Summer Time Sunshine 2011

There's been a lot of exciting happenings this summer in my life. Because i suck at uploading pictures we're working from most recent to latest. . . but as usual, let's start out with a pic of me. I got bangs this summer. . and i've trimmed them up once.

I moved to Independence, MO to do a business internship with my school with 14 other ppl. I ended up being the manager of a specialty hot dog restaurant. And i cant' wait to come home. I've learned so much in so many different aspects and met some wonderful people. This is a lot of the Singles Branch i go to, at a YSA dance we had. Polynesian, just the way i like it.

I met some hilarious and awesome people, who were only in my life for a short time. Like Adam

And Vise, who's headed on a mission to Florida next week.

I met Spawnbreezie and Big Steve. . (steven's in my ward) He's a big Polynesian/Reggae singer from Independence.

I went to Liberty Jail with my friend Jeremy. . who's serving in Alaska now.

I went to my first MLB game (in box seats) thanks to my employers. These are the other interns i work with.

I lived with 5 other girls in a house. We had a good time together. 3 of them spoke Spanish, so we kinda worked on mine. Not a lot tho.

I met a BUNCH of wonderful sister missionaries, serving at the Visitors Center in Independence. They taught me so much and brought peace and happiness to my life.

My best friend Natalie Belka left to serve in the Winter Quarters Mission.

I got to go home for a few weeks and see all of my amazing, best friends, whom i love dearly. . .and Zack Nordfelt left to Mexico. (we're gonna teach our kids Spanish).

I saw my White cousins and had a wonderful time visiting with all of them.

I saw my little brother after a few months apart. Six to be exact.

I went through the temple and got to go with my siblings. Awesome.

I got my MISSION CALL to serve in the Resistencia Argentina Mission. I report September 28.

My parents came and picked me up from Graceland. We went to Nauvoo together.

And Carthage Jail. Amazing.

It's been a wonderful summer. . . and i can't wait to come home for 5-6 more weeks and play with my family and friends, while preparing to leave and serve the people of Argentina.

Post Partum . .

It's been 4 full days without facebook.

Let's just absorb that for a minute. Real addict here. Really pathetic. haha. . hence the blogging. I've got nothing else i can do on the computer, so i keep looking for other stuff. Although this week i have had so much homework, i've spent at least 6 hours a day in the library. That's such a long time, i know. But our library offers self-serve free hot chocolate (and coffee) all the time. So that's wonderful! . . but seriously i did get a lot more done, cuz i wouldn't break to fb. . except for last night. . . i caught up on the last two episodes of GLEE. What are you addicted to ?

GLEE.
i don't watch a ton of television, especially during the week. Except for my 2 vices: Army Wives (sunday on Lifetime.) and lately GLEE. The music on Glee is amazing, at first each show had a central message of good morals and behavior, even if it wasn't 'popular' . . lately the show has gotten raunchy. But some of the better ones are so funnnnnnnny. i made a 'glee cast' channel on pandora. . and it's pretty much amazing. What tv shows do you watch?

Also. . i have to write up my retirement plan for my Investment Analysis class and i'm supposed to spend 2-3 pages talking about the mutual funds i chose for my 401k. . . since i haven't been paying attention the last semester, any ideas? .. haha jk. . nbfr.

Weeelllllll i have "Solah goodbyes" tonight. We get all cute for 20 minutes to take pictures with each other, then we're going to the only place that's open 24/7 (a truck stop 15 minutes away) and THEN we're coming back to paint the bell!! :) . . but first i have to go beat a boy in 1 on 1 basketball. lol

Facebook

Two days i did something really drastic.

I deactivated my facebook account.

I know, this is a big step for me. Not many people who are as addicted to facebook as i can just go cold turkey. Cut the cord. The tricky thing about deactivation is after i pushed the button, a page came up with 4 of my friends and pictures of them. It said "Kate will miss you." "Mars will miss you." "Are you sure you want to deactivate?" . . . haha wow, those facebook makers are clever. I thought, "you're right, so many people will miss my status' and pictures and comments." . . but i did it anyways. Truth betold it's only been 36 hours and reactivation is very simple, i just log in. But i just needed a few days of peace, nothing holding me back. Although my electronic void had to be fixed somehow, hence the blogging now. haha . . of course i will probably get back on there soon. How else will the world find out where i'm going to serve my mission? Texting just doesn't cut it anymore. Especially since i don't have 700+ contacts in my phone.

My papers went in Sunday night. I'm stoked.. luckily i have my last week of classes this week to keep me busy and focused, since EVERY teacher thought they'd make a final project due. AND then i have finals all the next week, so i don'thave much time to wait and wonder!

Time to go to Intermediate Macroeconomics! Chow!

Books for thought. . .

Adoption: it's about Love.

If you know me at all, you know i LOVE to read. If i get a good book in my hand i would rather do that than watch a movie or . . a lot of other things

When i was in junior high and high school i would stay up past my encourage bed time and incessitany listen to Cindy's nagging that went, "ELIZABETH, put that book down and turn off the light!!!" .. and after i wouldn't, she'd come in my room and flip the light off. Mind you, this was usually if my dad was working nights .. haha he was the lead discipliner in our family. So sometimes i would literally grab a flashlight (from out of my dad's truck) and read under my blanket. One night i stayed up the Entire night and read a whole book. Luckily the following day was a Saturday. There's just something about being taken into another world and imaging the scenery, feelings, time period, characters that i just love.

Cinda is in my ward and my adoptive aunt! She bought 2 books last week when she was in Nauvoo at their little "Deseret Book" and she lent them to me. The first one i read was about a Boston raised lady who was orphaned and sent to live with her Mormon aunt and uncle in Montrose, IL. The family was headed West to Zion because of the persecussion of the Saints. The family took their covered wagon and traveled through Mt. Pisgah, IA and Garden Grove, IA , two of the places on the Mormon Trail that i visited back in November. I felt so close to the girl as i imagined what these places looked like 150 years ago and what they hold now. It was neat to imagine and read of this fictional character and the Mormon pioneers. The story pointed out that each time a trial was faced, the Saints had faith and positive attitudes that they could get through it! This was a new and different twist, because usually when i think of the faithful pioneers i only think of the heartache and sufffering, which is completely true. . . but they made it to the Salt Lake Valley because they were a happy people, because of the happiness brought to them throught the Gospel and Plan of Happiness.

The other book is an LDS ghost story about a girl in Cochise, AZ who was fixing up an old bed and breakfast. I found it interestingly ironic that the two books had settings occur in the two areas i have been living and going to school for the past 3 years. Cochise College was in our conference. It made me wonder how different my life would have been, if i had not been given the opportunities i have. How would i differ? And how i am that much better.

I miss my family and friends, parties, weddings, Sunday dinners, baptisms . . but i'm learning that part of growing up is going out and experiencing new things. Still i am learning, haha, Tera always told me i was naiive. . but there are things i'm learning that are making me better. I've learned to love people for who they are and realize that not everyone has the same upbringing like i did, but they still turn out to be amazing people, against the odds they had to face. I've learned to not judge as quickly as i once did. I'm grateful for the events which have transpired in my life so far. I'm grateful to know that even though i'm missing out on being close to my family, i'm becoming a better person for my future and i'm grateful they are my family forever. I love my siblings and admire them for who they are and the example they are to me and my parents for their ever continuing support.

I love watching the possey too. They've grown up to be beautiful young women. They have showed me what's important and the married one's have taught me so much about the husband i hope to have.

I suppose i write so much, because i learn so much when i read. I learn of testimonies, people, love, and life. So even if one person reads this blog, i hope you become a better or happier person because of it.

ApRiL showers BrIng on them May Flowers!!!

Oh my dearest bloggers. You are guys are so devoted and good! I love your faithfulness!

Today was General Conference! I got to watch it with my adopted family in Osceola. They give me my own room, feed me good, and let me use their washer. It's awesome! Haha . . but seriously, i love conference! It made me miss my family though :/ . . when we were kids, Sunday sessions my parents would make us all sit together in the family room and watch (and i'm glad they did). We would pull out these brown, rickety, plastic type tv trays. We'd pull up one of the many wooden chairs in our house. We'd draw a "speaker" on a piece of paper and tape it to the tray. Then we'd have a pile of important papers (coloring books) and writing utensils. We'd have inter-office discussions or requests via our speakers. Haha it was awesome. I loved being a kid and having 2 brothers that would always play with me.

Easter is in a few weeks! I get to speak in Sacrament that day, so you're all invited! I opened my peeps I bought this weekend. I love peeps. They are good soft, they are good hard. They're good at Easter or Christmas. Some of my favorite Easter memories are when we'd go down to my Uncle Jack's farm. We'd spend time together, because it was usually still cold. We'd color eggs and have an easter egg hunt outside. . . or when we had our Easter party with the White's. Candy everywhere and those few eggs with quarters in them. Haha my cousins have been growing up quickly lately! One is on a mission, one is engaged, others are already in college. . . i joke a lot with the saying "Oh to be young again" .. but i miss the simplicity in spending time with my family and friends!

So i finally broke down over spring break. . and i bought myself a flower. Not just a little flower, because, I'm gonna wear a flower, i'm gonna wear a flower. And i love it.

This is my new ring. I'm not really a ring person, well really the story goes, i had one in high school and then i lost it. . but then i got another one last year and i've kept my blue CTR ring for over a year. My new ring is a silver band, which i'm totally fine if that's what my wedding ring looks like, but this one was inscribed by mel and it reads "E cousins for eternity M." It means a lot to me and i adore the thoughtfulness and beauty of it.

I had an exciting spring break in the middle of March! I flew into Phoenix to see my old teammate and friend Breanne! We drove to San Francisco and then Oregon! This is at Crater Lake, the 3rd deepest lake in the U.S. It's on the top of a volcano! And it was FREEZING!

This is in China Town in San Francisco! I LOVED San Fran! I can't wait to be a successful business woman and live in a small apartment that's outrageously expensive and live the big city life! We ate at this sketchy Chinese restaurant, rode a trolley, viewed the Golden Gate Bridge, walked the Pier, ate at Little Italy and had a TON of fun together! We were at some shopping stores by Uof C Berkley and Bre and i had to pee so bad. . . we couldn't find a bathroom ANYWHERE! . . we saw some kid taking a box of things into a dorm hall. . so we followed him in, hopped on the elevator, picked the 3rd floor and the doors opened to .. . . A Bathroom! We were stoked! haha

This was at the Pier in this old arcade game set-up. Look familiar? It's the game from Princess Diaries that the Queen plays! Haha

Breanne and I at the San Francisco Bay with Alcatraz in the background. (That's a famous prison).

Oh, hey, i turned 21!!! . . . i've been waiting FOREVER to turn 21 ... because that's when you can do stuff!!! . . . . Like

Valentines Day!

It's 2:37 AM on Tuesday morning. I'm awake. Why you ask? . . . Well that's a great question. I have a "going to bed problem" . . going to bed and showering seem like such party pooper of ideas, so i try to avoid them till the very last second. The dumb thing is, i always regret that decision.

I'm actually awake because i'm browsing through my Macroeconomics reading material for tomorrow. It's a book called 'The Return of Depression Economics' it's all working up to what cause the Recession of 08. You know what did? Speculation. A bunch of stuff, but mainly it was because we American's thought we were going to go into a recession, so we stopped spending, we got out of the stock market and we had a recession. Of course it's a bit more complicated than that. . .and i haven't actually reached that chapter yet, so i could be wrong, but from what i've learned in class so far, that's why it happened. I knew we were always in control.

It's like when we were in high school and no one wanted to take that stupid English test. I knew that if none of us came to class the next day, we wouldn't have to take it. But not everyone was ever willing to stick together and not show up. . . but if we did all ban together, we could do some jaw dropping things.

Today was Valentine's Day. The people who hate V-day or call it 'Single-Awareness Day' are such pesimists. I find it a wonderfully refreshing holiday (and yes, i'm single). Plus i absolutely ADORE all holiday candy. Especially candy hearts! . . i gave out the girls on my hall my Barbie Valentine's i bought at Dollar General the other day. No better way to say i love you then from Barbie saying "You've got style!" And Barbie knows style.

I found skype yesterday. Beautiful little gift right there. I can't believe it took me so long to get it, but it's absolutely wonderful!

I have 5 classes this semester. Four of them are business/economics related. The other one is art history. My art history teacher actually asks us to draw some art pieces, which i was completely flabbergasted about. It's ART HISTORY, not ART. . . but it'll be fine. I aced our first test last week. Although it was my favorite time period with Impressionism, Neo-Impressionism, Post-Impressionism and Cubism, but i'm learning a lot still, for when i travel the world and want to appreciate art in the museums i go to. I'm also learning a lot in my other classes, everything keeps tying in together, i just hope it'll stick in my brain. I watched 'Wall Street' the other day and everything they talked about including moral hazard, bonds, stocks, etc were all of the things i've been learning about, so it was exciting to have an idea of all the jist! Learning is fun that way!

We have 3 games left in our season! I'm excited for them! Haha, it's been a long season, but i love being in the Mid-West. I love the open spaces and small towns and friendly people. I love my family and friends and my Savior Jesus Christ. I love my ward and my calling as primary chorister. It's 2:48 and i still have 20 pages to go, so i bid thee all goodnight! :)

Black Friday

In my mind, i live in a very unrealistic world. I believe in happy endings and as Taylor Swift says, am "a true romantic. Always." Some people say i'm gullible, but i like to believe in people. I like to trust in their goodness. Although i believe in a lot of goodness, i realize that life isn't always like the movies. So an incredible thing keeps happening here in Iowa. I've watched my fair share of Lifetime and Hallmark movies throughout the years. I remember one saturday i was the only one home and i watched like 5 Lifetime movies in a row. I'm going to blame that one on my mom. Haha, anyways since i've been here thsoe small towns where everyone knows everyone, where the whole town goes to the high school sports games, where there is a town square with holiday wreaths put up on the light poles and a 'season greetings' signs strewn across the street. The amazing thing that keeps happenin' is that these towns, they're REAL!!! And they're scattered all over in the Mid-west. I'm in awe every time we drive past them, i love it. I love where i grew up and having real stores and being able to drive into the next town in 15 minutes, but there is something magical and adoring in these small towns where they're are farm houses 10 minutes outside of downtown and where people really do go pick out a Christmas tree and cut it down for their tree that year.

Second, I went to Walmart with the May's, the ward family i stayed with for Thanksgiving on Black Friday. We went at 11:30 pm. We hit the deals that occurred at 12:01 am and then got in line and waited so they could get some tv's on sale at 5 am. I read a whole magazine on all things Taylor Swift, she's so adorable i totally want her in the possey, and just killed time. After we were done at Walmart Shelley and Doug (the May parents) and i went to Pimida at 6:00 AM to buy a vcr/dvd, and then hit a store called Farm & Home at 6:30 AM to get their son some john deere toys. As i walked around this farming store, exhausted from being up all night, i noticed a rack of clothes that cowboys and girls would wear. They're were button up shirts, jackets, and cowboy hats. I was drawn to the racks and started wishing for more spending money so i could buy a Carhart coat to keep me warm and fit in with the kids of Osceola. Just like the days of junior high, when i asked for Volcolm t-shirts from my brother, to fit in with kids at Hunter. And then i realized i'd been up WAAAAAAY to long. Sure every girl wants to live on a ranch and be a cowgirl like the girl in FLicka, but was i seriously considering buying a heavy duty farm jacket that Uncle Jack wears????? omg, i was high. hahahah
The whole shopping on Black Friday is good when you want a good deal on all those electronics. Haha i kept looking at dishes, pots and pans, towels in the adds . . . you KNOW your turning old when you do that. I had to stop myself though, since i have no need or apartment of my own just yet for those items, plus it'd be a hassle to ship them home, but it was fun to imagine! . .it was also fun to shop with Doug and Shell as they tried to grant the wishes on their children's Christmas Lists. They just kept buying and my tight wadded mind was freaking out inside. . but then i thought about the Christmas' with my family and the gifts my parents had given that were on my list or surprised. One year i got a snow cone machine, i think i'd mentioned getting one months before, but completely forgot about. I was in pure heaven because it was such a neat gift! Or the year i finally got an Easy Bake Oven! I knew i was rolling big that year! hahaah, but it just made me realize the immense sacrifice parents go through to make their children happy. They are very giving. Haha I kept thinking they didn't need to buy their kids that much stuff, they had everything they needed and they probably do, just like i always did and do. . .