roof .plus. sunset .plus. pre-rainstorm-breeze

alright. as some of you know, i really wanted to watch a sunset as part of my birthday celebrating/being with my great friends this past week while i was in utah. didn't happen. unfortunately, you can't really depend on provo for good sunsets. there have been some really good ones i can remember... but, sadly, they come few and far in between. WELL. tonight, here in arizona, my first sunset back from my trip. a perfect, beautiful sunset. naturally, i had to climb up on the roof to enjoy it completely. living in the suburbs is not conducive to correct sunset watching. and i have no mountains i can easily drive up to here. so roof it is! kate was a little nervous for my safety so she joined me! which was a pleasure. except when she tried stopping me from going 'a little bit further.'  did i listen? of course not. it was really great. i love being up so high. and especially on a roof. it's just so peaceful. and gives me a different perspective, being up so high and looking down on everything that you see every day.

...and i felt a little bit like i was in mary poppins, with all of the chimney sweeps. 

then to top it all off, bryan took the ladder as a some sort of joke, i suppose... so kate and i decided to cross over the patio-cover thing  over to the other side and jump down onto the trampoline (let me explain: skinny support beams going across every four feet or so with a durable, weatherproof mesh-like fabric over it). it was quite treacherous but we made it without breaking through. i went first.... haha it took me .... a while. i said one- two- three- GO! many many times and kept chickening out. i firmly believe if i had had more supporters on my side, cheering and applauding for me, i could have done it the first time. but i had mom, who kept saying she didn't know if i would make it safely and kept telling me not to bounce off the other side of the trampoline into the rocks. and bryan, who couldn't figure out the flash on my camera so we ended up with this...

 
kate clapped and i did eventually jump. sadly it was a little anticlimactic. but i would definitely do it again. then kate surprised both of us by jumping soon after me. but i agree with her that it's because her feet were tired of standing on those dry pine needles

A few things.

 1. I broke an apple in half with MY BARE HANDS!!!

2. Once again. I just love Julie Andrews. And not only do I want to be like Maria, I also want to be like Mary Poppins. She is so great. And magical. And I love her outfits.

But really. Practically perfect in every way. And so clever. And she doesn't put up with any nonsense. And I love flying kites.

3.This is my sister, Julia. She is great.

She is 22 years old and very funny. I love her a lot and I'm thankful for the help she gives me. And she dresses really well. She, too, is going on a mission. And should get her call in a couple of weeks! Hopefully we'll be leaving around the same time. Se we can have Thanksgiving dinner together in the MTC!
She's just wonderful.

4. I definitely survived my trip last week. It was really fun! We went to Maryland for a few days and visited my dear Aunt Ilene and Uncle Doug. (thanks for everything!!!) We went into Ellicott City, MD one day and D.C. another day.

5. Farmer's Markets are great. I love them. And I especially LOVE going to a Farmer's Market in our nation's capital, right next to the Department of Agriculture on a Friday morning!

6. I love Pennsylvania! It's beautiful. I could live there I'm pretty sure. Brandon's family was very nice and hospitable and we did a lot of fun stuff! We went to Knoebel's Amusement Park (so Awesome.) (and you pronounce the 'K'. It isn't silent like you would think it would be.) Brandon's aunt lives on a hill with a creek behind her house and his grandma's house is very decorated with cats, flowers and figurines.

DOUBLE RAINBOW! the second one is on the left...it was brighter in real life. believe me.

7. I have two of the most adorable nieces ever. One of them is turning three in November. And Julia and I are going to miss her birthday and celebration. So, we decided to give her her present early so we could enjoy seeing her wear it. Here you go! She is so cute.

8. I did some painting this summer.

for tyler

Erica's belated Christmas present. for the nephew

Erica's birthday present. for the niece

Gone. Home. and Gone Again.

Wow! I have so many things to catch up on here on my blog. Life has just been so great and crazy. After about two weeks of homelessness, I finally moved home to Arizona today. And I'm off again to Baltimore tomorrow! Crazy, huh? Yes. I am going to Maryland and Pennsylvania to visit friends and family with Erica and her children. We are flying. With a two-almost-three-year-old and a one-year-old. Wish me luck! Seriously. But I'm super excited. I will be thoroughly enjoying the green and the humidity and everything once again. And I'll be just north of my future place of residence for the next 18 months. Hooray!

I really need to go pack. I just want to say, yes. I do miss Utah. I never thought I would say that. But I do. Plus the high was probably 400 degrees today. SO. That might have had something to do with it. And I love my friends and family. A lot. I'm excited to spend time with all of you in the coming months before my mission. It is going to be a party. All. of. the. time. And I'll just be with the people I love. What a perfect way to live. Thanks for everything, everyone. (you know who you are). You are the best.

See you next week!

I hope I get used to 'Sister Barney'...

Hello World!


It came yesterday! And what a joyous occasion it was. Thank you so much for everyone who came and called and got excited with me! I love you all. 


I'm going to the Virginia Richmond Mission leaving November 10th.


As many of you know, I looooooove the East. And though I have never been to Richmond specifically. Or any area in my mission for that matter, I am sure I am still going to love love love it!! Williamsburg is in my mission!!! Holy cow. Oh man. I'll get to VA around the first week of December. Just in time for Christmas decorations!!!! I know. It sounds like I'm going on vacation. But I really am going to be serious missionary.

The only problem I have seen so far is that my little booklet thing that came with my call said 'No jeans.' . . . . . . . . What the heck am I supposed to wear?? It says I need full length pants. What else is there? Other than dress pants..... khaki... I was getting frantic! But, then my mom came to the rescue and reminded me that corduroy exists!! Thank you, Mom!! I want a pair in dark brown, I think.

Anyway, here are some photos for your viewing pleasure:

I was kind of hyperventilating.

   
 Thanks for coming everyone!! And thanks for making cookies Shell! Everyone obviously enjoyed them.

ahhhh.....the lovely Huber sisters.

soooooooo excited! and attractive.....

talking to Tucker on the phone!!

dinner with the fam and missy! at jdawgs!! i love those hotdogs! and i love my family! and missy!

thanks for the pretty sunset, Utah!

we ended the night going to my cousin's son's wedding reception (which was so great and i got to see more great family!!! And then we drove up to my Grandma's in Marion to watch the meteor shower (which was great!) and sleep under the stars. When we arrived, the thermometer read 55 degrees outside, so Missy and I were a little worried about being warm enough. So, we pulled some hats, scarves, and sweaters off the hooks for protection from the cold. Then we realized we looked like old men.

I had a very warm, good night's sleep. outside, all night. under the meteor shower. on my Grandma's front lawn, with my dear friend, Missy.

Dreams.

Well so far, I've dreamt that I was going to Morocco, Australia, and southeastern Arizona. I woke up this morning actually thinking that I had already gotten my call and really was going to Australia! And I was really excited! Then I remembered it was only Monday, not Wednesday. And that I didn't have my call yet. So, I'm not going to Australia.

Also, someone in my ward asked me if I had made a facebook page yet so that people could make their guesses as to where I'm going. And answered in the negative. Sorry folks, I just don't do that... But, if you reallllly want to take a guess, go ahead. The world is yours! Really.


I had an absolutely lovely week last week that lasted all the way to this morning, when I had to return to Provo, sadly. I went camping for work, went home to Arizona to attend my best friends wedding reception and hold my dear new niece, Lillian, then I came back up to Utah for a family reunion! It was the best ever!! I had so much fun and my dear mom and Aunt Irene did such a great job planning it! It was hard to come back. But also good because I don't have much time left here in dear old Provo! I have to move out of my apartment on Saturday! And then I'll be gone the week after that or so. This summer has flown by. But I have so many wonderful memories.