What's new

My cousin Brenn, and others, have highly encouraged-more like demanded- that I update my blog. Unfortunately with the internet costs and the fact that I still haven't bought a cord to connect my camera to my computer-I have no pictures to put up. I will let you all hang in suspense as you just imagine what it looks like here. Im doing great! The weather is great! Perfect for the beach, however, not so perfect for work. The office has no air conditioner upstairs where I spend most of my time. We have lots of fans though. Work is good. I like all the people I work with and it is starting to get more interesting. Sarah and I are still in pursuit of a new apartment. We believe we have found it, but we are having troubles actually getting the leased signed. Hopefully that will happen this week. I went to church here yesterday. Basically like any other ward, except the building did have a nice courtyard in the middle. So far mostly what I have done in Australia consists of going to the beach, walking around town, riding the bus a lot, grocery shopping almost everyday (as we do not know how long we are staying in the place we are now), going to work, going to the market, eating (the food actually isn't all that great here... Sarah and I did have our first BBQ in Australia the other night though! That was delicious! ), sleeping, and repeat. I really am having a great time here. I need to plan out all the things I want to see and do before I leave-I feel like time is already flying! First task-make plans for Easter weekend! Any suggestions?

G' day mate!

G’ day mate! So I’m finally here in Australia! The past few days have been crazy but amazing. I still can’t believe I’m living in Australia. Sarah, my co-worker and I arrived in Brisbane Australia Wednesday morning Australian time. We then took a bus to Mooloolaba where our hotel is located. The weather is wonderful here! Yesterday, however, there were a few minutes of down pour rain but then total sunshine. We walked around the town for a while and ate lunch, then went to the grocery store where everything is so expensive! We are in a touristy area so I think the prices are jacked up. We also got new cell phones and an internet card. This morning Sarah and I went to the beach. After, Sarah and I started house hunting. Our company put us in a hotel for two weeks and we are now in charge of finding our long term stay… no luck yet. Tonight we plan on taking a stroll down the beach, and then on to more house hunting tomorrow. We start work on Monday but I have some research reading to do before that. Not gonna lie-I have seen so many attractive guys here! I just want to find our long term stay so I can figure out where I will go to church and then start meeting people ;) Well sorry I have no pictures up. I don’t have a way to get my pictures off my camera and onto my computer yet. I need to buy something for that. Well until next time! 

Updates in my life

So I haven't blogged in a really long time.... I credit that to school....and life in general... it can all be very busy and stressful-especially as you grow closer to the end of the semester. So instead of doing something productive, like studying for my test tomorrow, I am just doing a quick update on my blog. First off, the below picture represents what I want to do, i'm sure many of you do too. 

Second, I just want to say that I loved the movie "This Is It" -the Michael Jackson one. Like really yeah he may not have been the greatest guy in the world, but he was an amazing performer! I wish he could have done his final tour, it would have been amazing! Although I know I wouldn't have been able to see it cause it would cost so much money, so in a way this was good, I kinda got to watch what it would have been like. Seriously though I suggest that everyone should see it, especially if you love performances and dancing and Michael Jackson's amazing songs! 

Next, a lot has happened since I last blogged. Basically though this is my third year at BYU and I love it! My classes are going well and I love my major, which is recreational management. I put together an event here called Mr. BYU, which is just a humorous take on pagenats for guys at BYU. Actually, the theme was MJ, but that was decided before his death. It took up a lot of my time but it was way fun. The event went really well and I hope to be in charge of it again next year. -Oh and I turned 20 on October 2oth, the picture below was on my birthday :)

So my big news update is that I am taking a 9 month maternity leave....just kidding! But I am leaving this January to move down under to the Sunshine Coast in Australia. I will be there for 6 months working and then I hope to do the study abroad in Guadalajara-hopefully it won't get cancelled again because of the swine... So basically I won't be coming back to the states til next fall. Lauren will be joining me in the summer though so that will be fun!

Oh so some other news in my life- my family got a new dog at the end of the summer. He is a German Shepherd and his name is Zeek. He is a monster, he chews everything and is growing so fast and is so so so strong! We all love him though and its fun to have him around. This picture is when we first got him, he is like 10 times bigger now! (I'm not kidding)

At the end of the summer I cheered at the Wasatch Alumni football game. It was a big deal because it was the high school's centennial and the dedication of the new high school. It was fun to cheer again, and this time Christina and I got to cheer together!

My family took some family photos this fall. Don't we look great?! 

This year my friends and I were on a flag football intramural team. We were the Maneaters! It was so much fun. We even made it into tournament round. Next year we will take the shirts!

my new place

So everyone keeps asking me what my new place looks like, here it is! I live in Adams Morgan, in Washington D.C.

I live on the lower level of the yellow one

My Bedroom

My Roommate's Bedroom (She hasn't moved in yet)

Fun at home

So in between school and my internship, I spent a few weeks at home in Heber.  I'm excited for new adventures to start, but I love the time spent at home with friends and family. I miss it there already!

 I love Heber Valley!

oh I have way too much crap!

Moving is exhausting! 

 Jo and I made cake

 The Cole girls

 Shopping for my internship

 Heather's  Bridal Shower

 Tumbling Gym Fun

 Jessica's Reception

 Spoon Me!

 Last night home

Guadalajara

Well today i was suppose to board a plane to Guadalajara, Mexico. I have been planning for the longest time on doing a study abroad program through BYU this spring semester. I was suppose to go to Guadalajara, Mexico and learn Spanish. There I was to live with a host family with my friend Cheyenne and we would attend the Universidad de Autonoma in the mornings where I would be taking 8 credits of spanish class. Then go back to my house and eat lunch with my host family. After lunch I was suppose to go do service. The service Cheyenne and I were assigned to was to work with kindergarten and 1st graders. We were suppose to play with them and do activities with them. Then back home for dinner and then party it up at night. On the weekends the group (about 30 girls 2 guys and my 2 directors) would go on little trips together to different places in Mexico.

Here is Cheyenne and I in Salt Lake. We had to take a prep class for the study abroad and one of our assignments was to take public transportation up to Salt Lake and visit a Cathedral there. I'm sad we wont get to be roommates in Mexico!

Guadalajara is right there in the middle. 

 I was so looking forward to this. Last tuesday, however, the director sent an email out saying that because of the Swine Flu our study abroad got canceled. At that point in time the effects of the Swine Flu and how it spreads were still unsure. BYU of course wants to keep us as safe as possible so now I don't get to go. What is funny is that there are cases of the Swine Flu in Park City, 20 min. from my house in Heber right now. But no cases anywhere near Guadalajara. But still I think it is worse in Mexico-plus I would much rather get sick here than in Mexico.  

Here are some pictures our director sent, before it was canceled, to give us an idea of how it looks there and get us excited to go.... sad I won't get to see these places in person.

I am sad that I'm missing out on this great experience. I would have learned so much more about the culture over there. They say a lot of Mexico's culture actually originated in Guadalajara, for example the Mariachi bands started there. I would have really enjoyed learning from my host family about culture and values and cooking! And of course I would have gotten so much better at the Spanish language. But it's all good, everything happens for a reason. I actually have new summer plans that will also be a great experience for me. One door closes and another one opens. And maybe one day I can travel to Mexico or South America and try this again!

new blog

So I just got a blog! -Kels really wants me to write something right now. I don't have much to say yet, but i will post a real blog soon!