Texas Dallas Mission

It seems like it has been a lifetime since I've posted anything to my blog. Let's see if I can remember how it's done.

I figure that my first post should be describing what I've been up to for the last 18 months. I've spend the last year and a half serving a mission in Dallas, Texas. First off, I just need to say that Texas really is all that it is cracked up to be. You haven't lived until you've seen a Texas thunder storm. While in Texas, I served in four areas: Carrollton, Allen, Plano, and Aubrey. I loved all of them for different reasons. Even though I didn't ask God to let me serve a mission, and quite frankly I really didn't want to, I am so grateful for the opportunity that I had to do so. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Here's why.

It's an alternate universe. That sounds quite dramatic, but it really is such a different experience than anything that I'd imagined before. For once in my life, I didn't have to worry about work, school, or dating. Do you have any idea how nice that was? All I had to worry about was whether or not I was going to be busy that day. Once in a while I'd get stressed out, but for the most part, I learned to just go with the flow and not worry about things too much.

So many friends. If you want an easy way to make friends, serve a mission. You're like a mini-celebrity in your ward. It took me forever to get used to the fact that whether or not I liked it, people noticed me because of the name tag I wore. (Hopefully I was a good representative) It was an easy way to meet people in the ward you were serving in. And every night you had a different member of the ward inviting you over for dinner. When else in your life will you get that opportunity?

Even more friends. For 18 months I was surrounded by 270 guys and girls close to my age who were going through the same types of experiences that I was. That's a definite way to bond with someone. I became friends with so many people that I never would have imagined being friends with. Not only did we become friends, but we became some of the best friends. I'd list them here, but the list would be way too long for my blog. I LOVE my missionary friends.

So much knowledge. I wish I could describe how much I learned from my mission. I'll try, but I can't promise that I'll do it justice. I learned a lot about the gospel and the scriptures. I learned the importance of pulling my own weight in a ward. I learned how to get along with someone 24/7. I learned to trust God's hand in my life. I learned just how blessed I really have been in my life. I learned how to drive in a major city. I learned a bazillion other things, but that's all I can come up with at the moment.

I'm sure I could go super in-depth with tons of details about my mission. But I hope that this has been a decent summary of the experience.

First Taste of Summer

It's been so long since I've blogged! And pretty soon it will be a year and a half before I will get to blog again. So I'd better catch up on what I've been doing.

Since school got out life has been crazy!!! I've literally been running here and there trying to visit everyone and get everything I need for my mission. I run to Idaho, run home for two days, go back to Idaho for a few more days, go home for a couple more days, then go to Salt Lake, back home for one day, then off to Cheyenne. Here's a little detail to go along with that.

I officially moved home the day after graduation, and two days later I took off for Pocatello. I spent several days with my favorite family, the Blads. We went to a choir concert, a cello concert, made pretzels, played frisbee, babysat a cute little girl, and wreaked havoc on Facebook and Tinder. I had to put a lock on my iPad so Ben would stop talking to everyone on Tinder to give out my phone number, and #cuddletime everyone on facebook. I think the highlight of the week was babysitting their 3 year-old cousin. She was adorable. And she was terrified of Rolly-Polly bugs, or as she liked to call them the "Holy-Moley" bugs. When we asked her if she wanted to go play at the park she said "no. I just want to look outside the window." Seriously so cute.

I left Pocatello and headed for the special town of Rexburg. That is where Cortney and I went to a Piano Guys concert. It was super fantastic! I think my favorite part was the encore. That was when they played "Bring Him Home". I LOVE that song!!! (Just not when Hugh Jackman sings it.) Then we went and played capture the flag at an empty lake. It was surprisingly fun. Also while I was in Rexburg, I got to visit my old friend Ryan. That was about the funnest thing ever.

After a couple days at home, my mom and I went to visit my other sister in another part of Idaho. She had a little foster-child staying with her family. This cute little one year-old was beyond cute. And for some strange reason, she liked me. My theory is that it's because I was the only blonde and maybe her mom/aunts/previous guardians were blonde. Anyway, it was fun to visit them. And then I spent my birthday driving home. But it was alright because I got an awesome birthday call from my friend Matthew. And then Hannah called and asked if she could come visit that weekend. Which leads us into our next segment.

That weekend Hannah, Spencer, and Matthew came up to visit me in Star Valley. I was so excited!!! We went to lunch at the Red Baron (Hannah wanted something truly local). Then I drove them around town and showed them our high school, my old neighborhood, and the Grover Bridge. Then we went back and played a few rounds of Dominion. We played with a new extension, and it was pretty intense.

The next day my mom and I took off for Salt Lake, where we spent two VERY long days shopping for missionary clothes. You would not believe how difficult it is to find good missionary clothes. There's modest, and then there's missionary modest. We about died trying to find shirts that were missionary modest. But we did do it. And we got a good deal on luggage, shoes, and a bag. The third day we went to the Salt Lake Temple, which was phenomenal. I was pretty indifferent before I went, but it really was all that and a bag of chips. Then we drove on up to Idaho Falls to do another temple session with the Stake Presidency and High Council. That one was also pretty good.

Now I'm home, and tomorrow I leave to help my sister install a sprinkler system in Cheyenne. Now do you see what I meant that I have just been running like a mad woman? My life has been pure chaos. But it's been fun chaos.

This is what we did while we were avoiding the "Holy-Molies"

I call this "The Farmer and Her Mother."

Graduation and Goodbyes

I made it through the weekend that I've been dreading for the last five months: graduation and my move away from Logan. I've been so worried about saying goodbye to all of my friends before I leave on my mission. But the weekend was actually really nice. Thursday I got to visit my friend Tiffany. We got some dinner and moving boxes, then we went to see the new Iron Man movie with Spencer. (Sidenote: Iron Man was freaking awesome. I normally hate Iron Man, but this movie was so good that I couldn't hate it.)

Friday night my roommate, Sammy, and I cleaned our apartment. She was a good partner, we had good teamwork. When we finished, we ended up going out to get Twizzleberry. It was so much fun, and I wish that the two of us would've done more together this year.

Saturday was the big day. Graduation. I went with Spencer and Kevin to the graduation ceremony of the College of Education and Human Services. We saw Hannah, Alycia, Susan, and I don't even know how many other people. That is a huge college and I have so many friends in it. After that ceremony we went to a luncheon with Hannah's family. And Steven was there!!! I was so happy to see Steven. It was so great to see him.

That afternoon we went back for the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business' graduation. This one was a little more interesting to me because there were actual speakers, and I could relate and knew so many people because it was my own college. We watched Clayton, Matthew, Jared, Ben, and again, I don't even know how many other friends. While the Valedictorian was giving his speech, he cracked a bunch of jokes about the business classes. No one else was laughing, except for me and Kevin who were cracking up.

When the ceremonies were over, we all went home and visited with Clayton's family, played Dominion, and said our goodbyes. I made it all the way through the day without crying. I was pretty excited. When I left their house that night, I parked up on Old Main and looked over the valley and thought about all the good times I've had there. It was good to reminisce for a little while. Bitter-sweet weekend, but I made it all the way through with my dignity and emotions intact.

Facing Fears and Breaking Down Walls

I had an interesting experience yesterday that really made me reflect on the way I act and treat people.

Yesterday I spent 13 hours at the library. While I was there a boy came and sat by me in one of the big booths. He sat down and introduced himself and shook my hand and I introduced myself. We made small talk for a minute then moved on to homework. Over the course of maybe 45 minutes, at least 10 people stopped to talk to him. And not only did people come to talk to him, he would also stop random people and pay them a compliment or something. I was like "Who is this kid? He knows everyone." Then Jade showed up and we decided to walk home together for dinner. Before we left, he got up and shook her hand and introduced himself to her as well. Then he proceeded to tell her how the two of us went way back, and he couldn't believe I hadn't ever told him about her before. I played along and he thought it was hilarious.

When I got back from dinner I found him still in the same spot, so I went and joined him again because I was so intrigued by him. We made small talk again then went back to our homework. A little while later, we struck up conversation and really got talking for probably half an hour. (Ps- I'm a terribly awkward conversationalist.) But we really talked. He treated me like we really did go way back, and like he was planning on being good friends forever. I was fascinated by how he did this. As the night went on, he continued to get visitor after visitor. He told me that some of them he really didn't know all that well, and that he had just met them a day or week ago. But each one of them acted as if they had been friends forever. Later, I was talking to a friend in the lobby and this kid stopped by on his way back from a drink and introduced himself and told my friend that he dressed really nicely (which is something that this friend really prides himself on.)

I went home that night thinking about how this boy talked to everyone, and how he talked to them like he fully intended to be good friends. I thought it was so cool. Then I thought about how I usually act at the library. I sit alone at my table and avoid eye contact with anyone who walks past. I asked myself why I act like that when I think it would be so great to be like my new friend. I've got a couple of hypotheses. 

1) Sometimes I remember faces. Sometimes I remember names, but not very often do I remember a name and a face together. Because of this I think I find it intimidating to talk to new people because I don't know if I will recognize them the next time I see them. And I worry about how rude it would be to ignore them the next time I see them because I don't recognize them.

2) I'm always worried about social norms. In my heart I know that most people love conversation and making new friends. But in my head I think that when people come to the library to study and that they don't want to talk to a random girl about what classes they took in high school, or an embarrassing story, or their favorite song that just came up on Pandora. Because I assume that people don't want to talk, I am really quiet and don't say anything.

After thinking about how this boy made my day by talking to me and my lame excuses for being so anti-social, I've made a decision. I have decided that I am going to throw social norms out, pay better attention and interact with anyone and everyone. If nothing else, I can smile at people more, or I can at least say "Hi " as I walk past. I can stop people in the library to tell them that I like their shirt or hair. And I can really get out of my comfort zone and actually talk to the people who join me at my table. This is my new goals. I want to make friends everywhere I go. I want to make someone's day by treating them like an old friend. Maybe you can go do the same?

Washington D.C.

I finally fulfilled my lifelong dream of visiting Washington DC. I have wanted to go there since I was literally about 12 years old. And it was everything I ever imagined it would be.

We flew in Thurday, April 18th, and went to the hotel. The next morning we hit the ground running. First we went and did a session in the Washington DC Temple. It was one of the most beautiful temples I've ever seen (and I've seen a fair number of them).

After the temple we went to the Air and Space museum and the American History Museum. I have to admit that the American History  museum was better than I thought it would be.

Saturday we went to the Capitol, Holocaust museum, and Natural History museum. We tried to see the Archives and the National Gallery of Art, but everything closes so early there. The Holocaust was what I was most excited for, but I was a little bit disappointed. What I was expecting it to be, was very different than what it actually was. I didn't cry. I'm a horrible person.

Sunday was our day to see all of the monuments. We saw all of them but the Korean War Memorial. They were all fantastic. The Vietnam one was impressive, WWII was huge, Lincoln was awesome, Iwo Jima was massive, but my favorite was the Franklin D. Roosevelt Monument. It was a big maze type structure with four big rooms, one for each of his terms as president. Each room had a waterfall/fountain and they got progressively bigger. There were tons of good quotes from him on the walls. It was a really reverent monument. I think that what made it the best though was that we saw it at night. The monuments that we saw during the day were cool, but they were crowded and loud. The ones that we saw at night were quiet, and lit up really nicely, and had the reverent feel that a memorial should have.

Iwo Jima

Air Force

FDR

At the Jefferson looking at Washington

Vietnam

Sunday afternoon between monuments, Tiana took us to Mr. Vernon. It was spectacular. It's no wonder that George Washington loved it so much.

Monday morning we ran around and saw the Supreme Court and the Natural History museum again. Then Cortney and I flew home. Over all the trip was......AMAZING! But now that it's over, I don't know where I want to go next. Maybe Texas? :)

Lesson in Dating

Today I had an epiphany and learned a valuable lesson. Now I understand one possible reason why people here do not date. The simple explanation: It's hard to find someone to ask out.

That seems ridiculous doesn't it? I mean, there are thousands of young men and women attending college. It would seem like a person could walk up to any one of them and ask them out. But it's not that simple. Once you go through the process of narrowing down your options, you're not left with a lot to work with. Allow me to elaborate.

First you have to go through the contacts in your phone and your friend list on Facebook. You narrow it down to the people that you think you could enjoy going out with. That part's not too hard.

Next you have to narrow that list down to the people with whom you have a relationship that would allow you to ask them out. Some people you are really only facebook friends with. Others, might take the invitation as a declaration of your love for them, and that may totally freak them out. Some of them you already spend so much time with that you want to go on a date with someone new. By the time you consider all the factors associated with each person, you've only got a few left.

Last, you remember to check their relationship status. Since it's spring and couples are popping out of the snow like daises (literally), you need to double check before you ask anyone out. By the time you eliminate all of the people who have recently gotten married, engaged, or otherwise attached to a significant other, you're down to one or two people.

Now you look at your last options. You are sad to realize that they were the people who barely made the first cut. And you accept that in all honesty you really would rather not go out with them.

So now what? Back to square one. You've got a gift card to dinner and no one to invite. There are several options.

1) Text your best friend in hopes that they will inspire you. Maybe they will think of someone you missed, or at least have a friend they could set you up with.

2) Think of every single person in each of your classes and determine if there is a single one of them that you could potentially get away with asking.

3) Consider just inviting one of your roommates or best friends to go with you. Or at worst, going by yourself.

4) The last option (and my personal favorite) is to just walk up to the super attractive person that you see at the library almost every day and ask them out. You could say something like "Hey. I just met you, and this is crazy. But here's my number, so call me maybe?" Or even better, "Hey. Want to mate? I... I... I mean date." Or you could follow the lead of the ladies in the movie Top Gun and just say "Take me to bed or lose me forever." (Just kidding, I would never say any of those things. But I did really consider asking out the really attractive guy that I see at the library all the time.)

While considering all of those options, you might get lucky and stumble upon a date. But if not, you have now learned a valuable lesson about why people don't date.

Temples, Concerts, and Strange Men

It has been so long since I have really blogged, and so much has happened. I have so many stories.

First, I went through the temple for my own endowments on March 23rd. It was so fantastic. I had half of my family there, and it was a really great experience. Here is a picture of the group.

That night I went to a Utah Symphony Orchestra concert with my friends, then we went to the most amazing pizza place ever. I loved it. And I love my friends more than I can even say.

The next weekend I went with some other friends to the Festival of Colors in Spanish Fork. That always makes for a really great time, because what is better than throwing colored cornstarch at your friends and getting covered in the stuff yourself. So great.

We started out so clean.

And ended looking like this.

Then that night my roommate, Sammy, and I dyed Easter eggs. By some crazy, random happenstance, neither of us could find any friends to do anything with, but we both really wanted to do something. So we ended up hanging out together.

After we dyed eggs, we went to the movies together. While there, we got talking to these two guys sitting behind us. One was married, and the other was his single brother in law visiting from BYU. When the movie was over, the single guy invited us to go meet up with one of his friends for ice cream. I agreed to it because I thought stuff like that happened to Sammy all the time, and I didn't want to cramp her style. But we failed to  think about the fact that it was like 11:30 so everywhere in Logan was closed. So then we ended up going to Walmart to buy ice cream and Rootbeer. We sat across from the redbox in the Walmart entrance and ate our rootbeer floats. It was odd. When we got home, I discovered that Sammy was totally weirded out by the whole thing, and thought it was totally bizarre. Apparently stuff like that DOESN'T happen to her all the time. Who knew?! The best part about the whole thing though, was that when this kid's sister showed up to pick up his brother-in-law, I knew her way back from my freshman year. And it's terrible, but I couldn't take him seriously once I knew who his sister was. It was quite the experience though. Can't say I've ever had anyone in a movie theater ever try to pick up on me and my friends before.