tornado town.

i can't believe it is january 31st. the weeks seriously fly by. i feel like the days drag, but friday comes and i am shocked that the week is done and over. 
maybe working 30+ hours a week and going to school full-time helps the time pass faster??


like i said, everything blurs together... i haven't really kept track of what has happened!


i do, however, have a new project in the works. it is about halfway complete :) 
thanks to this tutorial... i will have a new addition in my room. 


i don't think i have bragged about my new niece!
reagan rebecca law was born on december 26th at 12:01 am. 


i haven't held her in person, but i am one proud auntie. 

miss these cuties.

look how big my girl is?!

remember how we went to idaho a few weekends ago?

what a blast we had. it was nice to get away and relax. 

there's a first time for everything, right??

i went to a wonderful farewell on sunday. cydnee from my study abroad, is going to argentina - today!

she gave a wonderful talk about overcoming hard things. it reminded me that it is possible, i seem to forget that sometimes. 

cyd is so ready and i am so proud and grateful for her example!

catie, angela, karra, CYDNEE, me, hilary. 

absolutely love tim mcgraw's new album. die by my own hand is my newest fave. 

what a mix.

another day has come and gone! i keep asking myself, "am i really IN africa?" man. it is so crazy to think that i am here. it's not so weird because i am with my family in a foreign place, but still, it is amazing! ah!


like i said, we are in mutare, zimbabwe. we are in a small hotel located near leopard rock, a well known golf course and mountainous area. we golfed a round, yes, i did golf! wahoo! as adam would say, "this is africa right here." the course was full of hills, grass, those flat african trees seen in lion king, serious ruff, and out of bounds areas that were dangerous to go into because of snakes! we made good friends with our caddies, paul and benjamin. they are locals and work three times a month at the course. they make maybe 20 dollars each time they work, that's maybe. it amazes me still that these people are living day to day, working however they can, with whatever jobs are available (which aren't many) and they are surviving. 


i love driving around, spotting children, and hurrying to jump out and hand out toys to the kids. at first, they are scared because these white people are running up to them, but once we stop, show them what we have, their faces light up. i know they will cherish those items forever, seriously. 


we had the opportunity to visit may people and families that adam converted and baptized along with families who were already members. everyone is so so so hospitable towards us and they are ready to give, no matter what. they sacrifice so much to go to church along with living their lives and putting food on the table for their children. we have met so many wonderful people and had great experiences, even in the smallest of places. 


i have been trying to take pictures like crazy and i'll post when i can, whenever that is, we are in africa! we will be traveling through zimbabwe, heading to masvingo, bulawayo, victoria falls/botswana, kwekwe, and back to harare to finish out our amazing trip with the spencer's & family. 


there is so much more to share, i could go on and on. each day i am here, i know how grateful i am for what i have at home and grateful for what we have been blessed with. i pray and hope you all can pray too, for the people here. they deserve so much and i hope they can be helped and guided to where they need to go. i am here for two weeks and love everything about this place and its inhabitants. all i can imagine is two years.

oh, preston.

preston was a neat experience. i was mostly excited to see the temple there. 
us girls weren't quite sure what we were doing that day, but the plan was to meet up with a man that takes groups around preston showing sites that were significant to the LDS church in great britain. 
we saw the place where President Hinckley first preached on his mission and the site, river ribble, where the first baptisms were performed in great britain.

love this advertisement.

preaching spot.

ha, what?!

the missionary oak.

river ribble.

the preston temple was under construction but we were able to sneak in for a few pictures. 

thanks, primark, for the shirt!

church in bristol.

we had a great church meeting here in bristol this morning. the building was actually open and not at stake conference! we arrived 30 minutes early and the ward was thrilled to have us. 
it was so fun to sit in the meeting and have the teachers teach us with their cute accents. the relief society ladies were glad we were there and singing. 


peter (a different peter) gave the sunday school lesson on the Atonement. 
sacrament meeting was awesome. quite a few people went up to bear their testimonies and they made a note of the fact that "there were people here listening to their accents so they better be careful of what they say". the word must have gotten out that we are here in the UK to study english. 
isn't it so reassuring to know that church is always pretty much the same no matter where you go? (well maybe it will be different in africa, he he he can't wait to get there!).
i love family wards, but this one was one of the loudest i've ever sat in and there weren't even that many kids! there were two kids specifically that were doing everything possible to disturb the meeting. screaming, crying, banging, hitting, yelling, running, you name it, the kids did it. i was completely shocked. all of us sat there thinking "what in the world??" it must have been normal because the parents never once took the kids out. 


after church we made some lunch and tried to eat what we could from our peanut butter, brown (wheat) bread, ritz crackers and apples and oranges. great food, eh? 
a few of us took a stroll down the riverside down to the U.S.S. Great Britain (a ship, obviously). we had no idea how to get across the river so we photographed from the other side. 


it's been a chill sunday so far. it's nice to relax. all the walking and business is still stuck with me and i get tired so quickly!
we have a busy day tomorrow. leaving bristol (i will miss it) at 8 am, heading to stonehenge and jane austen's hometown while we travel to london. we are to arrive in london by 4 or half 4 tomorrow for our orientation and all the jazz. 


can't wait to get to london! i hope the 4th celebrations were fantastic for you. mine will be nothing fancy. think of me, would ya?

remember when i had chicken pox??

oh, and when the foot pedal brakes on my bike gave out while i was going down a hill? and t-ball pictures were the next day?

you can feel bad for me, it's okay! 

and remember how i've talked to my family maybe three times since i've been gone? sweet.

sundee in dublin.

you'd think sunday would be a little less, but it was an adventure in and of itself! 

we had planned to leave to church at 10 am (this would be our last day with peter) and get to the meetinghouse for meetings at 11. not so.

we were all ready to go after eating at the sub par continental breakfast, on the bus, and driving to the church. at this time, it was 10 am, so 3 am at home, i was getting so tired. hilary and i laid down to sleep. jet lag is still a factor. love it. not!

come to find out, the church is locked and we assumed that it is stake conference, that's what we had heard. we sat for a while. peter was trying to google a different church to meet at, his internet was freezing on him.

a car pulled up and a lady walks out towards our bus. she had met with the missionaries two days before and they invited her to church, most likely forgetting that it was stake conference of some sort. her name is Amoke from Nigeria. she said she would go back to her house and get the missionaries contact info and see what's up. twenty minutes later, she came back with a sure fact that it was stake conference. 

we decided to head back to our hostel and figure something else out. brother anderson thought we could hold our own meeting. which we did!

we found the conference room, set up the chairs in an orderly manner. some girls we assigned to speak for 5 minutes and i was to lead the music. brother gardner called his bishop at home (530 am in springville, utah) to ask for permission to have the sacrament. it was granted and we proceeded with the meeting. 

it was an improv meeting as you can tell. but it was wonderful. 

the music came from lds.org and i looked at an ipad for the words. we weren't on key, we were a little too fast, but it was a great experience. 

i could tell we all felt the spirit so strong. 

i hope we can get to some meetinghouses while we are here, i would love to see what church is like in europe!

just a shorty.

it's been far too long and this blog has been neglected. i have been thinking a lot about what i need to post and what i should post! haha. that's when you know it's a cool "hobby" let's say? 

i have too many pictures that i have taken and am procrastinating uploading and semi-editing. 

events as of late:

-hillary's bachelorette party/wedding

-surprise visit from tim, becky and the cuties.

-family wedding/baby blessing

-andrew's senior day baseball game

-more baseball games! love :) 

-a sad goodbye to the nebraska residents

-nights of nerts

-and many food projects!

what a list. but, i will say i've documented them quite well and my pictures have improved (at least i think so!)

this weather is a total downer. i laid out for the afternoon last friday and got a great tan and completely enjoyed it! now, it's rain? unbelievable. thanks utah. 

i enjoyed a fun weekend with some friends. killer workout, long day of shopping and eating, and great company! not a better day out there. 

i played a simple piano piece in my sacrament meeting. it's too bad i couldn't get my shoes back on after i played and everyone sat there awkwardly watching me struggle to get up and walk back to my seat! ha ha. i lost that one for sure. 

i wish i had the time to go to only zumba classes during the week. that would be 4 or 5 times a week and a high amount of calories could be burned. then i could have a rockin' bod and not even have to worry about my craving for a cheeseburger with lettuce and sauce only from in n' out. oh, and a chocolate banana shake from arctic circle. well, any ice cream for that matter. ice cream donations are greatly appreciated, thanks. 

i will say, i'm enjoying this summer time. still working, but totally enjoying being with my good friends. i have some great people in my life and i am so lucky to have them! 

and... for the record, 35 more days until i am meeting my fellow study abroader's in the shannon, ireland airport. can you believe that? the time has flown by. i am sad i am missing summer here in utah, but this trip will be once-in-a lifetime. the travels will be amazing and the sites are those that i wouldn't imagine visiting. (maybe, you can find one of the owls from harry potter and send me a birthday gift via the owl post. that way i can still enjoy my birthday in the UK. after all, the hp 7 premire is right around my birthday time. not the ideal bday gift, but still.. )this trip creeping up on me like a byu student creeps his female co-ed. 

i'll work on my pics and show you the visuals of the events as of late. i need to get on a good blogging schedule so i can have it down while i'm in the euro! 

oops i forgot.

remember when it snowed on conference sunday? here's some photos i snapped. and some others that i want to throw in there. food that i eat and make too much of, and some randoms. 

favorite pumpkin chocolate chip cookies thanks to lehi roller mills. 

 cauliflower soup.

mabel the money tree.

homemade wheat flour.

best chocolate brownies.

chocolate banana ice cream - what kept me alive during late night studying!

tasty rice krispies.

to me?

what a wonderful conference weekend!! i wish i would have paid better attention during the saturday sessions, and some on sunday. but at times, the thought of my never-ending school work this week wasn't escaping my mind. i did feel, however, that there were so many things to be taken from the amazing talks given. things that i can take into my future marriage, how i can be a supportive and comforting wife (thank you jeanine scott for your example and inspiration! ) and things that i have been wondering about for a few weeks now. and, lucky us, we get to have all of the talks printed in next month's ensign! i am looking forward to reading and re-reading those talks. how blessed we are to have these men on the earth today. 
a quote from one of my favorite songs right now,
colder weather -- zac brown band:


with your ghost again. 

its a shame about the weather. 

but i know soon we'll be together, and i can't wait til then. 

i can't wait til then. 

p.s. i am impatiently awaiting the end of the week of april 22. finals will be over and i am free to roam provo without needing to go to byu campus! let's all pray that we all (especially me) can get through finals and the demanding, crazy, end of semester projects! 

before i forget.

somehow, when i post things, i seem to remember them better. i don't think i'll ever forget this quote by Elder M. Russell Ballard:

"Marrying a good wife is the key to any man's success."

how true this is. i know i don't have a Mr. to write about, but i hope when the time comes, that i can be a good wife to him!