catching up #8

finally... this one is the last one that i'm catching up on. hopefully i'll be better about updating my blog from now on... at least now that i have more time. :P


JULY

independence day was a big day for me! :) i walked in the provo parade for the first time. one of the directors of living legends was being honored and he asked that living legends walk with him in native costume. because i'm not native i was able to walk, but i didn't have a costume on. it was hot.

because we walked in the parade, i was able to go to my first concert. i got free tickets to stadium of fire. i was able to hear scotty mccreery and the beach boys, and see amazing fireworks. it was so great!

on july 11th, me and my roommate, robin, went to 7-eleven to get a free slurpee. it was my first time and it was fun. hehe... robin's mom told her "if it's free, it's for me..." and this is one instance where i agree.

juju is HUGE! and kaleb loves to read. see? isn't that so cute?

BIG NEWS!!! lynnell is ENGAGED! she's going to be marrying ruben zempoaltecatl in the provo temple in TEN DAYS and i'm excited for her. congrats nell!

kaleb is also such a big helper! he likes to give juju hugs and kisses, and help papa carry her. and he's even getting better at feeding himself!!! so cute.

bucket list first... being in high school musical. haha. for homecoming spectacular, we participated in a music video to come so far (from hairspray). it was celebrating  the maeser building, so we were dancing very high school musical-ish dances. but it was a lot of fun... even if it was for 11.5 hours.

i was able to go on a ward campout. it was a lot of fun and i got to meet new people and become better friends with others. even though i didn't really want to go at first, i'm glad that i did go. i spent some time with our bishopric's second counselor's kids and that sunday i got these treats on my door step. it was really sweet and i really appreciated it. :)

nt pua came up to utah with the pcc promo team and they had a float in the pioneer day parade. the float was definitely the best one in the parade, and the only one that we cheered for. it was so great to be able to see family from home.

since i've been home from tour, i've  been trying to find things to fill my time so that i'm still productive. i've been able to do that by doing scholarship things, swimming, helping a friend with her ploy dance class, meeting up and hanging out with some of my friends, hanging out at cam's house, and most recently... 2012 LONDON OLYMPICS!!! i just love the olympics! it's so exciting and it makes me so proud to be american. i even painted my nails because i felt so patriotic (most of my wardrobe is blue, hence the red and white nails. and the 3 dots are because my star was accidentally not centered so i had to balance it)! haha! GO USA!!!! :)

GEs... CHECK! :)

this is me outside my history class, after i just finished my last final. even though i didn't do so well, i was able to finish my spring term well. :) my grades... i got A's FOR BOTH CLASSES! :) hallelujah! and now i'm done with all my ge's. now all that's left is my major classes! :) whoo hoo!!!

winter 2011 semester? check!

my semester grades came out... and guess what i got? :)

i got 5 As and 1 A-!!! WHOOO HOOOO!!!!

I'M DOOOOONE!

i have had my last program, i have filled out my last program proposal, i have had my last community standards, i have worked my last shift, i have cleaned out all my rooms, i have checked out all my girls, and i have turned in my keys. i am officially NOT a helaman halls, stover hall, 1200 ra. see ya later, alligator! :)

al fin

i've got a sore tooth, an scratchy throat, a runny nose, cold hands, a mutu foot, an intense headache, and semester checkouts still to do, but...

I'M DOOOOOONNNNNE! :) 11 finals down... ZERO to go! WHOOO HOOO!!

ABOUT TIME!! :P

YAAAYYYY!!!!!

brother FINALLY asked sarah to marry him....

... and she said YES!! :)

CONGRATULATIONS ERWIN AND SARAH!!!

Perfect Score!

so... today i went to take my test for family history. it was my second midterm, and it was a 50 question test. i studied a little before, and went in. during my test i was thinking... "wouldn't it be cool if i got 100% on this test?" i started to think of what i might do if it did happen, but of course i laughed it off, not even considering it. i skipped a few questions thinking, i'll get back to it and use the process of elimination. i finished the test, turned it in, and and walked down the stairs to check the screen where my score would be posted. this is what i saw:

HAHAHAHA!!! i chuckled because i was just thinking about geting a 100. WHOOO HOOOO for my first 100% on a test in the testing center!!! :)

i got my classes!

with the whole major change, i had to scramble to get the new classes that are required for my major. all the classes that brother held for me, i no longer needed (thanks again brother! :D). but now i've registered for 16 credits for next semester. my schedule is as follows:

Hour	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri
8:00a					Foundations in Ed for ELLs 8:00a-10:50a
9:00a
10:00a			Art for Elementary Teachers 10:00a-12:50p
11:00a	Bio Lab 11:00a-12:50p	Devotional		PYM
12:00p
1:00p	Intro to English Language 1:00p-150p		Intro to English Language 1:00p-1:50p		Intro to English Language 1:00p-1:50p
		History 202 1:35p - 2:50p		History 202 1:35p - 2:50p
2:00p
3:00p	Mission Prep 3:00p-3:50p		Mission Prep 3:00p-3:50p
4:00p		RA Class 4:00-4:50p		RA Class 4:00-4:50p

happy halloween!

today i had stake conference, and pres. hallstrom came to speak to my stake. he spoke about gospel of jesus christ and how in motivates us to change. and if we're not growing, and improving, and changing, then we aren't being very active in the gospel. it was a wonderful talk.

more good news! I GOT A PACKAGE!!! thanks mom and dad... and family at home! it was such a wonderful thing to get! i was so excited! it really made my day!

anyways... HAPPY HALLOWEEN everybody! :)

letters!!

today, i checked my mail, and i had a letter from makoto! he's doing well. he finally got to see snow falling for the first time. :) he says that it's really really cold, and that's the only thing that he doesn't like about the mtc. he also met mauri which was pretty cool! he said it was super cool that elder richard g. scott spoke to the missionaries, and "tell your family i said hi."

it's so great to get letters! :)

bad day

today was probably one of the worst days of this past month that i've been here. everything was going wrong. but i decided that it wouldn't ruin my day. here's why...

"The gospel of Jesus Christ is not designed to miraculously change each day from overcast gloom to brightness and light. It is designed, however, to give us an inner light, a strength that will help us meet the good days with appreciation and the bad days with faith and determination, until a "new dawn" offers relief." - Loren C. Dunn

a new dawn will come tomorrow... i'm looking forward to it. :)

so so SOOOOO happy

so i was studying in my room at like... 11:30p last night, when i had a knock at my door. it was another RA, robin. she said "uhh... rachel? someone left you something in the office... i think you should come get it..." (with a unsure, kinda worried face). of course, first i thought of was mom. mom would be the only one to drop anything off for me... but why wouldn't she have called? so it can't be mom. but who else?

i kept asking questions as i followed her, but she answered less and less, shrugging her shoulders. this for some reason just made me more nervous. i had an anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach... who would randomly leave something for me? what would anyone leave without telling me? why? .....creeeeeepyyyyyy!!! we got to the office and she pulled out this...

WHOA!!! first of all... what in the world?? secondly, weird. thirdly, who would draw me a picture... of ME?? mauri would... but he's supposed to be going to caliente, that's why he can't skype me. i look at the other girls, and they're looking at my like i'm supposed to know what's going on here. suddenly, i hear "yeah... really... don't know who would draw you a picture?"

i couldn't believe it... he couldn't really be here. but he was! he was here! so i hugged him... for a really really REALLY long time. :)

he's here for the weekend. it was such a good surprise. :)

im here!!

so, after a full day of flying and feeling gross... i finally made it to provo! yay! some of the highlights of my trip and being here...

my luggage went all the way to slc without my needing me to pick it up in honolulu OR paying for it!!! *so my flight to oahu got cancelled. i still needed to get there because i had a connecting flight from honolulu. because my final destination was slc, they sent my baggage all the way through so i would've only had to pay for my baggage once. but since my flight was cancelled, i didn't even have to pay for that! =P yes!*

in honolulu, there was a cute, chubby little boy who was running in his tight spongebob squarepants pjs.

i flew over the grand canyon... the closest i've ever been!

came back to cami's to realize that it was like coming home (just a little different).

finally got to sleep!!! *i HATE airplane sleep*

got to skype gma kua for her bday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GMA!

*sigh* now i have this afternoon to rest, and then i have to move and i'll be busy again! wish me luck! =S

boooo!

so this morning i went to buy an all-sports pass... they're all sold out. boo. now i can't go to football games. this is junk... i woke up at 545am for nothing! =( oh well... perhaps i can go to cami's house instead...? =P

just kidding!!! =D i went again today (aug 4) and i bought one. looks like i'll be able to go to the football games after all. =D yay! and maybe even with friends! i'm SOOOO excited!

I'M PAU!!

I'VE OFFICIALLY FINISHED MY SUMMER JOB!!!! =D

this past week has been the best. i basically got paid to play cards, board games, tennis, soccer, tag, and eating. today was my last day, and we had a celebration feast!!

does it look ono? it really was. i had stuffed shrimp, stuffed mushroom, pulehu chicken, chicken katsu, steak, rice, and salad. =P

i'll miss having stuff to do, and the kids were so adorable, but i'm glad it's done. now i've just gotta concentrate and focus on my RA responsibilities... oh boy!

mauri, this is elijah. =P

IT finally came!

know where this is??

it's where mauri will be for the next 2 years... at least, that's what google said! mauri finally got his MISSION CALL!!! he's going to the guatemala retalhuleu mission. he's reporting to the provo mtc on oct 20!

it's IN!

GOOD NEWS!! mauri's mission call has been sent in to church headquarters. now, we wait. =P

productive day off

today i had a day off, so i spent it cleaning my room! =) since i'm not sure the next time i'll be able to come home and clean out my things, i lifted my bed (put it on the bed risers mom wanted), i cleaned out my closet (from things from high school that i no longer need), organized everything, swept/dusted everything, and rearranged the room to make it look better and less cluttered. i think it looks nice now, and i can enjoy my hard work! =P here are before and after pics of the transformation (keep in mind that i was CLEANING, meaning the first pictures are when my room was cluttered and dirty, so don't focus on those... but on the pictures of my CLEAN room! =P):

left side of the bed, before and after

the bed, before and after

closet, before and after

right side of the bed, before and after

ahhhh! i love having a clean room!! =P

look out world!

ally's on the road.... BY HERSELF!!! AAAHHHH!! =P stay off the sidewalks (just kidding ally wally)! BWAHAHAHA!

she finally got her license. here's the proof (with some editions, for everyone's internet safety =P).

congrats ally!

i SURVIVED... so far

i survived my FIRST OFFICIAL day of work (with the kids)!!! it was pretty brutal, but my plan worked out. i need luck for tomorrow. my plan that i was supposed to do tomorrow, someone else did today... so i gotta think of another good idea to work with 3 different age groups, for 45 minutes each! any ideas? *sigh* wish me luck!!