The Luck of the Irish #notdeadyet

The five things I think of when I think of Ireland:
     1. Potato famine of 1845
     2. IRA: aka terrorists & terrorism
     3. PIIGS: one of the five worst economies in the EU. (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, & Spain)
     4. green hills
     5. Irish accents
What can I say? I'm overflowing with Irish wisdom. It turns out I actually have an Irish great-great-great grandmother who snuck into my proud Scottish lineage, so I was pretty excited to see something she might have experienced.

Erica and I arrived in Ireland super late, and our luggage was very delayed in the unloading process. There was also a little girl with an Elsa from Frozen doll she bought at Disneyland Paris, which became annoying very quickly. We were surprised the car rental places were still opened, so we rented a car. We went out to the garage to find the car and after searching 3 flights of the car park, we went back to the counter for help. I momentarily panicked because there was no one there, but it turns out they were hiding behind the desk. The girl had to walk us out and point us the the area where the rental car was hiding. We hopped in the car and said a very earnest pray for safety so we would arrive to the hostel alive as I attempt to drive in the dark, on the narrow roads of Ireland, on the opposite side of the road, in a stick shift. No bid deal, right?

We arrived to the hostel around 1am, and I sent Erica in to figure out where to park the car. This is not a good idea when Erica is tired, as she gets very sleep-drunk. She came back not really knowing what was going on and confused....she may or  may not have been slurring her words too. lol. I had her wait in the car, while I went in to find out what was going on. Confession: it may have taken longer than it should have because they guy at the desk and I were flirting. Sorry Erica! It started with him commenting that I was British with an American accent (travelling with my uk passport), and I said something about "growing up in America with enough sass to prove I'm British." It just spiraled from there. Looking back, I could have had some more fun with that, but I'm not thinking clearly at 1am. I parked the car and wandered through this crazy path to get back to the hostel and had to tell them that it is the creepiest thing ever to make a girl walk that in the middle of the night alone. #wherearethegentlemen

Day 1: After minimal sleep, we had some breakfast. There were some guys sitting behind us, and I thought, "dang, they have think accents. I can't understand them at all" Only then did I realize they were speaking German. #iloveGermans We took to the town and went to one of the most beautiful things in the world: a library. We went to the Trinity College Library, and it felt like the end of a pilgrimage I didn't know I was taking. It was a bibliophile's dream. Beautiful.

We went to old churches, where I discovered that Dublin keeps the strangest things in their churches. I made a collage. I think the best is the mummified cat and mouse that they found behind an organ and then decided to frame them. We also had lunch at a pub, where I gave into their tricky marketing of Irish food. I have a theory that people will buy food, thinking it's authentic, just as long as it has the name in it. I had the "Irish Salmon Sampler".

I know, a day in Dublin? But it's it's really not that big. Erica was sickly, and I saw everything I wanted. We hopped in the car to go meet up with James in Belfast. It took about an hour of traffic to get out of Dublin. The cross over from Ireland into Northern Ireland was anticlimactic. There was just a sign announcing the speed would now be posted in miles. This was fine and dandy....except the rental did not have miles on the speedometer; it only had kilometers. I had Erica use the calculator on her phone to calculate how fast we should be driving, and with all the speed cameras on the highways, I was scared I would be getting tickets mailed to me back in America. After the traffic, a few hours of driving, my muscles cramping from shifting with my left arm, James not being where I told him, and intense hanger (that was not a mispelling), we arrived in Belfast and found James at a gas station. I bought some Lilt and McVitie's to up my blood sugar to normal levels, and then we went to "The Searcher" statue, which is a monument to C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. It is in front of the Holywood Arches Library. Nerdy-ness ensued.

Then they fed me...a kebab. I was going to post the picture of me and the kebab, but decided that's way to personal. It's a passionate love that I have for kebabs. We grabbed out GIANT kebabs and ate them in McDonald's. The kebab shop didn't provide napkins, and anyone who's seen me eat a kebab knows how much I need napkins. Omg. It was great and amazing. Everything I remember and more. Yum yum yum.

Next stop: The Dark Hedges. 

After lots of pictures at The Dark Hedges, we went onto Giant's Causeway. We parked at the hotel that was next to the entrance, and acted very nonchalant as we wandered down their path to Giant's Causeway. We took beautiful photos at sunset before leaving to try and find the hostel. We drove the street, not really seeing anything. I accidently started driving on the right side of the road before Erica corrected me. We stopped at this little B&B to ask where we were supposed to go, and it turned out that it was the hostel. The guy had these thick glasses and was completely adorable and sweet. 

Day 2: The next morning, we walked from our hostel to Giant's Causeway to get some lovely pictures. We then drove to the "rope bridge" nearby. We drove past sheep that were dyed pink, which was awesome. I should have pulled over, but the roads were so narrow, I didn't want to die.

This picture was inspired by Becca. I told her I did a bridge at The Dark Hedges, and she asked if I had done it in front of the bridge. GENIUS! This is my bridge over a bridge. I did not walk across the bridge because bridges freak me out. Rope bridges are too scary.

This is Erica and me at the Cliffs of INSANITY! We were driving and saw the visitor's area, and pulled over. The guy said there was free parking further onward and gave us directions like "turn right at the rock shop" and keep going. We drove for about 15 minutes on one lane pictures not really sure if we were going the correct way. We eventually ended up in front of a house with a sign saying you could park there. Then you walk this pathway between cow pastures, climbing over gates, to get to the cliffs.

'Twas sunset time. It was super windy, and I was so scared to be by the edge of the cliff, but we took some amazing photos.

We put the address of the hostel in our GPS, and found our way out of the windy streets faster than we got into them. We found a little restaurant to have dinner. We were so tired that we went to the hostel and went straight to bed.
Day 3: We woke up early to go see the Rock of Cashel, which is an old church/building/house of kings from the 12th century. It was pretty cool, and very cold. We drove onto Dublin for lunch, dropped James off, and then went to catch our flight back to England. Overall, I only stalled six times. I drove on the wrong side of the road once. There were times I had my foot on the gas 100% and watched the speedometer arrow decrease as we were going up hills. The road signs do not always translate too well...if Becca and I hadn't asked Lukas last year about most European road signs, I would have probably gotten us killed. Some of the roads were so winding that I had to go so slow to not die. The roads were so narrow at times, that I thought we run into the car on the opposite side of the road.  I will say, if you road-trip Ireland, you're going to need a GPS or you will die. Literally die. Even with a GPS, you may die. But you know what? I'm not dead yet!

We landed, caught the train, and walked to Kate's house. We knocked on the door, and Ben says, "what are you doing here?" He then tells us the Kate and Rachel went to meet us at the train station, and we must have just missed them. Oops. Kate made us a great dinner, because Kate is great. We had a great evening. I think the retelling to my mom of this evening is the best version. I told her that Ben and I were beating each other up and that Ben waterboarded me (you can see that I have water on my top in the post-attack photo). Mom just looks a little confused and says "Where was Kate?" I say "Oh, she was at the table playing on her iPad." She says, "Where was Rachel?" I say, "She was just chatting with Erica." My mom responded by shaking her head at me. hahaha. Ben also stole one of my shoes and hid it, promising to text me that night to tell me where it was. I forgot about  it until the morning, when we're about to leave for the airport. I cannot find my shoe. I have to FaceTime Ben at 5-something-a.m. and when I find the shoe, I accidentally knock it over into this space between the wall and the wood paneling. No one is as tall as Ben the Giant, so I gave up hope of getting my shoe back and start to pull out my sandals. Once again, proving her powers of being the coolest person ever, Kate retrieves my shoe, and we leave to the airport. Kate is kind and loving and took drove us to the airport ridiculously early in the morning. Thank you Kate!

The only other story I have to tell is that I ran into my high school friend, Adrian, in the airport train taking us to our terminal. He was with his wife and the end of their honeymoon, and we were on the same flight home. This is the second time I ran into Adrian this year with his wife. This is also the second time I ran into them looking more-or-less like a hobo. Seriously. If it was just Adrian, I would probably be okay with it, but his wife is absolutely gorgeous, and I feel like I should at least look presentable when she doesn't know me well. #awkwardstoryofmylife

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.

The Fault in Our Stars

Let's face the facts. There are 2 comedians in my life that can do no wrong. Mindy Kaling and Tina Fey. I've read both of their books. Correction....I've listened to their audio books, which they narrate. Brilliant. In Tina Fey's book Bossypants she talks about the rules of improv. As someone who did theatre all in junior high, i know exactly what she's talking about.

1. Always say yes. #bestruleever. 
2. There are no mistakes, only opportunities. 

Now someone who does not do theatre or has a boring life, should take note of these rules. Why? because they make life more interesting. You want to go to Puerto Rico this weekend? No = Oh, okay.#nofun #nofriends You want to go to Puerto Rico this weekend? Yes = party time. See? Flawless logic. Of course, this rule has it's limits to excude the bad immoral sneaky people things in life. ie. No prostitution, stealing, breaking the law (some exclusions do apply), killing people, etcetera. It's fun and it keeps life interesting when you are open to new opportunities.

You know those old tv's with the bunny ears that were small screens in a HUGE box from the old days? You know, the ones that should be in museums for people to look at and laugh at as they think about current technology? Yeah, that's the kind of  tv my family has my whole life, since probably the 80's. It is pretty ghetto-licous. But with parents who grew up with nothing, they just see a working television and no reason to spend money to buy another working television. Now, to present time, the tv remote has been lost, so my dad missed watching Dr. Who. This of course is more unthinkable and ridiculous than having a super old tv, so my dad immediately requested that my brother go help them pick out a new tv. Now this new tv is all hi-tech and HD. It has netflix and my dad decided to get Hulu Plus so he can watch current tv shows too. He's so funny.

Now, the weekend of the new TV (3/15-6) , I slept over at home because I had a long week and wanted to escape. Due to my long week, I was feeling ready for a good long cry, which is ideal when you are planning on setting aside time to read a very sad book. That's right, I do enjoy a good emotionally traumatic book every once in a while. I read The Fault In Our Stars. Don't be alarmed by any spoilers, because you know it's going to be sad based on the summary, so please, calm down. As I was reading this book, I was cry. It was a constant of tears streaming down my face while I sat on the couch downstairs in the living room. My mom walked by and of course interrupted my intense emotional connection with fictional characters to ask me if I was ok. I responded "Of course!" and she interrupted again saying "are you sure?".  Please note the difficulty that exists when there is a very pivotal part in a book and then your mom interrupts because she's concerned that you are sitting by yourself in tears. Please. Later she came by and said sometimes along the lines of  "you dont have to keep reading it if you dont want to" and I said "why would you say that? I love this book!" and she said "it doesn't look like it". Don't questions a girl crying over a book! It was a great book. I loved it. It touched my heart and I will forever remember it. (I was introduced to my love of heart wrenching books when I read The Book Thief....on an airplane, and ended up bawling my eyes out next to a stranger, and trying my hardest to maintain some composure and not freak out my anonymous neighbor. #amazingbooksenvokeextremereactions)

(3/17) So does ditching your family to hang out with family take away from how bad it is to ditch your family? The other week, I was talking to my Aunt Sharron and she invited me over for dinner, and my mom said it was fine and added something along the lines of she's no longer friends with Aunt Sharron for stealing me away. I dunno. But I went and it was funny because Aunt Sharron meant to call my mom the next day and invite the rest of the family over, but she forgot. lol. So I went and ate dinner with them and it was fun. One of Aunt Sharron's old mission companions (from Argentina) was there, and Uncle David's mom was there. So we had a fun time after dinner talking in Spanish as I realize how bad my Spanish skills have become. Whoops. It was  lot of fun and I really enjoy this side of my family.

Now for the Charles quote of the week: I'm not diabetic, im just really angry!

So for work, my boss has asked me to update my resume to include things that I have been working on for the past 10 months. It was stressful. The bonus to working on your resume at work is that the management can look at your resume with you and give you some good advice about what they would be looking for in a resume. It was pretty funny because the plant manager was like "you need to put that your an excel expert!" lol. I'm really not that great. but it make me laugh. He thinks I'm so great that he gave me what he calls a "mission impossible" which lead me to having to read computer coding in Microsoft Visual Basic. I honestly never thought I would have to look at computer code again after my freshman year of university. It was gross. I gave up after two days. They really weren't expecting me to figure it out, but they were hoping. Nope. Leave that German engineering to the Germans (it was a program written by one of our German facilities)

So I've been meaning to do Pottermore for a while. I signed up when I was in New Zealand with Saryah due to her intense peer pressure. But when my big sister sent me a link about what each house would read in real life, I realized, I need to finally be sorted. So I did. It took longer than expected to get to the chapter where I could get my wand and be sorted. It turns out I'm a Ravenclaw. Woot. (I was secretly hoping I would be a Slytherin and terrified I might be a closet Hufflepuff #hpdrama) It was a happy day.

On Wed night (3/20) after golf, I was called out. I got another calling, and was talking to one of the stake counselors. He was pretty funny, and it turns out I live close to him, so he asked if I had taken a walk around the lake my hotel. I said I have seen it and have been meaning to talk a walk around it, but I become a vegetable as soon as I get to my room after work. He called me a lazy bum, and I laughed at he truthful remark. Therefore, the next day, after picking up some books from the library, I went and read outside by the lake and enjoyed the sunshine during my lunch break.

Now speaking of books. One important thing you have to know is I am a recovering addict. I'm addicted to reading. Sometimes I fall off the wagon and cannot stop. That is what happened that week. I read 7 books in 6 days, and didn't sleep much. A book to me is like a pringles can to everyone. Once you pop the fun won't stop, aka, i cannot stop. I just get tooo curious that I have to know how it ends. It's bad. I'm working on it. Acknowledging you have a problem is the first step to recovery. Right? I have to practice putting down a book in the middle of it. It is hard, but I try.

This fact may have contributed to Saryah coming over and us not doing anything...together. She came over and found me on goodreads. Then instead of encouraging me to do something, she joined me and we looked at book lists of books we could read in the future. Eventually we determined we needed food, and I made speghetti. It was great. Then we watched The Hunger Games before bedtime, when she went to bed, and I stayed up reading a little later. The next day (3/23)  was PANCAKE DAY! at Stevie and Sonja's. It was fun. We ate lots of pancakes. Everyone had a party. Afterwards, Saryah and I went to Half-Priced Books. Yeah. Problem, remember? Then we were so tired, that we went back to my place and sat on the couch together and read our books. She left, and I continued to read. It was a very relaxing day.

Speaking of Saryah, she is moving far away. So sad. She has asked me to drive up with her to her new residence to keep her company on the long drive. May I just note the life parallel of how we roadtripped the North Island of New Zealand together May 2012, and we are roadtripping the Southwest together in April 2013. Adorable we are. The only problem is I will have to fly back, so I had to start looking at one way tickets back to Htown. I pressed a wrong button at one point and accidentally searched for a round trip ticket to find that the cheapest round-trip ticket would save me $70 and get me home on a direct flight rather than a connection flight. #savyshopper #likeaboss

Now for some angst. I was talking to a girl the other day and she's about a year or two older than me. In our conversation she said a couple of times the key phrases of  "when I grew up" and "in my generation" as in...we are from different generations. She referenced the fact she grew up without cell phones and had to use payphones. Ummm, yes, so did I. I was on my best behaviour and smiled the entire time, but in my head I felt very patronized. It was one of the most ridiculous things ever. #bahhumbug

My last story of the week comes from me working from home on my laptop one night, while listening to music on my personal laptop and thinking, why can't i connect the two laptop screens? (I have two screens at work) It is hard to go from working on two screens to one small laptop screen. #workangst

One Year Older and Wiser Too....maybe

I feel like the perfect prelude to my birthday is this article I found in BBC News this week. (Please note, in my blog when I refer to "this" or "that", you can 90% of the time click on the word and it will take you to a link of exactly what I'm talking about. For example, if you click in the phrase "this article" it will take you to said article) So this article talks about a new terminology in China, which translates to "leftover women" in English. It's a little sad, but I feel like this article is my friend. I showed my Chinese co-worker this article and he laughed, knowing exactly what it was talking about when I pointed to the word "sheng nu". He told me, "You have a few more years, but maybe you should ask for a boyfriend for your birthday". lol. Thanks Jimmy. Thanks. I know you are thinking, "wow, it's your birthday. why are you bringing up the topic of boys?" I bring up this topic to let the world know, I am happy! Please. I don't need you to tell me "you're so wonderful, smart, and pretty. I don't know why you don't have a boyfriend" or "guys are crazy to not be after you". People are always asking me about my relationship status, and you know what? I don't define my happiness on whether or not I'm dating anyone. Please don't apologize. Don't say anything. If I become a leftover woman, at least I know I will be in good company. For now, I'm going to keep living my life the best way I know how, and enjoying every moment of it: the good and the bad.

And now, the tale of my big birthday weekend!

I drove home after work and waited for Saryah before starting the drive to San Antonio. At the mid-point, we, of course, stopped at Bucee's for an energy boost. We got to San Antonio and checked into the Crowne Plaza. I was not impressed. You have to pay for parking. Who does that? And pay for internet. What kind of hotel does that in this day and age? #dumbdumb Anyway, we relax in the hotel until it is time to go pick up bff Erica, who was flying in from Arizona, from the airport. YAY! (best birthday ever!) I pick her up and the night is still young, so we go to Mi Tierra for a nighttime snack. It was funny because Erica was freaking out from excitement. I thought she was going to topple over.

We got some Mexican hot chocolate and it was soooo tastey. I also go myself a virgin margarita because, hey, gotta enjoy the nightlife :) After our midnight snack, we went back to the car, where erica was really excited to give me my gift and her excitement was contagious. First she gave me the birthday card. 1. it was in spanish. 2. it was a twilight card. lol. 3. there was a surprise note on the back from ben! Really, it was a perfect birthday card. Then for the gift! She got me a SNUGGIE! And not just any snuggie....a zebra print snuggie. If you're going to get a snuggie, you cannot be serious about it. Go crazy. I'm so excited to use it! After our adventure, we had to sneak back to our room and be very quiet because mom and saryah were fast asleep  even though my mom woke up when Erica and I were whispering together before sleeping and startled us by speaking. lol. Funny mommy.

Saturday morning started off with 4 females trying to get ready with only one bathroom. lol. Magically, it happened without major incident and we're all still friends. We went to Mi Guadalajara near gma's house for breakfast and met up with Jax and Davy. It was a fun breakfast which ended with us heading to get some yummy pan dulce!

Oh it was a great morning of mexican food and sharing stories. We then dropped of mom to start getting ready for the party as Erica, Saryah, and I went down to the riverwalk to take a stroll in the sun and see the Alamo. There was a long line to go inside, so we just settled on taking pictures! yay!

We then walked back along the river on the opposite side we walked on before, only to discover that on the side of the river we were on, didn't have an exit at the same place we entered. Uh oh. Luckily, we eventually escaped our entrapment on the river bank.  We then travelled to an HEB to pick up some flowers for my gma who LOVES flowers. We arrived and all my siblings where there. #bestfamilyever

The party, of course, was hip and happening. Everyone was there. We laughed, we ate, we talked to everyone. Then the mariachi band showed up. It was great. I love mariachis. They sang happy birthday to me and my grandma. They serenaded us, and it was great to finally understand what they were singing. #spanishpower It was great until they announced they were going to sing the last 2 songs. Then they turned to each other and started whispering, glancing at me, and pointing at me. Then I started to get nervous, because I new something was coming. They proceeded to sing to me exactly like this:

Ok. So maybe it wasn't exactly like this, Julia Stiles reacted a lot more gracefully than I did, but they sang the song. They started singing to me, and everyone stopped to stare at me. People even came in from outside just to stare at me. I laughed and hid my face. I started laughing so hard, I almost cried. aka i was feeling so awkward and overwhelmed, I almost cried. I didn't know how to react with so many eyes on me. I was just a hot mess of crazy. Oh well. It was something I will never forget. A memorable birthday indeed. They then sang gma a song and Ron asked her to dance. It was so cute. I have the coolest gma ever. The party didn't last long after that, as we all had the cops called on us. We're that crazy. #truestory

We inhaled helium, spoke in funny voices, cleaned up the room, and then only a few of us ended up going to the after-party in gma's apartment as she (really me) got to open her presents. She's a classy lady. People getting her purses and clothes. Eventually, it was time to head out for my party. So mom, saryah, erica, uncle john, headed to the other side of town to eat at The Magic Time Machine, except we weren't all that hungry. So we got seated, noticed they didn't have any good apetizers and were deciding if we wanted to stay and eat here. Then some teen girl  with a backpack came up to our table and was like "Hello!" in a really obnoxious voice. All I could think of was 'why are you here? go sit down with your family like a good girl'. Only to discover she is our waitress and is dressed as Dora the Explorer. Oh goodness. We all kinda just paused awkwardly and looked at each other. Luckily, Uncle John took the reigns and asked for a few more minutes, and we left the restaurant to go to a mexican place across the street. You cannot go wrong with mexican food in San Antonio. It's all good. We then drove to the Majestic Theatre to see the 2010 Tony winner for Best Musical, "Memphis". My review: It was wonderful! The music reverberated through your soul and the dancing was spectacular. It made you want to get up and dance with them. The plot was adorable, but the ending was not what I was hoping. However, the actors were phenomenal, and I want to some of the songs from the soundtrack. After the show, we were all wiped out. I couldn't have gone out after that even if I wanted to. T'was a wonderful birthday, and I couldn't have asked for a better day.

Sunday morning was sad because I had to drive Erica back to the airport to see her off. :( But I got to go back to bed afterwards, so that was a plus. Mom, Saryah, and I went to get some breakfast and more pan dulce. Then we went over to gma's to say goodbye  and pick up Saryah's sweater that got left behind before starting our drive home. Long drive when everyone falls asleep. So i just turned up my music and sang along for 3 hours. When we got back, it was a lazy day of reading and cleaning a bit more. (I'm in the process of cleaning our my room at home still) Then I went to my place at night to watch the Oscars and angst over my new facebook profile picture #firstworldproblems. I loved the ode to musicals, because I love musicals. and i love that Jennifer Lawrence won an oscar. She's legit.

Now as an end to my birthday tale, I will leave you all with the encouraging words I received from Jimmy on Monday morning after we talked about my birthday weekend. "Don't worry. You are not 'sheng nu' yet"
  lol
Thank you to everyone who sent birthday wishes. Y'all were blowing up my phone all day with facebook alerts and texts. :)

being ASSERTIVE

So it turns out I am not assertive in many situations. SURPRISE!
This discovery all started at the end of last year. At work, my manager asked me and the other new-hires take a management skills assessment test. When we got the results back, it turns out I FAILED, and I mean EPICALLY FAILED, the managing conflict portion. I got a 47%. Seriously. Jon and I both received that section as our lowest section, so our boss, Michael, told us to do some training. The training was interesting because there was one part that really stuck out to me. It was about constructive confrontation. Say what? I know. The Assertive Communication part was like an epiphany to my soul. The irony of it came from how the day before I took this training, I was agreed to a second date with a guy, even though I didnt want to, and was planning on lying and cancelling it (avoidance = passive/bad communication).

The assertive communication said I needed to:
1. Express my thoughts, concerns, feelings and ideas
2. Request what you want directly and specifically
3. Refuse someone without feeling guilty
4. Avoid being self-sacrificing and confrontational

Now I know what a lot of you are thinking. Natasha, I know you; you are totally assertive. I'm very assertive with people I know and am comfortable with. I still am, when I'm feeling extreme or negative emotions. For example, if you hurt a friend/family member of mine, I will destroy you without any guilt or remorse. However, this is another post-mission new personality trait that I've discovered. So when I am trying to be polite or nice or I don't really know a person, I my assertive abilities are severely lacking.  For example, take the guy I said yes to on a second date. For privacy, we will call him Mr. Presumptuous. Mr. Presumptuous thought that taking me out on a date automatically means he gets to kiss me and take me out again. Negative. In my internal freak out, after deflecting said kiss, I agreed to a second date just so I can continue my fleeing of the scene (in this fight or flight scenario, I took flight). After this training, I thought, I will be direct, specific, and refuse without feeling guilty. I should not have to feel guilty about my own feelings. I should not have to sacrifice my happiness just to allow a guy to feel good about himself and get a second date. No thank you. So because i'm not 100% assertive, I was honest and specific, over a text, and not the phone. It was like a weight was lifted off me and I felt great!

Why do I have this fear of making people feel bad? Maybe because I use to be really mean and now I am forever trying to make up for the past by being super nice to people. It's true that the mission has made me way nicer than I ever have been. Or maybe I can blame my parents. LOL. JUST KIDDING! I read the other day something along the lines of: if you never saw conflict when you were young (from your parents) then you never really learn that conflict can be resolved and are likely to be afraid of conflict. I guess that's the price I will pay for never having seen my parents fight my whole life. But seriously. Maybe I'm overcompensating for my Bad Natasha years.

Another example of me learning to be assertive. I went to Monroe, LA last week for work with my boss, Addy. We had a 7 hour car drive there because it was hardcore raining so Addy didn't drive over 55 mph most of the way. It normally should only be  about 6 hours. On the drive up, it was very enjoyable because Addy is such a good ol' fashion family guy. After driving for a few hours, I really wanted to ask him some advice questions about my career. My passive voice said "Don't bother him with that because he'll think you're too needy or annoying." My assertive side said "Do it. You will never get what you want unless you ask." So I asked and he had some really good advice and things to say. The next day, I was giving a presentation to some people about the project I had been working on and had to ask a lady about getting some more data from her. She was really defensive about it and kept telling me I didn't need the information. I was hoping Addy would step in and she would respect his authority and do what he says...but he didn't. It was up to me to deal with it. I was assertive in my request and eventually she agreed. I was SOOO PROUD of myself! I felt like I could do anything!

My last example happened yesterday, when Addy told me to set up a meeting between us and a vendor. Oh man. I felt so out of my league. I felt like I had no authority to be requesting meetings with VPs of other companies and telling them when and where we need to meet. I had to put aside my feelings of inadequacy and be assertive. It is so funny because ever since our training and discussion with Michael over what we learned, Jon and I have been constantly sharing our experiences of being assertive and the outcomes. It is really encouraging. It's kind of like my own personal support group of being assertive. I can do it!

Topic change...but it will tie back to my assertiveness theme.

Let us define harassment in a legal sense:  the act of systematic and/or continued unwanted and annoying actions of one party...including threats and demands. The purposes may vary, including...personal malice, an attempt to force someone to [do something]... or merely gain sadistic pleasure from making someone fearful or anxious.

http://www.stopstreetharassment.org/strategies/assertive-responses/

Ladies and Gentlemen, yesterday I was a victim of harassment and I was not assertive about confronting it. Let me tell you a story. And I will change names for the sake of privacy. There are two guys in this story, one is JR and the other is Mr. Should Have Been Slapped (Mr. S) So the story begins yesterday, after I had a long day at work and went to work out, and FHE. (PS. I'm FHE Coordinator #awesomecalling). Afterwards, I was having a good time and was called over by Mr. S, who kept on saying stupid things like "you have to say yes" and repeating phrases along those lines. Then JR asked me out for Saturday night. I had to say no, because I had just made plans with someone else to do something. I felt bad because I always seem to have plans when JR wants to do stuff. His intentions have been made known, and I get the picture. Then Mr. S started bothering me again saying "you need to say yes" "you hae to say yes" and other unwanted commentary. Yes Mr. S. I get it. You really want your friend to go on a date with me. JR then took a proactive approach and asked when I will be free. Sadly, the next time I can go out is Feb 8th. So he has to wait about 2.5 weeks before a date, but it is written in my planner so I will not forget. Afterwards, Mr. S came up to me and was like "did you say yes?" and i said "yes" and he said "when" so i told him. Then he started saying how if you really want to do something you can always find time. I told him that I was a busy person and that is the only free time I have. I was like, I'm done here and walked to my car. Mr. S called me back, and I went back because I thought he was going to apologize for his harassing behavior. Instead he made me feel bad about myself. He had crossed the line from concerned friend to complete jerk and I wanted to slap him so badly. Come on, Mr Presumptuous had to wait like a month because we had such conflicting and busy schedules, not like I told him that, because it is none of his business! Get over yourself Mr. S! I should have been assertive and said specifically and directly without any guilt "Mr S. You are acting like a jerk and not like a friend. I hope you do not go around harassing girls to date your friends often. If you talk to me again about this subject, I will slap you and maybe even punch you in hopes of breaking your nose or severely injuring your person." Granted, it wouldn't have been as polite if I had stayed to respond to him. Instead, I walked off, without him knowing of his inappropriate and harassing behaviour, and he may do it again to some other girl. As a disclaimer...JR is a really nice guy, and if he wasn't, i probably would have called him by now and broken off the date due to his stupid friend.

I was so upset that I called Erica and she had to talk me down from it. She reminded me of how I need to be assertive and not worry about other people's feelings when they are doing something like that. Don't laugh it off. It's not okay. This is my number one goal for 2013. I am going to be assertive in all I do. 

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