Belated Update

First of all, I have to apologize to my readers for how long it has taken me to write another post.

I have been BUSY BUSY but happy :) Colter left for his mission 11 days ago and I have been doing anything and everything to stay occupied! There's always the norm: school, homework, sleep, studying, and hanging out with friends. But I suppose my newest news is that I finally got a job!
I'm going to start this Monday for America Reads, a tutoring program for kids ages 1st-6th grade in which they help "at risk" kids to develop better reading, writing and math skills. I'm actually really really excited, and I have great hours, only working Mondays and Wednesdays!

So that is my exciting event today. This weekend I've been pretty busy though: I went to two service projects and met some other MG's (missionary girlfriends)!
First on Friday night, we went to Feed My Starving Children, a place where we pack hundreds of bags full of dry chicken, vegetables, soy and rice and send it off to places around the world that have a lot of starvation and disasters. You should check out the link if you have time, it really is an inspiring program!
It was also a lot of fun, I went with some friends from church and we were TOLD to "use our outside voices" so we had fun getting crazy and racing each other to fill the most bags.

The next day we went to another service project, where we helped clean up and remodel Lodestar, a HUGE homeless shelter in Downtown Phoenix. Me and my "service buddy" Caldwell (above picture, blue stripes) filled 1/6 of a trash bag with about a million cigarette butts that were outside, and then went inside and helped paint their library. It lasted from 730-1230 and we got a lot done with all the help! The coolest part was that we did it with the Mormon Helping Hands program, and we got to wear their cool yellow vests all day! I felt famous!

Later that night (last night), I went to Qdoba's with some of the girls with missionaries from around the area. We had a great night getting to know each other and just being girls, and I'm excited to hang out with them again (possibly in a couple weeks!)Whitni, Kassidi, Tianna, ME, and Chelsea :)

Happy Birthday To Me

So remember how I've mentioned being surprised a few times, and that I have already said my last goodbye to Colter? Well, plans changed. And I decided to make a surprise trip home on my birthday for the weekend.

There was several reasons for coming home again.
Firstly, I knew no one expected me to come home (as far as they knew, I'm on a college budget) (...oh wait, I still am...) so I knew that it would most definitely be a good surprise for both my family and Colter.
Second, it was my BIRTHDAY for goodness' sake! I thought it was a great birthday gift to treat myself to. (Okay, so my friends here weren't planning on ignoring it or anything.. but sometimes home is just better)
Thirdly, it was General Conference weekend for my church.. which is practically a holiday for my family, because we always have extra people over and it gives my mom (and Second Mom, Rae Ann) an excuse to cook for everyone.

So there really was no other option. I hopped a plane up to Durango and Mark picked me up to take me to surprise my family. It turned out to be a great idea, no one had any idea, and my parents may have been a little surprised but still really happy to see me. I also planned it out with Cindy, Colter's mom, to surprise Colter that night... and I loved seeing the look on his face when he got home and I was standing in the laundry room. Haha!

We really didn't do a lot for the weekend, which was okay with me because I really just wanted to see everyone. We spent most of Saturday and Sunday watching Conference, and then Saturday afternoon I went to Colter's to meet all the family that was visiting that weekend.
That night I said the REAL last "see ya later" to Colter, which was a little hard to do all over again but definitely worth it. I also had to say goodbye to my family too, because this time I'm REALLY not coming home til Thanksgiving.

I got to stay til Monday afternoon, and Monday morning I got to go visit my Grandpa Bart and Sandy one last time before I took off, and it was really nice to visit with them for a while. Then my parents drove me back to the airport. I knew that I had the best idea ever and it was totally worth all the surprised looks on everyone's faces.. And I had really missed my mom and dad so it was good that I got to see them for my birthday :)

Visit for the Weekend

First of all, sorry for the delay. I have had a lot going on these past few weekends (which I will tell you about, promise!) and there's been midterms so I have been busy busy.
Secondly, my phone broke.. So all of my pictures from the past few weekends have been lost. So... this will be a regular old word blog for a few posts. Sorry!

But anyways.
I went home on the 21st (Wednesday) and Colter surprised me by showing up at the airport! It was a great surprise. The airport turned out to be the easiest part of flying, because I have discovered that airplanes and turbulence do not agree with me. Besides that, I easily found my flights and seats and everything and for the most part, people were helpful and friendly when needed.

On Thursday, I got to stick around home for the day with the family. I've missed the kids a lot and I got to meet the newest foster girl we have, a little one month old that is adorable :) Later that night we went to a family friend's house for a birthday party, and then Mark, Colter, our friend Matt, and Landon and I went to Mark's house to watch the season 8 premiere of the greatest show on Earth:

The Office!!!
Which was not too disappointing, even with their new boss.

Then Friday I ended up going to Colter's house and spending the evening with him and his Momma, and we got pizza and watched Hitch (awesome movie!) and the Food Network.

Okay, before I tell you about Saturday, I'm going to use a lot of terms some might not be familiar with, so I've turned them into links in case I start to sound too confusing.. So just click for more info if you'd like!
Saturday was a really big day for me and my family. We got to go to the Monticello Temple that my church has so we could be sealed to each other. This was the most amazing experience I have ever had! I'm so grateful for a family that loves me and that wants to stay together, because I don't know that one lifetime will ever be enough for me.

Sunday was Colter's big day. He gave his farewell talk to his ward for leaving for his mission. My family and I went and he did a really good job. I'm so proud of him for wanting to help our church and serve the Lord, and I know that Panama is going to be so blessed for having him for 2 whole years! After church, I spent time with him and his parents and I helped his mom makes lunch, and then went home and Colter and I had pie with the family before I had to leave for my flight. Then I said my goodbyes, and Colter took me to the airport where we said our "See Ya Later" for two years, since he's leaving this Wednesday.

It was a fantastic weekend, and I was so excited to go... However, that just wasn't enough for me ;)