I learn something new every day!

This is just a list of things I have learned/discovered over the past week:

Work bestie, charles, is my bestie for sure. Why?
1. I just downloaded the GasBuddy app, and it said that Sam's Club had the cheapest gas....so he let me borrow his sams club card!
2. He wanted to buy me a Panera cookie because he was there getting breakfast, but when he saw the cookies they said things like "I love you" and "Be mine". He decided that wasn't the best kind of cookie to be giving at work and didnt want HR problems. lol #istillwantedacookie #itsthethoughtthatcounts

I hate SnapChat!!!!!!!!!!!!! it's stupid. why dont people just sent picture texts like the old days? #tradionalist

Sword umbrellas exist

glamping is the only kind of camping  you will ever see me particiate in. #glamper

"The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside ... we ALL believe that we are above average drivers!"
- Dave Barry, 'Things That It Took Me 50 Years to Learn'

I've decided to not text or talk on the phone when I am driving: Surprisingly, using a hands-free device is no safer than holding a phone. Either way, the accident statistics are the same. Why? It has to do with the human brain. Humans can't think of more than one thing at a time. We can switch back and forth between thoughts, or focus on one and monitor another.

Catch Me If You Can, the musical is really funny. And it makes me think of Neal Caffery and makes me want to be a con-man #idbetoonervoustobearealconman

Holly can pull off a fannypak :)  @Galveston

It turns out Galveston Marti Gras (Carnival, for all the Europeans out there) during the day isn't as iniquitous as one would think. I went with Holly and Ryan, where I also learned that Ryan carries a dagger on him at all times. Ok, so maybe like a Swiss army knife, but it seems so much cooler when you say *dagger*. I also learned that no knifes are allowed in the Marti Gras area of Galveston. We got beads and it was a lot of fun. Luckily, no flashing was required for these beads, and it was fun.

If you wear a lot of beads....you get neck pains. #beadsaresuprisinglyheavyinlargequantities

It also turns out I'm super old because i had no energy after Marti Gras to go to Seth's masquerade. I was sooooo sad I missed it and passed out on my bed. Really, it was probably the better decision. I'm pretty sure I would have crashed if I had driven.

I love ginger kids. I've only known 3 ginger kids. The first 2 were twins, a boy and a girl. Saryah and I would call them Fred and Georg-ina. (because calling a little girl George, is just asking for all kinds of problems). Now I have know the 3rd, and we call him Ron. Why do I like ginger babies? Because they all look like Weasleys!

Weasley is our King :)

I bribed little Nathan with Reese's to wear my Gryffindor scarf and James flew him around on a broomstick as we took pictures. He is sooo adorable! And he's my new bff.

Saryah is really funny to watch when little kids try to
climb all over her. #notamomyet

Child labor is wrong, but can be adorable

When life gives you lemons, you cannot make lemonade by squeezing all the lemons at once. You do it one by one. I was having a terrible day on Monday and was feeling overwhelmed. But I started looking at my problems one by one, and they didn't seem so bad when you separate them.

My ex-bff is preggers and I had to find out via facebook. If I ever see him again, I plan on smacking him in the face. That's a promise. ps. im not smacking him just because of *this*

I can eat fast food for lunch, talk to Erica on the phone, take a shower, look fabulous, and drive to get a Panera cookie, and make it back to work in less than an hour. and yes. I believe Panera cookies heal your soul :) #addictedtopaneracookies

Also, it's hard to be having a bad day when little kids are around and being super loving. Especially when little Nathan (aka Ron) asks to help you make cookies saying "I've never made heart shaped cookies before". It would even make the Grinch's heart grow.

Do not buy colored icing that can be mistaken for colored caulking. Some boys find it strange and are reluctant to use it to decorate cookies.

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!

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

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

mom at work

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

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

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

Slacklining = legendary

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

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

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

International Phone Calls

I've been making calls this week to get contact information for a project. It's been really interesting. I've noticed that when I'm speaking to non-native English speakers I speak louder. Because, obviously, if I speak louder they'll understand me.

I found a international calling cheat sheet, which has been saving my life during this time of making calls. It tells you what numbers to press before dialling the number you have (aka country codes and such). It's genius.

I talked to a funny Frenchman who as he was looking for a number was making a funny sound, and I wanted to laugh. He making the sound "bom, bom, bom, bom" in a nice little tune.

Another thing I've noticed. Calling California from Germany is never convenient. Really. We are never working at the same time. Sneaky California.

So I called this one place and the lady answered the call and I said, "I'm from blah blah blah and do you know who could help me with blah blah blah" and she said "no". I paused, a little confused because no one had told me no yet. So I said, "really?" because that's all I could think of. She said "where are you from again?" so I said the name of the company. She paused and then started to apologize explaining that she thought I was a junk call person and she feels horrible. I had to laugh, because I've been feeling like a telemarketer making all these calls. Plus, I've been a missionary, I've seen rude, and that didn't even phase me. Oh good times.

Also whenever I hear people say "Ipswich" or make a call to someone in Ipswich, I laugh to myself. All I can think of is Monty Python's Dead Parrot sketch. That's been my only Ipswich exposure, and it has made an impact. I love it.

Oh and the awkward phone calls are the best, where the people on the other end just seem really strange and sketchy. It makes me wonder what they are doing, because I imagine them having very shifty eyes. Plus, when things get really awkward, it makes me feel super uncomfortable and I want to run away. So I'm trying to be professional while trying to get off the phone ASAP because the phone vibes just keep getting more and more awkward!


Lessons Learned:

• Attitude does matter. 
• You choose to be offended. It doesn't matter what happens, you choose how you react. 

mein Leben in Deutschland

Hey world. I'm finally in Germany.

Last week aka "Bootcamp" was fun. Michael (my boss) was hysterical. He took us mini-golfing, bowling, go-kart racing, and it was awesome...all as "team building" exercises. It was a fun week, and I really like Lindsay, my co-worker that I'll be travelling with for the next year. She's awesome.

We flew in yesterday. We took 3 flights to get here. On our connection with Lufthansa in Newark, I sat next to a guy from Serbia. I think his name was Ben, and he was awesome! He kept on giving me his food. He gave my his salad for dinner. I thought it was rude to say no, so I ate it. Lolz. Then for breakfast he was offering me his fruit and muffin. I declined only because the thought of eating was not appetizing at the moment.  He rolled his eyes every time the PA interrupted our movies. We had a nice chat over dinner. Also, when he slept, he was really getting into my zone so I had to lean on the left side on my chair to get some sleep. I was half considering leaning on him since he was in my area, but I figured that could get weird.

So we had a taxi waiting for us with our names on a sign when we arrived. He took me to my new home, which is super close to the metro. (yay). I took my luggage upstairs with much difficulty because the elevator is TINY! I took a shower and attempted to find the church. Surprisingly enough, I found it quite quickly. I made it only a little late, I missed the opening prayer. But it was nice aka. they had English translation going on for us. Afterwards, I approached the guy, and he's a YSA here and gave me the info. He said they have a little YSA dinner every Sunday evening and invited me. On the metro back to my flat, I ran into the Sister Missionaries!!!! YAY! we chatted and they were wonderful and serve in the congregation that I'm going to go to. So i went back to my flat to unpack, I managed to get one suitcase unpacked and then I decided to lay down for a few minutes and woke up at 7:20, when dinner was at 7. AHHHHH!!! So I jumped on the metro and got to church only to find the front door was locked. Saddened, I looked around to see an intercom and pushed the button. Nothing happened. So I pushed the button again, and someone said something in German and I said, "I'm here for dinner" and they responded in English. Yay. Since I was late, everyone was done eating and were in clean-up mode, but they served me some food. I ate with a lady there who were visiting her in-laws (the senior missionary couple). Then met some people and really enjoyed the spiritual thought.

I'm excited for the YSA FHE tonight.  Work so far is nice. Petra picked me up from my flat this morning to make sure I got to work alright. One of the heads of the project I'm working on is here giving us more details. It sounds AWESOME! Especially since they're sending me to England for the next week and a half for stuff. I have to option of flying back here for the weekend or staying there. I think I might get a hotel (on the company) in london and say there for the weekend. WOOT!!! Lindsay heads to Italy tomorrow for work. But I'm excited.

I have a lot to do today when I get home. I need to get a wifi thing and a SIM card to get a Germany number. I forgot i was going to make friends and want to contact them. Plus, there is a family the sister missionaries are teaching that I can go visit them with, so i need a number so they can contact me. (SUPER excited about going out with the sisters). And I need groceries, well to find a supermarket.  "Wo ist der Supermarkt?" Petra taught me that this morning to help me out.

All in all, it's lovely and I'm excited. I'll post pics of my flat later this week. It's so Europe-tiny. I forgot how small things are in Europe. Oh well. It will help me learn to work with less.

p.s. my US cell phone is disconnected till I get back in September. I'm going to hopefully get my new Germany SIM card tonight so I will have a German number

New Zealand: North Island

Truth: this may be the most difficult blog post I have ever written. It took me forever to figure out how to access my blog and let's not get started with how tempermental the writing on a phone part is getting.

Weta Cave in Wellington. I'm with an Orici :)

Anyways, I have pretty limited internet access. Right now we're sitting in the Te Papa museum in Wellington. We just returned our rental car because it is terrible to try and find parking here. Too much effort. Anyways, lack of internet means a lack of connection and communication to the real world. For someone transitioning into a new job and trying to get details still figured out, this is kinda frustrating because I don't know what's really going on right now. But I did get an email saying we're going to be getting a rosetta stone language thing for the country we are living in and it will be passed around depending on whichever country we are living with. Woot!

I'm glad im doing this trip now because I feel like a novice traveller. I keep forgetting basic things that I used to know about travelling. Plus, I didn't fin. some leather boots before I came so my shoes keep on getting wet over and over again. So cold feet with the rainy weather. Oh well. But I talked to a Sister Missionary at the Hamilton temple from Italy and she said Munich has great leather boots. So I may just wait and deal with the wet shoes and cold feet. It's been pretty rainy here but it's been fun.

Two of my dreams have come true these past 2 days.
1. I bottle fed a baby lamb.
2. I saw maori people do the haka. Legit.

We head to the south island tomorrow, starting off in Christchurch. It should be loverly.

Oh, and i've also discovered the secret to waking up early in the morning really well rested. You go to sleep early! :) no really. I've been getting up at 7 or 8 am bc I got to bed at 8 or 9 pm each night. It's brilliant.

Funny sign

Oh goodness...my phone is being mean so im going to post this.

Photos added at a later date:

New Zealand Hamilton LDS Temple