The Last Airbender

It took us about 8 hours of complete and utter chaos followed by some tears, but we finally got a family picture before I leave on my mission. I don't know about the rest of your families, but mine is especially good at making this task really hard to do. We didn't get very many, but at least we look happy. I think.

If any of you noticed, this location has been used in the past. It is like the family pictures spot. We took our neighbors pictures here, and we have had ours done here in the past as well. It's not even our own house. That's how cool our neighborhood is, we just walk around and take pictures in front of other people's houses. Well, feast your eyes cause this family won't be all together again for at least another year and a half. Adiós! 

The Spiderwick Chronicles

You can learn a lot from the people you associate with. It feels like I have met them all...the single mothers in their 30's with nothing good to say about their low life boyfriends, the teenage punks, the young adult who has about as much of an idea what to do with their life as any 20 something year old does, and the straight up weird people. When I was living back east, I worked with a lot of questionable people and I had to deal with a lot of their judgments towards me, my religion, the way I lived my life, and basically anything I had to say about anything. I got into a lot of heated debates about why I do the things I do (no drugs, alcohol, experimenting with the boundaries of relationships, etc.) and after awhile I decided not to fight about it, just discuss it instead. That can really be said for just about any social experience you have with most people. You talk about yourself, and in time, the things that make you who you are are evident. Usually I am a fairly decent judge of character, and I most definitely try not to judge those I don't know and haven't gotten a chance to meet yet. I would say that I learned this the hard way by befriending less than honorable people my freshman year of college, but that is just what being a freshman meant. Learning from my mistakes and becoming someone who knows how to deal with people and their intentions.

This was on my mind mostly because I am about to go serve a mission for a year and a half and a lot of people don't agree with the LDS religion and they do not like Mormons. I am not one of those people who get upset and aggressive defending my beliefs, but I also do not quietly allow someone to bash everything I have ever believed in. I have been feeling a lot of pressure at work because I work with 3 very non religious people and I feel like every time I speak I have to defend myself, others, and my friends. Customers will come in with packages to mail to missionary sons (I work at a UPS store) and as soon as they see the label to "Elder" they immediately become rude to that customer. I am standing there chatting it up with them talking about their child's mission and my coworkers are giving me the death glare. I feel really defensive lately and I just wish I had a couple of work friends who love my beliefs and standards. If this felt like a back and forth whip lashed post, that's because it was. So deal with it.

The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl

They say once you stop you never start again. Do they say that? I bet its a saying. I think I forgot how to blog. Do you just talk about stuff that you do, or do you have to tell funny stories all the time? I don't have any funny stories today, but it is almost December which means it is almost January and that means I can finally leave! I am getting more excited as time flies by. I went to a Spanish Branch today for church and even though I could only understand every other phrase every once in awhile, I just got so excited remembering that I will soon know what is being said. I know its going to be a rough start and it will probably take me awhile to pick it up, but I have confidence that once I get shipped off to S. America I will hopefully be able to know whats going on.

If I was even semi decent at documenting things, I would throw a bunch of pictures up of all the bests that came and visited this weekend...but I don't even have an excuse. I just bought a brand new camera for the mish and I haven't even opened it yet. I guess when I finally finish buying everything else I need I will open everything up and get it ready.

I remember mentioning the need for a vacation and I did end up taking one. I finally came back from my extended stay in Southern Utah and boy did I need to go have some fun! It felt the exact same coming home as it ever has. I am really good at having no commitments to anything and doing whatever I want whenever I want to. I guess I got a job and that is going to make me at least get out of the house ever once in awhile for a couple hours, but I plan on using these last 50 days to play.

And I hate to be one of those people but I broke my phone screen so that's making it really hard for me to keep contact with people. If anyone wants to give me an old Sprint phone, I won't say no. Happy December!

Call Me, Maybe.

Its been awhile but I have been feeling some pressure to remind my friends that I do indeed still exist, and I am not going to give up on this little blog just yet! Harvest season finally wound down and I am not out on the farm 24/7. I miss it, yet I'm glad that I am not a farmer...yet. Ha just kidding. I have been reading what seems like a TON of posts about Halloween and fall and just this whole season. I have decided not to celebrate it this year because, frankly, I dont have any friends to do it with :/ Living in a non college town doesnt leave a lot of kids my age around. That was brought to my attention today as I had a more awkward than necessary run in with one of the kids I went to high school with. I guess a person can become out of practice talking to people their own age when it's probably been since high school since I've hung out with a boy! (not true, but trying to make a dramatic point) I miss my friends is my basic point here. I guess its up to me to make all the road trips happen before I go. I think I've been watching too much Gossip Girl. My emotions are heightened. Too much time too little to do.

Make me an offer (couch, floor, bed) and I am all yours! I need a vacation from my vacation. Some homework sounds wonderful right now or maybe a messy bedroom that needs to be cleaned. Well, before this gets any more whiny I'll just leave you .

NEWS!

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Chile Osorno Mission. You should report to the Provo Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, January 16, 2013. You will prepare to teach the gospel in the Spanish language.

It finally came! I have been waiting for a very long time and I was so excited to find out that today was the day! I was surrounded by family and friends both in person and through every single method of technology we could access. I could barely read this paragraph out loud because I was smiling so hugely. I am very excited to serve in Chile, and January can't come any faster! My oldest sister served her mission in Concepcion, so she was very excited to give me the run-down on the Chilean culture. I guess I need to start brushing up on my Spanish, and until I leave you can bet I will be counting down the days! Hasta que nos encontremos otra vez.

Harvest is the Happiest Time

Blogs are no fun to read without pictures. Am I right? So your wait was worth it. I will now tell you about life on the farm. 

I'm baaaaaaack

"kleen me" Thanks Eli. Good advice

my brother loves it when I take him on truck drives with me. 

this apple was bright red and delicious looking when I left it in the car. Then it turned 130 degrees in that car and cooked that apple to the core 

I was mowing my cousins lawn and may or may not have accidentally cut this mouse's tail off. Don't worry, he lived. I think.  

The country is the wildlife capital of the world 

I found a baby bird in the cellar!

he had absolutely no fear of me. That, and he couldn't fly.

Today's exciting news for me was that for the first time, I drove a manual truck all by myself! I have never even driven a stick shift car in my life, let alone a truck. It was pretty exciting. People were tired of bringing trucks to the shop so I could wash/clean them, so I got enough of a lesson to be able to do it by myself. It's the little things, guys. 

I have also developed an unhealthy love for country music. I'm not sure what happened there exactly but I don't think I hate it. I think it comes with the territory of working on a farm all day. That, and my Spanish is improving exponentially.

Spiders and Earwigs and Owls...Oh My!

It's that most wonderful time of year again! Harvest!! This year I get to work with my sister which has turned out to be more fun than I thought it would be. We haven't had a lot of driving to do yet, so we got sent out to the potato cellar to do some stripping there. Oh, stripping duct tape off of the huge pipes they tape together to pile the potatoes on top of...not the other kind. We decided to bring some music along today because that task can be less than enjoyable in silence. I brought my docking station and we hooked up some tunes to the only outlet we could find, in the attic of the cellar like 20 feet above us. We had some nice surround sound and it worked pretty well. On our way down the stairs and back into the cellar, we spooked an owl that was living in what it thought would stay a nice quiet cellar. It had no place to go so it flew straight at Jessica's head. She screamed really loud, enough to scare it back into the cellar. The thing was huge. I'm talking like pteranodon size. It flew across the floor and tried to get out the other side which had bars across the door. It finally found its way in between 2 of the bars and flew outside. It was hands down the funniest thing I had seen that day.

We continued pulling the duct tape off the pipe and found that some of the tape was more rotted than the others. I pulled a really old rotten piece off the pipe only to uncover a family of probably 20 earwigs just chillin under it. That pipe didn't exactly get finished. We decided that driving the grain trucks was a lot more fun than battling old tape.

I can only imagine the stories I will be able to tell before harvest is over. So if you need us, just come on out to the farm. We'll be there :)

Fun side note: my mission papers will be here any day now! Feel free to be excited with me. 

Bonding

I made a quick trip down to Salt Lake yesterday to pick up my sister from the airport. The ensuing pictures are proof that an hour and 45 minutes in a car is a looooong time to wait and we did not love it.

had time for some nail painting...go usa!  

and a little pit stop at cabella's

Decisions

I decided I am not a good blogger because I am not a good photographer. The two basically go hand in hand. I don't even own a camera (besides my little Costco guy I got for graduation) so I don't find myself taking pictures of everything I do in my life. Any pictures you really see of me were taken by someone else and that person is usually ten times better at photography than me anyway. My teachers always made fun of me in high school because I would complain that I had no artistic vision and my creativity struggled a little, then they would see what I came up with and agree. Not a creative bone in my body. That's ok with me though because I am good at other stuff. Like swimming. Abrupt topic change...go.

I have been teaching swim lessons at the club for about a week. Nothing long term or anything, because as most of you know, I don't do commitment. Most days I just kind of wing out some lessons on what I feel like doing that day and for the most part just doing whatever I want whenever I want to. It seems to be working because I have had multiple sets of parents come up to me after the lesson and compliment my teaching style and my ability to put up with their crazy children. It always makes me feel better when parents know their children are less than calm about learning to swim.

I also decided this week that I need to become a better blogger because I need to become a better writer. That's right folks, I will be leaving pretty soon here and the only way I can get you all to remember me is by writing frequently! Nobody panic yet, the call hasn't come yet but I sure can tell you how much I can't wait!!

I am going to get my (hopefully) very last interview tonight, so get those guesses going!

The End.

We finally got back from our "vacation" at 2 this morning! We stayed in Oregon for about 2 weeks...which with 10 kids felt like 2 years. Some random pictures of the rest of what we did...including lots of beach time, sandboarding (the most fun I've ever had) and some time at the Pendleton Rodeo! (or the statues on the side of the road)

getting hurt is the worst!

yup, definitely a lizard on his head. 

wait for the wipeout...

pros

we dont get out much

hate to leave this beautiful place.