the kids did too! I am glad they are enjoying all this as much as I am. I have noticed that the people rushing through everything are Roger and Megan. So the kids follow and wish they could have more time.

But Quinn, Kenna, and I spent a little bit more time in the safe with all the crown jewels in there. We went back a second time to check out the "biggest diamond in the world" for Quinny to get a good look. I noticed that if I close one eye, and lift up my left hand, the diamond looks really good on my ring finger. Just a thought. Haha.

After we left there, we took the tube over to get tickets to see Shrek the Musical on....Drury lane!! We grabbed a quick dinner, and watched the show. It was such a good show!! and very funny!! We loved it!

I am just glad we are all having a good time. The little ones are being such good sports and have no problem walking all over the place and definitely haven't complained about anything. They are great!!

I think I was born for this city though. There is nothing about it that I don't like. It's nothing like NYC or Vegas, and I think that's why I love it. (kaitlyn, don't have me for that) but London is full of very happy, easy-going people. Though it's busy, everyone is still very chill. It's beautiful and I love the history. Do you know what city is a lot like London? DC!!!!

It's too bad we didn't have time to get another picture with william and kate w/o the flash.

Meet our Beefeater guide, Chris.

After taking this picture, Grey said, "Let me see! Oo, that looks pretty good!"

I love London

2011-06-01T13:37:00.000-07:00

I headed out with Roger and Megan and their 4 wonderful kids to LONDON!! We left Tuesday afternoon, on one of those double decker planes that you normally see in the movies and think that there is no way you would ever be on one in real life. The best part was that Roger booked mine and McKenna's tickets to premium while the other tickets were coach, and he planned for him and Megan to sit in premium. I had joked many times that I was going to tell a flight attendant, while showing them my boarding pass, "excuse me, but this lovely couple is sitting in my seat." But my uncle threatened a very LONG vacation if he got stuck in the back. Well turns out, it was easy just to keep switching seats anyway. The biggest problem with our flight, along with getting no sleep, was that the annoying baby in the flight that wouldn't stop crying was in the row in front of us. I have never hated a baby so much in my entire life.
But other than that, the 9 hour flight was good. We watched movies, played on the iPad, read, and slept for maybe 2 hours. And luckily it was non-stop.

When we got here to London, we took a train to our house in Camden. We took enough time to change, and unpack. Then we went to Ripley's Believe It or Not. Turns out my uncle owns it, so he called and had the manager on duty, Max, take us on a tour. So fun! There's this one dark room with just a bridge going through it, but the walls spin around you, and for some reason it makes you feel like you are going upside down. No joke, I could not walk straight. So the girls and I had little dance routines walking up the bridge, but I couldn't help but walk sideways into the railing.

We walked around Piccadilly Circus for a little bit, and had dinner at a Mexican restaurant. :) Yes. Our favorite type of food. When we were in Hawaii we had Mexican for every meal, and now that we are in England, we still managed to sit down for chips and salsa. It never gets old.

I am loving being with these kids all the time. It's too bad I only have 2 arms because they are constantly fighting over who gets to hold my hands and who gets to sit next to me. I am glad I came with them, because I recognized that this might be the last time they have my full attention before I move away or get married or something. But they are so much fun, and I am still their favorite. SO that's all that matters. And they have 30 more days to have my full attention.

Newport

2011-06-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

Me and some of my friends took our 2nd annual Newport beach trip this year for Memorial Day by renting another beach house. There were 14 of us total and it was such a blast. I drove with Kristen Soderberg, Stephanie Cope, and Jessica Rice and got to our house Friday afternoon, and we took the beach cruisers out with Brittany Keele and Katie Robertson. Our house was perfect, again, this year and we were right next to the basketball courts, a playground, grass for the boys to play football, and volleyball pits. But of course, nothing is better than being right on the beach!

We cooked at the house for basically every meal, enjoyed each other's company with lots of laughs, and just had a lot of fun. We had dance parties, sang karaoke, and played telephone charades. Such a good time, and great company!!!

This last video is Colton and Andrew with the final project of the dance we all contributed to. Well, everyone except for Kristen and Stephanie. But I am sure we'll remember this trip for a life time!

Sappy Serenade

2011-05-22T16:25:00.000-07:00

Before I left on my mission, my friends and I went to sing karaoke for a going away party. Then went swimming at another friends house. 2 of the boys started singing me songs, and this is what they came up with.

Stepping Down

2011-05-14T00:28:00.000-07:00

I've spent my entire life watching my siblings do great and wonderful things, excel in school, and make great choices. As a younger child I have always wanted to follow in their footsteps or excel in my own ways. But I have come to a realization that my trying hard to follow them has turned me into a perfectionist. So much so, that I stress too much on things that don't matter and give myself a hard time when I can't achieve everything perfectly.
I am allowing myself to recognize things that I am not, and rejoice in the things that I am.
I am NOT a perfect person.
I don't always get perfect grades in school.
I don't always say the perfect things at the perfect time.
Sometimes I am not the nicest person to my family members; those who I should be extra nice to.
I am not a scriptorian and definitely do not know everything about the gospel.
I don't always know the answers to every question, even though I pretend to know it all.

But,
I am determined to keep growing in my educational pursuits.
I have kind intentions and feel a strong desire to put others' wants before mine.
I am always willing to be of service to those around me, even if it is something small.
I have a desire to continue to strengthen my testimony of the gospel and share it with others.
I am strong and independent.
I am very tender, and take a lot of things personally. Especially when things involve those I care most about.
I am a happy person.
I am dedicated to living my life indebted to serving the Lord.
I am loving, compassionate, and nurturing.
I am a missionary.

Most importantly I am someone of great worth.
So what I am learning about myself, is what matters most is that I can look over the things I am not, and strive to be more of who I am. Everyday, I am thankful to be me.

Mother's Day

2011-05-06T16:34:00.000-07:00

I saw this video and fell in love with it. Mother's Day is coming up this weekend, and I know I am not a mother yet, but I really look forward to the day when I can be a mom of my own children. I was raised by a wonderful mom who has always been a great example of how to raise children and I have always loved to have kids around.
So until that day comes when I can actually have my own kids, I spend as much time with my nieces and nephews or cousins as I can. I love to spoil them, tickle them, and just show them how much I love them, constantly.

Pockets and Zippers

2011-05-04T13:37:00.000-07:00

Have you ever gone shopping, put something down, and then hours or even days later wish you would have just gone ahead and bought it? OH yeah. I'm in that category. I can live without it, but a couple months ago I was in Utah and found this super cute brown bag/purse at Tai Pan of all places. And instead of buying it, I put it back. Stupid! Ever since then, I have been searching for a purse just like it, and nothing compares. I did find one at DSW, but it cost $195, and that is not worth my money. So now my shopping mind thinks a little like this, if I love it enough, I need to buy it.
By the way, the one above is cute, but no where near as great as the one I lost forever. It also costs $150. Ouch.

Baking Cookies

2011-05-01T18:11:00.000-07:00

These are videos of me and my favorite girls a few years ago. I can't believe how big they have gotten, but I am sure glad we have a lot of fun at our own expense. Such fun and silly girls.

Stairway to Heaven

2011-05-01T17:54:00.000-07:00

I just can't get enough of how beautiful God's creations are. This is just a taste of what I was able to enjoy while in Hawaii. (2007)

No Place

2011-04-28T17:38:00.000-07:00

I was in the temple last night, and was able to see a couple from my stake who work there on Wednesday nights and who I have grown to love so much. And she came up to me and gave me a hug, then told me that they had just gotten a call that their daughter was in a tornado in Alabama. She told me what had happened and we both just mentioned how grateful we were that both Rachael and Dan were not harmed. But I drove home with the music off and just started to think about how grateful I am to be so blessed with the gospel in my life and to know the plan that our Father has for us. There have been some crazy things happening to this world lately, but I feel so blessed be where I am and safe. I feel so bad for the families and people affected in all these horrific natural disasters.

Rachael had a young neighbor girl die in her arms. And she's a nurse, so she had to go to work that night to help with all the people that would be coming in. Her and Dan will also be staying with a family from their ward. But I am so grateful to know that they are ok.
If you want to hear her point of view, she was interviewed by Wolf Blitzer on CNN earlier today. You can watch it here

Wild West

2011-04-25T22:22:00.000-07:00

I went with my mom and brother, Kurt, on a little one day road trip down to Joshua Tree, CA a couple weeks ago. We drove down to pick up some steel artwork that was being donated to Candlelighters. I have never cared much for the desert scenery before, but I loved this trip! I had never seen an actual joshua tree, and I think they are so cool. Plus, we passed a few old spanish towns that were all run-down, but so cool. On our way back, we stopped for lunch, but my mom said we had to choose a place that we could not get in Vegas, so we went to the Carousel Cafe in this cute little town called 29 Palms. (although, I stopped counting after I got to 29, so there must be a lot of growth).
This cafe was yummy, and fast!! We had a fresh, hot meal served within minutes of ordering. It was a good time. Plus, good time bonding with my mom and brother.

Cortney Drives

2011-04-17T18:29:00.000-07:00

This was a few years ago. Jimmy and Brigett got Cort this car that was operated by remote control until she was big enough to drive it herself. The kids were driving the cars around the cul-de-sac and Cort was jammin' to the Thong Song in her car.

When I was at BYU-H my friends and I did the stairway to heaven hike and this was a video I took of the island before the sunrise.

Caution: May cause vomiting

2011-04-13T17:57:00.000-07:00

Today, I endured the worst thing of my entire life. It went like this:
After institute, I picked up my 4-year-old cousin, Grey, and his friend Hudson up from preschool. I watched them for a couple hours while my aunt went to lunch with this friend of ours who is currently investigating the church with her family. So I decided the easiest thing to do with the boys would be to take them to McDonalds and let them play for a little bit.
As we got out of the car at McDonalds, I noticed that Grey's pants were wet. I asked him if he pee'd his pants and he said no. i told him that he couldn't play in the playplace if he pee'd his pants. So I took him home to change. (he chose his swimming shorts) and we went back to McDonalds. The boys played for a while, then we went back to the house.
As I was putting on Hudson's shoes, I could smell this horrific poo smell.
My initial thought: "ah crap" -- pun intended.
We got out to the car and I asked Hudson if he had poo'd his pants. He said, "no, I just farted." Then we argued back and forth for a bit and drove to the house. This had happened to my aunt a couple weeks ago when Hudson was over. He had poo'd his pants and I secretly laughed in my head that Megan had to clean it up. Not this time. There was absolutely no laughing going on inside this head. Instead, I was crying inside my head.
I thought, "ok, I got this. I'll change his clothes like changing a baby diaper."
Yeah right!!! This isn't a baby with a little bit of poo, this was a 4 year old with chicken nugget and french fry sized poo! It was all over!! Going down his legs! I thought I was going to throw up!! I kept repeating, "I can't do this, I can't do this!" Since I was in my aunt's bathroom, I helped him take his clothes off, then I had him get in the shower. I turned on all 4 shower heads, and used the handheld one to shower him off.
All the same time, I kept telling him he can't keep poo'ing in his pants or he was going to have to wear a pull up. I got him all cleaned up, and dressed in new clothes.

The next problem: the poo filled underwear!
While gagging, I was able to flip them inside out, then just put them on the shower drain, and again turned on all 4 shower heads shooting directly at them. This was not an easy task. Not to mention, this was not my kid! Nor was it a relative! I will never be a nurse and touch anyone else's soiled pair of underwear! Sorry mom, you get to live with Melissa when you are in diapers again!!
And I have repented for laughing in my head at Megan a few weeks ago. I will never wish that CRAP on anyone!

Well I got the underwear all cleaned out and the shower cleaned out, then put the clothes in the washer. I noticed the option for a "sanitary" load. I am not exactly sure what it meant, but it sounded perfect for the situation.

After this whole scenario, I was so disgusted, I needed to go take a shower myself. I felt like Jim Carrey from Ace Ventura, except, I have no problem kissing a man. My problem is cleaning up a BUTTLOAD of poo!!

And I still don't think any amount of soap will make me feel clean again!!
Anyway, even after all this, I came outside to find that the boys had been getting each other wet with the hose. So they changed again.

Midnight Snack

2011-04-06T22:23:00.000-07:00

When I was younger, one of my favorite snacks was graham crackers with milk. I remember numerous occasions during summer thunder storms and the power would go out, some of my siblings and I would enjoy graham crackers and milk next door at my grandparents house. Now that I am older, I can't remember when the last time I had this yummy snack was.
The other day I saw my little 4 year old cousin eating graham crackers, and he had a glass of chocolate milk. So I told him to dip his cracker in the chocolate milk. The other kids were disgusted by it, and I was shocked that my uncle had never introduced them to such a yummy treat.
I did give my uncle crap for having not taught his children that. But tonight, I watched my uncle poor milk into a cup of graham crackers and mention that it had been a long time since he had had graham crackers and milk. Glad I could bring back a familiar taste to those deprived taste buds.

Facebook

2011-04-04T22:19:00.000-07:00

This may be a little weird of a subject to blog about, but can I tell you how much I love facebook more and more each day? I first got my FB before I went to BYU-H and it came in handy for sharing photos with my friends there. Instead of taking multiple photos, we just used one camera and tagged everyone in it. But now, I have it to keep track of my friends from everywhere around this world. And most recently, my mission! Since today is my birthday, I have gotten tons of messages from people. But I feel most excited to be able to keep in contact with people I would never have met if I never went on a mission, and who I love and miss so much! Some investigators, who unfortunately never got baptized, some members in the wards I served in, my one investigator:), and even some of the missionaries I was able to serve with.

And when I move to DC in a couple months, who knows if and when I'll be back. So I can keep track of all my people here in the west and know what they are all up to. As long as they don't un-friend me.

Pleasant Surprise!

2011-03-26T23:19:00.000-07:00

I have had a few surprises in my lifetime, but I came upon this little gem earlier today and have had no problem sharing it. My cousin, McKenna, was playing with my computer one day and left me this video. Too funny not to share. Enjoy.

Jeff

2011-02-13T21:56:00.000-08:00

So February 13 always weighs on my mind. 5 years ago, when I was a senior in high school, one of my mentors passed away. I had grown to love him and his family so much. I have been thinking about what I have learned from them, and when I graduated high school I wrote his wife, Julie, a letter saying what I wanted to accomplish after graduation. So like I said, It has been 5 years, and I have been able to accomplish everything I said I would. I feel so blessed to have been able to reach my goals, but more importantly blessed to be lead by a great example like Jeff.

Did you know?

2011-02-11T16:56:00.000-08:00

1. I taught myself how to tell time on a watch because I was absent from school the day the rest of my class learned.

2. I have really tiny fingers. 4.5 ring size, so it's hard to find any that fit.

3. My favorite color is purple.

4. I love math and science.

5. If I was willing to be in school for forever, I would love to be a surgeon.

6. If I built a house with all the cool ideas I have, I'd have about 16 bathrooms, 8 kitchens, 32 bedrooms, 13 staircases, and a really amazing resort style pool.

7. I am obsessed with cars.

8. I have traveled to most of the major cities in the world. i.e. San Francisco, NYC, London, Chicago, Miami, SLC

9. I would love to travel to the rest of the major cities in the world. i.e. Paris, Shanghai, Tokyo, Madrid, Bangkok

10. I have only broken one bone in my life, and it was my toe.

11. I can look two different directions at one time.

12. I have the most outrageous dreams at night, and have thought about writing them down for years, but still haven't.

13. I want to write a book someday.

14. I can't wait to spoil my future children and husband.

15. I want to fly in a hot air balloon and go bungee jumping. (not from the hot air balloon, that's just stupid)

16. I have the cutest nieces and nephews on this planet!

17. My biggest fear is failure, of which I am working on eliminating, because it is ok to fail.

18. I love to read.

19. One of my favorite games is hide-n-go seek and I'll still be playing until I am too old to seek.

20. I've always wanted a giant library like on beauty and the beast with a sliding ladder.

21. My favorite movie is Beauty and the Beast.

22. I want to learn to enjoy the snow, right now I only prefer warm and beaches.

23. I turn 23 this year and it seems so old to me.

24. I love to go hiking.

25. I want at least 4 kids.

26. I really can't think of anything that I am scared of, like snakes and spiders and stuff like that. I love snakes, and spiders are gross, but they don't freak me out.

27. The smell of formaldehyde makes me hungry. I know that's sick and twisted but anytime I was in my cadaver labs I would crave steak.

28. Among my top steak choices are carne asada french fries from Robertos. So good!!

29. I can go a long time without eating. Not on purpose, but because I never get hungry. I usually have to remind myself to eat.

30. I have absolutely no problem talking to people I do not know. I could start a whole conversation and not worry about it.

31. I don't get embarrassed or offended easily.

32. I love the smell of clean babies.

33. When I was younger, and fat, I used to want to rob a Hostess Truck, because no matter what I found I would be happy.

34. I want to have my own set of twins.

35. My favorite accessory is a watch. I hardly go anywhere without one, and own a whole lot of them.

36. I still can't laugh out loud, although lately I've learned some sort of chuckle when something is slightly funny.

37. I always wanted to be a dancer when I was younger, now I am just obsessed with watching dancing shows.

38. I serve in the primary presidency in my ward and if I could just always be in the primary forever, I'd be totally ok with it.

39. My favorite sport is basketball and I enjoy watching it with my dad.

40. I want to learn how to sing, just so I don't crack when I try to hit the high notes.

41. I taught myself how to play the piano after quitting lessons and switching to violin. I was able to use the violin scales and add them to what I know on the piano to be able to sight read.

42. I secretly want to be a Kardashian. (ok, no longer a secret)

43. I get terrible road rage and I admit that I am a backseat driver.

44. I think I am really funny sometimes and can't help but laugh at my own jokes.

45. I have a really good time when I am with my siblings and think we tell the best jokes.

46. I used to wear my sister's clothes to school since she left before me and change before she got home from work.

47. My fingernails grow incredibly fast and I have to clip them every week.

48. I have Bieber Fever, But more so just to watch him dance. Go white boy!

49. I have a huge crush on "Dr. Avery" from Grey's Anatomy. Please tell me he doesn't have the most beautiful eyes.

50. I think Christina Aguillera has a horrible singing voice. When I try really hard I can sound just like her, and unfortunately I am not making millions of dollars. Don't believe me? Call me and I'll sing over the phone.

Got Snow?

2011-02-03T13:56:00.001-08:00

The Howard's live in Sycamore, IL and let me use some of their pictures from this week's snow storm in the midwest.
Brother Howard went out to clear the drive-way.

Snow in the neighbor's driveway.

There is actually a lake/pond out there. Do you see it? I don't, it's covered in snow and ice.

Koryn out the sliding glass door

This is brother Raya's truck. I can assume he's not going anywhere for a while.

Cold feet

2011-02-01T18:25:00.000-08:00

I have discovered something. It's nothing new. In fact, you all probably use them on a regular basis. Unfortunately, I have not. This new discovery is...

Sock! Yes, people! Socks! Where have they been all my life? For the past 22 years I have gone everyday wearing flip flops and sandals, even through the winter. And for some reason, this winter I have been so cold, that I have chosen to put socks on instead of jamming my feet under somebody's butt when I am laying on the couch. I did wear socks with my work shoes, but also had a pair of flip flops in my car, so immediately I would take my shoes off and replace them with the flippy floppies in my back seat. I also can't sleep without them. Yes, I have been sleeping with socks. Weird, but wonderful. I love making new discoveries. What have you discovered lately?

Random Photos

2011-01-27T20:31:00.001-08:00

The Spirit=Happiness

2011-01-26T22:21:00.000-08:00

"...under the influence of the Spirit we act in wisdom. We see the complexity of a problem in its simple parts, and we see the possible solutions unfolding in front of our own eyes---to our surprise. In other words, our creativity is developed and multiplied. That which is a burden without it becomes a privilege when we are under the influence of the Holy Ghost...In my understanding, maybe the most important principle that came to light in the message of the Restoration is the revelation that man is not a slave, not a victim of circumstance---that he is an agent for himself....seeing ourselves in our full responsibility means also seeing ourselves in our weaknesses, in our lost opportunities, and in our failures--which makes us humble and meek. We see the necessity to enter into a covenant with the author of life, to activate the atoning blood of Christ to wash us clean, and to embrace, gratefully, the gracious gift of the Holy Ghost for our essential empowerment. You want to be good and do good. That is commendable. But the greatest achievement that can be reached in our lives is to be under the complete influence of the Holy Ghost. Then he will teach us what is really good and necessary to do..." Elder F. Enzio Busche

Hot or Cold

2011-01-25T22:32:00.000-08:00

I started to go through the extra stuff on my blog and decided, I'm just going to keep the weather forecast for Chicago up. It gives me something to be grateful for each day I look at it and realize, I would be freezing my tush off right now! Or dead! I don't tolerate the cold very well. I'd like to say I could so I could dress all cute in a scarf and beanie, but my bones hurt when I'm cold. So, I'll just keep enjoying this 78 degree weather we are having here in Vegas :)

With All My Heart

2011-01-20T18:45:00.000-08:00

Ok, So time is passing quickly. It's crazy to say that I have been home from my mission longer than I was out. Actually, it's really just sad. But I am moving on and look forward to the future, but I still have thoughts from my mission and stuff that I want to write down before I actually do.

While I was in the MTC, Sister Susan C. Jones spoke to us during Relief Society. She told us of how when she was taking her oldest son to the MTC she had asked him what his motto would be, "no regrets." She asked us to come up with a motto of how we wanted to serve our missions. So I came up with, "With all my heart." This meant so much to me. Serve with all my heart. Love with all my heart. Teach with all my heart. And I could go on forever. But it really started to stick with me. Everything I did, I wanted to give it my all.

Even when I started getting sick, I kept replaying that in my mind, "work with all my heart." I knew I was still on the Lord's time and needed to keep going forward.

But the day we had our zone conference was also the day I first went to see the doctor. During conference, I looked over at my MTC companion and just saw the glow on her face. I told her right after conference that I was having problems and was going to see the dr. She gave me so much love and encouragement, and said "Sister Avance, remember, with all of your heart." We had already planned on serving in the city together, because 3 weeks in the MTC just wasn't enough.

Since I have been home, I have kept that motto still going, and as I study the scriptures each day, I continue to grow. But it's a different growth. Even though plans have changed, i have learned to Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. I know my Heavenly Father has a plan for me. And each day I have had to continually rely on Him and learn to trust that He knows better than I do. And with that, I have learned to Love the Lord thy God with all thine heart. And I do.

I am grateful for the challenges that I have had. I have no regrets. I don't necessarily want to have to go through it all ever again, but I am sure grateful for the person it has made me today. What a blessing!!!

Book Review

2011-01-20T18:24:00.000-08:00

My sister got me a gift card to Barnes and Noble for Christmas. I love to read, and love to get into a book that I can't put down. So i sort of took time to go through the lists of books i wanted to read, and check different reader's opinions. I chose:
Great read! Quick and easy. But I don't know if I give it 5 stars, and I don't know if that is because I loved the other book so much more. But I am Number 4 is about a boy from the planet of Lorien who came to earth with 17 others from his planet, because it was being attacked by members of another planet. Three of his kind have already been killed, and He is number 4.
Ok, I know you might be thinking, "really?" I am not into sci-fi stuff at all. I have never seen star wars, nor do I want to. I guess the whole space thing is dumb to me. But really, this book is not like that at all. It also may have had a typical ending where the enemy outnumbers the good guys, but the good guys still win. Did I give away the ending? Probably not. You can guess. But good to read. Or just wait until the movie comes out.

And...

I am in love with this book! Ok, so it's sort of like the Hunger Games, which I loved, but mainly all about the love story. I give it 5 stars. The author is artistic in her writing, and the plot is really great. I could not put this book down...but I also did not want the story to end. I took my time, but still finished quickly. I cannot wait until the next book comes out! And I think everyone should read it! Overview: Cassia lives a life where everything is chosen for her; what she eats, wears, what she does. Even who she marries. She has a banquet to see who she is going to marry, and sees the face of her best friend, Xander, pop up on the screen, but then before the screen shuts off the face of someone else comes up, Ky. She can't get that face out of her mind and wants to find out if she has a choice after all. Love story. Maybe I like those sorts of things, ok? Just read it!

That's my 2 cents. Anybody have any other book suggestions? I've restarted Da Vinci Code for like the 3rd time, but this time I want to finish. It's getting good.

I'm a Mormon!

2011-01-06T16:46:00.000-08:00

While I was in the MTC, Stephen B. Allen of the missionary department came and shared a devotional with us. Devotionals were the greatest! I could look around the room and see hundreds of missionaries, feel the Spirit, and know that I was able to be a missionary too!! Brother Allen shared with us the new Mormon.Org website and showed us some of the videos and profiles that would be shared on there. It is so amazing to see the stories of people and why they believe what they believe.

I just watched the video of a man named Stan. (watch here) And then go ahead and look at some of the other videos.

I am so grateful to have a testimony of Jesus Christ. Although I do not have a profile on mormon.org, it was always my priority to share my testimony so that others could read my blog while I was serving. I am no longer a set apart missionary, but I am still a member missionary and so grateful to be able to share what I know.

I will never deny my Father in Heaven, nor His son Jesus Christ. I stand firm in my beliefs and hope that everyone gets the opportunity to learn more about our Savior. Without Him, we can do nothing and we are never alone. The gospel brings pure peace, happiness, and joy to my life. For that I am blessed.

Happy New Year!!!

2011-01-04T11:01:00.000-08:00

Look Not Behind Thee

I am so grateful for the New Year. Not because it really changes within the seconds of a countdown, but it's the hope that new things can happen. I am also so grateful for the Atonement and the ability we have to change when we do something we don't necessarily feel great about. Our Savior has paid the ultimate price for us, so that we can change and be better so that we can be more like Him.

I hope we all have a Happy New Year and that we can remember our Savior each day.

First Day in the Mission Field

2011-01-03T21:01:00.001-08:00

It has been a really long time since I have posted anything, and i have plenty to post, but I'm too lazy to sit down and get all my thoughts together.

But one of the great things that my mission president does when we get to Chicago is have the assistants take all the new missionaries around the city. We traveled from the airport on the EL train into the city to get pizza. On the train we had the opportunity to give a book of mormon away. The assistants had Sister Doll's flip camera to catch all the excitement of the day! I could watch it over and over, but I decided I would share that link for all to enjoy:) (Click here)

Test Anxiety

2010-11-07T23:21:00.001-08:00

I probably shouldn't be such a bum about updating my blog since more people have actually been reading it than ever before. But I never know how much detail I can really get in to.

But the other day I received a quote from one of my best friends to help me with everything that has happened with my mission that says, "The test comes when we get the prompting and then things don't work out perfectly at first. We must keep going, for it will work out eventually." -Unknown AKA Kaitlyn Wadsworth:)

I hate tests. In fact, I would rather give a 20 minute speech than have to take a test; but nothing is harder than being tested by the Lord. My first thought was, was my test the prompting to go on a mission --or-- the prompting that it's ok to come home from my mission?

Either way, I have been learning a lot. And I have learned that things do work out. For whatever reason, the Lord has us do things that don't necessarily make sense to us, but ultimately are to help us become better and happier people.

I can honestly say this is a test that I have enjoyed. My mission has been the greatest thing I have ever done. And although extremely hard to do, coming home has been such a blessing in a way maybe only I understand.

But I am happy :) Getting healthier :) and learning more and more each day.

Joy!!!

2010-10-20T13:27:00.000-07:00

So most of you know by now that I am home right now on medical leave. It has been such an emotional, yet strengthening experience for me. But the joy that I have felt from my mission is beyond my description. But today, my joy makes me so thrilled to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

My very last day, I had a couple hours notice to pack and head towards the mission home. We had to go see Alejandro before we left, and as emotional as it was, had to tell him that I wouldn't be there for his baptism, but I was excited for him.

There is nothing more painful than to walk away from being able to watch someone become a member of Christ's church. But nothing brings more Joy than knowing I was able to be an instrument in the Lord's hands to help Alejandro come closer to His Savior.

Alejandro was baptized on Sunday, October 10, 2010. From the letters I got from my companion, she said Alejandro's son (Diego) Yelled, "Yay Papi!!" as he came up out of the water. Oh how happy that makes me. His son already recognizes the importance. But I also received this from her today:

"but seriously this week has been really good.
the crowning event happened sunday at Alejandro's confirmation.
afterwards he was just really happy and excited. he told us all about how he felt and that it was just a confirmation that he was doing the right thing.
he is so excited about the joy he feels from following jesus christ...
he wants us to teach all of his friends.
in fact last friday he set up this thing where his friends come over every sunday night.
and they need the gospel they just don't know it.
so since they will be there.. then we can be there too at the same time.
so sunday when we arrived he turned off the music and stopped playing pool..
and his friends Adrian and Juan were there.. and i've met them before i just haven't taught them or anything.
they listened and we taught them the first lesson and they agreed to come back every sunday and learn more.
they have el libros and they will read them and we will talk about it this sunday.
Alejandro said that every sunday we can just have some members come with us and there will be food and he will invite his friends over.
wow. i love alejandro.
and so when i thanked him for having us over he said "just doing my job!"
what an awesome member.
i think he's going to be like the spanish branch president or something cause he has so much faith!"

I know Alejandro will do many great things! He was always so willing to learn more, and knew right away the things we were teaching him were right.

I know that this gospel is true. Without a tiny bit of doubt. I am so grateful to be part of the Lord's work, and even now as a released missionary, I know there is so much more I can do. Oh what JOY!!!!

Letter #15

2010-10-03T10:53:00.000-07:00

So today was transfers...yes another 6 weeks has gone by...so fast!! And luckily sister clark and I get to stay together. I feel very grateful for that. We have seen so many miracles this last week, during our "last week in the mission field." Last Thursday we went with our ward mission leader and his wife to a little town called Fair Oaks to go tracting. At first we got lost and ended up getting there later than we thought, but parked in front of this old man's house who was sitting on his front porch. So we started talking to him and he claims to be Atheist, but as we're talking this Mexican man named Salvador comes over to us. Saying he knows who we are and has been waiting for us all day. He kept calling us angels...(and he doesn't speak any english) He told us to follow him to his house..and he was soooo drunk! haha He kept grabbing my wrist and putting my arm around his shoulders, and doing that to Brother Fernandez (our BML) on the other side. So we were walking like we were off to see the wizard or something...and I was laughing so hard!! You could just smell the alcohol on him, but he wanted us to go to his house. So we did and we were able to teach his wife and his daughter the plan of salvation. It was awesome!! And we're going back tomorrow for our next appt.
After we left that house we walked down the street a little ways to run into a guy named Tim who we will also be teaching tomorrow. We kept walking and came up to Isabel, who we will be teaching tomorrow, and kept walking and came to a lady named Eileen and her grandson Anthony. Anthony was just in a horrific car accident 2 days before and just had his face scratched up, but the car was parked outside and was totally messed up! The Lord was watching over him. we taught them the restoration and will be going back to teach them tomorrow.
So we met all these people without once knocking on a door. And we know that the timing of us actually getting to Fair Oaks was what the Lord had planned so that we could find these people.

The Branch is so excited to get new people. They say if they get 2 new families, they can have a church building. So that is what I want to help them do. I sure do love serving here and hope I get to stay here for quite a while. Everyone is so loving and always want to help us out. It's great!!

Thank you for all the love and support. I know that the gospel is true, and I am really excited for conference this weekend. I am grateful for a living prophet, President Monson and for the time we get to listen to him twice a year. (atleast) (plus that means it's 6 more months until my birthday:) )
Have a great week, and have fun.
with all my heart,
Sister Avance

Pictures:
#1. Check out the temp..and check out who is only wearing a light sweater... Ok that lasted one day, because it's been cold since then haha

#2. Sunset:)

#3. My district. Huge dorks...but I love them. haha

#4. From what I was told Prince lived in this house.. if anyone wants to google it and find out for sure...It's in Hebron, Indiana. Otherwise it's just a cool purple house

Letter #14

2010-09-25T13:55:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we had stake conference. It was awesome because 3 of the recent converts in our branch were able to receive the Melchizedek priesthood. It was so special, half of our branch was in the little high council room and it was just great to see how much they love each other and support each other like a family.

During our district meeting on Monday, our district leader decided to make a little pact with each of us. Last week, our numbers sucked! Everyone was in this emotional or somewhat weird rut last week. And since next week one of the Elders is going home, we all decided that we would work super hard like this was our last week too. I'm pretty pumped and so excited to go find more people to teach.

These past 8 weeks have been so super hard for me. I know the only reason I managed to make it through was my Savior pulling me along and helping me to have faith. I have learned so much about patience and trust and faith, and I have seen how I have been blessed in my efforts to continue to do what the Lord has asked me to do. As I have been studying in Nephi, he is asked by his father to return to Jerusalem to obtain the brass plates. His father was given that commandment by the Lord, and in 1 Ne 3:5 it says "behold I have not required it of them, but it is a commandment of the Lord." And I think about that on my mission. I received a witness from the Holy Ghost that I was to come on my mission, and although it is not required of me, it has been commanded. Therefore, I must obey the commandments of the Lord. It has been extremely hard. And I have struggled with many things, but I know that the Lord has asked me to be here, and I would do whatever He asks of me. I take each day at a time and know that the Lord has a specific plan for me. He has prepared me to be here and knows that I can handle whatever he throws at me. And sometimes I want to be like Laman and Lemuel and just murmur and whine and complain about the trials I have to go through, but I do what I know I need to do because I know my family and I will be blessed. And honestly, it makes me so happy to see how much our family has been blessed. I am so grateful to see pictures of Jimmy's family in St. Kitts and I just got a cute package from Melissa. So I know they're doing well. Jill has sent me pictures of Ethan and he is growing so healthy and happy. And Kurt sounds so happy in his emails too! I love that!

I do know that the Lord loves us all. He does not want to see us suffer, but he does want to test our faith and make us stronger. I still have some work to go, but I would never go through the past 8 weeks again, ever! But I am grateful for the person it has made me today, and that I can get through anything. (I hope). I am also soooo grateful for the wonderful missionaries and mission president that I have. They have all been so supportive of me and helping give me the strength that I have needed. It's truly amazing! And I have the best companion that I could ever have right now. She has just been great!

Yesterday we had the most amazing thunderstorm. We had dinner in Wheatfield at a member's home, which is like 25 minutes away. Oh funny story real quick, they had their 2 year old grandson there, Ethan. He is so cute. He is in love with me. Ha-ha he would sit next to me on the couch and play with my hair. He put his arm around me. And layed his head on my lap. And a couple times stood up and sat on my lap, and I had to pick up off me. That is the crappiest part of our missionary rules, but it was cute!
So about the thunderstorm. We headed home and it was raining so hard. Here in the Midwest the lightning goes crazy, it's better than fireworks and lights up the whole sky. But as I was driving, the rain was pouring sideways going the opposite direction. It had the weirdest illusion like I was driving against a river, but was so awesome!

I love being here in Indiana. I never knew I'd ever live here, but it's been great to experience and learn to love.
I love being a missionary and being able to share the gospel with those around me. It is such a blessing. I know it's all true. I am so grateful for president Monson and the other leaders of this great church. I love you all and hope you have a great week.

With all my heart,
Sister Avance

Letter #13

2010-09-16T09:59:00.001-07:00

We visited a little town called Gary, Indiana (wanna hear me sing it?) to stop by the childhood home of....MICHAEL JACKSON!!! (sorry I look fat)

Last week we had zone conference and Elder Maynes from the 70 came and spoke. He is awesome and talked about reaching our goals. Missionary goals are so much different than life goals, but I am grateful that all my life I have had a strong desire to reach my goals. And I've recognized so much how the Lord helps us to reach them. So even in this area, where the work is slow, we have really been able to reach our main goals and see success.

We were also able to go to the temple today. The Chicago temple is so beautiful and I am so grateful that I am able to go there, even if it's been 3 months (yes, exactly 3 months ago today I went to the temple with mom and kaitlyn before entering the MTC) I was also able to see one of the sisters in the Dekalb ward who I love so much. She works there on Wednesdays so i was already excited to find her. But before our session started, the group of us went in and sat in the baptistry. They just had a mural painted on the wall of the baptistry of Jesus being baptized. And it's really cool cause it's huge...and as you listen to the water in the font flow you can just look at the painting and imagine our Savior being baptized as well. It's so incredible.

Our investigator, Alejandro, had his interview for baptism the other night. So he will be baptized in the coming weeks. He is so great!!

I love this area so much and love the people I get to serve with. I am so grateful that the Lord is aware of me and knows what I need. I am also so grateful for all the other missionaries I get to serve with. I learn so much from them and just feel really blessed to have been called to this mission. The Chicago area is awesome!

I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father. I am also so grateful for the knowledge i have of my Savior that I can share with people here. i have learned so much and feel more and more blessed each day. I am grateful for an amazing family and i am so glad that you are all happy and doing so well!! I couldn't be more happy that you are all finding success and joy in your lives.

I love this gospel. I love you all. keep being amazing!!
With all my heart,
Sister Avance

The pictures for this week:)
1. Our little branch after doing service

2. Good ole' Chicago skyline

3. The beautiful Chicago Temple!!!:)

Letter #12

2010-09-09T09:48:00.001-07:00

This week has been great. We were able to find another amazing investigator and invited him to baptism:) He is scheduled to be baptized on October 9. When I first got to this area, I was told that this town was really slow and that the sisters earlier this year had tracted the whole town. But I told sister Clark that wouldn't stop me. I would tract this whole town all over again. We've tracted only a little bit of the town, but we are finding great people. I know the Lord wouldn't send me anywhere I couldn't find success.
The branch here is great. It is so small, as I've said before, but the members are awesome. All of them are converts. The branch president even told me that it took the missionaries 8 years for him to finally accept the gospel. I love hearing everybody's conversion stories too. There are so many different types of religions. Methodist, Catholic, Presbyterian, lutheran, you name it...they were there once. And to hear how they felt when they found the gospel is truly amazing! I love these people so much. They really are like a big family to me.

We also did go to the cubs game last week with a bunch of the missionaries. Did you get that email from my RS pres with our pic from the game? The Cubs won!! and it was fun! harry Caray's wife threw the first pitch and our seats were great. The weather couldn't have been better either. Tomorrow we have Zone conference and Elder Maines from the 70 is speaking to us. I'm excited to go see all of the other missionaries also. And next week we get to go to the temple.

This letter is super short. I don't know what else to say. But I love this work. I love serving the Lord and know that I have been prepared my entire life to be here. I know the Lord has a plan for me and He's helping me every step of the way. Have a great week! Love you!

With all my heart,
Sister Avance

Letter #11

2010-09-03T10:58:00.000-07:00

2 thoughts:
#1 Let's go Cubbies!!! ( we are going to a game today, and apparently they are rededicating the Harry Carry Memorial..."If the moon was made out of cheese, would you eat it? I know I would!")

#2 HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARIANA!!!

This gospel is true! I love being a missionary and feel so blessed to be able to do the Lord's work. Press Forward and Be happy:)

With all my heart,
Sister Avance

Letter #10

2010-08-26T12:56:00.001-07:00

My new area looks and feels just like Dekalb, surrounded by cornfields, farms and soy beans! It's just half the size. The members are small in number but strong in testimony. They are great! They go to the temple 3 times a week, and it's 2 1/2 hours away!! i love it! They are so willing to help us work and we never struggle to get a member present at an invitation. From what I've already noticed, and heard about this area is it's hard. The people are so set in their own religions and they do not want us here. But we were already able to invite 2 people to baptism for September and are working on preparing them. They will be great!
One of our investigators speaks Spanish, and I've been practicing my prayers in Spanish. I’m getting there. But I definitely still need work.
We also have a few members here that know people I know from home. We had dinner with a family last night who the dad used to work with Jeff Frehner. And we have another family whose son served in Vegas, and now lives there too, and is really good friends with the Steele's. I'm sure I've met him too at one of the parties I've been to or something, I just don't know for sure. Small world.
We're meeting the elders in our zone today to go to the beach and play games. And next Wednesday, we're going to a CUBS game!!!! I am so excited!! Apparently the team they are playing aren't very good either, so it could be a great game! and Cubs might possibly win:)
But I love you and hope everything is going well. I hope the camping trip was fun and nobody got hurt or anything.
This church is true. Even though there's a bunch of other churches here in the Midwest. I know that the apostasy happened, and that the restoration is real! I know that Joseph Smith saw God the Father, and His son in a grove of trees and we have a wonderful knowledge of the true church of Christ. And while other churches have good intentions and know parts of truth, I have a great responsibility to help our lost brothers and sisters know the truth.
Have a great week!
With all my heart,
Sister Avance

Letter #9

2010-08-22T11:17:00.001-07:00

Well on to new news...we had transfers..and I got transferred....
to Rensselaer, Indiana!!! Out in the middle of nowhere indiana. Completely opposite side of the mission! It's a large area with very small amount of members. Just one branch, and we went to the Church Building today and it is so tiny!! It makes me feel like I am in a foreign country. The members are awesome already, and even bought our groceries today. I was shocked, but grateful. I don't know what to expect yet, but I am excited for this change and being able to work hard in this area.

It was hard saying bye to my old area and all the members and investigators I had. I feel like i was finally remembering who everyone was, and now I'm gone. I am also going to be missing our two baptisms next week. August 29, and Sept. 1:( But I can call them and either way, it's exciting that they are getting baptized. In dekalb, We also were able to find 2 investigators from China last week, and invited them to be baptized! We had a zone meeting with President and Sister Doll (who I love so much!!!) and they practiced our invitations to baptism with us. We should be doing that sooner than later, so our first lessons or visits with our new investigators that is one of the first things we ask, and last Saturday we had 3 people commit. It's amazing to know that some people just want to be invited and most missionaries are scared of the response so they don't.

My new companion is Sister Clark from Annabella, Utah. She knows Tim (Nellie's husband) and Cameo (Justin's gf) from Richfield. Small world. She seems very outgoing and fun, so I am excited about that.

I am so grateful for my knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ. One thing that is really hard to hear as a missionary is that people are "ok" or they have "enough" and that breaks my heart. I don't think anybody could ever have enough of the gospel or learn enough about Our Savior. Especially because God's whole plan is about progression, so we should constantly be trying to be better. What can I do today to be more like my Savior? What can I do today to be a better example to those around me? We should never get to a point where we are "ok" or know "enough."

I am so grateful for you and for your constant example to me. You have been such a strength in my life, and I feel so blessed to have been raised by goodly parents.

I know this church is true and that I am ready to do whatever the Lord asks of me. I am ready to be teaching here in Indiana and helping others to know more about our Savior. I don't want them to say that they are "ok" or know "enough." This work is great!

I love you.
With all my heart,
Sister Avance

The pictures: I hopped a train in Rochelle on Saturday:) It was moving, slowly, but we needed to get across..haha
The guy on the tractor totally reminded me of grampa B riding his lawnmower to get a soda at the gas station. Priceless:)

2 months out!!

2010-08-17T17:34:00.000-07:00

Skyline

Hello again,

As for this week in the life of Sister Avance,
I am learning so much, and find that every day during study, an hour just isn't enough time. I keep wanting to know more, and not having time to get it all in. I am grateful that I still have the rest of eternity to continue to learn and grow closer to our Heavenly Father.

That story about the pennies you sent last week was really neat. In fact I started collecting pennies too....only instead of saving them, sister carmack and I have been putting them on the rail road tracks and smashing them:) I'm gonna send some home to Tyler. So we cover a little town that is famous for its railway system, and spent all day Saturday proselyting in that town. It’s famous for having one of the areas where the BNSF and Union railroads cross each other. At the Rochelle (that's the town) visitor center we started talking to the girl who works there and were able to schedule an appt to meet with her this weekend! Just the way things ended up, we got there right when it was closing, so we got there just in time to talk to her by herself and learned how much she really needs the gospel. It’s amazing how the Lord works and how things are just perfect for us being able to teach.

Another thing I recognized this week, In Illinois, people always ask, "ya know?" and I say that all the time now!!! It drives me crazy!! ha-ha I was talking to a member the other day and must have said it 3 times in 30 seconds, and started laughing to myself cause it was the first time I noticed it!.

But I also have been thinking about new goals I want to accomplish now that I have accomplished all my other big goals. So new ones...1) finish my application to Oxford (I don't know for sure if I will go, but I do want to apply) 2). Go back to Europe and study art 3). Take photography classes.
These might be so random, but I have absolutely fallen in love with the architecture and art of Illinois and think it would be awesome to learn more, and what better place than Europe. Plus, the history and buildings that are here are so cool and I want to come back and do photography at some point, so it would be cool to know the real techniques on it all.
So enough about the things that don't matter right now, because I am on a mission, But just thought I’d mention that. (And write it down:) )

I am learning so much. I am so grateful everyday for the people the Lord puts in our path that we are able to talk to. I know that we may not get an appointment with everyone, but I am grateful to know that I am leaving something in their hearts to ponder on, so that when they are ready to accept the gospel, they know where to find it.

We had to reschedule one of our baptisms for a couple more weeks because she is having trouble quitting smoking. But I am so excited to be able to teach the gospel to her and being able to watch her testimony grow each week. She is awesome! I am also grateful to recognize how much love I have for her, and for everyone else we teach.

This church is true and I am so happy to have the knowledge of it. It’s such a blessing to be able to recognize the Lord's hands in all things and to be able to share it with everyone.
Have a great week.

With all my heart,
Sister Avance

P.S. For more pics/videos and updates on Krista, check out Sister Doll's Blog (under the friends list)

Letter #7

2010-08-06T09:09:00.001-07:00

Thank you so much for this weeks letter. As always, I love knowing how happy and things are at home. Whether or not they are, it's all still a blessing:)
But I am also so glad that you are loving Candlelighters. I have been thinking about it a lot lately. One of our less actives, that has been coming to church regularly now, has a friends who's 3 year old little boy died this weekend from a Brain Tumor. Her friend is not a member, but she is hoping that this will bring her friends closer to God and not away from Him. I thought maybe I;ll have her call you, just to know what to say to her friend. But I have also thought about what a blessing, (although still hard to experience) that has been in our lives. I think we have all grown to love the plan of Salvation and have been a close family because of the choices we have to make to return to live with our Father, Savior, and Mikey again.

I also was thinking, is there anything that I can do here in Dekalb on my Pday for candlelighters, that I can send to you?

Also, I was also thinking about Christmas in the Caribbean! Brigett told me that Jimmy had turned in his letter, and I am sooooooo excited that he got accepted!! And not that I think much about coming home, but if I'm right, I think i'll come home right around Thanksgiving, and you can all come pick me up, then we can go scuba diving in the caribbean!!! I had a patient that went to St. Kitts and she would tell me stuff (cause I thought about Jimmy) and she loved it!! So I am excited for him!!!

Tell dad not worry too much about his new calling. My friend stephanie got that exact same calling in the Red Rock Ward before I came out, and we both said we'd turn down that calling...haha But he will do great. He'll learn alot. And the spirit will tell everyone everything they need to know. I know that, because I am a clueless missionary, but I rely on the Spirit to direct everything I do and say. And "the Lord giveth no commandment unto the children of men, save He shall prepare a way for them to accomplish the thing that He commandeth them." He will be great:)

As for the shirts, we both wear a small or medium. I guess it depends on the shirt.

And thanks for letting dad know that I need money in my account. I don't know what my balance is right now, but I do have to get my hepatitus shot, and I'll probably do it either next friday or the next friday, but I will have to pay for that, and I don't know how much it is, because this doofus forgot to ask when I made the appointment:) haha

So this week,
As always, full of miracles. We invited an investigator to baptism yesterday, and she picked the date for September 1, but needed to check to make sure her husband will be home to go. She is awesome!! She is our "Illinois Mom" and always calls herself a "dry Mormon" but during sacrement on Sunday she said she wanted to be a "wet Mormon!"

I also received my very first Quran the other day. We have been teaching a Muslim family from Turkey, and they gave us each a Quran. Of course I can't read it, but it still gives me a stronger testimony of the Book of Mormon.

But last week, I was struggling a little bit with myself. I read in Ether 12:27 (Mikeys favorite scripture) and the line "my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me" just really stuck out to me. I immediately realized I needed to learn a little humility, so I was trying to find scriptures to know "how" to be humble. And of course I didn't want to pray to be humbled, because the Lord answers prayers and He would give me experiences that I would have to humble myself. haha. But later that night we were having dinner with a Less active member and I shared a thought with her in 1 Nephi 17:13 it says" And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led toward the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led"

And after I read that and explained to her how I felt about that verse, she said something that really just struck me. She said that the Lord laughs at our jokes when we tell Him what our plans are. And I just really started to think about how true she was. The past few years I have been telling heavenly Father what I wanted., and now I am on a mission (something I didn't necessarily want), and really need to learn to trust Him and allow Him to be the light in the wilderness. That if I do humble myself, and keep His commandments, He will lead me. Is He leading you?

I am learning so much and loving this work. I am loving serving the Lord and being able to humble myself and do as He wants me to do, and not as I want to do.

This church is true. The Book of Mormon is amazing!! I love you all.

With all my heart,
Sister Avance

PS. The photo for the week: I found this bear in the gutter the other day while riding our bikes. He was still clean and happy, so I adopted him. Couldn't be a more perfect bear because It's a CUBS bear!!! His name is,......Cubbie (we thought hard about this one!!)

Letter #6

2010-07-29T11:30:00.001-07:00

Hey, glad to hear the family reunion was fun. My P-day is wednesday, but last week, because i was in Lake Villa, and there was training, we had our P-day on Friday. But now we're back to the normal schedule and things are going great.
I thought about the reunion a little, but that I was missing it at all. But that we had dinner at a member's home on Monday night, and their home is just amazing. They have a big backyard (typical for here in the midwest) but they just put up a swing like we used to have in panaca. it hung from a giant tree in their backyard, so I was telling them how the older boys used to pull us from the fourwheeler so that we swung way high! I loved that!! They also have a zipline in their backyard. but instead of slamming into a mattress..haha or scraping their knees across the ground, there is a tire that the line goes through so it stops them before they hit anything. and it just allows the line to bounce off. hard to explain, but I could probably draw it pretty well. They also had a tree fort, and it made me think about how me, randell, and Tara climbed up into the old tree house and thought we were the coolest ever because no one had gotten up there in so long. great times at the reunion, and I am so grateful for all those memories of panaca and enjoying time with our wonderful family.

Tell Kyle Goodluck on applying for another EMT. He'll get a job when the time is right, and I will keep him in my prayers. When is Kurt starting flight school? I am excited for that. There are planes around here all the time. The cropdusters, and then other personal planes. Alot of the time when I am running in the morning there are some pretty nice planes flying overhead, so I remember Kurt was going to start school again and it makes me happy he is going to be following through with something he loves so much.

I am also really glad Ethan's surgery went well. Give him kisses for me!! And I am glad to know that his heart will be strong and healthy so he can start practicing for the dance team:) Don't tell Robbie I said that! haha

And I thought it was candlelighters that you got your job with, I just wasn't positive. I don't remember how many miles I drove each day, because most days i didn't drive straight home from work. Or I went to school first. I just know that it took me 30 minutes to get to work each day, and probably a little more coming home. It's a crappy drive, but when you do what you love, it doesn't matter too much. I am also glad you get to work for Candlelighters again. They are a great organization and I know you have a great desire to help them succeed.

As for this week, it's only been about 4 days since we emailed:) haha but there's always amazing miracles. We still have a baptism set for August 16, and since yesterday schedule another one for the end of August. hopefully by the end of this week we will have 2 more set. Our investigators are amazing and do have a testimony. It is so amazing to see how much they grow everytime we visit.

We've also been working with a couple less active sisters who haven't been to church in years. One started coming back 2 weeks ago and hadn't been to church in 10 years. Her testimony is amazing! She knows its true and knows she has been missing it, but hasn't tried to dwell too much on the past but looks to improve her future. She feeds us all the time. And another sister hasn't been to church in 15 years. We've visited her a few times and has an amazing testimony, but doesn't feel very welcome at church. We do know she needs to work on her faith in the Atonement to help her to have forgiveness, but she is progressing.
But it just made me think about a quote I will share:
"If we are to walk with our head held high, we must make our contribution to life. If we are to fulfill our destiny and return to live with our Father in Heaven, we must keep His commandments and patternour lives after the Savior. By so doing, we will not only achieve our goal of eternal life, but we will also leave the world richer and better than it would have been had we not lived and performed our duties." --President Monson

It just made me think about us, as members, doing our missionary work within our families, our wards, our friends. Are we doing our duty as members to live and do as our Savior does? this also means recognizing new members at church, introducing yourself to someone you have never recognized before. That really can make a difference in someone's life. I think it was "how to win friends and influence people" that says that all people have the desire to feel loved or important. And I think that is the best way we can be member missionaries; Reaching out our hands in love. I guess it also says that in the scriptures, so I didn't really need to quote a non-doctrinal book, haha but that always has stuck out at me.

Just something to think about.

Also, our new dress standards are out. Which I don't know the exactness yet other than our skirts don't have to be midcalf (which mine really haven't been, i'm tall) and we need to wear lots of color. But I don't think I ever told you, but sister doll doesn't make us wear nylons unless we have a meeting or it's colder than 80 degrees:) She loves us!! I do have some ridiculous tan lines though!! my toes are white and the tops of my feet are dark. it's attractive.

Well things are great! The Church is SOOOO true! Jesus Christ is our Savior and He loves us! I love you all:) Choose the right!

With all my heart, Sister Avance

Letter #5

2010-07-28T20:50:00.000-07:00

You're hot?!? Yeah right, come to the midwest and enjoy the humidity:) It's been killing us this week! haha. Ok not exactly, but when sweat starts dripping down my legs even and I have the strongest desire to streak, you know it's hot!

I hope you are all having fun at the reunion. It can't be as fun without me, but you'll have to let me know if any pregnant polygamists show up:)

Also, new recipe...so good. try it! we had dessert with a family the other day and she got a graham cracker pie crust. then mixed vanilla ice cream (as much as you need to fill the crust) with half a can of frozen lemonade ..in a separate container. once that's mixed put it in the crust and freeze it until you want to eat it. then serve it with fresh strawberries. It's delicious and I crave it all the time now.

Ok missionary stuff for the week. Last week we were able to commit an investigator to baptism. She has set the goal for August 16!! The sad part is that she committed on Saturday, and we left this week for training. Well My companion had training with all the DL's and ZL's and the presidency, while the rest of us greenie's spent our week in another area proselyting. It was really cool b/c I was with another greeny who i came out with in Lake Villa. Sister Doll was excited that we were going out on our own.
But this poor girl was having a really hard time in her area. And thankfully my trainer is amazing and I was able to train this other sister all the things I had learned. Our first day out we got 2 new investigators with amazing discussions, and committed 2 people to baptism, then we also were able to talk to a recent convert and she wants to be able to go through the temple! It was amazing!! Sister Doll wanted us to call that night and tell her how our day went, and since it was amazing, president Doll told everybody the next day at the training about our day! I love this work and being able to share it with others to help them make commitments as well.

Among that amazing work, I knew the Lord loved me enough because he sent me to an area with BW3's!! Yes!! And I had some for dinner the other night. Tender Mercies:)

I want you all to know how much I love the gospel and feel so blessed to be able to be a missionary. It's a tremendous responsibility, but I am being carried everyday by the spirit to do the work. I am also so grateful to have this knowledge. It makes this life so much easier. I do know this is the only true church, without a doubt!!

I love you all and think of you often...enough.
With all my heart,
Sister Avance

PS. I got your packages in the mtc, and just got the bedding last week. the mail here must be crazy cause I really only get your emails, and finally got a letter yesterday from my friend, Frank. But all is good

Letter #4

2010-07-14T17:01:00.000-07:00

Hello again!

This week has been extremely...let's say different. It was hard getting used to being here and having so much to do and not know how to do it. My trainer is amazing, and I hope that by the end of my mission I am half as great as her, but I just have to keep working hard. We are in an area out in the middle of nowhere. Sister Avance is...in the sticks!!! Ha-ha. We have cornfields outside of our apartment in EVERY direction!!! I just love it!! ( I guess the city girl in me is getting sucked out every day) I am hoping to see a tornado at some point. :) But it also rains alot. Almost everyday. I love that too. I am already used to the heat and humidity. It's not too bad. And I can tell if it's gonna rain when i get up in the morning now.

But our area covers a couple towns, but we focus primarily on the Dekalb and Sycamore wards. The people are great! There's one family that have grown kids, but they sure do remind me of you and dad. The wife is a seminary teacher too. We were talking about how differently everyone was raised, but we also started talking about how we read scriptures everyday (atleast I remember it felt that way) when we were growing up and how you guys made FHE a big deal. And I am so grateful for that.

There's also a little lady in the Dekalb ward who is 101 years old! She is so cute!! and Everytime we see her, she always says, "come back soon, I don't know if this will be the last time i See you!" It's so cute, (sad, but not really) but funny all at the same time.

We also have some great investigators!! we have two that we have committed to baptism but are working on getting them to continue to come to church. One of them, Kari, found us cuz she wanted to quit smoking and it is amazing to see her growth. Hopefully she can be baptized in the next month.

Also, because we are out in the middle of nowhere, and there are no spanish missionaries around, we are the spanish speaking missionaries. Sister Carmack had to get permission to teach in spanish, but i am going to start studying in spanish to try to be able to help. We have 2 spanish investigators, and sister S is really good with her spanish, so It's my turn too!

Also, if anyone wants to write to my apartment my address is
Sister Avance
1305 N. Annie Glidden #1514
Dekalb, IL 60115

I have a ton of letters to write, so sorry to anybody who hasn't received anything in a couple weeks. I just did not have time to write last week. I'm hoping to have time today, but we are heading to Rockford after this to play ultimate frisbee with our zone.
(but just remember, once it gets close to the transfer time, send letters to the mission home, just in case)

Anyway, I can't believe I have been out a month! It's been the longest, yet shortest month ever!. Long cause I feel like I've been on my mission all my life, but short because it went by fast. And from what I hear it will continue to speed.

Ok quickly, we have tons of stores here, this town is probably more of an equivalent of st George rather than cedar, but I probably should have brought more work jeans and t-shirts. Would you like to send me some of my pairs of jeans (preferably not name brand) and I have a drawer of t-shirts? Or should I just go ahead and buy more? Let me know next Wednesday. You can use money from my account if you need and if it will be cheaper to send. (Plus, you can send to my appt instead of the mission home)

Well I am going to send pictures, but I promise I am not as fat now as I was when I was in the MTC. I was so disgusted and sad at how fat I got. But I have been working out and eating great, so I'm back to my old self again :)

Well I love you so much, and I am so grateful for all you do for me. Your packages have been perfect and just what I need when I need them. I am grateful for this gospel and the knowledge I have and can share with others.

With all my heart,
Sister Avance

Letter 3!

2010-07-07T17:04:00.000-07:00

Mom, Thank you so much for that!! I love you!
And a quote from me…..I've heard it before but finally got the reference:

"Many young women are serving or preparing to serve missions. not because they aren't married or have nothing else to do, but because they have a desire to serve and therefore are called to the work. the reason so many are going is because in the next generation Heavenly Father will be sending His priesthood army to the earth. He wants to send them to mothers who have been trained and taught the gospel and what better training can young women have than that of serving a mission" -President Hinckley

I am so glad I got to speak to you and dad yesterday. As I said, I love you all but I don't miss you. I love this work and I am happy to be here!

SO remember how I told you President Uchdorf was in the airport while talking to you? Well as soon as I got off the phone guess who walked up? It was great!! him and his wife were on their way to San Francisco and their gate was right next to ours, so we got to talk to them for a minute and took pictures. I'll get one to you as soon as I get it. But that was great!

So my first day in Chicago was AMAZING!!! We got off the plane and met our mission president and his wife. The Doll's! they are awesome and I am so lucky to have them as my mission presidents. Well we were also handed a Book of Mormon. And I was standing in the curb waiting for the elders to load our luggage, and got this really strong impression to talk to this little lady sitting there. I kept thinking. "don't let the spirit tell you twice" so I started talking to her and she already has a Book of Mormon and her mother was a member but she was not interested at all. So I let it go, but felt totally ok because I followed that prompting without letting the spirit tell me twice...or regret not doing anything!

So after that we all got on the EL train to go into the city, and we had to share something about the Book of Mormon with someone. So I saw this little cute lady sitting ahead of me on the train so I went up to her and started talking to her. She was on her way home from work, and when I asked her if she knew anything about Mormons she said she'd seen the commercials. I asked her how she felt and she said really good!! Door wide open!! I taught her about the Book of Mormon and she practically threw her address at me!! I was so happy!! I testified of prayer and how much our Father in Heaven loves her and how much I love her and she just got really happy about that. I also gave her a El Libro de Mormon and she helped me mark a few pages...and started reading it on the train!!! I just love her so much!! and probably won't see her again in this life, but I did something! and I get to do this for the next 17 months!!!

After we got off the train we walked through the city to a pizza place for deep dish Chicago pizza. It's good...but too cakey! Way too much crust if I was gonna eat it. Like Mel, white sauce all the way!! but i don't think i'll be eating too much pizza. Then we toured the city a little. I love Chicago!! It’s just so hot! I know i used to say the humidity doesn't bother me, but i realized when I'm somewhere humid,...I'm not wearing any clothes!! I usually have a bathing suit on...gag! Then we rode the metro to the town where the mission office is. We had an orientation and it started pouring rain!!! it was crazy. Then we went to the mission home. Since we are now just one mission, the Illinois Chicago mission they moved to the south. The house is great (and could be the same one when Brent served)

This morning we met our new companions. My companion is sister Carmack and we are serving in the Dekalb/Sycamore area. It’s just like Cedar City, and a college town. So cute!! and there are corn fields everywhere!! haha still shocking, but I love it!! We have a dinner appointment tonight and can finally start some work. Today has been slow and I'm ready to work.

Mission Home Address:

Illinois Chicago Mission
1319 Butterfield Rd Suite 522
Downers Grove, IL 60515

Also my plaque, I want Helaman 5;12 on it. I want you all to know that I know this church is true. I love this work and am determined to work really hard to give everyone I can a chance to know of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I love you and hope you all continue to do your best to be member missionaries. It's so important.

With all my Heart,

Sister Avance

This is me and my dad after I said bye to him before leaving with my mom. He gave me an amazing blessing and my tape recorder didn't record.

Me and Kyle

Me and My Grandma

Letter #2!

2010-07-01T17:09:00.001-07:00

Sister Avance with her companion Sister Nardoni

So this week has been quite the experience. Last Thursday I had an appointment to meet with the counselor and literally 10 minutes before, I received the most nasty, hurtful letter. I became very upset because the most prominent part about getting set apart was that I would be able to leave all my affairs and worries from home, at home and so far I haven't had any problems. But this person sent me those worries to the MTC. I actually started hyperventilating so my counselor actually prescribed me a paper bag to breath in ( haha Legit huh?) Then he had me read this letter to him, for me to pin point the points of pain to him and so he could help me. But after reading he called the MTC presidency cause he thought it would be a good idea to email home (and it was my Pday) So I was escorted to the main building (cause they aren't allowing any of us in there because of the general authorities) And while I waited in the office of the stake president it was the first time I was alone, without my companion. And I looked over and saw a picture of the Savior. I realized that I wasn't alone at first it seemed like He had tears of sorrow, but then it turned to tears of joy. I knew that because of the Atonement I could receive peace. Then the stake president came in and gave me a blessing and I felt immediate peace.
I know that the things said aren't true and that I have great qualities that my Heavenly Father gave me. But what bothered me was I have a work to do and I don't need distractions taking away from the spirit.

So I felt peace but I couldn't focus on my studies. I kept thinking about the words in the letters. So that night I prayed to forget the hurtful words and to not worry about what was said but to get to work. I now honestly don't remember what was written and have been able to focus and can truly testify how amazing the Atonement can be in our lives if we allow it. I am also excited to be able to share that with the people of Chicago so they can know of the Love of our Savior. I also want this person to know that I will continue to pray for their happiness.

This weekend was also a blessing because there was a new mission president conference and 114 new mission presidents were here. So, all the apostles and President Monson was here. Our service was to vacuum the main chapels so it was cool to see the "reserved" seats for all the apostles and their wives.
But Friday night we had a special fireside and Elder Oaks spoke. But on the stand behind him were Elders Christofferson, Cook, Holland, Scott, Nelson, Bednar and Anderson. It was great! When they all were leaving Elder Scott did this little Hoorah Fist in the air thing with his thumb up. It was so cute!

The next day I was talking to the new mission Pres and his for for Mongolia and I was saying how it was cool to have 8 apostles of God on the stand for us, and not general conference. And he was saying that the general authorities felt the same way about us and to look out and see thousands of missions was was great. The spirit was powerful!!

So, side note for Robyn, Christian is getting another new mission president and I've heard really great things about them.

I've also decided I want to be a mission president's wife. So that will be on my checklist when I start dating again, "will you serve a mission with me?" haha

We also had a fireside Sunday with Stephen Allen of the mission department and they're launching a new mormon.org on July 7. So they showed us the preview and its really exciting!!

But mom, i don't need anything. I have plenty of clothes, but it would be great if you send that other pile of skirts to the mission home:) Also, flight plans!!! I leave July 6 at around 8am. Mom, Dad, please have you cell phones with you all the time. I know how you tend to put them on silent or leave them in other rooms. Please dont!! that's next Tuesday:)

Also I forgot, but thank you Kent and Becca for the package. I loved my buzz lightyear pen so much it's already out of ink. I just try not to let it talk during class:)

Sorry I didn't respond to any emails I printed them all out though and will read them asap, it just don't have any time:(

With all my heart,
Sister Avance

Sister Avance with 3 other girls in her district

Krista's First Letter!

2010-06-25T10:14:00.000-07:00

I have so much to say, and so little time. But first of all I LOVE IT HERE!!! I don't understand at all why I was so nervous about coming to the MTC but seriously, as soon as I got out of the car and on my own, I felt this completely peace and reassurance that this is where I need to be. I don't know why, but this place reminds me of BYU-Hawaii, and you all know how much I love that place.. I think just the spirit that carries about this place is making it more of a home than anything.. When I checked in and got my nametag, that was when i got a little nervous, it was like… "whoa, this is real!!!" but then I got over that and it's been amazing.
Anyway, I have the best companion ever!! Her name is Sister Nardoni from California and her spirit and testimony is incredible. She has given me so much strength I feel so blessed. The first few days were hard on me spiritually. I have not been homesick even the slightest cause life before the MTC is such a blur and I can't imagine being anywhere else. But my anxiety has taken a toll on me.. I had an interview with my branch president and he said he could sense my anxiety and knew that if I could get through that I will be fine, but even though I've been trying to put as much faith in the Lord to carry me through that struggle I can't help but get disappointed in myself.
For example, I have been studying and praying so hard, but no matter what I cannot seem to remember what I studied or even have a simple gospel conversation with anybody. I stumble over my words and literally, my mind goes blank. I forget everything. Like I said I get discouraged. But every time I have to go teach an investigator or knock a door, I have never been nervous. Talking to people comes so easy to me and I know I have that spirit with me that allows that to happen. But when I am studying daily and constantly, it's not fun to feel like the only time I can tell you a gospel principle is if I am completely engulfed by the spirit.
Another amazing thing that happened so far......the other day sister Nardoni and I were talking about how one of our teachers seemed like he didn't really care about our answers to anything, almost like we felt dumb when we were around him.. And we were about to have to go do a listening activity with him and didn't know how comfortable we would be. So we go in this room and all we had to do was ask questions about him and get to know him without giving any of our personal stories that relate to him, after a few minutes we were asked to sit there quietly unless we felt prompted to say something. We sat there for a few seconds in silence and I immediately felt the spirit burn inside me. I got tears in my eyes and immediately grew to love him and the person that he is. I was so humbled during that time. I was able to share with him my testimony and share how grateful I am for him and being able to be our teacher............
On another point, this weekend is a training for all new mission presidents so we will have all the apostles here from Wednesday to Saturday. It is so exciting to be, here knowing that the Prophet of the Lord can show up at any time, and we must be prepared to make sure we are being Christlike examples. It's amazing!! We also were able to have a devotional last night with Lowell M. Snow from the Seventy and his talk was powerful and amazing!! he spoke on how through our faith in Christ, and allowing to let the spirit to go into our investigators we can help our investigators draw closer to our Savior and through our Savior we return to our Father in Heaven.. I can truly testify of that.
Last night I had a dream that I was in Chicago slushing through the snow and committed a lady to baptism!!! It was awesome!!! and makes me so excited to be serving there!!! Also, my district is awesome, we have a great group with half the missionaries going to serve in Chicago, and the other half will be serving in Billings, Montana.. I am so grateful how close we are and how much we look forward to seeing each other each day. One of the boys reminds me of Jimmy and Sister Nardoni and I are laughing all the time!!!
Sister Nardoni, as I said before, is the best! I feel like we've known each other for ever. And like dad said in my father's blessing, we became best friends....and even we look forward to seeing each other when we are split up or something. I know this church is true and I am so grateful to be able to share it with the world, yes I said world!!! Chicago is just preparing me for my life mission and I can't wait! I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and He died for us. I love Him so much and feel so blessed to be able to do this work. I want you all to know how much I Love you and want you to know that I pray for you. I have been blessed not to worry about you and know that you will be taken care of and for that I am extremely grateful, so CHOOSE THE RIGHT!!!

Love you, Sister Avance

PS>>>> everyone write me on dearelder.com and/or krista.avance@myldsmail.net
I only get to check my email on Wednesdays and it's sad that I haven't gotten any mail from anyone:(

Disneyland!!

2010-06-01T19:33:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I got a room for me and 2 of my girlfriends at the Luxor so we could stay at the pool all day the next day. Well then my cousin called me saying he really wanted to take my to Disneyland before I leave on my mission because he wasn't sure if we would get to hang out before I leave. So I spent the night at Luxor and had dinner, then got up early the next morning to go to Disneyland with my cousin, his friend Ed, and my friend Kristen Soderberg. We got to DL at about 1pm on Friday and played all day. Then stayed the night at my aunt Lis' 20 minutes away in Ladera Ranch. She was so sweet and it was really good to see her too!

Then we went to DL on Saturday from about 1-6 before heading home. It was so fun!!

When we got back to Vegas, at about 11:30pm my brother, Kurtis, wanted me to come down and meet them on the strip because our cousin Kelly was in town from St. George. I hadn't seen her since our only Childs' family reunion when I was 12.

This video is from California Adventure in the kids studio thing. you can act or sing a clip of a movie, and it records your voice doing the part...I know I'm 22, but I loved it!!

Good Days and Bad Days

2010-05-17T00:05:00.000-07:00

I have made up my mind to serve a mission. That's not a bad thing, right? Because it's a great thing! But why does making that decision have to be that hard? I have followed the promptings of the Spirit and I know that is what I need to do. But the adversary sure is pulling me down...every day. There is not a day that goes by that I don't question myself about if it's the right decision, or why I am going in the first place. But it definitely doesn't help that I get those same questions from my friends. I get told, "please don't go," "what can we do to get you to stay," "you're still going?" Thanks for the love, but I need the encouragement because it's a tough decision.

I have tried everyday to put on a strong face and act like I am not being tested and tried in my faith of serving the Lord. But the fact is, I am. And it is really hard to continue to keep up that faith when I don't have the same support I really need.

Why should I want to go on a mission? I am having a lot of fun with my friends, and have so many good opportunities when I am with them. But I have made that decision to give that up.

Today was one of those days. I woke up questioning myself and asking myself why I want to go on a mission. I know other days I am so ready to go, but today wasn't the day. And not 3 minutes after I got to my friends' house another friend asked me why I wanted to go. I quietly got up and walked out the door because I was on the verge of tears and didn't want anybody to see. I called my aunt from my car and she asked me to come over. So as embarrassing as it was, I went back in to the house to get my stuff and left.

My aunt and uncle are amazing, and let me just cry. They told me some really good stuff and of course told me they support me and it was just the thing I need. My uncle also gave me a blessing before I left, which was great.

I am learning a lot about myself and my love for the Lord and His work. I know I have a purpose in Chicago. And I know I have a testimony to share. The adversary is working really hard to get me to stay, I just really wish it wasn't from the help of my friends.

When I'm a hot mom.....

2010-05-11T18:39:00.001-07:00

I'm gonna get one of these!!!

(It's only $1,400 but I guess it gives me another reason to be a gold-digger:) haha jk)

Time Flies!!

2010-05-05T21:30:00.000-07:00

SOOO much has gone on this past month and I haven't had time to really get myself together. But the month of April was full of fun/new things that I wanted to post before I completely forget.

One of my new friends from my ward called me up to invite me to a concert. It was late notice, but one of his clients got him tickets to his favorite band, 30 seconds to Mars, and asked if I wanted to go. I met him at the Pearl at the Palms and talked with his clients who are actually music producers. The guy (not mentioning any names) was actually a producer for Aerosmith, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Christina Aguilera, a few others...and right now, get ready for this all you ladies over 30, New Kids on the Block. Super nice people and extremely humble. It was really cool to talk to them. But they got us VIP suite seats right next to the stage. They put on a really good show too! No complaints from me.

Then the next day I went up with my brother and our friend, Rachel Johnson, to the clark county fair in Logandale. I used to go up every year as a kid because my aunt and uncle lived up there and my mom used to do craft shows. But I hadn't been up there since my senior year of high school. It was a good time!

These are pictures of Kurt and Rachel on the rides. The second one is priceless. It's Rachel's niece with them on the tilt-a-whirl. She's 2 and the pictures progress from a smile to her face of fear! It was hilarious!

This little piece of work should go with me on my mission...NOT!!! Oh the joys of sister missionary clothing.

Also that weekend, there were a bunch of boys who came down to vegas for the week from BYU-Idaho between semesters. They came to our ward and met my friend Kristen in the library, so we hung out that Sunday night to play games. And then the following Tuesday I got off work early and we spent the day swimming at Kristen's. The boys got us tickets to a variety show at Planet Hollywood, it was pretty fun! Then one of the boys said they wanted to go to the Stratosphere.
It was about 10:30 at night and I knew the chances were low, but my uncle works as an engineer at the Stratosphere, so I called him to see what he could do for us. He managed to get all of us up to the top, on every ride, and pictures...For Free!!! It was fantastic and so fun!! We had a good time with these boys and it was sad to have them go.

Beau got called up on stage during the variety show. ( far left)

April was a good month. I have great friends. And one more month of freedom for 18 months. So I gotta just continue to have fun:)

Called to Serve

2010-04-15T21:33:00.000-07:00

Tonight I was able to open my mission call. I had a few of my friends over and some of my family, which meant a lot to me. I was also able to have my siblings on skype. It's all still surreal to me. I don't think I really feel like I am going on a mission, and even before I opened my call I don't really know what my emotions were. But as soon as I read my call, I had a complete sense of peace and immediately got excited. I know that is the right place for me.
I also didn't get emotional until after wards when I talked to my brother, Kyle, on the phone. We used to be so close and this past year haven't talked much. But it really meant a lot to me to hear him congratulate me and be as proud of me to serve a mission as I was for him.

I am so grateful for the gospel in my life and the joy it brings to me. I am so excited to go share that truth with the people of Chicago, so that they can know of the joy I know. I feel truly blessed to have so much in my life. And I look forward to dedicating my life to serving the Lord.

Here is the video...or videos... of the events of my letter opening.

My actual birthday

2010-04-06T22:40:00.000-07:00

My 22nd birthday this year was Easter and General conference Sunday. I couldn't complain too much because it was a great excuse to not have to be busy and my parents were out of town. I love being home alone and figured this might be my last year to do that. Cause either I will have a companion with no choice of being alone, or I will be married and won't want to be alone. I slept in, and got a wake-up call from my mom. I was lucky enough to have my dad sing a "happy birthday" solo in the background. Be jealous. That never happens. But I watched conference and hung out. I had asked my mom when my dad was going to be home and she said early evening. So I decided to make a cake and chicken enchiladas for his return. Well I ended up eating dinner alone, and around 9:00 I was getting tired so I ate my cake and went to bed. Sad I know. I'll just make him buy me lunch this week.

But all in all, I am looking forward to a new year. I definitely don't think it could be half as challenging as this last year was for me. If so, it could only make me stronger. Let's see what this new year brings:)

Birthday Celebration #1

2010-04-06T22:32:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, March 27, my friends Stephanie Cope and Kristen Soderberg took me out to dinner to celebrate my birthday. They wanted to do something nice for me, but Kristen was going to be out of town for my actual birthday weekend. We had Rubios at Red Rock. It was really nice. Well after we ate, they told me they still had a surprise for me. So either they were going to blindfold me or I had to honestly close my eyes. So I closed my eyes. They walked me around the casino for a bit, and lead me to the bowling alley where some of our friends were waiting! It was awesome! I love surprises and love these girls! I have made the best of friends from my ward and will miss them so much while I'm gone. After bowling, we wasted a priceless amount of money in the arcade playing basketball and virtual jump-rope. It was a great night with some great friends!!

Ronni, Jon, Cody, and Adam were at the bowling alley with us, but they had gone to get food at the time the picture was taken:(

Birthday Celebration #2

2010-04-06T22:27:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, April 1, I had my last work day this week. (I was given Friday off for my birthday) One of my therapists bought me lunch and my other coworkers bought me a cake and sang happy birthday. Let's just say that it's a good thing they all make a living in physical therapy because singing is not their forte. They tried to sing the song the first time and nobody was at the same part of the song. They tried to sing again, but the tune was off. They were about to sing a third time but I asked them not to and cut the cake:) I love them all anyway.

Birthday Celebration #3

2010-04-06T22:22:00.000-07:00

On Friday, April 2 I went out to dinner with the girls. Bree and Ronni took me out to Lindo Michoacan for some yummy Mexican food. I really wanted some chips and salsa. Then we went to Ronni's house to watch New Moon. Sidenote**If I must say, worst acting I have ever witnessed. I don't know who casted Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, but they both have absolutely no chemistry. And Robert's makeup looks ridiculous. The other vampires look normal. What's the deal? The movie was good other than that** But we all fell asleep during the movie. Anyway, it was a good night with the girls!

Birthday Celebration #4

2010-04-06T22:17:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, April 3 a few of my friends wanted to take me out four-wheeling. I went out with Ronni, and Jon and Adam Hafen. We had a good time!