Girls are like Apples

It's 4:45 in the morning, I can't sleep. I could say so much but I don't want to offend anybody. I am really frustrated and I found this poem that puts into words exactly how I feel right now.


Girls are like
apples on trees. The best
ones are at the top of the tree.
The boys don't want to reach for
the good ones because they are afraid
of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they
just get the rotten apples from the ground
that aren't as good, but easy. So the apples
at the top think something is wrong with
them, when in reality, they're amazing.
They just have to wait for the right
boy to come along, the one
who's brave enough
to climb
all the way
to the top
of the tree.

The G String

So the other day I had a funny experience and I'd though I'd share it with my friends and fam for some good laughs.

First of all, let me describe my harp teacher to you so this story can make a little more sense. Sister Pack is around 65-70 years old and she is the ultimate Mormon mom/grandma. She is probably 5 foot nothing and has a cute little hunched back. Her hair is like a salt and pepper fro that just bounces around everywhere she goes. She wears the same thing everyday - Some color of tights with a homemade skirt that comes to her knees with a cardigan. She is a trained opera singer and is a music fanatic. She can do anything. She has had around 15+ children. . . haha just kidding, I think just 10. One of her neighbors once told me that when she had more and more children she would just build another wall in her house to make an extra room. All of her daughters play the harp and she is a self-taught harpist but not runs the whole harp program at BYU Idaho. She writes almost all of our music for our harp ensemble. She would never hurt a fly but she hates attention of any sort. She is so so humble and innocent.

Anyways so that is a little taste of who she is so this story can be even better.

So I have lesson with her every Monday at 9:20. This particular monday I was playing a song on the harp on campus and I reached down to play the lower G and we both realized at the same time that it wasn't there. It had broken and we didn't even notice. So she pulled out her strings and asked me, "Will you help me fix my G string?"

So without laughing, because I knew she wouldn't even know what a G string is, I accepted. But it didn't end there. After I helped fix the string, she kept thanking me for helping her "fix her G String". Keep in mind, that there are harp students coming in and out of the room to get to the other harps. So I'm sure they were all wondering what was going on. But I thought it was so funny because Sister Pack is so innocent and has no idea what she is even saying.

So now everytime I wear my G-string I think of Sister Pack. . . . jk I don't wear them!! Just G's.

I DID IT!!

This picture was the early morning start of a LONG day, but a monumental one at that. My costume was a "fire fairy". A costume that was easy because my mom had already made for my brother Danner before. Throughout the day I was called all kinds of things because when you look at my costume you don't think "fire fairy" right off. What even is a fire fairy? I have no idea. I was called a pumpkin, statue of liberty, fire, and the best of all "a helpful goblin." My awesome sister-in-laws decided to join me in the race. LaCol is a cute girl scout and Becca is a Rip-Roarin Referee! We had so much fun together.




13.1 miles - To tell you the truth, it was really hard!! Especially the last 3 miles!! My Ipod died, my legs were cramping, and I could feel a huge blister forming on my right foot. But I did it!! I finished in 2 hours and 11 minutes. It felt good to finish, then the aches and pains started setting in. But nothing was able to take away from that feeling of accomplishment after 8 weeks of training. I remember my first run was 3 miles and I was in such bad shape that I pulled my groin muscle after just 3 miles!!!

One of my bucket-list items I can now check off.

And I would run 5,000 miles!!!

In the last 8 weeks I have been training for a half Marathon. The time is finally here that I have been training for!! This Saturday in Provo at 9 AM I will run the Halloween Half starting above Sundance resort, going down the Provo canyon and into Provo.

I added up roughly how many miles I have run in the last 8 weeks and I have run AT LEAST 120 MILES!!! That is like running from Centerville to Provo and then back.

Do I feel like I have run that much? YES!! It was freakin hard but worth it. I really enjoyed running the back roads of Rexburg, seeing all the farming neighborhoods. It has given me a lot of time to think about what goals I want to achieve and the things I need to do better on.

I am so excited to run this saturday!! I'm sure I will be posting soon about this weekends' adventures!!

NACHOOOOOOOOOOO!

I watched Nacho Libre with some of my friends for the first time since my mission. That movie makes me laugh so hard. It is the kind of weird random humor that I love. Not to mention. . . they all have those Mexican accents that I love. But I made this cape out of a T-shirt and I reenacted this scene from the movie.

We were also trying to practice our Nacho smiles, do I look like I belong in the movie?

There's Too Many Kids in This Tub!

By Shel Silverstein

There's too many kids in this tub

There's too many elbows to scrub

I just washed a behind that I'm sure wasn't mine

There's too many kids in this tub.

We found this picture recently and it makes me think back on the days when everyone was at home in my family. Life was so exciting and filled with drama - a different kind of drama, like "Mom, Adam just took my seat!" or screaming when my brothers came near and before they even touched me because I knew they would hurt me soon. My sisters when they were at home were the ones that protected me. Those days were so fun, this bathtub were one of those fun moments. I loved growing up in between all my brothers. They have all become my best friends over the years. I hate to think of what my life would be like without even one of my siblings, they all play such a huge role in my life. I remember the day my mom said we had to graduate and start getting in the shower. Adam and I would hide under the little stand thing that the shampoo would sit on because it was scary. Ben and Luke would slide on their bums all over the place, such a thrill!!

Well hope you don't mind a little reminiscing of old times. Enjoy every moment. Live in the moment!!

Hiking Heaven

Early one morning my sister Katie and I decided to hike a trail above the Bountiful temple and watch the sunrise. It was a good hike and it was so great to have a good talk with Katie, who I consider to be one of my best friends. I love the outdoors and it always rejuvenates my spirits.

Can you see the top of the Bountiful temple?

A beautiful overlook of the whole valley

Another Friend Tied the Knot

Elise, one of my very best friends was married August 16, 2011. We have shares so many memories together. We started off on the same competitive soccer team in 9th grade and then we hung out all throughout high school. We have kept so close throughout the years and I love her so much!! We both served missions in Argentina which brought us a lot closer because we understand exactly the feelings that we felt as a missionary. We both love the Argentine people and culture.

The ceremony in the Bountiful temple was so beautiful, her grandpa was the sealer. Her husband Mike is such a humble, quiet stud that treats her so well. I was so grateful to be there with her the whole day. They are so happy and will create a great family together. Congrats Mike and Elise!!

Our good friend Stacey is on her mission in Nashville and we missed her greatly that night.

Grandma's Garden

So while I was on my mission my mom told me that she was renting a garden plot and was growing a garden. Then while I was in Jerusalem, she told me she was doing it again. When I thought of garden, I thought of maybe a couple squares and a couple vegetables. But her garden exceeded all my expectations!! She grows everything and lots of it!! Tomatoes, pepper, Kale, lettuce, green beans, carrots, potatoes, all kinds of herbs, onions, green onions, spinach, squash, pumpkins, cucumbers and many other things.

The Gardener herself

My niece Kalia and I reaping the rewards

After we gardened we went and had a picnic with our little Bennet boy, I love his new tombstone!!

My New Goal

I have always wanted to do a half marathon, and I couldn't think of a better time to do it than right now. I better start training because it is on the 29th of October. WOW!!! I am so excited, go to the this website and check out the movie. I need to start planning out my costume to run 13 miles in!!

Please join me in this adventure, you will get hooked.

http://www.halloweenhalf.com/index.php

We're going to the zoo zoo zoo!!

So when you live somewhere for a while, you have to hit up the local zoo. So we DID!! It was one of the best zoos I have ever been to!! I loved it! They had so many animals and the atmosphere was so great. Some of my favorite animals were the monkeys, penguins, elephants, and zebras. I felt like a kid again and also was reminded of how awesome our God is. All these animals have totally different lives, but all are so beautiful in there own way and all know how to survive in there own way.

Of course I had to take a picture of the Zebra butts - they are so beautiful!!
These bears were so pretty and really entertaining.
They were drinking the nectar with there tongues. I thought I was smart, so after the nectar ran out I covered up the cup so the birds couldn't see there was nothing in it and I tried to get them to come on my arm again. One of them was close, and kept trying to look inside. When she finally got a good look inside and saw there was nothing she bit my finger and flew away. She knew I was tricking her!! I just laughed for a little while because I thought I was so cool and smart.

And last but not least. . . . . the elephant show. They put on an impromptu show for us. We loved it and I didn't know that elephants loved to swim so much.

The Saltiest body of water on earth. . . . can you taste it?

We had the opportunity to taste, feel, and float in the waters of the DEAD SEA!!

It was so interesting to float so much that it was hard to even get your feet under you. There were definitely parts of your body that stung really bad so most of us could only handle for about 15 minutes. But it was fun! It is 3 times more salty than the Great Salt Lake. It was so salty that if it got in your eyes it stung and if you licked your finger you could get your full intake of sodium for the week. After we dried off there was a salt layer on our skin. The water is really blue and pretty, and under the water the rocks have beautiful salt crystals on them. There were many people that rubbed the mud all over them to get softer skin, but the mud smelled like poop so I decided against it. But it was a great experience to partake of the salty waters of the DEAD SEA. Now I know why they call it the dead sea.

This is the cave where they found most of the Dead Sea scrolls. It is a near a town called Qumran that is on the northeast shore of the Dead Sea. They found all these scrolls by accident from about 1947-1956 when a shepherd went into the cave looking for a lost sheep and found bottles filled with ancient scrolls that were written by the Essenes in the 3rd century BC. There are many different caves around these parts, but this cave is where they found most of the scrolls.

Faces of the Holy Land

I just wanted to share a couple pictures that my friend Adam took while we have been here. There are so many different cultures and people here. These pictures give you a little taste of what we see everyday.

Capernaum, Capernaum, Capernaum

Capernaum is a town in which the Savior spent most of his ministry. Many miracles that he did happened here in Capernaum. Just to name a few: healing of the man with Paulsy that was put the the roof, woman who touched the hem of his garment, the raising of the daughter of Jairus, and many others. It is a very special place.
There are still a couple wall that exist from Peters house. This is where the Savior spent a lot of time because he didn't have a place to call home. He also healed Peters mother-in-law
in this house. Here it shows the two different layers of rock foundation. The darker rock is the exact synagogue that Jesus taught in and where he performed many miracles. It was cool to think that Christ actually touched those exact same rocks. If only the rocks could talk and tell us what they saw 2.000 years ago. It was a great experience to be in the very spot where he performed so many miracles. I just sat there and imagined what the people would have thought and felt at that moment.
So in this picture we are in the Synagogue in Capernaum where Christ healed the withered hand of a man after the Pharisees were tempting him to see if he would do it on the Sabbath. I am supposed to be Jesus healing Becca's hand in this photo.

Mt. of Beattitudes

We visited the Mount of Beattitudes where the Savior gave the Sermon on the Mount and included the Beattitudes or "positive and loving version of the 10 commandments." They built a church on the top of the the Mount, of course, because that's what they do in every sacred place in Israel. But on the two slopes that go down the mountain there is a natural theatre that is there with great acoustics. So the Savior could have taught many people the Sermon on the Mount by standing in a special spot where it would pick up his voice.

The grounds were so beautiful!! The nuns take such good care of this place and we saw a lot of nuns meeting outside for class, singing, and studying the good word. It was a good place filled with the Spirit.

Sister Mary Rose, one of the Nuns there at the church, gave us a humble speech about the Beattitudes and the love that Jesus showed when he gave the Sermon on the Mount. With every single one of the Beattitudes there is a blessing. It shows us what kind of intention we should have inside when we keep the commandments. Sister Mary Rose really had good intentions and was really trying to do what the Lord wanted her to with all the love that someone can give. She bore the strongest testimony to us of the reality of our Savior and that we can only be saved through him. I loved her sweet humble testimony. While visiting so many churches here in Israel I have been so appalled at the love that the nuns and munks show towards us. Every time I talk to them or introduce myself, he hold my hand, bless me, and show so much love to a me - a stranger but also a sister in Christ. They come from all different countries to work here in Israel because it is so Holy. Through all these experiences with other religions I have learned that there are so many doing the best they can with the knowledge they have. They have such strong testimonies even though they can't explain everything. The Lord loves them so much and blesses them with his Spirit.
I thought this sign was funny. Can you tell what is weird about it?

I swam where Jesus walked

The Sea of Galilee - my new favorite place to be!!!

"Oh Galilee, sweet Galilee, where Jesus loved so much to be!"

This is part of a hymn that was taken out of the new hymn book but is one of my new favorites. Jesus spent most of his ministry teaching in the surrounding towns of Galilee. I now know why he loved it so much. It is such a beautiful fresh water lake with green beautiful little towns all around it. We stayed in a Kibbutz resort called Ein Gev for 12 days in little cabins right on the beach. During that time we had class and a lot of time for swimming. We also took a lot of field trips to all the places that the Savior was in around the Sea of Galilee. It was incredible!!

We are showing off our Galilee sun tan lines. It was sooooo hott!!!

A group of us outside our cabin on Sabbath morning.

This is me on a boat out in the middle of the Sea of Galilee about the same size as the fisherman's boat that Jesus was in. We sang "Master the tempest is raging" and we read the scriptures of Jesus calming the seas and walking on water. I learned so much about Peter and how much faith it would have taken to take that step out in the water especially when it was rough water. I want to be more like Peter and try to do hard things and have faith that I can do it with the Lords help. Jesus and Peter are the only ones that have walked on this water.

They found this boat within the last 20 years at the bottom of the Sea and they figured out it is about 2,000 years old. So this is similar to a boat that Jesus would have been in.

We did bonfires on the beach with smores, campfire songs, games, and skits. It was incredible! There is nothing like it!!

The sunsets were always so beautiful. Across the Lake was the city of Tiberias with all the beautiful city lights shining every night.

We are happy to be at Galilee!!!