Emails From My Dad

My Dad has a great sense of humor that I really appreciate, here are some excerpts from some of his emails that made me laugh.

On company logos

"...And while I’m on the subject of what’s clever, I really like the Monster energy drink logo, which is an “M” made of jagged claw marks.  It shows excellent imagination and is original and memorable.  (Ha!  Compare that to the Gap logo.)"

On the car that my brother and I share

"Yep, we just can't agree on anything about the old Honda, not even its name. And you think it's yours, Steven thinks it's his, and the license and registration say it's mine. (So, if we ever wind up fighting about it in court, I know who's gonna win! Ha ha!"

On Cafe Rio V. Baja Fresh

Today we had lunch at Baja Fresh, and I loved it! I thought it was much better than Cafe Rio. Great food, generous portions, and a fresh salsa bar that was excellent. It even had fresh mango salsa.

But, your mother doesn't agree with me and says Cafe Rio is better, so now we have marital difficulties. Ha ha! We'll have to agree to disagree.

On how great Jerusalem and iphones are

Well, keep havin' great adventures on the other side of the world! Believe me, we're definitely getting vicarious thrills ourselves.Today I was thinking that this has been even better for you than I thought it would be - and I knew it would be great!

Much love,

- Dad

PS: Woo hoo! You are going to love your iPhone! That's another thing that's even better than I imagined.

I Went to Bear World

After driving past it for years every time I went to Idaho Falls I finally got to visit Bear World this past weekend. I'm normally not a zoo person because I feel bad for all of the animals. (I have written multiple research papers about the benefits of zoos and do understand the good they do. Particularly for endangered species.) Bear World was cool though because it was a slightly more natural setting where you would drive your car through and spot the bears along the way. They also had a gift shop filled with every Idaho souvenir known to man,a petting zoo, and two small enclosures that each contained three bear cubs. The petting zoo contained the most darling ugly/cure pig ever and I make me feel a little guilty about the bacon I had for breakfast that morning. The bear cubs were so playful and I watched them until I got too cold and had to go inside.

 I took a little bit, but I convinced the pig to be my friend

 I know the pictures don't show it, but theses guys were so playful and tons of fun to watch

a post for my mom

I love my mom. It's not a secret. For as long as a can remember we've been incredibly close and I always look forward to taking to her-or even better spending time with her. We share a mutual love of Disneyland, a weakness for clothing from Banana Republic, and the exact same laugh. As a result she's pretty much my best friend. Sometimes people tell me that I'm just like her and I consider that to be a enormous complement.

My mom has:
been my mentor for my job and taught me how to be the very best I can be
taught me how to make the world beautiful
been a great example of service to me, and it the most dedicated visiting teacher I have ever met
encouraged me though almost four years of university, and even supported me in doing a study abroad half way across the world

Love you lots mom!

Things I Overhear on Campus

Two girls talking over lunch: The Provo Temple looks like a spaceship. It's not cute at all!

I personally think that the Provo Temple looks like a cupcake with an candle on top

A girl telling her friend about her mission call to Toronto: Toronto is near New York right?

My professor talking about how gasoline is highly taxed in California: I wish that I were a young single man in California. Then when I would take a young fox on a date I could tell her that because gas is so expensive that we can't drive so then we'll just have to sit in the car and fog up the  windows. 

Girl at the nail salon: Your boyfriend served his mission in the Philippines? So he speaks Spanish then?

It's all golden and I love it

Now we can talk about incredibly silly things I've done the past few weeks:

-Walked into the wrong classroom, sat down, and pulled out my books. The professor told me that they were having a class in that room and that I had to leave. I don't think I've ever turned to red.

-Discovering in yoga that I had terrible balance. Enough said.

-Forgetting my new phone number every time someone asks for it.

Monday.

Monday is probably my favorite day of the week, work always seems to go better on Mondays. I think it might be that over the weekend I have time to recharge and am able to come in with new fresh perspectives on Monday. I seriously love my job though. I feel so blessed to have found at career so early in my 20's.

Home Evening is also another highlight of the day. Tonight we went to the mall and played 'Where's Waldo.' We had a list of about 10 people that we had to find. Some of the 'Waldo's' costumes were so good. It's a good think that my other group members have better observation skills than me because I probably wouldn't have found anyone.

It have become a tradition with my friends to go buy a pizza after Home Evening. I always feel sick after I eat pizza {I still eat it all the time though} but I love just stilling in a classroom and talking with everyone.

Now I'm home listening to 'Sweet Nothing'. Calvin Harris hasn't been this good since he teamed up with Ellie Goulding. Him and Florence Welch make a great team.

Today I said Goodbye

The roads are snowy and icy. The snow is here to stay.

I drove slowly and to my amazement only hit two red lights on the way to the church. I picked a parking spot at random because in the winter no one pays attention to the lines that are painted on the ash fault. I take a deep breath and try to mentally prepare myself for the next few hours. I've never been good with goodbyes, and I know that is one will be the hardest yet.

I'm so glad that I had the chance to become friends with Ashley, even though it was only for a few short months. She was the type of person who was always as sweet as could be. She was also super involved in everything, but also found the time to be a stellar student. She was a return missionary, a gifted teacher, and a shining example to me of kindness and love.

I will forever remember the experience of singing in the choir at her funeral. We sang the theme song for the cultural celebration and have never sounded better. As a postlude we sang 'How Great Thou Art' I found back tears during the entire piece, and couldn't hold the smile that I usually have when I sing.

Today gave me a new love for the Plan of Salvation. I saw the comfort that it brought to her grieving family and friends. I'm so grateful for the knowledge that we lived before we came to Earth and that will will continue to live after we have departed from this life.

The Garden Tomb. Christ overcame death here.

Then sings my soul,

My Savior God, to thee,

How great thou art!

How great thou art!

'How Great Thou Art'  LDS Hymn Book number 86

A Temple For Calgary

I can't even put into words how excited I am about the Calgary Temple that is going to be dedicated in a week. It it so wonderful  that the House of the Lord is only about an hour away from my family's house. I've had the chance to tour the Temple 4 times during the open house and was also able to spend 10 hours last Saturday volunteering at the open house. It was seriously the best!

I didn't have time to take great pictures (because people read my blog because of my non-existent wonderful photography skills), but here's what I have:

My favorite Temple!

Tour entrance and a bathroom. Classy.

At the end of the tour we were give a water and a cookie. The water cups were sealed with a piece of foil that has a picture of the Temple of it. It was a really neat detail. 

The other thing that makes me want to burst with excitement is the cultural celebration that is going to be taking place this next Saturday. I discovered a new love for signing when I was in Jerusalem, so I decided to join Institute Choir when I moved back home. I was delighted to find out that the choir I had joined was going to be a part of the cultural celebration, and that I was going to get to be in a choir that will sing for the prophet.