I Love New York!

New York here I come! I got my mission call! I'm going to New York, New York North and I'll be a Spanish speaking missionary! I couldn't be more excited! I'll be going into the MTC October 21, 2009. I'll be in the MTC for 2 months and then I'll be off to New York. One more piece of good news is that one of my best friends is also in that mission and she is Spanish speaking too! I can't wait to go!

They're Gonna Call Me On A Mission!

That's right.... I'm going on a mission! Pretty crazy right? Well some of you already know about it but I haven't told tons of people so don't feel bad if you feel out of the loop. I have decided that serving a full time mission for my church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) is not only what is best for me right now but it's what I want to do! I can't wait to go and serve for 18 months. This decision has been a long time coming and it came down to me just making the decision to do it and then just going for it! Last fall is when a mission first started making little appearances in my thoughts. Come February/March of this year I decided to put a mission in the back of my mind and think that finding a job was the choice for me. In June I started my summer job as an EFY counselor. As a counselor we get to give nightly devotionals and one of them was on learning to recognize the promptings of the spirit. I would tell the girls that anything good comes from God so if you feel like you should do something, and it's good, then just do it! In my mind I'm thinking little things like, smiling at someone, saying hello, etc. But as I pondered this concept I realized that once we get a hold on doing those little things we need to realize that the big things can be good too, even if they are scary, like going on a mission. I had been having promptings about a mission for almost a year now, perhaps it's time to practice what I preach and following the promptings of the spirit. So I did and here I am! I know that this is the right choice for me and I am so excited. Of course, I'm scared! There is a lot of unknown but the one thing that I do know without a doubt is that my Heavenly Father loves me, He knows what is best for me and He'll always be by my side so no matter what everything will work out great! My papers went to Salt Lake today so within two to three weeks we'll know know where I'm going! Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!!

EFY: Verily, Verily Provo 7A

Well my last week of EFY was just great. It was such a stress free week. My girls were fantastic and really helped me have a good week. My roommates were amazing and we just had so much fun! I was back to the 14-15 year olds this week which turned out great. At the end of EFY I am amazed at how strong the youth of the church are. I seriously love them. EFY was great this year! I already miss it so much!

Two of my most favorite people in the whole world! I miss them!

We find things to do to enjoy ourselves during lunch

Me and my co counselors with our company flag on games night. Notice how verily is spelled with two "r's"... fantastic!

I love Britt! And our dog breeding pens!

EFY: Perish Not Provo 6A

After a fantastic two week vacation home I came back to EFY for my last two weeks. This week was most commonly known as Jo Bro week because the Jonas Brothers were coming to Provo for Stadium of Fire on the 4th. We sure do love the Jo Bros at EFY. This was a week of firsts for me. I had the 16-18 year old group for the first time this summer and I also had the joy of living in the Riv. Our company spot (where you meet your whole group for just about everything) was up in Heritage Halls so we got A LOT of exercise! It was probably the hardest week I've had at EFY but it still turned out good (for details just ask me :) At least I was able to become best friends with all the BC's! Our group was big and we had fun (even when mice run through our scripture study) This will be a week to remember forever!

I swear he is Jacob Black and just didn't feel like telling us.

I finally had some fellow Laker fans in my group... boy was I happy about that!

Me and my girls... all 12 of them. It was a pretty big group

Me and the co counselors! We are still having No Touch EFY so this is our way to post for a pic without actually touching each other

EFY: No Harm Provo 3B

NO HARM! Here was week two of EFY. Our company name was No Harm and it sure was an interesting week. It was for sure different than week two. First off EFY started some new rules and the week was dubbed "No Touch Week". Because of everyone getting so sick last week this week we couldn't hug, high five, escort, or shake hands. Pretty much we just couldn't touch each other at all. They almost got rid of slow dancing but brought it back because that was just a bit too drastic. Other than that it was a good week :) I had the 14-15 year olds again and we had fun. My co counselor Manda was AMAZING! I had so many little tender mercies this week. My cousin brought me soda a couple times, Brianne came and saw me. Chad brought me soda and cookies, Brett had lunch with me twice. Alaina, Nadya and Ashley were in town and came to see and me and Manda bought me Jamba juice when I missed breakfast. It was a great week!

At Tuesday night dance! The sweatband is a must!


So Friday night after the dance there was a huge thunder and lightning storm! We got soaked on our way back to the dorms! We were all so wet but it was exciting

EFY : Send Forth Provo 2A

Well, I thought I would do a little blog update for each session I do of EFY. Last week was the first session of the summer for me and boy was it crazy! I had 14-15 year olds and they were a blast. Luckily I taught that age group for student teaching so I had a little more experience with them. There were two sessions going on in Provo and ours had about 1,300 participants. The other session had over 700 and we got to combine for the dances. It was pure madness! I've never seen so many kids in one place. The other crazy part of last week is that everyone got sick! About 1/3 of all the counselors were sick and a whole bunch of participants were sick. My co counselor Adam got very sick and was out for a couple of days so it was pretty nuts taking care of all our kids with my other co counselor Andrea. Our group was amazing and we had a lot of fun. There were some crazy adventures but all it all it was amazing! I loved my girls, Andreas girls and all of our boys. They were all so strong in the gospel and grew even more. This week should be interesting. We have a smaller session with only 1,000 participants (ha ha) and it's supposed to rain all week so we'll see how it goes!

This was about 2/3 of the participants at the dance. Like I said, it was crazy!!!!

Me and my co counselors! So fun!

Since I've Grown Up...

Well, I guess being home makes it so that I'm not very good at updating my blog... so, I believe now is the time. I was just catching up on a recent LOST episode with my mom (she is the only one that will watch LOST with me) and then Kindra and Charlie came over, so while Charlie is occupied with his Mimi (my mom) and Kindra eats lunch I figure, why not do a little update?

I had to say goodbye to my students. It was so sad. They were amazing and I miss them so much. I seriously think about them everyday and I can't wait to go see them in a couple weeks :)

This was my Honors class... I have a picture with every class period (all 7 of them) but I figured I only needed to put one on here. Can you spot me in the middle of all these junior high kids? I look like one of them!


This is me and my amazing cooperating teacher Anne Black! I love her! We were a perfect match!


Well, I graduated, who ever thought the day would come. My family came up and it was awesome. Commencement was amazing and convocation was great too. I definitely shed tears. I never realized how much I would miss BYU-Idaho. It is such an amazing place and I have grown the most in my life while attending that school. I miss the spirit there, the people there, and even all my classes. Haha. Anyone that is even considering going to BYU-Idaho should go! It's amazing! I can't wait for my little brother to start there in the fall. Here are a couple pics from that fantastic day!

Just a few odds and ends that have happened so far. My friend Diannah got married in the Sacramento Temple! It was amazing and fun to be part of her wedding. Brian went to his senior prom and of course looked as handsome as can be. And my parents sold their house after being on the market for one week. A big blessing but we have to be out by June 25th :( I am about to start EFY in a couple weeks and I can't wait! Here are a few pictures!


Diannah and Cody walking out of the temple!


The bridesmaids and flower girl!


Brian on his way to prom. Sooo GQ

So we had this hillbilly night for student ward and they taught us a interesting dance. Andrew and I were having a good time. Haha

Some more hillbillies having a good time!