this week has been quite eventful. actually the past two weeks. i started school again (why did i think 17 credits would be ok for the summer?), work has been crazy busy, and of course it is summer and time for fun.

meghan and i went to the culture festival at the park. it was so fun and so many fun new cultures to experience. meghan and i opted for some red curry and pad thai and for dessert, navajo fry bread. it was so delicious. if you live in this area, this is a must see.

 so i know this is yet another picture of my dear sister and i, but we went to my mom's for mothers day. before going though we realized we didn't finish her project so we thought it would be great to pick flowers from the gateway mall. it was quite the adventure however the flowers were pretty sad. 

 new glasses. boom.

 i got a new bike. i have been wanting a road bike for a long time. meghan got one, rachelle got one, time for me to have one. i looked and looked and decided to check ebay. as soon as i saw this beautiful thing, i knew it was mine. i even put most of it together myself which i was quite proud of. 

thought i would throw some humor in here. this guy can be seen all around salt lake. he has quite amusing signs. 

that's what she said

have you ever had something in your life for so long that it just feels second nature to you? it is apart of you and you just expect it to be there? that is how the office was for me. silly i know, but the office was that one show that i could not miss. it was hard missing a season being on a mission but even more fun to catch up. the office caused so many parties in my provo days with friends. i got a lot of people hooked on that show during my western stint as well. it was just so funny. i could be found quoting it daily or talking about it because it is so quotable and likable. the series finale was thursday night and i cannot say enough good things about it. they wrapped up the show perfectly, and the moment they brought  brought back michael scott was perfect. my heart dropped a little because it was so unexpected because over the past few weeks the producers announced he would not be back....trickery. i loved it. i may or may not have cried.

Jim: Everything I have I owe to this job...this stupid, wonderful, boring, amazing job.

it seems silly to be putting so much thought into it but i had to do it because i feel like a small part of my life is gone. so here is to the office. the wonderful, funny, stressful office.

Jim Halpert:	Question. What kind of bear is best?
Dwight Schrute:	That's a ridiculous question.
Jim Halpert:	False. Black bear.
Dwight Schrute:	That's debatable. There are basically two schools of thought--
Jim Halpert:	Fact. Bears eat beets. Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.
Dwight Schrute:	Bears do not... What is going on?! What are you doing?!

fun

 a lot has been going on lately. life is just a glorious thing. there is so much to be grateful for and i love the new things that are going on.

school ended a few weeks ago (but starts up again next week), and it has been such a fun rejuvenating break. i have tried to keep busy with projects around the house, as well as work. one of my big projects was to re do an old shoe hutch my mother used to keep in her house. it was ugly brown and dingy. i fixed it up and painted it blue. i also added the fun picture frames to the wall a month or so ago and finally made the pillows to match. they tied to room together so nicely and it is so fun to see it all.

i also went on a homemade pizza making kick. i have a delicious whole wheat pizza crust recipe and for a few days all i made for my roommates was pizza (they didn't seem to mind).

we also helped a girl in our ward move and in return she let us savage through her junk old stuff. we came away with quite the haul. 

ashlyn and i spent a sunday afternoon in the park. it was quite fun. we were able to experience some larping (live action role play), a drum circle, some fire jugglers. it was quite the fun adventure.

i love salt lake.

mission reunion

this past weekend was my mission reunion. 

my first mission companion becca came up to go and spend the weekend with me. 

the reunion was a lot of fun and it was so great to see so many of the people i was able to serve with. i have so much respect and love for these people. it was the first time i was able to see president and sisters tucker again, and i just love them so much. 

i made my little sister come with me.

me and becca

president and sister tucker

easter

we often forget why we celebrate easter with all the hoopla of egg hunts, chocolate bunnies, and baskets, but the resurrection of our savior is incredible. i will admit i usually am a sucker for all of that fun stuff and don't get  me wrong, i still love it, but being on a mission really helped me realize the importance.

how incredible is it that we get to repent every single day. how incredible is it that we have that knowledge. my heart is full because of it. i love it so much. i love the gospel so much.

this easter was especially fun because i was able to spend it with my nephews. i don't actually remember the last time it was spend with my family so this weekend was especially nice. terry and deb drove us up on saturday after i got off work. we ate some delicious wonderful house, and i got to spend some time with j. it was so much fun. cade is adorable and kept asking me to hide eggs for him. he also danced and danced and danced for us. it was just so cute. i love those little nephews of mine.

 luke also stopped by with laina to see us. i miss them so much and love that luke took the time out of his day to come see me.

life

according to my iphone....

mississippi

i constantly say that i am going to get better at updating this. epic fail on my part. however there have been a few events recently that are blog worthy that i feel i should share. 

(disclaimer: i do know how to capitalize things, i just like all lower case. sorry not sorry.)

have y'all ever heard the real way how to spell mississippi?

let me tell you...

this was taught to me in my first few weeks in the mission...

m-i- crooka letta- crooka letter i-crooka letter- crooka letter-i-hump back- hump back-i

there you have it. if you can sing/say that, you are southern. 

now for the point of my post...

in my first area of clinton, ms, i met some of the most kind amazing people i know. i could not imagine these wonderful people not being in my life. well, they were always planning this trip to time out for women, and one day they said it would be so cool if i could come back and be with them when i got home. so for 18 months the plan to fly back for tofw was in the back of my mind. i always wanted this little trip to be a reality, but i did not know if i could actually pull it off. however i got home and stars aligned and the trip back to my dear mississippi was soon to become a reality.

the airplane tickets were booked, tofw was planned and soon enough (after 4 long months of waiting), i was off to my beloved second home. 

i was a little sad not to be able to visit my other areas but my mission is so large and it was just not feasible to travel many hours to these places. one day i will make it back to them though. 

i started the trip off right with going to dinner with my second family and of course a couple of the sister missionaries. my last companion, sister mapu, was still in the area so i was able to see her, and sister carter (below) is now serving in an area pretty close to clinton, so they drove into see me. i was so blessed to know these girls and serve around them.  they are both training baby missionaries and it is so exciting. 

the next day the huge group (sixteen total) met up to travel to memphis for time out for women. it was so good to see everyone. 

memphis is such a fun city. we did not explore too much but we did take a ride on the trolley and of course had some good ole southern bbq. 

 the theme for time out for women was "higher". it was a great conference full of amazing speakers. i loved it all so much. 

one of the speakers talked about holding a power pose (wonder woman displayed below) for two minutes can lift up your mood and give you strength. 

 musical guest perform throughout the day. saturday was jericho road. they are often heard on efy soundtracks. we were the biggest group there and they thought we were fun.

 church on sunday

 memphis temple

 the days were filled with inspiration and the nights were full of laughter and late chats. i have learned more about motherhood and children from these women than i had ever known before. 

 a few days before tofw i emailed one of my dear friends from meridian who has since moved to corinth, ms. she heard that i was headed to tofw and said she would be there too. we planned to meet up. it was so good to see her. i love her and her family so much. she helped me through a lot of tough times. 

 the trip ended way too soon and we found ourselves back on the road to clinton. i got to see one of my other families that night. her girls are adorable and so fun. emily was recently on rachael ray with first lady michelle obama. they went to clinton for a special on healthy lunches.

 the couple above is a sweet senior couple who are getting ready to go home. nana and gpa were there for us constantly. i loved them so much. 

 these are two of the greatest people i have ever met. my dear mission president and his wife. they are two of the most humble people i know and so kind and caring. i just love them so much and cannot say enough about them. i saw them right before i went to the airport. it made me so sad to leave ms again and come back to school and all the fun stresses of life, but the trip was incredible and i am so glad i was able to go.