GIVEAWAY!

Hello all 6 of you that read my blog (Mom, Kelsi, Brooke, Beth, Joel, & Kim). As you already know Bethany has a blog, Gluten Free in Utah. And as you already probably know, she is doing a Christmas giveaway! You should all go and check it out here. Good luck to you all... but not too much luck, because I wanna win :)

Mistranslation? I think not.

So, as we were walking through a mall down here in Chile the other day we came across this beauty....

Mistranslation? That's what we thought. But notice in the bottom left hand corner it says "ONE NIGHT STAND." Yeah, no mistranslation here. They totally meant it. FAVORITE DETERGENT EVER. hahahaha.

Helloooooo From Chile :)

Hello all.

Sorry this post won't have any pictures. I'm lame like that. But, I made it to Chile safe and sound. It's pretty much been one huge party here since the second we arrived. It's wonderful :) Eventually maybe I'll update this a little more... with a little more detail... and even some pictures. But, until then, check out Leah's blog. She's been updating hers daily so far. Enjoy :)

Welcome to Atlanta.

They have cool trash cans here.

Where am I?

Can you tell where I am? I can't. Oh wait. It's Chicago. Too bad we don't get to go out and see tall buildings during this long layover.

Guess where I am...

At the airport! Ready to go to CHILE :)

Dance party :)

Dance party with Kaylee. She likes to twirl more than anything else.

This could be the start of something new...OooHHh.

Ava last summer singing a song from high school musical. Pretty sure she was putting off going to bed by being cute :)

Baby Logan! :)

Bethany and Joel's baby, Logan, was born this morning at 3:13. He is 8 pounds- 3 ounces and 22 inches long.


The proud mom and baby Logan

Oh he's just so stinking cute. I love his cheeks.

Aunt Kelsi and baby Logan

Aunt Paige (The FAVORITE aunt) and Logan

Look at that head of hair. SO MUCH. It's long enough that it can have a PART. So cute :)

Grandma and baby Logan

He's just so stinking cute! I had to post all the pictures :)

So cute. Good work Bethany and Joel :)

It's Official :)

Well, in case any of you were wondering... I'M GOING TO CHILE! For sure :) The tickets have been purchased and I fly out September 9th with 2 of my cousins (Jamie and Leah). Seriously, it is like a dream come true! I can't even begin to explain how excited I am. We will be down there for 2 months. We will split our time between staying with Kim and living with the stake RS president 5 hours south of Kim.

These 2 families will be our family from Sept. 9th- Nov. 12th

The orphanage that we are going to be focusing on is 5 hours south of Kim, so we're extremely thankful for Mercedes and her willingness to let us stay with her, even though she doesn't speak any English. It should be an adventure :) Thank you Kim and Mercedes! :)

I Love Vacations :)

This past weekend me and a group of friends took a little vacation. On Thursday Me, Stacie, and Kayla left for St.George for the day/night. We decided to leave a day earlier than everyone else because 1-we could get work off and 2-we didn't want to drive all the way to Vegas at once. We spent that afternoon/night sitting by the pool doing absolutely nothing. It was amazing. I forgot how much I LOVE the weather in St.George! I even got to see one of my best friends while growing up and got to meet her fiance :) Friday morning we went to breakfast with my friend John at a cute little cafe. I ended up seeing Grandma Wilkey, Aunt Stephanie & Uncle Randy, Aunt Ann & Uncle Walt, and Aunt Linda & Uncle Garth. What are the odds of seeing a bunch of family at a random cafe in St.George on a Friday morning? I thought it was pretty funny :)

Then Friday afternoon we headed down to Vegas. We stayed at Kayla's aunts house. She was so nice to let us crash there, and she made the BEST food for us :) We spent all day Friday shopping (I only bought 1 shirt and some nail polish... no idea how that happened). During our shopping we even found the famous VEGAS sign--so of course we had to stop and take a picture!

We then spent most of the rest of the night on the strip just walking around. We were very entertained by people watching and trying to pick out who was Mormon.

Saturday was the BEST day of the ENTIRE vacation. The rest of the group came down Friday night.. and then Saturday morning we all went to Lake Mead. We spent 10 hours there! It was SO much fun!
The banana boat absolutely terrified me. I think more than anything riding on the FRONT of the banana boat was what was scary. I was screaming like a baby the entire ride. But it was still a lot of fun.
The BEST part was when we had 7 people on a total of 2 tubes. It was AMAZING.
Saturday night the rest of the group that came down late wanted to go to the strip. We went, and lasted probably not even an hour because we were all SO dead tired.
Sunday was our drive home. We had to do the entire drive that day. Blah. But, luckily, for the last 4o miles or so we had this wonderful boy to entertain us....
He even got off the same exit as us in Provo :)

It was a great trip... but now I'm back home and it's time to snap back into reality... which means 40+ hour work weeks. Oh the joys of growing up :)

Oh, How I LOVE Life :)

I seriously don't think my life could be any better right now.

• I love my life.
• I love my ward.
• I love my roommates.
• I love my family.
• I love my best friend.
• I love all my amazing friends.
  
• I love my jobs.
• I love that it is almost summer.
• I love the Gospel.
• I love the priesthood and its amazing power to bless and heal people.
• I love my guy friends who are worthy and willing to give a blessing with a seconds notice.
  
• I love having an escape from all my worries.
• I love living so close to home so I can run away whenever I need.
• I love that I might get to live in Chile with kim.
• I love the color festival.
• And I just LOVE life :)
  

I have no idea why I complain so much, when it's evident that I have so much to be thankful for. When I think of all the people around the world who haven't gotten even half of the experiences and opportunities in life as I have, I realize that sometimes I just need to put a sock in it and remember how lucky I really am.

Here are a few pictures from my life lately:

• The Oscars: It was a stake activity where every ward made a movie. My wards was UNBELIEVABLE. No joke. We won the overall award for sure :)

• The Color Festival: Remember this from last year? Well. It was just as amazing. Maybe even better! That is, until a girl got dropped on my head and I got a killer headache. Regardless of that small incident, it was great. I had pink all over my face. Random people even wanted pictures with me because it was SO PINK! Wonderful :) Loved it. Love life!

Chili, Chili's or Chile?

Chili is a staple in my diet. When you can only eat a limited amount of quick and easy meals... you eat the same thing a LOT. (Especially as a college student....oh the joys.) Only, I always have to get the expensive chili, because the cheap stuff has gluten in it--LAME! Lucky for me, my wonderful parents let me go "shopping" in the basement every time I go home (which is quite often...), and my mom is kind enough to always have some of the wonderfully expensive chili on hand. So kind :) I love chili. A lot.


I also really love Chili's. I eat there a lot. I'm especially fond of their chocolate shake. They put sprinkles on it, and it is just delightful. I really love Chili's a lot.

They've always been good to me there. However,I don't love it as much as I love............................

CHILE!!!!!

Yes. That's right, you heard me. CHILE. And why do I love Chile so much? Because I might be living there next FALL for a couple of months! YEAHHHH! :) I am more than a little bit excited about this. Why you ask? Well....

• I will be living my DREAM of volunteering in orphanages. Seriously, I'm beyond excited about this. Everytime I look at Kim's or Hailey's blogs and see the pictures of the little kids... it makes me want to go and help out... SO BAD!
  
• I WILL be the favorite aunt of those 3 super cute little girls down there. I mean, I know I'm already their favorite... but now I will be their FAVORITE!

• It will be an amazing experience. No, I don't know Spanish. (Any tips on how I could learn some basics quickly would be greatly appreciated.) BUT, the whole experience of living in a different country will probably be pretty eye opening for me.
• CAROLINA is living in the same city as Kim and Dave right now, going to college. She is for sure like a sister to me, and I'm excited to be able to see her again :)

• Going to Chile might help me get in the direction of what I want to be when I grow up. Work with kids? Non-profit organizations? Who knows... This experience will probably help with my MLC :)
  

So, there you have it. I love both chili and Chile. But I think I love Chile more. Lets hope I really do get to go down there in the fall. I think it's time for me to get away from Provo. I need to get away from Provo. ASAP. And if the fall is as soon as that will happen, then so be it :) If I go I'll be getting home just before Colton (who gets back in 8 months!!! Not that I'm counting...)


And maybe, just maybe... if you're nice to me.... I'll bring you back some yummy Chilean chocolate that I love oh-so-much :)

MLC

Yes. I'm experiencing an MLC, also known as mid-life crisis. I realize I'm probably not to "mid-life" yet, but whatever. It's a crisis none the less. Here is the dilemma.... WHAT AM I GOING TO BE WHEN I GROW UP?????

The past year I have been looking into early childhood education. I LOVE KIDS! They're so cute, and I love being able to help them grow and develop. I'm even in all of the pre-requisites for this major. I love the classes. I've learned so much.

(These are from the pre-school class I took in High School. I loved these little kids so much!)

However, as I was sitting in class yesterday it hit me... I really DON'T want to be a teacher. I don't want to teach a classroom full of little kids the same information from year to year. I would get bored. That's when I realized....

I still want to work with kids! Yeah, no idea what I'm going to do. I just would SO much rather work with kids through support/changing their lives/ giving them the things they need to properly develop... rather than just education. Don't get me wrong... that is important. Extremely important. But there is so much more that every child needs to develop and grow. They need love, support, a good home environment. SO MUCH! Stuff that education doesn't even come close to covering. Stuff that I would much rather be involved in.

So what course of action should I take to get where I want to go? Here are my thoughts:

• Recreational Therapy--- I had considered this before, but now more than ever it seems a far better option than education.
• School of Family Living, with an emphasis in Human Development--- I'm in a 210 level of this class right now. It's amazing. So interesting to learn why kids develop the way they do and how you can help them to develop properly.
  
• Social Work--- This would, by far, get me to where I want to be. Improving children's lives? HELLO! That's exactly what I want to do. However, I don't think BYU offers this major anymore, and I hear it's a completely draining job that burns you out quickly.
  

I don't know what else I should do. I'm sure there are more options that I don't know about. I don't even know how to get where I want to go. I just want to help kids, on more than an education level. I think it is all part of the orphanage thing... I simply feel horrible when I think about how some kids are being treated. It's not fair. They don't deserve it. I want to help them, SO bad. If you have any suggestions as to what I can be when I grow up, PLEASE let me know. I'm in serious need of some help on the matter :)

(Look how CUTE little kids are!!!! Of course I want to work with them!!)

Recent Discoveries

So here it is. My new findings as of late.

• So, 2 guys have gotten either ENGAGED or MARRIED to the girl that they DATED right after ME! Lets just say, thank goodness for the awkward-standoffish-stay away-I hate you vibe that emanates from me. It proves to have come in handy a time or 2. Or 3. Or 4.
  

• 9 months and 3 days in the future could NOT come soon enough!

• There has been FAR too much snow this winter, and I am more than ready for it to be done already. However, my handicap pass is quite nice and convenient during this time of the year...
  

• I would love, more than ANYTHING, to volunteer at an orphanage...just to hold the babies and show them that people love them so they can live long lives. It breaks my heart to think of the little kids laying in rooms all day, everyday, without any physical contact from adults. Volunteering at an orphanage is my DREAM!

• There is nothing wrong with epidurals. In fact, there is no doubt in my mind that I will be all for them someday :)
  
• Watching 3 baby births in 1 day was perfectly wonderful birth control. In fact, possibly the ULTIMATE birth control. I keep being told that one day I'll get over this form of birth control.
• Authoritative parenting works FAR better than yelling. Discipline with love, not with anger. (I just wrote a paper on this... so interesting! Kids respond so much better, plus they feel loved... and in the end, they don't act out nearly as much!)
• Little elementary kids are very entertaining and sweet. They always give me such nice compliments. I like them. :)
• Clorox wipes are probably the greatest invention next to duct tape. With post-it notes coming in a close 3rd. They help me on a daily basis when it comes to cleaning up my lovely roommates crumbs. And when I say daily, I mean DAILY. They are an outstanding thing.

And now... you can go and ponder these little pieces of information that have come to me during my wonderful days of sitting through long classes and my confrontations with wonderful roommates whom I adore so much. And, just random stuff because I'm weird and like doing weird posts :)