Two More Days

This is getting kind of scary!
Yesterday I spoke in church.  Afterwards people came over and I talked and talked and talked.  By 4 my voice was gone.  I haven't been feeling well anyways, so talking all day probably wasn't the best decision.  Oh well.  Now I sound great.  Hopefully my voice will be back to normal before wednesday!  I wouldn't want them asking me to come back in a week or anything because that really would be awful.
It hasn't really hit me yet that I'm leaving on wednesday.  Something I've waited a long time for is finally here.  Maybe it will feel more real when I finally pack and my room doesn't look like a slob lives in it anymore.
Ahh!  I can't even write a blog post that sounds good right now.  That really must mean that something weird is going on with me right now.
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Did you know...

That I leave in 4 days?
That Rosario is in the province/county/area of Santa Fe and Santa Fe from Newsies has been stuck in my head for the past 4 months? "Santa Fe, are you there?  Do you swear you won't forget me?"
That I have about a billion things to do and no desire to get off the computer?
That I haven't written my talk yet that I have to give tomorrow?
That I really love gummy sharks?
That I wrote 5 letters this morning and I was all caught up until the mail came and brought me a very special letter from the Philippines?
That my brother's mission is 850ish miles from mine?
That we're taking family pictures today and I have a lovely zit on my cheek?
And that this will probably be one of my last posts for the next year and a half?
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San Diego

Last week I went to San Diego with my family.  It was basically awesome.  On Valentine's day we went to the zoo and all the animals received a heart shaped treat.  It was fun to go around and watch them eat it.  Also there was a baby panda.  Basically I would go back any day any time no matter how bad my feet were hurting.

This bear was licking the honey on the cement that was in the shape of a heart

Not the baby, but this panda was pretty cool too

The next day we went to the beach.  Again, awesome.  That night we went to the gorgeous San Diego temple.  I've always wanted to go there and to be able to do a session there was extra special.

Saturday we went to Sea World.  It was also pretty dang awesome.  They had a baby killer whale that was born on Valentine's day so it was fun to see that boy/girl (they don't know for the first week).  I also really liked the sea lion show.  Sea lions are slowly moving up on my favorite animals scale.

Seeing the baby killer whale

Sunday we went to church and then we went to the USS Midway, which is an aircraft carrier for all of you that didn't know.  I learned one thing on that tour, I never want to be a dentist for the navy.  But the ship was amazing and Weston and I did a flight simulator thing where we got to fly upside down and shoot the bad guys.  It made me lightheaded and I wasn't a very good pilot, but Weston did a good job. Good thing he's the one that wants to be a pilot.

The statue just outside the USS Midway

Monday we went to the Hotel del Coronado.

Well we saw the outside of it and walked along the beach.  Then we ate lunch and flew home.  A pretty darn good trip if you ask me.  Now it's time to leave for my mission!  Crazy how fast the last month has gone by!

Oh and my brother got his mission call this week.  Chile Osorno mission!

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The Beauties of Being a Girl

So some things about a missionary schedule has really been stressing me out, particularly about the MTC.  From what I understand, you shower in the morning and then at some point in the day you exercise and then most sisters don't have time to shower afterwards.  Gross.  Especially for me because I sweat like a man.  So what am I going to do?  You get a little time, but not enough to shower AND get ready.  And this is what happens if I don't do anything with my hair after I shower.

I can already tell, this is going to be a struggle.

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BYU Volleyball

Can someone please explain to me why I love going to volleyball games so much?  Most of BYU's players are not good looking, I hate playing volleyball, I don't know all the little rules so I feel like an idiot, and it's a pain trying to find people to go with.  But yet, if I'm in town I'm there both friday and saturday night.  There's something about it.  Maybe it has something to do with this guy... but my roommate found out this summer that he's engaged?  Oh well, he's 6'7", not like it would have worked out anyway.

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My Cabin

Is it weird that I love my cabin almost as much as I love my dog, and I love my dog almost as much as I love my family?  I have so many good memories at that cabin, and I'm sad to leave it behind for a year and a half.  It has electricity now that we have a solar panel, but no running water and no heater.  That's right, we have an outhouse that you sort of have to hover over in the morning so that your bum doesn't freeze to the seat, and a fireplace that heats up the place after about six hours.  On this particular trip, our water that we brought up spilled in the trailer, so we had to melt snow instead.  The cabin has putrid yellow couches and nasty brown carpet, but it's my second home.

Izzy loves the cabin too.  She was wiped out after snow shoeing

The view while snowmobiling 

                                    

                                             We read out here in short sleeve shirts, it was that warm

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Carson's going to Italy!

The poor kid has had to wait a long time to go, but he's finally going!  Hallelujah!!!  Those Italians will be just oh so excited to have someone as sarcastic as he is amongst them.

Who knows, maybe one day I'll miss his constant making fun of me.  But as of right now, I'm pretty happy for him.  Good luck in Rome Carson!

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An Interesting Bowling Experience

Today I went to the temple with my old roommate, Megan.  We had a grand time.  We then (well only I did but she tagged along) went and donated blood.  And then we met up with Mikey and went bowling.  When we first got there, a kid stopped me and asked if I had gone to Timpanogos.  I told him yes, and that he looked familiar.  But instead of introducing himself, he just went ahead and bowled.  It was pretty awkward, but it was quickly forgotten.  About halfway through, while Megan was bowling, he came up to me and asked me to tell her that if she got a strike he'd kiss her and if she got a spare he'd give her his number.  Who is this guy?  There's a reason why I didn't know him in high school, I thought he was shy!  Apparently not.
Well she did end up getting a spare but I told him she was going on a mission and he told me that was ok.  So it all ended well I guess, but weird! I did find out his first name thanks to the bowling screens, and I have since stalked him on facebook.  I have to say, way to go for being courageous, but next time he should wait until he knows the girl he's interested in, or at least the girl he's trying to get to help him!
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#1 Pet Peeve

My #1 pet peeve changes almost daily.  Items that have made the list: slow walkers, anyone that says good morning to me when they clearly know I slept in, and constantly chewing gum.  However, I think I know what my #1 pet peeve is now.  It trumps all the others.  So here's some advice, never ever ever try to start a conversation with me via text by using any of the following choices:

"Hi"

"Hey"

"How are you?"

"Madi"

You want to talk to me?  Too bad because I'm done responding to texts like these.  I already dislike texting, but conversations that begin with these phrases are reserved for real life, face to face conversations.  And while we're on the subject, how about people avoid texting in general?  I really appreciate phone calls, I do.

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Get Me a Reachin' Stick

You know that scene in the mormon Pride and Prejudice when Elizabeth and Jane are lying on the couch in a big mess and Elizabeth uses her reaching stick to open the blinds?  I need one of those.  I've basically come down to that level of laziness.  Well, I tried to find that scene on youtube, but I couldn't find it.  Instead, I was reminded of how much I love this movie.  So if anybody owns this movie, or knows someone that owns it, can I borrow it?

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I'm Not Going Down to Mexico to Drink the Water Anyway

Do any of you like Brad Paisley?  Because he was going through my head this week.
Monday morning I flew, with my parents, to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  We stayed at a hotel with a private beach and I was in heaven.

I drank lots of piñatas, ate lots of food, and sat on the beach every day listening to songs such as, Don't Drink the Water, and Working on a Tan.  But to be fair, I sometimes mixed things up and drank elmo's, or shirley temples, or miami vice's, or my favorite, banana daiquiri's.  Yep, I gained a significant amount of weight in only 5 days.  But that's what happens when you're in the mind set of, "I'm only going to be able to order room service one time in my life, so I don't care if I just ate a 5 course meal, I'm ordering 2 more dishes and drinking fanta from my mini fridge."

I had this baby to myself

Our last meal and my last drink, a very sad moment

Coming back to real life, where there are such things as scales, was no fun.  My mom and I did a 5k snow shoe race this morning and we about died.  It's 3 miles!  We did 13 the weekend before!  But I had to stop and walk.  Let me tell you, running in snow shoes is not as easy as it looks.
On other news, the airport in phoenix had internet and I was able to check facebook.  I found out that my spanish language/ literature teacher had been missing for a week.  He disappeared after mass one day in Portugal and was found a week later in the river.  He had diabetes, so he could have passed out and fell into the river, or it could have been suicide, but it just seems strange that they couldn't find him for a week, even after they checked the river multiple times.  This man was amazing.  He was a marista in the Catholic church and he devoted his whole life to his religion.  He's the only teacher that failed me my first term.  But he kept helping me, and by the end he was one of my favorites.  Whatever happened to him, I'm sad more students wont get the opportunity to learn more from him.
http://leonoticias.com/frontend/leonoticias/Localizan-Muerto-Al-Docente-Del-Colegio-Maristas-Desaparecid-vn112675-vst216
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Proving my mother wrong has never felt this good

When I sign up for a race I always come up with a time I want to beat. I then take 3 more minutes off that time and tell my mom that new time is my goal.  Without fail she tells me it's impossible and then starts laughing at me.  She then talks about how I haven't trained enough and how I'm a new runner, etc.  The thing is, the time I tell her is not the real time I want to beat, but her negative comments tend to play over and over in my head during the race, so it's usually the time I beat.
This half I wanted to take 3 minutes off my best time.  Only 3 because I knew the course was not a fast course.  I told my mom that I wanted to take 5 minutes off and of course she laughed and told me it was impossible with all the hills.  So, naturally, I beat my best time by 6 minutes.  And it's the first time I haven't felt sick afterwards.  Today was a success story and I think my mom may have figured out my strategy.  She figured it out, but it doesn't mean she'll stop laughing when I tell her "ridiculous" times.  And I don't want her to, because that's what drives me on.  Weird relationship? I think so. But it works for us!
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A Day of cleaning

Today I tackle this mess.  I've been putting it off for quite some time now, but I know it has to be clean before I head to Mexico.  Since I'm leaving for St. George tomorrow and I leave for Mexico the day after I get back from St. George, I have to do it all today.  Wish me luck!
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Today's Agenda

- Go to Church 

- Teach CTR 5

- Meet with my dad

- Make pumpkin pasties

- Eat

-Watch Once Upon a Time

- Finish Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

- Start Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1

- Continue with my Mrs. Claus cross-stitch

I'm now down to the pumpkin pasties.  Let me tell you, those 5 year olds have a lot of energy.

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Back Again

I'm back on BYU campus again.  Joy.  Actually, it gave me something to do today which was a plus.  I have several more errands to run which is another plus.  So this no school no work thing is somewhat working out.  And hey!  If I ever get bored again I could put a little time into my room.  It looks like a tornado came through it.  At least that's what my mom claims.
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Living the Simple Life

I know you're all wondering what will I do for two months without school or work.  Well I have a few ideas and I started some of them today.
Did you know that Argentina has The Voice?  It's brilliant!  I think I've already seen ten clips.  It's very educational.  For example, I've learned that in Argentina, the normal salutation is one kiss, and it's normal for guys to kiss.  In Spain it was two kisses and handshakes between men.  For your enjoyment:

And while I was watching those, this clip came up.  Back in the summer, when David Archuleta's new CD came out I started looking up songs on youtube.  Come to find out, his new CD that was released in the states, was not the same one with all his new songs on youtube.  Apparently, he's famous outside the US and he even did a movie.  No matter how awful this is, I still love him.

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Photo Booth

Lately I've been extremely bored, so I've spent an unhealthy amount of time on photo booth.  When I was in spain, there was a missionary that me and my friends made fun of because he was constantly taking pictures of himself.  I feel a little like that missionary.  Here are my favorites:

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Goodbye Electric Shop

It's my last day working at the electric shop and I'm stuck in dispatch.  Joy.  I'm in a foul mood this morning and I somewhat feel bad for the boys I work with, but they also somewhat deserve it.  If I hear how minnesota was oh so much colder than it is here one more time, I'm going to lose it.  I get it, missions are hard.  You're home now and you're married so get over it.
But after I mellow out, I'm sure I'll miss this place.  We get free lunch pretty often, and everyone likes to tease you.  It's a pretty fun place to work.  But no work for two months sounds pretty good right about now.
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A Review of 2012 in Statuses

Due to unfortunate circumstances involving Facebook's timeline, I can't find all of my statuses from 2012.  So from February to May I don't think much happened.  But the rest of my statuses basically explain my year so here goes nothing.

January 1, 2012:
Watch out 2012, severe curves heading your way.
I found out that I have borderline severe curves at Levi's just a few days before this.  Severe is a terrible name.  Here's the other categories: straight, demi, bold.  Severe you have to order online because they don't keep them at stores.  Basically, it was a big moment in my life.

May 6, 2012:
After watching yet another ironman, I'm more determined than ever to never participate in one myself.
My parents and sister had just finished the St. George ironman.  St. George had unusual wind that day, making the ironman much much harder.  Nothing about it looked fun.  Why would I one day want the same look of misery on my face?  No thanks.

I don't really facebook a lot in the summer.

September 10, 2012:
First paper of the semester: done.  First presentation of the semester: done.  First test of the semester: done.  First race of the semester: done.  First grocery trip of the semester: done.  I think I've had my fill of school for a while, can we go back to summer?
I always think that going back to school will be fun, but this year was especially hard.  My classes mellowed out later on, but after that second week of school I was pretty worried.  

September 26, 2012:
I just got my first 100% in the testing center!  I may have cried a little while doing my victory dance.
This was a momentous occasion in my life.  But it was spoiled later on when the free response section brought my grade down to a 96%.  However, I did manage to get a real 100% later on in the semester.

October 31, 2012:
It's 5:40 and everyone in my apartment is awake.  Something's wrong with us.
This semester my roommates and I all had early classes.  When one of us would get up, the rest of us would get up.  On this particular day I had to get up early to finish some homework, so I got up at 5:00.  Soon the rest of my roommates woke up.  We're insane.

November 14, 2012:
You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  You are assigned to labor in the Argentina Rosario Mission!!!!  Leaving February 27th!!!!  AHHH!!! I get to use my spanish!!!!
I think I was just a tad bit excited about this one.  I still am.  This is the status that changed how my 2013's going to be.

November 18, 2012:
Two women that I love and admire passed away this week, my great grandma who just turned 100 and my wonderful young women's leader.  Both were amazing women and they will be dearly missed.  It's comforting to know they are in a better place, away from their illnesses and pains.
Probably the saddest week of 2012 took place here.  Many more people passed away this week.  We drove out to Sacramento California and from there to Woodland for my great grandma's funeral, but because of this I missed my young women's leader's funeral.  They really were both amazing women that had a huge impact in my life.

November 26, 2012:
I feel very accomplished, Elder Jake Harmer called me a friend today in his email home.  We've come a long way.
If any of you know Jake, you know this is a big deal.  We've always had a rocky relationship so when I got a shout out in his email, it was pretty exciting.  

December 6, 2012:
Thanks for the birthday comments.  The day was full of pie, family and friends.  Not sure how it could have been better!
Because I know everyone's wondering, I had asphalt pie, apple pie, and razzleberry pie.  This was also the day I went through the temple for the first time.  The 4th not the 6th.

December 17, 2012:
I got a package from Elder Houston Bodily today for my birthday and christmas.  It was full of chocolate.  He has now won the best friend award.  I'm sorry everyone, I don't think you can compete with that.
This is why this is significant, he's in Germany!  So a) it was good chocolate and b) he paid to have it sent.  Really, he's now my best friend.

December 22, 2012:
Shams Islam ran into a pole last night at walmart.  That's all.
We were walking back to his car after yet another unsuccessful search for Tim Tams, and he was looking at people attempting to go through some sliding doors that were turned off, when he ran into one of the poles in the parking lot.  The best part was, there was a car waiting right there that witnessed the whole thing.  This was the best moment of 2012.

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