End of another Semester

Well, another semester has passed me by. All I have left are 4 finals, and then I will be done until Fall 2013! Wow, that sounds crazy! I am so ready for a break in school! I know a mission will be hard, but I am so ready for it, and I am so excited!!

I talked with brother who works at the MTC and evaluates incoming missionaries who have experience in their assigned language. He asked how much experience I had with learning/speaking Chinese. And then we talked for about five minutes in Chinese. He asked me my name, where I am from, where in China I had been, if I liked Chinese food, what kind of Chinese food I liked, how many kids were in my family, how many siblings I had, whether they were brothers or sisters, if I was the oldest, and maybe a few other questions. I was able to answer all the questions he asked, and only had trouble understanding him when he asked me where in China I had been, if I liked Chinese food (only because I couldn't understand the word he was saying for 'to eat', even though I knew it; it sounded different over the phone) and another question, which I don't remember. So, I did pretty well, I thought, but then he said he'd recommend that I stay in the MTC for twelve weeks. He asked what I felt, and I told him I felt like 12 weeks might be too long, but that I was happy to do whatever he felt would be best for me. He explained that the way the six week program works is that, the first 3 weeks are spent mostly speaking English, and you are taught how to teach the gospel in English, and then the last 3 weeks is Chinese, but you are already expected to be able to then teach in Chinese at almost the same level to which you were taught in English. Yeah, that wouldn't be good for me. I don't have the church vocabulary to do that. Or enough grammar to do that either. So after he explained that to me, he asked how I'd feel doing that and I said, you are probably correct in saying that I should stay in the MTC for 12 weeks. So 12 weeks it is! He said that, after I study for the next few months, if I feel like I have improved enough, and feel that only 3 weeks of Chinese would be sufficient, I could call him again and we could talk again, but I don't think I will have enough practice speaking Chinese before I go into the MTC to be able to do that. So I will practice and build up my vocabulary, so that when I am in there, I can progress further and be able to help out the other missionaries who may not have as much (or any) experience with Chinese as I do.

The thought of being in the MTC for 12 weeks is a bit daunting, but I am excited and it will be great!

I have sold my housing contract which is such a relief! I am about 1/3 moved out of my apartment, and will work on getting most things moved out tomorrow and Sunday. Finals are next week, and I have one a day through Thursday and will go home either Thursday night or Friday. Friday we are picking up Noelle at BYU-I and moving her and her friend home for the next semester, and then Saturday we are leaving for California! We will only be there till Thursday, but we are going out for my cousin's wedding, which is on Wednesday. I am so excited to go to California, and I am so excited that I will be able to go to my cousin's sealing! This will be the first sealing I've been to, so it is exciting!! Once we get back from California, we will be having an early Christmas Eve dinner with my Mom's family and then Christmas! I'm really excited for Christmas =] And New Years!

And after the holidays, I get to spend 2 1/2 months studying Chinese, Preach my Gospel and nannying lots =] Got to get in my fill of kids for the next 18 months!

Oh to have the faith of a child

One of my favorite blogs (who I think I've mentioned before) is A Full Quiver. They are an LDS family who has adopted five special needs children from China. I got to meet the family by chance this summer when I was volunteering at Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. They are an absolutely amazing family and I just adore them! About a year ago they adopted two girls from China: Lexi, who is blind, and Sophi, who was born without arms. Lexi is 6 years old and comes up with some of the funniest things! She has grasped the English language very well, and has also grasped gospel principles amazingly well, even for a six year old, let alone a six year old who only started learning about the church less than a year ago, and is learning it all in a language that isn't her native language. Talk about one special little girl!


Well, the reason I'm mentioning all this is because of a recent post on their blog. You can read it here on their blog and I would highly encourage you to read it. 


Lexi knows that she will be healed (her eyesight restored) when she dies, and she is very excited about this and the fact that Christ will heal her. Her parents shared an example tonight of this, and for me, this was a great example of the kind of faith we all should have:


"Tonight as I was tucking her into her bed, I was just overcome with how much I love this beautiful, special girl.  It's been almost a year since she joined our family and I can't believe her grasp of English, her resiliency, her happy demeanor, and her pure testimony of Jesus Christ.  As I kissed her goodnight, she said, "Mommy, can I fix my eyes?"  I said, "No, sweetie, only Jesus can fix your eyes."  She replied, "But I know how!  I just have to go like this," and proceeded to put her hands over her eyes. [my insert: her parents had showed her how Christ might heal her eyes, and it was by putting his hands over her eyes and then when he takes them away, she would be able to see]

Such childlike faith.

I have no doubt that it is faith enough to be healed now, if it is His desire for her. "



Lexi is such a sweet example of the kind of faith we need to have. We need to have the faith that we can be healed, or that Christ can and will take away all our pains. He will never leave us alone, I know that. I am so grateful for the examples of children who have such pure faith in Christ and his atoning power. Without them, I would often forget how much Christ loves me.

Oh how I am grateful for these simple reminders.

Well?

Well, what has been going on in my life? Not a whole lot really. I've just been trying to keep up with school and finish the semester! Once it is over, I won't have to go to school for 1 1/2 years! Yay! I'm really happy about that =]

I officially changed my major...again...to Biological Science Education, which is the Biology teaching program. Why did I do this? Because I didn't want to take Organic Chemistry (I was 7 weeks into the class and had had enough). So I switched! I am excited to come back to school and start my teaching classes (after my mission though =] )

I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving next week! It is probably my favorite food holiday! OO I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!

Things are going well in getting ready for my mission! I have bought a few clothing items, and have been filling out lots of paperwork! And I am going through the temple tomorrow, and I'm so excited!

That really is about all that is going on right now. We are going to California for Christmas for my cousins wedding, and I am so excited to be going back to San Jose! It has been way too long! I'm excited to get to see people one last time before my mission =]

And then we will come back to Utah for Christmas, and hopefully then go to LA after Christmas =] Yay for going to California twice over Christmas!

My Mission Call!!

I got my mission call tonight!!!!

I AM GOING TO THE TAIWAN TAICHUNG MISSION!!! Mandarin Chinese speaking!!!!!


I report to the MTC on February 29, 2012!!! I am beyond excited!

Here is the video of me opening my call!!!




Love you all!

TOMORROW!!!

Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya! Tomorrow! You're only a day away!!!!

My mission call should be here tomorrow!!!

I'm opening it at 9 PM!!!

And then I'll post the video of me opening it, and make you watch it to find out where I'm going =]]


CAN'T WAIT!

Waiting isn't fun

No, waiting certainly isn't fun.

So the process for how mission calls are made is: Thursdays, prospective missionaries pictures are shown on a screen and, through revelation, mission assignments are made! Fridays, calls are written up and mission packets prepared and ready to be sent. Mondays the calls are sent out! Wednesdays (if you are in Utah...and probably all the US) calls are received!

So my papers were sent in on Wednesday, and there was a chance my call would be assigned the next day, but that didn't happen (I know this because my bishop is able (somehow) to see when my assignment has been made), and so I know I won't be receiving my mission call tomorrow. But that's ok; I will know on Friday if it will be coming next Wednesday! Which it probably will be! Some people have said they can't believe how quick it will come, but others don't know how the anticipation isn't killing me. I just say, I'm grateful I only have to wait 2 or 3 weeks. One friend had to wait 6 weeks, another 2 1/2 months, and back before any of it was electronic, people were waiting 3 or more months! So I'm just counting my blessings that I don't have to wait all that long =]

Announcement!

I'd like to interrupt your regularly scheduled broadcast (of nothing...since I'm a horrible blogger!) to make this special announcement!

I have decided to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!

My mission papers were completed tonight, and the member of my stake presidency that I met with said, unless there is a large number of papers being submitted, there is a 70-80% chance that my call will be assigned on Thursday and arrive to me by a week from Wednesday! I can't believe that by next Wednesday, I could know where I will be serving the Lord for 18 months!!!! (and if not next Wednesday, then the following for sure =] )

So! Now that that is out there, please guess where you think I will serve =]

And now, back to your regularly scheduled broadcast =]

Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is a very important day!!

BUT!

You'll have to wait till tomorrow to find out why =]]

hehe =]]


Here is a clue:

The picture was required for my special announcement =]

Check back tomorrow!!!!

When you realize you know nothing (about cars that is...)

It was reaffirmed to me today that I know nothing about cars. At all. 

So I was gifted a car from my cousins earlier this summer. It was wonderful, seeing as I didn't have a car, nor did I have the money to buy a car. So a free car? Perfect. I knew it was old (1994), had a lot of miles on it (228,000), but it ran great. So after about a month, the oil light went on for a few minutes, but then went off. I mentioned it to my dad and he was like, you drove around with the light on? And I was like, well it went off. He went out and checked the oil, and sure enough, there wasn't any according to the dipstick. So he filled it up and said I needed to go get my oil changed, and that every time I put in gas, I needed to check the oil level. Ok. So about a month ago, I finally got the oil changed, where they told me the car was in great condition, but it needed a new battery. Ok, I'll go to Walmart and have them put in a new one. 

So last night, my car started shaking real bad while I was driving (but only when I was pressing on the gas). I made it to my destination and kind of dismissed it. Then on the way home, I was driving down the freeway, and my car was shaking sooooo bad and it was really freaking me out, so I quickly got off the freeway, and it hit me, I hadn't checked my oil level since I had my oil changed! So I pulled into a gas station, checked my oil level, and there was barely any on the dipstick. So I pulled out two quarts from my trunk and poured them in. I started home and the shaking went away. 

Then, this morning, I was going to my parents and stopped off at Walmart to pick up more oil since I no longer had any spares in my trunk. At that time, I also decided that I really should put more oil in my car, since I only put two quarts in the night before. So I put in another 3 quarts, pull out of the Walmart parking lot, am about 2 seconds from getting on the freeway, and I look in my rearview mirror. And what do I see? A TON of white smoke billowing from the back of my car! I immediately swerve out of the lane that was about to take me onto the freeway, and I proceed to go to a parking lot. I am freaking out, as my car is smelling horribly bad of oil and my car is billowing smoke like crazy. 

I park my car, turn it off, and check to see if it is on fire (since I was pretty sure it was!). Thankfully though, it wasn't, but I immediately call my dad and tell him what's happened, though apparently when I tell him the story, I only told him I put in 2 quarts (or that's what he understood). He says I most likely blew a gasket head because I drove around without oil last night. So he comes and rescues me (this is when it is nice that my parents live close) and I show him what the car is doing. He said, yes, that's probably what it is, and it is going to be real expensive to fix, and I need to decide what to do with the car. So we leave it in the parking lot and head home (we were having a family bbq). So I was totally upset because I really just needed my car to last me a few more months. That was all. And then I wouldn't needed it and it could die. So this totally wasn't part of the plan!

We get back to my parents house and after a few hours, I was talking with my uncle and it became clear that between last night and today, I had put in 5 quarts of oil in my car. Yes, 5. My uncle said, you put waaaay too much oil in your car, and its quite possible that that is my problem. He said he would drain in it and then start over, and see if that fixes it. So I began to have a bit of hope! My cousin has AAA and said she had free towing, so we ran to the car and called AAA and they came and towed it to my parents. I told my dad and he said he didn't know I had put in 5 quarts of oil, he thought I had only put in 2 and that that could quite possibly be my problem. So we got the car to my parents house, and my dad kindly drained all the oil. There was easily 8 quarts of oil in my car...yes, my car that holds no more than 4...

Well, long story short, I just had way too much oil in my car!! After they changed the oil, it took a few minutes for the white smoke to stop billowing from my car, but after once around the block, there was no more smoke coming out my car =]] 

Now. How did I end up with too much oil in my car? This is where I inform you about how much I didn't know about putting in oil in my car. 

1) I know how to check if I have oil in my car, and I know where the line should be. What I didn't know was that, when there isn't any oil registering on  your dipstick, that doesn't mean you don't have any oil in your car (like I thought it did), but it means that I need more, but still have about 2 quarts left in it. Hence, I put in 5 quarts, because I thought I had zilch. 

2) I didn't know that you should really only put one quart in at a time, and check your dipstick after each quart to make sure you don't put in too much. 

Anyway. Now you know how uninformed I am. 

And to make things so much better, my uncle is NEVER going to let me live this down =]

The Plight of the orphans pt.2

I promise my blog isn't turning into a plight of the orphans blog, but when I see the way these special children are treated, just because they were born with an extra chromosome, it kills me. It is hard to see them living like this, and it makes you wonder why the Lord allowed them to come to families where they would be abandoned because of their special needs, but then I remember that, they are children of our Heavenly Father, and while it appears that everyone has forgotten about these children, He has not, and He never will, and once they pass from this life, they will live with Him in the Celestial Kingdom forever. That's how special they are.

This beautiful little girl is Liliana.

This beautiful girl, she is 11 years old.


Yes. You read that right, ELEVEN!

She weights 10 pounds. Yes, you read that correct too. TEN POUNDS!

And she live in an orphanage in Eastern Europe, where she has spent that 11 years, all because she was born as an extra special daughter of our Heavenly Father. She was born with down syndrome, and in the country she lives in, people with downs are cast out of society, given up to orphanages, all because of their extra chromosome.

And it kills me. It kills me that the beautiful girl has to suffer, all because she was born a little different than "normal". I know so many 11 year olds, and I can't imagine them having lived their lives like this little girl.


Please, if nothing else, pray for Liliana. It looks like she has a committed family, but this family is relying on the Lord to provide the $22,000 ransom to bring Liliana home.

If you are interested in helping out Liliana's future family and to find out more about Liliana, please go to: http://www.nogreaterjoymom.com/2011/08/because-it-is-our-problem.html

I've posted about Adeye before, and she is amazing when it comes to helping to raise the ransom for these children.

Happy Birthday to me!

Ok, so my birthday was...13 days ago, but I can still celebrate right =] I turned the big 21 this year...I'm officially and legally an adult everywhere and (as far as I know) can legally do everything except rent a car. Really? Why do I have to be 25 to rent a car?? They really should make it 21 to rent a car and 25 to drink. Bizarre.

I didn't do a whole lot for my birthday, nothing in fact. I worked...though I did go home and my mom had made me a chocolate cake for my birthday =] It was delicious. And I got Cafe Rio for dinner, which is always delightful. We celebrated again on Wednesday by having Dickey's BBQ for dinner (so good!) and then we left on Thursday for a family reunion up in West Yellowstone! That was so much fun! Almost all of the family was there, and it was great to just be able to sit and visit with cousins who I don't get to see very often. We had a family meeting and I made and announcement (I'll make it on the blog in a few weeks, once some things are more set in stone) but I'm very excited for this up coming year!

School starts in 16 days and I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to it or not...I've got some good classes but I have better things to look forward to after this semester, that this semester could potentially go by really slow! Or it could go by really fast =]

The plight of the orphans

As some of you might know, I nanny for a very special little girl who has down syndrome. Aubrey has opened my eyes to how amazing, incredible, loving and so special children with special needs are. Caring for her and interacting with her has helped me to open my eyes to those around me who were born with special needs, but weren't as fortunate as Aubrey to be born into loving families like hers.

I follow several blogs of families who have children born into their families with special needs, or who have adopted children with special needs from other countries, mainly Eastern Europe. I've also become familiar with the website, Reece's Rainbow, an adoption website that advocates for these special needs children in EE who so desperately need families.

One of the blogs I read, No Greater Joy Mom, has adopted four special needs daughters, two from China and two (with down syndrome) from Eastern Europe. When Adeye brought home Hailee and Harper, they were 5 and 2 respectively, and dear Hailee weight only 15 pounds. Yes, 15 pounds at 5 years old. She grew up living in they "laying room" which essentially meant she spent her entire life, the whole 5 years up till that point, just laying in a crib. All because she had down syndrome. If you looked at the pictures of this poor little girl, your heart would break! Absolutely break! She was as thin as could be, couldn't really sit unassisted, definitely couldn't crawl or walk. But, she was adopted out and has been home a year how, and its amazing what the power of love and nourishment can do for a child! She is walking, talking, has gained weight, and though she is still small for a 6 year old, she is loved and she is saved! It is amazing!

Anyway, Adeye made a commitment to advocate for the 5 children who were in the laying room with Hailee and she made the commitment that, through her blog, she was going to rescue those children! And guess what! She has raised the money through her readers and found families for 3 of those 5 children! They all got the chance to escape, and through the amazing readers of Adeye's blog, the money was raised for the ransom for these children. It is not cheap to adopt from EE, and a grant of $20,000 is considered to be enough to pay for the whole (or almost all) of the adoption. That much money was raised for EACH of those three children! But they aren't the only orphans Adeye has advocated for and raised money for. There are at least 3 or 4 others whom she has advocated for, and through the power of the internet, has raised $20,000 for each child, so that money is not an issue for their families, so that these families who so desperately want to rescue one of these beautiful children doesn't have to say, We can't afford an adoption. All these families need is faith.

And now, Adeye has done it again.

This is sweet Teri Lynn.

She is 5 years old, and has down syndrome. She has been living in a baby house, and has been taken care of quite well.

Four weeks ago, she was transferred to a mental institution because she is 5 years old.

This is what Teri Lynn looks like after 3 short weeks in the institution.

Three weeks! Three weeks in a mental institution did this to a beautiful little girl! That, my friends, is how horrible these mental institutions are. 95% of the children transferred to the institutions will not survive, and most of them don't survive past a year! How can you not want to do something!

And that is where Adeye has come in. Over the past 5 days, Adeye's readers have bonded together and raised over $21,000, plus two people have agreed to match up to $2,500 if that much was raised in a day, which it was. So beautiful Teri Lynn's waiting family has over $26,000 in her grant to be used for her adoption! This is more than enough to pay the ransom for this little girl.

The only problem? She hasn't found her family yet. And without a family, all the money in the world can't save this little girl.

So, could you be Teri Lynn's family? Do you know someone who could be Teri Lynn's family?

Just take a look at this sweet girl. She doesn't deserve to live in an institution, and neither does any other child.


To learn more about how you can help Teri Lynn or to inquire about her, click here.

EM:HE Pt 4 - The Reveal!

This was by far my favorite day! As the morning started, I didn't know if I would be able to go to the revel, as I had to work that morning, but I was able to go! They were supposed to reveal the house at 2 PM, but after having been onsite as much as I had, I knew it would be later. I was there by 2 PM and there were so many people there, probably more than 1500! But because there were so many people, I wasn't able to get up front =[ But I was close enough to get video of the reveal! The area right behind where they were going to be standing was packed with people, but that was ok, because I wanted to be where I could see their faces. I really didn't care all that much about being on TV. I wanted to be there to see them, and see how thrilled they were to be getting their new house. That is why I was there.

I have to say: there were several mothers there who I was very unhappy with. Many of them were there with their young children, who were exhausted, dehydrated and wanted to go home. But these mothers wanted to stay, and so they just let their children cry and be hot and unhappy. It was close to 100 that day, and there was no shade, and those poor children were just so hot! There were several times I wanted to tell the mothers to leave and take their poor children home. I also wasn't happy that strollers and wagons were allowed in the crowed, because it just too up space that other people could have been standing in.

Anyways.

Before the family came, they did the taping of us saying the three magic words: Move That Bus! That was so neat to be a part of! Then the family came in the limo, a few times, while they did some taping of it, and then finally, the family got out of the limo! They did the customary thank you's and such, and then it was the big moment! Ty finally said, MOVE THAT BUS! And off it went! It was such a neat experience to witness first hand the reaction of the family. I was very glad to know that they only move the bus once, and so the reaction you see on the faces of the family are genuine and true. And I'm so glad that I have video of it (crappy, yet still wonderful) and to know that I was a part of their dream coming true, there is nothing to describe that feeling! It is something I will remember for the rest of my life.

As soon as the family went inside, 3/4 of the people left. I knew that the family was going to have to come out of the house (either via front door or laundry door) to go see the guest house, so I positioned myself to be there when they did. And before long, out they came! I got some great shots of Ty and the family and again, being able to see their genuine, true reactions was priceless.

So, while I never officially got to meet any of the designers, no matter how much I really wanted, my week with EM:HE was fulfilled because I got to do the most important thing; build a house for the Gomez family!

EM:HE Pt 3

So my last shift day was Tuesday, June 28. My sister and I were signed up for the 8 AM to 2 PM shift. It was definitely a different environment being there during the day verses during the night, mainly in that there was actually the film crew there! That is always exciting =] The designers for this house were Michael Malony, Paige Hemmis and Xzibit. I am an absolute fan of Michael and so I really wanted to see him. So my sister and I got there (and our friend Drew came too, with the hopes that he could get in as a walk on) and we sit around for the first 2 hours. Finally this painter guy comes up to me and my sister and says, do you want to do something, and I'm like, yes please! So he takes us to the house, gives us some putty and 8 doors and says, putty the holes in the moulding that are around the door and in the door jams. Yes sir! I was so excited to be doing actual construction work! So we do the front door, 4 doors that lead to a small court yard, door out the master bath , laundry room door and the door to the guest house. While we were over at the guest house, I hear "What is the ETA on Xzibit" and I'm like, he is coming over here?! So Noelle and I keep working on the door, and all of a sudden the whole film crew is right there and they are at the door to the guest house, discussing what is going to happen (I won't reveal it, so that I don't spoil anything). The guy asks if the three guys who are standing by Noelle and I if they are volunteers, they say yes, and needless to say, they get in the shot, but Noelle and I don't because we finished working on what we were working on before they actually shot it =[ We were so close!!! But we did get to see Xzibit up close.

After we finished with the putty, we found our painter guy, Jerry, and ask him if he has anything else we can do. He asks if we've ever caulked before and I said no, but I can learn. He says, ok, lets see how you do. So he shows me how to do it, and gives Noelle sandpaper to sand down the doors. I start caulking and realize I'm doing a horrible job! But I soon enough get the hang of it. I'm so excited to be able to say, I caulked those doors, when they show them on TV!!! Who else can say that?! So we caulked all the doors we had just puttied (except the front door, that one was already done) and while we are caulking the guest house, I see a little girl running towards the tent that the stars generally are at (she was in the spectator area). I recognized her and saw the rest of her family =] It was the family I had met on Sunday! So Noelle and I finished up, and then went over to the family to say hi. I introduced my sister to them, and she struck up a conversation with their oldest daughter. Six-year-old Lexi (who is blind and was adopted from China 6 months ago) comes up to me and grabs my hands. I get down on her level, and she asks who I am. I tell her, and before I know it, she is asking me to hold her. I wasn't going to deny her that! So I pick her up and we became best buds right then and there. She is such a sweetheart and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to meet this extraordinary family and their amazing kids! That was just as much of a highlight for me as was being able to build a house for such a deserving family!

Holmes Homes, the contractor for the project, had a photographer walking around, taking pictures, and then they put those pictures up on facebook, and they have one of Noelle and I!

Noelle, sanding or puttying

Me, caulking one of the doors to the patio

I have more pictures from the whole even that I will post later =]

EM:HE Pt 2

So Sunday night, June 26, I decided I wanted to go again and try to get in as a walk-on volunteer. So my friend Drew and I headed up there, but they didn't need us right away, so we hung out in the spectator area for a while, just watching construction, and then about 9:30 PM (we had gone around 8) we went back and they said if we wanted to do landscape and clean up we could go in! So we said sure, anything to get us in. So that night we helped moving sand for pavers, moving the pavers themselves (twice, because the first time, the plywood that they were on was hanging over the edge of the concrete into the driveway, and so they needed it to be moved), and moving gravel to a window well (we left before that project was done, and boy was it going to be a huge project!). So not quite as exciting as the first night, but definitely still great!

A fun experience that I had while we were waiting in the spectator area: As Drew and I were walking to the spectator area, I walked past a little girl and did a double take because I knew who she was! I looked at the other kids in the family and realized I knew exactly who they were! I read their blog!!! They are an LDS family who have adopted 5 special needs kids from China (in addition to their 3 biological children). So of course I had to stop and say hi and introduce myself! I was beyond myself that I got to meet them, as I very much love reading their blog and love that they have adopted from China. You too can follow them at: kidjunkies.blogspot.com I absolutely loved meeting Jeremy and Christi and all their kids!! Thanks guys for letting me meet your beautiful and wonderful kids!

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition pt 1

Many of you probably know the ABC TV show, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. My family and I dutifully watched it every Sunday since it began, up until we moved to China. Since being back, I haven't been able to watch as many episodes, but that doesn't mean I don't still love the show! Ever since I began watching it, I have always wanted to volunteer with EMHE (and own a coveted blue shirt!), but up until recently, the opportunity had never presented itself.

On Tuesday of last week, I was driving home (in my new-to-me car!) and heard on the radio that EMHE was coming to Utah, THIS WEEK! I knew immediately that as long as it was within reasonable driving distance, I would be there! And they were! The house they were going to be building was in South Jordan, not far from me at all! I got home and immediately signed up to volunteer for the following Tuesday (June 28) from 8 AM to 2 PM. But then, when my roommates got home I thought, why didn't I think to ask them if they wanted to do it with me. I talked to them, and they said they did, but couldn't do it at the time I had already signed up for, so we looked at all the options and decided we would do that Friday, June 24, from 8 PM to 2 AM. We were all so excited!

So Friday came and Chelsey, Marianne and I drove up to South Jordan, received our blue shirts and hard hats, and were taken on-site! At this point, construction had been going on for about 26 or so hours, and they had the guest house and garage built, and the foundation was being finished in the basement/for the rest of the house. We were taken to the volunteer tent and basically told to sit around and wait, and that we would be on call to help with food. Kind of a bummer, since we wanted to work on the house. But, we figured, at least we are here, helping with what they needed. So we picked up trash, emptied trash bins and just hung out. After about 1 1/2 hours, they finally said they needed our help! Yay! We were so excited to go out and be at the construction site! Our first task was to move 2x4's from one area to the next. So the 20 or so of us made a line and we passed the wood down the line to where it needed to go. Unfortunately, we didn't have gloves on, so we all got a few splinters; ouch! After we completed that job, we sat and waited for something else to do. After a while, there was another wood pile that needed to be moved, so once again, we formed a line and moved the wood pile.

Finally after about 3 hours of being there (our shift was 6 hours long) we finally got word that they needed everyone to help with taking the forms off the basement walls! For anyone who has never done construction or been at a construction site, when you are doing a basement, they put up these huge forms, and and then fill the middle with the concrete, let it dry, and then take them off. There were about 60 or so volunteers and just as many, if not more, volunteer construction workers. So the construction workers would take the forms off the concrete, pass them to the men, and then the men would pass them off to us women and we'd take them to the truck. Now, there were mainly two types of forms: 4 ft-50lbs forms and 8 ft-100 lbs forms. So these aren't lightweight things! They had wanted us to form a line all the way to the trucks, but there were too many things and they weren't all going to the same trucks, and it really was just easier to have the guys doing a line to pass them to us, and the we would carry them where they needed to go. And that is how it went for 3 hours. We took all the forms off the house in 3 hours! We were told this would take a normal sized crew 5-7 DAYS! Yes! That is the power of volunteers =]

So that was absolutely incredible to do! I so much enjoyed my first day there (and it was so nice to be there at night!) that I couldn't wait for the next time I was going to come!

My resolve to do better!

I don't know why, but I want to be a better blogger! Before I went to Europe, I had gotten in the habit of journaling every day (and then got out of it while in Europe...dang it!). When I was getting into the habit of journaling everyday, I started looking at my days differently. I began to look at them and really try and find the exciting things in my day. The days that I normally would have considered boring, I began to find something interesting in them, whether it be something at work, or something at home or church or school or wherever, I began to find that at the end of the day, there was so much I wanted to write down, and so much that I wanted to remember!

While I was in Europe, I *kept* a blog, www.bloggingfromeurope.blogspot.com and while I didn't update it every day, I did go back and blog the whole trip (almost...) because I don't ever want to forget that trip! And now that I've been back a whole week, there are so many things that I've done that I want to remember and share! And I want to be better at posting pictures!

BUT!

To make me want to do this, I need people to actually be reading it and commenting because knowing someone is out there, wanting to read my blog makes me want to keep writing so I don't lose them (like I have...)

So, I've opened up my blog again, so that it isn't private anymore.

I won't be posting about every little thing, but there are definitely things I want to share, and I really want to start doing flash back posts.

I'm not taking classes this summer, and have plenty of time to blog, and for as much time as I spend reading other blogs, I can definitely do some posts of my own!

And so it begins.

My summer of blogging!


*and if anyone knows how to do one of those cool signature things that posts to the bottom of my posts, leave me a comment!*

School, Finals, Europe, Oh joy!

Well, its been another month =] Classes are now over and finals are among me! I have three more finals to take, one today, one tomorrow and one Wednesday! As you can tell, I'm not studying =] OH well.

Europe! Less than one month! If anyone is still reading this blog, you can follow my Europe blog at bloggingfromeurope.blogspot.com and I've actually been posting on it! A miracle I know. I have my schedule of what we are going to be doing there and such, and I just can't wait to go!!! It will be so fun!!!

Also, I've started my photography business, capturing.joy photos, and you can find me on the web at capturingjoyphotos.com I've done one engagement photo shoot since starting my business, but I've done several other shoots before that to build up my portfolio! I'm loving my new camera and working towards a new lens. I priced it out, and if I could manage to get 8 photography shoots before I leave for Europe then I could buy my new lens...but I don't think thats going to happen, so I'll just rent the lens for Europe and work towards it when I come back =]

Not much else is going on! We had a garage sale on Saturday to sell all the rest of Aunt Barbara's things that we had still. It was a huge task, but we sold probably 85-90% of it!! Which is AMAZING! Considering we started with close to 1200 books, 15 buckets of holiday decorations, some bigger items, and lots and lots of little random things. We were left with maybe 200-300 books, and just a handful of other things. It was incredible how much stuff we sold! My mom is very excited to have her garage back =]

Anyways. Back to studying!! If I keep on track with my once a month posting, my next post will be from EUROPE! But I'd just recommend reading my Europe blog because its more likely I'll just be posting there =]

Well then.

Once again, its been a while =] Nothing too exciting is happening, just school, of which I only have 21 more days!!! Can't wait!! And...

I'M GOING TO EUROPE ON MAY 16!!!!


I am beyond stoked!!!! I am going to the Netherlands for 2 weeks (with a weekend in Belgium to visit a friend from high school) and then my family comes June 1st, and I'll go meet them in London, where we will spend a few days, and then go off to France, Germany and Italy. I am so beyond excited!

I'm also getting a new camera tomorrow! Its a Canon 40D and I got it for an amazing price, as well as its coming with a lot of extras...like 5 batteries and 4 memory cards! Which is awesome because I am going to need a lot of memory cards and batteries for Europe!!

My cousin Megan Jensen is featuring me as a guest blogger on her blog on Monday, so check it out! www.so-ingbuttons.blogspot.com She does Monday Memories, and she asked me to contribute a memory! I think I am going to start doing that as well, since I have so many pictures and so many memories, especially from my time in China, and since I didn't blog much (or ever) while we were in Europe China =], I thought this would be a cool way to go back and do that. No guarantee, but hopefully I will do it!

Like I said, school is almost over! This semester has been death...three science classes, two labs, and mission prep. Yup, thats a lot. But its almost done, then I'll have a week off, a week of nannying, then another week, and then EUROPE!

And the another great thing? I found out my friend from high school, Ryan, is coming to Europe with me!! He wanted to, but didn't think it was going to work, but he texted me today and said he could go for sure!!! I'm so excited and it will be so fun to have someone to travel around the Netherlands and Belgium with! And he and I and my friend that I've visiting in Belgium all went to high school together, so that will be a lot of fun as well to all get together! Can't wait!!!!