You Say Goodbye, and I say Hello

The last two days in Sedalia finally came. People brought in food our last day (11/16) to give a warm Mid-Western goodbye. It was sad to leave because everyone is SOOO NICE! They are so warm and friendly. We were so full from all the food people brought in, we were snacking all day, so we didnt even take a lunch break. We eventually started our goodbye tour around the facility. It was sad and lasted about 2 hours...much longer than anticipated. Eventually, Lindsay and I walked out of the Sedalia facility for the last time together. We went home early so we could start packing. Well...I started to pack, Lindsay took a nap. Then we re-grouped to go out with some of the guys from work as a farewell party.

I had been debating on going all week because they wanted to go bar-hopping. (Bar-hopping in Sedalia consists of going to Fritters, the sports bar and then to Dukes 'N Boots, the western bar) I decided to go and eat with everyone and then leave if they were getting super drunk, because I hate being around drunk people. So we went to the place a little late...only for Lindsay to forget her ID. We ran back home and decided to pick up Sage as well so we wouldnt have to drive seperate cars. We went and arrived around 7:30....everyone had been there since 6. #fashionablylate We all hung out. I was really confused when the waitress asked to see my ID for ordering a strawberry lemonade, and she apologized and explained there is an alcoholic strawberry lemonade too. #heckno so we chatted and hung out before going to Duke 'N Boots. Can I just say....it was quite the experience, and I ended staying till midnight because we were having SO MUCH FUN! I had shirley temples all night long as we hit the dance floor. Lindsay and I finally line danced together! It had been a goal of Lindsay's to line dance ever since we got to Missouri. Mika was soooo funny and kept asking us to dance. I didnt realize that two-stepping is not like riding a bicycle, I didnt remember how to do it very well. Sage made a new friend. But it was great on the dance floor. We even saw a guy from work there on a date, and he photo bombed 2 of our pics, because Sage found a disposable camera from years ago and we all decided we would take pics with her camera all night. The guys wanted to go cow tipping after the bar that night, but I drove us girls home and they stayed behind. Lindsay told me the next morning they went, but all the cows ran away when they got somewhat close, so they gave up. But I went home, and ended up doing wash because my clothes smelled of cigarette smoke. I hate cigarette smoke. Truth be told, it was a good last night in Sedalia.

Saturday (11/17) I did my last minute packing, dropped off my recycling and the city recycling bins, and I dropped off my extra food at Cody's , where she gifted me a really cute blue necklace she made me. SOOOO SWEET! That's after she made me a really cute flower that she left on my door last night. She's too nice. I then picked up Lindsay and we met Sage for our last meal together. We went to Kayde's where i got a root beer float for my drink...yes....and i got their delectable baked beans as a side dish. Seriously, some of the best baked beans ever!!!! It was sad that we were leaving, but we went home to do last minute things, and waited for sage to finish running some errands before packing up the car and heading to Kansas City for the night. It was a sad goodbye....and we had just got in the car to drive away when Sage wants another round of hugs and starts to cry. Truth Time: crying girls make me nervous. seriously. Poor Sage. She's going to be left all alone in Sedalia. So we drove up to Kansas City and went straight to dinner for some sushi as our last meal. The second time we're saying goodbye to a place together. It was a chilly autumn night as we walked from the restaurant to the movies so we could see Skyfall. So good. We drove to the hotel and as we were going to our rooms, we realized it was going to be the last time we're together till who-knows-when. It was sad. After 6 months of being together everyday, working and playing together, it was time to part ways. It didnt feel like goodbye; it felt like we were going to see each other on Monday.

When I woke up Sunday (11/18) morning, I felt like i was going to meet Lindsay in the hall...but she was gone. She had an earlier flight and took the hotel shuttle. It was up to me to return the rental. I drove there, and luckily because of my huge luggage, a Hertz guy drove me and some other business guy to our terminals. I flew back to Houston and my big broseph picked me up at the airport. We went back to his place to chilax and have brunch together. He then drove me to my new home...in a hotel. Yeah, did i mention I live in a hotel now? yeah. I dont feel grown-up enough to be living in a hotel. But, he helped me move and and once again (germany déjà vu) I needed hangers. On our way out to church, I asked the front desk to get me some more hangers. the lady asked "how many?" and I said, "about 20 or 30" and she looked at me like i was crazy until realizing that I was living there for the next few months. At church, saryah had drove up too and all three of us were at church together. it was so nice! The best part was, the peterson's were there! and i sat next to them. they are too funny. After church they had a little mingle session over rice crispy treats. yum. i love rice crispy treats. We had our first new tradition of having family Sunday dinners at home. I had a really good first night back and had to take a taxi back to my place so I could be there to pick up my rental car they were dropping off for me. 

Monday (11/19) I woke up super early to be ready to get my car and drive to a dentist's appointment back home. The car people were late, and couldnt figure out where I live. There is only the hotel and a BBQ restaurant on the street I live on. Really guys? So I got the car and drove to my dentist appointment late. Then I went home and knew someone was home but no one was answering. It freaked me out, so i hid in the game room under my HP blanket for protection....only to have my dad come in from the backyard and I realized it was him who was home. I then fell asleep for 3 hours of the floor until my dad woke me up for my doctor's appointment. I'm a genius. I got there late, and the doctor was even later to see me. I got some kolaches for lunch for me and my dad. We hung out and I eventually went back to my place and a B&N to get a NOOK cover, because I already scratched my NOOK screen...oops. 

Tuesday (11/20) was my first day at work, and I felt awkward and alone....pretty much all week. No friends for Natasha. And I sit with my back to the bosses and it's awkward. I found out that my boss (who isn't even at my same office) couldnt meet with me till next week. So i had nothing to do all week. I was taken out to lunch by the plant manager and some other people in charge, and i felt so awkward, but tried my best to be social. Normally it's lindsay who is the social one, and i just get to benefit from the fruit of her social labors. Soooo much work. The only good thing about my first day in my new location was that I got to spend it with Lindsay anyways; we kept each other company through work IM all day, so i didn't feel so lonely. At the end of the work day, I tried to leave only to have my car keys stuck in the ignition (sedalia déjà vu). The car wouldnt start or anything. I called Enterprise, and they sent a new car over. I was so annoyed. 

When I got into work (11/21), I tried to get onto my computer and it was locked. I couldnt get access. I had to call the IT office to get them to unlock it remotely. Ridiculous. I realized last night that I left my leather jacket in the rental car and wanted them to unlock the car for me so I could get it out. When I called, they said that they couldnt get the keys out and had to leave them in last night when they left. I double checked and there were no keys in the ignition. Everyone was really confused. Plus, I had been calling so much, the car guy, Reid, recognized my number now. It turns out when one of the guys at work came in the car had somehow started itself and it was on, so he turned the car off and took the keys. Ridiculous. I left work and went shopping for a bit only to not buy anything because it was one of those days where everything made me look fat. So I went back to my hotel and laid out to get some much needed Vitamin D. YAY! It was so nice and relaxing. then I made the drive to my Aunt Son's house. I haven't been to her house since I was much younger. I honestly cant remember the last time I was there. #enoughsaid I got to see my grandma which was the best! she's too cool for school and my uncle john! yaya! Then my family showed up. It was nice. My mom and grandma saw the Gangum Style music video for the first time. (luckily i saw it about a week ago, so im cooler). My grandma said it was scary and she didnt like it. lol. I wasn't tired on the drive home, so saryah and i went to go see Pitch Perfect that night. #win

it was a HAPPY THANKSGIVING (11/22) when we went back to the Woodlands to have thanksgiving. it was nice and calm. the most strange thing that happened was my dad watching american football. me, him, and ron watched the Texans game. #strangethanksgiving but it was nice. we went back home and spent the rest of the night chillaxing. I spent the rest of the weekend hanging out with my parents and it was a lot of fun.

las hermanas came over for dinner! one of them was from new zealand #win

 Monday (11/26) I was able to meet with my boss, Addy, and talk about my project. I came here really not even knowing what my project was going to be. I had a general one-liner description, but that was it. He's super nice and cool. I was happy to get started working. We literally had about 4 hours of conference calling that afternoon. It was crazy. I had my first meeting after work with a personal trainer to get fit. I went out with my new friend Brittany to Bible study downtown on Wednesday and had nutella crepes at my fav crepe place. that was probably the best part of the week. Sadly, the week went downhill from there as my mid-life crisis depression started worsening.  I almost got to hang out with my scottish high school friend, Calum, but he had to go back to scotland before we made time to see each other #sadday That's right...i said mid-life crisis. Which means, i'll probably die in my late 40's, early 50's. #clairvoyant But seriously. Life was sooo boring and without meaning. I never realized how important it was to have purpose and direction in your life until you are without it. I was bored at work and bored with life. I wasn't sleeping much because all i could think was...oh no...if you go to sleep it starts all over again tomorrow! All I wanted to do was make it through the week so I could go home Friday night.

Finally/Miraculously, Friday (11/30) came around. I got a new rental car with a USB port and a working phone charger part. After work and after the gym, I drove home. And my dad had bought ice cream...Blue Bell ice cream. The magical cure-all. We ate and I talked. He suggested we go walk around the mall. While we were there, I decided to get him so grown-up casual shoes, something my dad has never owned. Luckily, we found something, and they joy of helping others came back into my life. lol. When we got home, i started feeling inspired from our conversations, and I goals started coming into my mind. It was great! It started getting late, and mom insisted that i stay the night. Doneskis. Also, unlike dad previously told me, mom wanted to go to costa rica with me. yay! And i found out that two friends from high school live in Houston and want to hang out! Friends!

Athena reminding me, you're never too old
to climb on kitchen counters :)

Saturday morning (12/1) I booked me and mom's flights to costa rica!!!! We are set. Then I started the drive  to Austin for my sister date with Athena!!! YAY! We had this on the calendar forever. I was so excited. I got there and we went on a walk around the city and had lunch at whole foods. It was really nice. we just chatted and walked together. We got back to her place after a while and watched some alias. #yesplease We then went to pick up her new bike, which is too big, and biked to whole foods to pick up some ingredients for dinner and dessert. At one point, she stopped suddenly and i swerved to miss running into her...however, my foot was not so lucky and hit the basket on the back of her bike. A week later, i still suffer from bruising. lol. it was fun. even if we bought green onions and thought they were chives. hahaha. we biked back, and i did surprisingly well suppressing my fear of the bike going out from underneath me as I make turns (cue flashback to my first and only mountain biking attempt). We went back and I got to watch Athena make us a meal. The dinner part wasn't as good as it looked in the recipe book, but the bread pudding was GREAT! We had a lot of fun before I drove back home. The best part was her advice. I told her about my lack of purpose and drive in life...she suggested a bucket list for 2013; little things i can do over the upcoming year. I'm excited and inspired.

I already have 3 things on my list 

             German class -

                golf lessons -

Tai Chi in the summer -

This past week was much better. I was a busy little bee. sunday (2/2) was good, especially since mom made an English roast and dad made an apple rhubarb crumble. yum yum. Monday was nice, and i had a personal FHE with myself as i went to see the Houston Temple. Tuesday, I had to go back home to pick up something from the dentist, so i spend the whole evening at home, and it was super fun. saryah is determined i need an expensive adult purse. personally....i would rather spend my money on travelling than on expensive personal items. but i should try to do better. As Kevin reminded me so kindly on Wednesday morning...YOLO!!!!!!! I've been planning the trip to Costa Rica all week and trust me....it's going to be Legen-wait for it-dary! That's right guys. I have even booked our surf lesson for Christmas morning. I'm going to spend Christmas surfing the waves in Costa Rica. I. Cant. Wait. I'm also looking into repelling in waterfalls. traveling to from Monteverde to Arenal on horseback. It's going to be adventure filled. If this doesn't break up the monotony of my life....i dont know what will. A couple times this week, i feel like im channeling Dena, who is my super adventurous, outdoorsy, super hott friend. aka...she's me, but adventurous and a red-head :) Life is looking up. I'm feeling more inspired and goal-oriented. I once again, I have direction in my life...and that makes me happy.

A Quote from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland: 
Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to
Alice: I don't much care where.
The Cat: Then it doesn't much matter which way you go.
Alice: …so long as I get somewhere.
The Cat: Oh, you're sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.

Coming Full Circle

When I left Arizona, I was done. I thought a chapter of my life had closed and a new one began. I've done that a lot since high school graduation. Never stayed in one place too long. Took advantage of opportunities to see the world, meeting new people, and disappear into the unknown. After high school, I found a new beginning in Arizona. However, the thing with beginnings is a middle and end follows. And my middle was not always the best story. Looking back I see that everything I went through, the good and the bad, especially the bad, I appreciate now more than ever. I also made two of the most amazing friends in the world during my time in az. they are my heroes, and i still wonder why they like me sometimes. So after six months post-graduation, it was time to return.

the first time i met little lia

The week of Oct 29-Nov 2 was INSANE! It was time for Lindsay's Kaizen, and there was a lot of physical labor involved. Now, this for me was strenuous, but fun; i was able to get in touch with my inner tom-boy and enjoy myself. It was super busy and Nov 1, 2012 was my first 14 hour workday. Crazy, I know. But the best part was that on Nov 2, I would be catching a flight to Arizona, to see my newly born niece. Little Miss Lia. The other best part, is it was a surprise for my bff, Stine, who just gave birth that morning. Me, Erica, and Stine's husband had been keeping it a secret for about a month. I was really excited to pull off such an elaborate surprise. I was kicked out of the office so I wouldnt miss my flight by Terrance, and I got there with time to spare. I was anxious/excited the entire plane ride, because I just wanted to be around my besties. Erica picked me up at the airport. I dropped my stuff off at her place and we went to get some dinner because I forgot to eat beforehand. Chipotle time! Then we headed to the hospital. Stine's husband texted and said that Stine suspected something was up. uh oh. So I got my disguise and put it on in the hospital bathroom as Erica went in alone. I waited 5 minutes before entering...and when I did, the brilliant script I had written in my head evaporated, and my mind went blank. Stine saw right through my disguise and  we spent the evening there with my little baby niece! Then it was bedtime for mommy and baby, so Erica and I made one last stop before our bedtime...to Bahama Bucks. It was fun and then we stayed up super late chatting.

Saturday (11/3) was brilliant, I accidentally woke up too early for Erica (2 hour time difference jet lag and all). Took a shower and read a book. Then when she got up we went and got mani/pedis. It was glorious. After weeks of being in the factory practically daily on my project, it was nice to be girlie and get pink glittery nail polish, and a nice autumn color on my toes. Oh the joys of womanhood :) Then, we went to see our new fav movie together...Pitch Perfect. Once again...funniest movie of the year. We went back to hang out for a bit before meeting Ben for dinner. I was so excited because Ben is the best and we went out to eat Ethiopian food, one of my fav cuisines!!!! Can I just say, that my friends are seriously the best. I dont know how I get so lucky because when it's right, it's right. The friendship chemistry we have is through the roof. I have been trying to make erica and ben hang out for too long and i think they finally see what i see....awesomeness. We went to the AZ State Fair that night...it was ben's first time going. It was soooo much fun! We rode rides, screamed like we were going to die, and enjoyed it all. We even bought deep fried food. It was my first time. Deep friend twinkie, deep fried snickers, and a deep fried pop tart. Heart attack, get ready to meet your new friend, me! It was a night to remember. Especially when erica and ben started prancing a being super silly and i though oh no, maxed out on sillyness. (This is due to having to control my crazy around Lindsay so she doesn't kill me). And then I laughed because my az friends are just as crazy as i am and i never have to tone it down around them. I had sooo much energy after being around them, I didnt want to head to bed. Sadly, my friends were ready to call it a night.

Sunday we had early morning church and I got to sit in between Ben and Erica and have too much fun for my own good. Then we got to go to sunday school together! #spoiled After church I went to see Stine one last time before heading out. They spoiled me by letting me hold Lia the entire time we were there, except for a few minutes when they have other visitors and i had to give her up, but i got her quickly back. She is really the prettiest baby EVER! The three amigas got a 4th added to their crew. Spend the afternoon with the new family and then went back to Erica's for some R&R before my flight. Erica made me spaghetti for dinner...yum  yum. and Ben came over as we were watching YouTube videos. This is the best one. We chatted and watched more YouTube videos because it is better to laugh than say goodbyes. I really wasn't ready to go, but they told me I needed to head out or I would be late. I said my goodbyes and went to the airport, where I checked in 27 mins before take off...3 minutes too late. They would not let me check in and I had to reschedule my flight for the next day #badluck I felt super dumb and had to call Erica to come pick me up again. I was in such a bad mood because I couldnt believe that I missed my flight because I got there too late. So we drove over to Ben's where we watched the CES Fireside. I feel bad with how crabby I was. Ben was really nice and made Erica and I a sandwhich, and they both didnt tease me because they knew how upset I was with myself. We had a nice time which ended with me feeling very angsty. I went to bed feeling hopeful because the good thing about missing my flight was that I would be able to go to the Bro Richardson's 7:30 institute class.

Monday morning started super early, but Erica and I went to the institute building for her 6am meeting, and I went to hide in a corner and read Jesus the Christ by Talmage. I chose one of my fave chairs to curl into. It was glorious. After reading a bit, I decided to walk on campus to get some breakfast. Yum Yum. It was weird being on campus, but practiced my Alias abilities and stepped back into my college student persona, where I plugged into my iPod and walked down to the MU. I felt that I was pretty convincing as a college student :)  I then went up to learn more about the scriptures. can i just say, I LOVE BRO RICHARDSON'S CLASSES!!!!!!!!! Seriously, life changing, everytime. I love his "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" moments. I love learning about the scriptures and it's like he teaches in the exact way that I need to get the most out of my scripture study. It was a moment of sunshine during a day of feeling bad about missing a plane. I got a taxi to the airport since everyone was in class and made sure I had plenty of time to spare. Even then...bad luck followed me like the plague. (this following part is more accurate as i wrote it as a rant the day of the event) so i was directed to the wrong gate entrance  because i had my boarding pass emailed to my phone so i would have it with me and the one on my phone doesnt say which gate, so i trusted some guy who worked there. but even then, i dont know what happened, but i ended going to another wrong gate, where i had a panic attack because my driver's license was not in my wallet. somehow it had gotten loose in my purse. then i had time to spare, so i wanted a hot chocolate, but the line was so long, i needed to leave it to get to my plane in time. when i tried to go to my plane, there was a TSA emergency and they wouldnt let us leave the area of the airport we were in. i barely made it onto the plane, and it left late. then i got to missouri where i needed to change out our rental because it needs an oil change. they tried to downgrad me to a ford fiesta from a ford escape because technically we should have never gotten it in the first place, i managed to convince them to just let me keep the car anyways, even though it needs an oil change. i got to Kansas City and it was rainy and super cold. The drive home lasted forever, but I managed to finally make it back without having to use GPS. #alittletoolate The day seem to go on forever, but it was nice to finally get to bed and go back to normalcy. 

Wed (11/7) I couldnt concentrate at work. I found out where in Houston I'm going to live. I started looking for all the goodies around me. I found an indoor swimming pool to go swimming, the closest B&N, public library, and Target. I told Becca about it and she thought it was funny that I see civilization as synonomous with commercialism. Maybe maybe. I also started looking up institute classes and where I will be going to church. It turns out i'm heading to the YSA ward i should have been going to whenever im at home but never did because i wanted to hang out with the parentals #irony. I got shot at work as well and there was pain all in my arm because of it, so i didnt go to dodgeball, instead Cody came over after work and we hung out and ate Nutella. #goodtimes

Thursday (11/8) I talked to Petra on IM and she says she just had a 5 day weekend due to German holidays. Why am I not there?!?!?! She asked what I did this past weekend, so I told her I was able to take a short trip to AZ for the weekend and she said "I can´t believe that you can live there :D"  My thoughts we along the same.  Later at work, Lindsay and I were working on our arts and crafts and I said "guess what?...nevermind" and lindsay said "what".  i said "nothing"and she said, "i know when you say that it's going to be something i dont want to hear. what is it?" lol. Im pretty sure it was really relevant and had to do with work too. lol.

Friday (11/9) after work, i didnt move from my couch all night. I wanted to go to a YSA bonfire in Columbia, but it was too cold to go out. plus i had no motivation since lindsay went to st. louis and sage was in rolla all weekend. #nofriends

Saturday (11/10), I drove with Sofia and Cody to the YSA conference up in Columbia. The classes were good and i got some really good investment advice from a personal investment major guy. Then I went to go on my blind date/double date. Sadly...it didnt really happen because They got lost on the way to Columbia. So I thought that meant I was homefree. I was remembering why I hated YSA dances and wanting to leave, when I started talking to a girl sitting next to me. It turns out she is an RM and was an ASL missionary! How cool is that?!?!? Of course, missionary work is one of my most favorite things to talk about so we were having a blast when Rachel arrives and introduced me to my date. #sarcasticgreat but we started talking and it turns out he's much cuter in person (because sage and i already facebook found and stalked him, with only a first name to go on during the commerical break on our thursday night social time) and he was soooo sweet and really funny. We had so much fun. He even got me to swing dance, which i normally do not do. We practiced dips and the really cool dip that you dip and then untwist your arms so you fall a little further to the ground and it looks epic. I felt pretty cool. But we had a lot of fun. Best date comeback ever.

On Sunday, my last sunday here, I went to mission prep. WHY HAVEN'T I BEEN DOING THAT THE ENTIRE TIME!?!?!?!!? I LOVED IT. And thus began my last week in Sedalia. Finalmente. It's been slow just tying up loose ends and finishing up things from work.

The Evolution of Lindsay:
Taco Tuesday (11/13) was eventful as it was the day of Lindsay's Evolution. For those Pokemon fans, (this is for you Lindsay) it's like a pokemon evolution. Like Pikachu evolving into Raichu or Mew evolving into MewTwo.  It was epic. It started with us leaving The EndZone after taco tuesday. We decided to get some festive drinks from starbucks (hot chocolate addition season commences). Lindsay said something...in a silly voice!!! I laughed soooo hard! Then we were turning into the parking lot and she made a funny noise to express emotion!!! I looked at her and she said "you did this to me" I couldnt contain myself any longer. I died laughing. it was epic. momentous. words cannot describe how glorious this moment was in my life

Tuesday night ended with my last institute class in sedalia, and i was sad. i learned so much in that class. Wednesday Lindsay and I had our final presentation and a giant training session. Thursday we had another training session and paperwork to finish up along with eat the monthly company hosted lunch (it was thanksgiving food!)

Now, my time in Missouri is coming to a close, and once again, it is time to return. It's time to go home. I am excited; I cannot wait. Life always comes full circle.

2012 Boy Advice Awards:
Best Advice goes to Marijn! "if he doesn't like you, he's an idiot" sometimes, you just got to hear that from someone you trust
Funniest Advice goes to Lindsay! Lindsay said: This is why you need to get drunk, then you can call him and tell him how you feel and you wont care if he doesn't like you back!
lolz. i love my friends.

Poem of the Week:

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

"Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas

I Feel Infinite

Get ready. This is three weeks worth of life updates.

Tues (10/9) night. I was going to sleep after a long day of working and updating my blog. As I was dosing off to sleep...there is a knock on my door. I remember Sage saying how kids used to knock on Jon's door to annoy him. So I didn't open the door. Instead, I got my phone and was at the ready to call 911. Mainly because i'm on the bottom floor and i was scared they would try to break in. I said a prayer for safety and peace so i could get back to sleep. I woke up to a text from Lindsay saying that Sage slept over (on a worknight) and to come over cuz she was making cinnamon rolls. So I went over super confused to find out...it wasn't kids knocking on my door last night...it was sage. Her car broke down and a cop gave her a ride over to our apartment complex. Sadly, Lindsay burnt the cinnamon rolls #supergross #superfunny It was a very long 11-hour day at work. the good thing was, when I went home, Cody brought me some homemade apple pie! She's sooo nice!

Thursday (10/11) there was a vendor who came over to take us all to lunch for our vendor meeting. We went to eat at a "Texan" restaurant and i got some yummy sweet potato fries. Guess what they came with? MARSHMALLOW CREAM DIP!!!!!!!!!! #noway #dreamcomtrue It was amazing. I was very happy and ate a lot. I was also impressed with how knowledgeable I am. My SNL savvy-ness made me cool too as we chatted about the SNL take on the debates. Later in the day, we decided it was a good idea for Lindsay to throw snow peas at me over the cubicle wall so she didn't have to get up and walk them to me. Please realize...we do not have neighboring cubicles. There is a cube between us. lol. It was soooo funny, especially cuz the first time, it didnt make it into my cube. good thing the person in that cube was not there. lol.

New Life Goal: Make Family History COOL.

At the Gateway to the West

Friday (10/12), Sage, Lindsay, and I hopped in the car to start our epic drive to St. Louis. before we started our drive, Sage and I decided on a safe word for when we get super obnoxious to lindsay. Sage and I feed off each other's energy...so when one of us gets ridiculous...the other quickly follows and it escalates. lol. So for lindsay's sanity, we chose...Yogi Bear. And only had to use it twice the whole weekend. At one point...lindsay turned up the music so loud that sage and I couldnt be heard over the music. #ohwhatfunwehave :) We made good time to St. Louis thanks to Lindsay's driving. We went to a cute little place where it served cheese and pretzels...lindsay's fav german food. so we ate that. our food came but sage didnt eat....she said the food had too many colors. i've never heard of something like that before. we pulled out the we're-not-leaving-this-table-until-you-take-a-bite card. it was soooo funny. like a kid being scolded. She even made me take a bite of her food first to tell her it wasn't bad. So we were finally able to leave and go see The Perks of Being a Wallflower...something I've been wanting to see for WEEKS! and finally we are near a place with a cinema to see it #victory Of course we missed the previews....because we have bad luck like that. But the movie was AMAZING! I was skeptical when it began because all the scenes from the tailers were in the first part of the movie...so i didnt know if it got any better than that...but it did. It was heart-wrenchingly beautiful. I cried. And also received a firmer testimony of God's love for children, like Elder Oaks talked about during General Conference. We finished the drive to Sage's house and Sage's mom has rice crispy treats and homemade chocolate chip cookies waiting for us when we arrive.#goodsurprise

Botanical Gardens

Saturday (10/13) Sage's mom made a HUGE brunch for us. There were homemade hashbrowns, chocolate chip pancakes and juice! I was sooo stuffed afterwards. plus i found out we share the same birthday. #birthdayfriendsforever Lindsay and I took off into St. Louis to do some sightseeing while Sage spent time with her family. We went to the Gateway Arch and it was cool. I felt like i was going up in an alien spaceship going to the top. It was cool. The museum in there was super cool too. Then we went to the botanical gardens. it was beautiful. and the sun came out for us too. We ate sushi for dinner and it was really good. We saw the Old Cathedral and it was gorgeous. There was mass going on, so we were discouraged from taking pictures but we went in for a few moments. Wonderful. It was a long day of sightseeing and we were so tired because it was chilly and the getting dark. Our phones were slowly dying so we decided to get back to sage's with batter power. We made it back and were so tired that we just turned on the tv and watched Step it. The first one was terrible. the second one was pretty legit. I recounted to Lindsay about my times dancing in The Streets and how I had to inspire a crowd in a club to let me and my crew dance even though we were different :)

Sunday (10/14) morning, Sage's mom made another huge breakfast and stuffed me up soooo full. It was a lazy day and it was nice. we spend the day in st. louis before our drive home to Sedalia. It was a really fun weekend meeting Sage's AWESOME family and hanging out in a home again.

Monday (10/15) - Friday (19)  was my kaizen event that i was hosting. So for a week, I'm in charge of a team to implement the inventory management kanban system that i've been working on the past 6-7 weeks. it was soooo stressful. It was a week full of being at work from about 7am-6pm or later to get stuff done. Half my team was in and out. I was sooooo busy that i didnt have time to really talk to my family or text anyone. I also realized I'm not made to do manual labor full time. but it was fun to be in the factory getting dirty and working hard. but i was soooooo tired. By friday I was about to die. Friday, Lindsay took off to Chicago and Sage and I made our own epic plans. We decided to go see Pitch Perfect. I had to wait for one of the guys to return the company car so i could have it for the weekend. Around 6:30, I called him to remind him to hurry back. He told me that he returned the car, but forgot to return the car keys. #genius so I had no time between getting off work and the movie to eat...so i made a judgment call with the help of sage for what to get for dinner....decision: hot chocolate and yummy starbucks sweet bread. #thisiswhyimgainingweight When I got to the cinema...there was a line. Seriously. It was out to the middle of the parking lot. I asked the people ahead of me if that was normal. it was not. Sage found me when i was almost at the front. haha. so we went in....missing the previews and probably the first few minutes of the movie. BEST MOVIE EVER. I almost peed my pants laughing the whole time #iatemytwininthewomb #crushedit #ihaveafatheart The movie was so good we were on a movie high all night long. we got back to my apartment and danced in the parking lot as sage blasted It's Time by Imagine Dragons. It was a beautiful expression of joy :) Then we kept being giggly all night and went out to get ice cream and snacks from fast food places....
Me: mcdonalds makes shakes? are they good?
Sage: yeah. i had one in high school

:/

...and watched The Mindy Project. We also made some new goals that will forever change our lives :) Can I just say....Pitch Perfect is Hot Rod kind of funny. So if you like Hot Rod...i think you'll like Pitch Perfect.

Saturday (10/20) I woke up a little later than I wanted and i went to Wal-Mart because I decided I needed a new color of lipstick to spunk up my morning. I went dark this time. I drove up to Independence and thought that all the church history sites where really close by....false. so I road tripped it further north to see some sights. I enjoyed the brisk autumn air and beautiful scenery of some land the church owns. I loved seeing the cornerstones for the Far West Temple that has never been build and the American flag flying proudly on the grounds. I got a snack at the little store there because i had no time to stop and eat (i was on a strict schedule). I was able to visit Liberty Jail and reflect one my favourite revelations from a modern day prophet. The prophet Joseph Smith (please note: Mormons do not worship Joseph Smith) received it after being falsely imprisoned for months in a cold gross prison...he received this comfort from our Saviour, Jesus Christ:

And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he? 

I was then able to attend the Saturday night session of stake conference in Warrensburg, which was nice. 

Sunday (20/21). I went to the Sunday session of Stake Conference, which was really great. My favourite part what when one of the speakers spoke about how we need to re-evaluate our lives. I dont know what he said specifically that made me pause, but I loved it. I saw my Institute teacher (aka Bible Study teacher), and she invited me to have dinner with her family after church. So I went over and tried my best to not be awkward. It was cool because her husband is the brother of my family's home teacher from when I was growing up. It was a lot of fun and everyone was soooo nice. It was nice to have a homecooked dinner. I went home because I was so exhausted, but I decided to go over to Sage's later that night to say hi and finally see her place. #badidea after hanging out for a bit, I wanted to get home in time for a tv show so I left and the street was not well lit, so I felt for my keys, pressed the unlock button and hopped in the car. I put the key in the ignition and was a little confused when the engine wasnt starting. I decided to pull the key out and do it again....only to realize the key wasn't coming out. Sage came out to help try and get the key out (it turns out it was not the actual key but a decorative key I got in mexico where they take an old key and engrave your name into it. So we got some soap and pliers to pull the key out....and it broke the key off in the ignition. I called a locksmith and he was with us from about 2.5 hours trying stuff only to realize that the key is really in there. ugh. i was trying not to cry and trying to convince myself  i could not get fired for this, even though my brain was not very convinced. I sent an email to my boss to call me in the morning, and texted lindsay to tell her she needed to pick me up in the morning. Sage had to drive me home.

Monday morning I got to work and went to talk to my not-really-boss-but-the-guy-who-looks-after-us-best, Mike. He laughed at my story, which made me feel better. But I felt so bad that I avoided the lady who is the keeper of the keys. By the end of the day I found out that the whole office knew...and the factory knew. Everyone was convinced that Sage and I were high or that I was super drunk because getting the wrong key stuck in the ignition is so dumb that you had to be under the influence of something to do something so stupid. I felt horrible, embarrassed and like and idiot. So I went to the store and bought stuff to make cupcakes. I promised the guys a few weeks ago I would make them cupcakes, so i made them, and everyone else in the office cupcakes to ease my troubled mind and heart...and to hopefully earn some goodwill. So the week was long and hard. I had a huge presentation on Tuesday about my project so far and I felt like I will not be remembered for my awesome work on this project, but will forever be the girl who broke the car. I was depressing and discouraging.

Tuesday (10/23) night I got a late night text from Lindsay asking if I was awake....I was totally watching alias on netflix :) Her neighbors were being loud, like always and she was pretty sure that the boyfriend was beating the girl, so she called the landlord to complain. Moments later they came knocking on her door (and she actually openned the door) and yelled at her. Then they went upstairs and called the cops on her, lying and saying she came upstairs to yell at them. Because they sound crazy, Alex (her bf) and I were in agreement that she needed to get out of there, so she came over and slept over. I drove over to her building because it was cold and dark to pick her up only to have her creepy upstairs neighbor blatantly creepily watch us through the window. #creeperalert

Thursday (10/25) Lindsay and I matched today. As in, we had on red-orange tops that were the exact same color and black skinny jeans. We had to train some people on the Kanban system, so when we put on our matching steal toed sneakers....it was too much. LOL. lindsay was freaking out and everyone thought we were so cute. hahaha i had a nice long chat with my dad, something time has not allowed me in a while. Lindsay called and asked me to help her move, because she got a new apartment because of the scary neighbors. So we moved her. Then it was tv night and sage came over and we had some social time. #goodtimes

After work on Friday (10/26), I took our new Ford Escape and drove to Nauvoo. I asked Lindsay to ask permission to use the car, because i'm pretty sure they'll never let me touch it again, and she agreed. #goodfriend I checked into my hotel and was glad i didnt rely on the GPS on my phone because there were some areas on the drive where I had no data connection. Luckily, I printed out directions earlier, but forgot how difficult this archaic way of following directions could be ;) I went to see the Nauvoo temple. I almost hit some guys dressed in all black on a not lit street, and was scared they would kill me as revenge. (yes....i have an overactive imagination that makes me freak out more than normal people). The temple was GORGEOUS and was the first time I ever saw it. After the Saints left Nauvoo to head west to Utah, mobs destroyed the temple and someone burned it down. It has been recently that the church reconstructed the temple as it once was. There is nothing like staring up at the temple to calm my troubled heart and soul after a stressful week. I love the temple! So I went back to my hotel afterwards and read a book, because we are too plugged into the internet some days.

I remember loving this statue of a family when I was a little girl,
and i still think it's wonderful. Families can be together forever :)

Saturday (10/27). I got a late start because i stayed up too late finishing my book. So I had a waffle for breakfast at the hotel, checked out and left to go straight to the visitor's center. However, Google believes the Visitor's Center is on the other side of the Mississippi River than it is. So i went to a different town, and there is no bridge in the town to cross...so I had to drive another 40 minutes, and go over a toll bridge to get to Nauvoo. I should have just gone the way I went last night, but Google said this way was faster. #cruelfate. I took pictures of the temple during the daytime. I went on a horse drawn carriage ride tour of the historic town and it was soo nice. they had quilts for you to use because it was cold and the winds off the Mississippi River are very cold.  I went to the little bakery  and they had little gingerbread cookies for you to have. #yum I toured some of the buildings, but didnt have nearly enough time. I remember coming here when I was little, and it was summer so we walked all around. But this time it was sooo cold. I had on my earmuffs, scarf, winter coat, and boots. #supercold

After seeing some buildings I went to visit Carthage Jail. For yall not in the know with LDS Church History, Carthage Jail is where the prophet Joseph Smith and his brother were killed by a mob while, once again being falsely charged, waiting their trial. It was an experience and one of the ladies there was so kind and shared such a powerful testimony of the divinity of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the calling that Joseph Smith had to restore Christ's church onto the earth. I then drove back to Nauvoo, even though the sightseeing places were closed, you could still drive around the town. What I really wanted to do was to take myself back to imagine what it would be like to have to leave this beautiful town. LDS History Lesson: For early church members, leaving their homes was not new. They had left Ohio because it was not safe for them. There was an extermination act signed by Missouri's Governor Boggs forcing church members to leave their homes in the dead of winter from their homes in Missouri, and they were allowed a swampy marshland in Illinois to start a life again. Church members drained the area and named it Nauvoo and started a town where they were able to live in peace for some years. Then, once again, due to mobs, they left their homes. I walked the new Trail of Hope with leads you from the town to the Mississippi River, where they would have had to cross to start their journey westward to find a new home. It was cold, but I tried to imagine what it would be like to leave your home and all your possessions because you could not take them with you. As you walk away, the beautiful Nauvoo temple, which was built with so much love and faith, fades into the distance. It was a moving experience I will never forget as I made it to the banks of the river and looked westward, as they once did, with faith that God will always direct our lives and our paths. With these thoughts on my mind, I made my journey back to Sedalia and felt spiritually prepared for Sunday.

Sunday (10/28) was great. I woke up early and wrote down some thoughts for my talk in church. I was excited because I was asked to talk about my mission. Talk about my mission? BEST TOPIC EVER! My dad and lil sister both commented on how I dont even need to write anything down because I could talk forever about my mission #truestory but I felt impressed to write some thoughts down so I would not ramble. I was the second talk, and I went over on my time limit, but really, i was so happy and loved every minute of it. Then in Relief Society, they forgot to ask someone to give the lesson, so I volunteered. We had a Q&A about being a missionary, and more specifically, a sister missionary. It was AMAZING! I loved it. I felt wonderful and fell more in love with my life. It's amazing how well our Father in Heaven knows our hearts and what we need. I felt so blessed for the opportunity to share something I love so much with others. #bestsundayever

Note: I will be an auntie at 10am (central time) on Friday. #icantwait  

Happier Than A Bodybuilder Directing Traffic

Sometimes at work you got to keep things interesting. This is a convo Lindsay and I had on work I.M. after I left a little Post-It note on her desk (can i tell you how much i like IMing people i work with? it's awesome. super convenient too because if you just have a simple question, IM someone...you dont even have to loose time getting up and walking over there)
Lindsay : lol. did you leave #stalkeralert??
Natasha: no.
   ◄       that's weird
   ◄       maybe you have a stalker
Lindsay: hahaha it is SOOOO your hand writing
Natasha: rofl.
◄         tricked you!
Lindsay: haha you stalker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Natasha: SOOO FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cody, Rachel & I decided I'm channelling Snow
White with my dark hair and red lips. #legit

Last Friday (9/28), I was planning on seeing Pippin in Kansas City...until I started reading reviews and realizing the plot line might not be 100% appropriate. So I went to work looking up other stuff to do. I found two acceptable options. 1. See a community play production of Annie. 2. See Boys Like Girls in concert for only $20. Both were good options, but i'm a sucker for the theatre. So Rachel, Cody, and I got dolled up to go to Columbia, MO to eat. We were planning on going to a nice little jazz restaurant ..but we left a little too late. So we managed to get to the theatre with 15 minutes to spare, and since there were some reservations that didn't show up, we got tickets. The best actress award goes to the perfectly ridiculous evil orphan keeper, Miss Hannigan was. However, I think the best part of the night was the end...when the whole audience joined in with the cast to sing "Tomorrow", so I got to belt out the song with my new friends. It was legendary! Then we met up with Cody's sister and her friends to get some frozen yogurt (yuck). But it was nice. We ended up getting back to Sedalia at 1-ish. I felt like a bad influence keeping them out so late :)

Saturday (9/29), I was planning on going with Sage to Kansas City to meet up with Lindsay & her boyfriend, Alex, who came in for the weekend to visit. However, I couldn't get a hold of Sage, so I didn't want to leave without her. So I turned on my computer only to discover that Alias had come to Netflix. #dreamcometrue So i sat on my couch relaxing and watching Alias. By the time I decided I wanted to do something, it was too late to go to Kansas City, so I continued watching Alias :) Then Sage responded. She had slept in. lol. We decided to make plans to meet up with Alex and Lindsay at DQ that night. It was a lot of fun. Alex is a cool guy and super nice. He surprised Lindsay with a couple's massage #lucky I told him if he ever wanted to give surprise me with a massage, I would love one :) lol.  Afterwards, Sage came over, and I introduced her to Scandal. I know, right? We stayed up till 3:30am watching Scandal. SOOOO GOOD! Then I had to get some sleep for church.

I got a calling at church. Gospel Principle's teacher. aka my fav calling EVER! I'm super excited. Church was good, but I was a tired. I had trouble getting to sleep that night because my throat was hurting too. But Monday morning (Oct 1st), I woke up feeling terrible, especially at 4:30am in order to get to work by 5am. Why was I going to work so early? Inventory week. If it wasn't inventory week, I would have called in sick because I felt terrible, but I went in anyways. What is Inventory Week, the first week in October in the Sedalia facility, we do a physical count of all the inventory in our factory for an audit to check that the computer is correct and to account for lost or misplaced inventory. Our area "misplaced" about 125 motors...really, it was just shipped to China, but that information got lost a few weeks ago. But it was a great time to really get to know the guys in my area. There are about six total who work on a regular basis in my area. We bonded. The first day, we finished counting out area. Seriously. 2.5 more days of sitting around. So we talked a lot. I learned a lot from them too. I learned:

• how to cook raccoon meat. you got to boil it first. then bake it with lots of bbq sauce.
• turtle meat is tough like goat
• what Noodling Catfish is
• there is a man called Turtleman with a tv show called Call of the Wildman (which is supposedly amusing, more because of what the two main guys say more than what they do) who likes to catch wild animals with his barehands.

Basically, lots of good things. Tuesday morning, the company brought in some Papa Jake's donuts....SOOOO GOOD! At one point, I was up at my desk and Sage messages me to tell me I'm in trouble because I came in a little late. (aka, Sage took me to work because I didn't have to come in till 7am and Lindsay had to be in at 5 again). She looked all serious and I started freaking out. Then she told me it was a joke. #trickysage
And speaking about being tricky, another guy came into my area while we were sitting around bonding. He asked me who I was, and me and the guys were just talking about how I did welding in high school, so i responded, "the new welder". He looked at me like i was kidding and asked one of the guys, "is she really?" and one of the guys said, "yeah, she's really good." lol. #practicaljokesatwork

While I was down there, one of the guys from Lindsay's area found me to tell me more info about the dodgeball league they're having. I told them I couldn't this Wednesday because of the Presidential debates. He looked at me and said "you're a nerd, aren't you?" it normally takes people a little longer to figure that out, but i responded positively :) I told him how I wanted to make cupcakes and have a little party. The debates were hysterical. Cody let me borrow her food dye. I had a little trouble getting the red to look red...it looked pink #sadday but I continued. Marjin said my cupcakes look like they're Israeli. The actual cupcake is supposed to be red, white, & blue. but either way....im super impressed, and i did the little icing decorating with a little plastic snack baggie that i bit a hole into a corner. (new item on my Christmas Wish List: icing tips)

The rest of the week I was still sick but slowly improving. As soon as I left work on Thursday to start my 3-day weekend/holiday, I donned my awesome red lip gloss and began the long drive to Kansas City. It was cold so I got a hot chocolate as soon as I arrived, and of course spilled on myself shortly after. With my sinuses all out of whack, I still managed to survive a flight to Salt Lake City on Thursday night. I caught my shuttle to Elo's house, and managed to stay up to socialize for a bit, as the exhausting week was slowly catching up to me.

lo mejor!

Friday (10/5), I woke up and read a bit from my NOOK, and eventually one of the 9 roommates, suggested we watch some ALIAS! It's like she knows my soul already! I found Elo, and since I was bored being inside, I put on my super cute blazer and headed into town with my phone's GPS as my guide. First stop...Starbucks. I was going to get a hot chocolate...but then decided to go for the healthy choice of Orange Juice and some banana bread for my breakfast (at noonish...did i mention i hadn't eaten all morning?) After boosting my blood sugar and attacking my body with Vitamin C, I decided I must have some retail therapy because I work too much. I hit up H&M first. The closest thing to Europe I have in my life. Then I learned in Banana Republic that the colors for fashion are maroon and dark yellow. #learnsomethingneweveryday Elo joined my shopping excursion and we shopped all afternoon, until we had to go back to the house for the reunion. I changed from my skinny jeans to my pencil shirt and voilá, I was ready. #lowmaintenanceattimes We took the traks down to Murray and walked to the Mexican restaurant I made reservations at for all the hermanas to meet up before the reunion and eat. It was awesome to see everyone. Even Katie came up to see me, even though she didn't stay for the reunion. woohoo. The reunion was WEIRD! I couldn't handle seeing everyone in normal clothes and hugging each other. my brain was on overload. But it was nice to see my mission brothers and sisters. And of course my mission mom and dad, President and Sister Bunker. aka my heros. PBunk was in a baby blue sweater. it was great. he looked so un-intimidating. jajaja. Elo and I got to go home with Pam & Trey (the newly weds) after picking up Melissa. We drove and went to bed as soon as we got there. I was exhausted. too much socializing.

Saturday, the first day of Conference, BLEW MY MIND! First off, it was Pam & Trey, Bonnie (pam's sister), Elo, Melissa (a girl we taught in Cali who now is going to LDSBC) and me watching conference together. The prophet made an awesome announcement. LDS guys can now go on missions after they graduate high school at age 18. And girls can leave at 19 years old. Effective immediately. Do you know how many people are now eligible to go on missions now?!?!?! OH MY GOODNESS! We were all so excited. Emotions were running high. texts were being sent out. facebook statuses were being updated. trust me. in the mormon world, this is life changing. HUGE! Plus, telling that to 4 returned missionaries, one convert of these returned missionaries, and a girl who wrote all 4 missionaries while they were on the mission...it was a room of joy and excitement. The rest of the day was anticlimactic. Can you really top an announcement like that? No. But the rest of General Conference was amazing as usual. It's such a blessing to have a living prophet on the earth who is able to lead and guide Christ's church, and of course, the apostles are also equally inspiring. I am so grateful for the hand of God in directing their words and their actions. For lunch, we ate yummy pizza. YUM. After conference, we had girl time and watched Hairspray, and then went for Indian food. Melissa didn't like it too much. her chicken was green, which freaked her out.

Sunday was amazing. My fav talk was Elder Holland's talk. He gave this talk before but to missionaries, so this time it was a little different, but the message was the same. He spoke of if we love Christ, we will feed his sheep (John 21:17).  Sister Bunker shared this with us as missionaries a little before the end of my mission. I love how Elder Holland doesn't hold back. He speaks to the world as an apostle of God, and he doesn't sugar coat things.

He testifies, and the Holy Ghost confirms to me that what he's saying is true, as it does whenever the prophet and apostles of Jesus Christ speak. I think of the prophets of old, in the Bible, how grateful I am to them for writing down the words of God. I am grateful for the modern day revelation that goes on today and the knowledge I have that God spoke to his prophets of old and he speaks to his prophet on the earth today, Thomas S. Monson.

After conference, I caught a plane ride back to Kansas City. When I arrived back to Kansas City, I picked up my beautiful Jeep Liberty and was waiting in line to get out of the lot, when one of my jams came on. Taylor Swift's "We're Never Ever Getting Back Together". So of course, I was dancing in my seat. When it was my turn, the guy asked me, "what are you rocking out to?" I responded joyfully, "taylor swift". He looked at me and said "really?" "haha. yes. really." I recommended he do it too next time he was in the car. He laughed and let me go on, and i laughed at how silly i am sometimes.

funniest thing Sage IMed to me on Tuesday 9 October:

just so you know...if there were any more than two people to be friends with here...I would totes ditch you.

jk :)
(..maybe) my response:

how could you ever resist being my friend?!?!?!?! 

NOLA

So life in Sedalia is pretty quiet. I wake up at 7. Leave for work at 7:50/7:55ish and get to work 5 minutes later. Work is nice because I really like the people I work with and my project is super interesting and keeping me busy. A busy Natasha is a happy Natasha. Fact. Also, I've started wearing red lipstick. Like Taylor Swift red. well, it's lip gloss, but still good.

Quick recap of last week: Lindsay and I went shopping at Lee's Summit last friday (9/15), where due to our lack of luggage, we used it as an excuse to buy new things. i invested in some new flats. YAY SHOES! Then we went to a bonfire at a YSA girl's house and played volleyball (where we weren't the worst players) and ate hot dogs roasted over a bonfire. Nice! Our luggage finally came in on Monday (9/17) so im very happy to have all my clothes with me. clothes. and my love-of-my-life-boots. LOVE THEM! I want to wear them all the time. My new exercise shoes came in the mail too. Still haven't used them...but now i have them should i decided to hit up the gym.

This past weekend (Sept 21-23) I was able to fly down to New Orleans. NOLA. The Cresent City. The Big Easy. The City That Care Forgot. Nawlins. Can I make a correction first off? It's not New Orleens, with the hard "e". It's pronounced New Orlans, with the soft "a". It's the south. Love it. Let's start with that Friday.

Friday (9/21) Lindsay and I met with Kim to go over some Kanban questions we had. Lindsay was on a roll as lunch time came around. I could tell Kim was getting a little hungrr, so I suggested that we pause the meeting for lunch. Lindsay responded that she wasn't hungry. lol. but we stopped anyways and Kim invited us to lunch. Lindsay and I bring out lunch, but Kim said to leave it so we could eat some BBQ. Can I just say, the place we went had very bland pulled pork. All the flavor was in the sauce. #depressing but super filling. I wasn't hungry the rest of the day.

taking pics with statues :)

So I left work early to drive the 2 hours to the airport. Note to self: Never live more than an hour away from an airport. Back to the story. When I got to the airport I realized that my NOOK battery was dead. Bah humbug! I just bought a book specifically for the flight. I plugged in my phone, connected in the internet and proceeded to download the NOOK app onto my phone. It took FOREVER. So I was able to get the book on my phone and read it on the way down to New Orleans. So the flight was nice, and I took the airport shuttle to the Marriott on Canal Street. Swanky. Thank you corporate America. (as an explination, my dad is in New Orleans on a business trip and i flew down for the weekend with his frequent flyer miles. win!) I got up to the room and guess what was waiting for me? My blanket, water filter, and winter coat! Best Dad EVER! We were chatting and at one point my dad said, "oh I got you an Apple." "An APPLE?" I responded, thinking of the iTouch Saryah got last week. Then I looked on the bed and saw he had 2 little red apples he got as a snack. Not the kind of apple to get that excited about. Haha.

I woke up from Dad moving around around 7am. Not the time I'm used to waking up at on a weekend, but he was teasing how i've been sleeping the day away, so I got up and found a place online for us to have breakfast, The Old Coffee Pot Resturant. it was adorable! And our waitress was so full of southern love. So happy. We wandered through the French Quarter and made our way to the St. Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square. We meandered along the Mississippi River (that's right, I just did the whole childhood-spelling-chant as I typed the word Mississippi) We did the cemetary tour of St. Louis Cemetary #1, and our tour guide was super cool. He even explained the different types of houses found in the French Quarter, along with what Romeo Spikes are. Cool. As the day was progressing the hotter it was getting. After the tour, we went to have one of the original muffalettas. There was a lunchtime line. I know I love telling people I'm half British, but I forget that people can actually tell my dad is foreign. He was talking to someone in line and they ask, "where are yall from?" Dad responded, "Texas!" and they guy says, "no really. where are you from" I heard that and thought, 'dude, he just told you he was from texas. why do you think he's lying? we're from texas!' My dad told him where he's originally from and then i realized, 'oh yeah! my dad has an accent! duh!' I just forget because i dont really hear it. We then went by the oldest building in New Orleans, the Ursuline Convent, before heading back to our hotel for a break. It was just getting too hot and I was DYING!

House in Musicians Corner with Katrina marking still

So Dad took a nap and i relaxed for a bit. We then made it out for dinner at...get this...Huck Finn's Cafe. Say what??? I know, right? But it was funny because we happened to go in right during a football game with tons of fans. Too funny. I got my crawfish etouffee that i'd been craving. (and i sneakily robbed him on his credit card to pay for the meal. hahaha) Then we walked around the French Quarter for the rest of the night. We got to hear the jazz along Frenchman Street and see the nighttime vendors along there. We also got to a park with lots of statues of jazz musicians. It was nice. It was past nightfall when we got back to the hotel and spent the rest of the night watching Ratatouee on ABC Family.  Seriously, coolest dad EVER.

Above Ground Cemeteries are all the rage 

So Sunday morning we got up bright and early to go to Cafe Du Monde for the beignets because Saryah would kill us if we didn't. (Saryah loves NOLA) We then headed back for our city tour. We saw everything. We saw the 9th Ward, where there is still Hurricane Katrina damage. The house that Brangelina own in the French Quarter. the cool LDS church on St. Charles Ave (that wasn't mentioned on the tour, but i totally saw it!) and the Musicians Street. It was a really good tour. Then we went to have our last meal together. I had my first taste of alligator! It was tasty. A little too spicy for Dad. We walked the streets a little longer, and saw the French Market, before I needed to get back to the hotel for the shuttle pickup.  It was funny because as we were walking back to the hotel, Dad said we should turn on the street after Royal. I said, "nah, that's Bourbon Street" and he said, "yeah, that's not really my kind of street". lol. mine either. we aren't really into the party scene :) Our goodbye...of course...was a silly one. Then I got onto the shuttle where we were stuck in standstill traffic for over half an hour due to the LA Saints game just getting out. But i still had plenty of time to get to the airport. There was a magical Blue Bell ice cream place in the airport, which i had never seen before. I slept on the plane ride home, arrived, picked up my beautiful Jeep Liberty, and drove the two hour ride back to Sedalia. The best part when when I was feeling tired and Katy Perry's 'Wide Awake'...the irony made me laugh.

It just made me think of a conversation I was having with Jay over Labor Day weekend. I just kinda paused and said, "it's kind of ridiculous how cool we all are." My family is AWESOME. I haven't had a vacation with my Dad since, I think junior high, when we did Spring Break back home in England. He is so funny. Good ole British humor. THE BEST DAD EVER! But then again, my parents are awesome. And vacationing with them is fun too. I may tag along on their possible trip next year back to visit family and friends in the UK because they are too cool for school. Who knows? #stalkeralert

Can I just say that I shop way to much at Wal-Mart? No seriously. It's ridiculous. but Wal-Mart has everything I need in one stop. On Monday (9/24), Lindsay and I spend 1.5 hours at Wal-Mart after work. It's where the rule, "if it has glitter, it's not manly" was created.

Also, I got my steel toed sneakers for work and they are soooo comfy. I wear them most of the day because it's easier than changing in and out of them whenever i want to go to the factory floor. and they keep my feet so warm because my side of the office feels like an ice box. literally. i have a jacket on all day just because it's so cold.

Futhermore. I love my NOOK. The only bad thing is...it's too easy to get new books. i buy a lot of books now. especially since there is no good library here. i am a fan of libraries. for rizzle....i miss the Tempe Public Library. That library had every book you could ever want! It was a bookworm's dream come true.

And I love that me and my little sister are in the States at the same time again (which hasn't happened since early January) so we can talk on the phone all the time :) She's the funniest person i know. for example click here. And once again....im considering joining Twitter. 

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!

I was picked up at the airport Thursday night (Aug 30th) by my big bro. Best broseph ever! because it was pretty much midnight. He drove me home; when we arrived, we went straight to my lil sis' room, sat on her bed and just hung out for a while chatting because we haven't been together for months! It was then bedtime, so I went to my room...only to realize that I was not tired and so I watched Netflix! It was awesome, and then my mom snuck into my room before work and we got to chat it up! Coolest mom ever. Then Dad woke up shortly later and we hung out for a bit. Then we woke up my brother and sister and we rodetripped upto the BLUEBELL CREAMERY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Best family trip. We drove up and had a tour. at the end of the tour you get as many samples as you want and then a GIANT cup of ice cream of the flavor of your choice. I highly recommend everyone going to check it out :)

I then got reunited with my good friend Netflix and we had a good time together watching, The Glades. Awesome. Until I fell asleep and ended up sleeping about 12 hours. I woke up. I looked at my watch to see it was 6 o'clock. I went out of my room and my parents were awake. I felt super disoriented and had to clarify if it was Friday night or Saturday morning. They told me it was Saturday morning. The jetlag is messing with my mind!

mom at work

Saturday was mom's day. we went to get mani/pedis. mom, me, and my brother went to get her a iPhone 4S. my mom officially has the coolest phone out of everyone in my family. truth.  we got sweets and partied it up. The entire day dad was at home bbq-ing. Athena and Jay showed up. It was so fun. Cool big sister alert! Jay and I got to cook together...aka...he cut up some sweet potatoes and i cut some veggies to saute. It was a great bonding experience. Then Jax and Davey showed up. The party was really getting started. Then stevie and sonja showed up with the kids! It was awesome cuz i hadn't actually seen the little one because she was born while i was on the mission. yay! it was an awesome family get-together. we seriously had too much fun. it should be illegal how much fun we had.  Everyone eventually left and mom, dad, saryah, and i decided to watch The Hunger Games! then Hollister decided to visit, so i left the movie to talk with her. it was sooo nice catching up. bffs are great.

 Sunday was relaxing. Church was lovely. The day was super relaxing. Monday was Labor Day and we got to party it up at home and I got to run some errands that I've been wanting to do since I got back to the states. Tuesday, I took mom to work and got to help with her classroom. it was so cute. my mom is adorable! I got a haircut before heading off to the airport and flying to Kansas City. (which is not in Kansas). I finally got to use my Nook, which was exciting. The guy who sat next to my on the airport was super bro. He was like a 40 year-old frat boy. He told me stories a lot of very interesting stories. I just smiled and nodded, feeling bad for his sad life choices. Nevertheless, he was entertaining. I then waited after getting my luggage for Lindsay's flight to get in. We met up and it was weird that we haven't been together for so long. We hoped on the bus to take us to the rental vehicles. We were told we might not get the Jeep Liberty because they needed to do some general maintenance. My response? Give me Liberty or give me Death! We got the Liberty, after having to wander around the lot clicking the key button trying to find the car. We started driving and had to stop shortly after because we were starving and Lindsay LOVES Wendy's. She got her food quickly but they had to make mine...then the guy forgot to give me my food. So I had to go and get it later. The guy felt bad and offered me a frosty, i said "make it two", so Lindsay and I got free Frosties. WIN! We got into Sedalia around 9pm. We went to Lindsay's place first...and there was no key for her to get in. I went to my place and there was no key box either. We went to the front office and no one was there. We called the number, left a message and then went to the Holiday Inn to have a place to sleep.  They were booked up for the night. We were about to go to a different hotel, but then the apartment manager called us back. Apologized. and promised someone will be there to let us into our place. We got in and I went to Walmart to get some hangers and stuff for breakfast tomorrow.

Wednesday and Thurdsay was full of LEAN and KANBAN training and afternoons were filled with going to Walmart for things we don't have, food, and watching cable. I haven't had cable since 2008! It's quite a treat! We also made a friend. Her name is Sage and she's a vegetarian and from St. Louis! I didn't make that up. So friday, we had a girls night into Columbia (where Mizzu is) to see Batman (because Lindsay still hadn't seen it) and have some dinner. It was a nice night out.

Slacklining = legendary

Saturday was a day to sleep in and the afternoon we went out with Sage and did some slacklining!!!!!! I only just heard about it when I was in Germany...and now people know about it in Missouri! Crazy. WE spend lots of time doing it and by the time we were over....I could get up on my own and take a step. It was magical. I felt so accomplished.

Sunday I went to the family ward in the morning and the single's branch. it was a long day but very uplifting. Tuesday was Taco Tuesday....so we went there for lunch. believe it or not, the crispy tacos were yummy. I was quite happy. Wednesday was not so great. I was feeling sick and nauseous all day. Kim from work told me I looked pale. I went home and went to bed early. I woke up to Lindsay calling saying she's been sick all morning, so she called us in sick and i proceeded to sleep for 14 hours straight. I do remember solving a murder mystery in my dreams. So even when I'm sick I'm productive. It's moments like this when I wish that I lived at home so someone to take care of me! So I cuddled in a blanket and watch a marathon of The Mentalist on TNT. Love cable. As long at I'm not standing up I don't feel too bad. i hate being sick. it's such a waste of time. My personal theory is that when i'm super busy, my body has no time to get sick, but as soon as life slows down, my body is catching up with me. Life in Missouri is definitely different than I'm used to. Putting a city girl in a small town. But it's nice to slow down for a little bit. I think the saddest part was on Sunday when a lady asked me if I was dating someone and I said no and she said, "well, you probably wont find anyone out here". Sad.

ps. i just had to order exercise shoes online because there is no where to get them around here and shoe shopping for running shoes on the weekend isn't my idea of fun.