Lately

Lately, I love school. Crazy, I know. I am excited that I finally love what I'm doing and now have so much more motivation to finish! There are some things I just didn't get to do when I was in the classroom listening to lectures all the time. Things like swimming, line dancing, pickle ball, volleyball, ultimate frisbee, football, and the list goes on. It's so much fun!
I just wish that I felt the same about work. At least I know that my current job won't be my job for the rest of my life.
City league volleyball... New team, new season, new outcomes! We are winning!
Latest pet peeves:

• Public Display of Affection... Yes, again. It is very disturbing when sitting down to eat at a restaurant and a couple in your line of sight is making out for a good 20 minutes. Gross
• People talking during church. I'm easily distracted, so when people all around me are whispering to each other I can't pay attention very well to the lessons.
• When guys I don't want to go out with ask me out and the guys I do want to go out with won't ask me.
• Especially when I don't have time to come up with an excuse to not go with the guy I don't want to go with.
• When the toothpaste is squeezed from the middle instead of the bottom.
• When the toilet paper goes under instead of over like it's supposed to.
  

Guaymas!!!

So this post ended up being longer than I had planned, but I didn't want to leave any pictures out. I did though. The pictures are in order from the end of the trip to the beginning of the trip! So the one above is the day we left Mexico. Sad day. Especially since the air down there was awesome for my hair...
This was just a laundry chute at the hotel. Shalie wanted to push me down there. It really was just a big hole.
A tender moment with Shalie at the beach. Let's just say it was one of oh so many moments together that week. :)
We wrote our names in the sand. How cute.
I love this picture!
The convenience store OXXO. Yes, I have a bottle of gatorade between my legs. Don't ask.
Fiesta! At the Elementary School. So fun and good food!
Cute little dancers and Shalie! The girl on the right was the best booty shaker I've ever seen. The little girl on the left was pretty good too.
My little friend. She was so cute. I didn't know what she said to me most of the time, but that's okay.
This picture just captured so much of Mexico. It's amazing.
Proof of the hot dog pizza.
This was one of the many many great meals we had. This night we ate at 1000 Tortas. I ordered my oh so delicious enchiladas de pollo all by my self! I was so excited.
Hard at work or hardly working. Eh either way, we got so much done at the orphanage!
The first night of good food! This was at Papas Locas. Well that's not really what the place was called, but we all got papas locas to eat. MMMM crazy potatoes!
This was the first day in Mexico. At the beach. Shalie thought it would be cute if we ran into the ocean holding hands. So tender.

Oh My Guaymas!

I've been back for a month, but I still want to post some pictures from my amazing trip to Mexico. It was such a great experience! My first time out of the country, but definitely not my last. It was definitely a culture shock for me. The worst part of the days was when I had to order my food. It stressed me out so much. I don't know Spanish at all and since we weren't in a "tourist" area of Mexico, the people didn't speak English. So I was always so stressed that I would accidentally order the wrong thing and end up eating fish. You don't wanna eat fish in Mexico... But I had help and all went well. I even ordered enchiladas de pollo all by myself one night. Oh the food was delicious! I miss it so much! Nothing here is as spicy as that food! Tortillas. MMMM. Around the town, there are many trucks or cars that drive around with big speakers on the top of them (like the ice cream truck) selling tortillas. The 'song' was so catchy and if I knew Spanish, I probably would remember it.
The children... They broke my heart. They learn at such a young age that white people=money. So we were constantly asked by small children for pesos. Oh and 30 gringos walking down the street in Guaymas stick out a lot... We spent 3 and a half days at an orphanage, cleaning up the playground and just playing with the ninos. I was there on 2 different days for half the day. It was such a good experience. I realized that it didn't really matter that I couldn't talk to them, as long as I let them sit in my lap and hug them. The boys loved to play soccer against the gringos. Only cause they could beat us. We played a lot of soccer. The girls loved being spun around in circles. It was heartbreaking when we had to leave. The kids never wanted us to leave.
The Elementary School. That was so much fun. I went there the second day in Mexico. We painted desks. I think the teachers quit fighting with the kids to keep them in school once we got there, cause there was always kids around trying to tickle us while we painted or kids wanting to help paint. And that got a little messy. It was so fun though. The principal was such a nice lady. She paid for lunch for us that day. What was for lunch? Hot Dog Pizza. I did eat a slice of it, well most of a slice. A girl can take only so much hot dog... I went back to the elementary school the next day for their fiesta. All I can say is that Mexicans sure like to dance... Dirty dance. We played some games with the kids before they all went into separate classrooms. We judged a dance contest, we had races with kids on our backs. One little girl pulled me into her classroom where we spent pretty much the entire time. I've never seen such little girls dance so dirty. The hot Mexican teacher wasn't much help, cause he was a pretty dirty dancer too. Shalie decided at one point we were listening to a song about getting naked... based on the teacher pretending to take off his shirt and then all the kids pretending to take off their pants... It was also pretty funny to see us white girls try to dance. We had a break for lunch... we got real Mexican food and one of our friends a few rooms down got Dominoes Pizza. Haha.
The Soup Kitchen... Humbling experience. I went there the first day. We helped clean up after breakfast and spent oh so much time cleaning off chairs... So Many Chairs. We went back to the motel for lunch and so then we were able to go back to the kitchen to help serve lunch. Most of the people who came for soup were men. We learned that most of those men were too drunk to take care of their families and end up leaving their families. I'm pretty sure if I understood what they were saying to us, they were hitting on all the girls. One man wanted me to buy him some tennis shoes. I was pretty proud that I figured that out. Then a mother with 2 children would come through the line. It was such a great experience. The ladies working at the soup kitchen were some of the hardest workers I've ever met. The pots of soup they cooked day after day was oh so much. The pots were big enough to fit a person inside.
Some things this trip made me grateful for:

• Our sewer system. Be grateful you can flush toilet paper.
• That I was able to go to a school that didn't have bars on windows and doors.
• That I can go to a church that doesn't have bars on windows and big fences to keep vandals out.
  
• That I live in this country, where we have laws that help keep the places we live clean.
• My family, my mom and dad.
• Good examples in my life: friends, leaders, teachers.
• That I've never had to beg for money.
• That parents can't just drop their children off at orphanages when they don't want them without getting serious consequences for it.

We had some fun while we were there also. We went to the beach a few times. We were there in time for the sunset each time. It was so beautiful. The last day in Mexico we went to the market and bought a few things and then went to the beach. When we got there, we got to watch some dolphins jump across the ocean. SO COOL! When we were walking through the water, one of the girls got stung on both her feet by a manta ray. They wouldn't let us get in the water after that :(. One night we ran into the missionaries when we were on our way to Dairy Queen. They needed a ride. It just so happened that only one of them spoke English and he was from Utah! Awesome! Some things that I hope I always remember:

• There were random shrines on the side of the roads, everywhere.
• A couple had a romantic moment on the side of the road... It was just weird
• OXXO stores are everywhere, like Maverick is in Utah.
• The ocean was warmer than the pool at our hotel.
• The man climbed the palm tree (somehow, mind still blown) to clean off dead branches.
• The crosswalk signals... So entertaining. Instead of a boring man and then a blinking hand for our crosswalk signals, we should have a man running, and as time runs out he gets faster and faster!
• The green light blinks before it turns yellow.
• The police pretty much do nothing except direct traffic with their whistles. If someone runs a stop sign, all they do is yell at them through their speakers.
• Traffic is crazy! And so are pedestrians.

So here are a few pictures!

Mexico

I just thought I'd let those of you who read this what we'll be doing in Mexico for a week. This winter, about 25 SUU students have the opportunity to visit an orphanage in Mexico to do some much needed repairs and improvements. At the orphanage this year, the nuns have requested that we paint the insides of the girls dorm and babies dorm. Another project requested is to fill in a hole with a retaining wall where a ground-level trampoline exists. Since there is not always supervision on the playground, it is dangerous for the toddlers when it rains and the hole fills up with water.
Also, to improve the overall appearance, we are also going to be painting their metal playground. These are just a few examples of some projects we will be able to do.
San Humberto's Ranch of the Child was founded in 1971 by Hermanas Missioneras del Nino Cristo in Empalme, Sonora. The foundation was created in 1964 by Lucas Carbajal Lopez, a Catholic Priest from Guanajuato and two nuns from Mazatlan, Sinaloa. They were deeply concerned about the unwanted children who lived on the streets. Many of these children were orphaned, while others were abandoned by drug addicts, prostitutes and parents with other social and financial problems. SUU has been taking groups of students to this particular area of Mexico for quite a few years and has been wildly successful in improving the basic standard of living, including homes for three needy families.
I am so excited to be a part of this project this year.
If you feel that you could help our project, we would be very grateful. If you'd like to donate and have questions, please comment and I'll get with you for more information. Also tell your friends about this great opportunity for service!

Random Pictures

Here are just a few pictures of what we've been up to so far this semester:

Supporting our SUU T-Birds! The first home game of the season. We're showing you our game faces. The good news is that the T-Birds were victorious... It doesn't happen too often in football for them.
The Iron County Demolition Derby. It was pretty much awesome. There were so many people though so we didn't get any seats. We kept ourselves entertained during the down time though.

Homecoming 2009. We went to see the mentalist and yes he did play with our minds. So crazy.
We decided to run the Homecoming 5k. This picture is proof that I did it. See I'm wearing a number... It was a good experience and I'll probably do more of them in the future. Of us three, I did come in last. I claim it is because Aly and Shalie both have longer legs that I. Yes I am the shortest.
Waiting for the race to start, just hangin out with Thor. Yes Thor is the name of our mascot.

A few other things we've done:

• Took Shalie to Aurora for a weekend. It was a good weekend and had lots of fun showing her where we grew up. It also included an NSHS football game. Classic. Oh and we couldn't miss out on a slush with ice cream from the Ideal Dairy!
• A couple triple dates. Good times with good friends.
• Celebrating Aly's 21st birthday. That was a great day! It included a treasure hunt, destroying a pinata, laser tag, Olive Garden, and the temple.
• I had yet another season of city league volleyball come and go. It is always fun.
• College football, my favorite
• Watched Elf on Halloween. It was our way of getting away from the Halloween festivities that are so dumb.
• I signed up for a trip to Mexico. My first time out of the country and I'm so excited. I got my passport and am ready to go!
• Oh yeah and I've also been going to school... Yay for classes and homework and tests.
  

The World is Full of Probabilites

Have you ever thought about how often probabilities affect your life? Me neither. Because I'm taking probability and statistics, I see probabilities everywhere. In fact more than I ever cared to. As I come to a stop sign, I wonder what the probability is that the other cars approaching the intersection will stop. I don't really care what the probability is, but yet I'm thinking about it constantly. I hate the class and I don't understand it most of the time. I do the homework without understanding exactly what I'm doing. I suffer through it EVERYDAY. With that said, I am extremely proud of myself for my 93% on test number one. That means I understand it more than I think I do!
Other recent thoughts:
I have decided I really do like to run more than I thought. It's more the feeling of doing some physical activity and having a routine, I think. Also, I'm opposite of Aly. I like running early in the morning for a few reasons. One, I get out of bed and therefore go to class everyday. Two, there are less people around to see me running. Three, I'm tired early and therefore get to bed early. Four, I can run further in the morning.
I find myself thinking alot about how to prove something with things that are already known thanks to yet another math class. Really, who cares why we can say some things are the way they are? Well it is fun to think about really.
It's always so awkward when you have been singing along to a song for a long time and the whole time singing the wrong lyrics. Nobody wants to admit that they thought the lyrics were, "you're turning me on." When really the lyrics are, "you're telling me you're"...
Brian Regan is doing a show at Tuachan in May. I want to buy tickets so that I definitely get them. Is 8 months in advance too early?
I love going to church looking for answers and everything said in every meeting is exactly what I need to hear at that time. It seems that it is things I already know, but it is a good reminder at the right time.
I'm excited for General Conference this weekend.
I was finally released from my FHE calling two weeks ago. The biggest stress in my life is now someone else's stress. I enjoyed the calling for the most part, but towards the end it wore me down.

August 2009

August isn't even over and I've had so much fun! The next three posts are the big highlights of the month so far, including pictures! Enjoy!