farewell party

last night i had a little open house farewell party and it was I.N.C.R.E.D.I.B.L.E.

lots of SF relatives showed up - bill and margie and becky and bryant and the twins and jan and dell. and they all came bearing gifts :) (and really cute babies!)

and then right as they were headed out... all my friends came!!!!

how did i get to be the luckiest gal around to have such amazing friends???

seriously. without them i couldn't/wouldn't be who i am.

and without their support I don't know that I'd be strong enough and brave enough to go on a mission.

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!

tucanos

alright, so most of these are actually just our photo shoot/playing with settings on my new camera on the drive there, but this night was so much fun!

and the food was fantastic. i loooved the turkey wrapped in bacon. or anything in bacon ;)

the waitor was really funny. rm from brazil who was FULL of horror stories and spiritual advice. what a hoot! can't wait to get some of those myself!

this last pic is from the drive hoooome.

when we were so full i thought my belly would explode!!

cool. cool cool cool.

community = funniest show around. watched it last night and laughed so hard my stomach hurt. aaaand it wasn't even the first time i'd seen that episode! ha.

also last night: watched pride and prejudice the mormon version. and read in it's entirety the Pink Bible. This is what it taught me:

to catch a man, you have to become a seasoned huntress: always on the hunt. dating is not a passive thing. the pink bible takes it a step further saying that you have to trick men into marrying you... i wouldn't quite go that far (hopefully, but no promises after my 30th birthday...) but it does have a point. no boy is just going to fall for me and chase after me. get real.

of course, i watched this with that one boy... thinking of all the mistakes i'd made. but they made mistakes too (they being the fictional characters in the movie) and everything worked out for them in the end! maybe things will work out for me too.

gee looking through my blog posts you'd think i was a hopless romantic rather than a VERY soon to be SISTER MISSIONARY!!!

hint: the latter is correct in this case.

bridge of doooooom

mary and I built the bridge of doom

it was an extra credit project for her physics class

we started the night be4 it was due at like 1 am

well, actually first i dropped her off and andrew and ashleys and they helped her cut the pieces.

that left us with the easy task of cutting and gluing it together.

yeah. it turned out to not be so easy...

we only had one small tube of glue and an incredibly dull exacto knife at our disposal

she had to sluff seminary so we could finish it in the morning

we tried to dry the glue with a hair dryer

basically, she left with a couple of toothpicks glued together and sopping wet glue

it was hopelss

but really fun!!!

the end of the story you wonder???

.... that tiny bridge was supposed to hold 200 pounds!

and it (somehow miraculously) held 270 pounds!!

booyah

best. tradition. ever.

Thmoothie Thurthday

[TH-moooo-TH-eeee TH-ur-TH-day]

-noun

1. Day celebrated one day of the week, generally Thursdays, by creating and eating smoothies or milkshakes.

variations include wabamo wednesday. tycoon tuesday. milkshake mondays. etc.

2. best tradition ever

3. a small tree frog. now extinct.

originated:

freshman year. whitney hall

manti

yup. i totally want to get married there.

today I drove down to manti. yes i went alone, but no it's not because i don't have any friends or because i'm anti social. I was actually just soaking up the alone time because i hear it's mighty scarce on the mission.

I can't even describe how beautiful this temple is. So glad i went :)

for the drive back i stopped at the malt shop and got a LARGE oreo shake that was sooo good.

and then i ate it on the drive with my windows down and my foot out the window with the radio blasting.

yup today was grood

^

[good and great]

flashbackdrama

i know i already blogged about this. but there's no one that i can actually talk to about this one...defs not caitlin lol. but it makes me feel a little better to send it out to the unresponsive universe.
i still like this guy. i can't get over it. i've been trying to for months. and he has no idea. and if he did, it wouldn't matter. because he is definitely over me. there's even a good chance he hates me. but the thing is i am so much happier when we're friends and when i'm around him.
before i leave i wish i had the guts to say to him:
hey i just want you to know i'm suuuper sorry about how everything went down. i'm sorry that i hurt you. and if i could go back, i would definitely do it all differently. i want you to know i think you're the very greatest guy in the world. and i'm an idiot for missing my chance.
but i don't know what i would expect him to say to that....
meeeeeeh. i guess it doesn't really matter if he knows how i feel. i just srsly gotta get over it. stop thinking about him. focus on a mission!!!

this time next week:

I'll be set apart as a full time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!!!!!!!!!

life lessons from Warewolf

Warewolf/mofia. A really fun game that has brought me hours of enjoyment (mostly during the summer...I've been sorta outta the loop the last couple of months...)
tonight was really so fun! I loved it. I love Carson. He is my twin (seperated and birth and only reunited last summer) and he's just the funnest. he made up offical sheets of how to play with all the characters so i didn't have to keep asking. and I love all the people at park plaza, really. or at least #111, #205, and carson and aaron.
tonights game led to a strange epiphany though. I don't know why, but cupid struck me 4 rounds tonight! so i had a lot of lovers. (good thing because I won't have ANY for the next 18 months!!) and what I loved (and i know this is crazy and weird) was that they were on my side. I could trust that even when I was wrong and was the murderer, my lover would stick up for me. And in Carson the witches case he would kill those who dared to accuse me. So this is what I realized: I can't wait to get married! and have someone who trusts me that much. and always has my back. I know, weird thing to get from a game of mofia. but srsly. being married will be fun!

teach us tolerance and love

today i gave my farewell talk!
it went well. some friends came (reps of park plaz and london :) and family! oh and also in attendance were lots of soccer boys. for a slit second i was like, what? they came to my farewell?! but then duh i realized they were there for trent who was giving his homecoming talk. ha but it was still fun to pretend boys would come for me :)

I talked about tolerance and love. I used examples from the life of the Savior who showed us the perfect path of love and tolerance. The examples I told were:
Cleansed the Leper
Woman at the well in Samaria
Dined with publicans and sinners
woman taken in adultery
in all of these instances Christ showed that he looked past differences with love and saw them as children of God. In the case of the adulterous woman, he forgave her, but gave her the strict charge to "go, and sin no more" - though he loves the sinner he cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.
that's how we can be. don't accept sin. Elder Nelson said that we think that some of something is good, so a lot must be better, but this isn't the case with tolerance. we shouldn't permit, encourage, or partake in sin. He also said that sometimes to truly love means that we will disagree and even confront differences if we can help the other. Of course, that doesn't always work, in which case we still love them. Love is the key.
So, that was teh gist of my talk. it was short, only 11 minutes. but my family had to sing, so since i was doing double duty i hope i'm forgiven.
and BEST PART is that this is one more thing to check off my list before I can go!! One step closer to being a missionary!!!!
10 days!

big news:

well i just got the official news that my visa didn't come. :(
which means that I'll be going to the provo mtc. and I mean, it's not that big of a surprise because i knew that there are lots of visa troubles and nobody is at the mtc down there... but i was praying for a miracle.
it's just a little bit disheartening because i've never prayed for such a specific thing for so long. every single day for 7 months i've prayed that if it was the Lord's will, that my visa would come. So, I guess the Lord wants me here. And if i get sent to Texas after that for the duration of my whole mission (like Tom Jay) then that's the Lord's will too, because I know he could straighten out the visa thing. but that's not the way it worked. but it's so hard when your heart is so set on something, but it doesn't work the way you want it to. and my little heart was so so set on going to brazil.
but like the good book says, "ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith"
heck, i hear the food's better at the provo mtc anyway :)

oh, hi yo

this week i went to OHIO! to say goodbye to katie and meet sam before i leave on my mission. it was quite the trip. not really what i was expecting, but i'm glad that i went!

ohio was a cool place to visit. it's ugly and the weather is awful, the intersections are scary and confusing and i didn't feel safe walking around. BUT there's lots of old building taht were cool. and kirtland is just 1/2 an hour away. and katie's apartment was really nice and big and friendly! oh and the trees get covered in ice and are all sparkely. it's beeautiful!
they had electric blankets at the apt. that I would huddle in, and there were always lots of people in and out of there to say hello to. Katie was really busy with work etc. so honestly i didn't get to see her all that much... so i was glad her friends were so nice to me.
ooh and guess what? i was a total missionary on the plane ride back (thanks to andrew kuo who challenged me to be) I talked the guy sitting next to me's ear off. but he was really interested! i think mostly just intellectually though... he said he always thought he was an intelligent person (college professor) and was embarrassed to admit he thought mormons weren't christians. so i set him straight. and told him alllll about the book of mormon. and bore my testimony. and he asked how he could get a book of mormon! it was cool. i can't wait to be a full time missionary!
kirtland was also cool. so much history there. and the spirit at those sites is powerful.
i'm withholding full judgement on sam - mostly because i didn't really get to know him. but it was obvious that he makes katie really happy... so i guess i like him well enough. he's really tall. and made puzzles in finnish and arabic for me to do during sacrament meeting :)
imma miss katie during my mission. a lot! she always gives me good advice! i love her. and wish i could be at her wedding (if they get married...) but we'll ALWAYS be best friends. she promised!

welcome back to jr high

he told her that he had a crush on me so she told me and then she told him that she told me so he told me he didn't.
and i'm like, uh who cares?? I'm going on a mission in 12 days. duh.

coolest missionaries ever:

yes i'm talking about Alma, Amulek, Ammon, Arron, Sons of Mosiah.
they are incredible!!
I'm reading in Alma and it's blowing my mind! I want to be that kind of missionary!
and think of this: set apart full time missionaries have the exact same authority and power! we should be that bold and selfless and faithful. we can change lives just like that. and God will direct us, just as He did them. Missionary work will go forth!
cool, huh??

perfect valentines day!!

(really old picture of lauren and I. She's wearing her trusty old date shirt in this one. ha it's still in mint condition ;))

my very best friend flew in today to be with me for valentine's day!!!

well....

lauren is heading to the mtc on wednesday... so she got here yesterday! it was great. i picked her up at the airport. we slept over at #111. we ate at pizza pie cafe. i really couldn't have wanted a better valentine :)

also today we went to the SLC temple! it was absolutely incredible! they do live sessions there and it was really different from provo. not even necessarily better... different things really stuck out to me though. and of course the temple is beautifuL! painted rooms etc. wow!

goodbyes are hard.

but like alma was so happy to run into the sons of mosiah after they all had been serving missions and found they were still brothers in the gospel, that's how i think it'll be when we all get back! the most joyous reunion ever.

and i can't wait.

visa stress

pray for it to come, ok?
it would make me really, really happy.
i want to go to brazil.
but i'll serve wherever i'm sent. (i keep telling myself that)

this is stressing me out. I've had a stomach ache about it for weeks.

story borrowed from a really bad chick flick.

what if i made the biggest mistake ever? what if i let the perfect guy slip through my fingers like an idiot? yup this may sound a little over the top dramatic... but for reals!!
once upon a time, this really really great guy liked me! pretty much everything i could ask for: super super funny. thought i was funny. really smart. really spiritual. really thoughtful. whoa!
and it freaked me out because i'm going on a mission. and because it felt really real. and he's not who i pictured. and i didn't know how to handle it. so i handled it really poorly... and i just had this thought:
he'll be married when I get back from my mission. and i don't get another shot!
he hasn't really talked to me in a long time. and we hung out the other day and i remembered: he's a really good guy.
dang it.
dumb me.
too late to do anything now.

oh well, my future husband had better be this cool!

underload

I think it's usually about this time in the semester that I start feeling like I'm about to crack under the pressure of 20.5 credits and 6 papers, 2 tests, work, fun, etc.

here's what I'm realizing -

I don't keep signing up for huge credit loads because I'm an idiot and forgot how much work it was last semester. I LIKE being really busy. I like feeling the pressure and getting it all done. I like working hard! I like feeling accomplished. heck, i even like my job.

but instead, right now I only have one class that i think isn't interesting. tons of time on my hands = b.o.r.e.d.

can't wait to go on a mission! that ought to keep me busy!

panic/peace

so i had a little panic attack about going on a mission. like, what am i thinking?? I don't know how to talk to people in serious conversations. I'm not a very hard worker. i need to graduate. I'll miss katie's wedding. i don't have any money. I'm scared. I'll be all alone. It'll be hard. I don't speak Portuguese. I won't do any good anyway...
So I prayed to know if it was really the right thing to do, and I opened my scriptures and my bookmark is in D&C 6 and i read verse 23 which says:

Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?

WHOA! right??! how cool is that? Like a Mormon Message or something. Only this one really happened to ME! I've already received a witness that going on a mission is the right thing for me to do. Shouldn't start doubting what I know is right now. I know that the Lord is with me in this decision, and that YES it will be hard and I'll have to work hard and give up time and money, BUT I will not be alone. And I CAN do great things with the Lord.

this was one of the greatest experiences ever. It was such a tender mercy that the Lord would answer my prayer right when I really needed it and bring peace to my heart.

bye, b-wreck

katie breck: without a doubt one of my very favorite people!!

...and soon to be one heck of a missionary!!!

today she went into the mtc. I don't know what I'll do without her. she has definitely been an angel in my life :)

all i can say is watch out Philippines!! here she comes!

lame blog

wow. my blog is lame.
and that last post was for my class so it doesn't even count.
i'll maybe try to make it cooler.
and maybe post something on here every once in a while...

White Girl from Utah County

My faith and religion play a huge role in my life and defines me both culturally and ethnically. A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I grew up with a strong tradition of religion in my home and attended church weekly, and was very active in church activities. I have a rich heritage on my mom’s side of church pioneers that first came and settled in Utah, while my dad’s family were converts.

Being LDS means more to me though than just my strong set of beliefs; it has all sorts of cultural implications that have impacted my life as well. It means having seven brothers and sisters and not being an anomaly in my very LDS neighborhood. It means knowing how to cook a mean dish of funeral potatoes, lots of sober parties playing Apples to Apples, and not dating until I was sixteen.


A lot of things have happened in my life since I turned sixteen, including the momentous occasion of getting my driver’s license and first car.

Besides that, I made some friends, graduated from High School, started dating, got jobs, changed jobs, moved out for the first time, new apartment, new friends, picked a major, picked a different major, moved again, etc.

Throughout all that change, my car has been one of the few constant things in my life over the last five years. Whenever I pack up my boxes to move on, I always take comfort in loading up my car to take me to my next place.

Beyond being a staple that holds the different pieces of my life together, my car represents me on a deeper level as well. When someone sees as 1989 Geo Prism, they would probably be quick to assume that its owner probably shops at Wal-Mart, loves the dollar theater, and uses coupons at fast food joints – and they would be completely right about that. I am a poor college student that is frugal with the pennies I have and works two part time jobs. I would also like to think that it says that I don’t care enough what people think about me to go into debt to get a nicer car; that was how I was raised.



I was also raised in a family of dancers. My mom danced growing up, and wasted no time in registering all her little children in the BYU children’s dance program, and we stuck with it. Ever since I was four years old I’ve loved dancing and think that it is an integral part of who I am.

Dancing has meant years of carpooling and classes, best friends and great memories, and spectacular performances after lots of hard work. Dancing became a main focus of my life during high school and has carried on to college.

My sisters and I used to make up dances together for fun, and this hobby grew into something more serious. My sister is now dancing in a professional company, and I’ve decided to major in Dance Education, because I recognize that for me, dancing had great value beyond just being fun, which I want to share with others.