05.05.2014 - 365 Days (well, almost) and Counting

Sounds like you’ve had a busy and fun week. :) Those are always good. Poor little Ryder :/ that sounds like it hurt! Is his hand doing better? Good ol’ rainy Washington! Definitely not rainy here. It’s getting hotter and drier every day. It feels like summer now. The past couple weeks have been warm, but there is a change in the air and you can tell that summer is fast approaching. Your trip to the middle-of-nowhere waterfalls sounds beautiful. And I agree with Dad, you’ll have to take me there when I get home.  :) I laughed when you talked about the chocolate chips, but I am so proud of you. I decided last night that I am going to go on a health-ier eating kick too. She made tres leches with chile powder? I’ve never had it like that, but I love tres leches. :) As for school, I don’t register for classes until October so we are good for now! Mikayla’s sister’s name is Samantha. I liked your idea of a trip to New York to get fabric there. :) Mother’s Day…I do get to call! Yay! I’m excited for it too. We are going to a member’s house to Skype from and I will Skype you at 4:15 p.m. Dad says he is sending a package so I told him some things that would be nice. When it comes to words of wisdom, I always need more. :) As soon as we get the conference edition of the ensign I will read the rest of President Eyring’s talk. Thank you for the beautiful textile metaphor that you gave me.  :) Remember how I used the two different types of thread for a scholarship essay too? Good metaphors can come from fabric! Who knew??

04.28.2014 - Meetings

My week has been good! Filled with lots of meetings, good meetings, but long meetings. I am feeling more at peace. I’ll talk more about that later. Sorry that I’ve been vague about the struggles I’ve been having. I guess I just want to be strong and not complain and go on and on about the bad things. Does that make sense? There will be plenty of time to explain it all to you when I get home. :) Just know that what you did say was perfect. Made me cry actually. So if that’s what you were going for, mission accomplished! But really, it was great. Thank you. We do always have to focus on the positive, like you said, and I think that’s why I didn’t include too many details. But you must know pretty well because you touched on some of the issues that it’s rooted in. I’ll keep looking for the small things on my road to becoming perfected. It’s a very long road and while we do have to keep that eternal perspective, we have to enjoy the journey and be happy along the way. You said to remember who I am…that’s something that President Nattress brings up a lot. He quotes Elder Packer I think saying, “You’ll never see fear in the eyes of the Brethren because they know who they are and they know who He is.” So that’s what I try and remember and know and hold on to as well. It definitely helps. You mentioned that “knowing I am where I need to be" and that’s sometimes the hardest part, and something that I had been struggling with. That’s where the patience comes in I guess! Also, thank you for sharing Barett’s story he made up. So adorable! I can’t wait for all the stories he has yet to make up. Good times to come for sure.  :)

04.21.2014 - Because of Him

My week has been good. Thank you for the adorable Easter pictures! I loved them. J I’m glad to hear that wedding plans and worries are all in the rearview mirror now and that life is a little more relaxed, or at least not quite as stressful. But whoa!!! Don’t go bringing up my future wedding. Not ready for that! That’s many years in the future. 

04.17.2014 - I Turned 20!!!!!!!!!!!

The week leading up sounds like it was a great one! The wedding sounds like it was just beautiful and I couldn’t be happier for the two of them. So exciting. I can’t wait to see all the pictures!!!  

04.07.2014 - LDS Conference

My week has gone well and I am very excited for my birthday month. :) I didn’t hear you singing, but thank you anyway! The party sounds like it was a lot of fun! I can’t wait to see pictures. I’m sad that grandpa’s letter didn’t get there in time! I did send it to WA because I didn’t have his address in UT. Can you forward it on to him please? The shower also sounds like it was lovely. I can’t believe the wedding is so soon! That is so exciting. It’s a little hard to think of all of it going on and not being there, but it is what it is and I am so happy for them! I’m sure it will be a beautiful day and I will be there in spirit. :)

03.31.2014 - Se Fue El Bigote!

Oh Heavenly Father is so good to me. Even when things are a little tough he just sends me an extra dose of love from all around. Thank you so much for your e-mail! You made me cry there at the end, but what you said meant so much to me. You are the greatest!

03.24.2014 - Marching Along

Happy Monday to you as well! I also have a hard time believing that it has already rolled around again. Time really does fly! Only two more weeks until my birthday! Although, if I was to adopt Chris’s birthday celebrating method (which isn’t really a bad idea) my birthday month would start in just one week! Yay. :) Grandpa’s birthday (and mine too I suppose, but mostly his :) sounds like it will be quite the party. Take lots of pictures! And I appreciate the pictures you are going to take of the wedding too! I still haven’t gotten an invitation. Did you send me one? Sounds like Washington is getting pretty nice. Sun, blue skies and 60 degrees, huh? That’s pretty similar to here too. Sun, blue skies, and…oh wait, 80 degrees. :) As for hiking though, I sent a box home that has my camlebak in it so you can use that! You’ll have to empty out all my letters though. Don’t get rid of anything that is in there please! I’m glad you mapped out how far I biked, I wanted to know. No shortcuts were taken. :) It was fun! I like biking!

03.17.2014 - Otro Traslado Se Fue!!!

My week has been great! Hmm…I wonder how many of my e-mails start out saying that same thing! I need to get more creative. :) But it’s true! My week has been just wonderful. Last Monday we had an activity with all of the sisters at the Nattress house and it was so fun! I just love them. :) One of the ladies who normally feeds us food shared a really amazing story that she had from her mission. She had a good mission experience, but she had never really felt like her service made that much of a difference. Now 20 years later she received and e-mail that changed her perspective. She served in Hong Kong and talked to loads of people every day and didn’t remember most of them after she talked with them. But she got an e-mail from someone that she had talked to on the street. He told her that he had been searching for her for years. He remembered that day that he had talked to her and he told her that it was what started his journey to being baptized. He was baptized in London and his wife was baptized in Hong Kong on the same day and she also remembered this sister and said that she was the reason that she was baptized. How awesome is that?! And now they are married and sealed in the temple and I think he’s a bishop right now. So cool. You just never know the influence and the impact that  you have on those around you…never know the seeds you plant.

03.10.2014 - Happy Birthday to Liz and Jadyn!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIZ AND JADYN!!!! Did you get my birthday cards? I sure hope so. :) I’m glad to hear that you had such a great time at Disneyland/California Adventure/Hollywood/Laguna Beach. What a trip that was! I sure liked it when we did it! Although, the water wasn’t that warm when we went! But I swam in it anyway. :) I can empathize with you having a hard time getting out of bed to exercise this morning. We wake up at 5:40 to go play soccer at the church for an hour and sometimes it feels entirely too early. But it’s fun so we keep on doing it! I can’t believe that Grandpa will be 90 and I will be 20!!! That’s just insane. It’s about time. :) One more month and I’m no longer a teenager! I already don’t feel like one though…age is just a number, right?? As for a picture…is it supposed to be just me? Or he and I together? The picture of me with him and Althea the day I reported to the MTC is a good one and that would be fine. 

03.03.2014 - Weddings, Weddings ... So Many Weddings

I hope you are having a wonderful time in Disneyland! Try not to get heatstroke. :) Maybe if Jadyn says that she is just too hot, you can buy her a pair of shorts? ;) That probably would have helped me last time…but oh well! I guess it made it more memorable for us. I can’t believe how close the wedding is, but I’m glad to hear that preparations for it are going well. Promise me to take LOTS and LOTS of pictures! That way it’ll be like I was there. OR, maybe a better plan, last minute location change to the Gilbert temple?? It’s dedicated and they already have 100 weddings booked for March and 100 more for the following months. I’m sure they could squeeze Ben and Kate in. J Food for thought. 

02.24.2014 - Crossfit is Huge Here

My week has been so good! Send that video my way! I’d love to see it :) I’m glad to hear that things are going well with getting ready for the wedding! I can’t believe how soon it is! That means my birthday is coming right up too ;) Crossfit is huge here! Well, actually maybe it’s not that big, but I sure notice it a lot. I met a guy on Saturday who owns his own Crossfit gym. I’ll do it with you when I get back! About the temple details…the cultural celebration is this Saturday at 7:00 pm and it is going to be so cool! There are over 13,000 youth participating. I think they might be putting it on BYU channel?? You should check and see. Then the dedication is on Sunday and Thomas S. Monson will be doing it!!!! So cool!!!!

02.17.2014 - Fourth Time's A Charm

This has been a great week! The Gilbert Temple Open House has come to an end. Fastest month of my knife! It's definitely a very bittersweet ending. I was supposed to have the closing shift, but we had to switch so I was there Saturday morning. It worked out perfectly because I met the mom of one of my good friends at BYU and I met Ben's roommate! So cool! I loved making connections at the temple. So if your friend from Texas was there on Saturday morning I might have seen her! I didn't meet her though. There were so many people there on Saturday. The lines were crazy! I don't know the exact count on how many people went through, but I know it was over 1/2 a million. You should google it and let me know what you find out :) I did get the Valentine package. Thank you so much! I loved it :) We are going to make the cupcakes today! Can't wait! In church last week we sang Joseph Smiths first prayer to the tune of Come Thou Fount. We've sang it before, but obispo liked it so we sang it again!

02.10.2014 - Winter Wonderland

Things have been great this week! Lots of changes, but I think they’ve all been good ones. Sunny Arizona has been exactly that. It’s supposed to get up in the 80s this week! Can you believe that?! Beginning of February and 80. Pretty beautiful. :) But I mean…your winter storm sounds pretty nice too!

It's All My Fault

You might have guessed from the title that this is a catching up post. Since Michelle writes and sends pics every week and there hasn't been an update since the beginning for February, you are in for multiple posts today.

Sorry for the delay! Life decided to get really busy - Jennifer