as you may or may not know, my birthday is my favorite day of the year. even before christmas. it's stupid how much i love my birthday. and i turned 21 on monday! i was concerned it wasn't going to be as great as my birthday last year, considering when i turned 20 i was in ecuador. but it turned out to be pretty okay. i got my sideways kentucky license, i got birthday mail, and i went out for a birthday dinner with my family.
1. people, fondue is GOOD
2. my sister and i like any excuse to dress up and take pictures
3. i like being 21, it makes me feel grown up
4. my mission call will be in mailbox in two to three weeks
dear tom,
happy birthday to you! 53 years down, old man. keep up the good work.
dear kentucky,
i really like you. thanks for being so welcoming, you know, with the warm weather and all. i'm really enjoying it. so if you could just keep it like this for awhile, i wouldn't mind at all! thanks in advance.
dear suitcases and boxes,
i really wish you'd just unpack yourselves. we're not friends.
dear sister,
i like having my best friend around. thanks for being silly with me. that includes, but is not limited to: trying on stupid sunglasses at the summit, laughing with me when nobody else will, sleepovers in your bed when the bull riders take over my room, and being encouraging when we run up the big hill. eye luff ewe.
dear the stupid appointments i've had to go to this week,
let's just agree that i owned you.
dear march 19th (aka my birthday)
COME FASTER PLEEEAASE! i'm ready to be 21, thank you very much.
dear ravy,
hurry up and get your cute toyota self here already so i can start work and make some money.
dear puppy,
thanks for keeping my secrets. and for the kisses i suppose.
i have been the most awful blogger the last couple weeks. that's because being sick, working final shifts at roadhouse, and packing my entire life into a couple suitcases and three boxes is a little stressful. but, all that stress is gone now, because i am home! i got in friday night and was greeted at the airport with open arms and "welcome home"s. i've also finished all my mission papers, with the exception of my dental exam and the very in-depth physical that i have to get. definitely not looking forward to that. but the sooner i get it done, the sooner i send my papers in, the sooner i get my call, and the sooner i'm gone!
so far it's just been movies with my family, 2 mile runs with conner, hadley, and charlie (our australian shepherd), and sunsets from our front porch. but i mean, that's all i really need. i'm just happy to be home. i've missed these people. and i'm going to miss them for the 18 months that i'm away. but i'm loving the moments i get to spend with them now. they are what keeps me going. they are my forever.
this is the first year i haven't been at home for christmas. it was the first christmas eve in over 10 years that i haven't spent at my grandparents house, with all the family (four brothers, one sister, their kids, spouses, and grandkids), enjoying a turkey feast and counting down to the grand opening of presents. it was the first christmas eve i wasn't cuddled with my sister in bed, forcing ourselves to fall asleep. it's the first christmas morning that i didn't send "merry christmas" texts from my new phone, today i'm not going to see a christmas movie with my family.
it's okay though. this christmas i am with the barrows in provo. all i was expecting was a place to go so that i wouldn't have to spend christmas entirely alone. but i've enjoyed so much more. i spent christmas eve at my great uncle and aunt's house with my mom's cousin and all of is kids. we had wasal (some fantastic orange/cinnamon drink), homemade bacon, cheese, potato soup, and homemade treats. there was a visit from santa and a story about ladius, a shepherd boy. there were christmas pajamas (for me too!) and wallets and slippers. there were card games and christmas trivia and lots of family time.
i'm getting to enjoy different family traditions, including homemade cheese balls, waffle breakfasts, and the classic mr. kruger's christmas. it's strange not being home in kansas city with my mom and everyone, and part of me wishes so badly that i was there with them. but part of me is really loving this christmas. a different kind of christmas.
finals week is coming to close. praise the lord, allah, budah, whoever you worship. this was the hardest semester in my five semesters (unfortunately my grades reflect that) and i've never wanted so badly for it to be over. this is the first second of spare time i've had all week and i'm simply reveling in it.
i wish i was going to kentucky for christmas. but i'm thankful i have a job, and i'm thankful i have a place to live, and i'm thankful i have family in provo who is letting me spend the holidays with them. but most of all i'm just really excited that in just 12 days brent will be here in idaho with me.
for latter-day saints, family home evening is a time set aside each week that brings family members closer together while doing positive, uplifting activities that can also draw them closer to God. here at byu-i, our "families" are groups of 12-18 boys and girls from the same ward. unfortunately, every semester i've been here my fhe group hasn't really clicked and we don't enjoy spending time together outside of our monday night activities.
i didn't have the highest of hopes for my fhe family this semester either, as there are twice as many girls as there are boys, and the boys we have are all 18, while we're a couple years older. well... i would just like to say that i am in love with them. it's stoooopid that we only have a week and a half left of school and we're just now finding out how great everyone is. but seriously. last night we all cuddled on our couch and watched music videos on the projector for five hours. not even mad about it.
right now i'm cuddled up in a big blanket, with my puppy and a cup of hot chocolate that my brother made me. my hands are warm, my feet are toasty, and i am thankful. i have been so blessed with the best life i could ask for. i have a family who loves me, friends who support me, a boy who cares about me, a job that provides for me, and countless other things and people that make waking up every day worth it.
i'm in lagrange kentucky right now. it's kind of strange. this isn't my home, but my family is here so it feels right. the house my mom bought is beautiful and the town is charming, complete with railroad tracks that run right through main street. the view from every window is picturesque and the trees lining the driveway are something out of a movie. my brother and sister are lucky to finish growing up here.
this is the first thanksgiving i've spent with my family in two years and i'm not ready for it to end in a couple days. however i'm enjoying the little moments while i can; the laughter that accompanies 30 minute rounds of apples to apples with my mom and siblings, the childishness of letting my sister give me a makeover as we sing and dance to britney, katy, and gaga, the wet on my face as my puppy kisses me awake every morning, and the warmth that comes not from the fire burning in the room adjacent me, but from the family that i get to call mine forever.
in 21 hours i will be departing from salt lake city and on my way east and a little bit south to kentucky. am i over-the-top excited? i am. have i been counting down to this day since i booked my flight? i have. it's been a long four months since i've seen my family and i miss them! this week means hair appointments, scrabble games, a turkey feast (duh), probably some movie watching, a tour of my family's new town, late-night conversations cuddled up in bed with my sister, hugs from my baby brother who is taller than i am, and making up for way too much lost time.
i'm thankful for my family and that i get to go home for thanksgiving this year.
first of all, listen to some john mayer as a soundtrack to this post
i love this song. i love john mayer. i woke up with it stuck in my head. and i think it's because i got a text at 4:19 in the morning that said, "My dear, we're slow dancing in a burning room." good start to my morning. thank you, mike schwartz, for putting that song in my head. anyways, moving on.
my 4th of july weekend was kind of lame. i had thursday through monday off. and i honestly don't even remember what i did on thursday, friday, or saturday. i'm entirely pathetic. but sunday morning i went to church to teach my little babies.
and then my stepdad's family had a going away party for us...
dan grilled burgers and brats
everybody ooh'd and ahh'd over josh and melissa's new baby burke
my mom posed with my grandma (aka, the potato salad queen)
we let little logan charm us with that face
and logan's sister lilah told my family to "go away"
(minus hadley cause she was at the lake)
i mean, i probably gained a couple pounds in the matter of that three hours. but hey, i didn't want to be rude and refuse all the wonderful food that took so much work to prepare (including the brownies with oreos in the middle). that would've been disrespectful. aaaaand then we came home and put our fat pants on and watched beastly. alex pettyfer is yummy. so that was sunday.
monday we had cheeseburgers on the grill again, pasta salad (made by me), watermelon, and potato chips. i feel like we probably watched another movie but i couldn't tell you what it was. then we piled in the truck and went to watch what came to be the most pathetic firework show i've ever seen. no offense, america.
so that was my weekend. not too terribly exciting. but it was a quality 4th of july spent with family, family, and more family. i'm not complaining though. i'm probably not going to be seeing them too often anymore. i guess maybe that's part of growing up.
i'm so happy to finally be back to work. it feels weird not getting to play with kids all day. ha! i seriously have the best job. why didn't i start nannying sooner? yesterday sam and i decided to prepare ourselves for the 15th and start a harry potter marathon. so we popped our popcorn, got some blankets, and curled up on the couch to start harry potter and the sorcerer's stone. it's kinda cloudy and not really feelin' like a pool day today, so we'll probably watch the second one! oh and my lovely mother finally had time to highlight my hair. yay for mom's that don't have work for the next six weeks!
and here's for the ultimate countdown...
16 days until i move out of my house
43 days until phil flies to kansas city
45 days until our trek to utah
54 days until i'm in vegas
57 days until disneyland with juelaine and ashley
and 64 days until i drive up to rexburg
i'm getting so giddy and excited and weird about it :)
most families bond over conversation at family dinner. not my family. we bond over conversation kneeling in my parents' room before family prayer. for some reason, that's the only time we actually have to tell about our days and such. i'm gonna be a gem and let you in on what happened tonight... oh, but first. i need to give you a little background info. conner is my stepbrother and his mom lives about 30 minutes away. also, a few months ago conner got a speeding ticket and he has court on thursday
conner: i think i should probably go visit my mom sometime before i have court. who knows, i could be in jail next week.
my mom: i don't think you'll be in jail, but you might not be able to have your license until you're at least 21.
conner: i don't understand how that would benefit society.
my mom: that benefits society by not having you on the road.
conner: society also isn't going to be benefited from me being on welfare at 17 because i can't drive to work.
conner: are you gonna be pissed at me when they tell me what my consequences are?
my mom: i won't be upset, but i probably won't be too happy if you're wearing an orange jumpsuit with a 5 digit ID number on your back.
hadley: you'll be okay, just make sure you give your lunch to the biggest guys
(talking about what specific things we should pray for tonight)
my stepdad: you should probably pray for yourself this week that everything will go well in court
conner: i feel weird asking god to hook me up so the judge doesn't hate me after i broke a couple of pretty important laws
my mom: well you should definitely feel weird asking god to "hook you up" with anything
hadley and i didn't say a whole lot. we couldn't stop laughing...
last summer i got to sort through grammy's letters for my grandma. i got to learn about her life. about her, and her relationships with her children, nieces and nephews, and grandchildren. it was interesting getting to learn all about a time in my family's history that i wasn't apart of.
now, this summer, i'm getting to do something similar for my mom. when she was attending to byu, she was assigned to write a personal history. it consisted of four different papers, with four different titles; "my first five years," "school age paper," "adolescent autobiography" and "personal inventory". when she typed these up, it was on a typewriter. 18 years later, they are starting to fade. my mom asked me to type these up for her before they're gone completely, so she'll be able to have them forever (and i was promised a $100 reward when it's complete, the cherry on top).
as i type each page of my mom's life, i'm beginning to question if giving me this project was really so she could just give me a little help with paying for school, or if it was so i could get to know her better, in a different way. if it was maybe so i would learn how incredible of a father my grandpa was, or how kind, loving, and gentle my grandmother was with her children. i'm going to guess the latter, but it doesn't really matter. i'm just absolutely loving doing this for my mom.
i just finished the second paper, so i better get back to it. "adolescent autobiography," here i come!
being home from college, i detest weekends. i don't have any friends in kansas right now. they're all in utah or idaho at school or working (like amy, cassie, juelaine, and betsy), or in california for summer selling (like calaigh), or living in kansas city doing music things cause their band is all big and cool (like sean). you catch my drift. basically i'm left friendless.
this weekend wasn't too terrible at all though. saturday i was with kate and sam, who i happen to really adore. i've never enjoyed two kids so much. we went to the pool, and then watched how to train your dragon and popped some popcorn. i honestly don't know how i've lived so long without seeing that movie. it was fantastic, and now i want a pet dragon. i wonder if my apartment manager will be cool with that.
sunday i wore my new dress. have i ever mentioned how much i looove target dresses? they're my absolute favorite. and this dress has pockets! dresses with pockets are one of my favorite things.
my primary class was a little roudy, but i'm going to assume that was just because they missed me when i was gone last sunday. and maybe the super nice weather. but mostly they missed me. because of my absence i got extra hugs from ruthy, which i love. and susie drew me a picture. i love 7 yearolds.
we had the missionaries over for our sunday meal, which consisted of spaghetti with meatballs, garlic bread, corn, salad, and left over funfetti cake. we talked to the elders for about an hour or so after we finished eating, about everything. they both go home so soon (three weeks for one, and two months for the other)! my mom gave them advice about dating and marriage, hadley did a little show-n-tell (of basically all her belongings) in an effort to "show them who she is" ...i don't know, i wasn't sure where she was going with that. and i promised to make them both a list of all the music and movies they've missed out on for the last two years.
it was a quality sunday. oh! and i skyped with amy and betsy, and fell asleep talking to cassie. i miss my people. 80 days til i'm in utah, everybody. 80 days.
also, two more things. i'm obsessed with this blog and this song.
i have a lot to say. and when i say "a lot," i mean i'd-like-to-catch-you-up-on-everything-that's-happened-since-my-laptop-broke-but-for-now-i'll-just-talk-about-yesterday.
my mother's day started at about 1am when i got home from work. i very quietly, as to not wake up my house, carried in an armful of stuffs including my keys/wallet/sunglasses/phone, flowers, a card, and my drink. i decided to put the flowers i got my mom in water in a vase and set it on the kitchen counter along with her card so it'd be the first thing she saw when she walked downstairs in the morning. well, everyone stayed asleep while i did such. except our pets. my puppy josie walked downstairs and whined at the back door so i let her outside. and then boo (our kitty) crept down with her. after i had cut the stems, put the "flower food" in the water, and the flowers in a vase, i set them on the counter as i had planned. while i was at the table writing in my mom's card, i heard this rustling noise. i got up to see what it was, and boo was eating my mom's flowers! i proceeded to lock the naughty kitty in the room where we keep her food and litter box, hoping to keep her from mischief .
sunday morning i got ready in exactly 50 minutes. including a shower AND blow drying and straightening my hair. that's impressive for me, if you ain't know.
church was great. i love the sundays that are effortless. the ones where i don't struggle to stay awake and focused. the ones where i don't beg my mom to scratch my back while i doodle on the sacrament meeting program. i enjoyed two of the most wonderful talks on motherhood. also, a baby was blessed. i think baby blessings are pretty neat. officially presenting a newborn child to the congregation, and to heavenly father -- i don't know, i just think it's cool. but for some reason this one was different. i immediately thought of my babies from ecuador. and i started to tear up. i know you're probably so sick and tired of hearing about ecuador, but i seriously still think about it everyday. i wish all my babies got to be blessed and welcomed into a loving family.
i believe i mentioned that i get to teach the ctr 7's now, right? well, i do. and yesterday's lesson was about how being obedient shows heavenly father and jesus our faith. so i was telling ruthy, susie, robbie and joshua about when lehi's family left jerusalem and explaining that they had to leave behind all of their friends and almost all of their possessions. i told the kids to pretend they were lehi's family and asked them what their most prized possessions were. some of them asked what that meant, and i explained that it was their favorite toy, book, game, or movie. susie said her most prized possession was her babydoll. robbie and joshua both said theirs was their legos. when i got to ruthy she responded with "my mom." i told her that it had to be something not living, because their family got to go with them. and she goes, "well i still want to pick my mom if that's okay." it was the cutest thing. and ruthy gave the closing prayer and in it she said "we're thankful for our parents, especially our mothers. and please help us to do whatever we can to make them happy today." ugh, i seriously love her. i want a ruthy. after she finished making her mother's day card she gave me a shoulder rub. and when it was time to go she hugged me and said she liked me. it made my whole day.
we also had the missionaries over for lunch. i looooooooove missionaries. especially the ones serving in our ward. they're so cute. they both go home in a couple months. one's from washington and one is from orem. i plan on loving/dating/marrying the one from orem.
but really, i love my mom. i do. she's the greatest thing in my life. everything i have, am, and hope to be, i owe to her. she's the only person in my life who has been there for me always. sometimes i'm hard to love. and i know that. but she always does. no matter what.
this has to be one of my favorite pictures of the three of us
that's all. i hope everybody had the most fantastic day yesterday celebrating their moms. i'm so happy to be back. hoooray.
several times, every day, the thought of how difficult being a mom is crosses my mind. i think about the time, love, sacrifice, and patience that goes into raising a child. i think about one day becoming a mother, and raising a family along side my husband.
and, i think about my own mom.
unfortunately, and admittedly, i gave my mom hell in high school. and i wish i realized then what i do now. i wish i realized that she was doing the very best that she could. i wish i realized that she's on my side, loves me, and wants me to be happy. i love her more than the world. and am sorry for the time i could have had with her back then, if i had been nicer.
i'm grateful for a mom who loves me, even when it's hard. who is there for me always. who, despite being on her own for part of our childhood, always made my sister and me first on her list of priorities. i love my mom. and i want to be like her.
usually, i absolutely positively am completely excited about christmas for the entire month of december. usually, i'm listening to/singing christmas songs starting the day after thanksgiving. usually, i'm just as giddy about the holiday as i was when i was 5. but since i've been at school, it's so hard to get into the christmas spirit. idk if it's the stress of finals and packing, or the fact that i just don't have time to think about christmas, but it's pretty unfortunate.
yet, thanks to the massive tree in my living room, stockings hanging on the fireplace, the smell of christmas yankee candles and christmas cd's played on random throughout my house, i managed to finally be in the mood for christmas.
since my mom and stepdad tom got married 8 and a half years ago, christmas has been different at my house. we swapped old traditions for new ones, and now we start the festivities on christmas eve at my stepdad's parents' house. the whole family is there. and by whole family i mean my stepdad's 3 brothers (mark, dan, and paul), 1 sister (patty), their spouses (danielle, debbie, tamara, and allen), and their children (and grandchildren), amounting the 28 people we had there this year. that's a lot of people.
we start with dinner (honey baked turkey, ribs, mashed potatoes, homemade bread, yorkshire pudding, broccoli & cheese casserole, green beans, and pie) and then move onto gifts. now, my mom's a lawyer. and tom's brother dan is a police officer. so a couple times in the past, their paths of crossed in the workplace. also, tom's entire family is big into hunting. like borderline obsessed. and their gifts to eachother are always a big deal. let me try to explain...
one year dan got my mom an orange hat and camo sweatpants with a hunting instructional video. one year my mom got dan a set of drinks that tasted like thanksgiving dinner. i can't remember many of the other gifts, and it probably doesn't sound that amusing to anybody else, but it really is an ongoing joke in our family and everybody always looks forward to what dan and my mom get eachother.
so this year, my mom, being the creative devil she is, got him a camo snuggie. and made all the pictures on the box of him and other family members from christmases past. soo funny. it was the hit of the night, as it always is.
say hello to little lilah (patty's daughter jenny's daughter) and the baby she got, along with her matching pajamas. adorable right? jenny's kids are the cutest kids on the planet.
hadley and i got matching hat/scarf/mitten sets from mark and danielle. pretty fantastic. they make me wanna go caroling. lalala la la lala :)
i was woken up at about 830 on christmas morning by my sister running through the house yelling "saaaaanta! santa! saaaantaaaa!" ...she'll be 16 in two weeks, so i'm not sure why she's still screaming about that guy, but it's whatever. when i was like 13 or 14 i would sit in front of the tv for hours watching the magic bullet infomercials. i dreamed about the day when i would get the deluxe 25 piece set including the bonus 10-second recipe book. and that day, was yesterday. i got my magic bullet. along with lots of other fantastic things.
and today i went to my home ward for the first time since april. i thoroughly enjoyed it. aaaand in just 4 short days i'll be on my to ecuador. and i can't wait to get out of this place, to be perfectly honest. 9 days is too long to be home. i hate that i feel that way. but it's whatever.
Twenty-four. Kansas City native living in Utah. Returned Madrid & Provo missionary. Lover of college basketball, Thai food, the Spanish language, fall clothes, loud music, and a boy named Michael. This is my little life.
