The happiest place on earth

So our weekend at Disneyland was just fantastic. I loved every minute of it even though I am now completely EXHAUSTED from all the festivities. Unfortunately, we accidently left the camera with all the wonderful pictures we took on the trip at the Shea's house (a family from Matt's mission). Bummer! I will have to post the pictures and write the whole story when we get the camera back. So for now, this picture of the two most awesome Space Rangers ever will have to do.

The whole weekend was just fabulous. So. Much. Fun!!! Disneyland IS the happiest place on earth!

My brother has been saved

I hope my brother Nathan doesn't kill me for posting this, but it's hilarious! This was his latest letter from his mission in Louisiana...

Here in Lousiana there a lot of Born Again Christians and they always ask you, "When were you saved?"...expecting to hear a specific date. I would always get frustrated with them for their misunderstanding of doctrine but due to recent experiences I can answer them with boldness. I will now respond, "April 11, 2008" A couple of weeks ago we found a less active member named Alessia who is really cool, and awesome and pretty. We had already given her the branch information and the branch's hers. We visited her a couple of times and she kept getting more and more attractive and more and more distracting. Something had to be done and blessed by the name of Elder Gardner for doing what he did. We read the famous "Lock Your Heart" talk by Spencer W. Kimball that morning for companionship study. It gave me the confidence to do what needed to be done. We then called our 2nd councellor, a return missionary who went to the Dominican Republic named Tim Wood. You must know a few things about him before proceeding. He is a great guy but he's a little weird and he is "wife hunting." We told him that we had a Domincan guy that we were teaching and that we wanted him to come with us. We went and saw her with him and they hit it off suprisingly well. I was so sick the whole lesson. After a few hours a had a new spiritual awakening. I was no longer infatuated by her any more. I am now able to proceed with missionary work with a new focus, knowing that it is only a matter of time until they get married. It was Elder Gardner who envisioned it all beforehand and thus, I was saved on April 11, 2008. Adieu

I just think that is so funny! My brother rocks.

4 a.m.

The current time is 4 a.m. I'm so annoyed! I can't sleep worth beans. I've been up since 2 and I've tried to fall back asleep, but it's just not happening. I've already gotten out my Cinco de Mayo decorations and put them up, surfed the blogosphere, cleaned up my pile of holiday decorations that I hadn't put away from Easter, watched the rain outside for awhile, and started packing for Disneyland this weekend. I hope I can fall asleep soon...this is ridiculous.

72 and 48 hours

In just 72 hours, I will be at the happiest place on earth! DISNEYLAND...here I come! I am so excited! Even though I will only be gone from Utah for 48 hours, it's gonna be so fun.

I decided last Saturday that I needed a weekend getaway so I bought a plane ticket to L.A. and I'm going to Disneyland for the weekend. And Matt bought one too, so he's coming with me. We found a pretty decent deal on plane tickets, and we'll stay with my auntie.

Matt also served his mission in California, so on Sunday we will be going to church with his favorite mission family. And the best part...the weather forecast for this weekend in Anaheim is in the low 80s. Woo-hoo!

Tour de Salt Lake City

This morning, Matt, Caron, my Dad, my brother Kyle and I rode in the SLC Bike Marathon. It's so cool...you ride your bike along the marathon route. It was a lot of fun. Except for the fact that I had to get up at 4:30 a.m. Oh well.

Anyway, there were about 1500 bikers. We didn't even get to start riding until about 10 minutes after the official start time because we were inching our way forward and trying to spread out from the other bikers. They give you a time limit of 1 hour and 45 minutes to complete the race. (So you don't get in the way of the runners.) I am happy to report that I beat the cutoff by 7 minutes...finishing the 26 miles in 1 hour and 38 minutes.

Matt finished about a half hour before me...how pathetic am I! But at least I finished. It was so much fun. Here are some of the highlights:

-the old dude who had duct tape on the bottom of his pants to keep his pant leg out of his bike chain.
-the signs that said, "Spandex is happiness" and "I likey your bikey" and other random signs that were put out for specific people but no one was near them. (I think some people's friends didn't want to get up at o-early-o-clock to cheer them on so they just left signs.)
-the people who live along the marathon route who pulled their couches out on the front lawn and sat and cheered for us.
-the couple who rode a tandem bike in the race.
-the parents who had those little bike attachments for their kids to ride along with them.
-Spiderman, who ran the 5K.
-the trail mix they gave us at the end of the ride. Man that stuff was tasty.
-seeing the sun come up while riding along the route.
-riding through red lights without having to stop.
-the policeman golf carts.
-cowbells and horns.
-the people who kept commenting on my race number. (It was 123.)


Anyway, here we are at the end of the race. And yes, I am well aware of the fact that I look ridiculous. And no, I don't care. Congrats to Rachael and Emma who ran in the 5K. Well done! I love the SLC Marathon festivities...this is the third year I've participated (each year a different event) and I think I'm going to make it a tradition.

I have the best Mom

I would just like to say that my Mom is so great. This week she went grocery shopping for me, brought me some dinner the other night, and sewed my Tshirt quilt together. I just have been having a rough time the past couple weeks, and she has helped me to do some of the things I haven't had time to do. What a fabulous Mom. I love you!

Too good to be true

2008 has been such a wonderful year so far. One good thing after another kept happening to me. Everything was so exceptionally great that sometimes I wondered if it was all just a dream and one day I'd wake up from it. Well, I woke up. And it is so sad. I just feel like my life is falling apart. I don't know what to do to get it all back and to be in that wonderful, blissful, couldn't-be-happier state again. What did I do wrong?

Go Jazz Go

Saturday Matt and I got to go to dinner and the Jazz game with Kristen and Shawn. Kristen was my roommate when I first moved to West Jordan and so it was fun to hang out with her again for the evening. It was also reminicent of my first "real" date with Matt. And the game was fantastic. What a fun night!

I love these little quizzes

You Are An ENFJ

The Giver You strive to maintain harmony in relationships, and usually succeed. Articulate and enthusiastic, you are good at making personal connections. Sometimes you idealize relationships too much - and end up being let down. You find the most energy and comfort in social situations ... where you shine. In love, you are very protective and supporting. However, you do need to "feel special" - and it's quite easy for you to get jealous. At work, you are a natural leader. You can help people discover their greatest potential. You would make a good writer, human resources director, or psychologist. How you see yourself: Trusting, idealistic, and expressive When other people don't get you, they see you as: Bossy, inappropriate, and loud

What's Your Personality Type?

I'm so official....HA!

Since I have an office now, I decided I could be official and be one of those cool, intelligent people who hang their diplomas up in their office. So I did. Except I still feel as overwhelmed and inadequete as ever as I am trying to figure out all this new stuff. But I love the challenge.

One of the many cool things about my job is that I get to meet lots of really neat people. Like yesterday, when I had the opportunity to meet two General Authorities of my church. Elder Kerr and President Samuelson. And I had the opportunity to be instructed by them. I learned some really cool things from these great leaders. Elder Kerr talked about how we should develop one new proficiency each year and how our success is determined by how we facilitate the success of those around us.

He shared a quote by Jeffery R. Holland that I really liked. He said, "We can't do everything. But what we choose to do, let's do it superbly well." I need to remember that. I don't need to do everything, but I can do a few things well. He also shared the scripture Romans 5:19 which says, "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." He reminded us the incredible influence we can have on others--for good or for bad.

Even though I am extremely overwhelmed with all these changes in my life, I am really grateful for the learning opportunities that I have been provided with.

Oh yeah, and I constantly get mistaken to be a student instead of an administrator. I don't know whether or not that is a compliment. (Like I look too young to be so smart and professional or I look too much like I don't know what the heck I'm doing to be an administrator.) That usually happens at least once a day.

Awww...

Last week I was having a pretty cruddy week. I was just struggling with a bunch of dumb stuff. Anyway, in an effort to help me feel better, Matt brought me a beautiful pink flower. What a sweetie! This picture was taken with my phone...hence the poor quality. But it really is very pretty in real life. I love flowers! Thank you Matt!

So, I've been at my new job for two weeks now...and I am still liking it a lot. It's a huge challenge for me because it is something different and new, but I am enjoying it. The students I work with are so stinkin' talented and amazing that sometimes I wonder what the heck I can offer them. Hopefully I will figure that out.

Over the past two weeks I have been working with my students to create a team for the upcoming school year. We've been interviewing people for director positions, outlining an organizational plan for our area, and determining the projects we want to accomplish this year. I've also been working with the outgoing team to finish up the projects they have been working on throughout the year. We've published a poster encouraging students to attend the weekly devotional here on campus and we are in the works of planning a volunteer appreciation party, which will be held this weekend.

I'm constantly amazed at the talents and abilities of these students. They pretty much rock. And not only are they extremely talented and smart, they are so friendly and truly try to reach out and serve everyone around them. It's so refreshing. I've witnessed so many tiny acts of service in the past two weeks, and I must say that I am extremely impressed.

Back on the block

Can you believe this? The New Kids On The Block are reuniting. Weird! I loved them when I was like 9 years old and they were only popular for like a year. I just find this really strange. They are like 40...what's the appeal of a 40-year old boy band? Anyway, just thought I should share.

A Golden Opportunity

Last Saturday was Matt's Golden Birthday. For those of you who are uneducated as to what a golden birthday is, let me explain. It's when you turn the age of the date your birthday is on. For example, Matt turned 29 on March 29th. Anyway, we had a wonderful day of "golden" festivities. First of all, we went for a little bike ride up Provo Canyon. There was a really neat frozen waterfall.

Then we went to Rodizio Grill for a golden birthday feast. Rodizio is Matt's favorite restaurant....and boy was it tasty! They even gave him some golden flan for dessert and sang a Happy Birthday song in Portugese--complete with bongo drums and tamborines.

Then we went bowling at the golden bowling alley. All the guests received a golden ticket to get in. Matt wore a golden crown and got a golden bowling score. It was tons of fun.

Here are some of us playing piggy back bowling. It was quite entertaining.

After bowling, we all went back to my apartment for some golden treats. We had some golden chocolate birthday cake, Golden Grahams, goldfish, and Golden Oreos. It was great! But most of all, I hope Matt enjoyed his golden birthday. Happy Birthday Matt! I love you!

It has already been quite the day

What a day! So, first of all I got a flat tire on the way to the gym this morning and had to get out and change it in the freezing cold weather. (Let me remind you that it was 5:30 in the morning and I was wearing shorts!) I thought I was going to die!

Anyway, that put me running behind all day long, so I almost missed the bus to work. I had to run after it like an idiot flailing my arms to get the driver's (or some compassionate passenger's) attention so they could let me on. It brought back some scary middle school memories. Uggh!

Then when I got to work, I was so frazzled by the morning's events that I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking. We have a ping pong table in our office and some students were playing, and I walked by a little too close and got whacked in the head with a ping pong paddle. I think a nice little bruise is starting to form on my nose. I have been holding this frozen water bottle to my nose all morning to help the swelling. Good thing I have that temperature control in my office---I totally cranked up the heat to make up for the frozen goods on my face.

Oh yeah, and I ripped my pants on the bus. So I have to walk around with my coat tied around my waist to cover it up. Joys. Maybe I should just go to the bookstore and buy a new skirt or something.

On a happier note, today is Caron's birthday! Hurray for Caron! I hope you have a great day!

Well, the good news is that this day can only get better....













....because it's APRIL FOOLS DAY!!!! Ha ha ha! Did I fool you? ;)