Florida Fun in the Sun

Background points: 

1. I don't like using last names in my blog posts, because I like to give people some resemblance of privacy, and I hate when people use my first and last names in blogs. You know, do unto others as you would have others do to you, and all that jazz. Now that you know that, you must also know: writing this blog was really weird, because I call Zach by his last name, probably 90% of the time.

#tbt #iwasfat #CSRM #missionaries

2. I haven't seen Zach since the mission, so about 3 years or so. We've kept in contact, text, and chat on the phone occasionally. I think my favorite thing to ask him is "Why aren't you married?" because he just laughs it off. Either way, we got along really well on the mission, and we still get along fabulously post-mission.

Storytime:

Zach told me earlier this year that he was planning on going to Austin sometime this summer, which made me super excited all year. But like every other time there's a possibility of us running into each other, something happened where he couldn't go anymore. Like how he purposefully goes to whichever mission reunion I'm not attending. (I'm on to you!) We were chatting on the phone one night, and he was just "why don't you come here?" and I immediately say "I'm not flying to tampa to spend a weekend with you." He's saying, "why not" and I'm saying many reasons, "It's going to be expensive. I don't have any time before you go off to school again. You're not really serious." We talked, and I looked at flights, hypothetically of course. It turns out, Houston to Tampa isn't that expensive for a weekend, and since I would be staying with his family, I would just be paying for airfare and if we went out to eat. It also turned out, there was a great weekend that worked perfectly for my schedule. I made him go ask his mom, for real, if it would be okay if I came to visit and verify he wasn't offering as an impulse thing. Once that was okay, I just had to think about it....and the real concern surfaced. If I went to visit him and stay with his family, everyone is going to think we're dating. I told him this and he just said "who cares? people are always going to think what they're going to think". Valid. I booked my flight. 

The only plan I had for the weekend was spending some quality time with Zach, which is exactly what happened....everything else was extra. I flew in Friday night, and he's messages me to see if it's okay that his mom comes along to pick me up from the airport with him. I'm like, "uhhhh....sure." It was a great decision. His mom, is super awesome, and I adore her. We picked up his oldest (maybe?) brother and went to dinner near Clearwater Beach, where one of his younger sisters and her friends joined us. It was great. I think the best part is when we got back, and I met his youngest brother Matt, who was just waking up from a too-long nap around 10ish. I greeted him, and he just gave me one of those i-just-woke-up-and-nothing-makes-sense looks. I laughed. The next best part was that Zach's mom more awake and ready to stay up than I was. I felt so un-cool.

Saturday morning started off wonderfully. I did my 5-mile run on a trail down the road from their house (see pic above). It was my first 5-mile run; I was worried I would die from the distance, and Zach's family was worried I'd die from heat and humidity. Personally, I think Florida was less humid than Texas that week. I also had to tell Zach to make sure I didn't make up excuses to not run. The sad thing is, it was my last long-distance run. I've been making tons of excuses since. #fail

I went running, while Zach and Matt went to help someone move. Zach's mom made an epic breakfast when we all got back. We headed to the beach, where Zach and Matt did an indoor surf thing, while I hung out and shopped a bit with Zach's mom. Then it was beach time. The sand was so white and the water was nice, warm, wonderful, and clean.

On the way to the beach, I was having quite an interesting family drama morning, because everyone was convinced my older sister was dead. I thought she had been taken. It was very dramatic, and quite entertaining. Turns out she was just asleep. It was so anticlimactic. It did leave us very intrigued for the morning.

I'm not sure if I should share this story, but I'm going to anyway, because I don't have many boundaries. Zach's brother, Matt is a teenagers. One of the teenager things I heard from him was him complaining that his parents "cared too much" and "believed in him too much". I laughed so hard. Fast forward a few weeks. I'm in the car with my mom and sister, and my mom is driving me insane about something. I'm about to open my mouth and say "STOP CARING SO MUCH", but instead I think of Matt and start laughing. It was a great moment. I'm such an adult.

Dang. My face looks nice and tan. Go me...Zach looks tan too.

After the beach, we went back to the house. Zach and I went shopping for groceries for dinner, which was great, because we were very inefficient and kept backtracking trying to find things on our shopping list. I got to request spaghetti with meatballs for dinner. Victory! To make dinner even better, the sister missionaries showed up. I LOVE MISSIONARIES! It was a great night. The evening ended with a stroll and lots of sweets from the Sponge Docks. Then I introduced them to The Mindy Project. There were a few moments where I questioned my decision, but I LOVE THE MINDY PROJECT! NO REGRETS!

Sunset at the Sponge Docks. Isn't it BEAUTIFUL!?!?!?!

Sunday Funday! Sunday was great. I wore my pretty new flower dress and had to borrow a safety pin to keep it appropriate. Clothing these days. geeze. Church was amazing. I was so uplifted. There were some great speakers, but my fav was a 15-year-old boy, who converted recently. The sunday school teacher was deaf, and had great insights into the book of Job. The Relief Society was full of women with wisdom. It was great. I didn't realize how much their words would impact me later the week. Seriously. There were a number of ladies battling cancer in the room, and they were talking about dealing with trials and cancer. I loved one older lady telling about when she got the call that she had cancer. She said something along the lines of, "When you get bad news like that, you take a moment to be miserable/upset/angry. No more than 24-hours. Then you have to get back and face it" She said she called her doctor back and said "ok. what are we going to do about it?" I'm not saying that everyone should deal with cancer or bad news this way, but I really liked the spirit behind her words.

We made sushi for lunch. Homemade sushi. I've never made homemade sushi before, and I felt super posh. It was awesome, and fun. After lunch, the only way to end a great weekend is with a great dessert! So I made Sister Bunker's birthday cookies (aka homemade oreos). They were a hit. Of course. You can't go wrong with those cookies. 

Overall, it was a great weekend. I needed it. I needed to relax, and spend some time with a friend. I had a great time. Maybe it won't take years before we see each other next. His mom asked me over the weekend what I thought about Zach, or if he's what I expected, or something like that. I've told him, and I told her: Zach is not what I thought he would be like outside of the mission. That may sound bad, but I mean it in the nicest way. You get to know and love fellow missionaries on your mission, and they just stay that way, in missionary-mode, in your mind forever. Zach just got more awesome since the mission, and I love it. 

Just Call Me Neville

I am super awkward. I am embarrassing. I am Neville Longbottom when the whole Gryffindor house is ashamed of him for having written down the week's worth of passwords only to get in the hands of the accused murderer, Sirius Black.

As Stephen Colbert says, "If you don't know who that is, congratulations on waking up from your eight-year coma. Let me get you up to speed for some of the things you might have missed. First of all the economy is terrible. All human thought has now been limited to 140 characters. And most importantly Neville Longbottom now looks like this. I think we can all agree that that is a real message of hope." But like Neville, I hope to grow out of the awkward embarrassing stage of my life....one day. A girl can dream, right?

But for real. This is a story of why I am borderline anti-social. So this week, in preparation for the roadtrip I was taking with my sister, I was given the task of putting HP6 on my iPod. I had forgotten to pack the night before I had to drive home, so I had to pack Wednesday. I quickly plugged in my iPod and uploaded the book files back onto my iTunes and put it on my iPod. I got home and relaxed a little by doing some online shopping as Saryah was getting stuff together and loading her car. At one point, she put all her clothes, with the hangers still on, on a blanket, and wrapped the blanket up. I felt like we were carrying a dead body into the trunk of her car.

Thursday morning started off like any other, waking up after a few hours of sleep at 4:30am, making sure saryah was awake....hang on.....wait a second.....that's not right. I do not do that. Sorry. No. Let's start over. I managed to wake up to my alarm at 4:30 am. Slowly and sluggishly we made it to the car.....nooooo. I woke up and made sure Saryah was too. We got ready and got the last minute things in the car only to realize after about 1 minute on the road, we forgot something. oops. So we turned around, and hit the road for a second time. I passed out cold in the passenger seat. Two hours later, Saryah was pulling into Buc-ee's to get some gas and for us to change driving. So she fell asleep as we went into San Antonio. What we didn't consider is, despite our early departure from Houston, we hit San Antonio during rush hour traffic. Since we were in San Antonio, we decided to pull off at the next Taco Cabana on the side of the highway. However, this was not happening as quickly as we hoped. I put it in my phone and the closest one was off Hildebrand. When we got there, this one had no bathroom that we saw. Instead of sitting at a table and eating, we went to the car...and ate. lol.  the tight space caused me to spill on myself. #fail Then when I went to throw away the trash, we discovered the outdoor bathroom door. #fail

On the way out of the city, we decided to put on the HP6 audio book. The problem was, the tracks weren't playing in order, and we couldn't control it with the usb cord connection......and it wasn't HP6. In my rush to leave my place, I put HP7 on my iPod. #spoileralert  #epicfail I had been stressing about starting the HP series again with book 6 because I haven't re-read the series in over half a decade. Overtime I try, I get super angsty and have to stop. Now I was starting with #7. The last one. #facepalm #iamnevillelongbottom 

We had to stop listening to it anyway because we couldn't navigate the iPod menu on her car and needed and AUX cord. The problem is, we had passed the last Wal-Mart that would be on I-10 for a very long time. So we had to listen to my music instead. Qué horror! Saryah went back to sleep, and I continued driving.  We tried to get gas around half tank just in case there was a long time before the next gas station. It's West Texas; there isn't much out there. 

We managed to find a Wal-Mart (with a surprisingly clean bathroom) and got the AUX cord and started at the very beginning. A very good place to start. We realized we had lost time in the traffic in San Antonio, and the weather, while sunny, had a bit of chill to it, so we skipped our planned stop at Balmorhea State Park. Instead we drove straight up to Roswell, New Mexico. It took about 10 hours on the road before we crossed the border out of Texas. It's a pretty big state. When we hit Roswell, we stopped off at a gas station to take a picture with an alien statue, and I re-enacted the Roswell scene where Max tells Liz that he's an alien. #imsuperfunny There were little alien heads on all the lamp posts in town. Our plan was to stop at an alien themed diner, but we weren't hungry as we drove through. The healthy snacks Saryah picked up were doing their job.

We drove the rest of the afternoon to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Truth: you can't trust a city when all the buildings aren't build bigger than two-stories. We checked into the hotel. It was pretty cold out. Please note: deserts get cold at night. After my phone said there was no Panera Bread in the city, we decided on Jason's Deli. On our drive to pick up our order....we drove past a Panera #lyingphone #fail *sigh* Oh well. The food was okay, but people, don't get Tomato Basil Soup from Jason's Deli. It had a layer or grease/oil that seemed so out of place. We showered after a long day in the car and watch some tv on saryah's laptop, because using the hotel's real tv is too much effort. giggles.

First stop Friday morning? Four Corners of course! It is where the states of Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona meet in one place. Take that A Walk To Remember! Two places at once? Underachievers! We got four! Own3d. We had to drive thorough Arizona to get there and to continue our trip, go through Colorado to get to Utah.

We stopped for lunch at Subway and afterwards, I wanted some crackers. I ate the crackers before getting in the car and went to throw my little wrapper in the car trash bag. When I did, all the crumbs in the wrapper fell out onto the driver's seat. Oh goodness. I didn't know what to do. They were such tiny crumbs. I thought, maybe saryah won't notice and think her car is just super messy. Then I looked at her and she looked at the seat and didn't say anything. I thought 'maybe she didn't notice?' so i went to sit down and she said "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" and started laughing. I started laughing. I thought i would pee my pants. I then had to pick up the little crumbs from the seat. #iamnevillelongbottom #epicfail Saryah laughed at me for the rest of the weekend for this.

The drive to Salt Lake City was pretty uneventful. We drove up a super steep hill and were nervous her little car's engine wouldn't make it. As soon as we hit the top of the hill the Capitol was staring at us. It's quite lovely. We drove to her place and met the people. They gave her a warm welcome with a tour. The most awkward part was the man who was moving out said "The Mormons shouldn't bother you too much either" and then him and his wife started telling us a little bit about the Mormons. It was so awkward, I didn't want to make it uncomfortable for Saryah (who has to live in the house) that we were Mormon, and Saryah didn't say anything either.  We both agreed after that there will be a better time to bring it up anyway. We unloaded Saryah's stuff, made a list of what she still needed and went off to dinner. We went to this cute little restaurant I found online. Em's. It was so perfect, and I felt a little under-dressed in my tshirt and jeans. I should have had a blouse on or something. Oh well. The food was really delicious too. I have a feeling Saryah will return there often after I leave. We then hit up target, pick up stuff, and then we went to visit Elo!

Ah yes. The Cool Bus. :)

I was a little surprised when we showed up and her boyfriend was there, but it was nice to meet him. We all hung out and one of her friends came over and shortly proposed to me. lol. oh funny people. Then we quizzed him about what the 7 horocruxes were. He got 5/7. Decent, but not impressive. It was a nice night seeing Elo and catching up a little. We went back to Saryah's place and promptly went to bed, because it was a long and tiresome day.

Saturday morning started off nice and early as we went to Bruges Waffles to meet Ian for some breakfast. We were sitting in the cold, as Saryah didn't bring a winter coat, thinking that the 80degree Texas spring season continues up to Utah. After being 15 minutes late, we called him to see where we was. He said he was a Bruges Waffles waiting for us. As soon as he said that, I knew....there had to be more than on location in Salt Lake City. #fail We went over to the one by him and had a great morning chatting over waffles. yum. We headed off to Whole Foods to get some groceries for Saryah. It was Sample Saturday, and the Whole Foods is pretty big. We went shopping for a bit and didn't find anything. We then went to eat luch at the Pie Hole, a recommendation from Ian. It was good even though it has the feeling of entering a biker bar. We then went to check out he Library, and listen to the HP6 audio book because we were about to start the Snape's Memories chapter. You cannot pause in the middle of such an emotional chapter. We then went back to Saryah's place to relax because it was already a long and exhausting day. I fell asleep as soon as we got back.and was woken up with Saryah saying "Is that Pam at the front door?" In my disorientated state, I was super confused at what was going on, but I went to the door and there was a surprise. It wasn't only Pam; Trey was there too! Que milagro! I was told Trey was working, but he wasn't! Woot! We went on a walk to the Capitol, even though it was cold and drizzling. It is a pretty cool capitol. We then went off to get some Ethiopian food and meet up with Katie. We had a lot of fun at dinner, and stayed much longer than anticipated, just talking. Katie arrived a little late because she got a little lost. It was nice catching up with everyone. We said goodbye to Katie, then went to Target again for some more last minute things for Saryah. We had to say goodbye :( So sad. I told Pam that I would come back for Conference & the Mission Reunion this fall, even though seeing everyone post-mission makes me awkward. Bleh.

Sunday morning was super sad because I had to say farewell to my lil sis, We woke up early and had a nice big breakfast of omelets and toast. yum yum. She then dropped me off at the airport. SOOOOO SAD. While at the airport, I had time to continue reading Born to Run. My dad, lil sis, and broseph had read it already, and Saryah's been trying to get me to read it since. I finally got it out from the library, and as I read it, the more I fell in love with it! You know those moments in life where you hear something or read something and it just kind of rings true to every fiber of your being? It was as if I had always known it on some level but was waiting for the memory to be awaken from my state of forgetfulness. I loved it. It is about a people in Mexico who run ridiculously long lengths with no real problem. As someone who hates running with a fiery passion, I was not expecting to really like this book as much as my dad and siblings did. The people in the story were truly inspiring and the stories and facts that backed up theories about running, just seems to ring true to me. It definitely altered my way of thinking.  Here is just a little quote from the book that I loved:

Love of life! Exactly!...It wasn't just how to run; it was how to live, the essence of who we are as a species and what we're meant to be...Perhaps all our troubles --all the violence, obesity, illness, depression, and greed we can't overcome -- began when we stopped living as Running People. Deny your nature, and it will erupt in some other, uglier way. [...] Maybe the ancient Hindus were better crystal-ball-gazers than Hollywood when they predicted the world would end not with a bang but with a big old yawn. Shiva the Destroyer would snuff us out by doing...nothing. Lazing out. Withdrawing his hot-blooded force from our bodies. Letting us become slugs (99).  -Born To Run by Christopher McDougall

"Just move your legs. Because if you don't think you were born to run, you're not only denying history. You are denying who you are" (244).

I think the person I found the most interesting would have to be Barefoot Ted. Yes. That is what he was called. But he runs more or less barefoot. The reasoning behind it just made sense to me. Therefore, Monday after work, I went on my first barefoot walk. True story. I went to the lake around the corner of my place, slipped of my flip flops, and walked around the lake next to the side walk. I also discovered that the lake has Texas Bluebonnets growing all over. It was beautiful. It felt good, and made me super happy. That night, I enjoyed a good FHE night of a sidewalk chalk art contest. Since it's a church activity, You can't really single people out, because I would feel too badly. Everyone got a participation prize!

On a side note/tangent:
I do supply chain management for a living. Part of that includes cost savings. As someone who is current focusing on cost savings at work, when I see a deal, I want to jump at it. In this spirit of frugality, I begin my story. Earlier this year, T-Mobile announced they will be adding iPhones to their service. I looked at multiple articles (this is only one example), which compared the pricing. You see, if you get your phone from T-mobile, you have to pay an unsubsidized prices (meaning, you have to pay all $600 of the phone). I've read another article recently about how Americans don't like having to pay a lot of money up front even if there is cost savings in the long run. It's true. To fight the instinct that Americans have, T-Mobile has said "no pay the subsidized price up front and then every month pay $20 extra). I see what you are doing T-Mobile, and I am pleased by your sneaky ways. Even with paying for the phone outright, I would still see about $800 in savings in the next two years. For me, that's kinda awesome. However, to avoid Early Termination fees, I have to wait for three months. THREE! #firstworldproblems

Now on a more serious note, The Boston Marathon Bombings. I am grateful for the men and women in uniform who protect us. I am grateful that the other suspect has been apprehended  It was a truly horrific bombing that happened there. It's serious moments in life like this where I am left with a loss for words. I think my first reaction was more of a "I can't believe this just happens" state of shock. It was a terrible incident, but with a mixture of comedic relief in the middle of all the emotional turmoil, I think Stephen Colbert ended his opening monologue perfectly when he said “These people tried to make life bad for the people of Boston, but all they can ever do is show just how good those people are.” It's sad and tragic, but in these moments, I feel hope when I see strangers helping each other and showing selfless service towards other. In the tragedy, there is good breaking through to give light to others. As John 1:5 states, "And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."  Light and Darkness.  I recall something I read about light from Robert D. Hales in "Out of Darkness into His Marvelous Light" that said:

As children, we learned how to keep darkness away by turning on a light. Sometimes, when our parents went away for the evening, we would turn on every light in the house! We understood the physical law that is also a spiritual law: light and darkness cannot occupy the same space at the same time.
Light dispels darkness. When light is present, darkness is vanquished and must depart. More importantly, darkness cannot conquer light unless the light is diminished or departs. When the spiritual light of the Holy Ghost is present, the darkness of Satan departs.
...we are engaged in a battle between the forces of light and darkness. If it were not for the Light of Jesus Christ and His gospel, we would be doomed to the destruction of darkness. But the Savior said, “I am come a light into the world.” 13 “He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” 14
The Lord is our light and, literally, our salvation. 15 Like the sacred fire that encircled the children in 3 Nephi, [in The Book of Mormon] His light will form a protective shield between you and the darkness of the adversary as you live worthy of it. You need that light. We need that light. Carefully study the scriptures...and listen to the teachings of your parents and leaders. Then, by obedience to wise counsel, learn to claim the protective light of the gospel as your own.
You may wonder, “How can I do that?” There is only one way: you must learn to generate that light each day by believing on Jesus Christ and following His commandments. 

 I know that our Heavenly Father knows us and loves us. I do not doubt and cannot forget. Even though the world is in turmoil, and there are moments ahead in the our future as human beings that might be difficult; He is aware. Our God is a God of love.

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?!?!?!?! 

Best Letter Ever Received!

News: My friend Terrence got his mission call to the England Manchester Mission.

Terrence got his mission call earlier today and posted it on facebook. He said he would open it at the Institute building at 6pm. Honestly I don't know how he could wait soooooo long. When I got my call...well, I tell you about that in a bit. But at 6, I was there. Too bad Terrence wasn't. :) But seriously, he showed up and we waited for some more close friends who were running late. He brought a map and we all put little tabs on where we thought he would go. When everyone arrived, he opened his letter. The foyer became quiet as the spirit grew stronger and Terrence read his letter. When he read "you have been called to serve in the England Manchester Mission..." everyone went nuts with cheering and clapping. He continued to read his report date when he will arrive at the Preston England Mission Center and continued to read the mission call from the prophet, Thomas S. Monson. I was just brought back to the time when I got my mission call and how wonderful that was. I remembered the feelings of joy I had. Everyone cheered for and hugged Terrence. Then someone started singing "Called to Serve" and I almost lost it. I wanted to sing along but the sight of all these Returned Missionaries gathered around singing:

"Called to serve Him, heavenly King of Glory,
Chosen e'er to witness for his name,
Far and wide we tell the Father's story,
Far and wide his love proclaim"

It was so beautiful and the Spirit testified to me of how the message the missionaries teach is true. It reminded me of the joy I felt as a missionary to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Terrence is going to be amazing. I remember meeting him and talking to him about going on a mission. My thoughts have not changed; it will be the most amazing, wonderful, beautiful, life-changing experience ever. Terrence is a man of faith and inner strength who helps me be a better person.

As I left I started remembering the day I received my mission call. It was 17 October 2009. I just had gotten back home from Ottawa, Canada a few days before, where I was visiting Christina and we both caught the swine flu. It had progressed to bronchitis by the time I got to the doctor back in the US, so I was sick and on antibiotics. It was a Saturday, and for some reason my dad didn't go to the ranch to ride horses and rope cattle (which is a miracle in and of itself). For some reason, I went to the to check the mail, which is not something I normally do. I got the mail, and as I was walking back to the house, I was flipping through the letters and saw it. The Letter. My mission call. I went home and called out for everyone to come down so I could read my letter. I called my brother to see if he could come home, but he wasn't answering the phone. I called a couple of times, and no one picked up, so I left a couple of messages. Then I made the wonderful decision to just open the call! I remember reading the mission call to go to the California Santa Rosa Mission-Spanish Speaking and was so excited along with my parents and little sister. After the excitement wore off, we all looked at each other and asked, "Where is Santa Rosa?" True story. We google-mapped it (it's in northern California), and I was excited. I was excited to serve a mission and to learn Spanish, a language that alluded me for years!

I look back at the 18 months I served as a missionary on behalf of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, teaching people His gospel, and it brings me such joy. I think of the answers I would hear when I asked people who had just received a testimony from God that there was a living prophet on the earth, "What does that mean to you?" I think of people who had a desire to know for themselves if the Book of Mormon is scripture from God and prayed; the happiness and clarity that was in their countenance after they received the confirmation of the Holy Ghost was life-changing. I remember talking to a boy who had never prayed in his life, and we taught him how to pray; the next time he talked to us he told us of his experience and how he felt a comforting presence he had never felt before in his life. I love my mission. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know it has been restored to the earth and is found, in its fullness, in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I know that God still talks to the world through a living prophet, Thomas S. Monson. I know that the Book of Mormon is Another Testament of Jesus Christ and tells of Gods dealings with His people on the American continents. I know God loves us and will never leave us without guidance.  I know it, and I cannot deny it.